The Curse of Smart People apenwarr
Tiny Angry Seahorses Growl When Grabbed io9
Raju The Elephant Cries After Being Rescued Following 50 Years Of Abuse, Chains Huffington Post (furzy mouse). More detail on this story + video.
Dr. Jeff Masters’ WunderBlog : Super Typhoon Neoguri Lashing Okinawa, Headed for Japan Weather Underground
Salvadoran Farmers Successfully Oppose the Use of Monsanto Seeds TruthOut (furzy mouse)
Introducing the Citizen Evidence Lab Citizen Evidence. Lambert : “Way cool”.
What you need to know about DARPA, the Pentagon’s mad science division engadget
GE Device Measures the Calories on Your Plate MIT Technology Review (David L)
Ohio man raises thousands of dollars in crowdfunding for potato salad Globe and Mail. EM: “To be fair, the business proposition here is significantly clearer than ‘A company for carrying on an undertaking of great advantage, but nobody to know what it is.'”
Uber Kindly Agrees to Stop Price Gouging During Emergencies Gawker
French police smash illegal Bitcoin exchange France24 (Nikki)
Currency Reserves Swell in Asia Wall Street Journal
Thai navy opens submarine center, but lacks subs Associated Press
Credit default swap spreads show heightened political risk in Thailand caused by Suthep and his mob since October @zenjournalist
Russia’s Grip Over EU Energy Unlikely to Change Soon OilPrice
France lacks the moral authority to depose the dollar Barry Eichengren, Financial Times (David L)
Israel and Hamas Trade Attacks as Tension Rises New York Times
Netanyahu government knew teens were dead as it whipped up racist frenzy Max Blumenthal, Electronic Intifada (Karen P)
Israel does not want peace Gideon Levy, Haaretz (Nikki)
Iraq
Iraq loses control of chemical weapons depot to ISIS militants RT
Floodgates open as ISIS takes over swaths of both Syria and Iraq CNN
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
Senate committee passes CISA cybersecurity bill that could broaden NSA powers RT (Nikki)
Security Theater for Fun and Profit
Banks Dreading Computer Hacks Call for Cyber War Council Bloomberg (MS)
Big Banks Want Power to Declare Cyber War George Washington
I was a TSA agent, and the new airport cellphone rules wouldn’t stop an iBomb Guardian
Imperial Collapse Watch
Exclusive: CIA had role in Germany spy affair Reuters. EM: “‘The relationship that the United States has with Germany is incredibly important’ — The ‘earnest WH spokesman’ forgot to add ‘which is why we treat them like lapdogs, and expect them to behave as such.'”
Washington’s Arrogance Will Destroy Its Empire Paul Craig Roberts. A bit screechy, but NC readers can presumably tune that out.
Mitt Romney will run for the White House in 2016 and will WIN, claims Utah congressman as former presidential hopeful enjoys a resurgence of support Daily Mail (Lee)
Hillary Rodham Clinton Supports GMOs Liberty Voice (furzy mouse)
Let’s Nationalize Amazon and Google: Publicly Funded Technology Built Big Tech Alternet
Pretend Manufacturing In The Tax System Forbes. Worse than the headline leads you to believe.
Rapid Price Increases for Some Generic Drugs Catch Users by Surprise New York Times. Only in America.
Nearly 80% of California now under ‘extreme’ drought conditions Los Angeles Times
Principals Given Just 24 Hours to Make Way for New Success Academy Schools DNAInfo. Lambert: “Andrew Cuomo is a horrible human being.”
America’s Dairyland Turning to Petrostate: Wisconsin Oil-By-Rail Routes Published for First Time DeSmogBlog
Bankers warn over US business loans rise Financial Times. Quelle surprise, they are all for speculation of sorts.
Who Owns the U.S. Stock Market? Pam Martens (George E)
Why trading volume is tumbling, explained in 5 charts MarketWatch (furzy mouse)
Short selling at lowest level since Lehman Financial Times
U.S., Citi Near Multi-Billion Dollar Deal to Resolve Mortgage Probe Wall Street Journal. Josh R: “Used Republic for sale, cheap.”
‘Trust me, I am a financial adviser’ is not good enough John Kay, Financial Times (David L)
Big Press on Bank of America Treatment of Whistleblower Michael Winston — But, You’ll Have to Read German! Huffington Post
Class Warfare
Luxury Rolls-Royce car sales soar worldwide The Economic Times, Mumbai (Tim F)
This is what happened when I drove my Mercedes to pick up food stamps Washington Post (OIFVet)
The best of capitalism is over for rich countries – and for the poor ones it will be over by 2060 Guardian (Howard Beale IV)
Antidote du jour (Moon of Alabama, the same squirrel paid longer visit when the MoA site was up).
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
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“The office of Germany’s Federal Prosecutor, based in the western city of Karlsruhe, late last week issued a statement saying that a 31-year old man had been arrested on suspicion of being a foreign spy, and that investigations were continuing. The statement offered no further details.
The CIA declined any comment on the matter.”
“It is cold at six-forty in the morning on a March day in Paris, and seems even colder when a man is about to be executed by firing squad.” Forsyth, The Day of the Jackal
(since corporations are human…)
Totally off topic, but I need a little translation help. Anybody know what the phrase “carcomiendo la cabeza” means? I’m guessing “gnawing the head” is some sort of idiom, but I’m not sure what the implication is. I’m working on an interview w/ an Argentinian worker-owner and don’t know quite how to translate that phrase. Any pointers appreciated.
And so this comment isn’t totally about me and my needs, here’s a funny video from Cyanide and Happiness, whom I’ve recently discovered on Youtube. I find this a pretty good metaphor for our current economic predicament:
The Rope
Word Reference often has good examples:
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=2695697
Thanks, comrade!
