38 Comments
Aug 17Liked by Thom Hartmann

Climate models have consistently underestimated the rapidity of climate change, in part because the carbon dioxide levels are going up increasingly fast. Today's Earth CO2 page says it all:

Aug. 14, 2024 422.66 ppm

Aug. 14, 2023 418.65 ppm

When I was born (1950) the reading was about 310, up from its historical level of 280 ppm. Yet you still have people who say, "Well if the number oscillates this is all normal." Sure it does, and between the Ice Ages it swung between 240 to 280, and back again. But each time that relatively small shift took many thousands of years. We are 50% higher in one lifetime.

But you can't talk logic to people who cherry pick what "facts" they use to "prove" whatever they want to believe. Much less can you discuss things with somebody like Trump who in the debate babbled about the "black gold" to be extracted as oil when he is president again. This can't go on.

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Sam idiot named Brad Lackey or Lucky over on Rpbert Reich's substack just made a comment about "stupid lefties" and their climate change. Fool will roast or freeze with the rest of us, all he knows is that climate change global warming is the touch stone of evil commies.

Fool is tool.

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Just go through watching Az. local news and heard of Kamalas economic plan. Great! After it the reporters got Trumps response, saying negative stuff about it, he doesn't even have a plan of his own! I notice when Trump goes off the wall, they never ask Kamala what she thinks?

Down here in AZ. they keep playing the, Kamala let illegals out of prison while D A, and they killed and raped. They play the same commercial about 50 times a day, the same ad they play on your free radio show, that is how trump expects to win, by whining, criticizing and lying. And the billionaires that don't want to keep the poor from starving by paying more taxes and sharing their hoarded wealth that doesn't create jobs for Americans.funding it.

Be careful whatever you post, got a message in my inbox from one of these news giants that think I violated the terms of agreement? Iam not even their subscriber?

All the gop ever had was insults and lies, in my lifetime. If you leave out the greed, sadism, insanity.

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I mourn for the long-lost Fairness Doctrine.

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It never applied to cable nor, of course, the internet. Just broadcast. That would help with AM radio I guess.

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Arizona is a swing state with 10 electoral votes, Nevada is a swing state with 6 electoral votes.

Republicans are targeting swing states and large to medium cities within the states.

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The antenna TV stations cover Phoenix Tucson and the rural areas.

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You are lucky, I have to pay for satellite, unless I want to pay thousands to have them string a cable from the main road, through the property of others,under a marsh, and a public easement, to my house., and I would never get the permits, because of wetlands.

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Maybe the reason the idiots are resorting to insults is because they aren't figuring to use reason or logic to win in November. The polls are looking good for Harris/Walz, but polls do not win elections--but Republican dirty tricks do and have in the case of every Republican presidential victory since Eisenhauer. Here is my list of "How to Win Elections When You Don't Have sufficient Popular Support." 1) Continue Gerrymandering, throwing people off the rolls, and making it difficult for Blacks, the young, and the old to vote; 2) Get the Saudis to raise oil prices so as to cause inflation that can be blamed on Biden/Harris administration (this is already occurring); 3) Encourage Putin's election interference; 4) Stage an additional "assassination attempt on Trump with the collaboration of the corrupted Secret Service (the F.B.I. confirmed it was a bullet, but said it could have been shrapnel); 5) Encourage Netanyahu to keep himself out of jail and also help get Trump elected by continuing the Gaza genocide to the point when the surrounding Arab nations declare war on Israel to protect the Palestinians. (This would inevitably drag the U.S. into the war to defend Israel and allow Trump to blame the Biden/Harris administration for warmongering); 6) If all this fails, stage a terrorist attack on U.S. soil sometime in October. (We must assume that ,based on Trump's current constant rants about how terrorists are now streaming across the "open" U.S. border--a border Trump worked to keep open by blocking legislation to tighten it--that such a staged, terrorist attack is planned); 7) If all this also fails to scare people away from voting for Harris/Walz, resort to having county officials refuse to certify the election results, thus throwing the election into the House of Representatives where Trump would win because each state would have one vote; 8) And of course, the current Speaker of the House can always refuse to seat the newly elected Democratic representatives, throwing the election into the House where again, Trump would win. Eight paths to victory if you lack sufficient popular support to win fairly. Polls do not win elections, but Republican dirty trucks do and have historically.

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Why is the fate of the entire planet solely in the hands of corrupt, wealthy politicians??

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Because they are dependent on fossil fuel money to keep them in office, and also to keep them rich. It's about money and short-term profits. The extremely wealthy think they can buy all the high ground, but the fires and tornadoes will get them. Many of them have used some of their billions to build bunkers where they can watch Mad Max movies.

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I googled "underground shelters and bunkers videos" and was amazed as to what they're spending their hard-earned (a-HEM!) dollars on.

Pathetic.

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Money.

