@Cassiodorus

to pack the worst of the capitalists off there by themselves. Without taking any vulnerable Poors with them.

#2.2 Mars is significantly inhospitable to human life, probably inhospitable to life in general, and definitely inhospitable to capitalism.

@Pluto's Republic Give a Man a Fish, and you cut into your profits.

Teach a Man to fish, and you cut into your profits even more.

Unless of course...
You can put him into debt for fishing lessons,
then charge him rent on the fishing pole,
Licensing costs,
Dock fees,
A fee for the spot where he pitches his tent...

Yeah, it's pretty much this guy...
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWzBtuGsXGc]

#4.1

...into the complex interdependent environments that we live in is almost comically flawed. They fail in the exact way every time and are utterly confused by it. "Who could have foreseen....?" they ask. We can. Their systems always end in — and are reborn out of — predator-caused extinction. Their mind-map of reality relies on key environmental constants that run counter to the laws of nature (ie., constant growth and net expansion).

Capitalism seems to owe its greatest successes to cronyism, political collusion, top-down rigging of established systems, and the opportunistic privatization of natural resources and public investment projects. They dismiss long-term planning and the accountability that comes with it and insist that planning and commitment to past values interfere with their responsiveness in today's so-called free market. In keeping with this, the political arm of capitalism has declared that nations who make long-term economic plans (or who nationalize their natural resources or public utilities) are in fact totalitarian dictatorships that try to block capitalists from "creating jobs" and rewarding shareholders. For our entire lives, we've seen these accused nations become economically crippled by deadly US sanctions. The entire world watched as these designated nations were invaded, destroyed, and depopulated, and their assets were again privatized and given to favored Western corporations for exploit. Venezuela, Iran, North Korea, and many others know that this may be their future.

The philosophical capitalist believes that when industries or financial systems are regulated by the state, it takes too long to deconstruct them and extract their wealth and assets. It never occurs to them that we may not share their ultimate goals, perhaps because we do not share in the spoils. They push a preposterous ideology that claims that an industry or business sector without state-imposed regulations will beget even better "self-regulation" by going through the "natural" economic cycles of disaster and correction. The staggering suffering and inhumanity inherent in this process are completely over-looked because capitalist-thinking seems to be governed by short-term situational ethics. Their analysis has been unencumbered by concepts of economic morality or by an evolution of social conscientiousness taking place among the People.

Capitalism exhibits no purpose greater than itself, for its own sake. The most galling calculation on the balance sheet of the capitalist endeavor is a void in the cost paid by the civilization they occupy and cannibalize. There is another void in the amount owed to the millions of shoulders they stand on in an established civilization as they reach for the stars. There's no giving back or paying it forward with them. The money that remains at the end of a year — after a commercial entity has deducted all costs of doing business and every possible expense, including the lavish sums they pay to themselves — is the surplus profit they generated in a year's time. The nation that provides these commercial entities with their marketplace and their global protections and courts of law, will in turn tax these surplus profits at now historically low rates, which capitalists see as an assault to be resisted. By my reckoning, they are a drag on the advancement of civilization and the human experience.

The devil is in their books and the immoral bookkeeping that records the one-sided extraction and depletion and emptying of a nation's resources and the strains on the infrastructure. They do not give back sufficiently to fill the potholes they made, nor do they add sustainability for future generations of that civilization. They destroy what they touch with their gluttony for hoarding all the profits they can grab today. They leave behind their empty wells and strip mines and polluted waters while their financial cohorts trigger sudden economic destabilizations along the way. They are unprepared for these sudden economic shifts that result in financial downturns for the public because they cannot see them coming. The capitalists are blinded by the bright phosphoresce of their own frenzied greed.

It is no wonder that capitalism is completely incompatible with democracy.

@Lily O Lady

Billionaires seeking eternal existence in some form or another wish to pour money into this - for private ownership of space.

But at the rate these loons are messing up the planetary life-support system, they need to think that there will be somewhere for Those Who Matter to go, in the rapidly approaching disappearance of our future.

