Thursday, December 29, 2016
"The Secret Destiny of America
"The Secret Destiny of America",
a book by Manly Palmer Hall
http://www.ascension-research.org/The_Secret_Destiny_of_America.html
Written in 1942 (after America entered WWII), this book addresses the continued role of the United States to spread democracy in the postwar era. Since, we now in America, have a corporate nationalist as our president elect, I thought it appropriate to offer a part of the book's introduction:
"... I dedicate this book to the proposition that American Democracy is part of a Universal Plan.
Our world is ruled by inflexible laws which control not only the motions of the heavenly bodies, but the consequences of human conduct. These Universal motions, interpreted politically, are impelling human society out of a state of autocracy and tyranny to democracy and freedom. This motion is inevitable, for the growth of humans is a gradual development of mind over matter, and the motion itself represents the natural and reasonable unfoldment of the potentials within human character.
Those who attempt to resist this motion destroy themselves. To cooperate with this motion, and to assist Nature in every possible way to the accomplishment of its inevitable purpose, is to survive.
Thousands of years before the beginning of the Christian era many enlightened thinkers discovered the will of God as expressed through Nature in the affairs of men. They made known their discoveries in terms of religions, philosophies, sciences, arts, and political systems. These first statements are now the admired monuments of ancient learning. Available to men of today, they are generally ignored.
Years of research among the records of olden peoples available in libraries, museums, and shrines of ancient cultures, has convinced me that there exists in the world today, and has existed for thousands of years, a body of enlightened humans united in what might be termed, an Order of the Quest. It is composed of those whose intellectual and spiritual perceptions have revealed to them that civilization has a Secret Destiny - secret, I say, because this high purpose is not realized by the many; the great masses of peoples still live along without any knowledge whatsoever that they are part of a Universal Motion in time and space....
All of the great leaders of ancient times realized and taught that the establishment of a state of permanent peace among the nations depended not only upon the release of human ideals, but through properly trained and disciplined minds capable of interpreting these ideals in terms of the common good."
Tuesday, December 27, 2016
George Carlin: Circling the Drain -- Is it time to hit Reset, yet?
https://youtu.be/eVZMifGcW64
George Carlin, in this four minute clip of an interview, says that he found a very liberating position for his 'comic voice' - that of not really caring if the outcome for the human experiment was successful or not. He gives up on wanting a positive outcome, and that he was now rooting for the "comet".
He, also, said that he loves and treasures individuals / that the whole universe can be seen in their eyes when he meets them. But, he cares not for the groups they identify with and belong to -- that people give up their value as individuals for the sake of the group.
He does not blame politicians for our woes. "You get what you deserve, and you deserve what you get". Remember, that in the Preamble, it says We The People -- not them, these or those. People who hate government are committing suicide, because it's about self-government.
https://s3.amazonaws.com/lowres.cartoonstock.com/religion-iconoclasm-iconoclasts-doomsayers-doom_sayers-apocalypses-wmi101217_low.jpg
https://s3.amazonaws.com/lowres.cartoonstock.com/death-human_nature-humanity-doomsayers-doom_sayers-prophets-wmi111130_low.jpg
Monday, December 26, 2016
Corporate Effective Tax Rates Are Lower Than Middle Class Rates
During our presidential campaign, I watched little of the candidates' speeches. I preferred reading later what the opposing parties said about each other, and then what moderates thought. However, I did tune in for a few moments to one of Trump's debates with Clinton.
What I caught was him saying that he wanted to lower corporate taxes to 15% from 30%. What puzzles me is the fact that after deducting tax breaks, subsidies and loopholes, the average corporate tax rate is already below 15%. So, if you lower the statutory corporate tax rate to 15%, how low will the effective tax rate be?
No wonder Wall Street stocks started going up after election night. And now, with a capital gains tax cut as a 'stocking stuffer', it seems that there really is a Santa Claus.
p.s.- Why not eliminate all of the subsidies, loopholes, tax breaks, etcetera and then lower the ridiculously high statutory tax rates and have a "one size fits all" real and effective tax rate?
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2011/05/03/business/economy/03rates.html
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/money/2013/07/01/news/economy/corporate-tax-rate/index.html
http://www.ctj.org/corporatetaxdodgers/sorrystateofcorptaxes.php
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2013/05/22/wsj-argues-for-reducing-historically-low-corpor/194176
In other words, corporations will later on be averaging far less than the current 12% real tax rates after deductions and corporate benefits. The people who own the corporations will also be paying decreased amounts. This is called corporate welfare.
What I caught was him saying that he wanted to lower corporate taxes to 15% from 30%. What puzzles me is the fact that after deducting tax breaks, subsidies and loopholes, the average corporate tax rate is already below 15%. So, if you lower the statutory corporate tax rate to 15%, how low will the effective tax rate be?
No wonder Wall Street stocks started going up after election night. And now, with a capital gains tax cut as a 'stocking stuffer', it seems that there really is a Santa Claus.
p.s.- Why not eliminate all of the subsidies, loopholes, tax breaks, etcetera and then lower the ridiculously high statutory tax rates and have a "one size fits all" real and effective tax rate?
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2011/05/03/business/economy/03rates.html
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/money/2013/07/01/news/economy/corporate-tax-rate/index.html
http://www.ctj.org/corporatetaxdodgers/sorrystateofcorptaxes.php
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2013/05/22/wsj-argues-for-reducing-historically-low-corpor/194176
In other words, corporations will later on be averaging far less than the current 12% real tax rates after deductions and corporate benefits. The people who own the corporations will also be paying decreased amounts. This is called corporate welfare.
Social welfare is what the lower economic groups receive.
The middle class finances this, and is one of the reasons why the middle class is shrinking. Meanwhile, the federal deficit and national debt balloon, thus weakening our economic system. Bush and Obama both did this to us. [ Obama extended the Bush corporate reductions as political payoff to the Republicans in order to implement his health care program.]
Saturday, December 24, 2016
Matriarchal Figures of Fertility Goddesses
| Prehistoric clay figurines of fertility goddesses are of mature matriarchal female figures representing the Earth Mother (and motherhood). Attached photos are of classical and of modern figures. Such figures are biologically correlated to higher reproductive success and yielding healthy children. Men are 'hard wired' to be most sexually attracted to mate with women with such proportions who exhibit traits of good health. Classic:https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5ZNL9eEb220sMNq0yzOLfMuwJX8lGTb3Nj3JtxXoPTCC4z2BT4MEIPwAyfi8t8HPzQRwNYYGQDY3aR8iIzMe3ZIdNxCJvN0D6CgwDhVBaFPfoqIA9A26ZnyKlSs-iK8dguU13zS8DHw/s1600/astarte-moon-goddess-pagan-symbol.jpg Modern:https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAKo7bWcNutXB1YNVTaVSHaNxC_WXflpz-5920g_qrii5rmJ7blkja6OQPDGHMdKWzLXJehKx1GFt-WGjJQ_y7crtDmcCbXI7iQT_QiaqBmag3CW-OkjX0-e2u4xd5SeDUN8EzjIk8hzw/s1600/hourglass+with+thigh+gap.jpg |
Wednesday, December 21, 2016
George Carlin: Circling the Drain Time
I like comedian George Carlin's take on global warming, environmental degradation, etcetera. Watch the following clip and see if you don't feel better after he puts things in their proper perspective:
"Carlin On Global Warming"
7 minute clip:
https://youtu.be/BB0aFPXr4n4
Does he confirm or deny the reality of global warming? Nope. But he does put the onus on who's responsible for deciding what's what. In short, we are responsible for whatever happens.
