Skeptical Science: Antarctic Ice Trends and the icebergs of distortion being dumped on the public

I thoroughly enjoy a good read on climate issues that tries to make a complicated subject simple and to the point. Skeptical Science is one of my good resources on communicating effectively. Many scientists have a real problem with communicating with the general public on complicated issues - especially something as comprehensive and vastly undulating in seemingly infinite patterns as the earth's atmosphere. The communication lag helps lead to the decline of understanding and interest of the general public. Even worse, skeptics with a political bent, or just looking for an argument, have no hesitancy in attacking the science and using misinformation to tell the public completely false and conclusive statements to research that is ongoing and inconclusive. They also tend to ignore the simple and direct physical evidence that is easier to recognize or simply push it off as 'life as usual.' There is apparently no one to hold them accountable.  I still fail to understand the emotional rants by some skeptics (other than to suggest it is due to political or economic bias) while other skeptics (scientists and otherwise) will join in the debate to raise pointed questions that should be discussed openly.

Scientists, on the other hand, - well, at least the good ones - have an ethical directive to not speak in absolutes but rather to discuss what might occur if certain situations continue to follow current trends based on years of collecting data. Even when they do make a firm statement, they know that science is about discovery and new facts may bear out in the future. But they are naturally reluctant to state a fact without many data sets supporting their argument. You can't say that for certain media types out there who go unchecked into your living rooms every day.  Many 'speakers' choose to distort and cherry pick the statements of reputable scientists and use them falsely. The real problem arises where someone misrepresents a statement that is placed in the public realm for digestion. At that point, the damage is done and it is much harder to remove that new bias placed on the individual who trusts their Svengali more than the odd scientist.  This is why I just adore blogs.  It provides an open forum for debate and discussion. I read blogs from all different directions and base my opinions - such as they are - on what I see before me. The truth is out there if you will just seek it out and learn to think for yourself.

On that point, John Cook at Skeptical Science discusses 'An Overview of Antarctic Ice Trends.'  If you'll follow along, you might understand why ice patterns in the Antarctic are different than the 'receding hair line' we're getting in the Arctic - well, probably.

So, how is it that the Antarctic sea ice extent is getting greater while the Southern Ocean surface air temperature is getting warmer?  You didn't READ it, DID you?  Go back up to the link and quit listening to Glenn Beck.

Hunt Oil Is Trying To Hunt Oil In A Peruvian Communal Reserve? Honestly?

Willy Corisepa, a Harakmbut Indigenous leader. Photo: Fenamad

The fellow blogger at Peruanista is reporting that there is the potential for new violence in the Peruvian Amazon between Indigenous peoples and Peruvian authorities.

You may remember back in June (and reported here) there were multiple clashes between the local Indigenous tribes and Peruvian police forces where scores of people were killed and more injured in conflicts over the opening of land areas the central government is offering up to international companies to explore and exploit for their resources - and to make a nice buck in the process. Peruanista was there blogging the news to the world the Peru media could not or would not do themselves.

Today, he follows with new reports from people on the ground in Peru where they are warning of possible clashes between police and the locals who are trying to keep wandering capitalists at bay. Of course, you have to take any news you get with a grain of salt, but the truth is buried in there somewhere among the dead challengers to the central authorities who politic and bargain the lands away from the people and allow outsiders to poison the waters and the land of the tribal home territories.

Some local 'tea baggers' might appreciate the dedication of people trying to protect their homes from the high central government of Peru.  Yeah, I said that with a straight face.

 

ParksWatch

Now, Dallas based Hunt Oil is in the mix in the concession Lot 76 which holds the Amarakaeri Communal Reserve and lands of the Yine, Matsigenka, and Harakmbut Indigenous communities.  It sounds like the locals don't like the visitors and Peru's police forces are being called out to defend Hunt Oil's presence in the territory. Peaceful attempts to persuade the 'legal' intrusion into these territories have failed and there is now a fear that violence may once again erupt. The search for new sources of fossil energy and other resources is not a clean or pleasant job, especially when the locals want to live where you decided to stake your interest.

