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sheilach2 ~ Quite right! No matter how we look at it we are doomed. There is no way out.
Oh, if there was only a natural substitute for fossil fuels. If only that substitute could remove CO2 from the air and replace it with O2. If only it were capable of cleaning the atmosphere and reversing the greenhouse effect. If only it was permanently sustainable. If only...
http://thehempsolution.blogspot.com/
DAM -- I noticed the other day while throwing away (actually cataloging) my LA times an article I wanted to ask you about. It said on Feb 7, 2014, Obama took hemp out of a certain type of controlled substance category. The article said US farmers were rejoicing since they knew Canadian farmers were doing a $1 billion business in hemp. Do you know about this recatagorization of hemp and its impact?
A good leader leads by example and our country is corrupted. Viva voting.
Diversion of fossil fuel subsidies to renewable energy development would be a zero-sum event. (tax wise) The Repubs should really like that but since they and not a few Dems are in the fossil fuel industries' pockets there would have to be a lot of hollering by the general citizenry to get 'er done. I favor a focus on rooftop solar for the following reasons:
1. We already have rooftops so additional land would not be consumed,
2. Long distance transmission line losses would be minimized,
3. If the energy were converted by hydrolysis to pressurized hydrogen storage, the following would be possible:
a. power availability for the home after sunset via hydrogen fuel cells,
b. hydrogen to power fuel cell driven automobiles,
c. ability to supply a smart grid during need surges (with reimbursement),
4. A distributed system (properly designed) is more resilient. (each home independent),
5. Money does not flow into only a few pockets as in a centralized, more brittle system.
Perhaps, since we have such obstruction at the national level, we could form a city/state consortium where there is pressure to solve actual problems. (Another Manhattan project?) Dealing positively with both energy needs and climate change = a good thing.
Just for the record, folks, I'd like to back off a little on one of the points made in my post #32. Where I said that 75% of medical-related bankruptcies involved folks who were "insured", I was repeating what I'd understood the stats to be, before the Affordable Care Act kicked in. This statistic may be less accurate now than prior to "Obamacare". However last I heard, since "Obamacare" got started, one thing hasn't changed: 51% of total bankruptcies in the USA are from these outrageous medical bills. God bless America. - Aliceinwonderland
So you've said many times, Fabian. And I agree.
To be honest, this isn't the brightest generation. I saw an incident some time ago that "said it all." A man was sitting in his car, parked at the curb with the engine running. A woman walked by, smoking a cigaret, and the man in his pollution machine made some comment to the woman about polluting "his" air. Few smoke, most drive. The most carcinogenic type of smoke is the kind that contains oil particles, and the leading cause in the US today is our motor vehicles. These oil particles are what is killing off forests, which provide the oxygen we require. This is the cause of climate change. Need I mention that demand for oil keeps us engaged in wars? The middle class has consistently fought every effort to invest in building a modern, affordable mass transportation system, and continue to insist that they "have the right" to drive as much as they wish.
For that matter, one of the leading causes of poverty is illness. Currently, another leading cause is that the US has been shipping out our working class jobs since the 1980s. Regardless, this generation decided that "there is no excuse" for being jobless and poor.
Odd. We've been in a pretty intense class war for years. Did anyone not notice? Today, the rich are simply doing to the middle class what the middle class already did to the poor -- often enough, using the same "justifications." With the the proverbial "masses," the middle class and poor, so deeply pitted against each other, there isn't much we can do to push back.
DAnneMarc: I read the information in that link you provided. Interesting difference of opinions between the conservative and liberal Christians and Jews. The liberal Christian's position in most of it is far more believable than the conservative position. But, I believe that most of it is all just made up.
I know that Abraham came to the Levant from the city of Ur in the fertile crescent and brought stories with him, like the flood story...the Epic of Gilgamesh morphed into the Noah's ark story. etc. And a lot of other stories were plagiarized from other ancient stories that may or may not have been true.
Thom, Charity Hicks passed away Tuesday, July 8th, after not coming out of the coma. She was the very first person to be arrested for taking action against the water shutoffs here in Detroit. I knew that her mother and husband had been at her side since the accident, and were asking donations for her medical bill, but now they have other bills like bring her home for burial and helping her husband get caught up with the things he couldn't pay because of being out of work and out of state. So if anyone could donate please do. Here is the link: Charity Mahouna Hicks "Wage Love" Fund
Thank you,
Jean
Thom, we can't stop using fossil fuels, we are totally dependend upon them. If we stopped using fossil fuels, the economy would collapse & there would be mass starvation, if we continue to use fossil fuels, the economy would still collaspe as those fuels declined & there would be mass starvation.
