Tuesday, May 26, 2015

The Extinction Survey

Tim White
There is a survey currently running on the Doomstead Diner, which asks people to make specific, numerical estimates about the timing of human extinction. It is inspired by the work of Guy McPherson, who has amassed much scientific evidence that points to very major climate disruption occurring over the next 2-3 decades, caused by multiple runaway positive feedback effects, such as Arctic methane release. Guy's conclusion is that these changes will mean that the Earth will no longer provide a habitat for humans, leading to near-term human extinction. His reasoning, as far as I have been able to piece it together, rests on a supposition of time-invariance: the planet will be warmer than it has ever been in human experience; therefore, no humans will survive. This is far short of a proof.

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

No, you can't go back to the USSR!

[En español] [По-русски] [En français]

One of the fake stories kept alive by certain American politicians, with the help of western media, is that Vladimir Putin (who, they vacuously claim, is a dictator and a tyrant) wants to reconstitute the USSR, with the annexation of Crimea as the first step.

Instead of listening to their gossip, let's lay out the facts.

Friday, May 15, 2015

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

A little Friday humor. NATO just held a summit in Turkey, which ended with the assembled foreign ministers drunkenly butchering We Are the World karaoke-style. Enjoy!


Tuesday, May 12, 2015

America's Achilles' Heel

Heiko Müller
[Auf Deutsch] [日本語訳] [En français] [Em português] [In italiano]

Last Saturday, a massive Victory Parade was held in Moscow commemorating the 70-year anniversary of the surrender of Nazi Germany to the Red Army and the erection of the Soviet flag atop the Reichstag in Berlin. There were a few unusual aspects to this parade, which I would like to point out, because they conflict with the western official propaganda narrative. First, it wasn't just Russian troops that marched in the parade: the troops of 10 other nations took part in it, including the Chinese honor guard and a contingent of Grenadiers from India. Dignitaries from these nations were present in the stands, and the Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife were seated next to President Vladimir Putin, who, in his speech at the start of the parade, warned against attempts to create a unipolar world—sharp words aimed squarely at the United States and its western allies. Second, a look at the military hardware that rolled through Red Square or flew over it would indicate that, short of an outright nuclear mutual self-annihilation, there isn't much that the US military could throw at Russia that Russia couldn't neutralize.

Tuesday, May 05, 2015

First title from Club Orlov Press has been released

I am very happy to announce that our first Club Orlov Press offering is


Club Orlov Press is a fledgling publishing company whose mission is to mitigate some of the drastic changes that are unfolding in the world around us, and that are affecting all of us in some way, by producing transformative books based on the author's personal experience. Unlike the traditional book publishing model, in which everyone at the publishing house draws a nice salary while the author gets paid a pittance, with us the author gets to keep more than half of the cover price. We achieve this by using the latest print-on-demand technology, free software, a streamlined editorial process and zero office space. You can help our venture take off by ordering a copy of this book, and by spreading news of it among your circle of friends.

* * *

This book is a collection of the best essays from Ray Jason's popular "Sea Gypsy Philosopher" blog, which now has readers in over 130 countries. Although he deals with controversial subjects, Ray approaches them in a calm, measured manner and avoids strident rants. His highly readable meditations begin with a poignant vignette from his travels. Some of the volatile topics he addresses include: predatory capitalism, television, American imperialism, religion, the downside of civilization, possible societal collapse and many more.