Report from Peruanista:
"Peruvian government police and military forces are ready to attack Indigenous peoples in Peru in the town of Salvacion, located in the Amazon forest region of Madre de Dios in southern Peru, next to the borders with Brazil and Bolivia. 

For the past weeks, independent media around the world have been warning of a possible violent clash, and here I'm posting information sent by reliable sources from the conflict area.


Peruvian police is protecting the interests of U.S. corporation Hunt Oil and Spain's Repsol-YPF, who are trying to explore / extract oil and natural gas in the state-created Lot 76 concession which includes the Amarakaeri Communal Reserve, and other lands of the Yine, Matsigenka or Amarakaeri and Harakmbut Indigenous communities.

For many, this could mean another Bagua massacre. Early on this week, I received this tip from a reader of this blog, but I had to confirm this information before posting it:

First I want to thank you on your great reporting of the massacre in Bagua. I cannot believe how many false/slanted reports were published [in Peru].


Sadly, I believe a similar situation will be happening very soon. This spring I worked [...] with Indigenous groups who wanted to draw attention to the escalating conflict between their community and the Texas [based] Hunt Oil Company who plans to extract billions of dollars of oil out of the Amakaeri Communal Reserve.


In a nutshell, Hunt Oil was given a concession for this land by the Peruvian government in a very hasty legal process which has alienated the local people from consultation. Furthermore, the project is being implemented on a massive communal nature reserve, the Amakaeri reserve, where uncontacted peoples are said to reside.


As of last Monday, the Harakmbut nation organized a massive protest against Hunt Oil and asked them to engage in a dialogue. This, however, left nothing resolved and the Hunt Oil project is going ahead as planned. Now the Harakmbut nation and their supporters feel they have exhausted all means of peaceful negotiations and have resolved to seek out violent means of resistance. This is very concerning. [...]


Below is an email sent out by one of our main contacts, [...] who was present for last week's meeting [in Peru]. Here she explains the position of the Harakmbut nation.

Dear friends, among the most important news is the following:

The meeting did take place in Salvación, but no ministers nor other requested authorities came, but only the same negotiators as usual. About a hundred people more, both natives and colonists, joined too. The three foreigners present were identified and intimidated by the district`s prosecutor and police officials who showed an aggressive attitude, besides there were heavily armed as if they were ready for a "second Bagua". No agreement was signed and Hunt Oil announced that it will continue its work. We also found out that:

a) The seismic lines have already been finished almost entirely without the communities knowing about it.

b) There are 1100 workers inside the Reserve.

c) There is a report of footprints of uncontacted Indigenous people made by an Indigenous worker from Shintuya.

After the meeting everybody opted for withdrawal from the place, the police followed us and settled down next to the "native camp", which made us "flee" to the Alto Madre de Dios river bank in order to travel downriver to Puerto Maldonado the next morning. The conclusion of the leaders is that at this point all possible peaceful means to stop the company`s activities and get the workers out of the Reserve "really" have been exhausted. Now they are thinking of violent measures as the last resource.

Hunt Oil Company has a reputation of environment destruction and a corrupted history. Only last month, Hunt Oil was fined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for violating federal regulations outlined under the Clean Water Act, found at its oil production facility of Henderson County, Texas.

Hunt Oil has several oil projects around the world and strong ties to the U.S. Republican party, and to the Bush family. Hunt Oil obtained the lease for the Camisea gas project in Peru, after then U.S. president George W. Bush visited Lima and he met with then Peruvian president Alejandro Toledo, a naturalized U.S. citizen.

If Hunt Oil can't protect the environment within the U.S. one has to wonder what they will do in Peru, where a weak and corrupt government doesn't have the political willingness nor the resources to enforce environmental protection rules.

Meanwhile, manipulated press in Peru is widely ignoring the Indigenous protests inSalvacion, the same way they ignored the peaceful road blockades in Bagua, before the massacre of June 5, 2009 where hundreds of Indigenous people died, including Indigenous police officers.

