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Actually, having rapid rise in sea level casued by a large chunk of Greenland's ice sliding into the ocean is something we should hope happens SOON!
WHY?
A fellow named JRM said the following:
What is clearly needed now is a mass rebellion -- much bigger than what happened in the 60s, which resulted in a "counterculture" which was quickly co-opted by the consumer-capitalist-entertainment world. It was this which the "counterculture" was ultimately rebelling against, and we're well overdue for a recurrence of that event, only differently. Because it can't be the same as last time. They never are.
Sadly, such a mass rebellion is very unlikely now, because too few people are educated or literate in the true senses of these terms. Too many Americans (which is where it needs to happen most) know no history, no social or political philosophy, are basically ignorant and hypnotized by consumerism ... or drunk or drugged.... Too few are part of any of the transformative movement/s..., and have never even heard of them. The last time I felt any hope for transformation was during the Occupy "movement," and today I can't even find folks who want to commemorate the five year anniversary of Occupy! as if it never happened, or mattered. How quickly we forget!
THis was my answer:
That is why the ONLY HOPE we have is for ACCELERATED SEA LEVEL RISE from a large chunk of Greenland's ice sliding into the ocean. Trillions of dollars of lost ocean front property is, ironically enough, the "IT" that will get us off of fossil fuels and moving towards a viable biosphere in Wartime economy velocity (less than a decade).
The really serious stuff like ocean acidification and reduced photosynthetic efficiency that ACTUALLY endangers our species goes right over the elite greed ball heads.
Oh but let shipping and coastal property go belly up and the attention of the Predators' R' US crowd will be very focused very quickly.
OVERNIGHT, every Republican and his Saudi brother will claim that they "always supported action on climate change". LOL!
They will holler and scream that they are "conservatives" and we all have to "conserve" the environment! SUBSIDIES for Renewable Energy will become gargantuan and, OF COURSE, the fossil fuel industry will immediately be transformed (WITHOUT ANY PENALTY FOR A CENTURY OF PROFIT OVER PLANET) to a Renewable Energy Industry.
I probably won't be here to see it but it might be fun to watch all the deniers trying to rewrite history.
Toms effort to sway public opinion on the carbon tax is laudable.
If enacted in spite of a divided congress, it would slow down warming events at least in the US.
But the planetwide cure is tied to moving the planet onto fusion power plants.
Suggest that a dollar donated to a fusion research project will be far more effective than a dollar donated to Hillary.
ct
No. Only party members may vote in party primaries. Michigan is a prime example of the disasters that can happen with open primaries. My liberal friends in Kalamazoo thought they were soooooo smart voting for Rick Snyder in a crossover vote in the primaries. They're still regretting it.
Open primaries invite troublemakers. Karl Rove and Rush Limbaugh encouraged Republicans to vote in the Democratic primaries to change the balance. So, NO, absolutely not--no open primaries. If you want to vote in a party primary, join a party. States with same day registration are also open to mischief, but not nearly as bad as open primaries. Don't get caught up in the fantasy. Join a party, if even only for a short time. Your choice. Don't mess with my choices.
The carbon tax is a scam of the one world government addenda. We should reduce emission but the government can mandate industry not citizens. Most Americans have their head deep in the sand and cannot stand the truth as to why the jet streams have changed. It has nothing to do with man made global warming. But ask your selves why are the stars in the wrong place, why are there 2 suns in the sky sometimes, why has the Earths tilt changed? Google these questions and take a fresh deep breath, you'll need it.
Have a nice day
The Big Picture is longer on HULU!
The Big Picture, Redacted Tonight and Young Turks have all been pulled from HULU. I'm confused as to why. When I called HULU, I was told that RT had cancelled HULU's streaming rights to these specific programs effective April 1. The person who took my call read me the memo stating as much.
If this is the case, I'd like to know why. I depended heavily on these shows - particularly The Big Picture - for news and infomation. As someone who cut the cable cord years ago, I know I'm not alone in this. Please, what's the real story here?
Thank You.
Hi Thom, Long time listener and reader of your books...I value your wisdom and explanations. I applaud Bernie's efforts to move the country towards progessive thinking and plans for change, but, as a pragmatic older person, I worry that his followers may not realize that sticking to their ideology totally, if Hillary wins the nomination, and not voting for her as President means a generation or more of a conservative SCOTUS, which would be far worse than having Hillary, warts and all, in the White House. Is this something that you should bring up in earnest?
Media Fails
{… 1.60 limericks …}
Politics is ever the same,
and the media shares much of the blame.
The media fails
to rebut false tales
and report dirty tricks in the game
analytically enough
to stymie the stuff
which pols so falsely proclaim.
===============================
Media Fails
{… 1.60 limericks …}
Politics is ever the same,
and the media shares much of the blame.
The media fails
to rebut false tales
and report dirty tricks in the game
analytically enough
to stymie the stuff
which pols so falsely proclaim.
===============================
As noted by several commenters, Thom Hartmann failed to research the issue of autism and vaccines before giving a full two hours of largely uncritical air time to promote Andrew Wakefield and his film "Vaxxed."
