Thursday, July 31, 2008

This Is Also Your Truth...

Just Your Current Situation via Reality-Based Information...
by The Old Hippie Because You Keep “Allowing,” And Nothing else.

Read   -  “Branded”
      ...few of us will admit that we frequently succumb to salesmanship...
      In “Buying In,” Walker aims to lift the cloud of self-delusion.  Every
      indicator suggests we’re the shoppingest society that’s ever lived

  -  “The Roots of Obstruction”
      The reputation of the Congress would be very different had the Republican
      minority and George Bush not orchestrated a systematic campaign of
      obstruction to bottle up any progress.

One Tiny Step In The Right Direction...
[Very much too little - Very much too late - And most likely won’t be enforced.]

“House Panel Votes To Cite Rove For Contempt”

“A House panel Wednesday voted to cite former top White House aide Karl Rove for contempt of Congress as its Senate counterpart publicly pursued possible punishments
for an array of alleged past and present Bush administration misdeeds.”


Today’s “Truthdig” (linked) quote emphasizing my above parenthetical points...
“There’s still plenty of red tape keeping Bush’s Brain from a day of reckoning.  A full vote on the citation won’t happen—if it happens at all—until September, and by the time the lawyers get involved, George W. Bush will be back in Crawford whacking brush.”

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A“Below The Fold” bonus Article - by Ernest Partridge at The Crisis Papers.


“Evil as the Absence of Empathy.”

In the 2000 TV film “Nuremberg,” psychologist Gustav Gilbert says to the Head Prosecutor Robert Jackson, “I told you once that I was searching for the nature of evil.  I think I’ve come close to defining it: a lack of empathy.  It’s the one characteristic that connects all the defendants: a genuine incapacity to feel with their fellow man.  Evil, I think, is the absence of empathy.”  “Absence of empathy” is likewise “the one characteristic that connects” most of the immoral and misbegotten tenets of Bushism: that dogmatic mix of market absolutism, libertarianism, corporatism and simple greed that falsely describes itself as “conservatism.”




Read the Rest of this Posting    →  Below The Fold  ←                  (Permanent Link Here)

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

You Want The Truth?

Are You Even Sure You Can Handle It?
by The Old Hippie Because This Is Your Truth.


Hacker
{-The Way Many Picture Me-}
 

“Acts of War” is an article by Scott Ritter concerning “our” already begun war in and against Iran.

“Many Americans remain unaware of what is transpiring abroad in their name.  Many of those who are cognizant of these activities are supportive of them, an outgrowth of misguided sentiment which holds Iran accountable for a list of grievances used by the U.S. government to justify the ongoing global war on terror.  Iran, we are told, is not just a nation pursuing nuclear weapons, but is the largest state sponsor of terror in the world today.”

     [ Following three links are a good start in “knowing.” ]


“Acts of War”  [original article]
“Back to Iran”  [A National Geographic Magazine’s 7/08 blog posting]
“Persia: Ancient Soul of Iran”  [A National Geographic Magazine’s 8/08 feature article]


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A “Below The Fold” bonus - An Informative and -related- video...
“Secret War Against Iran Underway” [4:14]




Read the Rest of this Posting    →  Below The Fold  ←                  (Permanent Link Here)

Monday, July 28, 2008

Your Reality. . .

Some Have The Ability To See Your Reality - Here Are But A Few...
by The Old Hippie Because the Environment of Our Environment is an Imperative.

  -  “The Heat Is Online”
      “To me the question of the environment is more ominous than that  
      of peace and war...I'm more worried about global warming than I
      am of any major military conflict.” 
(U.N. Weapons Inspector Hans Blix)

  -  “The League of Conservation Voters”
      Turning Environmental Values into National Priorities.

  -  “Real Climate”
      Real Climate Science by Real Working Climate Scientists.
 Your Right

“As long as the greatest crime of the 21st century remains unprosecuted,
we all have a duty to keep the truth alive.”


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A“Below The Fold” bonus Video from Al Gore...

Former Vice President Al Gore delivered a major speech Thursday [7/17/08] on US energy policy in which he challenged all Americans to confront the crisis head on and wean itself off fossil fuels in the next 10 years.  Enjoy - [9:46]




Read the Rest of this Posting    →  Below The Fold  ←                  (Permanent Link Here)

Sunday, July 27, 2008

To Sum Up. . .

Another Week Gone...  And Guess What. . . ?
by The Old Hippie Because It Has Gone Past The Surreal And The Ridiculous.
     Patriot 

They all are still in power.  Still sneering at our lack of will to stop them, punish them, for the multiple crimes, that have now been more than obviously proven, beyond anyone’s doubt... to be purposeful, sociopathic, and criminally profitable to only their very-very-few.

But yet, not to kick a dead horse, again...  Where’s the outrage?  Where are the protests?  Where’s the stopping-of-the-allowing?  Where’s the impeachment?  Why are my fellow American “citizens” not making any effort to stop, and punish these openly sneering criminals that are destroying our Constitutional Democracy from within... for nothing more than profits to only themselves?

