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Author Topic: Future Earth  (Read 36732 times)

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AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #90 on: May 09, 2015, 05:06:16 pm »
WHAT PART OF "IONIZING RADIATION CAUSES CANCER AND STERILITY" DO THESE YOUNG FOOLS NOT UNDERSTAND.

If the following continues
, UNDERpopulation will be the main problem in the future, not overpopulation. 

What's the First Thing Most Younger People Do When They Wake up?

The first thing most younger people do when they wake up is check their phones – approximately 74% of adults aged 18 to 24 report looking at their phones in the morning.

Checking email is the most common activity performed on smartphones first thing after waking up, with 67% of people, followed by checking the weather reports, with 45%, and social media at 40%. Smartphone usage for the age group generally continues throughout the day - about half of all young professionals reported that they also use their phone to perform work tasks while driving. Additionally, 20% admitted that their smartphone would be their first priority if they were robbed.


More about smart phone usage :


•42% of young people surveyed that they would give up their sense of smell if they had to choose between it or having internet access with their phones   .

•Smartphone users unlock their devices an average of 110 times per day, or approximately once every six minutes.

•Nearly one-third of smart phone users check their phones while in the bathroom, and almost half admit to having checked their phones during meals.   

http://www.wisegeek.com/whats-the-first-thing-most-younger-people-do-when-they-wake-up.htm
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #91 on: May 09, 2015, 09:47:28 pm »
05/08/2015 12:49 PM     
Western Towns Want Coal Miners to Pay for Climate Adaptation 

SustainableBusiness.com News

Does this sound familiar?

 Pay us to cope with climate change because you caused it. That's the stand developing nations take at international climate talks, and now that argument is being used right here in the USA.


Is this is a sign of things to come?    

The Mountain Pact 


11 Western towns in Colorado, Utah and New Mexico have formed "The Mountain Pact" to get coal companies to pony up the cash they need to cope with climate change impacts in the American West.

"Economic, public health and environmental damages from catastrophic wildfires, floods and reduced snowpack are some of the threats we face," says their letter to Sally Jewel, Secretary of the Interior. It is also being sent to the White House and members of Congress.

Although they want the pollution reduced from coal, they are simply asking for coal miners to pay market rate prices for the coal they extract from public land. The US charges the lowest royalties in the world.



Arch Coal wants to open this area in Colorado, but a judge ruled against it using climate change as the reason for the first time.   


Many of these towns are snow-based resort communities which must diversify their economies in order to adapt. The mayor of Telluride, for example, plans to put the money toward solar and wind installations.

"We have to band together to draw attention to the changes we are seeing. It is actually bad and needs to be addressed, Ashley Perl, Aspen's Climate Action Manager, told the Denver Post. Aspen has a goal of 100% renewable energy.

Towns signing on are growing and currently are mostly in Colorado: Aspen, Telluride, Leadville, Ophir, Ridgway, Buena Vista and Carbondale. Dillon and Park City, Utah are signatories along with Taos, New Mexico. 


In 2013, the US Ski Industry signed a Climate Declaration, urging Congress to address climate change.

Royalties Are Being Evaluated


In April, the Department of Interior announced it is evaluating royalties for coal, oil and gas leases and royalties on federal lands. Half the fees the federal government gets are shared with states where mining occurs, and towns and cities get a share of that. 

Amazingly, it costs $1.50 per acre a year for the first five years of a lease, and increases to $2 per acre for years 5-10 - the same as when Eisenhower was President. 

Royalties are 12.5% of the value of the extracted coal, oil and gas, but that ends up around 5% after loopholes, and is much lower than the 18.75% for offshore leases (and that's also undervalued).   

US taxpayers are losing about $1 billion a year in royalties
- $30 billion over the past 30 years, says The Mountain Pact.

Read our articles, Even At Bargain Basement Prices, No Coal Company Bids At Auction and US Continues To Lease Our Coal for $1 a Ton.

Banks Keep Coal On Life Support   


This week, Bank of America announced it will lower its financial exposure to coal because of the industry's bleak future. Between carbon and mercury regulations and stiff competition with gas, investors in coal companies increasingly face stranded assets.

The move comes, however, after years of relentless pressure from environmental groups. For years, the world's largest banks have promised to stop financing coal, but in 2014 they still supported the industry with $144 billion - a billion less than the previous year.