Comic:
http://frankandernest.com/cgi/view/display.pl?109-11-02
Comic:
http://www.cartoonistgroup.com/properties/fande/art_images/fa050820.jpg
George Carlin on "Things To Keep Us Apart and bring us together":
10 minute clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8v2SWE15zms&sns=em
"A Serious Moment With George Carlin"
4 minute clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVZMifGcW64&sns=em
Proof of Heaven
A Dr. Alexander’s brain was attacked by a rare illness. The part of the brain that controls thought and emotion — and in essence makes us human — shut down completely. For seven days he lay in a coma. Then, as his doctors considered stopping treatment, Alexander’s eyes popped open. He had come back.]
This is part of what he had to say:
...."Seeing and hearing were not separate in this place where I now was. I could hear the visual beauty of the silvery bodies of those scintillating beings above, and I could see the surging, joyful perfection of what they sang. It seemed that you could not look at or listen to anything in this world without becoming a part of it — without joining with it in some mysterious way. Again, from my present perspective, I would suggest that you couldn’t look at anything in that world at all, for the word “at” itself implies a separation that did not exist there. Everything was distinct, yet everything was also a part of everything else, like the rich and intermingled designs on a Persian carpet ... or a butterfly’s wing.
It gets stranger still.
For most of my journey, someone else was with me. A woman. She was young, and I remember what she looked like in complete detail. She had high cheekbones and deep-blue eyes. Golden brown tresses framed her lovely face. When first I saw her, we were riding along together on an intricately patterned surface, which after a moment I recognized as the wing of a butterfly. In fact, millions of butterflies were all around us — vast fluttering waves of them, dipping down into the woods and coming back up around us again. It was a river of life and color, moving through the air. The woman’s outfit was simple, like a peasant’s, but its colors — powder blue, indigo, and pastel orange-peach — had the same overwhelming, super-vivid aliveness that everything else had. She looked at me with a look that, if you saw it for five seconds, would make your whole life up to that point worth living, no matter what had happened in it so far. It was not a romantic look. It was not a look of friendship. It was a look that was somehow beyond all these, beyond all the different compartments of love we have down here on earth. It was something higher, holding all those other kinds of love within itself while at the same time being much bigger than all of them.
Without using any words, she spoke to me. The message went through me like a wind, and I instantly understood that it was true. I knew so in the same way that I knew that the world around us was real — was not some fantasy, passing and insubstantial.
The message had three parts, and if I had to translate them into earthly language, I’d say they ran something like this:
"You are loved and cherished, dearly, forever."
"You have nothing to fear."
"There is nothing you can do wrong."
The message flooded me with a vast and crazy sensation of relief. It was like being handed the rules to a game I’d been playing all my life without ever fully understanding it.
"We will show you many things here," the woman said, again, without actually using these words but by driving their conceptual essence directly into me. "But eventually, you will go back."
To this, I had only one question.
Back where?
A warm wind blew through, like the kind that spring up on the most perfect summer days, tossing the leaves of the trees and flowing past like heavenly water. A divine breeze. It changed everything, shifting the world around me into an even higher octave, a higher vibration.
Although I still had little language function, at least as we think of it on earth, I began wordlessly putting questions to this wind, and to the divine being that I sensed at work behind or within it.
Where is this place?
Who am I?
Why am I here?
Each time I silently put one of these questions out, the answer came instantly in an explosion of light, color, love, and beauty that blew through me like a crashing wave. What was important about these blasts was that they didn’t simply silence my questions by overwhelming them. They answered them, but in a way that bypassed language. Thoughts entered me directly. But it wasn’t thought like we experience on earth. It wasn’t vague, immaterial, or abstract. These thoughts were solid and immediate — hotter than fire and wetter than water — and as I received them I was able to instantly and effortlessly understand concepts that would have taken me years to fully grasp in my earthly life.
I continued moving forward and found myself entering an immense void, completely dark, infinite in size, yet also infinitely comforting. Pitch-black as it was, it was also brimming over with light: a light that seemed to come from a brilliant orb that I now sensed near me. The orb was a kind of “interpreter” between me and this vast presence surrounding me. It was as if I were being born into a larger world, and the universe itself was like a giant cosmic womb, and the orb (which I sensed was somehow connected with, or even identical to, the woman on the butterfly wing) was guiding me through it.
Later, when I was back, I found a quotation by the 17th-century Christian poet Henry Vaughan that came close to describing this magical place, this vast core that was the home of the Divine itself.
"There is, some say, in God a deep but dazzling darkness . . . "
That was it exactly: an inky darkness that was also full to brimming with light.....
.......Modern physics tells us that the universe is a unity — that it is undivided. Though we seem to live in a world of separation and difference, physics tells us that beneath the surface, every object and event in the universe is completely woven up with every other object and event. There is no true separation.
Before my experience these ideas were abstractions. Today they are realities. Not only is the universe defined by unity, it is also — I now know — defined by love. The universe as I experienced it in my coma is the same one that both Einstein and Jesus were speaking of in their (very) different ways.
http://www.ascension-research.org/Proof_of_Heaven.html
This is part of what he had to say:
...."Seeing and hearing were not separate in this place where I now was. I could hear the visual beauty of the silvery bodies of those scintillating beings above, and I could see the surging, joyful perfection of what they sang. It seemed that you could not look at or listen to anything in this world without becoming a part of it — without joining with it in some mysterious way. Again, from my present perspective, I would suggest that you couldn’t look at anything in that world at all, for the word “at” itself implies a separation that did not exist there. Everything was distinct, yet everything was also a part of everything else, like the rich and intermingled designs on a Persian carpet ... or a butterfly’s wing.
It gets stranger still.
For most of my journey, someone else was with me. A woman. She was young, and I remember what she looked like in complete detail. She had high cheekbones and deep-blue eyes. Golden brown tresses framed her lovely face. When first I saw her, we were riding along together on an intricately patterned surface, which after a moment I recognized as the wing of a butterfly. In fact, millions of butterflies were all around us — vast fluttering waves of them, dipping down into the woods and coming back up around us again. It was a river of life and color, moving through the air. The woman’s outfit was simple, like a peasant’s, but its colors — powder blue, indigo, and pastel orange-peach — had the same overwhelming, super-vivid aliveness that everything else had. She looked at me with a look that, if you saw it for five seconds, would make your whole life up to that point worth living, no matter what had happened in it so far. It was not a romantic look. It was not a look of friendship. It was a look that was somehow beyond all these, beyond all the different compartments of love we have down here on earth. It was something higher, holding all those other kinds of love within itself while at the same time being much bigger than all of them.
Without using any words, she spoke to me. The message went through me like a wind, and I instantly understood that it was true. I knew so in the same way that I knew that the world around us was real — was not some fantasy, passing and insubstantial.
The message had three parts, and if I had to translate them into earthly language, I’d say they ran something like this:
"You are loved and cherished, dearly, forever."
"You have nothing to fear."
"There is nothing you can do wrong."
The message flooded me with a vast and crazy sensation of relief. It was like being handed the rules to a game I’d been playing all my life without ever fully understanding it.
"We will show you many things here," the woman said, again, without actually using these words but by driving their conceptual essence directly into me. "But eventually, you will go back."
To this, I had only one question.
Back where?
A warm wind blew through, like the kind that spring up on the most perfect summer days, tossing the leaves of the trees and flowing past like heavenly water. A divine breeze. It changed everything, shifting the world around me into an even higher octave, a higher vibration.
