Deep Adaptation Forum and Extinction Rebellion in Britain

I have received posts from a serious climate activist about the activities of what I refer to as upper-middle class activists in Britain who identify as Deep Adaptation Forum and associate themselves with Extinction Rebellion. (I have not re-posted all of them; and those I have posted, I didn't read all of them.) 

It is clear that the British are leading this embryonic movement that is growing worldwide. The posts should be regarded as the very beginning of the acknowledgement and confrontation concerning the climate crisis, and the threat of human species extinction. The posts feature Prof. Jem Bendell (in one post, also Matthew Slater) who has delivered a number of talks to Deep Adaptation groups associated with this movement. However, I think regarding this subject, there are no experts about what we should do or think about human extinction, which is becoming incontrovertible by the week. The Forum's concern is just a reflection of the advantages of membership in the upper-middle class in mainly capitalist Britain that has allowed this highly trained class of people to become informed about this subject.

These "experts" often glibly mention that dealing with this subject should somehow be liberating and even mention the rewards of joy, love, and healing to those willing to confront the subject. Some, like Bendell, even mention in passing that capitalism has some relation to our extinction, but that is as far as they go in exploring the subject. Bendell approves of the age-old religions such as Buddhism and Sufism, and suggests that they might be helpful. 

It is clear to me that many organizers and the leaders of Deep Adaptation groups are recommending only individualist solutions for dealing with the unthinkable and recommending that commiserating with other upper-middle class people will be helpful. And always added to that is the requirement of non-violence. We wouldn't want to upset our capitalist masters who fear violence, but never hesitate to use violence against others if they threaten their system that delivers to them so much wealth and power over the rest of us (sarcasm). But enough of my bias. Read his scripted and/or listen to his talks, which depart occasionally from his script with ad lib remarks, to see what you think.

• Hope in a time of climate chaos – a speech to psychotherapists by Jem Bendell

• Will We Care Enough to Matter to Them? Climate Justice, Solidarity and Deep Adaptation. By Jem Bendell.

• The Spiritual Invitation of Climate Chaos by Jem Bendell.

• Leadership for Deep Adaptation by Jem Bendell. 

• Why Deep Adaptation needs re-localisation by Matthew Slater and Jem Bendell.

• Foundations of Sustainable Leadership 2020  A course description (and costs) delivered by Jem Bendell at University of Cumbria based in Carlisle, Britain. 

• Deep Adaptation Forum. Various links related to this website.

Posts that I expecially recommend for today: Wednesday, November 6, 2019

• World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency by William J Ripple and others from BioScience - Oxford University Press. 

• The Creation of Society’s Shared Hallucinations (2014) by Roger Boyd from Resilience. (Note: this was introduced and recommended by this current post.)

• A record CO2 rise rate since the KT dinosaur extinction 66 million years ago by Andrew Glikson (Earth and climate scientist and associated with Australian National University) from Arctic News.

• California’s crises and the prospects for socialist revolution by Rainer Shea from his weblog.

• We need to talk about … Green New Deal and other necessary vocabulary for our times by Anne Ryan from Fiesta.  

• US congressional panel outlines next phase of dirty war on Syria: Occupy oil fields and block reconstruction by Ben Norton from The Grayzone.

• U.S. Citizens in Ukraine – The Flies Come Home to Roost by Russell Bentley from Fort Russ News.

Posts that I especially liked or enjoyed, and want to share them with you today: Tuesday, November 5, 2019

• Transitions: There Is Infinite Hope, But Not For Us by Barbara Cecil & Dahr Jamail from Last Born in the Wilderness. (Note: thanks go to Titanic Lifeboat Academy for alerting me to this fine article.) 

• Climate Change from the Inside Out: Shock. Grief. Respond. Relief. Repeat by Vicki Robin from Living Resilience. (Note: I can identify with much of her feelings.)

• California of Fire and Profit by Luca Celada, translated from an Italian website and re-posted on Global Research.

• Troops To “Guard” Syrian Oil… And All Other Oil from Lee Camp's Redacted Tonight posted on RT (via YouTube). 

• The Ministry of Wiki-Truth by CJ Hopkins, America's premier satirist, from his weblog Consent Factory, Inc. (Note: I started noticing the subversion of posts in Wikipedia several years ago.)

