Sad
(Source: rayban-perception, via dontcomplainchange)
The Major Sea Change in Media Discussions of Obama and Civil Liberties
The controversies over the IRS and especially the AP phone records appear to have long-lasting effects
Peak oil, climate change and pipeline geopolitics driving Syria conflict
Nafeez Ahmed: Root-cause environmental and energy factors driving violence will continue to destabilise Arab world without urgent reforms
Good comprehensive article on the Syrian predicament. A predicament that will befall all the repressive oil exporting states as their oil production peaks and declines and climate change continues to bite harder into global agricultural output. Debt can only mask the problems for so long.
What determines energy abundance? Flow.
Energy abundance depends entirely on the rate of the flow of oil, gas and other resources, Cobb writes. It is not, as many suggest, dependent on supposed, but often unverified, fossil fuel reserves in the ground.
Great, well sourced, article from Kurt Cobb. Energy abundance is not about sketchy, guesstimated resources that may be in the ground and incorrectly referred to as “reserves.” It’s all about the FLOW RATE. How much is available to society each and every day. Is that flow rate growing, flat or declining. That is the real question.
Free Webinar from Seed Saver’s Exchange
Organizing Community Seed Projects: Seed Swaps & Seed Libraries
April 29, 2013 7:30 p.m., Central Time
Community seed projects can help build community and facilitate knowledge and seed sharing. If you’re interested in starting a seed library, hosting a seed swap, or starting a community seed saving group, this webinar should help you get started and point you toward valuable resources to ensure your project’s success.
Awesome.
Peak oil isn’t dead: An interview with Chris Nelder
A good interview with some nice graphs. Chris Nelder does a great job of pulling in all the major details of peak oil and how they are impacting the global economy and the average American.
One issue I have is with two incorrect statements made in the intro by the interviewer, Brad Plumer [emphasis mine]:
But after a worrisome series of price spikes starting in 2007, oil triumphalism is once again ascendant. Companies are now using new technologies to extract crude from hard-to-reach sources, from the tar sands of Alberta to shale formations in North Dakota. After decades of decline, U.S. oil production has risen to its highest levels since the 1990s. And that’s led many analysts and journalists to confidently declare that “peak oil is dead.”
Not everyone’s convinced, however, that oil is really on the verge of a new boom. Energy analyst Chris Nelder, for one, has spent a lot of time scrutinizing the claims of the oil triumphalists. Our newfound oil resources, he argues, aren’t nearly as promising as they first appear. And peak oil is still as relevant as ever.
These drilling techniques and technologies are not new. They have been around for decades. What’s new is the tripling of price which made it possible and profitable to combine these technologies together and roll them out on an epic continent wide scale.
Secondly, these aren’t new found oil resources. These shale basins and tar sands have been known for decades. Again, what’s new is the tripling of price which made it possible and profitable to exploit these long known, marginal oil resources.
For more great info visit The Oil Drum. Ask questions in their news round up posts, the Drum Beat. There are lots of petroleum geologists, oil patch guys and other experienced folks submitting papers/posts and answering questions in the comment section.
Published on Apr 14, 2013
A new political party in Germany is hoping to entice voters fed up with EU bailouts. The party, founded by academics and economists with the goal to dissolve the euro, wants to bring back the Deutsche Mark. Al Jazeera’s Nick Spicer reports on Alternative for Germany’s chances in an election year.
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Interesting party. From this short profile on them, It seems they understand that Germany’s bailouts of its banks thru forced austerity and strip mining of periphery nations is planting the seeds of war on the continent.
Mars One, the $6bn plan to settle Mars by 2023.
Privately funded, and funded in part by broadcasting of the landing and subsequent living conditions of the settlers, Mars One would be the first and greatest step man has taken to live on another planet. The lessons learned from the project could be applied to moons, space colonies and, when the time comes, other solar systems.
Should man reach this final step, our place in the universe would be all but permanently secured.
The settlers would only number 4 initially, but by 2033, there could be as many as 20 living on Mars. By this year, it is likely that some form terraforming would begin, so that a mass settlement could start in the following centuries, without the aid of the pods (seen above).
Holy fucking YES.
^ Like I’ve been saying for the last two-years.
rad AS fUCK/SCARY AS FUCK
You can file this under: Never Going to Happen.
(Source: raadselachtig)
U.S. Drones Out of Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Everywhere!
March and Rally at the White House
Saturday, April 13
Assemble at 12 noon
Lafayette Park - 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NWSee here for transportation to D.C. and protests around the country!
Here here
alexanderpf:
Yup. Cable news is just corporate talking points spinning the facts and lots of advertising. Total waste of time.
Turn off the TV America! Turn on your mind! *Critical Thinking*
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