Gaia: The Integral Pod - Noosphere Nougat

Re: BIG NEWS: The Dollar Bubble

http://yogadharma.gaia.com — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 17:27:30 GMT

Namaste

Forecast 2010

By James Howard Kunstler
on December 28, 2009 7:32 AM
The Center does Not Hold...
But Neither Does the Floor

Introduction
     There are always disagreements in a society, differences of opinion, and contested ideas, but I don't remember any period in my own longish life, even the Vietnam uproar, when the collective sense of purpose, intent, and self-confidence was so muddled in this country, so detached from reality. Obviously, in saying this I'm assuming that I have some reliable notion of what's real. I admit the possibility that I'm as mistaken as anyone else. But for the purpose of this exercise I'll ask you to regard me as a reliable narrator. Forecasting is a nasty job, usually thankless, often disappointing - but somebody's got to do it. There are so many variables in motion, and so much of that motion is driven by randomness, and the best one can do in forecasting amounts to offering up some guesses for whatever they are worth.
    I begin by restating my central theme of recent months: that we're doing a poor job of constructing a coherent consensus about what is happening to us and what we are going to do about it.
     There is a great clamor for "solutions" out there. I've noticed that what's being clamored for is a set of rescue remedies - miracles even - that will allow us to keep living exactly the way we're accustomed to in the USA, with all the trappings of comfort and convenience now taken as entitlements. I don't believe that this will be remotely possible, so I avoid the term "solutions" entirely and suggest that we speak instead of "intelligent responses" to our changing circumstances. This implies that our well-being depends on our own behavior and the choices that we make, not on the lucky arrival of just-in-time miracles. It is an active stance, not a passive one. What will we do? ...
keep reading... http://kunstler.com/blog/2009/12/forecast-2010.html
including:
Where We Are Now
The Year Ahead
Markets and Money
Peak Oil
Geopolitics
Conclusions

This looks like a great article for focused discussion points.
Jump in anytime!

LOVE

Re: Climate Change

http://yogadharma.gaia.com — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 20:29:18 GMT

edit...
Full Martenson report WHY COPENHAGEN IS A FAILURE now available without enrollment.

Correction:
Most of the full report WHY COPENHAGEN IS A FAILURE is in a new Martenson Report: Copenhagen & Economic Growth - You Can't Have Both
Thursday, December 24, 2009, 2:31 pm, by cmartenson

LOVE

Re: Climate Change

http://yogadharma.gaia.com — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 17:28:45 GMT

Full Martenson report WHY COPENHAGEN IS A FAILURE now available without enrollment.

Merry Christmas

Re: Climate Change

http://yogadharma.gaia.com — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 18:25:52 GMT

More to consider concerning this topic:
Wikibullies at work. The National Post exposes broad trust issues over Wikipedia climate information

and...THE MARTENSON REPORT:
Why Copenhagen Is A Failure
Saturday, December 19, 2009, 2:58 am, by cmartenson
(this is a sample of the full report...available to enrolled CM members.)
Chris Martenson clarifies the double bind. Here is a quote from the report:

...We need more jobs, we are told; we need economic growth, we need more people consuming more things. Growth is the ever-constant word on politicians' lips. Official actions amounting to tens of trillions of dollars speak to the fact that this is, in fact, our number-one global priority.

But the consensus coming out of Copenhagen is that carbon emissions have to be reduced by a vast amount over the next few decades. These two ideas are mutually exclusive. You can't have both. ...

~ cmartenson Why Copenhagen Is A Failure

LOVE

Re: BIG NEWS: The Dollar Bubble

http://yogadharma.gaia.com — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:43:28 GMT

Namaste

Tely, nice to hear from you. http://www.timebanks.org/ looks excellent! Thanks. :)

Here is another article link that is predicting a FOOD crisis in 2010:
*****2010 Food Crisis for Dummies*****
by Eric deCarbonnel Thursday, December 17, 2009

Get informed. Get the word out!

LOVE

Re: BIG NEWS: The Dollar Bubble

http://tely.gaia.com — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 18:21:24 GMT

Related to this, have you heard of Time Banks? For every hour you spend doing something for someone in your community, you earn one Time Dollar. Then you have a Time Dollar to spend on having someone do something for you. Check out http://www.timebanks.org/. I found a local Time Bank, and I'm going to join -- it just sounds like such a great idea.

