THE POPE, THE ENVIRONMENT AND THE TRUTH

The Pope issued his message for the World Day of Peace and it centers on the environment. Now, I'll come right out and say it; it seems as though there are other, more pressing matters that the Pope could talk about. Lately it's been all about environmentalism. The coverage that I've seen in the mainstream press seems to paint this one world government, kumbayah left wing enviro-nut case picture when they refer to his comments. The news stories always seem to be rather shallow, with just enough information to make it seem as though the Pope is on the side of Al Gore.

What we don't see is this, from his speech today:

"Nor must we forget the very significant fact that many people experience peace and tranquillity, renewal and reinvigoration, when they come into close contact with the beauty and harmony of nature. There exists a certain reciprocity: as we care for creation, we realize that God, through creation, cares for us. On the other hand, a correct understanding of the relationship between man and the environment will not end by absolutizing nature or by considering it more important than the human person. If the Church’s magisterium expresses grave misgivings about notions of the environment inspired by ecocentrism and biocentrism, it is because such notions eliminate the difference of identity and worth between the human person and other living things. In the name of a supposedly egalitarian vision of the “dignity” of all living creatures, such notions end up abolishing the distinctiveness and superior role of human beings. They also open the way to a new pantheism tinged with neo-paganism, which would see the source of man’s salvation in nature alone, understood in purely naturalistic terms. The Church, for her part, is concerned that the question be approached in a balanced way, with respect for the “grammar” which the Creator has inscribed in his handiwork by giving man the role of a steward and administrator with responsibility over creation, a role which man must certainly not abuse, but also one which he may not abdicate. In the same way, the opposite position, which would absolutize technology and human power, results in a grave assault not only on nature, but also on human dignity itself."

The Vatican

I think that this may be the key to the focus on environmentalism of late. The Pope sees in the environmental movement that its leaders have objectified man and reduced us in importance to less than the earth itself. He is trying to underscore the absolute necessity of environmental stewardship while recognizing the rightful place of man in relationship to it. We are commanded in Genesis 1:28: "Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” As a people we have taken this injunction to use the earth to our benefit and bastardized it into the idea that we have no responsibility for the damage we do, as long as we benefit from it.

The Pope is trying to walk the middle road and help man to see that we have a responsibility to ourselves and those that come after us to be good stewards, not just exploiters. But, this stewardship can never become a means unto itself, placing the good of creation above the good of man. Creation was built to serve us, not the other way around. He wants us to understand that while we do have the right to private property that responsibility to protect the resource comes with the right to control it. We will not live forever and someone else will own it after we are gone. We are responsible to that future owner for the health of the common inheritance we all share.


The stories in the MSM seem to miss out on this subtle, nuanced teaching. The Popes words are being spun to suit a particular political ideology. He has to be aware of this so I'm not sure why more isn't being done to get the real message out. Of course, maybe he figures that he has a really bully pulpit and the truth is there for those that wish to look. I don't know.


I guess that I'm just frustrated. I know that the Pope is doing what he believes is important so, honestly, it probably is. I'm just tired of seeing the truth twisted and turned. Both sides of the environmental debate would do well to really absorb what the Pope has said. If we would truly work for the common good as Christianity teaches and God intends life would be so much easier. Instead, we'll continue to squabble for personal, political and financial power until the whole thing comes tumbling down. We are fools; from the fall to today we've learned nothing and nothing has changed. We are driven by pride and lust and they will be our undoing.


It is just a matter of time.

DETROIT IS OUR FUTURE IN THE RUST BELT

I'm full of stinky cheese and fish after fulfilling my obligation to perform old family traditions last night and so I'm not really up to writing. This video says it all. The combination of government mis-management and union excesses have destroyed Detroit and will destroy America if our current administration has anything to say about it.

So much of what is shown in this video could have been filmed in St. Louis, another one time great American city that has been run into the ground by the same crew. St. Louis, once second only to Detroit in the production of cars, has been turned into a Beirut clone in some neighborhoods. Maybe this isn't fair to Beirut. This city has been controlled by liberal Democrats for years. The unions have exerted control over all manufacturing, eventually driving employers away. We are still a union city, which would be great if there were any jobs to be had. Ford shut down their plant, Chrysler shut down theirs and GM is down to one shift. All of the suppliers that once employed thousands have shuttered right along with them.

