On some not-too-distant day, it will become clear that our civilization has become so reliant on highly efficient, wondrously intelligent machinery that we simply do not need that many people to work in traditional jobs. There will be plenty of wealth to go around, but not that much work. Unless we want millions to starve or go homeless or riot in the streets, our society will need to guarantee a minimum income for everyone by letting all citizens share in the vast wealth created by robot labor.
I agree! Reagan was an excellent leader who changed the paradigm. We’ve been following his voodoo economics and deregulation for 32 years with the result of the complete destruction of the American economy. Yes, Ronald Reagan changed everything in the U.S. to the point where a bill like Graham-Leach-Bliley could pass with bipartisan support. That created the current great bank depression that we are still stuck in the middle of. It created the conditions that led to the exploding income inequality in this country. It’s time to recognize Reagan for what he was, the original tea-bagger.
Ronald Reagan is single-handedly responsible for getting the Christian wrong Right to unknowingly worship an atheist named Ayn Rand and to become as patently un-Christian as it is possible to be. The Ayn-Randian Christian Right now believes that Jesus rode into town on a dinosaur wielding an AK-47 to heal the sick who could afford his care and to deport those who did not have citizenship papers.
It would be laughable if not for the utter destruction of America that Reagan has caused over the last 32 years.
Dodge trucks made what just might be the worst Stupor Bowl ad ever. If not, I don’t want to see what’s worse. But, Funny Or Die made a good parody of it. Unfortunately, to get the parody, you must first waste two minutes of your life watching the original ad. If you’ve already seen the Dodge Trucks Stupor Bowl ad, by all means, spare yourself. You do not need to watch that crap again.
I’m sure many who read my blog have been convinced for a while that I’m somewhat of a fear monger with respect to climate change and overpopulation. Perhaps. Before you make up your mind, read this:
The figures come as one of the world’s leading environmentalists issued a warning that the global food supply system could collapse at any point, leaving hundreds of millions more people hungry, sparking widespread riots and bringing down governments. In a shocking new assessment of the prospects of meeting food needs, Lester Brown, president of the Earth policy research centre in Washington, says that the climate is no longer reliable and the demands for food are growing so fast that a breakdown is inevitable, unless urgent action is taken.
Good thing climate change is just a hoax. Dig hole in sand. Insert head. Fill in hole. Ignorance is bliss.
“Armed aggression is no longer the principal threat to our future. The overriding threats to this century are climate change, population growth, spreading water shortages and rising food prices,” Brown says.
Under the influence of the painkiller Dilaudid, and dog-tired after another day of fighting for my life with my private health insurance company, I glimpsed Mitt Romney and his running-mate, Paul Ryan, entering my Los Angeles hospital room dressed in surgical gowns with scalpels in their hands ready to fatally operate on me.
It was a drug-induced hallucination, of course. But the mirage made me sit bolt upright in bed and, fully awake, start to rethink my previous, bitterly dissenting view of Barack Obama.
250 million years ago, this planet suffered the greatest mass extinction of multicellular life in the long history of the planet. The ocean conveyor current stopped. The ocean became anoxic, meaning it had little or no oxygen. Fish died; sulfur producing bacteria thrived. As the anoxic layer of the ocean reached the surface, hydrogen sulfide gas was released into the atmosphere in toxic quantities. The sky turned green. The mass extinction was brought onto land.
95% of all species on the planet died. This was due to global warming.*
Well, not actually Christ. But, some who actually read the bible are finding little or no support for the Republican budget created by Paul Ryan. They’re claiming that, while he claims to be a Christian, he is instead a follower of Ayn Rand, a renowned atheist. In fact, Ryan also claims to be a Randroid. So, how can one reconcile his Ayn Randian politics with his stated Christian beliefs? One can’t.
I, for one, am not a Christian. But, as was Jesus Christ, I am a liberal. So, just as Jesus Christ would be, I am appalled by Republican politics. Anyway, here’s a couple of good clips from the Colbert Report about the Ryan budget.
Here’s an excellent write-up that describes the ways in which we are stealing from future generations to feed ourselves and the parallels between doing so and any other Ponzi scheme.
I’ve read Plan B 2.0, an excellent book, and notice that there is a link to a new version Plan B 4.0 by Lester Brown.
Don’t forget, the article doesn’t even mention the fact that not only is the oil at the pump a subsidized and limited resource, so is the oil we pour on our corn as fertilizer.
That’s right, industrial fertilizers are petroleum products. We’re eating oil!! That can’t be good for either our health or our long term prospects in terms of a very large population dependent on a fossil, non-renewable, resource.