I know this blog has become repetitively redundant about this, but -seriously- how could it not?  In the face of such outrageous allowing, in the face of such heinous crimes, repeatedly committed over such a long period of time, opening - sneeringly - obviously - With its “citizens” doing absolutely nothing to stop the crimes, and their own self-destruction - How could it not?  Cynical?  In the face of all of this?  You better believe it.


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Two “Below The Fold” Bonus Ancient Articles links...

(1) Last year's censored “Board to Death” article.  From the research team at
Project Censored ← at Sonoma State University.

Bonus Ancient Article Link


AND  -

(2) Part I -and- Part II of the “George Bush Meets The Environment”

Both of which are well worth anyone’s time - Enjoy.

-  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -

That’s it for this week - Wonder if there will be reason to post any non-cynical, or non-redundant, or non-repetitive rants in the coming days?  Also, one final thought for this week...

They sociopathically, (and arrogantly,) killed Robert, John, and Martin, et al, and “hope” before, (and btw, they did get away with the murders,)...  Do you think they’ll let Obama survive, -if- he does become a real threat to the corporatists’ power, or to the profits to their-very-very-few?


Read the Rest of this Posting    →  Below The Fold  ←                  (Permanent Link Here)

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Quote of the Week. . .

Found At Michael Moore’s Web Site.
by Jeremy Rabkin, George Mason University School of Law professor.


“The tone of these deliberations is slightly demented," Rabkin said.  “You should all remind yourselves that the rest of the country is not necessarily in this same bubble in which people think it is reasonable to describe the president as if he were Caligula.”

Jeremy Rabkin, George Mason University School of Law professor, at the 7/25/08 House
Judiciary [non-impeachment] hearing “Executive Power and its Constitutional Limitations.”

   

“As long as the greatest crime of the 21st century remains unprosecuted,
we all have a duty to keep the truth alive.”


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A “Below The Fold” bonus -related- video of Vincent Bugliosi’s testimony at
the July 25, 2008 House Judiciary Committee [non-impeachment] hearing...



Read the Rest of this Posting    →  Below The Fold  ←                  (Permanent Link Here)

Friday, July 25, 2008

Compare & Contrast. . .

Just A Simple Comparison of Three Men - This One...
via MSNBC, from their video clips section.  Original Here.




- - - - - - - - - - - - -

...To This One’s Purposefully ‘Banned’ & Exposed Cover Up....
'Banned' Bush Video Surfaces, (via An ABC-TV outlet in Houston.)

via Huffington Post, and the Posted YouTube Video.  Original Here.



- - - - - - - - - - - - -

...And Finally To This One’s Exposed (also purposeful?) Cover Up....
McCain Gets History Of The Surge Wrong, CBS Doesn't Air Footage

via Huffington Post, and MSNBC.  Original Here.
  [ Update Included ]



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The following is a “Below The Fold” Bonus -and related- video.  Please, enjoy...
“Dumb.  Dumb.  Smart.”  [ original here ]



Read the Rest of this Posting    →  Below The Fold  ←                  (Permanent Link Here)

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Let’s See. . .

Just Your Current Situation via Reality-Based Information...
by The Old Hippie Because You Keep “Allowing,” And Nothing else.

Read   -  Rove Was On Paid Trip To Resort When He Defied Subpoena
      Sneeringly thumbing his nose at the Congressional Subpoena, (Us,)
      he took a jet to Yalta, the historic Black Sea resort in Ukraine.

  -  “Maliki Endorses Obama's Iraq Timeline”
      ...in huge blow for McCain and Bush, and a stunning breakthrough for Obama
      With the 16-month timeline for withdrawing combat troops from Iraq, but note
      The New York Times did not report the Maliki statement in its July 19 edition.

And You Thought It Couldn’t Happen In Your Lifetime - Right?

“North Pole Will Be Ice Free for First Time This Summer”

“We’re actually projecting this year that the North Pole may be free of ice for the first time [in history],” David Barber, of the University of Manitoba, told National Geographic News aboard the C.C.G.S. Amundsen, a Canadian research icebreaker.


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A“Below The Fold” bonus - Just 3 Videos to Help You Understand Your Reality...

[Naomi Kline on Fox (!) doing her usual great job of informing.]



[U.S. banks are failing?!?  But didn't Bush tell us that the economy is fine?]
[Didn't the GOP just recently say “Stop whining, and suck it up.”  (They did.)]



[Excellent and informative video from SendRoveToJail.com]



Read the Rest of this Posting    →  Below The Fold  ←                  (Permanent Link Here)

Friday, July 18, 2008

Our Oceans of “Life”...

- Over 150 Dead Zones, and a Plastic Dump Twice the size of Texas -

We are allowing our oceans to be killed - Made Lifeless - For no perceivable reason than the profits to the very-very-few, and for no other proven factor.  As hard as it is to conceive of the allowing of such a crime, it is our collective reality today - Right now - And you are allowing it to continue - Why?!?  Fear?  Apathy?  Ignorance?  Or stupidity?

by The Old Hippie Because I Simply Don’t Comprehend the continued allowing.

Hacker
{-The Way Many Picture Me-}
 

Not only is that plastic “garbage island” in the Pacific twice the size of the state of Texas, in places it is up to 350 feet deep.  Just plastic.  Outside of the very tiny amount that has been burned, all of the plastic ever created... Still exist.  And you are allowing it to continue to increase, even helping to make it worse... for yourself, and us all.