As a Ph.D. clinical psychologist, the Child and Adolescent Psychopathology course that I teach always includes an examination of the anxi-vaxxer movement, in an effort to inform students of the research regarding autism. The false information that Thom promoted by featuring Wakefield undermines everything that I try doing to educate my students regarding the actual science.
Where to begin? Thom has cited Snopes.com favorably in the past, so that's a good start. Consider the following:
http://www.snopes.com/medical/disease/cdcwhistleblower.asp
It's worth following the links in that article, which provide far more detail.
The film "Vaxxed" alleges a conspiracy of silence at the CDC. However, one must entertain the notion of a vast international conspiracy in order to account for numerous independent studies beyond the U.S. -- mainly in Scandanavian countries, including millions of children -- that have found no association between the MMR vaccine and autism.
While I could detail much more, the point is that Thom potentially has caused serious harm by providing Wakefield such an uncritical opportunity to spread misinformation.
I hope that Thom -- after doing some more careful research -- retracts explicitly on his radio show that naive and very wrong endorsement of Wakefield, just as Salon.com retracted Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s ant-vaxxer article some years ago.
There are very few English-language sites that have a leftist perspective. Today's liberals are actually to the right (esp. on core socioeconomic policies) of former Republican presidents Eisenhower, Nixon, even Reagan. US liberals today are solid believers in our system. Since the 1990s, they've implicitely preached that our deregulated capitalism is so successful that everyone is able to work, there are jobs for all, therefore no need for poverty relief.
There is no way around the fact that, especially since the B. Clinton administration, liberal media overall have obsessively marketed to middle class consumers and campaign donors, to the degree of simply excluding vitally important information. This has served to only more deeply divide the Dem voting base by class while ensuring that this time, there can be no populist push-back against the hard right wing.
I remember when we were told about The Soviet Union using it's media outlets to "brainwash" it's citizens. We were asked to give to Radio Free Europe in TV ads so that the people behind the "Iron Curtain" could hear the truth about the "propaganda" their government was putting out. In the United States, we were dead set against brainwashing and propaganda. Now I see many Facebook posts everyday that are propaganda meant to brainwash. These posts I speak of are highly circulated untrue stories and lies. When I comment that the post is untrue and recommend a fact check and the reposter does it, they will come back with an "Oh yea, I see this is wrong", then they will post another piece of propaganda the next day. More often than not the reposter will choose to keep believing the false story they reposted. Usually these false posts seem to be designed to stir up hate, resentment, or a false sense of right and wrong. It seems many Americans are not against brainwashing and propaganda anymore. Today, many Americans are no better off news-wise than the people behind the iron curtain were 50 years ago. My advice is to seek the truth, that is if you want the truth.
I was a bit surprised to hear this issue discussed on Thom's show this morning. I thought that perhaps breakthrough research was done on this issue, so I gave it some initial creedence. But after some cursory critical investigation, I found that it was the same information that was widely debunked some time ago. Further, I spoke to my wife, who is a retired Autism Specialist, and she was quite shocked that Wakefield was given a forum to further discuss this issue, since Wakefield had run into considerable professional trouble due to some of his treatment of children in the past. I understand that Wakefield was banned from practicing medicine in the UK as a result of his professional malpractice.
I suppose that any discussion of the origins of autism should leave room for unconventional hypotheses, especially since we only have correlational studies with no causative results. However, any discussion involving Wakefield should come with its own caveats, given his history, or, as it might otherwise be called, "baggage."
Thom has been, throughout the several years I've listened to him on radio and television, a paragon of rational thought, insightful discussion, and human compassion. And I think it essential that anyone should not be held up to a standard that refuses to accept mistakes or errors in processing, thinking, or other kinds of deliberation. We're all human. Given that, I believe that Thom should have a subsequent discussion on his show that examines Wakefield's role as a person who has several "dents" in his armor of credentials.
I'm on several listservs distributing latest research results in psychiatry, mental health and evolutionary pscyhology, and autism is clearly the MOST RESEARCHED condition currently. Numerous methodologies are used across all age groups, including genetic studies, brain imaging studies, cognitive testing, etc. etc. Not once have I seen any mention of vaccination as a cause. In fact, there seems to be strong accumulating evidence that most of the diverse conditions on the autism spectrum can be traced to prenatal development (before any vaccinations, of course).
Hopefully Thom might take the time to check out this emerging understanding, here's one sample resource from about 2 years ago:
https://www.autismspeaks.org/science/science-news/direct-evidence-autism-starts-during-prenatal-development
A few sample snippets:
"A new study provides physical evidence that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has roots in prenatal development. The research, supported in part by Autism Speaks, appears online in the New England Journal of Medicine.
"The researchers studied the donated post-mortem brain tissue of 11 children who had been diagnosed with autism and of 11 unaffected children. In 10 out of the 11 ASD cases, they found recurring patches of abnormal development in layers of the cerebral cortex that form during prenatal development. By contrast, they found the patches in just 1 of the 11 children unaffected by autism."
.....
"The physical evidence of early brain changes also backs a growing body of research linking increased risk for autism to genetically controlled processes and environmental influences that affect prenatal brain development."
