Graphical Representation of Plato's Allegory of the Cave in "The Republic"
Firstly, I honestly wish to keep this concept, and show to be very small. The topics can be SO LARGE & SO VAST that it can be rather overwhelming.
Plato's Allegory of The Cave in "The Republic"
I have been working on my research, and my basic outline for it, and I originally wanted about 3 episodes, but at this point, I have no real intention to shoot MORE than 5. However, due to the nature of it, the content I/we shoot might actually end up become more than that just based on those 5 parts.
Altho' I will be drawing heavily on Ancient Greek Philosophy, especially Socrates & Plato's books "The Republic" and "The Apologia of Socrates" (The Defense of Socrates), I will also draw from Laozi (Lao Tsu) material/book from "Dao De Jing" (Tao Te Ching) and just a few philosophical concepts by Alan Wattsand his take on Zen, as well as Bruce Lee.
Plato's Allegory of The Cave in "The Republic"
I want each aspect to be broken down into easy digestible parts, and show how it relates to everything, and how to use it to understand why things go wrong, how to question things, or possibly how to fix it.
I also do not wish it to be boring, dry, or TOO CEREBRAL.
PLUS, I do NOT wish it to be partisan at all, because I've found these topics resonate with all people including Right Wing, Left Wing, Centrist, Moderate, and Progressive. In fact, when I have these conversations in public, I have often noticed that people around me get very quiet and eavesdrop on my conversations, and this is regardless of whether I'm speaking to a radical, a moderate, a Right Winger, or Left Winger, an anarchist, or anything else.
This is because I use The Feynman Technique which breaks down complex ideas into basic simple ones. Topics I wish to address are:
Epistemology, Ethics, Morality, The Socratic Method, A Priori Ideas .
Current Events Issues:
* Democracy, 3rd parties, the origins of the US Government, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. What ACTUALLY is: Capitalism, Socialism, Communism, Democracy, Feudalism, Plutocracy, Oligarchy, Republicanism, Conservatism, Liberalism, Constitutions, Federalism.
And what do those things mean to your life?
* The 2016 Election: why it went wrong (possibly Brexit as well) equating it to simple principles in the Dao De Jing.
* The Great Depression comparative commentary on the so called "Great recession" Economic Melt down of the Bail Outs, and the Economy relating to the neo "Tea Party" and how it got taken over by the corporate organizations it was protesting, "Occupy Wall Street", "Anonymous", and the media manipulation of news and events to turn politics into tabloids, ratings, and social media take over, including The Arab Spring.
* Rhetorical framing in politics, media, and manipulation of narratives, empty platitudes.
* How to spot if your own relatives, coworkers, bosses, and friends are actually manipulating you using "leveraging" or "gas lighting" and equating it to Socrates VS. The Sophists in Plato's book.
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I also feel like I want to break up the dryness of the seriousness of it, and may wish to include some comedic elements... persons like Jon Stewart & Lee Camp come to mind, among others. But, not a copy-cat of those.
Some Older References (somewhat outdated) :
Humor Commentary:
One of my previous films at UMASS Boston circa. 2016:
There are just a few elements I might take from this, but not so experimental & subjective or artsy...
Example of Unfiltered/Uncut ON-The-Fly Rhetorical Framing (2015):
Uncut/Unfiltered; Dismantling Preconceived Ideas (Sophistry/Rhetoric) Philosophically using commentary on Current Events [2015]:
Knowledge You Need To Be An Informed Voter: Documentaries & Investigative Reports You Need To Watch
I have assembled here a number of documentaries you NEED TO WATCH.
This will put into perspective, and within contexts, and subtexts, the actual truths of a number of "talking points" that are the platforms that politicians are running on, or campaigning on. This way, you can easily spot the lies, liars, propaganda, and fraud.
Set aside some time, and watch these. take notes.
If there's anything you don;t understand, just pick up your smartphone and google search it.
Go grab some popcorn and set aside some time to watch the films.
(It has taken me hours to assemble this information. And, it will take several more hours to get through all of this material. If I have given you the link to this blog, and you still try to give me nonsense sassy backtalk, it shows you have not even bothered to get through the material, shows your bias, and ignorance, as well as your total lack of self respect.) For the LIFE of my, WHY THE HELL is this misbegotten Libertarian propagandist radical right winger talking point spring back to life like a friggin' ZOMBIE?
Oh, that's right! It's a DAMNED PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION YEAR!
STOP SPREADING THESE LIES! It's a friggin' FARCE!
I could've sworn we settled this stuff a few years ago!
But, hey, un-welcome to the United States of Amnesia! Right?
The land of the un-free, home of the non-brave cowards, the revisionists, and the systematically Pavlovian programmed mindless idiots.
For the LAST TIME!
Social Security IS NOT BANKRUPT! And, AMERICA IS NOT BROKE!
STOP LYING!
Don't you remember all that blow-back in 2012, 2013, and 2014 when all of a sudden people called it out, ALL OVER THE MEDIA?
Because I DO!
I've sat in on conference calls, meetings, and seminars on this very topic, and my brain has no reset button on it...
I'm no mindless robot programmed to just accept anything I hear, or am told... No one, and NOTHING, is off limits!
Remember THIS article tweeted all over Twitter, and on social media? Because I Do.
You, know THIS ONE from Reuters calling out the BULL SHIT of Paul Ryan called "America Is Not Broke"
It also makes mention of FDR's "The New Deal", "The Great Society", and "the social contract", so if you have a High School diploma, or a College degree and you DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT IS, then SHAME ON YOU!
