..this trip has been the perfect reason/ example why we don't want to 'own' real estate any longer..
..have not been to Delray since very early in the year...
..show up now and three things need..'taking-care-of'
..1. the Internet wasn't working..
..as usual, someone else had some ATT wiring work done on their unit
..and that work knocked out our service.. two days wait for the tech to show up & repair
..has happened before... of course, will happen again.
..2. while we were away they did some balcony repair work.. great.. but in doing said repair, they somehow managed to damage one of the rollers on a sliding glass door..
..called to get it repaired.. it's Christmas, so the wait will be at least one to two weeks..
..they will call day before, when someone is available for the next day to come and give an estimate..
..that date does not work.. you go back on the 'list' for the next cycle.. then they need to come again to fix it..
..3. out from nowhere, there's now a slight hum originating from one of the a/c units up on the roof..
..life on the top floor is nice, but has its unique challenges..
..the noise isn't really that much.. just enough though to keep you awake, once you've gotten up to go to the bathroom middle of the night
..so both bedrooms are now occupied.. at least one of us might get almost a full night's sleep.
..and it's Christmas and the guy we need to speak to in the building regarding this whole thing is away for the holidays
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
..for a year and a half, while we were building the house out west, we rented one a few streets away..
..when something needing fixing.. got on the phone, told the landlord.. and went on about our business..
..looking forward to that stress level once again.. we are sooo over home ownership..
.
Saturday, December 22, 2018
Friday, December 21, 2018
..democracy w/o effort is doomed to fail..
..and that's what's brought us to where we are now....
..taking it all back from the guys that 'have' been interested & have 'invested'
..time & again paying & lobbying to get-what-they-wanted
..it is going to require a lot more involvement on the part of ordinary citizens..
..don't wanna do it.. too busy to find-time..
..then don't expect much at all to happen different..
..and it all just comes to an end LOTS sooner..
..having a discussion recently.. someone asked.. where are all these progressive leaders..
..well, you have to go looking for them, and they are not hard to spot..
..they believe that:
..democracy without much effort has brought us to this juncture.. the more effort we put into educating ourselves, the more we will be able to create a better government..
..taking it all back from the guys that 'have' been interested & have 'invested'
..time & again paying & lobbying to get-what-they-wanted
..it is going to require a lot more involvement on the part of ordinary citizens..
..don't wanna do it.. too busy to find-time..
..then don't expect much at all to happen different..
..and it all just comes to an end LOTS sooner..
..having a discussion recently.. someone asked.. where are all these progressive leaders..
..well, you have to go looking for them, and they are not hard to spot..
..they believe that:
- ..the threat of climate disruption is our number one concern.. and must be dealt with NOW..!!.. moving from all fossil fuels to alternative energy needs to happen ASAP..!!
- ..money must be removed from politics.. they must not accept ANY donations from corporate PAC's..or big donations from corporate executives.. period....!!
- ..healthcare & education should be free and provided to all citizens.
- ..Wall Street must be re-regulated to protect citizens from exploitation...and the economy from recession and depression
- ..the super wealthy must pay their fair tax share.. tax avoidance and use of tax loopholes stopped..!!
- .. endless wars, and war-for-profit are to end.. spending 2/3's of our annual budget on the MIC is insane and harmful to the country..!!
- .. reform immigration policy so that it respects the rights of ALL immigrant peoples..
- .. reform the voting system..eliminate abuses & voter suppression..
..there are others ..marriage & gender equality, abortion rights, minimum wage, infrastructure renewal, prison-system reform.. etal.. but would they believe in the above.. they will all these others as well..
..listen
to progressive leaders like Elizabeth Warren & Bernie Sanders & Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez..
they understand what's desperately needed to solve the very daunting
challenges this country is facing..
..get names.. do searches what they have been saying.. what they believe in.. and yay/nay voting records are hard to hide or deny..
..democracy without much effort has brought us to this juncture.. the more effort we put into educating ourselves, the more we will be able to create a better government..
..there is no alternative.. we are now crashing & burning and it will only continue unless we change it.. doing the same thing over & over and expecting any change is futile & dumb..
..we pull our heads out from wherever.. or live continually amongst increasingly dire circumstances..
.
Friday, December 14, 2018
Kill all that is around you.. and you will have perpetrated suicide.
... loss of species.. getting far less attention than the dangers of climate change... in the end, it may prove more difficult to mitigate than global warming...the de-carbonizing of the global economy, however hard, won’t be harder or more improbable than the kind of wholesale restructuring of modern life and institutions that would prevent species annihilation from continuing...
...from Insects to starfish, we’re edging toward 'biological-annihilation'
..we share the planet with as many as 8.7 million different forms of life... 86% of all plants and animals on land and 91% of those in the seas have yet to be named and catalogued... about 70% are insects... and many of them are as foundational to the food chain for land animals as plankton are for marine life... if insects vanish, the environment will collapse into chaos...
....this @NYTmag article by @brookejarvis you will need to hold onto and read again & again.. and pass on to as many people as possible..
..there's good evidence here why her work is so highly regarded... ..this piece is absolutely brilliant..!!
...many entomologists are convinced the collapse of insect populations is now a worldwide phenomenon... 'biological-annihilation' is now an essential part of life.. main causes are over-exploitation of species, agriculture, and land conversion (and geoengineering..?) — all driven by 'runaway human consumption'...
..climate change, too, is a growing threat... old-growth trees are dying all over the world... from global climate-change-induced forest mortality.. hundreds of millions of trees have recently died and many more hundreds of millions will soon be dying... now think of all the other lives, including birds, animals,and insects, that depended on those trees...
..the oceans are rapidly heating up and dying.. ..in the '60's there were 49 'dead-zones' in the oceans.. now there are more than 400.. and the number is growing...
.."barely 14% of creatures on Earth have been logged in central databases – just 9% of those in the seas.. .. many of those species will be extinct before scientists have even registered their presence... governments are more preoccupied with finding life on Mars than on Earth.... one flight to Mars could fund research for decades in exploring and understanding life on this planet.."
.."the truth is we are still so ignorant … there is still not a plot of tropical forest anywhere in the world that has been inventoried completely – not even a hectare."
...extinction is not the only tragedy through which we’re living... what about the species that still exist, but as a shadow of what they once were?
..the world’s largest king penguin colony shrank 88% in 35 years, that more than 97% of the bluefin tuna that once lived in the ocean are gone..
..tigers still exist, but 93% of the land where they used to live is now tigerless..
..one result of all the loss is what’s known as trophic cascade.. the unraveling of an ecosystem’s fabric as prey populations boom & crash, and various levels of the food web no longer keep each other in check... these places are emptier, impoverished in a thousand subtle ways...
..and we have begun to speak of functional extinction (as opposed to the more familiar, numerical extinction)...functionally extinct animals & plants are still present, but no longer prevalent enough to affect how an ecosystem works...
..some phrase this as the extinction not of a species, but of all its former interactions with its environment — an extinction of seed dispersal & predation & pollination & all the other ecological functions an animal once had, which can be devastating even if some individuals still persist...
..the more interactions are lost, the more disordered the ecosystem becomes...
...since 1970, earth’s various populations of wild land animals have lost 60% of their members...
..we most relate to mammals, and for every six wild creatures that once ate & burrowed & raised young.. only one remains. ...what we have instead is ourselves... if you look at the world’s mammals by weight, 96% of that biomass is humans & livestock.. just 4% is wild animals...
