"The End is Near"

[welshTerrier2]

back in the 50's, we used to have beatniks who walked around with signs that said "The End is Near" ... we all knew they were crazy, of course ... there was hope; there was growth; the country had a bright future ... if only we had started preparing for that future back then instead of squandering so many resources and so many opportunities, perhaps things could have been much different today ...

those who are so proud of their fuel-wasting vehicles, those who are so nationalistic that they believe it's OK for Americans to "have it all" and that America is invincible, those who had real power and chose only the greedy pursuit of profits are the most at fault for the darkened future we all face ...

and those who truly believe that mere politics will bring about the needed changes are deluding themselves ... bush and the neo-cons are only a more extreme, more overt example, of the problems that we've been making for ourselves for generations ... i wish more Democrats understood this ... getting Democrats elected will ultimately be of no value if they refuse to address the coming disasters we surely face ...

we've have got to educate ourselves, our leaders and the American people that we are rapidly running out of time ... we probably already have ... we can no longer afford to play foolish partisan games while the real issues, the "we hate to be the bearers of bad news issues", the politically unpalatable issues, go unresolved ... the planet really has come face-to-face with a global crisis ... we have not prepared for a dark, cold future, and still we do not prepare ... my friends, "The End is Near" ...

Title: You Bet Your Life

How low can human beings sink? Keep watching the news. It’s not the first time civilizations have collapsed. This has all happened many times before. This behavior is not new. What is new — but is now dying — is our enshrined belief that there were to be no consequences of our reckless consumption and destruction of the ecosystem. What is now dying a horrible death is America’s grotesque global arrogance, brutality and cupidity. <skip>

Bottom line: my assessment is that New Orleans is never going to be rebuilt and that US domestic oil production will never again reach pre-Katrina levels. The infrastructure is gone, the people are gone, and the US economy will be on life support very, very quickly. If people are griping at $5.00 gasoline what will they do when it’s $8.00? $10.00? Start shooting (the wrong people)? How difficult is it to rebuild in that kind of social climate? And if US oil production does not soon exceed pre-Katrina levels then the US economy is doomed anyway. It’s a catch-up game now. I think it’s quite likely that the Bush administration is responding so ineptly in part because it is in a complete crisis mode realizing that the entire United States is on the brink of collapse and there’s very little they can do about it. The Bush administration doesn’t know how to build things up, only blow them up. They aren’t worrying about New Orleans because they’re frantically triaging the rest of the nation and deciding what can be saved elsewhere. <skip>

And may God have mercy on the Democratic Party if it approaches the 2008 campaign with a platform saying that oil will flow, the prices will fall, and unbridled consumption will return if only we elect Hillary. <skip>

“Demand destruction” has become a priority not only to mitigate Peak Oil but also to mitigate global warming. The United States, with 5% of the world’s people, consumes (wastes) 25% of the world’s energy. How do you destroy demand? You collapse the economy. Homeless, unemployed “refugees” (what a cold, depersonalizing term) don’t buy gas, take trips, fly on airplanes or buy consumer goods (made with energy and requiring energy to operate). They don’t use air conditioning because they can’t afford it. They are the embodiment of Henry Kissinger’s infamous term “useless eaters,” a phrase from the Nazi vocabulary. If energy demand destruction, as acknowledged by the Bilderbergers and the CFR, is a priority, then the only – I repeat only – beast that must be tamed is the United States. <skip>

Go ahead. Tell me we’ve all been wrong about Peak Oil, about climate collapse, and the metastatic corruption of our government and economic system. Now it’s an easy bet and one that we will not have to wait long to settle. I’ll take your wager.

As New Orleans is showing us, and as Groucho Marx once said, “You bet your life!”

read the full article ... (if you can stomach it)