You SHOULD actually have learned and STILL understand ALL OF THAT. But, hey, Google is your friend if you're rusty.
Here's a direct quote from the article (if you haven't klicked n read it yet):
'This may be surprising, given how much we hear about a looming “debt crisis.” But annual budget deficits have fallen by almost two-thirds over the past five years. The total national debt is actually projected to shrink in each of the next three years as a share of the economy.
Exaggerating our debt does not advance smart fiscal policies. It does, however, undermine the social programs created by the New Deal and the Great Society by making their successes appear hopelessly unaffordable and doomed to failure. If our debt is out of control, then Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid would seem like unrealistic pipedreams.
Feeding the hungry, rebuilding our infrastructure and educating our children would sound like nice ideas, but too much for the government to handle.
That’s where the Republican budget comes in. For the past few years, House Republicans have passed a budget that radically reduces support for healthcare, economic opportunity and a safety net for hard times. By claiming to address an urgent “debt crisis,” it dismantles the social contract that Americans have made with their government for decades.' Now, moving right along to the propagandist LIES of the MYTHICAL idea that "Social Security is Bankrupt".
Utter rubbish trash!
It's simple basic math. Let me break it down for you:
You put money in, and then you get money back out... it also gains interest...
All year long, revenue gets generated, and that money gets collected. IT DOES NOT STOP.
I think a lot of the misinformation is due to George W. Bush abusing his Executive Orders as President. he was greedily after trying to raid Social Security which was so bloated with money at the end of Bill Clinton's administration.
Here's an article (CNN back when they were actually doing journalism & rating driven less punditry) that showed that in 2005 the media was a lot more keen on understanding the matters. In this article it explains how GW Bush kept trying to raid Social Security.
The term "privatizing Social Security" was a code talk meaning a way for banks and bankers to charge fees on THE PEOPLE'S MONEY, for nothing... in other words, a way to legally rob money and dress it up by calling it a "service". It's also a VERY similar scheme like how they got people to believe that Pensions are "a bad idea' and pushed people into "401K" so they could rob YOUR RETIREMENT MONEY blind, or even gamble with it (derivative, naked swap bets, insurance scams, high frequency trading, and fraud investments AKA "toxic assets") .
I've personally lost count of how many folks I knew lost their retirement either by the end of the 90s, or during GWB's rein.
"Service charges" are just a way of forcing YOU to pay money for NOTHING, and calling it a "fee" or a "service". many of these so-called fees, when dealing with banks or brokers, you can actually refuse to pay in person. You threaten to leave and take your business elsewhere if they don't remove the charge. they will fraudulently try to scare you and call it "insurance" even tho' it's already by law legally insured by the FDIC. You can also threaten to "make a run on the bank" which is scary talk to bankers, because whenever someone closes an account, especially in big corporate banks, it shows their name, and corporate entities often are profit or numbers driven, using what seems like sophisticated graphs, which they use to show to their board of investors, which also is used to make their revenue seem larger to the stock market.
If you STILL HAVE NOT WATCHED the "Frontline" investigative documentary report "The Retirement Gamble" then WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU????
WATCH IT!
It's actually VERY EASY TO UNDERSTAND!
It REALLY puts things into PERSPECTIVE. I suggest you take notes.
And you will SEE and understand JUST HOW BADLY you are BEING LEGALLY ROBBED from your RETIREMENT, and what to do about it!
SO, with THAT out of the way, lets move along, onto the toppic of HOW the propagandist idea of "Social Security is Bankrupt" is BULL SHIT FRAUD!
If you are looking for a brief summation of this in an article form this one here was a popular one from 2012, in particular it was also one I sat through a number of financial & political meetings/calls/conferences of people discussing this.
First of all, let's bring up the topic of FRAUD.
Fraud is basically presenting information as fact or truth, when it actually is false.
There are variations of fraud. In laymen terms there's what's referred to as "half truths".
But, on the legal end of things there's a MAJOR type of fraud which is known as "selective disclosure".
It means to present information about something to make it seem either favorable or unfavorable, but omitting all the information that is against what you are presenting as truth, also to make yourself seem better. Ergo, selecting disclosing SOME information, and withholding other information. A way of telling SOME truth, so as to appear to be truthful, in order to deceptively manipulate circumstancing in your favor, often with investments, money, policy, products, false advertising, etc. It's basically FRAUD.
It's also illegal. And, there's many laws on the books about many of these sorts of frauds.
See also: Malfeasance.
So, in discussing the phony made-up talking points about Social Security being "bankrupt" let's talk about the parts they just LEFT OUT, omitted, and presented as fact.
The idea that Social Security running out of money only would be true if we just suddenly stopped collecting revenue for it. These figures DELIBERATELY left THAT OUT. Every year, Social Security generates incoming revenue FROM YOU. As long as it does this, it will remain SOLVENT.
However, those whom keep on ringing this Pavlovian bell to their brainwashed base purposely keep that out because they WANT TO DISMANTLE Social Security. They do not want liberty, fairness, justice, or a Republic.
It's basic math.
Now, the program is still somewhat modest, and there's plenty of room for adjusting it.
It also makes money on internist.
Privatizing it would also make it less able to to help the people it is meant to. It's puts MIDDLE MEN into the mix.
Here are several instances of the actual facts that are easily digestible even for a laymen:
Ronald Reagan
Caught in lies about robbing and duping the American people and trying to rob Social Security:
Think tanks funded by The Koch Brothers For Libertarians to use Propaganda to brainwash people into thinking Social Security is bad for them, and other think tank cooked-up phony fraud:
Simple Math & Facts Solutions (circa. 2015):
The remedy to ignorance (the lack of knowledge about something) is education.
