wakingtimes--2020-05-20--New Netflix Animated Series “The Midnight Gospel” Is A Psychedelic Journey

The Midnight Gospel , one of the newest animated series on Netflix , has been compared to shows like Adventure Time and Rick and Morty , but it is truly a one of a kind experience .
It is not a traditional animated series as many would expect , but instead , it is a talk show format with psychedelic background animations that tell their own stories , which are somewhat separate to the conversations being had by the characters .
The show follows the alien-like character Clancey , who is a sort of intergalactic podcaster in the future .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , each episode follows Clancey as he creates content and interviews for his audience , which he later uploads to the internet at the end of his adventures .
Comedian Duncan Trussell and animator Pendleton Ward are behind the new series , with Trussell acting as the voice of Clancey .
His discussions with a variety of different guests get very deep and interesting , while the strange psychedelic animations are blended into the discussion surprisingly well .
The show has gotten great reviews and has been keeping many people entertained while they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , this show is much different than many of the others that you can find on streaming services , so it is good to have the right expectations when going into the experience .
This is not a show with a complex plot like you will find with something like Rick and Morty , which the series has been compared to , so if you are in the mood for something like that , The Midnight Gospel may not be the right choice for you , but it ’ s still worth checking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a kind show .
If you are a fan of Duncan Trussel ’ s podcast , or his appearances on the Joe Rogan experience , then you will surely love The Midnight Gospel .
John Vibes is an author and journalist who takes a special interest in the counter culture , and focuses solutions-oriented approaches to social problems .
He is also a host of The Free Your Mind Conference and The Free Thought Project Podcast .

New Netflix Animated Series “The Midnight Gospel” Is A Psychedelic Journey
John Vibes, Truth Theory
Waking Times
The Midnight Gospel, one of the newest animated series on Netflix, has been compared to shows like Adventure Time and Rick and Morty, but it is truly a one of a kind experience. It is not a traditional animated series as many would expect, but instead, it is a talk show format with psychedelic background animations that tell their own stories, which are somewhat separate to the conversations being had by the characters.
The show follows the alien-like character Clancey, who is a sort of intergalactic podcaster in the future. In a very “meta” style, each episode follows Clancey as he creates content and interviews for his audience, which he later uploads to the internet at the end of his adventures.
Comedian Duncan Trussell and animator Pendleton Ward are behind the new series, with Trussell acting as the voice of Clancey. His discussions with a variety of different guests get very deep and interesting, while the strange psychedelic animations are blended into the discussion surprisingly well.
The show has gotten great reviews and has been keeping many people entertained while they are quarantined in their homes. However, this show is much different than many of the others that you can find on streaming services, so it is good to have the right expectations when going into the experience.
This is not a show with a complex plot like you will find with something like Rick and Morty, which the series has been compared to, so if you are in the mood for something like that, The Midnight Gospel may not be the right choice for you, but it’s still worth checking out because it is such a one of a kind show. If you are a fan of Duncan Trussel’s podcast, or his appearances on the Joe Rogan experience, then you will surely love The Midnight Gospel.
http://www.facebook.com/NetflixANZ/videos/865531837251145/?t=0
About the Author
John Vibes is an author and journalist who takes a special interest in the counter culture, and focuses solutions-oriented approaches to social problems. He is also a host of The Free Your Mind Conference and The Free Thought Project Podcast.


wakingtimes--2020-05-20--Bill Gates and the Population Control Grid

This is Part III of a series by James Corbett on the questionable origin of Bill Gates in global public @ @ @ @ @ rest of the series here .
The unimaginable wealth that Gates has accrued is now @ @ @ @ @ much more useful : control .
Control not just of the global health bodies that @ @ @ @ @ program , or the governments that will mandate such an unprecedented campaign , but control @ @ @ @ @ .
Please support the work of James Corbett and the Corbett Report .
They have @ @ @ @ @ funders beyond the micro-donations made by you and me !
You can become a member @ @ @ @ @ 1 a month .
**© [ 05/17/20 ] GreenMedInfo LLC .
This work is reproduced @ @ @ @ @ of GreenMedInfo LLC .
Want to learn more from GreenMedInfo ?
Sign up for the @ @ @ @ @ .
