The only reason this was a rare shootdown is that Syria has been dealing with ISIS/Daesh/whatever. Now that they have cleared the Hamas/Idlib pocket, it appears Russia has taken over the role of enforcer in the northern provinces. This leave 15,000 Syrian troops ready to deploy to the Golan.
There is no doubt Russia said, "Okay, you can start shooting them down, now." Hezbollah, Syria, Palestine, Iran are all ready to take on Israel, and Putin says the sovereignty of Syria must be protected. I doubt there will be any more Israeli provocations.
I lived in Atlanta for decades. Always found the blacks to be as you described, middle class. Actually preferred to socialize with Atlanta middle-class blacks over the white middle class in name only whites where I live now. Visited Atlanta inner city a few years ago. It has a lot going for it. Wish I lived there now.
Trump's diatribe about Atlanta's inner city and John Lewis is off base, and this kind of 'look, black squirrel' will probably be the flaw that will make his presidency a worthless experiment in populism. Whether the American voters go for a true populist in 2020 or revert back to the failures of elitist liberalism is yet to be seen.
Trump should not have responded to Lewis's remarks, and Lewis should have kept his opinions to himself. It is not his place to proclaim a president as illegitimate.
Of all the things that might have influenced the election, the unlikely event where Russian operatives breached firewalls and altered votes is the least significant. Of greater significance is that Putin was effectively ending the US covert war in Syria, HRC was irresponsibly talking about no-fly zones in Syria, to the alarm of the military who are aware of US planes vulnerability, and Trump talked about getting along with Russia instead of provoking a war. The DNC leak was an inside job.
There were two candidates in this election, a dangerously unstable, narcissistic amateur, and a dangerously unstable, narcissistic party hack. The former has no wish to wage wars. Neither does the latter, but she doesn't mind letting other people come, see and die.
Professor,
Doesn't the concept of 'sphere of influence' come into play? Iran is part of Putin's North South Transport Corridor? Iran is a central part of that plan, being the ship-to-rail terminus at the northern end of the sea route (Western terminus if you include shipping fro China). As such, would Iran have any reason not to believe Putin and his Russian successors would protect Iran?
I think Trump's agenda is obvious for those who have eyes that see. His wealth is in property. Property values in the US are high due to historical wealth creation, but Trump foresaw a decline due to over extended military ventures and an eventual loss of respect for the US as a safe haven. Trump's first priority will be to preserve property values. There will be winners and losers, but overall, this is better than the alternative, Hillary, whose priority was to preserves corporate profits for those who had employed her as her shill.
A couple of things, oh great Juan.
1) Global dimming is the effect of continuing placement into the atmosphere of particulates from the burning of jet fuels that, when stopped, yields an instantaneous 1-2 F increase.
2) Carbon sequestration via bio char is a way to get carbon into the soil.
3) Hotter climates will prompt an interest in leaner bodies and perhaps fewer clothes, which could be a good thing.
I'm glad somebody finally noticed. This is an instance of alpha-male versus matriarch. Which is why the national mind-set is lining up behind the alpha. Which is a shame, because people who know Hillary, personally, say she is a really nice person.
Trump is making the case that Hillary and her knee-jerk supporters, who have done great harm to people in unacceptable counties such as Libya, Iraq, Syria and Palestine, are in fact unstable, and ready and willing to go off the deep end at the slightest provocation.
So with one hand he uses words to say he is an acceptably Islam hating politico, and with the other he allows the war party to invalidate itself.
Plus, it is now gun owners versus big gun users. Nice move, Don, nice move.
Regardless of the technology used to generate the most efficient power, there must be a baseline amount of generating capacity that can be built up from basic technology. It's like climbing a tree, and using the lower branches to make a ladder to reach the top. No way to get down and no way for anyone to get back up. We have the technology now to create some very basic technology.
A couple of things:
1. How much of solar technology requires non-renewable materials or methods?
The minerals needed to fabricate high efficiency modules may be abundant, but they are not renewable. The energy used to manufacture is, itself. frequently fossil based and non0renewable. Without the failsafe of coal or petroleum to jump start a technology, how resilient is high-tech solar? My conclusion is that a great deal of emphasis, effort, and ultimately reliance, must go to simple solar technologies to establish a non-fossil baseline. Salt thermal storage to power conventional steam turbines, for example.
2. How much credit goes to these guys and their ilk for making Al Gore looking the fool? Does anybody talk about their ulterior motive?
Sure, it was money, but how? In his book “Earth in the Balance” he proposed accounting for mineral extraction in a way that measured the value of the extracted minerals as a loss, such that profit and loss sheets would show less profit from mining. Kochs et al mine. Go figure.
True, Ms. Cyrus says all the correct things, just as she does all the incorrect things correctly so to better her income. And also true, I would probably disagree with Mr. Duck more than I agreed with him. However, he says what he believes whereas Ms. Cyrus says what she thinks she should believe in order to garner more acclaim, or financially rewarding notoriety. Mr. Duck has beliefs, whereas Ms. Cyrus has PR.
In a pinch, I would prefer Mr. Duck as a neighbor for two reasons, at least. I know where he stands, and he may be a little bit more reliable, too.
Julian, try to understand that climate change is observed by comparing global averages, year after year. If you want to attribute the specific warm temperature in one place to proof that there is no climate change, then sorry, but you're wrong there, too.
The wild oscillations of the jet stream, that brtings weeks of warmer than average temps to the east coast, for example, also bring deep freeze to a longitude a few thousand miles away. These extreme oscillations are due to the lessening difference in temperature between the poles and the mid latitudes, a consequence of global warming, the that the jet stream, or 500 mb high pressure zones ("heat dome"). or other unusual patterns stay in place fore weeks to months at a time, is also a consequence of climate change.
The climate has changed. If you had an unusually cold winter, you will have a burner next year, or the year after. The decade-average temperatures in any one location will go up, not down.
