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Kend ~ As usual it is YOU who are full of mistakes. I never said fracking causes earthquakes. I don't know that. It might. It damn sure contaminates underground drinking water. As far as I'm concerned, that's enough! I also said something is up with our climate and carbon emissions seems like a likely candidate. I also said no one knows for sure what the hell is going on. If your supposition is right, we very well may be headed toward another Ice Age. Not good for you! If I were you I'd bet on global warming. At least that is something you can do something about. If I recall my geography lessons correctly, in the last Ice Age Canada and most of the US was buried under an ice sheet thick enough to completely cover the Empire State building.
You're right about there being a lot of BS floating around about what is going on. However, the scientists I trust the most are the one's that admit they don't have a clue. At least they are being honest. It is FOX "News" and the Reich Wing Petroleum industry shills who are completely talking out of their ass and lying. I know that because they have nothing scientific to support their allegations. Like the Jet Stream they just blow hot air around. Just pure BS, well funded, and on steroids. Personally, I don't care either way. If you're right, you will be entombed below hundreds of feet of ice. If I'm right eventually my house might be covered by water. Since I'm over 70ft above sea level, that will take a long time. Wanna bet who's right now?
But those 70% aren't calling the shots, and here lies the problem.
Natural gas, Kend?! Over my dead body. You're damn right this is a war with oil companies! We have had enough of their genocidal, polluting, thieving crap. As to global warming, we know who the liars are and it's not the scientists. For you to deny that fracking causes earthquakes is a classic example of the aggressive, willful ignorance I keep harping on. You guys are nothing but quacks! You needn't waste your time denying reality to this crowd, because you won't get away with it here. - AIW
"chuckle" - If I don't know an exact figure (be it a number of years or whatever), I tend to go conservative. Better to under-guess than overestimate. And I love the blunt, take-no-prisoners title of Dylan Ratigan's book!
Anyway I vaguely remember reading the story behind the invention of the automobile. From my 21st Century perspective, it is crazy-making to learn how conscious the decision was, to develop gas-guzzling engines rather than utilizing available alternatives such as electricity, or other kinds of fuel (like hemp, as Marc keeps emphasizing). As always, that decision was based not on what's best for society, for the environment or for the world, but on the option with the greatest potential for monopoly and profit. And I shudder to think of all the carnage and destruction we have to thank those corporate hacks for, choosing fossil fuel over other options. That same motive was behind the decision to configure cities around individually owned vehicles rather than public transportation. In both cases, private profits trumped the interests of the people, the environment and ultimately, world peace & stability.
Long as we have corporations calling the shots, this is what we get. While we are kept dependent on their products, vulnerable to gouging and extortion (and in some cases, land theft), we are forced to deal with their industrial pollution, their disasters and catastrophes, along with a steady stream of needless, unnecessary wars. Because capitalism SUCKS. Thom Hartmann acknowledges that capitalism is psychpathic at its core, and says it needs to be heavily regulated. Personally, I think it should be phased out and replaced by something better. As history clearly shows, whatever regulations are in place to keep the greedy bastards under control wind up nullified sooner or later; thus we have these eighty-year cycles of boom & bust, boom & bust... With the world population growing ever more dense while technology keeps advancing, these cycles are growing deadlier with farther-reaching consequences. Time to leave capitalism in the dustbin of history where it belongs. - Aliceinwonderland
If we truly believe the world is warming we would be working harder to convert cars from gasoline to natural gas. It burns much cleaner and we have plenty of it. But this is just a war on oil companies.
propaganda DAnne there has been thousands of lies on the global warming side. I am not saying the climate hasn't been changing. It has been changing for millions of years. But suggesting fracking is causing earthquakes is propaganda at its best. It works thought you bought into it.
Here in Chicago we had 18 below. As late as the late '80s we routiinely had 30 below before the wind was factored in about 5-10 days a year.
For every record low there are 10 record highs.
Paul Ryan's budget was about $970 billion; annual advertisement budgets are $600 billion. We have a significant battle ahead of us.
AIW -- I think the disconnect I was speaking of was our view that the culture is spiritually corrupt and yet in polls 70% of them are concerned about the poor and want a budget to help the poor. Their concern for the poor is far greater than their concern for the national debt.
