THREATS IN 2012 EUROPE

THREATS IN 2012 EUROPE

By John Cleese (British writer, actor and tall person):

The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent events in Syria and have therefore raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved." Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to"Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." 

The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies nearly ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to "A Bloody Nuisance." The last time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada.

The Scots have raised their threat level from "Pissed Off" to "Let's get the Bastards." They don't have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years.

The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide." The only two higher levels in France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender." The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France 's white flag factory, effectively paralysing the country's military capability.

Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout Loudly and Excitedly"
to "Elaborate Military Posturing." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."

The Germans have increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two higher levels: "Invade a Neighbour" and "Lose."

Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual; the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.

The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.

Australia , meanwhile, has raised its security level from "No worries" to "She'll be alright, Mate." Two more escalation levels remain: "Crikey! I think we'll need to cancel the barbie this weekend!" and "The barbie is cancelled." So far no situation has ever warranted use of the last final escalation level.

A final thought -" Greece is collapsing, the Iranians are getting
aggressive, and Rome is in disarray. Welcome back to 430 BC."

Bill Maher Calls GOP On Major Stupidity Issues...

Bill Maher: My New Rule for Todd Akin and the Republican Party Posted: 2012-08-24 8:40:39 AM Updated: 2012-08-24 8:40:39 AM 8930 858 2014 2573 New Rule: If your entire party tries to get rid of you, and you stay in, you can't talk about how easy it is for a woman to push a stupid prick out of her body. I don't want to waste another second thinking about Todd Akin, and his theory that you can't get pregnant unless your eggs are asking for it.

Here's the only thing you need to know about Todd Akin and human anatomy: he's an asshole. What I want to talk about is how it's not a coincidence that the party of fundamentalism is also the party of fantasy. When I say religion is a mental illness, this is what I mean: it corrodes your mental faculties to the point where you can believe in tiny ninja warriors who hide in vaginas and lie in wait for bad people's sperm. Evangelicals might like to pretend that the magical thinking that they indulge in at home doesn't affect what they do at the office, but it absolutely does.

 The brain that believes in angels and miracles and Jesus riding a dinosaur is trained to see the world not as it is, but as you want it to be. Republicans would like to pretend like Congressman Akin's substitution of superstition for science is a lone problem but it's not: they're all magical thinkers, on nearly every issue.

They don't get their answers on climate change from climatologists, they get them from the Book of Genesis. Hence Sharia Law in America is a dire threat, and global warming a hoax. Or take the issue that consumes the right these days, our sea of red ink: Republicans are united in their fervent desire to reduce the deficit, but they want to do it in some magical fashion that doesn't involve raising taxes or cutting any spending. When given a choice in polls between these two options, a majority or Republicans check "none of the above" as a way to reduce the deficit. That's like deciding to pay off your student loans by daydreaming. Or as it's known on Capitol Hill, supply-side economics. Remember that magic beans theory?

That you actually bring in more revenue by bringing in less? Ronald Reagan believed it. But at least back in the '80's it was new. The thing is, we tried it, and it doesn't work. Yet, Paul Ryan, who every shit-for-brains pundit in America keeps telling us is a "serious" guy, still believes in the supply-side theory. All the Republicans do. They all believe in something that both science and history have shown to be pure fantasy. The symbol for their party shouldn't be an elephant -- it should be a unicorn. Paul Ryan is their tough guy on spending but he doesn't want to touch defense -- that's right, a budget hawk who doesn't think there's anything bloated about the Defense Department's budget. It's like being a health inspector and finding nothing wrong with the Asian place that has the chicken hanging in the window. This is how low we've put the bar for political courage -- that you can just write, "I want a pony" in a binder and call it the "Plan For Restoring Vision For the Future of America's Greatness" or some shit, and then everyone has to refer to you as the serious one in Congress. It reminds me of health care. Republicans are for all the popular things, like covering people with pre-existing conditions, but they're not for the part where you pay for it, like the mandate. Just like they were for our recent wars, but not for paying for them.

For the prescription drug bill, but not for paying for it. How do they get away with it? They know that, because we're already such a religious country, our minds are primed for magical, fantasy thinking. The gullibility comes factory-installed. They've learned that you appeal not to an American's head, but to his gut -- it's a much bigger target. But here's the problem: life is complicated. I mean, I know we know some things for sure, like why Jesus put us here on Earth: to watch Here Comes Honey Boo Boo on a 50-inch TV screen. But what about the Chinese slaves who made the TV? What about carbon from the coal that generated the electricity?

