The War of the Ostrich and the Owl
There was once a fable of the tale of a dispute between an Ostrich and an Owl that goes something like this:
One day an ostrich and an owl were discussing the day’s events when they spotted a snake slithering stealthily towards an unsuspecting mouse. Mr. Owl became very anxious as he analyzed the possible future results of what he was witnessing. In his expert opinion he knew the snake was poisonous and mice were its favorite menu item. Therefore, he declared the mouse would be killed and eaten by the snake. He thought hooting to warn the mouse of impending danger was the correct thing to do.
However, Mr. Ostrich begged to differ with the owl’s hypothesis, declaring he knew this snake personally and killing wasn’t in his genes. It just could not happen the way owl predicted. Just didn’t make sense. He adamantly disagreed with issuing a warning as it would only disturb the tranquility of the woods.
Well, the snake did not kill the mouse, for it was a black snake and preferred to dine on other snakes, such as the green snake hidden in a clump of grass nearby the mouse.
Moral of the story: Mr. Owl over analyzed and assumed more than he knew were actual facts. The snake was not poisonous, but it was a killer, and although the snake did not kill the mouse … it killed another snake.
Mr. Ostrich ignored all the facts that were quite obvious, it was a snake, it was hunting and it appeared the mouse was the target. Now neither were 100% correct in their assumptions, however, Mr. Ostrich’s failure to admit the snake was a predator and would kill resulted in the death of the green snake.
To be honest with you, this is not an ancient tale, I just made it up. But I wanted to demonstrate, what I think, the current difference between the Democratic and Republican parties. The Democrats hoot a warning at everything, thinking they know all the facts. While the Republicans hide their heads in the sand ignoring what facts are known to be true.
You’ll Be Glad You Checked This Out
This stupid illogical debate between, it’s hard to say, our leaders, I fear are leading us down the road of destruction. Let’s exam just a few small possibilities, that increase daily, which could spell the end of mankind as we know it.
As you read I hope you’ll come to appreciate fully the need to learn the survival tips and energy creating methods available … they may help you save your family.
The threat of nuclear war has suddenly increased exponentially.
There have only been two nuclear bombs detonated in war, those used to end WWII with Japan. The Cuban missile crisis brought the world to the brink of a nuclear war, but the horrors of WWII were still fresh in minds of the two world powers, America and Russia, and cooler heads prevailed averting a possible catastrophe.
Although more countries acquired the nuclear capability in the past 50 years, they were normal stationary societies, India for example, that were never considered callous in their intent of using nuclear power for destruction.
Recently, terrorists have embarked on a never ending quest to acquire and use nuclear devises to destroy, the Infidel. These threats are not localized but extend to every country on earth. The rogue nation of North Korea now threatens the world with their insinuations of setting America and its allies ablaze.
The North Korean dictator is an unstable and cruel person, killing without thought or concern, in order to maintain power. Would he start a nuclear war rather than lose his hold on the country. In my opinion, yes.
The world has UN-explicitly changed and now the world’s greatest power and holder of nuclear weapons is ruled by a man-child quite capable of unleashing a nuclear holocaust onto the world. Any world leader simple minded enough to insult everyone, no one is off limits including the Pope, and thin skinned enough to launch nuclear weapons because of a school playground round on name calling, is equally as dangerous.
Should these two, I dare say, madmen, unleash nuclear weapons the millions caught in the immediate blast zones would quite likely be the lucky ones. Their life is over, but the survivors will have to deal with the terrifying results while trying to maintain a slippery grasp on life.
The most terrifying, yet misunderstood threat of a nuclear war is the nuclear winter that will follow. The soot that would be lifted into the stratosphere would encircle the entire world blocking the sun’s power, resulting in multiple years of cooling and drying of the earth’s environment. (Estimates differ as the length of the winter, but who cares if it’s 5 or 50 years, the result will be the same)
Agriculture would wither and die, the oceans would become a dead zone and mankind will slowly die away and possibly become extinct.
