Friday, July 19, 2013

Weekend Rebel Science Excursion - 19

There Is More To Life Than Meets The Eye
Regular readers know that the know-it-all scientists who work for Big Pharma have had some surprises lately.

For years they have been mass-murdering microbes and viruses as if 100% of them had to be destroyed.

They used typical propaganda scare tactics to scare the consumer world into buying anti-biotic and anti-viral pills by the truckload, shipload, and planeload.

That is the way it is in the land of the mother of the "super bugs", where little bugs are fed antibiotics like athletes being fed steroids, then those bugs say "yummy, give me some more."

Then finally they go on to become immune to the "treatments" we spread indiscriminately like propaganda on the nightly snooze report (Deadly 'Superbugs' Invade U.S. Health Care Facilities).

But what happens to the virus world that we depend on for health and survival?

What happens to the microbes that make up most of the cell count in and on our human body, and which make up 98-99% of our genetic material (The Human Microbiome Congress)?

And what happens to those that have an effect on the climate and ecosystems --those we discussed in last week's Dredd Blog post:
A major question in ecology has centered on the role of microbes in regulating ecosystem function. Now, in research published ahead of print in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Brajesh Singh of the University of Western Sydney, Australia, and collaborators show how changes in the populations of methanotrophic bacteria can have consequences for methane mitigation at ecosystem levels.
...
The selection hypothesis states that a small number of key species, rather than all species present determine key functions in ecosystems.
...
There are an estimated 1031 viruses on Earth. That is to say: there may be a hundred million times more viruses on Earth than there are stars in the universe. The majority of these viruses infect microbes, including bacteria, archaea, and microeukaryotes, all of which are vital players in the global fixation and cycling of key elements such as carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus. These two facts combined—the sheer number of viruses and their intimate relationship with microbial life—suggest that viruses, too, play a critical role in the planet’s biosphere.
...
Furthermore, researchers analyzing oceanic life have discovered many novel viruses that defy much of the conventional wisdom about what a virus is and what a virus does.
(Weekend Rebel Science Excursion - 18). The scientists working for the killing factories of Big Pharma have the same philosophy as the warmongers in the kill anything that moves holy war.

They have the same cultural amygdala as those who fire indiscriminately into a crowd without knowing who is in that crowd or who or what they will harm.

All that being said, let's take a look at some new scientific discoveries that indicate that some of these entities we have called a virus should have a new name, because some 93% of their genetic material was unknown on Earth until recently:
The organism was initially called NLF, for “new life form”.
...
Later, after the researchers discovered a similar organism in a pond in Australia, they realized that both are viruses — the largest yet found.
...
But these viruses, described today in Science, are more than mere record-breakers — they also hint at unknown parts of the tree of life. Just 7% of their genes match those in existing databases.

“What the hell is going on with the other genes?” asks Claverie. “This opens a Pandora’s box. What kinds of discoveries are going to come from studying the contents?” The researchers call these giants Pandoraviruses.
...
“This is a major discovery that substantially expands the complexity of the giant viruses and confirms that viral diversity is still largely underexplored,” says Christelle Desnues, a virologist at the French National Centre for Scientific Research in Marseilles, who was not involved in the study.
(Nature, 18 July 2013). The dynamic behavior of these Padoraviruses is another interesting aspect of the discovery:
The researchers are now trying to determine the viruses’ origins by characterizing the unknown genes and the proteins they encode. They have long suspected that giant viruses evolved from cells; if they are right, the ancestors of Pandoraviruses must have been very different from the bacteria, archaea and eukaryotes we have today. “We think that at some point, the dynasty on Earth was much bigger than those three domains,” says Abergel. Some cells gave rise to modern life, and others survived by parasitizing them and evolving into viruses.
(ibid, emphasis added). This sounds like the suspected catastrophe induced evolution or morph we wondered about in a previous post:
Recently, scientists discovered that even humans and microbes are symbionts, and in fact humans can not reproduce without them.

One can surmise that the K-T boundary extinction event was globally traumatic, since ~90% of land species, including dinosaurs, bit the extinction dust, as did perhaps ~50% of ocean species.

How did the remaining microbes react?

Since the utter destruction and catastrophe caused by the K-T boundary extinction was globally extreme, the microbes that survived would have been extremist types for the most part, otherwise they would have been unable to exist in those new extreme conditions.

The subsequent extreme events of taking over control of mammalian female placenta, establishing a virgin species, or perhaps engendering the adaptability of newts, may have been microbial reactions to the extreme trauma of the K-T boundary extinction event.

The spurious activity caused by any such trauma may explain why not all mammals, for example the rabbit, need those microbes to reproduce.

Evidence, in the form of the oldest rabbit fossil yet found, shows that it originated after the time of the K-T extinction event.

The rabbit, and species close to it, are not like other mammals such as the gorilla, monkey, orangutan, or human, which must have microbe (viral) help in order to reproduce via a functional placenta.
(Are Microbes The Origin of PTSD?, emphasis added). It may be that this never-before-discovered genetic material in the never-before-discovered Pandoravirus realm could be the result of one or more of the five past catastrophic mass extinction events.

