"Mysterious" Extreme Warming of Oceans Baffles Scientists

"There are none so blind as those who will not see."  Sadly, the entire global population is suffering from the blindness and greed of the world's most powerful. 

"Mysterious" Extreme Warming Of Oceans Baffles Scientists

By Dane Wigington

 

 

It is increasingly hard to find words which accurately describe the willful blindness of the so called "science" community. How high a price has the planet and global populations already paid for the behavior of the science community? No matter how enormous the global geoengineering "elephant in the room" becomes, no matter how much destruction and devastation the ongoing climate engineering assault causes, the effects are all a big "mystery" to the "experts". Ocean temperatures are skyrocketing along both coasts of the North American continent causing marine ecosystem collapse (see article posted further down on the page at the link below). The experts correctly acknowledge that part of the warming is linked to carbon emissions, but then go on to admit "there may also be another explanation, so far undiscovered". The seas are warming so rapidly that researchers must constantly upgrade charts. The extreme ocean warming off the coasts of North America is clearly visible in the current departure from average sea temperature map at the link below.

 

Climate engineering is the most dire and immediate threat to the oceans, to us, and to the planet's life support systems as a whole. Short of nuclear cataclysm, climate engineering is the greatest threat we face. Many blame Fukushima for all the die-off of the Eastern Pacific, but there is much more to what is unfolding. The toxic heavy metal geoengineering aerosols being sprayed from jet aircraft (and the radio frequency transmissions used to manipulate them) are completely altering atmospheric convection, wind currents, ocean currents, ocean "mixing", and the hydrological cycle as a whole. The climate engineers have actively tried to suppress the El Niño event since at least 2007. The climate engineering is forcing ocean stratification which is contributing to an increasing "canfield ocean" condition.

Our oceans are dying, if the oceans die, we die. Though there are countless forms of anthropogenic damage to our biosphere, academia has so far not shown a shred of courage in regard to openly acknowledging the geoengineering assault on the planet. The recently published article below is yet more proof of this fact. It is up to each and every one of us to expose this criminal denial and thus bring climate engineering to light once and for all.

 

Click here for full article >>

 

Dane Wigington
geoengineeringwatch.org

 

http://www.geoengineeringwatch.org/mysterious-extreme-warming-of-oceans-baffles-scientists/

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Former Air Force Environmental Hygienist blows the whistle on chemtrails.

 Talk about serendipity!  Just as I sent out 2 e-mails regarding chemtrails, a new e-mail came in for me -- subject, chemtrails and with a great video.

EXCELLENT VIDEO INTERVIEW OF A WHISTLEBLOWER re. CHEMTRAILS -- only 7 minutes long, Please Watch, especially if  you are a skeptic.

This woman is definitely not a conspiracy theorist nutcase -- she is a well-grounded, intelligent, concerned bio-environmental industrial hygienist, who performed that important job for many years with the Air Force.  She started out as a non-believer and wanted to debunk the chemtrail claims by those she thought were conspiracy nuts.  To her great shock and surprise, her investigation and test results changed her mind about everything.  When she started asking questions and persisted in trying to find answers....well, she tells her story better than I can. Suffice to say she received serious threats.  The video is only 7 minutes long and is well worth the watching for educational purposes!

Video: (7 and a half minutes) Former Air Force Environmental Hygienist blows the whistle on chemtrails.

 

Chemtrails: Kristen Meghan US Air Force Whistle-Blower 

 

http://www.ForbiddenKnowledgeTV.com/page/27350.html 

Luke Rudkowski from WeAreChange.org
interviews Kristen Meghan Edwards, who
worked as US Air Force Environmental
Hygienist for a decade. She describes the
details of how she accidentally uncovered
a chemtrail program and how she was
threatened with being institutionalized and
of losing custody of her child - for simply
carrying out the duties of her job
description.

She left the military soon afterwards and
has come forward as a chemtrail
whistleblower. She speculates here as to
the various purposes, applications and
motivations behind the spraying of
chemtrails.

She says that she feels safe discussing
chemtrails outside of the military because
they remain the butt of jokes for many
and are still not taken seriously by the
majority.  Unfortunately.

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Truth about where the GOP has come: a day of reckoning is upon them

Though perhaps too coarsely put, there is MUCH truth in the following article that states the political picture like it is, speaking plainly and accurately about the GOP and its presidential hopefuls.  Try as they might, the right wing can't any longer hold back true Christian principles that are being enacted by the Supreme Court for the people of our country.  Right wingers haven't noticed, because they live in an impenetrable bubble world of their own, that the majority of our country's people are not on their bandwagon of racism, hatred and ignorance.  Thankfully, the majority has open minds and hearts and can detect those negative qualities when they see them being championed and practiced by the right wing. 

Now, the next step for the majority is to be able to detect deceptive rhetoric spewed out by presidential candidates on BOTH sides of the political spectrum. We must, as a nation of voters, see through empty promises, immediately to be broken on attainment of the White House.  This discernment will lead us away from candidates like all the present GOP candidates and Hillary Clinton -- to truthful authentic candidates like Bernie Sanders, a real man of the people, dedicated to bringing back a better life for the middle class -- and calling out the wealthy elite corporatists who have usurped democracy and made our country into an oligarchy.  Capitalism has gone mad and off the charts in favoring the rich, under the rule of the GOP and the elite string-pullers who own the Congress, making them dance to the corporate tune. With even Pope Francis loudly siding with the common people, it's finally time to sweep the decks clean and throw the elitist assholes out!

