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

[OnyxKnight]

Some of it already available to certain clientele:

Fertility jolts, mass-produced desalination devices, stem-cell miracle feats, private commercial space flights, asteroid & comet mining, electric and solar-powered cars, smart-houses & household robots, cryogenics, new secessive territories with lots of cultural rebranding and a potent rise of the micronations, artificial cities, city-states, or islands popping up, greening up deserted areas, public space climate control, digital currency, merit-based earnings, neo-spiritualism, public-interacting artificial intelligence, public-supported martian colony, rise of cyborgism due to severe injuries in war conflicts, rise of con-langs, 3D-printed organs and medical farming, genetic custom-design babies, life extension therapy, continual work on generation ship, opening time capsules-making new ones too, cloned pets, sea-level cities, underwater cities, underground cities (public-knowledge ones).

This is not trends that will affect the future, but more like - likely outcomes of present trends that will affect our future.

[giovonni]

i love learning something new everyday ...
it is intrinsic to my character.

[giovonni]

Christianity Owes Very Little to ‘White’ People



Part of the mythology of modern Evangelical Christianity is the unshakeable conviction that Christianity was created by White people who looked pretty much like Americans. It is a no less potent myth than Creationism, and in my opinion it is the foundation for much of today’s racism.

Here is an essay that lays out some relevant facts concerning Christianity’s founding and first centuries. Jesus was not a tall Northern European man with a clean jawline and golden hair. The closest modern body type and face would be a Palestinian.

And that would be true of most of the other founders as well, unless they were Black.

Candida Moss - The Daily Beast

Despite what one prominent Donald Trump supporter claims, the success of Christianity had very little to do with what many Trump supporters would see as white people.

On the first day of the Republican National Convention congressman Steve King suggested that white people had been responsible for humanity’s greatest achievements including, among other things, the spread of Christianity ... Read the rest

[OnyxKnight]

Posted by giovonni (here)
Christianity Owes Very Little to ‘White’ People



Part of the mythology of modern Evangelical Christianity is the unshakeable conviction that Christianity was created by White people who looked pretty much like Americans. It is a no less potent myth than Creationism, and in my opinion it is the foundation for much of today’s racism.

Here is an essay that lays out some relevant facts concerning Christianity’s founding and first centuries. Jesus was not a tall Northern European man with a clean jawline and golden hair. The closest modern body type and face would be a Palestinian.

And that would be true of most of the other founders as well, unless they were Black.

Candida Moss - The Daily Beast

Despite what one prominent Donald Trump supporter claims, the success of Christianity had very little to do with what many Trump supporters would see as white people.

On the first day of the Republican National Convention congressman Steve King suggested that white people had been responsible for humanity’s greatest achievements including, among other things, the spread of Christianity ... Read the rest

Black Jesus? Really? We've stooped that low?

[giovonni]

You Won’t Believe the Outrageous Ways Big Pharma
Has Bribed Doctors to Shill Drugs



In a society that has only one social priority — profit — inevitably all social institutions become corrupted. Nowhere is this clearer than in the Illness Profit System that passes for healthcare in the United States. Here’s an example of what I mean.

Martha Rosenberg - The Influence

At the 2010 meeting of the American Psychiatric Association in New Orleans, a psychiatrist from the East coast shared her anger with me about the recent clamp down on Pharma financial perks to doctors. “They used to wine us and dine us. An SSRI maker flew my entire office to a Caribbean island…but now nothing,” she lamented.

She was right. Before news organizations and the 2010 Physician Financial Transparency Reports (also called the Sunshine Act, part of the Affordable Care Act) reported the outrageous amount of money Pharma was giving doctors to prescribe its new, brand-name drugs, there was almost no limit to what was spent to encourage prescribing.

At another medical conference I attended, soon after, when it was suggested that doctors not accept free meals from Pharma reps because of indebtedness, a doctor asked in all earnestness “but what do we do for lunch?”

Read the rest

[giovonni]

Scientists are calling Luca ‘the ancestor of all living things’


Luca, life’s precursor. Scientists speculate that Luca, a four-billion-year-old organism, may have originated in a hydrothermal vent.

Here is the story of Luca, the Last Universal Common Ancestor of all living things, life’s precursor. Absolutely fascinating.

Joseph Dussault - The Christian Science Monitor

What do humans, insects, and algae all have in common? Very little, except for Luca.