..7.6 billion people represent just 0.01% of all living things, yet since the dawn of civilization, humanity has caused the loss of 83% of all wild mammals and half of plants, while livestock kept by humans abounds..
..in “The Once and Future World,” the journalist J.B. MacKinnon cites records from recent centuries that hint at what has only just been lost: “In the North Atlantic, a school of cod stalls a tall ship in mid-ocean; off Sydney, Australia, a ship’s captain sails from noon until sunset through pods of sperm whales as far as the eye can see. ... Pacific pioneers complain to the authorities that splashing salmon threaten to swamp their canoes.”
...there were reports of lions in the south of France, walruses at the mouth of the Thames, flocks of birds that took three days to fly overhead, as many as 100 blue whales in the Southern Ocean for every one that’s there now.
“These are not sights from some ancient age of fire and ice,” MacKinnon writes.
“We are talking about things seen by human eyes, recalled in human memory.”
..we are today brought up in a world far removed from nature.. never being adequately instructed how critically important a 'complete-nature' is to our continued survival on this planet..
..we can continue to keep on ignoring what we are doing to wipe out species.. but not for very much longer.
...from Insects to starfish, we’re edging toward 'biological-annihilation'
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
..we share the planet with as many as 8.7 million different forms of life... 86% of all plants and animals on land and 91% of those in the seas have yet to be named and catalogued... about 70% are insects... and many of them are as foundational to the food chain for land animals as plankton are for marine life... if insects vanish, the environment will collapse into chaos...
..there's good evidence here why her work is so highly regarded... ..this piece is absolutely brilliant..!!
...many entomologists are convinced the collapse of insect populations is now a worldwide phenomenon... 'biological-annihilation' is now an essential part of life.. main causes are over-exploitation of species, agriculture, and land conversion (and geoengineering..?) — all driven by 'runaway human consumption'...
..climate change, too, is a growing threat... old-growth trees are dying all over the world... from global climate-change-induced forest mortality.. hundreds of millions of trees have recently died and many more hundreds of millions will soon be dying... now think of all the other lives, including birds, animals,and insects, that depended on those trees...
..the oceans are rapidly heating up and dying.. ..in the '60's there were 49 'dead-zones' in the oceans.. now there are more than 400.. and the number is growing...
.."barely 14% of creatures on Earth have been logged in central databases – just 9% of those in the seas.. .. many of those species will be extinct before scientists have even registered their presence... governments are more preoccupied with finding life on Mars than on Earth.... one flight to Mars could fund research for decades in exploring and understanding life on this planet.."
.."the truth is we are still so ignorant … there is still not a plot of tropical forest anywhere in the world that has been inventoried completely – not even a hectare."
"There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris.”
...we have made and are making colossal mistakes in our priorities & pursuits,
that are eventually to cost us everything.. 'existence' on this planet.
 |
| Earth's 6th mass extinction is underway—Humans causing 'biological annihilation' of all life. |
...extinction is not the only tragedy through which we’re living... what about the species that still exist, but as a shadow of what they once were?
..the world’s largest king penguin colony shrank 88% in 35 years, that more than 97% of the bluefin tuna that once lived in the ocean are gone..
..tigers still exist, but 93% of the land where they used to live is now tigerless..
..one result of all the loss is what’s known as trophic cascade.. the unraveling of an ecosystem’s fabric as prey populations boom & crash, and various levels of the food web no longer keep each other in check... these places are emptier, impoverished in a thousand subtle ways...
..and we have begun to speak of functional extinction (as opposed to the more familiar, numerical extinction)...functionally extinct animals & plants are still present, but no longer prevalent enough to affect how an ecosystem works...
..some phrase this as the extinction not of a species, but of all its former interactions with its environment — an extinction of seed dispersal & predation & pollination & all the other ecological functions an animal once had, which can be devastating even if some individuals still persist...
..the more interactions are lost, the more disordered the ecosystem becomes...
...since 1970, earth’s various populations of wild land animals have lost 60% of their members...
..we most relate to mammals, and for every six wild creatures that once ate & burrowed & raised young.. only one remains. ...what we have instead is ourselves... if you look at the world’s mammals by weight, 96% of that biomass is humans & livestock.. just 4% is wild animals...
..7.6 billion people represent just 0.01% of all living things, yet since the dawn of civilization, humanity has caused the loss of 83% of all wild mammals and half of plants, while livestock kept by humans abounds..
..in “The Once and Future World,” the journalist J.B. MacKinnon cites records from recent centuries that hint at what has only just been lost: “In the North Atlantic, a school of cod stalls a tall ship in mid-ocean; off Sydney, Australia, a ship’s captain sails from noon until sunset through pods of sperm whales as far as the eye can see. ... Pacific pioneers complain to the authorities that splashing salmon threaten to swamp their canoes.”
...there were reports of lions in the south of France, walruses at the mouth of the Thames, flocks of birds that took three days to fly overhead, as many as 100 blue whales in the Southern Ocean for every one that’s there now.
“These are not sights from some ancient age of fire and ice,” MacKinnon writes.
“We are talking about things seen by human eyes, recalled in human memory.”
.."The future will be unlike anything humanity has experienced before."..
..we are today brought up in a world far removed from nature.. never being adequately instructed how critically important a 'complete-nature' is to our continued survival on this planet..
..we can continue to keep on ignoring what we are doing to wipe out species.. but not for very much longer.
Wednesday, December 5, 2018
... In the Face of Extinction... a Moral Obligation
.."I have surrendered and accepted the inevitability of our situation: that we will live the rest of our time, however long each of us might have left, on an irrevocably changed planet, while the Sixth Mass Extinction event continues apace... we will daily walk further into that frontier."
~ Dahr Jamail, Truthout.org (12.03.18)
Not easy agreeing with these words, but they are absolutely true...
...we have decisively entered a time of altered 'earth-systems'..
..“last-chance tourism” is having a dramatic rise.. people wanting to see places already irrevocably changed by climate, likely soon to be gone entirely
...every U.S. president from JFK on was warned about the dangers of climate change... and what really did ANY of them do.. very little, or nothing..!!
...we must brace ourselves for a truly dystopian climate future that is inevitable.. we’re not just facing a “new normal” of climate extremes and the catastrophes accompanying them... in effect, we are entering a New Cretaceous period...where global temperatures were 3-10°C hotter than pre-industrial temperatures..
.
~ Dahr Jamail, Truthout.org (12.03.18)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Not easy agreeing with these words, but they are absolutely true...
...we have decisively entered a time of altered 'earth-systems'..
- ...at 1.5°C warming (Earth currently is 1.1°C), the planet will lose 80% of its coral reefs... at 2°C they will all be destroyed... the whole prognosis is extremely somber, for not much can be done, given there's nearly a 50 year time lag between us trying to control carbon dioxide emissions, and ocean temperatures beginning to drop...
- ...rapidly disintegrating Arctic sea ice leaves scientists ‘shocked’.. and the stunning result of this is that 95% of the oldest & thickest Arctic sea ice has disintegrated in just three decades. That means faster sea level rise, faster global warming, and more extreme weather for us.
- ...run-off from the vast northern Greenland ice sheet – currently the biggest single source of meltwater adding to the volume of the world’s oceans – is 50% higher than pre-industrial levels and increasing exponentially... rising dramatically over just the past 20 years....the recent increase in ice melt is ominously unusual...and the response more rapid than previously expected.. (now up to 500 billion tonnes of melt a year..!! ..and increasing annually)
- ...climate policies of China, Russia & Canada alone will bring Earth above catastrophic 5 degrees Celsius (9°F) warming by the end of this century...