As Bernie so sensibly says, "At a time when 99 percent of all new income is going to the top one percent, and when the top one-tenth of the one percent owns almost as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent, maybe it's time for a political shakeup in this country and to go beyond establishment politics.  Countries in Denmark and Norway and Sweden, they are very democratic countries. Their voter turnout is higher. Health care is the right of all people. College education and graduate school is free. In those countries, retirement benefits are stronger than in the United States of America.  What's wrong when you have more income equality and a stronger middle class, a higher minimum wage than we do and are stronger on the environment? We do a lot in our country which is good but we can learn from other countries. We have the highest rate of childhood poverty of any country on Earth at the same time as we're seeing a proliferation of millionaires and billionaires. I don't think that's what America is about." 

YAY, Bernie! A man of the people! He's got my vote!

THE GOP ISN'T IN TROUBLE BECAUSE OF THEIR RACIST BASE: THEY'RE IN TROUBLE BECAUSE THEY'RE ASSHOLES
By Trogg

Conservatives — whose week went bad when retailers stopped selling southern treason flags before turning unbearable when the Supreme Court re-shoved affordable health care down America's throat today  — are in a bit of a slump. After being smacked across the snout with a rolled-up copy of Modern Etiquette and told it was considered déclassé to wave a Confederate flag while killing black churchgoers, they are doing a little soul searching and discovering that their soul looks like a raisin that fell under the refrigerator over a year ago.

According to Matt Lewis at The Daily Beast, Republicans need to take a hard look at this whole dogwhistlin', red-meat tossin', hunkerin' down in the dust with southern yahoos and talking about them thar obstreperous and uppity colored folk.

The injection of Southerners into the Republican coalition—a coalition they ultimately came to dominate—couldn't help but change the image of the GOP. There were racial, cultural, political, and even religious implications. Republicans captured the South, yes, but the South also captured the GOP. There were no doubt many salutary benefits to this arrangement—most obviously, an electoral boon that lasted for decades. But it also guaranteed we would eventually see a day of reckoning.

Lewis then goes on to soft-peddle the "Southern Strategy," writing "Whether or not you accept that this was an intentional strategy…"

It almost as if he is blissfully unaware of the late campaign wizard Lee Atwater bluntly describing it no uncertain terms as the way to the promised land.  (Atwater died of brain cancer and on his deathbed repented for all the dirty tricks/lies he was responsible for in political fights.

Now the full interview, 42 minutes long, has been unearthed. Atwater's "n-gger, n-gger, n-gger" quote has emerged as a kind of Rosetta Stone for unlocking the political language the American right has been using for decades to siphon off white voters, especially in the South, from their formerly traditional home in the Democratic Party. Here is Atwater to explain it for the dim at heart:

You start out in 1954 by saying, "N*gger, n*gger, n*gger." By 1968 you can't say "n*gger"—that hurts you, backfires. So you say stuff like, uh, forced busing, states' rights, and all that stuff, and you're getting so abstract. Now, you're talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you're talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is, blacks get hurt worse than whites.… "We want to cut this," is much more abstract than even the busing thing, uh, and a hell of a lot more abstract than "N*gger, n*gger."

I can see how someone might find that unclear when their thesis is dependent upon pretending it doesn't exist — but let's move on.

Lewis is concerned that, having allowed  their Confederate flag-waving crazy cousins into a Republican big tent that is whiter than a Wes Anderson movie, the Republicans can't get their message heard over all of the yee-hawing, drunken political fistfights, and guns a'shootin' into the air.

So here's what the GOP has to figure out: How do they continue to get the Bubba vote while shedding appeals to the cultural symbolism of the past? How do they sell their conservative ideas about free markets, strong national defense, and conservative family values to 21st-century Americans?

Here is the problem with that.

That is what Romney ran on in 2012 and the electorate was all, "Nah, we'll pass" and Romney at least had the virtue of seeming like a decent –albeit out of touch — guy with sincerely held beliefs that were equally out of touch with anyone not still living in the 50's.

This election go-around the party bus is top-heavy with smarmy assholes like Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee, and Scott Walker, insincere assholes like Rand Paul and Jeb Bush, dumb assholes like Rick Perry, and executive assholes like Donald Trump and Carly Fiorina. To his credit, Marco Rubio to this point only seems like a sweaty overachiever, but the debates may push him into belching forth something equally assholish.

The problem for the GOP is both the medium and the message.  And even if they can somehow tamp down the party's inherent racism –which is a feature and not a bug — in an election that most likely won't feature a person of the dusky hue, they're still going to have to explain that giving more tax cuts to the rich, starting up a few new wars, stripping millions of people of healthcare benefits, while trashing women, minorities, seniors, the poor, unions, gays, and science is what America is yearning for.

Good luck with that, guys. See you on the other side.

In the meantime, they'll have to deal with the more virulent form of racism that under-girds the party and bubbled up to the surface like raw sewage from a broken pipe after Obama was elected, hoping to return to those halcyon days when the movement expressed their bigoty with more finesse and grace.

If not, well: you go to war with the racists you have, not the racists you wish you had.

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Matt Damon Amazing Speech On Our Evil World - 4-minute Video

Wow!  Why can't Matt be President????????  Or someone like him????????????   We need a revolution in this country -- and in the world!

Matt Damon Amazing Speech On Our Evil World - Vid

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Watch Jon Stewart's appraisal of Donald Trump -- BEST YET!

