From Jenna Orkin
Headlines
Blasts rock Moscow subway stations
Seoul hints at N Korea role in ship mystery
North Koreans use cellphones to bare nation’s secrets
North Korea warns South to stop border DMZ tours
US militants charged in plot to kill police
FBI make Christian militia arrests
Energy
Power crunch looms for Britain
Deciding the Arctic's Future Behind Closed Doors
Diplomats from Finland, Iceland and Sweden are upset; indigenous groups are furious. Five countries bordering the Arctic Ocean are meeting behind closed doors on Monday to discuss the region's future. Many of those who have interests in the Arctic have not been invited.
Explorers fail to strike oil in test sites off Falklands
Company seeks first U.S. oil sands project, in Utah
PetroChina Plans $60 Billion of Overseas Expansion
Halliburton Hunts for Bacteria Killer to Stave Off Crackdown on Shale Gas
Natural Gas Gaining 50% for Goldman as Exxon Bets $28.5 Billion
Economy
J.P. Morgan: Fed Tightening Is Coming, Here's What You Have To Know
Greenspan Shocked That Debt Is High And Interest Rates Are Rising
Claude Rains lives.
Insider Buying Remains Non-Existent - from Rice Farmer
Half of Commercial Mortgages to Be Underwater: Warren - from Rice Farmer
FDIC Balks at WaMu Repayment to JPMorgan: Report
Bankers return to their bad habits
Intelligence
Anti-extremist scheme 'spies on Muslims'
Fingerprint system 'stigmatises pupils'
From Secrecy News:
"I believe that there is a discrepancy between what most Americans believe is legal and what the government is actually doing under the Patriot Act," said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) in a statement last week on the Senate floor regarding reform of the Patriot Act...
"The Biometrics Identity Management Agency leads Department of Defense activities to prioritize, integrate, and synchronize biometrics technologies and capabilities and to manage the Department of Defense’s authoritative biometrics database to support the National Security Strategy," according to a March 23 Order (pdf) issued by Army Secretary John M. McHugh that redesignated the previous Biometrics Task Force as the BIMA...
"State Secrets and Executive Accountability" by Christina E. Wells, Constitutional Commentary, forthcoming.
"The Shadow of State Secrets" by Laura Donohue, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, forthcoming.
Environment/Health
Humans 'too stupid' to save climate
James Lovelock
Junk food could be addictive 'like heroin'
Fears gonorrhoea becoming untreatable
Gulf Stream Not Slowing Down
And...
German Firm Wins Right to Make Beer Called 'Fucking Hell'
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24 comments:
‘Earth Energy Resources Inc. has a state lease to work a 62-acre pit in Uintah County, where it has demonstrated technology that can extract oil out of sands using a proprietary solvent it calls environmentally friendly.
‘…"We will have the greenest oil sands mine on the planet," Snarr said.’
My God, that’s like having the kindest form of torture on the planet. If we don’t collapse soon, the 85,000 manmade chemicals bestowed by the industrial revolution will, literally, “Cover the Earth” (Remember the Sherwin-Williams paint logo, with a paint can tipped over the globe?) And the big payoff is … (I had to read it again to be sure)
… 2000 barrels of oil per day?
I wonder if this relates to yesterday’s story about the Utah governor trying to take over public lands for energy production.
Douglas Adams, who published a book in 1990 called, Last Chance to See, should publish a sequel: Crap, Y’missed It.
http://news.silverseek.com/SilverSeek/1269625544.php
Perhaps they won't kill him if we all know about it.
http://www.sott.net/articles/show/205674-Andrew-McGuire-whistle-blower-on-market-manipulation-injured-in-hit-and-run-accident
Pagun,
I just read your post on an earlier thread, about Aquarius - Leo. I, for one, would like to hear more on that. It might be like tarot cards, which only become meaningful in relation to other cards. They tell little stories, which create a big story, and maybe there's something behind the story.
Lay it on us!
Humans 'too stupid' to save climate
From the interview - Why all science is inherently flawed: "In the old days, it was perfectly OK to make a mistake and say so. You often learned from it. Nowadays if you're dependent on a grant – and 99% of them are – you can't make [admit to] mistakes as you won't get another one if you do. It's an awful moral climate and it was all set up for the best of reasons."
As per usual, the commentary is even more interesting than the article; and in this case, does well to validate the headline.
gulf stream not slowing link
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8589512.stm
RE: Humans 'too stupid' to save climate
the human race is almost finished
@eyeballs, re: "Crap, y'missed it"
did you miss this?
(per Wikipedia)
[Douglas] Adams died of a heart attack at the age of 49 on 11 May 2001, during the rest period of his regular workout at a private gym in Montecito, California. He had unknowingly suffered a gradual narrowing of the coronary arteries, which led at that moment to a myocardial infarction and a fatal cardiac arrhythmia. Adams had been due to deliver the commencement address at Harvey Mudd College on 13 May[39]. His funeral was held on 16 May in Santa Barbara, California. Several friends and people he had worked with were in attendance. His ashes were placed in Highgate Cemetery in north London in June 2002.