 Financing for coal mining actually increased from $55 billion in 2013 to $70 billion in 2014, and financing for coal-fired power producers dropped to $75 billion from $90 billion in 2013.

 Some banks have stopped financing the worst kinds of coal mining, such as mountaintop removal in the US and the world's largest mine in Australia.

"It's outrageous for some banks to be hitching themselves to this year's UN climate negotiations in Paris as 'climate leaders' while they are not prepared to pull out of all coal sector financing, end of story,"    says Yann Louvel at BankTrack.

 Read our articles, World's Biggest Coal Miner Gets Help From Major Banks and JP Morgan, Bank America, Citi Still Top Coal Financiers.

Read, The End of Coal, the Coal Finance Report Card 2015, which ranks the banks:
 
Website: www.ran.org/coalreportcard

http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/26288
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #92 on: May 15, 2015, 08:52:49 pm »
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GK_vRtHJZu4&feature=player_embedded

A vulnerable luxury 

 Could losing one species mean the loss of thousands?

 Not always, but it can be true.

 Take coral, for example.

 Thousands of species rely on coral for their own wellbeing.

 Biodiversity is a net, and if we start cutting the strings, we risk losing the whole thing.

 Coral is on the downfall, as is biodiversity across the board.

 What new net are we weaving, and could it really sustain us?
- See more at: http://www.nextworldtv.com/videos/humane-treatment-of-animals/whats-so-important-about-biodiversity.html#sthash.k1MgwLDf.dpuf
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #93 on: May 16, 2015, 02:33:10 pm »
Urban Living: Green Spaces Improve Your Mental Health


Moving to greener urban areas boosts mental health for at least three years.
A new study, which included over 1,000 participants, is one of the first to examine the long-term effects of green spaces on mental health (Alc ock et al., 2014).

People in the study were followed over five years, in which time some moved to greener urban areas and some to less green urban areas.

The results showed that, on average, people who moved to greener urban areas felt an immediate improvement in their mental health. This boost could still be measured fully three years after they moved.

For those who moved to less green areas, the pattern wasn’t quite what you’d expect.
Instead people suffered a drop in mental health even before they moved–but this recovered to its previous levels over time.

The study controlled for factors that might have been associated with the move. For example, moving to a worse neighbourhood might have been brought about by work problems. But, when employment, along with education and income, were taken into account, the effects were still present.

The lead author Ian Alc ock said:
“We’ve shown that individuals who move to greener areas have significant and long-lasting improvements in mental health. These findings are important for urban planners thinking about introducing new green spaces to our towns and cities, suggesting they could provide long term and sustained benefits for local communities.”

It’s fascinating that the boost to mental health is sustained over a relatively long period of time.

We might expect that people would get used to their new surroundings and then their mental health would drift back to its previous levels.

This is typically what happens when people get a pay increase. Initially they are happier, but they soon get used to the extra income and their overall level of happiness falls back to its previous level.

We don’t know exactly what it is about greener urban areas that causes these sustainable gains in happiness, but it’s probably no coincidence that:

One study has found that simply looking at a picture of nature is enough to improve cognition (see: Memory Improved 20% by Nature Walk).  :o    

Another has found that outdoor activities have the strongest restorative effect on our mental health (see: Happiness is Right Outside).    ;D

http://www.spring.org.uk/2014/01/urban-living-green-spaces-improve-your-mental-health.php
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #94 on: May 16, 2015, 03:07:39 pm »

How To Live A Moneyless Life Like

 
"Mark Boyle" 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uTyjvAO6ww&feature=player_embedded
Mark Boyle has been living in the UK near Bath, without money since 2008 in a camper with solar panels he installed beforehand. His plan was to go one year, but he never stopped the experiment.

 Here he shows a reporter from the newspaper Guardian UK how he manages a whole life with no money being exchanged.

 He grows his own food, chops his own wood, built a rocket stove, uses old newspaper for toilet paper, has punctureless tires on his bicycle, makes his own soap and washes his clothes in the stream. He barters work occasionally for oats and other grains, and goes dumpster diving in town for additional food.

 He admits it was daunting in the beginning, but that he is so much more satisfied living according to his ideals. 