Climate change will displace billions of people due to crop losses decades before it displaces them due to sea level rise or storm severity. Climate wars are our future.
"Dunno about there but here ..." is weather, not climate.
Meaningless to talk about the weather in on eplace. It's the weather everywhere, year after year that tells climate change has occurred.
The temperature in a specific place - even for a season, is known as "weather." Global averages for a month are also known as "weather" but warmer than average global weather, month after month, means THE CLIMATE is changing.
Every country that has abundant sunshine and access to minerals could develop parabolic heat collectors and molten salt thermal storage. There is no technological reason for a power or water shortage in Palestine, Lebanon or Syria.
Here's another option: Boycotts, sanctions and general dislike force young Israelis to leave for a better life, and Israel starts to "evaporate." I see no other outcome.
Most people commenting on this topic suffer from the delusion they can speak objectively. They cannot. We are all on the inside, looking out. Same with the government. In fact, I think the main reason they are so pro-spying-on-everything is they cannot see the big picture, and frantically search for meaning, trends, solutions to occurrences that have no meaning (yet), changes that are not yet trends, and solutions to occurrences that are not yet problems, or have already become predicaments.
They ignore the following insight at their peril.
The ability to monitor us all individually, to use data mining to predict damaging probabilities, to track our locations 24/7, to know who our friends are - all our friends, and so on and so on, changes the fundamental human dynamic that we are individuals. Instead, we become worker bees in a hive.
This will not have the chance to affect our evolution, of course, because other trends, trends that the data miners cannot see because there is no data, only theory, mean that humanity is rapidly approaching a choke hold also known as climate change. The irony is the only ones to survive will be those whom will be deemed unsuitable for the ultimate police state.
It’s all so laughable, or would be if it weren’t so tragic.
If the issue is individual transportation where infrastructure is scarce, then liquid fuels are hard to beat.
In cities and along transportation corridors, electric is king, followed by diesel on rail.
If bulk is important, but speed is not, water wins.
For home heating, solar is hot. Solar makes things hot, if heat is what is needed, then there is no need to transform thermal to mechanical, to electrical, back to mechanical, then to thermal. (Heat pump)
What we need is a national conversation about the various USES we have for energy, and the many ways to apply renewable energy for those uses. In many instances, we would find it better to rearrange the locations of our final energy use.
What are we doing? Oh, Keystone, fracking, and of course, a silly war (of words) in Iran. Our leader is not a leader.
We will never address the elephant in the room, but a stronger Iran along with stronger trade relations between other nations is doing that for us. Sanctions on Iran only slow the development of this other trade, but it makes it more important for those nations to develop a reserve currency. When that happens, Israel will need to find a new puppet.
There is a great deal of discussion whether or not global warming causes more intense hurricanes and/or more hurricanes. I do not profess to know the answer.
There is also a great deal of insincere discussion whether global warming is anthropogenic, i.e. man-made.
Neither of these questions require a rocket scientist to answer, though I have a cousin who was one and I know some. I might even have been one had it not been for a certain coed and some short-term decisions. I digress.
The first order effect of burning fossil fuel is take carbon in the ground that was in the form of C8H18 and other organic molecules, and to put that carbon into the atmosphere in the form of CO2.
The first-order effect of increased CO2 in the atmosphere is to increase the average temperature of the surface by blocking out a fraction of the infra-red radiation that encounters to troposphere or the stratosphere or the ionosphere. One of the spheres.
The first order effect of a warmer planet is (a) reduced soil moisture on land, and (b) more energy in the ocean in the form of higher temperature.
(a) A discussion for another time, but one wonders whether the beleaguered Palestinians might consider emigrating en mass to sparsely populated northern latitudes where the soil is at least as fertile as sand, there is more water, and fewer water thieving Israelis.
(b) The first order effect of warmer oceans, besides ecosystem collapse, is more energy available for massive storms.
To put it bluntly America, your fascination with SUV's killed a bunch of people in the Philippines.
It is quite extraordinary that a country that has illegally amassed a large number of nuclear weapons and has not joined the NPT wants to deny a member state of its rights under that treaty.
One wonders what other extraordiary acts Israel has taken over the years, in violation of international norms.
1. Since they broke their word to President John F. Kennedy and went for broke to produce their own bomb,
I did not know this! Always thought that JFK was a liberal, i.e. supporter of Israel. Show's how much I have to learn from this site.
About Iran from being in the global south. It's true, but having worked with many Iranians who were excellent engineers, I wonder if it is wise to continue to deny the country its basic right to take care of its own people through careful preservation of oil resources, which is the goal of nuclear energy.
Considering the declining arc of American power in the region, how wise is it to make a permanent enemy of people who can, and will rise, to technological prominence? What we are doing is giving Iran more reasons to do so.
I was thinking that a non-super hero called "Sloth-man" would effectively capture our national psyche.
Whatever the danger (global warming, peak oil, bad music), Sloth-man would stand on the sidelines, wringing his hands, slowly, until the danger had passed, or had overtaken us all.
It is clear to me that when wealth generation is distributed, i.e. family farms, small manufacturing, independent fishermen, that social equality follows. When wealth is concentrated, i.e. Saudi Arabia, Google, US government defense contracts, that regardless of the political system, abuses grow.
My point is that there is literally common ground, north of the 45th parallel, that would provide an escape route for beleaguered, resilient people. To settle there requires resilience, and faith.
It is not acceptable to steal. There is no legal basis for their actions. Their behavior at the negotiating tables, and away, is reprehensible. No excuses. I get it. (I have always gotten it.)
Never have been a supporter of Israel. Have always been the gadfly who tells other, nice, white, Christians here in the South that Palestinians are people, that they have rights, and that Zionism as a religious doctrine is reprehensible. I tell this to their faces. They become angry. Good.
It is not permissible to steal only what Israel needs. I get that.
My point is that they are resilient.
The Palestinians are resilient.
