Messages

1

Marathon Man Newz / Re: Thor-Con Molten Salt Reactor Infomercial

« on: July 06, 2020, 01:37:56 PM »

Yes, CAM, I have Joanna Macy's Active Hope in my personal library, and have read some of it. I should read more of it!

I've belonged to the Active Hope camp for a long time -- unlike any of the regulars (apart from yourself) that inhabit this space routinely.

I didn't expect I'd respond to any of the posts here, but yours is worthy of responding to.  RE's last post is particularly not worthy of responding to, since he pretends to a level of certainty on these matters which he doesn't have -- any more than any of us have it.

I'm really done with this place for as long as it is a cesspool of defeatism, dommerism and despair without caring about or nurturing "hope".

This is NOT a kind place, generally. It is a brutal and ugly place on the web, more often than not -- because it is here that we are discouraged from Active Hope.

Those who choose ultimate despair, defeatism and hopelessness can kiss my lily white ass.

Thanks, CAM!

And the rest of you can kiss my ass. 

Bye-bye.  Over and out.

2

Marathon Man Newz / Re: Thor-Con Molten Salt Reactor Infomercial

« on: July 06, 2020, 01:30:48 PM »

Well, anyway, I'm out of here until there are others who think what we do and say and etc. matters, and that it REALLY matters, in that we're not powerless and useless flotsam and jetsam at the end of time.

Maybe if I see some folks taking up my orientation -- that what we do matters, I'll rejoin the so-called conversation. But not before.  And I don't mean "It matters because it helps one to feel good about oneself" -- which is just more narcissistic bullshit in a narcissistic "civilization".  I want to be around folks who actually fucking give a damn and are willing to be open-minded and vulnerable when it comes to discussing these horrible conditions.

Since that's not been happening in this watering hole, I'm likely never to come round here no more.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/h0JvF9vpqx8&fs=1" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/h0JvF9vpqx8&fs=1</a>

I'm not sure if you've read Active Hope by Joanna Macy or not. I'm assuming you have because a lot of the perspectives you have sound similar to hers. I think before reading that book I was in a rut after learning the situation we've gotten ourselves into as a species. Sad, angry, and all the rest. There's no hope I thought. What she changed for me is the definition of hope. It's not sitting around thinking, "Gee, I hope we all do something about this". I don't have the book anymore as I did a big clear out recently but in her words, hope is something you do, not something you have. I think we diners do a pretty good job of that. Build the new world one garden at time. One solar installation at a time. One bike truck at a time. One new friend at a time. It's all we can do in my view, and it is all we need to do. If this all goes to hell anyways, well shit that'll suck. But I don't think it's gonna be that simple. Sure things are going to get more difficult and scary as time goes on, but I think we're going to see the other side of things too. People will be forced to cooperate in ways they haven't had to for a long time. Community gardens will be seen more as a necessity than a fun hobby. Bikes will be seen not only as fun but a way to get from point A to point B. Renewables like solar and wind will continue to grow albeit maybe only on a local scale. I think as Diners we get to see these changes coming well before they're here for the most part, and as a result we can get GOOD at these things! I think prepping for collapse, or whatever we might want to call it, is just another name for creating this new world that we're all entering into. Even if we do these actions thinking mostly about ourselves and our families, I think in doing that we are helping to plant the seeds of whatever comes after this. We're going to need to be more cooperative, more resilient, more loving, more of a lot of things if we're going to make it through this. And even if we don't make it through, knowing your neighbours and gardening and loving those around you will make your life fulfilling.

This is unrelated to thorium I apologize but I wanted to respond to JRM 

3

Marathon Man Newz / Re: Thor-Con Molten Salt Reactor Infomercial

« on: July 06, 2020, 11:23:11 AM »

Well, anyway, I'm out of here until there are others who think what we do and say and etc. matters, and that it REALLY matters, in that we're not powerless and useless flotsam and jetsam at the end of time.

Maybe if I see some folks taking up my orientation -- that what we do matters, I'll rejoin the so-called conversation. But not before.  And I don't mean "It matters because it helps one to feel good about oneself" -- which is just more narcissistic bullshit in a narcissistic "civilization".  I want to be around folks who actually fucking give a damn and are willing to be open-minded and vulnerable when it comes to discussing these horrible conditions.

