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Author Topic: Human Life is Fragile but EVERY Life is Valuable  (Read 15625 times)

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AGelbert

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Re: Human Life is Fragile but EVERY Life is Valuable
« Reply #105 on: October 08, 2016, 01:57:42 pm »

I admire your tenacity in the face of adversity. 

I have to go in to Anchorage a week from Tuesday for the consult with the Vascular Pro from Dover, so I will in addition at this time make a HAND DELIVERY of the C&R to the SS office in Anchorage.  I will ask for a signed receipt as well for this delivery.  If that is not good enough, I will book a plane ticket to NY and show up at the Northeast Regional Center in Jamaica, NY Shity and hand deliver it there also.

Here is a kicker for you on this.  The address on the Self-Addressed Envelope THEY provide is not listed in the USPS database of valid addresses.  They also have two different addresses listed, one on the inside letter, the other on the SAE.

The inside letter reads "1 Jamaica Plaza, Jamaica NY".  The SAE reads "15510 Jamaica Ave., Jamaica, NY".  The USPS clerk asked me if I had a Suite number or anything else to add, there is no additional information.

I also know how NY Shity addresses work in Queens, and this is not how they are written, there is a dash in there, in this case it would be 155-10 Jamaica Ave.  The first numbers are the street on the grid, the second part is the block number of the property.  My old address from our house in Queens where I lived after returning from Brasil was 154-04 Beech Ave, Flushing NY.

However, not even changing the address to 155-10 Jamaica Ave brought this up in the USPS database.  HTF is it that a main SS processing center is not in the USPS database?  INCLUDING the 9 digit Zip Code! ???  :icon_scratch:

This is why I sent copies ALSO to the local Anchorage SS office and Senator Lisa Murkowski's office.  Her office is what got me through the gauntlet to begin with here, hopefully they will be as helpful on this occassion as they were initially.

If all this fails, I go back to the Lawyer with all my documentation and sue Social Security.  Also hit on All Wrong Insurance to make up the shortfall on this "offset" bullshit.  The whole offset thing is bullshit to begin with, I paid into BOTH insurance schemes, and there is no reason that I should have bennies cut from one because I am receiving the other one.

If all of this fails, do not be surprised if there is a Postal Event in some SS Office somewhere as a crippled Alaskan shows up and starts shooting spitballs out of a Bic Pen in protest of SS incompetence.

RE

The foot dragging by the bureaucrats at SS is inexcusable. But I think it is part of their MO to make it harder to obtain what is rightfully yours. Ever since Reagan, gooberment has been adding more and more stumbling blocks to prevent justice and equity for the general population. I laugh when I read stories like "X thousands of people are not taking advantage of their benefits and the agencies don't understand why people aren't doing what they need to do".   

At present, ANYTHING that involves pushing papers for this, that or the other could be done electronically (including voting!). They just don't want to do it.

Let us hope that you do not reach the "if all else fails" situation.


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: Human Life is Fragile but EVERY Life is Valuable
« Reply #106 on: October 31, 2016, 10:43:08 pm »
I finally heard back from  SSA today, via Sen. Murkowski's office.

BAD NEWZ!

SS has "adjusted" down my bennies by fully ONE THIRD  :o, when according to my lawyer my SS Bennies were not supposed to be affected at all by the agreement, which took into account the SS "offset".

While Sen. Murkowski's office can assist me in communications with Social Security, they can't fight them or advocate for me, so looks like I will have to engage the lawyer again.  Since there is no direct benefit to the lawyer for this, I doubtless will have to pay for his assistance, if he even does that sort of fight.  There is an appeal process, which of course takes forever.

This does not put me in any immediate difficulty, since I have a tidy sum in the bank from the settlement, but it does put a crimp in my plans to get on the road out of Alaska next spring.  I am doubtless going to be fighting this thing for the next year at least, and you can't really be on the road while you are doing that.  Gotta keep my address the same so none of the mail gets lost (although it does seem to do that anyhow).

I put in a call to the lawyers office just before writing this post, but it won't be until tomorrow at least before I hear back from him.

This bullshit is getting very tiresome.

RE



You're 59. SS knows this. Being hung out to dry until you're 62 is very real & possible.
AT 62 the Eagle **** the real deal.


They ALSO want me to pay them back a healthy sum for "overpayments" over the last year, unless I get the appeals process started, which of course I will do, either with the lawyer or on my own.  I have 30 days to get that started.  If I don't get it going, then SS will withhold even the reduced payment until this sum is paid off, which gets pretty close to when I am 62.  6 of one, 1/2 dozen of the other, I could pay them back or just take nothing and live off my bank account until 62.  I would need to be more penurious though either way.

About the only upside here is if I stop getting SSDI payments, I could try to find some type of work my crippled ass could do for the next couple of years.  What that would be I got no idea though.

Good Newz is I did hear back from the paralegal at the office, and they are on it.  Probably won't hear from the lawyer until Thursday.

RE

 
   

I'm sorry to hear of your woes. I hope and pray you will weather this storm well.

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: Human Life is Fragile but EVERY Life is Valuable
« Reply #107 on: November 01, 2016, 10:14:30 pm »
I'm sorry to hear of your woes. I hope and pray you will weather this storm well.

I am in OK shape to weather the storm at the moment.

The main thing pissing me off is that I have to put all my plans on hold..again.  I was hoping to move on past this period of my life,, but noooo....  Looks like this will go on a while longer. ::)

RE

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: Human Life is Fragile but EVERY Life is Valuable
« Reply #108 on: February 17, 2017, 04:52:10 pm »
British Artist Anish Kapoor to Give $1 Million Prize to Refugees

By Yosola Olorunshola| Feb. 8, 2017

Turner-prize winning artist Anish Kapoor has dedicated a $1 million prize to helping refugees around the world.

Dubbed “the Jewish Nobel,” the annual Genesis Prize is awarded to individuals who “have attained excellence and international renown in their chosen professional fields, and who inspire others through their engagement and dedication to the Jewish community and the State of Israel.”

Based in the UK since the 1970s, Kapoor was born in Mumbai to an Iraqi-Jewish mother and an Indian father. Inhabiting an identity that extends across borders, he is a longstanding advocate for those forced to flee their homes. In a statement accepting the award, he said:

“To lose one’s home, one’s land, one’s sense of belonging, is bewildering. All that is left is one’s body … how long before – for so many – even that is lost?”