Educate yourself. Ask questions, and question everything.
You need to know some other cogent information about WHERE the propagandist think tanks came from that created the farce of the talking points on "a bankrupt social security". It has NOTHING TO DO WITH FACT. It has everything to do with the ideology of Libertarians, especially The Koch Brothers.
This films was incredibly popular when it came out. It's strange that people develop amnesia.
Another aspect to point out is the issue of "tax cuts". Tax cuts for the wealthy under George W Bush actually caused deficits. If you Google search the executive orders that he issues or even 'remarks" or "statements" in those files you can see a long list of his executive orders. It will take you days to read through them all.
Tax cuts take away from everything that benefits you, and everyone. Everyone has to pay taxes. Libertarians like to beat this drum that taxes are unconstitutional... that's because they're self aggrandized tax cheats and literally have a pro-selfishness & pro-greed ideology.
It was a popular idea in the 1980s that corporatists and libertarians actually proudly flaunted the idea of selfishness & greed as a good quality for the sake of the markets. There were even films from the 80s which were meant to portray these selfish, self-centered types as the villains they were shown to be in the films, however these individuals actually idolized the villains of the films.
This ideology was a sophistry/philosophy of greed & selfishness by Ayan Rand which she wrote books about such as "Atlas Shrugged". She also often gave interviews about how she hated Jesus and openly professed her hatred of helping the poor, and disdain for humanitarians.
This book was often popular with teenagers since it glorifies an "ideology of being an ass hole, selfish jerk". She was, however, a hypocrite and altho' she publicly jeered and mocked social programs, she actually frequently benefited from Social Security benefits via her husband.
A person whom was the most gungho and avid fundamentalist of this Ayan Rand Libertarian stint of policies that "the market was never wrong" and "the invisible hand of the market" extreme John Locke versions via Ayan Rand fanaticism was none other than Alan Greenspan.
Alan Greenspan was so smug, and so full of himself and this religious fervor of these Libertarian neoliberalism pro-corporatist pro-privatization ideologies that he was known to NEVER admit to wrong, ever.
However, when the markets crashed under GB Bush due to repealing of Glass-Steagall this fantasy of markets never being wrong, and regulations, and safety nets being unnecessary crashed with it.
When Alan Greenspan admitted he was wrong (because it was his fault) it was MAJOR!
WOW!
And, 2 more final films that would behoove you to watch:
Nonpoint Source Pollution, Seafood, Mercury, and Cancer and other related topic of Environmentalism (Rough Draft)
Introduction:
I am writing this entry in response to the overwhelming deliberate ignorance on the topic of Seafood being incredibly toxic, bad for the environment, and generally bad overall... based not on some emotional dislike of seafood or personal preference, but based on the facts and data.
If I have sent you this link to THIS ENTRY, it is because you are quite literally ignorant of these facts.
To qualify this, I would like to explain what the word "ignorant" means, since for some reason people seem to be literally ignorant of the actual definition of what ignorance actually means. For some reason, referring to something as ignorant often gets a strange misinformed reaction from people whom act as tho' u had called them some sort of derogatory racial epithet.
"Ignorant" generally means: lacking information, unlearned, being uneducated lacking and understanding of a matter. But, don't take my word for it; LOOK IT UP YOURSELF!
So, if someone asked you to fix their engine in their jet plane, and you had no idea how to do that, you would be IGNORANT about how to do that. THAT is what that means.
If someone asked you your opinion of the viscosity of synthetic engine lubricants over petrol based oils but you had no point of reference or knowledge of this, you wouldn't be able to answer the question. Therefore you would be IGNORANT ON THE MATTER.
See? It's all very sensible. Not a derogatory whatsoever. Words have meanings.
By the way, if you were to ask me this question on the viscosity of engine lubricants, I would say, based on my on the field training from my previous employment endeavors, that I would that altho' I am not a chemist expert, I do have a somewhat informed and trained knowledge of the substances, and that my informed opinion, based on consensus on the job via coworkers, and the company, that the synthetic lubricants are much better than petroleum oil based lubricants. The reason is due to synthetic lubricant being made from gases instead of petroleum which burns more, and is more impure. Synthetic has better bonding or viscosity flow which reduced wear on engine parts, and is more efficient. It also creates less waste products in the engines... synthetics also often have agents in them with fill in the worn out parts of the metal parts, and help older engines to keep working longer. However, I'm not an expert in engines, nor do I know anything about jet engines which are incredibly complex. Therefore, I am incredibly ignorant about jet plane engines. Therefore I would be unqualified to really have an opinion, let alone speak on them in a factual manner.
Unfortunately, if I have sent this link to you and you refuse to read it, and still argue with me, it proves your willful ignorance, cognitive dissonance*, and perhaps even narcissism.
(There is quite a lot of good content on these topics from various points of views from MIT, Harvard, and Oxford, among many others. I would like to note that simply reading Jung, or Freud is not sufficient enough, and would recommend university research and lectures which are more contemporary and nuanced.)
As for the topics of pollution, wildlife, nonpoint source pollution, ecology there are many organizations such as government run, or educational, that have quite a bit of information.
I worked in the 1990s in several environmental projects, and I have a diploma in Environmental Sciences (1998) at BCIT Medford NJ. Our class was handpicked by Vice President Al Gore to work on G.L.O.B.E. and went to the Earth Summit in Helsinki.