Since that's not been happening in this watering hole, I'm likely never to come round here no more.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/h0JvF9vpqx8&fs=1" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/h0JvF9vpqx8&fs=1</a>

4

Marathon Man Newz / Re: Thor-Con Molten Salt Reactor Infomercial

« on: July 06, 2020, 11:10:25 AM »

Whatever.

The space of conversation is obviously closed here.

It's pretty much always been the same here, that way. I guess I come back for the same reason Eddie does, because this watering hole serves up skanky water, but there are not many places serving in this desert.

Mostly what we get around here is "We're Fucked, and there ain't nothing we can do about it."

What a waste of my time.

5

Marathon Man Newz / Re: Thor-Con Molten Salt Reactor Infomercial

« on: July 06, 2020, 09:56:52 AM »

I'm fine with voluntary degrowth. And I've probably read as many articles about it as you have, since I was once involved with the Transition movement......back when there was one here to be part of....

It is my considered opinion that voluntary degrowth is DOA.

I expect you're going to do about as well with degrowth as you've done with growing your own food.

Your last paragraph there paints a picture in which de-growth is about me, and not about the millions of people, part of a growing global movement, who are embracing de-growth as a necessary response to our world situation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degrowth

If we de-growthers fail, we should at least try and fail beautifully and gloriously, rather than to assume a passive spectator role in a dying civilization.

But it is too soon to know that we will fail.  People said the same thing about abolishing chattel slavery, about same sex marriage, about women getting the vote, about LGBT people winning the rights recently won in the US Supreme Court, etc.  All of that took effort, and folks don't make an effort if they believe your story line about progress.

6

Geopolitics / Re: 🤡 Trumpty-Dumpty POTUS Thread

« on: July 06, 2020, 07:55:30 AM »

Neo-fascist trump...

https://www.salon.com/2020/06/01/cornel-west-says-neo-fascist-gangster-trump-exposes-america-as-a-failed-social-experiment_partner/

7

Geopolitics / Re: 🤡 Trumpty-Dumpty POTUS Thread

« on: July 06, 2020, 07:44:40 AM »

The Republican party simply is neofascist as defined here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-fascism .

A spade is a spade.

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Marathon Man Newz / Re: Thor-Con Molten Salt Reactor Infomercial

« on: July 06, 2020, 07:33:01 AM »

I expect to see some of these get built. Probably the biggest potential energy game changer of all.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/oB1IrzDDI9g&fs=1" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/oB1IrzDDI9g&fs=1</a>

I didn't watch the video.  I may later, perhaps. But I've participated in and witnessed a fair amount of conversation about "new generation" nuclear energy production proposals.

The conversations I have participated in were populated with folks who have expert or near expert knowledge about the potentials for various kinds of nuclear energy production.  I asked them how long it would take to get from today's starting position to commercially viable production having begun, and they said it would take at least a decade for some kinds of plants and a couple of decades or more for others.

It is my view that, therefore, even were they as safe as their boosters say they are, and even if dealing with waste streams were not a problem, these plants won't be of much or any help addressing our climate crisis -- which is what they are being sold on.

We need dramatic, immediate greenhouse gas reductions, not reductions in ten or twenty years. And my years long study of these questions has convinced me that intensive voluntary energy descent -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_descent -- to be the principal source of greenhouse gas reductions, since replacing existing net energy use with clean and safe renewables won't be possible in the necessary time frame to avert certain worst case climate scenarios.

Even ten more years of anything near business as usual emissions is not acceptable. And so, if I am correct on what I've said so far, we have no choice other than a massive amount of deindustrialization of our economies if we are to address the climate crisis.  This would, of course, result in a shrinking rather than a growing economy. So we should be looking in the direction of what the de-growth folks know about how to shrink a economy while attending to human needs.

Degrowth articles: https://www.resilience.org/?type=Filter+by&s=degrowth

All other proposed pathways are either overtly dishonest or are not grounded in the hard facts.

9

Environment / Re: The Environment Board

« on: July 05, 2020, 08:03:44 AM »

Will try and propogate some calistimon cutings in spring. I am getting a soft spot for them!

A tree a week until I die.

JOW

For what it's worth, the single most optimistic and useful thing any poster here is undertaking.