 In a TED talk in 2011 he outlined why he chose to create a life without money. After studying economy, he saw clearly the connection between money and well, the disconnection.

"Ecological destruction, factory farms, destroying the oceans, sweat shops, deforestation - this all stems from our delusion that we are separate from nature. We are very disconnected from what we consume.

  We no longer have an appreciation for the embodied energy, embodied destruction and suffering that goes into every stage of the supply chain of the things we buy.   

The tool that enabled this disconnection is money.   

If we all had to grow our own food, we wouldn't waste 1/3 of it as we do today in the UK.

If we had to make our own tables and chairs, we wouldn't chuck them out the moment we decided to change the decor.

Until we reconnect with what we consume, all these problems will continue because we're not getting to the root of the problem, which is our separation from nature, and our separation from what we consume."

 You can follow Mark Boyle's blog, Freeconomy here www.justfortheloveofit.org/blog where he has created a real forum for the new economy, based on barter, sharing and co-creating -- a whole new way of looking at exchange and community among people ready for a new society.

 --Bibi Farber

 This video was produced by the Guardian UK.
- See more at: http://www.nextworldtv.com/videos/new-economy/how-to-live-a-moneyless-life-like-.html#sthash.C8eGJauB.dpuf
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #95 on: May 17, 2015, 04:31:46 pm »
IS Tomorrow like Yesterday?  ???

What Was the Population of the Earth in Prehistoric times?

According to scientists from the University of Utah, the entire human population of Earth was less than 26,000  :o for about a million years. Even fewer, about 18,500, were capable of breeding. This means that 1.2 million years ago, humans were an endangered species. Endangered species are species at risk of becoming extinct.

Scientists arrived at these estimates based on studies of genetic variation in ancient humans. Although the exact causes of such low numbers are not known, experts believe it may be due to various events that killed many people. One such suspected event is a nuclear winter, a period of very cold temperatures, caused by an eruption of a super volcano in Indonesia 70,000 years ago. Less than 15,000 people survived the disaster.

More about the world and human population:

•About 108 billion people have lived on earth since the beginning of history.

•Homo sapiens (modern humans) first appeared on earth at about 50,000 B.C.

•Growth rate of the human population was abnormally low between 542 A.D. and mid-1600s due to the Black Death -- bubonic plague.

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-was-the-population-of-the-earth-in-prehistoric-times.htm
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #96 on: May 17, 2015, 06:00:26 pm »
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Gng0tfOuNM&feature=player_embedded

It's time for a re-evaluation 


 What is it about our society that leads to such negative impacts on the environment?

 Could it be boiled down to a few root causes?

 This guy thinks so, and he has a pretty good argument for why.


 If we can collectively address these four issues, perhaps we can start coming up with solutions that will help us create a new vision for our society.

 Let’s take a look at the root problems.

- See more at: http://www.nextworldtv.com/videos/what-isnt-working-1/undoing-unsustainability.html#sthash.Ci3YEfyx.dpuf
Quote

"We do not need a 'new' business model for energy because we never had one. What we need, is to plug the environmental and equity costs of energy production and use into our planning and thinking in order to avoid extinction. " A.G. Gelbert

 
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #97 on: May 17, 2015, 09:09:48 pm »
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #98 on: May 22, 2015, 07:53:30 pm »

Would you like to be a Lord, Lady or maybe a Baron or Baroness?
Check this out.   


THE PRINCIPALITY OF SEALAND 
Sealand was founded as a sovereign Principality in 1967 in international waters, six miles off the eastern shores of Britain.

The History


During the Second World War the British government built several Fortress islands in the North Sea to defend its coasts from German invaders. These forts were built illegally in international waters.

One of these Fortresses, consisting of concrete and steel construction, was the famous royal fort Roughs Tower situated slightly north of the estuary region of the Thames River. In contrast to the original plan to locate the tower within the sovereign territory of England, this fortress was situated at a distance of approximately 7 nautical miles from the coast, which is more than double the then applicable 3 mile range of territorial waters; to put it briefly, this island was situated in the international waters of the North Sea.