What about the Walmart where we bought it, where the workers don't have health insurance? What about racism, or the oceans turning into nail polish remover? The grown-up answer is: identify problems scientifically, prioritize and solve. The Republican answer is: there isn't a problem. And anyone who tells you different is a liar who hates America. We don't have to make hard choices. We just have to ignore the science and the math -- that's why God gave us values. If rape babies throw a monkey wrench into the whole right-to-life pitch, just make believe rape babies don't exist. If you want to cut down on teen pregnancy, just tell curious kids with raging hormones to practice abstinence.

 Until they get married. Because everyone knows, that's when the fucking never stops. Health care? Not a problem if you just keep repeating, "We have the greatest health care in the world." Even though the U.N. ranks it 37th. What's the solution to global warming? It's that it isn't real, and even if it is, big whoop, just buy an air conditioner, you pussy. Republicans also believe that putting the word "clean" next to the word "coal" creates something called clean coal. Even thought there's the exact same amount of evidence for clean coal as there is for Todd Akin's mistaken baby makin' theory.

Republicans also believe if they kick all the Mexicans out of the country, the strawberries will pick themselves, and that if they cut the safety net all the poor blacks are "resting" in, they will fall gently to the ground, stand up, dust themselves off, and get good-paying jobs as Olympic gymnasts. 

Next week in Tampa the Republicans must admit that the difference between a GOP convention and Comic-Con is that the people at Comic-Con have a much firmer grasp of reality. Bill Maher is the host of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher.

USADA to ban Lance Armstrong for life, strip Tour titles

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said Thursday night it will strip Lance Armstrong of his unprecedented seven Tour de France titles after he declared he was finished fighting the drug charges that threaten his legacy as one of the greatest cyclists of all time.

Travis Tygart, USADA's chief executive, said Armstrong would also be hit with a lifetime ban on Friday.

Still to be heard from was the sport's governing body, the International Cycling Union, which had backed Armstrong's legal challenge to USADA's authority.

Armstrong, who retired last year, declined to enter USADA's arbitration process — his last option — because he said he was weary of fighting accusations that have dogged him for years. He has consistently pointed to the hundreds of drug tests that he has passed as proof of his innocence during his extraordinary run of Tour titles stretchingfrom1999-2005.

"There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, 'Enough is enough.' For me, that time is now," Armstrong said in a statement sent to The Associated Press. He called the USADA investigation an "unconstitutional witch hunt."

"I have been dealing with claims that I cheated and had an unfair advantage in winning my seven Tours since 1999," he said. "The toll this has taken on my family and my work for our foundation and on me leads me to where I am today - finished with this nonsense."

USADA reacted quickly and treated Armstrong's decision as an admission of guilt, hanging the label of drug cheat on an athlete who was a hero to thousands for overcoming life-threatening testicular cancer and for his foundation's support for cancer research.

"It is a sad day for all of us who love sport and athletes," Tygart said. "It's a heartbreaking example of win at all costs overtaking the fair and safe option. There's no success in cheating to win."

Read Full Article Here

1 Norwegian Killer Cost=77 lives and Billions of Kroner

Breivik’s attacks cost billions

In addition to costing 77 lives, the murderous attacks carried out by confessed terrorist Anders Behring Breivik will be costing the Norwegian state tens of billions of kroner over the coming years. Legal fees alone from all the lawyers involved have topped NOK 65 million (nearly USD 11 million) already.

The figures emerged during Friday’s court proceedings, when a verdict that can amount to life imprisonment for Breivik was handed down following his 10-week trial last spring. Judge Arne Lyng referred to testimony that it has cost more than NOK 600 million to re-locate all the government ministries uprooted by Breivik’s bombing of government headquarters on July 22 last year. Costs are ongoing, as the ministries are forced to rent temporary quarters all over town, instead of being housed in the government-owned complex.

Meanwhile, it’s been estimated that it will cost as much as NOK 10 billion, probably more, to re-build the government complex, a process that can take as long as 10 to 12 years.

The cost of the legal case against Breivik has cost NOK 165 million so far, because of the need to rebuild the city courthouse to accommodate his trial, arrange for video links to courthouses all over the country and cover the travel and legal costs of victims’ families, survivors and others directly affected by the attacks.

Breivik’s defense attorneys alone have sent in bills amounting to nearly NOK 11 million, with another NOK 50.7 million going to the attorneys provided at state cost to victims.

