Very Alike Are We Humans and Chimpanzee

The most enduring lessons are those which cost us the most. Still I am going to have to try to be the eternal optimist. I'll just accept that I am the sum total of all that has happened before me, even unto the beginning of the universe. If all things had not happened exactly as they did even down to the smallest reaction of causality, I would not be the me who exists in this presence. So I give thanks.

Some of those things that happened to me were bad things. Some of the things that I caused to happen to others were bad things. Hurtful things, spiteful things and hateful things have been done by us all, to all of us. No one person has a clean slate. Everyone has a burden of responsibility for the good and the bad we inflict on each other. So what can be done?

Human beings have done some pretty horrible things to one another. That can't be said without the thought of all the good things Humans have done coming to mind too. Even so, I try to look at all of the horrible things Humans have done in the light of logic and reason, as should all other matters be looked at. I see things like this.

There was a time long ago when Humans did not exist. Our prehuman ancestors walked the Earth, and viewed the Earth in an entirely different way. I'll say our prehuman ancestors thought about the Earth, and the environment in which they lived, pretty much the same way as any other so-called "non-sentient animal" creature would.

Look at this video of our closest relative creature. Their ancestor is our ancestor. There was a time when we were one, then they went their way, and so too did we. When we went our separate ways, we abandoned some things and took other things with us. The violent nature that served us well, and for eons as pre-humans was not only brought with us, but also intensified and made more deadly.

Gang of Chimps Torture and Kill a Lone Chimp

Gang members knife-attack a man from rival gang on the street

When I view scenes like in this video of our cousins the chimps, and our Human brethren, I can't help but to think that there was a time when the split off point between us and them was only a few thousand years distant. The closer to that point in time in which we split, the more apelike in behaviour we were. The earliest stone tool making by Humans developed by at least 2.6 million years ago. We know chimpanzees use stones as tools, and fashion spears, and other tools. After all these millions of years since that fateful day when Humans and chimps went separate ways we still act like them, and they like us in so many ways.

That is why I call violent acts, and hate, and racism, and sexism, and religion and other things primitive. That is why I call some other things advanced thinking. The seeds of it are found in the actions of the chimp named Hair in this video. The seeds of compassion, and justice. The advanced thinking of a chimp name Hair reflects the advanced thinking of Humans who renounce the primitive aspects of our pre-human and pre-chimp ancestors.

Oh how so very alike are we Humans and Chimpanzee. Let us learn from them. Let them be our teachers, so that we may advance, and lay away our primitive ways. Let us be more like Chimp Hair.

For me this points towards something important. It points to a way out of the never ending cycle of violence and revenge among groups of Humans. That is to recognise that there is blood on all hands. To know that the blood was spilled as a result of primitive thinking humans who were closer to the time of the split off with chimps. To not hold the sins of the father against the children, if the children abandon primitive thought. Then Humans can focus on advancing our society and way of treating one another, instead of dwelling on grievances against our more primitive ancestors. They didn't know any better. We should.

Let Humans draw a line in the Sands of Time. On one side is the primitive, and on the other is the progressive.

Climate Science: Shall We Gamble With Human Existence?

Some people try to say human caused climate change is a hoax perpetrated by scientists trying to get more money. They point to volcanos saying that they produce much more greenhouse gasses than humans. I've got a problem with their logic, and the people who promote it. The problem with the people who promote such non-sense is,  they are the same people who are trying to get more money by selling fossil fuels. They need you to keep burning.

Volcán Popocatépetl. Gran explosión del 29 de diciembre 2014 a las 8am 

My problem with their logic lays in the fact that there has always been volcanoes, but humans are newcomers on the scene. Logic would dictate that the amount of greenhouse gasses emitted by volcanoes throughout the countless eons has been pretty much constant. Also that the Earth's ecosystem had achieved a balance between natural sources of carbon emissions and their sequester.

