Quote:
If someone lies to you repeatedly, you feel it is "groupthink" to stop trusting what they say? davefairtex wrote:
Yoxa-
So let me get this straight. If someone lies to you repeatedly, you feel it is "groupthink" to stop trusting what they say? I mean sure, people start to think you're a crank for not believing the official story, but...if you have a functioning memory, its hard to keep that trust going after they feed you enough lies.
I think a lot of us here are at this point.
For this audience, it is probably better tactics to cite sources that got the hard stories correct, rather than to cite the places and people who got those same stories wrong.
Yes! Please do, “…read a wide assortment of sources and make up your mind based on your experience and objective evidence.”
No, definitely DO NOT, “Give our major news periodicals a break.”
WaPo is an interesting case because of how far they have fallen … from being a true antagonist of the state for the benefit of society to, instead, being an amplifier of the deep state. NYT (eg, J Miller) may have outdone WaPo in the amplification of Iraq 2003 invasion, WaPo has been trying to outdo all in regurgitating the deep state’s Trump-Russia collusion story, IMHO.
Worse yet, WaPo has been turning towards yellow/tabloid journalism in recent years. They published a list Russian-controlled propaganda sites (compiled by a third party) which included Charles Hugh Smith, someone well liked here at PP. Complete dogshit.http://charleshughsmith.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-washington-post-useful-idiot-shills.html
I cannot read the Chris Mooney story you linked because it requires a subscription or that I accept tracking cookies (both NFW).
I think we fall out on the same side of the AGW debate, but do you have some other, more useful source(s) you can share? If WaPo’s Chris Mooney is the best, then we are in trouble.
Quote:
I cannot read the Chris Mooney story you linked because it requires a subscription or that I accept tracking cookies (both NFW).
Clear all your cookies from WAPO and WashingtonPost.com.
Then try this link:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2019/04/17/satellite-confirms-key-nasa-temperature-data-planet-is-warming-fast/
Note that I removed some stuff from the end of the link.
As for being tracked, be aware that the very page you’re reading this on is not free of tracking.
When discussing finance, we have no problem with the idea that past performance is no guarantee of future results.
No one can think of examples of humans collectively doing anything differently than we’ve ever done. Of course we can’t because we probably haven’t.
We’re focused on examples and we’re talking about (IMHO) an impending evolutionary shift. That is my assumption anyway and there are authors out there talking about this (the recent pair of interviews between Charles Eisenstein and Daniel Schmachtenberger, or the Transition video with Schmachtenberger and friends come to mind.
So, can someone give me an example of an organism that foresaw an evolutionary advance coming and responded in a proactive or even slightly thoughtful way? Evolution is a response to environmental pressures. It makes sense to me that we can become aware of the pressure. But to imagine we can see through the chaotic transition and into another stable state (a basin of attraction in the vocabulary of chaos theory) strikes me as either hubris or naïveté. To be clear - this does not lead me to the conclusion that there is no point in us trying to do anything. I believe the first journey needs to be within. If individuals fail to get their own acts together, how will that ever happen collectively?
A few years back, Chris went out on a limb and revealed something about his personal spiritual belief - to mixed reviews so I hesitate to do the same. But I need to in order to clarify where I’m coming from.
Jose Stevens is an author who has completed his 10 year apprenticeship so I guess it’s correct to call him a Shaman. I don’t identify myself as a follower but I have found some of his writing useful.
Specifically, he describes 2012 on the Mayan calendar as the point at which the human race had an equal number of baby/young souls and adult/mature souls living on Earth. From that point on the balance will favor adult and mature souls. For this to make any sense you need a belief in the transmigration of souls and the concept of soul age.
If I think about such a transition from the POV of a baby or young soul, I can imagine how it would seem like the end of the world, the end of the world they understand, anyway. I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing.