- ...warmer temperatures are wiping out bird species already living atop mountains for the cooler climate... the 20 warmest years on record have been in the past 22 years, and the top four in the past four years...
- .. powerful heat waves are contributing to declines in biodiversity around much of the world, along with many other factors, mass extinction of the planet’s wildlife is now as big of a danger as climate change itself... ...since 1970, humans have annihilated 60% of Earth’s mammals, birds, fish and reptiles...
- ...one of the largest sources of freshwater on Earth, part of a massive blanket of ice in Central Asia, called the “The Third Pole".. the 3rd largest store of ice behind Greenland & Antarctica (size of New Mexico & Texas combined), it is vital as a water source for billions in Asia... The Third Pole contains the world’s highest mountains, including all 14 peaks above 8,000 meters (26K ft), and is the source of 10 major rivers in Asia, that rely heavily on seasonal melting, forming a formidable global ecological buffer... The Third Pole is in serious trouble, loosing 60% of its ice mass since just 1982... scientists found in 2015 that 82% of glaciers in China had retreated.
- ...California isn’t the only place experiencing increasingly intense and devastating wildfires... unprecedented fires all over the planet are worsening due to ongoing drought and increasingly warming temperatures...
..(see.. World Wildfire Map.. patience loading)..
- ...climate warming is allowing species to spread northwards, which is bringing new diseases with them that are having an increasingly devastating impact on the invaded region’s fragile ecosystems...
- ... 'co-extinctions'...plant & animal species wiped out by any extreme environmental changes dramatically increases the risk of a domino effect that could annihilate all life on Earth... heating tends to remove the ecologically most important species first.. loss of plant life set in motion the annihilation of life on Earth, because plants have a relatively low tolerance to rapidly changing temperatures, and when the plants die, so do the herbivores that eat them... then, obviously, the predators that eat the herbivores are left foodless... including humans... ..in the case of global warming, the combination of intolerance to heat combined with co-extinctions mean that five to six degrees of average warming globally is enough to wipe out most life on the planet.
..“last-chance tourism” is having a dramatic rise.. people wanting to see places already irrevocably changed by climate, likely soon to be gone entirely
...every U.S. president from JFK on was warned about the dangers of climate change... and what really did ANY of them do.. very little, or nothing..!!
...we must brace ourselves for a truly dystopian climate future that is inevitable.. we’re not just facing a “new normal” of climate extremes and the catastrophes accompanying them... in effect, we are entering a New Cretaceous period...where global temperatures were 3-10°C hotter than pre-industrial temperatures..
- ...CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere are 146% higher today than they were before the industrial revolution...
- ...a far more potent greenhouse gas than CO2, methane (CH4) is now present in the atmosphere at 257% of its level before the industrial revolution, with a rate of increase constant over the last decade...
 |
| 10,000 species are wiped out every year.. |
...we are fast approaching an end to 'our' world..
...catastrophic impacts of runaway climate are upon us as of right now...
..each and every one of us must consider how to use our time and energies most wisely and carefully, facing down the most monumental test of survival
humans have ever experienced...
..some might not want to listen.. disregard being their false-immunity..
..the planet doesn't care.. what we're doing to it, will eventually catch up to everyone..
..some might not want to listen.. disregard being their false-immunity..
..the planet doesn't care.. what we're doing to it, will eventually catch up to everyone..
.
Monday, December 3, 2018
... how did it get so late so soon..?
.."Our only real chance of contending with climate change and
inequality is through a sustainable way of life - which means wholly altered social, political, and economic systems that value biology over
business, ecology over economics.
More equitable and sustainable ways of living have been illustrated during protests in recent years, but for them to matter, they need to be maintained after these short-term gatherings and adopted as "normal."
The cultural values that indigenous communities hold embody a critical route toward sustainability and justice. Our greater societal embrace of their values may be our last best hope to save our species."
~ K. Mattis
..Earth-systems are enormous.. taking decades or longer reacting to change..
..and the world-wide 'capitalistic-system' we have vigorously engaged and let run-amok would be no different..
..in a world that were to attempt 'altering' its ways.. this might very well be possible... but it would as well require decades or more to turn the 'beast' around..
and even under 'prime-conditions', can our world really sustain a population of 10+ billion people.. even if it were possible we'd all revert to a lifestyle much more 'naturally-sustainable'..
..the ultimate question would still remain.. does the climate we are now to enter allow for these enormous numbers of humans to exist in such a stressful environment.?
..personally, just don't see us reaching a 'safer-zone' in time.. there is absolutely no evidence of mass awareness or willingness to modify behavior..
..realizing extremely large numbers of the world's inhabitants are going to be dying-off.. the 'hot-house' climate hell we'll be forced to survive in will allow for 'pockets' of a new type of adaptive-civilization to hold on for awhile, until temperatures rise to the point, where even restrictive-existence will likely no longer be possible..
.
.."How did it get so late so soon.. night before its afternoon... December here before its June... ...my goodness how time has flewn... ... how did it get so late so soon?"
.
More equitable and sustainable ways of living have been illustrated during protests in recent years, but for them to matter, they need to be maintained after these short-term gatherings and adopted as "normal."
The cultural values that indigenous communities hold embody a critical route toward sustainability and justice. Our greater societal embrace of their values may be our last best hope to save our species."
~ K. Mattis
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
..Earth-systems are enormous.. taking decades or longer reacting to change..
..and the world-wide 'capitalistic-system' we have vigorously engaged and let run-amok would be no different..
..in a world that were to attempt 'altering' its ways.. this might very well be possible... but it would as well require decades or more to turn the 'beast' around..
and even under 'prime-conditions', can our world really sustain a population of 10+ billion people.. even if it were possible we'd all revert to a lifestyle much more 'naturally-sustainable'..
..the ultimate question would still remain.. does the climate we are now to enter allow for these enormous numbers of humans to exist in such a stressful environment.?
..personally, just don't see us reaching a 'safer-zone' in time.. there is absolutely no evidence of mass awareness or willingness to modify behavior..
..realizing extremely large numbers of the world's inhabitants are going to be dying-off.. the 'hot-house' climate hell we'll be forced to survive in will allow for 'pockets' of a new type of adaptive-civilization to hold on for awhile, until temperatures rise to the point, where even restrictive-existence will likely no longer be possible..
.
.."How did it get so late so soon.. night before its afternoon... December here before its June... ...my goodness how time has flewn... ... how did it get so late so soon?"
.
..we are hurtling toward Armageddon..
.
Friday, September 14, 2018
The Early Migrants
...over 13,000 years ago migrants from what is now Siberia crossed over the incredibly inhospitable land bridge, now the Bering Strait, settling in North America... at their height there were over 125 separate tribes alone living in the U.S. Pacific Northwest...
..as for the Southwest Coast... evidence of human occupation dates from at least 19,000 years ago... prior to European contact, California's indigenous population had 500 distinct sub-tribes.. with over 300 dialects of approx. 100 distinct languages
..estimates of the pre-Columbian population of what today constitutes the U.S. vary significantly, ranging from 4 to 18 million..
...today, there are over 5 million 'Native Americans' in the United States.
..these peoples were fully capable of existing for thousands of years prior to the European invasion/ conquest..
..and now look where we are after just several hundred..
... Native Americans Left A Code Of 20 Rules For Mankind To Live By
.