I worked with NOAA, NASA, The Weather Channel, EPA, FFA, most especially with writing papers, data collection, lectures, presentations, reporting, water testing, soil testing, ecology, and several others.
This was my instructor. You can verify all of this, his information, and you can also check the State of New Jersey for which I earned 2 diplomas, graduating in 1998. You can also check my LinkedIn.
*
Every single thing is verifiable, check-able, and able to cross reference, or triangulate.
I would also like to state that altho' I am a creative person, I am also a person of science. Environmental Science is, and has always been, a major part of my raison d'être.
To this day, I still receive countless newsletters on environmental topics, especially related to the ocean. I have consistently shared/posted articles to my Facebook wall since at least 2007, and my original reason for joining twitter around 2007-08 was to follow @ecogeek and other environmental content creators. I have also signed countless petitions to Washington DC representatives and offices, various state governments, and also international campaigns to promote awareness on various topics, to protest, or to inquire, and I've participated in more online groups, message boards, forums, social networks and anything else I can think of, more than I can ever remember.
So, my blood is nearly green...
Well, if there was any question as to whether I'm serious about knowledge, training, education, and involvement in these topics, aside from my ANTIDOTES, its ALSO variable, and able to check the records, and/or speak with those involved.
Nonpoint Source Pollution
Introduction:
There are a number of witty stories I could tell about this specific topic, which I'm sure I have told to people ad nauseam already, however, that won't be written in this entry.
Among several topics we had to thoroughly study, research, report on, lecture on, take lengthy tests on and write "journals" on every single week, this was actually a toppic that wasn't really mentioned much. However, we had tons of brochures throughout the "shop". I read ALL OF THEM because they often had the newest, up-to-date info that wasn't in the text books, and the only other way to get newer info was to read the printed magazines or news letters we got. (Most people DID NOT READ THEM.) I read ALL of those as well, because I wanted to know whatever NASA or NOAA was doing. We also were quite fascinated (back in the 90s) about the new scheduled mission to Mars (which Bush administration put a stop to) and I often wrote papers on terraforming, or the objects that collided with the planet Jupiter, but i also wrote about agriculture, migrating patterns of marine mammals, negative ions, tons of stuff about recycling since we had our own recycling station for the entire school run by us, endangered species, black market trade, CFCs VS. HFCs regarding O3 Ozone layer, types of Ultra Violet Radiation, and greenhouse gases such as CO2 & O3 emissions in cities, as well as papers on various opposing views on Los Angels pollution causing asthma.
Since I was an artist, I did often use my art skills for the benefit of the entire class/shop/school, but I very much did all the regular work, and even got special privileges to create my own fields of specialized study, and granted privileges to do several things that most people were not granted. I worked very hard to earn all of that. So, when pressed by some jealous students about my high grades and privileges about what I did in the shop to deserve such good grades and accolades, I challenged my peers to ask me questions to see whether I knew my stuff. Naturally, since they had specialized in Marine Biology all of their questions were about that topic, which I had memorized all of and even had my own active interests in as well. When I finished answering each student's questions, hoping they could shame me, and failing miserably, I asked them as question:
What is nonpoint source pollution?
They all looked at each other, bewildered, and had no idea. Then, accused me of making it up. I asked them if they were sure they didn't know, and if they were sure I had made it up. Then, they told me to prove it. So, I asked again if they were sure. And, still they smugly accused me of making it up. I reached over to the table next to their cubicle area where all of the pamphlets and brochures were and the ones closes to them, for which they themselves had even laid out months ago, and even handed out to visitors....
The title of is was: Nonpoint Source Pollution; What is Nonpoint Source Pollution?
Needless to say, I proved I knew my stuff.
I also worked a part time job, and went to the university in Philadelphia on the weekends.
Nonpoint Source Pollution
Nonpoint source pollution, or more recently called NPS Pollution is NOT anything new. It's been a topic of study for a LONG time. You can easily look it up.
Basically, it's tiny cumulative amounts of pollutants that over time wash into the ocean and become concentrated.
If you want a SIMPLE explanation with pictures this one by NOAA is VERY GOOD.
I personally have a very GOOD view/opinion of NOAA having worked with them on many projects, tasks, and communications, and often found their data collection to be good. I generally focused on analyzing temperature measurements, seasonal data, and contributed in projects with students of all ages in recording weather observations. There were other organizations I also did this with, such as water samples data entry. Also, I felt the personnel at NOAA in the 1990s was very good. However, they were not the only ones.
I also used direct information put out by EPA, including paper documents sent to us, digital media, printed media, and letters. There were so many, however I didn't keep any of them, because I was focused on graduating, and international travel.
Nonpoint Source pollution is especially, and specifically, very cogent to the existence of toxins in the water supply, the oceans, and in the wildlife, specifically fish, but not limited to it.
But, you could, you know, just not ever look it up, and stay willfully ignorant of this information....
This also has a number of connections with something known as "Acid rain" that if you had bothered to ever research (like I did thoroughly) you would realized how much bunk stupid paranoid cults think "chem trails" cause weird pollution, when in facts it's acid rain caused by verifiable polluters.
Overfishing
Overfishing is not a new field of study, it is old. Its so common of a topic that even students that do not study Environmental Sciences as a major, or specified interest but study the basics of sciences will most certainly learn this. If you are learning or studying Ecology which is the foundation basis of Environmental Science, you MUST learn this. if you study marine Biology you MUST learn this. It is SO rudimentary, fundamental, and for beginners...
