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Thom Hartmann has written a dozen books covering ADD / ADHD - Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder.
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As Mark Russinovich said in one of his Microsoft Tech Ed lectures about the joint US-Israel Stuxnet virus that caused Iran's Scada controlled nuclear centrifuges to self distruct...he said that he got a copy of Stuxnet and played around with it to analyze it. Funny thing...it only worked as it was meant to if the computer running it was set to Iranian time-zone. Stuxnet and Flame (another piece of malware aimed at Iran) started infecting many other Scada systems in that time-zone. I wonder if the Iranians caught on and reconfigured their Scada systems for some other time zone? All the Iranians would have to do is modify that software slightly to get it to work in US timezones and if it ever got into the US networks of Scada systems... controlling Power Plants and Dams and all kinds of things we would be getting a taste of our own medicine...they could shut us down and self destruct.
You don't have to worry about getting these particular malware on your home computers, so I've heard anyway, they only target Scada systems. But if they take out the power grids and even maybe get nuclear plants to self destruct we won't have any need of a home computer anyway...no power, they won't work...nucleated, radiated bodies and WE won't work!
The same people who monopolize energy and water now will be the same people who will monopolize Solar Cells, Wind Turbines, batteries and all the other things that comprise of "off the grid" or "green" living. They are so expensive now that, for many people, requires taking out a loan or buying on credit. And what about the eventual breakdown of the equipment? You'll have to buy new batteries when they wear out, new Solar panels when they break (after the "lifetime warranty" expires). The people who manufacture and sell these things know just how much they can milk us for over time. Don't be fooled by the so-called "lifetime" warranty...if you even get that. It's unrealistic to expect these thing not to wear out or malfunction. Read the fine print...and even then it may not be there but implied that it really means until the life of the equipment...or something other than "our lifetimes". So, we can expect to keep paying big bucks for our energy whether it comes from gas and oil or whether it comes from the sun or wind. And just because it may now look like there are a number of companies that make the hardware that comprises of our "green" energy, there is a very likely probability that they will be monopolized some day. The monopolists will eventually take them over. We'll still be under their thumbs. Now, if we can somehow get control of the monopolists then we might have a chance. And then, has anyone thought about the carbon footprint it leaves in just manufacturing these alternative devices? Batteries? Solar Cells? I don't think that just moving over to "green" energy will fix the problem...we have to fix the problem of greedy, monopolistic capitalists.
But, of course, when the main grid goes down...you will still have power...unless all that smog blots out the sun. But then, those wind storms could knock down your solar panels of baseball-sized hail could completely destroy all of the solar panels on your house. I know, I'm such a pessimist!
I guess I'm lucky. I retired young, at 47, and it was the following year that drug testing became so popular for low level employers and minor managers. The Middle and upper level managers didn't seem to have to go through it - just the ones who dragged themselves into the office every day - after having been up with a baby or a sick child more than half the night, sick with a cold, or not feeling from from literally everything BUT drugs. The upper level management people bragged about their partying all night, how many lines of coke they'd done, how many shots they'd counted before they lost count, and other things. But they were exempt.
Drug testing is ridiculous. I know of very few people who don't take sleep aids, drink, or take medications for many other health problems. If everyone is forced to take a drug test, it serves no practical purpose. The ones who are favored (either) will never have to, or theirs will be swapped out for a clean test. It's just another hatchet job against real, hard-working people who struggle to raise families and have to go to work, as well.
And now that MMJ has been proven to relieve pain and some other problems in so many hard-working people, the testing is out-of-line. As long as a person can perform their job well, their reputations shouldn't be marred by the stress of one more invasion of privacy.
PD, I couldn't agree with you more. Goes back to my main point about monopoly capitalism. And as you point out, even so-called "green" technology might not be as green as it appears. Gets kinda discouraging, doesn't it!
I think that many people would benefit from looking at the economics of certain video games. I personally think that the economics of Diablo 2 would be enough for a PHD. essay in ecomonics. 3rd party websites and all. In fact in that economy that is the purest form of free market, You can easily exploit the rich to become rich yourself. It is truly hard to explain in terms that most can understand. What is really the root problem is that the rich have set up a system in which the poor are not educated enough to exploit the rich and have no real compass on the reason why it would help everyone.