Evolutionary biologists have revealed a detailed genetic profile of Luca, the Last Universal Common Ancestor of all living things. A new study, published Monday in the journal Nature Microbiology, provides insight into where and how this ancient precursor may have lived.

There are three basic types of living organisms on Earth: eukaryotes, bacteria, and archaea. Eukaryotes include all plants and animals. Bacteria and archaea are both single-celled, asexual organisms with no nucleus or organelles, but have distinct genetic and biochemical backgrounds ... Read the rest

[giovonni]

Crimes against the future:
How it seems like there will be eternal wartime in America


A man holds a child in the window of a shelter at the Zaatari refugee camp in northern Jordan, Sunday, June 19, 2016. Since the start of the Syrian war, 4.8 million people have fled the country, with 655,000 taking refugee in country, 80,000 of which reside in Zaatari, the largest of Jordan's three refugee camps.

I really like this essay, and I agree with it. A man like Dwight Eisenhower would be appalled at what we have become.

Why has this happened? I believe it has happened for two reasons: First, because very few politicians are veterans. Of the present members of Congress only 20% of the Senate and 18% of the House have or are serving in the military; and under 4% of the staff. An even smaller percentage of that small percentage have been in combat, or even in an active war zone. The vast majority have no idea what war is like, and what it does to social wellness. Second, because the Congress has been corrupted by money in a profit first social structure, and war is incredibly profitable for what Eisenhower called, “The military-industrial complex” corporate world the Congressional so corruption is particularly great there.

And we are going to reap what we have sown. That’s my prediction, and it is already happening.

Tom Engelhardt - Salon/Tom Dispatch

I recently dug my mother’s childhood photo album out of the depths of my bedroom closet. When I opened it, I found that the glue she had used as a girl to paste her life in place had given way, and on many pages the photos were now in a jumble.

My mother was born early in the last century. Today, for most of that ancient collection of photos and memorabilia — drawings (undoubtedly hers), a Caruthers School of Piano program, a Camp Weewan-Eeta brochure, a Hyde Park High School junior prom “senior ticket,” and photos of unknown boys, girls and adults — there’s no one left to tell me who was who or what was what ... Read the rest

[giovonni]

The Link Between Armed Conflict And Climate Change Just Got A Bit Stronger


Peruvian troops
Credit: AP Photo/Karel Navarro

Strictly at the personal level, one of my rewards is to see one of my predictions about a trend become reality.
All too often though at the social level, it is proof that degrades wellness.

The linkage of social disruption and climate change is becoming more and more obvious. Here is an example.

Alejandro Davila Fragoso - Climate Progress

When one of the strongest El Niños ever recorded hit the South American country of Peru in 1982, the abnormal warming it brought to the Pacific Ocean was a catastrophic blow to the already economically fragile nation. The fishing industry quickly suffered massive losses as the anchovy harvest collapsed and the sardines suddenly migrated south into Chilean waters ... Read the rest

[giovonni]

Mummy Hair Points to a Low-Stress Life in Ancient South America


Hair from one of the oldest mummies studied at the Coyo East site, near San Pedro de Atacama in Chile. Based on this
funerary trousseau, scientists believe the mummy lived around 400 to 1000 AD, during the Middle Period.

Common mythology describes the people of the past as primitives living high stress lives on the edge of survival. Once again another myth bites the dust.

Matías Loewy - Scientific American

Several anthropological studies show that, just like other pre-Hispanic natives, those who inhabited the desert in northern Chile faced periods of food shortages, severe weather conditions, crippling diseases and violence. However, a new analysis of a stress hormone in hair samples from 19 mummies of people who lived between 500 and 1,500 years ago suggests that perhaps not all of them had as stressful an existence as previously thought ... Read the rest

[giovonni]

Dirty to drinkable: Novel hybrid nanomaterials quickly transform water


Graphene sheet

Anyone who reads SR knows my conviction that water is destiny. And because that is true potable water is going to become a major issue in this century, particularly in a world racked by drought and saline water. Here is some good news on that front.