This is SO easy to understand, and there are so many sources of data, so many experts. If you just tried to type Overfishing in any search engine in modern day you could find so much this topic. BUt, as much as there is out there, its all the same thing.
The basic gist of it, is that when you deplete a population of its natural numbers in nature within an ecosystem, you affect/effect other species in what is known as a "food chain" in ecology. Where nonpoint spource pollution was a major factor in effecting the ecosystem, overfishing is another.
When you extract more than can be sustainable replaced, or replenished you bother not only the other aspects of nature, but your own. It's all very fascinating, and there is SO MUCH data, evidence, examples, etc. of this.
I did NOT make this up. It is SCIENTIFIC FACT.
Why are you so inept that you can't even look this stuff up yourself?
But, hey... don't look it up or anything.... because then you might actually learn something...
So, just remain foolishly ignorant...
To this day, no matter HOW MANY TIMES people learn this, no matter how many times, you share videos, graphics, articles, presentations, books, pamphlets, etc... and they even get it, understand it, agree with it.... at some point, its as tho' there's some reset button in people's brains, and they just forget it ever happened... probably because they just want to selfishly EAT FISH, so facts be damned...
It is SO FRUSTRATING!
A year or 2 later, I'm like: Don't you remember that thing? The seminar we went to? that video I showed you in person, at my house? That article we read as the bus station?
I still DO NOT even understand WHY people WANT to even eat fish!
They are filthy, they STINK, they taste fishy, smell fishy, and they're full of little bones.
You don;t know whether the fish came from. You don't know how many laws were broken, since the fishing industry is the MOST corrupt consistently. It's funny, because nowadays, all meat industries in the USA seem to have some kind of corrupt, immoral something about them that wasn't there last century when it was union based and more regulated.
Each time you pay your money to seafood, you are personally guilty of contributing to that industry encouraging them to continue destroying our earth, our oceans, or ecosystems.
I'm not some ridiculous vegan that has bizarre self righteous out of touch with reality ideas... I'm telling you, I did the research. I understand the facts. If you still continue to contribute to these industries, then you really don't "get it" yet, you're in denial, and you are selfish.
But, even if you don't give a damn about the world around you like vulture capitalists, anarcho capitalists, libertarians, neocons and neoliberalism capitalists...
Would you care about your own health?
But, the answer is still no.
Eating fish isn't something I would think of as an addiction. That sounds ridiculous. But, those whom are THE MOST fervently opposed to stop eating fish, stop overfishing, and deny the facts of it eat copious amounts of seafood. that shows a clear bias.
How many articles, expose's, and documentaries have to come out about the dangers of, for example, shrimp. It's the most toxic, the most dangerous, the most unregulated, the most hazardous, and even uses captive slavery.
And still, you avert your eyes, and cover your ears...distract yourself with dollar tacos, video games, pornographic superficial media, gossip, status, or work yourself into exhaustion without living life consciously, nor conscientiously...
I would also like to mention a HIGHLY destructive fishing practice known as Trawling or net dragging. See also "Dolphin safe tuna nets" which are not actually safe for dolphins. What it means is that there is a trap door that dolphins can leave through. However, dolphins often panic and drown, and don't understand the concept of a door. I used to have VHS video tapes of gruesome footage of dolphins dying in "dolphin safe nets".
SHRIMP
Of the entire fishing/seafood industry the worst is shrimping.
The majority of shrimp on the market is "farmed" shrimp, almost entirely from Thailand, and some other parts of south Asia. They "farm" these shrimps in sewage. they are SO TOXIC that each sewage pond can only be used for about 7 years, after which nothing can ever live in it again.
If you are spending small money on cheaply priced shrimp, its these. They are also saturated in antibiotics.
If you look and dig deep into this topic you can find tons of information on this, and you can backtrack the sources of the information. this information has been available for years.
Anther place to find a lot of reporting content on this topic is YouTube, various news outlets, and more.
BY THE WAY, these shrimps are SO TOXIC that they are laced with toxins that cause cancer.
If that's not bad enough, regarding wild shrimp, that's hunted down on the open sea, often illegally.... Well, those use captive slaves. So now you can eat cheap toxic shrimp, and tell your ego you're luxurious. They even use slaved to shuck the shrimp for your pets' food!
* Mother Jones: 6 Reasons To Not Eat nor Purchase Shrimp
Now.... you can tell this article up here was CLEARLY written by an environmentalist... he mentions the above topics I'd already mentioned, such as Overfishing...
In fact, this article was written by Tom Philpott. If you klick his name on the article you will see a list of articles he's written. They are specifically related to environmental issues, as well as topics like slavery, and human health. Then klick the link to his website and you find he's quite knowledgeable on a lot of topics, and very involved with them.
There. Did you see that?
Did you see just how EASY that was to just find that?
Research. Due diligence.
This stuff is NOT difficult to understand. Just take your time.
There's also quite a bit on the slave shrimping on YouTube as well.
After ALL of this OVERWHELMING evidence, HOW DO YOU STILL EAT, PURCHASE, AND CONDONE THIS?
HOW DO YOU LIVE WITH YOURSELF?
HOW DO YOU ALLOW YOURSELF TO OVERRIDE COMMON SENSE?
Is it REALLY that delicious?
Do you REALLY think you're not wrong?
Or, did you just IGNORE the whole thing?
Did you even BOTHER to read, or watch ANYTHING?
If you're NOT bothered by this, or still deny the truth, you ARE IGNORANT, but willfully so.
Now lets get into the BIG FISH.
