From futurist Stephan A. Schwartz - Trends That Will Affect Your Future …

[Atlas]

Posted by giovonni (here)
US Now Bombing 4 Countries As War On ISIS Spreads To Libya

More than that, at least 7 countries. There are 196 countries in the world today. Taiwan is not considered an official country by many, which would bring the count down to 195 countries. (Source: How many countries?)

Posted by Cidersomerset (here)
Gen Wesley Clark Reveals US Plan To Invade Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Lybia, Somalia, Sudan, And Iran

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=r8YtF76s-yM

[giovonni]

Always check previous page for missed posted items ~




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A Texas startup’s big energy idea: storing electricity underground


A new startup is proposing turning abandoned oil and gas wells
in the US into vaults to store electricity.
Credit: Jurgen Vogt / Alamy/Alamy

The big obstacle non-carbon energy must overcome is how to store solar and wind energy. Here is a very novel option that I think is going to be a serious contender, unless there is a major breakthrough in batteries.

Although I think the long term trend is towards localized energy, it is not going to be an easy transition, and it will require going through intermediate steps such as this technology. These new industries are where the new middle class will come from if it is allowed to develop.

It is important to note that this is not fracking, and there being very leakage is a critical parameter. This is pumping water into subterranean reservoirs left from oil extraction. It would be an interesting recycling, and would allow many people trained in the skills involved with oil wells to keep their jobs.

Alison Moodie - The Guardian (U.K.)

In a field in Central Texas, Aaron Mandell and his crew are running pumping equipment to bring a former oil and gas well back to life. But they’re not trying to extract black gold. Instead, they are developing a way to turn abandoned oil and gas wells into vaults for storing electricity.

The concept behind Mandell’s startup, Quidnet Energy, sounds simple: pumping water deep into the earth to fill up the cracks in-between rocks that previously held fossil fuels. When the pressurized water is released, it acts like a spring as it races through a turbine-generator above ground, powering it to produce electricity ... Read the rest

[giovonni]

Posted by Atlas (here)

Posted by giovonni (here)
US Now Bombing 4 Countries As War On ISIS Spreads To Libya

We are now bombing four Muslim countries. It is hard to imagine how much hate that is creating against Americans. But we don’t seem to even debate it anymore, and the media barely gives it a paragraph. We seem to have enter an age of constant war and I think we will pay the price for generations.[/I]

Mint Press Staff - Mint Press News

WASHINGTON — With little fanfare and minimal media attention, the United States recently began bombing yet another country, further expanding a fight against terrorism that has no clear end in sight.

U.S. airstrikes in Libya began on Aug. 1 with “precision air strikes against ISIL targets in Sirte, Libya,” the Pentagon announced in a press release. The airstrikes were apparently carried out at the behest of Libya’s temporary government, the Libyan Government of National Accord, appointed by the United Nations after the U.S. helped overthrow Libya’s ruler, Moammar Gadhafi, under the direction of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Special forces ground troops, deployed by the U.S. and its Western allies, are also present in Libya. On Tuesday, The Washington Post reported that a “small number” of U.S. and British ground forces are present in Libya, where they are coordinating air strikes and assisting the GNA troops ... Read the rest

More than that, at least 7 countries. There are 196 countries in the world today. Taiwan is not considered an official country by many, which would bring the count down to 195 countries. (Source: How many countries?)

Posted by Cidersomerset (here)
Gen Wesley Clark Reveals US Plan To Invade Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Lybia, Somalia, Sudan, And Iran

Mr Atlas i find your post a bit confusing as posted ...

Please note the video you posted above was published 2013 ...
And the General's comments are from a conversational recall (of his) from 1991.
As far as the link article (you posted) it is irrelevant to Mr Schwartz above posted piece.

If your going to quote (then cut and paste) please add relevant dates - So the entire piece your drawing from has clarity with real context ...

PS ~ i (personally) will agree the number of countries the U.S. is bombing could go (up or down)
anytime as the wind blows - So to speak ...

I will also add here, i usually enjoy your posted items here on the forum
and find your enthusiasm for sharing information very genuine.