Then along came humans. We have lived pretty much in harmony with nature for the majority of our existence. Then intellect and the resulting technological boom happened for human. Their use of fire became more common, until all humans depended on it for survival. The harnessing of the fire by humans was the added factor that tipped the scale and unbalanced the carbon cycle. Now there are over 7 billion humans with all their fires, big and small. Some humans burn one small fire. Other humans burn a raging fire, a ravenous inferno, and will consume anything that will burn to keep the fire going.

Louisiana Oil Refinery at Night

So don't try to use the volcano as a scapegoat, or an excuse for complacency or inaction. Don't try to tell me that the debate is not over on this, because that is only harmful foot dragging, which consumes time we need to solve this real and pressing problem. The debate is most certainly over. Humans are causing the global average temperature to raise because of carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels. That is the ruling. That is the fact of the matter, and people better get that through their skulls, or we as a species are as good as dead..

Now I'm going to turn something around that was told to me by a faithful Christian who was concerned for my soul. It is an argument used by them to justify blind faith. I was told "You should believe in God because what if you didn't and there is a God. Believing in god won't harm you, but not believing in god could put you in hell forever."

Now let me apply that to the situation with climate science. Here goes, "You should believe in global warming because what if you didn't and there is global warming. Believing in global warming won't harm you, but not believing in global warming could put humans in danger of extinction forever." Get the picture?

A lot of the people who are climate deniers are also fundamentalists Christians. They believe that the world is only 6000 years old, that there was a global flood, that evolution is not real, and other things grounded in ancient Abrahamic religious myth. Some of them think that no matter what humans do, their god will bail them out, or that it doesn't matter because they will live on in an afterlife. I even heard a Congressman in the United States House of Representatives say as much.

Shall we gamble with human existence? Shall we bet on the tangible or the intangible? When we make this climate bet, all of our chips are going up for grabs. It is win it all, or lose it all. Use your marvelous human intellect, and pick where you're going to place all of our chips of life in the casino of existence. Remember too, we only get one shot at this. We win, we live. We lose, we die, all of us.

Corruption Must be Eliminated: Human Survival Depends On It

Seeing stuff like Putin's son-in-law getting $1.75 billion in cheap Russian state loans for petrochemical extraction, and knowing how corrupt their actions are, conjures up thoughts of how much Putin and Trump admire each other. Thoughts of the Russian Oligarchy firmly entrenched, and of how our nation is on that path. Things like unbridled fossil fuel extraction, and the burning of trillions of tons of fossil fuels, and of adding more fuel to the fire that has been burning and getting bigger for over a century of industrialization. I start to contemplate the situation at hand, about myself and all of us. What shall we have? How shall we react? 

Putin's son-in-law boosted by $1.75 billion Russian state loan

Kirill Shamalov, Deputy Chairman of the management board of SIBUR company, speaks during an interview in Moscow, Russia, July 29, 2015.

REUTERS/KOMMERSANT PHOTO/DMITRY DUKHANIN

It must be so very awesome to have control of billions in wealth, and of lives and property. Think of the feelings of pure, raw power. The control over life and death, at your whim and for your own benefit, discretion, amusement or whatever. I say "or whatever" because there are no bounds placed on the actions of humanity when it comes to the acquisition of wealth, or to its protection. The feelings of power might delude one into having thoughts of supremacy over humanity. It causes me to remember stories of the Egyptian Pharaohs, Roman Emperors, and others who pronounced their godhood. It must be so very awesome to weld so much power.

Now the people have spoken as evidenced by the gigantic support of people like Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and other progressives and Democratic Socialist thinkers. The people are seeing with their own eyes the destruction to our environment, and other heinous acts of government officials and industry. All that corruption going on over there in Russia, is mirrored here. The wonderful news is, a lot of people in the United States are waking up and realizing what is going on. Better yet, they seem to be determined to do something about it, come hell or high water. Perhaps we can get some of that mirrored over there.