“I am an artist, not a politician, and I feel I must speak out against indifference for the suffering of others. There are over 60 million refugees in the world today – whatever the geography of displacement, the refugee crisis is right here on our doorstep.”

https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/anish-kapoor-refugee-crisis-activism-art-ai-weiwei/
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: Human Life is Fragile but EVERY Life is Valuable
« Reply #109 on: February 21, 2017, 12:19:35 pm »
  

Quote

Support Social Services Block Grant (SSBG)

Organizations in support of the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) are currently seeking additional signers to a letter urging Members of Congress to oppose cuts to SSBG. The letter is open to national and state organizations. Your organization may have already signed this last year (we have been keeping this open and updating Congress).
 
SSBG funds vital programs important to babies, children, youth and families, including foster care, child abuse prevention services, child protective services, and child care. It also funds programs important to older individuals and individuals with disabilities.
 
Because of SSBG’s importance to so many in our nation, and because the House Ways and Means Committee voted in 2016 to eliminate SSBG (http://www.cwla.org/same-committee-votes-to-eliminate-ssbg-in-partisan-move/), it is critical the letter have a strong showing from groups on this letter. 1)    Please review the letter and current sign-ons below.

2)    If your organization is not signed on to the letter, please sign on. If your organization is already signed on, you don’t need to do anything else.
 
3)    Share this letter with other national and state organizations that would like to sign-on.
 
For more information, please email John Sciamanna at jsciamanna@cwla.org.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Social Services Block Grant

XX, 2017

Dear Member of Congress:   

Representing a diverse coalition of groups serving vulnerable populations, the undersigned organizations support continued funding of the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG).  We have strongly opposed previous attempts to cut SSBG and will oppose any efforts to do so in 2017.   

SSBG is a major funder for state and local child abuse prevention services, child protective services (CPS) and it supplements services for adoptions and for services to infants, children and youth in foster care. In some states, it is a significant source of local funding for adult protective services. 

Congress cut SSBG funding when TANF was enacted into law and when funding was needed for a 1998 transportation bill, with the assumption that at some point it would return to its former level of $2.8 billion.  SSBG was never restored.  We are concerned that some members may again propose to use SSBG for deficit reduction or to fund specific human services programs. SSBG funding has already been used to cut the deficit  and rather than using the funds for specific needs identified at the federal level, the strength of the current program lies in its flexibility to allow state and local governments to determine how best to use the funds to meet local needs.   

The champions of SSBG have included the leadership from both parties. In past congresses SSBG has had bipartisan support on both the House Ways and Means committee and the Senate Finance Committee. We hope this will be true again. 

SSBG is a vital and flexible funding source helping children, older adults and people with disabilities in a range of ways. The outcome results for SSBG are clear, in 34 states more caseworkers are available to investigate reports of child abuse and because of SSBG 36 states can provide services for victims of domestic violence and victims of elder abuse.  It supports services for those adults in jeopardy of entering a nursing home or institution and helps to fill the numerous state and local budget gaps in areas as diverse as senior services, mental health services, and services to people with disabilities. SSBG supports children in need of child care, children and youth who have been abused and neglected, foster youth in need of transitional services, and a range of low income individuals and families. Cutting or further targeting SSBG will inevitably harm vulnerable populations.   

The undersigned organizations urge you to protect SSBG.   
   
Sincerely,

The ARC
Alliance for Strong Families and Communities
Alliance of Children's Trust and Prevention Funds
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Association on Health and Disability
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children
American Psychological Association
Americans for Democratic Action
Association of Administrators of the Interstate Compact on Adoption and Medical Assistance
Association for Ambulatory Behavioral Healthcare
Association of University Centers on Disability
Center for Elder Care and Advanced Illness, Altarum Institute
Center for the Study of Social Policy
Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD)
Children’s Advocacy Institute
Children’s Defense Fund
Children’s Home Society
Children’s Leadership Council
Child Welfare League of America
Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)
Coalition on Human Needs
Donaldson Adoption Institute
Easter Seals
Elder Justice Coalition
Every Child Matters
First Focus Campaign for Children
Foster Care to Success
Foster Family-based Treatment Association
Futures Without Violence
Generations United
Healthcare Alternative Systems, Inc.
Healthy Teen Network
Humanity Preservation Foundation
Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Jewish Federations of North America
John Burton Foundation
The Kempe Foundation
LeadingAge
Lutheran Services in America
Meals on Wheels America
Medicare Rights Center
National Adult Day Services Association
National Adult Protective Services Association
National African American Drug Policy Coalition, Inc.
National Alliance of Children’s Trust and Prevention Funds
National Alliance To Advance Adolescent Health
National Association of Area Agencies on Aging
National Association for Children's Behavioral Health
National Association of Counsel for Children
National Association of County Human Services Administrators
National Association of Counties
National Association of Nutrition and Aging Services Programs (NANASP)
National Association of Social Workers
National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors
National Association of States United for Aging and Disabilities (NASUAD)
National Center on Adoption and Permanency
National Child Abuse Coalition
National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care
National Council on Aging
National Crittenton Foundation
National Foster Parent Association
National Health Care for the Homeless Council
National Organization of State Associations for Children
National Respite Coalition
National WIC Association
National Women’s Law Center
Network, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby
North American Council on Adoptable Children
Prevent Child Abuse America
Ray E Helfer Society
Standing Up for Rural America
Voice for Adoption
Woman’s Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER)
Zero To Three
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.


STATE AND LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS

Alabama
Successful Living Center, Alzheimer's Adult Day Care

Alaska
Alaska Behavioral Health Association
Alaska Children’s Trust

Arizona
Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest
Our Family Services
SEAGO/Area Agency on Aging Region VI

Arkansas
Jacksonville Senior Wellness & Activity Center, Inc.

California
Alliance for Children's Rights
Angelus Plaza
Calaveras County Health and Human Services Agency
California Association of Food Banks
California Family Resource Center
California Foster Families, Inc.
Ceres Community Project
Child Abuse Prevention Center
Child Abuse Prevention Council of Sacramento
Children’s Defense Fund--California
Children’s Partnership
County Welfare Directors Association of California
ElderHelp, CA
First Place For Youth
Food For Thought
Foster Care Counts
FosterEd: Santa Cruz County
Fred Finch Youth Center
Home Start, Inc.
IVROP Project ACE
Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles
Lake County Office of Education
LeadingAge California
Meals on Wheels California
Meals on Wheels San Diego County
Meals on Wheels Yolo County
Monterey County Department of Social Services
Orange County Social Services
Prevent Child Abuse California
Safe Kids California
San Diego County Office of Education
San Francisco AIDS Foundation
Solano County Health & Social Services
SOS Meals on Wheels
Whistlestop's Meals on Wheels

Colorado
The Adoption Exchange
Arapahoe County Board of Commissioners
Boulder County Board of Commissioners
City and County of Denver Department of Human Services
Colorado Counties, Inc.
Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments/Area Agency on Aging
Sharing the Care Campaign of Northern Colorado

Connecticut
Connecticut Alliance of Foster and Adoptive Families, Inc.
Connecticut Association for Human Services

Florida
Athens Community Council on Aging
Children's Home Society of Florida
Fayette Senior Services, Inc.
Meals on Wheels South Florida
Monroe County Social Services
Palm Beach County Human Services
The Poverello Center, Inc.
We CAN Do It!
West Palm Beach Housing Authority

Georgia
Athens Community Council on Aging
Fayette Senior Services, Inc.
Georgia Alliance to End Homelessness
Georgia Alliance to End Homelessness
Senior Citizens Inc.