[giovonni]

Costa Rica Is On A 113-Day Streak Using 100% Renewable Electricity


Costa Rico

Here is some more good news about the transition out of the carbon era,
this time a story of an entire country.

Charlie Sorrel - Fastcoexist

Costa Rica has managed to run on renewable energy for 113 days straight, putting it on course to break its own record from 2015, when it relied on nothing but renewables for 285 days of the year. In total, Costa Rica provided 99% of its energy needs last year with renewables alone ... Read the rest

[giovonni]

Tree-planting drones to speed up reforestation efforts


DroneSeed’s drones would rapidly reforest logged lands
by planting seeds, spraying for invasive species, and
monitoring the tree growth process.

Here is a very interesting development in forestry management, that could make a significant difference in forests destroyed by climate change. As with all technologies the real issue is how it is used. This is a good example of a situation where the drone technology could be very useful but, I would argue, not focused on herbicides as described here. Drones could make a lot of difference, but we need to use them with a non-dominionist world view in cooperation with the Earth’s meta-systems.

John Anderson - New Atlas

Planting trees in remote forest locations is a slow, laborious process that still relies on humans with shovels to do all the work. DroneSeed, a company based in the Pacific Northwest, wants to drastically modernize that process by employing squadrons of drones to plant seeds, spray for invasive species, and monitor the tree growth process Read the rest/with video

[giovonni]

New Study Reveals More Americans
Embracing Plant-Based, Organic and
Non-GMO Foods


Nearly one-third of respondents in a recent survey revealed that dairy alternatives rank as their favorite "better-for-you" food.
The survey was conducted online by 72 Point Inc. on behalf of Earth Balance.

American eating habits as this reports describes are changing to better alternatives.
I consider that excellent news.

Alexis Anderson - PR Newswire

BOULDER, Colo., Sept. 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- More grocery shoppers are seeking out and trying "better-for-you" foods, especially dairy- and meat-free alternatives, according to a new national health food study by Earth Balance. Two thousand consumers were polled for the study, which looked at which new foods they're trying, their top motivators and trends in healthy eating.

While the better-for-you food trend is not new, its growth does not seem to be slowing down anytime soon. In fact, when asked which factors are most important to them when shopping for food, respondents said buying local (37%), organic (33%) and non-GMO (30%) are key. Additionally, Americans are more willing to try better-for-you-foods, with the study showing the most-tried are healthy snacks, dairy alternatives and oil alternatives ... Read the rest

[giovonni]

Study Finds That Long-Banned Pesticides Linked to Higher Risk of Autism


Council worker dusting DDT on mosquito breeding water
by using a hand operated machine in Brisbane, 1949.

The great irony of Zika is that the cure can be as bad as the problem. Not only for humans but for all life forms. South Carolina recently killed millions of bees trying to block a problem which did not, in fact, yet exist in the state.

Zika is the result of the disordered way in which humans live in the matrix of life.

Dan Nosowitz - modern farmer

Sometimes it's easy to think that banning a harmful product, or cracking down on its disposal, can simply erase any future problems.

But a new study from Drexel University indicates that that might not be the case ... Read the rest

[giovonni]

The human toll of America’s public defender crisis



American is a nation of laws and justice, right? One hears it said over and over again. Unfortunately it’s a lie we tell ourselves. In fact the subject of justice and fairness seems to be of no interest to either media or politicians, and that is reflected in the fact that the United States ranks 19th in the world for justice.

Here is a report about one aspect of the truth we dare not speak — the public defender aspect of the legal system. It is beyond dreadful, as this piece describes. And I think it is important to note that this article was published not in an American but a British publication. This is what we look like to the rest of the world.

Oliver Laughland - The Guardian (U.K.)

“What if I’d had more time?” Across the US, it is the question public defenders often find themselves asking the most. Would a young, pregnant African American woman in Lexington, Kentucky, who faces minor fraud charges laid down in April still be in jail if her lawyer had the time to appeal against an impossible $40,000 bail bond?

Could the 50-year-old illiterate white man in Cole County, Missouri, charged in August with vehicular assault and facing over a decade in prison, ever be assigned an attorney with the resources to defend him?

Read the rest