Today's posts (Monday, November 4, 2019) I think are especially important for activists

• CrossTalk on Max Blumenthal: Arresting speech from RT. (Notes: it is clear that our ruling class is going after journalists who are not approved by them, and few people know about it--truth is dangerous! I thank an activist for alerting me to this post.)

• New land height metric raises sea level rise risk by Tim Radford from Climate News Network.

• The United States has produced very few anti-imperialists. Noam Chomsky is not among them. By Stephen Gowans from his weblog.

• US Embassy Pressures Thailand Over Monsanto Poison Ban by Joseph Thomas from New Eastern Outlook. (An illustration of "our" government promoting corporate profits onto other countries regardless of environmental consequences.)

• “Robbing” Syria’s Oil to Thwart Syria’s Recovery by Salman Rafi Sheikh from New Eastern Outlook. (Note: Analysis of the Empire's latest move in Syria. Esper is the current Secretary of Defense. The sentence beginning with "It is obvious that the bid to control Syria’s oil has nothing with the fight against terrorism;" should read as "It is obvious that the bid to control Syria’s oil has nothing [to do] with the fight against terrorism;")

• The Truth About The Syrian Arab Army by Vanessa Beeley, the extraordinary independent British journalist, from BSNews.

• The Incredible Shrinking Overton Window by Caitlin Johnstone from her weblog. (Note: the "Overton Window" is essentially what is regarded by our ruling class as acceptable or legitimate for discussion and debate.)

Two posts I especially recommend for today: Saturday, November 2, 2019

• The “Deep State” Has Been Redefined as Career Bureaucrats Doing Their Patriotic Duty by Edward Curtin from his weblog.

• Questions Remain Over Alleged Death of Islamic State Leader, an editorial from Strategic Culture Foundation.

Posts that I especially recommend for today: Friday, November 1, 2019

• Another look at the Federal Reserve’s panic in September 2019 and solutions to the crisis by Eric Toussaint from the Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt. 

• The Third Hand In The Middle East: How Saudi Arabia and the US manipulate international politics with social media by Emad Abshenass from United World (based in Turkey).

• Politics of the worst: U.S. is taking Syria's oil by Bobby Naderi from China Global Television Network.

• Rebuilding Syria – without Syria’s oil by Pepe Escobar from Asia Times (based in Singapore).

• Twitter’s ban on political advertisement: A new move to censor the internet by Andre Damon from World Socialist Web Site.

• Watch: Banking Nature [a 1:26:47 video] posted on the Wrong Kind of Green.

Posts for today, Wednesday, October 30, 2019, that I especially recommend to people who want to know and understand how the ravages of capitalism are affecting the worldwide victims of the system.

• Interview: Syrian Girl on Trump’s Latest U-Turn in Syria, a 44:17m in-depth interview with "Syrian Girl", who, I believe, is now residing in Australia having fled, like many Syrians, the dangers of living in her war-torn country. The interview is posted on 21st Century Wire (British based) and conducted by Patrick Henningsen, an American.

• Trump’s lethal betrayal to Syrian Kurds is systematic, deeper than reported by Prof. Marcello Ferrada de Noli, the chief editor of The Indicter, a weblog based in Sweden.

• Interview: Andre Vltchek on Popular Uprisings in Chile, Hong Kong, Lebanon and beyond, a little more than an hour interview with Andre Vltchek, a naturalized American citizen who has traveled to many areas of the world to investigate and report on his observations. The interview is posted on 21st Century Wire (British based) and conducted by Patrick Henningsen, an American. 

• Federal Reserve Spokesman Explains How It Creates Money Out of Thin Air to Pump Out to Wall Street by Pam Martens and Russ Martens from their weblog Wall Street on Parade.

• Why Lebanon And Iraq Are At The Brink Of Further Strife by Bernhard from his weblog Moon of Alabama.

• The Plundering of Ukraine by Corrupt American Democrats by Israel Shamir from The Unz Review.  

• How the US Regime ‘Justifies’ the Theft of Syria’s Oil by Eric Zuesse from Strategic Culture Foundation. 

