https://www.cnn.com/2015/04/24/tech/laser-cloud-seeding-mci/index.html Using lasers for weather control. Might work to some extent. “Professor Wolf reckons lasers could be used to “repair” the weather, reducing the occurrence of hurricanes, thunderstorms, flooding, and drought….How does laser actually affect the weather?…It can create new clouds where there are none, by inducing condensation: naturally occurring water vapor is condensed into droplets, and ice crystals form, mimicking the natural process that creates clouds.” – that’s just one example. It can induce lightning and other effects.
The above article is from 2015, but the general idea is very relevant to 2021. Consider the “heat dome” which is now cranking up temperatures west of the Rockies, and in the Southwest, to crazy heights.
You’ll be feeling it, alright. It’s going to get ugly. Elderly or health-compromised without air conditioning may die, in this situation. Doctors are warning of serious burns from concrete and asphalt heat. The terrible drought in the west will be aggravated, making out of control wildfires an inevitability. Don’t leave your dog outside very long, in this weather, it’s liable to die.
The nature of the dome suggests the need for weather control of some kind. (Cue frightened shrieks from Qanon and other fringe paranoia-spawners). Note the part about the dome being held in place by high pressure systems above. Could some orbital or high altitude use of particle beams or lasers “puncture” such a high-pressure cap? Could they cause it to become unstable through heating or other effects and make it shift away? It’d be like puncturing a blister. If I do a sequel to my novel Stormland, it’ll be in there. . .
The spiders, it was later realized, were not reacting to flooding, they were warning of the invasion coming on the subspace webs…Recently, in real life, it was discovered that, like bees, spiders in colonies can communicate in simple ways. So, they’ve been talking and talking and showing…but we don’t listen. “Oh certainly, we are sometimes adversaries, but we have no wish to see our planet fall to an invasive species. These invaders, as we well remember from 65 million years ago, can spread amongst us quite quickly. Only the willingness of the dinosaurs to sacrifice themselves to the fight kept the things in check. We had some of the surviving invaders wrapped in webs–for in those days we were each bigger than kangaroos–and they went dormant, deep underground. But now they stir, sensing their fellows arriving…Hey, Seven-Leg, dude, they’re not listening…perhaps we should just spread out and eat them, at least that way…oh, okay, private council…”
I am going to hope I’m forgiven by the New York Times for just flat-out pasting in their review, here, of a very significant book by Nathaniel Rich which ‘presents humanity’s war against nature in vivid detail, with nature nearly defeated. “It was a costly victory, however,” he writes. “The prize was civilizational collapse.”’
(reviewed by) Dahr Jamail
SECOND NATURE
Scenes From a World Remade
By Nathaniel Rich
On average, an American man puts 85 man-made chemicals into his body every day, while an American woman takes in nearly twice that amount.
Rich tourists pay top dollar for disaster tours to gawk at New Orleans’s Katrina-devastated Lower Ninth Ward, where the people who have remained struggle to survive.
In Aspen, Colo., dogs fly in private jets to “Billionaire Mountain” to join their owners in multimillion-dollar homes for two weeks of the year.
Cattle exposed to DuPont’s toxic chemicals drool uncontrollably and birth stillborn calves. Their teeth turn black, and blood gushes from their noses, mouths and rectums. When they are cut open, they are found to be filled with giant tumors, collapsed veins and green muscles.
A genetically engineered rabbit in France glows green. Meat made from cells harvested from an unborn sheep is being grown in a lab. There is an artist who has undergone multiple surgeries to grow a human ear on his forearm, and a life-size human ear grown from cow cartilage cells has been implanted on the back of a lab mouse.
Biotech is being used to bring back extinct species, despite the fact it is unable to achieve perfect replication, setting the stage for mutated versions of passenger pigeons or woolly mammoths. “We would go exactly as far as the technology allowed, and strain to go further,” Nathaniel Rich proclaims in “Second Nature,” a book chock-full of scenes such as these, an unwavering look at our increasingly dystopian world.