Re: BIG NEWS: The Dollar Bubble

http://yogadharma.gaia.com — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 16:12:35 GMT

Namaste

Your welcome, Julie.

I just came across this yesterday. I just watched it again because I wanted to re-check the unemployment numbers...here it is at(1:40 to 1:53)...with over 20%unemployment. And starting here at (2:20-2:50)....many people who worked in the public sector, lost their jobs in a massive privatization program...the government made millions...unemployment is now at 15%.

Real unemployment numbers in many U.S. cities are 15-20%...and the Copenhagen Treaty is a global government privatization program.

more later...

LOVE

Betsy

Re: BIG NEWS: The Dollar Bubble

http://julieaerwin.gaia.com — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 13:19:03 GMT

Thanks for this Betsy, this system incorporates elements of the system described by Charles Eisenstein. It's interesting to see a real-time example.

Julie

Re: BIG NEWS: The Dollar Bubble

http://yogadharma.gaia.com — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 20:28:32 GMT

Argentina: Surviving without money
quote(16:07):

Money can cancel out debt,
social currency is used for exchanging.

Re: Climate Change

http://yogadharma.gaia.com — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 18:37:01 GMT

Another example of...Do what I say, not what I Do:

Re: BIG NEWS: The Dollar Bubble

http://yogadharma.gaia.com — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:16:13 GMT

Namaste

OM, your response clarifies the situation, thank you.

This blog quote further sums up my thoughts(not written by me):

As I've pondered this over the past year, it occurs to me that if we want to have any hope of wrestling humanity back to living within the carrying capacity of the earth without traveling a very dark road, we are going to need a social movement.
And not just any movement, but a mammoth grassroots effort that has the full weight of our wisdom and spirit behind it .
We will need to redefine our sense of prosperity into what I call "True Prosperity" - a place where we are living with less stuff, but more happiness and satisfaction. We'll need to change our priorities, our economic model (sorry, debt-based money; you lose), what we value, and even the stories we tell ourselves.
But to do any of this, we need a vision, along with the words and messages necessary to convey it, or nobody will agree to follow along. I intend to bring what leadership I can to this effort and to reach out and offer my skills to whomever is already heading in the right direction.
At the very core, I hold a belief that the future can only be great if we are ready to pursue truly non-status-quo-solutions and if we are willing to release those that don’t work or no longer serve us.
I see a future of opportunity and relative abundance if, and only if, we elevate the position of 'careful steward' above all others. ~Chris Martenson
http://www.chrismartenson.com/blog/happy-birthday-crash-course/30078

also:
Hey, American Neighbours! Just so you don't feel alone, we've got GS issues ,too, eh!

listening to Foo Fighters - WHEELS

LOVE

Calif. School Team's Success Linked to Snoop Dogg

http://eugene.gaia.com — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:30:10 GMT