In order to distract the attention from the Indigenous uprising and to lobby in favor of Hunt Oil, president Alan Garcia has announced yesterday that more natural gas have been found in the Camisea region. Unpopular president Garcia tells Peruvians that this discovery represents a benefit for Peru and its citizens, but the experience lived by Native communities around Camisea, show that the extraction of natural gas for exportation only brings them pollution, death, and destruction of their ways of life.

As an attempt to avoid violence and stop the oil explorations Hunt Oil and Repsol-YPF were suedby the Indigenous group FENAMAD the Native Federation of Madre de Dios by the end of September 2009, after dialogue with the local Native peoples failed. 



Also there are other issues in play here, as the area of Salvacion attracts many tourists coming to the worldwide famous Manu Natural Reserve, and it's also said to be an area used for cocaine production, sold mostly to Brazil consumers.

The current situation is described by Pablo, a anonymous Peruvian blogger who seems to know well the Madre de Dios region and warns of "another Bagua" attack in the region. Pablo describes the situation as very complex, and cites communities being bought up by Hunt Oil, others trying to protect their lands, and others trying to safeguard their individual interests. However, the blogger never mentions his sources of information.

Now Peruvian labor and Indigenous groups are demanding the government of Garcia to fire its minister of Environment. The Mining Federation of Peru (FEDEMIN) y la Federación Nativa de Madre de Dios (FENAMAD) have called for a 48-hour national strike on November 16 and 17, to demand for minister of Environment Antonio Brack to step down. Brack is a strong supporter of mining, oil and natural gas corporations but he attacks small mining producers, blaming them of polluting rivers and ecosystems.

After failed attempts of the Garcia government to dissolve AIDESEP, the biggest Indigenous organization of the Amazonian communities on Peru, and the main organizer behind the Bagua protests, that organization has expressed its support to the Indigenous protests in Salvacion.

More information is coming soon. For now please stay alert and spread the word about this current conflict, so we can find ways to avoid more bloodshed and violence against the Indigenous peoples in Peru."

Dallas Trees' E-News of the Day, November 6

It's time to share a few tidbits of news that has filtered through research releases over the past week. If you don't pay much attention to science news in your day, you might consider coming back here periodically where I'll share some of the fascinating (and sca-a-a-a-ry) stories coming through the newswires. Some of these may seem like small-fry stories, but they may have serious long range implications.

SCIENCE DAILY
Water-conserving Irrigation Strategies Minimize Overwatering, Runoff

"Conserving water and reducing the environmental impact of runoff are two of the most important issues confronting container nursery operations. Current regulations and laws in five states limit water consumption by container nurseries, and some states also limit nutrient concentrations in runoff. Excessive runoff from container plants often results from poor irrigation efficiency; in some cases as little as 13% to 26% of overhead irrigation is retained in the container."

Big Air Pollution Impacts On Local Communities: Traffic Corridors Major Contributors To Illness From Childhood Asthma
"Heavy traffic corridors in the cities of Long Beach and Riverside are responsible for a significant proportion of preventable childhood asthma, and the true impact of air pollution and ship emissions on the disease has likely been underestimated, according to researchers at the University of Southern California (USC).

"The impact of roadway proximity on the overall burden of asthma-related illness is remarkable," McConnell says. "Air pollution is a more important contributor to the burden of childhood asthma than is generally recognized, especially to more severe episodes requiring visits to a clinic or emergency room."

Unlike regional air pollutants, the local traffic-related pollutants around homes and their effects are not currently regulated, he notes.

"This is a challenge to communities, to regulatory agencies and to public health," McConnell says. "Traffic-related health effects should have a central role on the transportation planning agenda."

Common Plants Can Eliminate Indoor Air Pollutants
"A long list of volatile organic compounds, or VOCs [including benzene, xylene, hexane, heptane, octane, decane, trichloroethylene (TCE), and methylene chloride], have been shown to cause illnesses in people who are exposed to the compounds in indoor spaces. Acute illnesses like asthma and nausea and chronic diseases including cancer, neurologic, reproductive, developmental, and respiratory disorders are all linked to exposure to VOCs. Harmful indoor pollutants represent a serious health problem that is responsible for more than 1.6 million deaths each year, according to a 2002 World Health Organization report.

