Collapsenet.com launches June 8.
From Jenna Orkin
Headlines
BP and Feds Withheld Videos Showing Massive Scope of Oil Spill
Mentions three leaks.
Iran Dumps Euro Reserves for Dollars; Debt Crisis in Japan; Govt Sponsorship of Newspapers; Govt to Collect ATM Records, Addresses of Bank Customers
West Moving Towards Deeper Financial Abyss
G20 Heated Debates; Europe Politely Tells Geithner Where To Go
G20: The Time For Stimulus Is Over, Long Live Fiscal Austerity
Paul Krugman: Lost Decade, Here We Come
Hungary Tries To Calm Markets; Europe Headed Back in Recession, US Will Not Decouple
Oil Is Front and Center in Doomsday Scenarios from Luis Mora
Boone Pickens: Get Ready for $400 Oil? - from Rice Farmer
US Mulls New N. Korea Measures
Sub Attack Was Near US-S. Korea Drill
Economy
10 States Where An Absurd Percentage Of The Population Works For The Government
Almost 25%.
US Debt Nears Key Threshhold
Say Good-bye to Full Time Jobs with Benefits
Euro 'dead in five years'
Oil Disaster
SQUID Solution Could Contain Oil BP Disaster Threatens Florida Water Supply
BP Oil Leak May Last Until December
BP Is Capturing 10,000 Barrels a Day From Gulf Spill, Chief Hayward Says
Suddenly it's cool to bash Obama
Terror/Intelligence
"The same countries that are criticizing us today should know that they will be targeted tomorrow,"
The above quotation from Benjamin Netanyahu is making the rounds of the internet with the implication that Israel intends to target its critics. But see it in context:
"...he said, just a day after Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called Israel's policy toward Gaza "unsustainable." 'It's for this and for many other reasons we have a right to inspect cargo heading into Gaza,'' Netanyahu added."
It is clear that Netanyahu means that countries other than Israel are vulnerable to attack from what he calls "terrorists."
Disinfo muddying the already treacherous waters.
Lying About the Gaza Flotilla Disaster from Vantage Point
How Israeli propaganda shaped U.S. media coverage of the flotilla attack from Vantage Point
Photos of Israeli Commandos Bloodied, Aboard Mavi Marmara - Turkish press
For the interpretation of these photos, we are at the mercy of unidentified translators.
James Clapper
"In September 2001, Clapper became the first civilian director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) (previously known as the National Imagery & Mapping Agency), a job he would hold for five years before joining the Pentagon brass."
Environment/Health
45% Doctors Would Consider Quitting if Health Care Bill Passes (2009)
Nearly 1/3 Doctors Could Leave Medicine if Health Care Bill Passes (March)
Nation Faces Shortage of 150K Doctors in 15 Years
GM lobby helped draw up report
Report: WHO created ‘distortion of priorities’ over swine flu
UN Urges Global Move to Meat- and Dairy-free Diet
Climate Change Forces Major Vegetation Shifts from Elizabeth Miller
Floods Bring Chaos to Central Europe from Vantage Point
And...
Kieran UK has left a new comment on your post "BP Chief Sold Shares Weeks Before Oil Spill": Portugal, Italy, Greece, Spain, Hungary, Ireland....P-I-G-S-H-I-?Any guesses for last one?
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16 comments:
Reference Jenna and claims of 'disinfo'.
Does gates of Vienna or perhaps invasion of Cyprus mean anything to you.
Actions speak volumes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_invasion_of_Cyprus
They invaded with the backing of the UN as peacekeepers - then expelled all the Greeks.
Here are two of the 6 principles of Islamic culture as defined by Bernard Lewis.
1."At no time did the (Muslim) jurist approve of terrorism. Nor indeed is there any evidence of the use of terrorism (in Islamic tradition)."
6."Unbelievers, slaves, and women are considered fundamentally inferior to other groups of people under Islamic law."
http://www.jstor.org/pss/3011952
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Lewis
Number 6 would seem to me to undermine all the others don't you think.
Actions speak volumes.
Just my opinion obviously, I would fight to defend your right to your opinion in contrast to...
Gates spills the beans on his real motive for vaccinating the world's poor:
http://www.theflucase.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3650%3Aeugenicist-bill-gates-to-attend-2010-bilderberg-conference-&catid=41%3Ahighlighted-news&Itemid=105&lang=en
Suddenly it's cool to bash Obama
Hey, I've been doing that since day one! Does that mean I'm finally a COOL kid after 40 some years?
Nah! Not in THIS life!
Funny that BP isn't even an American company, and yet they can give orders to our coast guard. Boy, if THAT doesn't show ya who's really in charge, then NOTHING will!
Next stop The Roaring 20's:
Boone Pickens says "Get Ready for $400 Oil"?
Let's see...
Okay, just gimme a sec, I'm just gonna do some quick math here...
just a minute...
I've almost got it...
Okay, here it is:
yr 2000 oil cost approx $20pb
yr 2020 oil cost approx 20x$20pb
And that equals...
Hmmm...Okay, if my calculations are correct...wait...
carry the 1...hold on...
a quick analysis...now just double checking the numbers...