I can't access this following article, (URL provided below for any who can) and trying to copy the title makes it vanish, but the initially visible blurb mentions that as early as 1965, wackos with White House access were trying to say that global warming could be addressed by their covering the ocean in reflective metal particles (at public cost) - which wouldn't work.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/geoengineering-how-to-cool-ea...

And, while rarely admitted by only some officials, here and there, and often denied, it has been ongoing for a very long time.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/mar/24/us-scientists-launch...

US scientists launch world's biggest solar geoengineering study

Research programme will send aerosol injections into the earth’s upper atmosphere to study the risks and benefits of a future solar tech-fix for climate change

US scientists are set to send aerosol injections 20km up into the earth’s stratosphere in the world’s biggest solar geoengineering programme to date, to study the potential of a future tech-fix for global warming.

The $20m (£16m) Harvard University project will launch within weeks and aims to establish whether the technology can safely simulate the atmospheric cooling effects of a volcanic eruption, if a last ditch bid to halt climate change is one day needed.

Scientists hope to complete two small-scale dispersals of first water and then calcium carbonate particles by 2022. Future tests could involve seeding the sky with aluminium oxide – or even diamonds.

“This is not the first or the only university study,” said Gernot Wagner, the project’s co-founder, “but it is most certainly the largest, and the most comprehensive.”

Janos Pasztor, Ban Ki-moon’s assistant climate chief at the UN who now leads a geoengineering governance initiative, said that the Harvard scientists would only disperse minimal amounts of compounds in their tests, under strict university controls.

“The real issue here is something much more challenging,” he said “What does moving experimentation from the lab into the atmosphere mean for the overall path towards eventual deployment?” ...

...But the Harvard team, in a promotional video for the project, suggest a redirection of one percent of current climate mitigation funds to geoengineering research, and argue that the planet could be covered with a solar shield for as little as $10bn a year.
Geoengineering is fast and cheap, but not the key to stopping climate change
Read more

Some senior UN climate scientists view such developments with alarm, fearing a cash drain from proven mitigation technologies such as wind and solar energy, to ones carrying the potential for unintended disasters.

Kevin Trenberth, a lead author for the UN’s intergovernmental panel on climate change, said that despair at sluggish climate action, and the rise of Donald Trump were feeding the current tech trend.

“But solar geoengineering is not the answer,” he said. “Cutting incoming solar radiation affects the weather and hydrological cycle. It promotes drought. It destabilizes things and could cause wars. The side effects are many and our models are just not good enough to predict the outcomes”

Natural alterations to the earth’s radiation balance can be short-lasting, but terrifying. A 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption lowered global temperatures by 0.5C, while the Mount Tambora eruption in 1815 triggered Europe’s ‘year without a summer’, bringing crop failure, famine and disease.

A Met Office study in 2013 said that the dispersal of fine particles in the stratosphere could precipitate a calamitous drought across North Africa.

Frank Keutsch, the Harvard atmospheric sciences professor leading the experiment, said that the deployment of a solar geoengineering system was “a terrifying prospect” that he hoped would never have to be considered. “At the same time, we should never choose ignorance over knowledge in a situation like this,” he said.

“If you put heat into the stratosphere, it may change how much water gets transported from the troposphere to the stratosphere, and the question is how much are you [creating] a domino effect with all kinds of consequences? What we can do to quantify this is to start with lab studies and try to understand the relevant properties of these aerosols.”

Stratospheric controlled perturbation experiments (SCoPEX) are seen as “critical” to this process and the first is planned to spray water molecules into the stratosphere to create a 1km long and 100m wide icy plume, which can be studied by a manoeuvrable flight balloon.

If lab tests are positive, the experiment would then be replicated with a limestone compound which the researchers believe will neither absorb solar or terrestrial radiation, nor deplete the ozone layer.

Bill Gates and other foundations are substantially funding the project, and aerospace companies are thought to be taking a business interest in the technology’s potential.

The programmme’s launch will follow a major conference involving more than 100 scientists, which begins in Washington DC today. ...

Right, and (apart from destroying the ozone layer and affecting/ultimately destroying the possibility of plant and animal health by reducing sunlight while making sunlight required for life into a hazard) the increase in weather disruptions by doing things (there are others involved, as well,) known to cause weather disruptions has nothing to do with these weather disruptions. TPTB certainly aren't going to inform us of which of the factors being introduced may be responsible as contributing/causal factors or even of the true rate of resultant health and other damage, although we are still free to guess - at least for now.

