According to a Jan 2009 article in Eos, a publication of the American Geophysical Union (called 'Examining the Scientific consensus on Climate Change'), researchers found that 58% of the general public in the US thinks that human activity is a significant contributing factor in global warming, as opposed to 97% of climate and atmospheric specialists surveyed.
97%!? Does that sound like a "debate" to you? The scientific consensus on human caused global warming is overwhelming. Any amount of obscurantism (lies and distortions) on the part of global warming Denialists is not only intellectually dishonest, but strait up pathological.
People may have their "opinions" on the subject, but when it comes to the climate science well over 90% of ALL experts agree: global warming is real and is driven by human 'engineered' methane and carbon outputs. To wiser minds this is known as FACT.
The disproportion between these numbers is a concern for two reasons: ignorant people get to vote (and rightly so). Thus politicians have to occasionally give into to public demand, even when that demand is uninformed and ill-advised by people who know are in charge of looking into the matter. For better or worse that's democracy.
Also, because of the high numbers of scientifically illiterate citizens, popular culture will remain a contentious domain of "debate" and propaganda about global warming - thereby creating situations where well-intentioned and intelligent people will be led to believe that scientists are still unsure about the issues. This leaves room for half-baked conspiracy theories and ad hoc speculations, which in turn allows people to form misguided and factually inaccuratebeliefs/positions.
Of course, this is nothing new - but considering the stakes of this particular issue, it is absolutely devastating and potentially disastrous.
AIG has been under fire from the Obama and congressional leaders in both parties for doling out $165 million in bonuses to executives after accepting $173 billion in government bailout funds.
But when the White House announced the creation of its new Task Force on Tax Reform, economic adviser Peter Orszag said that one of its members will be Martin Feldstein.
Feldstein is a Harvard economics professor who has been involved with U.S. economic policy for decades. He was a top economics adviser to President Ronald Reagan. But he also sits on the board of directors of AIG and its financial-products division, according to AIG’s Web site and Feldstein’s office.
“I do plan to remain on the AIG board,” Feldstein said in an email. The White House did not respond immediately to calls and emails requesting comment.
AIG’s financial-products unit is at the heart of the controversy over bonuses. The company awarded retention bonuses to top executives last year even though the unit lost $40 billion and nearly sank AIG. When the bonuses became public last week, the White House and Democratic and Republican lawmakers were furious.
Obama criticized the bonuses and lawmakers began moving legislation to block them. After a set of hearing on Capitol Hill last week, more than a dozen AIG employees agreed to return the payments.
The White House Task Force on Tax Reform is charged with developing suggestions for comprehensive overhaul of the tax system. In announcing the board, Orszag told reporters that Obama thinks that the “prospective members of the board would be especially well-suited to carry out the mission” of the group.
Other members include former Clinton administration economics adviser Laura Tyson; Roger Ferguson, the CEO of TIAA-CREF; and former SEC Chairman William Donaldson.
The image above shows Federal Reserve ChairmanBen Bernanke (left) - another Wallstreet slickerster with a PhD and connections to every major global elite - talking to Mr. Martin Feldstein at a posh luncheon hosted by the American Economic Association in Chicago on January 5, 2007. Bernanke is ranked 4th most powerful person in the world in an annual ranking by Newsweek. (photo credit: Brian Kersey)
i have two things to say on the 'tapping' of Feldstein: first, i'm disappointed (and quite surprised) if Obama is ignorant enough to think that this guy would help the Administration figure out what went wrong - perhaps by admitting (or repenting?) his mistakes? He'll recommend what's in his best interest, or he'll apply his demonstrable faulty logic to the task of thinking up possible solutions.
And secondly, Obama seems to be intent on trying to reinvent/bandage the very network of social assemblages and practices currently ruining our species/civilization. Which, of course, is to be expected. Humans and their polities have a history of trying to salvage a bad situation before taking the harder steps towards a more healthy, adaptive transformation.
Obviously Obama is not interested is making substantial changes to the pathological financial systems - systems currently propping up deconstructing markets and cultures of misguided 'resource' use.
it makes me wonder if he's too fearful of the elite power brokers to do what he knows is right, or if he's just using the only tools at his disposal within the current U.S political 'climate' to make his 'strategic' decisions?
STEPHANIE:Hey there. I’m a pretty typical Western Buddhist and practicing Jungian analyst researching the idea of a collective consciousness as it related to reincarnation. I was wondering what your thoughts are on reincarnation in general, is it possible?
ME: Hey Stephanie. First, thanks for your question.
My first reaction to the idea of reincarnation is generally strong skepticism. i'm also skeptical about Jung's ‘Collective Unconscious’; at least in its more ephemeral interpretations. But i would be open to the possibility if some evidence was provided.