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/12/18/us/AP-US-Snoop-Football.html?_r=1
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Football has long been the athletic stepchild at inner-city Crenshaw High School. Trophy cases are crammed with basketball awards. Gym walls are lined with hoops championship flags.
But the football team is undefeated this season and headed for the California state championship bowl game this weekend, and the coach attributes part of the success to an unlikely off-field source: rapper Snoop Dogg.
Nine of this year's Crenshaw High School Cougars went through the 5-year-old Snoop Youth Football League, representing the first crop of varsity players to cut their teeth in the program. The league has produced standouts at other schools, but none has more players or a better record than Crenshaw.
The league has made Snoop Dogg, whose real name is Calvin Broadus, a savior of sorts for football in an impoverished area of Los Angeles where gangs roam many of the streets.
''It is more of an advantage to have kids who played in the Snoop Dogg league,'' coach Robert Garrett said. ''They also have the experience, the fundamentals and the attitude that guys who started from scratch don't have.''
Broadus' reputation for raunchy lyrics and run-ins with the law brought some initial apprehension from the mostly single mothers who wanted to enroll their sons.
''It was kind of hard to separate Snoop Dogg the entertainer from Snoop Dogg the coach, the father,'' league Commissioner Haamid Wadood said.
But the league soon caught on, especially when fathers with criminal records learned they could coach, unlike most other youth sports. Broadus, himself a former gang member, has several convictions for drugs and weapons offenses, and if the league didn't allow ex-cons, there wouldn't be enough coaches.
''When you look at the demographics of the area, this is the reality of the situation,'' Wadood said. ''We don't condone any of that, but we look at the nature of the offense, how recent it was.''
Sex offenders and domestic violence convicts, for instance, are banned from the sidelines.
The coaching exception has also reconnected boys with their dads, or at least with positive male role models in neighborhoods where fathers are often behind bars or otherwise absent.
The dads, many of them members of the rival Bloods and Crips, must agree to leave their gang disputes away from the field.
''This is kind of like a peace treaty,'' Wadood said. ''Everybody wants something better for their kids.''
Broadus, 38, launched the league in 2005 with $1 million of his own money after noticing that much of urban Los Angeles had no football for boys ages 5 to 13. He's since invested about $300,000, Wadood said. The league now has 2,500 kids enrolled.
Broadus, who was promoting his new album ''Malice in Wonderland'' this week, would not comment.
The camaraderie that developed from playing together in the Snoop league has made the Crenshaw team a more cohesive, confident unit on and off the field. In a steamroller season, the Cougars have earned a 14-0 record, nabbing the Los Angeles city title.
''It's like a big family,'' said running back De'Anthony Thomas, a junior who sports a big gold and diamond cross pendant around his neck and who got his nickname ''Black Mamba'' in the Snoop league because of his speedy agility similar to the dangerous African snake.
It also helps team members fend off peer pressure to join gangs.
''It keeps me out of trouble, from hanging in places I shouldn't be,'' said wide receiver Geno Hall, a senior with diamond stud earrings. ''It's helped me to grow mentally.''
While Broadus' larger-than-life figure was not the motivation for the kids to play football, his personal involvement boosts the self-esteem of boys who often receive little attention at home. The rapper attends games and allows his bodyguards to let players approach him freely.
Those intangibles, said coach Garrett, are invaluable for inner-city youth. The burly coach sees his job as much about taking a troubled team member home for food or clothing as it is about football. He lectures about keeping up grades and has imposed a rule requiring neckties, dress shirts and trousers on Fridays during season to get players out of the ''hood culture.''
The success of Crenshaw and the Snoop league is capturing widespread attention. College recruiters have already approached players such as Thomas and Hall, and the league is fielding calls from cities such as Dallas and Pittsburgh that want to replicate the Snoop model.
In the short term, though, all eyes are on Saturday's championship game against Concord De La Salle, to be televised statewide from the 27,000-seat Home Depot Center in nearby Carson.
For Crenshaw, where almost 40 percent of students drop out and about 70 percent of students receive free or cheaper lunches, excitement is high.
Students have held fundraisers to buy tickets for families who cannot afford them and provide bus transportation to the game. News crews have trooped across campus to film the team, but players are working to stay focused.
''I just get down on the field and play football,'' Thomas said. ''I'm blocking all that out.''

Re: BIG NEWS: The Dollar Bubble

http://ADLIAC.gaia.com — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 19:42:09 GMT

Thank you for this and other news we don't get elsewhere, jacinda.

Re this from a bunch of posts back:
I have also seen other perspectives seeing money, or any medium, as a completely failed system.

I guess it depends on what you regard as money and what you regard as "its system." Money as a medium of exchange is the only means I know of to lift a group out of extremely limited quality of life if exchanges are limited to direct barter. Money has evolved in many groups because it is a method of indirect barter, and exceedingly useful. As such, it is to me totally natural and benign. But bank-issued credit-money, fiat money, Federal Reserve system, government-controlled money system, that's a whole nother ball game.

Irmeli, I appreciated your Integral view of the situation at various Levels of worldview !

Blessings, OM

Re: BIG NEWS: The Dollar Bubble

http://yogadharma.gaia.com — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:39:13 GMT

Sunday, December 13. 2009
Posted by Karl Denninger in Politics at 15:27

The Consequences Of "The Big Lie"

and more on big business:

AP INVESTIGATION: Monsanto seed biz role revealed
Monday, December 14, 2009, 8:27 AM EST
By CHRISTOPHER LEONARD | AP Agribusiness Writer
The Associated Press

quote:
...
...

