Clipmarks | JICWyllie's Consciousness collection

A geopolitical tsunami: Beyond oil in world civilization clash

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 18:17:43 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Samuel Huntington (1993; 1996) proposes the idea of an emerging fragmented world. He argues that there is a likely intercultural and inter-religious conflict looming between future world powers, each superpower cohered from within through culture and religion. The new world order will be a multi-polar world. Huntington rejects the idea that the world will continue to acquiesce to Western homogenizing forces of globalization, which many critics suggest have been mounted to serve Western interests, and so displace the interests of both Eastern and Islamic peoples. But we may be about to see these non-Western peoples aggressively pursue their vested interests

civilization can be defined as the broadest level of cultural identity of an individual, ethnic group or nation, or even group of nations. He highlights three major civilizations of influence: Christian Western, Islamic-Arabic, and Chinese.

post-globalization world which fragments along civilization fault lines.

Tags: culture, civilisation, i-breakdown, i-forecast

Pinching pennies like your grandparents

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 12:13:40 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

the skyrocketing cost of everything from cereal to eggs is prompting some Americans to turn to traditional techniques for stretching a dollar or a meal.

The food inflation is clearly affecting American lifestyles. An April survey by market researchers NPD Group found that more than half of adults who described themselves as “financially challenged” were trying to use up leftovers more often and prepare more meals at home than they did a year ago.

Americans are still eating out but are choosing cheaper restaurants

more people are choosing grain-based foods, such as pizza and pasta, over meat-based meals.

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

For those people who are trying to shop and eat more like their grandparents did, the change in behavior isn’t just a matter of time management. Accustomed to years of drive-through restaurants and pasta in a box, many simply don’t know how to cook from scratch.

Tags: economy, consumers, i-spending, i-decrease, i-consequences

Global warming time bomb trapped in Arctic soil: study

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:25:08 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie
clipper's remarks: Le coup de grace, tabernaque. Meme moi, j'ai peur, colis.

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Climate change could release unexpectedly huge stores of carbon dioxide from Arctic soils, which would in turn fuel a vicious circle of global warming, a new study warned

current models of climate change have not taken this extra source of greenhouse gas into account.

The study, published in the British journal Nature Geoscience, found that the stock of organic carbon "is considerably higher than previously thought" -- 60 percent more than the previously estimated.

This is roughly equivalent of one sixth of the entire carbon content in the atmosphere.

And that is just for North America.

And the danger of a thaw is real, note climate scientists.

the climate change models upon which future projections are based, do not include the potential impact of the gases trapped frozen Arctic soils.

"Releasing even a portion of this carbon into the atmosphere, in the form of methane or carbon dioxide, would have an significant impact on Earth's climate," he noted

Tags: environment, forest, taiga, water, i-climate change, i-melting, i-heating, i-consequences

Pondering the Endgame

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 18:50:08 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: energybulletin.net

I feel that the biggest loss of all has been perpetrated by the insidious repackaging and promotion of negative values by presenting them as positive attributes.

Rights”, are foisted upon us with no mention of the accompanying responsibilities (see Entitlement below).

"Empowerment", is in reality selfishness.

"Liberation", is in reality sanctioned irresponsibility.

"Independence", is in reality denial of the individual as a part of the society.

"Entitlement", is in reality the disconnection of reward from effort or accomplishment.

"Self Worth", is in reality egotism.

Obfuscation of the difference between "quality of life" and "standard of living" completely ignores the very real emotional and spiritual needs of a society and the individual.

* The trivial is exalted as important and anything of depth is ignored or met with vacuous stares. Dysfunctional behaviour is celebrated.

True, healthy values have been palmed and replaced with false, unhealthy ones.

Tags: politics, i-marketing, i-distortion

Climate change: Prepare for global temperature rise of 4C, warns top scientist

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 15:49:16 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie
clipper's remarks: Like so many other things, the trend seems to be towards accelerating change in an unpleasant direction. It's almost like time is speeding up.

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

In policy areas such as flood protection, agriculture and coastal erosion Professor Bob Watson said the country should plan for the effects of a 4C global average rise on pre-industrial levels. The EU is committed to limiting emissions globally so that temperatures do not rise more than 2C.

"There's no choice here between adaptation and mitigation, we have to do both."

Other experts were concerned that Watson's comments might be seen as defeatist and an admission that emissions reductions were impossible to achieve.