..as for the Southwest Coast... evidence of human occupation dates from at least 19,000 years ago... prior to European contact, California's indigenous population had 500 distinct sub-tribes.. with over 300 dialects of approx. 100 distinct languages
..estimates of the pre-Columbian population of what today constitutes the U.S. vary significantly, ranging from 4 to 18 million..
...today, there are over 5 million 'Native Americans' in the United States.
..these peoples were fully capable of existing for thousands of years prior to the European invasion/ conquest..
..and now look where we are after just several hundred..
... Native Americans Left A Code Of 20 Rules For Mankind To Live By
.
Wednesday, August 15, 2018
..the most important decade in the world..
..in this article, there is one thought to agree with completely .
..IMHO in the long run, given where we are now..
.. they'd only be miracles & 'carbon-capture' might save us..
..miracles of course can happen at any time..
..carbon-capture we'd need invent technology.. immediately..
..it is completely illogical to believe in the span of just one decade..
.. we will be able to stop the rise of CO2 & methane in the atmosphere..
..that's just not possible.. (especially after this last election)
..but begin taking some of it back out of the atmosphere.. that's plausible..
..but where does the money come from to make this happen..
..technology we would need to invent, to get this done on a MASSIVE scale...
..we need look at where we are now ploughing the big-money..
...the M-I-C and the super rich...
..these two alone would give us a couple TRILLION plus to work with..
..do we have the understanding & will to make all this happen..
..it's not going to be taking near ten years to find out..
..."..it will be existentially difficult to adapt to a world with runaway permafrost melt, global forest die-offs, rapid sea level rise, and supercharged extreme weather... these aren’t just tipping points...[these are] tipping cascades... that kind of world will make the current version of Earth look like paradise."
Tuesday, August 14, 2018
... I don't like the term 'socialism'... or.. What a Progresive America should look like..
Anti-progressives always want to use the term 'socialism' when describing all of the social contract programs they completely disdain:
Medicare For All.... Social Security.. Creating Decent Jobs & A Living Wage.. Free College Education.. Income & Wealth Equality... Getting Big-Money Out of Politics... Combating Climate Change... Fair & Humane Immigration Policies.. Racial Justice.. Reforming Wall Street... et al.
When anti-progressives hear the terms: socialist, liberal, and progressive, they equate them equally to the ideology of that of Lenin, Marx, and Mao... but they are NOT similar.
Definition of Socialism (Merriam-Webster):
1 : any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods
2 a : a system of society or group living in which there is no private property
b : a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state
3 : a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done.
Definition of Liberalism
1 : the quality or state of being liberal
2 a : a movement in modern Protestantism emphasizing intellectual liberty and the spiritual and ethical content of Christianity
b : a theory in economics emphasizing individual freedom from restraint and usually based on free competition, the self-regulating market, and the gold standard.
c : a political philosophy based on belief in progress, the essential goodness of the human race, and the autonomy of the individual and standing for the protection of political and civil liberties; specifically : such a philosophy that considers government as a crucial instrument for amelioration of social inequities (such as those involving race, gender, or class)
d : the principles and policies of a Liberal
Progressive Approach is very simple to summarize..
..and is built upon the ideas of generations of progressives from Theodore Roosevelt & Franklin Roosevelt to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. & Barack Obama:
"Everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does his or her fair share, and everyone plays by the same rules."
1. Everyone deserves a fair shot at a decent, fulfilling, and economically secure life.
2. Everyone should do his or her fair share to build this life through education and hard work and through active participation in public life.
3. Everyone should play by the same set of rules with no special-privileges for the well-connected or wealthy.
4. Successful families & communities cannot exist without cooperation.
5. Progressives value human interdependence on a larger scale, and accept the importance of looking beyond their own needs to help others and find global solutions to global problems.
6. Purpose of government is to advance the common good, to secure and protect the rights of its citizens, and to help to create a high quality of life and community well-being.
7. An economy that works for everyone, not just the few.
8. And belief that all nations should uphold universal human rights, and to work together to solve common challenges.
... This is what a progressive America looks like.
.
Medicare For All.... Social Security.. Creating Decent Jobs & A Living Wage.. Free College Education.. Income & Wealth Equality... Getting Big-Money Out of Politics... Combating Climate Change... Fair & Humane Immigration Policies.. Racial Justice.. Reforming Wall Street... et al.
When anti-progressives hear the terms: socialist, liberal, and progressive, they equate them equally to the ideology of that of Lenin, Marx, and Mao... but they are NOT similar.
Definition of Socialism (Merriam-Webster):
1 : any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods
2 a : a system of society or group living in which there is no private property
b : a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state
3 : a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done.
Definition of Liberalism
1 : the quality or state of being liberal
2 a : a movement in modern Protestantism emphasizing intellectual liberty and the spiritual and ethical content of Christianity
b : a theory in economics emphasizing individual freedom from restraint and usually based on free competition, the self-regulating market, and the gold standard.
c : a political philosophy based on belief in progress, the essential goodness of the human race, and the autonomy of the individual and standing for the protection of political and civil liberties; specifically : such a philosophy that considers government as a crucial instrument for amelioration of social inequities (such as those involving race, gender, or class)
d : the principles and policies of a Liberal
Progressive Approach is very simple to summarize..
..and is built upon the ideas of generations of progressives from Theodore Roosevelt & Franklin Roosevelt to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. & Barack Obama:
"Everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does his or her fair share, and everyone plays by the same rules."
1. Everyone deserves a fair shot at a decent, fulfilling, and economically secure life.
2. Everyone should do his or her fair share to build this life through education and hard work and through active participation in public life.
3. Everyone should play by the same set of rules with no special-privileges for the well-connected or wealthy.
4. Successful families & communities cannot exist without cooperation.
5. Progressives value human interdependence on a larger scale, and accept the importance of looking beyond their own needs to help others and find global solutions to global problems.
6. Purpose of government is to advance the common good, to secure and protect the rights of its citizens, and to help to create a high quality of life and community well-being.
7. An economy that works for everyone, not just the few.
8. And belief that all nations should uphold universal human rights, and to work together to solve common challenges.
... This is what a progressive America looks like.
.
..in defense of social-media
..having an opinion and a voice.. it should be expressed on social media..
..I will not always believe in all being said, but everyone has a right and should lay out and defend their positions..
..telling another friend the same thing.. he would refer to me as a 'hater'..
..I will not always believe in all being said, but everyone has a right and should lay out and defend their positions..
..telling another friend the same thing.. he would refer to me as a 'hater'..
...and un-friended me on fb, so as not to see-hear any more of what I was posting..
..extreme unyielding zealotry is an exceptionally dangerous belief-system..
..extreme unyielding zealotry is an exceptionally dangerous belief-system..
..I'd suggest anyone becoming part of social-media.. facebook.. twitter.. blogging..
..defending ideals and principles out in an open forum makes one step back to examine their validity, and it gives others a free opportunity to respond..
..having what may be questionable beliefs is one thing..
...making an open defense of them is another entirely....defending ideals and principles out in an open forum makes one step back to examine their validity, and it gives others a free opportunity to respond..
..having what may be questionable beliefs is one thing..
facebook.com/bj.arias.usa
twitter.com/bjarias
bjarias.blogspot.com
.
Sunday, August 5, 2018
Comments on a recent trip to Scandavia..
Each of the eight countries visited this past three weeks (Norway Denmark, Germany, Poland, Estonia, Russia, Finland, and Sweden) are having similar issues, and the people in all these countries are making similar comments.