A Bio-engineered Pandemic is a current risk.
Natural pandemics, such as the Black Plague,have killed far more people than wars. Chemical warfare was used extensively in WWI and although the world recognizes the danger and signed pledges to never utilize the weapons, its use continues today, such as in Syria.
How ever horrible and deadly natural pandemics are, the threat of them being an existential threat to mankind is highly unlikely. There always seems to be people who are resistant to the pathogen and their off-springs are immune to the effects.
It’s also an unwritten law of nature that parasites do not wipe out their host, thus committing suicide themselves. Syphilis is such an example, once nearly totally fatal, it has evolved to a chronic illness.
The nightmare we now face is man’s ability to take a disease and make it more deadly than its original form. Mouse-pox and bird flu are two examples of how generically altered diseases can become more contagious and deadly.
Biotechnology is dangerous and expensive, thus most research is performed by governments for military use. The key here is wiping out an entire group of humanity is not militarily useful, therefore there will always be an anti-dote developed in order to control the infection.
But … as cost go down and fanatics become more extreme the possibly of nut jobs, such as the Aum Shinrikyo cult, which believed the earth is better off without humans, and released bio-weapons, is an increasing concern.
Super-intelligence could develop into an unstoppable danger.
I’d venture to say most people have seen one or more movies of the Terminator series, which pits machines against man, machines attempting to eradicate mankind. The movies are based on science fiction and just like the Flash Gordon movies of the past, could not possibly happen. But …. wait. Those old science fiction movies delved into man going into space, Dick Tracy had a watch you could view the other person you were talking to, the list of “no way that could happen” goes on and on. But … It has happened.
We have already developed software that automatically, without any human input, improves itself making itself smart and faster. These intelligent entities are designed to overcome all obstacles in order to achieve a goal, whatever that may be. There’s the rub. What says the goal will be good?
Do machines have feelings, emotions, moral codes? Mankind doesn’t adhere to a strict code of conduct, why would machines? Even if we could infuse our morals into artificial intelligence, what do we infuse? Human values are diffuse, was Hitler just like us, and are quite difficult to explain. And if we could … would the machine understand or care?
Perhaps the scariest aspect of the intellectual technology is our complete ignorance of a time-table of evolution. What I mean is … we have a real good idea, damn near down to day, mankind took from discovering fire to putting a man on the moon. We just assume the evolution process of machines to mirror ours. What if a 1000 year era in humankind development was a mere 10 seconds of our super-intelligence software. Mankind could quickly be eclipsed by their own technology.
Global Warming despite Republicans’ denial, is the one most urgent problems facing mankind as a whole. Wars can effect 99% of the population but weather affects 100% of every living thing, animal and vegetable.
I won’t go into great detail here, as you could write a 100 books on the subject, but to say … look at the weather. The world has just experienced hurricanes with such fury as they have wiped out complete civilizations’ habitats that have withstood hurricanes for 100’s of years. In spite of advanced building methods and increased awareness, entire islands were decimated.
Our own country, Miami, is being pulled into the ocean by rising sea levels. These recent events, although tragic, should be an alarm signaling the need to address the issues involving global warming, but alas, all we hear is there’s not quite enough evidence to say global warming is a fact. Perhaps when politicians in Washington D.C. must travel to and from the capital by boat, they may say there’s enough evidence we have a problem.
What infuriates me the most is we have no control over our lives when discussing the big issues. Oh, we can vote different people into office … bullshit! It makes no difference who goes there. They are immediately swallowed up by greed and power leaving any concern, if there was any to begin with, for the little guy. You & me.
We must take matters into our own hands in order to protect our families. That means learning every survival trick possible. Learning how to produce power from nature, hunting, purifying water, etc. etc. And yes, protecting our families from our fellow mankind. Harsh to say, but I’d rather be an owl and over protect, than an ostrich with my head in the sand and my bare ass exposed.
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Energy Creation and Survival Techniques 