"There is no science on how we are going to adapt to 4 degrees warming. It is actually pretty alarming,"

said Prof Neil Adger

Watson's plea to prepare for the worst was backed up by the government's former chief scientific adviser, Sir David King. He said that even with a comprehensive global deal to keep carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere at below 450 parts per million there is a 50% probability that temperatures would exceed 2C and a 20% probability they would exceed 3.5C

Tags: environment, i-climate change, i-warming, i-increase, i-forecast, i-record

The New Paradigm for Financial Markets by George Soros

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 16:12:39 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.atimes.com

Backed up by the hard "science" of economics, our regulators have encouraged us to abandon vast tracts of public government to the logic of the market in the hope that it will arrange optimal (read efficient) outcomes for us all.

Economists say they are simply scientists telling us the truth about ourselves. But they are so much more than that. When they teach us that we are essentially creatures of the market, they are creating a powerful metaphor about man's nature, and passing it off as a universal "truth". Warranted by their status as "scientists", this truth works to erect limits on the horizon of questions we may be permitted to ask legitimately about what life is and what it is for.

The New Paradigm for Financial Markets: The Credit Crash of 2008 and What It Means by George Soros.

It is to this deeply political question that Soros wishes to draw our attention

Tags: economy, financial markets, i-crisis, i-transformation, i-forecast

The Secrets of Storytelling: Why We Love a Good Yarn

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 17:50:22 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.sciam.com

the best stories—those retold through generations and translated into other languages—do more than simply present a believable picture. These tales captivate their audience, whose emotions can be inextricably tied to those of the story’s characters. Such immersion is a state psychologists call “narrative transport.”

Clip Source: www.sciam.com

people who perform better on tests of empathy, or the capacity to perceive another person’s emotions, become more easily transported regardless of the story.

Empathy is part of the larger ability humans have to put themselves in another person’s shoes: we can attribute mental states—awareness, intent—to another entity. Theory of mind, as this trait is known, is crucial to social interaction and communal living—and to understanding stories.

promotes social cohesion among groups and serves as a valuable method to pass on knowledge to future generations

stories have an important effect on individuals as well—the imaginary world may serve as a proving ground for vital social skills

Tags: culture, stories, i-research

Reviving the Household Economy, Part One: The World Outside the Market

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 14:51:57 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie
clipper's remarks: The simple fact is that the more people do for themselves, the less money they need to spend, starting with feeding and entertaining themselves.

Clip Source: energybulletin.net

the United States, have spent most of the last century transferring as much as possible of the household economy into the market sphere. In making our own jam, among other things, Sara and I belong to a minority of American households. Glance back a hundred years, by contrast, and nearly every family in the country outside the very rich and the very poor had an active household economy that produced a large fraction of the total goods and services they consumed. Many factors contributed to this dramatic shift, but one of the most significant is the availability of cheap abundant energy.

Most of the economies of scale that make mass production of processed foods economically viable, after all, are economies only because the cost of transportation is low enough to permit them. As recently as the first half of the 20th century, most consumer products in the US were produced locally for regional markets, in large part because transportation costs were still high enough

Tags: economy, consumers, i-home production, i-increase

Animal rights: A farm boy reflects

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:37:18 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie
clipper's remarks: Anyone who knows animals, knows that they have individual personalities, often more interesting and more ethical than human personalities. By what right, do we make them suffer before killing them for our own benefit?

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

This comes up because the most important election this November that you’ve never heard of is a referendum on animal rights in California, the vanguard state for social movements. Proposition 2 would ban factory farms from raising chickens, calves or hogs in small pens or cages.

Harvard Law School now offers a course on animal rights.

Among philosophers, a sophisticated literature of animals rights has emerged.

Our cattle, sheep, chickens and goats certainly had individual personalities, but not such interesting ones that it bothered me that they might end up in a stew. Pigs were more troubling because of their unforgettable characters and obvious intelligence.

I’m a farm boy

Then there were the geese, the most admirable creatures I’ve ever met. We raised Chinese white geese, a common breed, and they have distinctive personalities. They mate for life and adhere to family values that would shame most of those who dine on them.

Tags: business, farming, i-cruelty, i-rights

China: Melting glacier leaves world's worst polluter with no room for doubt

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 17:13:31 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Link to this video
Glaciers in the Tian Mountains in western China are melting because of global warming. Jonathan Watts went to see how this affects local people

There is concern because this glacier - more than almost any other in China - is a natural water regulator for millions of people downstream in the far western region of Xinjiang. In winter, it stores up snow and ice. In summer, it releases meltwater to provide drinking and irrigation supplies to one of the country's most arid regions. It brings hope because its rapid shrinkage is helping to set off climate-change alarm bells in a country that emits more greenhouse gases than any other.

the glacier has lost more than 20% of its volume since 1962 as the temperature has increased by almost 1C.