"We now believe that Monsanto has control over as much as 90 percent of (seed genetics). This level of control is almost unbelievable," said Neil Harl, agricultural economist at Iowa State University who has studied the seed industry for decades. "The upshot of that is that it's tightening Monsanto's control, and makes it possible for them to increase their prices long term. And we've seen this happening the last five years, and the end is not in sight."
At issue is how much power one company can have over seeds, the foundation of the world's food supply. Without stiff competition, Monsanto could raise its seed prices at will, which in turn could raise the cost of everything from animal feed to wheat bread and cookies. ...

Re: Climate Change

http://yogadharma.gaia.com — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:58:49 GMT

Population control called key to deal
By Li Xing (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-12-10 07:37
article intro:

COPENHAGEN: Population and climate change are intertwined but the population issue has remained a blind spot when countries discuss ways to mitigate climate change and slow down global warming, according to Zhao Baige, vice-minister of National Population and Family Planning Commission of China (NPFPC) .
"Dealing with climate change is not simply an issue of CO2 emission reduction but a comprehensive challenge involving political, economic, social, cultural and ecological issues, and the population concern fits right into the picture," said Zhao, who is a member of the Chinese government delegation.
Many studies link population growth with emissions and the effect of climate change. ...
(this is the connection to the last few posts)

...this is not a drill...this is happening. We cannot ignore where this is leading.

Re: Climate Change

http://yogadharma.gaia.com — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 16:40:45 GMT

Why Forced Abortions Persist in China
By Simon Elegant Monday, Apr. 30, 2007

Harrowing details have emerged in recent news reports of alleged forced abortions in China's impoverished Guangxi province. Earlier this month as many as 61 pregnant women were injected with an abortive drug after being dragged to local hospitals, according to media accounts. Human rights activists say actions allegedly carried out by family planning officials there are unlikely to be isolated. Along with forced sterilization and other coercive methods of birth control, forced abortion continues to be practiced occasionally by officials in remote parts of China despite its having been banned by the central government in Beijing.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1615936,00.html#ixzz0ZUe6coVd

China makes ultimate punishment mobile
Updated 6/15/2006 5:06 PM ET

...
The country that executed more than four times as many convicts as the rest of the world combined last year is slowly phasing out public executions by firing squad in favor of lethal injections. Unlike the United States and Singapore, the only two other countries where death is administered by injection, China metes out capital punishment from specially equipped "death vans" that shuttle from town to town.

Makers of the death vans say the vehicles and injections are a civilized alternative to the firing squad, ending the life of the condemned more quickly, clinically and safely. The switch from gunshots to injections is a sign that China "promotes human rights now," says Kang Zhongwen, who designed the Jinguan Automobile death van in which "Devil" Zhang took his final ride. ...

The rest of this article is even more shocking than the quote. :(

Re: Climate Change

http://yogadharma.gaia.com — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 16:18:59 GMT

Prominent Canadian Journalist Calls for Imposed Planetary One-Child Policy
By John-Henry Westen

TORONTO, December 9, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In a column published yesterday in one of the major Canadian national newspapers, Diane Francis, the Editor-at-Large of the National Post, has called for a globally enforced one-child policy taken after the example of China. "A planetary law, such as China's one-child policy, is the only way to reverse the disastrous global birthrate currently of one million births every four days," writes Francis. ...

*underlining and bold emphasis added to quote*

Re: BIG NEWS: The Dollar Bubble

http://yogadharma.gaia.com — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 16:06:36 GMT

In the dark of night - Debt Limit to be Increased
Saturday, December 12, 2009, 9:22 am, by cmartenson (blog):

It's time to face facts. Washington DC is out of control. Spending is breaking all records, the deficit is climbing higher and higher, and the general populace is voicing graver doubts about the deficit and mounting debts even as politicians drag the country even deeper into a financial pit. ...
cmartenson (blog)

Re: Climate Change

http://yogadharma.gaia.com — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:37:29 GMT

This video reveals the real agenda.

Climate Change

http://yogadharma.gaia.com — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:21:52 GMT

Here we are...a GAIA community.
Yet, with the recent "climategate" reports, we should pause to consider the true ethics of climate change action. I am referring to the Copenhagen Treaty.
The Copenhagen Treaty, if agreed upon, will create global government. What could be so bad about that?
Well...for starters...the whole point of the treaty is to unite the world in reducing our carbon footprint...through TAXES, regulation, monitoring, etc...

