kpete
kpete's JournalCHRIS HEDGES: Humans Have Been On A 500-Year-Long Planetwide Rampage Of Looting The Earth
Chris Hedges
The Myth of Human Progress and the Collapse of Complex Societies
Our financial system—like our participatory democracy—is a mirage. The Federal Reserve purchases $85 billion in U.S. Treasury bonds—much of it worthless subprime mortgages—each month. It has been artificially propping up the government and Wall Street like this for five years. It has loaned trillions of dollars at virtually no interest to banks and firms that make money—because wages are kept low—by lending it to us at staggering interest rates that can climb to as high as 30 percent. ... Or our corporate oligarchs hoard the money or gamble with it in an overinflated stock market. Estimates put the looting by banks and investment firms of the U.S. Treasury at between $15 trillion and $20 trillion. But none of us know. The figures are not public. And the reason this systematic looting will continue until collapse is that our economy (would) go into a tailspin without this giddy infusion of free cash.
The ecosystem is at the same time disintegrating. Scientists from the International Programme on the State of the Ocean, a few days ago, issued a new report that warned that the oceans are changing faster than anticipated and increasingly becoming inhospitable to life. The oceans, of course, have absorbed much of the excess CO2 and heat from the atmosphere. This absorption is rapidly warming and acidifying ocean waters. This is compounded, the report noted, by increased levels of deoxygenation from nutrient runoffs from farming and climate change. The scientists called these effects a “deadly trio” that when combined is creating changes in the seas that are unprecedented in the planet’s history. This is their language, not mine. The scientists wrote that each of the earth’s five known mass extinctions was preceded by at least one [part] of the “deadly trio”—acidification, warming and deoxygenation. They warned that “the next mass extinction” of sea life is already under way, the first in some 55 million years. Or look at the recent research from the University of Hawaii that says global warming is now inevitable, it cannot be stopped but at best slowed, and that over the next 50 years the earth will heat up to levels that will make whole parts of the planet uninhabitable. Tens of millions of people will be displaced and millions of species will be threatened with extinction. The report casts doubt that (cities on or near a coast) such as New York or London will endure.
Yet we, like Ahab and his crew, rationalize our collective madness. All calls for prudence, for halting the march toward economic, political and environmental catastrophe, for sane limits on carbon emissions, are ignored or ridiculed. Even with the flashing red lights before us, the increased droughts, rapid melting of glaciers and Arctic ice, monster tornadoes, vast hurricanes, crop failures, floods, raging wildfires and soaring temperatures, we bow slavishly before hedonism and greed and the enticing illusion of limitless power, intelligence and prowess.
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The human species, led by white Europeans and Euro-Americans, has been on a 500-year-long planetwide rampage of conquering, plundering, looting, exploiting and polluting the earth—as well as killing the indigenous communities that stood in the way. But the game is up. The technical and scientific forces that created a life of unparalleled luxury—as well as unrivaled military and economic power for a small, global elite—are the forces that now doom us. The mania for ceaseless economic expansion and exploitation has become a curse, a death sentence. But even as our economic and environmental systems unravel, after the hottest year (2012) in the contiguous 48 states since record keeping began 107 years ago, we lack the emotional and intellectual creativity to shut down the engine of global capitalism. We have bound ourselves to a doomsday machine that grinds forward.
much, much, much more:
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_myth_of_human_progress_and_the_collapse_of_complex_societies_video_2014
Greenwald, Poitras: ‘This Award Is for Snowden’
“Democracy Now!” reports:
http://www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/greenwald_poitras_this_award_is_for_snowden_20140414
I can just imagine George Washington hiding behind Martha's skirts
These militias are so like our Founding Fathers. I can just imagine George Washington hiding behind Martha's skirts.
Bundy Ranch 'Militia' Considered Using Women As Human Shield
http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/218782/charming-bundy-ranch-militia-dude-brags-about-planning-to-use-women-as-human-shields/
Christie Disussed Wildstein Claims About Bridge Tie-Ups
Source: Bloomberg
Christie Disussed Wildstein Claims About Bridge Tie-Ups
By David Voreacos, Elise Young and Terrence Dopp Apr 14, 2014 9:01 PM PT 0 Comments Email Print
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s former ally David Wildstein told colleagues that he got clearance from the “front office” for the George Washington Bridge lane closings, Christie told investigators.
Wildstein, once a top official at the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, which runs the bridge, told someone that he got permission to shut down the lanes from Sept. 9 to 12, Christie told lawyers from Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP. A summary of Christie’s interviews with the firm was released yesterday, along with those of 74 other people who spoke to Gibson Dunn.
An investigation commissioned by Christie concluded on March 27 that he had no advance knowledge of a plot to close the lanes. Wildstein and former Christie deputy chief of staff Bridget Anne Kelly sought to punish the mayor of Fort Lee, New Jersey, for unknown political reasons through the tie-ups, according to the report, prepared by Gibson Dunn.
“The governor recalled someone (though he does not recollect who), relaying that Wildstein had said something along the lines of, ‘I’m not stupid; I got this cleared by the front office,’” according to a 12-page summary of three Christie interviews.
Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-14/christie-disussed-wildstein-claims-about-bridge-tie-ups.html
US Press once again Declines to Call White Terrorism in Kansas, Nevada, White Terrorism
US Press once again Declines to Call White Terrorism in Kansas, Nevada, White TerrorismBy Juan Cole | Apr. 14, 2014 |
(By Juan Cole)
...........................