MERCURY & PCBs
Mercury:
What is Mercury?
Mercury is a liquid state metal in normal everyday temperatures without being heated or melted. It's also called quick silver, and was prized by ancient alchemists.
Qin Shi Huang Di the uniting war lord of the Chinese Empire used to eat a form of this thinking it was medicine and would give him magical powers or immortality, when in fact it made him sick and insane. The form he ate was a more soluble formulation that permanently stated in his body tissues, and to this day he is still encased in a tank of liquid mercury in a tomb which over the millennia have leaked emissions of the mercury vapors.
Look up "Mad hatter's disease" regarding mercury poisoning as well as "occupational hazard mercury".
This is mostly regarding "inorganic mercury".(You can look that up, and see what you find.) Inorganic mercury is a very common types of Nonpoint Source Pollution.... and where does it go? Into the ocean. In can also leak into the soil, and spread through the watershed.
The form of mercury known as elemental mercury, usually isn't absorbable via intestinal tract into the human body, and not digestible... however, breathing in the vapors is a different matter. But, don;t believe me. Look it up yourself.
Or, why bother? It's not like you actually want to know, right?
The medical effects of Mercury on biological systems:
See also:
* The effects of mercury on hemoglobin (This one is quite a bit of research)
Mercury can affect oxygen and hemoglobin within living cells. This is what causes the cancers.
[Some of this info is credited to Nobel Prize winner Dr. Otto Warburg, however I cannot definitively confirm this.]
* Mercury toxicity transmitted from mother to baby
* Mercury is known to cause cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma,
Here's just an example of medical grade mercury vapors from filling amalgams polluting the air, medical personnel, and patients, which also urinate the mercury which goes into the water supply, into the atmosphere, etc:
Larger fish have more mercury contamination the smaller ones, especially the predictor fish because they eat other contaminated fish and have higher concentrations of the toxins.
Mercury is NOT a natural occurring element in the ocean. It is a result of Nonpoint Source Polution, and is increasing in concentration due to human created byproducts, and or dumping. Websites making this claim due so in order to promote CONSUMPTION of their industry produce or products.
Since toxicity has risen so much over the last few decades the EPA had lowered its standards to allow fishing industry to legally sell and poison you. Mercury is NOT safe to consume at all.
It's soluble into the fatty tissues and oils as well as the flesh proteins, and once ingested also enters into the fatty tissues of the human bod.
If you are researching this you need to back track the standards against the data over time to see these changes. You will also find that agencies like the EPA will give conflicting information about it being toxic, yet still recommending you to eat it. This has to do with leadership corruption in connection to corporatism run rampant in the US government, and is a systemic problem.
If you were not paying attention over the course of this time frame you would not know of it, however, if you were to try and backtrack this, it would take quite a bit of time, effort, and research. you would need to go through records, check the leaders, heads, their associations and connections, examine their motives. check old paper printed media from last century dating back to Richard Nixon.
That was quite a bit of clues right there if you want to go sleuthing and armchair researching it yourself, but I suggest you take notes to keep track because its a lot.
There is SO much research on mercury alone in fish that you need to filter through whom is putting out false claims, often those whom profit from selling fish, or have been paid to do so.
* Here's a bunch of info from the ATSDR about Mercury including mercury contamination in High Fructose Corn Syrup. Some cogent info. (there are also several news articles reporting on this topic)
If you are in the medical field, or a law student, this is something of interest to you that would behoove you to look up as much as you can:
PCBs: Polychlorinated Biphenyls
PCBs are an oily substance that causes all kinds of biological disruptions, diseases, and cancers. It effects/affects the nervous system, endocrine, reproductive systems, immune system, and often can't be removed from an organism.
It's incredibly toxic.
The trouble with researching PCBs is you need to research it rather thoroughly because there's this new fad in paid-for think tanks to say that PCBs are ONLY found in farmed fishing... but that is a lie.
you can find it in wild fish, and seafood.
There's a lot of misinformation about the health effects of PCBs & Mercury, telling you actual pseudoscience statements of "safe levels" which is laughable. Even is small doses it's damaging, and it's what is known as cumulative toxins, which means they build up over time in your body.
So, if you eat quantities of this stuff weekly or monthly you are building up levels of of the toxins into your body tissues. It's also measurable in you fingernails and toenails.
Since nails grow at a slow rate, you can actually measure when you ate more or less amounts of the toxins in your diet over time.
The Breast Cancer Fund did an EXCELLENT JOB on this piece on PCBs.
There is SO MUCH info on this that you could spend weeks on JUST PCBs.
Disinformationists
Here's a typical kind of hit-job anti-science, anti-environmentalist type of paper put out by Dr. Fukuzo Nagasaki. Yet again, see Ecology. His biases are very apparent. Japan also is notorious for breaking international laws and liberally killing off many kinds of endangered species. One might assume he enjoys eating eating whales, hunting animals into extinction, or hates following laws. Seems very masochistic.
Look into what is known as "Greenwashing" often compared to whitewashing.
It's a practice in which industries and corporation engage in types of fraud through marketing, publishing of false information as fact, often with the intent of deceiving consumers or elected officials into purchasing their products or deregulating laws. It's also illegal. they often use practices known as "selective disclosure" which is fraud which will use some information to make something seem good, or safe, while with conscious intent of leaving out information that makes them look bad.
Fraud is illegal.
Most disinformationoists including Greenwashing has a motive, such as profit motives, money motives, personal selfish & self-centered preferences, a dislike for fairness or equality, pridefulness egoisms such as not wishing to admit Mea Culpa, and bias towards maintaining status quo.