This conflict, that Israel perpetuates for the purpose of stealing more land, must end. Both sides will lose.
My point is that these resilient people need to see beyond the borders and find new, common ground. Literally.
The right thing would be for the world's nations to embrace multi-religious tolerance and to make Jews everywhere feel safe and secure. The wrong thing is to think this is a Jewish problem or an Arab problem.
The tragedy is that both groups deserve a great deal of respect. I think the Israelis behave in a manner that is not acceptable, but compared to what people have done in other parts of the world, it is quite remarkable that they do not resort to greater violence. True, the theft of land and water is illegal under international law, but I get the sense they steal only what they need. Sometimes a bit zealous!
True, there is racism in all that Israel does, but it seems to be born out of the need for survival, not greed, not in the most part.
The Palestinians also show enormous resilience. They are under constant threat of annihilation, yet they persevere, many seek higher education however they can.
Both groups have a cohesiveness that speaks volumes about the results of millennium of civilization. This is a rare resource, and it should be preserved.
I wonder what would happen if Greater Palestine were to become wealthy and secure, including both Arabs and Palestinians. Would these people have the mindset necessary to adapt to our changing climate? (Kudos to Dr. Cole for his frequent columns about renewable energy, which is the challenge of our time, and which offers social disruption comparable to the Black Death.)
There are enormous tracts of land now considered too cold to settle, but that will change, and I think more rapidly than anyone dares to state publicly. Isn't there a solution out there that might require new thinking, but would preserve both cultures and even allow them to become friends again?
But consider all that the rulers of Saudi Arabia did to have so much weight to throw around. They .... (?)
Now consider all that happened in the past that Saudis had nothing to do with.
1. A shallow sea eons ago gave rise to oil bearing deposits now.
2. Later, Muhammad lived, died, and established Islam 1,400 years ago.
3. Some people in Scotland designed steam engines, then some guys in Belgium and Germany designed internal combustion engines, then a bunch of other people came up with applications for them and the need for petroleum extended far beyond lamp fuel.
So, if Saudis look bunch a bunch of children who take their ball and go home, perhaps that is what they are doing.
There are a few big "oh no's" that our government, both Dear Leader and the Loyal Opposition (see footnote [1]), do not want us to understand, and most of them stem (ironic use of the term) from our inability to comprehend global climate change.
Civilization has been built upon the ocean floor in actuality, and also figuratively in layers of oil bearing rock. The latter will cause the loss of the former, and depletion of the later will also lead to the end of our current form of civilization. Dr. C is a historian whereas I am merely somewhat STEM capable, but sometimes history causes technology, and other times technology causes history.
Here is a brief and partial list of the "oh no's" DLLO would like us to ignore.
The geometry of modern civilization depends of petroleum to function. Without enough petroleum to waste on driving around, we all have to relocate to the geometry of the 1800's, and rather quickly, too, before the food in the pantry runs out. We will have to relocate to family farms, of which there are not enough to go around. Think musical chairs plus famine and strife.
Warmer temperatures decrease soil moisture, leading to reduced crop yields, famine, and strife.
Warmer oceans lead to a more chaotic pattern of tropical cyclones, of which the current impotent Atlantic season and the uber-destructive West Pacific seasons are but one example. Hurricanes in December and a longer fall tornado season are a possible consequence of the abnormally warm waters in the Gulf (of Mexico) and a wildly divergent jet stream.
Small sea level rise displaces millions of people due to increased vulnerability during storm events, leading to displaced persons, famine, and strife.
This next is the consequence of most concern.
Slightly warmer oceans warm the bottom of ice shelves (floating) enough so that they break up with little warning. Ice shelves buttress ground, marine ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, which respond in ways not well understood, but understood well enough to know that the response to warmer oceans is non-linear. This means there is little or no change until the time comes when there is rapid and catastrophic change, leading to displaced person, famine, strife, warfare, and new forms of civilization.
[1] Dear Leader is the current figurehead of the administration, complete with minions, toadies and sycophants. Loyal Opposition is the visible opposition to DL, thus allowing us to remain secure in the belief our government is functioning. It is important to believe that hidden forces such as big money or extra-national interests do not exist.
Kerry is bound by the rules of thew game:
1. Arabs are inherently bad.
2. Israel is inherently good.
3. All outcomes must favor Israel.
This is why Kerry can't do, or even imagine, I suppose, the one (category of) act that might actually do some good, and that is . . .
To do some good. Here are two examples:
Deliver food aid, cooking oil, tents, etc. to the people of Syria, Iraq, Palestine, etc. who are displaced, to allow them to have adequate nutrition wherever they might be living at the moment.
Deliver whatever equipment to the people of Gaza so they might have hope of developing an economy, guarantee safe passage of raw materials in and finished goods out.
When individuals face insurmountable obstacles, sometimes they go crazy. Remove the stress, they become more rational. The impetus for them is to remove stress.
This civilization has some pretty serious insurmountable obstacles: Population versus food capacity - known as carry capacity - may decline as global climate change affects weather patterns for the worse, fossil fuel availability make highly productive agriculture a thing of the past, and diseases spread poleward thanks to warmer climates. Oh yes, droughts.
Our leaders/power controller are not up to the task. They seek reassurance for themselves by monitoring us and controlling useful information we might glean, and by making sure they know who the threats are, read organizations that might trouble them.
Without doubt, there is trouble, and just like the good people on the Titanic, the Costa Concordia and Oceanos all discovered, those that survived I mean, the captain and senior officers have neglected to tell us that there is a catastrophe brewing. Secrecy is the word. Ineptitude is the word.
Out of control government secrecy is just plan nuts when it exists for no reason at all. But, here are the reasons:
Global warming will diminish the food supply. People who do not have food organize and other-throw governments.
Fossil fuels useful for agriculture are nearing the zone of sudden collapse. Sudden collapse means transportation grinds to a halt, power generation grinds to a halt, societal unrest (mobs, violent revolution) become more likely.
