We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Monday, June 6, 2016

Appearance of crater dubbed ‘the Gateway to the Underworld’ in Siberia is a warning to our warming planet

Click here to access article by Ian Johnston from the Independent (Britain).

The article reports on a phenomenon that many people see as insuring runaway climate destabilization.
It is known as “the Gateway to the Underworld” by local people who fear to go near the massive crater that suddenly appeared in the frozen heart of Siberia.

And they are right to be afraid.
For as the permafrost melts, the world’s biggest “megaslump” is expanding rapidly.