Post Views:
9
May 312016
May 302016
Much has been written about the escalating methane threat.
I’d like to clear something up regarding this topic: There is no threat and there never was. A threat is something that that “is likely to cause damage”. Calling methane a threat is erroneous and entirely incorrect. There is no threat.
Methane eruptions have occurred on Earth 11 times (known). Each time this has caused global massive extinctions. A rise in temperature always preceded the release of methane. Methane then drove the temperatures even higher, past biosphere survival. Extinctions were widespread, each time wiping out most life on Earth.
Methane is a far more potent greenhouse gas then carbon dioxide, with estimates ranging from 20 – 70 times more potent. Most methane has been locked away, frozen in the world’s permafrost and the icy Arctic seabed for thousands of years. However, this is no longer true as both the Arctic ice and the permafrost are now melting and methane gas releases are being detected from the seabed. The 12th extinction level event from a methane release into the Earth’s atmosphere is now underway.
The Earth, and all life within it, has the absolute certainty of another gigantic methane release, causing temperatures to dramatically rise ensuring the 12th methane extinction. I reiterate, this is not a threat, it is an absolute certainty. A “coup-de-grace“ for the biosphere (read!). The Earth itself will go on, as it has before, but it will be an extremely long time before life returns.
Like most climate topics, this has been ignored for too long. Humans believe that ‘their’ world has permanence and even divine protection, but the geological records indicates otherwise. Humans neither own the world nor control the world and our deities don’t either. These beliefs are a direct interference with the acceptance of reality and the conclusions of science and the historical record. The paleontology of Earth and what has occurred many times before isn’t debatable. Nor are the projections and assessments of what is occurring today. Even so, I well realize that these facts are irrelevant for many humans.
Therefore, the real “threat” to humanity isn’t whether or not we are going to survive on this planet much longer, this answer is already well known by scientists. The real threat is how billions of disbelieving humans are going to behave as the world gets increasingly hotter and life becomes more untenable. These facts are indisputable.
I’ve mentioned this before but perhaps not quite so directly. There are many, many real and valid threats. Methane however is not one of of them. There is nothing anybody can do about methane. Methane promises us all that we are all going to die and that humans are going to go extinct. There are many other promises of global extinction now unfolding too, but we cannot do anything about any of these either. It is the threats that we face that we should now be concerned about. What humans intend (or will) be doing to each other as we descend into the last days of the Anthropocene.
This is why I rail on false beliefs as I do. Billions of people are going to act very irrationally and quite dangerously as the world descends into chaos and collapse. We know already that this will happen because we cannot survive in a hotter world (the biosphere and all the living things that we depend on cannot adapt and therefore, we starve to death). Like methane, dangerous people represent a greater threat then the non-dangerous. But who are the dangerous people? We have them all around us right now. They are the predators who occupy all walks of life. They’re also the ones who have raped and destroyed the planet, triggering these extinction level events. They head up corporations and governments, businesses and industry, but they’re also the “little guys” who are choosing ignorance and indifference to the warnings now screaming around the world.
It’s incredibly naive to believe that the people who caused these problems are going to go off quietly into the night and “die in peace” as the inescapable reality of extinction finally sinks home. I suspect just the opposite will be true. They will choose to believe that: a) they can protect themselves (and will do so by all means); b) they can go on plundering the planet even faster; c) they will continue to orchestrate fights and competition among everyone else; d) and they finally resort to truly insane tactics like population eradication and desperate geo-engineering techniques. All this and no doubt more in the mistaken belief that they can somehow save themselves and enough slaves to ensure their own comfort.
It’s also naive to believe that the so-called indifferent people will finally start acting rationally when things gets tough and they realize how wrong they were. They’re not doing it now while they still can. When it is easy. When it counts. No, it’s far more likely they’ll stay hostile to the truth and lash out against those that tried and upset their apple cart. This is exactly what I’ve experienced all these years of publishing this blog and exposing the lies and deception. It’s also what climate scientist have experienced all over the world. Climate change was only one of these hated topics I covered, I also pointed out the faketriots and false patriotism and many other topics this group still embraces. I found myself further and further distanced from my own ability to survive and make a living and still do. They’re not acting rationally and it’s very unlikely that they ever will (witness the 2016 (s)Election antics and the fuhrer [sic] they’ve enacted). Nobody really gets rewarded for telling the truth.