The dollar is a fiat currency subject to sudden collapse. Americans who can't buy what they want and when they want, become unstable.
If I were a narrowly focused president, and I was experiencing failure on several fronts. I too might panic and order the alphabets to ignore our constitution.
Considering that the US is a (mostly) paper tiger composed of a dollar that may or may not be the reserve currency this time next year, and a military that may or may not have the fuel to run its planes or the food to feed its troops, and that the Israeli Lobby tells mostly the same fiction year after year, would it be correct to say that Israel's new motto is:
Here's a thought: If your last name begins with A or B, call your senator and give him/her reason #1. If C or D, reason #2 ... Q-R-S Reason #9. Everybody else - Reason #10.
Morsi's error was that he trusted himself more than the people. What he needs to do is to use his smarts to figure out how to trust the people and keep the vibrant democracy on track.
They say things some people want to hear. They say other things that are not true, but to disbelieve the latter requires one critically judge the conveniently untrue former.
What was the major power before? Military, with deference to the $2 to $3 billion in aid? What is it now, the Brotherhood? How does he manage a transition?
BTW, this is one smart dude, with a Ph.D. in materials science. But how much of that translates to politics?
More than a few countries inhibit the free and fair gathering of the news. As Americans, we neither condone nor forget that fact, but what is at stake here is the gathering and dissemination of news on our own outlets.
Israel routinely interferes with open news gathering, both there, and here in the US! It's the last thing that we should be discussing.
They claim innocence in bombing the journalists' hotel. Typical Israeli tactic. They accidentally killed UN observers when invading Lebanon, they accidentally kill other news people, they accidentally tried to sink the Liberty. Israel has a lot of similar accidents, but these accidents all seem to go in one direction, and Israel tries to operate under the belief that no one notices.
AM's interview with Selzy demonstrated this point. During his tirade about how Israel was only trying to disable the antenna Hamas uses to spread propaganda, and no one was hurt, RT showed side by side clips of Selzy lying and video of the damaged building.
Now, ok, Israel has propaganda, Russia has propaganda, what's the difference? It's this. Israel takes our money, interferes with our Congress, intimidates our professors and news-people, and it does so with self-righteous indignation when called on the obvious hypocrisy. Israel has no shame about destroying another people's livelihood, and claims righteous privilege to destroy their communications, as if Israel has the moral right to tell other people what to think and feel, and respond visciously when they don't obey.
The difference is that Israel is a nation wholly dependent on the US, and to maintain the lifeline, without which Israel would perish through the weight of it's own hubris, Israel shows no shame about destroying our tradition of free speech.
Israel's behavior towards journalists, the US, Gazans, Iranians, and anyone who does worship them is amoral.
"Ideologues don’t bother writing in to complain about Vladimir Putin’s restrictions on journalists."
Assume that Putin did direct Abby Martin to air this story, the truth is still the truth, and in doing so Putin would be exposing himself to increased criticism, not an unhealthy risk to take.
Regarding the objectivity of RT, there may not be a single source that can objectively cover all stories. The US media was supposed to be capable, but has failed us all. If we need to watch RT for info the US media won't give, then that is a reflection on them, and not on the agency that sponsors RT.
Actually, Israel has a collective hissy fit every time someone forgets the mantra, "Israel has the right to protect itself." ect. etc. If one president ever had the courage to call their war crimes war crimes, then Israel might implode.
Yes, we all know the missile barrage has destroyed the Israeli economy, preventing Israel from adequate food and water and causing all its Jewish citizens to fear they may be killed without notice. We all know that Israel has no representation on the world stage, which is correct because Israel refuses to renounce terrorism. We all know that Palestinians block any measure to protect Israel in Congress or the UN.
Who are you kidding? Israel occupies Gaza and the West Bank in defiance of UN and Geneva accords, and it is the right of the people of Gaza to defend themselves.
The only reason this was a rare shootdown is that Syria has been dealing with ISIS/Daesh/whatever. Now that they have cleared the Hamas/Idlib pocket, it appears Russia has taken over the role of enforcer in the northern provinces. This leave 15,000 Syrian troops ready to deploy to the Golan.
There is no doubt Russia said, "Okay, you can start shooting them down, now." Hezbollah, Syria, Palestine, Iran are all ready to take on Israel, and Putin says the sovereignty of Syria must be protected. I doubt there will be any more Israeli provocations.
I lived in Atlanta for decades. Always found the blacks to be as you described, middle class. Actually preferred to socialize with Atlanta middle-class blacks over the white middle class in name only whites where I live now. Visited Atlanta inner city a few years ago. It has a lot going for it. Wish I lived there now.
Trump's diatribe about Atlanta's inner city and John Lewis is off base, and this kind of 'look, black squirrel' will probably be the flaw that will make his presidency a worthless experiment in populism. Whether the American voters go for a true populist in 2020 or revert back to the failures of elitist liberalism is yet to be seen.
Trump should not have responded to Lewis's remarks, and Lewis should have kept his opinions to himself. It is not his place to proclaim a president as illegitimate.
Professor,
Of all the things that might have influenced the election, the unlikely event where Russian operatives breached firewalls and altered votes is the least significant. Of greater significance is that Putin was effectively ending the US covert war in Syria, HRC was irresponsibly talking about no-fly zones in Syria, to the alarm of the military who are aware of US planes vulnerability, and Trump talked about getting along with Russia instead of provoking a war. The DNC leak was an inside job.
There were two candidates in this election, a dangerously unstable, narcissistic amateur, and a dangerously unstable, narcissistic party hack. The former has no wish to wage wars. Neither does the latter, but she doesn't mind letting other people come, see and die.
Professor,
Doesn't the concept of 'sphere of influence' come into play? Iran is part of Putin's North South Transport Corridor? Iran is a central part of that plan, being the ship-to-rail terminus at the northern end of the sea route (Western terminus if you include shipping fro China). As such, would Iran have any reason not to believe Putin and his Russian successors would protect Iran?
