What Do You Think The Easter Islander Who Chopped Down The Last Tree Said

2005 September 22, Thursday, 19:40

Professor Jared Diamond, Spoke About The History Of The World's Lost Civilisations

One particular bloke, Professor Jared Diamond, spoke about the history of the world's lost civilisations, the lost cities and lost nations of the not so very distant past, why are they deserted and left uninhabited and depopulated? Basically cause they all cut down their fertile forests and destroyed their food resources, that is, they ruined their environments, which is what I been saying for yonks... You've got all these religious wankers carrying on about the biblical lands which is where the Fertile Crescent allowed them to get started on farming and domesticating animals, not so fortuitous as it turned out, cause today it's the worst hell on earth, and a cruel god divined desert...

What Do You Think The Easter Islander Who Chopped Down The Last Tree Said

Here's some extracts off the ABC transcript from the author of "Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed" and "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" which explain so much:

Why On Earth Did These People Do Such Dumb Things? My students at the University of California asked me a question whose significance I hadn’t appreciated as yet. Why on earth did these people do such dumb things, chop down trees, too many trees. Why didn’t they realise that they were getting into trouble? What do you think the Easter Islander who chopped down the last tree said as he was doing it? And my students suggested various answers. One answer was, maybe that islander said: ‘Never fear, technology will solve our problems by finding a substitute for wood’. Or maybe he said: ‘Keep big government of the federal chiefs off my back, this is my private property and I can do what I want with it’. Or perhaps he said: ‘Your fears are exaggerated; your ecological models are untested; we need more research; a ban on logging would be premature’. Or the week before last – remember, I’m from the United States where we have a large evangelical portion of our population. So the week before last someone suggested to me maybe the person who chopped down the last tree said: ‘Never fear, have faith, God will provide for us’. Professor Jared Diamond

 

The Role Of The Elite In A Society.

The Wealthy People In A Society Are Able To Insulate Themselves From The Consequences Of Their Own Actions When I was trying to understand again why some societies solve their problems and other fail to solve their problems, I eventually realised that the societies that failed to solve their problems often contain a blueprint for failure. And that blueprint for failure is when the elite, the politicians and the wealthy people in a society are able to insulate themselves from the consequences of their own actions. If the leading politicians and the rich can insulate themselves from their actions then they are removed from the motivation, they aren’t healing the problems of society and they’re not motivated to solve societies’ problems until it’s too late. ‘The Gated Community’ That’s a problem that concerns people increasingly in the United States today. In the last ten years in the US there has been a proliferation of a phenomenon that we call in the US, ‘the gated community’. It’s a living arrangement in which wealthy people live in a separate neighbourhood surrounded by a fence with a gate, cutting themselves off from the problems of society. Within the gate, people are wealthy, powerful Americans Who hire their own private security patrol, so they’re not concerned with the problems of the public police force; They drink bottled water, so they’re not concerned with the municipal water supply; Send their kids to private schools where they’re not worried about the problems of our public schools. They have private pension plans, so they’re not concerned with problems of our social security and national retirement system, And they also have private health insurance plans, so they’re not concerned with problems of our Medicare, our national medical insurance. Professor Jared Diamond

 

‘The Only People Who Think That It’s Possible To Sustain Growth Indefinitely Are Idiots And Economists’.

Question from audience: A lot of people want to live in this country from around the world and a lot of people want to live in America. Instead of shutting them out, how can we take advantage of potential population growth, sustainably? Jared Diamond: By definition you cannot. You cannot have sustainable population growth just as you cannot have fuel-efficient Hummers and you cannot have jumbo shrimp and other oxymorons. One cannot have population growth sustainably in a word of finite resources. There is a book written by a famous economist whose front page carried the slogan, ‘The only people who think that it’s possible in a world of finite resources to sustain growth indefinitely are idiots and economists’. Professor Jared Diamond

 

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Now The RSS Feeds And PodCast Subscriptions, Anything To Lure A Consumer

2005 September 22, Thursday, 16:43

Now The RSS Feeds And PodCast Subscriptions, Anything To Lure A Consumer

The new world of media, a bombardment with media, so the unpredicted always makes the running, all the talk of newspapers dying, the classifieds moving on-line, and now the RSS feeds and PodCast subscriptions, anything to lure a consumer onto the web and to do what? Get exposure, but it's that irresistible lure of the clips and snippets and breaking news, you have to click on those 4 minutes ago, 6 minutes ago and such, and there's no time for anything else...