And the rate of shrinkage is accelerating. For the first time last year, it was so warm in the summer that rain rather than snow fell on the glacier.

Tags: environment, water, glaciers, i-climate change, i-melting, i-accelleration

Speech of the Week - Gore's Energy Challenge: 'The Future of Human Civilization Is at Stake'

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:36:01 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.alternet.org

"Al Gore took a big risk when he called on us to get 100% of our electricity from cheap, clean sources within 10 years.

It's an achievable goal, but it's already under attack from the oil and coal companies. They're calling his plan unrealistic, impossible, and crazy. We're in a crisis. If this is the fate of any new idea to get us out of this crisis alive, we're toast. Gore's challenge will live or die on the reaction of people like us.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says "it is absolutely possible" that Congress will accept Gore's challenge. But to make it happen, we'll need to show Congress just how many people want bold action.

In Gore's words: "We're borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet. Every bit of that's got to change.

Crisis brings opportunity.

Tags: energy, oil, renewables, i-policy, i-initiative

Who are you calling fat? We are bigger than ever, but think we're thinner

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 11:13:35 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.independent.co.uk

Perception and reality

43 per cent were overweight in 1999

81 per cent identified themselves as overweight in 1999

53 per cent were overweight in 2007

75 per cent identified themselves as overweight in 2007

Emerging from the Drug War Dark Age: LSD and Other Psychedelic Medicines Make a Comeback

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:16:17 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.alternet.org

"We talk about the veterans suffering PTSD, but it's really a culture-wide phenomenon," he said. "We're at a place where technology and the structure of contemporary life have taken us so far away from our emotions as to create pathological conditions. The systemic violence and selfishness and greed that are in our society need treatment."

Doblin was one of the first to break through that wall of obstinacy and challenge the Inquisition. He got the U.S. government to approve clinical trials of MDMA-assisted therapy for returning veterans and victims of violent crime or abuse who suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

A headline in the May issue of the staid British medical journal The Lancet -- known for challenging the Pentagon's Iraq casualty numbers -- read, "Research on Psychedelics Moves into the Mainstream."

Clip Source: www.alternet.org

Bill Wilson, the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, was an acid enthusiast, promoting LSD as a "gateway to an accelerated spiritual awakening."

Tags: government, i-policy, i-repression, i-decrease

Status and Curiosity - On the Origins of Oil Addiction

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 15:08:12 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.theoildrum.com

Over the 16 year study, all age groups tested did acquire some/many of the things they originally desired. But in each case, their desires increased more than their acquisitions. This phenomenon is termed the "Hedonic Treadmill".

Modern brain research indicates that we get a higher buzz by pursuing the type of 'status' symbols (in this study, cars) that society attaches value to. In my opinion, this behavior is at the heart of the Peak Oil problem, and gives me less confidence that we are just going to 'tighten our belts' when the energy situation gets a little tougher and more expensive.

If the rush is tied to something that society rewards we call it ambition, if its attached to something a little scary, then we label the individual a ‘risktaker’ and if its tied to something illegal – then they are an ‘addict’ or substance abuser.

The rich wanted 'more' because they were habituated to getting more - it's how they kept score.

few will believe until events force them too.

Tags: energy, oil, i-addiction, i-demand, i-risks

Sweden turning sewage into a gasoline substitute

Wed, 28 May 2008 16:32:33 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie
clipper's remarks: Sounds like municipalities could at least run bus networks working with their sewage works. Solves two problems at once ... as well as helping to keep the water clean.

Clip Source: www.iht.com

GOTEBORG, Sweden:

This city is among dozens of municipalities in Sweden with facilities that transform sewage waste into enough biogas to run thousands of cars and buses.

The tailpipe emissions are virtually odorless, the fuel is cheaper than gasoline and diesel, and the idea of recovering energy from toilet waste appealed to green-minded Swedes.

Chemically, biogas is the same as natural gas from fossil fuels, but its manufacture relies on a process where bacteria feed on fecal waste for about three weeks in an oxygen-free chamber. The result is two-thirds methane and one-third carbon dioxide, as well as a nutrient-rich residue that can be used as soil or construction material.

Biogas as a vehicle fuel is also available in Switzerland, France, Germany and Austria, but Sweden is the leading user in Europe,

Clip Source: www.iht.com

an engineer at Gryaab, the sewage facility in Goteborg, said that what an average person flushed down the toilet each year created enough biogas to drive 120 kilometers, or 75 miles.