That reminds me of the day that Wile E. Coyote, “after chasing that damn bird for twenty years,” finally gets Road Runner…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLJihJ4bzPI&feature=kp
I think that about nails it. After puzzling over a number of google translations of its use in context, I’m going with “driving my crazy.”
The expression means filling one’s head with ideas, as the object of propaganda (political and commercial) or intense, repetitive persuasion. Brainwashing, in short.
Hmmm…that doesn’t really make sense in the context. But thanks for the input.
Devastating story about Raju the elephant.
Terrible things are going on in South Africa, just rec’d from ‘Network for Animals’:
“A terrible tragedy is unfolding in South Africa. Baby elephants have been snatched from their mothers and transported to a remote farm. There they were tortured as part of their “training” to become circus elephants.
After an illegal elephant slaughter, the baby elephants were snatched from their dead mothers and taken to a remote farm, away from prying eyes. There they were brutally beaten so badly that huge open sores formed on their bodies. One elephant’s trunk was nearly severed.
Incredibly, even though criminal charges have been laid, the babies remain at the mercy of the very people responsible for the torture. The court process is moving so slowly that by the time justice is done, it will be too late for the elephants; they will be broken by torture and unable to live in the wild again.
We are helping to bring the torturers to justice and the elephants confiscated and moved to a safe haven, but we need to also make sure this never happens again.
Please write to the South African president Mr Jacob Zuma and ask him to intervene.
http://e-activist.com/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=1736&ea.campaign.id=30122&forwarded=true
Could anyone summarize the MIT article for me (GE Device Measures the Calories on Your Plate). They have a paywall. Makes one appreciate the 8 articles a month allowed by NYT.
The “Impostor Syndrome” post is great. The real issue is less about intelligence than foolishness and wisdom, the difference between which is arrogance.
Agreed. Success can be a curse. When based on luck a young beneficiary thrashes around for years trying to reproduce that seemly effortless achievement. When based on effort it can take a lifetime to achieve, a process that also builds virtue. Only when it’s based on scheming and connections is the success repeated again and again.
It’s also possible there’s a problem with the conventional definition of intelligence. Too often the “smart” are intelligent only by a very narrow definition, a condition which would from another perspective be labelled “stupid”.
IQ tests only demonstrate one’s ability to do well on an IQ test; beyond that our culture assumes anyone with a lot of income is a superior form of life.
I agee. I have a relative that is very illogical. I can barely talk to her because we seem to be talking in totally different languages. Yet she has friends everywhere and I have never seen anyone that can grow flowers like she can. Growing flowers and making and keeping friends may not meet our western standards of intelligence and monetary success but it is without a doubt, a form of advanced intelligence. What our culture defines as intelligence is only one form of intelligence and as you say, very narrowly defined. We should value all forms of intelligence and even more, wisdom.
Yes, intelligence “very narrowly defined” is exactly the heart of the problem.
It’s good that the linked article raises these issues, though unfortunate that it avoids any actual analysis — since these are not inevitable human tendencies. (By analogy: viruses are a fact of life, yet medical knowledge reveals how/why pandemics are not inevitable. Paths of constructive action are revealed, which combats fatalism.) A historical perspective makes that clearer.
A supremely useful starting point is chapter 12, ‘The Barbarism of “Specialization”‘, in Jose Ortega y Gasset’s “The Revolt of the Masses” (though not to endorse the whole book, and not to endorse every claim in the chapter). Also note: the 1932 English translation reproduces some of the original unrestrained language better than the 1985 translation).
Regarding (the characteristic though not necessary) over-specialization in scientific/technical fields in the 20th century: “…disarticulation of knowledge… not even necessary to have rigorous notions of their meaning and foundations. In this way the majority of scientists help the general advance of science while shut up in the narrow cell of their laboratory, like the bee in the cell of its hive, or the turnspit in its wheel.”
Turnspit (Pachón) !
More: “We shall have to say that he is a learned ignoramus, which is a very serious matter, as it implies that he is a person who is ignorant, not in the fashion of the ignorant man, but with all the petulance of one who is learned in his own special line.”
Jake, thanks for the reference.
Of course one problem is that you reach your peak “smart” around age 20 and peak wisdom considerably later. Life is a feedback loop. The former also means many burn out early–the novelists who only produce one novel for example.
Oh, I don’t know about that. I’ve gone from stone stupid at twenty to almost half-moronic now, a definite improvement in my level of intelligence.
I’m just quoting a science article I read once. Seems our brain cells start to disappear after 20. By the time you get to my age can be hard to remember what you had for lunch
Try this one. It says brain mass decreases after age 25.
http://www.brainhealthhacks.com/2011/01/06/how-much-cognitive-ability-do-we-lose-over-time-as-we-age/
Brain cell numbers do not equate to intelligence other than tangentially…. Its inter convictions that count – biology basically has an ongoing remodelling action where inefficient/unsuccessful systems atrophy/are reabsorbed and heavily used systems hypertrophy….
When I was 13 I knew everything.
Every minute since than has been the discovery of something else I don’t know.
Yesterday I reached the point of not knowing one damn thing…
Now I begin the descent into negative intelligence (knowing what just ain’t so)
Very correct (and laugh-out-loud funny). You’ve mapped out my life to a T.
But I actually think the not knowing is very liberating. The trick is remembering it, and staying humble and open. We get so invested in our ‘wise’ opinions!
The U.S. keeps repeating Halberstam’s “The Best and the Brightest” over and over again.
The Curse of Smart People
I once heard Michael Shermer of Skeptical Inquirer and Why People Believe Weird Things fame say that the most bizarre and troubling beliefs he would hear expressed and defended were uttered when he spoke to MENSA audiences. His take-away was that very smart people were excellent at convincing themselves of untruths and then defending those untruths from all assaults.
Honesty and wisdom beat extreme intelligence at least 7 times out of ten. But since we live in the society we do, and there are no metrics to quantify honesty and wisdom, we settle for test-taking book smarts every time.