I really like you Thom, but the only answer is yes? I know that you have your own opinion and I agree with most of them but this seems no better then comfirmation bias. I think that maybe it would be good to give the option to say no and likely reasons why one would argue such a point. I am a little suprised to see only options in favor of one point of view on here. Then again this is my first post on this site and maybe this is the status quo here. In which I feel that your braodcasts on freespeech tv are different then your website. And by the way I do agree with you but on ethics I have to not vote based purely on a nondemocratic option pool. If one is truely just in there point of view then the masses will eventually join in. Look at flat earth theory. But to silence decent is the exact opposite of what you talk about on freespeech tv. I do not mean to start negative discourse and I am more then willing to stop commenting on this site if it is a site where people come to just ask questions as to why they where right all along. And if the only answer isn't yes then I think that maybe you should reformat your site so that the masses can see the other options. I guess that what I am saying is that preeching to the choir acheives nothing. If you want to see methods that change peoples minds then look to the early youtube athiest community. For referece look for early VenomFangX debates and the videos made during that period. Whether you agree with them or not, it is hard to argue that they didn't play a significant role in the change in religious demographic in this country and around the world. I guess my point is that the same methods to spread propagada is the same methods that could help spread the truth. In the end everyone is pushing an agenda whenever they speak and if you want to convince others of yours then you need to focus on presentation.
DAnnemarc: John L. Davie had a very interesting life...he was lucky it wasn't a short one. To stick up for himself against the railroad...wow! And to have spent 18 years as mayor of Oakland. And Jack London helped fight against the RR with him. Wow! The people certainly liked and respected him. I also like Jack London's stories. I used to go down to Jack London Square and eat at the Old Spaghetti Company..and some of the other restaurants. They had an old largely wooden complex...looked like it was made out of old barn wood...with wood floors. Went into all those stores. Used to go to the boat shows. And some years watched the boat parade at Christmas time at night...boats all decorated up with lights. I liked to go to that bookstore...I forget now which one it was Barnes and Nobles? I also went to the farmer's market a few times. Thanks for telling me about John L. Davie...what a character!! I haven't actually read the book yet only bits and pieces from various sources. I have so many books now, many I have read, some only partially, and not enough time to read them all. I have many times been very tempted to buy yet more books but I have to keep slapping my hands reminding myself that I will likely only buy yet one more book that I may not have time to read. I'm trying to get into the habit of "not buying books" to counter my habit of "buying them" that I've been on so many years.
I'll say it again... Mark Saulys hit the ball out of the park on this one. If we all put solar panels on our roofs this would be a problem of the past very quickly. A lesson for us all to learn.
I salute you, Dave Wdowaik, for the vital job you do and the profound truths you dare speak. Like me, you are a relic of another time -- the last years when this nation was yet New Deal capable and union-solidarity proud, the final decades before the bottomless greed of the capitalists prompted them to abandon us as if our homeland were just another of their exhausted mines or hopelessly poisoned farms and we its people were just another batch of worn out machines.
Trivial though it may be -- for which I apologize in advance -- I offer you this as a relic of the era in which you and your comrades were honored and appreciated.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qoymGCDYzU
Palindromedary ~ So how do you like the book I suggested in #27. It is a true story that makes for a great read. The synopsis in the link I provided doesn't do the true story justice. You need to get the book and read it for yourself to absorb the true life of probably the greatest hero in American history. Please, correct me if I'm wrong. I've already read it several times myself and own two copies just in case I can't find one for another read. John L. Davies is a constant inspiration in life; and, has been for many, many years.
It will enable the market have the light shine on them from different points of veiw. Now lets start The Progressive Party to get on the Ballot. Which is also long overdue . How about you Thom Running as a third Party canidate You would surly beat out the others
John C Otto Sr
as a lineman for a major electric producer DTE I have spent way to many years trying to get your point across to the people in my industry. They as blind as no one would ever emagin to what is happening to the industry. Major companies shed away from training people to do a linemans job. They claim it is way to expensive and takes to many years to train and then maintain those trained as a work force. When these disastors hit nearly 90% of all available lineman in the nation are sent to restore power. Nearly two fifths of this force is not actual lineman and nearly one half the total work force are actually qualified linemen. Disastors are increasing in intensity and are striking a broader range of the US and Cananda. Just twenty years ago Canada with all its hugh production of the Niagra river was just one line from total shut down and help took six weeks to remedy that storm. We had twice as many linemen at that time. Why am i still doing this job at 67 years of age - because I get called from 10 or more companies and make enough money to take a nice vacation and get to work with alot of my old retired friends who also get called. We all see and say the same thing - all we ever do is repair the same lines nothing new is ever built if and when that day ever comes America will be so far behind that the start up will take 10 or more years.