We have to eliminate the rampant corruption in our society. The corruption is literally killing us. We have no other choice if we are to survive as a species. That elimination of corruption is called for not only in the United States, but also Russia, China and any other corrupt element where ever they may be found, and we should and must promote that elimination of corruption most vigorously. We must not relent, ever. All of their corrupt ways now need to be regarded as primitive and repugnant. The promotion of it criminal, and the penalties for corrupt actions severe. Then our Humanity can advance. I say "our Humanity" for a reason. No person has a right to harm the body of our Humanity. Corruption does exactly that. It harms Humanities very being, so we Humans must eliminate corruption in government and industry, totally and without exception.

Demand "Nothing but the Truth!"

Check out this idea for an Information Vetting Council. Please help to get this to become public. We have to do something about the rampant lying in congress, and media. We have politicians making statements like "I'm not a scientist" and "climate change hoax". Talk show pundits on TV, radio and the internet purposefully telling bald face lies, and being paid to do it! All the while we get sold down the river economically, environmentally and socially. I would love to see someone like Rush Limbaugh get fined $10,000,000 and spend 25 years in prison for the treason of breaking the public trust.

 Information Vetting Council Petition

We have got to be assured that the public has the most credible and reliable information there is! No more allowing the 1st Amendment protection of deceiving the public for fun and profit. Put the clamps down on them, and I mean hard.

One of the things that is absolutely imperative is to overturn the Citizens United ruling. We must get big money out of politics! This effort to get rid of the corruption of lies goes hand in hand with it. That criminal effort to deceive the public is what the money is used for. That's how people like Rush Limbaugh and the rest of the Right Wing Nutz deceivers get paid. Well, I expect the truth from broadcast media and politicians so I can make an informed decision on matters so vital to our nation and humanity, and so should you. Sign the petition [HERE]

Seriously, even oil companies have lied about what they know about CO2 and climate change just so they could make a dollar! They are putting everything, me, you, our families, our very future at risk. We can not let them. We mustn't allow our government servants to lie to the ones they serve.

Sign the petition to end deception by the people in government and media. Information Vetting Council.

Bernie Sanders: LISTEN TO THE SCIENCE of Climate Change

Demand "Nothing but the Truth!"

#NothingbuttheTruth

Drastic Action Needed to Save our Democracy

Our system of elections and economy is badly broken. Big money and avarice is run rampant and rough shod over our political system. A system that was touted as one in which the commoner has a voice, and power. That voice and power over government has been stolen away from the commoner by wealthy individuals. The wealthy individuals have made their presence and wishes known, and through rulings like Citizens United have effectively hijacked our government. Now we have come to a point where our government no longer serves all citizens, but rather just a few of the wealthiest in our society. So what to do about it?

Our system is in need of basic structural changes. Changes that will be most difficult to implement. Difficult because the wealthy in our society would stand to lose much. I am of the opinion that their loss would only reflect what has been stolen from the people, and thus is not a gain for the people. It is a restoration, or an implementation of economic justice and equality.

These are the changes I believe we must have in order to secure a more equal and just society.

1. Repeal Citizens United.
2. Make all political campaigns publicly funded, but allow for restricted private individual donations to political parties.
3. Require the disclosure of all political campaign money donors, and restrict the amount of maximum donation.
4. Implement an independent Information Vetting Council (IVC) http://insolint.blogspot.com/2015/12/new-federal-agency-independent.html
5. Task the FEC with the scheduling of debates for the various political parties.
6. Cause the C-Span system to host and record political debates.
7. Allow the various media outlets to air the debates as streamed from the C-Span system, without modification.
8. Mandate that the media outlets give equal time to all candidates.
9. Mandate that the media outlets only provide information that has been certified as truth by the IVC when making commentary on political candidates, or airing political ads.
10. Mandate that the media outlets disclose the source of funding for all political ads.
11. Cause the Speaker of the House of Representatives to become a non-partisan seat. One in which the holder must disavow any allegiance to any political party, and give that allegiance over to the American people as a whole. Concerning themselves wholly and exclusively to the operation of the House, and the people's business.
12. Implement term limits on members of Congress not to exceed that set for the President.
13. Disallow the adding of attachments or riders onto Bills that are not relevant to the subject under consideration.