If life forms, including microbes and viruses, react to mass extinctions some of those reactions are likely to be panic, delusion, degeneration, and loss of behavioral identity as the environment around them suddenly and/or violently changes.

Now they face The Anthropogenic Sixth Mass Extinction event currently underway and being conducted by human civilization.

When will we ever get rid of the loser meme "we have to destroy it in order to save it?"

The next post in this series is here, the previous post in this series is here.


Thursday, July 18, 2013

Leadership: The Lost Art

Jebber The Whut
I was watching and listening to Mark McKinnon on the entertainment morning show about coffee.

(Sometimes some pertinent news leaks into the coffee stream.)

Anyway, Mark is obviously a very confused young man.

But who would not be after being an associate in high standing with the bushie chainy gang --following his departure from the Democratic Party for what he thought was greener, more humane, and politically mature pastures?

Perhaps, after all that, Mr. Mark will now work on the campaign in the Virginia area of Wyoming for Little Miss Chainy --or even the upcoming campaign of Jebber The Whut or The Rehabilitation of High Priest Bush II --or even the Hillary The Clinton campaign (like I said Mark is a confused young man).

What caught my eye and ear on today's caffeine drama was the fact that Mark eventually became indoctrinated into the false meme associated with "leadership."

I am in reference to the false meme he spoke, which is heard most often nowadays in Republican circles:
To be a leader you have to go against what is popular, against what most of the people want, against populism, and make "hard decisions."
(Paraphrased). Way wrong, because the true essence of leadership is to have the vision to know in what direction the people are to be led (so how is that working out for you Mark?).

After leaving the Clinton Presidential Party which had left the nation with a budget surplus, Mark went to work for the Bush Presidential Party which left the country with a gaping hole deficit, left it stranded on the rocks of torture (On The Recent Condemnation of Torture - 2), useless wars, endless wars, Stalinist spying on Americans, and a shipwrecked decider who fled the scene (He Whose Name Cannot Be Spoken, Jabber The Whut?).

"Take me to your leader, I must make an arrest"
The error in the Republican notion of "leadership", which Mark and other defectors have fallen for, leaves out the fundamental foundation of American Democracy.

That foundation is the public good (The Common Good), which is a direction, a course that must always be maintained because the winds of folly and tyranny constantly try to push and pull the ship of state off course (Titanic Mistakes Using The W Compass).

Mark got on board the ship to help steer it in The W Direction, and the ship of state is still headed in that wrong direction (The W Direction = The Perilous Path).

On the big ship of state, the U.S.S. Empire, it is very difficult to make course corrections because of the trance of momentum, the exceptional status quo (Obama Administration Rides Into The W Sunset - 2).

As long as we head in that wrong direction, which is contrary to the will of the people, this nation of common folk, this nation of the public, this nation of "we the people", will continue to suffer the sins of the Pontius Pilots (The Elections of Pontius Pilots - 2).

Some "good examples" of "leadership" by bushies:


Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Follow The Immunity

Many American people are walking around who participated in and/or advocated torture.

They are immune from prosecution even though they violated the law.

Others who committed war crimes are likewise immune from prosecution.

"Too big to jail" and "too big to fail" are other ways of saying "immunity."

Many people who do not take Civics or American Government classes during their education will not understand the concept of "sovereign immunity."

Today's post offers an easier way for amateurs to track down "tools" of the Epigovernment as well as tracking down the Epigovernment itself.

This is offered to replace the more difficult way, which is "follow the money", because that way has become very difficult, what with all the secret offshore banking systems that are now operational:
The mantra for such investigations used to be "follow the money", but (since that requires looking into offshore banking systems) for we amateurs there is an easier mantra: "follow the immunity."

Ask "who has committed these crimes against the American people and their Constitution?"

Then list their names, and then finally ask: "have they been held accountable?"

If not, follow their dealings and their associates through the shadows, because since they are immune from prosecution for their crimes they have committed with impunity, they are in with those who have pulled off the coup (A Tale of Coup Cities - 4).
(ACLU vs. Clapper, Alexander, Hagel, Holder, and Mueller - 3). Take for example, Dick Cheney, who still brags about torture in public, but fears no prosecution, even though no prosecution is known to be error (see On The Recent Condemnation of Torture - 2).

Cheney is immune, which means he is above the law, and he knows it.

Check out his associates who have left the U.S. to move their headquarters to the U.A.E., no longer paying taxes in the U.S.A., yet still benefiting from war profiteering contracts (see MOMCOM: The Private Parts - 5).

There is a new, unseen immunity from the Constitution and Laws, which means a nation of the "too big to jail" rather than a nation of laws (see The Battle of Immunities & Diseases and When Accountability Is A Plague).

The next post in this series is here.

It's Alright MOMCOM (I'm only the people)



Tuesday, July 16, 2013

ACLU vs. Clapper, Alexander, Hagel, Holder, and Mueller - 3

What happens when the words of a sage statesman come true before your very eyes?

And those words that come true are: "If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy." - James Madison

Well, for one thing if we are not in denial it can tell us that our founders were consummate experts on the social infection we call tyranny, as shown by the prescient words of another one of our sage statesman: “Experience has shown that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.” – Thomas Jefferson

Regular readers know that this series deals with the case where the ACLU is suing the military for spying on all Americans, including spying on the ACLU.