I think Trump's agenda is obvious for those who have eyes that see. His wealth is in property. Property values in the US are high due to historical wealth creation, but Trump foresaw a decline due to over extended military ventures and an eventual loss of respect for the US as a safe haven. Trump's first priority will be to preserve property values. There will be winners and losers, but overall, this is better than the alternative, Hillary, whose priority was to preserves corporate profits for those who had employed her as her shill.
This pragmatism is why I supported Trump.
A couple of things, oh great Juan.
1) Global dimming is the effect of continuing placement into the atmosphere of particulates from the burning of jet fuels that, when stopped, yields an instantaneous 1-2 F increase.
2) Carbon sequestration via bio char is a way to get carbon into the soil.
3) Hotter climates will prompt an interest in leaner bodies and perhaps fewer clothes, which could be a good thing.
I'm glad somebody finally noticed. This is an instance of alpha-male versus matriarch. Which is why the national mind-set is lining up behind the alpha. Which is a shame, because people who know Hillary, personally, say she is a really nice person.
In a massive intelligence failure? Sounds like the old gang is back, Wolf, Feith, Libby, whispering into the pharaoh's ear.
Trump is making the case that Hillary and her knee-jerk supporters, who have done great harm to people in unacceptable counties such as Libya, Iraq, Syria and Palestine, are in fact unstable, and ready and willing to go off the deep end at the slightest provocation.
So with one hand he uses words to say he is an acceptably Islam hating politico, and with the other he allows the war party to invalidate itself.
Plus, it is now gun owners versus big gun users. Nice move, Don, nice move.
Looks like Debbie had her Wasserman handed to her; meanwhile, back at the ranch, Hillary's Rodham is noticeably limp.
The government of Israel has no humanity.
Regardless of the technology used to generate the most efficient power, there must be a baseline amount of generating capacity that can be built up from basic technology. It's like climbing a tree, and using the lower branches to make a ladder to reach the top. No way to get down and no way for anyone to get back up. We have the technology now to create some very basic technology.
A couple of things:
1. How much of solar technology requires non-renewable materials or methods?
The minerals needed to fabricate high efficiency modules may be abundant, but they are not renewable. The energy used to manufacture is, itself. frequently fossil based and non0renewable. Without the failsafe of coal or petroleum to jump start a technology, how resilient is high-tech solar? My conclusion is that a great deal of emphasis, effort, and ultimately reliance, must go to simple solar technologies to establish a non-fossil baseline. Salt thermal storage to power conventional steam turbines, for example.
2. How much credit goes to these guys and their ilk for making Al Gore looking the fool? Does anybody talk about their ulterior motive?
Sure, it was money, but how? In his book “Earth in the Balance” he proposed accounting for mineral extraction in a way that measured the value of the extracted minerals as a loss, such that profit and loss sheets would show less profit from mining. Kochs et al mine. Go figure.
True, Ms. Cyrus says all the correct things, just as she does all the incorrect things correctly so to better her income. And also true, I would probably disagree with Mr. Duck more than I agreed with him. However, he says what he believes whereas Ms. Cyrus says what she thinks she should believe in order to garner more acclaim, or financially rewarding notoriety. Mr. Duck has beliefs, whereas Ms. Cyrus has PR.
In a pinch, I would prefer Mr. Duck as a neighbor for two reasons, at least. I know where he stands, and he may be a little bit more reliable, too.
Julian, try to understand that climate change is observed by comparing global averages, year after year. If you want to attribute the specific warm temperature in one place to proof that there is no climate change, then sorry, but you're wrong there, too.
The wild oscillations of the jet stream, that brtings weeks of warmer than average temps to the east coast, for example, also bring deep freeze to a longitude a few thousand miles away. These extreme oscillations are due to the lessening difference in temperature between the poles and the mid latitudes, a consequence of global warming, the that the jet stream, or 500 mb high pressure zones ("heat dome"). or other unusual patterns stay in place fore weeks to months at a time, is also a consequence of climate change.
The climate has changed. If you had an unusually cold winter, you will have a burner next year, or the year after. The decade-average temperatures in any one location will go up, not down.
Climate change will displace billions of people due to crop losses decades before it displaces them due to sea level rise or storm severity. Climate wars are our future.
"Dunno about there but here ..." is weather, not climate.
Meaningless to talk about the weather in on eplace. It's the weather everywhere, year after year that tells climate change has occurred.
The temperature in a specific place - even for a season, is known as "weather." Global averages for a month are also known as "weather" but warmer than average global weather, month after month, means THE CLIMATE is changing.
It's starting to look as though professional nut job "I'm A Dinner Jacket" was right, that the evil empire will disappear from the sands of time.
Every country that has abundant sunshine and access to minerals could develop parabolic heat collectors and molten salt thermal storage. There is no technological reason for a power or water shortage in Palestine, Lebanon or Syria.
Here's another option: Boycotts, sanctions and general dislike force young Israelis to leave for a better life, and Israel starts to "evaporate." I see no other outcome.
Post Script
The weakest justification for any behavior is "because I can."
This is not freedom, but rather slavery without reason.
Most people commenting on this topic suffer from the delusion they can speak objectively. They cannot. We are all on the inside, looking out. Same with the government. In fact, I think the main reason they are so pro-spying-on-everything is they cannot see the big picture, and frantically search for meaning, trends, solutions to occurrences that have no meaning (yet), changes that are not yet trends, and solutions to occurrences that are not yet problems, or have already become predicaments.
They ignore the following insight at their peril.
The ability to monitor us all individually, to use data mining to predict damaging probabilities, to track our locations 24/7, to know who our friends are - all our friends, and so on and so on, changes the fundamental human dynamic that we are individuals. Instead, we become worker bees in a hive.