Climate:
By far the most pressing issue on their minds ,as for the past three months all this region has been undergoing extreme heat and drought. Century old records are being, not just broken, they are being shattered, by double digit temperature increases. What were regularly beautiful summers are now hot and humid to everyone's dismay. Most all th population has no air conditioning.. they have never needed it.. no longer.
Forest fires are now occurring in areas where they never did before..and they are ill equipped to handle the growing crisis.
Evacuations ordered in Sweden as fires rage as far north as Arctic Circle.
There's growing concern across the region that 'Climate-Disruption' has brought us to a new era that we are ill prepared to enter.. and it is going to be getting much, much worse as temperatures steadily keep rising year after year.
The Growing Challenge of Living and Working on a Sweltering Planet
Tourism:
Since the last time we traveled to Europe a decade ago, the surge in tourism has been remarkable!! The numbers of people swarming over towns and cities is staggering. The major tourist draws are packed, to the point of being 'unfriendly.'
An unfair paradox: summer is when most people take vacations, but summer is also pretty much the worst time of year to visit a lot of places. Now visiting Europe in the summer is a lot like visiting Disney World in summer: unbearably hot, you have to wait in line for everything, and it's crowded shoulder to shoulder with other miserable people who just wish they could go somewhere with a/c.
Easiest way around this is to travel during the shoulder season in spring and fall, when the weather is still good but the hordes haven’t yet arrived, or have gone.
We.decided that should we return to this part of the world once again, it would not be during the very crowded summer months.. climate and swelling tourism are just becoming too much to handle, and definitely negatively impact the overall travel experience.
Over-tourism: a growing global problem.
Immigration:
For the most part these are progressing thinking societies that care for their populations and the people of other countries. And they have an inner desire to help and lend assistance whenever they can. But these beliefs are now being challenged, as the needs of so many are pushing the boundaries of fiscally being able to afford the growing need.
Overwhelmed by Refugee Flows, Scandinavia Tempers its Warm Welcome
Inequality:
Likely to seriously surprise some people. Scandinavian inequality seriously stands out. The top 10% of wealth holders in three Nordic countries (Norway, Sweden and Denmark) hold between 65 and 69 per cent of those nations' wealth. In a major economic downturn, with governments necessary belt-tightening, this could spell real trouble for the general populations within these countries.
Why Socialist Scandinavia Has Some Of The Highest Inequality In Europe
'Trumpocracy':
Most all the people with whom we spoke very much like Americans, but have a general disrespect and fear of the current administration, unlike the previous Obama administration.
Lengthy anti-Trump hysteria has struck home with Scandinavia's traditionally left-leaning population. Opinion polls indicate increased fears among the Nordics. Forty percent of Norwegians believe the risk of WWIII has increased with Trump as POTUS, and his increasing ties with the Russia-Putin dictatorship significantly worry them.
Trump is feared to make a new dynasty take root in the US. His overwhelming power in office, which no US president has enjoyed since the 1930s is greatly feared. At present, the Republicans enjoy a majority in all instances, and their dominance may be further enhanced as Trump is poised to nominate a new judge to the Supreme Court.
In Norway's neighbor Sweden, the percentage of panic-mongers appears to be even higher. A total majority of 83% of respondents voiced concern about the implications of the Trump presidency.
Fears of 'Trumpocracy' Sweep Scandinavia
What makes sense for the common good.. the general population... NOT one small, rich & powerful segment of society. Call it liberal.. progressive.. socialistic.. call it whatever you like.. all I know is that when there are 40+ MILLION Americans living in
poverty, in what is supposed to be the richest country on the planet...
while spending two-thirds of our annual budget on war and the
military... there's something SERIOUSLY wrong with our politics and government.
Having just returned from visiting these eight European countries over the span of our three week trip, they all are in shocked disbelief what is happening to us.. and they are VERY concerned about the world's future.
Russia & China are now licking their chops, reaping huge benefits from our sheer arrogance & stupidity... and unless we send this cabal of 'leaders' to the trash heap... the grim future they see for us just might be our continuing reality.
Climate:
By far the most pressing issue on their minds ,as for the past three months all this region has been undergoing extreme heat and drought. Century old records are being, not just broken, they are being shattered, by double digit temperature increases. What were regularly beautiful summers are now hot and humid to everyone's dismay. Most all th population has no air conditioning.. they have never needed it.. no longer.
Forest fires are now occurring in areas where they never did before..and they are ill equipped to handle the growing crisis.
Evacuations ordered in Sweden as fires rage as far north as Arctic Circle.
There's growing concern across the region that 'Climate-Disruption' has brought us to a new era that we are ill prepared to enter.. and it is going to be getting much, much worse as temperatures steadily keep rising year after year.
The Growing Challenge of Living and Working on a Sweltering Planet
Tourism:
Since the last time we traveled to Europe a decade ago, the surge in tourism has been remarkable!! The numbers of people swarming over towns and cities is staggering. The major tourist draws are packed, to the point of being 'unfriendly.'
An unfair paradox: summer is when most people take vacations, but summer is also pretty much the worst time of year to visit a lot of places. Now visiting Europe in the summer is a lot like visiting Disney World in summer: unbearably hot, you have to wait in line for everything, and it's crowded shoulder to shoulder with other miserable people who just wish they could go somewhere with a/c.
Easiest way around this is to travel during the shoulder season in spring and fall, when the weather is still good but the hordes haven’t yet arrived, or have gone.
We.decided that should we return to this part of the world once again, it would not be during the very crowded summer months.. climate and swelling tourism are just becoming too much to handle, and definitely negatively impact the overall travel experience.
Over-tourism: a growing global problem.
Immigration:
For the most part these are progressing thinking societies that care for their populations and the people of other countries. And they have an inner desire to help and lend assistance whenever they can. But these beliefs are now being challenged, as the needs of so many are pushing the boundaries of fiscally being able to afford the growing need.
Overwhelmed by Refugee Flows, Scandinavia Tempers its Warm Welcome
Inequality:
Likely to seriously surprise some people. Scandinavian inequality seriously stands out. The top 10% of wealth holders in three Nordic countries (Norway, Sweden and Denmark) hold between 65 and 69 per cent of those nations' wealth. In a major economic downturn, with governments necessary belt-tightening, this could spell real trouble for the general populations within these countries.
Why Socialist Scandinavia Has Some Of The Highest Inequality In Europe
'Trumpocracy':
Most all the people with whom we spoke very much like Americans, but have a general disrespect and fear of the current administration, unlike the previous Obama administration.
Lengthy anti-Trump hysteria has struck home with Scandinavia's traditionally left-leaning population. Opinion polls indicate increased fears among the Nordics. Forty percent of Norwegians believe the risk of WWIII has increased with Trump as POTUS, and his increasing ties with the Russia-Putin dictatorship significantly worry them.
Trump is feared to make a new dynasty take root in the US. His overwhelming power in office, which no US president has enjoyed since the 1930s is greatly feared. At present, the Republicans enjoy a majority in all instances, and their dominance may be further enhanced as Trump is poised to nominate a new judge to the Supreme Court.
In Norway's neighbor Sweden, the percentage of panic-mongers appears to be even higher. A total majority of 83% of respondents voiced concern about the implications of the Trump presidency.
Fears of 'Trumpocracy' Sweep Scandinavia
************************
Having just returned from visiting these eight European countries over the span of our three week trip, they all are in shocked disbelief what is happening to us.. and they are VERY concerned about the world's future.
Russia & China are now licking their chops, reaping huge benefits from our sheer arrogance & stupidity... and unless we send this cabal of 'leaders' to the trash heap... the grim future they see for us just might be our continuing reality.