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... but you do have to admit that Republicans are really good (or should that be bad?) at insults. For example, here's a collection "9 Ways To Insult Veterans"

https://thedemlabs.org/2024/08/10/9-ways-to-insult-veterans/

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"Not suckers or losers" flips even 2 x Trump voters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRjfGfvNHVk

4 million people on Facebook are veterans or active duty members. 12.5 million people on Facebook are family members of a veteran or an active duty member. 242 million people on Facebook are friends with one or more veterans or active duty members. Say the magic words on military sites, historical sites, veterans' sites daily. https://www.vfw.org/media-and-events/latest-releases/archives/2024/8/vfw-admonishes-former-president-for-medal-of-honor-remarks

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I dunno if they are good at it - their insults are puerile, the kind a 4th grade schoolyard bully would do. But they are relentless at it.

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Mr. Hartmann, adopting The policies of John Maynard Keynes is perhaps the only way to preserve Capitalism. Franklin Roosevelt demonstrated that beautifully. However, the struggle to maintain those policies will remain a prime and constant requirement for those who follow us. Because there will be constant socioeconomic forces pushing Keynesianism aside and attempts to replace it with a new version of Tickle Down, Neoliberalism, or outright Fascism.

It is time to talk about Socialism as what it is: an alternative form of economic organization. We in the U.S. have treated Socialism as if it were a horrible, disfiguring disease. Unlike the countries you mentioned in your list of those nations with universal healthcare. I have watched this my entire academic career of half a century. It is not possible in the U.S. to have a neutral , sane dialogue about this alternative economic arrangement.

Republicans know that if the public were honestly informed about Keynesianism in combination with genuine political democracy [some call it Democratic Socialism]; they would be enthusiastically in favor of it. This is why the only way they can compete in an election of our political leaders, is to insult, attack, go negative, whine, bloviate, complain, lie, etc.

Beautiful job, as usual.

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Yes, it is good to be optimistic about the Democratic Party ticket and the coming election. And, yes, the story line of Republican candidates and their mouthpieces is spinning out of control.

But always remember: All that matters in November is who wins in five to seven states.

NOTHING ELSE MATTERS.

Do not forget that the MAGA masses don't give a rat's bottom about DT making sense. He is their liberator. He has freed them from the burden of moving over on the bus as others get on. He has freed them and made it OK again to shout out, in a crowd, with full-throated glee, the N word or call Jews this and Hispanics that.

And for the Christian right, he is the demon that is slaying the sinners and evil-doers.

These people see the world around them so very differently than you or I.

This bile and resentment has been building and fed by FUX news et al for years. It is not going away because smart people can launch well aimed zingers at the Donald.

Most importantly, remember: We are in a knife fight.

Attention must be focused upon who, on a local, state and national level, is doing what to protect voters and their votes from all the dirty tricks and sabotage that are certainly being prepared in key states.

D.

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Creepy weird is the word for Repubs. Use it boys.

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So Mr Vance thinks single women are cat women. Does he not realize in his conversion to Catholicism he just insulted every vowed religious woman in the United States and Catholic Church? I would summarize that women religious opened the pathways for other women to follow. They built the whole heathcare system in the U.S, then trained other women and men in the healing arts to follow. They built the educational system of our country from the ground up, educating the poor and the wealthy alike. Many of the major universities in the US were begun by religious communities.

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Because about 90% of the population is religious. There seem to be two different strains of Christianity to this agnostic. The one of the "sermon on the mount" where you have to earn your way to heaven and the old testament where you just use your God as a credit card to sin with. The two can not co exist with each other. The govt. should provide healthcare not the churches. They are too political and expensive!

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90% is way overstated. And the fastest growing religion in America is no religion.

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“90% of the population is religious”? Where? The Middle East?😂

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I think they are more civilized in the Middle East compared to our cult

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The Middle East is a big place some with severe restrictions on women.

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I know and I wouldn't want to live there.

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While most Americans will say they are religious only about 21% attend a church regularly, and another 15% once in a while. A lot of people claim to be spiritual, which can mean anything from going into trances to watching the sunset. I think, if you go to the heart of the Bible Belt, from the deep south through the mid-west, the most fervent devotion is to college football. Roll Tide! ( even with a new coach).

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Bob I’m writing about women religious who came to the US to serve immigrant peoples in the late 1800’s through at least the 1980’s. Now most hospitalization costs way too much and women religious no longer own or run these places . When they were begun by women religious there was no charge at least with our hospital

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Scientists have been dumfounded because they are only studying the after effects of major human alterations and impacts in the regions on this planet that are extremely hypersensitive to any Human modifications to existing natural processes. Here's what happened nearly 70 years ago in the subarctic and Arctic region of Northern Hemisphere and generally most of the scientific community is either in denial , have so much misinformational studies that say differently or have been paid off to keep quiet.