The cost of incarcerating Breivik is expected to be about NOK 5 million a year because of the special high-security “prison within a prison” needed to house him because of the danger he poses. That’s reported to be the same as what’s normally used to accommodate 15 prisoners.

Todd Akin defies calls from Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan to quit race as GOP pulls $5M in ad funds

Embattled Rep. Todd Akin is insisting he’s in the U.S. Senate race to stay, saying “this is not about my ego” but about the voters of Missouri who chose him as their nominee.

Akin confirmed in a nationally broadcast interview that Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan called him to personally plea that he step aside in the wake of the searing controversy surrounding his comments about abortion.

But Akin says, “It’s not right for party bosses to override” the voters of Missouri. He says he told Ryan that he was thinking things over and wants to “do what’s right.” But he also says he’s not abandoning his race, arguing that “I’m planning to win it.”

Akin acknowledges it was a mistake for him to refer to “legitimate” rapes but says he’s apologized for that and that the voters of Missouri knew they weren’t getting a “perfect” candidate.

Akin says in an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America” that “I’m not apologizing for the fact that I’m pro-life.” He also appeared on NBC’s “Today” show.

Earlier, Akin took his message to conservative talk radio shows, declaring GOP leaders were overreacting by insisting he abandon his quest to unseat Democrat Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, and to social media with appeals for donations on his Twitter feed claiming “liberal elites” are trying to push him out of the race.

Read Full Article Here

Obama Vs Romney = Obama Wins According To This Pollster

So far, putting Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney's ticket hasn't led to any detailed plans for his top issue, the budget. That won't change, according to a Romney aide who spoke to Politico.

"The nature of running a presidential campaign is that you're communicating direction to the American people," a Romney adviser, who is not named, told Politico. "Campaigns that are about specifics, particularly in today's environment, get tripped up."

The issue of the budget, particularly taxes and cuts to entitlement programs, is a pivotal one for the election and is one both campaigns are trying to exploit. For the Romney campaign, that has meant accusing President Barack Obama of decimating Medicare by taking funds from it for his health care law, even though that is a falseclaim. Ryan's own budget would transform the program to make it almost unrecognizable.

Another Romney official, also unnamed, told Politico the campaign isn't scared to talk about Medicare. "We'll do it for as long as they want," the official said. "Let's do it."

That doesn't mean talking in specifics, however. Romney was vague about his budget plans during the Republican primary -- he said he would cut funding to Planned Parenthood but not much else -- and will continue to be, according to the adviser.

"What you're going to see is a campaign that has clear direction, but not a Simpson-Bowles or Ryan-budget level of detail," the adviser told Politico. "It's not only politically unwise to do that, but it's not how the voters engage in a presidential campaign."

Ryan said earlier this week that he plans to discuss tax plans, but not until after the election.

"That is something that we think we should do in the light of day, through Congress," he said Tuesday on Fox News. He then promised to "have a process for tax reform so that we do this in the front of the public. So no, the point I'm trying to say is, we want feedback from Americans about what priorities in the tax code should be kept, and what special interest loopholes we want to get rid of."

Source

Reunited Gorilla Brothers Shower Each Other With Love

Family blood runs deep, even when you’re a gorilla,  as the joyful reunion of two gorilla brothers at a safari park in London proves true.

The brothers – Kesho, 13, and younger brother, Alf, 9 – had not seen each other for two years after being separated in 2010 so that Kesho, a silverback gorilla, could be part of a breeding program at the London Zoo, the BBC reports.

When Kesho proved to be infertile, the brothers were given a second chance to live together.

Both gorillas were sent to the Longleat Safari Park in Wiltshire, England, to live in the park’s new nearly $5 million gorilla enclosure built to house the over-population of males in the breeding program.

Their reunion, all captured on camera, was one for the family record books.  Kesho and Alf put on a display of hugs, shoulder slaps, squeezes and general all-out affection once they saw each other.

“They were touching each other through the cage that temporarily separated them,” Longleat zookeeper Mark Tye said, according to the UK’s Daily Mail.  “We put them together 24 hours later and it was like they had never been apart.”

“They were very animated and there was a lot of rough and tumble on the floor, but not in an aggressive way,” he said.  “It is quite unusual to see that sort of childlike behavior in a silverback.”