RE: Salvadoran Farmers Successfully Oppose the Use of Monsanto Seeds TruthOut (furzy mouse)
“The United States should support the government of El Salvador as it attempts to build a local rural economy, so that we don’t have to migrate away from the area,” he concluded. “Often times,when people immigrate north [to the United States], they end up worse off than when they started.”
Meanwhile, on the southwestern US border, authorities are “at a loss” to explain the explosion of undocumented Central American (including EL SALVADOR) children attempting to enter the country.
The only reasonable conclusion is that plans to create a less educated, more subservient and dependent US population, with lowered expectations and less respect for and knowledge of the “Constitution,” are underway. And proceeding as anticipated.
difficult for addicts to support anything but their next fix…muchless a country’s rural economy that will rely on agriculture to get their footing. ive read of Monsanto, & Cargill etc, use of addictive properties…when i went to search links i backed into this:
Herbicide resistant varieties[edit]
Also known as supercoca or la millionaria, Boliviana negra is a relatively new form of coca that is resistant to a herbicide called glyphosate. Glyphosate is a key ingredient in the multibillion-dollar aerial coca eradication campaign undertaken by the government of Colombia with U.S. financial and military backing known as Plan Colombia.
The herbicide resistance of this strain has at least two possible explanations: that a “peer-to-peer” network of coca farmers used selective breeding to enhance this trait through tireless effort, or the plant was genetically modified in a laboratory. In 1996, a patented glyphosate-resistant soybean was marketed by Monsanto Company, suggesting that it would be possible to genetically modify coca in an analogous manner. Spraying Boliviana negra with glyphosate would serve to strengthen its growth by eliminating the non-resistant weeds surrounding it. Joshua Davis, in the Wired article cited below, found no evidence of CP4 EPSPS, a protein produced by the glyphosate-resistant soybean, suggesting Bolivana negra was either created in a lab by a different technique or bred in the field.[10][11]
here’s one link at least mentioning the addictive chemical probability…it’s only unproven b/c scientist aren’t allowed the identification for too many of the chemicals. tho one only needs to look around…
Doritos Commercial During Super Bowl Clearly Shows That Its Genetically Modified Bt Corn Chips Coupled with Chemical Ingredients Are Addicting and Dangerous.
http://howtoeliminatepain.com/crohns-disease/doritos-commercial-during-super-bowl-clearly-shows-that-its-genetically-modified-bt-corn-chips-coupled-with-chemical-ingredients-are-addicting-and-dangerous/
“Doritos also contain empty and addictive carbohydrate fillers like MSG, dextrin, maltodextrin, dextrose, flour, a combination of corn oil, soybean oil, cottonseed oil, sunflower oil and corn syrup solids from genetically modified foods soaked in pesticides. Yes, pesticides!
And many of these chemicals such as MSG, Maltodextrin and corn by-products are excitotoxins which are chemicals added to make you addicted to foods like Doritos. Russell L. Blaylock, MD chronicles the dangers of MSG in his seminal book, Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills. Scientists have warned about the dangers of excititoxins since the 1950s.”
“It is rare that a company such as the manufacturer of Doritos exposes the weaknesses of its products in a TV advertisement. The ad accurately portrays an American male addicted to their corn chips because of its addictive chemical ingredients. As we point out in our books, eating foods made from genetically modified plants, soaked in pesticides and “spiked” with addictive chemicals will cause you to have a chemical spill inside your brain that kills brain cells.
If you feel addicted to corn chips of any brand including Doritos, the likelihood is that you are addicted, along with millions of other Americans.”
(pardon my abnormality for being all over the map here…it’s a trait ive learned to zen with’)
Aby, I am addicted to corn chips. Could you recommend any good brands?
switch to the package they come in…our sources for food are completely corrupted
“Murder is like potato chips: you can’t stop with just one.”
Stephen King…betcha thought it American Capitalist
Touche. Well said. I’m trying, but not ready yet. I’m still working one getting sugar down to once a week.
Try sweet potato chips or even Popchips. Probably not all much better, but surely can’t be too much worse.
Have you tried TerraChips? Pricey but they are tasty.
Or go to a health food store. Whatever corn chips they have would be less bad.
I’ll try the TerraChips. When I went to their website they did not say non-GMO as I was hoping but did say no trans fats. I don’t need the veggie bit since I eat lots of vegetables. I eat them mostly for the crunch. I’ll try the sweet potato chips too. Thanks for the suggestions.
‘Rising stock markets have coincided with sharp price increases for other asset classes, ranging from Jeff Koons’s sculptures to junk bonds and London house prices.’ — FT article on short selling
Oh my. Take a look at the objets from the Koons exhibit at the Whitney:
http://whitney.org/Exhibitions/JeffKoons
It would almost be worth buying a double-wide with an extra-large china cabinet to exhibit these in proper context. Ilona On Top, now that’s some real avant-gardy stuff for folks who like naked statues and such.
Sorry, but when it comes to fine art, I’m stickin’ with my Kinkades.
You’re being mean to Koons; he’s also a painter of lite. I wonder if they’ll show the puppies.
Koons certainly defines and represents the times, doesn’t he?
“Jeff Koons is widely regarded as one of the most important, influential, popular, and controversial artists of the postwar era. Throughout his career, he has pioneered new approaches to the readymade, tested the boundaries between advanced art and mass culture, challenged the limits of industrial fabrication, and transformed the relationship of artists to the cult of celebrity and the global market”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormonism
“Mormonism originated in the 1820s in western New York during a period of religious excitement known as the Second Great Awakening.[4] Founded by Joseph Smith, Jr., the faith drew its first converts while Smith was dictating the text of the Book of Mormon from Golden Plates he said he found buried after being directed to their location by an angel. The book described itself as a chronicle of early indigenous peoples of the Americas, portraying them as believing Israelites, who had a belief in Christ many hundred years before his birth. Smith dictated the book of 584 pages over a period of about three months[5] saying that he translated it from an ancient language “by the gift and power of God”.[6] During production of this work in mid-1829, Smith, his close associate Oliver Cowdery, and other early followers began baptizing new converts into a Christian primitivist church, formally organized in 1830 as the Church of Christ.[7] Smith was seen by his
followers as a modern-day prophet.”