The Complaint is found in the first post (ACLU vs. Clapper, Alexander, Hagel, Holder, and Mueller), and the latest look at the docket is  found in the second post (ACLU vs. Clapper, Alexander, Hagel, Holder, and Mueller - 2).

Some of us may be wondering: "What can they do with the information they get from spying on all Americans?" and "What does that have to do with me, with government, or with America?"

In today's post, then, let's listen to an NSA whistleblower, Russell D. Tice (there have been several over the years: Snowden, Drake, Benning, Tice, Kroft).

Mr. Tice was a veteran spy with a 20 year career as an intelligence officer who used satellites to do the work:



Mr. Tice was also a life-long Republican who quit that party because of its spying on Americans, only to find out that the tyranny infection is endemic to the point that Obama (Obama Administration Rides Into The W Sunset) has also become a tyrant:


Mr. Tice, who blew the whistle loud, was ignored or not believed by the news media at large.

But he now points out that since the latest NSA whistleblower, Mr. Snowden, has the proof of what Mr. Tice was saying, Mr. Tice's revelations will now be taken more seriously.

His statement in the video, "J. Edgar Hoover on steroids", is interesting because a recent Dredd Blog post discusses the Hoover FBI legacy (The Queens of Stalingrad - 2, see also Hoover & The Farm).

Do we want "Hoover on steroids?":


One wonders whether or not Mr. Tice, Mr. Snowden, and/or other NSA whistleblowers will be witnesses in the ongoing ACLU vs. Clapper et al. lawsuit.

But the big takeaway question from these revelations, the question that Mr. Tice is also asking, is: "who is controlling the federal government" (see the series: Epigovernment: The New Model - 3, Epigovernment: The New Model -2, and Epigovernment: The New Model).

The mantra for such investigations used to be "follow the money", but (since that requires looking into offshore banking systems) for we amateurs there is an easier mantra: "follow the immunity."

Ask "who has committed these crimes against the American people and their Constitution?"

Then list their names, and then finally ask: "have they been held accountable?"

If not, follow their dealings and their associates through the shadows, because since they are immune from prosecution for their crimes they have committed with impunity, they are in with those who have pulled off the coup (A Tale of Coup Cities - 4).

The next post in this series is here, the previous post in this series is here.

Monday, July 15, 2013

Leahy Says "Stand Up To Hate Crime" - 3

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
On or about this date in 2009 & 2012 we posted about a federal law concerning hate crime (still timely?).

The Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act passed the congress, went to the president, and was signed into law.

The law makes it easier for federal officials to prosecute hate crimes conducted while an individual is not doing an activity that involves some other federal law, such as voting, which had been required before this law was passed.

Here is the text of the 2012 & the 2009 posts from Senator Leahy:

Dear [Dredd],

Just last month, a white supremacist opened fire in the National Holocaust Memorial Museum, killing security guard Stephen T. Johns only a few blocks from the Capitol. What a tragedy.

Any hate crime -- even just this one -- would be too many. But in fact, a recent report by the Leadership Conference for Civil Rights found that a hate crime is committed somewhere in America nearly once an hour.

This is a national disgrace. That's why today Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and I introduced the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act, long championed by Senator Ted Kennedy, to tackle the scourge of hate crime in America. Our bipartisan legislation has been stalled in Congress for over a decade, but enough is enough: now is the time to finally expand federal enforcement against hate crimes.


...

If passed, the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act would strengthen anti-hate crime laws already on the books. Specifically, this long-overdue legislation will:
* Allow federal authorities to more easily investigate and prosecute crimes motivated by race, color, or beliefs;

* Update the law to include crimes motivated by disability status, gender, or sexual orientation; and

* Strengthen federal support for state and local law enforcement agencies in the investigation and prosecution of hate-motivated violence.
Over 300 law enforcement, civil rights, religious, and professional organizations from around the country have weighed in, urging the immediate passage of this measure, as have President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder. Our legislation also enjoys the bipartisan support of Senator Susan Collins, Senator Olympia Snowe, and others in Congress, but some will likely continue to obstruct its passage unless they hear from us.

With the Senate poised to vote on the hate crimes bill, now is the time to speak out.

It's time to finally enact this bipartisan anti-hate crime legislation, but we need to lock down 60 votes to secure its passage. Please e-mail your Senators today.

The number of hate groups in America ballooned by over 50% between 2000 and 2008, during which time Congress repeatedly failed to send Senator Kennedy's Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act to the President's desk. This alarming trend is simply unacceptable in 21st Century America.

With your help we can finally expand federal jurisdiction over hate crime cases, offer federal protection and support to all victims of hate-motivated violence, and ensure justice is served upon those who commit this exceptionally repugnant form of crime.

Sincerely,

Patrick Leahy
U.S. Senator

P.S. The Senate will decide whether or not to include the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act as an amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill soon, so please e-mail your Senators right now to avert a Republican filibuster!

Hate groups are rampant and growing in the United States (List of Hate Groups).