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To Alice
Canadian author Ronald Wright (A Short History of Progress) notes that the original definition of the word 'sin' is 'missing-the-mark' (as in archery).
To me 'the mark' is pretty big - as in all around us, as in - we're living in it. Hard to miss. But our attention has been mesmerized away from it.
I was taking in some sun on the park bench the other day and a bee came along and buzzed among the clover. Efficient, economical, beautiful, fascinating.
Exercise: pick any earthly life form - bee, ant, whatever. Now imagine the Curiosity Rover on Mars finding one 'up there'. How precious it would seem. It is astonishing that we are even here.
The more science I study, the more spiritual I become. You could call me Jeffinwonderland.
Further proof - if further proof was necessarry - Kend, that you are quite insane (or dishonest). Who wins all the elections!?!
You know what they say about "some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time" and on many issues our side does have majority public support but elections are rigged through gerrymandering, voter suppression and other means and when we do win elections and have a majority unprecedented obstructionism thwarts the will of the people.
The issue of undocumented immigrants, while not too complicated for most, is apparently too much for you to grasp - being in the throes of schizophrenia - or whatever your problem is.
I totally agree with your well said statement on banishing greed from the hearts of man. I also agree with the details of your campaign finance reform ideas. I believe they would go along way toward solving many of the greed associated problems we face within our government. I hope you can expand on how these changes would reel in our conditioned consumtive mind set, and how an economy based on that mind set might adapt and survive. It is my contention that the tentacles of our always consuming culture have reached into every corner of the world and are at the root of the problem, especially one of its most concerning symtoms, Climate Change. While I believe greed loves wreakless consumtive behaivior. I can't say I see the behaivior itself as greed?
Thank you Aliceinwonderland and DAnneMarc for your responses. I question whether population is a part of the problem or just another symptom. The same with greed. Now the second thing that you talked about, Aliceinwonderland, needs further exploration and elaboration. Keeping in mind that the word is not the thing but merely, an attempt to describe the thing, 'spiritual' as you have described it may be very much what the problem is. If you haven't hit the nail on the head, you are pointing to it. The source of these symptoms is 'THOUGHT'. I do not want anyone to accept anything that I say. This topic requires a lot of inquiry, exploration, and investigation. Each of us must come to this truth on our own. For only then will each of us make the necessary personal transformation that will put an end to these symtoms. Let's keep this dialogue going.
Population control---there are too many of us on this planet. Thom mentioned the civilized ways to control or decrease population--improved std of living, education and empowerment of women. Alas, there are really bad ways to decrease population, and they are far more likely. War. Or Disease. Or we may just die in our own filth. In winemaking, the microbes die off when the alcohol (toxic) reaches 12 to 14%. I would like to think that people are smarter than microbes and we will not die from the toxins we've created....
Acording to Wikipedia, these Repubs might in fact be committing sedition.
This article is about the legal term. For other uses, see Sedition (disambiguation).Not to be confused with sedation.
In law, sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent (or resistance) to lawful authority. Sedition may include any commotion, though not aimed at direct and open violence against the laws. Seditious words in writing are seditious libel. A seditionist is one who engages in or promotes the interests of sedition.
I don't know that I would dismiss this so quickly.
With the possible exception of ObamaCare which is an implementation of a Heritage Foundation plan, what domestic, Democratic agenda item has been achieved during the Obama administration?
Campaign Finance Reform ~ A vigorous version might look something like this. Such a law must include stiff fines and prison sentences for anyone caught offering or receiving any public or private contribution, gift, or bribe of any kind. The fine should be no less than $1 million, and the prison sentence no less than 10 years. Lobbying would therefore be illegal. Elected politicians should be able to form public advisory committees with two representatives from commercial, legal, public, scientific, and environmental organizations to obtain balanced political advice; however, their conduct must adhere to Campaign Finance regulations concerning any bribery under the same aforementioned penalties. Special interests should be limited to one letter, phone call, or email the same as any private citizen. Contributions of any kind are illegal, and threats of any kind punishable with life in prison.
