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Of course it is. It has always been so. And it should carry the maximum penalty. However, like Gun Control and Immigration Reform, now is not the time to focus on it. I was a little shocked and surprised that Thom not once mentioned the TPP in his article. I had to read it twice I was so shocked. Surely he is aware that any environmental legislation--domestic or foreign--would be instantly made null and void by TPP legislation. In fact, it is just such sound environmental backlash that the TPP is trying to overturn in the first place. For this reason, I say yes we need tougher environmental laws; however, first and foremost we must defeat the TPP.
If the TPP becomes the law of the land every other effort is a waste of time and we are doomed.
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Anthony, Forbes is a classic example of who to ignore on the issue of climate change. What else can you expect from a rich boys' magazine?! They are concerned only with the interests of those very people who benefit from things like fracking, mining, pipelines, ad nauseam. They are not qualified to speak for the "majority of scientists" and cannot be trusted to deliver the facts. Figuring out who to believe is not as difficult as you seem to think it is. Much of it involves a process of elimination; tuning out all sources with any kind of vested interest in a toxic status quo. - Aliceinwonderland
Marc, I think Rebel Without a Cause was about all the superfluous wealth of suburbia in that great postwar period of the care free economy of the robust middle class that made for the care free, merry youth of those generations and, most importantly, about the superficial values that came from it - that the "rebel without a cause" (James Dean's character) defied. We were really subsumed, back then, with our alarm about and disdain for those values - much to the annoyance of the poor and racial minorities (who constituted large part, perhaps most, of the poor) who would really liked to have been able to afford some of those superficial values.
What luxurious concerns we had then! We were worried that we were too well off! To our credit, we made noises of concern for those who didn't have it so good.
Thom - With you 100% ... but! A recent Forbes article, that came up when googling climate change, said that climate change wasn't a real concern; wasn't a concern of most people; and wasn't considered a concern by the majority of scientists.
I realize (as I know you do) that this is the age of spin, POV, rendering data meaningless by making it say whatever you want it to - but maybe this issue of how you convince people that a certain situation (such as climate change) IS important, and refute those who completely negate the entire argument, using data that proves their point.
Because here's what happens - 7 billion people (including me) just turn it all off. We don't know WHO to believe - so we just tune out!
Has anyone there looked into Flight MH370 Coordinates to Beijing China at 39 degrees 54' N 116 degrees 24' E and where everyone is looking? Should they be looking at 39 degrees 54' S 116 degrees 24' E? Perhaps flight crew input error? If you check the coordiates they are very close to the search location.
It is long past time . The reason why nothing has been done, is being done or will be done is that the Oil & Gas companies have the politicians in their back pocket. We know that. Until the public decides to vote for someone who will represent them and not Big Oil, it's business as usual. That just isn't going to happen anytime soon. No surprises here.
Aliceinwonderland ~ You are most welcome!
chuckle8 ~ My apologies. I was quite busy today. If you could re-post the link you speak of from R. Wilkerson I would be most interested in reviewing it tomorrow... I don't have time tonight. I will respond on tomorrows blog. Thanks again, and a Very Good Night!
PS The two issue are correlated; however, I don't believe that they are mutually inclusive... ie you can't cure them both by curing one. They are separate issues that need separate cures. If you believe this is in error I would love to see the proof...
Why would a corps advertise profusely for something that the public has no choice but to buy for whatever they wish to charge? Answer: control of the media. Unfortunate events will be covered de minimus, forgotten quickly and puff pieces displayed without question. Political machinations such as ALEC will not be covered at all. Welcome to our brave new world. Democracy was pretty good 'til we gave it away.
historywriter -- If they do not hear it on corporate media 5 times a day, it can't possibly be a problem of any significance. Have you noticed how many ads there are on TV by carbon corps. Exxon-Mobil ads are not even trying to sell a product.
DAnneMarc -- Economic disparity and psycho-sociological dysfunction are very much correlated. The link I provided for you from R. Wilkerson measures this relationship in fine detail. Of course, there are many anecdotes that show the opposite. In spite of what Faux News thinks, counting anecdotes is not a proof of anything. Wilkerson's study is statistical.
I never said that. I said social cohesion is the factor that is behind all the social ills Wendalore spoke of. Social cohesion is necessary for a healthy family. A healthy family is necessary for mental health.
If you reduce the number of parents that have to work to support the family, you only improve social cohesion slightly. The problems will still persist, though somewhat lessened. Only by keeping all members of the family together--working together and interdependent--can you raise the social cohesion to the level that will completely eliminate these problems.
For the very simple reason that these problems permeate all levels of society--both poor and wealthy. It is just the poor who demonstrate these characteristics that we notice. If we kept tract of every dysfunctional person, George W. Bush would never have even been considered as a political candidate for any office. At a young age he abused animals--a certain tell tale sign of a psychopath. As a teenager he was arrested for Cocaine. These are the known dysfunctions. Imagine what else remains under the veil of national security.
Don't confuse economic disparity with psycho-sociological dysfunction. They are both two different problems. You seem to think that if we could return to the economy of the 50's all this dysfunction would go away. Yet, the truth is it won't . The nuclear family of "Leave it to Beaver" was a media myth that bared no resemblance to real life. The problems existed then as well, but were buried deep. Remember the movie, "Rebel Without A Cause." That was a much more realistic depiction of psycho-sociological dysfunction in this economic equality paradise of which you speak.