** Disclaimer : This article is not intended to provide medical advice , diagnosis @ @ @ @ @ here do not necessarily reflect those of WakingTimes or its staff .

Bill Gates and the Population Control Grid
GMI Reporter, GreenMedInfo
Waking Times
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igx86PoU7v8&feature=emb_title
This is Part III of a series by James Corbett on the questionable origin of Bill Gates in global public health today. Watch the rest of the series here.
The unimaginable wealth that Gates has accrued is now being used to purchase something much more useful: control. Control not just of the global health bodies that can coordinate a worldwide vaccination program, or the governments that will mandate such an unprecedented campaign, but control over the global population itself.
Please support the work of James Corbett and the Corbett Report. They have no hidden agendas or primary funders beyond the micro-donations made by you and me! You can become a member for as little as $1 a month.
**© [05/17/20] GreenMedInfo LLC. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of GreenMedInfo LLC. Want to learn more from GreenMedInfo? Sign up for the newsletter here http://www.greenmedinfo.com/greenmed/newsletter.**
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of WakingTimes or its staff.


wakingtimes--2020-05-22--Former CBS Journalist Sharyl Attkisson Calls Out YouTube for Censoring Factual Info About Hydroxychl

Former CBS Journalist Sharyl Attkisson Calls Out YouTube for Censoring Factual Info About Hydroxychloroquine Sharyl Attkisson , a former CBS reporter and current host of Full Measure , called out YouTube this week for censoring one of her reports on the controversial drug hydroxychloroquine .
Her video , which has since been reinstated , featured doctors discussing the media ’ s politicization of the drug and how that interferes with research into potential treatment or prevention against Covid-19 .
Sharyl : Camps largely divided along political lines .
Many right-leaning media figures sided with hydroxychloroquine while the left-leaning press backed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ignoring real science .
Dr. William O ’ Neill : I ’ ve never seen science politicized in 40 years of practice .
Several doctors have stepped forward to discuss the difficulty of attempting to study hydroxychloroquine in a hyperpolitical media climate .
“ We ’ re hearing now from some participants that the study and the drugs feel too political , and they just don ’ t want to participate at all , ” exclaimed Christine Johnston , a researcher at the University of Washington .
While researching the financial ties of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ treatment guidelines for the virus , Attkisson found that nine of them had ties to Gilead , the manufacturer of remdesivir .
Another 11 were reportedly linked to a drug company and seven , including two committee leaders had direct ties to Gilead , and two were even on Gilead ’ s advisory board .
Sharyl : All three scientists criticized that VA report casting doubt on hydroxychloroquine as little more than a list of cases with crucial details missing .
It turns out one author of the report received research funding from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ including a 247-thousand dollar grant in 2018 .
Orient : I think we have to look at the money .
There ’ s no big profits made in hydroxychloroquine .
It ’ s very cheap , easy to manufacture , been around for 70 years .
It ’ s generic .
Remdesivir is a new drug that could be very expensive and very lucrative if it ’ s ever approved .
So , I think we really do have to consider there ’ s some financial interest involved here .
[ SOURCE ] @ @ @ @ @ @ @ content which goes against the official stance of the World Health Organization ( WHO ) or other governmental authorities on the pandemic .
Not only have famous interviews with David Icke been removed , followed by a subsequent ban from the platform , but an NBC press briefing with California doctors was taken down after receiving over 5 million views , and the film Plandemic featuring Dr. Judy Mikovits has been severely targeted .
Facebook has also been cracking down on coronavirus related content , as Sharyl highlights in an April Facebook post @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Epoch Times , Facebook ‘ fact-checkers ’ claimed that Attkisson posted false content about the origin of the coronavirus , but the article used to ‘ debunk ’ her was written before the documentary had even aired .
Sharyl Attkisson is a tenured journalist and the host of Full Measure , a weekly news program aired on 162 stations .
She has received five Emmy awards and is the author of multiple books , including Stonewalled : My Fight for Truth Against the Forces of Obstruction , Intimidation , and Harassment in Obama @ @ @ @ @ @ @ title Slanted : How the News Media Taught Us to Love Censorship and Hate Journalism .
Phillip Schneider is a student as well as a staff writer and assistant editor for Waking Times .
If you would like to see more of his work , you can visit his website , or follow him on the free speech social network Minds .