Just how revolting does it have to get, before the citizens of my nation revolt against these criminals?  I am 61 in August, I have a feeling I'll go to my grave still wondering when...

Note: There’s more than one garbage vortex island.


[ Following links are a good start in “knowing.” ]

Plastic Ocean --- The Great Pacific Garbage Patch --- Ocean Dead Zones


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A “Below The Fold” bonus - A related “The Plastic Vortex” video. [4:16]
[ Note: Related story doesn't appear until 1:10 into the video.  Excellent image of vortexes. ]




Read the Rest of this Posting    →  Below The Fold  ←                  (Permanent Link Here)

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Your Reality. . .

Some Have The Ability To See Your Reality - Here Are But A Few...
by The Old Hippie Because the Environment of Our Environment is an Imperative.

  -  “U.S. Corn Production Feeds Expanding Gulf Dead Zone”
      The research team predicts that the dead zone - a stretch of water 
      without enough oxygen to support marine life - could cover some
      8,800 square miles this summer, (approx. the size of New Jersey)

  -  “Dilip Hiro: The Energy Reality We Face”
      When will it end?  “Not soon.”

  -  “Bush Sees Crises as Chance to Exploit Us More...”
      An hour with Naomi Klein @ Democracy Now!
 Your Right

“As long as the greatest crime of the 21st century remains unprosecuted,
we all have a duty to keep the truth alive.”


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A“Below The Fold” bonus Video from Al Gore...

Former Vice President Al Gore delivered a major speech Thursday [7/17/08] on US energy policy in which he challenged all Americans to confront the crisis head on and wean itself off fossil fuels in the next 10 years.  Enjoy - [9:46]




Read the Rest of this Posting    →  Below The Fold  ←                  (Permanent Link Here)

No Stopping... No Punishment...

If You Don't Get “Still Allowed To (Sneeringly) Evade Punishment.”
by MSNBC, via Crooks and Liars


[ A Windows Media video, right-click for Zoom, etc. controls.  Original Here. ]

















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The following is a “Below The Fold” Bonus Related Article... [ The FULL Original linked here. ]

“In a series of gripping articles, Jane Mayer has chronicled the Bush Administration’s grim and furtive dealings with torture and has exposed both the individuals within the administration who “made it happen” (a group that starts with Vice President Cheney and his chief of staff, David Addington), the team of psychologists who put together the palette of techniques, and the Fox television program “24,” which was developed to help sell it to the American public.  In a new book, The Dark Side, Mayer puts together the major conclusions from her articles and fills in a number of important gaps. Most significantly, we learn the details on the torture techniques and the drama behind the fierce and lingering struggle within the administration over torture, and we learn that many within the administration recognized the potential criminal accountability they faced over these torture tactics and moved frantically to protect themselves from possible future prosecution.  I put six questions to Jane Mayer on the subject of her book, The Dark Side.”



Read the Rest of this Posting    →  Below The Fold  ←                  (Permanent Link Here)

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Think...

Tuesday’s ‘Things To Think Through’ Time.
by The Old Hippie Because One Should Often Turn Off The Buzz, And Just Think.


“All Successful Political Conspiracies are Eventually Called The Government of. . .

And, (the ’bad’ ones’ like this current administration, now rated by its own citizens as the worst in its 232 year history,) after their ‘victory’ then refer to most whom oppose, or those presenting evidence exposing them... (wait for it...) as conspiracy nuts, and/or un-patriotic and anti-American.

The first such successful conspiracy for our nation was the Founding Fathers’ take-over of the colonies from the British, creating the United States of America through violent revolution.

The second such successful conspiracy for our nation was/is the current destruction of the Constitution and Bill of Rights by the corporatists through successful cronyism, lies, sycophancy, collaboration, and a hostile take-over of all of this nation’s regulatory agencies, the re-writing of the regulations to protect themselves from the people, and a successful corporate take-over of almost all of the media of this nation to purposefully control info-flow to the masses, (us.)

The success of this is obvious in the non-actions of the now congressional-controlling ‘opposing’ party in power.  Now Think - Why would they not ‘oppose,’ even after the people gave them a mandate to ‘oppose’ in the mid-term election of 2006??? - Think.  Seriously, think. . .

All the lies that have been exposed, and proven beyond anyone’s doubt.  All of the exposed, and again proven beyond anyone’s doubt, theft and transfer of almost the entirety of this nation’s wealth through the blatant (again proven beyond any reasonable doubt,) use of no-bid contracts, etc... into the hands of their-very-very-few, and the transfer of the power that this wealth controls into their-very-very-few hands.  Yet... the opposing party does nothing real to stop them, much less ‘opposing’ them as “our” elected representatives, much less the punishment of their exposed and proven war-crimes-profiteering, such as torture, lying about the purpose for attacking Iraq with aggressive pre-emptive invasion, purposeful distortion, and politicization, of all science that in any way interfered with the flow of their very-very-fews’ profits, the illegal firing of Attorney Generals that didn't tow-the-line of lies and crimes, the illegal firings, and criminal maligning of any and all who dared to speak out from the ‘inside,’ etc... (did I mention the “Free-Speech Zones?”)