This will not have the chance to affect our evolution, of course, because other trends, trends that the data miners cannot see because there is no data, only theory, mean that humanity is rapidly approaching a choke hold also known as climate change. The irony is the only ones to survive will be those whom will be deemed unsuitable for the ultimate police state.
It’s all so laughable, or would be if it weren’t so tragic.
Petroleum is stored solar energy.
If a vehicle runs on petroleum products, then petroleum is consumed.
An electric vehicle does not use petroleum unless the power generating plants uses petroleum.
So, yes.
Efficiency versus application.
If the issue is individual transportation where infrastructure is scarce, then liquid fuels are hard to beat.
In cities and along transportation corridors, electric is king, followed by diesel on rail.
If bulk is important, but speed is not, water wins.
For home heating, solar is hot. Solar makes things hot, if heat is what is needed, then there is no need to transform thermal to mechanical, to electrical, back to mechanical, then to thermal. (Heat pump)
What we need is a national conversation about the various USES we have for energy, and the many ways to apply renewable energy for those uses. In many instances, we would find it better to rearrange the locations of our final energy use.
What are we doing? Oh, Keystone, fracking, and of course, a silly war (of words) in Iran. Our leader is not a leader.
We will never address the elephant in the room, but a stronger Iran along with stronger trade relations between other nations is doing that for us. Sanctions on Iran only slow the development of this other trade, but it makes it more important for those nations to develop a reserve currency. When that happens, Israel will need to find a new puppet.
There is a great deal of discussion whether or not global warming causes more intense hurricanes and/or more hurricanes. I do not profess to know the answer.
There is also a great deal of insincere discussion whether global warming is anthropogenic, i.e. man-made.
Neither of these questions require a rocket scientist to answer, though I have a cousin who was one and I know some. I might even have been one had it not been for a certain coed and some short-term decisions. I digress.
The first order effect of burning fossil fuel is take carbon in the ground that was in the form of C8H18 and other organic molecules, and to put that carbon into the atmosphere in the form of CO2.
The first-order effect of increased CO2 in the atmosphere is to increase the average temperature of the surface by blocking out a fraction of the infra-red radiation that encounters to troposphere or the stratosphere or the ionosphere. One of the spheres.
The first order effect of a warmer planet is (a) reduced soil moisture on land, and (b) more energy in the ocean in the form of higher temperature.
(a) A discussion for another time, but one wonders whether the beleaguered Palestinians might consider emigrating en mass to sparsely populated northern latitudes where the soil is at least as fertile as sand, there is more water, and fewer water thieving Israelis.
(b) The first order effect of warmer oceans, besides ecosystem collapse, is more energy available for massive storms.
To put it bluntly America, your fascination with SUV's killed a bunch of people in the Philippines.
Not sure what the logic is here.
The logic is that Israel is too much like summer camp to keep its population from emigrating if Iran were to have the breakout capability.
It is quite extraordinary that a country that has illegally amassed a large number of nuclear weapons and has not joined the NPT wants to deny a member state of its rights under that treaty.
One wonders what other extraordiary acts Israel has taken over the years, in violation of international norms.
1. Since they broke their word to President John F. Kennedy and went for broke to produce their own bomb,
I did not know this! Always thought that JFK was a liberal, i.e. supporter of Israel. Show's how much I have to learn from this site.
About Iran from being in the global south. It's true, but having worked with many Iranians who were excellent engineers, I wonder if it is wise to continue to deny the country its basic right to take care of its own people through careful preservation of oil resources, which is the goal of nuclear energy.
Considering the declining arc of American power in the region, how wise is it to make a permanent enemy of people who can, and will rise, to technological prominence? What we are doing is giving Iran more reasons to do so.
The earth is not losing the race against time. Regardless of CO2 levels, the earth will be here.
Life on earth is losing the race against time.
I was thinking that a non-super hero called "Sloth-man" would effectively capture our national psyche.
Whatever the danger (global warming, peak oil, bad music), Sloth-man would stand on the sidelines, wringing his hands, slowly, until the danger had passed, or had overtaken us all.
It is clear to me that when wealth generation is distributed, i.e. family farms, small manufacturing, independent fishermen, that social equality follows. When wealth is concentrated, i.e. Saudi Arabia, Google, US government defense contracts, that regardless of the political system, abuses grow.
My point is that there is literally common ground, north of the 45th parallel, that would provide an escape route for beleaguered, resilient people. To settle there requires resilience, and faith.
Re Israel.
It is not acceptable to steal. There is no legal basis for their actions. Their behavior at the negotiating tables, and away, is reprehensible. No excuses. I get it. (I have always gotten it.)
Never have been a supporter of Israel. Have always been the gadfly who tells other, nice, white, Christians here in the South that Palestinians are people, that they have rights, and that Zionism as a religious doctrine is reprehensible. I tell this to their faces. They become angry. Good.
It is not permissible to steal only what Israel needs. I get that.
My point is that they are resilient.
The Palestinians are resilient.
This conflict, that Israel perpetuates for the purpose of stealing more land, must end. Both sides will lose.
My point is that these resilient people need to see beyond the borders and find new, common ground. Literally.
The right thing would be for the world's nations to embrace multi-religious tolerance and to make Jews everywhere feel safe and secure. The wrong thing is to think this is a Jewish problem or an Arab problem.
The tragedy is that both groups deserve a great deal of respect. I think the Israelis behave in a manner that is not acceptable, but compared to what people have done in other parts of the world, it is quite remarkable that they do not resort to greater violence. True, the theft of land and water is illegal under international law, but I get the sense they steal only what they need. Sometimes a bit zealous!
True, there is racism in all that Israel does, but it seems to be born out of the need for survival, not greed, not in the most part.
The Palestinians also show enormous resilience. They are under constant threat of annihilation, yet they persevere, many seek higher education however they can.
