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Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Catastrophes & Hubris and Greed

Robert Bea, catastrophic risk management expert, indicates that 90% of engineering problems that lead to catastrophes are induced by humans and the hubris and greed of their organizations. He uses a variety of some well known catastrophes as examples:
Deepwater Horizon 2010,
Midwest Floods 2008,
Columbia Disaster 2003,
Exxon Valdez Crash 1989.

Add in the factor of extreme short sightedness and you’ve got examples such as the New Orleans - Katrina disaster, the North Sea Piper Alpha oil platform disaster, the Galveston-Hurricane Ike disaster, Superstorm Sandy and other disasters — 
all of which will be repeated with increasing severity as population densities and the natural conditions that contributed to them increase.

Perhaps my conclusion should be entitled “Human Induced Global Warming: Hubris, Greed and Short Sightedness”.

Read:
Robert Bea: Master of Disaster 
http://discovermagazine.com/2013/june/14-master-of-disaster

Sunday, July 29, 2018

Cosmic and Spiritual Laws of The Universe

“50 Universal Laws That Affect Reality”

It details:
1. The law of Harmony
2. The law of Reincarnation & Karma
3. The law of Wisdom
4. The law of Grace
5. The law of Soul Evolution
6. The law of Bodhisattva
7. The law of vibrational Alignment
8. The law of Free will
9. The law of One
10. The law of Manifestation
11. The law of Conscious Detachment
12. The law of Gratitude
13. The law of Fellowship
14. The law of Resistance
15. The law of Attraction
16. The law of Reflection
17. The law of Unconditional Love
18. The law of Magnetic Affinities
19. The law of Abundance
20. The law of Divine Order
21. The law of Attitude
22. The law of Threes
23. The law of Association
24. The law of Commitment
25. The law of Dissonance
26. The law of Experience
27. The law of fearful Confrontation
28. The law of Group Consciousness
29. The law of Personal Return
30. The law of Activity
31. The law of Denial
32. The law of New Beginnings
33. The law of Compensation
34. The law of Psychometry Influence
35. The law of Totality
36. The law of Dominant Desire
37. The law of Duality
38. The law of Self-Destruction
39. The law of Environmental Manifestation
40. The law of Restriction
41. The law of Self-worth
42. The law of Growth
43. The law of Self-truth
44. The law of summarized Experience
45. The law of Belief
46. The law of dharmic direction
47. The Law of Purifying Actions
48. The law of Karmic Excess
49. The law of Release
50.The law of Ritual

Search: ‘The Law of the One, Law of Self-similarity’
Search: ‘Cosmic and Spiritual Laws of The Universe’

Excellent material! Goes well with Inner Worlds, Outer Worlds series:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD8E5F0D70B62BEFE

Friday, July 27, 2018

Future of Global Warming Induced Climate Change

It doesn't take a genius to realize that it is highly unlikely that our world's greenhouse gas release rates will decrease sufficiently in time to do us much, if any, real good. Why? Because ever increasing human needs and desires currently require the use of carbon based fossil fuels --- and we have no adequate alternative energy sources.

And it would be naive to think that any of our other issues related to overpopulation will fare any better. Whether it's ocean acidification, hydrate gasification, soil depletion, environmental pollution, species extinctions or any one of a dozen other increasingly problematic global situations, the press of humanity is simply too massive to solve them in time to prevent tragic consequences at this very late date. 

Global economic philosophy is growth based. Chamber of Commerce thinking is NOT proactive. Greed and corruption at all levels makes it worse, not better. 

Note: It is not population growth (per se) that is driving greenhouse gas emissions, it is money.
Page 137:
http://library.uniteddiversity.coop/z_unfiled_stuff/AMatterOfScale-FullText_final.pdf

Sunday, July 22, 2018

Texas 2018 GOP Platform: Climate Change

In plank 16, the Texas GOP says, 
“Climate change” is a political agenda promoted to control every aspect of our lives. We support the defunding of “climate justice” initiatives and the abolition of the Environmental Protection Agency and repeal of the Endangered Species Act. 

Texas GOP Platform:
https://www.texasgop.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/PLATFORM-for-voting.pdf

....”Climate change is the type of existential threat that merits people becoming single issue voters. It's making nations uninhabitable, and could literally change the map. For a political party to actually call the reality of it into question and imply that it's nothing more than 'a political agenda' goes beyond mere irresponsibility. It's reprehensible, and should disqualify the Republican party in the minds of all thinking people.”

Ironically, “Cap and Trade is especially irritating because it was a Republican proposal to begin with - a free market method of addressing carbon emissions rather than overly restrictive government regulation.”
http://www.jefflewis.net/blog/mt-search.cgi?IncludeBlogs=1&template_id=15&limit=5&archive_type=Category&category=5&page=4

Comment: In the current state of tribal partisanship, we are deceiving ourselves into thinking that such issues as abortion etcetera are more important than the issue of global warming induced climate change. Perhaps if the threat to our planet’s biosphere were more immediately concrete, such as an extinction level asteroid threat, then humanity would be able to be more proactive in working towards a solution (though there would still be those who would try to manipulate even that for their own personal advantage). 