Why is the “allowing” of the crimes “allowed” to continue to this day, with no actual opposition, with no actual stopping, with no punishment by the ‘opposing’ party, and by you?

“*- Think -*” before you answer.

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Here is a bonus “Below The Fold” link for you to think about today,
(which Michael Moore titled on his front-page as “The Land of Make Believe.”)

Bonus Article’s Original Link Here.


Read the Rest of this Posting    →  Below The Fold  ←                  (Permanent Link Here)

Monday, July 14, 2008

Again, Enjoy. . .

Just Watch It And Realize You Are Still Allowing It To Go On.
Just a Clip From “Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers” by Robert Greenwald - Enjoy...




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The following is a “Below The Fold” Bonus video...
A video presentation of Sara Thomsen’s beautiful, sad and haunting, yet inspiring song. A song she created as a question... before Bush was “selected” after the 2000 national election.

Is It For Freedom?...





Read the Rest of this Posting    →  Below The Fold  ←                  (Permanent Link Here)

Friday, July 11, 2008

Quote of the Week. . .

Found At The Crisis Papers Web Site.
by Abe Lincoln via The Crisis Papers (7/8/08 thru 7/14/08)


“I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country.  As a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.”

Abraham Lincoln
Letter to Col. William F. Elkins


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A “Below The Fold” bonus link - To The Crisis Paper’s...
“Keepers” for your Audio and Video Libraries multimedia section.

And another “Below The Fold” bonus link - Just click on the image -

Tales of the Freewayblogger link


Read the Rest of this Posting    →  Below The Fold  ←                  (Permanent Link Here)

Your Reality. . .

Some Have The Ability To See Your Reality - Here Are But A Few...
by The Old Hippie Because the Environment of Our Environment is an Imperative.

  -  “Goodbye From the World's Biggest Polluter.”
      Said by our president at the end of at the G8.
      (Followed by an immature jockish punch into the air, and sneer.)     
      As those present looked on in shock.

  -  You Can Help Those That Are Doing Something, Now...
      “Student Environmental Action Coalition”

  -  “Wilkins Ice Shelf Hanging by its Last Thread”
      Puzzling to scientists because it has occurred in the winter.
 Your Right

“As long as the greatest crime of the 21st century remains unprosecuted,
we all have a duty to keep the truth alive.”


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A“Below The Fold” bonus Video from Al Franken...
- Concerning K-Street’s and our congress’s revolving door, “No Wonder” ...

- Enjoy the video - If you live in Minnesota, please - Help him win - (0:33)



And for those still with me, here’s another lesson on the bending your mind for profit...




Read the Rest of this Posting    →  Below The Fold  ←                  (Permanent Link Here)

Thursday, July 10, 2008

It Is The Worst. . .

This Congress and This Administration are Both Now Rated. . .
(wait for it...) The Worst Ever Recorded in Our Nation’s History.

by Rasmussen Reports, July 8, 2008


Read it - Then ask yourself - Why has this nation’s citizens (you) allowed this to happen?  Also ask yourself - Why hasn’t this nation’s citizens (you) hit the streets in anger and revolt?  Is it because of fear, apathy, ignorance, stupidity?  My personal feeling is that it is a combination of all four, plus probably others I haven’t thought of.

I was an optimist when it came to my nation for most of my soon to be 61 years.  But now...  Watching my nation descend into totalitarian fears, and the allowing of a wanton, and purposeful, destruction of our cherished Constitution and Bill of Rights, for the profits of wealth and power, to only the-very-few over these past seven plus years has forcefully driven my optimism away.

How can any rational person not become cynical in the face of an allowed enhanced Fascist take-over of our government, by a very small number of sociopathic corporatists, whom have been proven to be blatant-sneering liars?  Not only “allowed,” but even encouraged, as this week’s congressional voting proves, by the so-called opposing party, that actually has control of both the House and Senate, (see video Below The Fold.)

Seriously - *What the fuck* does it take to make my fellow citizens pissed off enough to actually do something about the purposeful destruction of their way of life, and their environment?  Seriously...  What?


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Sorry, I know I’m yelling at the choir - Just had to get it off my chest -
It has gotten so bad as to be frustratingly incomprehensible to me.

Here is a bonus “Below The Fold” video to emphasize my point  - - -  Enjoy.



Also - Just In - Another proof of their sneering disregard of us.  Link Here.


Read the Rest of this Posting    →  Below The Fold  ←                  (Permanent Link Here)

Not So “Ancient Articles” -

Articles From The Recent Past, That Resonate Still...
by Mostly Our Allies and Indy Media, Since “Our” Corporatist-MSM did “IMMMorL” them.

[ “IMMMorL” = Ignored, Marginalized, Misrepresented, Manipulated, and/or out right Lied. ]
     Patriot 

I present the following Not So “Ancient Articles,” not only in case you missed them, but because their content is as important today, in some cases more so, now that the proof-of-their-truths has been proven/exposed by various reliable sources since they were published.

Also, (because the accuracy of the originals has been verified,) so that you may do your own comparison and research of how “our” corporatist controlled MSM “IMMMorL” concerning the exposures.

These Not So “Ancient Articles”:  In no particular order, as all are of equal importance.