Hawaii
Prevent Child Abuse Hawaii

Idaho
PATH Idaho

Illinois
Aging Care Connections, Illinois
CJE Senior Life Home Delivered Meals and Kosher To Go
Gift of Hope, Grandparents and Others Raising America's Children
Illinois Collaborative for Youth

Indiana
Children First Center Health Families

Iowa
Lutheran Services in Iowa
Polk County Health Services

Kansas
Central Plains Area Agency on Aging
East Central Kansas Area Agency on Aging
Jayhawk Area Agency on Aging, Inc.
Kansas Association of Area Agencies on Aging & Disabilities
Kansas Children’s Service League
North Central-Flint Hills Area Agency on Aging, Inc.
Northwest Kansas Area Agency on Aging

Kentucky
Children's Alliance Kentucky
Kentucky Youth Advocates

Louisiana
Educational and Treatment Council, Inc.
Kingsley House
Reilly Center for Children and Families, Volunteers of America Greater Baton Rouge

Maine
Community Concepts Inc
Families and Children Together

Maryland
Adoptions Together/FamilyWorks Together
Advocates for Children and Youth
Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services
PeterCares House

Massachusetts
Association for Behavioral Healthcare
Children's League of Massachusetts
Community Servings
Elder Services of the Merrimack Valley
Elder Services of Worcester Area, Inc.
Massachusetts Home Care
SeniorCare

Michigan
Area Agency on Aging of Western Michigan
Area Agencies on Aging Association of Michigan
Living Independence For Everyone
Lutheran Social Services of Michigan
Methodist Children's Home Society
Michigan's Children
Senior Resources of West Michigan
Spaulding for Children
Tri-County Office on Aging
United Methodist Community House
Valley Area Agency on Aging

Minnesota
Association of Minnesota Counties
Kandiyohi County Minnesota
Minnesota Association of Area Agencies on Aging
Minnesota Association of County Social Services Administrators
Minnesota Council of Child Caring Agencies
Olmsted County
Olmstead County Community Services
Pope County Human Services
Prevent Child Abuse Minnesota
Ramsey County Board of Commissioners
Southeastern Minnesota Area Agency on Aging
Washington County Community Services Department, Stillwater

Missouri
Bonne Terre Senior Nutrition Center
L & C Ministries
Missouri Association of Area Agencies on Aging
Missouri Kids First
Senior Citizens Community Center

Montana
Fergus County Council on Aging
The Parenting Place

Nebraska
Southeast District Health Department

New Hampshire
Home Healthcare Hospice and Community Services
Rockingham Nutrition and Meals on Wheels Program
St. Joseph Community Services, Inc.

New Jersey
Community Access Unlimited
Jewish Community Center of Central New Jersey
Meals on Wheels of Salem County, Inc.
New Jersey Association of Area Agencies on Aging (NJ4A)
Prevent Child Abuse New Jersey
Union County Advisory Council on Aging

New Mexico
All Faiths
Los Alamos Retired & Senior Organization
New Mexico Voices for Children

New York
Adoption Center of Upstate New York
Adoptive and Foster Family Coalition of New York
Behavioral Health Services North, Inc
LiveOn NY
Meals on Wheels of Chemung County, Inc.
Meals on Wheels of Syracuse

North Carolina
Alamance County Department of Social Services
Anson County Department of Social Services
Burke County North Carolina Department of Social Services
Cabarrus Meals on Wheels, Inc
Catawba County Social Services
Centralina Area Agency on Aging
Children & Family Resource Center, Inc.
Currituck County Department of Social Services
Dare County Department of  Health and Human Services—Social Services Division
Edgecombe County Board of Commissioners
Graham County Department of Social Services
Halifax County Department of Social Services
Jones County Department of Social Services
Lincoln County Department of Social Services
Martin County Department of Social Services
Meals on Wheels Durham
Meals on Wheels North Carolina
Pitt County Council on Aging
Pitt County Department of Social Services
Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina
Richmond County Aging Services
The Jackson County North Carolina Board of Social Services
The North Carolina Association of County Directors of Social Services
Tyrrell County DSS
Watauga County Department of Social Services
Wilson County NC Board of Social Services

North Dakota
PATH, Inc.
PATH North Dakota, Inc.

Ohio
Ashtabula County Department of Job and Family Services
Consortium Against Adult Abuse(C3A) 5-County Organization
Direction Home Akron Canton
Guernsey County Meals on Wheels
Guernsey County Senior Citizens Center, Inc.
Hancock County Job and Family Services
Hardin County DJFS/PCSA
Jackson County Department of Job and Family Services
Job & Family Services - Marion County
Lorain County Children Services
Lorain County Department of Job and Family Services
Madison County Department of Job and Family Services
Meals on Wheels of Fairfield County
National Association of Social Workers, Ohio Chapter
Neighborhood Alliance
Ohio Area Agency on Aging, Region 3
Ohio Area Agency on Aging, Region 9
Ohio Association of Area Agencies on Aging
Ohio Association of Child Caring Agencies
Ohio Association of Senior Centers-OASC
Ohio Coalition for Adult Protective Services
Ohio Job and Family Services Directors Association
Policy Matters Ohio
Public Children Services Association of Ohio
Scioto County Department of Job and Family Services
Seneca County Department of Job and Family Services
SourcePoint

Oklahoma
Areawide Aging Agency, Inc.
Prevent Child Abuse Oklahoma

Oregon
Oregon Association of Area Agencies on Aging & Disabilities- O4AD
Oregon Post Adoption Resource Center (ORPARC)/Oregon Adoption Resource Exchange (OARE)

Pennsylvania
Center in the Park
MANNA (Metropolitan Area Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance)
Meals on Wheels of Lehigh County
Montco SAAC
Pennsylvania Association of County Human Services Administrators
Philadelphia Senior Center