Although I still had little language function, at least as we think of it on earth, I began wordlessly putting questions to this wind, and to the divine being that I sensed at work behind or within it.
Where is this place?
Who am I?
Why am I here?
Each time I silently put one of these questions out, the answer came instantly in an explosion of light, color, love, and beauty that blew through me like a crashing wave. What was important about these blasts was that they didn’t simply silence my questions by overwhelming them. They answered them, but in a way that bypassed language. Thoughts entered me directly. But it wasn’t thought like we experience on earth. It wasn’t vague, immaterial, or abstract. These thoughts were solid and immediate — hotter than fire and wetter than water — and as I received them I was able to instantly and effortlessly understand concepts that would have taken me years to fully grasp in my earthly life.
I continued moving forward and found myself entering an immense void, completely dark, infinite in size, yet also infinitely comforting. Pitch-black as it was, it was also brimming over with light: a light that seemed to come from a brilliant orb that I now sensed near me. The orb was a kind of “interpreter” between me and this vast presence surrounding me. It was as if I were being born into a larger world, and the universe itself was like a giant cosmic womb, and the orb (which I sensed was somehow connected with, or even identical to, the woman on the butterfly wing) was guiding me through it.
Later, when I was back, I found a quotation by the 17th-century Christian poet Henry Vaughan that came close to describing this magical place, this vast core that was the home of the Divine itself.
"There is, some say, in God a deep but dazzling darkness . . . "
That was it exactly: an inky darkness that was also full to brimming with light.....
.......Modern physics tells us that the universe is a unity — that it is undivided. Though we seem to live in a world of separation and difference, physics tells us that beneath the surface, every object and event in the universe is completely woven up with every other object and event. There is no true separation.
Before my experience these ideas were abstractions. Today they are realities. Not only is the universe defined by unity, it is also — I now know — defined by love. The universe as I experienced it in my coma is the same one that both Einstein and Jesus were speaking of in their (very) different ways.
http://www.ascension-research.org/Proof_of_Heaven.html
Friday, December 16, 2016
Amway Products In House No More
My family has been using Amway (short for American Way) products for forty years. They're great products. But, thanks to the same digital media that has fueled partisanship, I became aware of the religious right influence in Amway's ownership when I learned of Betsy DeVos' appointment as cabinet secretary for education. She is a strong proponent of school vouchers for religious purposes. This is an age old debate that decided long ago. If you want your kids to go to separate private schools, then you pay for the privilege. You don't get to steal money from the public coffers to fund your separatism.
Long story short: We called the Amway Customer Service and canceled out on them. When they very politely asked why, we simply informed them that we didn't want our dollars helping to fund Amway's pro-voucher stance.
Dang! What other All American products and such will fall by the wayside. And this, after my always looking for the Made in the USA labels and marketing.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_voucher
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/11/23/us/politics/betsy-devos-trumps-education-pick-has-steered-money-from-public-schools.html
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betsy_DeVos
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_DeVos
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amway
Long story short: We called the Amway Customer Service and canceled out on them. When they very politely asked why, we simply informed them that we didn't want our dollars helping to fund Amway's pro-voucher stance.
Dang! What other All American products and such will fall by the wayside. And this, after my always looking for the Made in the USA labels and marketing.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_voucher
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/11/23/us/politics/betsy-devos-trumps-education-pick-has-steered-money-from-public-schools.html
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betsy_DeVos
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_DeVos
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amway
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Let the Twinkle of Mirth Abound on Earth
from the Pearl Vol. 1 No. 13 by El Morya from November 7, 1958.
"The twinkle of mirth is needed on earth in many a situation in which mankind find themselves. A happy, confident approach to any situation, even what appears to be quite a serious one, is of tremendous assistance to all concerned in bringing about a divinely just and satisfactory resolution thereof.
To possess a good sense of humor is to be greatly blessed; but if you are not so naturally blessed, you can always call to any of us and we shall be oh, so grateful for that call which will enable us to give you the sense of humor that is so much a part of the consciousness of the ascended host."
"Unaccountability is a word that does not apply to man’s use of God’s life. Everyone is always accountable to the cosmic law for the release of his energy (life) through his thought, feeling, spoken word and deed.
Of course Divine Love is the master presence and authority of the entire universe, and its law supersedes all others. However, as applied to those who will not use that Law of Love, the karmic law by its very nature must return to its sender the energy sent forth qualified by human shadow, and always gathering more of its kind with accumulated energy of the same qualification. At times retribution for the misuses of God’s life follows like a swift arrow that action which set the cause in motion and produces the effect of returning karma."
"The chalice of the heart is the generative point in man from which the gentle, Godlike feelings of Divine Love emanate; and these feelings qualify the thoughts, spoken words, and actions of each lifestream. You see, feelings account for the greatest percentage of man’s qualification of his daily allotment of energy–about 90 percent; whereas thought uses only about 10 percent. As the individual release his feelings from his heart and solar plexus, often as on swift wings, they travel around the world fulfilling the law of the circle, and they never fail to return to their source!"
"Therefore, watch the feelings you allow to pass through your lifestream. For they are even more important than your thoughts. It is easy to test this truth. For instance, if there is a difference between your thoughts and your feelings, most of the time your feelings will win out, because they represent the greater pressure of energy that is acting. Do you see?
So while standing watchful guard over your feelings, be sure to restrain the unhappy mood; and as quickly as you are aware of its presence, turn your attention to something pleasant in your surroundings or, better still, to one of us, and thus change that mood instantly from that which distresses you to that which gives you Light and its joyous expression."
"So, to bring you divine illumination that emanates from above the stars and is sent from my heart to yours with a twinkle! again I say–
Let the twinkle of mirth
Abound on earth!
For joy is one of the virtues of Divine Love; and joy and mirth are vibrations that in your application of the Law assist you to attain much more quickly your daily as well as your ultimate victory. Such victory I AM expressing–all ways."
http://www.summitlighthouse.org/a-twinkle-of-mirth/
To possess a good sense of humor is to be greatly blessed; but if you are not so naturally blessed, you can always call to any of us and we shall be oh, so grateful for that call which will enable us to give you the sense of humor that is so much a part of the consciousness of the ascended host."
"Unaccountability is a word that does not apply to man’s use of God’s life. Everyone is always accountable to the cosmic law for the release of his energy (life) through his thought, feeling, spoken word and deed.
Of course Divine Love is the master presence and authority of the entire universe, and its law supersedes all others. However, as applied to those who will not use that Law of Love, the karmic law by its very nature must return to its sender the energy sent forth qualified by human shadow, and always gathering more of its kind with accumulated energy of the same qualification. At times retribution for the misuses of God’s life follows like a swift arrow that action which set the cause in motion and produces the effect of returning karma."
"The chalice of the heart is the generative point in man from which the gentle, Godlike feelings of Divine Love emanate; and these feelings qualify the thoughts, spoken words, and actions of each lifestream. You see, feelings account for the greatest percentage of man’s qualification of his daily allotment of energy–about 90 percent; whereas thought uses only about 10 percent. As the individual release his feelings from his heart and solar plexus, often as on swift wings, they travel around the world fulfilling the law of the circle, and they never fail to return to their source!"
"Therefore, watch the feelings you allow to pass through your lifestream. For they are even more important than your thoughts. It is easy to test this truth. For instance, if there is a difference between your thoughts and your feelings, most of the time your feelings will win out, because they represent the greater pressure of energy that is acting. Do you see?