Article Link  -  Article Link  -  Article Link  -  Article Link

Article Link  -  Article Link  -  Article Link  -  Article Link

Article Link  -  Article Link  -  Article Link  -  Article Link


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Two “Below The Fold” Bonus Ancient Articles links...

(1) Last year's censored “Board to Death” article.  From the research team at
Project Censored ← at Sonoma State University.


Bonus Ancient Article Link


AND  -

(2) Part II of the “George Bush Meets The Environment”
(Part I is the last “Article Link” in the links listing above the fold.)


Bonus Ancient Article Link


Both of which are well worth one’s time - Enjoy.


Read the Rest of this Posting    →  Below The Fold  ←                  (Permanent Link Here)

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

You Keep Allowing!

Jesus Fucking Christ - What will It Take To Make You Revolt?!?
by Glenn Greenwald at Salon.com via CommonDreams.org


Congress Votes to Immunize Lawbreaking Telecoms,
Legalize Warrantless Eavesdropping


The Democratic-led Congress this afternoon voted to put an end to the NSA spying scandal by approving a bill to immunize lawbreaking telecoms, terminate all pending lawsuits against them, and vest whole new warrantless eavesdropping powers in the President.  The vote in favor of the new FISA bill was 69-28.  Barack Obama joined every Senate Republican (and every House Republican other than one) by voting in favor of it, while his now-vanquished primary rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, voted against it.  The bill will now be sent to an extremely happy George Bush, who already announced that he enthusiastically supports it, and he will sign it into law very shortly.


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And people wonder why I’ve become so cynical.


Read the Rest of this Posting    →  Below The Fold  ←                  (Permanent Link Here)

Kind of “Says It All”. . .

Yep - This Really “Says It All” About Pax Americana.
found at the ever-informative Crooks and Liars website.


http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/07/08/just-how-ignorant-are-american-voters/
Just follow the link...  and do try not to insanely laugh and/or cry.


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Scary shit, right?


Read the Rest of this Posting    →  Below The Fold  ←                  (Permanent Link Here)

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Reality Check. . .

The Best Reality-Based Rant I’ve Seen To Date - Enjoy...
by David Michael Green, via AlterNet, July 7, 2008

Read The Superstitious Right Fights Good Science on Global Warming
In a society devoted like no other to the politics of fear, we have somehow managed to forget the one thing we should probably fear most.

We live in the most astonishing of times, politically speaking.

And I don't mean that as a compliment.

There is so much I would hate to try to explain to an alien about our politics.  Same with a human five centuries from now -- it's just that I’m not so sure there’ll be any.

One president has oral sex in a private consensual relationship and lies about it, so right-wing freaks spend $40 million to investigate this most heinous of crimes and bring impeachment charges against a president for only the second time in American history.  Meanwhile, one of their own trashes the Constitution at every turn and isn’t even investigated, let alone impeached, let alone removed from office.

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This same president plunged the world into war on the basis of non-existent weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, but couldn’t be less concerned when North Korea actually goes nuclear on his watch.  This president went to war to bring democracy to the Arab world, but can’t even be bothered to pressure Egypt or Saudi Arabia to move a tad in that direction.  This president uses an attack on the US to justify international belligerence and mass human rights violations, but doesn’t seem very interested in even attacking, let alone vanquishing, the supposed perpetrator.

We could go on and on detailing the ludicrous inanities of American politics in the age of Bush (himself Exhibit A), but really my favorite has to be the case of global warming.  In a society devoted like no other to the politics of fear, we have somehow managed to forget the one thing we should probably fear most.

Imagine if there was a meteor headed toward our one and only planet, with the potential to do devastating and possibly lethal damage to the planet.  Imagine that we had the technological capability to divert the course of this weapon of the massiest mass destruction, and all we needed was the will to do so.  And imagine that we chose to focus our society’s energies instead on ... gay marriage. Or illegal immigration.  Or premarital sex.

Not only would we screw up all of those policy areas, but we be toast anyhow, along with all our unmarried gays, undocumented workers and ‘virgin’ teenagers (who have anyhow become experts at anal and oral sex in order to avoid the forbidden kind).  So, what fool handed us the keys to this planetary oil tanker?  Shouldn’t, like, um, the Swedes or the Norwegians be the world’s Only Superpower?  They seem harmless enough.

Remember Dick Cheney’s ‘one percent doctrine’?  He argued that if there’s even a one percent chance of a terrorist attack, you have to go on the offensive.  There’s this little thing called cost-benefit analysis that seems to have gone sorely missing over the last, er, eight years or so.  It was last seen flowing down the sewers of Baghdad.  It would lead to a conclusion that yes, you should take threats seriously, but that if the solution to a one percent probability of danger that could threaten the lives of a thousand people is to adopt a policy which definitely kills 100 million of your own citizens, that’s probably a bad plan.  Costs and benefits, you see.  I mean, people can differ on this, of course, but I’d vote to take the one percent risk in such a case.  Admittedly, though, that’s not so helpful when you're in the middle of trying to scare the hell out of people so they'll vote for you, or acquiesce to your destructive policies.