Rhode Island
Foster Forward
Prevent Child Abuse Rhode Island

South Carolina
Calhoun County Council on Aging
Dillon County Council for the Aging
Hampton County Council on Aging
Senior Resources, Inc.
Union County Council on Aging
York County Council on Aging

Tennessee
Goodwill Homes Community Services, Inc.
Meritan, Inc.
Prevent Child Abuse Tennessee

Texas
Amigos Del Valle, Inc.
Christian Senior Services
Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston, Texas
Lena Pope
Meals on Wheels Association of Texas
Meals on Wheels of Johnson & Ellis Counties
Meals on Wheels Plus, Inc.
Meals on Wheels Texoma
Meals on Wheels, Inc. of Tarrant Co.
Nutrition and Services for Seniors
Orange Community Action Association
Senior Connect
Texas Foster Family Association
Tri-County Senior Nutrition Project, Inc. DBA Meals on Wheels Texoma

Utah
Children's Services Society
Crossroads Urban Center, Salt Lake City

Vermont
Vermont Association of Area Agencies on Aging

Virginia
FeedMore
LeadingAge Virginia
Valley Program for Aging Services

Washington
Many Lights Foundation
Senior Services for South Sound
Washington Association of Area Agencies on Aging
Washington State Council on Aging

West Virginia
Appalachian Area Agency on Aging

Wisconsin
Waupaca County
Wisconsin Association of Family and Children's Agencies
Wisconsin Child Care Administrators Association, (WCCAA)
Winnebago County Human Services Department

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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Human Population Growth: The Truth About How Human Activity Threatens The Conditio Sine Qua Non For Our Survival

What Is the Greatest Number of Children Born to One Woman?


As of 2014, the greatest number of children born to one woman was 69. Birth records from the 1700s show that the wife of a Russian peasant named Feodor Vassilyev gave birth 27 times — to four sets of quadruplets, seven sets of triplets and 16 pairs of twins. It was reported that 67 of the 69 children survived past infancy. Vassilyev’s second wife reportedly gave birth to 18 children, which would make him the father of 87 children, with all but three surviving infancy. It has not been proved that the records are true, and some people believe that the numbers might be inaccurate.

More about child birth rates:

Niger is the country with the most births per woman, at an average of 6.16, with more than half of all Nigerian mothers giving birth before age 18.
The greatest number of surviving children born to one woman at one time was eight in 2009 in the United States.

The United Kingdom has the highest rate of childless women older than 45, at more than 20%.


Why Sterilizing the Poorest 50% of Homo Sap Won't Solve ANYTHING!

Brainwashed Propaganda Victims and Fossil Fuelers' REACTION to the ABOVE:


The "Human Population Must Be Reduced" Propaganda Myth. Why it is a divide and conquer tactic and why it has absolutely no basis in scientific fact.


Quote

"The total biomass of all the ants on Earth is roughly equal to the total biomass of all the people on Earth.

How can this be?! Ants are so tiny, and we are so big! But scientists estimate there are at least 1.5 million ants on the planet for every human being. Over 12,000 species of ants are known to exist, on every continent except Antarctica. Most live in tropical regions. A single acre of Amazon rainforest may house 3.5 million ants."
http://insects.about.com/od/antsbeeswasps/a/10-cool-facts-about-ants.htm

The Human biomass is tiny compared with thousands of species from insects to spiders to rodents, along with many marine creatures. 

See for yourself the Evidence:

I will provide for you a couple of links for you to research but let me give you a brief introduction to earth's biomass pyramid.

You have different trophic levels (life forms that eat other life forms to survive).

The lower you are on the pyramid, the more collective mass you have as a segment of the biosphere. What does that mean?

Here's a quote so you can see where I'm going with this:

Quote
"An ecological pyramid is a graphical representation that shows, for a given ecosystem, the relationship between biomass or biological productivity and trophic levels.

A biomass pyramid shows the amount of biomass at each trophic level.

A productivity pyramid shows the production or turn-over in biomass at each trophic level.

An ecological pyramid provides a snapshot in time of an ecological community.

The bottom of the pyramid represents the primary producers (autotrophs). The primary producers take energy from the environment in the form of sunlight or inorganic chemicals and use it to create energy-rich molecules such as carbohydrates. This mechanism is called primary production. The pyramid then proceeds through the various trophic levels to the apex predators at the top.

When energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next, typically only ten percent is used to build new biomass. The remaining ninety percent goes to metabolic processes or is dissipated as heat. This energy loss means that productivity pyramids are never inverted, and generally limits food chains to about six levels. However, in oceans, biomass pyramids can be wholly or partially inverted, with more biomass at higher levels."


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomass_(ecology)

Take insects as one example of the Laws of Thermodynamics as applied to life forms in the Biosphere trophic (food chain) pyramids.

In order for insects to BE food for spiders as well as many other creatures, the biomass of insects has to be much, much greater because of the heat energy losses in transferring energy from the insect to the spider (about 90% is lost in heat). The predators (that's what we are, by the way) are at the top of the pyramid and have the least total biomass of all the life forms.

Lions, tigers, sharks, whales, bears, wolves, etc. have a tiny planetary biosphere biomass in comparison with ants, earthworms, rodents, and krill (those tiny shrimp like creatures that whales eat). And the krill eat tiny nearly microscopic phytoplankton (that has more biomass than the ubiquitous krill).

Mollusks, as well as ants and several thousand other species have a larger biomass than humans. I bring up the mollusks because they have a HUGE biomass. I studied them in depth in college Zoology.

The phylum Mollusca:
Quote
"The phylum Mollusca is the second most diverse phylum after Arthropoda with over 110,000 described species. Mollusks may be primitively segmented, but all but the monoplacophorans characteristically lack segmentation and have bodies that are to some degree spirally twisted (e.g. torsion).

The Phylum Mollusca consist of 8 classes:

1. the Monoplacophora discovered in 1977;
2. the worm-like Aplacophora or solenogasters of the deep sea;
3. the also worm-like Caudofoveata;
4. the Polyplacophora, or chitons;
5. the Pelecypoda or bivalves;
6. the Gastropoda or snails;
7. the Scaphopoda, or tusk shells; and
8. the Cephalopoda that include among others squid and the octopus."