If anyone tells you there are safe levels of: lead, mercury, PCBs and radioactive toxins they are either liars, or they have been totally duped.
In order to become a Medical Doctor one must take the Hippocratic Oath which there is discrepancies over whether it is legally binding anymore.
If doctors are no longer bound to a Hippocratic oath, then they are allowed to violate patients, and can commit malpractice at will. this is rather disturbing... Is it any wonder that many people do not trust the medical field?
Here's a video which has examples of Greewashing or Whitewashing fraudulant, deceptive marketing:
Fukushima & BP:
British Petroleum:
When BP's Deepwater Horizon spilled into the gulf of Mexico it raised quite lot of concerns about contamination. During that spill they spent more time trying to keep on sucking up the leaking oil, and trying to cover-up what they couldn't catch with chemical disbursements. They also admitted they had no idea what effect it would have on wildlife long term.
There is so much information available online, at your fingertips, that it's overwhelming. If you really want to get into that, that could take all year. But, don't take my word for it.
The oil spill disaster is known as the worst oil spill in history, and has contaminated the Atlantic Ocean also including many kinds of fishing industry produce.
If you've ever studied Ecology and Environmental sciences, you would know, and SHOULD KNOW, about the cycles of the ocean currents, often referred to as the "Ocean Conveyor belt" which isn't really a term I care for.
There is generally 1 major current that cycles based on temperature, however there are several other smaller currents as well.
Now, if you've actually studied this (like I have) and written reports and essays on this topic (like I have) and have an some type of accredited education in this (like I have) you would know this, and understand even further just how BAD the BP oil spill was, and to also emphasize the chemical dispersants use by BP to minimize the visual look of the tons of oil spilled in the oceans.
It's not some magic potion that just makes the crude oil vanish.
There is a ton of information out there about the chemicals dispersants. it's been said that the chemicals used were a toxic chemical called Corexit which is also known as "deodorized kerosene" and is definitely toxic. Keep in mind that this chemical in the ocean which is saline plus dispersed with crude can cause it to become more easily absorbable by living organisms. So, for someone to call the toxins as harmless as dissoap is yet another example of Greenwashing also paid for by the Cheif Executive's company BP to promote this fraud.
Now, referring back to the ocean cycle, you can see why this is an issue. Just because this occurred in the Gulf of Mexico, do you actually believe it can't effect the rest of the planet, most of which is covered in ocean?
You also need to keep account of ecological study of bird population migration, marine birds, migrating marine animals, choral reefs, plankton, algae, and how these effect what is also on the land.
You are deluding yourself if you stubbornly still think it isn't all connected, and it's totally safe to still eat things from the oceans.
There's a reason why it took 4 years for a person to get the diploma in environmental science... just sayin'...
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Catastrophe:
Fukushima Daiichi is one of THE most frustrating topics to try and talk about, for several reasons. Not only is it THE WORST NUCLEAR DISTAER IN HISTORY, and THE MOST VOLATILE, it's worse than CHERNOBYL, and it is STILL LEAKING eveery second. The reactors could blow at any moment. They also leak into the atmospheres and not just the ocean. But, nuclear science and how it effects biology such as DNA is SO HARD TO UNDERSTAND. Reading through the papers is so hard you need to read, and reread, just to be sure you can understand it, because it often seems backwards and uses its own lexicon. So, if you struggle to understand it, I hear ya. It is SO DIFFICULT. I've gotten almost as many headaches from reading this topic as trying to figure out monands & monoids calculations, which I still can't understand.
But, the facts of just how bad this situation is so jarring, and so overwhelming. Try looking up what the contaminated currents from japan did to British Columbia.
Another frustrating problem about this toppic is that many of the really good websites and information websites and media content keeps getting deleted. there was a Canadian group that kept getting shut down.
If you REALLY want to open up a can of worms, I DARE you to try researching Fukushima radiation. It's so overwhelming that if you even tried it for 3 hours you'd be so exhausted, you will want to guzzle shots of vodka because its so stressful. There is SO MUCH info out there tho'.
Just a suggestion: should you actually start researching Fukushima and find some good credible sources I STRONGLY SUGGEST that you save the webpage to your hard drive, make print-outs with your printer, and take screenshots, because this topic tends to keep going missing.
Here's an official video about the Fukushima disaster (turn on the subtitles):
Now, let me explain something. You cannot go to Chernobyl because it's so radio active, and even the area around it. If you touch anything there, a leaf, a blade of grass, the bottom of your shoes, whatever touches it will be radioactive pretty much forever as far as the time frame span of however the earth and our solar system might last before that ends. I use the term "loosely" but as far your own, tiny existence which isn't even a blip in the universe, for you it's forever.
If you would like another perspective on radio active matters, i suggest you watch this:
There are also a number of nuclear plants that leak into rivers in the USA that empty into the oceans. Many of these leaks, when reported on often disappear, or vanish. This is yet another frustrating problem with researching this stuff.
The Missisppi River leak has been removed from YouTube several times, including a news report that was ripped off air. If anything is still left online it might only be on private bloggers' blogs.
I want to go on record stating that I recall this leak, when it happened, and there were several areal helicopter footage, and satellite photos, and the entire area was made into a no fly zone of sorts.
So, back to the Ocean current cycles, if you've actually followed ALL OF THAT, HOW ON EARTH COULD YOU STILL CONSCIOUSLY DECIDE TO EAT SEAFOOD?
