The pension hoax

Corporate media has been pushing a lie. They are saying that we can't afford grandma and grandpa's pensions because they don't have enough grand children. Hmm. Here are some responses to that.

First, what about all the profits generated by the years of labor? Those who profited should pay for those who created the profits.

Second, we live in a wasteful sprawl system. Why should old people starve while other people speed around in subsidized $80,000 SUVs on subsidized roads, and park in subsidized lots? 

Can't have both

Oceans are turning acid, methane is releasing, currents are changing. There may still be time to save our species, but, unfortunately, the profit system still has the upper hand.

The hope of renewable energy seems logical, until you look at the details. Most renewable energy systems require quite a bit of fossil-fuel support. But there is a more dangerous problem. Hoping for technology breakthroughs is giving a false sense that solutions are coming.

As renewable energy is added to the for-profit inputs, it extends the life of the current system. It does not reduce the use of fossil-fuel, because all savings are immediately absorbed into the growth machine.

There is a solution that hits the Achilles heel of growth. First, make urban buses fare-free. Second, make cities car-free. This will break the critical mass of the private auto and sprawl. As people urbanize, the birth rate falls. There will be room for permaculture in the city, and the suburbs can become organic farms. 

US will use nuclear weapons before giving up on #autosprawl

US test-fires intercontinental missile in California (VIDEO) — RT USA: "An intercontinental ballistic missile was fired early Monday from a facility in California, the US Air Force announced, saying the tests were a message to the world about Washington's nuclear capabilities."

The US economy has $trillions in auto-sprawl hard assets and systems: roads, tankers, refineries, pipelines, suburbs, and more. To make a significant change would mean a huge loss of profits for many rich and powerful people. They have already shown the willingness to kill. They now are losing on all fronts and will turn to nuclear weapons as needed.

There is another way. You can start now. Become a free-transit advocate, and start unwinding auto-sprawl in your hometown.

Potholes alone cost the US $6.4 billion a year in direct costs -- #autosprawlsubisdy

The US economy is under threat because of its neglected infrastructure - Voices - The Independent: " a dollar number for the damage they cause – $6.4bn (£4.2bn) for 2014, which was also a pretty brutal winter in the eastern US. This year will surely be no less costly."

Paris pollution prompts free public transport call

The Local: "For a few hours this week Paris became the most polluted city in the world, according to one particular ranking. The city's mayor has responded by calling for free public transport and driving restrictions to be put in place on Friday."

Buffet doubles down on #autosprawl - signaling the end of US captialism

Death by Car: "There is very close to a zero percent chance that anybody will be selling automobiles to ordinary households 100 years from now. The reasons for this inhere in the extreme mismatch between the automobile as a devourer of resources and planet Earth’s limited supply of resources. Obviously, this mismatch does not register on even the sharpest of corporate capitalist minds.

To amplify Upton Sinclair, it is impossible to persuade somebody to understand something, when that somebody’s fortune depends upon not understanding it."

Coming soon: the 'Big Heat' by @nafeezahmed

The Ecologist: "Global warming has been on vacation for a few years, writes Nafeez Ahmed. But that's only because the excess heat - two Hiroshima bombs-worth every second - has been buried in the deep ocean. But within a few years that's set to change, producing a huge decade-long warming surge, focused on the Arctic, that could overwhelm us all."

Oil production numbers went up 10mbpd by changing definition of oil

Resource Insights (2012): "It's wrong not because the range quoted above can't be found in official sources. It's wrong because the numbers include things which are not oil such as natural gas plant liquids and biofuels. If you strip these other things out, then world oil production has been running around 75 mbpd this year. The main thing you need to know about the worldwide rate of production of crude oil alone is that it has been stuck between 71 and 75 mbpd since 2005 (calculated on a monthly basis). And, that has already had huge negative effects on the world economy and world society through high energy prices that are partly responsible for our current economic stagnation."

Gas and Oil Party (GOP) wants to end federal funds for #publictransit

TheHill: "The remarks also come as some Republican lawmakers suggest eliminating federal funding for public transportation systems as Congress struggles to pay for a new highway bill. "

If there is an oil glut, why drill in the arctic? #netenergy

Utne Reader: "The problem, however, is that the major oil company Royal Dutch Shell wants to drill in the Chukchi Sea this summer and that could, in the long term, spell doom for one of the last great, relatively untouched oceanic environments on the planet. Let me explain why Shell’s drilling ambitions are so dangerous. Just think of the way the blowout of one drilling platform, BP’s Deepwater Horizon, devastated the Gulf of Mexico. Now, imagine the same thing happening without any clean-up help in sight."

A Major Surge in Atmospheric Warming Is Probably Coming in the Next Five Years - @NafeezAhmed

Motherboard: "So at some point in the near future, the PDO will switch from its current negative phase back to positive, reducing the capacity of the oceans to accumulate heat from the atmosphere. That positive phase of the PDO will therefore see a rapid rise in global surface air temperatures, as the oceans' capacity to absorb all those Hiroshima bomb equivalents declines—and leaves it to accumulate in our skies. In other words, after years of slower-than-expected warming, we may suddenly feel the heat."

Because of competition, capitalism is incapable of doing the right thing. Even when more profitable.

Investing in Energy Efficiency Pays Off - NYTimes.com: "Nationally, the potential savings from energy conservation investments are astounding. In a 2012 study, Deutsche Bank and the Rockefeller Foundation found that retrofitting buildings for energy conservation in the United States could save $1 trillion over a decade, reduce American greenhouse gas emissions by 10 percent, and spur employment across the country."

Even non-profits are managed to the quarter. Investments that have better return are ignored if the return is over a long period, or spread over many beneficiaries. Investment managers are forced to think small and short-term. This is why capitalism is destroying the biosphere.