This article ( Former CBS Journalist Sharyl Attkisson Calls Out YouTube for Censoring Factual Info About Hydroxychloroquine ) as originally created and published by Waking Times and is published here under @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Phillip Schneider and WakingTimes.com .
It may be re-posted freely with proper attribution , author bio , and this copyright statement .

Former CBS Journalist Sharyl Attkisson Calls Out YouTube for Censoring Factual Info About Hydroxychloroquine
Phillip Schneider, Staff Writer
Waking Times
Sharyl Attkisson, a former CBS reporter and current host of Full Measure, called out YouTube this week for censoring one of her reports on the controversial drug hydroxychloroquine.
Her video, which has since been reinstated, featured doctors discussing the media’s politicization of the drug and how that interferes with research into potential treatment or prevention against Covid-19.
Sharyl: Camps largely divided along political lines. Many right-leaning media figures sided with hydroxychloroquine while the left-leaning press backed remdesivir. Each accusing the other of ignoring real science. Dr. William O’Neill: I’ve never seen science politicized in 40 years of practice.
Several doctors have stepped forward to discuss the difficulty of attempting to study hydroxychloroquine in a hyperpolitical media climate.
“We’re hearing now from some participants that the study and the drugs feel too political, and they just don’t want to participate at all,” exclaimed Christine Johnston, a researcher at the University of Washington.
While researching the financial ties of several government experts in charge of drafting treatment guidelines for the virus, Attkisson found that nine of them had ties to Gilead, the manufacturer of remdesivir. Another 11 were reportedly linked to a drug company and seven, including two committee leaders had direct ties to Gilead, and two were even on Gilead’s advisory board.
Sharyl: All three scientists criticized that VA report casting doubt on hydroxychloroquine as little more than a list of cases with crucial details missing. It turns out one author of the report received research funding from Gilead, the maker of remdesivir, including a 247-thousand dollar grant in 2018. Orient: I think we have to look at the money. There’s no big profits made in hydroxychloroquine. It’s very cheap, easy to manufacture, been around for 70 years. It’s generic. Remdesivir is a new drug that could be very expensive and very lucrative if it’s ever approved. So, I think we really do have to consider there’s some financial interest involved here. [SOURCE]
YouTube has been notorious lately for censoring content which goes against the official stance of the World Health Organization (WHO) or other governmental authorities on the pandemic. Not only have famous interviews with David Icke been removed, followed by a subsequent ban from the platform, but an NBC press briefing with California doctors was taken down after receiving over 5 million views, and the film Plandemic featuring Dr. Judy Mikovits has been severely targeted.
Facebook has also been cracking down on coronavirus related content, as Sharyl highlights in an April Facebook post. Upon sharing a documentary from The Epoch Times, Facebook ‘fact-checkers’ claimed that Attkisson posted false content about the origin of the coronavirus, but the article used to ‘debunk’ her was written before the documentary had even aired.
“When self-appointed fact-checkers intervene to try to stop people from accessing certain information, or to bully and controversialize those who report and read facts that are off the narrative powerful interests are trying to forward, it should be concerning to all.” – Sharyl Attkisson
Sharyl Attkisson is a tenured journalist and the host of Full Measure, a weekly news program aired on 162 stations. She has received five Emmy awards and is the author of multiple books, including Stonewalled: My Fight for Truth Against the Forces of Obstruction, Intimidation, and Harassment in Obama’s Washington, and her latest title Slanted: How the News Media Taught Us to Love Censorship and Hate Journalism.
Watch the full censored report on YouTube:
About the Author
Phillip Schneider is a student as well as a staff writer and assistant editor for Waking Times. If you would like to see more of his work, you can visit his website, or follow him on the free speech social network Minds.
This article (Former CBS Journalist Sharyl Attkisson Calls Out YouTube for Censoring Factual Info About Hydroxychloroquine) as originally created and published by Waking Times and is published here under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Phillip Schneider and WakingTimes.com. It may be re-posted freely with proper attribution, author bio, and this copyright statement.


wakingtimes--2020-05-21--Consensus Reality Meltdown – Self-Fulfilling Memes

It is time to acknowledge that the bubble of perception that forms one ’ s reality is not a solid structure .
