Financial topics

[Higgenbotham]

CHICAGO (CBS/AP) — Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded Chicago’s credit rating, citing the city’s unfunded pension liabilities.
The agency announced Tuesday it’s lowering the rating on $8.3 billion in debt from A3 to Baa1, putting it only three notches above junk-bond status.
Moody’s gave Chicago a negative outlook indicating another downgrade could occur if there’s no pension fix. Moody’s says the rating “reflects the city’s massive and growing unfunded pension liabilities.”

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/03/04/ ... t-detroit/

It won't be fixed.

Another way I look at this mess, which I have not seen discussed anywhere but probably has, is that humans are really only one small step above stupid apes, but with Christianity and other religions the human race was able to think of itself better and act better, so as to lift itself out of its naturally decrepit state, applying a set of biblical rules that worked. In the past couple decades and especially in the last 5 years, all of those rules that worked to build up the human race have been discarded.

[Higgenbotham]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian_jungle_girl

She came to international attention after emerging filthy, naked and scarred from the dense jungle of Ratanakiri province in remote northeastern Cambodia on January 13, 2007.

The Pnong follow no organized religion but the family took the woman to a Buddhist pagoda to have monks calm her spirit.

One week after being discovered, she experienced difficulties adjusting to civilized life. Local police reported that she was only able to say three words: "father", "mother" and "stomachache". A Spanish psychologist who visited the woman reported that she "made some words and smiled in response to a game involving toy animals and a mirror" but did not speak any recognizable language. When she was thirsty or hungry, she pointed at her mouth. She preferred to crawl rather than walk upright. The family watched Rochom P'ngieng around the clock to make sure she did not run off back to the jungle, as she tried to do several times. Her mother constantly had to pull back on the clothes when she tried to take them off.

On 25 May 2010, Rochom P’ngieng fled back to the jungle. Her father said that she went to take a bath in the well behind their house and did not return. In early June she was found in a latrine about 100m from her home after a neighbour heard her crying, Sal Lou, the man who claims to be her father, said. "She was discovered in a 10m deep toilet. It's an unbelievable story. She spent 11 days there," he said, adding that her body was soaked with excrement up to her chest. "We are still wondering how she could get into the toilet" which has a small entrance hole covered in wood, he said, adding that she had been admitted to hospital following the incident.

In September 2010 it was reported that she was being taught health habits and social skills by members of the Spanish mental health organization Psicólogos Sin Fronteras. A May 2011 report added that she was visited by the psychologists at least once a week. She preferred to live and sleep in a small chicken coop near the family's home, joining the family for meals every three or four days. She did not speak but had started to make eye contact with people.

The veneer is very thin.

[Reality Check]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian_jungle_girl

She came to international attention after emerging filthy, naked and scarred from the dense jungle of Ratanakiri province in remote northeastern Cambodia on January 13, 2007.

The Pnong follow no organized religion but the family took the woman to a Buddhist pagoda to have monks calm her spirit.

One week after being discovered, she experienced difficulties adjusting to civilized life. Local police reported that she was only able to say three words: "father", "mother" and "stomachache". A Spanish psychologist who visited the woman reported that she "made some words and smiled in response to a game involving toy animals and a mirror" but did not speak any recognizable language. When she was thirsty or hungry, she pointed at her mouth. She preferred to crawl rather than walk upright. The family watched Rochom P'ngieng around the clock to make sure she did not run off back to the jungle, as she tried to do several times. Her mother constantly had to pull back on the clothes when she tried to take them off.

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The veneer is very thin.

Not sure what you point is here. The fact the woman is unable to speak any language suggests a cause other than environment, such as birth defect, genetic retardation, or brain damage.

If modern man was suddenly put back into a stone age society, most would die do to lack of food, disease and clan ( gang if you will ) warfare, but the survivors would still have language skills, and so would their descendants.

[Reality Check]

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/03/04/ ... t-detroit/

It won't be fixed.

Another way I look at this mess, which I have not seen discussed anywhere but probably has, is that humans are really only one small step above stupid apes, but with Christianity and other religions the human race was able to think of itself better and act better, so as to lift itself out of its naturally decrepit state, applying a set of biblical rules that worked. In the past couple decades and especially in the last 5 years, all of those rules that worked to build up the human race have been discarded.

I do get this point. I agree, to a point.

But the hero generation, or the survivor generation if you will, will pick a moral code from the generations that came before, and that will become the replacement moral code they, and their descendants live by.

The number of followers of a given moral code in the previous generations will not be the determining factor, but Christianity, or Islam is just as likely as any other to be the new replacement moral code, for any given group of survivors. It will be whatever works for a given society that allows them to rebuild.

The concept of "Hero Generation" is interesting. Their descendents view them as "Hero's" because their descendents do well ( or at least exist ). The non-survivors have no descendents to worship them, or if they do have descendants, they are orphans, who are unlikely to worship them.