• Down the Rabbit Hole: The Multiple Deaths, Resurrections and Retirement of Boogeyman al-Baghdadi by Torchy Blane from Winter Watch: Speaking Truth to Power.

• If capitalism isn’t overthrown, things will get a lot worse by Rainer Shea from his weblog (based in northern California).

Posts I especially recommend to you for today: Tuesday, October 29, 2019

• POLL: Brainwashed Liberals Love The CIA Most! from The Jimmy Dore Show via YouTube. 

• Caliph closure: ‘He died like a dog’ by Pepe Escobar from Asia Times.

• POTUS Murder Mystery Hour: Trump and The Illusive Al-Baghdadi from 21st Century Wire. "SUNDAY WIRE host Patrick Henningsen explores America’s latest made-for-TV psychodrama".  

• Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and the forgotten history of Iraq by Andre Damon from World Socialist Web Site.

• This charge is 100% false': Grayzone editor Max Blumenthal arrested months after reporting on Venezuelan opposition violence by Ben Norton from The Grayzone. 

• Reagan Official Says Cut Military Spending! Panel SCREAMS! from The Jimmy Dore Show.

• FBI Never Stopped Unlawful Spying on Dissidents, from Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford.

• Endorsing The Deep State Endangers Democracy by Bernhard from Moon of Alabama.

• OPCW Losing Credibility As Even More Revelations Surface On Douma by Caitlin Johnstone from her weblog. 

• Lebanese PM Hariri submits his resignation amid ongoing anti-govt. protests from PressTV.

• Washington’s Truth-Lovers are Out of the Closet in Time for the Election Race by Jean Perier from New Eastern Outlook. 

• Greta Thunberg Speaks the Horrific Truth of Humanity’s Fate by "xraymike79" from Collapse of Industrial Civilization. (Note: my re-post is a little late, but important from this author who is a longtime activist warning us about the climate crisis.)

Posts I especially recommend to you for today: Sunday, October 27, 2019

• American Dream is Sunk by Phil Butler from New Eastern Outlook (an independent website based in Russia)

• US Tries to Reverse Syrian Fortunes with “Baghdadi Raid” by Tony Cartalucci from New Eastern Outlook.

• 'This Ship is Sinking' Says Former Bush Official - Empire Files. "Abby Martin interviews retired U.S. Army Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, former national security advisor to the Reagan administration, who spent years as an assistant to Secretary of State Colin Powell during both Bush administrations." From Telesur via YouTube.

• Millionaire Democrat Tells Voters To SWALLOW IT! from The Jimmy Dore Show.

• Greta’s Song: ‘I want you to panic!’ from Climate & Capitalism.

• The Great Firewall of China - book review. Reviewed by Elaine Graham-Leigh from CounterFire (Britain).

• Lenin ‘Judas’ Moreno – Ecuador’s Story of Betrayal and Resistance by Joaquin Flores from Strategic Culture Foundation (independent website based in Russia).

Posts I especially recommend to you for today: Friday, October 25, 2019

• US Democrats Cultivated the Barbarism of ISIS by Jonathan Cook from Consortium News. (This is an exceptional post. Don't skip over The Jimmy Dore Show insert--it's hilarious.)

• Syria - The Kurds Want To Play On Both Sides by Bernhard from his weblog Moon of Alabama.

• The United States, Turkey and the SDF: The Internal War Between Syria’s Enemies by Federico Pieraccini from Strategic Culture Foundation. 

• Trump and NY Times Admit US Imperialist War in Syria by Finian Cunningham from Strategic Culture Foundation.

• ‘This Is Oil Country!’ – Climate Protests And The Left by the editor of Media Lens. 

• XR: A Socialist Perspective by John Molyneux from Rebel (Ireland).

• In-depth Q&A: The IPCC’s special report on the ocean and cryosphere from Carbon Brief. 

• Fed Ups Its Wall Street Bailout to $690 Billion a Week as Media Snoozes by Pam Martens and Russ Martens from their weblog Wall Street on Parade.

• Hunter Biden Cries When Asked About Ukraine Corruption from The Jimmy Dore Show. (I am including this post for your entertainment.)