It is fluid and continuously shifting , readapting , and , from time to time , it wobbles .
The information and inputs we receive , and process , affects our sense of reality .
Recently , this consensus reality bubble that most people have attached their senses to , has been fluctuating oddly .
Notions of what is true and what is false have lost their footing .
The things we believed in ; those things , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trust in ; those things we relied upon ; the sense of a solid future – all this has become fluid .
And for a number of years now this has been going on – and it has begun to affect us .
First , it was subtle , and entered the subconscious through the field of the collective consciousness .
If you weren ’ t aware of it , it gnawed away in the back of your minds .
And then we projected it into our media – our books , films @ @ @ @ @ @ @ origin of the dystopian memes which have become a major part of our popular culture in recent years .
Most of us were not aware of it – yet we were programming ourselves through our memes .
The current disturbances in our collective reality bubble – what I refer to as the consensus reality meltdown – is creating psychological , physical , and emotional impacts that are affecting our collective well-being .
The mainstream media participates in and promotes the mutating of the consensus reality narrative through sensationalizing specific , targeted events .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ enflames the collective imagination .
In this way , the human mind is constantly forced to recall and replay our collective projected fears .
Rather than averting disaster we now indulge in thoughts of survival or disaster preparation .
We ’ ve come to accept that something ’ s coming and it ’ s going to hurt – whatever it is .
In this way , we are dealing with many ‘ thought-viruses ’ alongside the biological ones .
At times such as this , we should be mindful of what we are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ social media messages , our everyday communications , and our emotional and mental states .
Everything we put out becomes as vibrational food for ourselves and others .
And as they say – you are what you eat .
Many people are not yet fully grounded with themselves , and this lack of grounding may leave a person more vulnerable to the external manipulations of conditioned opinions and constructed narratives .
We should learn from the trees .
In their external world , they are flexible enough to allow the wind to blow @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And below the ground , in their interior world , they are held fast and strengthened by their roots .
A great wind is blowing through the world right now , and is rapidly transforming our lives , and how we view our lives .
We may be faced with a period of much internal and external upheaval .
In many ways , we have arrived at a moment of re-set .
There are many uncertainties that are now feeding a rise in dissonance , discomfort , and detachment .
Again , it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ program ourselves through our projected memes .
It is psychologically known that when an inner psychic or unconscious desire is not consciously realized or processed , then it will seek to be manifested in the external world .
The inner urge ( or shadow ) will seek for its expression through other means – whether cathartic or destructive .
As Carl Jung noted , ‘ The unconscious works sometimes with most amazing cunning , arranging certain fatal situations , fatal experiences , which make people wake up.
’ [ i ] Jung was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trigger us into more conscious awareness ; to ‘ wake us up ’ to our developmental potential .
In other words , that which wounds us can also be a source of healing .
We can only hope this may be the case .
This may explain the recent wave of dystopian cultural artefacts that have arrived on our shores .
In terms of non-fiction books in the English-language world , there have been many dating from 2003 onwards that have dealt specifically with long-term ‘ catastrophism ’ as it is called .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to , the following : Our Final Century ( Rees , 2003 ) , Collapse ( Diamond , 2005 ) , Catastrophes and Lesser Calamities ( Hallam , 2005 ) , The Party ’ s Over ( Heinberg , 2005 ) , The Next World War ( Woodbridge , 2005 ) , The Upside of Down ( Homer-Dixon , 2006 ) , The Long Emergency ( Kunstler , 2006 ) , The Revenge of Gaia ( Lovelock , 2006 ) , When the Rivers Run Dry ( Pearce , 2006 ) , The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Raja , 2007 ) , The Shock Doctrine ( Klein , 2007 ) , Field Notes from a Catastrophe ( Kolbert , 2007 ) , With Speed and Violence ( Pearce , 2007 ) , The Next Catastrophe ( Perrow , 2007 ) , An Uncertain Future ( Abbott , 2008 ) , Reinventing Collapse ( Orlov , 2008 ) , World at Risk ( Beck , 2009 ) , Time ’ s Up !
( Farnish , 2009 ) , Down to the Wire ( Orr , 2009 ) , Requiem for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Tropic of Chaos ( Parenti , 2011 ) , Living in the End Times ( Zizek , 2011 ) , Convergence of Catastrophes ( Faye , 2012 ) , The Great Disruption ( Gilding , 2012 ) , Crisis Without End ?
