The Human Need To Belong, A Strength And Fatal Weakness

                                           Humans are social beings with a powerful need to belong. This can work in the favor of humanity, or to its detriment. When belonging involves being mobilized against an enemy to hate and despise, expect years of war and violence.

The Plight Of Eastern Gorillas And 9000 "Conservationists" In Hawaiian Paradise

                                     According to the news today, there is a world conservation congress taking place in Honolulu, with over 9000 delegates attending from over 180 countries. This is an opportunity for conservation organizations to do what they do best, attend meetings, lament the sad state of affairs for many species (their attempt to elicit sympathy and more contributions), and exaggerate (to put it mildly) their accomplishments. They especially like to highlight species that draw maximum attention and sympathy, such as pandas, and in the case of this conference, eastern gorillas. Not because they can or will do anything productive to help, but because they know that if they give the appearance of concern, that is enough to keep them in business. And what a business conservation can be.
                                      In one of the news articles regarding this big conference, a senior official from one of the conservation organizations related that there must be a much greater investment on the ground if the eastern lowland gorilla is to survive. A much greater investment on the ground when? Already the eastern lowland gorilla has been decimated by habitat loss and hunting, and all the while its numbers have dramatically declined, why was there no investment on the ground? Everyone involved in the conservation of Congo region species and great apes knew this decimation has been going on for years.
                                         While the great ape species have been crashing, along with thousands of other species (some of which are of little or no interest to anyone, unfortunately) the fortunes of  a number of conservation groups associated with great apes and other wildlife have grown exponentially.  Furthermore, being associated with the right species, such as with chimpanzees, has turned a lucky few into superstars, with cult like followings. Sadly, few if any are willing to look critically at what these people and their organizations actually accomplish. Conservation organization failures are never revealed, and their alleged successes are never scrutinized. People, instead of facing hard truths, would rather be lulled into thinking their money in combination with these organizations saves certain species and improves the world.
                                             Conservation must move out of the hands of self serving conservation organizations, and into the hands of responsible governments that have the resources and ability to actually accomplish conservation. This is discussed at length in another blog. In the third world, including in places like the Congo, conservation groups have been enormously ineffective and rarely, if ever, held accountable.
                                                Back to the worldwide conservation congress or conference in Honolulu, one of the world's most expensive cities.... millions of dollars for expensive air travel, expensive hotels, expensive food in expensive restaurants (food in Hawaii is expensive), expensive rentals of conference halls and meeting places, expensive entertainment. Donors are probably unaware that even if their money does not help the eastern lowland gorilla or other species, at least there is a great trip to Hawaii for those poor suffering conservationists.
                                                  Shielded by eastern gorillas (and some other species), hiding behind their plight, 9000 or so "conservationists" are living large in one of the world's' most sought after vacation destinations.
 

Overpopulation: Continuing To Ignore The Role Of Religion

                                            There are those that assert that poor people in third world countries have large families in order to ensure that at least some of the children survive, and that if there is adequate health care, families will be satisfied with one or two children.
                                            It is not that simple. Religion is a powerful force, and some of the major religions in the world are against family planning. To ignore this huge elephant in the room or pretend it does not exist may be expedient, politically correct, or the easy thing to do, but it is also irresponsible.
                                           

The Stupidity And Shared Jew Hatred Of White Supremacists And Their Islamic Supremacist Allies, WW2 Taught Nothing