Rich presents humanity’s war against nature in vivid detail, with nature nearly defeated. “It was a costly victory, however,” he writes. “The prize was civilizational collapse.”
Flowing and deeply researched prose paints scene after scene of the ubiquitous entropy that is gaining momentum.
As devastating as the darkness is, however, Rich illuminates those acting on behalf of life itself. The lawyer representing the cattle farmer against DuPont revealed how many of those same chemicals are in all of us, and in 2018 filed a class-action lawsuit against DuPont and two other companies on behalf of every person in the country who had been exposed.
Uninhabited areas of the Lower Ninth Ward are now populated with rabbits, egrets, pelicans, hawks, possum, coyotes, owls, falcons and alligators as nature wastes no time reasserting itself.
A Japanese scientist studying a strange species known as the “immortal jellyfish,” whose life cycle reverses just as it seems to near its end, reminds us that learning to love nature is mandatory for our evolution as humans.
Rich offers all this while also never taking his gaze off the accelerating climate crisis. NASA has warned, as my own research has shown, that Arctic permafrost soil contains 1,400 to 1,850 gigatons of organic carbon, most of it located in the top 10 feet of quickly thawing soil. This layer is melting at least 70 years ahead of what were thought to be worst-case scenarios, rapidly releasing this carbon to join the 850 gigatons already in the atmosphere.
Humans living in our industrial age tend to resist information deleterious to their continued “progress,” yet Rich manages to fluently and empathetically depict in a digestible way the predicament in which we now find ourselves. The weight of the book is carried by deeply humanistic and nuanced stories of those whose lives have been devastated and those fighting for justice on their behalf, alongside those playing God with nature via biotechnology and chemistry.
In “Second Nature,” Rich articulately, sometimes even brutally, evinces how the onus is upon all of us to respond morally while simultaneously living with a reality that Dr. Frankenstein knew quite well: A monster set loose becomes a threat to our own existence.
Dahr Jamail is the author of “The End of Ice: Bearing Witness and Finding Meaning in the Path of Climate Disruption,” a finalist for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award in 2020.
SECOND NATURE Scenes From a World Remade By Nathaniel Rich 288 pp. MCD/Farrar, Straus & Giroux. $27.
I just cannot bear libertarianism. I could tolerate it better if we weren’t in an ecological emergency, on several levels–not just climate change–and libertarians are anti-regulatory weasels. And they use “statist” as an insult. As if a libertarian society would not be a state. A “state” as applied to a nation does not imply any particular governmental style, you ignorant putz. The society could be communist, libertarian, anarcho-syndicalist, as laissez faire as you like and as long as you have borders and any government whatsoever it’s still a state.
Libertarians are amazingly unaware of the inherent irony of libertarianism: they’re against people controlling them but if they don’t regulate industry and big biz and etc then power devolves to whoever has the money and they USE that power and they become “centrist” with them at the center: government by oligarchy. A monarchy of money.
‘Political conservatives are more likely to believe untrue news reports than liberals are, researchers reported Wednesday.It’s the latest in a series of studies that show people on the political right tend to not only be targeted by fake news, but to believe it’s correct...
Conservatives were a little less likely to believe stories that were actually true, the researchers found. “It’s tempting to try and read this as evidence that conservatives are more biased or somehow psychologically predisposed to misperceptions. We can’t say that,” Garrett said.It might be that conservatives are being targeted more. “We have evidence the media environment is shaping peoples’ misperceptions,” he added. “Our data suggests that the composition of the media environment is playing a great role now.”‘
“You canines sure are a mixed bag,” I told my dog. “Here it is in the news today: Ten month old baby killed by the family dogs. That was in North Carolina. Their Rottweilers mauled the poor kid to death! Some of you canines are grossly savage, bro. Domesticated dogs too. What the hell, man. And don’t tell me the people should have been watching over the baby closer, of course they should, but the family dogs, a couple of Rottweilers, shouldn’t be savaging any babies anytime, dammit.”