Yup, you can write or draw anything….and call it art or religion. Don’t gotta make no sense, a surprising number of humans will buy it….(no offense to the Latter Day Saints – any religion would do)
Wasn’t terribly lucrative for Smith but it did turn him into a public figure of the first order, and got him shot in an Illinois jail by the local militia. Smith said the angel predicted this about the future of this religious program:
“my name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people.”
Seems grandiose but by golly it happened.
Koons’ course is a much gentler one, and he has nothing to fear other than obscurity.
Biggest career mistake was not founding a cult when I was in my 20s.
What Smith didn’t realize
But Koontz understood
It pays not to prophetize
Rather to monetize
The greatest number for the greatest good
Better than you think. The painting of roses has a lot of clever thoughtful treatment of form and light and an energetic composition. Not sure about his other stuff since no pics but it’s clear he has something real going on.
And there’s also a nice tension going on between the 3 primary colors. And nobody uses diagonals like Jeff coons, the mark of a truly great artist.
Diagonals. Are you being serious or sarcastic?
That’s the problem with avant-garde – who is putting on who…
serious
it’s hard to use diagonals without ripping your picture up. verticals and horizontals and circles get pretty square after a while. but the diagonals can go flying off the perimeter and they’re hard to control. see how his bottom left diagonals form a corner and a frame. that keeps the action in the picture space
If it ain’t baroque, it’s rococo. Craazy, this is great stuff. I’m glad Haygood’s putdown got me looking at it. Talk about zeitgeist!
RE: Netanyahu government knew teens were dead as it whipped up racist frenzy Max Blumenthal, Electronic Intifada
I am sincerely beginning to doubt that this planet will survive the cancer that is israel.
Here’s something I’ve noticed a lot: class is not something liberals really like to address, especially if they’re in the middle-to-upper classes. I’m not trying to point fingers or anything, just something I’ve noticed in a number of groups I’ve been involved with. So I’m glad to see that at least Laura Flanders is highlighting the issue.
Acknowledging Class in Activist Spaces GRITtv interview w/ Betsy Leondar-Wright of Class Action
Thanks for highlighting this. Laura Flanders usually does some excellent work. Excellent reminder of the power of storytelling, as well as its importance for those who tend to use a more limited vocabulary, for whatever reason. Stories take longer to relate than a few factual sentences, but we are creatures of emotions, as well as intellect, and stories, I think, are more likely to trigger gut comprehension by a wider range of people.
Lambert,
What I find most amazing is how quickly corruption became a thing openly tolerated and openly conducted. No one believes what is being done on behalf of Success Academy is a benefit for the people of New York, nor does the governor really put effort into making the case. He sees no need to explain his actions or hide his abuse of power in favor of cronies, confident that citizens will have forgotten about it five minutes later. Ethics are for little people.
That looks like a Red Squirrel. Our (introduced) American Gray Squirrels are kicking their butt in the U.K. Many worry the Reds will be wiped out.
Those damnable Eastern US squirrels have invaded my neck of the woods as well–I call ’em tree rats. They’ve driven all our native chipmunks far up into the mountains. And they’re assertive little buggers too (the squirrels, I mean). That, at least, appears to be one trait they share with their red brethren.
They are amazingly clever and agile, as anyone with a bird feeder knows.
Really interesting. In the northern mid-west it is the exact opposite. Red squirrels have chased out most of the grey. They ensure dominance by castrating the greys. Maybe we need to send a few mid-western reds to go clean up our mess.
On the “screechyness” of Paul Craig Roberts. Yes, stylistically his pieces have quite an edge–I would put it in the category of rants–but in the tradition of Old Testament prophets not John Belushi.
I actually met PCR and talked to him way back when he was in the Reagan administration. My memory of him was that he was an urbane, gentle, and very intelligent which surprised me since I thought Reagan would have attracted crazed right-wing fanatics–he was anything but and he caused me to change my mind about Reagan. At any rate, this mild-mannered cultured human being has turned into a real ranter in his old age. What caused this change? Roberts is not alone–many older generation people who were once in government are furious at the direction the country has taken, particularly after 9/11 and felt that their service, th. eir patriotism, their sacrifices have come to naught. Of course, the pre-9/11 USA was also ruled by nasty men through a Deep State with origins in the early CIA and expanding ever outwards into most major sectors of U.S. and, world, power. But the arrogance and sheer corruption of the deep state came into high relief after 9/11 and, indeed, was involved in the 9/11 events in the view of both PCR and myself.
I hope others start screeching like PCR because the evidence of what he says is clear and unambiguous
“I actually met PCR and talked to him way back when he was in the Reagan administration. My memory of him was that he was an urbane, gentle, and very intelligent which surprised me since I thought Reagan would have attracted crazed right-wing fanatics–he was anything but and he caused me to change my mind about Reagan.“
Interesting. I am sure most intelligent people had their perceptions of Reagen formed by his horrible destructive policies that damaged the lives of millions, not how “urbane“ or “gentle“ his lackeys seem to be.
Agreed. But I’m beginning to suspect that the deep state’s origins go back considerably further, into the late 19th century.
There’s a perfectly good term for the deep state aleady. May I suggest “ruling class”? (Gramsci having suggested that the state and civil society are distinct only as objects of study. The Flexian concept captures this duality perfectly.