The forts were abandoned in the early 1950’s and whilst built in international waters in a time of world crisis, they should have been pulled down to comply with international law. Except for the aforementioned fortress, the fortresses were subsequently pulled down. This resulted in the portentous uniqueness of the fortress. Fort Roughs Tower, situated at the high seas, had been deserted and abandoned, res derelicta and terra nullius. From a legal point of view, it therefore constituted extra-national territory.

The Birth of Sealand

In 1966 Roy Bates a former infantry major in the first battalion Royal Fusiliers whose regimental headquarters strangely enough was the “Tower of London” decided to take over the fortress. It was Christmas Eve 1966.

Roy, smarting from a legal battle with the British government over his offshore radio station “Radio Essex”, which had broadcast from another abandoned fortress that was found by the British courts to be within UK jurisdiction. These stations were known affectionately by the press as “Pirate” radio stations and were much loved by the British public as they supplied everything that the BBC did not at the time, Pop music and amusing presenters.

Roy never did bring his radio station back to life but instead, after taking much advice from his lawyers, had the idea to declare this fortress island the independent state of “Sealand”. Claiming “Jus Gentium” over a part of the globe that was Terra Nullius.

2nd of September 1967 along with his son Michael (14), daughter Penelope (16) and several friends and followers Roy declared The Principality of Sealand raising a newly designed flag and making his beautiful wife “Princess Joan”. It was her birthday and Roy gave her the best and most romantic present he could think of the title of Princess.


The not so jolly roger Sealand Flag

Initial Challenge to Sealand's Sovereignty
 
It was not long before the British Government decided they could not have what ministers described as a possible Cuba off the east coast of England. They sent the military out to destroy other forts that were left in international waters. The Bates family looked on as huge explosions sent the massive structures hundreds of feet in the air and debris floated past for days.

Helicopters that had carried the explosives buzzed above and the navy tug carrying the demolition crew passed close by and shouted “You’re next!”. A while later a government vessel passed close by its crew shouting threatening obscenities at Michael and his sixteen year old sister. Warning shots were fired across the bow of the boat and it raced away towards the UK.

Since Roy was still a British citizen a summons was issued under the fire arms act and on the 25th of November 1968. Roy and Michael were in the dock of the Crown court of Chelmsford assizes in Essex. There was much argument and laws going back to the 17th century were called upon. During his summing up the judge said “This is a swash buckling incident perhaps more akin to the time of “Sir Francis Drake” but it is my judgment is that the UK courts have no jurisdiction.” This was Sealand’s first de facto recognition.

About Sealand


Sealand was founded as a sovereign Principality in 1967 in international waters, six miles off the eastern shores of Britain. The history of Sealand is a story of a struggle for liberty. Sealand was founded on the principle that any group of people dissatisfied with the oppressive laws and restrictions of existing nation states may declare independence in any place not claimed to be under the jurisdiction of another sovereign entity. The location chosen was Roughs Tower, an island fortress created in World War II by Britain and subsequently abandoned to the jurisdiction of the High Seas.
 
The independence of Sealand was upheld in a 1968 British court decision where the judge held that Roughs Tower stood in international waters and did not fall under the legal jurisdiction of the United Kingdom. This gave birth to Sealand's national motto of E Mare Libertas, or "From the Sea, Freedom".

The official language of Sealand is English and the Sealand Dollar has a fixed exchange rate of one U.S. dollar. Passports and stamps have been in circulation since 1969 and the latter decade of the 20th century saw an impressive expansion in its activity both socially and industrially as it began to develop a growing economic base which underscored its long-standing membership of the international community of States.

http://www.sealandgov.org/about


He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #99 on: May 30, 2015, 01:41:18 am »
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #100 on: May 30, 2015, 12:45:10 pm »
Never Say Never: Maryland Fracking Moratorium Becomes Law       


Wenonah Hauter | May 29, 2015 3:48 pm

“You’ll never get a fracking moratorium through the Maryland Legislature”  was the common refrain I heard as we at Food & Water Watch joined with more than 100 groups from throughout the state to work on preventing fracking in Maryland. But we didn’t let that stop us. And today, thanks to the tireless efforts of business owners, health professionals, activists and countless concerned Maryland residents, we proved those naysayers wrong.