From another angle, I’m a high school teacher. If I maintained the attitude toward individual students that people here are expressing toward our whole species, I would expect that no one would ever successfully reach adulthood except as a grown up child. In truth, some of the coolest adults I know were the biggest f*#%ups as kids. They did the same stupid, self-destructive behaviors over and over and over … until they didn’t. They grew up. (true, not everyone makes it)
Our species is in its adolescence now. Adolescence is tumultuous but it’s when we start learning to discern feelings and to work with our emotional experience in more productive ways rather than just getting buffeted by them. It’s also a time of sometimes feeling that the world is a dark place and that there’s no way forward. I have faith that we will grow up.
Yoxa-
Well, to me, WAPO is a someone. Currently, that someone is named Jeff Bezos, and that’s who is doing the talking. Everyone there works for him. Fish rots from the head, that’s how it always works.
I assume that if the management there tolerates poor judgement, then why on earth should I waste my time on anything they say? Not too many years ago, viewers of Fox actually didn’t understand how the world functioned because the reporting there was so bad. Why would I go there in the hopes that one of their reporters might accidentally tell me the truth? Same thing here. I go with the odds. I assume if the WAPO staff gets some big stories really wrong, I cross them off my list.
Saves time all around. FIsh rots from the head, after all.
Quote:
I assume if the WAPO staff gets some big stories really wrong, I cross them off my list. Yoxa-
I’m glad to have you provide the summary for Clapper’s book. It is too bad he didnt delve into the incredibly effective meddling that Clinton herself did in the 2016 election that won her the primary. Turns out if you own the DNC, and the press clears all their articles through your people, its much easier to beat Bernie Sanders. Anything Russia did pales into insignificance by comparison.
I consider Clapper himself to be a traitor to the nation - presiding over the construction of a massive surveillence effort resulting in a turnkey tyranny capability and then lying to Congress when asked about it. I suppose if you systematically and egregiously violate the 4th Amendment the way he did, lying about it is to be expected. Obama the constitutional attorney thought this was all just grand. I voted for him, sadly. From all I can see, Obama was just Bush III.
I think Trump won not because of Russia, but because of facebook’s ability to deeply understand and microtarget key groups and individuals in the swing states. That was Bannon and Cambridge Analytica. Trump tailored his campaign accordingly. Clinton ignored those states, and she lost the election as a result.
FWIW, I totally understand Putin’s feeling - anyone but Clinton. Those emails revealed just how corrupt she really was. Unfortunately for Clapper and for Putin’s reputation as a mastermind, they were leaked, not hacked. It was a DNC insider who did it, Binney and his team provided the forensic evidence which (naturally) nobody wants to look at, or even challenge.
I just wish Russia had released Hillary’s email cache from her server. Those would have made for fascinating reading. Of course she had them destroyed. I think they call that “obstruction of justice” - well, when it isn’t done by a Clinton that all the senior DOJ and FBI officials expected to be working for.
Quote:
I'm glad to have you provide the summary for Clapper's book https://mutualwelfare.org/liberty-equality-and-fraternity/
Do not do to another what you do not you would like to be made to you, it is the minimum foundation of human relations, Equality of importance is the principle to achieve peace and social harmony, and Love is the ultimate goal of society, of a country, and of the world.
Reccomends dropping the program.TheTrump White House has until December to decide.The WSJ had the scoop last week.
A very rich man passed away and garnered the attention of many who knew him. One inquisitive observer he knew asked, “What did he leave?” The man’s reply was, “Everything!”.
Not to tread on those agnostics out there that are averse to “religious” messages, but perhaps a spiritual examination would suffice to put things in perspective:
https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/2245/treasures-in-heaven-part-1
One of the better expositions on the topic of integrity.
brushhog wrote:
...We are going to eat through our resources until there isnt enough to sustain us, and then we'll adapt or die off...just like every other organism. Just like every other organism. JUST LIKE EVERY OTHER ORGANISM. There is no other option. Humans have never changed volunarily, it's always been the result of necessary adaptation to a changing environment.
An individual can change to a degree but the larger collective is not an intelligent entity. Its a mob. Its like a fungus or a bacteria, it cant be reasoned out of it's nature. Thats why I always say that there are no collective solutions, only individual ones. What can YOU do to prepare for the inevitable? Thats it. You're not going to change the tide of human nature.