So while standing watchful guard over your feelings, be sure to restrain the unhappy mood; and as quickly as you are aware of its presence, turn your attention to something pleasant in your surroundings or, better still, to one of us, and thus change that mood instantly from that which distresses you to that which gives you Light and its joyous expression."
"So, to bring you divine illumination that emanates from above the stars and is sent from my heart to yours with a twinkle! again I say–
Let the twinkle of mirth
Abound on earth!
For joy is one of the virtues of Divine Love; and joy and mirth are vibrations that in your application of the Law assist you to attain much more quickly your daily as well as your ultimate victory. Such victory I AM expressing–all ways."
http://www.summitlighthouse.org/a-twinkle-of-mirth/
Monday, December 12, 2016
The Donald: Much Too Much Media Coverage
During the 2016 election cycle, the "King of Twitter" very astutely capitalized on that social medium which allows short snippets to speak volumes in a superficial way that appealed to the multitudes. Though I don't do Twitter, Facebook, etcetera, the media provided very thorough coverage of his clips of sarcasm and banality. Thus, I could see how the professional entertainer tycoon was able to coax some people into believing in him.
At this point in time, however, I think it's time to start holding him accountable. Where he follows through on campaign promises, give him credit. Where he doesn't, don't. Also, do NOT click on "fluff pieces" (either pro or con) about him. It only encourages him and his minions in the wrong way. And for that, we have to hold ourselves accountable.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2016/jul/15/donald-trumps-top-10-campaign-promises/
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/politics/i-will-give-you-everything-here-are-282-of-donald-trumps-campaign-promises/2016/11/24/01160678-b0f9-11e6-8616-52b15787add0_story.html
At this point in time, however, I think it's time to start holding him accountable. Where he follows through on campaign promises, give him credit. Where he doesn't, don't. Also, do NOT click on "fluff pieces" (either pro or con) about him. It only encourages him and his minions in the wrong way. And for that, we have to hold ourselves accountable.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2016/jul/15/donald-trumps-top-10-campaign-promises/
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/politics/i-will-give-you-everything-here-are-282-of-donald-trumps-campaign-promises/2016/11/24/01160678-b0f9-11e6-8616-52b15787add0_story.html
Silver Lining for Climate Change Future
"Climate change is an existential threat to the United States of America and to humanity as a whole, and time is running very short to undertake the necessary top-to-bottom overhaul of world society to stave it off.....Unlike previous existential threats — like Nazi Germany, for example — the really serious danger of climate change is far in the future, it will gather strength relatively slowly, and, above all, knowledge of it comes through a highly technical and abstract scientific process. "Armed men will invade and kill us all" is easy to understand and culturally familiar; "in 50 to 100 years climate feedbacks could spin out of control and do irreparable damage to the biosphere which supports human life" is not.
http://theweek.com/articles/665953/democrats-become-climate-crusaders?utm_campaign=newsletter&utm_source=afternoon&utm_medium=12_12_16-article_1-665953
My Comment: When opportunity has been ignored, a challenge presents itself as conditions escalate. Effective international action to stave of excessive fossil fuel consumption is a lost opportunity from twenty years ago. Now that a fossil fuel growth proponent is the president elect, we shall now fail to meet the challenge. By 2037, the beginnings of the crisis will be upon us. That is unless the '4 Horsemen' intervene to both reduce overpopulation and consumption of industrial products, electricity, etcetera. Our new president's distorted ego may be the linchpin for such? Note: It is appropriate that his most staunch supporters are firm believers in the apocalypse. [Question: Are they right? Or will it be a case of a self fulfilling prophecy?]
FYI: Many people are under the mistaken assumption that reduction of CO2 emissions will correlate with a reduction of atmospheric CO2 levels. Not so. It would slow the rate of increase only. Why? The oceans' ability to absorb CO2 is steadily diminishing (correlates with increasing ocean acidification).
https://scripps.ucsd.edu/programs/keelingcurve/2016/05/23/why-has-a-drop-in-global-co2-emissions-not-caused-co2-levels-in-the-atmosphere-to-stabilize/
https://www.google.com/amp/amp.livescience.com/50182-2014-co2-emissions-stabilized.html
http://theweek.com/articles/665953/democrats-become-climate-crusaders?utm_campaign=newsletter&utm_source=afternoon&utm_medium=12_12_16-article_1-665953
My Comment: When opportunity has been ignored, a challenge presents itself as conditions escalate. Effective international action to stave of excessive fossil fuel consumption is a lost opportunity from twenty years ago. Now that a fossil fuel growth proponent is the president elect, we shall now fail to meet the challenge. By 2037, the beginnings of the crisis will be upon us. That is unless the '4 Horsemen' intervene to both reduce overpopulation and consumption of industrial products, electricity, etcetera. Our new president's distorted ego may be the linchpin for such? Note: It is appropriate that his most staunch supporters are firm believers in the apocalypse. [Question: Are they right? Or will it be a case of a self fulfilling prophecy?]
FYI: Many people are under the mistaken assumption that reduction of CO2 emissions will correlate with a reduction of atmospheric CO2 levels. Not so. It would slow the rate of increase only. Why? The oceans' ability to absorb CO2 is steadily diminishing (correlates with increasing ocean acidification).
https://scripps.ucsd.edu/programs/keelingcurve/2016/05/23/why-has-a-drop-in-global-co2-emissions-not-caused-co2-levels-in-the-atmosphere-to-stabilize/
https://www.google.com/amp/amp.livescience.com/50182-2014-co2-emissions-stabilized.html
Friday, December 9, 2016
Physical Manifestations of Mental Images and Misconceptions
Imagine sitting in a darkened movie theater watching the story of your life playing out on the giant screen as shown through a series of sequential highlighted moments. You first see yourself in heaven as a spirit choosing to incarnate into a particular situation where you will unavoidably create particular kinds of events that you need to learn from due to your personal misconceptions. You watch as childhood hurts unfold because of this. You see the images created by your misconceptions and errors in judgement manifest from your thoughts through your emotions into physical reality. As you become aware of your lifetime of interactions with others, you suddenly recall Shakespeare's quote:
"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players...".
Now your life takes on a deeper meaning. You now know that your soul is your own. You're the one in charge of how you react to situations. Then, you become aware of the misconceptions in your mental body and how that dictated how you emoted a physical response that was inappropriate.
Sitting in the theater, you realize that the bright white bulb of the projector is like your spirit shining forth and focused through the film. The film is the matrix of your soul. The light shines thru it and finally manifests on the physical screen. And, you in the theater chair, are the "point of soul consciousness" observing this. And, now that you are aware of this, and that time and space is illusory, you realize that it is up to you to transform and transmute the wrong headedness of your misconceptions so that your life manifestations are more properly aligned with cosmic law.
"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players...".
Now your life takes on a deeper meaning. You now know that your soul is your own. You're the one in charge of how you react to situations. Then, you become aware of the misconceptions in your mental body and how that dictated how you emoted a physical response that was inappropriate.
Sitting in the theater, you realize that the bright white bulb of the projector is like your spirit shining forth and focused through the film. The film is the matrix of your soul. The light shines thru it and finally manifests on the physical screen. And, you in the theater chair, are the "point of soul consciousness" observing this. And, now that you are aware of this, and that time and space is illusory, you realize that it is up to you to transform and transmute the wrong headedness of your misconceptions so that your life manifestations are more properly aligned with cosmic law.
Thursday, December 8, 2016
2016 Election: Levels of American Voters
By my way of thinking, there are five levels in categorizing Voters in the 2016 election.
