The Digger

Starfire contributed this article. Thank you Starfire.. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ People attend a monument unveiling at the site of Okjökull, Iceland's first glacier lost to climate change, in the west of Iceland on August 18, 2019. “Even if we can’t escape its consequences, it is not too late to escape the mindset that brought us here.” —Alice O’Keeffe, reviewing This Is Not a Drill The country of Iceland has held a funeral for its first glacier lost to the climate crisis. The once massive Okjökull glacier, now completely gone, has been commemorated with a plaque that reads: “A letter to the future. Ok is the first Icelandic glacier to lose its status as a glacier. In the next 200 years all our glaciers are expected to follow the same path. This monument is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it.” This reality is reverberating across the globe, far beyond Iceland. Even when no...

The U.S. military footprint in a client state becomes as permanent as if it were encased in concrete. Afghanistan is merely the latest arena in which that model is being used. September 05, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - As negotiations between the United States and the Taliban continue, it is increasingly clear that even if an agreement emerges, any U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan will be partial, not total. President Donald Trump recently confirmed that point. “Oh yeah, you have to keep a presence,” Trump said  in an interview  with  Fox News  radio. “We’re going to keep a presence there.” He did indicate that the current troop level of more than 14,000 was being reduced to 8,600. Further reductions might take place if a final accord could be reached, but a sizable contingent of Special Forces personnel, intelligence operatives, and military contractors would remain indefinitely. Disappointed advocates of a complete withdrawal from America’s ...

The Axis Of Atrocity September 05, 2019 "Information Clearing House" -  If daymare isn’t a word, it should be.  We’re living one.  And the shameless,  infantile ugliness that rules America today was predicted by visionaries and poets long ago.  H.L. Mencken nailed it nearly a century back:  “Before small electorates, a first-rate man occasionally fights his way through, carrying the mob with him by force of personality. But when the field is nationwide all odds are on the man most devious and mediocre—who can most easily disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum.  The Presidency tends to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people.  On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.” Ecce homo.  So much for our “democracy”.  But this plague i...

A review of Peter Boghossian and James A. Lindsay’s  Impossible Conversations: A Very Practical Guide  (2019) and announcing the  Letter Wiki   Impossible Conversations Competition James A. Lindsay and Peter Boghossian’s  new book  is a step-by-step instruction manual on how to discuss emotive and controversial topics without losing friends, alienating people or developing a reputation as a bore. Drawing on Boghossian’s work  helping prison inmates develop better moral reasoning skills , hostage negotiation techniques and  street epistemology —brief, friendly conversations with strangers to encourage them to doubt deeply held but irrational beliefs—the authors outline a series of exercises that can gradually nudge people away from dogmatic certainty and towards greater openness to new ideas. At its core, the method is based on  Socratic dialogue . This involves a shift in focus. Rather than presenting your side of the argument and backin...