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/06/watch-jon-stewarts-hilarious-smackdown-of-donald-trump-is-his-best-yet/

 I love Jon Stewart's assessment that Trump actually makes some of the other crazy GOP candidates look reasonable. (~.~) 

Frankly, if I were a Republican looking at the slate of candidates on their side, I would be bolting from that tent as fast as humanly possible.  But I'm sure many of the right wingers like Trump--and Cruz--and Walker--and Fiorina--and Carson....on and on and on, throughout all the 20 candidates who will be duking it out with each other for the nomination. I'm sure Tea Party types love some of the Donald's ideas and think they are workable--even if their other hero Bill O'Reilly doesn't believe the proposal of making the Mexican government pay for a giant wall all the way across the entire border is particularly viable.  The Donald trump-ets his ideas -- and his admirers listen in awe at his genius. 

However, for the rest of us:  Just when you think it couldn't get worse than Sarah Palin, someone in the right wing steps up to prove you wrong.  Trump is one of those someones, and is a fascinating sight to behold (~.~) with that strange furry animal sitting on top of his head.  Pass the popcorn, folks; we are in for a rousing full-blown circus show this time around--and the clown car is already chugging in, delivering the clowns to the center ring.

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What Will We Do Without Jon Stewart?

Have you ever tried to have a sensible conversation with a right wing Tea Party enthusiast? One who thinks Bush and Cheney were a terrific president/duo?  One who thinks Donald Rumsfeld did a great job and thought Sarah Palin would make a fantastic President?  One who still thinks going into Iraq was a smart decision and that Iraq was responsible for the 9-11 attack in NY City?  Have you asked yourself, as I do, is their habit of shouting over proven, historical facts and logic a symptom of so much fear that they can never accept correction, even by provable truths?  Are they just too fearful and stubborn to learn from mistakes or even admit them?  As Jon Stewart sighs:  Is it futile to try to pin these persons down?  No matter what evidence, no matter what arguments or historical facts you put in front of these people, they think learning curves are for pussies.

Millions of us will miss Jon Stewart for the truth he brought to news, even though he made no claims to being a journalist. Notwithstanding, he is the best purveyor of Truth on the airwaves today, and his Daily Show reports will be sorely missed as he exits that venue and enters another.  The following essay puts forth the thoughts and feelings many of us share with Jon and about him:

WHAT WILL WE DO WITHOUT JON STEWART?
By Marty Kaplan

As his last show approaches, Jon Stewart himself has been turning the following question inside out: We may laugh at the emperor's nakedness, but so what? He's still emperor. A montage of clips can eviscerate hypocrisy. Wit can slice the stuffing from a bully. Evidence can unmask ignorance; analysis can debunk deception; and sometimes a pun or a snort can kick a candidate or a correspondent in the kishkes. But really: besides a little laughter making us feel a little better, what difference does that make to our lives? With the end of his 17-year run in sight, that's the doubt Stewart himself has been wrestling with.

To be sure, his swansong is also providing comedy. "Thank you, Donald Trump, for making my last six weeks my best six weeks," he said when the imaginary billionaire announced his bid for the Republican presidential nomination. It seemed to surprise Stewart when the line drew a moan of protest from the audience, as if to say, No, Jon, it's not funny that you're leaving us. His response: "No, he's putting me in some kind of comedy hospice where all I'm getting is just straight morphine."

Stewart Unbound has no fear of alienating prospective guests. "Who knew," he said, "all you had to do to fire up Harry Reid - the human equivalent of dry toast - was mention trade agreements? If I'd have known that, I'd have mentioned it earlier and kept myself from falling asleep every time I interviewed him." The intake of breath that came with the laugh he got prompted this: "Yeah, that's right, this is what it's like when someone's at five weeks left, people. Get used to it. Fuck it, I'm outta here."

But twice during the last couple of weeks, Stewart has gone serious on us, and delved into what The Daily Show -- or any political satire -- is good for.

Now that he's in the final run of shows, he said on June 11, he's been thinking about things he's done right and done wrong. Among the latter: his interview with Donald Rumsfeld. Stewart had thought he could dissolve an architect of the Iraq War "into a puddle of atonement" by confronting him with "the most Socratic line of questioning." As it turned out, Rummy easily evaded him, leaving Stewart thinking he'd never get his chance again. But when Rumsfeld told the Times of London earlier this month that "the idea that we could fashion a democracy in Iraq seemed to me unrealistic," Stewart pounced on his retroactive skepticism: "Time for Stewart v Rumsfeld, Round 2: The Grudge Match."

The pounding Stewart gave him was a classic Daily Show deconstruction. Rumsfeld ran to Fox to deny the Times of London quote; he claimed that what he'd actually said was, "I didn't want the Iraqis to believe, inaccurately, that the U.S. intends to impose its form of democracy on their country." And where might Iraqis have inaccurately gotten that impression? Cue Rumsfeld clips touting American-style democracy for Iraq on April 10, 2003, November 23, 2004, December 8, 2004, February 6, 2005 and March 20, 2005. Knockout. "I never thought I would say this," Stewart crowed, "but we got you, Donald Rumsfeld, we got you."

But as "We Got Him!" and fireworks flashed on the screen, Stewart found himself unable to gloat, calling it a "strangely hollow" win. "You know," he said, "I placed a lot of stock in the idea" that catching Rumsfeld -- or Bush, Cheney or Rice, or Douglas Feith or Judith Miller, or Richard Perle or Paul Bremer or any of the other architects or enablers of the Iraq War -- "in some sort of logical trap, or forcing them to admit the errors of their ways, would be an ultimate victory. But now I wonder.... If you can get one of these guys to admit their mistakes, you may have a moment of satisfaction and catharsis. But it doesn't mitigate the horrible consequences of the decision, and doesn't seem to stop the next guy from repeating the mistake."