It is all relative to the reference point of the observers.

From a generational stand point, older generations are all dead, so their perspective on their grandchildren and great grandchildren, is only preserved in books and is limited to what their descendents did before the author wrote the book.

[Reality Check]

... with Christianity and other religions the human race was able to think of itself better and act better, so as to lift itself out of its naturally decrepit state, applying a set of biblical rules that worked. In the past couple decades and especially in the last 5 years, all of those rules that worked to build up the human race have been discarded.

I would point out that this is an overstatement of the facts.

The elites of our society may have all discarded any sustainable moral code that they live by.

However, sub-cultures and communities, within our larger societies, have retained the practice of living by a moral code which has been demonstrated over time to be sustainable.

During times of crisis one man can adopt, and/or adapt, such a code and expand it into world wide major religion in a very short period of time.

The most recent example is the first Islamic prophet who lived within Jewish communities, adopted many of the moral codes the Jewish communities lived by as his own, and then his children and grandchildren ( both literal children and societal children ) spread that very sustainable moral code over much of the earth. Both by the sword and by missionaries.

The most fertile ground for that new religion were isolated areas that lacked a sustainable competing moral code ( example - many of the Islands of Indonesia and the Philippines, and perhaps the region of Asia now known as "the stans" ) and also in areas that were not isolated, but where the competing moral codes did not support spreading and defending the previous sustainable religions in those areas, by the sword, with as much passion and self sacrifice, as the Islam of the 7th and 8th Century AD did.

[aedens]

Nature will sort out any disputes before opinions we have. Living on Coastal Plains lost advantages
a very long time ago.

[Higgenbotham]

... with Christianity and other religions the human race was able to think of itself better and act better, so as to lift itself out of its naturally decrepit state, applying a set of biblical rules that worked. In the past couple decades and especially in the last 5 years, all of those rules that worked to build up the human race have been discarded.

I would point out that this is an overstatement of the facts.

The elites of our society may have all discarded any sustainable moral code that they live by.

However, sub-cultures and communities, within our larger societies, have retained the practice of living by a moral code which has been demonstrated over time to be sustainable.

During times of crisis one man can adopt, and/or adapt, such a code and expand it into world wide major religion in a very short period of time.

The most recent example is the first Islamic prophet who lived within Jewish communities, adopted many of the moral codes the Jewish communities lived by as his own, and then his children and grandchildren ( both literal children and societal children ) spread that very sustainable moral code over much of the earth. Both by the sword and by missionaries.

The most fertile ground for that new religion were isolated areas that lacked a sustainable competing moral code ( example - many of the Islands of Indonesia and the Philippines, and perhaps the region of Asia now known as "the stans" ) and also in areas that were not isolated, but where the competing moral codes did not support spreading and defending the previous sustainable religions in those areas, by the sword, with as much passion and self sacrifice, as the Islam of the 7th and 8th Century AD did.

It is a bit of an overstatement. I was aware of that when I wrote it, but my thought was that it was clear enough that I am referring to those who are the decision makers, and they are actively annihiliating all who stand in their way. For example, from today,

A government CE policy is meant to efface the entire history of morality and law and replace it with a GMO-friendly blank slate. It’ll implicitly reinforce the legally invalid way Monsanto and the cartel already force purchasers of GMO seed to take full legal responsibility for any contamination damage. Contamination is the predicted effect of the proper use of the product, so the seller can’t disavow responsibility for it within any legitimate legal framework. So far as I know no one’s tried to test this in court yet, since any small, resource-poor plaintiff like an organic farmer is likely to shrink from directly challenging the infinite resources of Monsanto. But if anyone did, we’d likely find the courts continuing to overthrow all conventional notions of law in order to uphold Monsanto’s prerogatives, as they’ve repeatedly done in affirming Monsanto’s lawsuits against innocent victims of contamination, refusing to force Monsanto to desist from this kind of action, and of course allowing patents on seeds, plants, and the products of life in general.

http://attempter.wordpress.com/2014/03/ ... mpossible/

The first sentence in the quote is a specific example of what I summarized in general. There is an underfunded minority of organic farmers and activists who are diligently working against this. In this case, whether the moral fight will be able to be fought in the future can depend on whether there are any crops left that aren't contaminated, since contamination is the predicted, known, and anticipated effect.

[Higgenbotham]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian_jungle_girl

She came to international attention after emerging filthy, naked and scarred from the dense jungle of Ratanakiri province in remote northeastern Cambodia on January 13, 2007.

The Pnong follow no organized religion but the family took the woman to a Buddhist pagoda to have monks calm her spirit.

One week after being discovered, she experienced difficulties adjusting to civilized life. Local police reported that she was only able to say three words: "father", "mother" and "stomachache". A Spanish psychologist who visited the woman reported that she "made some words and smiled in response to a game involving toy animals and a mirror" but did not speak any recognizable language. When she was thirsty or hungry, she pointed at her mouth. She preferred to crawl rather than walk upright. The family watched Rochom P'ngieng around the clock to make sure she did not run off back to the jungle, as she tried to do several times. Her mother constantly had to pull back on the clothes when she tried to take them off.