This has left a huge, unskilled workforce unemployed. These are people that have made really good money for doing very little. I know plenty of them and have listened to the descriptions of their workdays. Sure, it's hot and the labor is physical but, compared to digging ditches or framing houses for a fraction of the wage, please! Most of the people that I know that were laid off from the auto plants sat around sucking up the job bank pay and made no real attempt to educate or in anyway prepare themselves for life without the automakers. They've been lulled into complacency by the socialist lies of their union and government masters.

Consequently, out where I live, the economy is terrible. The money that would have flowed into the local economy from the guys at Chrysler is gone and this is slowly causing other businesses to go under, further reducing the number of jobs available.

We've got real problems here in the rust belt. The root cause can be laid at the foot of big government, big unions and greed. There is no quick or even semi quick solution. It will be a long time, if ever before we see the economy come back around here. Detroit is just the first. Many more cities and the people that live there are going down the same road if we stick to the old paradigm of business, unions and government as usual.

People need to wake up and realize that the government uses them to acquire power for itself and enslave them, the unions use them to acquire power for its leaders and the government it supports and business uses them to make a profit. Of those three only business is honest about its intent and only business can help the worker to achieve actual growth in wealth and security. Yet, isn't it strange that both the unions and the government vilify the one thing that could lead to true independence for the people?

I wonder why?

PJTV

IS EXCESSIVE TAXATION IMMORAL?

Just a little something to piss you off for the New Year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Do you ever wonder why certain traditions just have to be adhered to? It's New Years Eve and I must, because I always have and so did generations before me, eat herring and some Limburger cheese. For good luck. And I don't have any idea why.

Fortunately, I like the stuff but I think the tradition ends with me. My kids refuse; they can't get past the smell. My granddaughter said she'll try it but we'll see how that goes. It just may be that every generation from this point forward suffers the most terrible turns of bad luck. They'll never know that all it would take to rectify the situation is a little cheese and fish; one night a year.

Oh well, life is a mystery. HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Enjoy whatever strange traditions your family has and I'll see you later.

PELOSI AND FREE WILL

"Pelosi goes on to criticize the Church for its position on abortion and gay marriage while still claiming to be a "practicing" Catholic

I think you have had some brushes with [church] hierarchy.

I have some concerns about the church's position respecting a woman's right to choose. I have some concerns about the church's position on gay rights. I am a practicing Catholic, although they're probably not too happy about that. But it is my faith. I practically mourn this difference of opinion because I feel what I was raised to believe is consistent with what I profess, and that is that we are all endowed with a free will and a responsibility to answer for our actions. And that women should have that opportunity to exercise their free will."

Creative Minority Report

So, Mrs. Pelosi believes that she has free will. Fine. What is her definition of free will? Apparently it is the right to do whatever she damned well pleases. This is the same definition that most people would adhere to.  Yet she claims to be a Catholic, and this is not the definition of the Church. Of course, since she has "free will" she really doesn't have to concern herself with what the Church teaches, does she?


So, what does the Church that Mrs. Pelosi claims to be a member of teach regarding free will?


From The Catechism of the Catholic Church:

1731 Freedom is the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and so to perform deliberate actions on one's own responsibility. By free will one shapes one's own life. Human freedom is a force for growth and maturity in truth and goodness; it attains its perfection when directed toward God, our beatitude.
1732 As long as freedom has not bound itself definitively to its ultimate good which is God, there is the possibility of choosing between good and evil, and thus of growing in perfection or of failing and sinning. This freedom characterizes properly human acts. It is the basis of praise or blame, merit or reproach.
1733 The more one does what is good, the freer one becomes. There is no true freedom except in the service of what is good and just. The choice to disobey and do evil is an abuse of freedom and leads to "the slavery of sin."²⁸
1734 Freedom makes man responsible for his acts to the extent that they are voluntary. Progress in virtue, knowledge of the good, and ascesis enhance the mastery of the will over its acts.


The question that I have for Mrs. Pelosi is this: as a Catholic do you believe that exercising your free will in the service of evil is truly an exercise of free will? 1733 from the Catechism calls this an abuse of freedom. Abuse is defined in Webster's dictionary as "to put to a wrong or improper use". Are we free to misuse our freedoms and rights? I know we can, but are we free to?