Campaigns must include only candidates that have been voted from a majority of voters in public elections throughout the nation--first from district, county, state, and then finally, federal elections. Candidates receive a grant composed of taxpayer funds and public and private general campaign contributions that make up the Campaign Finance fund; which, is then equally divided amongst the elected candidates. Air time and public debates are held equally for all candidates at all levels of the process. All air time and campaign expenses are paid for by the Campaign Finance Committee general fund and must be equally divided amongst the candidates, along with all fund paid commercial time. Any funds used for a campaign that are not accounted for amongst the public campaign fund subjects that candidate to immediate removal from the campaign, a fine of $1 million, and 10 years in prison. Personal funds are also illegal to use.
While in office, any elected official, family member, or affiliated organization, foreign or domestic financial accounts or assets, that receives any money or asset allocation or increase from a private interest without justifiable reason will have violated the Campaign Finance Regulations and be held accountable under the law. Each year all Candidates and Elected Officials will undergo a strict audit by the Campaign Finance Committee, the IRS, and the US Treasury, to ensure that the stipulations of the law have not been compromised. Anyone found guilty will be punished by losing their seat, their unlawful gains, a $1 million fine, and 10 years in prison. Those who are found guilty for aiding them will receive a $1 million fine, forfeit of the bribe, and 10 years in prison. Any politician, private citizen, or entity convicted of such a crime will never again be eligible for any public office. Anyone found guilty for attempting to frame a politician for such a crime will receive life in prison.
I think such a vigorous Campaign Finance Reform might just solve our problem.
Bob Hearns ~ Very, very well said! I couldn't agree more. Greed is the problem. Banishing greed from the hearts of man is a fools errand. Our only hope--our only solution in my opinion--is to banish greed from the halls of Government; thus, freeing up Government to do it's main job--control the greed of the public. That is why I am a staunch advocate of vigorous Campaign Finance Reform. Once we effectively remove money and greed from our Government then all the problems you've listed, along with many, many more, will begin to fall over like a row of dominos.
Bob, I really like your post. I agree, all those issues (including global warming) are symptoms rather than the actual disease. So what, in your view, is the problem underlying all this? From my own perspective, it all boils down to two things. Overpopulation is one of them. The other is spiritual.
Now, please don't misunderstand me. I am not a religious person; in fact, I'm probably as secular as anyone on the planet. But from my view (for what it's worth), spirituality is not about religion. It's about how we relate to each other, to our environment, to other life forms; it's a sense of connection with all that. And from that sense of connection comes love and respect. It is cancels out greed, xenophobia, misogyny, abuse of animals and the planet. It keeps us in touch with the things that matter most in life, that life depends on in order to thrive.
If time allowed, I could get much more into this; but I've gotta switch gears now, and get ready for work! - Aliceinwonderland
Almost felt censored ,while trying to make the similar point yesterday my conection to this site seemed to have suddenly crashed. It started with an appeal to many of the participants to be little more fair to Kend for shareing his opinion where contrary judgement seems to abound. While it seems from my perspective, Kend's opinion remains more the rule than the exception in many circles. It is an opinion that denies cause and effect to others myself included. While the many Kends seem to be content with no action other than manifest destiny, consumerism and population growth. Most all climate change belivers seem content to do something real about it, but later.
Millions of pleasure boats in thousands of harbors, thousands of pleasure aircraft in hundreds of airports, tens of millions of pleasure horses in barns, thousands upon thousands of race cars and and atv's, consumer disposables by the the megaton. An economy whose survival depends on an ever expanding market for this and more.
Industrial hemp among other things may be able to have a positive environmental effect, a symptom buffer as you might put it. If and only if a massive change in human concisnous is possible and without a painful catastrophe as its catalyst.Then perhaps the problem itself could be solved... And now a word from your sponser, stay tuned!
One of my long time friends told me, just this week, that when I was ranting about this more than 25 years ago, she just wished I would shut up, because there was nothing wrong and she didn't want to hear it. She was sure all my other friends thought the same and now she said 'Look at the mess we're in. You were right.' Well, I've moved on from there. Climate change isn't a problem. Neither are the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, the Congo, the the US sequestration, the shut down of US government offices, the prorogation of the Canadian government, etc. These are not problems. These are symptoms. They are all symptoms of the same problem. Anyone who knows about problem solving knows that when you only solve a symptom of the problem, it keeps coming back in one form or another. When you solve a problem, all the symptoms disappear. Just as my friends didn't want to hear me rant about the environment all those years ago, you aren't going to want to hear me addressing what the problem is. Thom, you and everyone else, are trying to solve this as if it is a problem, in and of itself. It isn't. It's a symptom. There are now over 7 billion of us on a bus heading for a cliff. Unfortunately, it's not a bus I can get off of, none of us can. I welcome responses from anyone who is REALLY interested in solving the problem.