I feel that there is a distinction between “Deep State” and “Ruling Class” in the U.S. context, at least in the way Banger most often seems to use the former term. The Deep State consists of folks who direct the (often unseemly) activities they feel are necessary to preserve and promote the interests of the ruling class from which they come.
To give an example from my grandparents’ generation, my great-uncle would never dirty his hands with the nasty details of promoting U.S. capitalist interests in Latin America, but if he mentioned a particular problem to one of the Dulles brothers, at a gathering, he would expect him to solve the problem with dispatch.
The Dulles brothers were part of the state, “deep” or not; your grandfather was part of civil society.
Both, together, ruled, which is why separating them is artificial, academic.
Further, if you think about it, who was the driver? Your grandfather, being an owner, and not the Dulles brothers. In other words, the state, in terms of constructing a narrative, is of secondary importance.
Which is another reason I object to the term “deep state” — it’s a distraction. It points the finger at the machinery instead of the owner of the machinery. “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!”
Blade Runner – “If you’re not a cop… you’re one of the little people”
Another former Reaganite, OMB Director David Stockman is a loud and livid critic of the new crony capitalist militarism … especially outraged by Obama’s deceitfulness. I did not like Reagan, but I must say Obama makes him look benign, in hindsight.
http://davidstockmanscontracorner.com/
A very important article. On the one hand I’m tempted to say, it is such utter bull crap. On the other, it’s not if you add, “if you leave us elites in charge, this is what you will get.”
The short of this is that “we’ve” run out of growth to go around (and us elites are not about to give up any of ours !!! ). The long of it is that there is plenty of growth available, so long as we exorcise our moronic fixation with the monetarist macroeconomics we’ve allowed to take charge of our world.
Neoliberalism is for the few, and as Mason says here, the OEDC report is saying the elites intend to keep it that way. Perhaps the pitchforks will change their minds.
But the pitchforks will have to battle an increasingly militarized police state that bore its teeth against occupy, and may well be prepping for domestic economic downtown.
All depends on how well the police are paid, doesn’t it? And how their families and relatives (whom, fortunately, they don’t choose) feel about it.
Revolutions usually succeed when the security forces collapse of switch sides.
You’re right about that! Even very well-paid Praetorian Guards tend to abandon their paymasters when the SHTF.
Yes. Just ask Claudius Caesar about that.
As for the security forces, well, command and control is usually a function of junior officers and senior enlisted. Look at those nations that changed governments when the junior officers exerted themselves in “irregular” directions.
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD
You look at per capita GDP growth and it don’t look too bad…..
and than you look at who got the benefits of the growth and you see the problem….
“However, the gains were very uneven. Top 1% incomes grew by
31.4% while bottom 99% incomes grew only by 0.4% from 2009 to 2012.
Hence, the top 1% captured 95% of the income gains in the first three years
of the recovery.”
http://eml.berkeley.edu/~saez/saez-UStopincomes-2012.pdf
So, the economy has to produce 100 pies before you get a slice….because the most important aspect of pie production isn’t the farmers growing the wheat, the farm implement companies making the tractors, the apple growers, the fertilizer companies, the manufacturers of pie plates, or ovens, or bakery companies. Its not the people who make trucks, or drive trucks, so that pies can get to markets.
NO, NO, NO – the production of pies is most dependent upon the 0.1%!!!! ENTREPEURNURSHIP. And that is why all the growth since 2008 has gone to the top men. Why, apparently we had no pie whatsoever prior to that date, because without these incentives and the market, there can be no pie!!!!
Change you can believe in.
So much of what we call labor is, in effect, little more than face time spent in genuflection to the local lord in exchange for eat and shelter. The differences from an evangelical-run homeless shelter and soup kitchen are mostly in the trappings.
RE: Big Press on Bank of America Treatment of Whistleblower Michael Winston
This is normal and expected corruption; BUNCO America probably spread the “grease” around to get the ruling THEY wanted!
Naturally the “presstitute” media would not publish any English language version of the case to hide the truth as much as possible.
http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2014/07/09/chelsea-clinton-makes-900000-for-doing-almost-nothing/
good link from fdl.
This American finds dynasties deeply offensive.
You mean like the Bushes, the Kennedys, the Rockefellers, and umpteen celebrities?
Also, the Waltons, the Gores, the Tysons, the Firestones, the DuPonts, the Murdochs, and, since Corporations are now legal persons, the Kochs, the Petersons, the Jobs, the Gates, the Bezos, and on and on. It’s a target rich environment out there.
Pam Martens at WSoP: http://wallstreetonparade.com/2014/07/senator-reed-calls-wall-street-a-casino-in-tuesdays-senate-hearing/
One of the money quotes: “…That $56 trillion of trading volume dwarfs the capital formation total of $270 billion. Result: short term trading on Wall Street’s casino represents 99.5 percent of the market’s activity and long term capital formation – which is the small investor putting money in hoping that some day it will pay for college for the kids – is just a side show really…The market itself, as he says, it’s a casino.”
Rubber: meet road.
Yeah, but whose dad hasn’t told his kid that at least once?
Rmoney for president in 2016?
That actually makes me sad, both for him personally and for the LDS Church. I think it was a narrow escape for Romney and his family – Obama committed his first murder on his third day in office. It takes an exceptionally strong character to avoid the blandishments of power; though you don’t really know what a person will do with power until they get it, I’m not encouraged in the case of a wealth-seeking vulture capitalist like Romney.
And as for the stature of the Church, I’d much rather the droner-in-chief not be an LDS. Since Obama is a Democrat there’s plausible deniability that (despite his churchgoing) he isn’t blowing people up in the name of the Savior, like people thought of Bush and would think of Romney.
SMBIVA has stuttered back to life this week. Perhaps “Mr. Smiff” can be encouraged to stick around.
http://stopmebeforeivoteagain.org/2014/07/the-times-they-are-a-kagan/
RE: Tiny Flying Robots Are Being Built To Pollinate Crops Instead Of Real Bees Business Insider (David L). I find this sad. Instead of saving bees, we will find a way to live without them.