Eureka, I got it! It seems to me that the average person won't be able to afford that future price. But, then again, what the hell do I know. I'm no math wiz.
One of the elements of collapse could be "everything breaks down at once." The structure is weakened, fissure by fissure, but the actual breakdown is sudden and complete.
The environmental catastrophe in the Gulf..
The worthless US currency, trillions in debt, no significant manufacturing left onshore to recover with..
War in Afghanistan.. (lot's of other empires discovered this is a very bad idea)
Israel throws gas on the embers of whatever's left of international relations in MidEast..
An inoperable US Federal government and bankrupt state govs..
China inflates the bubble of bubbles..
Nutjobs in North Korea brandish war..
The list goes on with the point being that collapse is not a theory any more than a black cloud "might" be a storm. Look to the horizon; be prepared.
Don,
Read a report titled "tipping point" It is a very informative study on how empires fall, and factors used to predict the rate of our future collapse. Here is the link
http://www.feasta.org/documents/risk_resilience/Tipping_Point_summary.php
Read the whole report not just the summary, I think you'll enjoy it.
That "Gates [would have an ulterior non-pc] motive for vaccinating the world's poor" is easily understandable: what's the reason for having more money than several billions of poorer ones worth if it's not to prove that one is at least monetarily grander than most?
Be not concerned: the Bill Gates' of this particular experiential paradigm are not one grain of dust more worthy than the monetarily poorest of us all when it comes to the truth of 'the bottom line'. One is judged ultimately by the content of one's character and one's deeds, not by one's money or mere seeming power to control the destiny of others.
e Brutto,
Like the Bible, the Koran can be used to justify a wide range of things. And like people calling themselves Christians (say, the Crusaders), people calling themselves Moslems do things under the cover of religion that are really for personal gain and political domination. This does not mean that all Moslems want to enslave your women and insult your religion.
In fact, Muslims treated Jews and Christians with relative respect, prior to the confrontations of the late 20th century, whereas Christians routinely robbed and killed the other two groups using Christian dominance as a cover. To Moslems, Jews and Christians were "people of the book", fellow Abrahimics. There was no Inqusition among the Moslems.
The religion only defines the culture to the extent that you make that true. If you make it an US vs. THEM situation, of course them has to band together and then us has to band together. And pretty soon we're at war.
Troops outside the Gates of Vienna were portrayed (by papal propagandists) as an threat to Christianity. In fact, it was one empire invading another. The Crusaders at the Gates of Constantinople were just as menacing to the Byzantine Empire, though both were Christian.
In fact, it was Arab racialism, more than a fanatic Islamism, that was frustrated by the foundation of the state of Israel. The Arab Empire was truly amazing, and without it Europe would have lost classics of Aristotle and Galen. It had ended centuries ago, descending into relatively degraded small countries, but Arab nationalists hoped that the tools of the modern world could re-unite it.
These hopes were frustrated by Western interests. Displaced Palestinians, and then Israel's wars for territory with other Arab nations turned it all nasty, and the US vs. THEM thing turned increasingly on religion, because it was an easy way to unite opposition to Western imperialism and the annoying appropriation of Palestine.
Persia, while not Arab, got pissed off by the coup against Mossadegh and the Shah period and all. Naturally, when the biggest emerging leader is a cleric, religion takes the fore. So Iran somewhat united with the Arabs to oppose both Israel and Western petro-interests in the Mideast (but I repeat myself). None of this is religious. It's about oil, money, power and glorious mythology.
If we talk about "them", we're grouping diverse individuals with many other important values and interests together under one banner, that being religion. If pale-skinned people persecute all people of color, then White becomes the common enemy. If you persecute all Moslems on the basis of Christian values, then Christian becomes the enemy. We don't need to unite people against us.
Consider this: What would it be like for an Ayatolah to try and rule Britain, or California, or Japan? Our cultural roots are strong enough to allow new inclusions without being enslaved by them. Or, if they aren't, it won't matter much what we would prefer. I think they are, and I'm confident in mixing with other types of people. Up to you, man.
great final blog post, however what good does it do anyone building a lifeboat where things have become localized? does what's goes on in palestine or israel or iran or japan mater much to a lifeboat builder, or someone waiting or wanting to climb into a lifeboat? whatever is going on overseas is okay for a mapmaker, but we have enough of a map drawn today to turn our backs on anything outside of 'local'. these long, rambling diatribes ending with "It's up to you, man" are more ego-driven than helpful. why would any of that 'history' be helpful to a lifeboat builder in kansas? the major religions aren't helpful in building lifeboats; why talk about them? because we are a"christian" nation? news: we are NOT a christian nation. we are an egoic one. remove the ego from the equation (ANY equation) and there's not much left but the bare essence of humanity. there is no room in a lifeboat for ego. religion is used as cover, but it's always the ego that starts the war, fights it and survives the fighting host's death. since collapsenet is launching tomorrow, could someone else PLEASE EDIT THE EGO OUT of the blog postings if jenna's not gonna do it? my own ego is plenty for me to deal with, i really don't come here to read other people's egos. i'm not here to learn world history, psychology or toxic religion. i'm here to learn lifeboat building. this space should be used for exactly that and nothing more. most of these blog postings (including many of my own) belong in the map-making room. There clearly needs to be a separation between the map-makers and the lifeboat builders. please.