( Gamble , 2014 ) , After Fukushima : The Equivalence of Catastrophes ( Nancy , 2014 ) , The Collapse of Western Civilization ( Oreskes , Conway , 2014 ) , The Resilience Dividend ( Rodin , 2014 ) , The Sixth Extinction ( Kolbert , 2015 ) , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Barbarism ( Stengers , 2015 ) , Crime and the Imaginary of Disaster : Post-Apocalyptic Fictions and the Crisis of Social Order ( Yar , 2015 ) , and many more .
Also , the following have all been popular books and/or films in recent years : Oryx and Crake ( 2003 ) , The Road ( book , 2006 ; film , 2009 ) , Children of Men ( book , 1992 ; film 2006 ) , The Age of Stupid ( 2009 ) , The Year of the Flood ( 2009 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2010 ) , The Hunger Games ( book , 2008 ; film 2012 ) , MaddAddam ( 2013 ) , Snowpiercer ( 2013 ) , The Giver ( book , 1993 ; film , 2014 ) , Automata ( 2014 ) , The Maze Runner ( book , 2009 ; film , 2014 ) , Divergent ( book , 2011 ; film , 2014 ) , Mad Max – Fury Road ( 2015 ) , Ready Player One ( 2018 ) , The Testaments ( 2019 ) .
Recent years have seen a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with post-apocalyptic survival , post-oil and post-water scenarios , ramshackle communities , individualist survival , and the list goes on .
These memes and ideas present our collective mind with the thesis that continuous improvement and progress is not an automatic given .
In fact , societies can very easily collapse and fall into ruin .
They show us that a regression in human nature is likely after such an event , with people likely to turn cannibalistic ( The Road ) , totalitarian ( The Hunger Games ) , or tribal and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of these catastrophist books and films share a common thread in that social order breaks down in the absence of social control and consensus values – that is , ‘ collective conditioning.
’ Further , that stronger , authoritarian regimes are needed to maintain a post-collapse form of strict order .
New forms of order and control are essential to manage limited resources , material goods , and human survival .
Suppression and repression are the ever-present themes within dystopian narratives .
The potential for this dystopia meme to be realized is already @ @ @ @ @ @ @ come about through a cascade of interlinked processes that include systems of energy , environment , economy , population , food and water , immigration/migration , and geopolitics .
What is also being planted in the now fluid consensus reality is the inevitability of some form of impending disaster and a fatalism concerning the future .
Another consequence of the dystopian , or catastrophic , meme is that powerful technologies – usually related to governance and security – may be the only solution for our continued survival .
We only have to look @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is unfolding rapidly .
It is interesting to note that the award-winning cyber-punk novelist William Gibson once commented that he omitted certain dystopian ideas from his novels as he did not wish to be held responsible for helping to bring them about !
Our dystopian fantasies may be more than mere performance entertainment – they are likely to also be part of the projections ( the collective shadow ) of the consensus reality mindset once it begins to go into erratic fluidity , or meltdown .
As the philosopher Franco Berardi recently remarked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dystopian memes may in some way be manifested through our collective dreaming as the ‘ frightening scenarios of the imminent time to come.
’ The real pandemic is in the mind .
The Scottish psychiatrist R.D .
Laing pointed out that our species has a strong in-built capacity for self-deception , and that we have literally ‘ tricked ourselves out of our own minds.
’ Modern western civilization , though outwardly highly developed and technologically advanced , is inwardly still immature , and psychologically under-developed .
We have not fully learned how to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , to put it another way , to decondition ourselves against disingenuous programming – those opinions , ideas , and perspectives – that are fostered upon us from external sources .
Today , in an age of global communications and social media , a collective mental programming can easily become a pandemic .
Our institutions – such as politics , economy , and military , etc .
– are carriers in the same way as the media is through TV , books , films , and artwork .
Most of us don ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be carefully managed as a ‘ new normal.
’ As R.D .
Laing famously said , insanity is a perfectly rational adjustment to an insane world .
The madness of our world has become so pervasive that it has become normalized .
We have become conditioned to the illogical and inhumane way our world works and programmed to accept a mutated reality .