My problem, if it is that, is that i'm an empiricist and integral pragmatist (but not a positivist) – so i refuse to extend my beliefs past what is directly known about the world. Speculation can be fun, sometimes fruitful, and good for thought experiments, but unless i can get strong evidence - checked by appropriate validity claims - i just won't incorporate many such ideas into my belief structures. Thus, because I have no evidence of reincarnation, personally or otherwise, I simply let these notions float on the periphery of my awareness.
The 'peace' of sentience this brings me is afforded by a post-formal perpsective and 'letting go' of concepts (intellectual reifications) which fail to provide tangible (existential or biophysical) benefits along my path, in my work or in relation to others.
In summation, then: I don't know about reincarnation, or the possibility of souls, or life after death - but I have strong doubts. You might say I'm metaphysically agnostic towards that stuff.
I try to live, love and contribute in the best ways and as much as I can during the time I have. The Kosmos will take care of the rest...
Below is Giorgio Agamben - in a free public open philosophy and politics lecture for the students of the European Graduate School EGS, in Saas-Fee, Switzerland, Europe, 2002 - asking ‘what is a paradigm?’:
Giorgio Agamben(1942) is an Italian philosopher who teaches mostly in Paris, France. He has held visiting appointments at several American universities and the European Graduate School. Agamben is best known for his work on the notion of ‘state of exception’ and ‘homo sacer’. In the 1960s Agamben participated in seminars with Martin Heidegger, and has worked on issues in linguistics, philology, poetics, and medievalist topics.
Agamben's political thought draws on Michel Foucault and on Italian neo-Marxist thought. In his published writings and interviews he represents himself as a public thinker interested in language and social conflicts on a global scale.
With so much to be serious about these days, no other issue seems to me to be more immediate and in need of engagement than the coming global water shortage.
In fact, the global water crisis is one of the largest public health issues of our time. Nearly 1.1 billion people (roughly 20% of the world’s population) lack access to safe drinking water. The lack of clean, safe drinking water is estimated to kill almost 4,500 children per day. In fact, out of the 2.2 million unsafe drinking water deaths in 2004, 90% were children under the age of five. (source)
And in 1999 over 200 scientists in 50 countries identified 'water shortage' as one of the two most dangerous problems for the new millennium (the other being global warming).
So today marks the 16th annual World Water Day. The UN began this initiative in 1993 as a means of celebrating freshwater resources around the world, and of raising awareness about the need to keep these resources clean and available to people everywhere who need them. This year's activities are focused on 'transboundary waters'.
Although predictions about the growing danger of water-related conflict are a heightening concern in the face of global population growth, unsustainable development, rampant pollution and climate change, the UN website offers hope:
The total number of water-related interactions between nations are weighted towards cooperation. There have been 507 conflict-related events as opposed to 1,228 cooperative ones. This implies that violence over water is not a strategically rational, effective or economically viable option for countries. In the 20th century, only seven minor skirmishes took place between nations over shared water resources, while over 300 treaties were signed during the same period of time.
Yet, humans have available less than 0.08% of all the Earth's water - as most of it is unusable due to high concentrations of salt. Researchers suggest our use is estimated to increase by about 40% in the next two decades. i'm no mathematician, but i know that more demand with less supply tends to breed conflict.
So is there likely to be violent conflict over water in the future? With growing demand, corporate manipulations, the decline in freshwater availability (through privatization, groundwater mining and pollution), and the adverse health effects from poor water quality, scarcity may result in massive violence and full scale water wars. Hopefully humans will be able to work together to ensure this does not happen.
Below is the trailer to Irena Salina's award-winning documentary film FLOW. Salina builds a case against the growing privatization of the world's dwindling fresh water supply with an unflinching focus on politics, pollution, human rights, and the emergence of a domineering world water cartel.
Interviews with scientists and activists intelligently reveal the rapidly building crisis, at both the global and human scale, and the film introduces many of the governmental and corporate culprits behind the water grab, while begging the question "CAN ANYONE REALLY OWN WATER?"
Beyond identifying the problem, FLOW also gives viewers a look at the people and institutions providing practical solutions to the water crisis and those developing new technologies, which are fast becoming blueprints for a successful global and economic turnaround:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency currently does not regulate 51 known water contaminants. (www.foodandwaterwatch.org)
While the average North American uses 150 gallons of water per day, those in developing countries cannot find five. (www.charitywater.org)
The water and sanitation crisis claims more lives through disease than any war claims through guns. (www.water.org)
According to the National Resources Defense Council, in a scientific study in which more than 1,000 bottles of 103 brands of water were tested, about one-third of the bottles contained synthetic organic chemicals, bacteria, and arsenic. (www.nrdc.org)
Water is a $400 billion dollar global industry; the third largest behind electricity and oil.