A commrent to the climate change deniers.., 98-Percent of the worlds scientists agree climate change is happening, and it is man made (%97.xx, rounded up).. This was something like 31,000 scientists and 12,000 papers.. You might as well argue against evolution, and that the earth is flat (same thing)..
Unbelievable anyone could really think this many scientists (with such a strong consensus) could all be wrong.. And considering how it went historically going against scientists (galileo, tycho Brae, Copernicus, etc).
Getting real, if there were only a slim chance that climate change might cost trillions of dollars, because of increased storm strength, then it should call for action.. Even after all this time, and the dire warnings of climate change, extremely little has changes.. My job for example, is 100-percent from my PC at work, and could easily be done from home (ATT). But me and probably thousands like me have to drive to work every day..
There is a chance a tipping point could end all life on earth.. Even our best scientists do not understand the limits of our biosphere to regulate warming and cooling as it has thru hiustory.. If we break it past a certain point, the earth could resemble venus in a hundred years (a 900-degree ocean of sulpheric acid)..
Pretty obvious it is irresponsible top play russian roulette when the human race hangs in the balance.. And the problem is that all our political machinery is set up on profit for the untra wealthy, and they would rather take the risk for the human race, than risk losing profit.
For those wanting more information on the threat posed by disturbance of methane hydrates I highly recommend visiting ameg dot me (sorry had that wrong yesterday)
On this site there are a couple videos on the right side of the home page.
The first which features Prof. Peter Wadhams and Dr James Hansen runs 19:35
Arctic Methane: Why The Sea Ice Matters
The second, a lecture by Scripps scientist Dr Miriam Kastner is 53:05
Methane Hydrates: Hazard or Resource
If you don't want to watch the whole 53 minutes, please at least, start about 19:00 in (and give it about 5 minutes) - when she talks about fishermen snaring a large chunk in their nets. The footage of a submersible's robot arm grasping a chunk of methane hydrate and what happens to it - makes quite an impression!
here are a couple more stories which appeared today ( Oct 9)
re: obvious evidence of melting permafrost
Around The Arctic, Frozen Earth Is Thawing And Creating ‘Drunken Forests’
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/10/09/2759181/alaska-permafrost-ar...
re: time frame - newly released study suggests we could be in for a sudden flip
PETM Shocker: When CO2 Levels Doubled 55 Million Years Ago, Earth May Have Warmed 9°F In 13 Years
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/10/08/2750191/petm-co2-levels-doub...
Apropos to #26 ~ Here is something simple and easy you can do to reverse global warming. So far California, Colorado, Kentucky, Maine, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia have enacted legislation to legalize Industrial Hemp cultivation and are waiting Federal approval.
Find the names of your congressman/woman, google those names to find their official government website, locate the access to their email, fill out the form with your information, then cut and paste this message into the message box inserting their name into the blank line:
Dear ______________,I am writing because I am concerned about Global Climate Change. I believe Industrial Hemp cultivation is an important solution to this problem because of its ability to remove CO2 from the air and replace it with Oxygen. Recently 10 States have adopted legislation to allow such cultivation. I strongly urge you to push for Federal approval and recognition of States that pass such laws so that the laws can be enacted. Thank you very much.
If one looks closely at the graph on Thom's video the peak of Global Warming doesn't get reached till after the year 2100. That gives us 87 years to untip the tipping point. This isn't about us. This isn't about our children. This is about our children's children and their children. What we do now is going to determine if there is a future for that generation.
No, it is not over. It is not over till it is over. We cannot dismiss this challenge saying it is over. We have the knowledge, the time, and the resources to reverse this problem if we act now. It is our children's children that will not have that opportunity. If we fail to act, it is they who it will be over for.
We grew up with duck and hold drills in school if nuclear war broke out. A fallout shelter in the basement. We were afraid, numb and felt helpless. We woke up with the help of environmental literature about poison sprays, killer smogs and dying oceans. In Ann Arbor in the 70's we buried a car on campus. We knew then that if we didn't bury these petrol-chemical burning cars they will bury us. 40 years later and we are still talking? We knew then and no one listened. Who will listen now?