Be proactive...urinate in a baggy when you haven't had any drugs for quite a while...freeze it...then use it when you have to....just make sure it's not icy cold when you submit it for testing.
By the way, Kend, I have been trying to locate that Lodgepole blowout well, of Oct. 17, 1982, but it seems that even welltriever.com doesn't list it...if the well is well number 13-12-48-12W5 as is noted in the videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tQLa_LQ-Pk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp9jMIXz1dg
Well number 00/11-12-048-12W5/0 is what I believe to be very near where the blowout well was located. There is either a mistake in the well number I have from that video or maybe there is some other reason why it is not shown. There are many abandoned wells shown so why isn't the infamous one shown..I wonder. The blowout well had been doing a horizontal drill underneith the Pembina River...somewhere near the one shown here.
https://www.welltriever.com/wells/100111204812W500
If one zooms out and moves around the map one might be astounded as to just how many wells there are. I think I saw a number ...something like over quarter of a million of them...just there in that area of Alberta.
So, my guess, given that you were probably 18 or 19 in 1980-1982, that should make you about 53 or 54 or 55 years old.
From what I've read about it...that Lodgepole blowout went on for about 67 days and spewed a lot of hydrogen sulfide into surrounding towns where lots of people got headaches and respiratory ailments. It was very interesting how they managed to put it out though. Now those were some really brave dudes. But there were a couple or three dead ones because they took off their masks (as I have read). H2S-Hydrogen Sulfide in such concentrations within several thousands of feet from the well would have been very lethal.
I've smelled very strong rotten egg H2S odors very often in Saudi Arabia...not very pleasant even at low levels.
I think the key issue here, again, is monopoly capitalism; not technology. I suspect that viable alternatives have existed for decades, that the only reason they aren't mainstream by now is because they've been thwarted by the monopolists. I've been harping on this for decades already, and both Thom and "10K" do a good job of pointing this out. I probably won't live long enough to see it, but I hope monopoly capitalism's days are numbered. Until then, freedom and autonomy are nothing but abstractions.
P.S. Loren, you posted your entry while I was still writing this. There you go, popping my bubble again! Of course I say this without malice. Nice to have you back, by the way; I've missed you. - Aliceinwonderland
Though Mr. Hartmann's statement is indisputably true -- "we have to break away from our addiction to 19th century Big Energy, and break up the $220 billion electric industry, so that a few monopolistic companies are no longer controlling large chunks of the electricity produced in our country" -- it is also indisputably impossible.
The need for such a break-up has been obvious since the 1960s, but the One Percent will not allow it -- now or ever.
Only two forces can make it happen. These are revolution (impossible) and apocalypse (unavoidable). The former will inevitably be suppressed by the technological superiority and sadistic mercilessness of the Ruling Class, while the latter -- Gaea's cancellation of humanity's ruinously overdrawn karmic and environmental accounts -- will in all probability de-electrify the planet forever.
"You pee in a cup", says Kend; "Big deal. Get over it."
You conveniently ignore one very significant fact in this debate. Flunking a pee test does not indicate a worker is stoned. It only indicates he got high a day ago, or a week ago, or even a month ago, which is none of your goddam business. When you subject an employee to a pee test, you are sticking your nose where it doesn't belong: his leisure and personal life off the job, not to mention his private body parts. Someone's performance on the job is all you need to be concerned about.
The only people who get to examine my body fluids are doctors who are concerned with my health. It's because of people like you, Kend, that I won't work for someone else. NOBODY gets to dictate what I can and can't do on my spare time, and I mean NOBODY. - Aliceinwonderland
P.S. Marc, I wrote this before reading your last post, and I see that you've made the same point. This is what makes me so crazy about these tests, outside of the privacy issue. It's the fact that they target marijuana users specifically, and don't even indicate someone is under the influence! And I don't see this insanity going away even after pot prohibition has ended. I predict that the harassment and intimidation will drag on as employers continue subjecting workers to this demeaning ritual. So again I ask, who owns your body? Because that's really the bottom line. Whose body and life is this anyway?
How ironic! The last couple of nights the Bay Area on the West Coast has been subjected to high winds as well.
Mark Saulys ~ Very well said!