Posts I especially recommend to you today: Thursday, October 24, 2019

• Twitter Editor Exposed As Military PsyOps Officer from The Jimmy Dore Show. (Note: This post and the following post are to lend some humor to today's awful news.)

• Women Are CEO’s Of Top Weapons Manufactures from The Jimmy Dore Show. (Note: We learn contrary to the propaganda in support of the social identity theme in order to distract angry dissenters that women are CEOs of America's top weapons corporations. I presume this is equal opportunity to cash in on war crimes.)

• Assange’s Extradition Is a Case About the Crimes of Empire by Nozomi Hayase from Antiwar. 

• Global Warming Is Not Part of Natural Climate Variability by Mark Fischetti from Scientific American.

• Video: Dorian’s Deadly Stall – How Climate Change is Weaponizing Hurricanes by "greenman3610" from Skeptical Science. 

• What’s Really Happening in Lebanon? by Laith Marouf from BS News (Britain).

• Chile: “This is Not About 30 Pesos but 30 Years of Abuses” by Sergio Pintado from Internationalist 360°. 

• THE ANGRY ARAB: Trump & the Turkish Invasion of Northern Syria by As`ad AbuKhalil from Consortium News.

Posts I especially recommend for today: Wednesday, October 23, 2019

• Burn, Neoliberalism, Burn by Pepe Escobar from Strategic Culture Foundation.

• When U.S. Officials Ignore The President The Outcome Is Chaos by Bernhard from his weblog Moon of Alabama (Germany).

• Assange in Court by Craig Murry (British) from his weblog.

• Only Cowards And Sadists Support The Persecution Of Assange by Caitlin Johnstone from her weblog.

• Chile erupts in popular uprising against capitalist injustice by Karla Martin and Sebastian from Liberation.  

• Who lost Russia? Part 1 and Part 2. By William H. Warrick III who is a physician practicing in Florida. Clearly this doctor knows history, but I can't agree with all of the minor details he mentions and the emphasis he puts on these details. From A bird's eye view of the Vineyard.

• How Hong Kong youth are indoctrinated to hate China, a report by Michele Greenstein, who is in Hong Kong, on the Rick Sanchez program from RTAmerica (via YouTube).

• US troops are staying in Syria to ‘keep the oil’ – and have already killed hundreds over it by Ben Norton from The Grayzone. 

• The Ongoing Persecution of  [real] Whistleblowers: The 1917 Espionage Act from Lee Camp's comedy and satirical show on RTAmerica. 

• Tipping Points: Could the climate collapse? from Skeptical Science. (Two points: As most people know who follow my weblog, I believe we humans have already moved Earth's biosphere beyond some tipping points and we are destined for extinction. But what do I know? Granted I've been following reports from scientific sources for the past 50 years, but I am no expert. Secondly, I know that all of you will not find any humor in this piece, but I am posting it because many people find it unthinkable to contemplate thoughts about human extinction, and a humorous take on it can influence these people.)

Posts I recommend for today: Tuesday, October 22, 2019

• World in flames: why are protests raging around the globe? from RT.

• Protest from Euronews.

• What’s Really Happening in Lebanon? by Laith Marouf from BSNews (Britain).

• The Faux Outcry Over President Trump’s Syria Decision by Ronald Enzweiler from AntiWar.

• Americans Are Dangerously Out of Touch With Reality by Ulson Gunnar from New Eastern Outlook (independent weblog based in Russia).

• Tulsi Gabbard Is Right, and Nancy Pelosi Wrong. It Was US Democrats Who Helped Cultivate the Barbarism of ISIS by Jonathan Cook from Global Research (based in Canada).

• A Call for a Coup Plus a Week Like No Other for Tulsi Gabbard by Philip Giraldi from Global Research. 

• Don’t Railroad Julian Assange to Virginia. An editorial from Consortium News.

• Putin-Erdogan meeting aims to organise differences and shorten the gap between allies by Elijah J Magnier from his weblog.

Posts I recommend for today: Monday, October 21, 2019

• The Putin-Nazis Are Coming (Again)! by CJ Hopkins from his weblog Consent Factory, Inc. (Hopkins is America's best satirist.)
  

• General strike paralyzes Catalonia as over half-a-million demonstrate in Barcelona by Alejandro López from World Socialist Web Site.