JJR
Sure did miss that. What a pity. Never know when it's your last chance, do ye? Warning to the rest of us.
Thanks for that obit, JJR.
Elmo, ditto "too stupid:"
Greens are denuded, further bankrupted by one of their own gurus. Prof. Lovelock claims, "Trying to save the planet is a lot of nonsense." He merely reinforces his own Gaia Theory while down-playing dawdling climate change scientists. Gaia, as a living ecological entity, will not only correct itself over time, but will do so more efficiently in direct proportion to less human interference.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8594000/8594561.stm
Has everyone seen the new fuel efficient Hummers that will be rolling out this next decade?
Elmo,
This is the link which prompted pagun's post, & it's relevance here!
Now I am waiting for a response from the "Change" deniers.
Take a deep breath-remember it's all relative, & almost moot!
Earth Entering New Age of Geological Time
Quotes are not in the order published.
"The new epoch, called the Anthropocene – meaning new man – would be the first period of geological time shaped by the action of a single species"
.
"Humans have wrought such vast and unprecedented changes on the planet that we may be ushering in a new period of geological history."
"It is feared that the damage mankind has inflicted will lead to the sixth largest mass extinction in Earth’s history with thousands of plants and animals being wiped out"
Glad to see Elmo is still stirring the pot.
I remember when a post referencing Zeitgeist would be refused, I also think it's a distraction, but then what distracts one, is a focus point for another, you just have to ignore the parts which are twisted to fit the agenda, laugh when you can, use what you can; remember a lie has to be mostly fact to be believable.
Ms. V,
You are well educated, several hours in the library will give you enough information about the advantages/weakness' of forms of investment.
A Self Directed IRA is well suited for a smart Educated person, you can invest in almost anything including land, you can withdraw assets under the right conditions, with no penalty. It just takes backbone, education, & a Mentor to get you on the right track (someone local, that you trust).
As MCR said 2010 is the year.
I would advise any newcomer to this Blog to go back several years, pick a Thread with a lot of action; read carefully,move ahead 6 mo. and repeat this until you are back here, absorb the evolution which has taken place, you need to know where we have been, to see clearly where we are headed!
There will be CHAOS, everywhere; running will just make it worse, stay where you feel at home, part of a group, work to improve COMMUNITY!
The Lifeboat will not work this time, there will be no Current, or Sharks to remove the dead, how many can you bury?
How long before the ground water is unfit to drink, & sickness is rampant because of the lack of soap, Sanitizers (which we depend on), & even toothpaste?
What are you planning as a Toothbrush? What about local Bath (?) Tissue?
You must start with the basics, forget cellphones, or 30 year light bulbs!
Newest Idea to go down when smoke signals become the norm AGAIN; Cloud Computing, the hand cranked cpu!
Amae.
Regarding the article "Humans are too Stupid to Prevent Climate Change", in the article he says:
"I have a feeling that climate change may be an issue as severe as a war. It may be necessary to put democracy on hold for a while."
Wow! Now we've got environmentalists jumping on board with the idea of suspending both democracy and civil rights.
"He thinks only a catastrophic event would now persuade humanity to take the threat of climate change seriously enough..."
"That would be the sort of event that would change public opinion," he said. "Or a return of the dust bowl in the mid-west."
Doesn't this sound a lot like the Project for the New American Century mentioning before 9/11 that it would take an event similar to the magnitude of the attack on Pearl Harbor to push through their agenda for all the rest of us?
The dustbowl in the midwest (in the U.S.) in the 1930s wasn't related to global warming. And stating that if a condition like this one returned again we'd attribute it to global warming this next time is a total and complete joke.
In addition, the mainstream media is giving all the people involved in "Climategate" a clean bill of health and saying in no way does what happened in this regard interfere with all the "science" supporting global warming. But still they won't discuss the 30,000 scientists who've signed a petition saying it's a fraud.
How about if we do what would be their worst nightmare? How about if we have live televised debates on both 9/11 and on global warming, with the best experts on both sides doing all the debating? In both situations the story the mainstream media has been telling all of us would completely crumble like a cookie that's been stepped on and crushed. That's why we could never, ever have live debates like these on television for all of us.
Climategate Researchers Largely Cleared
Businessman,
Though this thread is already old, I want to respond to your concerns about democracy, following Lovelock's dramatic statement. You say:
"Doesn't this sound a lot like the Project for the New American Century mentioning before 9/11 that it would take an event similar to the magnitude of the attack on Pearl Harbor to push through their agenda for all the rest of us?"
Certainly this is a possibility. Powerful, amoral forces will tend to use whatever comes up -- a hurricane, an earthquake, a war, whatever -- to further their own interests. And they have plans up their sleaves, having war-gamed these scenarios with a gaggle of very bright minds, long before we even consider the possibilities. and it's possible that THEM would create a disaster to consolidate their authority.
In fact, I'm sure they will, time and again. But there are plenty of disasters ready to happen anyway. The "conspiracy theorist" is part right: conspiracies ARE the way political and economic events are manipulated. But they're often wrong that a specific event is CAUSED BY a conspiracy. A good example is the Haitian earthquake. Possibly a HAARP weapon was unleashed on Haiti, but it's also very possible that the technonic plates just moved. The world is wild enough even without deliberate evil.