We are trying in Santa Cruz. We defeated an energy guzzling desal water system. We are trying to develop new systems, aquifer recharge, tertiary, and agriculture conservation programs to conserve and develop water. I describe it in more detail...bushforsccouncil.99k.org
25% of our carbon footprint in CA is just for transporting water around. We can harness the green energy of our rivers to transport water and create fish habitat. We must embrace new 21st century water science technology and the green economy to curb global warming.
Thank you for "Last Hours". You have the "knack" for cheerful titles. I have a feeling that you and Louise already know as we do. It is over, Thom. It's All Over.. I guess what is left is keeping the faith alive that man can find the solution. thanks
Nothing like a noble cause.
Personally I think the tipping point has aready been past. Abeit from a definitifly nonscientific lay person. Consider this though, I've been listening to this end of times stuff for going on 30 years. Has anyone beyond a few heard or listened? 30 years of warnings, sirens and screams. Still no one takes it seriously unless a few homes get swamped in a harricane or some camera captures a polar bear near drowning looking for an ice patch. Oh now it's a problem.
Well guess what people, theres no place left to throw your garbage out without said garbage coming back to bite you in the ass. Weather it's the food you eat, the water you drink or the air you breath. It's your own garbage now no matter how you cut it. It's no else's fault.
Why do I feel the tipping point is long gone? Think of the oceans as one large heat sink. How soon do you think we as a species can reverse a sink as large as 90% (?) of the earth? Even as I try muddle my way through this missive the oceans are absorbing what heat man has wroth (read trapped) in the last 24 hours. Even if we were to completely stop now all contribution to the gobal carbon and methane cloud the oceans would still take decades and centuries to even things out again.
I'm rather like G. Carlin, god bless him, I think the earth will be far better off without man, we've done nothing but laid waste to any and everything we can get our hands on.
SteveS: The Kochs will get their way on the pipeline. The govt. hostage taking was months in the planning by the Kochs and it's about the pipeline. Billionaires like the Kochs when obsessed with a new toy like the pipeline will stop at nothing to get it. It's not about money, it's about mental illness. Bottom line is..... the Keystone XL Pipeline in exchange for raising the debt ceiling is a very real possibility. I figure Boehner has been getting a very large sum of Koch money deposited into an offshore bank account for each day he keeps the govt. shut down. The more days, the more the bank account grows.
The Last Hours was a great video.....short and right to the point and relevant to the absolute necessity of stopping the Kochs and their goddamn pipeline.
Apropos to #25 ~ California isn't the only state that has legalized Hemp for industrial purposes. Right now the Federal Government is the only obstacle to enacting this vital solution to our Global warming problem. I would strongly recommend everyone to write their Congressmen insisting that they prioritize the establishment of legislation that recognizes these efforts of the States and clears the legal way for state production of this vital national; and, indeed, international, natural resource.
The sooner the better. Time is a luxury we do not have.
http://www.votehemp.com/state.html
chuckle8 ~ Good question! Yes it does. However, during the growth cycle of a plant CO2 is removed from the air and replaced by free oxygen. Burning Hemp balances the carbon cycle.
However, the beauty of Hemp is that if it were also used for all the other industrial purposes that it is useful for, it's growth would remove far more CO2 from the air and replace it with Oxygen then burning will produce CO2. Using Hemp to its full industrial capacity actually cleans the air and doesn't interfere with our lifestyle. Living plants are the only source of solar energy capable of reversing global warming.
Hemp is just a natural source of solar energy that runs on CO2 and produces Oxygen as a waste product.
The millions of new jobs, domestic revenue and taxes such an industrial shift would create are just other positive byproducts of Hemp.
http://thehempsolution.blogspot.com/
They got in power because people didnt turn out in 2010, what does it take to convince democrats, progressives,liberals that all elections are important, even if its for dog catcher.
Tea Party:
dimwitted have nots serving the interests of the have mosts
red state shepherds of blue state sheeple
(R) voters:
the people the corporate party is dependent upon to reliably produce a reflexively thoughtless fear filled reaction from the weak minded and weak willed (D) voters
______________________________
The APT: American Political Terms
www.chenangogreens.org
In November, 2001 GWB instituted Executive Order 13233 which prevented release of Presidential Papers after the usual 12 years and transfered control into the former presidents' hands. Would I be labeled paranoid if I suggested there were things ol' GW, et alia, didn't want getting about? WHY has a new president not reversed that order?
dan -- Doesn't the burngin of hemp release CO2?