I don't get any points for attempting to organize a city-wide community-oriented permaculture network? -- which is still underway, but not getting a lot of actual concrete participation of yet.  But I've put in a LOT of time … and the one of our proposed projects is the making of a community food forest. https://www.chelseagreen.com/2018/what-is-a-community-food-forest/

I didn't know I was responsible for passing out cookies. Let me know when you get trees in the ground.

You're not responsible for passing anything out. I was merely pointing out that my efforts were also "optimistic" and intended to be useful, though a shockingly few people have used the presence of the Network I initiated to create cooperative and collaborative permaculture projects.  A little actual concrete action has occurred, but these results were small. The community food forest project hasn't concretely begun yet, and not even one community garden has begun yet, either.  I posted a lot of very informative videos and articles on urban permaculture, community food forests, community oriented permaculture, and the like. So I have rendered a service by informing folks, and lots of folks have initiated personal and private projects in their yards, but we're slow to get cooperative / collaborative community projects happening, such as neighborhood composting projects, etc.

10

The Kitchen Sink / Re: Assorted Miscellania

« on: July 05, 2020, 07:50:30 AM »

One of the two women who were struck by a car in a Seattle protest yesterday has died of her injuries. 

Witnesses believe the event was intentional and that the car was used as a weapon. They say the driver could have slowed down, but instead sped up as he was racing toward the crowd.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/04/seattle-protest-car-drives-crowd-two-women-injured

11

Environment / Re: The Environment Board

« on: July 04, 2020, 10:17:33 PM »

Not many of us here get "deep time" -- or live in service to those who will live when we are gone.  It's sort of like being color blind and not believing that certain colors really exist, as if those colors are akin to unicorns or faeries.  Well, I can see in that color range! I really can. I am more than a little fond of the people who will be born a hundred years from now, and the non-human species who will be here in a thousand years.

12

Environment / Re: The Environment Board

« on: July 04, 2020, 10:07:10 PM »

You're a beautiful spirit, JOW! I love the way appreciation and kindness flows from you so easily and gracefully!

There are no pictures yet.  Here in America, we're very slow to do anything together in community -- and I'm all about doing things together in community, sadly.  To my mind, permaculture principles and ethics are best manifested through cooperative and collaborative, rather than lone efforts -- but lone efforts will do in a pinch. And I've sadly found that where I live it is quite pinched.

I'd love to wander your neighborhood with you and plant some trees, though.  We'd be two Johnny Appleseeds, in the mythical sense of the man. (I hear he was nothing like the mythical sense, but who is?!)

Deep peace of deep time to you, my soul brother!

13

The Kitchen Sink / Re: Assorted Miscellania

« on: July 04, 2020, 04:11:09 PM »

I'm going out for social distancing barbeque--outdoors--with a friend in a moment. We'll be having BBQ chicken.  Hope I didn't offend anyone by saying so.

14

The Kitchen Sink / Re: Assorted Miscellania

« on: July 04, 2020, 03:37:43 PM »

This article says impairment (e.g., alcohol) was not a factor. 

The driver did not have easy access to this closed portion of I-5. 

It certainly looks deliberate.

https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/2-women-hit-by-car-on-Seattle-highway-closed-amid-15385875.php

You can liken it to that, others will liken it to an ambush. Motorist suspected the latter. You can safely turn around from a picket line, here you had to drive against traffic coming at speed

Both you and RE seem "impaired" to me.  I don't know what either of you are talking about.  Labor? A picket line?  It's a very long stretch analogy at best, and a very weak one.  And you, Rumpole, clearly have been having a very long lunch, as you're still out to lunch.

15

Environment / Re: The Environment Board

« on: July 04, 2020, 03:31:33 PM »

Will try and propogate some calistimon cutings in spring. I am getting a soft spot for them!

A tree a week until I die.

JOW

For what it's worth, the single most optimistic and useful thing any poster here is undertaking.

I don't get any points for attempting to organize a city-wide community-oriented permaculture network? -- which is still underway, but not getting a lot of actual concrete participation of yet.  But I've put in a LOT of time … and the one of our proposed projects is the making of a community food forest. https://www.chelseagreen.com/2018/what-is-a-community-food-forest/