Endless Niggling Argument, I Dunno If All This Divergent Opinion Ever Gets Anywhere

Cause we already know there's just too much to read, like the blogs are countless, the words are infinite, it just goes on and on, so all the discussion of influence peddling and other opinion from Fox and such, well it may be out there but no one is going to read it... If they do it's a sheepish thing and wanting to hear what they already think, I know all about that... And there's so much argument, like wherever the chat takes place there's argument, endless niggling argument, I dunno if all this divergent opinion ever gets anywhere, it seems so strange still that these elections are so close, like Germany just had a cliff-hanger same as New Zealand, it's a strange world of human minds that soak up whatever it is that makes them split so evenly, weird...

Another Major Catastrophe To Make People Come Together

Even within people you consider to be on the beam, there's always some divergence, like the Aussie political parties are so fractious, the Labor Party has factions which once were political on issues, but now it's Toe A Line to stay in consideration, so I spose there will be another major catastrophe to make people come together on the important issues and all the drivel gets submerged, like in a storm surge hurricane for instance...

Once We Looked Forward To The Future, But Now It's Better Looking Back

So I been feeling over indulged in media wash, I've lissened in to so many more podcasts to frighten the pants of ya, and then so many others to frustrate ya, like the religion reports, and the media and the science, and lists of dire warnings, just goes on and on... There doesn't seem to be a viable future anymore, like once we looked forward to the future, but now it's better looking back...

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When It Comes To Prime Ministers I'd Have Dr Tim Flannery Any Day

2005 September 16, Friday, 11:36

The Lack Of Care About The Environment Is Still As Baffling As Ever

Talking of would be prime minsters there's the real problems we face which are just shunned, the lack of care about the environment is still as baffling as ever, you see these voters go into paroxysms of paranoia about xenophobia but give no heed at all to the future of the precious planet... I heard Dr Tim Flannery again and the warnings are dire, it's absolutely scary the apathy the Americans show to climate change, and the replacement theologies they come up with are horrifyingly similar from the religious right, they wont have it that environmentalists are correct, they still have the wacko mind blocks from some strange faith in a god thingo, but even more disquiet is their inevitability belief that the world will end and they will go to heaven or some such crap... Well give me hell any day rather than drift thru eternity with that mob, and anyway it's a hell here on our beloved real live heavenly earth that they are bringing...

When It Comes To Prime Ministers I'd Have Dr Tim Flannery Any Day

Meanwhile the world is really on a temperature climb, the figures that Dr Tim Flannery quotes are big numbers, and his solutions are pretty well acceptable and simple in many ways, but he is a man we should all lissen to and heed, he's the best prophet we have for the times, and when it comes to prime ministers I'd have Dr Tim Flannery any day... He even went wistful about starting a new political party, it's what we need, and to capture the zeal you get from religion, you have to love the planet and it's nature and you have to see yourself as a guardian, maybe the new party should be called the earth's guardians, cause you'd have to strong and persuasive to throttle off all those red necks...

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[tagname]

What Is It That Latham And The Party Differed On???

2005 September 16, Friday, 10:57

The Freedom Of Speech That Those Youngsters Fought Wars For

There's been another Cuffuffle over Mark Latham, he finally pops back up with his diaries published, now I spose there's a lot of diarists and bloggers, and letter writers to the editors, who all have a say, to dip the pen in the ink in your own diaries is the freedom of speech that those youngsters thought they fought wars with strange enemies for, those freedoms of speech and opinion and thought that are so important and which the current governments are ripping up and joining the dark forces...