Don't get me wrong. Economic disparity is a human disgrace that needs to be addressed. I'm simply stating that we are talking about two completely separate issues. Apples and oranges if you will.
Now you got me. Wikipedia was there and I had to work today. I just didn't have the time to fully explain the concepts of Gesellschaft and Gemeinschaft . You might like to know that I regret that very much because as you have stated Wikipedia doesn't do the job that I would like. In a previous blog post I took the time to break these complex ideal types down in a way that does them justice and explains these problems. This time I just didn't have the time to do it again; or, to search the archives for the last time I did it; but, it is there. I apologize for that.
There are hundreds of things we could do right now if we had the will and if Congress wasn't so shit-faced scared of Big Oil, Big Money, and all the other Big Corporations that own them. We could pass legislation to reduce emissions right now. Curious, most people do believe in global climate change but two-thirds don't think it's critical. What in hell will wake them up, if storms, droughts, hurricanes, tornadoes, forest fires, and hundreds and hundreds of other disasters--caused by humans--aren't doing it. Starvation? No water?
Kend, I was in the Soviet Union in '77, my family comes from there. I traveled with a group of socialists and we were very critical of the phony socialism and I did find it nothing but dreary. I was a cold warrior in through the '80s - even because I was a socialist. I didn't appreciate that insult to socialism.
Canada might be like Western Europe. When you don't dispense with democracy then the people can vote for socialism and if they tire of it and want something else they can vote for something else.
If the potential impact of disapproval of Arizona by the Super Bowl committee influenced Gov Jan Brewer to veto anti gay legislation maybe the committee and the NFL and it's players, the majority of whom I believe are black, should consider the impact of what amount to poll taxes in the voting restrictions enacted by any state having an NFL team? You can play here but not vote here...
i think the business community also pressured her and perhaps the thought of a boycott of states enacting or seriously considering voting restrictions, anti Medicare anti ACA enactments, anti choicel anti gay and even secessionist sentiments would add pressure on the Repub state legislatures not to act. A call the public to e.g, not vacation in or travel to a state like Florida would have an impact, not to mention many other state specific pressures.
GOP Credo " Money trumps enviormental issues ! Supreme Court believes Money speaks very loudly Corps are NOT Persons . Persons bleed, feel pain, have a heart ... Corps do neither
;-}
And all that PR has the effect of making a lot of people in other countries want to come to the US for a better life. But, I think it is more like in the 1983 film El Norte where a brother, Enrique, and his sister, Rosa, after their father's head was cut off and put on top of a fence by the military junta, decides that the US was the place of freedom and opportunity. After all they had been exposed to all the PR stories. So, they managed to get into the US but find that it was not all like the stories they had heard. It was a land of exploitation of the poor and manual laborers. It had a very sad ending.
Better think twice about going to Alberta, Canada or anywhere else for "the good life". It may be good...or maybe not. Be very careful when you think about working over seas or in other countries. Many people make out ok. But some people, mostly young women, are sold into slavery..and young men into hard labor earning much less pay than they were promised. While I wouldn't think that this would be a particular problem in Canada...well, hell, it's a problem even in the US!
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And I was reading, and watching some videos, about Marc Emery's plight in Canada. And in reading about that situation, I picked up some of the things that they can arrest you for in Canada. Some pretty arcane laws that bend toward religious intolerance. I already knew they were intolerant of anyone who spoke out against Jews in any way. But Marc Emery didn't have anything to do with those things. What he was put into prison for 5 years (originally, supposed to be 10) was for his marijuana activism and his selling marijuana seeds. He and his wife Jodie had a long history of activism trying to legalize pot.
He is about to get out of a US prison after serving his 5 year term. His wife Jodie kept up the activism and the on-line TV program called Pot TV. Funny thing is that even the Canadian police were not going to put him in prison...it was the US DEA who insisted that he serve time in a US prison.
http://www.pot.tv/video/2014/03/04/Jodie-Emery-Show-20-Years-Marc-Emerys...
http://www.pot.tv
We could impose a cabon tax. The carbon corps would think it was worse than being convicted of a crime.
Palin -- You're right, it wasn't you that made me feel stupid. It was that commentator in Amazon.
Kend: Maybe you should go to Detroit today! It wasn't communism that brought Detroit down. When capitalist pigs decide to move their factories overseas..oh..and all their capital stashed in foreign accounts... they are most destructive of the country that made their wealth possible to begin with. They're traitors!
Kend -- What the US is very good at is PR. We spend $600 billion a year on advertising. To give you an idea of how much that is, Paul Ryan proposed a budget for the US of $960 billion. When they get here and realize the truth back they go. I think that is why we now have negative immigration.
DAnneMarc -- I assume that social cohesion would bring about better wealth equality. Do you think in the face of industrialization, that labor unions would bring about more social cohesion (certainly not at the level of a family but maybe enough)? How can you say economic disparity has little to do with those characteristics; that is, what was the Gini coefficient (LOL)?
Why depend on Wikipedia for definitions? Do you know Wikipedia has no mention of the merging of private and public interests in their definition of fascism? Of course, Meriam Webster took it out of their definition of fascism in the dictionaries I own. This removal happened when they were bought out by a multi-national corporation in the 1980's. I should mention that my sister's dictionary of the dates as mine, still has the mention of merging of state and private interests in the definition of fascism.
chuckle8: I am sorry if I have made you feel stupid. I certainly don't think you are. I think you are quite intelligent, in fact. I don't know if it was "simplified scientific jargon" or not but that is what I read from some comments about the book on Amazon.com.