Posted this before, but I’ll put it out there again. http://www.ufunk.net/en/videos/robobees/
Call me cynical, but I doubt the larger objective of tasked synthetic “bees” w/ AI capable of swarming(distributed intelligence) is a design exercise for more than the mere purpose of pollination.
Bold new world when this technology is inevitably weaponized and becomes a commodity.
The honeybee population is a case study for domestication with a small genetic pool. I think genetic diversity in the bee population is a direction to consider.
http://www.scienceinafrica.com/biotechnology/agriculture/african-bees-%E2%80%93-solution-north-americas-bee-problems
When a Canadian artist collaborates with bees
http://www.aganethadyck.ca/
is a design exercise –> isn’t a design exercise
Re: exorbitant drug prices
The French are also whining about some exorbitant drug prices, in their case, not some generic drug but a new one called Sovaldi (sofosbuvir) from Gilead (50,000 EUR for 3 months’ worth of treatment):
http://www.lemonde.fr/sciences/article/2014/07/08/nouveaux-traitements-de-l-hepatite-c-le-hold-up-des-labos_4452689_1650684.html
Some years ago, there were articles saying that Americans were paying too much for their drugs and Europeans too little. It looks like some rebalancing might be underway.
Gilead might just be trying to recover what they had to shell out to buy the drug in the first place. Apparently the drug was developed by some company called Pharmasset, which Gilead bought for 11 billion UDS. Liberals are always complaining that big Pharma doesnt spend enough on R&D. This example shows that they do spend handsomely on R&D, although in a retroactive manner. You could see it that way: big Farma has outsourced R&D to small companies, but they only pay those that succeed. Some would say it’s a pretty neat business model.
Investor profit is R&D now? Tell Billy Tauzin I said hi.
Will do. Next time I’m down at Grand Isle.
If “The Curse of Smart People” is about Microsoft, as it suggests, then the steady crapification or their products, supported by their market control in search engines, proves the hypothesis.
My family make heavy use of Google Maps, and less often Youtube. The resulting fulminations, especially from my techy son, are pretty entertaining in themselves.
Is it really “smart” to indicate the roads on a map in light gray over cream?
Must be thin pickens out there for negative bitcoin stories.
I know I’m basically pissing in the wind here and will be completely ignored, but for a website that rightly laments those who ignore the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change you guys sure like to ignore the overwhelming consensus on the safety of GMOs. We’ve been doing this for over 30 years, there have been hundreds of peer-reviewed papers showing that they’re safe. Whereas the entirety of the evidence of them being harmful consists of about three papers total, at least one of which was retracted by the authors, and another which vaguely suggests there might, possibly, be a link between cancer and GMOs and then completely fails to follow up on it. And when presented with this staggering lack of evidence opponents will either respond by ranting about Monsanto specifically or moralizing about evil man playing god.
On top of that genetic modification is just the latest iteration in artificial manipulation of plants that we’ve been doing for centuries. It’s really just a more refined version of seed splicing. If you’re so scared of ‘frankenfoods’ then you best refrain from eating domesticated bananas or strawberries as well. And you do things like complain about pesticides being sprayed on crops and then oppose modified plants that excrete their own pesticides. In fact that modification is one of the most verified harmless to humans out there. Anti-GMO pundits can’t even begin to describe the mechanics of how modifying for desired traits would cause harm to someone eating the organism. That’s a rather impressive lack in my book.
There are a million and one things to criticize Hillary for, but being with on the side of science when it comes to GMOs isn’t one of them.
There
The anti-GMO crowd seems to have staked everything on Frankenfoods, when the real issue is corporate control of a Common Pool Resource, the germ plasm. I don’t know if they’re stupid or evil.
Adding…. I can well believe there are Frankenfoods — High Fructose Corn Syrup comes to mind — but we’ve been breeding plants for a long, long time. That’s not to say that Monsanto isn’t pernicious, it is, just not for the reasons usually given.
There are many parts to the GMO issue. Corporate control, while horrible, is nothing compared to the gene pollution caused by GMOs. I, for one, would be much more okay with GMOs if they were all grown inside greenhouses with super pollen filters but we aren’t given a choice on the matter. Grow whatever Frankenfood you want, just don’t let it out. Second, GMOs are NOT like selective breeding in which Mother Nature decides what combinations will work. If the genes of a flounder were meant to be in a tomato we would see some hot flounder on tomato action but we don’t. Third, 20 years of study (most done by the actual companies, those done by universities show little benefit other than evening out yield) is nothing (especially in bio/biochem were outcomes are heavily corporate influenced and your career is in danger if your study doesn’t come out right) when you have released your product unto the entire planet with NO method of recall. How long was nuclear running before the first oops? What about the kill gene? Fourth, I don’t want pesticides sprayed on my food any more than I want the food producing its own. There are plenty of natural pesticides and biointensive agricultural practices that work just fine (except for making someone profit). Further, wouldn’t pesticide concentrations be higher when being made by the plant than when merely being absorbed?
Lastly, ” Anti-GMO pundits can’t even begin to describe the mechanics of how modifying for desired traits would cause harm to someone eating the organism.”
Due to the sheer number of industrial chemicals we are exposed to on a daily basis that we know nothing about because trade secrets and our yet incomplete understanding of biochemistry…. neither do you.
“That’s a rather impressive lack in my book.”
Mine too for someone claiming undeniable safety.
So what if they get out into the general plant populace? That’s actually already happened. Spray it with weed killer. If that doesn’t work, use a different brand of weed killer. It seriously isn’t a big deal.