Correction, after posting this, I did some more searching and found that this is a current campaign from California One. I had thought it was from SNL. Is still hilarious. Somehow when I watched it the first time, I failed to notice the California One statement at the end.
Should that be Randroids or Randorrhoids? Either way, here’s a very good write-up about the Objectivist cult, only slightly mentioned by name, and the fact that these people are still of the belief that Objectivism can get us out of the mess it got us into.
I’ve plugged this blog here before when giving credit for things he’s found and have this on my blog roll as well. But, this post is so terrific I just had to share it. Don’t cheat and only watch the Colbert video at the end though. The post is way too good and well worth reading in its entirety. So, I won’t embed the video here.
Pay special attention to the chef metaphor. It’s brilliant.
Something happened today. The same repugnicans who were swearing up and down that nationalized health care would rob the U.S. of its wonderful health care (the worst among the developed democratic nations of the world) are now arguing that nationalized health care will be so good that our existing denial of health care industry will not be able to compete.
Please read this article about Carter’s 1977 speech and tell me now that Carter was bad for the country and Reagan was good. Go ahead. Tell me now which of those two presidents had the right long term plan for this country. Tell me how much worse off we would have been had we continued with Carter’s energy plan. Tell me that this speech of Carter’s didn’t detail a large chunk of the events that have now come to pass as a result of not following his plan. Read the rest of this entry »
I’m not sure why the press doesn’t blast this guy every time he opens his mouth. He just keeps continually contradicting himself. Perhaps the press just finds him too easy a target. Perhaps it feels too much like kicking an old dog. Regardless of where you stand on the issues, you can’t believe a word the man says.
We love to complain when our politicians flip-flop on an issue. Sometimes, especially when the opinion changes dramatically over a short time frame, it is justified to get upset about a candidate changing views. Sometimes, however, it seems that flip-flopping may be a good thing. Wouldn’t it be nice if Bush would flip-flop once in a while, instead of obstinately maintaining a failed course of action.
Regardless though, despite the awful cover* from the New Yorker in this particular issue, the article inside is actually an interesting take on flip-flopping, what really qualifies, and when it is better than not.
Here’s yet another incredibly eloquent speech by Obama. I find it very refreshing that we have a candidate that can correctly pronounce place names and even the word nuclear. Further, some of the sentiments expressed in this speech are sentiments I’ve been hoping to hear expressed for a long time. Here is someone who can show real leadership, something we have been sorely lacking for 7 years.
I you prefer to read the text, rather than listen to a 36 minute video, the text is available on the Obama webiste.
See Foreclosure Phil in the current issue of Mother Jones for details on how Phil Gramm is largely responsible for our current economic problems and further how John McCain thinks this is the person who can fix our problems. From the article, ‘Media accounts have identified Gramm as a contender for the top slot at the Treasury Department if McCain reaches the White House.’
When you’re done being sickened by the above article, add this related article in the same issue regarding The GOP’s December Surprise that may be on its way. There appears to be a really good chance that the Repugnicans are propping up the economy to the best of their ability right now for the short term to make themselves look better until November. Come December …
If you still think McCain has the answers, take the Bush-McCain Challenge and learn why many of us are starting to call him McBush.
I must admit that this is in the pattern ordinarily used by the climate change skeptics. They love to quote a large number of scientists that dispute that climate change is real or dispute that it is human caused.
However, it has been my experience that such claims are often made when the scientists listed largely fall into one of three categories, scientists in a field not related to climatology, names of people who may or may not be scientists but have no peer reviewed papers to their names, or known ExxonMobil employees.
Perhaps you might say that these 1,700 fall into similar categories on the other side. However, in this case, according to the League of Conservation Scientists, among the names are:
The signatories, compiled by UCS, include six Nobel Prize winners in science or economics, 31 NAS members, and more than 100 IPCC authors and editors
In The Weather Makers, there is a chapter called “The Last Act of God”. The premise is that storms and the like were all considered acts of god from a legal standpoint. This meant that no one could be held responsible. However, in light of anthropogenic climate change, these things are now foreseeable consequences of actions of corporations, nations, and even to a very small extent individuals.
This means that these entities may now be open to litigation in international court for damages that result from climate change as a foreseeable outcome of the actions of these entities.
Also, check out the incredibly impressive Heart of the Adirondacks project in the Adirondack State Park, the largest park in the continental United States at twice the size of Yellowstone.
Posted by Misanthropic Scott 
The Misanthropic Principle 