Source

Ryan Not Ready For Prime Time

UPDATE: 7:25 p.m. -- Danny Kanner, a spokesman for President Barack Obama's re-election campaign, said in a statement that the TV interview shows Ryan "not ready for primetime." The statement continues:

First, he attacked the President for the very same Medicare savings that he includes in his own budget. In the same breath, he falsely claimed that the Romney-Ryan budget protects Medicare -– in fact, their plan would end Medicare as we know it, leaving seniors with nothing but a voucher in place of the guaranteed benefits they rely on today.

Then, Ryan refused to name a single tax loophole they’d close to pay for their $5 trillion tax plan. We know what that means: as independent experts have confirmed, Romney and Ryan’s tax plan would either explode the deficit or raise taxes on middle class families to pay for their tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires. As Romney and Ryan run away from the plans they have laid out -- and in Ryan’s case, passed through the Republican House twice -- they’re revealing that they’d take the American people back to the same failed policies that crashed our economy in the first place, and have zero interest in the bold, honest, substantive debate that they claim is at the center of their campaign.

Mitt Romney names Paul Ryan as running mate

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney introduced Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin as his vice presidential running mate on Saturday, turning to the architect of a deeply conservative and intensely controversial long-term budget plan to remake Medicare and cut trillions in federal spending.

In the campaign to come, Republicans will present economic solutions “that are bold, specific and achievable,” Mr. Romney said as he presented his political partner to cheering supporters. “We offer our commitment to create 12 million new jobs and bring better take home pay to middle class families.”...

(And this key point)   Mr. Ryan and other supporters say the change is needed to prevent the program from financial calamity. Critics argue it would impose ever-increasing costs on seniors.

Other elements of the budget plan would cut projected spending for Medicaid, which provides health care for the poor, as well as food stamps, student loans and other social programs that Mr. Obama and Democrats have pledged to defend.

In all, it projected spending cuts of $5.3-trillion over a decade, and cut future projected deficits substantially.

Source

Economist Richard Duncan: Civilization May Not Survive 'Death Spiral'

The folks at the Money Map Press are pitching one of those “kitchen sink” deals where you pay up front to get all of their newsletters for life — these are usually in the neighborhood of $3,000-5,000 with an “annual maintenance fee” that’s generally around a hundred bucks, and this one is right in line with that (and yes, as many publishers do they give it a twist by saying they’ll “send you a check” — for $2,500 in this case, which is pretty much like a car salesman giving you a “cash back” offer, saying “discount” just doesn’t hit your lust receptors in the same way).

The deal, which they call the “Passport Club,” includes more newsletters and trading services than you’d have time to read, from all the heavily teased editors they promote to our mailboxes every day (Dr. Kent Moors, Shah Gilani, Peter Krauth, etc.), but the big teaser pitch behind the promotion is from another guy, Michael Robinson, who used to work for sister publisher Wealth Daily/Taipan, but whose American Wealth Underground appears to have disappeared. Source

Economist Richard Duncan: Civilization May Not Survive 'Death Spiral'

 "It's a pattern that's hard to see unless you understand the way a catastrophe like this gains traction," Dr. Moors says. "At first, it's almost impossible to perceive. Everything looks fine, just like in every pyramid scheme. Yet the insidious growth of the virus keeps doubling in size, over and over again - in shorter and shorter periods of time - until it hits unsustainable levels. And it collapses the system."

Martenson points to the U.S. total credit market debt as an example of this unnerving pattern.

By Terry Weiss, Money Morning 

Richard Duncan, formerly of the World Bank and chief economist at Blackhorse Asset Mgmt., says America's $16 trillion federal debt has escalated into a "death spiral, "as he told CNBC. 

And it could result in a depression so severe that he doesn't "think our civilization could survive it."

And Duncan is not alone in warning that the U.S. economy may go into a "death spiral." 

Since the recession, noted economists including Laurence Kotlikoff, a former member of President Reagan's Council of Economic Advisers, have come to similar conclusions. 

Kotlikoff estimates the true fiscal gap is $211 trillion when unfunded entitlements like Social Security and Medicare are included. 

However, while the debt crisis numbers are well known to most Americans, the economy hasn't suffered a major correction for almost 4 years.

So the questions remain: Is the threat of collapse for real? And if so, when? 

A team of scientists, economists, and geopolitical analysts believes they have proof that the threat is indeed real - and the danger imminent. 

One member of this team, Chris Martenson, a pathologist and former VP of a Fortune 300 company, explains their findings:

"We found an identical pattern in our debt, total credit market, and money supply that guaranteesthey're going to fail. This pattern is nearly the same as in any pyramid scheme, one that escalates exponentially fast before it collapses. Governments around the globe are chiefly responsible. 