Of the 28 species tested, Hemigraphis alternata (purple waffle plant), Hedera helix (English ivy), Hoya carnosa (variegated wax plant), and Asparagus densiflorus (Asparagus fern) had the highest removal rates for all of the VOCs introduced. Tradescantia pallida (Purple heart plant) was rated superior for its ability to remove four of the VOCs.

 

Left to right: The purple waffle plant, the Asparagus fern, and (bottom) English ivy

The study concluded that simply introducing common ornamental plants into indoor spaces has the potential to significantly improve the quality of indoor air. In addition to the obvious health benefits for consumers, the increased use of indoor plants in both ''green'' and traditional buildings could have a tremendous positive impact on the ornamental plant industry by increasing customer demand and sales."

Earthquakes Actually Aftershocks of 19th Century Quakes; Repercussions of 1811 and 1812 New Madrid Quakes Continue To Be Felt
"When small earthquakes shake the central U.S., citizens often fear the rumbles are signs a big earthquake is coming. Fortunately, new research instead shows that most of these earthquakes are aftershocks of big earthquakes (magnitude 7) in the New Madrid seismic zone that struck the Midwest almost 200 years ago."

North Atlantic Fish Populations Shifting As Ocean Temperatures Warm

"About half of 36 fish stocks in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, many of them commercially valuable species, have been shifting northward over the last four decades, with some stocks nearly disappearing from U.S. waters as they move farther offshore, according to a new study by NOAA researchers."

TREEHUGGER

36% of World's Flora and Fauna Now Threatened With Extinction

"The latest update to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is in and if you were expecting good news prepared to be disappointed. Of the more than 47,000 species surveyed, about 17,000 are at serious risk -- of those 21% of the world's mammal species, 12% of birds, 28% of reptiles, 30% of amphibians, 35% of invertebrates, 37% of freshwater fish and 70% of plants."

BBC EARTH

Logging 'causes Nazca collapse'

"The ancient Nazca people of Peru are famous for the lines they drew in the desert depicting strange animal forms.

A further mystery is what happened to this once great civilisation, which suddenly vanished 1,500 years ago.

Now a team of archaeologists have found the demise of the Nazca society was linked in part to the fate of a tree.

Analysing plant remains they reveal how the destruction of forests containing the huarango tree crossed a tipping point, causing ecological collapse.

The team have published their findings in the journal of Latin American Antiquity."

Green Is Cool!

A new study was released Tuesday on how land use changes have distinct effects on surface temperatures. The study provides more detailed proof of the heat island effect and how land use changes from forest to urban development increases the heat island impact while, interestingly, changing the land use from forest to agriculture actually makes it cooler. This is probably due to 'increased evaporation.'

There are long range planning impacts on urban growth to these issues.  Current high tech studies on the heat island effect, and on detailed information on the forest composition in Dallas, as well as the production of the Roadmap for Tree Planting, are intended to, in part, address these concerns.  We will hear more about these research projects and programs in the coming weeks and months ahead.  It's an exciting time to be an arborist in Dallas.

This map shows observation minus reanalysis (OMR) trends in the continental United States from 1979-2003. The trends are associated with land use and land-use changes. Researchers from Purdue and the universities of Colorado and Maryland conducted a study that showed land use can affect surface temperatures locally and regionally. Units are in degrees Celsius per decade.

From EurekAlert!, this report:

"Researchers say regional surface temperatures can be affected by land use, suggesting that local and regional strategies, such as creating green spaces and buffer zones in and around urban areas, could be a tool in addressing climate change.

A study by researchers from Purdue University and the universities of Colorado and Maryland concluded that greener land cover contributes to cooler temperatures, and almost any other change leads to warmer temperatures. The study, published on line and set to appear in the Royal Meteorological Society's International Journal of Climatology later this year, is further evidence that land use should be better incorporated into computer models projecting future climate conditions, said Purdue doctoral student Souleymane Fall, the article's lead author.