Agelbert Note: The biomass pyramid in the oceans in regard to mollusks and fish is NOT inverted. The oceanic "confusion" is due to the fact that some mollusks are apex predators like giant squid and the smaller mollusk predators like Octopodes that eat fish. Most mollusks are small to very small and are food for fish. They are the ones (bivalves near Fukushima) that concentrate radionuclides in their tissues that then get in the fish that eat them.  :( :P

The smaller mollusks (most of them are less than a foot long) are FOOD for fish. That means there HAS TO BE much more of them than there are fish. And I'm sure you don't believe the human biomass is greater than that of all the fish species, right?  ;D
.
Now for some biomass weights:
Human population = 335,000,000,000 kg.
Quote

"Human population = 335,000,000,000 kg. This figure is based on an average human weight of more than 100lbs, though (50kg, to be exact).  I don't know how accurate this estimate is, especially considering that about 1/3 of us are children.  There are supposedly around 1.3 billion cattle in the world, and, put together, they may weigh almost twice as much as our species."

Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba =  379,000,000,000 kg.
There are more ants than krill. Also, metabolism plays a role along with biomass. A "million ruby-throated hummingbirds will consume much more food than one African Elephant, even though both have about the same biomass (3,000kg, or 3.3 US tons). 

Thus, ants, as a group, may actually consume more resources per year than antarctic krill, even though both may have roughly the same biomass, because ants tend to be smaller, and live in warmer environments. Although there may be about 10-15 times the biomass of termites than cows in the world, studies have suggested that termites might produce almost 30,000 times as much methane per year because of their faster metabolism."
http://www.antweb.org/antblog/2010/10/do-ants-really-have-the-largest-biomass-of-all-species-on-earth-laurie-usa.html

So how come nobody is hollering about reducing the termite population? 


As the article in the quotes above points out, humans are a huge problem, not because of our biomass, but because of our carbon footprint (I.E. the use of fossil fuels!). And guess what portion of our population does over 80% of the Fossil Fuel consumption? You guessed it! The upper 20%!


Who Done it? 


The Global Compact: 20% using 80% of the Resources

To ACTUALLY address, confront and STOP the biosphere damage that Homo Sap is doing, we must face the scientifically confirmed REALITY that  if you get rid of the bottom 50% of the human population (the most poor among us) you will, I'm sorry to say, not even dent the pollution and biosphere destruction.

AS pointed out in the biomass numbers, the amount of people eating and defecating is not the problem, CARBON FOOTPRINT is the threat to a viable biosphere. We must attack that problem by reducing the carbon footprint of the most powerful people on this planet.

NOTHING ELSE WILL SOLVE THE PROBLEM. The solution, in addition to a 100% transition to Renewable energy, involves eliminating corporate energy welfare queen subsidies for both fossil fuels and nuclear poison.

Democracy and a viable biosphere requires it from all of us.

The "let's reduce the human population" baloney is a divide and conquer tactic to avoid billing the top human pigs   for the damage they do while attempting to give the rest of us a totally unwarranted with ZERO empirical basis ( but VERY clever   ) guilt trip. It's a lie. Don't buy it.

What we need to do is transition to 100% renewable energy as soon as possible. That will give our future generations a chance to live in a viable biosphere.

If you agree please pass it on. Also, feel free to visit my forum and post on any subject you wish. Thank you.

Renewable revolution

« Last Edit: March 02, 2017, 01:30:43 pm by AGelbert »
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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Knarf, there is no doubt at all in my mind that i am a wanderer even mendicant sort of person.  My supergo likes to imagine I'm a cosmic viking sort of character exploring the unknown edges.  A million bucks in the bank account i'd be go on an expedition every year or so, have a farming homestead, huge library, shop and crazy off grid tinkering projects.  Its what I have shot for in my trajectory, sometimes feeling like i was getting close to it.  My previous girlfriend wanted something similar and was already on a grass fed dairy milking cows.  I clashed with her family, and then her and ulitmately felt controlled and left.  I've held decent paying gigs like an engineer at a power plant, and idealistic jobs like installing renewable energy.  But I always blow out of my path because it doesn't seem fast enough or giving the desired results.  My addiction to the frackers has been no different. From the start i thought it would just take two or three years to stash away enough.  Then the crash came and I just sort of subsisted on intermitent working not saving a fraction of what i'd hoped after three years.  I think part of what has caught me off guard, or at least is scaring me is that for the first time in my life at 34 years old I feel a bit out of gas and energy and ideas and also the wave of external reality hitting me. 

I think the only cause worth dieing for is to help create systems that empower people to drop out and become self sufficient real human beings again.


We are all one, Roamer. It's not about me and it's not about you. I urge you to stop thinking so much and just treat your neighbor as yourself as well as treat all living things as you think will ultimately benefit them.

As Ka says, and I agree,


May God Bless and reveal Himself to you.

AG, I know I've been selfish, but i felt compelled to out of survival instincts...  I really do hope to build or do something useful for people once i figure out what.


If your entire motivation has always been survival, you have never actually been selfish. I think you have a good heart and do not now, or ever have before, enjoyed the possibility that others must suffer for you to live well, even if everyone around you claimed that "that's the real world".

The "survival of the fittest", dog eat dog meme has been proven, BY EVOLUTIONIST Scientists, to be an irrational and perverse fig leaf for the defense of the failed evolutionary dead end "apex" predator that eats up his food supply, instead of protecting and nourishing it in order to perpetuate his species.

Unthinking predation exists, but is always subordinate to altruism in defense of the herd in nature.

Of course, Wall Street tries to pretend that truth about how nature ACTUALLY harmoneously works is not so.

 The behavior of a turtle dove doing the broken wing act to save her offspring, even though she may get killed in the process, is altruistic, even if it is instinctive altruism. The mother grizzly that eats her cubs when the food supply is sparse is also NOT selfish because she is acting to preserve her species (she can get pregnant again - if her cubs and her die of hunger, the species suffers).

You have been taught many things that are propaganda about the meanest, smartest most callous individuals being the ones that come out on top in this world. Yes, some of them do. But all of them pay for their behavior sooner of later, despite what you may have heard to the contrary.

I know you don't dig the Bible, but I think, under your current mindset and circumstances  ;), you would get a kick out of reading Ecclesiastes.    

It's a short book allegedly written by King Solomon, although some claim that other authors were involved. As you know, King Solomon was loaded, so he pretty much tried EVERYTHING. He was a logical fellow that methodically observed human behavior and cause and effect. He pretty much figured out what makes us tick.  8)

Here's a snippet:

Quote
Ecclesiastes 9 (KJV)

10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

12 For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

13 This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:

14 There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:

15 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.

16 Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

17 The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.

Nick, I think you will do great good in your time.
   
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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The Forces Driving Middle-Aged White People's 'Deaths Of Despair'

March 23, 2017 5:00 AM ET
Heard on Morning Edition

Jessica Boddy

In 2015, when researchers Ann Case and Angus Deaton discovered that death rates had been rising dramatically since 1999 among middle-aged white Americans, they weren't sure why people were dying younger, reversing decades of longer life expectancy.