A serious bout of the crazies has broken out in Nicaragua. i have heard about the cultural aspects of such phenomena before, but i wonder if this kind of event will remain a local event only, or if this is more symptomatic of our collective psychospiritual condition? Perhaps mental illness - as maladaptation - is more and more becoming the civilized norm?
An outbreak of mass hysteria is reported to have struck three indigenous communities living near the river Coco in northern Nicaragua. A total of 43 people have reportedly fallen ill with what is known locally as grisi siknis ("crazy sickness").
Doctors, anthropologists and sociologists who have studied previous cases of mass hysteria – also known as mass psychogenic illness – have so far failed to come up with any clear explanation for the phenomenon.
Linda Geddes spoke to Elie Karam of St George Hospital University Medical Centre in Beirut, Lebanon, who studied an outbreak of mass hysteria in Lebanon during 2004, to discover what we currently know.
What are the typical symptoms?
The first group can be summarised as anxiety symptoms: tremors, shaking, difficulty breathing and feelings of suffocation. The second type is referred to as a dissociative symptom: the person does not recognise where he or she is, seems to be in a trance, looks as if they are in a daze, etc.
Younger individuals, and females, are more likely to be affected.
How often do outbreaks of mass hysteria occur, and are they becoming more common?
There is no real way of saying how common they are. The phenomenon seems to have been going on for centuries. It is believed that many collective behaviours attributed to witchcraft could be due to mass hysteria.
Dissociative symptoms seem to be more common in less industrialised societies, whereas the pure anxiety symptoms are more common in industrialised ones. The crucial point is that symptoms appear to be contagious. Usually, the sufferers have had a high level of communal stress.
Is the Nicaragua outbreak particularly large and unusual, or is it fairly typical?
The outbreak seems to be on the large side, but not huge. We need more data about the way this outbreak spread. Usually the symptoms start with one person; typically they are reported to occur in individuals who are in the line of sight of the "trigger" case. For Nicaragua we don't know yet.
Does anyone understand what causes the phenomenon, and is there any physiological explanation?
In short, no. Explanations of the causes vary with the settings. Demonic interference can be ruled out, but so can more recent purported explanations that point to pollution.
Is there a cure?
Not as such. Symptoms always abate within a few weeks. Reassuring the community to reduce fear is key, as is keeping publicity and media attention to a minimum...
That's Ironic! Because you can Learn More : Here& Here
In a special investigation, the Fifth Estate's Bob McKeown finds that even the most outlandish conspiracies theories about the September 11th attacks and the 'war on terror' may have basis in a legitimate question. In the course of separating fact from fiction, McKeown delves into the labyrinthine and surprising ties between the Bushes and the Bin Ladens:
NO END IN SIGHT (2007) is a chronological look at the fiasco in Iraq. The film focuses on the decisions made in the spring of 2003 - and the backgrounds of those making decisions. The film demonstrates the Bush Administration's failed and misguided handling: no occupation plan, an inadequate team to run the country, and insufficient troops to keep order.
Here is the Film Trailer:
The first film of its kind to chronicle the reasons behind Iraq’s descent into guerilla war, warlord rule, criminality and anarchy, NO END IN SIGHT is a jaw-dropping, insider’s tale of wholesale incompetence, recklessness and venality. Based on over 200 hours of footage, the film provides a candid retelling of the events following the fall of Baghdad in 2003 by high ranking officials such as former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, Ambassador Barbara Bodine (in charge of Baghdad during the Spring of 2003), Lawrence Wilkerson, former Chief of Staff to Colin Powell, and General Jay Garner (in charge of the occupation of Iraq through May 2003) as well as Iraqi civilians, American soldiers, and prominent analysts.
The film examines the manner in which the principal errors of U.S. policy – the use of insufficient troop levels, allowing the looting of Baghdad, the purging of professionals from the Iraqi government, and the disbanding of the Iraqi military – largely created the insurgency and chaos that engulf Iraq today. How did a group of men with little or no military experience, knowledge of the Arab world or personal experience in Iraq come to make such flagrantly debilitating decisions? NO END IN SIGHT dissects the people, issues and facts behind the Bush Administration’s decisions and their consequences on the ground to provide a powerful look into how arrogance and ignorance turned a military victory into a seemingly endless and deepening nightmare of a war.
A favorite hobby horse of Climate Denialists is that there is some kind of invisible, undetectable influence from the sun that is responsible for the unequivocal warming of the last century.