Friday, July 20, 2018

Mankind’s Future: Feeling the Heat

CO2 is an invisible gas. Without it our planet would be an ice encrusted ball hurtling endlessly and lifelessly on-and-on through space forever. This is because it is a greenhouse gas that partially traps heat. With too much of it released by burning fossil fuels, however, we’ve created a situation where all life on Earth faces a future of ever increasing hardship. 
Some people actually desire this because they wish to hasten the Second Coming. Others either don’t know what they believe or are too full of despair to care. Meanwhile, the rest of us hope to see mankind evolve into a life form worthy of continued survival along with the rest of the flora and fauna of God’s Creation.

Thursday, July 19, 2018

Old News: US Presidency And Russian Oligarchs

“Trump's links with Russia begins with Russian oligarch money pouring into Trump's real estate and casino businesses. Many of them Trump has been working with for years, well before he developed any serious political ambitions. We’re talking about hundreds of millions of dollars. Possibly even enough to keep Trump out of another bankruptcy.”

Donald Trump Jr. has already admitted the importance of Russian money to their business ventures. He said publicly in 2008 that "Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets. We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia." 
And Trump Sr. spent decades pursuing — and publicly discussing —business ties in Russia, meaning that his claims to currently have “no connections to the country” strain credulity.
https://www.vox.com/2017/7/18/15983910/donald-trump-russia-putin-fbi-collusion-fusion-gps

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/05/trump-lawyers-up-conflicts-of-interest/526185/

Note: Russian oligarchs only remain viable as long as they remain in Putin’s favor.
“Rise of Putin”
(9 minutes)
https://youtu.be/lxMWSmKieuc

Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Ninth Commandment: Shalt Not Bear False Witness

‘Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.' Exod 20: 16.

That you shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor (perjury) also pertains to gossip, maligning others and lying (falsehoods) in general.

“It’s not what goes into your mouth that defiles you; you are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth.”
Matthew 15
http://biblehub.com/matthew/15-11.htm

“God is Truth and, therefore, hates the lie above all else.”

“Wherefore not those that are slandered, but the slanderers, have need to be anxious and tremble.” 

“To speak lies through gossip and slander in a casual manner, murdering another’s reputation thoughtlessly, without concern for the injury done, is also an extremely serious evil, one which soon becomes a terrible and soul-destroying habit, broadcasting, as it does, destruction, hatred, and strife in every direction. Even worse, once spoken, the gossip and slander take on, so to speak, a life of their own, becoming uncontrollable and unstoppable, like a runaway nuclear chain reaction, annihilating truth as an atomic explosion annihilates life. For all of this, for all of this, for the engulfing disaster that gossip and slander inevitably become, the foul tongue of the initial speaker is wholly responsible, and will be so judged by God.
http://orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/thou-shalt-not-bear-false-witness-against-thy-neighbour.aspx

A personal corollary for each of seeking self-redemption is that as we self-monitor our speech, we need also to observe our thoughts. Not in a judgemental way, but in a calm, passive and dispassionate manner. To engage self rationalization or self condemnation derails the thought process you’re observing and thwarts the self transformation process.

Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Lying Undercuts Freedom

“Trump has managed to alienate both a majority of Americans and a majority of countries with the exception of Russia...”
https://billingsgazette.com/opinion/letters/is-trump-a-sociopath/article_edc0fa8c-a043-5d7d-9b3e-7629d2157327.html

For Trump, lying is as easy as breathing (sociopathy).
For Putin, lying is an essential art 
form (disinformation).
For both:
“If nothing is true, then anything is possible.” Fake News.
Both men (and their supporters) are enemies of freedom.

“Russia is not just an adversary to the United States but to freedom loving people everywhere."
https://www.mystatesman.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/texas-republicans-and-democrats-criticize-trump-comments-russia/Dy9gGphjseRXsjmYPifzRL/

“If nothing is true, then anything is possible.”
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2018/07/16/dont-believe-what-you-hear-about-the-trump-putin-meeting-today/

Note: I consider socialistic proponents of the welfare state to be just as  dishonest, so don’t lump me in with that crowd either.

Left, Right and Center

Some might think that I lean to the left in my political viewpoints, while others might think I lean to the right. This mostly depends on which particular issue I’m addressing. But, it also depends on the perspective and political stance of the one looking at me. To someone with a steady far left viewpoint on all issues, I would seem to lean towards the right — while someone who leans far to the right will generally think I’m a leftist. Meanwhile, those of us who find certain favor with both political leanings (depending on the issue), we see ourselves as making a very significant effort to maintain a balanced stance on issues. 