Click here to see how banks are escalating the collapse...

"And what's really disturbing about these findings is that the pattern isn't limited to our economy. We found the same catastrophic pattern in our energy, food, and water systems as well."


According to Martenson: "These systems could all implode at the same time. Food, water, energy, money. Everything." 

Another member of this team, Keith Fitz-Gerald, the president of The Fitz-Gerald Group, went on to explain their discoveries. 

"What this pattern represents is a dangerous countdown clock that's quickly approaching zero. And when it does, the resulting chaos is going to crush Americans," Fitz-Gerald says.

Dr. Kent Moors, an adviser to 16 world governments on energy issues as well as a member of two U.S. State Department task forces on energy also voiced concerns over what he and his colleagues uncovered.

"Most frightening of all is how this exact same pattern keeps appearing in virtually every system criticalto our society and way of life," Dr. Moors stated.

Source

Mars Landing Best In History

NASA releases new Curiosity rover images from Mars ‎ CBC.ca - 29 minutes ago NASA released new images of Mars from its Curiosity rover Wednesday as the mobile scientific laboratory set out to familiarize itself with its ... 'Spectacular' Mars footage gives scientists peek into journey facing ...‎ National Post Curiosity sends new black-and-white pictures from Mars‎ CTV News Mars Rover Curiosity: A Complete Guide to Tagging Along Online‎ PCWorld CANOE - CNN all 10904 news articles »

CBC.ca

Mars landing makes star of rocket scientist ‎ Macleans.ca - 2 hours ago NASA has landed a rover on Mars, and we have a man with a ... The Curiosity rover touched down on Mars during the weekend after an ... First color 'Curiosity' images from Mars ignite web‎ Examiner.com All eyes on Mars... and 'Mohawk Guy'‎ Amarillo.com (blog) Mars Rover 'Mohawk Guy' a Space Age Internet Sensation‎ Space.com OCRegister - Firstpost all 119 news articles »

Macleans.ca

Clearer Mars images from Curiosity coming soon, NASA says ‎ CBC.ca - 21 hours ago Mars enthusiasts underwhelmed by some of the first dusty images of the planet to be beamed back to Earth by the Curiosity rover that landed ...

NASA's Mars Curiosity rover sends first colour image back to Earth ‎ National Post - 16 hours ago NASA's Curiosity rover beamed back its first colour photo of Mars from the ancient crater where it landed Tuesday morning. The tilted image ...

National Post

Mars Rover vs. the water car ‎ Toronto Sun - 20 hours ago While American engineers had to rely on the evidence of images sent back from Mars to confirm and validate their accomplishment, the ...

Life on Mars: Rover landing gives boost to Canadian tech sector ‎ Globe and Mail - 19 hours ago Canadian scientist eager to begin 'detective work' with Mars rover ... The point of this NASA mission is to discover whether Mars can support life ...

Globe and Mail

Mars rover Curiosity sends back new photos ‎ Washington Post - 2 hours ago Aug. 8, 2012 - NASA's Curiosity rover is sending back video and pictures of its landing on Mars. (/CBS News) Correction: Clarification: E-mail · Save/Share ...

Mars rover captures nearby rocket 'footprint' ‎ CNN - 3 minutes ago (CNN) -- The Mars rover Curiosity successfully raised the mast that holds many of its instruments Wednesday, giving controllers a view of the ...

Mars rover Curiosity is big hit -- Mars movies are big flops ‎ Los Angeles Times - 10 hours ago The successful landing of the rover Curiosity on Mars on Sunday night captured America's imagination in a way that few positive news events ...

Mars and taxes ‎ Washington Post - 6 hours ago “The rover ushers in a new era of exploration that could turn up evidence that the Red Planet once had the necessary ingredients for life — or ...

Roswell UFO Crash: There Were 2 Crashes, Not 1, Says Ex-Air Force Official

Roswell UFO Crash: There Were 2 Crashes, Not 1, Says Ex-Air Force Official

The 1947 UFO controversy of Roswell, N.M. is like a bad penny: It keeps turning up.

The legend, rehashed by conspiracy theorists in countless documentaries, revolves around allegations that an unusual object fell from the sky -- an object so bizarre that the U.S. Air Force issued a press release that a flying saucer had crashed.

That story was quickly recanted, creating what would become one of the greatest urban legends in American history.

Until now, most debunkers doubted that there was even one crash. Now, in an exclusive interview, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Richard French told The Huffington Post that there were actually two crashes.