What I Enjoy About Latham Is His Unabashed Speech

But what I enjoy about Latham is his unabashed speech, he drops the niceties and the decorum and the properness and speaks his mind in his own language and says what he thinks, and I always reckon people who're swearing when they speak are far more likely to be truthful than those guarded lips that spin out snaky political speak, so I think it's refreshing to hear Latham speak, it was similar to when Keating used to do those off the cuff explanations of how rotten the Tories were...

Most Of What He Said In Disparaging Personalities Was Second Hand

But Latham's speaking terms are so much more colourful than the blandishments me-too-ism garbage we are used to hearing, thing is with his bluff and bluster most of what he said in disparaging personalities was second hand, like he's just the same with scuttlebutt rumour, y'know, I heard this about so and so, but don't tell anyone I told you... For Christ's sake it's just a pile of baloney anyway, and it reveals that side of politics which leaves us in despair, cause we all know now that there too many persuasions in the parties, they have to do this and that to just stay in!!! Maybe that Secret Anonymous Compulsory Voting thing is needed...

What Is It That Latham And The Party Differed On???

And the Media goes around on a Ferris Wheel about Latham's name calling, which is Bugga all in consequence, but what about getting a list of the policies that Latham and the machine men disagreed on??? Just what have the machine men ticked as against what Latham wanted to cross out, and then what would he give the tick to??? That's what I wanna know, what was the fight really about??? After all they use the dirt file tactics to get rid of people who wont toe their line so what is it that Latham and the Party differed on??? What???

Clean Out The Powers That Put Me-Too Stamps On The Rotten Policies Of The Rotten Government

And what the hell are Politicians doing keeping secrets anyway, it's all too shoddy, get it all out in the open, I reckon Latham has done a rake over and it still reveals that machine room instead of the party room, maybe the parties should be over, it's so refreshing to hear Andren and those other more independent people, even Barnaby Joyce, for all the good he did for anyone but those who scratch his back, so Labor ought to take heed of Latham and clean out the powers that put Me-Too-Stamps on the rotten policies of the rotten Government...

Labor Should Be Championing The Welfare State, And Government Run Public Services

I like Latham, I like his speaking out, I can't say he's middle of the road enough for me though, I'd prefer him in the So-Called Liberals... I like the idea of a new Labor related to the workers and unions again, the wage earners and their wives and children, Labor should be championing the Welfare State and Government run Public Services like Health and Education and Energy and Communications, cause sure as hell (environmentally speaking), there will come a time when the swing back to middle of the road politics will come, you can still have Private Products manufactured in Australia for sale anywhere to anyone who wants it, once you put up Tariff Barriers and stop imports, and you can turn Australia into a self sufficient Nation, who doesn't depend on anyone else for anything...

It's Crazy To Let The Pollies Be Bought Off By Coal Energy Thuggery

Australia should take up the renewable energy challenge and leave the coal in the ground, it's just plain stupid to be tying ourselves to a dirty old pollution that is dooming our future, it's crazy to let the pollies be bought off by Coal Energy thuggery...

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Thou Shalt Always Have Compulsory Secret Voting

2005 September 2, Friday, 15:17

Thou Shalt Always Have Compulsory Secret Voting

 I been wanting to say this again for ages, so with all the talk of reform and a one vote tilt in the Senate to tip things over, here is the greatest reform you could ever implement, it's this, Thou Shalt Always Have Compulsory Secret Voting... You see whenever the bully sees how you vote he can threaten you, but with compulsory secret voting, you can't be singled out for special treatment either way... So if anyone wants to have a referendum for Compulsory Secret Voting then they should do it, it's the proper thing to do, and democracy fails without it... That is the way to defeat intimidation and corruption...