“First of all,” my dog said, rolling his big brown eyes, “those of us who are more peaceful breeds, or in my case mixed breed, cannot be responsible for what some asshole Rottweilers do. They’re Rottweilers. I wouldn’t trust them near my dinner or my puppies or human slaves.”
“Wait–‘human slaves’?”
“Er, I misspoke. I meant my human owners. That’s the ticket. That’s what I meant. Anyway, some Rottweilers are lunatics, unstable, because originally they were bred for violence. They’re attack dogs. Now who bred them that way? Let’s see. Do we know? Oh that’s right, humans did! Also they were evidently not well trained enough. Who failed to train them right? Oh that’s right–their humans!”
“Okay, fine, so you’ve got a point. But–“
“And by the way, which species is the most violent, human or canine? Who carries out world wars? The most we do is fight over territory now and then with our teeth. Closest we have to wars. Do we make nuclear bombs, man? Machine guns and nerve gas and shit? Hell no. Also do we keep human beings in cages in China and then kill you in horrible ways and eat you? Nooooo–that’s human beings in China who do that to dogs! Now let’s talk abour your cage fighting and your child murderers and your child rapists and–“
“Okay okay! You win, you made your point! We suck!”
“And don’t forget it. Now–you going to get my dinner, or what?”
The Department of Meme Toxicology has issued a new report warning of AYN RAND POISONING. Causes of Ayn Rand poisoning include reading Ayn Rand’s novels & the rants of Austrian School of economics fanatics, & the rhetorical drippings of Ron Paul. Indications: hypertrophic selfishness, radical lack of empathy, indifference to poverty and human suffering, a willingness to elevate the law of Survival of the Fittest over all humanitarian concerns, an inability to perceive the consequences of environmental pollution, an extreme reaction to the presence of unions, blindness to social benefits of taxation, eg their own use of tax-supported programs. Prognosis, the death of civilization.
I got this poem through the Poetry Foundation email list; a list which I recommend. As the poem was powerfully written and moving and trenchant, here it is. It’s by Blas Manuel De Luna.
They had hit Ruben with the high beams, had blinded him so that the van he was driving, full of Mexicans going to pick tomatoes, would have to stop. Ruben spun
the van into an irrigation ditch, spun the five-year-old me awake to immigration officers, their batons already out, already looking for the soft spots on the body, to my mother being handcuffed and dragged to a van, to my father trying to show them our green cards.
They let us go. But Alvaro was going back. So was his brother Fernando. So was their sister Sonia. Their mother did not escape, and so was going back. Their father was somewhere in the field, and was free. There were no great truths
revealed to me then. No wisdom given to me by anyone. I was a child who had seen what a piece of polished wood could do to a face, who had seen his father about to lose the one he loved, who had lost some friends who would never return, who, later that morning, bent to the earth and went to work.
Someone somewhere must have pointed this out, but I haven’t seen it. Let me start out by just saying it, straight out. Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, is escalating the fight with Hamas–may have even provoked it–so that he can stay in office. He is perfectly willing to see a great many people killed– Palestinians, Gaza residents, women and children, journalists, and Israelis killed in retaliation to the escalation–simply because he was in great danger of losing his job. A new government was about to be formed, as in the Israeli system, and it was likely he would not be able to keep the job of Prime Minister. Here’s a quote from CNN dated eleven days ago: “Benjamin Netanyahu’s hold on the Premiership of Israel looks a little less secure after a deadline to build a new government passed at midnight”. He didn’t want to build a new government. It’s quite possible that with one of the best intelligence services on Earth, the Mossad, Netanyahu knew that an attack was expected. So why not wait for it, and escalate the ensuing conflict? Will Israel remove him from power in the midst of a war? Probably not. Unwise to change horses in mid-crisis. And if he shows his strength and demonstrates he will do anything to protect Israel, he’s likely to keep power even after it’s over.
