The John James Newsletter 209
9 December 2017
The level of atmospheric carbon dioxide we observe today is the minimum level we’ll see for at least the next 1000 years
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
Global warming has passed a “tipping point” and that habitat loss associated with the warming of the planet will condemn the human species to extinction within 20 years
Guy McPherson
Today the tyrant rules not by club or fist, but disguised as a market analyst who shepherds his flocks in the ways that suit him
Marshall McLuhan
Free enterprise is a system of public subsidy and private profit, with government intervention to maintain a welfare state for the rich
Noam Chomsky
You do not have to be apolitical pundit to realise that the new axis of evil – the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia – are preparing joint military actions against Iran and Hezbollah
Dan Lieberman
The orchestrated hostility toward Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea protects the $1,000 billion annual budget of the military/security complex
Paul Roberts
The most dire turn out to be the most accurate
The most extreme estimates of the effects of global warming are likelier than more optimistic predictions. With the current level of greenhouse gas emissions remaining steady, researchers say, there is a 93% chance that the planet will be more than 4C warmer. Earlier estimates held that there was only a 62% chance of this level of warming.
An Open Secret: Washington was Behind India’s Brutal Experiment Of Abolishing Cash
Without warning, the Indian government declared the two largest denomination bills invalid, abolishing over 80% of circulating cash. Amidst all the commotion and outrage this caused, nobody seems to have taken note of the decisive role that Washington played in this.
Private military companies: Moscow’s other army in Syria
The weakness of Syrian security forces, combined with Russia’s need to downsize its overtasked military in Syria, has left security gaps in the fragile country. Filling these gaps with PMCs is a plausibly deniable, economically feasible, politically viable, sustainable and flexible option for Moscow.
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/11/turkey-russia-private-army-in-syria.html
Why the Democrats Will Run Michele Obama in 2020
Michelle already knows the drill, that’s what makes her the perfect candidate. She knows the president is a meaningless figurehead. She knows the whole thing is a charade. She knows that the rich will get richer while working people get stomped on. And now its her turn to shine, her turn to take center-stage and lead the conferences, and meet the foreign dignitaries, and spar with the press, and hold meetings in the Rose Garden, and languish in the big leather chair in the Oval Office. Michelle’s day is coming, and the party leaders are already licking their chops.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/48324.htm
Chickens are helping the elderly tackle loneliness
A scheme to introduce hen keeping to the elderly is turning out to have a miraculous effect on their wellbeing by reducing isolation and depression The idea came in early 2012, when a man at a dementia care centre nearby kept telling staff he missed his ‘girls’.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/11198410/Chickens-helping-the-elderly-tackle-loneliness.html
Power of community – The Blackheath Alliance
In an era that is being defined by adversarial politics and short term thinking, the Blackheath community is demonstrating another approach –and one that’s proving to be extraordinarily effective. By working collaboratively, with the long game in mind, they’re proving that their strategy is clearly worth emulating.
Climate change starts to take its toll on housing market
“Disaster on the horizon: The price effect of sea level rise” – the conclusion is that homes exposed to sea level rise sell at a 7%t discount relative to observable equivalent unexposed properties equidistant from the beach. This discount has grown over time.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/climate-change-starts-take-toll-housing-market-46485/
Killing the Biosphere to Fast-track Human Extinction
The sixth mass extinction event in Earth’s history is now accelerating at an unprecedented rate with 200 species of plants, birds, animals, fish, amphibians, insects and reptiles being driven to extinction DAILY. For a taste of the vast literature on this subject.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/48334.htm
Did American Missile Defense Fail in Saudi Arabia?
It’s hugely significant that the Saudis fired five times at the incoming missile and missed. An analysis suggests the missile’s warhead flew unimpeded over Saudi defenses and nearly hit Riyadh’s airport. The warhead detonated so close to the domestic terminal that customers jumped out of their seats. The Iranian-backed Houthis, once a ragtag group of rebels, have grown powerful enough to strike major targets. And they underscore longstanding doubts about missile defense technology, a centrepiece of American strategies.
The disappointing truth about US plans to shoot down North Korean nuclear weapons
The premise is simple: Once the US detects a missile launch with a variety of radar systems, it will shoot its own interceptor into the sky. After the enemy warhead separates from its rocket booster, a defensive interceptor, or “kill vehicle,” separates from its own booster and attempts to crash into the warhead. Executing this manoeuvre during a roughly twenty minute window against a warhead moving faster than the speed of sound is extremely difficult – the Saudi experience suggests far less than 1 in 4.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/48345.htm
151 UN states vote to disavow Israeli annexation of Jerusalem
The resolution stated that “any actions taken by Israel, the occupying Power, to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the Holy City of Jerusalem are illegal and therefore null and void and have no validity whatsoever.”