 

The Wake Of The Hurricane

2005 September 2, Friday, 13:40

The Wake Of The Hurricane

Well the devastation is so huge for the wake of the hurricane, and the plight of the population is scary, whatever will become of them, the threats from disease is about to spread, and then there's gangs of looters and rapists and anarchy, it's abysmal... I remember all the movies made to salute disasters but this one is too real, the Media cameras bring it into the minds of the rest of the world, and the thoughts of how the so-called richest country in the world can be brought to third world level overnight, the refugees look just as hopeless as all over, cept these ones seem a lot fatter to start with...

Where's George Bush???, And Where's God??? Where's Our Army???

And the cry goes up Where's George Bush??? Poor dumb George Dubya-Dubya-III  even forsook his holidays on the ranch, and Where's God??? That ought to be asked and answered, There ain't any god, that's obvious... And it seems such a huge black population as well, so the USA must be segregated as much as always... And the next demand will of course be Bring the Troops Home to look after us... And so they should, all that equipment and manpower wasted on oil wars when it could be put to good use instead... Where's our Army???

A Model For Commonsense

Makes you wonder how this disaster will ever be repaired physically or even if it should, surely with global warming and more frequent weather events it's folly to live below sea level, maybe they will restrict the repairs to operate the essential services, but pumping out the low areas may well enough be abandoned, it will only happen repeatedly into the future, no matter about praying to their false gods... Take it as an opportunity to build a sensible population centre somewhere else for the future, with proper housing built with protection from the fire and flood exacerbated elements, and using proper energy sources, and with proper water and sewerage processing, and develop it as a model for commonsense instead of crazy designs which fail everytime they're stressed... But then America needs a good dose of social responsibility instead of all that dangerous individualism, look at all the individuals scurrying around with guns and making their own rules on the run... Makes those gun laws look ever more dangerous when there's an anarchy breakout...

Waiting For The Bubble To Burst

And most sane people have all been waiting for the bubble to burst, waiting for the collapse to come, and looking for the pricks which will do it, and here's one now, with the USA being rich and fat on credit, being in deficit expenditure for Haliburton asset growth and nothing else for the ordinary American, just oodles for the rich, what a dreadful place it is... And if this disaster brings reality back, why does it always take such pain, and if the San Andreus Fault decides to slip and the Next Great Definitely Expected San Francisco Earthquake occurs then it will really be on...

Spiral Down On The Right Wing, It Takes A Big Smart Left Wing To Fly Again

It always takes a Socially Responsible Government to dig out the survivors after Great Right Wing crashes, the spiral down on one big dumb right wing, and it takes a big left wing to get the thing to fly again... Just as history teaches us time and again...

We Ought To Ban Baseball Hats In Australia As Well As The Scarves Of Division

The behaviour of the community as seen on the Media is another damning indictment on the social values of the America of today, when the civilisation descends into bloody greedy packs of marauding militia, looting, plundering, stealing, and denying the weak, not helping, no decency, it is really disgusting... While some good hearted souls do some selfless aid to the community, it's a true shame on the sort of society they have grown up in America, I reckon we ought to ban baseball hats in Australia as well as the scarves of division, we ought to start looking after ourselves in Australia, you can see how much any help could be relied on from a bad place like America today... They don't give a cuss for anyone else, so if they cause another war and drag us into it and then cop the retaliation they ask for, you can be sure they wont be helping us out, when they lick their own wounds... Don't join the bully gang, you just get dragged down...

 

 

God's Voice Speaking To The USA

2005 September 1, Thursday, 11:07

God's Voice Speaking To The USA

It's a Sign, It's a Sign, yes, America, well the USA has been given a message from god, or whatever little voice speaks to them in their own minds, it's this: It's not a good idea to live below Sea Level... It goes along with the one that says: Don't build buildings which concertina when there's a fire... That's god's voice speaking to the USA, and of course its saying: Don't elect idiots... As well as Pull your own heads in... See they're being warned all the time from their own god, whatever else could they think???