"What we highlight here is that a significant trend, particularly the warming trend in terms of temperatures, can also be partially explained by land-use change," said Dev Niyogi, a Purdue earth and atmospheric sciences and agronomy professor, and the Indiana state climatologist. He is the study's corresponding author.

Niyogi and Fall say the idea that land use helps drive climate change has been poorly understood compared to factors such as greenhouse gas emissions. But that is changing.

"People realize that land use cover also is an important force and not only at the local but also at the regional scale," said Fall, whose doctoral research focuses on the impacts of land surface properties on near-surface temperature trends.

The researchers used higher resolution temperature data than previous studies, meaning the data was more detailed, Niyogi said. They also employed dynamic data on land-use changes from 1992-2001, which was derived from satellite imagery.

Niyogi said having an understanding of land use's affects on climate change could have climatic and other benefits. For instance, creating green spaces and buffer zones in and around urban areas also could be aesthetically attractive, he said.

Among the study's findings:

• In general, the greener the land cover, the cooler is surface temperature.
  
  
• Conversion to agriculture results in cooling, while conversion from agriculture generally results in warming.
  
  
• Deforestation generally results in warming, with the exception of a shift from forest to agriculture. 
• No clear picture emerged from the impact of planting or seeding new forests.
  
  
• Urbanization and conversion to bare soils have the largest warming impacts.
  
  

In general, land use conversion often results in more warming than cooling.

There is more on this from Treehugger.

EPA Is Requesting Comments For Stormwater Rule

As the Dallas City Council prepares to look in December at possibly taking steps to venture into iSWM (integrated Stormwater Management) in a three phase process, the EPA announced onThursday that it is proposing a survey to help strengthen stormwater regulations and reduce stormwater discharges from 'newly developed and redeveloped sites.' They would look to take final action no later than November 2012. Somebody SAID this would be coming and sure enough....

The EPA is proposing to require three separate questionaires focusing on gathering data on current stormwater management practices. The data would be gathered from 1) the owners, operators, developers, and contractors of newly and redeveloped sites, 2) the owners and operators of municipal separate storm sewer systems, and 3) states and territories. The draft survey will require detailed information about stormwater management and control practices, local regulations, and baseline financial information.

The EPA is not requesting completion of the questionaires at this time, but the proposal will be open for public comment for 60 days following publication in the Federal Register.

For more information:

iSWM (Freese and Nichols) site with documentation of the city's proposal for amending the current drainage manual.

"EPA is proposing to disseminate a survey to owners, operators, developers, and contractors of developed sites, owners and operators of municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s), and states and U.S. territories, which is designed to inform a rulemaking to strengthen stormwater regulations and to establish a comprehensive program to reduce stormwater from newly developed and redeveloped sites. Stormwater discharges from developed sites can harm water quality through increases in stormwater volume and pollutant loadings into nearby waterways. Generally, as sites are developed there is an increase in areas where water cannot infiltrate, so stormwater volume increases. The resulting stormwater flows across roads, rooftops, and other surfaces, transporting pollutants that are then discharged into waterways."

Climate Denial Crock of the Week: 2009 Sea Ice Update

Peter Sinclair returns once again in his 'Crock of the Week' series with an update on the condition of the 2009 polar sea ice. The 2009 ice melt season has just ended in the northern hemisphere and observations confirm that there is a continuing decline in the cover and mass of the Arctic sea ice.

"The last three melt seasons represent the three lowest summer ice areas in the satellite record. Satellite measurements of total summer ice surface have been on a downward slope for three decades." The ice levels had reached a dramatic drop in 2007 and the past two years has shown a modest rebound from that record 2007 level. As predictable, the skeptics came out en masse to provide "misleading headlines, incorrect interpretations, and bonehead conspiracy theories."

Although there has been some recovery of ice cover from the 2007 level, the level of ice MASS has continued to decline where second and third year ice has declined extensively. Also, of course, we need to keep in consideration long-term cycles and continuing trends. The Arctic sea ice is one of the primary indicators of the continuing global climate change that is occurring to our good home.