The way we deal with our economy is badly in need of revision. Our present system is based on scarcity of resources, and a mix of public and private ownership of mineral and energy resources. The public sector of resources being plundered by individuals who use our political system to enact rules that facilitate the plunder. The private sector of resources having to be continually policed to advert and/or contain damage to our environment by socially irresponsible corporations and individuals. With the crisis of anthropogenic climate change upon us, and because of the actions of the private sector in the areas of resources and banking/stocks, I see no other alternative than to take drastic action.

1. Declare all natural resources of minerals, biological and energy are the property of the people of the United States, and all privately held mineral and energy rights are forever null and void.
   http://insolint.blogspot.com/2015/10/nationalize-all-mineral-and-energy.html
2. Cause the Bureau of Land Management to value all mineral, biological and energy resources, and to charge private interests a proper rate for any resources extracted, and let that charge reflect any clean up costs.
3. Cause the Bureau of Land Management to use scientific data vetted by the IIVC to determine where, and how much, and for how long extraction of resources may occur in any given local.
4. Task the Treasury to keep records of the national wealth of resources.
5. Cause monies collected from the sale of the people's resources to be used for the benefit of the people i.e. the operation of government services, research and development, education etc., etc..
6. Dissolve all private banks, and the Stock Market.
7. Cause the Federal Reserve to become truly owned by the people, and given charter to operate a Citizens owned National Bank of the United States.
8. Implement a new Federal Stock Exchange Market, where all trades of stock must occur.
9. Put our nation back on a precious metals based monetary system. Implementation of which would be dependent on and require the exploitation of new off world resources. These resources would be helped to be made available by use of monies collected from the extraction of the people's resources. http://insolint.blogspot.com/2015/04/new-vision-for-future-gives-unlimited.html

I think it has been proven that private interests can not be trusted with such critical items like resource management/environmental and economics. They are both to easily given over to avarice. When that avarice occurs our society as a whole is put into danger. This situation is intolerable.

I think all of these things I've mentioned here are badly needed in our governmental/societal system. Leave out any one of them and we have problems. Because we have none of these things we have come to the poor state we find ourselves in today. Our nation is evolving as is our people, and we can not expect our society to run well with the same old archaic rules our ancestors lived by. They had their limits as to knowledge and human experience, and we have ours in the 21^st Century. Our knowledge and human experience should be greater with the passing of time. I think what we've learned over and above what our forefathers knew points us in the direction of the actions I've laid out here today.

These are dangerous ideas. These are ideas that the weak of heart or conscious should stay away from. There are people who would do bad things to keep these things from happening, so promote them at your own peril. Do not promote them at our civilizations peril.

All thoughts welcome as they should be in a Democratic Socialist society.

Texas Citizens Suffering From Chronic State Wide Petroleum Poisoning

I wonder if this may be the problem with Texas? For a long time now Texas has had a disproportional number of crazy talkers than the rest of the nation. There seems to be a constant barrage of loony bin ideas coming out from every corner of the state. So what could be the reason for Texas to become the insane state?

Maybe the answer is petroleum poisoning. Petroleum products are known to cause brain damage. Perhaps the effects of exposure to the toxic petrochemical products of the massive, and century long petroleum industry in that state is taking a grim toll in the general population of Texas in the form of brain damage.

Severe poisoning also can affect the brain, heart, bone marrow, and kidneys.

Perhaps it is just now that things are getting critical. The ever increasing intensity of their illogical diatribe points in that direction. If this is true, drastic action is called for because it puts the entire nation at risk. The risks are even effecting our nation's government function in a seriously negative way.