This revelation is especially remarkable considering that French was known in the past to debunk UFO stories.

"There were actually two crashes at Roswell, which most people don't know," French told HuffPost. "The first one was shot down by an experimental U.S. airplane that was flying out of White Sands, N.M., and it shot what was effectively an electronic pulse-type weapon that disabled and took away all the controls of the UFO, and that's why it crashed."

French -- an Air Force pilot who was in Alamagordo, N.M., in 1947, being tested in an altitude chamber, an annual requirement for rated officers -- was very specific in how the military allegedly brought down what he believes was a spacecraft from another world.

"When they hit it with that electromagnetic pulse -- bingo! -- there goes all their electronics and, consequently, the UFO was uncontrollable," said French, who flew hundreds of combat missions in Korea and Southeast Asia, and who held several positions working for Military Intelligence.

Another retired officer doubts French's story.

"No chance! Zero chance!" said Army Col. John Alexander, whose own top-secret clearance gave him access in the 1980s to official documents and UFO accounts. He created a top-level group of government officials and scientists who determined that, while UFOs are real, they couldn't find evidence of an official cover-up.

"In the 1980s, I was the guy developing all of the pulse-power weapons systems. We couldn't have done it then. In the 60s, they had a laser system, but your range was extremely limited, and we didn't have operational laser weapons in that time frame," said Alexander, who is working to get amnesty for military personnel who wish to talk about their UFO experiences.

Except for the initial newspaper headline declaring the military had captured a flying saucer outside of Roswell, the Air Force closed the books on Roswell, claiming that the true identity of the object was a high-altitude surveillance balloon, code-named "Mogul."

But after eyewitnesses -- including numerous military personnel -- began to tell stories of their participation in an alleged cover-up of the Roswell incident, some researchers insisted that it was, in fact, an alien ship that crashed at Roswell.

Watch this video of Ret. Air Force Lt. Col. Richard French

THE FATE OF THE SPECIES BY FRED GUTERL

BOOK REVIEW: THE FATE OF THE SPECIES BY FRED GUTERL

May 2, 2012 · by char · in Reading Material, While We Still Have time

Publisher’s blurb:¹

The revelatory account of the biggest threats we face as a species–and what we can do to save ourselves.

In the history of planet earth, mass species extinctions have occurred five times, about once every 100 million years. A “sixth extinction” is known to be underway now, with over 200 species dying off every day. Not only that, but the cause of the sixth extinction is also the source of single biggest threat to human life: our own inventions.

What this bleak future will truly hold, though, is much in dispute. Will our immune systems be attacked by so-called super bugs, always evolving, and now more easily spread than ever? Will the disappearance of so many species cripple the biosphere? Will global warming transform itself into a runaway effect, destroying ecosystems across the planet? In this provocative book, Fred Guterl examines each of these scenarios, laying out the existing threats, and proffering the means to avoid them.

This book is more than a tour of an apocalyptic future; it is a political salvo, an antidote to well-intentioned but ultimately ineffectual thinking. Though it’s honorable enough to switch light bulbs and eat home-grown food, the scope of our problems, and the size of our population, is too great. And so, Guterl argues, we find ourselves in a trap: Technology got us into this mess, and it’s also the only thing that can help us survive it. Guterl vividly shows where our future is heading, and ultimately lights the route to safe harbor.

Note: This book is available from Amazon on May 22, 2012.

This book. Oh, this book. It was deliciously pessimistic, looking at worst case scenarios for the possible fate of the human race. Many of them are rather bleak, which doesn’t really bode well for us–since, you know, it means that most of us will be wiped out when one of these “extinction events” occurs.

One of the points the book makes is that every few hundred million years or so, a mass extinction event occurs that rearranges the species hierarchy on the planet. The last big one was 65 million years ago, when the KT asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs. 65 million years ago. You know what that means, right?

Yep. We’re overdue for another one.

So how will it happen? Will it be a climate flip (the sudden–in geologic terms–flip of the climate, going from tropical to ice age or vice versa)? Will it be a bioengineered virus–maybe a designer bug that has the lethality of Ebola and the traveling ability of the flu? Will it be someone wiping out the power grid? A new, stealthy computer virus that no one can identify until it’s killed essential systems and programs?

These are some of the possibilities that the author examines. As I said, the book is deliciouslypessimistic. I loved it. But then, I do like books that look at how the world could end.

If you’re also interested in reading about the possible ways we could kill ourselves off, I recommend this book.

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