At the end of March, the Maryland General Assembly passed a bill that would prohibit any permits for fracking in the state for two and a half years. Photo credit: Food & Water Watch


Today, a two and a half year fracking moratorium became law in Maryland. Over Memorial Day weekend, Gov. Hogan let it be known that he would not veto the bill. At the end of March, the Maryland General Assembly passed a bill, originally introduced by Delegate David Fraser-Hidalgo and Senator Karen Montgomery, which would prohibit any permits for fracking in the state for two and a half years. The bill passed with veto-proof majorities in each house.

This critical moratorium was made possible by a coalition of more than 100 community and advocacy groups who don’t want to see Maryland fracked. The Don’t Frack Maryland Coalition worked throughout the 2015 legislative session to carry the message that Marylanders do not want fracking in their state. The organizing efforts of the coalition came in waves over several months.

More than 100 Maryland health professionals had expressed concern about the unknown long-term health effects of fracking on human and environmental health. The evidence for the potential short and long-term health effects continues to grow. In fact, two new studies were published just this month, one showing that air-pollution from fracking in neighboring Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia has contaminated the air across state lines into Maryland and other areas, and the other found a chemical commonly used in drilling in Pennsylvania drinking water. The health risks alone are enough to want to press the pause button on fracking, but it didn’t stop there.

More than 100 Western Maryland business owners and more than 50 restaurant owners, chefs, winemakers and farmers from across the state also came together to voice their concerns about how fracking would impact their livelihoods. The risks to local business of allowing fracking in Maryland far outweigh the potential profits of out-of-state gas companies. The gas industry will decimate formerly rural and pristine areas by marring landscapes with service roads, roaring fracking rigs and leveled foliage replaced by well pads. Existing industries that are vital to the growing, long-term economy of Western Maryland, such as tourism, agriculture, organic farming, hunting, fishing and second homes, are likely to decline as these industries are not compatible with an industrial landscape. Not to mention the threat of water, air and land contamination. The Baltimore Sun even editorialized, “There’s simply no reason for Maryland to embrace such a risk to health, safety or livelihood right now.”

The Don’t Frack Maryland Coalition even had some help from a celebrity. A radio ad recorded by actor and Maryland native, Edward Norton, targeted the Governor to sign the bill. All of these efforts combined, brought us to where we are now.

The fact that Governor Hogan, who comes from a political party that routinely panders to the oil and gas industry, felt so much political pressure to prevent fracking from entering his state at this time, is a sign that the movement to protect against the dangers of fracking is growing stronger and gaining momentum. Protecting the health, safety and livelihoods of the people is not a partisan issue, and this moratorium is a sign that the tide is changing on fracking.

http://ecowatch.com/2015/05/29/maryland-fracking-moratorium-law/

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #101 on: June 01, 2015, 06:33:42 pm »
Negotiations in Bonn Will Likely Decide if Paris Climate Talks ‘Can Save Human Civilization From Ultimate Collapse’
Paul Brown, Climate News Network | June 1, 2015 3:41 pm 
http://ecowatch.com/2015/06/01/bonn-climate-talks/
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #102 on: June 05, 2015, 10:32:10 pm »
Neoliberal Globalization: Is There an Alternative to Plundering the Earth?
Excerpt from "The Global Economic Crisis: The Great Depression of the XXI Century"
By Prof. Claudia von Werlhof

SNIPPET:

Quote
Today, everything on earth is turned into commodities, i.e. everything becomes an object of “trade” and commercialization (which truly means liquidation, the transformation of all into liquid money). In its neoliberal stage it is not enough for capitalism to globally pursue less cost-intensive and preferably “wageless” commodity production. The objective is to transform everyone and everything into commodities, including life itself.[35] We are racing blindly towards the violent and absolute conclusion of this “mode of production”, namely total capitalization/liquidation by “monetarization”.[36]

We are not only witnessing perpetual praise of the market – we are witnessing what can be described as “market fundamentalism”. People believe in the market as if it was a god. There seems to be a sense that nothing could ever happen without it. Total global maximized accumulation of money/capital as abstract wealth becomes the sole purpose of economic activity. A “free” world market for everything has to be established – a world market that functions according to the interests of the corporations and capitalist money. The installment of such a market proceeds with dazzling speed. It creates new profit possibilities where they have not existed before, e.g. in Iraq, Eastern Europe or China.