So why do it? His answer recalls the punishment of Sisyphus, forced to push a boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down again, condemned to useless labor for all eternity:

"People of the future: Is it futile to try to pin these people down? Yes. Would it be easier to give up and let Rumsfeld go, preferably on an ice floe in the North Atlantic? Yes. Because no matter what evidence, no matter what arguments or historical facts you put in front of these people, they think learning curves are for pussies. And even if they did learn, it wouldn't change the past, or prevent the same mistakes in the future. Which is why I want to say to you, in the future: Please, never stop trying anyway. Because there's always hope that one day, they'll think, just for a second, and that second will be enough time for us to shove those motherfuckers onto that ice floe."

Albert Camus said that "one must imagine Sisyphus happy." In an absurd world, the struggle itself -- the struggle toward the heights, not victory -- "is enough to fill a man's heart." Must one imagine Stewart, like Sisyphus, happy?

Last week, on the day that nine African-Americans were slaughtered in their Charleston church by a white supremacist, a somber Stewart quieted his audience at the show's start. I have a pretty simple job, he said.

"I come in in the morning, and we look at the news, and I write jokes about it.... But I didn't do my job today, so I apologize. I got nuthin' for you.... And maybe if I wasn't nearing the end of the run, or this weren't such a common occurrence, maybe I could get pulled out of the spiral, but I didn't. And so I honestly have nothing other than just sadness once again that we have to peer into the abyss of the depraved violence that we do to each other, and the... gaping racial wound that will not heal yet we pretend doesn't exist. I'm confident that by acknowledging that, by staring into it, we still won't do jackshit. Yeah, that's us.... You know this is going to go down the same path."

It's kin to a sentiment that President Obama -- another short-timer contemplating the end of his run -- was criticized for voicing. I find no more reason to be optimistic about gun control or racism than they do. No evidence, arguments or historical facts, and no comedy, will defeat the gun lobby and its enablers; learning curves are for pussies.

But there are other ways to confront evil: Stewart spent the rest of the show interviewing Malala Yousafzi, the 17-year-old Pakistani shot in the head by the Taliban for promoting education for girls. She survived, won the Nobel Peace Prize and launched the Malala Fund. The power of ridicule, Stewart rightly says, has dispiriting limits. But Stewart also possesses the power of attention. In the clamorous info-marketplace, nothing is more scarce, or more valuable, than attention. By giving her his platform, Stewart cleared a quiet place for us to hear her story and learn hope from her.

I know Jon Stewart has always been adamant that he's a fake journalist, not a real one, so I'm sure he'll like even less what these final shows leave me wanting to call him.

Teacher.

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In which careers do you find the most psychopaths?

Personally, I would have put Clergy (any kind of religious leader) and Politicians at the top of the list, with Police closely following.

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/06/here-are-the-10-careers-with-the-most-psychopaths/

EXCERPT:  Are you a psychopath? Happens to the best of us. James Fallon, a neuroscientist studying Alzheimer's effects on the brain, accidentally discovered that he was a psychopath and then he wrote a book about the experience. Fallon, like most people with psychopathic brains, wasn't a violent person or a serial killer. But after discovering his brain pathology, he began interviewing friends, relatives and loved ones to see if there had been signs of psychopathy in his behavior all along. It turned out there were plenty. The diagnosis befuddled Fallon, but made total sense to pretty much everyone else in his life. Just 1 percent of the overall population qualifies as psychopaths; in prison, that number skyrockets to 25 percent. Robert Hare developed the Hare Psychopathy Checklist in the 1980s, and it's since become a tool widely used for assessing and diagnosing the condition.

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Fracking Story of babies dying in Utah: Rolling Stone article

Here's a tragically sad story about which it appears (barring a total revolution of all the country's people) we can do nothing, with the U.S. now almost 100%   in the hands of the greed-and-power-driven corporate elite. Back in 1956, Kruschev was on the right track when he warned of the predictable eventual   failure of capitalism by saying,  "We will bury you."  He would have been more accurate to say, "You will bury yourselves."      Keep a kleenex handy.  Hard to hold back the tears while reading it...    What's Killing the Babies of Vernal, Utah?   http://rol.st/1CoaZ7k        

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Geoengineering destroying our health: a doctor sounds the alarm

Geoengineering Is Destroying Our Health, A Doctor Sounds The Alarm

By Dane Wigington

 

 

The total contamination that has been inflicted on our planet by climate engineering is mathematically greater and more widespread than all other sources of environmental contamination combined. The ongoing toxic spraying of our skies continues to add to the already lethal burden of contamination from climate engineering laid down over 65 years. The environment and our bodies are reaching and surpassing the breaking point. The report at the link below was penned by a health care professional that fully understands the gravity of the damage which has been done to us from the geoengineering fallout. The well researched conclusions of Dr. Amato should be carefully considered.

 

Click here for the full article >>

Dane Wigington
geoengineeringwatch.org

 

http://www.geoengineeringwatch.org/geoengineering-is-destroying-our-health-a-doctor-sounds-the-alarm/

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Study: Earth on track for mass extinction--humans are to blame

http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-species-extinction-20150619-story.html

EXCERPT:

...since 1900, mammal species have been disappearing 28 times faster than would have been expected without the influence of humans, according to the study.

