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Survivors of the Apocalypse

By on January 13, 2015 in Art, Entertainment, News, Philosophy 0

MARTIN WITTFOOTH — BABEL.  Some of the most beautiful, moving and relevant paintings of our time.

BABEL by New York based artist Martin Wittfooth is the new book featuring 124 pages of  masterful works spanning over five years (2009-2014).

Martin’s work is a rich narrative tapestry that celebrates animals as victors after an apparent apocalyptic event. “Animal apparitions trapped within theatrical atriums caught acting out scenes of good and evil, life and death.”

“Instinctive and purposeful, New York-based oil painter Martin Wittfooth conveys mention of the Masters while sifting through personal revelations, environmental phenomena and socio-political disturbances.” (Nocturne II featured in BABEL).

BABEL is a museum-grade publication documenting seven prolific solo exhibitions featuring large-scale oil paintings: De Anima (2014), Empire (2012), The Passions (2011), Gardens (2010), Tempest (2010), Babylon (2009), Sandcastles in the Tide (2008) and Melting Season 2006).

BABEL features written contributions by Marshall Arisman, Kirsten Anderson, Martin Wittfooth and Mark Murphy.… Read the rest

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Top 10 Patents for 2014

By on January 8, 2015 in Environment, News, Science 0

Via IPWatchdog

Our Top 10 Patents of 2014

Closing out our year of reporting on innovations from all over the world, our Top 10 Patents of 2014 list picks up where we left off with our survey of the best patent applications published this past year. Today, we’re picking the best inventions for which corporations from the Companies We Follow series have actually earned patent rights from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Alternative energies, drones, robots, seawater desalination and the Internet of Things all make an appearance in today’s profile of the best inventions from the past year.

#10: Seawater Desalination System

U.S. Patent No. 8834712

Access to fresh water has been a major and growing concern in our world as the human population increases and freshwater resources dwindle. 2015 marks the end of the Water For Life campaign established by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA).

… Read the rest
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Sustainable Ways to Feed the World Are Subverted by Corporations

By on January 6, 2015 in Economics, Environment, News, Politics 0
Rosewoman (CC BY 2.0)

Rosewoman (CC BY 2.0)

Via News Junkie Post:

Humans’ relationship to food is one of the most fundamentally shaping aspects of our societies. The sole fact that the majority of the world’s population now lives in urban centers is the direct result of a process that began approximately 10,000 years ago. This process was the switch from nomadic hunting-gathering societies to urban sedentary ones. In fact, formal agriculture is the only means whereby an urban society can sustain itself, its population can increase size and density, and complex societal interactions can develop from an urban context. It could be argued that behind the entire construct of capitalism, as becoming sheltered and sedentary allowed our societies to develop an affection for material objects, lies formal agriculture.

The industrial revolution, and in particular the “green revolution” of the 1960s and 70s, once again changed the way that our global society relates to food.

… Read the rest
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Are volcanoes the energy source of the future?

By on January 6, 2015 in Corporate Skeptics, Economics, Environment, News, Science 0
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (CC BY 2.0)

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (CC BY 2.0)

via CNBC:

The Reykjanes Peninsula, a finger of black rock jutting out over the Mid-Atlantic Ridge from Iceland’s southwestern coast, has long leveraged its unique volcanic geology into economic opportunity. Its spectacularly carved edifices and vast lava fields draw naturalists from around the globe, while geothermal pools heated by deposits of steam and magma deep below ground provide the anchor for a thriving resort economy.

The region is even powered by this geology; the 12 geothermal wells feeding 600-degree steam into the two turbines at Reykjanes Power Station provide a collective 100 megawatts of power for the surrounding area, enough to power many tens of thousands of homes.

… Read the rest

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World’s largest tidal energy power plant (269 turbines) to begin construction in Scotland

By on January 4, 2015 in Economics, Environment, News, Science 0
overgraeme (CC BY 2.0)

overgraeme (CC BY 2.0)

via Treehugger:

When you think about it, it’s really Moon power!

The MeyGen tidal project in Scotland will be the largest tidal power plant in the world once operational. Atlantis, the Australian company that is building it has just received the green light from the government and construction should begin this month. The tidal project will be located in an area that lies in the channel (“Inner Sound”) between the island of Stroma and the north easterly tip of the Scottish mainland, encompassing almost 3.5 square-km of fast flowing water.

When MeyGen is fully operational, it should have 269 turbines that produce 398MW of clean energy, generating enough electricity to power 175,000 Scottish homes.