One thing remains generally overlooked: the abstract wealth created for accumulation implies the destruction of nature as concrete wealth. The result is a “hole in the ground” and next to it a garbage dump with used commodities, outdated machinery and money without value.[37] However, once all concrete wealth (which today consists mainly of the last natural resources) will be gone, abstract wealth will disappear as well. It will, in Marx’s words, “evaporate”. The fact that abstract wealth is not real wealth will become obvious, and so will the answer to the question of which wealth modern economic activity has really created. In the end it is nothing but monetary wealth (and even this mainly exists virtually or on accounts) that constitutes a monoculture controlled by a tiny minority. Diversity is suffocated and millions of people are left wondering how to survive. And really: how do you survive with neither resources nor means of production nor money?

The nihilism of our economic system is evident.
The whole world will be transformed into money – and then it will disappear. After all, money cannot be eaten.

What no one seems to consider is the fact that it is impossible to re-transform commodities, money, capital and machinery into nature or concrete wealth. It seems that underlying all “economic development” is the assumption that “resources”, the “sources of wealth”,[38] are renewable and everlasting – just like the “growth” they create.[39]

The notion that capitalism and democracy are one is proven a myth by neoliberalism and its “monetary totalitarianism”.[40]

The primacy of politics over economy has been lost.
Politicians of all parties have abandoned it. It is the corporations that dictate politics. Where corporate interests are concerned, there is no place for democratic convention or community control. Public space disappears. The res publica turns into a res privata, or – as we could say today – a res privata transnationale (in its original Latin meaning, privare means “to deprive”). Only those in power still have rights. They give themselves the licenses they need, from the “license to plunder” to the “license to kill”.[41]

Those who get in their way or challenge their “rights” are vilified, criminalized and to an increasing degree defined as “terrorists” or, in the case of defiant governments, as “rogue states” – a label that usually implies threatened or actual military attack, as we can see in the cases of Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq, and maybe Syria and Iran in the near future. U.S. President Bush had even spoken of the possibility of “preemptive” nuclear strikes should the U.S. feel endangered by weapons of mass destruction.[42] The European Union did not object.[43]

Neoliberalism and war are two sides of the same coin.[44] Free trade, piracy and war are still “an inseparable three” – today maybe more so than ever. War is not only “good for the economy” but is indeed its driving force and can be understood as the “continuation of economy with other means”.[45] War and economy have become almost indistinguishable.[46] Wars about resources – especially oil and water – have already begun.[47] The Gulf Wars are the most obvious examples. Militarism once again appears as the “executor of capital accumulation” – potentially everywhere and enduringly.[48]

Human rights and rights of sovereignty have been transferred from people, communities and governments to corporations
.[49] The notion of the people as a sovereign body has practically been abolished. We have witnessed a coup of sorts. The political systems of the West and the nation state as guarantees for and expression of the international division of labor in the modern world system are increasingly dissolving.[50] Nation states are developing into “periphery states” according to the inferior role they play in the proto-despotic “New World Order”.[51] Democracy appears outdated. After all, it “hinders business”.[52]

The “New World Order” implies a new division of labor that does no longer distinguish between North and South, East and West – today, everywhere is South. An according International Law is established which effectively functions from top to bottom (“top-down”) and eliminates all local and regional communal rights. And not only that: many such rights are rendered invalid both retroactively and for the future.[53]

The logic of neoliberalism as a sort of totalitarian neo-mercantilism is that all resources, all markets, all money, all profits, all means of production, all “investment opportunities”, all rights and all power belong to the corporations only. To paraphrase Richard Sennett: “Everything to the Corporations!”[54] One might add: “Now!”

The corporations are free to do whatever they please with what they get. Nobody is allowed to interfere. Ironically, we are expected to rely on them to find a way out of the crisis we are in. This puts the entire globe at risk since responsibility is something the corporations do not have or know. The times of social contracts are gone.[55] In fact, pointing out the crisis alone has become a crime and all critique will soon be defined as “terror” and persecuted as such.[56]

IMF Economic Medicine   

Since the 1980s, it is mainly the Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) of the World Bank and the IMF that act as the enforcers of neoliberalism. These programs are levied against the countries of the South which can be extorted due to their debts.