Here Peter Sinclair, long time environmentalist and science educator, puts the flimsy notion that 'solar flares cause global warming' under a microscope to show where the cracks are in that argument:
On to less plausible denials: "I look outside and its cold, therefore Global Warming is bullshit!" Umm.. no. Not only is that horrible logic - its flat out wrong. "weather" is not "climate"! Here's Singer making it very clear:
With economic degeneration in full effect, the vehicle manufacturing icon Hummer is expected to end operations by the end of March - if a buyer for the ill-fated automaker of the gas-guzzling, carbon-spewing behemoths does not emerge. Damn rights!
Hummer has always stood out as the quintessential insanity-driven product crafted up by dominant automaker-oil corp alliances. The ‘death of the Hummer’ would be a great sign that consumers everywhere are starting to clue in: the world is in serious ecological crisis.
Below is the film Antonio Negri: A Revolt That Never Ends. The film is a bio-pic on the life and thought of Antonio Negri, a radical Italian philosopher who advocates open revolt against the oppressive machination of industrial civilization.
The film traces Negri’s beginnings in the radical left-wing movements in Italy during the 60s and 70s, illustrated through incredible archival footage of strikes, factory occupations, terrorist actions, violent street confrontations, and government trials of dissidents. During these tumultuous decades Negri spent ten years in prison and fourteen years in Parisian exile, where he contributed to philosophical debates with authors such as Gilles Deleuze. Footage includes interviews with Negri (conducted following his April 2003 release from confinement), public speaking appearances, plus commentary from a variety of collaborators.
The film explores this visionary theoretician’s lifelong political struggle, and expressed in works of devastating contemporary relevance such as Empireand its sequel, Multitude: War and Democracy in the Age of Empire, a powerful intellectual project in protest of the new global order.
The U.S. Defense Department is getting very nervous about signs that Mexico's two most deadly drug cartels are working on a deal that would create a multi-local insurgency against the Mexican government. Senior U.S officials went on record Monday to say that the situation in Mexico is now at "crisis proportions".
This coordinated insurgency could potentially mobilize more than 100,000 heavily armed “foot soldiers”. Provoked by recent arrests and raids on cartel resources, such an army would rival Mexico's own armed forces and threaten to turn the country into a full fledged narco-state. Mexico's national army comprises no more than 130 000.
U.S officials are openly acknowledging the enormity of the challenge Mexico and the United States face as they struggle to contain a veritable civil war along the U.S.-Mexico border.
In the past year, about 7,000 people have died during the cartel’s posturing against government agencies – mostly in defense of their trade routes into the U.S. More than 1,000 people have been killed in January alone. The death toll exceeds that in the two current U.S led wars: Afghanistan – with 200 fatalities in the first two months of 2009; and 400 fatalities in Iraq during the same period. The violence includes beheading and bodies dissolved in vats of acid.
Some analysts warn that “narco-terrorists” have even infiltrated the Mexican government, to an alarming degree, further complicating efforts to contain and destroy the cartels. And local peoples are increasingly turning to these cartels for economic opportunities - creating new alliances and social relationships with various gangs. Mexican drug gangs are even becoming ‘folk heroes’ to locals, and celebrated in folk ballads called "narcocorridos"
The biggest and most violent combatants are the Sinaloa cartel, known by U.S. and Mexican federal law enforcement officials as the "Federation" or "Golden Triangle," and its main rival, "Los Zetas" or the Gulf Cartel, whose territory runs along the Laredo, Texas, borderlands.
If these two “organizations” merge, the Mexican government could potentially be overthrown, replaced by notoriously brutal criminal leaders, and seriously threatening the stability of the whole region.
This is a clip from the 2002 documentary McLuhan's Wake - released by the National Film Board of Canada. The film is based upon the book Laws of Media, completed after McLuhan's death by his son Eric. In it McLuhan asks four fundamental questions regarding new media/technologies:
1. What does it enhance or intensify? 2. What does it render obsolete or replace? 3. What does it retrieve that was previously obsolesced? 4. What does it produce or become when pushed to an extreme?
Marshall McLuhan called these questions the tetrad, and said they could be used to help understand any human artifact, perhaps even natural systems. Say you have an ecological system and a new organism evolves. How do you assess the impact? McLuhans tetrad is a perfect template for that analysis in the same way you would assess a human artifact.
McLuhan also suggests every new mediuma)extends a human property (the car extends the foot); b)obsolesces the previous medium by turning it into a sport or a form of art (the automobile turns horses and carriages into sports); c)retrieves a much older medium that was obsolesced before (the automobile brings back the shining armour of the chevalier); d) flips or reverses its properties into the opposite effect when pushed to its limits (the automobile, when there are too many of them, create traffic jams, that is total paralysis).
McLuhan argued that if we dont understand the effects of the human technology that we use, how can we understand their general implications?
[ click on image to enlarge ]
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