Tuesday, July 10, 2018
If you were once a Trump supporter and now no longer are.. it's time to 'come out of the closet' and face reality!!
... doesn't matter how.. like the slogan goes... "JUST DO IT"..!!!
.. it will be good for you and good for all you know.. (and don't know)... and it's well past time..!!
Like at AA.. get up in front of the group and declare.. "My name is... and I was once a Donald Trump supporter.. but NO longer..!!"
The reason(s) don't matter, just the fact that you're no longer willing to go along with all of his complete insanity is enough. No longer willing to see the country destroyed from within. No longer willing to see that smirky-Putin-grin.. knowing he's deliberately engineered the making of a complete fool of the POTUS, and the changing of the world order, with him finally in 'the-deckchair-position.'
It won't be easy, admitting one of the greatest miscalculations of your entire life, but there's no other way it can go. Taking longer changes nothing.. the inevitable must happen.
Be brave, and declare your allegiance to the real America... not DJT's Reality-Con-Game America. The one he's fleecing every day for his (and his crappy family's) personal, narcissistic gain.
Repentant sinners are eventually forgiven, but should your pride and ignorance still get the better of you, forgiveness will be more withdrawn, and might not come until it holds little meaning. Especially should he continue on his Sherman's 'march-to-the-sea' campaign through our government. There might not be allot to salvage.. and we might need to win independence and build government all over again.
There is a group of supporters will never relent, they will go down with him. And that is very troublesome, as it could get exceptionally ugly with them. They are hate filled ignorants, with little care for themselves, and especially others who are threatening to them. We let him open that door, and that's all they needed. Civil-war would be quite attractive to them. They'd LUV an opportunity playing with all the guns & ammo 2nd Amendment rights have afforded them over the years. Firearms stocks would go through the roof !!
Started writing this piece as satire.. the more re-reading it.. the scarier it becomes. Never thought a fraction of what's happening.. could ever happen.. so much for that.
Friend once said.. "anything you can think is feasible".. this one lunatic has proven that time and again to be true.
... Time to switch back over to the side of reality, and hope & pray it's not too late.
.. it will be good for you and good for all you know.. (and don't know)... and it's well past time..!!
Like at AA.. get up in front of the group and declare.. "My name is... and I was once a Donald Trump supporter.. but NO longer..!!"
The reason(s) don't matter, just the fact that you're no longer willing to go along with all of his complete insanity is enough. No longer willing to see the country destroyed from within. No longer willing to see that smirky-Putin-grin.. knowing he's deliberately engineered the making of a complete fool of the POTUS, and the changing of the world order, with him finally in 'the-deckchair-position.'
It won't be easy, admitting one of the greatest miscalculations of your entire life, but there's no other way it can go. Taking longer changes nothing.. the inevitable must happen.
Be brave, and declare your allegiance to the real America... not DJT's Reality-Con-Game America. The one he's fleecing every day for his (and his crappy family's) personal, narcissistic gain.
Repentant sinners are eventually forgiven, but should your pride and ignorance still get the better of you, forgiveness will be more withdrawn, and might not come until it holds little meaning. Especially should he continue on his Sherman's 'march-to-the-sea' campaign through our government. There might not be allot to salvage.. and we might need to win independence and build government all over again.
There is a group of supporters will never relent, they will go down with him. And that is very troublesome, as it could get exceptionally ugly with them. They are hate filled ignorants, with little care for themselves, and especially others who are threatening to them. We let him open that door, and that's all they needed. Civil-war would be quite attractive to them. They'd LUV an opportunity playing with all the guns & ammo 2nd Amendment rights have afforded them over the years. Firearms stocks would go through the roof !!
Started writing this piece as satire.. the more re-reading it.. the scarier it becomes. Never thought a fraction of what's happening.. could ever happen.. so much for that.
Friend once said.. "anything you can think is feasible".. this one lunatic has proven that time and again to be true.
... Time to switch back over to the side of reality, and hope & pray it's not too late.
Sunday, July 8, 2018
Geoengineering & Chemtrails.. what we are now not being told will eventually be unable to be hidden any longer. ....KEEP LOOKING UP...!!!
It took decades before we came around to admitting ACD - Anthropogenic Climate Disruption was being caused by human activity. There's now LOTS more misinformation and 'fake-news' regarding chemtrail geoengineering than hard news.
All those involved make a supreme effort to keep all of it away from the general population for the obvious reasons..but more is continually coming out.. about this largest unauthorized experiment the world has even seen.
The world is battling another MASSIVE disinformation campaign..and it would be laughable, if it were not sooo deadly serious.
.."76 out of 77 scientists".. sounds like the early days of the debate on climate change.. when 98% of scientists proclaimed climate change was not caused by human activity.. now most all are entirely in agreement climate disruption is assuredly human induced.
Articles like this USA Today piece doing sooo much harm, delaying our understanding of the reality that is occurring:
Still, ever slowly there are voices being heard regarding what will one day be known as a great worldwide catastrophe of humankind's making.
Although reasons for the experiment might never be clearly known.. could it really have population control motives as part of it.. or is it just a grand scheme to rid fossil fuel companies of millions of tons of unwanted waste.. saving them billions in removal costs... or would it be to control weather patterns.. or refract sunlight from the earth in a final desperate and doomed attempt to stave off further global warming. It's probably some of 'all-of-the-above.'
Here are some recent and pertinent articles:
More will come out, of that there is no doubt, and the continued effects of the pollution of our planet and all who live on it will be felt for generations into the future.. what we have remaining of it.
ALL YOU NEED DO MOST ANY DAY.. ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.. JUST LOOK UP AT THE SKY..!!!
These are NOT images of 'water-vapor' trails.. for anyone to believe such a lie is completely ludicrous !!!
We are being systematically bombarded and polluted by thousands of tons of toxic chemicals dumped into the skies ALL over the world every day..!!!..
..the effects of which over time will be absolutely devastating to all of us.
....KEEP LOOKING UP...!!!
All those involved make a supreme effort to keep all of it away from the general population for the obvious reasons..but more is continually coming out.. about this largest unauthorized experiment the world has even seen.
The world is battling another MASSIVE disinformation campaign..and it would be laughable, if it were not sooo deadly serious.
.."76 out of 77 scientists".. sounds like the early days of the debate on climate change.. when 98% of scientists proclaimed climate change was not caused by human activity.. now most all are entirely in agreement climate disruption is assuredly human induced.
Articles like this USA Today piece doing sooo much harm, delaying our understanding of the reality that is occurring:
Still, ever slowly there are voices being heard regarding what will one day be known as a great worldwide catastrophe of humankind's making.
Although reasons for the experiment might never be clearly known.. could it really have population control motives as part of it.. or is it just a grand scheme to rid fossil fuel companies of millions of tons of unwanted waste.. saving them billions in removal costs... or would it be to control weather patterns.. or refract sunlight from the earth in a final desperate and doomed attempt to stave off further global warming. It's probably some of 'all-of-the-above.'
Here are some recent and pertinent articles:
- International Journal of Environmental Research & Public Health - Evidence of Coal-Fly-Ash Toxic Chemical Geoengineering in the Troposphere: Consequences for Public Health
- Natural News - Chemtrails news, articles and information:
- Natural Society - Chemtrails: An Obvious Overhead Pollutant Ignored and Denied
- Collective Evolution - Pilots, Doctors, & Scientists Tell The Truth About Chemtrails/Geo-Engineering
- YourNewsWire.com - The United Nations Admits Chemtrails Are Real
- Natural Society - The World Awakens: America Sleeps – Chemtrails from Around the Globe, a Satellite View
- StopSprayingCalifornia.com - Chemtrails - What are they Spraying?