AIW -- 50 years? Try 130. Mr. Diesel was telling Mr. Rockefeller about a new engine he built that would consume less fuel. He was telling Mr. Rockefeller about this great invention in the late 1800's when he was on a cruise. 10 days later he was found floating in the ocean (dead of course). This story comes from Dylan Ratigan in his book "Greedy Bastards".
Palindromedary ~ This just in. Homeless retarded man shot to death by police when he drew a loaded Snickers bar from his pocket as officers approached him in front of an ATM. Just kidding.
Your concerns are well taken. Personally, living knee deep in homeless people I have found there to be four categories. There are the mentally ill. They are not capable of making logic decisions and will often fit many of the criteria you described. There are substance abusers. They cannot be trusted and also cannot make logic decisions. Both of these groups are the responsibility of the government; for, only the government has the resources to properly tend to their needs. The fact that the government has abandoned them is a crime against humanity.
The third group are the con artists. They are the most reprehensible and easy to spot group of all. Mostly they telegraph their secret by how they dress, their shoes, their hair, their clean face and hands. Homeless people don't wash or press their clothes, or clean their faces. I don't even acknowledge these people. They are disgusting.
The fourth group is the fastest growing group. Legitimate homeless people who don't want to be there. They are easy to spot. I have found that anything helps these people, however, the greatest aid one can provide them is simple information. Sometimes information is more valuable than any hand out. Many times I've been approached asking for directions to the nearest homeless shelter or soup kitchen. A little pre prep can go a long way. Simply bookmark some resources in you mobile device like this:
http://www.homelessshelterdirectory.org/
Keep it with you and share the information when you can. You can do a lot of good that way; and, just might save someone's life.
I hear that things are getting pretty dry in California these days. Reservoirs drying up. What ever happened to Hetch Hetchy? So, some groups want to restore the valley to it's original pristine greatness while risking the severity of droughts. And then there's the battle between the people who make a living from fish in the northern states (fish dying of lack of water taken by agribusiness) and the agribusinesses in the south who need to irrigate.
I wonder if they still have those signs along HWY 5 in California that say something like "Congress created wasteland"? I always thought these right-wing agribusiness welfare queens thought that God was the all powerful entity that we should thank for plenty of water and good weather and Satan was the entity that managed to foul things up. Maybe those signs should say "Satan created wasteland" or "Not-such-a-powerful God created wasteland".
2950-10K ~ I couldn't agree more. We need a complete overhaul in our foreign policy. The current approach makes me feel far less safe and secure. Screw Iran. Let them have the bomb. The only reason they are an issue is because of Israel and Saudi Arabia. Personally, I'm tired of being their little attack dog.
Great weather does not always reveal the invisible danger lurking beneath. RE: the youtube video showing dangerous radiation levels on a California Beach...most likely from Fukushima. And it has been revealed that there was a secret agreement between Japan and the US about keeping revelations of radiation levels censored....so that they don't "spook the people".
In the youtube video, it showed radiation levels going up to 150 CPM at times on the beach and about 30-40 CPM background radiation further from the beach. 100 CPM background radiation trips alarms and is not considered very safe. The authorities, after that youtube went viral, did their own study and said "you have nothing to worry about...all is well...don't panic...the radiation levels that guy detected were probably just 'red painted' eating utensils buried under the sand".
http://rt.com/usa/fukushima-geiger-california-radiation-238/
http://fukushimavoice-eng2.blogspot.com/2014/01/tokyo-shimbun-article-re...
Of course radiation from the Sun kills more people every year than man-made radiation. Melanoma anyone? So enjoy the nice weather...go out and get plenty of sun, won't you? As for me, I'm staying inside where it is warm and face only the electromechanical radiation levels from my microwave, TV, computer monitor, and house wiring. FFFrrrreeezzzzing outside! Arctic Vortex, indeed!
Right on, my friends! It's always uplifting to see that at least some people know what time it is... We're not ALL asleep at the wheel!
Yes, a billionaires vote counts no more than mine and his money shouldn't be allowed to be a factor in deciding the outcome of that vote!