National Snow and Ice Data Center

1979 - 2009 September ice extent now at 11.2% per decade.

Quick Facts on Arctic Sea Ice

Dallas Trees' E-News of the Day, October 28

These days it seems to get tougher to put together any blog posts for your reading enjoyment - or amusement - or boredom - whichever it is. Anyway, I still find some occasional science information that I think you would find of interest. I'll take the opportunity in between arboristing and sleeping to send you these little footnotes of life.

EUREKALERT

Trees Facilitate Wildfires As A Way to Protect Their Habitat.

Savanna Pines (Pinus elliottii var. densa) - Florida - may help facilitate fires to ward off other trees from displacing the pines and shifting the savanna to a closed forest system.

"The promotion of fire by the savanna trees increases their own abundance by limiting the establishment and growth of tree species that are better competitors for resources and that might ultimately displace the savanna trees. The research results suggest that some trees may modify or "engineer" their environment, including the characteristic fire frequencies in a landscape, to facilitate their own persistence at the expense of their competitors, Beckage said.

The research proposes a scenario for the development of savannas in landscapes that would otherwise become closed forests. Examples of savanna trees that facilitate frequent low-intensity fires include the longleaf pine and the south Florida slash pine, both of which frequently shed their needles providing fodder for wildfires. The savanna tree initially invades grassland, but by facilitating frequent fires, it limits its own density and thus prevents conversion to a forest."

Frankly, this is not surprising to find this in studies. The natural savannah environment would have regular fire incidents except that we have continually disrupted the ancient process. It is due to these disturbances that our open prairie and savannah ecosystems - including our own post oak savannah ecosystem - has continued to decline and be taken over by agriculture or forest lands derived from abandonment and a lack of management of the land. This is where forest management is crucial to maintaining or restoring natural systems to help sustain the current wildlife populations and help continue the survival of related tree species in certain regions. We continue to learn more about how nature works in feedback processes which also happen to be some of the dangers of global warming.

___________________________

SCIENCE DAILY

EPA's New Green Parking Lot Allows Scientists To Study Permeable Surfaces That May Help The Environment.

"Paved parking lots and driveways make our lives easier, but they often create an easy pathway for pollutants to reach underground water sources and alter the natural flow of water back into the ground. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced a study that will investigate ways to reduce pollution that can run off paved surfaces and improve how water filters back into the ground. EPA is testing a variety of different permeable pavement materials and rain gardens in the parking lot at the agency's Edison, N.J. facility, which houses offices and its laboratory. Most major sources of pollution going into our waterways are well-controlled, but pollution runoff from hard surfaces remains a complicated problem.

This summer, EPA replaced a 43,000-square-foot section of the parking lot at its Edison facility with three different types of permeable pavement and planted several rain gardens with varying vegetation for the study. Over the next decade, EPA will evaluate the effectiveness of each pavement type and the rain gardens in removing pollutants from stormwater, and how they help water filter back into the ground. The parking lot will be functional during the study to accurately evaluate how the different types of pavement handle traffic and vehicle-related pollution like leaking oil."

_____________________________

If you saw the neat picture I posted with the big redwood recently, you know I like looking at the natural elements at their biggest that kick your butt when you try to take it all in. Well, heck. Here ya go. Sure, the picture looks small on this blog. But jump on in and take a swim in the Milky Way with thanks to Alex Mellinger. I hope you have a big freakin' computer screen!

Axel Mellinger, A Color All-Sky Panorama Image of the Milky Way, arXiv:0908.4360 [astro-ph.GA] (PASP, accepted for publication, 2009)

Forget THIS picture. Go HERE!!

"Cobbling together 3000 individual photographs, a physicist has made a new high-resolution panoramic image of the full night sky, with the Milky Way galaxy as its centerpiece. Axel Mellinger, a professor at Central Michigan University, describes the process of making the panorama in the November issue of Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. An interactive version of the picture can viewed on Mellinger's website: http://home.arcor.de/axel.mellinger/.

"This panorama image shows stars 1000 times fainter than the human eye can see, as well as hundreds of galaxies, star clusters and nebulae," Mellinger said. Its high resolution makes the panorama useful for both educational and scientific purposes, he says.