And I’m not claiming undeniable safety, I’m claiming a total lack of evidence for claims that they’re unsafe. And non-GMO foods are usually subjected to no overview or study of their potential harm at all, whether internal within the company or from an outside agency. As for pesticides, the GMO crops produce them in much smaller quantities than spraying leaves on any individual plant. Which is already a very small amount. Yeah, I wouldn’t want to go drinking a whole bottle of the stuff, but these things are sprayed across entire fields, any amount that ends up on your plate at home is incredibly small. If you aren’t an insect, which is probably a safe bet, you have nothing to worry about.
The point about them getting out into the populace is we have no way of knowing, as Aby pointed out below, what the effects will be and that there is no way to contain any damage already done. What sense does it make to play Russian roulette with our food supply for no real effect? Do you do that with your kid to pass the time? If it is all so safe label it so we can make an informed choice. When the pollen is let into the populace we don’t get a chance to make that choice for ourselves. Are you okay with being part of a scientific experiment you have no say in (again, for no real purpose)? I’m not. We are now creating super insects due to overuse of all these pesticides (sprayed or inherent) so what is the use of having them? To poison ourselves for no reason? How about we just stop monocropping? Maybe some companion planting and more manual pest control?
“…when the real issue is corporate control of a Common Pool Resource, the germ plasm…”
If you mean irrevocable synthetic modification of the fauna gene pool , yes. The changes that will inevitably be introduced into Nature by GMO releases into the environment transcend attempts at Corporate control of the gene pool–which in the long run will not be sustainable (if we are able to continue evolving as a species which I think unlikely based of current trends).
You’re right. GMO foods are a triumph of modern science. So why don’t the producers just make sure to label all of these wondrous products so that I can find them at the grocery store and load up on them?
NOT. Oh look, more better living through chemistry for you.
“…excrete their own pesticides.” Are you nuts?
Now that I can agree with. I’ve also seen the claims that GMOs have failed to noticeably increase crop yields like they promised. So at worst all that’s happened is another pointless industry has been created, a new field for corporations to dominate. But that’s a far cry from monster food giving us cancer.
On a related note, I for one would be willing to try lab-grown meat. I can have meat without having an animal being murdered for it? Seems like a win/win to me. Again an interesting bit of cognitive dissonance, since many of the critics of that kind of artificially created food also disapprove of growing animals in captivity only to kill them for their meat.
What’s monstrous is turning food into intellectual property. You must know that’s the whole point as far as Monsanto is concerned.
lookie, a tiny troll with a hollow Hatachet
“Probably the greatest threat from genetically altered crops is the
insertion of modified virus and insect virus genes into crops. It has been
shown in the laboratory that genetic recombination will create highly
virulent new viruses from such constructions. Certainly the widely used
cauliflower mosaic virus is a potentially dangerous gene. It is a
pararetrovirus meaning that it multiplies by making DNA from RNA messages.
It is very similar to the Hepatitis B virus and related to HIV.”
Dr. Joseph Cummins, professor emeritus in genetics from the university of
West-Ontario
The use of Cauliflower Mosaic Virus, Joseph Cummins
“We know to our cost that an organism which was utterly unknown to science
30 years ago, the prion, is capable of jumping from species to species, and
changing its own physical characteristics each time it crosses the barrier.
This shows that it is impossible to forsee what dangers lie in store… If
we continue to create new life forms artificially, we lay ourselves open to
the possibility of similar unimaginable dangers.”
Professor Richard Lacey, microbiologist, medical doctor, and Professor of
Food Safety at Leeds University
“GM crops really do carry theoretical dangers that could be ironed out,
given time, but will not because the companies that develop them cannot
afford to wait.
It is entirely unsurprising that GM crops could be toxic. Most domestic
crops have poisonous relatives (potatoes and tomatoes belonging to the
nightshade family, Solanaceae) or are descended from poisonous ancestors
(potatoes, tomatoes, parsnips etc). The modern crops may still contain the
genes that make the toxins: not lost, but merely dampened down. Most genes
are pleiotropic – they have many different and often unrelated effects.
Many genes affect the function of other genes.
Thus an alien gene parachuted by genetic engineering into the genome of a
potato or a tomato could well reawaken the ancient genes of toxicity. Now
and again we should expect this. We can test to see if this has happened
but we cannot do this in one generation. Genes combine through sexual
reproduction; a gene that has no effect in one combination may make itself
felt in another. We would need to breed a GM crop for many crosses before
we plumb the possibilities of any freshly introduced gene. How long would
this take? How long can a company wait for returns on its investment? The
pressure to cut corners is constant and inevitable”
Colin Tudge, Research Fellow, London School of Economics
“Monsanto should not have to vouchsafe the safety of biotech food. Our
interest is in selling as much of it as possible. Assuring its safety is
the F.D.A’s [Food and Drug Administration] job.”
Phil Angell, Monsanto’s director of corporate communications, in an
interview with the New York Times Sunday Magazine
“The FDA has placed the interest of a handful of biotechnology companies
ahead of their responsibility to protect public health. By failing to
require testing and labelling of genetically engineered foods, the agency
has made consumers unknowing guinea pigs for potentially harmful,
unregulated food substances.”
Andrew Kimbrell, Executive Director of the International Center for
Technology Assessment (CTA)
“Information provided to governments and food suppliers by the
biotechnology industry is not fully representative of the technical
limitations of genetic engineering, and therefore does not give a complete
picture of the potential dangers in its use.”
“Once released into the environment, unlike a BSE epidemic or chemical
spill, genetic mistakes cannot be contained, recalled or cleaned up, but
will be passed on to all future generations indefinitely”.
Dr Michael Antoniou, senior lecturer in molecular pathology from London,
biotechnology advisor to the farming and food industries, and chief
biotechnology advisor to the Natural Law Party
Dr Antoniou on Genetic Engineering
NLP wins vital soybean genetics case against major Dutch retailers
“rBGH poses an even greater risk to human health than ever considered. The
FDA and Monsanto have a lot to answer for. Given the cancer risks, and
other health concerns, why is rBGH milk still on the market?”