We have already passed the tipping point, more & more methane is escaping from the ocean shelf's, a gas that's 40x more potent than CO2, & it's escaping in the Antarctic & the permafrost around the Arctic, this will excellerate climate change.
We wouldn't be in such a mess if we had done what we were suppose to do at the begining of the "green revollution" that was powered by fossil fuels. But we instead made abortion illegal, we made sex education illegal & we made contraseptives illegal or difficult to obtain. Even today, the fundamentalist conservative believers continue to fight against a womans right to her own body, more states are making abortion, birth control & even sex education difficult to get.We have lost the opprotunity to stop population growth & now we are doomed to collaspe. It's too late to save ourselves, we are toast.
DAnneMarc: I wonder just how many of those conservative literalists would have their children stoned for being disobedient or disrespectful of their parents.
http://atheism.wikia.com/wiki/Bible
And it specifically says in the Bible that Jesus said not to pray in public...not in the synagogs or street corners...but in private. How many Christians or Jews or Muslims really believe that they are following the commandments of Jesus or of their God? Jesus said to keep your religion to yourself...according to the Bible. They are all hypocrites who pick and choose what they want to believe.
Here's a guy that really ticks religious people off. I used to listen to him a lot. (less than 5 minute video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEt20PgKmcU&feature=related
Nachos, that is your opinion, far as religion goes. We'll just have to disagree. I'm no fan of religion, so please don't misread what I'm saying. In fact, I have a lot of animosity towards religion; as a woman, I probably have more reason to feel that way than you do. But crony capitalism, "free" trade and all the bullshit that goes with it is the biggest obstacle to world stability and peace, in my opinion. It is the greatest threat to our survival as a species, not to mention the survival of all life forms that currently exist.
That aside, I did not appreciate your sanctimonious dissing of all Americans sucked into the crony capitalist debt trap. Your friends and family living in these other countries don't have to worry about affording things like health care and education because the systems they live in are more just, compassionate and fair. They can go to the hospital when they have a medical crisis without fear or trepidation. They can get an education to better their lives and enjoy a nice bright future without having to worry about debt or bankruptcy. Why is that, Nachos; because they are more deserving? Hell no. It's because they are fortunate enough to live in societies with social mobility and a safety net.
Frankly, I think you've got one helluva nerve rhapsodizing about how your relatives have it made in the shade in these other countries, only to write another post spouting off shit like "I DO NOT have any empathy for those who live above their means and then expect to be bailed out. Same for students with outrageous debt. They were not complaining about their tuitions when they applied to those schools." C'mon Nachos, you know better than that. A college education is the only ticket to a decent paying job anymore. Are you suggesting an entire generation of working class young Americans be condemned to a life of low-wage grunt work, just because their daddies aren't rich? Do you honestly believe that a college education should only be available to members of the Lucky Sperm Club? Because if that's where you are coming from, pal, we've got nothing more to discuss. - Alice IW
Palindromedary ~ Here is an interesting site that sumerizes the liberal and conservative political implications of the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. It basically says the same thing I've been saying:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/chrincest.htm
WAKE UP! Feeding Wealthy Corporations$$$ and their 1% overlords is a bipartisan goal.
Keep yer Guvment hands off my Obamacare!
DAnneMarc: Thanks for that correction...a pillar of salt...I remember now. I suppose it was appropriate since the area around the Dead Sea, including the Dead Sea is very salty.
It looks like the actual locations of those two towns have been argued for a long time. The most recent archaeological suspected site for Sodom is located 8 miles NE of the Dead Sea in Jordan. Enter 31.8, 35.7 into Google Earth to go to the site. Not much to see though. The site is called Tell (or Tall) Al-Hammam. Tell (or Tall) means an archaeological mound or ruins. Al- means "the" and Hammam, in Arabic, means Toilet or Restroom. They have found bronze age artifacts that show destruction by an intense fire. There was an upper Tal and a lower Tal ...massive stone walls and a rampart and towers.
http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2009/01/12/tall-el-hammam-2008-a-pe...