There are:
1)people who voted against Trump
2)people who voted for Clinton
3)people who did not vote (or voted third party)
4)people who voted against Clinton
5)people who voted for Trump.
The people who voted for Trump (because they especially liked him) are in a special category all unto themselves. To the degree that their liking of Trump was sincere and "not" based on hate, then I accept their view.
The people who voted for Trump because of anger, I can recognize their choice "to the degree" that they were sure of their facts (not conspiracy theories, fake news or irrational 'post truths').
For the people who didn't vote, I can hear the voice of my father echoing with "why vote for the bastards- you only encourage them". To the degree that you're if this ilk, then I respect your choice to not vote.
For those who especially liked Clinton, though I sympathize with your loss, she was not a very nice person, either. But, she was the safest choice and very highly qualified. Teapot dictators around the world are breathing a sigh of relief about now.
For people like me who voted against Trump by voting for Clinton, amongst other reasons, we realize that having one party in control of all three of the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches is not a good idea. I shouldn't have to explain that. It was taught in high school civics classes as "voting split tickets" to balance power.
Note: If I had believed that Trump would balance our federal budget, I'd have voted for him. But, when he said he would lower the corporate tax rate to 15%, I knew he was still a corporate fat cat at heart. The highest they pay is about 30-35% before tax breaks, subsidies, etcetera leaving them in reality at an average of 15%. Whereas, I am on teacher retirement and social security, and I pay 25%, even after paying GPO/WEP penalty. [I would like to see America return to the graduated tax bracket system like we had in 1986 (adjusted for inflation)]
Federal Individual Income Tax Rates History:
http://taxfoundation.org/sites/default/files/docs/fed_individual_rate_history_nominal.pdf
There are:
1)people who voted against Trump
2)people who voted for Clinton
3)people who did not vote (or voted third party)
4)people who voted against Clinton
5)people who voted for Trump.
The people who voted for Trump (because they especially liked him) are in a special category all unto themselves. To the degree that their liking of Trump was sincere and "not" based on hate, then I accept their view.
The people who voted for Trump because of anger, I can recognize their choice "to the degree" that they were sure of their facts (not conspiracy theories, fake news or irrational 'post truths').
For the people who didn't vote, I can hear the voice of my father echoing with "why vote for the bastards- you only encourage them". To the degree that you're if this ilk, then I respect your choice to not vote.
For those who especially liked Clinton, though I sympathize with your loss, she was not a very nice person, either. But, she was the safest choice and very highly qualified. Teapot dictators around the world are breathing a sigh of relief about now.
For people like me who voted against Trump by voting for Clinton, amongst other reasons, we realize that having one party in control of all three of the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches is not a good idea. I shouldn't have to explain that. It was taught in high school civics classes as "voting split tickets" to balance power.
Note: If I had believed that Trump would balance our federal budget, I'd have voted for him. But, when he said he would lower the corporate tax rate to 15%, I knew he was still a corporate fat cat at heart. The highest they pay is about 30-35% before tax breaks, subsidies, etcetera leaving them in reality at an average of 15%. Whereas, I am on teacher retirement and social security, and I pay 25%, even after paying GPO/WEP penalty. [I would like to see America return to the graduated tax bracket system like we had in 1986 (adjusted for inflation)]
Federal Individual Income Tax Rates History:
http://taxfoundation.org/sites/default/files/docs/fed_individual_rate_history_nominal.pdf
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
Mommy Daddy Issues: Inside Trump's Improbable Win
"....Donald Trump is now president-elect because his relentless, sometimes manic salesman’s pitch was able to pluck a string with Americans that no poll really managed to capture: The perpetual belief that a new character with a new story could deliver them something nobody else could, whether a trade victory over China, or a wall against Mexicans, or a return to a vision of America that seemed to be vanishing for good. And the more he cut loose, the more the media covered him, and the more people he reached...."
Read the original article excerpt from Politico Magazine:
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/11/donald-trump-wins-2016-214438
Note: While all of the political experts have nailed down the political and social truths surrounding Trump's win, one observation that I've made amongst my family and friends who passionately supported either Clinton or Trump have strong "mommy daddy" issues in their personal lives. Now, I'm not referencing the Mommy Daddy political issues divide first popularized in the 60s. I'm talking about visceral personal feelings towards one's own parents based on childhood hurts.
If reading this immediately stirs a defensive reaction, then you owe it to yourself to consider this factor in your own feelings. [With this in mind, I googled "voting based on mommy daddy issues". It's good reading that extends itself to a wide variety of areas other than politics.]
Monday, December 5, 2016
Post-truth: Untruthing Without Condemnation
'Post-truth' is the 2016 word of the year. It describes debate based on passion and emotion rather than reason and evidence. It's being critical without critical thinking skills. In short, it is active misinformation and the mainstay of fake news.
Time was that we referred to these people as either intellectual idiots or much worse. But, we wouldn't want to hurt anyone's feelings in this day and age of 'safe spaces' now would we. And I suppose that post-truther is a more precise and gentile way of describing someone who's a huckster, shill, film-flam man, etcetera.
So, google 'post truth' and you'll hit a treasure trove of well written articles.
Being critical versus critical thinking:
http://debatepedia.idebate.org/en/index.php/Being_critical_versus_critical_thinking
Wikipedia' entry on post-truth:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-truth_politics
Fake News?! Comic
http://cdn.app.theweek.com/editions/com.dennis.theweek.issue.issue799/data/48022_136deb273664e8d90ef2763b529e74d7/web.html
Time was that we referred to these people as either intellectual idiots or much worse. But, we wouldn't want to hurt anyone's feelings in this day and age of 'safe spaces' now would we. And I suppose that post-truther is a more precise and gentile way of describing someone who's a huckster, shill, film-flam man, etcetera.
So, google 'post truth' and you'll hit a treasure trove of well written articles.
Being critical versus critical thinking:
http://debatepedia.idebate.org/en/index.php/Being_critical_versus_critical_thinking
Wikipedia' entry on post-truth:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-truth_politics
Fake News?! Comic
http://cdn.app.theweek.com/editions/com.dennis.theweek.issue.issue799/data/48022_136deb273664e8d90ef2763b529e74d7/web.html
Friday, December 2, 2016
Super-sized Vehicles: Monoliths of a Bygone Era
When I walk through parking lots in my suburb, I often see oversized vehicles crowding others. As I walk by, I can see that almost all of them have never even been driven on a dirt road. Nor have they ever likely hauled loads worthy of their tremendous hauling capacity. Mostly, they serve only to fulfill someone's vanity. Larger than life, these monoliths are phallic symbols to excessive resource consumption.
Note: I'm not referring to normal sized SUVs and such. I'm talking about those that outsize what would have been considered big twenty years ago.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyXnaDtCdJ5Df4ujHagdt23nJreKl7pmjBQBUD6XvAhuxsaUa9hdgqTEQDEYbyOTWtRKztFaoX9u09So6gfI1ZsY9K0ELlagejRIw637HWSvUofV0RKRN_VHrw2CgIf4E5nQcExhhPbh4/s1600/Monolith+1.jpg
Here is an example of what I mean:
https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/inventory.nwmsrocks.com/25748-RP/data/03-1019x680.jpg
Note: I'm not referring to normal sized SUVs and such. I'm talking about those that outsize what would have been considered big twenty years ago.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyXnaDtCdJ5Df4ujHagdt23nJreKl7pmjBQBUD6XvAhuxsaUa9hdgqTEQDEYbyOTWtRKztFaoX9u09So6gfI1ZsY9K0ELlagejRIw637HWSvUofV0RKRN_VHrw2CgIf4E5nQcExhhPbh4/s1600/Monolith+1.jpg
Here is an example of what I mean:
https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/inventory.nwmsrocks.com/25748-RP/data/03-1019x680.jpg
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
Our Misconceptions About The World
Most of us have misconceptions about the world. We base much of what we intuitively believe on either outdated information or mistaken notions handed down to us. Indeed, when a multiple choice test about the world was given to various groups of people and to a group of chimpanzees, the chimps scored higher than the humans. Why? Because the random selection of answers beats personal bias.