Aliceinwonderland: Glad you mentioned the billionaire welfare queens. I'm pretty sure I've seen a reliable stat that indicates corp. welfare equals all other so called welfare progams added together..... In other words those who don't need the welfare suck up as much taxpayer money as the ones, guys like, Paul Ryan, Romney, and Rand Paul constantly cry about receiving "government handouts." Republicans think looting a hard working citizens pension fund is somehow more acceptable than someone in need of food stamps or unemployment benefits.
DAnneMarc: We taxpayers can no longer afford to serve as a global police force for big oil and governments we disagree with. If Iran wants nuclear weapons and most of the rest of the world including Israel doesn't for good reason trust Iran to have them, then there needs to be a joint sharing of the related expense and talks to police such situations. It's shouldn't be... ... let the citizens of the U.S. go without single payer while a few capitalists get rich off a crap load of bombing and killing that need not take place to begin with.
Try doing a search on "American National Congress" and even if you omit the many search terms like -Afrikan or -latin ...and there are many more....you still don't get much that is relevant. It sounds a lot like Americans Elect that was founded by Michael Milkin's "right hand man", Peter Ackerman*, of the Savings and Loans scandals. A right winger who either founded or was associated with various right wing organizations with left-wing sounding names.
North American National Congress?
Problem is that all of these so-called movements are not going to do anything but keep people from doing the one thing that will elicit real change. The right wingers know this and that's why they come up with all of these schemes to delay the inevitable.
*Who is Peter Ackerman?
http://gowans.wordpress.com/2009/08/06/overthrow-inc-peter-ackerman%E2%8...
And, as per my comment yesterday about my friends in California and their problems with Covered California...could this be a scam or just a mistake...or maybe it's just too early to tell yet...but then how much time is one allowed before they can "cancel a check" that they sent to Blue Shield of California? The last letter they got from this insurance company doesn't mention the name of the wife who is the one who applied for ACA to begin with. It only has the name of the husband who isn't applying for ACA..he's covered by medicare.
Could it have been a very sneaky way to get someone who is covered by medicare already but who has decided not to get supplemental insurance suckered into getting supplemental insurance?
I'm sure the insurance company would much rather get paid the subsidized part of an ACA from the government than just the couple of hundred dollars they'd charge someone for supplemental insurance. And that person on medicare would still be paying the government for the medicare premiums. The majority of costs would be shuffled onto medicare and the insurance company would not only get the few hundred dollars in premiums from the person insured but collect the many more hundreds of dollars of subsidy from ACA.
All the while, the wife isn't covered at all? She only has until July anyway before she can get medicare. My friends are quite worried and upset because the insurance company letter didn't specifically say anything about the wife being covered. And they have been unable to contact the insurance company by phone or internet to see if they have covered the right person. My friend said that the stress of these problems is very great and it may kill him before his wife even gets covered. But, maybe that's part of their plan to reduce the population of older people! Soylent Green is people!
Palindromedary: Thanks for the sympathy and sage advice.
Horsetrotter has a really wonderful idea, but I think we need to use public money. Or else the wealthy dogs would find a way to get their juicy bone anyway. They need to be locked out of the process totally, except with a vote--one person (real human being) one vote--like the rest of us.
horsetrotter: Of course Reagan was not always a right wing Republican before he began to be taken in by the rich greedy people...before he began to develop a disease that made him easy to manipulate. His wife came from a wealthy family that, I believe, took advantage of his malady. They changed him from a Union supporting decent person into a right wing fascist out to destroy Unions. I remember a scene of a speech Reagan was giving and Donald Regan (former Merrill Lynch CEO, White House Chief ofo Staff and advocate of Reagonomics) commanded that Reagan "Speed it up".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTcL6Xc_eMM
That pretty much indicated who was really in charge! Maybe instead of calling it Reaganomics we should be calling it Reganomics.
I believe that Reagan was just an automaton for the fascist corporate right-wing monsters that took over our government.
And I believe that they are using Obama for the same purpose. No, Obama doesn't have a debilitating disease that affects memory like Reagan had. Nor does he have a wife that comes from as wealthy a family as Reagan had. But I believe they used the fact that Obama was young, charismatic, black and preached Change.... it convinced a lot of people that he really would make a big change in government...in the country. But, aside from the mind games he's played on the country, the reality is that he was just used by the ruling elite.