The defunct species aren't the only ones that suffer, Barnosky said. From a practical point of view, extinctions could devastate the world's fisheries and destroy the ecosystems humans rely on to filter water, provide food, and get resources.

"There is so much at stake," said Gerardo Ceballos, an ecologist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and the lead author of the study. "Unless we do something radically different soon, we may end up having a big catastrophic collapse of humans, not only animals."

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The Pope's Encyclical: Will the world heed its warning?

The most important and urgent message of our time, coming from a truly caring, compassionate and highly intelligent Pope, but will the world's leaders and people heed his instruction/warning?  With hope in our hearts, we must wait and see...  (We might also want to rewatch the beautiful movie about St. Francis of Assisi's life, "Brother Sun, Sister Moon.") 

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/19/world/europe/pope-francis-in-sweeping-encyclical-calls-for-swift-action-on-climate-change.html?action=click&contentCollection=Europe&module=RelatedCoverage&region=Marginalia&pgtype=article

AND
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/19/world/in-footsteps-of-popes-seeking-worldly-change.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

AND
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3131160/Will-child-witness-end-humanity-Mankind-extinct-100-years-climate-change-warns-expert.html

The encyclical repeatedly invokes phrases like "brother sun, sister moon, brother river and mother earth." Praise for "our Sister, Mother Earth" comes from the Canticle "Laudato Si' " by St. Francis of Assisi, for which the encyclical is named.

"As believers, we do not look at the world from without but from within, conscious of the bonds with which the Father has linked us to all beings."
--Pope Francis

"This we know. The earth does not belong to us, we belong to the earth. This we know. All things are connected like the blood which unites one family, All things are connected.  Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons and daughters of earth. We did not weave the web of life, We are merely a strand in it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves..."
~Chief Seattle, Native American

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Pope's encyclical announced today was mostly ignored in press

Shamefully, the major media has mostly ignored the encyclical of Pope Francis on climate change, made public today and asking for all countries to take action in cleaning/healing the planet.  There was a small article in the Washington Post:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/how-pope-franciss-not-yet-official-document-on-climate-change-is-already-stirring-controversy/2015/06/17/ef4d46be-14fe-11e5-9518-f9e0a8959f32_story.html?wprss=rss_world

but I saw nothing on TV news, which was devoted almost entirely to the tragic church shooting in South Carolina.  For anyone who cares about the fate of the planet (and of US who inhabit it), you can read the encyclical at:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/06/18/read-pope-franciss-full-document-on-climate-change/

It is beautifully worded, sounding as if it could have been written by St. Francis of Assisi, praising the earth and all she has given to us -- and saying the planet is like a "sister who shares our life and a mother who opens her arms to embrace us."

It is heart touching to read, and I hope those who are denying the reality of human activity's impact on our Mother Earth will be moved to fall in line with the Pope's plea to change priorities and make the health of the planet number one (if they even read it).  Conservatives are predisposed to dismiss it and are being urged by the GOP presidential candidates to continue in that folly, to the detriment of the planet and all of us.





 

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Leak of Pope's encyclical reveals tensions in the Vatican

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/17/world/europe/leak-of-pope-francis-encyclical-hints-at-tensions-in-vatican.html?_r=0

EXCERPT: "Somebody inside the Vatican leaked the document with the obvious intention of embarrassing the pope," said Robert Mickens, a longtime Vatican expert and editor of Global Pulse, an online Catholic magazine....

Alberto Melloni, a liberal scholar and Vatican historian, said the leak reflected the continuing tension inside the Vatican, where some entrenched members of the Curia remain resistant to changes that Francis is trying to pursue. Leaking the draft was a way of demonstrating that the Vatican remains in some ways dysfunctional while also tainting Francis' reformist credentials, Mr. Melloni said.

"This shows the daily fight he has to fight," he said.

The big showdown is expected in October, when Francis will convene a major synod at Vatican City to discuss issues related to the theme of family. Much is under discussion, including the question of whether divorced Catholics should be allowed to receive communion. The synod is expected to be a hotly contested event, and many analysts saw the leaked encyclical as a piece of this larger struggle.

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Pope Francis and his enemies in the Vatican

I heard today on NPR that angry conservatives in the Vatican, in disagreement with the Pope on many issues, were the ones who leaked his Climate Change Encyclical to the press, hoping to temper any excitement that might ensue from its announcement slated for tomorrow.  

I read the following recent article on the Pope in Spiegel online -- it gives detailed information about him and tells of the upset and confusion in the Vatican among the conservatives that the changes he has set in motion have caused.  Read about it at:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/how-pope-francis-became-a-rebel-in-the-vatican-a-1035629.html

EXCERPT from article:
Whenever Francis goes off-script, the Vatican's press department prepares for the worst. This pope keeps everyone on their toes, says one high-ranking member of the Curia: "With him, you can even imagine him selling Michelangelo's Pietà and giving the money to the poor."  (~.~) Ya' gotta' love this Pope!
~~.

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Pope Francis Does Not Expect to Be Pope for More than Five Years

Pope Francis is planning a "Jubilee of Mercy" to begin in December, which confirms what renowned attorney Daniel Sheehan (lawyer for the Jesuits) has been telling us in his classes given at UCSC.  Sheehan says if the world's leaders don't respond to the Pope's Encyclical regarding Climate Change (coming out in 2 days) urging all countries to cut greenhouse emissions and take other measures in caring for the planet, it is very possible that the Jubilee Year (already called one of "Mercy" by the Pope) will state that third world countries are forgiven the financial debts that have prevented them from advancing in every way.