Meanwhile, numerous military interventions and wars help to take possession of the assets that still remain, secure resources, install neoliberalism as the global economic politics, crush resistance movements (which are cynically labeled as “IMF uprisings”), and facilitate the lucrative business of reconstruction.[57]

http://www.globalresearch.ca/neoliberal-globalization-is-there-an-alternative-to-plundering-the-earth/24403
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #103 on: June 09, 2015, 02:37:25 pm »
Game of Thrones is really about how human civilization is degraded, along with the climate, because of Empathy Deficit Disorder.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xppoy2veSP0&feature=player_embedded
Quote

Technical knowledge of Carrying Capacity will not save us; only a massive increase in Caring Capacity will. -- A. G. Gelbert

Quote
"The fossil fuel industry swallows up $5.3 trillion a year worldwide in hidden costs to keep burning fossil fuels, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

This money, the IMF noted, is in addition to the $492 billion in direct subsidies offered by governments around the world through write-offs and write-downs and land-use loopholes.

In a sane world these subsidies would be invested to free us from the deadly effects of carbon emissions caused by fossil fuels, but we do not live in a sane world. "  -- Chris Hedges
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #104 on: June 11, 2015, 06:52:52 pm »
Agelbert NOTE: Sean Toon is an excellent example of a Homo SAP with Empathy Deficit Disorder.

Gratuitous cruelty to animals and people are part and parcel of the egocentric attitudes that undervalue fellow earthlings of the same and other species. Sean Toon cares ONLY about himself. He is egocentric, selfish, bigoted, racist and cruel to animals. I am certain he is a narcissist too. He successfully lied to the police in order to hurt innocent African American children. This means he is an excellent liar too. 

Along with all other Homo SAPS that suffer from Empathy Deficit Disorder he has the following meter reading:


Unless his behavior pattern can be weeded out of human society, there is little hope for us.

Wed Jun 10, 2015 at 05:18 PM EDT.

Someone took a look at the guy who called 911 because black people were in the pool

by
SantaFeMarie.

Someone took a look at the guy in McKinney who called 911 because black people were in the pool. Guess what they found? He's hideous:

911 caller in Texas pool party incident was convicted of torturing animals

Sean Toon, who called police to complain about group of black teenagers trying to enter a party on Friday, was jailed for violent behavior and animal torture.

The man who called 911 to complain about a group of black teenagers at a pool party in Texas, and defended the controversial police response as a “good amount of aggression”, is a convicted felon who spent time in jail for violent behavior and torturing animals.

Sean Toon was sentenced to more than nine months in jail after pleading guilty to killing and maiming prize farm animals and covering them in paint, according to court records in Texas. He was separately sentenced to two and a half months for an assault.

Toon, 33, called police on Friday to allege that a group of predominantly African American young people were climbing over fences to get into a party and cookout at a community pool in his neighborhood of Craig Ranch in McKinney, a suburb of Dallas.

...

Quote
In November 1999, aged 18, Toon and three high school friends were arrested and expelled from school after vandalizing the agricultural center of a rival high school district and attacking animals housed there, many of which were owned and cared for by school children.

Cows and pigs were cut and bruised, apparently beaten with wooden boards. And baby turkeys were slain, their limbs torn apart,” the Dallas Morning News reported at the time. Dale Gardner, a teacher in the school district’s agri-science and technology program, told the newspaper: It was brutal. There’s no way to describe it. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

About a dozen prize turkeys, which were reportedly being bred by a student aiming to win money for his scholarship fund, were feared killed.

Animals and buildings were covered in green and gold paint, according to reports. These were the colors of Toon’s high school, Newman Smith, whose football team rivaled that of RL Turner High, whose students used the agricultural center.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/06/10/1392223/-Someone-took-a-look-at-the-guy-who-called-911-because-black-people-were-in-the-pool

We can all agree that Sean Toon is a SICK FU CK. But that is not the real problem. The problem is the refusal by our society to accept that OUR CULTURE REWARDS PEOPLE LIKE HIM and demonizes people that conscience free greed balls like him victimize. George W. Bush, whose childhood "fun" blowing up frogs aligns quite well with the Sean Toon behavior pattern, probably applauds Sean Toon's "school spirit". 

Empathy Deficit is destroying everything good about humanity.

Quote
Technical knowledge of Carrying Capacity will not save us; only a massive increase in Caring Capacity will. -- A. G. Gelbert

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

 

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