Thus, we had the horrible day-before-Passover attack on two Jewish community facilities outside Kansas City, KS allegedly committed by a Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan, which left 3 people dead. My heart goes out to the innocent victims of hate. I put “Kansas” and “terrorism” in a search of Google News and did not get a single hit on this incident, which tells me that no US news services are describing it that way. Heck, the LA Times said authorities are cautioning that it is too soon even to call the shootings a “hate crime.” Since the shooter is said to have shouted “Heil Hitler,” I’m going to go out on a limb and say it was a hate crime. And I’m also pretty sure it was a form of terrorism.
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But a where a lone gunman committing a hate crime is a Muslim, there’s a demand to use the T-word. Moreover, there is the peculiar American practice of laying collective guilt on all Muslims for what any one wacko amongst them does. White people get a pass on having violent and destructive wackos among them. (In fact, almost all American Muslims are normal law-abiding and productive citizens– many are physicians and other professionals, business people, etc.; it isn’t their fault if West Asia is going through some turmoil these days; Europe went through a lot of turmoil and violence 1914-1945 and we don’t think Europeans in general are weird.)
Or then you have the stand-off between armed far right wing extremists in Nevada and the Bureau of Land Management.................. They openly admit to being armed private militias with names like “Praetorian Guard,” and they are breaking the law and trying to intimidate government officials. But Federal authorities are treating them with kid gloves. Even though they are certainly organized and deploying terror to make a political point, no one is calling them “terrorists.” (The Oklahoma City bombings caused LE to be cautious in confronting the far right extremists; maybe that’s why they are monitoring millions of innocent people instead, who they know won’t push back.)
This is the way the US Federal Code defines domestic terrorism:
” the term “domestic terrorism” means activities that—
(B) appear to be intended—
(i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;
(ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or
(iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and
(C) occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States. ”
Note that the Federal Code doesn’t mention anything about the terrorism having to be committed by an organization (though the KKK and the “Patriot” militia movement are organizations). And it doesn’t say anything about the definition not applying to white people.
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http://www.juancole.com/2014/04/declines-terrorism-kansas.html
The Manhattan District Attorney Is Coming For David Samson & It Will CRUSH Christie's Windpipe Too.
The Manhattan District Attorney Is Coming For David Samson
As the noose knots around David Samson's neck, it will crush Christie's windpipe, too.
With the news that Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance is now investigating the operations role played by recently departed Port Authority chairman David Samson, Chris Christie's political free fall is screaming toward impact. According to a former Port Authority official, Samson's chief PA assistant -- a lawyer-lobbyist who came to the Port from Samson's law firm -- was at PA headquarters on a daily basis, working with Christie's henchmen Bill Baroni and David Wildstein as they plotted strategy.
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/investigation-into-david-samson-assistant-041414
http://www.wnyc.org/story/did-christie-aides-participate-bridgegate-cover-/
Gov Christie's Top Aides/Allies-"Working Frantically To Throw Reporters & Legislators Off Scent"
...............there is another reading of the documents — one that shows the governor's top aides in the statehouse and his allies and appointees at the Port Authority carefully tracking the scandal that's come to be known as Bridgegate, working frantically to throw reporters and legislators off the scent and — at key points — informing Christie himself of certain facts about the unfolding mess.
(a small snippet):
Dec. 3: The Port Authority police union chief, A friend of Wildstein’s, offers a cover story to reporters: the lane closures were his idea. That turned out to be false. In a rare direct communication with Samson, Wildstein forwards a news report about his friend's account, with no comment or additional explanation.
That night, Wildstein and Drewniak dine together in New Brunswick. According to the Mastro report, Wildstein tells Drewniak that he’d told the governor about the lane closures while they were happening, and that two of Christie’s top staff — campaign manager Stepien and Bridget Ann Kelly, the governor's deputy chief of staff — knew about them.
Dec. 4: The next day, Drewniak tells Christie about his conversation with Wildstein. According to the Mastro report, the governor tells his spokesman that it’s time for Wildstein and Baroni to go. Christie himself edits the press statement thanking Wildstein for his service, according to emails released by the legislature.
Dec. 5: Wildstein emails Drewniak: “Thanks again for all your sound advice last night."His resignation is made public the next day.
Here is the rest of the (Pretty Damning) chronology of how Christie's team responded as the GWB traffic jams drew scrutiny from the press and lawmakers:
http://www.wnyc.org/story/did-christie-aides-participate-bridgegate-cover-/
Simpsons hit it out of the park-Matt Groening manages to sum up Washington today in just 15 seconds.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/04/14/1292033/-Simpsons-hit-it-out-of-the-park
Walmart continues to be the biggest welfare queen in history
http://www.americansfortaxfairness.org/files/Walmart-on-Tax-Day-Americans-for-Tax-Fairness-1.pdf
A demographic tale (There were just so many of us)
by digby
This tells the story better than anything else I've seen:
That bulge you see going through the snake is the baby boomers of course. And as you can see, we're going to be nothing but a group of very old ladies before too much longer. So all the panic about Social Security and the other old age problems are going to work themselves out quite naturally in a fairly short period of time. There is no need to panic. Indeed, it's important not to cut the programs for those very old ladies. They (we) are probably not going to be able to be big "job creators" or producers at that point and will need help before we finally die off.
And if I might just add a little boomer's lament: we didn't ask to be born any more than the rest of you did. To the extent we are selfish, destructive failures as a generation, take a look at just how huge a generation that is and consider that a whole lot of us as individuals tried to do the right thing in our lives. There were just so many of us.
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-demographic-tale.html
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