Both groups have a cohesiveness that speaks volumes about the results of millennium of civilization. This is a rare resource, and it should be preserved.
I wonder what would happen if Greater Palestine were to become wealthy and secure, including both Arabs and Palestinians. Would these people have the mindset necessary to adapt to our changing climate? (Kudos to Dr. Cole for his frequent columns about renewable energy, which is the challenge of our time, and which offers social disruption comparable to the Black Death.)
There are enormous tracts of land now considered too cold to settle, but that will change, and I think more rapidly than anyone dares to state publicly. Isn't there a solution out there that might require new thinking, but would preserve both cultures and even allow them to become friends again?
This bears repeating:
Probably the biggest gotcha, is the increased variability in the weather.
"bunch a bunch" = "like a bunch"
But consider all that the rulers of Saudi Arabia did to have so much weight to throw around. They .... (?)
Now consider all that happened in the past that Saudis had nothing to do with.
1. A shallow sea eons ago gave rise to oil bearing deposits now.
2. Later, Muhammad lived, died, and established Islam 1,400 years ago.
3. Some people in Scotland designed steam engines, then some guys in Belgium and Germany designed internal combustion engines, then a bunch of other people came up with applications for them and the need for petroleum extended far beyond lamp fuel.
So, if Saudis look bunch a bunch of children who take their ball and go home, perhaps that is what they are doing.
(Hint: a 4 degrees C. increase might well make the climate unstable and endanger human survival).
I think the concern is that if anthropomorphic climate change causes a 4dC rise, it will happen so suddenly that ecosystems will collapse.
There are a few big "oh no's" that our government, both Dear Leader and the Loyal Opposition (see footnote [1]), do not want us to understand, and most of them stem (ironic use of the term) from our inability to comprehend global climate change.
Civilization has been built upon the ocean floor in actuality, and also figuratively in layers of oil bearing rock. The latter will cause the loss of the former, and depletion of the later will also lead to the end of our current form of civilization. Dr. C is a historian whereas I am merely somewhat STEM capable, but sometimes history causes technology, and other times technology causes history.
Here is a brief and partial list of the "oh no's" DLLO would like us to ignore.
The geometry of modern civilization depends of petroleum to function. Without enough petroleum to waste on driving around, we all have to relocate to the geometry of the 1800's, and rather quickly, too, before the food in the pantry runs out. We will have to relocate to family farms, of which there are not enough to go around. Think musical chairs plus famine and strife.
Warmer temperatures decrease soil moisture, leading to reduced crop yields, famine, and strife.
Warmer oceans lead to a more chaotic pattern of tropical cyclones, of which the current impotent Atlantic season and the uber-destructive West Pacific seasons are but one example. Hurricanes in December and a longer fall tornado season are a possible consequence of the abnormally warm waters in the Gulf (of Mexico) and a wildly divergent jet stream.
Small sea level rise displaces millions of people due to increased vulnerability during storm events, leading to displaced persons, famine, and strife.
This next is the consequence of most concern.
Slightly warmer oceans warm the bottom of ice shelves (floating) enough so that they break up with little warning. Ice shelves buttress ground, marine ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, which respond in ways not well understood, but understood well enough to know that the response to warmer oceans is non-linear. This means there is little or no change until the time comes when there is rapid and catastrophic change, leading to displaced person, famine, strife, warfare, and new forms of civilization.
[1] Dear Leader is the current figurehead of the administration, complete with minions, toadies and sycophants. Loyal Opposition is the visible opposition to DL, thus allowing us to remain secure in the belief our government is functioning. It is important to believe that hidden forces such as big money or extra-national interests do not exist.
Kerry is bound by the rules of thew game:
1. Arabs are inherently bad.
2. Israel is inherently good.
3. All outcomes must favor Israel.
This is why Kerry can't do, or even imagine, I suppose, the one (category of) act that might actually do some good, and that is . . .
To do some good. Here are two examples:
Deliver food aid, cooking oil, tents, etc. to the people of Syria, Iraq, Palestine, etc. who are displaced, to allow them to have adequate nutrition wherever they might be living at the moment.
Deliver whatever equipment to the people of Gaza so they might have hope of developing an economy, guarantee safe passage of raw materials in and finished goods out.
Tell Netanyahoo to shut up.
When individuals face insurmountable obstacles, sometimes they go crazy. Remove the stress, they become more rational. The impetus for them is to remove stress.
This civilization has some pretty serious insurmountable obstacles: Population versus food capacity - known as carry capacity - may decline as global climate change affects weather patterns for the worse, fossil fuel availability make highly productive agriculture a thing of the past, and diseases spread poleward thanks to warmer climates. Oh yes, droughts.
Our leaders/power controller are not up to the task. They seek reassurance for themselves by monitoring us and controlling useful information we might glean, and by making sure they know who the threats are, read organizations that might trouble them.
Without doubt, there is trouble, and just like the good people on the Titanic, the Costa Concordia and Oceanos all discovered, those that survived I mean, the captain and senior officers have neglected to tell us that there is a catastrophe brewing. Secrecy is the word. Ineptitude is the word.
Yet another reason to abandon the dollar as the world reserve currency. Exactly what we need right now.
Out of control government secrecy is just plan nuts when it exists for no reason at all. But, here are the reasons:
Global warming will diminish the food supply. People who do not have food organize and other-throw governments.
Fossil fuels useful for agriculture are nearing the zone of sudden collapse. Sudden collapse means transportation grinds to a halt, power generation grinds to a halt, societal unrest (mobs, violent revolution) become more likely.
The dollar is a fiat currency subject to sudden collapse. Americans who can't buy what they want and when they want, become unstable.
If I were a narrowly focused president, and I was experiencing failure on several fronts. I too might panic and order the alphabets to ignore our constitution.
Israel would oppose such an idea because it would lead to the dilution of Israel's "character."
American oil despots assume that solar requires desert. Their plan is to deny global warming until most of the lower 48 is a desert, then they'll act.