I really don't think any person one votes into the Presidency, especially if Democrat or Republican, is going to matter.... nor will it help change things for the better. A shake up..breaking up the entrenched good old boy corrupt 2 party system...might help to change things...especially if Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders were elected President. But the powers that be would resort to the same ruthless deeds that they did against JFK, RFK, MLK and all the others.
So, maybe the only thing that really would change things is for the people to go beyond the effete and corrupt democratic system and do the only real thing that has ever really changed things for the better throughout history. Until that happens, nothing will change.
Aliceinwonderland ~ You sure are right about the same thing happening in California; and, I'm lovin' it. There is a present danger of drought; however, that is mostly for the south. We here in the north aren't too worried yet.
When you say, "...sort of strident, aggressive, willful ignorance," you pretty much describe the entire country. Currently, we are being conditioned to idolize this sort of irresponsible behavior. Science and education is the enemy. People are acting accordingly. I see it even amongst the more skilled and educated crowd. Ignorance and lack of respect for expertise is alive and prospering in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Finally...
Brilliantly, ironically, and poetically said.
Off topic, the following could be used by the Dems on Repubs:
"Rep or Senator Blank, please go back to your state (or home town) and find a bunch of those lazy, shiftless folks that are unemployed and make an example of them! Tell them that they wouldn't need unemployment insurance if they would just try harder to get a job even if they have to go to Thailand where their old job went. Tell them get off their rears and stop being dependent on us taxpayers." Want to see how that goes over back home when you're saying the same thing there that you vote for in Washington? The topic could switch to food stamps for Walmart employees just for variety.
Not only are we ripped off for the military industrial complex, but billionaire welfare queens in general. Takes a whole lot of money to subsidize their gluttonous, opulant lifestyles. If you work for a franchise or big corporation, that's what your sweat is supporting: not you, not your family, but some no-count aristocrap, more commonly known as the 1%. The same goes for those $1000-a-month health insurance premiums, paying millions to CEO pirates while the "insured" still get bankrupted, by doctor & hospital bills! They are nothing but parasites and they've got to go... the sooner the better! - AIW
Elioflight: #8: I wouldn't let it bother you rtoo much. While there may be, and most likely are, some people in such predicaments..ie: running out of gas with no money for gas...this is usually a scam. And it is certainly not a new one. There really are a lot of people out there that are not as they pretend...ie: out of gas with no money to buy gas. This is happening at filling stations...malls...just about everywhere. I sure don't want to risk being seen as a care less and selfish person but unless you realize that there are people that are taking advantage of you then you will most likely risk eventually putting your own family in poverty...by being suckered by scammers. If you have a lot on money then you can afford to be generous and risk being taken for a fool by someone scamming you. Some of these people make quite a bit of money doing these "pity poor me and my family" scams.
One time I went to a bank ATM and this man was standing real close.. about a foot or two away...and trying to peek over my shoulder as I keyed in my pin number. As I got my money...he said in a kind of retarded and meek voice: "Would you buy me a Snickers candy bar?" I thought either he really was retarded and/or hungry, and didn't know that he was suppose to keep a distance at ATMs so after I left I bought him a Snickers candy bar right around the corner at the grocery store. As I left the store and approached the bank, I could see he was looking over the shoulder of some very nervous woman. I called to the man and gave him the candy bar. Then the man went right back to look over the shoulder of the woman...then when that woman left he did the same thing to others. Well, it was obvious that what he really wanted was one or more of those $20.00s from the ATM and not just a candy bar.
I called the cops on the man when I got home. I told the police that he was suspicious and that he probably should be watched. I don't know what happened...maybe the man eventually left...maybe the cops never even saw anyone later...maybe they just ignored my call. I don't know. I certainly hope they didn't shoot the man...but I would have heard about it in the news.
I have also noticed that some of these beggars at street corners have been leaving all kinds of trash...like banana peels along with other trash. These people are health hazards and they are also endangering themselves and maybe others by hanging out in a place where they could easily get hit by a car. There are places these people can go for food and shelter but many choose to make pests of themselves and risk being hit by cars.