from Human Wrongs Watch by Baher Kamal on 18th Dec 2022 via thefreeonline

18 December 2022 (UN News)* — Humanity faces unprecedented engineering challenges if it is to survive. Solutions to these challenges are waiting to be discovered in plants, animals, and microbes, but these are lost forever, if we do not preserve the rich diversity of life on Earth.

But all life forms are unique and must have the right to thrive, with or without dubious benefits to humans.

UNDP: Nature has inspired a wide range of engineering solutions

The UN biodiversity conference, COP15, is due to wrap up on 19 December. This weekend, we are looking at some of the ways that humanity is reliant on biodiversity for a healthy and thriving global ecosystem.

When a species goes extinct, it takes with it all of the physical, chemical, biological, and behavioural attributes that have been selected for that species, after having been tested and re-tested in countless evolutionary experiments over many thousands, and perhaps millions, of years of evolution.

These include designs for heating, cooling, and ventilation; for being able to move most effectively and efficiently through water or air; for producing and storing energy; for making the strongest, lightest, most biodegradable and recyclable materials; and for many, many other functions essential for life.

Nature’s value is not limited to human applications, but the loss of nature and biodiversity represents major losses to human potential as well.

Here are some examples of the ways that nature has inspired engineering solutions.

Way of the dragonfly

Inspired by the energy efficiency of dragonfly wings, particularly at low wind speeds, Professor Akira Obata, formerly from Japan’s Nippon Bunri University, designed corrugated blades for micro-wind turbines that turn and generate electricity, at wind speeds as low as 3 kph.

Most wind turbines perform poorly when speeds are less than 10 kph; some will not turn at all. By lowering the minimum wind speed requirements, these micro-wind turbines can harness wind energy in easily accessible locations like rooftops and balconies, and not need expensive towers to capture the higher speed winds found at higher elevations.

By studying and understanding the aerodynamics of dragonfly flight, Obata was able to make inexpensive, lightweight, stable, and efficient micro-wind turbines that can be used in off-grid locations in developing countries.

Continue reading “As Biodiversity Degrades, Nature’s Solutions Are Lost for Ever”

December 17, 2022 by : Caitlin Johnstone at caitlinjohnstone.com via thefreeonline

Listen to a reading of this article:

The Ruling Class Promotes Identity Politics And ‘Anti-Wokeism’ For The Exact Same Reasons

It’s an interesting time for culture war red herrings in the shadow of the empire. There are no major electoral races currently underway. Government Covid regulations have been mostly rolled back. The empire is waging an extremely dangerous and continually escalating proxy war with Russia that should be getting a lot of scrutiny. If one didn’t know better one might expect this to be a time when the rank-and-file public would be doing a bit less barking and snarling at one another and a bit more at the people in charge.

But if one is reading this, one probably knows better.

The world is roaring toward multipolarity and the empire is doing everything it can to slam on the brakes, up to and including ramping up for a global confrontation with noncompliant nuclear-armed powers, and meanwhile the public is growing more and more disaffected with stagnant wages and soaring inequality even as concerns grow that we are headed toward environmental collapse.

So of course, at this crucial point in history, they’ve got everyone arguing about “wokeness”.

The woke mind virus is either defeated or nothing else matters

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 12, 2022

What “woke” means depends on who you ask. According to the original AAVE definition, it means “alert to racial prejudice and discrimination”. If you ask Ron DeSantis’ lawyers when they were made to define the term in court, it means “the belief there are systemic injustices in American society and the need to address them.” Both of which sound entirely reasonable.

‘Anti-woke’ hysteria dominates Tory leadership campaigns

If you ask members of the rank-and-file right wing, though, the answers range from the incoherent to the insanely bigoted to the profoundly stupid. You’ll hear gibberish about “Cultural Marxism” (not a real thing), about communist conspiracies to give your child puberty blockers and gender reassignment surgery, about a liberal plot to normalize child molestation and erase women as a gender, and about the agenda to deteriorate society and plunge western culture into chaos and disorder because it makes Satan happy. In my experience the arguments are often intensely emotional — hysterical, even— yet entirely lacking in substance.

You’ll also run into the occasional good faith actor who sincerely believes “wokeism” needs to be aggressively opposed because the obsession with racial and sexual justice is sucking all the oxygen out of the room for more important matters and being used as a weapon to ram through pernicious power-serving agendas. It’s this category that I am mainly addressing here, because I view the previous category as generally beyond redemption.

It is entirely true that identity politics are being used to ram through establishment-serving agendas and subvert real dissent. We saw a very in-your-face example of this in 2016 with the extremely aggressive push to elect America’s first woman president, when anyone who pointed out her horrifyingly awful track record on things like war and militarism was shouted down as a misogynist.

The entire Democratic Party is essentially one big psyop designed to kill any attempt to redress income and wealth inequality, poverty, wars, militarism, money in politics, surveillance, government secrecy, police militarization and every other control mechanism designed to hold the status quo in place, while herding any revolutionary zeitgeist back toward establishment loyalism with false promises to make life better for women and marginalized groups.