If we were to accept Mrs. Pelosi's definition of freedom how could we ever justify laws proscribing any activity? If we have the "right" to exercise our freedom in any way we please what would give someone else the "right" to stop us from doing it? Using her definition would the government have the right to force me to buy health insurance if I have the freedom to choose not to? How could my state require any sort of license for any sort of activity? Shouldn't I have the free will right to choose to drive or practice medicine without government interference?


The answer, of course, is that Mrs. Pelosi is wrong on her assertions about free will. We cannot choose to do as we please because our actions affect others. I cannot murder because it is a violation of the rights of another. I cannot steal because it is a violation of the rights of another. Most sensible people realize that while we have free will it is not an absolute right to do as we please. We are only free to involve ourselves in actions that are ordered towards the good.


Mrs. Pelosi, like most modern Catholics, picks and chooses Church doctrine to suit her own beliefs. Of course, if she could find it possible to be honest with herself, this makes her a Protestant, not a Roman Catholic. She refuses to accept the teachings of the Church that she claims to belong to. Yet, she expects her constituency and, by virtue of her office, the American people to trust her and accept her as an honest broker in the health care debate. This heretic cannot be trusted with anything! She will bend and twist the truth to her purpose whenever she feels it necessary to do so. She can't even be honest with herself about her own beliefs. If she could she would abandon the Catholic faith for one that agrees with her.


Because, after all, who is God to be telling her what to do?

HACKERS BREAK CELL PHONE CODE - CONE OF SILENCE SALES SURGE

"Computer hackers this week said they had cracked and published the secret code that protects 80 per cent of the world’s mobile phones. The move will leave more than 3bn people vulnerable to having their calls intercepted, and could force mobile phone operators into a costly upgrade of their networks.

Karsten Nohl, a German encryption expert, said he had organised the hack to demonstrate the weaknesses of the security measures protecting the global system for mobile communication (GSM) and to push mobile operators to improve their systems."

Financial Times

KUNSTLER, PEAK OIL AND THE TRUTH

Cluster**** Nation  posted its 2010 forecast on Monday. Kunstler is one of my favorite writers. He drifts off into knee jerk left wing calumny from time to time but I don't care. His ideas about where we are heading as a country and as a people are, I believe, uncannily accurate. Some will quibble with his insistence on the accuracy of Peak Oil; I don't. I think that Peak Oil is here. There are a number of different ways for the scenario to play out, none of which has to involve the actual depletion of oil. We are seeing the effects all around us, politically, economically and in our day to day existence. Anyone notice how prices of food are starting to climb? Peak Oil is part of this dynamic. The price of fuel is directly related to Peak Oil and this price is a huge part of the cost of food with the average meal traveling 1500 miles to your plate.

We are at the beginning of the end as far as cheap and readily available energy is concerned. With the disappearance of cheap energy goes our entire way of life. Our government has decided to inflate one last huge bubble in hopes of keeping us drugged on technology and comfort just long enough to siphon off whatever wealth is left. We are entering a long period of diminishing standards of living which will move us back to the 1880-90's. The sooner we plan for this and accept it the faster we can start to prepare.

Most don't believe it, don't want to hear it and will not prepare for it. And many, maybe most, will not survive.

Unless we begin to reestablish local markets and sources of supply we will not be able to weather the coming storm. It is vital that we learn how to live within our means and our local economy. This will require rethinking our entire idea of money. Money will cease to be a fiat currency backed by nothing and will become something issued by local banks, as it used to be. These paper bills will be redeemable for gold or silver, just like they used to be. We are going to return to barter. This means that if you don’t have a useful skill, you need to learn one. Your worth will be based on your ability to contribute, not the car you drive or the house you live in. Cars will be monuments to a life no longer possible and houses will be practical means of staying under cover, not testimonials to your job status.

If you don’t believe this is possible, look at the news today. YRC is struggling to stay alive. The deadline for their survival has been extended another 24 hours to 11:59 p.m. today. If they cannot get the money they need they will go bankrupt. This seems to be what the end result will be since Goldman-Sachs will profit from their demise. Who is YRC, you ask? It’s Yellow Freight and Roadway, the largest trucking company in the country; and this on the heels of the collapse of Arrow Trucking a few days ago. In an economy based on just in time delivery, with most products shipped from great distances to the shelves in your neighborhood store, how long do you think we can keep things together without trucks?