Chris while I agree with your analysis, I question not only whether we have the ability to interfere and change the natural course of humanity…even if we COULD, do we have the right to do so? In order to believe I had that right, I would need to claim knowledge of every long term outcome. Since neither I, nor you, nor any human has that knowledge, we simply are unable to say with any certainty, which outsome is “BEST”.
It it “better” for humanity to curb it’s consumption, make some changes, live on in large number even longer and do more damage to the environment, perhaps destroying any chance for a better future. Or is it “better” for humanity to hit the wall, lose large numbers of people and change drastically through necessity? “Better” for whom? On what time scale? And to what ultimate purpose? Are we certain that any of these things will even happen? History is full of people who interfered with and tried to change society in ways they thought were “better”…[ Hitler, Stalin, Mao ]…and caused great suffering in the process.
We are unable to answer these kinds of questions because we are limited creatures, with a very limited view, who cannot make those sorts of epic decisions. Luckily those are not our burdens. Those are questions for the gods not us. Lets have a little faith that our nature will lead us where-ever we are supposed to be.
What a repulsive human being. Other nations should refuse to engage with him.
Look, Doug. I realize that you have been triggered and are retreating behind your political safety wall. You have your posts ready to go and your arguments that Im sure are very well practiced. But here’s the reality; The predictions have been wrong. Alot. We have seen all kinds of predictions fail. So, ok maybe global warming is happening and its the end. But maybe it isnt. YOU DONT KNOW. You can post a million articles and wax scientific until the cows come home. It doesnt mean a damn thing.
The predictions have been wrong at times, and so, logically, [if we are really after the truth], we have to consider the very real possibility that they could be wrong again. And, so, the only thing that we can say with anything even remotely approaching the truth is…WE DONT KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN. You can quote me your scripture all day long, at the end the answer is still…we dont know. We dont know whats going to happen, we dont know how to stop it even if we did, and we dont know what the long term ramifications of either action would be nor whether one is preferable to the other.
So let your hackles down, admit that your only human, you dont have the answers, and you’re just along for the ride like the rest of us.
We are in overshoot by a factor of about 6 give or take a few hundred million right?
The best we can do at this point in time is get our ducks in a row to try and weather the storm. I’m in the middle of proactive change and it’s great, don’t get me wrong it’s the hardest I’ve ever worked and comes with a lot of sacrifice/lowered standards of living (by today’s standards). I’m almost in my home now couple of months to go… living in a 25’ 5th wheel with three kids for a year sure makes for memories 
I think the best we can aim for is to study and put into practice the concepts of permaculture so when the time comes we are a beacon of knowledge for the community around us to help in the transition.
Seb.
Excellent podcast, with which I whole heartedly agree. Also, I agree with mjtrac’s comment that those of us who hope to retire in the next few years, or already retired, need to take the lead, as the young, and parents of young children, are likely overwhelmed. I also think we can all combat enviromental degredation and the extinction of species without even talking about “climate change” which has sadly become too tangeled up with our political identities. Pollution, and the massive loss of insects and forests are not predictions. They have already occurred, and are getting worse. We can see it with our own eyes. Farmers have an uphill battle to make a living without pesticides, herbicides and fungicides, but all of us who follow Peak Prosperity can eliminate these poisons from our homes and gardens. We can lobby LOCAL government to eliminate them from parks. This will help the pollinators, wildlife, and our health, as well as the health of our children and grandchildren (who will fund Social Security & Pensions only if they are healthy). We can be arch-conservative, or arch liberal, or apolitical, and still do this one thing, to live with integrity. Those of us who are able, can retire off-grid, right in the suburbs. There are UL listed masonry heaters now that can heat houses with a tiny amount of local wood (invasive buckthorn, anyone?). Solar panels work fine in any climate, with batteries, and having some days without electricity is no big deal. I gave away my dishwasher and refridgerator a couple years ago & haven’t missed them at all. If we can afford organic vegetables, it supports the farmers in their transition to using less poison. We can do this, it will be immediate integrity for the person doing it, and if enough of us do it, the market will respond.