• Kurdistan, imagined by French colonialism by Thierry Meyssan from his weblog Voltaire Network.

• A Panicked Israel Is a Dangerous Israel by Alastair Crooke from Strategic Culture Foundation. 

• Oligarchs Will Crash System to Boot Trump. An online video in an interview with Paul Craig Roberts conducted by Greg Hunter from his weblog USAWatchdog. (Thanks go to an activist for alerting me to this interview.)

• We Have No Reason to Believe 5G Is Safe by Joel M. Moskowitz from Scientific American. 

• The Hong Kong protests fit the definition of a fascist movement by Rainer Shea from his weblog. 

I especially recommend these posts for today: Friday, October 18, 2019

• State of the climate: Low sea ice and near-record warmth define 2019 to date by Zeke Hausfather from Carbon Brief (based in Britain).

• Now retired, top U.S. environmental scientist feels free to speak her mind by Warren Cornwall from Science.

• UN official’s briefing on torture of Assange boycotted by US media by Oscar Grefell from World Socialist Web Site. (The RT picture referred to in the article is posted here.) 

• Tulsi Nails it on National TV… US Regime-Change Wars by Finian Cunningham from Strategic Culture Foundation.

• Capitalism ‘Good’ & ‘Bad’: A Reply to Stiglitz and Macron by Jack Rasmus from his weblog. 

• The IMF in figures: Debtors vs creditors from Reuters via Canada.com.

• The IMF convenes in Washington, deaf to the suffering it causes across the planet by Vijay Prashad from Salon. 

• How Billionaire Charter School Funders Corrupted the School Leadership Pipeline by Jeff Bryant from Common Dreams.

• Propaganda Works Better Than Censorship by Bhaskar Chakravorti from Bloomberg.

I especially recommend these posts for today: Thursday, October 17, 2019

• How Capitalism ‘Solved’ the Nitrogen Crisis (continued) by Ian Angus from Climate & Capitalism. 

• WSJ, NYT Celebrate ‘Shale Revolution’ for Investor Class, Despite Its Leading to Our Doom by Joshua Cho from Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting. (I thank an activist for alerting me to this article.)

• Counting Down to Civilization’s Collapse + Inequality, Climate Change, and America’s Destabilization by Rainer Shea from the author's weblog Rainer Shea: Anti-Imperialist Journalist. (I thank an activist for alerting me to this article.)

• Inequality, climate change, and America’s destabilization by Rainer Shea (US independent analyst) from the author's weblog Rainer Shea: Anti-Imperialist Journalist.

• How The Win-Win-Win-Win Plan For Syria's Northeast Succeeds by Bernhard (independent analyst from Germany) from his weblog Moon of Alabama. (Note: "SNC" refers to the Syrian National Council.)

• Jeffrey Epstein Again Disappears From View, but What About Mossad? by Philip Giraldi from Strategic Culture Foundation.

• Under Fire from Ukraine and Misperceived by the West, The People of the DPR Share Their Stories by Eva Bartlett from Mint Press News. 

• The fight to overturn the latest corporate coup at Pacifica has only begun by Pete Dolack from his weblog Systemic Disorder. This development is in line with a long list of subversive events to subvert and destroy Pacifica Radio, a listener sponsored radio network. In the 1980s I volunteered at the Berkeley, California radio station that is a founding member and major part of this network, and have posted articles from this source.) 

I especially recommend these posts for today: Wednesday, October 16, 2019

• “We would never board a plane if we only arrive in half the cases, but this is the method in international climate policymaking”--an interview with Australian climate researcher David Spratt conducted by a member of the German magazine Energiewende Magazin. The interview is translated and posted on Climate Code Red, a website based in Australia that is concerned with the climate crisis.

• US-China Mini-Trade Deal: Trump Takes the Money and Runs by Jack Rasmus from his weblog.

• Analysis: US Abandons Kurds + Turkey’s Awkward Hand in Syria by Tony Cartalucci from 21st Century Wire.

I especially recommend these posts for today: Tuesday, October 15, 2019

• The CIA Goes HBCU [Historically Black Colleges and Universities] by Glen Ford from the Black Agenda Report.

