October 16, 2014 is the 8th annual Blog Action Day.

The theme this year is inequality. 

It is good to see this yearly blog effort because bloggers around the world are everyday people who do the work of freedom. 

Some bloggers brave substantial risk to offer their viewpoints in the places they live and to the entire world.

As awful as the state government of Texas is, I don't face the risks bloggers in even more repressive parts of the world confront. So I'm glad to be a small part of a global effort with such good colleagues. 

(My friend Perry Dorrell at Brains & Eggs is also taking part in Blogger Action Day.)  

Wealth is increasingly concentrated across the world. 

In the United States, what is left of the middle class is economically worse off then 25 years ago.

Our global economic systems, which all lead to the rule of just a few elites whether it be in China or Russia or the United States, are accelerating climate change and making sure that the most powerful remain in power with the use of constant surveillance and militarized police.   

There are other ways to live other than feeling our lives and our fates are tied to systems that don't pay fair wages for our work, pit us against each other, offer us junk to eat and destroy the planet. 

These efforts begin with each of us as individuals and as people coming together to demand something better.  

We all have the capacity to fight back. Fast food workers in the United States have been striking for higher wages. We all have the power to fight back individually and collectively.

Here is a list of ideas for everyday resistance. 

Your thoughts and ideas on better ways to live and ways to resist the greed and violence of everyday life are welcome. Please leave a comment or e-mail me at naa618@att.net. 

Good and hopeful things happen all the time in life. Let's bring about a better way of living. 

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Defense Secretary Chuck Hegel said today that the Pentagon sees climate change as an "Immediate national security threat."  

Here is a link to a copy of the report. 

From the New York Times---

"The Pentagon on Monday released a report asserting decisively that climate change poses an immediate threat to national security, with increased risks from terrorism, infectious disease, global poverty and food shortages. It also predicted rising demand for military disaster responses as extreme weather creates more global humanitarian crises....The report lays out a road map to show how the military will adapt to rising sea levels, more violent storms and widespread droughts. The Defense Department will begin by integrating plans for climate change risks across all of its operations, from war games and strategic military planning situations to rethinking the movement of supplies. The loss of glaciers will strain water supplies in several areas of our hemisphere,” Mr. Hagel said. “Destruction and devastation from hurricanes can sow the seeds for instability. Droughts and crop failures can leave millions of people without any lifeline, and trigger waves of mass migration.”

This made me wonder if we will now declare war on ourselves as we refuse as a nation to seriously address climate change? Are Members of Congress who fight efforts to combat climate change now be regarded as internal enemies? Will the army seize coal plants? What sacrifices will everyday citizens me asked to make to fight this security threat? 

I'm all for taking climate change in a serious manner.  NASA said today that the Earth just went through the warmest six recorded months since records exist going back to 1880.

So if climate change is an immediate security threat, where is the leadership to address the threat? 

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