But I digress.  There is a monstrous catastrophe not only headed our way, but actually already here.  I’m not a climatologist, but my sense from paying attention to media reporting on this issue over the last two decades is that there is not only a one percent chance that global warming is both real and anthropogenic, but rather a ninety-five percent chance.  Perhaps ninety-nine.  Yep, sure, there are a few scientists out there still making the opposite argument.  Probably some of them aren’t even on oil company payrolls!  But the vast majority of reputable climate scientists now agree that this is happening, that we are making it happen, and that the results will be catastrophic.  This, after ten and twenty years of a (somewhat) healthy scientific skepticism about those claims, which only further underscores the validity of the findings.

Last week we had James Hansen reminding Congress, twenty years after originally doing so, of the gravity of this situation.  One of the top scientists from one of America’s premier science agencies -- who was told, by the way, to shut the hell up by the Bush administration -- was reminding us yet again that we are facing mass species extinctions and ecosystem collapse among the lovely perils awaiting us if we continue in the current direction.  Assuming, that is, that it isn’t already far too late to turn it around now.

Think about that for a second: Mass extinction.  Ecosystem collapse.  Meteor.  Ninety-five or better percent chance.

Gay marriage.

So what will they say about us five centuries from now -- those very few, very toasty, remaining humans, living on mountain tops, the only dry land to be found?  What they’ll say is probably unprintable in any family newspaper, that’s for sure.  But in-between the expletives I think you’d be likely to find words like ... “unconscionable” ... “breathtakingly stupid” ... “astonishingly selfish” ... and, “If you weren’t already dead I’d kill you!”

Indeed, we -- or at least some of us -- half-deserve this fate for choosing the likes of Nixon, Reagan, Bush, DeLay, Scalia and the rest these last decades.  It’s the rest of the world I feel especially sorry for.

And what’s especially killer about this particular issue is the degree to which the multiple maladies and solutions all line up so neatly.  Sometimes the cosmos sends you a message in very subtle ways.  Other times it beats you over the head with a two-by-four.  Occasionally, it detonates a small nuclear device in your backyard swimming pool to get your attention.

We’re very much in the latter category right now.  You don’t exactly have to do a full and complete inventory to figure this one out.  Here, just take this pop quiz.  Quick, now: What factor do all of the following items have in common: massive environmental devastation, skyrocketing transportation and food prices, a declining middle-class with disappearing jobs, and a war-prone and constant calamity-threatening Middle East continually sucking in American military involvement and nightmarishly distorting our foreign policy?  (If you’re somehow still struggling with this, you may want to consider spending a little more time catching up with current events.  Meanwhile, though, here’s a bonus hint for you: Alan Greenspan described this as the real reason America went to war in Iraq.)

Now flip it on its head.  What would be a way in which our society could address the massive threats of global warming, a sinking middle class with lousy jobs, poverty-inducing energy costs and military nightmares in the Middle East, all at once?  How about if we made it a giant national priority to wean ourselves off carbon-based energy sources through a variety of policies mixing incentives and regulations, and a huge national effort to develop alternative fuel sources, with all the industrial development and good-paying jobs associated with launching such industries?  What did Jimmy Carter call it, thirty freakin’ years ago?  “The moral equivalent of war”, wasn’t it?  Too bad he was a failed president, though.  Hardly invaded any other countries.  What could he possibly have known?

So, last week James Hansen reminded us that we are headed for such joyous ‘lifestyle changes’ as mass extinction and ecosystem collapse.  Of course, most regressives continued to pooh-pooh such warnings as some sort of liberal conspiracy to undermine capitalism.  Do climatologists seriously strike anybody as crypto-anarchists masquerading as scientists in order to destroy capitalism?  And, if that was really their goal, wouldn’t there be a lot easier ways to crash the system than to go spend years getting a PhD, do a bunch of boring research for low pay, and grade a million mind-numbing term papers written by a million grammatically-challenged college sophomores?

Then there’s that pesky little problem of evidence.  Every week there’s more, though hardly any quite as egregious as what you could have seen on CNN.com just a few days ago: "North Pole Could Be Ice-Free This Summer, Scientists Say".

What will they say -- assuming there are any “they” left to be saying things -- in five centuries about us nice folks who managed to bequeath the solar system a second Mercury where a green and fertile planet once stood, just so we could party a little longer?  I’m not sure, but I don't think it will be pretty.

These regressive fools and their pre-/anti-scientific religious superstitions just kill me.

And that’s just the problem.  They’re killing all of us.

David Michael Green is a professor of political science at Hofstra University.  He is delighted to receive readers’ reactions to his articles (dmg@regressiveantidote.net), but regrets that time constraints do not always allow him to respond.  More of his work can be found at www.regressiveantidote.net.



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Sunday, July 06, 2008

Okay. . .

So Now Even Most of the Die-Hard Denialists Realize They Were Lied to

by their “trusted” leaders within this criminal administration about the very real, and now smacking-them-in-the-face, dangers of global warming - Now my only question is - Will they accept that their “trusted” leaders have lied about pretty much everything else of any reality-based importance within their lives?
by The Old Hippie Because I Simply Don’t Comprehend the Lack of Revolt.