See below in 2nd article for explanation of THIRD WORLD DEBT CRISIS and different ways it can be solved (one of which is cancellation of all their debts). To say the least, this action by the Pope will make the world's leaders and the banking system sit up and take notice. (!!!)  If the indebted third world countries all refuse to pay back the loans that keep them in everlasting poverty, what will the leaders/banks do then? When the Pope has told these mostly Catholic countries their debts are forgiven, who do you think they will listen to? The Pope or the banks/countries that have bled them dry?   Stay tuned...  I think Big world changes are coming! 

Pope Francis is more than just the head of the Catholic Church; this man seems to have been sent from dimensions beyond to help put this planet and its people on the right track.  Like Christ, who the people of his time didn't listen to, Francis is preaching compassion, true brotherhood and responsibility for one's actions.  In today's world, the conservative right wing (that ironically calls itself "Christian,")  is already sharpening its knives against him.  Ruled as they are by corporate support and the FEAR tactics constantly promoted by the right wing leaders and media, even the Catholic Republican candidates are telling the Pope to keep his opinions on climate change to himself. 

Fortunately for all of us, this Pope is not listening to them.  He is set on a course of truth and compassion for the planet and its people, and he won't be swayed by those who are greed-and-power-driven.

FRANCIS EXPECTS HIS PAPACY TO BE NO MORE THAN FIVE YEARS
CNN News

Pope Francis, who succeeded a resigning pontiff exactly two years ago, told a Mexican television network that he expects his pontificate will be brief.

"Four or five years," he told Televisa. "I do not know, even two or three. Two have already passed. It is a somewhat vague sensation. Maybe it's like the psychology of the gambler who convinces himself he will lose, so he won't be disappointed and if he wins, is happy. I do not know."

Francis, who was elected in March 2013 after Pope Benedict XVI stepped down, said his predecessor had reopened a door to more popes emeritus.

When asked whether he likes being Pope, he enthusiastically responded: "I do not mind."

Francis, 78, said he feels God only wanted him to lead the Roman Catholic Church for a short time "and nothing more." He said that he would not support putting an age limit on the papacy.

He also enjoys calling on the Pope Emeritus.

"It's like having a wise grandfather at home. One can seek advice," Francis said.

Francis made similar retirement comments in August when he praised Benedict for "his beautiful gesture" and said he might do the same thing one day.

He told Televisa he misses the ability to go out in public without attracting a huge crowd.

"I would like ... to go out one day, without being recognized, and go to a pizzeria for a pizza," he said.

While at a communal penance service at St. Peter's Basilica, the Pope announced a "Jubilee of Mercy" will start in December. The theme will end November 26, 2016, the Vatican said.

There have been 26 jubilees since the first in 1300. The most recent was in 2000.

The Third World Debt Crisis

http://newint.org/easier-english/money/debt.html

What is the Third World Debt Crisis? How did it start? Why does the debt keep growing? What can we do?

THE THIRD WORLD: the poor, developing countries of the world. Which are the developing countries? DEBT: an amount of money you owe. CRISIS: an emergency, a very serious situation. The G8 COUNTRIES: USA, Canada, Japan, France, UK, Germany, Italy, Russia

What is the Third World Debt Crisis? Many developing countries have very large debts, and the amount of money they owe is quickly increasing. Trying to pay off the debt (debt service) has become a serious problem for these countries, and it causes great hardship for their people. Take the region of Sub-Saharan Africa, for example. This region pays $10 billion every year in debt service. That is about 4 times as much money as the countries in the region spend on health care and education.

DEBT SERVICE: The amount of borrowed money and interest that you must regularly pay.

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How did the Debt Crisis start? At the end of the '70's, many oil-exporting countries had large amounts of extra money. They put this money into Western banks. The banks then loaned a lot of money to Third World countries for big development projects. However, several factors (a rise in world interest rates, a global recession, and low commodity prices) caused the size of these debts to start growing very fast; several countries began to fall behind in their payments. The amount of money owed by developing countries has increased dramatically since the early 1980's. These countries now owe money to commercial banks and also to organisations like the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and to First World governments. GLOBAL: Worldwide A RECESSION is a time when there is much less business than usual. A COMMODITY is a product of farming, forestry, or mining that is bought and sold. DRAMATICALLY: very greatly.

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Why does the debt keep growing? It is especially difficult for developing countries to repay loans: Loans must almost always be paid in hard currency. Most loans to the Third World have to be repaid in hard currencies. Hard currencies are stable currencies; that means their value does not change very much. The Japanese yen, the American dollar and the Swiss franc are examples of hard currencies. Developing countries have soft currencies - they go down in value. Therefore, when the value of a developing country's money goes down (as it often does), the cost of its debt rises. It takes more of the country's own currency to pay back the same amount of hard currency.

A HARD CURRENCY has a very stable value. It doesn't change very much as time passes. A SOFT CURRENCY goes down in value.

The value of a country's exports goes down. The value of the commodities that a Third World country exports can go down by large amounts. This makes it much more difficult for the country to repay its loans. In Latin America, for example, debt is growing faster than earnings from exports.

A COMMODITY is a product that is sold.