It’s certainly not a secret that the Gulf of Maine / Atlantic along the Eastern Seaboard continues warming at an alarming rate. And we also know that the main current feeding these areas each rcomes from Labrador and the Arctic regions.

Scientists have known for years that there are very distinct hypersensitive zones on our planet. Any alteration to current existing natural processes by human impacts within these sensitive zones- polar, subpolar, or equatorial areas could lead to serious and over-reaching consequences well beyond impacted regions.

Is Permanent Alteration to Freshwater River Flow, A Serious liability For Existing Systems?

Massive subarctic hydroelectric stations built from the 1950’s through the 1970’s dammed numerous large rivers throughout Siberia, Canada, and into Labrador. Some of the largest of rivers here, now dammed, used to flow all summer, and of course were frozen in winter. Historically this region was a cold, dry desert. However due the construction of dams 400-800’ feet tall with strict flow regulations, many year-round rivers were replaced with inland sea-size stagnant water basins irradiating in the long days of a short summer.

Did long-term Water storage initially lead to Feedbacks and Arctic Amplification?

Reservoirs often covered permafrost and to this day many of thes sea-size impoundments still stretch for almost a thousand Square miles each. Local weather stations in these regions noted rising temperatures, increases in precipitation, and humidity levels. Year after year stored warmer waters were only used to generate hydroelectric energy in winter. Did the interactions of cold polar air with warmed water outflows from dams form unlimited quantities of heat trapping water vapor clouds saturating regional atmosphere and creating a heat blanket? Does NASA recent studies confirm this possibility? Is this effect greatly amplified in hypersensitive regions?

Is there a Tracible Record of Ecological and Climatological Consequences since Damming?

Warmed water outflows from mega dams now keep rivers flowing only throughout winter quite the opposite to existing natural processes. For years Hudson and James Bays and the Kara and Labrador Seas routinely receive increased winter time warmer water outflows from dams. Have these continual increases in freshwater dam outflows from melting permafrost, and precipitation increases affected the delicate balances maintained by the worlds’ smallest of oceans, the Arctic? Have Thermal Halene currents along the northeastern coast been altered? And can prevailing winds transport water vapor heat blankets over Greenland?

These questions are just now beginning to be considered by the scientific community and our team has amassed enough data to demonstrate that we can no longer ignore the impact these mega reservoir dams in the Northern Latitudes are having on the climate crisis Want further information or data drop us an email here

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Mr. Hartmann, I note you are a fan of Eric Fromm. I read Fromm over 60 years ago as an undergraduate. His book THE ART OF LOVING had what might be the most important message for Humankind: love is a decision which gives life meaning. Bertrand Russel said near the end of his life that what the world needed most was tolerance. We would be wise to heed both men.

In ESCAPE FROM FREEDOM Fromm points out a phenomenon which I spotted in modified form while teaching undergraduates. In my large classes, I found that the more freedom of action I gave my students, the more I allowed them to make their own choices, the more uneasy and unhappy they were. The more authoritarian I was, the more they seemed satisfied with the class. In my course STATISTICS FOR THE BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES [not a large class] I allowed the students to design the grading method and parameters I would actually use on them at the end of the semester. This always caused a lot of argument and variability among the students when they designed, as a group, how they would be graded. I found much of Fromm's Ideas to be unsupported by any anthropologically empirical evidence. Many years have passed since I read him. Perhaps my memory plays false with me. He was certainly worth reading, whether I accepted his stuff or not, and I recall diving into him each day with enthusiasm.

As for boredom, Russel said boredom is an under-rated blessing which is inherently good for humans, if taken in occasional doses. The reasons for his position on boredom require too much space to go into here. I agree with him. Boredom is good and perhaps, necessary.

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Insults are all tRump and the MAGAs have ever had. F*ck them and GOTV!

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Oh my gawd! Trump and Vance definitely missed something else they were passing out---a filter. These two just say exactly what they are "thinking". Weird AND scary. Somebody is bound to get hurt, so let's hope it is them on election day.

Thanks for the list of sane and happier countries with affordable health care. We can adopt the best parts of what they do, or we can just keep paying double for half the care they get. Seems like a no-brain-er. Oh well, as we have established, Trump/Vance have that part covered.

The "drill baby drill" folks are going to find out the air-conditioning cannot keep up with the mess we have made. They too are weird and scary. "Burn baby burn" is already affecting EVERYONE.

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People planning to disrupt and steal an election need not campaign or have a platform.

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Tim Walz needs to slow down, he has misspoke twice

First He said he served in war when he carried a gun

Now he talks about White man Tacos with black pepper and beef.

He would have been better off no saying anything, at all.

Rather than white man taco.

Republicans are having a field day with him, as are the controversy hungry reporters and talking heads.

If anything he needs an education on modern day stereotypes of ethnicity and social expectations.

Trump and Vance can get away with anything but the media unfairly holds Democrats to a higher standard.

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