http://www.getamap.net/maps/jordan/al_balqa/_hammam_tellel/
AIW: If the red states did in fact decide to secede, I hope they don't form a land bridge with Canada. I'll have to check that. We could end up with the Kochstone pipeline. I also see a flood of red state refugees fleeing into the blue states.......LOL
The right way to handle a police stop video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDJrQBwJpqk
And here is a more detailed explanation of the last video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkpOpLvBAr8
Palindromedary ~ Yes, that is what the Bible thumpers refer to for their persecution of gay people. However, it is not actually the case. Also, Lot's wife was no saint either. In fact, she was a first class Biatch! When Abraham and his brother Lot returned to the land of Canaan there was much work to do to prepare it for the nation of Israel. It was Lot's wife who's greed and lack of concern for Abraham, her own people or God who insisted the she and Lot move to Sodom. She knew well that the city was full of thief's, rapist, and ungodly people; but, she also knew that there was a lot of wealth and easy money there. Also, since Lot was somewhat PW'ed (Kitty Whipped) so off they went. Both Abraham and Lot showed a tremendous amount of restraint. It was Lot's wife's fault that the entire rescue process was necessary.
Also, she was turned into a pillar of salt not stone. Some speculate that the salt was a metaphor for the bitterness that existed in her heart.
Actually, the 'thumpers' would do well to examine that story a lot closer. They would find that the gay practice had a rather minor role in their damnation. It was first and foremost the worship of money, and all the over indulgences and evil that come along with it that were their downfall, as well as the downfall of Lot's wife.
Another lesson from the story is the patients of God. Personally, I'd have fried her butt with a thunderbolt the moment she demanded taking Abraham's brother away from the tribe. But that's me.
KEND I CALL BULLSHIT!!!
First of all, much like the continued research by anti-marijuana organizations that try soooooo desperatly to thwart the legalization of marijuana ( both Medical & recreational use),through wishy washy rehtoric yet have only proven again and again that marijuana IS NOT the dangerous drug that the government has made it out to be. The same holds true for Solar Power; The more it is challenged the more we find to be good about Solar Power, as well as wind, and wave generated power. All three have been proven to work effectively and efficiently without the negative impact that conventional energy causes. I am actually sitting in my home where we have installed 12 P.V. panels and a Domestic Solar Hot water System. We are able to generate 65% of our own power through Solar energy. All we need to do is eventually add about 6 more panels and we can "go off the grid". However the only downside...FPL (Florida Plunder & Loot) lobbied to stop people from being able to go off line 100%. When we do supply 100% of our own power we will still receive a bill for "service", be it only for about $18...Just another way BIG corporations rip people off.
Lastly, and I'll use marijuana again as an example. The U.S. has had a ZERO Tollerance policy when it comes to it's Drug "problem" since the early 80's, however we have te highest in underground sales, Highest percentage of drug crimes and bloated prisons. Mean while many other countries realized the woe of their ways and learned from their mistakes and lifted such silly waste of time laws that actually created greater social and economic problems. You may recall a period in U.S. history Know as Prohibition. During that time the U.S. saw a enormous increase in crime, through boot legging and illegal sales. Our prison population increased by 26%, However once we lifted Prohibition things calmed down. Whats my point; It seems that the U.S. is always draging its feet, kicking and screaming, when it comes to change, even when it is for the better. Germany and several other European and Asian countries got on the Solar ball decades ago with policies that mapped out a plan as to when they would be "off line". Originally Germany was perdicting to be 100% off nuclear and coal power by 2050...Just a year or two ago they announced that they are 20 years ahead of that plan. Hmmmm!!!
Your German friend may be somewhat right about cost, at this time, however someone somewhere along the way has to sacrafice a little so that the future is a better place...Isn't that what you would want for those darling grandchildren you like to talk about???
C'mon ALICEINWONDERLAND...This is not the "biggest" scam in history; Religion - at least the ones that take "good ideas" and turn them into absolute belief systems based on fear and invisible omnipotence in order to control the masses - take the cake on that one.
I don't think you read what I wrote in its entirety, or at least you did comprehend it as to what I was actually saying.
MMmmNACHOS: :-)
Careful what you say...beware the snarks. For the snark is a boojum, you see. Some have feathers and bite, and some have whiskers and scratch. Some will just throw you into prison if they trick you into incriminating yourself. You have a right to remain silent. If the snark catches you, remain silent...it is your right. Very good advice that most people ignore.
Aside from the lawyer that first appears on this video, there is a long-time career law enforcement officer that corroborates what the lawyer says (he starts at 27:22 minutes into the video). Most people, even innocent people, believe that all they have to do is to cooperate with police and answer their questions. But, even innocent people have been convicted because the police trip them up, take words out of context, and "whatever you say will be used against you in a court of law". Nothing you say, to the police, will be used to defend you in a court of law. The police can even, legally, lie to you when they interrogate you. They will tell you anything to get you to incriminate yourself.
Beware the snarking trolls who may not be who they say they are.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wXkI4t7nuc