Refinancing loans can get countries into even more troubles Refinancing is when more money is borrowed to pay off earlier loans. In theory, refinancing is a measure to help developing countries with their debt problems and sometimes it does this. However, it does not make good sense to take on new debts in order to service existing debts. If this happens, the result is that countries get deeper and deeper into debt. (This is called a 'debt spiral.') In addition, many of the loans to developing countries are made by governments or organisations like the IMF. These loans often carry strict conditions with them, like cuts in spending on health care, education and food subsidies. This makes life even worse for people in the indebted countries.

REFINANCING: changing the time when debts need to be paid or changing the amount of the interest rate on a debt. A DEBT SPIRAL is a process in which debts get worse and worse. The IMF: the International Monetary Fund, a special financial agency of the United Nations, established to stabilize the World Economy. FOOD SUBSIDIES are the money that governments pay to keep the price of food low.

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What can be done? Reschedule the debts: This is when the terms of repaying the loan are changed and more time is allowed to repay the loan.

TERMS: The conditions of an agreement.

Debt swaps: Some organisations have thought of clever ways to help developing countries lessen their debts. UNICEF's Debt for Child Relief is an example of how an organization helped some developing countries with debt problems. In this program, UNICEF and international banks made a deal. Some of the money that poor countries owed the banks was not paid to the banks but was paid to UNICEF. Instead of the money, the banks received tax deductions. UNICEF collected the debt repayments in local currency (not hard currency) and then spent this money for programmes to help children inside the country.

SWAP: to exchange one thing for another. TAX DEDUCTIONS: A lowering of taxes. The banks had to pay less taxes because they had given something valuable to a charity.

Cancel the debts: Quite simply, the debts would no longer exist. The developing countries would not have to repay the loans and they would not have to pay the interest. After all, what do the developing countries really owe the developed world? They have repaid their loans many times over in interest payments. In addition, in many cases, developing countries have paid the First World more (in debt-servicing) than the Northern countries have given in aid, loans and investment.

To CANCEL a debt is to say that the debt does not need to be paid.

From 1983-1989 a surplus of $165 billion went FROM countries receiving aid TO the countries who were 'giving' it. Again in 1994, the less developed countries paid out $112 billion more than they received. Of course, cancelling Third World debts now will not solve the problem in the future. To do that, we must change the present financial system, which is based on debt and interest payments; a system that keeps control in the hands of those who are rich and powerful.

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Daniel Sheehan: UFOs, Extraterrestrials and Our Present Contact with Them

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNi3uSgG3k4

Highly recommended video of famed attorney Daniel Sheehan speaking on UFOs, Extraterrestrials, and the new more highly evolved paradigm for our world that is resulting from our contact with them.  If you don't have time to watch all of the video, just go to 1:00 in the talk and start from there and watch until 1:22.  You'll find it MOST interesting!  He gives facts about the changes occurring in our understanding of the laws of physics, which are an important part of the new world view.  Danny Sheehan and many others, including the Pope and astronauts who also know what is happening, are preparing Earth's population for the coming changes that are meant to facilitate our evolution. 

Sheehan and his family now live in Santa Cruz and he is teaching at UCSC, as well as speaking at conferences and seminars around the country. 

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Good site Boomerly.com

Lots of good articles on this site -- one of them is below.  Good suggestions, esp. the one about taking some time to know yourself -- and getting daily exercise at a gym or elsewhere where people gather with similar interests.

How To Make Friends As An Adult In 4 Simple Steps

As many people in their 50s have discovered, making friends as an adult is difficult. Without the social bonds that connect us to others as parents, many of us feel isolated -- or even a little lonely.

The truth is that it is possible to have an active social life at any age -- but, first, we need to accept the fact that making friends after 50 is an active process. We can no longer afford to wait for other people to come to us. We need to take action.

This is the main reason that I decided to build Boomerly. I wanted to create a place where older adults could go to meet like-minded people. Along the way, I had the opportunity to talk with hundreds of people about their experiences making friends as an adult. Through these conversations, I learned that the people who succeed in building meaningful friendships as an adult are the ones that follow these four steps.

Step 1: Start by Getting to Know Yourself

When you ask people how to make friends as an adult, they usually give you suggestions like, "just get out there," "join a dance class," or, "try speed dating." On the surface, these are fine suggestions. After all, making friends does require us to get out into the world and take a few emotional risks.

Most of the time, however, we are not lacking for ideas on where to meet people. We are missing the motivation, confidence and self-esteem to get started. For this reason, most people find that reconnecting with themselves is a prerequisite to reconnecting with others.

Think back over the last five decades. Have you spent most of your life looking after other people? Have you left your own passions on the back-burner? Have you let your physical appearance go as you focused on raising your family? Do you feel a bit emotionally bruised by the disappointments that you have faced over the years? Do you have regrets that are holding you back?

Dealing with these issues won't happen overnight. Be gentle with yourself. If you don't feel like "getting out there" right away, don't force yourself. Instead, identify the issues that you can control in your life and focus on those.

Step 2: Develop Your Physical and Emotional Resources

If you feel tired, out of shape, or sad, most of the time, making friends is going to be extremely difficult. Fortunately, there are plenty of simple things that you can do to increase your physical and emotional resources.

Most people don't realize just how disconnected from their bodies they have become until it is too late. Fitness after 50 is not about looking a certain way for other people. It is about having the energy and confidence to explore the world and make friends on your own terms.

Start small. Use the 1-minute technique to gradually increase your commitment to exercise. Get out into nature. Set a timer to remind yourself to get up every hour to stretch. Try gentle yoga.