The southwest of this nation is returning to its more normal dry state, but within the terms of a human induced, and increasing, global warming, resulting in simply not enough water for everyone that lives within that part of the country now, and it is quickly going to get far worse.

Hacker
{-The Way Many Picture Me-}
 

By “quickly” I don't mean decades, I mean within this coming decade.  And the main reason we are all in this mess is because of the purposeful lies of the corporatists liars, (and their criminal politicization of any environmental science that interfered with their flow of profits to their-very-few,) and the allowing and/or denial and/or sycophancy and/or collaboration of those lies-for-profits by mainly the ignorance and/or apathy and/or denial and/or out-right stupidity and/or collaboration/sycophancy of, and by, the citizens of this nation, et al.  We are already within wars for oil, the other resource wars, water and food, are soon to be realized.  Some of which have already begun within parts of our nation, (our southwest,) and other nations, (China, and several nations that rely on the fast disappearing glaciers for water.)

Just how revolting does it have to get, before the citizens of my nation revolt against these criminals?  I am 61 in August, I have a feeling I'll go to my grave still wondering when...
[ Enjoy the following two videos. ]



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A “Below The Fold” bonus - A related “What Will You Do?” video. -




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Friday, July 04, 2008

Seeing The Reality. . .

Some Have The Ability To See The Actual Reality - Here Are But A Few...
by The Old Hippie Because the Environment of Our Environment is a Must Know.

  -  Stories of Environmental Justice at Grist
      Definitely one of the better environmental mags out there.

  -  NRDC’s Newsletter
      “The Earth’s Best Defense” - Spend some quality time there.         
      I spend a good deal of my environmental research time with them.

  -  You Can Help While Online...
      “Because the earth needs a good lawyer.”
 Your Right

“As long as the greatest crime of the 21st century remains unprosecuted,
we all have a duty to keep the truth alive.”


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A“Below The Fold” bonus Video from “In Living Color” with Jim Carrey
- Concerning “Environmental Guy” ...

- Enjoy the video - I know, it’s a television show, but this clip, is humorous - (3:57) -




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Thursday, July 03, 2008

Every Little Win Counts...

A Small Win, But Even The Small Ones Are Very Important Now.
by Amy Weiss via BuzzFlash.com


A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT - by Amy Weiss on Wed, 07/02/2008

At a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing Wednesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) encouraged the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to reverse a moratorium on solar energy projects issued last month.  The same day, the BLM did exactly that, citing “public interest.”

The moratorium halted the acceptance of application for solar projects on public land, pending an investigation on the effects of solar energy, expected to take about two years.  Critics of the moratorium believe an investigation is important, but progress does not have to be stalled to complete it.

Sen. Sanders criticized the moratorium at the beginning of the hearing, then received word of the change in BLM policy halfway through.  In a statement Sen. Sanders said, “I congratulate the bureau for making the change and for understanding the enormous potential of solar energy,” and encouraged them to allocate more resources to efficiently process applications.

Sen. Sanders has been touring solar power plants in Nevada and announced Tuesday he would be sponsoring a bill to give private home and business owners financial incentives to install solar rooftop panel units, setting a goal of 10 million in ten years.


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A “Below The Fold” Bonus Video - “The Wall-E Theory” - Enjoy




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Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Just Do It... (Reprised)

Compare The Following With The Theocratic Corporatist Party Line. . .
by The Old Hippie Because You Need To When You're Being Lied To


Global Warming "Is A Theory"


Here's Mount Kilimanjaro before global warming, with it's 11,000 year old snowcap.

(oops - 11,000 years is longer than the Earth has existed, according to creationist Evangelicals.)

Mount Kilimanjaro with 11,000 year old snowcap

Here's Mount Kilimanjaro now, after global warming, as it hasn't been seen in 11,000 years.

(oops - Did I mention, President Bush is one of the creationist Evangelicals?  You did know that - Right?)

Mount Kilimanjaro as it hasn't been seen in 11,000 years


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Published on Monday, March 14, 2005 by Jeremy Lovell, Reuters
Mount Kilimanjaro Photo Wake-Up Call for Action Against Global Warming


"LONDON -- A photo of Mount Kilimanjaro stripped of its snowcap for the first time in 11,000 years will be used as dramatic testimony for action against global warming as ministers from the world's biggest polluters meet on Tuesday."

Full Article Link Here

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Evolution "Is A Theory"

[ The following is from:  http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/L-evolutiontheory.htm ]

Myth: Evolution is only a theory.

Fact: The occurrence of evolution is a fact; how it occurred is a theory.



Summary


Evolution is a fact in that scientists know beyond reasonable doubt that it happened.  The exact mechanism of evolution -- that is, exactly how it happened -- is still a theory.



Argument

Evolution is both a fact and a theory.  Mainstream scientists consider it a fact that evolution occurred; how it occurred is still considered a theory.  Stephen J. Gould describes this difference best:

"In the American vernacular, 'theory' often means 'imperfect fact' -- part of a hierarchy of confidence running downhill from fact to theory to hypothesis to guess.  Thus the power of the creationist argument: evolution is 'only' a theory and intense debate now rages about many aspects of the theory.  If evolution is worse than a fact, and scientists can't even make up their minds about the theory, then what confidence can we have in it?  Indeed, President Reagan echoed this argument before an evangelical group in Dallas when he said (in what I devoutly hope was campaign rhetoric):  'Well, it is a theory.  It is a scientific theory only, and it has in recent years been challenged in the world of science -- that is, not believed in the scientific community to be as infallible as it once was.'