Current and Historical Producing Oil and Gas Wells

If such a thing were true, there are only a few things that could be done to correct the problem. First I would close the borders of Texas, and shut down all petroleum extraction and processing. The Texas State Government should be dissolved, and a federal task force brought in for stewardship until such a time as can be determined that the danger has passed.

The situation is critical. Our nation must get to the bottom of the insanity coming from the Lone Star State. It isn't natural.

New Federal Agency: Information Vetting Council (IVC)

Our leader Bernie Sanders said "Think Big!" I've been thinking about all the lies being pawned off as truth, and what in the world can we do about it? After a long time of pounding my head, maybe this is an idea that may work. I submit it for your review.
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Information Vetting Council (IVC)
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I sure am tired of all the lies that get passed off as truth. It disturbs me greatly when I see charts and graphs made by special interests, that bare no resemblance to the truth, or are a misrepresentation of the facts, used in the House of Representatives or the Senate by lawmakers when presenting an argument for passing or not passing a bill. It is unacceptable to the American people that false information, misinformation and doctored figures are used in crafting legislation.

It is unacceptable in our system of 21st Century Democracy that media outlets on a daily basis are allowed to broadcast false information, misinformation and doctored figures to the American people over the publicly owned electromagnetic spectrum or other technological means of media communication. These deceptive practices, done with undeserved 1st Amendment protections, have proven to be dangerous to the ideas and principals of liberty, freedom and equality. False information, misinformation and doctored figures must not have 1st Amendment protections if used in a governmental capacity.

"governmental n.
1. The act or process of governing, especially the control and administration of public policy in a political unit."

The FCC could be used to police the truthfulness of media outlets, but there is nothing policing the truthfulness of politicians except the media. The FCC can not do that under the current climate of big money provided by media outlets with an agenda in politics. The media's only agenda should be unbiased, truthful reporting in an effort to educate the American people so that they may make an informed decision based on factual information.

Because the media and the politicians have proven they can not be trusted to deliver, or to use factual information in their duties, the American people now must force these entities to be truthful. How to do that has confounded me for a long time. That is until now.

We need in our governmental system an information vetting process. If persons must be vetted, the information used to form our laws must be vetted too.

"vet; past tense: vetted; past participle: vetted

make a careful and critical examination of (something).
"proposals for vetting large takeover bids"

investigate (someone) thoroughly, especially in order to ensure that they are suitable for a job requiring secrecy, loyalty, or trustworthiness."

Our nation should have an independent Information Vetting Council (IVC). The council should be made up of experts in the field of science, history, sociology, economics and other pertinent fields. The members of the council must be vetted before they may take seat. The prospective members of the Council shall be chosen by the members of Congress, and can be introduced by either the House or the Senate. The prospective members of the Council shall hold advanced degrees in their fields of expertise. The President shall confirm newly chosen members to the Council.

Any information of any type used in an argument when debating a bill, or information included as text of the Bill first must be vetted by the IVC and given a serialized Seal of Truthfulness. Any information of any type used in an argument by media outlets, or persons using any means of information dispersal first must be vetted by the IVC and given a Seal of Truthfulness. Only after the vetting process by the IVC may any information be used for governmental processes or dissemination to the public for governmental purposes, like to sway votes.

Any Bill that includes information not vetted through the IVC shall be rejected, and sent back to the author for editing.

Any media outlet or other information dispersal organization, including Political Action Committees, infomercials, and political talk shows, and others as yet to be identified, and including any means of information dispersal, who willfully uses information not vetted by the IVC shall lose their broadcast license and the managers found guilty be charged a Felony punishable by a fine of $10,000,000 and imprisonment for not less than 25 years.

This idea may seem rough. It may seem harsh. I can't help it to be any softer because this situation of lying politicians and media has got to the point to where harsh action is called for. The idea of forming an "Independent Information Vetting Council" is what I've come up with to deal with this dangerous, and most serious problem within our civilization.

I invite other points of view, or ideas for modification of this idea of the IIVC.