The veneer is very thin.

Not sure what you point is here. The fact the woman is unable to speak any language suggests a cause other than environment, such as birth defect, genetic retardation, or brain damage.

If modern man was suddenly put back into a stone age society, most would die do to lack of food, disease and clan ( gang if you will ) warfare, but the survivors would still have language skills, and so would their descendants.

Actually, I think I'm on pretty solid ground here, but there aren't a lot of examples to prove my point.

There was a Ukrainian girl who was raised by dogs until the age of 3. She was able to live a normal life and the experts stated this was due to the fact that the dogs only raised her until the age of 3, and no later.

There was another Ukrainain girl who was raised by dogs until the age of 8. She suffered some pretty serious disabilities but by her late 20's could behave normally. Though she states that when she is alone and feeling abandoned by humans she gets down on all fours, walks like a dog and barks, and that makes her feel better.

There is documentation of an assessment done by her teachers and staff at Teremok. The assessment stated that Oxana was very undeveloped in culture skill, hygiene, social skill, and was very aggressive. This documentation also stated she was very "dog like" Oxana was sent to a secondary school after four years of elementary school even though her cognition and social skills were still very undeveloped. She stayed 6 months at the secondary school until her teachers decided she needed more help. Oxana's job at the new orphanage was to feed and water the dogs. Staff and teachers said she still couldn't even walk she was still walking on all fours. Oxana would follow the dogs around all day when teachers tried to help her she would bark hysterically and bite them. The teachers would then use a stick and point it at her to calm her down. After six months the staff decided Oxana needed more help than they could offer. She was relocated to a special institute for children with behavioral problems and cognitive delays.

http://oxanamalaya.blogspot.com/

The Cambodian jungle girl was lost at age 9 and returned to civilization 18 years later. I would posit that her failure to be reformed is due to the length of time she was away, not to any previous mental condition. There's no indication from what I've read that she was mentally deficient before being lost. My guess is that she was taken in by a pack of animals but is unable to articulate her experience for whatever reason.

[Reality Check]

The first sentence in the quote is a specific example of what I summarized in general. There is an underfunded minority of organic farmers and activists who are diligently working against this. In this case, whether the moral fight will be able to be fought in the future can depend on whether there are any crops left that aren't contaminated, since contamination is the predicted, known, and anticipated effect.

This is so far removed from what the average person is even aware of, let alone would understand if they were aware of it, that it illustrates another point about our society.

The society of the United States has become so technical, and so specialized, that every reasonable person must rely on the professional ethics, and personal integrity, of the professionals, and technical specialist we are dependent on.

It appears impossible to even replace the elite political class, which are legally replaceable every two, four or six years, as the case may be, with a set of moral replacements. The problem is, there are not enough available replacements who can both be elected and have any morals. The problem is even greater in the case of CEOs, global warming scientists, and other technical specializes. There is simply no way for the average voter to have any input on firing them, even if the average voter had the slightest clue as to which ones should be fired.

Given that, the only way to press the reset button will be to replace the society after this one self destructs. That is not something any sane person would hope for, however, neither sane people, nor the hopes of sane people, may have anything to do with those who make the decisions leading to such a self destruction.

Some of the issues that feed into the upcoming election will be understandable to the average person, and the vote will give them a chance to weight in.

Obama-care throwing sick people off of their health care, lies by the President leading to sick people losing their health care that is keeping them alive, and the debate going on over Immigration, legalization of illegal drugs, persecution of religious people in the name of gay rights, and job creation in the United States, all have a moral component.

It will be interesting to see if the country as a whole embraces the elite's immoral blue print for our society, or rejects it in a significant way.

( Just for the record, I do not equate saving the country, with rejecting the Democrats and their morals [the problem being: Republicans will be the ones elected in their place], but the one thing the political system historically has been good at, was throwing the bums out, so it will be interesting to watch).

[Reality Check]

The Cambodian jungle girl was lost at age 9 and returned to civilization 18 years later. I would posit that her failure to be reformed is due to the length of time she was away, not to any previous mental condition. There's no indication from what I've read that she was mentally deficient before being lost.

You might want to think about that one for a minute.

How many 7, 8 or 9 year old girls do you know that have any trouble at all using a vocabulary of at least a thousands words, and talking endlessly with those words ?

The applicable joke/truism here is: "We spent the first two years trying to get our children to walk and talk. We spent the next 16 years trying to get them to sit down and shut up."

Humans are designed, genetically, to talk. Granted they must be around people to learn. But human babies are the most dependent in the animal kingdom. Even if the one in one billion, raised by animals, stories were true; after a disaster that killed 99.9% of the humans on earth, the remaining babies would be raised by human survivors and they would talk.