• News Articles on the Fed’s Secret Trillions in Loans to Wall Street During the Last Crisis Have Been Purged from Bloomberg News by Pam Martens and Russ Martens from their weblog Wall Street on Parade.

• The Art of the Flank: India and Other Asian Nations Join the Polar Silk Road by Matthew Ehret from Strategic Culture Foundation. 

• Kurds Rejoin Sovereign Syria – US Loses War Justification [4:36m podcast] by Glen Ford from the Black Agenda Report.

• Kurds face stark options after US pullback by Pepe Escobar from Asia Times. 

The options for the YPG Kurds are stark. They are slowly realizing they were used by the Pentagon as mercenaries. Either they become a part of the Syrian federation, giving up some autonomy and their hyper-nationalist dreams, or they will have to share the region they live in with at least two million Sunni Arab refugees relocated under Turkish Army protection.

The end of the dream is nigh ....

• Syrian Exposes Media Lies About Syria Withdrawal, a 8:20m YouTube post, by "Syrian Girl".

• Syrian Government Regains Control Over Country's Northeastern Parts by Bernhard from his weblog Moon of Alabama. 

• Day 7 of Turkey Syria offensive: Latest updates from PressTV (Iran).

I especially recommend these posts for today: Monday, October 14, 2019

• Greenland’s dying ice by Paul Voosen from Science.

• Extreme heatwaves pose spreading threat by Tim Radford from Climate News Network.

• Climate Activists Block Roads by Bank of England - Photos, Video from Sputnik International.

• Is America Ready for Socialism? Finian Cunningham interviews American professor of politics Colin S. Cavell posted on Strategic Culture Foundation. (This professor knows his American history.)

• Behind Hong Kong’s black terror by Pepe Escobar from Asia Times (based in Hong Kong). 

• Indigenous-Led Protests Rock Ecuador Decrying IMF Deal and Demanding Moreno’s Resignation by Julian Cola from Mint Press News.

• University Woes: Academics and Scholarship in Crisis. The Managerial Class Gets Uppity by Dr. Binoy Kampmark from Counter Information (based in Scotland).

• Class Struggle is Still the Issue by Ann Robertson from CounterPunch.

• FBI & CIA Implementing Coup On Trump? from The Jimmy Dore Show. 

• DC’s Atlantic Council raked in funding from Hunter Biden’s corruption-stained employer while courting his VP father
  by Max Blumenthal from The Grayzone.

[Special Post] The Syrian Kurds Agree to a Deal with the Government of Syria

In this major development, and likely turning point in the US/Anglo/Zionist Empire's quest to inject chaos into Syria starting back in roughly 2011, many online posts are announcing that the Syrian Kurds, backed formerly by US troops in northern and northeastern Syria, are forced by circumstances to reach an agreement with the Syrian government. First, let's see the posts by the Empire's main propaganda organs: The New York Times, followed by the British propaganda service, Reuters, and the Times of Israel:

• Abandoned by U.S. in Syria, Kurds Find New Ally in American Foe by Ben Hubbard, Charlie Savage, Eric Schmitt and Patrick Kingsley from The New York Times. 

• Russia-backed Syrian forces step in as U.S. retreats by Ellen Francis and Tuvan Gumrukcu from Reuters.

• Kurds announce deal with Syria on troop deployment to confront Turkey by Rouba El Husseini from The Times of Israel.

Now I list posts from around the world:

• Syrian troops sweep into north after Kurdish deal with Damascus by Michael Safi and Bethan McKernan from The Irish Times (Dublin, Ireland).

• Kurds announce deal with Damascus as Turkey pushes deep into Syria via AFP, a French news service, from The Hindu (India). 

• 400 Kurdish YPG Militants Leave Manbij Under Deal With Damascus (VIDEO) from Sputknik (Russia owned international news service). 

• Kurds announce deal with Damascus as Turkey pushes deep into Syria from Channel News Asia (based in Singapore).

• Washington’s Sum of All Fears: Kurdish Militants Cut a Deal with Damascus by Patrick Henningsen from 21st Century Wire (left-wing website based mostly in Britain).

• Syrian Government Regains Control Over Country's Northeastern Parts by Bernhard from his weblog Moon of Alabama (independent analyst from Germany).