This is Peak Oil in action. The slowdown in the economy that was started by the run up in fuel prices that culminated in oil at $147.00 per barrel has led to the collapse of trucking in this country. Along with trucking goes the supply chain. This takes out your shipments of fuel, food, medicine, clothing, building materials and everything else that you can’t get within walking distance. And, because of just in time delivery, there is no inventory of these goods at the retail level. When the trucks stop it will be only a matter of days before you can’t buy the most basic necessities.

This will happen with the speed of flipping a light switch. Soon, some vital support will be removed from the economy and everything will collapse like a house of cards. Is the imminent possibility of the loss of the two largest carriers in the country that support? I don’t know. But, if it is, what are you going to do? Have you prepared? No access to food, fuel, money, energy, medicine or damned near anything else? Have you prepared physically, mentally and spiritually?

I pray to God that you have. Because, if you haven’t you’re going to show up at the door of those who have looking for help. Some of us will do what we can because it is our duty but many won’t. And then, what? You’ll have to kill to survive. You’ll just be one of millions, clawing and murdering your way to an ugly, hungry, thirsty deranged death. Because you didn’t prepare. You laughed at people that told you it was ending. You were to smart to fall for the “conspiracy”.

Remove the blinders and the biases and do your homework. Look at the numbers and do the math. We are in a corner that we cannot extricate ourselves from. This isn’t some (fill in the blank) wing conspiracy. This is plain, simple logic. Both parties have been involved, along with all of us. We put the gun to our own heads and we are about to pull the trigger.

2010 is going to be unlike anything we have ever seen. Everything is on the table; anything is possible. Except going back to the way it was before. We will never, ever live in the full blown hedonistic orgy that we have lived in the past 20 years. It’s not coming back. Quit living as though it will. Face facts and prepare. You owe it to yourself, your family and the rest of us. We’re going to have it hard enough keeping ourselves alive without having to carry you, too.

AMERICA AND RUSSIA - COMPARING COLLAPSE

If you have the time read the article that this links to. The author compares the Soviet Union during its collapse with the coming collapse in the U.S. He points out, I think, the inherent weakness in our system, overwhelming dependence on everything but ourselves. Strange to think in these terms since the mantra of capitalism and America is the myth of rugged individualism. In reality, most of us are completely reliant on all kinds of systems just to support our existence.

I was at a coffee shop today and marveled at the number of people around me absolutely addicted to technology. I asked my wife if she thought that they could survive without cell phones and laptops. I had this sudden picture in my mind of drug addicts suddenly cut off from their supply.

My family decided about a year ago to collapse our own personal economy. We made this decision because we believe that an orderly collapse at a personal level will be much easier ahead of the general collapse that is coming. I would rather have already reduced our needs and increased our self sufficiency before the rest of the world begins the process. It's easier to work the bugs out of the system while there is still normality all around us. I don't want to have to work out these issues when everyone else is in a state of panic.

When I read this article it verified for me the wisdom of our decision. I don't see a down side to living at a lower standard. We are ready for the SHTF. And, if it doesn't, what have we lost? Nothing. But, what we've gained is a more reasonable life with a better, less dependent future ahead of us.

So , take a look at the article and think about the future. We are on the verge of collapse and all the happy talk from those in the government and the banks can't change that. Be proactive and plan to protect your family. Look to Russia and Argentina for the future. They've been down this road; without global collapse at the same time. Argentina is still in the middle of it. Listen to those that have seen it happen and lived it. Learn from them about what it's really like when all the systems modern society is based on go away.

And if you get prepared, and nothing happens? That's better than the other way around.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I am not an expert or a scholar or an activist. I am more of an eye-witness. I watched the Soviet Union collapse, and I have tried to put my observations into a concise message. I will leave it up to you to decide just how urgent a message it is.

My talk tonight is about the lack of collapse-preparedness here in the United States. I will compare it with the situation in the Soviet Union, prior to its collapse. The rhetorical device I am going to use is the "Collapse Gap" – to go along with the Nuclear Gap, and the Space Gap, and various other superpower gaps that were fashionable during the Cold War."

Energy Bulletin