Now the husband-and-wife economists say they have a better understanding of what's causing these "deaths of despair" by suicide, drugs and alcohol.


In a follow-up to their groundbreaking 2015 work, they say that a lack of steady, well-paying jobs for whites without college degrees has caused pain, distress and social dysfunction to build up over time. The mortality rate for that group, ages 45 to 54, increased by a half-percent each year from 1999 to 2013.

But whites with college degrees haven't suffered the same lack of economic opportunity, and haven't seen the same loss of life expectancy. The study was published Thursday in Brookings Papers on Economic Activity.

Case and Deaton, who are both at Princeton University, spoke with NPR's David Greene about what's driving these trends. The interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Interview Highlights

On the original discovery of rising mortality rates for middle-aged whites


Deaton: Mortality rates have been going down forever. There's been a huge increase in life expectancy and reduction in mortality over 100 years or more, and then for all of this to suddenly go into reverse [for whites aged 45 to 54], we thought it must be wrong. We spent weeks checking out numbers because we just couldn't believe that this could have happened, or that if it had, someone else must have already noticed. It seems like we were right and that no one else had picked it up.

We knew the proximate causes — we know what they were dying from. We knew suicides were going up rapidly, and that overdoses mostly from prescription drugs were going up, and that alcoholic liver disease was going up. The deeper questions were why those were happening — there's obviously some underlying malaise, reasons for which we [didn't] know.

On what's driving these early deaths

Case: These deaths of despair have been accompanied by reduced labor force participation, reduced marriage rates, increases in reports of poor health and poor mental health. So we are beginning to thread a story in that it's possible that [the trend is] consistent with the labor market collapsing for people with less than a college degree. In turn, those people are being less able to form stable marriages, and in turn that has effects on the kind of economic and social supports that people need in order to thrive.

In general, the longer you're in the labor force, the more you earn — in part because you understand your job better and you're more efficient at your job, you've had on-the-job training, you belong to a union, and so your wages go up with age. That's happened less and less the later and later you've been born and the later you enter this labor market.

Deaton: We're thinking of this in terms of something that's been going on for a long time, something that's emerged as the iceberg has risen out of the water. We think of this as part of the decline of the white working class. If you go back to the early '70s when you had the so-called blue-collar aristocrats, those jobs have slowly crumbled away and many more men are finding themselves in a much more hostile labor market with lower wages, lower quality and less permanent jobs. That's made it harder for them to get married. They don't get to know their own kids. There's a lot of social dysfunction building up over time. There's a sense that these people have lost this sense of status and belonging. And these are classic preconditions for suicide.

Case: The rates of suicide are much higher among men [than women]. And drug overdoses and alcohol-related liver death are higher among men, too. But the [mortality] trends are identical for men and women with a high school degree or less. So we think of this as people, either quickly with a gun or slowly with drugs and alcohol, are killing themselves. Under that body count there's a lot of social dysfunction that we think ultimately we may be able to pin to poor job prospects over the life course.

On how mortality rates differ among races    

Deaton: Hispanics [have always had lower mortality rates] than whites. It's a bit of a puzzle that's not fully resolved, to put it mildly. It's always been true that mortality rates have been higher and life expectancy shorter for African Americans than for whites. What is happening now is that gap is closing and, for some groups, it's actually crossed. What we see in the new work is if you compare whites with a high school degree or less, at least their mortality rates are now higher than mortality rates for African Americans as a whole. If you compare whites with a high school degree or less with blacks with a high school degree or less, their mortality rates have converged. It's as if poorly educated whites have now taken over from blacks as the lowest rung of society in terms of mortality rates.

Quote
Agelbert RANT: Since WHEN are "Hispanics" a RACE!!!? Hispanics share some culture but are from ALL RACES! Hispanics are NOT considered a "race", but an ETHNIC GROUP. Yes, "race" is an unscientific concept itself because we are all one species, but the term "race" has always been associated with skin color, NOT CULTURE or LANGUAGE (until Trump, that is). You just read an NPR article making the thoroughly unscientific BACKDOOR allegation that "whites" can not be "Hispanics".  What next, the old "one drip of black blood makes you a you know what" revival from a century ago? I guess they've been listening to Trump (Trump said, "What the hell is a white Hispanic?".).  So it goes in our brave new world of racist Trump pseudo science.

On the geography of mortality rates

Case: There's not a part of the country that has not been touched by this. We like to make the comparison between Nevada and Utah to look at the extent to which good health behaviors lead to longer life. Two thirds of Utahans are Mormons. They don't drink, they don't smoke, and they don't drink tea or coffee. Two thirds of Nevadans live in Las Vegas paradise, where there is a little more of everything, so the heart disease mortality rates are twice as high in Nevada as they are in Utah.

But both states are [in the] top 10 for deaths of despair. Utah has had a terrifically hard time dealing with the opioid crisis, and suicide rates [are] going up as well. There's a lot of surprise here in parts of the country that we weren't really expecting to see.

http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/03/23/521083335/the-forces-driving-middle-aged-white-peoples-deaths-of-despair
« Last Edit: March 23, 2017, 02:45:29 pm by AGelbert »
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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Bad Newz.  :(

I got a second rejection on my appeal to Alaska Legal Services to get some representation for my SS Hearing.  So I am now once again left twisting in the wind.  I can make a 3rd Appeal to the Executive Director but I suspect it will be the same result.

So next week I am going to try a new tactic of walking in to a local lawyer's office for a consultaion, and not telling them what the case is until I am actually face to face with the scum sucking bottom feeder.  I'll pay for the hour of his valuable time.

If that doesn't work, it's time for the Nuclear Option.  I'll make an appointment with the Newz Editor of the Frontiersman and see if I can get them to do a story about this.  Perhaps that will get me a lawyer, and at least it will give a lot of Bad Publicity to SS, the Dimwit who took over for Colleen at Sen. Murkowski's Office and the Legal System and Bar Association of Alaska.

I'll probably lose the appeal anyhow, so there isn't much in the way of downside risk.  If I do lose the Appeal, I can still appeal again to the Federal Circuit Court.  That will drag it out another year at least.

The worst case scenario is I will have to cough up $10K to pay SS the clawback they want for "overpayments"  ::) , and continue to live on the current reduced income until I turn 62, at which time I believe my SSI turns to SSR and I SHOULD get back to the original payment amount.  I haven't been able to verify that though, SSA doesn't respond to my queries on this sent by Snail Mail.

