[ExI] The big wta riot

Robert Bradbury robert.bradbury at gmail.com
Thu Nov 26 03:46:05 UTC 2009


On Tue, Nov 24, 2009 at 6:19 AM, Robert Masters <rob4332000 at yahoo.com>wrote:
>
> Also, Hughes seems bent on FEEDING the frenzy with flagrantly ad hominem
> attacks on global-warming skeptics (he has compared them to Holocaust
> deniers, and at one point  actually accused them of "prostituting"
> themselves to the oil industry--a charge he specifically refused to take
> back).....
>
>
In general in this context I would tend to agree with James (in spite of the
fact that by and large I do not agree with some of his perspectives).  One
only watch the Sunday morning news shows where various companies who control
the oil and gas reserves are trying to make those energy sources appear
"green".  For example, "America has more than 100 years of clean ("green")
natural gas supplies that it owns" (or something roughly equivalent).
 Ignoring the fact that if you are taking stored carbon out of the ground
and placing it into the atmosphere as CO2 (which is what burning coal, oil,
*or* natural gas does) -- *IS* contributing to global warming.  IMO, there
should be a massive demonstrations in front of every board meeting of every
coail, oil, natural gas and electricity producing/using company/utility
every year favoring stopping the consumption of these fuels or the addition
of the carbon to the atmosphere.  Its either that or we seriously embrace a
significant geoengineering process (reflection of heat onto the earth, etc.)
(either way energy becomes more expensive).  What better solution than to
tax the problem creating companies to directly contribute to the
solutions???

So one can view James' perspective as simply an awareness of the public not
wanting to change the status quo (cheap energy) or the corporates not
wanting to change their profits/bonuses (and more importantly significantly
devalue their balance sheets based on their reserves.  The corporate CEO or
board members who enable the devaluation of billions of $ in value/profits
-- they are toast IMO -- and they tend to know it.)

Now, with respect to "global warming" and whether it is a significant risk?
 I would leave you with the question of why I did not title my "Sapphire
Mansions" paper  [1] "Diamond Mansions"? I could have done that.  It was
because I did not think the atmosphere of the earth could withstand the
extraction or CO2 converted into C to build Diamond mansions (thus one would
have a first come first served basis with exclusivity involved).  I believe
I lay the basis for this perspective in the first paragraphs of the paper.
 There are caveats -- but they all involve self-controlled limitations of
the use of the "free" carbon resources.  Bottom line -- if nanorobots
extract all the CO2 from the atmosphere all the plants will die -- and that
would likely be a blemish on humanities' efforts to preserve the record of
evolution -- if not noticing the fact that it would likely cause hundreds of
millions or billions of deaths for those individuals who remain entrenched
in traditional lifestyles.  Thus my conclusion that diamond mansions were a
really really really bad idea.  Thus Sapphire Mansions where the resources
came out of the soil came to be.

So one has a dichotomy between why one would expend energy butt smacking
James for abusing the powers that be -- which IMO seem to be appropriate
when they are primarily concerned with preserving their jobs/bonuses/etc.
rather than making the world a better place and truly evolving!  And
realizing that the path that the "powers that be" probably has no relevance
once nanotechnology sets in.  Unless "the"y are controlling it -- a
completely separate discussion.  If one notices Exxon-Mobile buying up
nanotechnology patents and/or lobbying for patent extension frameworks --
then is the time to get worried.  Seriously worried.

1. http://www.aeiveos.com:8080/~bradbury/Papers/SM.html<http://www.aeiveos.com:8080/~bradbury/Papers/SM.html>
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