Mark: Another option besides ones own wind and solar generator is the home fuel cell. It can generate power for the household without using any electric power from the big utility companies. I consider it a transition solution though because it uses natural gas. It can however cut your utility bill by as much as 50% and reduce your carbon footprint by as much as 40%.
I agree with Thom, I think anything we can do to move away from monopoly capitalism, especially in the energy sector is wise. I cringe everytime I purchase gasoline. I'm all too aware that I'm feeding the Koch machine and thus subsidizing their Fascist overthrow of our representative government. I'm fortunate to be healthy and own woodland though.....I cut and heat with wood, have for many many years, so it's one area I do have control over. I'd go off the "grid," but I'm only 50% of the vote on that one......"gridlock" LOL
I heard, on good authority, that the only reason for the grid is to give somebody complete control of everybody's power and that there's no reason why every house and building shouldn't have its own hydro or wind generator or solar panel just like it has it's own furnace , fireplace or garage.
Wall St Transaction Tax ?? ABSOLUTELY WHATS TAKING SO LONG ?
I seen a house off the grid that worked off of 15 amps instead of 60/100/200 amps. He had an invertor coming from 40 car batteries linked together in 24 volt series coming from 4-60watt solar panels and a wind turbine in the mid-west. He only had to take the autodefrost off the fridge and the auto heat off the dishwasher and had 3-12 volt pumps to run his well all linked together in a small work shed with extra lights to burn off extra electricity because the electric company wouldnt buy his excess power like they were supposed to. He could run four tvs with two computers with no problems. Its easy and pays for itself if you have the upfront money. Maybe subsidies or extensions on home loans to keep the house safe during weather extremes are good ideas.
If anyone can't tell someone is under the influence of drugs after being in their company for several minutes it's because you're not paying attention. Someone under the influence of Alcohol slurs their speech, is uncoordinated, and, usually smells like a brewery. Someone under the influence of Marijuana has reddened eyes, slowed movement and reflexes, increased appetite, loss of short term memory, and, usually smells like a Colombian ganga ranch. Someone under the influence of Cocaine, or Speed, has dilated pupils, tremors, and sweats for no reason like they are in a sauna. They are hyperactive, have no appetite, and often smell like chemicals. Someone under the influence of hallucinogens like LSD, PCP, mescaline, peyote, ecstasy, itc, are typically completely helpless and unable to function in most situations. They have dilated pupils and are very sensitive to light, They exhibit extremely uncharacteristic behaviors and also tend to sweat for no reason like they are in a sauna.
The drug policy of any company should be limited to recognizing such obvious symptoms and only testing people who exhibit such symptoms regularly. In exchange for not losing ones job the individuals who are found using should first be offered recovery resources which should be a part of any health program. Drug testing such employees after attending a recovery program for a period of two years or so as a condition of employment isn't a problem for me.
What people do on their own time is their own business. Only Marijuana testing identifies the drug in the body after the effect of the drug wears off. For that reason alone drug testing discriminates against Marijuana users. Ironically, Marijuana is the safest and most healthy drug to use that is known to man. It is an excellent drug for recreational purposes and it is time society recognizes that fact and encourages it. There is absolutely no reason to invade the privacy of anyone when actual drug use on the job is so easy to detect without drug testing. Drug testing should only be used to verify a legitimate suspicion when the use of drugs presents a legitimate safety hazard.
Furthermore, any employee who displays the symptoms above without testing positive for drugs should have a complete physical and psychological evaluation because these are abnormal symptoms that indicate other serious health issues if drugs are not involved.
The legitimate role of Wall Street is to provide a market that facilitates buying and selling at minimal cost. That serves an important economic function. The unnecessary and negative role is providing a way to gamble where the house benefits from a zero sum game. That wrings money out of the market at the expense of less sophisticated participants. A small transaction tax would have a negligible effect one the legitimate role, but would increase the cost substantially for. It also helps pay for public services. I call that a win, win, win.
I proposed a 1% tax on foreign currency transactions. I did pamphlets on it in the 1980s. It was to be part of trade adjustments. It would be better on foreign currency transactions I see no point in applying it to domestic equity transactions at all
That's my point, Kend, your cousin smoked some weed long ago and far away and it has naught to do with any safety on the job today. You're trying to control employees' lives and lifestyles, arranging everything for your convenience, without any consideration for employees' personal lives and freedoms.