I see no value in doing a disservice to the pursuit of the truth by “taking the low road” in provoking outrage with a trollish attitude.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_troll

Monday, July 9, 2018

Be of the ONE: I Am That I Am

Religious fundamentalists are generally somewhat superstitious — not because they believe in God, but because they naively try to reduce God to a caricature reminiscent of mankind. When the scriptures say that God created man in His image, the deeper meaning  is that the “I Am That I Am” holy Presence of God resides in each of us — not the reverse of God looking like man. 
Mankind’s whole•I•ness comes from allowing God’s Light & Love (I Am Presence) to shine forth thru us and into the world as His continuing ongoing ‘act of creation’. 

To receive God’s Light & Love from within and shine it forth (to give) is Divine. We are intended each to be a “point of Light and Love” shining forth in God’s Creation — just as the millions and billions of stars of the Milky Way each shine forth as beacons beckoning us onward.

Milky Way image:
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/10/11/12/2D4C479600000578-0-image-a-7_1444563092050.jpg

Why Many Christian Fundamentalists Welcome Global Warming

I asked myself the question “what is the correlation between believing in the Rapture and not believing in Global Warming?”
 What I discovered was that “for a significant number of Americans, the reality, causes and meaning of global warming are seen through the lens of their religious beliefs. Some reject the evidence that humans are causing global warming because they believe God controls the climate. Others believe that global warming is evidence that the world will be ending soon, and that we don’t need to worry about global warming in light of the approaching apocalypse...”
http://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/global-warming-god-end-times/
http://climatecommunication.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Global-Warming-God-and-the-End-Times.pdf

The above goes hand in hand with the fact that “many Christian fundamentalists feel that concern for the future of our planet is irrelevant, because it has no future. They believe we are living in the End Time, when the son of God will return, the righteous will enter heaven, and sinners will be condemned to eternal hellfire. They may also believe, along with millions of other Christian fundamentalists, that environmental destruction is not only to be disregarded but actually welcomed — even hastened — as a sign of the coming Apocalypse.”
Excellent article:
https://grist.org/article/scherer-christian/

Sunday, July 8, 2018

What Is, IS — WHAT Will Be?

As time marches onward, anxiety builds higher and higher across the nation and throughout the world. Despite denialistic thinking by some people, issues such as climate change and environmental migration will inevitably and steadily alter the face of our world, our country and the future of our children until a crescendo is reached. Within one generation length of time, international refugee problems will dwarf what we currently are experiencing as the marginal lands upon which many people now live will no longer be able to support their numbers. Syria and Western Sahara are current examples of sources of environmental refugees. Afghanistan has lots of refugees fleeing, but they are doing so solely because of war. Syria’s civil war was triggered by serious prolonged drought.
http://time.com/4024210/climate-change-migrants/

Watch:
“How to transform apocalypse fatigue into action on global warming”
(15 minutes) - If you can’t watch the whole thing, at least watch the last bit that starts at 10:00 mark.
https://youtu.be/F5h6ynoq8uM

“Climate Change, Disasters and Refugees” (3 minutes) At least watch starting at 01:30 mark:
https://youtu.be/rX0a8evxo0A

Saturday, July 7, 2018

Easy Gathering of Plastic Grocery Bags for Recycling

For ease in collecting plastic bags and such, I keep a Umbra Mezzo Swing-Top Waste Can, 2.5-Gallon (10 L) from LOWES in my kitchen [you can order online]. I put a grocery plastic bag in as a liner and put the swing top lid back on. Plastic bags are easy to stuff in and the swing top lid prevents them from escaping. When I desire a bag for reuse, it is easy to removed a single bag. When the waste can is full and compact, I simply remove the lid and use the grocery plastic bag handles as ties to knot. Pull out the neatly contained bunch and drop off at the recycle collection bin at the groceey store.
Note: I’m serious about my recycling. I even compost all food scraps using black soldier fly larvae (the only thing I don’t give them is bones which the dog gets). My trash bins never attract flies because no food waste is ever put in them. 

Tuesday, July 3, 2018

Make America Great Again?!

Somehow I received a fund raising letter from the Republicans in Melania Trump’s name. In its opening, it refers to ‘Donald’ putting his hand on the Bible. From there the letter proceeds to laude Trump’s efforts to make America great again, etcetera. It was embarrassing to read such pandering. Worse, I can easily see how it would be appealing to those who want to believe what it said about Trump. What I sense is that a personality cult mentality is building up around ‘Donald’.

With this in mind, I googled ‘Trump cult mentality’. One article from September 2016 explains it best, “The Psychology Behind Donald Trump's Unwavering Support”:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mind-in-the-machine/201609/the-psychology-behind-donald-trumps-unwavering-support

In this article, it described very well the ambiance of the Republican fund raising letter using Melania’s name. Indeed, the faulty premise that America is no longer great is what is being capitalized upon. Contrarily, I propose that one sign of America’s continuing greatness as a Democratic Republic is our ability to sustain the nonsense from both the radical right and the radical left and still move forward towards the Light. 

“The Light of God Never Fails”