- ChemtrailsMustStop.com - Chemtrails Make Organic Agriculture Impossible
More will come out, of that there is no doubt, and the continued effects of the pollution of our planet and all who live on it will be felt for generations into the future.. what we have remaining of it.
ALL YOU NEED DO MOST ANY DAY.. ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.. JUST LOOK UP AT THE SKY..!!!
We are being systematically bombarded and polluted by thousands of tons of toxic chemicals dumped into the skies ALL over the world every day..!!!..
..the effects of which over time will be absolutely devastating to all of us.
....KEEP LOOKING UP...!!!
Saturday, July 7, 2018
Crop Circle Formations - 2017
..while not a banner year for crop circle formations there were yet some stunning creations..
..and once again they show the differences..
..looking at a few one can readily see flaws, while others are perfect in their design and execution..
..those are the ones cannot be explained..
..man-made and 'unexplained' becoming easily apparent..
.. here are several of 2017 that stand out..
The Rollright Stones, nr Little Compton, Oxon
Cley Hill, nr Warminster, Wiltshire
Bydemill Copse, nr Hannington, Wilts
Target Wood, nr Badbury Rings, Dorset
Langdean Bottom, nr East Kennett, Wiltshire
..and once again they show the differences..
..looking at a few one can readily see flaws, while others are perfect in their design and execution..
..those are the ones cannot be explained..
..man-made and 'unexplained' becoming easily apparent..
.. here are several of 2017 that stand out..
The Rollright Stones, nr Little Compton, Oxon
Cley Hill, nr Warminster, Wiltshire
Bydemill Copse, nr Hannington, Wilts
Target Wood, nr Badbury Rings, Dorset
Langdean Bottom, nr East Kennett, Wiltshire
Friday, March 2, 2018
CRISIS... when I was a kid...some of these were the same as all of us are facing today.. but oh, there's now so many more!!!..
..we had some really pressing 'on-your-mind' issues those decades ago..
...and guess what, they are all still on our list, and on our minds today:
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
When I was a kid.. this was a HUGE deal.. vividly remember diving under the desks whenever tests of the outdoor street sirens went off. (warning of a possible nuke attack.. like those desks were capable of holding back the building to be landing on top of us...sure.)
- and now we have over 60,000+ nukes.. and our (I-I-C) Idiot-In-Charge wants a massive increase in those numbers !!
- and the two infantile-morons eager to play 'chicken' with each other, and with the world.. with all lives on it at stake !!
- declared by both sides..a new nuclear arms race is now in the making.. led by unenlightened, belligerent leadership, once again we are testing fate.. at some point with all that keeps pushing the world in confrontational directions, how long will it be before we enter nuclear war.
OVER-POPULATION - FOOD & WATER
With the one never having gotten under control.. it is not to be too much longer, hell, it's NOW.. we're going to be running out of the others. This was another 'biggie' from childhood. Yea.. they were screaming about it even when the population was a third of what it is today.
- 8,760 species die off per year..because ya know, the 'infinite' resources are only 'infinite' when the world population leveled at around one and a half billion.. (like what's China alone today).
- We are WAY overpopulated, and STILL growing.
"As long as the Earth is viewed as the personal property of the human race.. we are destined to soon inhabit a biological wasteland."
MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX (MIC)
- In his famous farewell address to the nation in 1961, Ike warned us loud and clear. And only the MIC took notice, and while everyone else was asleep at the wheel, they took over control of the country. And don't let anyone tell you different...need proof..
- just look at our annual federal budget.. year-after-year!! (amounts going to the military are ABSOLUTELY STAGGERING!!!)
- they're loads of VERY wealthy men in the high-upper ranks of the armed forces luvin every conflict we can get ourselves into. Why all those private mercenaries now wanting in on the action...
- for all those hundreds-of-millions/billions 'go-missing' every war.
MAJOR WAR (& THE DRAFT)
The draft is included here as really a major item, for its elimination opened the door for the military to take over.. pretty much everything.
Their purpose and paychecks swell on conflict... they thrive on it, and should they trip over peace, they'd just ignore it, and keep right on fighting.
So now we're into a half-dozen MAJOR conflicts.. and they're itching to start new wars with..
- North Korea & Iran... the new 'profit-centers.'
- From all appearances, a war with Russia is also in the making.. such a conflict would not be like any of the others.. major powers with enormous weapons systems will have a hard time fighting 'limited' wars with each other.
- We have to End-War... with so much at stake in our war-machine, until we do, solving all other issues will just be continually delayed.
- Media & Conflict.. when media 'sells' news for ratings.. stories that ratchet up intensity levels will push us in directions extremely harmful to the country.
RACISM.. MISOGYNY... BIGOTRY.. EXTREMISM.. ETAL
We've never truly made a serious dent in R-M-B in this country. We talk a good game, but reality proves otherwise. We're completely ineffectual at altering the status-quo belief system.
And probably extremism should be out in its own major category, for many times in history it's been an underlying central cause of World War conflagrations.
- Today, it has taken over front-row-center.. as a U.S. President leads the extremist charge.
- White supremacists are becoming emboldened and more violent. There are millions more poor people today.. greater child poverty..more living in deep or extreme poverty.. income equality is worse and worsening.
We tackle it right, and head-on.. or it has the power to overwhelm and destroy us.
- They're will be no U.S. to come to the rescue... 'civil war' has potential to be exceptionally horrendous.
___________________________________________________________________
..then came along some new additions to be added to all of the above..
..some were present already, although not like the intensity levels they have reached today:
GLOBAL WARMING & CLIMATE DISRUPTION
We haven't that long left to get our act together, and the way things are now accelerating, in all probability, it might be extremely optimistic it could happen at all.
So the climate were now experiencing is really from what happened 30-40 years ago. We stop burning ALL fossil fuels tomorrow.. we'll still have to deal with temperature increases for all that upcoming time.
And we have not really figured in the rise of methane gases.
- The 'methane-bomb' is real, and most likely will be the deal-breaker.. getting that genie back in the bottle requires technology we've yet to invent... and we'd need it.. FAST !!!
- Why all those ranches in NZ are being bought up by the super-wealthy.. for their 'bolt-holes.'
- Scientists around the globe are stunned with the warming at the North Pole and Greenland. Daily mean temperatures across the region were comparable to those usually seen in May. February 25, at the North Pole rose above freezing. February 23 saw northern Greenland at 43°F. The average high there for that month is -20°F.
- "an anomaly among anomalies"... for such a crisis to come at the absolute WORST time possible !!
- Enormous world-wide changes are happening.. many don't want to admit their permanence.. or that they could accelerate and get much worse. "Common climate models are underestimating the change we’re facing."
- Living like there is no tomorrow.. well there is a tomorrow, and we are living in it.
CAPITALISM - CONSUMERISM
We can't keep chewing up resources world-wide at present rates.. NOT even close to them.. we're running out of some already. We are 5% of the world's population, and every one of the seven and a half BILLION people on the planet want our 'lifestyle.'
You don't need to be very in-tune to dope this one out.
TERRORISM
We're amplifying this issue by our direct hand in so many different wars all over the globe.
- We now have 'boots-on-the-ground' in 150+ countries.. you read that right !! .. (How many countries in total are there??)
...what would be your thinkin about the U.S. being one of the 'good-guys.'