Law Suit over Deep Sea Fish Omega 3 oil supplements:
I suggest searching for documents, and court papers on these types of legal issues.
There are other ways of getting Omega 3 fatty acid oils. You can eat grass fed beef, or emu. Emu oil has many properties to it that salmon or deep sea fish do not.
vegetarian sources of omega 3 include: walnut oils, and flax seed oils. the effects of these oils are not as potent or noticeable as those in animal sources such as salmon or other animal products because the molecular chains are longer in the animal based omeg 3 oils.
Permaculture
If cattle are of an environmental concern for you, which is often a comeback line for extremist vegetarians, I suggest you look up miniature cattle, and Permaculture. I have researched Permaculture since 2013.
Permaculture the ONLY sustainable method of food cultivation & production from vegetables to live stock, to lumber, to medical grade substances from plant or animal based produce & goods, but also materials for textiles.
Final notes:
I personally find it pathetic that I should have to sit here for days and type up this blog entry because you're to ignorant, lazy and smug to bother looking it up for yourself. If you have a High School diploma, and/or a College degree you ought to be ashamed of yourself for not knowing any of this, and for acting like your claims are fact just because you say so, or you feel like it, or you just don't want to hear it.
Honestly, there are TONS AND TONS of much better other sources that way WAY BETTER than my MERE blog post, like text books, government agencies, educational organizations, universities, etc. But, your pathetic dumb ass wants to sit here and patronize me because you're too damned lazy?
Oh, what are you gonna do? Nitpick my blog entry?
Well, Like I said, there's WAY BETTER SOURCES OUT THERE THAN MINE. You only have your own smug, willfully arogant and ignorant jackass foolish self to blame for that.
You can lead a horse to water but you can't make 'em drink.
And, if you don;t even bother to start looking it up, and don;t even have a knowledge in the subject then you're not even valid. you HAVE NO ARGUMENT. It's just hear-say and anecdotal.
Here's ANOTHER thing yet to ponder, since when I was studying Environmental Sciences I was taught CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS. (We actually had to write papers on this.) If you go to a school that has text books that have wrong information in them, but you are tested on this wrong information, and you get a degree based on that, you would have a degree of wrong information. So, how do you know the information you are studying is true if you only have 1 source, and never checked it elsewhere? How do you know?
That was why we, as students, had to take daily measurements and document things like temperature, water samples, weather observations... you know... statistics. And, from that data we could make graphs, predictions, trends, averages, trends, correlations. You know... science? the Scientific Method... yeah, that sort of thing....
See also rigor method.
(This is a blog, not a science peer review journal. there's PLENTY OF THEM OUT THERE, so GO GET YOUR LAZY ASS OUT THERE AND READ. DO SOME RESEARCH.)
Did you know YOU could actually do that YOURSELF? Just a thought.
A CHILD can do this.
* I will be editing this for grammar and spelling... and possibly updating this.
Here are some highlights from my Instagram:
(But scroll down for more in depth photos of the process)
We also had burgers, and many many other things, including 8 slow smoked racks of ribs.
Me waiting for my friends to show up.
Much of my hard work in setting up. The tables & chairs were all hand washed by me.
The Waters Slide:
I hav much fun at party now
— 任思麒 Kandice Z. (@BlackUniGryphon) August 17, 2014
The night is young. Don't u wish u were friends w/us???
— 任思麒 Kandice Z. (@BlackUniGryphon) August 17, 2014
The Process of Roasting a PIG:
Step One: GET A PIG.
This pig was specially selected, free range, had a nice happy piggy life. My father knew the people, the company, and everything was arranged. The entire slaughter & butchering process was humanely done, clean, and above highest standard in NJ.
Step Two:
Set the carcass somewhere wrapped up, and on ice so as to stop it from spoiling, attracting pests, bacteria, premature rot, prevent odor, maintain freshness.
Here's it's set in the bathtub, which was washed before hand, and also after it was removed.
Step THREE: Move the pig to the place to be roasted, and have it fit with a rotisserie shaft, and wrapped in chicken cage wire to keep the tender meat in place while roasting all night 7 all morning long. It will need to roast for about 12 hours or more.
This spray bottle has oils, and water, to help the pork skin, and meat maintain moisture, but also to crisp up and brown on the outside to help seal in the natural fluids & juices throughout the process.
Step FOUR: Roast the pig all night, slowly on low heat.
My father is an electrician/inventor, so he built & rigged all this equipment to specification all on his own.
(My mother says I take after my father... but, she learned to build stuff herself from him, and does similar things as well, but not at this scale necessarily, unless she is friends with welders... which could happen because she knows lots of blue-collars.)
After about 1-3 hours roasting:
By Morning and noon times the pig looks like this:
All that's left is to remove the roasted pig to cool down, guests arrive, and then finally start carving it up, then serve to guests.
Even after it's been set to cool down, it's several hundred degrees, and when I was served mine over an hour later it was steaming hot to the touch.
I was also drunk, which is why I have no move DSLR photos to show you...
If you would like to see more of the pig roast & the picnic you can check my album on Flickr, and my other blog posts:
* If you would like to read my blog post about the party decor it's found HERE.
* If you would like to read my blog about my little party spot at the picnic with my friends it's found HERE.
* If you want to see more of the Photography I shot in New Jersey you can keep checking my Photography Blog for August which is scheduled to update daily for the next few weeks. But, it is also scheduled to update throughout September as well. So, just keep checking the front page.
* I also have an album of much of the stuff I photographed in New Jersey on Flickr also (still being updated since I have quite a lot).