As things worsen, it will be the rest of the world that will have to suffer for the arrogance of these two groups (even more the we already have). I don’t think we should let this happen. In this twilight hour of humanity, we should not be at war with one another or even in competition. There is no dignity in any of this. We should not let this happen, and we should not participate in any of their schemes or deceptions. Lending not our minds or our bodies or our wallets or even our attention, we should abstain from any participatory acts (of any kind) that would contribute to any of their lies and manipulation. They are the real threat for humanity and in point of fact, they have always been the real threat to humanity.
Humans won’t live forever. Our species won’t live another thousand years, or even 500 years more. It’s not even likely that we’ll survive as a species for another 100 years. It’s not what anyone likes or expects, but it is what it is now. We’ll never reach the stars or establish colonies on Mars. Our children won’t get to imagine what their great-great grandchildren might do in the future. We won’t because generations of mankind listened to the idiots and naysayers and disbelievers, the false and phony and propheteers, and we all let them govern the decisions and direction the world has taken even when we (finally) knew we needed to reject their lies, but we were much too late.
This is perhaps the greatest irony of them all. Both groups will have fully achieve their stated goals in the end. The power-hungry ruled, raped and plundered the Earth while lording over it all, and the apocalyptic who imagined a future judgement and a fiery hell. But it will be the last, final surviving humans who will be the true judges of us all, as millennia of torture upon a heated Earth wipes out everything living. The empty and crumbling relics of our civilization will endure for tens of thousands of years, but we won’t. We know where we are going, all of us.
What we do with the living time that we still have left to us is all that matters now. In truth, it’s all that has actually ever mattered. We need to spend the short time we all have left in dignity, not in fighting, or warring, or competing or deciding who is right and who is wrong. The forces that we have unleashed are utterly indifferent to our passions and whims and will steamroll over us all. The biosphere of the planet is dying and so are we. All we have left now is compassion for what still remains, but it is threatened by the bad behavior of billions of humans who will violently react as their world crumbles down around them. We do not need to be a part of this. We need to find a better way.
May 282016
Pretty sure I’ve not published this link before: Climate Manifesto. Plenty there to get your doom on for the weekend. The gist of it is it’s bad and it’s going to get worse, and all of our dickering around pretty much ensures our extinction.
A few comments: There is no saving civilization. I’m pretty sure that there are already survival “caves” being constructed (I’ve been invited). I also don’t agree with several most of the action plan points. Their weak, ineffective and wrong-headed and will fail to accomplish enough.
May 272016
From Mother Jones: “Game-Changing” Study Links Cellphone Radiation to Cancer
I’ve always believed this, having investigated the published literature some years ago. I turned off all wireless devices in my office and home and switched to a headset whenever I could.
Now we get to watch the cellphone industry continue to deny and obfuscate these claims. Pretty much par for the course. Industry categorically refuses to accept any responsibility (until forced at the point of a judge and multiple lawsuits) that “they” are responsible for any health effects, including electromagnetic “pollution”.
I know why products are rolled out without studying their harmful effects (greed), and I know why we just blithely assume that they “must be safe if they’re being sold” (decades of propaganda that business and industry is all “good”) – but why haven’t we wised up enough to realize that if they make it, sell it or promote it, we should be very careful about accepting it.
The food industry taught me that everybody lies about their products. They lie about ingredients, safety, inspections, certifications, GMO claims and so much more. It’s ubiquitous within the food industry that lying will sell more products. I don’t know of a single online seller that isn’t doing this. I strongly suspect that this is true for all products being sold on the world market place. The ‘competitive advantage’ many companies choose to embrace is to simply deceive their customers.
I’ve been investigating electric bicycles as a case in point. I rather like the idea and with my condition it would a big help to have something like this. But I’ve found that the sellers of these products lie about what they’re capable of doing, how long the batteries last and so forth. This is an oft-repeated ‘discovery’ when investigating any product for sale (or ad on Craigslist for that matter). Lying about products for sale is very ubiquitous, so ‘expect’ deception is how I approach every ‘opportunity’ now.
Mentioned before, but watch “Sugar Coated” on Netflix to see how industry lied about the toxic effects of white sugar and how this came to be considered ‘safe’ on the FDA list of approved foods for human consumption. This, and many, many other similar histories of industry manipulation, coverup and deception should tell everyone that almost everything you know is in fact a fabricated history of “truth” and “false” – you believe pretty much what they want you to believe. They’ve had a death-grip on our knowledge and awareness of what is really true and what isn’t our entire lives.