YouTube 19 minute video:
"How not to be ignorant about the world"
https://youtu.be/Sm5xF-UYgdg
Script:
https://www.ted.com/talks/hans_and_ola_rosling_how_not_to_be_ignorant_about_the_world/transcript?language=en
YouTube 19 minute video:
"How not to be ignorant about the world"
https://youtu.be/Sm5xF-UYgdg
Script:
https://www.ted.com/talks/hans_and_ola_rosling_how_not_to_be_ignorant_about_the_world/transcript?language=en
Monday, November 28, 2016
Is Jill Stein An Idiot?!
In today's Politifact news, Stein is shown to have been making patently false statements about future predictions of rates of sea level rise for the future. This really pisses me off, because the last thing we need is to give 'global warming deniers' another excuse to willfully ignore the truth about data showing our changing global climate.
Politifact:
http://www.politifact.com/texas/statements/2016/nov/23/jill-stein/jill-stein-overstates-forecast-about-seas-rising-3/
Politifact:
http://www.politifact.com/texas/statements/2016/nov/23/jill-stein/jill-stein-overstates-forecast-about-seas-rising-3/
Saturday, November 26, 2016
The Voting Rights Act of 1965
Though the Electoral College took an unpredictable bounce in Trump's favor, it was Gerrymandering by Republican dominated state legislatures that legally "tipped the scales". In addition, hundreds of poll closures in minority dense areas in southern red states with past experience in voter disenfranchisement really "did the trick". It was the 2013 modification of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by the conservative Supreme Court that both allowed and encouraged it.
"There Are 868 Fewer Places to Vote in 2016 Because the Supreme Court Gutted the Voting Rights Act":
https://www.thenation.com/article/there-are-868-fewer-places-to-vote-in-2016-because-the-supreme-court-gutted-the-voting-rights-act/
"This was the first election without the full Voting Rights Act — and it's already a disaster"
http://theweek.com/articles/659599/first-election-without-full-voting-rights-act--already-disaster
This day in history voting rights act:
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/johnson-signs-voting-rights-act
Voting Rights Act of 1965
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_Rights_Act_of_1965
Shelby County vs Holder:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelby_County_v._Holder
"There Are 868 Fewer Places to Vote in 2016 Because the Supreme Court Gutted the Voting Rights Act":
https://www.thenation.com/article/there-are-868-fewer-places-to-vote-in-2016-because-the-supreme-court-gutted-the-voting-rights-act/
"This was the first election without the full Voting Rights Act — and it's already a disaster"
http://theweek.com/articles/659599/first-election-without-full-voting-rights-act--already-disaster
This day in history voting rights act:
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/johnson-signs-voting-rights-act
Voting Rights Act of 1965
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_Rights_Act_of_1965
Shelby County vs Holder:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelby_County_v._Holder
Friday, November 25, 2016
Privatizing Medicare: What're Trump and the Republicans Up To ???
One of Paul Ryan's longstanding goals has been to transform federal entitlement programs in a way that reduces the generosity of their benefits, including by transforming Medicare so that it would (ironically) look a lot more like the Affordable Care Act, with seniors receiving a fixed subsidy toward the purchase of a private insurance plan.
Ryan's Plan to Phase Out Medicare
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Global Warming: A Misnomer
When we realized that global temperatures had already risen 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit, the term "global warming" seemed appropriate. Living the the moment and being dull witted, we all failed to fully comprehend that the warming trend's rate of increase would continue. Short sightedly, we failed to fully appreciate that in places that were already hot, they would get even hotter. For those living in places that were frigid, they saw advantage in becoming more temperate. And, indeed, if we suddenly stopped ever more 'enhancing the greenhouse effect ' that might have been the case. But tropical is a more apt term.
Unfortunately, however, our species as a group doesn't much brighter than a chimpanzee / and radical long term temperature increases that could have been avoided are no longer avoidable. Perhaps the term "global heating" would be more descriptive of our simian future?
http://home.assets.gocomics.com/freshlysqueezed/2015/02/09
Video- TEDTalk on World View-
"In what ways things are getting better"
YouTube: 19 minutes
https://youtu.be/Sm5xF-UYgdg
Unfortunately, however, our species as a group doesn't much brighter than a chimpanzee / and radical long term temperature increases that could have been avoided are no longer avoidable. Perhaps the term "global heating" would be more descriptive of our simian future?
http://home.assets.gocomics.com/freshlysqueezed/2015/02/09
Video- TEDTalk on World View-
"In what ways things are getting better"
YouTube: 19 minutes
https://youtu.be/Sm5xF-UYgdg
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Bipartisanship: Finding Common Ground
If I had to remove all of my postings for the last ten years that I've been blogging relating to politics in my blog except one, this would be the one I'd keep because it contains a YouTube link to a twenty minute TED talk that speaks to how American politics can become more bipartisan. It speaks to the core of our becoming more practical and humane as part of the human endeavor.
"Three years ago, Jonathan Haidt, a psychologist, gave a short TED talk about how American politics can become less polarized and more bipartisan. How? Mainly by realizing where there are common threats to "all" Americans that we all recognize. He also brings to bear the needed moral focus that would allow liberals and conservatives to work together where they share common ground."
YouTube: 20 minutes
https://youtu.be/v3o-F94S4FI
There are major issues where common ground exists between the political left and the right (need for criminal justice reform, rising illegitimate birth rates, rising economic inequality, the national debt, etcetera) that both political parties agree need to be dealt with. Because, if we don't, then we all will suffer even more from their increasing impact.
Note that other subjects such as climate change and the untenability of the social democratic welfare state are not as amenable to bipartisanship. We, therefore, should agree to disagree and move on to those areas where we do agree. When strong negative effects of such untended partisan issues impact us later on, then bipartisanship shall prevail. Meanwhile, to remain locked over partisanship all across the board is simply not in our anyone's best interests.
"Three years ago, Jonathan Haidt, a psychologist, gave a short TED talk about how American politics can become less polarized and more bipartisan. How? Mainly by realizing where there are common threats to "all" Americans that we all recognize. He also brings to bear the needed moral focus that would allow liberals and conservatives to work together where they share common ground."
YouTube: 20 minutes
https://youtu.be/v3o-F94S4FI
There are major issues where common ground exists between the political left and the right (need for criminal justice reform, rising illegitimate birth rates, rising economic inequality, the national debt, etcetera) that both political parties agree need to be dealt with. Because, if we don't, then we all will suffer even more from their increasing impact.
Note that other subjects such as climate change and the untenability of the social democratic welfare state are not as amenable to bipartisanship. We, therefore, should agree to disagree and move on to those areas where we do agree. When strong negative effects of such untended partisan issues impact us later on, then bipartisanship shall prevail. Meanwhile, to remain locked over partisanship all across the board is simply not in our anyone's best interests.