Mellinger spent 22 months and traveled over 26,000 miles to take digital photographs at dark sky locations in South Africa, Texas and Michigan. After the photographs were taken, "the real work started," Mellinger said." - EUREKALERT!

DESPOTISM - The Wrath of the Lolligaggers

In the previous posting, I introduced the first of two films on the subjects of Democracy and Despotism. What does that have to do with trees? Not a thing. But when you find a little gem like these, you just need to share.

In the film "Despotism", we expand on the discussion from where "Democracy" left off. It sets the rankings of local communities on scales that range from a high point of a democracy to a low point of despotism. Some places may be in the middle. A "competent observer" will look beyond "fine words and noble phrases" and see the underlying philosophy. I think the film has a bit of a liberal slant to it since I came out of this thinking Rush Limbaugh was Hitler. Maybe I'm just biased. Take it or leave it, but the film is worth the chill you get when you see the old teacher looking at her pupil with contempt. Jimminy!

The producers talk about some scales that can be used to help you identify just how despotic your community is. You can use the RESPECT SCALE and the POWER SCALE. RESPECT ranges from SHARED to RESTRICTED. You can also use the SHARED POWER or the CONCENTRATED POWER scale. Despotic power can disregard the will of the people. It rules without the consent of the governed.

In a despotism, opposition can be dangerous - whether or not it's official or unofficial. Just ask a forensic committee member.

The spread of respect and power in a community is influenced by certain conditions which can be measured by the ECONOMIC DISTRIBUTION and INFORMATION scales. A slanted economic distribution is a sure sign of a looming despotism - and McMansions. Well, some might argue against that point.

Controlled versus Uncontrolled scales of INFORMATION is rated by how the media operates and how it trains its teachers.

Whatever your slant on this, it's a good civic and history lesson of where we were after World War II in preaching against the dangers of falling into tyranny and warning against the red menace.

What sort of community, state, or nation do YOU live in? Personally, I've got the impression that we're not so naive about what is fair in this country since this film was made. We've been losing a 'middle class' since before Reagan and a slanted economic distribution is now the American way. 'Fair and balanced' news now means slanted to one extreme ideology or the other. I think we need to expand the definitions a little.

DEMOCRACY .... as told in the classroom in 1945

In 1945, the United States was beginning to lick its wounds from a long, hard fought global war. The red scare was just beginning to show its face as the Soviet Union was showing to be a threat to the democratic institutions world wide. It was time to teach our children how to find 'evil-doers' in America who would subvert our local communities and begin to turn them toward despotism, a form of government ruled by a single group. If the threat could be stopped at the community level, it could not spread regionally, or nationally.

One method of education was through films like "Democracy" and "Despotism" that gave a description of the basic principles, qualities and conditions that are found in democratic versus despotic societies. In "Democracy", we learn that SHARED RESPECT and SHARED POWER among individuals are the common traits of democracy and they are dependent on the traits of ECONOMIC BALANCE (with a strong and vibrant Middle Class) and an ENLIGHTENED and ACTIVE CITIZENRY.

I'm presenting this to you as an opportunity to look back to the basics of civic learning, to enjoy a little propaganda, and for you to reflect on where you think you are today, not only in America, but also in your local community. Are we really following the right path for the future of our democracy and our republic? What is your definition of democracy? Is it shared power and respect with those across the aisle, or is it power by a few who think to know better, and with no compromise, and with no respect for others who differ?

It begins...."Democracy has been defined in many ways...."

Encyclopaedia Brittanica Films - Internet Archives

There is shared power where people get out voluntarily and vote. Interesting concept really that the success of your democracy is inherent in how YOU take an active part in it. If you leave it to the will of a few elite people to make decisions, the scale declines from democracy to despotism. We'll go more into that in Part II which is on 'Despotism.'

Democracy is something that is never finished. Reflect on the world around you after watching this film and ask yourself if our democracy is as strong as it should be, and then, what can you do to improve it? Damn, if these films aren't good for something.