Following the religious line...
These 'books' of the world's major religions --the ones we all love to hate-- are nothing more than carefully selected literary works, by people from all walks of life, relating to events long ago forgotten. Some of the authors were political activists; some were politicians; some were scribes; many were just common everyday folk. NONE of them were working under the modern edict of 'unbiased journalism'! So you get a lot of opinions, superstitions and fantasies all thrown in for effect. Hand these writings down through twenty or thirty generations, and you have the seasonings for the great stew of moral confusion that our societies are currently boiling in.
I can glean from any one of these books, as many selected passages as I feel necessary to justify pretty much ANY act I might wish to perpetrate upon my fellow man "In The Name Of God". And by the same token, I can point to an equal number of passages which I can hold up as proof that any (if not all) students of said religions are: "radical extremists". This truth applies not only to Judeo-Christian-Muslim cultures; but to everything from Beelzebub to Buddha!
Such is the nature of the "War On Terrorism" being performed today by our governments and their supporting propaganda ministries. But in the grand scheme of things, it's nothing new. See: Joseph Goebbels; Julius Caesar; Plato; Nebuchadnezzar. The history of anti-terrorism gets a little vague prior to that, but you get the idea.
You know how if you're constantly stressed or involved in high-risk activities, you burn out your adrenal glands and get something like Lupus or Chronic Fatigue Disorder?
Well, I think I've developed a psychological version of that, based on this everyday, heightened level of "the world is going down, take cover!"
I'm feeling burned out by all of this! It's manifesting as anger, apathy and disenchantment.
Anyone else feel that way?
Margaret asked: "I'm feeling burned out by all of this! It's manifesting as anger, apathy and disenchantment. Anyone else feel that way?"
I do sometimes. You want stress, try living across the street from a trucking company!
Believe it or not, it helps me to go wallow around in the dirt. Seriously!
There are studies (I know how we all love studies) that show that school children who are encouraged to participate in gardening activities tend to be happier and more cooperative with each other, and have a better general attitude towards their environment; as compared to those who spend their days baking on asphalt playgrounds. Well hell, I could have told them that!
When I feel like shit, I go dig something up; or pull some weeds; or get on my bike, and go ride around looking for exotic plants I can transplant into one of my flower beds. It's not the "manly thing to do", but it beats drinking for a living (I actually did that for five years... it didn't end well).
Elmo,
Yes, I know what you mean. I'm an ecopsychologist, so I know all about the benefits of time in nature (like gardening) and reconnecting to more primal matters like dirt! I do find solace in that. I have a good-sized garden and I'm writing a book on contemplative hiking, so I get out in nature a lot.
Despite all that, I have my moments where I just need to unplug from the news and from news of peak oil and collapse, too. I already don't have TV, but I still get online and of course click on the links in this blog daily.
Then I start getting mad (get this) that the shit isn't hitting the fan hard enough, or fast enough - because things are still generally the same ol' same ol' around here, and many of my friends and family don't take me seriously anymore.
Yeah. I don't know if, once you have accepted what is, and continue with serious preparations and safeguards, it's mentally healthy to keep indulging in the "doom and gloom" stuff. There's something both seductive and destructive about it.
Buddy the Cat
You're missin out, man. You want to build a lifeboat in Kansas, you better know what kind of sea you'll be riding on. Religion will definitely play a huge role. I'm not into relgion at all, m'self, but that don't mean it won't come after us.
You think you'll be safe in Kansas, no religious freaks to bother you there? Look south, where millions of Bible-thumpers are currently adjusting to a blighted coastline, ruined ports, crashing economies. Also to the south, you have millions of mostly-Catholic Mexicans seething up from a hungry and violent land. To the north, you have Mormonland, whence came the current Ambassador to China. These people will fuck with your lifeboat, unless you're a good navigator and know what's out there.
As for the notion that you don't need to know history, man you need to get hip. History is why you're where you are. It's how stuff got to be the way it is. It's the momentum by which the present is sliding into the future. You can see how empires rise and fall, and what the strategies are that others have used, when they do fall. It's not enough to dig your own garden and assume that the rest of the world will have no influence, or that historical currents will not play out in your backyard.
With due respect to your obvious sincerity, lifeboat building (and navigating, once there's water under the boat) cannot be disconnected from history, politics, religion, psychology or the rest of world knowledge, any more than it can be separated from seed saving and tree grafting.
Sure, I have an ego, you do, Mike does. But serious awareness of where we are and what might happen and what we might be able to get away with is the main game here. If I come on too self-important, please forgive. I'm just trying to share my own perspective and some small knowledge with all of you. And I do so appreciate reading the thoughts and facts provided by others.
Peace, Buddy.
Margaret,
You know what I think would better help me deal with the occasional bout of depression? Having a swimming hole! One that's not polluted with empty Clorox bottles, stolen bicycles, and industrial run-off, like the stream that's just down the road from our house.
I know... that's depressing! Sorry. :-(
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