Meanwhile, keep your cellphone as far away from you as you can.
May 242016
This should get your attention:
The author defines sustainability as the condition that must be developed globally for humanity to flourish until technology advances extraterrestrial travel that will allow migration to another planet once conditions here deteriorate. The emphasis is on anthropogenic climate change caused primarily by changes in the chemistry of the atmosphere due to dominant use of fossil fuels. Energy and sustainability, from the point of view of environmental physics
Uh, yes, this is for real. I’ll take some of that too (whatever they’re smokin’). Since no habitable planets exist anywhere within the foreseeable reach of mankind (distance, time, resources and money), you have to wonder exactly what they’re smoking. I’ll tell you – it’s called a Desperation Doobee.
The definition of sustainability above absolutely sucks. It’s just another way of claiming we’ll use up this planet before we repeat the process somewhere else. Hardly ‘sustainable’. And if it really was, why would ‘conditions here deteriorate’? (I didn’t say these people were all that bright). Continue reading »
May 242016
Funny how some things are so synchronistic. Today, I was outside weeding the pathway to my greenhouse. This year, I’ve tended to ignore this, but with all the rain, it was a good time to yank the buggers up. The job is easy, but not anymore. This activity aggravates the snot out of my stenosis, but I did it anyway.
While bent over, my thoughts wandered back between the task at hand and what I’ve been doing here. What was the point? The weeds would come back, but like the rampant stupidity that I often rail against, little progress is actually made. The are more births occurring faster then enlightened minds… It does not seem like there is any ‘progress’ being made anymore.
I read one of the latest asinine connedspiracies yesterday, where the Alberta fires have now caused the tar sands steam extraction to be shut down. The connedspiracy claims that this shutdown will now cause massive collapse of the bitumen ‘caverns’… and as yet-to-be realized massive loss of life. Really? There is not a single shred of evidence in the literature that locations where the steam extraction has already been stopped (production ended) has this happened. But that’s not stopping the connespiracy from the right-wing morons that infect so much of this planet…. which is also being claimed as distorted ‘fulfillment’ of the book of Revelation…. these idiots don’t even know their bible. I do – I taught it for many years and what they claim is just more stupid bullshit. Continue reading »
May 242016
If I were the devil, I’d fabricate a story about man, his creation, his history and his claim to dominance over the world, other nations and other people. I would put the story in a collection of books, obscure its creation in history, and kill its detractors. I would wage war for the benefit of the believers, subjugating the entire world to its tenants and teachings.
If I were the devil, I’d instill fear and terror throughout the world, raising armies of blind followers who would do my bidding. I would make sure it was the preferred religion above all others and I’d outcast, blacklist and even torture those who didn’t accept it.
I would erect richly adorned towers and cathedrals, appoint priest, preachers and evangelist to spread the story, and collect trillions of dollars in money and donations and make sure poverty, suffering and misery spread everywhere else.
I would ensure that all of mankind was subjugated to this new religion and would worship this story as the true history of the world. I would attack science, reason, facts and history, making sure that this was not taught in the schools or to inquisitive minds. I would divide and conquer, slaughter and destroy, laying waste to any and all who refused this new doctrine and teaching.
If I were the devil, the world would learn to tremble and fear this religion for thousands of years, waging war against one another, always staying ignorant and blind, always beholden to my story and my creation. I would rule as their lord and king, destroying reason and common sense, ensuring the chains on mankind stayed firmly clasped for as long as possible.
If I were the devil, I’d repeat all of the above with even newer stories, and newer religions, to ensnare the whole world to my will and bidding. And then I would rest from my labors, assured that mankind would eventually destroy themselves as they fought and argued over their gods, and who would rule and who would not, who would suffer and who would be rich.
If I were the devil, I would laugh in delight over my works and all that I achieved from nothing but a simple story. The folly of man is to know how simple he really is, and how easily misled he remains. All he required was a little push in the right direction and the rest, as they say, is history.
May 242016
Found this over on Decline of the Empire – The Astounding World Of The Future
May 222016
An interesting article from the Atlantic, “The Secret Shame of Middle-Class Americans“. Americans are not only broke and getting broker, they are “financially illiterate” – 65% of Americans. A huge percentage are so broke that even small sums are financially impossible for them. It’s an interested read.
Not mentioned is medical debt, which is odd since millions of people have been literally wiped out by medical costs. My recent Mayo Clinic experience destroyed me financially, creating massive debt, and my GoFundMe efforts (cancelled due to lack of interest) only came in at $2800. Prior to this, I had remained entirely debt free. Now I’m cancer free but struggling terribly.