Much is now working in terrorists' favor.. their message craves conflict.. and our present system of government is now all to willing to give it to them in spades.
Talk about the endless ramifications of 'Blowback-War.'
- It was bin-Laden’s genius... for a mere $400-500K
- goading Washington into spending Trillions of dollars ..across significant parts of the Islamic world fighting conflict after conflict
- all of which only creates yet more rubble, terror outfits
- and refugees ..who, in turn, helped fuel yet more
- right-wing populist movements from Europe to DJT’s America.
ENVIRONMENTAL CATASTROPHE - 6TH MASS EXTINCTION
Earth is suffering... badly!!..
- Overfishing...Pollution...Acidification...Coral Bleaching...Depleting Mangroves...Species Extinction
- (MME's)-Mass Mortality Events
- The guys in charge totally knew what was happening with climate decades ago.. and they chose GREED !!
- This ain't goin away.. and can't be hidden & ignored much longer.. the 6th MASS-EXTINCTION!!
The kids & grand-kids might not yet fully understand how badly they're being screwed, but they surely will soon enough.
Pollution of all types in this country (and around the world) is reaching exceedingly dangerous levels:
- Groundwater Monitoring Reveals Widespread Radioactivity at Duke Energy Coal Plants.. Data shows high levels of radioactivity at 11 of 18 plants. Drinking water of more than half the population is radioactive enough to increase the risk of cancer. Highest levels of radioactivity were found at Duke Energy’s Asheville Power Plant, with levels of radium in groundwater 38 times what EPA considers safe for drinking water. Even in the face of these findings..the current EPA has just released revisions showing its intent to cripple the very rule that requires this sampling and the release of these data.
- Plastic is destroying our world... 8.3 BILLION TONS.. of which 6.3 Billion has already become trash, with almost 80% in landfills or out in the environment. As a young kid packaging was paper bags, cardboard boxes, wood, and glass... then beginning in the '50's plastic exploded onto the scene.. and has not let up on bit.
GEOENGINEERING
This is going to very soon sneak up on us, and become one of the leading causes of healthcare crisis IN-THE-WORLD !!!
For every square inch of the planet is being bombarded by toxic chemicals nearly 24/7... in the desperate & false-futile hope of staving-off global warming.
- The chemical list is long and very dangerous.
- Symptoms vary among individuals.. children and those with health issues are most at risk.
- Most still don't know much at all about 'Anthropogenic-Climate-Disruption (ACD).
- Talk to them about CHEM-TRAILS and you will have completely lost them !!
DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT - HUMAN RIGHTS
We're on the cusp with this one.. and once again, it's self-inflicted agony. And with only a quarter of the population unwittingly pulling the trigger on everyone.. (including themselves).
We're in a precarious situation:
- a majority of leadership is under direct control of oligarchs...
- with a majority of the population in considerable disagreement with most all current government policies and/or proposals.
- do we return to democracy.. or follow the current trend towards 'authoritarian-oligarchy.'
INEQUALITY - GREED
The 99.0000%-whatever are 'getting-by'.. some LOTS better than others..
- and having to live with the other .01%+/- that are taking in EVERYTHING.. while giving back less..and less..and less, to keep government and society functioning properly!!!
- Greed now rules most all major decisions by large corporations and the super-wealthy.. involving the entire society.
- For nearly a decade, companies have taken advantage of extremely cheap money set by the Fed and foreign central banks trying to pump up sluggish growth.
"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little."
ENERGY - FOSSIL FUELS
This is as important as climate, and mass species-extinction, for it is so tied together with these other issues.
If we have not already reached and gone over 'the edge'.. we're very close to that apocalyptic time.. and advancing at a rate of speed that has hardly slowed one bit since the dawn of the industrial revolution. Today, it takes about one barrel of conventional U.S. oil to produce the equivalent of nine barrels, or 378 gallons of gasoline. When it comes to shale oil.. it's a loss.. one barrel produces less than five (the loss point).
And have been resisting, trying to kill-off all the ones would get us longevity.. renewable-energy. When the guys in charge first knew 40 years ago about ACD, had they gone huge into alternate-energy, they'd be even wildly richer than they are today... and it would have been sustainable.. infinite sources of energy!!
- It forever will remain the most costly/short-sighted/greedy decision humankind has made...ultimately forcing humanity to an early exit.
MASS MIGRATION
All these peoples do not readily 'choose' to leave their homes & homeland!!
They'll be ten of millions.. then hundreds of millions of migrants.. with no end in sight.
- We are now starting to enter the era of millions of people in forced-migration, for a whole host of reasons (wars-famine-climate).
- Mass-migration will completely transform every country on the entire planet. The stresses and issues will be unimaginable and appear insurmountable.
GUNS - 2nd AMMENDMENT
Right now issues deal with them are a major category:
- In the past decade 280,000 Americans have been killed by guns, along with tens of thousands injured.. (remember, Vegas had nearly 10x the number injured than killed. Automatic assault weapons MUST be banned!!).
- "Republicans are not going to do anything on gun control." If we are not able to have our leadership begin bending to the will of the people on this massively critical, no-brainer issue.. than all the others are going to be losing propositions as well.
- Right now GOP PAC money is preventing much needed legislation from even being proposed & considered, much less enacted...
...THIS MUST STOP !!!
GOVERNMENT-IN-CHAOS
When first starting to write this post, did not have intention of including this as a 'crisis.' But in the course of the last year.. and in the course of putting together this recap.. it has become quite evident.. a very grave and dangerous one.
The chaos and corruption are getting worse and there's no end in sight. And when considering how serious all the other major crisis are.. this only makes them all THAT MUCH MORE INCREDIBLY WORSE!!!
The chaos and corruption are getting worse and there's no end in sight. And when considering how serious all the other major crisis are.. this only makes them all THAT MUCH MORE INCREDIBLY WORSE!!!
- "we're over a year into the Trump presidency and it's only getting more chaotic. There's a desperate quality to it that hasn't been there before and people are beginning to wonder if the administration is even minimally functional."
- evident for quite some time things were NOT going to turn around and magically get better. "Even by Trumpian standards, the chaos and the unraveling at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue are a stunning -- and recurring -- problem."
- it's well past time that ALL those still supporting him... STOP !! And start understanding and admitting the very serious harm that is being done to the country.. and it could in his hands get MUCH, MUCH WORSE !!
- and that it is also well past time for him to be removed from office.
All this mayhem really falls squarely on the shoulders of the Democrats. They once had on the ticket, while not the most perfect of candidates (none ever are or will be).. but he was the embodiment of what this country needed at this precise point in history (and he would have won!).. and they got totally GOP stupid, and royally fucked it all up.
God do we desperately need another major political party!!
..you're getting the picture, right.. we can keep adding on without any problem..
.. what we appear incapable of doing is knocking any of the items off the list..
..right now there's a bakers-dozen-plus, and God that sure is enough.. but if history teaches us anything, man is not capable (especially at this present moment) of not adding more items to this apocalyptic list..
..and there must be a point when we get all ages up-to-speed-educated & intensely involved in all these issues.. maybe now's gotta be that time..
.. it's not just about guns... it's WAY-MORE-BIGGER than that !!!!
..and believe me.. we'd give every dime owned to be wrong on all or any of this..
..but.. the obvious is just that.
This is being posted as a work-in-progress.. there's LOTS of links here, with more being added. So take your time reading them.. and frequently return to see what's been added/altered/deleted..
...and feel free to send comments by social media, or personal correspondence.. to get something said/added/debated.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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