Did Affluence Spur the Rise of Modern Religions? By Bret Stetka

About 2,500 years ago something changed the way humans think. Within the span of two centuries, in three separate regions of Eurasia, spiritual movements emerged that would give rise to the world’s major moral religions, those preaching some combination of compassion, humility and asceticism. Scholars often attribute the rise of these moral religions—Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Christianity included—to population …

In Fight Against Global Warming, the World is Way Off Target – Deirdre Fulton

In what is being called the most definitive assessment yet of national emissions pledges aimed at meeting global climate goals, the International Energy Agency on Monday released a major report showing that without “learning to live within its means,” the world is set to miss a critical target. In its World Energy Outlook Special Report 2015: Energy and Climate Change (pdf), the Paris-based agency states that …

Pope Francis’s Encyclical Could Have Bigger Impact Than the Paris Climate Talks, Says NASA Scientist – Lorraine Chow

As the world eagerly awaits Pope Francis′s encyclical on climate change this Thursday, some scientists have come out and said that the papal letter could draw a larger impact than the world leaders hammering out emissions negotiations at the UN climate summit in Paris this December. “I’m not a religious person at all,” NASA climatologist Gavin Schmidt told USA TODAY, adding that faith-based efforts to shift thinking on climate …

With 2°C Target Falling Swiftly Out of Sight, Inaction on Climate a ‘Crime Against Humanity’ – Jon Queally

International climate talks continue, but its is the action (or lack thereof) that humanity needs to worry about. “By ignoring the need to prevent a breach of the 2C tipping point, the point beyond which scientists are unable to predict the sheer scale of [climate] impacts… Paris will go down in infamy as the scene of a modern day crime against humanity.” — Asad Rehman, Friends of …

US Climate Plan ‘Treats the Wound But Does Not Stop the Bleeding’

With bold language and take-charge rhetoric, the White House on Tuesday unveiled its plan to cut U.S. carbon emissions by roughly one third over the next decade, a goal that environmentalists say is commendable but is not enough to keep global warming beneath the critical 2°C threshold. Submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) ahead of a midnight …

Sustainable living means making big changes, so why can’t we face up to it?

Despite the significant risks for human and non-human life, greenhouse gas emissions (GhG) are still rising. Something has to give – and that something would appear more significant than those with the power to stimulate change are willing to admit. The UK government’s Global Calculator is a good example. This recently released tool allows us to model the compatibility of our food, travel, housing and work …

FBI Quietly Declassified Secret Files Attesting Hitler Fled to Argentina in 1945

 Essentially there are no creditable holes in the story line.  We even have witnesses reporting the right things at the right times.  Hitler and Eva exited Berlin weeks before the actual end.  They then made it safely to either Spain or Portugal to await war’s end and their pick up by two submarines.  These craft could likely handle two each.  …

The Time Is Right for a Palace Revolution

Tariq Ali is part of the royalty of the left. His more than 20 books on politics and history, his seven novels, his screenplays and plays and his journalism in the Black Dwarf newspaper, the New Left Review and other publications have made him one of the most trenchant critics of corporate capitalism. He hurls rhetorical thunderbolts and searing critiques …