This escalation is opportunism. Netanyahu was busted for corruption. He was losing control of government. He does not want to give up power, and have to crawl away in ignominy. Perhaps face jail for his corruption. As long as he’s Prime Minister, after all, he probably won’t be seriously pursued by prosecutors. He won’t be cuffed and hauled off to jail. His salivation for power will continue to be followed, every day, by feasting on power.
So he’ll do anything he can to stay in power, whatever the cost, whoever it hurts. Escalate, escalate. Refuse a cease fire. Let the blood run in the streets–just so long as Benjamin Netanyahu can stay in power.
“It’s just so amazing, so…well, miraculous, really!” the Republican politician said, in the locked congressional caucus room. He glanced at the door to make sure it was closed. The ten other congresspersons in the room looked too, as he went on, “It’s so miraculous I think that God must have ordained it! We have learned…” He gasped, the others tittered, and nodded encouragingly. “…that you can lie, and lie big, and you can stay with the lie, and you can ignore whatever people say about the lie, and…it still…works!”
“YES!” the others said, high-fiving.
“It’s obvious to me that God wants us to lie! I mean, when Trump started in on that stuff I thought, well, that’s the end of him. But then the internet, uh, support came. From…you know. And Fox fell in line, and Carlson and Hannity and…thousands of websites! And the Oath Keepers came along and…they all said, ‘YES!’ …And people just opened their mouths and they took it in and they swallowed it! It’s so…incredibly…astounding! We can now say ANYTHING we want! And if we repeat it enough…it’s real! We can say the election was fake!” He glanced at the door once more to make sure it was, yes, still closed. “And we can know it wasn’t — and it does…not…matter! If enough people just accept and repeat it, it’s like…like it becomes real! We can make the lie alter its very substance and…it becomes the truth! It’s no longer a lie! I mean — in people’s minds! If people believe it’s true — then isn’t that a reality?”
“Didn’t George W. Bush float something like that?” said another Republican, scratching his head.
“Oh sure, but…he didn’t persevere! And he didn’t have Trump to make thousands of people chant the lie in a rally!”
“And Qanon! That too — it’s just so amazing!” said the other Republican. “They’re on our side and they have the power to make people believe anything, the most incredible…” He glanced at the door, lowering his voice. “…bullshit!”
Everyone laughed and high-fived again .
“…and millions of people still believe them! Even crazy numbers of Japanese people!”
“True! If it’s said in enough websites that spread ‘alternate news’ — then people believe it! ‘The vaccine is a mind control conspiracy!’”
Everyone roared in laughter at that. They’d all made sure to quietly get a Covid vaccine.
“I’m just saying,” the politician went on. “It’s a miracle! God has given us the gift of changing reality! If we lie over and over again and kinda keep changing up the excuses we can take over the country, and run it the way we want, and no one will care!”
“We’ve got to get rid of Liz Cheney,” someone put in grumblingly. “She’ll spoil everything.”
“Oh, we’re on that. But just think — all this time we thought that obvious lies were toxic. That we couldn’t get away with them. But it’s just about…doing it together! It’s a chorus of lies! That changes everything! If only we’d known!”
“Oh but the internet, and the collaborative news media, and the Russians — we didn’t have all that till now,” said the Republican politician.
“Now — we are empowered! God has given us the power to make any lie we repeat enough…true! And…it’s all…” He licked his lips and looked around at them, his eyes widening. “…going to make us…” They hung on his every word. “…RICHER THAN WE EVER THOUGHT POSSIBLE!”
A tired janitor, pushing a vacuum cleaner down the hall outside the door, heard the entire caucus squealing in unison with giddy insane jollity, and muttered, “Those people are crazy. Someone should lock ’em all up before they hurt someone…”