This is the ultimate BUSINESS! Al Gore is already the first carbon/climate billionaire! Here is a clip of Lord Monckton, who exposed Al Gore as a complete FRAUD, warning of the Copenhagen Treaty: Is Obama Poised to Cede US Sovereignty? (4:12) The Copenhagen Treaty will supercede the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.

CO2 is being classified as a toxin...meaning, when you breath or travel, you are contributing to the problem. Do you have a greenhouse to grow food or cows?...they are contaminating the enviornment...and will be taxed.

Does this sound right? NO, it sounds like crap! C02 is a basic element of life, and plants need it!

TAXATION of carbon will allow the government to micromanage EVERYTHING we do. Additionally, If you are able to pay your carbon credits...you can continue to pollute.

see also:
Cap and Fade By JAMES HANSEN Published: December 6, 2009

Lord Monckton’s summary of Climategate and its issues
by Christopher Monckton of Brenchley | November 30, 2009
excerpt(1st paragraph):

THE WHISTLE BLOWS FOR TRUTH
The whistleblower deep in the basement of one of the ugly, modern tower-blocks of the dismal, windswept University of East Anglia could scarcely have timed it better.
In less than three weeks, the world’s governing class – its classe politique – would meet in Copenhagen, Denmark, to discuss a treaty to inflict an unelected and tyrannical global government on us, with vast and unprecedented powers to control all once-free world markets and to tax and regulate the world’s wealthier nations for its own enrichment: in short, to bring freedom, democracy, and prosperity to an instant end worldwide, at the stroke of a pen, on the pretext of addressing what is now known to be the non-problem of manmade “global warming”.

If you still think we can trust corporate/government...read:
Where The Hell Is The Outrage?

Where's The Outrage?
...
...

I don't know about you, but I am outraged.

I am outraged and not just about Goldman Sachs, but about a process that allows, even encourages political pandering, by time and time again rewarding leveraged riverboat gamblers and failed institutions and at taxpayer expense.

I am outraged that real people are suffering massively while the influence peddlers have stolen the country for their own personal benefit.

I am outraged at a political system that is totally unresponsive to the American people.

I am outraged by campaign contribution and lobbying processes that allows corporations to buy votes with donations.

I am outraged how legislators ignored the wishes of the people who clearly did not want these bailouts in the first place.

I am outraged that very little of this is in mainstream media. Why is this stuff not on the frontpage of every newspaper in the country or at least in the editorial pages?

I am outraged that the average US citizen is not aware of any of this, instead depending on CNBC, or "The View" for their interpretation of the world.

I am outraged how special interest groups have exercised their power to monopolize the economy for the benefit of themselves, US citizens be damned.

I am outraged that all these bailout programs are doing nothing to alleviate the massive consumer debt problems. Every program, virtually every program was designed to bailout lending institutions, not consumers.

I am outraged at fees charged by banks receiving bailouts.

I am outraged over government pension plans and government pay scales massively out of line with the private sector.

I am outraged that Congress and this administration thinks the solution to massive budget deficits are still higher budget deficits in excess of a trillion dollars.

I am outraged about indictments. Paulson Admitted Coercion to force a shotgun wedding between Bank of America and Merrill Lynch yet no indictments were handed out. Let the Criminal Indictments Begin: Paulson, Bernanke, Lewis.

I am outraged that US citizens are not concerned enough and not educated enough to demand change.

I am outraged that the two party system has failed. Neither party has delivered meaningful change on budgets, on taxes, on social security, on deficit spending, on the size of government, on military spending, or fighting needless wars.

I am outraged at a Fed that purports to be "inflation fighters" when the only source of inflation in the word are central bankers, and their fractional reserve lending policies.

I am outraged that Greenspan and Bernanke could not see a housing bubble that 1000 bloggers could see.

I am outraged at the selective memory of Bernanke when speaking to Congress about these problems.

I am outraged that Bernanke's one sided response to asset bubbles, letting them grow without end, then bailing out the financial institutions that cause them.

I am outraged the Fed exists at all. It is a useless organization that cannot see bubbles, that panders to banks, that supports inflationary policies that are tantamount to theft by fraud.

I am outraged that the Obama Administration promised changed and did not deliver. "Yes We Can" was a lie. The reality is "It's Business As Usual, Only Worse, With Higher Deficits".

I am outraged there is not enough outrage over this.

Where the hell is the outrage?

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com