Recent examples:

https://www.rt.com/usa/427978-maryland-flash-flood-emergency/

Roads submerged as severe flash flooding hits Maryland (VIDEOS)
Published time: 27 May, 2018 21:57
Edited time: 28 May, 2018 09:50

Residents in the cities of Ellicott and Baltimore scrambled for safety as heavy rainfall brought flash flooding to the area. Videos posted on social media show raging torrents of water deluging neighborhoods.

A flash flood emergency was declared in Ellicott City on Sunday. Videos posted by locals show the city’s Main Street awash with muddy water. (WARNING: EXPLICIT LANGUAGE)

“This is an EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND POTENTIALLY CATASTROPHIC situation and you must move to HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY AND STAY AWAY FROM ANYWHERE WHERE WATER IS MOVING,” National Weather Service Baltimore said in a Twitter statement.

READ MORE: Most dramatic images of Maryland’s catastrophic flash flood (VIDEOS)

Ellicott City, which is situated just 55 meters (180ft) above sea level, is experiencing flooding on the same scale as it saw in 2016, the Howard County government said. The 2016 Maryland flood caused severe damage to the historic center of the city, affecting many homes, businesses and famous sights. Two people perished at the time.

As of Sunday evening, the flash flood emergency has been extended to include areas along the Patapsco River in Anne Arundel County, as well as the entirety of Howard and Baltimore Counties. ...

...Howard County Fire and Rescue urged residents to assist them by evacuating, warning that more rain is expected to hit the city.

“If you are in downtown Ellicott City now watching the rescues, please help us by evacuating. More rain is expected, and conditions are rapidly changing,” it wrote on Twitter.

The Community Action Council of Howard County has announced it will be accepting donations to assist those affected by the flood, calling on the locals to bring water, hygiene products and flashlights. ...

https://www.rt.com/uk/427957-lightning-strike-uk-photos/

‘Mother of all thunderstorms’: UK hit by up to 20,000 lightning strikes (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)
Published time: 27 May, 2018 12:10
Edited time: 28 May, 2018 10:01

The UK has been hit by up to 20,000 lightning strikes in a massive electrical storm that swept the country on Saturday night. Incredible photos and footage show stunning purple skies illuminated by intense bursts of light.

The violent thunderstorm blasted parts of southern Britain following a humid day of 27 degrees celsius temperatures. Met Office meteorologist Charlie Powell said there were somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000 strikes overnight. ...

...Torrential rain accompanied the thunderstorm, creating chaos for motorists. London Fire Brigade said it received more than 500 weather-related calls, most of them due to flooding.

There have also been reports of properties being struck by lightning. Firefighters attended a blaze at a house in Stanway, Essex after a lightning bolt caused its roof to go on fire. Nearly 1,000 properties were left without power across the midlands as a result of outages caused by the storm.

Meanwhile, flights from Stansted Airport have been disrupted after the fuelling system was damaged by a lightning strike. The system has now been restored but the airport says flights may still be subject to delays or cancellation. ...

...Thunderstorms will continue to affect parts of Wales, southern and central England through Sunday and into Monday morning, according to the Met Office. Residents are being warned that homes and businesses could be damaged by flooding and lightning strikes.

https://www.rt.com/usa/424225-snow-midwest-3-dead/

3 killed as ‘historic’ snowstorm blasts Midwest US (VIDEOS, PHOTOS)
Published time: 15 Apr, 2018 22:16
Edited time: 16 Apr, 2018 07:53

At least three people have been killed, including a sleeping two-year-old girl, as a violent spring storm has battered the Midwest with powerful winds and heavy snow.

The storm front swept across the Midwest this weekend, leaving large swathes of the region blanketed in snow. The city of St. Paul in Minnesota was forced to declare a snow emergency, while nearby Minneapolis is predicted to receive more than 50 centimeters of snow by the time the storm passes through the region.

Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport, which serves the two cities, was forced to cancel nearly 500 flights. Airport officials said the snow was falling too fast for plows to keep runways clear. Hundreds of crashes were reported across the state. Some 300 thousand houses were without electricity. ...

...The stormy weather is forecast to persist through Sunday in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, before moving east into New York state and New England.

https://www.rt.com/usa/420801-us-storm-northeast-weather/

Snow storm pounds US northeast for second time in 1 week
Published time: 8 Mar, 2018 15:59
Edited time: 9 Mar, 2018 10:44

Schools are shut and thousands are without power as the northeast of the United States suffers through its second winter storm in a week. States of emergency have been declared in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Up to 60cm (2ft) of snow has accumulated in inland parts of the two states along with neighboring New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Schools throughout New England, including Boston Public Schools, were shut in advance of the latest blizzard as the National Weather Service forecast white-out conditions. ...

...The powerful storm has dumped heavy wet snow, downed power lines and led to hundreds of thousands of electricity outages. Downed power lines have also sparked fires in several areas. ...

...There have been more than 700,000 thousand outages in Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut and New Jersey, according to Poweroutage.us. Around half of those are in Massachusetts.

At least nine people were killed during last week's storm which battered the same region. There was major coastal flooding in Massachusetts and about 2.4 million homes and businesses lost power.

But because business interests must maximize profits, which involves also maximizing 'cost-effective' pollution, what remains of natural processes and a once self-maintaining global life support system consisting of life has to go:

for business interests to be paid by the poisoned public (we know that Trump's already given out some geoengineering funding, because we hear about what he does) for spraying even more toxic pollutants to shower gradually down all over the Earth from the sky;

in order to block sunlight and disrupt other natural processes absolutely and utterly required for planetary health and life;

while disaster captalists 'privatize' (water systems, even to area rainfall; Monsanto, et al, patenting as well as distorting life; bankster-scammed-away housing bought to stand empty, etc.) whatever they think might survive for a while, so as to profit off any of the dying billions of people able to scrape up any money for a little longer, such money only to be obtained from business interests - who refuse to pay a living wage to them - and who somehow get to run the planet straight into a hell-scape.

All this for more soon-to-be-worthless money than they could ever spend before the people and world they've drained this from perish.

Unless, of course, they invest in the creation of an escape off-planet for themselves, and for which much money will be required. So they loot more heavily of what little remains, in every way possible, creating more and faster destruction on Earth in the belief they'll be able to escape the consequences of their own actions by going off-planet, to do it to themselves again, wherever they might escape to, no doubt.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30197085

Geo-engineering: Climate fixes 'could harm billions'
By David Shukman Science editor, BBC News

26 November 2014

Schemes to tackle climate change could prove disastrous for billions of people, but might be required for the good of the planet, scientists say.

That is the conclusion of a new set of studies into what's become known as geo-engineering.

This is the so far unproven science of intervening in the climate to bring down temperatures.

These projects work by, for example, shading the Earth from the Sun or soaking up carbon dioxide.

Ideas include aircraft spraying out sulphur particles at high altitude to mimic the cooling effect of volcanoes or using artificial "trees" to absorb CO2.

Long regarded as the most bizarre of all solutions for global warming, ideas for geo-engineering have come in for more scrutiny in recent years as international efforts to limit carbon emissions have failed.

Now three combined research projects, led by teams from the universities of Leeds, Bristol and Oxford, have explored the implications in more detail.

The central conclusion, according to Dr Matt Watson of Bristol University, is that the issues surrounding geo-engineering - how it might work, the effects it might have and the potential downsides - are "really really complicated".

Sun block

"We don't like the idea but we're more convinced than ever that we have to research it," he said.

"Personally I find this stuff terrifying but we have to compare it to doing nothing, to business-as-usual leading us to a world with a 4C rise." ...

And these are to be the only choices? Both selected by destructive and lunatic self-interests, which then get to continue 'business as usual' either way, while the world painfully perishes of their profiteering? They're already 'lost in space'.

When 'business as usual' destroys the only ground beneath all of our feet, as well as poisoning the air, food, water, global life-support system, we'd better get those business interests the hell out of ours. There is no time left to waste.

#6.1