I'm in no danger at the moment of ending up as a Homeless Cripple  Freezing to Death on the Streets of Palmer, Alaska ©,  I have just about enough to meet my monthly bills without dipping into my savings, and so far according to both my WC lawyer and HR Block, there is no tax liability on my WC settlement. The IRS accepted my Tax Return far as I know, though it can take months and sometimes up to 3 years before they whack you with an audit.  After 3 years they can't question it long as you filed a return.  Even reduced by $10K it's a good buffer, more than I had when I went the first 7 months with no income.  So as long as the monetary system doesn't crap out, I should be OK until the Nukes start flying in.  If the monetary system does crash, everybody will be in the same deep pile of **** as me, so I don't worry about that.  I will have met my goal of lasting long enough to see it all go down in flames before I Buy My Ticket to the Great Beyond. ©

RE



Here....

http://law.freeadvice.com/government_law/social_security_law/

I've been to that site.  They don't list any lawyers handling SS cases in Alaska.

RE

Bummer.

Here in Vermont, the moment they figured out Trump was going to ax programs that helped the poor, aged and disabled, they went into overdrive to make sure Vermonters don't suffer because of Trump's inhumanity. They collected $50,000 in just a few weeks so nobody would miss any meals on wheels service this year. Needless to say, the Republicans here don't have any use for Trump whatsoevah.    ;D

But, I understand Alaska is a bit different.  :(

Keep us posted. I hope and pray for the best outcome for you.
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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As you folks know, I am now engaged in another "appeal"   ::) to Alaska Legal Services to get representation on the SSA case, which I fully expect to fail.  The first appeal was to the Asst. Director, who works in the same office as the Executive Director and I am certain consulted with her before rejecting the first appeal.  Very unlikely the Executive Director will countermand the Asst. Director on this.  Cupla Girlfriends who have lunch together every day of course.

Originally, I was rejected when I first applied because my assets were too high for this free legal service for poor people.  The reason they were too high was because of the one time award I got from Workman's Compensation, which is precisely what this whole case is about!

In this second rejection, an entirely NEW reason was given, that due to their "limited resources", they can't represent me.  This doesn't surprise me much, given they probably have an overwhelming caseload of poor people with worse problems than I got.

I'm still not quitting on trying to get an attorney though, what I am doing now is some documentation of my attempts to GET an attorney, so that when I go into the hearing WITHOUT one, I can claim my right to representation (which SS themselves informed me I have) and show that I made every attempt to do so.  I will represent myself under duress.  Then the hearing becomes unconstitutional from the get-go and I can file an appeal in the Circuit Court of Appeals on Constitutional grounds. That can go to the **** Supreme Court!  I can face down Neil Gorsuch!  lol.

So, even though I already know after 2 phone calls to the Alaska Bar Association that they have no lawyers listed in their referals who take SS cases, I am sending them a Snail Mail letter requesting that once again this way.  They will reply to me they have no lawyers to refer.  BLAM, that goes in my case file, along with the rejection letter from ALS AND the requests for a Court Appointed attorney sent to SSA which they never responded to.

Now for some really GOOD NEWZ!  :icon_sunny:

Even better than all of this is that tonight I decide to research the Offset Law as pertains to Alaska, and I FOUND the specific case law that applies to my case!  It's SSA's OWN document off THEIR website! Here's the URL if you want to read all 9 pages.

https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/1502505002

Here are the relevant paragraphs:

Quote
CONCLUSION

It is our opinion that the Agency should recognize Alaska's reverse offset provision that was enacted in 1977. See AS § 23.30.225(b). However, the Agency should ignore the additional provision that the Alaska legislature enacted in 1988. See AS § 23.30.225(c). The Agency should disregard the August 1977 Regional Attorney opinion, and should no longer implement the federal offset computation under 42 U.S.C. § 424a(a). Therefore, the Agency should change the current POMS guidance as Ms. H~. has requested. See POMS DI § 52120.010(A).

a. Alaska WC Payment Types That Meet the Federal Offset Exemption: Temporary Total, Temporary Partial, and Permanent Total

The Alaska legislature enacted its provisions for temporary total, temporary partial, and permanent total WC payments in 1959. See AS §§ 23.30.180, 23.30.185, 23.30.200; and SLA 1959, ch. 193, §§ 7(1-2), 7(5). The Alaska legislature amended these provisions twice after February 1981, namely, in 1983 and 1988. See SLA 1983, ch. 70, §§ 5-6, 8; SLA 1988, ch. 79, §§ 31-33, 35-36. However, these amendments did not affect the reverse offset provision already enacted in 1977. See AS § 23.30.225(b); and SLA 1977, ch. 75, § 9./ Accordingly, we believe that these WC payment types meet the federal offset exemption, and the agency should implement Alaska's reverse offset when processing disability cases involving these WC payments.

CONCLUSION

It is our opinion that the agency should implement Alaska's reverse offset when computing temporary total, temporary partial, and permanent total WC payments. However, the agency should ignore Alaska's reverse offset when computing permanent partial impairment and reemployment/vocational rehabilitation benefits.

Besides all that, I don't actually receive any benefits from the State of Alaska.  The entire settlement was paid for by a PRIVATE INSURANCE COMPANY!  All WC did was mediate the settlement!

I am going in there with a **** BULLETPROOF CASE!  I am going to have a reporter there from the Frontiersman.  I will record on video also if possible, in full Trotsky RE getup!  :icon_mrgreen:  I will SMOKE these motherfuckers!

Clarence Darrow RE is BORN!  ;D

 RE

GO FOR IT!
 
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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What could be more important for a healthy psychology than a sense of purpose?  Without purpose what type of a life can be lived?  Purpose is not something that you can fool yourself into either.  I'm not referring to the purpose of family life.  If you are married, your purpose can be to be a good spouse, and if you have kids, your purpose can be to be a good parent to your children.  Those things are purpose with a lower case "p."  They are important, but we all have our own unique purpose for being here.  Or do we?

That statement is one of belief.  I want to believe that there is a purpose for me and everybody else on Earth.  To believe otherwise seems to be the germination of Nihilism.  If there is no purpose to my life than there is no purpose to anything else. 

The things that I am advocating for in my life are important.  Specifically I'm referring to Bamboo and Permaculture.  For me the two go hand in hand.  Both are fringe topics.  Permaculture comes from the margins of society.  My favorite principle is the 11th one: use edges and value the marginal.  Permaculture itself is marginal in our society, and within that margin, on the margin of Permaculture, bamboo is there.  Even in the Permaculture community bamboo is seen mostly as just another invasive.  It's the most useful plant to our species that grows on this planet.  How is it that it is such a hatted plant?  I believe this hatred goes directly to the root of our anti-cultures dysfunction.  That dysfunction begins with privacy fences on property lines.  Property lines being the main dysfunction (closely tied up with money of course).  Bamboo does not respect property lines.  It goes right under fences, and with enough time will cross a road bed.  It's also the most useful plant to our species!  Yet in our anti-culture it is the most hated!  Why!!!  Are we ultimately an anti-culture composed of sadist and masochist? 