The current disturbances we now see in the world are what Jung referred to as symptoms of the ‘ totalitarian psychosis.
’ They are also timely reminders of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in formation of worldly events .
Never before in human history have we had the possibility to manifest the human psyche on a global scale .
It is therefore critical that we bring this psychic energy under balance and control .
Jung hit the nail squarely on the head when he stressed that we become enlightened by making the darkness conscious .
In other words , he was saying that the very thing that is a destructive force can also be a liberating one .
The very thing that puts us to sleep @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wake up we must .
Kingsley L. Dennis is the author of Bardo Times : hyperreality , high-velocity , simulation , automation , mutation – a hoax ?
, The Phoenix Generation : A New Era of Connection , Compassion , and Consciousness , and The Sacred Revival : Magic , Mind & Meaning in a Technological Age , available at Amazon .
Visit him on the web at http : //www.kingsleydennis.com/ .
Like Waking Times on Facebook .
Follow Waking Times on Twitter .

Consensus Reality Meltdown – Self-Fulfilling Memes
Kingsley L. Dennis, Contributor
Waking Times
It is time to acknowledge that the bubble of perception that forms one’s reality is not a solid structure. It is fluid and continuously shifting, readapting, and, from time to time, it wobbles. The information and inputs we receive, and process, affects our sense of reality. Recently, this consensus reality bubble that most people have attached their senses to, has been fluctuating oddly. Notions of what is true and what is false have lost their footing. The things we believed in; those things, people, or institutions we placed our trust in; those things we relied upon; the sense of a solid future – all this has become fluid. And for a number of years now this has been going on – and it has begun to affect us. First, it was subtle, and entered the subconscious through the field of the collective consciousness. If you weren’t aware of it, it gnawed away in the back of your minds. And then we projected it into our media – our books, films, and art. This is the origin of the dystopian memes which have become a major part of our popular culture in recent years. Most of us were not aware of it – yet we were programming ourselves through our memes.
The current disturbances in our collective reality bubble – what I refer to as the consensus reality meltdown – is creating psychological, physical, and emotional impacts that are affecting our collective well-being. The mainstream media participates in and promotes the mutating of the consensus reality narrative through sensationalizing specific, targeted events. They seize upon a particular topic that enflames the collective imagination. In this way, the human mind is constantly forced to recall and replay our collective projected fears. Rather than averting disaster we now indulge in thoughts of survival or disaster preparation. We’ve come to accept that something’s coming and it’s going to hurt – whatever it is. In this way, we are dealing with many ‘thought-viruses’ alongside the biological ones. At times such as this, we should be mindful of what we are projecting to others – whether through our social media messages, our everyday communications, and our emotional and mental states. Everything we put out becomes as vibrational food for ourselves and others. And as they say – you are what you eat.
Many people are not yet fully grounded with themselves, and this lack of grounding may leave a person more vulnerable to the external manipulations of conditioned opinions and constructed narratives. We should learn from the trees. In their external world, they are flexible enough to allow the wind to blow through them without too much resistance. And below the ground, in their interior world, they are held fast and strengthened by their roots. A great wind is blowing through the world right now, and is rapidly transforming our lives, and how we view our lives. We may be faced with a period of much internal and external upheaval. In many ways, we have arrived at a moment of re-set.
There are many uncertainties that are now feeding a rise in dissonance, discomfort, and detachment. Again, it is important that we do not unknowingly program ourselves through our projected memes.
Dystopian Memes
It is psychologically known that when an inner psychic or unconscious desire is not consciously realized or processed, then it will seek to be manifested in the external world. The inner urge (or shadow) will seek for its expression through other means – whether cathartic or destructive. As Carl Jung noted, ‘The unconscious works sometimes with most amazing cunning, arranging certain fatal situations, fatal experiences, which make people wake up.’[i] Jung was optimistic that such situations can work to trigger us into more conscious awareness; to ‘wake us up’ to our developmental potential. In other words, that which wounds us can also be a source of healing. We can only hope this may be the case. This may explain the recent wave of dystopian cultural artefacts that have arrived on our shores.