Here’s a map showing where the turbines will be:

Atlantis/Promo image

Atlantis/Promo image

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… Read the rest

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History Lesson: America Is the Same Oligarchy It Was over a Century Ago

By on January 3, 2015 in Corporate Skeptics, Economics, History, News, Politics 0

“Forget the politicians. They’re irrelevant. Politicians are put there to give you the idea that you have freedom of choice. You don’t. You have no choice. You have owners. They own you. They own everything. They own all the important land. They own and control the corporations. They’ve long since bought and paid for the Senate, Congress, the state houses, the city halls. They’ve got the judges in their back pockets. And they own all the big media news. They own all the big media companies so they control just about all of the information and news you get to hear. They’ve got ya by the balls.”

via Truthstream:

(Truthstream Media) When Americans see charts like this one which illustrate that virtually all the food on grocery store shelves basically comes from no more than 10 megacompanies, or hear statements like this one from our own Attorney General Eric Holder who told the Senate Judiciary Committee that some banks are just too big to prosecute, or check out studies like this one out of Princeton which openly declare we are not a democracy but an oligarchy…it’s kinda hard to believe we aren’t an oligarchy (because we are).

… Read the rest
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Geo-Engineering Scientist ‘Terrified’ of Projects He Helped Create

By on January 3, 2015 in Corporate Skeptics, Economics, Environment, News, Politics, Science 0

237F6D0A00000578-2849201-image-11_1416938734136

Via Natural Society:

Dr. Matthew Watson from Bristol University in the UK told the media recently that he’s “terrified” by many of the geoengineering projects currently in the works to thwart man-made climate change, a phenomenon being hawked as an excuse for weather modification programs by many in mainstream science as a ‘threat to humanity.’

Dr. Watson recently told Daily Mail UK online that he is:

“. . . terrified, because the potential for misstep is considerable.”

… Read the rest

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Fecal Farms: Drone Video Exposes ‘Feces Lake’ Inside Mega US Factory Farm

By on January 2, 2015 in Corporate Skeptics, Economics, Environment, News 0

factory-farm-drone-lake

via The Mind Unleashed:

You’ve seen disturbing images and videos of factory farm animals being forced to live in the absolute worst of conditions, but a new overhead video captured by a spy drone reveals a whole new sector of disturbing factory farm activity.

Caught on tape and unveiled in the video and images below, drone operator Mark Devries says that the apparent ‘lake’ residing on the factory farm compound is in fact a large holding body of feces, urine, and who knows what else.

Read more.

… Read the rest

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Top 5 Moments In Decentralization History

By on January 2, 2015 in Corporate Skeptics, Economics, Environment, History, News, Politics, Science 0

Via COINTELEGRAPH

Decentralization is at the heart of Bitcoin’s core principals. I hesitate to use that term because I think overuse of it can lead to rigid thinking, but if there is even one core principal of Bitcoin, decentralization is it. But Bitcoin isn’t the only major instance of decentralization shaking up the course of history, neither is the internet; at least, if you are able to keep an open mind about what exactly decentralization means.

The Internet and in particular Bitcoin are the two best examples of something resembling true decentralization in history, where pretty much every participant got equal access at a relatively reasonable pace; even then, there are some centralization issues. The other examples that are listed here were hampered in reaching the masses either through intentional suppression by those who controlled it, or technological limitations or both. Nevertheless, they do represents mankind’s previous attempts at or accidental creations of situations that greatly, even if only briefly, broke down the pillars of centralization.

… Read the rest
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The Future Is Local, The Future Is Not Monsanto

By on January 1, 2015 in Corporate Skeptics, Economics, Environment, News, Politics 0

via RINF:

The US as a nation consumes more than anyone else, virtually at the expense of everyone else. The petrodollar system has ensured that imports into the US have been cheap and readily available. Post 1945, Washington has been able to take full advantage of the labour and the material resources of poor countries.

Consider that ‘developing’ nations account for more than 80 percent of world population but consume only about a third of the world’s energy. Also bear in mind that US citizens constitute 5 percent of the world’s population but consume 24 percent of the world’s energy. On average, one American consumes as much energy as two Japanese, six Mexicans, 13 Chinese, 31 Indians, 128 Bangladeshis, 307 Tanzanians and 370 Ethiopians [1].

The US is able to consume the way it does because of high demand for the US dollar: it is the world reserve currency.

… Read the rest
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