Citation: Qisheng Jiang, Limei Tian, Keng-Ku Liu, Sirimuvva Tadepalli, Ramesh Raliya, Pratim Biswas, Rajesh R. Naik, Srikanth Singamaneni. Bilayered Biofoam for Highly Efficient Solar Steam Generation. Advanced Materials, 2016; DOI: 10.1002/adma.201601819

- Washington University in St. Louis/Science Daily

Graphene oxide has been hailed as a veritable wonder material; when incorporated into nanocellulose foam, the lab-created substance is light, strong and flexible, conducting heat and electricity quickly and efficiently ... Read the rest

[giovonni]

Scorching Global Temps Astound Climate Scientists


Southern California’s years-long drought has resulted in one
of the “most extreme” wildfires the region has ever

There are two constants about climate change: It is coming faster than we estimated, and the results will be worse than expected. And you and I are going to live with these changes, as will our children and grandchildren; it will not be pretty.


Nika Knight - Common Dreams

Record global heat in the first half of 2016 has caught climate scientists off-guard, reports Thompson Reuters Foundation.

"What concerns me most is that we didn't anticipate these temperature jumps," David Carlson, director of the World Meteorological Organization's (WMO) climate research program, told Thompson Reuters Foundation late Monday. "We predicted moderate warmth for 2016, but nothing like the temperature rises we've seen."

"Massive temperature hikes, but also extreme events like floodings, have become the new normal," Carlson added. "The ice melt rates recorded in the first half of 2016, for example—we don't usually see those until later in the year" ... Read the rest

[giovonni]

Israel Proves the Desalination Era is Here


Sorek Desalination Plant.
Credit: Photo courtesy of IDE Technologies.

Water is destiny, and I consider it very good news that in an area riven by conflict arising from water the Israeli research described in this report is taking place, and that some wellness oriented thinkers see the potential of water as a peace maker.


Rowan Jacobsen - Scientific American

One of the driest countries on Earth now makes more freshwater than it needs

July 19, 2016 — Ten miles south of Tel Aviv, I stand on a catwalk over two concrete reservoirs the size of football fields and watch water pour into them from a massive pipe emerging from the sand. The pipe is so large I could walk through it standing upright, were it not full of Mediterranean seawater pumped from an intake a mile offshore.

“Now, that’s a pump!” Edo Bar-Zeev shouts to me over the din of the motors, grinning with undisguised awe at the scene before us. The reservoirs beneath us contain several feet of sand through which the seawater filters before making its way to a vast metal hangar, where it is transformed into enough drinking water to supply 1.5 million people ... Read the rest

[giovonni]

Erdogan’s Putsch: Turkey’s Post-Coup Slide into Dictatorship



About three years ago I was in Turkey for several weeks presenting at a medical conference there and had the pleasure to traveling through much of the country. Having lived in Egypt for most of two years, and having visited a number of Arab cities I thought I knew what to expect in an Islamic country and was stunned to discover that Turkey was something quite different.

I loved Turkey, the people, the absence of the constant burden of religion one feels in Islamic countries, the equality of the women, great food and extraordinary history. Much of that is now coming to an end, as Turkey sinks into fundamentalist religiosity under President Erdogan, an authoritarian and fundamentalist. For instance, I have begun seeing reports of ancient Christian communities being persecuted, academics being jailed for non-Islamic teaching and all the other toxic nonsense that goes with fundamentalism.

American media cannot walk and chew gum at the same time, by which I mean they seem capable of only covering one story line, or at most two, so none of this is getting any coverage, although it is of enormous geopolitical significance. De Spiegel in Germany in contrast to American media does follow events in Turkey closely, perhaps because there are so many ethnic Turks in Germany, and here is what I think is a pretty reasonable take on what President Erdogan and his minions are doing to Turkey. It is a great tragedy with powerful implications.

Der Spiegel Staff - Der Spiegel (Germany)

EL Staff

The sun is setting over Ankara and people are pouring out of the subway onto Kizilay Square in the heart of the Turkish capital. They are waving flags and chanting: "God is great!" and "Death to the traitors!"

In a café located 100 meters (328 feet) away, Esra Can is quickly cramming her cigarettes and smartphone into her purse, rushing to make it back to her apartment before the demonstration in support of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gets going. "The mob on the street is unpredictable," she says ... Read the rest

[giovonni]

Donald Trump’s recent ‘erratic behavior’ has medical professionals
questioning his mental health


Donald Trump, Republican Presidential Candidate

I have thought since the 1980s, when Gary Trudeau first began to focus on Donald Trump in Doonesbury, that Trump was a Narcissistic Sociopath. Here is the current formal definition:

“The American Psychiatric Association (2013) describes and defines both Antisocial Personality Disorder (the clinical term for what is commonly called psychopathy or sociopathy) and narcissistic personality disorder in its authoritative Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition.