Monday, November 21, 2016
Global Warming Inaction: Unawareness and Fear
Only someone who is completely unaware of overall global climatic conditions can believe that ‘climate change’ is not real, and thinking that the ‘rate of change’ in the global conditions is natural indicates a lack of knowledge that is unfortunate. For some, this is a simple lack of knowledge, while for others, it’s an act of willful ignorance engendered by fear. Now that’s something I can understand, for global warming IS frightening!
https://samslair.blogspot.com/search?q=Climate+change&max-results=20&by-date=false&m=1
Meanwhile, the antithesis of fear is hope and compassion. If we succumb to despair, then darkness prevails. It is well within us to develop the ways and means to replace fossil fuels with renewable and sustainable resources, as well as implement carbon re-sequestration (e.g., biochar on a commercial scale) and to, also, improve agricultural practices. Simultaneously, we can advance the technology associated with non-petroleum based products and minimize all forms of current pollution at all levels. The way to move is forward, and with post haste. We’ve been sitting on our thumbs far too long.
For the naysayers, I say:
If you’re not going to help, then simply step aside and let the rest of us proceed with the work that desperately needs to be done. Even if all carbon emissions totally stopped tomorrow, the oceans would continue to rise and methane released from melting permafrost. At this point in time, changes to the planet will continue no matter what we say or do; however, to continue to delay will put future generations in even greater danger.
https://samslair.blogspot.com/search?q=Global+warming+and+the+wall&max-results=20&by-date=true&m=1
"There is Justice in the Universe"
https://samslair.blogspot.com/search?q=Climate+change&max-results=20&by-date=false&m=1
Meanwhile, the antithesis of fear is hope and compassion. If we succumb to despair, then darkness prevails. It is well within us to develop the ways and means to replace fossil fuels with renewable and sustainable resources, as well as implement carbon re-sequestration (e.g., biochar on a commercial scale) and to, also, improve agricultural practices. Simultaneously, we can advance the technology associated with non-petroleum based products and minimize all forms of current pollution at all levels. The way to move is forward, and with post haste. We’ve been sitting on our thumbs far too long.
For the naysayers, I say:
If you’re not going to help, then simply step aside and let the rest of us proceed with the work that desperately needs to be done. Even if all carbon emissions totally stopped tomorrow, the oceans would continue to rise and methane released from melting permafrost. At this point in time, changes to the planet will continue no matter what we say or do; however, to continue to delay will put future generations in even greater danger.
https://samslair.blogspot.com/search?q=Global+warming+and+the+wall&max-results=20&by-date=true&m=1
"There is Justice in the Universe"
Sunday, November 20, 2016
Original Biblical Scriptures: Men Not Over Women
Men of the Abrahamic faiths believe that woman came from man. Not true. The latter day bible has two creation stories in Genesis, neither which is precisely correct. If you go back to the original Aramaic scriptures, one sees that God created Adam and Eve "at the same time". Additionally, modern translation of 'aeon' as 'day' had further diluted the full wonder of the creation story as it was first scribed (after centuries of being carried forward thru the oral tradition).
Adam and Eve story from Genesis 1 & 2
from ancient Aramaic scriptures:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8iQj1sycuw&sns=em
If you're pressed for time, the seven minute part, is the place to start.
For more Aramaic Bible channel videos, simply click on the words "aramaicbible" in the YouTube selection.
Adam and Eve story from Genesis 1 & 2
from ancient Aramaic scriptures:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8iQj1sycuw&sns=em
If you're pressed for time, the seven minute part, is the place to start.
For more Aramaic Bible channel videos, simply click on the words "aramaicbible" in the YouTube selection.
Saturday, November 19, 2016
Global Warming: When Ocean Currents Change
It's been said that "when ocean currents change, then the higher latitudes and altitudes will become much more tropical".
If you appreciate this, then you can prepare yourself.
Free will reigns Supreme.
"There is Justice in the Universe"
If you appreciate this, then you can prepare yourself.
Free will reigns Supreme.
"There is Justice in the Universe"
Thursday, November 17, 2016
Another Anecdotal Example of Global Warming
As if massive glaciers and ice sheets melting away and northern migration of warmer clime plants weren't enough to show a warming planet, here's one more anecdotal observation:
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/imageo/2016/11/09/dear-president-elect-trump-climate-change-is-not-a-hoax/?utm_source=SilverpopMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=News0_DSC_161117_000000_optimized_Final&utm_content=&spMailingID=27095800&spUserID=MTE2MDc4NjYyODQwS0&spJobID=923245649&spReportId=OTIzMjQ1NjQ5S0#.
http://discovermagazine.com/tags/?tag=climate+change
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/imageo/2016/11/09/dear-president-elect-trump-climate-change-is-not-a-hoax/?utm_source=SilverpopMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=News0_DSC_161117_000000_optimized_Final&utm_content=&spMailingID=27095800&spUserID=MTE2MDc4NjYyODQwS0&spJobID=923245649&spReportId=OTIzMjQ1NjQ5S0#.
http://discovermagazine.com/tags/?tag=climate+change
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
Election Result: Moving to Canada?
After the election, I started catching news snippets of people saying that they want to move to Canada now. At first, I simply chuckled at what I considered to be overly dramatic emotional statements. I remember others saying the same thing when we elected our first black President. Then, I read a headline that has been repeating itself annually:
"This Year Is Hottest On Record".
Suddenly, I realized the possibility that moving to Canada could be a good idea for many / since I see little actually being accomplished in the battle to reverse our globe's 'enhanced greenhouse effect'.
Will I move the to Canada? Probably not. I have no grandkids. I'm retired. I've insulated and weatherproofed my house to the max. My native trees are all getting huge. I've had to switch to Bermuda grass. I'm within easy walking distance of a shopping center and bus stop. Etcetera. I've been planning for this since 1978, at the time my distant relatives in Alaska started seeing grave markers that had been secured in permafrost tipping over and peoples' favorite berry bushes started dying out and migrating northward. Me? Why I can just turn the A/C up a bit more and more to compensate until I myself finally "gone".
However, if I had grandkids, I'd encourage them to migrate to a latitude and elevation more in line with climate change forecasts (even if I had to move with them in order to get them to go). I would, also, want them to make sure that in their new location they'd be assured of a good fresh water supply.
With this in mind, I just now went on line and found a likely spot to begin a search in the region around Lyle, Washington in which to begin a search (it is located along the shoreline margin of a former continental shelf).
The water table might possibly guarantee good wells, as it is next to the Columbia River. The 145 foot elevation would keep you high and dry for much much more than a hundred years (though the Columbia might in later centuries become somewhat brackish). The Pacific Ocean Current should also remain strong and steady to assure enough seasonal precipitation to survive (even if not thrive).
I would, also, consider Canadian and Alaskan locations. If the worst climate change predictions manifest, these are zones that will eventually become much more habitable. But, since I'm not an expert in climatology and won't be one of the ones going, I leave it to those who will be. And I wish them well! They're the future hope of mankind. Their surviving descendants will become the forerunners of a newly evolving branch of the human species.
http://elevationmap.net/#
http://media.treehugger.com/assets/images/2014/06/xkcd-4-5-degrees.jpg.662x0_q70_crop-scale.jpg
P.S.- Do not procrastinate. Do not resist change. Take your time, but don't waste any. The first effects of climate change are only just beginning to be felt! We need to remember that global warming cannot be reversed. The increasing rate of advancement could be slowed down with extreme measures involving renewables and technological advances; but, that's very unlikely to happen. The only thing that will galvanize international cooperation is scary climate events. By then, we will have already gone "around the river's bend" and sucked into the rapids.