Forgot to mention that the entire trajectory of this empire is wrong and any information to prove that this is so is classified.
I predict that finishing the pipeline will be a cakewalk.
What a pack of douche bags!
Considering that the US is a (mostly) paper tiger composed of a dollar that may or may not be the reserve currency this time next year, and a military that may or may not have the fuel to run its planes or the food to feed its troops, and that the Israeli Lobby tells mostly the same fiction year after year, would it be correct to say that Israel's new motto is:
Tell Lies to Weakness?
The center of the biggest concentration appears to be near Steubenville, Oh. Just saying.
Here's a thought: If your last name begins with A or B, call your senator and give him/her reason #1. If C or D, reason #2 ... Q-R-S Reason #9. Everybody else - Reason #10.
Q. What would help alleviate this tragedy?
A. Cohesive UN Security Council action.
Q. Why can't we have that?
I think the chronological order was
1) Israel denounces the unilateral UN vote (?)
2) Israel announces 3,000 new (illegal) settlement homes.
Listened to the Diane Rheme show; nothing but Israeli apologists who seemed to find the worst in all Arab developments. Sour grapes.
Look for Palestinians to effectively turn Israel into a prison camp via the threat of prosecution throughout the civilized world.
Has Israel ever considered that it is wrong?
Some US spokes-lackey said, "The road to statehood does not lay in getting UN recognition."
I think that is the most asinine thing anyone has said (recently)/.
The only reason I can think that Iran would need a nuclear weapon for would be to protect it's nuclear energy program from a strike by jealous Israel.
Morsi's error was that he trusted himself more than the people. What he needs to do is to use his smarts to figure out how to trust the people and keep the vibrant democracy on track.
They say things some people want to hear. They say other things that are not true, but to disbelieve the latter requires one critically judge the conveniently untrue former.
An example of "one instance sets the rule."
(From a conversation with former Undersecretary of Dept. of Energy)
About 50% of home energy cost goes to heating water. that's low tech. If we had leadership, this would have been dealt with.
What was the major power before? Military, with deference to the $2 to $3 billion in aid? What is it now, the Brotherhood? How does he manage a transition?
BTW, this is one smart dude, with a Ph.D. in materials science. But how much of that translates to politics?
Israel’s behavior towards journalists, the US, Gazans, Iranians, and anyone who does not worship them is amoral.
More than a few countries inhibit the free and fair gathering of the news. As Americans, we neither condone nor forget that fact, but what is at stake here is the gathering and dissemination of news on our own outlets.
Israel routinely interferes with open news gathering, both there, and here in the US! It's the last thing that we should be discussing.
They claim innocence in bombing the journalists' hotel. Typical Israeli tactic. They accidentally killed UN observers when invading Lebanon, they accidentally kill other news people, they accidentally tried to sink the Liberty. Israel has a lot of similar accidents, but these accidents all seem to go in one direction, and Israel tries to operate under the belief that no one notices.
AM's interview with Selzy demonstrated this point. During his tirade about how Israel was only trying to disable the antenna Hamas uses to spread propaganda, and no one was hurt, RT showed side by side clips of Selzy lying and video of the damaged building.
Now, ok, Israel has propaganda, Russia has propaganda, what's the difference? It's this. Israel takes our money, interferes with our Congress, intimidates our professors and news-people, and it does so with self-righteous indignation when called on the obvious hypocrisy. Israel has no shame about destroying another people's livelihood, and claims righteous privilege to destroy their communications, as if Israel has the moral right to tell other people what to think and feel, and respond visciously when they don't obey.
The difference is that Israel is a nation wholly dependent on the US, and to maintain the lifeline, without which Israel would perish through the weight of it's own hubris, Israel shows no shame about destroying our tradition of free speech.
Israel's behavior towards journalists, the US, Gazans, Iranians, and anyone who does worship them is amoral.
Their national symbol should be the lamprey eel.
A lie is any statement that obscures the whole truth. We concur.
My point is that in this instance, RT is not obscuring anything even at the risk of comparison to the lack of comparison with Russia's own excesses.
Link to follow-up interview with Israeli spokesman Alex Selzy
(Another chance to watch Abbie Martin)
"Ideologues don’t bother writing in to complain about Vladimir Putin’s restrictions on journalists."
Assume that Putin did direct Abby Martin to air this story, the truth is still the truth, and in doing so Putin would be exposing himself to increased criticism, not an unhealthy risk to take.
OTQ: Why are all the Russian girls so hot?
Regarding the objectivity of RT, there may not be a single source that can objectively cover all stories. The US media was supposed to be capable, but has failed us all. If we need to watch RT for info the US media won't give, then that is a reflection on them, and not on the agency that sponsors RT.
1) I believe that should go into the OED as an example of "smackdown."
2) RT is now my favorite channel.
3) Abby Martin is hot.
But I do believe that the problem is Zionism.
Actually, Israel has a collective hissy fit every time someone forgets the mantra, "Israel has the right to protect itself." ect. etc. If one president ever had the courage to call their war crimes war crimes, then Israel might implode.
Right, and Israel's so-called right to murder and steal is "a light unto nations."
Yes, we all know the missile barrage has destroyed the Israeli economy, preventing Israel from adequate food and water and causing all its Jewish citizens to fear they may be killed without notice. We all know that Israel has no representation on the world stage, which is correct because Israel refuses to renounce terrorism. We all know that Palestinians block any measure to protect Israel in Congress or the UN.
Who are you kidding? Israel occupies Gaza and the West Bank in defiance of UN and Geneva accords, and it is the right of the people of Gaza to defend themselves.
Israel is a war crime.
So, some people are more equal than other people, is that what you mean to say?
Morsi could build a port at Aresh and a rail ine into Gaza. Might actually make money.
Exactly why does Israel have a right to defend itself? It came into being through theft and dirty deals, and it commits war crimes regularly.