http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/UN-disavows-Israeli-ties-to-Jerusalem-515730
Global supertanker to fight Wildfires
https://futurism.com/videos/specialized-airplane-fights-wildfires-from-skies/
The secret world of Australian energy contract prices
We know that the cost of solar is plunging across the world. The publicly released results of solar auctions in Asia, the Middle East, Europe and north and Latin America tell us this. The wholesale market – worth $16 billion – is almost completely opaque. Regulators and private analysts can barely make head or tail out of the retail market. It is a perfect cover for the big utilities to profit from ignorance and confusion.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/the-secret-world-of-australias-solar-and-energy-contract-prices-46139/
Energy regulator smashes illusion of “cheap” coal power in NSW
Last summer the state very nearly lost its grip on supply as two big coal units and the two biggest gas units failed in the heat wave – nearly causing the lights to go out were it not for the presence of vast quantities of solar, and some voluntary and not-so voluntary load shedding.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/energy-regulator-smashes-illusion-of-cheap-coal-power-in-nsw-83167/
States and cities sign up for electric vehicle fleets
To develop a plan to increase the share of EVs in their fleets and to consider how to use their combined market power to promote the public uptake of electric vehicles. They agreed to coordinate the strategic planning and construction of infrastructure for EVs and to seek to align states’ standards and incentives.
https://www.governmentnews.com.au/2017/12/states-cities-sign-electric-vehicle-fleets/
Genetic feedback and Human Population Regulation
Population growth is a primary cause of ecological destruction and, if left unchecked, will threaten human survival. It has been demonstrated that genetic feedback is the mechanism by which species achieve ecological balance. The analysis shows the applicability of this mechanism to human population regulation.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225581823_Genetic_Feedback_and_Human_Population_Regulation
China’s growing footprint on the globe threatens to trample the natural world
President Xi Linping promises that the Belt and Road initiative will be “green, low-carbon, circular and sustainable”, but such a claim is profoundly divorced from reality. China’s infrastructure tsunami will open a Pandora’s box of environmental crises, including large-scale deforestation, habitat fragmentation, wildlife poaching, water pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. China is the most aggressive consumer of minerals on the planet, and the biggest driver of tropical deforestation.
China Has Launched the World’s First All-Electric Cargo Ship
China is now the proud owner of the world’s first all-electric cargo ship and has already put the vehicle to use. The 2,000-metric-ton ship was launched in the city of Guangzhou last month and runs in the inland section of the Pearl River. It can travel 80 kilometres after being charged for 2 hours, which is roughly the time to unload the ship’s cargo.
https://futurism.com/china-launched-worlds-first-all-electric-cargo-ship/
Traffic fumes in city streets largely wipe out exercise benefits for the over-60s
The air pollution on a high street in London removes any health protection produced by exercise outdoors. Pollution, in large part related to traffic emissions, has an immediate adverse effect on those with chronic diseases
America’s own climate refugees
Trumps inadequate relief efforts after Hurricane Maria force Puerto Rico exodus
Maria downed trees, homes and power lines in a 12-hour rampage with winds of up to 247 kph. Much of Puerto Rico remains without power and 15% has no running water more than a month later. It is the longest blackout in US history, and the overall hurricane damage could range from $45 billion to $95 billion on an island already mired in an 11-year-long recession. No wonder they are emigrating.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/11/09/hurricane-maria-puerto-rico-debate/850820001/
Trump slashes national monuments in Utah: “I’m a real estate developer”
The gutting of the national monuments, unprecedented in more than a century, amounts to the initial stages of a land-grab by the oil, gas and mining industries.
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/12/07/monu-d07.html
The Uzbekistan story
Putin said two years ago, the sanctions were the best thing that ever happened to Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union. They forced Russia to develop their agriculture again and bring her defunct industrial apparatus with science and research up to cutting edge technology, at par or above that of the west.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/48359.htm
World’s scientists turn to Asia and Australia to rewrite human history
it appears that the long sought after answers to some of the central questions in human evolution studies may finally be answered here.
Meet The Israeli Paid Millions To Hack Our Phones
The Pegasus software suite uses similar techniques to the CIA for hacking an iPhone: Anything you can do on the phone, Pegasus can do on your phone. Turning on the camera and watching somebody in the room, turning on the microphone and listening to somebody. It can even do some things that you can’t, like put files on the phone and take files off, to manipulate data.
The Art of Keeping Guantánamo Open
What the paintings by Its Prisoners Tell Us About Our Humanity and Theirs. The man whose painting I saw has been held for nearly 15 years without trial, without even having charges filed against him.
http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176358/tomgram%3A_erin_thompson%2C_curating_guantanamo/
The exhibit “Ode to the Sea: Art from Guantánamo” is on display in New York City
They paint the sea again and again although they cannot reach it.
https://www.artfromguantanamo.com/