Then there is Permaculture itself.  It's antithetical to the conventional suburban landscape of monocultured grass and shrubbery, just as bamboo is. 

My purpose is to advance bamboo and Permaculture into our anti-culture in an effort to do what needs to be done for a life of lower per capita energy.  Because we will eventually get that life, if they don't blow us all up with the "mother of all bombs" first.  Yet, holding that purpose I go forth with small engines to make money managing the typical suburban landscape.  The "greatest misallocation of wealth in the history of the world." 

I'm all the time fighting to advance the usefulness of bamboo and permaculture all while pouring gasoline into my hemi and mower and plethora of other small engines.  I burn gasoline everyday to make money.  We all do this in the working first world.  We have to.  I have no choice.  But why?  You never end up with enough money either.  Everybody works because they need money, and we all come up short and use credit.  Extend and pretend goes all the way to the lowest level of poverty that's just above mailbox money.  Many times in the recent past I have said "what's the **** point in working so hard?"  My efforts are met by more financial obligations, and there is never enough money no matter how much I make.  Sometimes I feel like throwing my hands up and just being a shitbag in line for some mailbox money. 

I'm told that what I am doing is of the utmost importance.  "The world needs you," my mentor says.  The world needs me because of my unique understanding and knowledge on bamboo.  Apparently the world is hungry for bamboo experts.  It's a similar story with permaculture.  The world needs me for that as well...to advance that sanity.  This must be a tired old story that has always been throughout all of the ages.  That which is most important gets pushed to the margins, and hated...or at the very least ignored.  Money is repelled by importance.  The more important something is the less money is available for it. 

I'm struck lately by how this works.  What I'm doing is so important and yet I have to spend the majority of my time worried about acquiring money.  It seems to me that if what I'm doing is so important then I should not be worried about money.  If it's so important then where is all of the money that should be helping to advance these causes?  It makes my life feel like a delusion. 

I have been struggling lately to maintain a belief in purpose.  My destiny is bamboo, and I'm starting to wonder if that's a good thing?  My destiny is hated by the majority of our anti-culture.  Out here on the furthest reaches of the margins, where even the marginal argue my cause...it is lonely.  I've begun developing a hatred for my species and it's ignorance and stupidity.  My vital energy has been declining.  I'm growing tired of the fight. 

Me too. However, we all make a series of decisions in life that require that we honor the good ones and learn not to repeat the bad ones as we live, observe and learn.

Nurturing the lives of those that depend on you is part of the package for you, as it is for me and Eddie. It ain't always a lot of fun, but it is part of your purpose in life. A horse drawing a cart with his family in it would be a type of metaphor for anybody that starts a family. It has become part of your responsibility to haul that cart.

RE says the main thing is to respect oneself. Well, I CANNOT DO THAT if I act irresponsibly. RE's argument to Eddie ignores the fact that being a provider is part and parcel of Eddie's self worth calculus, as it is mine and yours. We can't just ignore what we have contracted responsibly for. RE didn't make that contract, so he has, technically speaking, a lower threshold of physical requirements that he must meet to continue respecting himself. 

LD, in regard to your purpose in permaculture work and bamboo growing efforts, I think what is getting you down is a low level of peer group acceptance (we all have to deal Maslow's hierarchy) from humans around you that you interpret correctly as lack of respect for your efforts on behalf of the biosphere.

Furthermore, you are keenly ware of the vital importance of those activities you engage in for the future of mankind in general and your offspring in particular.

Your anger at the willful and destructive ignorance of humans who do not value such activities, while they value highly some commercial baloney or feel good propaganda, is a logical and reasonable threat response being activated. The fact that you see that anger as being misanthropic is normal. When I first began to feel that way, I felt the same.

But now I realize that it is NOT because I "hate" those dummies that I get angry. On the contrary, it is because you (and I) CARE for them that you/we get angry. 

True, nothing I said will make you feel any better. I know because I'm where you are quite often.

The only thing I recommend that may offer you some justification for everything you do that is good is considering what would happen if, all of a sudden, you weren't there?

You may, as I have often done, wish that you had never been born. But more likely, you will see, as I have also done when I thought about it for a while, all the BAD STUFF that would have happened if you were not there to prevent it from happening.

Therefore, my friend and brother, I ask you to do what is, and always has been, very hard for me to do. YET, somehow, I have managed to do it (see below).

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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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 didn't make that contract, so he has, technically speaking, a lower threshold of physical requirements that he must meet to continue respecting himself.

Actually, it's a higher threshold.  A monast has nobody else to blame his shortcomings on, and nobody to comfort him and love him when he makes mistakes.  Married people share these burdens, they don't have to bear them alone.  It's why solitary individuals are far more likely to commit suicide.  It's a much higher calling and more difficult path to follow than marriage.

RE

The perceived ability to pass the buck on perceived lack of success in marriage and family is an illusion. Yes, some people certainly do that. But single people can do that too with their peer group, society, etc.
Honest people, be they married or single, have the same principles.

I do agree with you that single people are more likely to off themselves. But this stat is unrelated to the ease, or lack of it, of providing food, shelter and clothing. It is simply due to the fact that humans are social beings wired to live, care for, and depend on, each other in social groups. Your ability to remain stable and at peace with your accomplishments or lack of them in your life is certainly more challenging when you rely only on yourself for assessing your value as a human.

All that said, the fact that you are single, does NOT mean you are not dependent on others for peer group acceptance. For you to claim that you need no moral support, or feel you are independent of the need to provide any, just ain't so. You HELPED LD because you CARE. That means you are LINKED emotionally to LD's success in life. You are, in effect, a PART of that social group, even though you live by yourself.

I'll go further. I'll say that, despite your claim to have an ego the size of Mount Everest, you would suffer from depression and lack of self esteem if LD failed in life. Your skin ain't all that thick, RE. And that is one of the reasons I remain your friend after having some heavy duty arguments with your over the years.   

You hide it pretty well most of the time, but you are as much a slave of ethical behavior and the responsibility to treat others with respect as I have ever been. GOOD FOR YOU! 
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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Knarf said,
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So it matters not your station in life, but what you do with it.

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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Well, RE, while you are singing solitary man, I'll sing my song too!   

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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