Continue reading “Our Rulers Promote BOTH ‘Identity Politics’ and ‘Anti-Wokeism’ to make us Fight Each Other”

Rick Rozoff is an anti-war specialist in NATO affairs who publishes daily the pompous nonsense jargon that NATO uses to dress up US campaigns to maintain their control over the world. Below we paste with comments a piece where they proudly boast of their useless and pathetic plans to WIN a NUCLEAR WAR by shooting down Russian and Chinese hypersonic missiles coming in at 27 times the speed of sound. Speed of sound = 1234.8 X 27 = 33,337.6 kph

Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles: “proud to sacrifice Spain militarily, economically and physically, to US criminals”

U.S. anti-ICBM warships assigned to NATO “allies” carrier strike groups

Date: December 17, 2022 Author: Rick Rozoff at Anti-bellum shared with thanks and snarky comments

USS Arleigh Burke hosts French Maritime Force Commander U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Africa/U.S. Sixth Fleet
December 16, 2022

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Arleigh Burke hosted Rear Adm. Christophe Cluzel, commander of the French Maritime Force and French Carrier Strike Group, Dec. 5, 2022.

note: The Arleigh Burke is one of the newest US “ICBM destroyers”. Based at the NATO base in Rota, south of Spain, they make Spain a target for destruction in the first minutes of a Nuclear War, as they are a threat to thousands of Russian warheads that must be fired immediately due to the US First Strike Policy.

While aboard the ship, Cluzel held discussions with Arleigh Burke Sailors and toured the ship’s compartments including the combat information center, a main engine room, SONAR control room….

Cluzel, a 1994 graduate from the French Naval Academy, is well versed in Mediterranean Maritime Operations, providing expertise and experience operating in the Mediterranean Sea alongside Allied naval forces, including Arleigh Burke. The ship is currently under tactical control of the French carrier strike group and Cluzel.

note: joining the Arleigh Burke to the French Carrier Strike Group makes them a ‘sitting duck’ for a swarm of ‘unstoppable’ hypersonic missiles that can reach them in 10 minutes, coming in at up to 27 times the speed of sound. Speed of sound = 1234.8 X 27 = 33,337.6 kph. At this speed a missile really needs no warhead at all to destroy a ship.

‘Smart’ US nukes for ‘Nuclear First Strike’ coming to NATO fighters in Italy, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands…

“Rear Adm. Cluzel’s visit demonstrated to the crew the impact that the U.S. Navy has on operating with our NATO allies,” [Ensign Bray Zimmerman, Arleigh Burke’s Operations Intelligence Division Officer] said. “Our crew was able to see that what Arleigh Burke brings to the fight is significant to carrier strike group operations across all navies.”

Arleigh Burke recently began its integration period with the French Carrier Strike Group, supporting mission ANTARES. ANTARES aims to exert non-escalatory pressure against opposed forces of NATO in the Mediterranean Sea. Arleigh Burke is providing multi-warfare defense to the French carrier strike group while operating under tactical control of the French Navy.

note: just pompous jargon, more suited to a schoolboy’s war comic

Arleigh Burke is the second ship to operate as part of the French Carrier Strike Group during mission ANTARES. In November, fellow Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Roosevelt provided defense capabilities to the strike group’s phase I ANTARES mission set.

.. Integrating U.S. destroyers into Allied carrier strike groups pays dividends for all involved”…

Spain: first Target for Nuclear Annihilation as the Base of the 4 most advanced Ballistic Missile Destroyers in the US

Upon Arleigh Burke’s integration into the French Carrier Strike Group, the ship has already conducted multiple maneuverability exercises, helicopter operations, and a replenishment-at-sea evolution, highlighting the capability and capacity of Forward Deployed Naval Forces-Europe (FDNF-E) ships in the European theater. The versatile Arleigh-Burke class destroyer consistently demonstrates her inherent mobility and adaptability to operate anywhere on the waterfront, whether it be as an independent deployer or as a unit in a strike group.

***

Four U.S. Navy destroyers, including Arleigh Burke, are based in Rota, Spain and are assigned to Commander, Task Force 65 in support of NATO’s Integrated Air Missile Defense architecture. These FDNF-E ships have the flexibility to operate throughout the waters of Europe and Africa, from the Cape of Good Hope to the Arctic Circle, demonstrating their mastery of the maritime domain.

Continue reading “Obsolete US Anti-ICBM warship “protects” French Carrier Group from Unstoppable Russian 33,337kph hypersonic missiles”

For months hundreds of FAKE MSM NEWS headlines have screamed RUSSIA SHELLING OWN NUCLEAR PLANT thus getting more aid for Ukraine and sanctions for Russia. Finally Russia is building a giant Dome Shield over the plant- obviously to protect it vrom their own bombs

Russia building protective dome at world’s largest nuclear plant – senior Russian official

17 Dec, 2022 11:37 HomeRussia & FSU shared with thanks via thefreeonline

The structure will shield stores of spent radioactive fuel from Ukrainian attacks

A protective dome being built above the spent radioactive fuel storage at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in Russia. ©  Telegram / Vladimir Rogov

fake MSM news… CNN.explainer – How dangerous was Russia’s attack at Zaporizhza nuclear power plant?