"The most surprising finding was the similar early developmental pathology across nearly all of the autistic brains," says co-author Ed Lein, “especially given the diversity of symptoms in those with autism, as well as the extremely complex genetics behind the disorder.”
"The team found abnormal patches across the brain’s frontal cortex and temporal cortex. The frontal cortex is associated with complex communication and social abilities. The temporal cortex is associated with language.
"By contrast, the researchers found no abnormalities in the visual cortex. They note that visual perception tends to be unimpaired – sometimes even heightened – in individuals with autism."
I am so appalled that Thom would give even one second to these frauds and murderers. First, Andrew Wakefield is NOT a doctor; his medical credential:
lhttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2010/may/24/mmr-doctor-andrew-wakefield-struck-off
Second, multiple studies have shown NO connection between ANY vaccine and autism. The link that follows has most of them:
http://www.skepticalraptor.com/skepticalraptorblog.php/yes-autism-rate-rising-vaccines-caused-vaccines/
Third, because of this fraud, hundreds of children have died, many of them unable to be vaccinated due to health issues:
http://www.antivaccinebodycount.com
In short, I look forward to an apology from Thom, and an actual scientific rebuttal from and actual doctor.
Thom, you should be ashamed!
Political Parties are nowhere in the Constitution so be careful of their claims to various rights in the political process.
Don't I remember Thom saying that most European departments of health have studied this and found no specific connection?
My -first- thought/comment/reaction was a hearty - "Hahahahahahahaha -- this is a joke question, right?!!" Then I thought, 'no, Thom might actually want to know what I think'. So, I'll give you a straight answer ...
No. Period. Full-stop.
I have absolutely =NO= confidence in =any= part of the so-called "main-stream" media - print, radio, or TV - in the US to give me =any=thing- except Corporate & 1% propaganda. I have =NO= trust or confidence in their ability -or- -willingness- to give me actual news. The easiest example to point to is what's been done to Bernie's campaign. ((If you don't understand what that means, you either really -seriously- haven't been paying attention, or you've paid attention but. just. don't. care! - - and I pity you.))
Even worse, in -my- opinion, is that the various people in the various medias =really= don't give so much as a tinker's damn about what 'the people' think about the "product" they put out. Luckily, I speak a number of languages, so I can cruise those other media and get both reliable news -and- other perspectives about what's =really= going on. Then again -- "I think, therefore I'm (considered) dangerous."
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Big main stream media is not going to go back willingly to a time when they were required to report different viewpoints somewhat equally and actual news. Main Stream Media has indeed become an infotainment industry, featuring faux experts telling us what to think.
The net lets those on the left pick left oriented news sources, and those on the right to pick right oriented news sources.
This hardens opinions on each side and leaves almost no room for compromise.
No compromise means that senate business is paralyszed.
However, European democracy can govern even with such hard lines drawn between their many parties.
The winners get to try their way unimpededed by the minoriety , and the voters can throw the winners out if it fails.
Our government is a beast with two heads, and when not in gridlock, their policies are a wierd mixture that neither head supports.
ct
Facebook and Twitter are a means of sharing news and information and not actual sources of them.. The problem I see with Facebook and Twitter and such is that you are only sharing with friends and thus only with people who already agree with you and so they are bad for movement building and are a source of the extreme polarization and siloization of society and isolation of political tendencies into cult like entities.
With mass media, where everybody is watching the same three networks or their affiliates, one can't avoid being called on their bullshit and can't escape into their own little worlds. I don't think you could have a scandal like Watergate hit the fan today like it did in 1972 as a result. The lefties are listening to their own media that has its own take on facts - and even its own "facts" - and the righties are doing the same with their media.
Will not vote.
Media's morally worse than prostitute. Don't even remember last time bought anything... not to be trusted.
Playing the same game on opposing to people's side as those FOR THE PEOPLE AND BY THE PEOPLE - don't have a clue what actually people need and don't much care - just playing their OWN GAME, media is manipulated by them, completely disconected from reality, selectively covering events in totally biased and ugly manner.
Can't make this stuff up! I had lunch with my 80 year old mother today, and she went off about how great the Koch brothers are. She rambled on about how they're an american rags to riches story. I know for fact Fox News is her only source of information.....sadly she's one of the vulnerable six percent!
I told her all about Fred Koch!
I really really hate the corpse media!
"Our worst enemies here are not the ignorant and the simple, however cruel; our worst enemies are the intelligent and corrupt" Graham Greene
Corporate news reporters will not have a job long if they do not report what the CEO wants them to report. They must begin to think like the CEO to survive and if the CEO is corrupt then the staff takes on that corruption. People that accept news from a corrupt source take on that corruption also. The corrupt source will attempt to disguise itself in a bread and circus fashion so the people of a "democracy" must choose their news carefully.
Hierarchical, bureaucratic, corporations breed corruption; they have done so since the Roman empire and most of us know what happened to the Roman empire.
"As a free press develops, the paramount point is whether the journalist, like the scientist or scholar, puts truth in the first place or the second". Walter Lippmann