"Well evolution is a theory.  It is also a fact.  And facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty.  Facts are the world's data.  Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts.  Facts don't go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them.  Einstein's theory of gravitation replaced Newton's in this century, but apples didn't suspend themselves in midair, pending the outcome.  And humans evolved from ape-like ancestors whether they did so by Darwin's proposed mechanism or by some other yet to be discovered.

"Moreover, 'fact' doesn't mean 'absolute certainty'; there ain't no such animal in an exciting and complex world.  The final proofs of logic and mathematics flow deductively from stated premises and achieve certainty only because they are NOT about the empirical world.  Evolutionists make no claim for perpetual truth, though creationists often do (and then attack us falsely for a style of argument that they themselves favor).  In science 'fact' can only mean 'confirmed to such a degree that it would be perverse to withhold provisional consent'.  I suppose that apples might start to rise tomorrow, but the possibility does not merit equal time in physics classrooms.

"Evolutionists have been very clear about this distinction of fact and theory from the very beginning, if only because we have always acknowledged how far we are from completely understanding the mechanisms (theory) by which evolution (fact) occurred.  Darwin continually emphasized the difference between his two great and separate accomplishments: establishing the fact of evolution, and proposing a theory - natural selection -- to explain the mechanism of evolution." (1)


Some nit-pickers might try to argue that nothing can ever be proven 100 percent in science, therefore there is no such thing as a fact, let alone evolution standing as a fact.  H.J. Muller tackles this argument:

"The honest scientist, like the philosopher, will tell you that nothing whatever can be or has been proved with fully 100% certainty, not even that you or I exist, nor anyone except himself, since he might be dreaming the whole thing.  Thus there is no sharp line between speculation, hypothesis, theory, principle, and fact, but only a difference along a sliding scale, in the degree of probability of the idea.  When we say a thing is a fact, then, we only mean that its probability is an extremely high one: so high that we are not bothered by doubt about it and are ready to act accordingly.  Now in this use of the term fact, the only proper one, evolution is a fact.  For the evidence in favor of it is as voluminous, diverse, and convincing as in the case of any other well established fact of science concerning the existence of things that cannot be directly seen, such as atoms, neutrons, or solar gravitation...

"So enormous, ramifying, and consistent has the evidence for evolution become that if anyone could now disprove it, I should have my conception of the orderliness of the universe so shaken as to lead me to doubt even my own existence.  If you like, then, I will grant you that in an absolute sense evolution is not a fact, or rather, that it is no more a fact than that you are hearing or reading these words." (2)


Endnotes:

1. Stephen J. Gould, "Evolution as Fact and Theory," Discover, May 1981. Both quotations have been taken from Larry Moran's FAQ, "Evolution is a Fact and a Theory," which addresses this issue in much greater detail.

2. H. J. Muller, "One Hundred Years Without Darwin Are Enough" School Science and Mathematics 59, (1959) pp. 304-305.  Reprinted in Evolution versus Creationism, J. Peter Zetterberg, ed., (ORYX Press, Phoenix AZ 1983).



[ On this subject, from the Progress Report and Washinton Post (front page), Mar.14, 2005. ]

EDUCATION – WHEN RELIGION MEETS SCIENCE:  It seems scientific reasoning is not what it used to be.  After years of crafty strategizing orchestrated by conservatives, policymakers in nearly twenty states are now considering measures "that question the science of evolution."  Though most do not seek to completely disavow the teaching of evolution, an overwhelming number of the proposals attempt to address the "gaps" in Darwinian theory by means of the intelligent design theory, which claims that the vast complexity of nature is evidence of the existence of a great cosmic "designer."  Though many scientists are aghast at what is being called neocreationism, religious activists and anti-evolutionary scientists have long felt "persecuted" by the teaching of evolution and are now simply taking advantage of the opportunity provided by the Bush presidency, as President Bush himself believes the "jury is still out on evolution."



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Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Reality Check. . .

Just So You Can Keep “Things” In A Reality-Based Perspective...
by The Old Hippie Because You Keep “Allowing” Your Environment’s Destruction.

Read   -  Global Warming's Twin Evil: Wildfires and Drought
      “The 850 fires burning in California alone should be a wake up call that
      we're unprepared for rapid climate change.”

  -  “After Bush, Restoring Science to Environmental Policy”
      “The Bush administration has been widely criticized for placing politics over
      science when it comes to environmental policy-making.  The next president
      must act to reverse that trend.”

And You Thought It Couldn’t Happen In Your Lifetime - Right?

“North Pole May Be Ice Free for First Time This Summer”

"We're actually projecting this year that the North Pole may be free of ice for the first time [in history]," David Barber, of the University of Manitoba, told National Geographic News aboard the C.C.G.S. Amundsen, a Canadian research icebreaker.


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A“Below The Fold” bonus - Just 2 Video Reminders of Your Constructed Reality...
[- Both videos from  →Freepress.net ←  Well worth your time to visit -]






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