Then, as your confidence and stamina improve, increase your level of commitment. Join a local gym or see if your community center has fitness equipment that you can use. Find a sport that you love. Whatever you do, do something.

While you build up your body, don't forget to nourish your mind. Write down one thing every day that you are grateful for. Spend a few minutes every day in meditation or prayer. Learn to become your own best friend.

Step 3: Chase Your Passions, Not People

When people tell you to "get out there and make friends," they are telling you to chase people. There are several problems with this approach. First, it puts other people on a pedestal. They are the prize to be won. Second, chasing other people simply doesn't work. By this point in our lives, we know that the best way to push someone away is to follow them.

The alternative is to approach relationship building from a position of strength. Instead of chasing people, we need to chase our passions. This is the only way to meet people on an equal footing.

What have you always been passionate about? Are there any activities, sports, hobbies or skills that you sacrificed to give your family more attention? What fascinates you? What are you curious about? What gets you excited? These are the questions that you need to answer to make friends after 50.

Step 4: Be Proactive and Invite People Into Your Life

By the time you reach this step, you will be in great shape. You will have a better understanding of who you are and the kinds of people you want to attract. Perhaps most importantly, you will have recommitted yourself to exploring your passions and getting the most from life after 50. Now it's time to invite people into your life.

As you explore the world, you will meet hundreds of people who share your interests. Don't settle for acquaintances. Look for opportunities to bring people deeper into your life. Organize movie nights. Invite small groups over to your house for cocktails. Propose hiking trips. The specifics aren't important. Just don't wait for someone else to make the first move. They usually won't.

Making friends as an adult is possible, but, it requires a new approach. Instead of relying on our social circumstances to bring people into our lives, we need to take the initiative. We need to learn to understand ourselves. We must build our confidence. We need to pursue our passions, not people. Then, when the time comes, we need to reach out and invite people into our lives.

What do you think are the secrets to making friends as an adult? Do you agree that the first step to improving our relationships with others is to learn to understand ourselves? Why or why not? Please join the conversation and "like" and share this article to keep the discussion going.

Here are a few additional articles from Boomerly that you may find useful:

You're Not Alone! Here's How to Deal with Loneliness After 50

Is it Time to Take a Chance with Intimacy and Ask the "Tough Questions"?

How to Stop Negative Thoughts from Controlling Your Life After 50

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EXCELLENT ARTICLE re Today's "Journalism" at its worst

If you want to know how the public gets fooled over and over -- and how the elite keep pumping out lies without being challenged, read the article at:

https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/06/14/sunday-times-report-snowden-files-journalism-worst-also-filled-falsehoods/

The Sunday Times' Snowden Story is Journalism at its Worst — and Filled with Falsehoods

If you want to keep getting fooled, don't read it.

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Why Conservatives Are Worried About Pope Francis

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/pope-francis-environment-encyclical-climate-change-riles-american-conservatives/

Good heavens, we can't have empowered women--God forbid!  Keep 'em barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen!
(re. conservative horror at Pope Francis supporting birth control for women around the world)

EXCERPT from article: environmental issues are particularly vexing for the Catholic Church, especially in the United States. They carry implications for Big Business and their Catholic supporters, as well as for the world's growing population, which brings up questions of birth control. For the religious right, the Vatican's endorsement of the U.N. agenda on global warming amounts to an endorsement of the U.N. agenda to give women access to contraception and abortion.

How Francis deals with population growth as it affects the environment is one of the key questions that will be answered when the encyclical, entitled "Laudato si (Be Praised), On the Care of our Common Home," is released June 18.

Comment from Reader of the article:

I am neither Catholic nor am I anti-Catholic- to me, a person's religion is like their sex life or their bank account- none of my business.

But I have become a huge admirer of Pope Francis because the Catholic Church has finally elected a Pope instead of a politician. And the sky didn't fall. This man has moved the Catholic dogma forward about 500 years in his short time in office.

He has absolutely forced the cardinals to step forward and take responsibility of their words by backing them up with action, compassion and understanding. He has managed a tremendous amount of change with grace and skill.

Francis is a breath of fresh air for the world. He shakes up Christians who are mired in legalism and points them to a fuller, more embracing experience. Fantastic! He will help move some of the far right closer to the center on environmental needs and that will be a good thing. We need to do better at taking care of this world.

 

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"Maybe" -- a story of "Good Luck, Bad Luck"

I love this Zen story. It's been very meaningful in my life.  You can see a nicely done 3-minute cartoon video of it at: http://straightnesstraining.com/horse-stories/good-luck-bad-luck/
 

Every event in life is like two sides of a single coin.
We deny the wholeness when we label the events of our
lives as either good or bad. The following old
Zen story illustrates this lesson most
effectively.

A farmer had a horse but one day, the horse ran
away and so the farmer and his son had to plow
their fields themselves. Their neighbors said, "Oh,
what bad luck that your horse ran away!" But the
farmer replied, "Maybe."

The next week, the horse returned to the farm,
bringing a herd of wild horses with him. "What
wonderful luck!" cried the neighbors, but the farmer
responded, "Maybe."

Then, the farmer's son was thrown as he tried to
ride one of the wild horses, and he broke his
leg. "Ah, such bad luck," sympathized the neighbors.
Once again, the farmer responded, "Maybe."

A short time later, the ruler of the country
recruited all young men to join his army for battle.
The son, with his broken leg, was left at home.
"What good luck that your son was not forced into
battle!" celebrated the neighbors. And the farmer
remarked, "Maybe."

Moral:  "Do not judge, and you will never be mistaken."

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