The earliest ones to move and begin establishing themselves in more desirable locations with the future in mind will have an advantage over those who try to do so later. If do you decide on Canada, go before an increased number of climate refugees force them to change their current attitude towards immigrants.
Google:
best places to survive climate change
http://0.tqn.com/d/politicalhumor/1/S/5/6/3/What-If-Its-A-Hoax.jpg
http://www.prosebeforehos.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/climate-science-deniers.jpg
"This Year Is Hottest On Record".
Suddenly, I realized the possibility that moving to Canada could be a good idea for many / since I see little actually being accomplished in the battle to reverse our globe's 'enhanced greenhouse effect'.
Will I move the to Canada? Probably not. I have no grandkids. I'm retired. I've insulated and weatherproofed my house to the max. My native trees are all getting huge. I've had to switch to Bermuda grass. I'm within easy walking distance of a shopping center and bus stop. Etcetera. I've been planning for this since 1978, at the time my distant relatives in Alaska started seeing grave markers that had been secured in permafrost tipping over and peoples' favorite berry bushes started dying out and migrating northward. Me? Why I can just turn the A/C up a bit more and more to compensate until I myself finally "gone".
However, if I had grandkids, I'd encourage them to migrate to a latitude and elevation more in line with climate change forecasts (even if I had to move with them in order to get them to go). I would, also, want them to make sure that in their new location they'd be assured of a good fresh water supply.
With this in mind, I just now went on line and found a likely spot to begin a search in the region around Lyle, Washington in which to begin a search (it is located along the shoreline margin of a former continental shelf).
The water table might possibly guarantee good wells, as it is next to the Columbia River. The 145 foot elevation would keep you high and dry for much much more than a hundred years (though the Columbia might in later centuries become somewhat brackish). The Pacific Ocean Current should also remain strong and steady to assure enough seasonal precipitation to survive (even if not thrive).
I would, also, consider Canadian and Alaskan locations. If the worst climate change predictions manifest, these are zones that will eventually become much more habitable. But, since I'm not an expert in climatology and won't be one of the ones going, I leave it to those who will be. And I wish them well! They're the future hope of mankind. Their surviving descendants will become the forerunners of a newly evolving branch of the human species.
http://elevationmap.net/#
http://media.treehugger.com/assets/images/2014/06/xkcd-4-5-degrees.jpg.662x0_q70_crop-scale.jpg
P.S.- Do not procrastinate. Do not resist change. Take your time, but don't waste any. The first effects of climate change are only just beginning to be felt! We need to remember that global warming cannot be reversed. The increasing rate of advancement could be slowed down with extreme measures involving renewables and technological advances; but, that's very unlikely to happen. The only thing that will galvanize international cooperation is scary climate events. By then, we will have already gone "around the river's bend" and sucked into the rapids.
The earliest ones to move and begin establishing themselves in more desirable locations with the future in mind will have an advantage over those who try to do so later. If do you decide on Canada, go before an increased number of climate refugees force them to change their current attitude towards immigrants.
Google:
best places to survive climate change
http://0.tqn.com/d/politicalhumor/1/S/5/6/3/What-If-Its-A-Hoax.jpg
http://www.prosebeforehos.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/climate-science-deniers.jpg
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
Looney Tunes in the White House and the Value of US Dollar
Looking at the list of characters being tapped for prominent positions in the Trump administration, I'd say that it may soon time to turn off CNN and go to the cartoon channels. Oft times, cartoon characters display better judgement than what we may be witnessing from the newest Trump reality show. I won't wish ill of them; but, I do fear for the economy as the value of the American dollar is potentially threatened long-term by lack of international confidence in America.
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/52/f1/ae/52f1aeac57a582f1f525c990597ff22d.jpg
Of course, only time and what Trump's team actually does will be the final judgement. In the worst case scenario, at least we will have someone experienced in bankruptcy at the helm. And he won't be able to objectively blame the Democrats since he has the majority in Congress. And he will be appointing a conservative Justice to the Supreme Court.
50 Factors that Affect the Value of the US Dollar:
http://www.currencytrading.net/features/50-factors-that-affect-the-value-of-the-us-dollar/
Pew Research: Confidence in Trump
(note that there are 14 pages at bottom of chart about related topics)-
http://www.pewglobal.org/2016/06/29/2-obamas-international-image-remains-strong-in-europe-and-asia/ga_2016-06-29_balanceofpower-1-09/
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/52/f1/ae/52f1aeac57a582f1f525c990597ff22d.jpg
Of course, only time and what Trump's team actually does will be the final judgement. In the worst case scenario, at least we will have someone experienced in bankruptcy at the helm. And he won't be able to objectively blame the Democrats since he has the majority in Congress. And he will be appointing a conservative Justice to the Supreme Court.
50 Factors that Affect the Value of the US Dollar:
http://www.currencytrading.net/features/50-factors-that-affect-the-value-of-the-us-dollar/
Pew Research: Confidence in Trump
(note that there are 14 pages at bottom of chart about related topics)-
http://www.pewglobal.org/2016/06/29/2-obamas-international-image-remains-strong-in-europe-and-asia/ga_2016-06-29_balanceofpower-1-09/
Monday, November 14, 2016
"The Mystery Of America's Missing Male Workers"
"More than 7 million men between the ages of 25 and 54 — prime working age — have dropped out of the labor force. That means they're not only unemployed but have also given up looking for a job. Shortly after World War II, virtually every man of prime working age was either working or looking for work. But the labor force participation rate for men has been declining steadily since the mid-1960s, from almost 97 percent to about 88 percent today. There is a smaller percentage of men working now than in 1940, near the end of the Great Depression....
This can be called a "quiet catastrophe" ... as men have been dropping out of the workforce at roughly the same rate for the past half century, through boom times and recessions alike.... Only one in seven men outside the workforce says a lack of available jobs is the reason he's not working."
"About 57% of men who are outside of the workforce received some form of disability benefits in 2013. Overall, the number of Americans receiving disability has doubled to 8.8 million people since 1996, costing the federal government $260 billion per year. The U.S. now spends more on disability insurance than on food stamps and welfare combined. For others, especially younger men, it's often relatives who pick up the slack. Some 70% of lower-skilled men in their 20s who didn't have a job lived with a parent or close relative in 2014."
How are these men doing?
"Not well. It isn't clear whether pain and sickness keep people out of the workforce, or if being out of work makes people sick, but nearly half of them report taking a painkiller every day. About two-thirds of the men taking pain medication were using prescription drugs — contributing to the nationwide opioid addiction epidemic...."
"If current trends hold, a quarter of prime-age men will be out of the workforce by 2050, making the economy less productive. It will also mean generations of men will be sicker and poorer than their peers in the workforce."
America's Missing Male Workers
http://theweek.com/articles/659245/mystery-americas-missing-male-workers
My Comment: Most of the "jobs that these men are unwilling to do" are being done by immigrants. And because the increasing numbers of newcomers keep wages depressed, this problem will indeed progress unless our new populist president actually seals "all" of the borders. Will this occur? Not likely. Why? Because the current Establishment is currently making too much money off of maintaining the status quo. The new President will focus on targeting those things that will make his crony Establishment players richer. That is why he will weaken the EPA. [And who suffers when that happens? Why, you do.]
Trump, like other crooks before him wanted merely to "kick those bums out"- and put this bum in. It's like having Pancho Villa become president. A wolf in sheep's clothing.
http://www.history.com/topics/pancho-villa
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