* Antisocial personality disorder is “a pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others, occurring since age 15 years”

* Narcissistic personality disorder is “a pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy, beginning in early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts.

Those are separate definitions of these personality disorders. It is possible to be clinically diagnosed with both simultaneously. Cold callousness and lack of empathy for others, plus grandiose self-admiration and disdain for others equals a sociopathic narcissist who believes that he/she deserves to exploit people and dispose of them when finished.”

It now is becoming apparent that health professionals throughout the country are also beginning to think in this way.

Tom Boggioni - The Raw Story

“Donald Trump is not of sound mind.”

Trump “appears haunted by multiple personality disorders.”

“Donald Trump is not a well man.”

These are the comments of dismayed conservative political analysts who have watched the unorthodox campaign of 2016 GOP nominee Donald Trump lurch from one crisis to another due to the New York businessman’s erratic behavior ... Read the rest

[ThePythonicCow]

Posted by giovonni (here)
Proving again and again he is his own worse enemy ...

One wonders does he really even want to be president ...

Posted by giovonni (here)
Donald Trump’s recent ‘erratic behavior’ has medical professionals
questioning his mental health

I'm beginning to guess that you, giovonni, won't be voting for Trump this fall .

I hope you're not going to continue to quote, with little or no insight or analysis, whatever insult of Trump is the Democratic party talking point of the day, for the next three months.

[giovonni]

Posted by Paul (here)

Posted by giovonni (here)
Proving again and again he is his own worse enemy ...

One wonders does he really even want to be president ...

Posted by giovonni (here)
Donald Trump’s recent ‘erratic behavior’ has medical professionals
questioning his mental health

I'm beginning to guess that you, giovonni, won't be voting for Trump this fall .

I hope you're not going to continue to quote, with little or no insight or analysis, whatever insult of Trump is the Democratic party talking point of the day, for the next three months.

Strange that your mix/changing up here - my own (separate) quotes with Mr Schwartz ...

If your really paying any attention - neither candidate is offering any real/new solutions ...

Get a grip Mr Paul, get a grip ...

[ThePythonicCow]

Posted by giovonni (here)
If your really paying any attention - neither candidate is offering any real/new solutions ...

Get a grip Mr Paul, get a grip ...

I wasn't claiming either candidate offered solutions.

I was hoping ... and now (since you seem to have missed my point) I am more firmly requesting ... that you do not continue to offer, with little or no insight or analysis, whatever insult of Trump that you or the Democrats might come up with, daily for the next three months.

We can do better here than that.

[giovonni]

Posted by Paul (here)

Posted by giovonni (here)
If your really paying any attention - neither candidate is offering any real/new solutions ...

Get a grip Mr Paul, get a grip ...

I wasn't claiming either candidate offered solutions.

I was hoping ... and now (since you seem to have missed my point) I am more firmly requesting ... that you do not continue to offer, with little or no insight or analysis, whatever insult of Trump that you or the Democrats might come up with, daily for the next three months.

We can do better here than that.

You protest too much Paul ... And by your tone ...
Obviously you and the Donald have much in common.

PS ~ I never insulted Donald Trump.

[giovonni]

Utility Won’t Clean Up Toxic Coal Ash Pits Because It’s Too Expensive


A Tennessee Valley Authority plants stands in Drakesboro Ky.

Just as nuclear waste pits and tanks are littered across the American landscape, so as the coal industry withers and dies we will be left with coal waste pits. And who do you think is going to pay to clean these toxins up. If you said the American taxpayer you would be correct. That’s what happens when industry owns government. You reap the profit and leave the clean-up for the serfs.

Alejandro Davila Fragoso - Climate Progress

Nearly a decade after the worst coal ash spills in U.S. history, a federally owned public utility is closing 10 toxic coal ash pits across Tennessee and Alabama. But it won’t clear up the toxic residue from the pits, leaving open the possibility of water contamination.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) said Friday it planned to cap-in-place 10 unlined coal ash at six plants where the ash was dumped for some 50 years.

Coal ash is the byproduct of burning coal for energy and contains known carcinogens like arsenic, lead, and mercury. Energy companies dumped coal ash for decades into ditches they then filled with water. Usually unlined and close to waterways, coal ash ponds are known to leak, and went federally unregulated until 2014 ... Read the rest

[giovonni]

A reminder for those who follow this thread ...


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