Russia is constructing a protective dome over spent radioactive fuel stores at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant as Ukrainian forces continue to target the facility, senior regional official Vladimir Rogov has said.

fake MSM news… Washington Examiner. Zelensky accuses Russia of shelling own positions at nuclear plant …

He took to Telegram on Saturday to post a short video of the work that’s taking place. It showed technicians setting up shields over the tanks that hold spent nuclear fuel.

The dome is designed to protect the storage facilities from shrapnel and improvised explosive devices carried by drones, the official explained, adding that it would be reinforced further at a later period.

fake MSM news… Russia is GUILTY;.. Russia shells near Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant

Russia’s nuclear energy corporation Rosatom had earlier warned that damage to the spent-fuel containers risks a release of radioactive material into the atmosphere, with unpredictable consequences.

fake MSM news… AP-Russia attacks Ukraine nuclear plant as invasion advances

The construction of the dome comes amid continued attacks on the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant and the nearby town of Energodar, which Moscow blames on Kiev. Russia has repeatedly said that such strikes could result in a nuclear disaster that would eclipse the 1986 Chernobyl incident and affect many countries in Europe.

Ukraine initially claimed that the Russian military had been hitting the plant itself as part of “false-flag” operations to make Kiev look bad. However, Ukrainian general staff eventually admitted to striking the area around the nuclear facility.

fake MSM news… Ukraine Demands World Take Heed Of Attack On Nuclear Plant

The Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, which is the largest on the continent, has been under Russian control since February 28. All of the reactors at the facility are currently shut down due to the security situation.

Zaporozhye Region, together with three other former Ukrainian territories – Kherson Region and the People’s Republic of Donetsk and Lugnask – joined Russia in autumn after holding referendums.

Views 77993 Originally Posted on:,July 28th 2018 By:Sayer Ji, shared with thanks via thefreeonline

” Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal.” ~ Albert Einstein

Whereas the quote above could easily be dismissed as the ‘progress-denying’ sentiment of a disgruntled anti-GMO activist, the fact is that it came from a scientist representing the very epitome of Western rationality and accomplishment.

Perhaps Einstein was reflecting on the inevitable existential consequences of the so-called “technological imperative”–whatever can be done, will be done.  Fundamentally amoral and irrational economic and political forces drive technology’s feverish pace, infusing a certain arbitrary cruelty and disequilibrium into everything it touches.

In our continual drive to ‘improve upon Nature’ in the name of much-hyped, ‘life-saving’ biotechnological innovations, the line between humane and inhumane eventually is crossed, and there seems no going back.  Biopollution from defective or dangerous GMO genes, for example, is virtually impossible to undo once unreleased into the biosphere; you can’t “recall” a defective gene like you can an automobile.

Nor can we remove from our bodies the surreptitious viruses (e.g. simian virus #40 (SV40)) that contaminated millions of first-generation polio vaccines. In many ways our moral fiber suffers from the same susceptibilities.

Once we have crossed a certain line – be it theft, lying, or worse, etc., – it is difficult, if not impossible to ‘go back’ and regain our innocence. Such is the human condition.

And this is why we must carefully consider the medico-ethical implications of new technologies, whose developments we must first be aware of in order to guide, regulate and sometimes terminate.

The Scientific Community Moves To Embrace Embryo Cloning for Medical Purposes

For example, few are aware that the cloning of human embryos for ‘therapeutic purposes’ was made legal in the UK in January, 2001 through an amendment to the Human Embryology Act.[i] 

Not long after, in August 2004, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) approved the first license for cloning human embryos in the UK.  Media reports at the time alleged the legal changes would result in the use of cloned human embryos to create “spare body parts.”   

In an article published in 2000 titled, “Biotech Cannabalism,”[ii] C. Ben Mitchell, PhD reflects on the pro-cloning movement by quoting a proponent’s justification: “If you could use tissue from human embryos to save hundreds of lives, there must be a moral imperative to do it.” Mitchell disagrees, countering: “[C]reating a human being for the purposes of killing that person for another human being’s health, sounds an awfully lot like cannibalism, only worse.”  

Calling Vaccines From Aborted Fetuses What They Are: Cannibalistic

Whereas cannibalism is considered by most modern societies to be the ultimate expression of uncivilized or barbaric behavior, it is intrinsic to many of the Western world’s most prized biotechnological and medical innovations. Probably the most ‘taken for granted’ example of this is the use of live, aborted fetus cell lines from induced abortions to produce vaccines.

Known as diploid cell vaccines (diploid cells have two (di-) sets of chromosomes inherited from human mother and father), they are non-continuous (unlike cancer cells), and therefore must be continually replaced, i.e. new aborted, live fetal tissue must be harvested periodically.  A good portion of the CDC’s immunization schedule requires the use of these human fetus-originated vaccines, and these include: rubella, measles, mumps, rabies, polio, smallpox, hepatitis A, chickenpox, and herpes zoster.

Continue reading “Involuntary Cannibalism and Genetic Contamination for All – Biotech’s Evil Promise”