I had ‘boot-strapped’ my way into my current living arrangements years ago, buying a piece of raw land and working my ass off to make it habitable. It took years of backbreaking work, but the ‘homestead’ as it were, came to be. But there is no doubt why I have so much back trouble and pain today. But now, I’m unable to work at all. Even so, I thought I’d be “ok”, since I had still managed to stay out of debt, avoiding most doctors and medical expenses as long as I could.
I stayed home and did most things myself – until the time came that I couldn’t and I had to slow down or even not do them at all. Then a rare cancer raised its ugly head which had to be dealt with. The “financial hole” the author above mentions happened to me too. I have absolutely no idea (or expectations) on how to retire. There isn’t going to be a retirement as far as I can tell.
My father-in-law is retired, and very, very ill. He’s basically on his death bed now. The only reason he is still alive is because he has great health insurance. They keep finding ways to keep him going. This saga has been going on for over ten years now, but I suspect he’s very close to leaving this world. His medical expenses are in the millions now, which would have wiped them out many, many times over (he was not a wealthy man) if not for the health insurance. But I contrast this to my own situation and how I get treated by doctors and hospitals and what my options are. The difference is literally night and day. The insured are treated like cash cows, the uninsured are left to die or offered very little options in the way of treatment.
My sister-in-law passed last year and though she did have a health plan, it wasn’t very good. And neither was her treatment. She held on for 9 months, but the medical system totally failed her. I’ve read this same story all over the Internet. You pay to play and if not, you can stay as long as your health doesn’t fail.
I’ve already had the “talk” with my kids. I won’t destroy my family with more medical debt. I’m checking out when I determine that it’s time to go. I see what’s happening with my father-in-law and I simply will not do that. My life – my terms – my choice. It’s the only thing you actually own and can control, the right to live and the right to die. I do not need permission or never do I expect to ask or move to a state that “allows” this. Frankly, it’s none of their damned business. All they care about is their ability to collect tax, you the individual, don’t matter at all.
Health care in this fucked-up kountry is worse then terrible. If you can pay, you can play, obtaining what is needed, necessary and essential and even having a whole lot of unessential stuff done. But if you’re like me, you’re on your own. I suspect this is the real cause of debt for most Americans, it was over 40% of Americans in 2014.
This is why I’ve become a strong advocate of eating right and living as healthy as you can. It’s your real insurance plan. Don’t expect help when it hasn’t shown up for millions of other Americans. Your body is yours to keep, cherish and take care of for as long as you can. It’s up to you to do so. What you put into it matters – quite a lot. It’s literally a matter of life or death.
I’m not leaving any time soon. I have a great deal of pain these days, but it’s still manageable. Exercise and movement are essential for me. Since returning from surgery, I’ve not gone back to the local gym, but really need to do so because it did help (I had to wait 6 weeks anyway to recover). I still have to get the piss-poor job of stitch removal on my back redone (they left several non-dissolvable stitches that have to be removed surgically now).
I’m trying to keep my back from fusing itself prematurely, but the nerves are being pinched. It’s very debilitating and even if I had the money, surgical fusion is not an option (the Mayo agreed with this assessment). I may eventually get the nerves cut to reduce the pain, but can’t do this either right now, so my health plan as it were, is to keep moving, keep eating healthy and do my very best to enjoy what I still have.
Maybe I’ll be able to stick around long enough to witness what I’m absolutely certain is going to happen.
May 212016
Netflix has the documentary on the desperate race to save the world’s seed biodiversity in the film “Seeds Of Time”, one man’s quest to save the world’s future food supply.
If you’re a member, I suggest you watch it.
93% of crop varieties in the United States have gone extinct since 1903. This little known fact really caught my attention, because only today I read were Bayer is considering buying Monsanto, the world’s most hated company, which would reduce the number of GMO seed companies down to just 6. The relationship between heritage crops and seeds and GMO food is actually a race, with the “winner” to become one of the most valuable assets on the planet.
Already, we take food and food diversity for granted, but not so with the world’s scientist who see a extremely large threat looming on the horizon. It’s called climate change and it’s wiping out diversity. The Svalbard seed bank is one of hundreds of seed banks in existence around the world, but only a tiny fraction of the world’s seed diversity has been collected. Far more has already gone extinct or been wiped out and what remains under cultivation or in the wild is under threat.