I'd just like to point out that democracy is pretty much doomed, anyway, on the state level. Because Americans, as opposed to say Russians or Chinese, have a long cultural experience with collective decision making, we are likely to continue doing it in situations where we have the chance: say, at the town and neighborhood level, in our clubs and associations. But authoritarianism is the historically appropriate development in crisis. It's just what happens. Similarly, democracy tends to flourish in canoes and frontier settlements, where everyone is basically equal in value. These are historical seasons, like spring and winter. To argue for democracy as the masses beg for order is just banging your head against a wall.
For WWII, we got Churchill and FDR, both strong leaders given special powers. Russia, unfortunately, was stuck with Stalin -- but many Russians today praise him for bringing Russia through the war, and in fact his iron hand was just what they needed to oppose Hitler.
As big empires fall apart, violence picks up in the vacuum of authority, and new authoritarians arise, usually warlords, usually less constrained by custom and input from "the people", except in plebicites and public rallies that "legitimize" the dictator.
Get ready, Businessman. We're not going back to the days of Madison and Jefferson. Not a chance. In Cascadia we may preserve some egalitarian customs, but in general the decline will call for tough central governments, equipped with technology that empowers them over the masses. Staying out of their way will be far more prudent than shaking a fist at them.
"Mind your own business" may sound like an insult, but it's going to be good advice in the coming time.
They tried the live debate venue for science once. The Church put Galileo under house arrest and declared his findings to be heresy.
I'm none too impressed that 30,000 oil industry employees and lobbyists signed a petition.
Is that how science is done now, you ask random people on the street questions, to arrive at an understanding of how the universe functions?
@Sebastian
"Gaia, as a living ecological entity, will not only correct itself over time, but will do so more efficiently in direct proportion to less human interference."
I am a little unclear as to whether you are saying you agree or disagree with that statement. I, for one, am in full agreement.
@agape_wins
"I remember when a post referencing Zeitgeist would be refused, I also think it's a distraction, but then what distracts one, is a focus point for another, you just have to ignore the parts which are twisted to fit the agenda"
I have to say, I disagree with your point. I think that when one is trying to stress an important issue --or at least what they perceive to be an important issue-- it behooves them to get their facts straight. Apart from just being "good science"; it significantly reduces the chance of "deniers" having any ammunition to use against them.
But, I would even go as far as to say that the movie Zeitgeist is a deliberate distraction --an attempt to muddy the waters-- as it's spin on reality should be glaringly obvious to anyone who has studied history and current events. Why Mike --being the meticulous researcher that he is-- chose not to point that out leaves me wondering about his motives.
On the other note; my comment: "I'm outta here" was just my impetuous nature rearing it's ugly head. I can be a bit of a brat sometimes (in case anyone hadn't noticed). :-)
@ Elmo, yes of course, that is an agreement. Gaia is prepping to do a 100-year purge/puke.
@ eyeballs, it will not be pretty. That's just the way it is. These are our times.
@eyeballs & businessman
I think democracy only works in small groups, where everyone knows what's going on, and is able to keep an eye on each other. I don't see that it works for large nation states, where you only get to hear what your government chooses to tell you, and everyone is a suspect in some great conspiracy. As a matter of fact, I don't believe any form of government works for the nation state. They've all failed miserably!
@Sebastian
"Gaia is prepping to do a 100-year purge/puke."
I'm betting it won't take that long. We always find a way to improve efficiency.
Agape,
Thank you...your right. I need to stop being paralyzed and make some decisions. I know I can be doing certain things. It's as though, if I begin some preparedness, then it'e REALLY real and I will be honest...that is scary. But this anxiety is not going to dissipate with non-action.
Thanks for the advice
...and in it goes...
eyeballs...I'm completely on board with you and what you say about democracy. I was just stunned that the person quoted in that article, someone who's concerned about the environment, would recommend putting whatever democracy we still have left on hold in the interest of implementing what they'd like to see happen around global warming.
Weaseldog...While I'm normally in agreement with your posts, I don't understand how you can just dismiss my mentioning that over 30,000 scientists have signed a petition saying that they don't believe in global warming by saying the following:
"I'm none too impressed that 30,000 oil industry employees and lobbyists signed a petition.
Is that how science is done now, you ask random people on the street questions, to arrive at an understanding of how the universe functions?"
Please show me your evidence that these people are 30,000 people who are oil industry lobbyists and employees, and at the same time show me that they were also random people on the street who were asked questions.
Sebastian,
Much will not be pretty. Some of the future may be nice, though. That part is up to us. That's why it's better to get the boots on and go out there and try. Otherwise, there are painless forms of suicide that can remove a person from both the opportunity of doing good and the risk of experiencing something horrid.
People taking care of one another by developing their own energies and talents to do useful things, instead of pursuing useless things for a paycheck and spending that on civilization's impersonal life support facilities ... that's pretty. Could be pretty rough, too. But the future is not all pain. There's some pretty bits, at least for those who try.
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