Samuel Epstein, M.D., Professor of Environmental Medicine at the University
of Illinois School of Public Health and Chairman of the Cancer Prevention
Coalition,
“We were the experts. We didn’t have many of the answers … Rather than
explain that to a general public it was thought better to give the
impression that we had everything under control, which we didn’t and which
we never have.”
Jim Hope, a scientist at the Neuropathogenics Unit, Edinburgh, on the
earlier BSE crisis.
Scientists warned of BSE human health risks eight years before CJD link
established, BBC report – February 1998
“Probably the greatest threat from genetically altered crops is the
insertion of modified virus and insect virus genes into crops. It has been
shown in the laboratory that genetic recombination will create highly
virulent new viruses from such constructions. Certainly the widely used
cauliflower mosaic virus is a potentially dangerous gene. It is a
pararetrovirus meaning that it multiplies by making DNA from RNA messages.
It is very similar to the Hepatitis B virus and related to HIV.”
Dr. Joseph Cummins, professor emeritus in genetics from the university of
West-Ontario
The use of Cauliflower Mosaic Virus, Joseph Cummins
“We know to our cost that an organism which was utterly unknown to science
30 years ago, the prion, is capable of jumping from species to species, and
changing its own physical characteristics each time it crosses the barrier.
This shows that it is impossible to forsee what dangers lie in store… If
we continue to create new life forms artificially, we lay ourselves open to
the possibility of similar unimaginable dangers.”
Professor Richard Lacey, microbiologist, medical doctor, and Professor of
Food Safety at Leeds University
“GM crops really do carry theoretical dangers that could be ironed out,
given time, but will not because the companies that develop them cannot
afford to wait.
It is entirely unsurprising that GM crops could be toxic. Most domestic
crops have poisonous relatives (potatoes and tomatoes belonging to the
nightshade family, Solanaceae) or are descended from poisonous ancestors
(potatoes, tomatoes, parsnips etc). The modern crops may still contain the
genes that make the toxins: not lost, but merely dampened down. Most genes
are pleiotropic – they have many different and often unrelated effects.
Many genes affect the function of other genes.
Thus an alien gene parachuted by genetic engineering into the genome of a
potato or a tomato could well reawaken the ancient genes of toxicity. Now
and again we should expect this. We can test to see if this has happened
but we cannot do this in one generation. Genes combine through sexual
reproduction; a gene that has no effect in one combination may make itself
felt in another. We would need to breed a GM crop for many crosses before
we plumb the possibilities of any freshly introduced gene. How long would
this take? How long can a company wait for returns on its investment? The
pressure to cut corners is constant and inevitable”
Colin Tudge, Research Fellow, London School of Economics
“Monsanto should not have to vouchsafe the safety of biotech food. Our
interest is in selling as much of it as possible. Assuring its safety is
the F.D.A’s [Food and Drug Administration] job.”
Phil Angell, Monsanto’s director of corporate communications, in an
interview with the New York Times Sunday Magazine
“The FDA has placed the interest of a handful of biotechnology companies
ahead of their responsibility to protect public health. By failing to
require testing and labelling of genetically engineered foods, the agency
has made consumers unknowing guinea pigs for potentially harmful,
unregulated food substances.”
Andrew Kimbrell, Executive Director of the International Center for
Technology Assessment (CTA)
“Information provided to governments and food suppliers by the
biotechnology industry is not fully representative of the technical
limitations of genetic engineering, and therefore does not give a complete
picture of the potential dangers in its use.”
“Once released into the environment, unlike a BSE epidemic or chemical
spill, genetic mistakes cannot be contained, recalled or cleaned up, but
will be passed on to all future generations indefinitely”.
Dr Michael Antoniou, senior lecturer in molecular pathology from London,
biotechnology advisor to the farming and food industries, and chief
biotechnology advisor to the Natural Law Party
Dr Antoniou on Genetic Engineering
NLP wins vital soybean genetics case against major Dutch retailers
“rBGH poses an even greater risk to human health than ever considered. The
FDA and Monsanto have a lot to answer for. Given the cancer risks, and
other health concerns, why is rBGH milk still on the market?”
Samuel Epstein, M.D., Professor of Environmental Medicine at the University
of Illinois School of Public Health and Chairman of the Cancer Prevention
Coalition,
“We were the experts. We didn’t have many of the answers … Rather than
explain that to a general public it was thought better to give the
impression that we had everything under control, which we didn’t and which
we never have.”
Jim Hope, a scientist at the Neuropathogenics Unit, Edinburgh, on the
earlier BSE crisis.
Scientists warned of BSE human health risks eight years before CJD link
established, BBC report – February 1998
http://www.wbur.org/2014/06/18/democrats-debate-coakley-grossman
http://www.wbur.org/2014/06/18/video-governor-debate
Berwick, as noted in the article, does seem to be dragging the debate to the left. Good to see! Even Grossman felt the need to say nice things about single-payer and was flat out against building more prisons. Coakley’s still dull as dishwater.
If you’re going to engage in insults, lookie, abynormal, the woman without an original thought in her head, only capable of posting other peoples quotes.
heheee, the fact you attack me ‘without an original thought’ only proves your incapable of holding up your argument for Genetic Modifications!
“Well, it’s nice to know that the Trolls made it this far south,’ Ulath said. ‘I’d hate to have to go looking for them.’
‘Their Gods were guiding them, Ulath,’ Tynian pointed out.
‘You’ve never talked with the Troll-Gods, I see,’ Ulath laughed. ‘Their sense of direction is a little vague – probably because their compass only has two directions on it.’
‘Oh?’
‘North and not-north. It makes finding places a little difficult.”
David Eddings, The Hidden City
“In Your Face” Abynormal