                                              The large influx of Muslim refugees into Europe has white supremacists in the United States and elsewhere convinced it is a Jewish plot to destroy Europe and the white race. In their demented eyes, white Jews are not really white, even though Jews belong to a religion, culture and ethnicity, not a race, and consist of people of all races. It is the supremacist typical pseudo science nonsense. It was not enough that Hitler's Jew hating obsession resulted in the near complete destruction of Europe with over 50 million dead, and millions more permanently disabled and disfigured from the war, including American soldiers and many others whose lives were ruined in order for Hitler to indulge his supremacist and Jew hating obsessions.
                                                 Humans, the most destructive species on the planet, seem incapable of learning from history, so the whole Jew hating thing is in full bloom again. No matter how many millions must die as the Jew haters pursue their dream of annihilating Jews, no matter how close to the complete annihilation of mankind we may go during this age of nuclear weapons. They would prefer to see thousands die just to see a few Jew dies, and for hundreds of millions to die just to see millions of Jews destroyed.
                                                The Islamic supremacists among the refugees share the white supremacists' hatred for the Jew, as do black supremacists. The white supremacists blame the wars in the middle east and the refugee flood into Europe on the Jews, because weaklings need simple answers and someone to blame. The Islamists among the refugees now in Europe are making the lives of many European Jews intolerable. Islamic supremacists and white supremacists want not only a Jew free Europe, but also a Jew free Israel and world. The white supremacists pretend to care about Europe, they pretend to care about the United States, they pretend to care about the white race, but like their demented dead Hitler, they are slaves only to their demented Jew hating obsession. All societies based on a foundation of hate, intolerance, and religious, racial or ethnic supremacy are destined to self destruct. This is why the Islamic world that embraces hatred, intolerance and supremacy is imploding, ravaged by war and violence.
                                                The nazis, the Japanese during WW2, brought the world to the brink of destruction. Now the world is going in that direction again, and this time with nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, there will be no coming back.
                                               

Islamic Supremacists, White Supremacists, Black Supremacists, The Crutch They Share In Common

                                   Islamic supremacists, white supremacists, black supremacists all need hate as a crutch, and have found in the Jew their crutch. Their anger, which they think is a sign of strength, is instead hysteria, and their violence is a sign of weakness. Cowardly, weak people need a target to hate. If there was no Jew, they would find one.

The Unaccountable Federal Reserve - Or The Art Of Kicking The Can Down The Road

                                          The federal reserve insists inflation is contained. But by what measurements? Medical costs are not contained. Medical insurance is expensive and beyond the reach of untold numbers of middle class people. Millions of people live one small step away from financial ruin if they have a medical crisis in their lives.
                                         If these people are so good at managing the economy, why did they not avoid the 2008 financial crisis? What other events will they miss? What negative events are their actions creating? What will be the consequence of keeping interest rates artificially low for so long? Now some are talking about going negative on interest rates, as some European countries have done.
                                          If in the end all they have done is create enormous bubbles in the stock and housing markets, and the whole thing comes crashing down again, there will be no tool at their disposal by which to respond. And if all they have done is punish savers, reward speculators, artificially inflate the stock and housing markets, will a single person be held accountable for when the whole thing unwinds?

Russian Television, Kremlin Lapdogs. Kleptocracies, Comparing Japan, Russia, U.S

                                          An article in the news today reported on countries where a small number of people own most of the country's wealth. Russia scored high on the list, a place where there is a high level of poverty and an incredible concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few. Strong middle classes, the foundation of a strong democracy, do not do well in oligarchies or anywhere where wealth, power and opportunity are limited to a small number of people.
                                          Japan scored well, a place where there is a strong middle class and where the rich do not own a disproportionate and unhealthy level of the country's wealth. In Japan, executives are reasonably compensated (unlike in the United states, where executive compensation has reached the stratosphere, as it is a grab whatever you can mentality, and to hell with everyone else). Executive compensation in Japan remains within reasonable proportion to what Japanese workers earn.
                                             Everywhere in the world where wealth and power, political and economic, are concentrated in the hands of a few, there is nothing but misery that results. Japan is doing something right. The United States, while it still has a strong middle class, which has been shrinking, needs to do everything it can to ensure the long term health of its middle class.
                                             Do not expect any of this news to be broadcast on a certain Russian television station, the mouthpiece of the Russian government. Interesting how the commentators and hosts on that station like to present themselves as progressives, seekers of truth and justice, as they provide endless spin always favorable towards Russian interests. Let us not forget their parade of fringe characters to whom they grant legitimacy regardless of how destructive and hate filled are their distorted lie filled messages and propaganda.
                                               One particular host, a fawning poor excuse for a man, will tell you Russian bombs are only flowers if the Kremlin tells him so. He and the other measly lot tow the Kremlin party line. What an ingratiating group of rear end kissing lemmings. What a shame that a free, independent press (unbeholden to special interests, unbeholden to corporate interests, unbeholden to governments, unbeholden to anyone) anywhere continues to be harder to find than the end of a rainbow.
                                                Meanwhile, regardless of whether it is in Russia, or in another country, wherever wealth and power are concentrated in the hands of a few, the outcome is always dismal.