In terms of non-fiction books in the English-language world, there have been many dating from 2003 onwards that have dealt specifically with long-term ‘catastrophism’ as it is called. These include, but are not limited to, the following: Our Final Century (Rees, 2003), Collapse (Diamond, 2005), Catastrophes and Lesser Calamities (Hallam, 2005), The Party’s Over (Heinberg, 2005), The Next World War (Woodbridge, 2005), The Upside of Down (Homer-Dixon, 2006), The Long Emergency (Kunstler, 2006), The Revenge of Gaia (Lovelock, 2006), When the Rivers Run Dry (Pearce, 2006), The Suicidal Planet (Hillman, Fawcett, Raja, 2007), The Shock Doctrine (Klein, 2007), Field Notes from a Catastrophe (Kolbert, 2007), With Speed and Violence (Pearce, 2007), The Next Catastrophe (Perrow, 2007), An Uncertain Future (Abbott, 2008), Reinventing Collapse (Orlov, 2008), World at Risk (Beck, 2009), Time’s Up! (Farnish, 2009), Down to the Wire (Orr, 2009), Requiem for a Species (Hamilton, 2010), Tropic of Chaos (Parenti, 2011), Living in the End Times (Zizek, 2011), Convergence of Catastrophes (Faye, 2012), The Great Disruption (Gilding, 2012), Crisis Without End? (Gamble, 2014), After Fukushima: The Equivalence of Catastrophes (Nancy, 2014), The Collapse of Western Civilization (Oreskes, Conway, 2014), The Resilience Dividend (Rodin, 2014), The Sixth Extinction (Kolbert, 2015), In Catastrophic Times: Resisting the Coming Barbarism (Stengers, 2015), Crime and the Imaginary of Disaster: Post-Apocalyptic Fictions and the Crisis of Social Order (Yar, 2015), and many more.
Also, the following have all been popular books and/or films in recent years: Oryx and Crake (2003), The Road (book, 2006; film, 2009), Children of Men (book, 1992; film 2006), The Age of Stupid (2009), The Year of the Flood (2009), The Book of Eli (2010), The Hunger Games (book, 2008; film 2012), MaddAddam (2013), Snowpiercer (2013), The Giver (book, 1993; film, 2014), Automata (2014), The Maze Runner (book, 2009; film, 2014), Divergent (book, 2011; film, 2014), Mad Max – Fury Road (2015), Ready Player One (2018), The Testaments (2019).
Recent years have seen a wave of both A and B-movies dealing with post-apocalyptic survival, post-oil and post-water scenarios, ramshackle communities, individualist survival, and the list goes on.
These memes and ideas present our collective mind with the thesis that continuous improvement and progress is not an automatic given. In fact, societies can very easily collapse and fall into ruin. They show us that a regression in human nature is likely after such an event, with people likely to turn cannibalistic (The Road), totalitarian (The Hunger Games), or tribal and barbaric (Mad Max). Many of these catastrophist books and films share a common thread in that social order breaks down in the absence of social control and consensus values – that is, ‘collective conditioning.’ Further, that stronger, authoritarian regimes are needed to maintain a post-collapse form of strict order. New forms of order and control are essential to manage limited resources, material goods, and human survival. Suppression and repression are the ever-present themes within dystopian narratives.
The potential for this dystopia meme to be realized is already within our current civilization. It may come about through a cascade of interlinked processes that include systems of energy, environment, economy, population, food and water, immigration/migration, and geopolitics. What is also being planted in the now fluid consensus reality is the inevitability of some form of impending disaster and a fatalism concerning the future. Another consequence of the dystopian, or catastrophic, meme is that powerful technologies – usually related to governance and security – may be the only solution for our continued survival. We only have to look at China to see how this theme is unfolding rapidly.
It is interesting to note that the award-winning cyber-punk novelist William Gibson once commented that he omitted certain dystopian ideas from his novels as he did not wish to be held responsible for helping to bring them about! Our dystopian fantasies may be more than mere performance entertainment – they are likely to also be part of the projections (the collective shadow) of the consensus reality mindset once it begins to go into erratic fluidity, or meltdown. As the philosopher Franco Berardi recently remarked,
‘Art, poetry, narration, music, and cinema trace a landscape of imminent darkness: social de-evolution, physical decay, and neuro-totalitariansim…The art-scape of the new century seems crowded with dystopian imaginings, depressing descriptions of the present, and frightening scenarios of the imminent time to come.’[ii]
The danger here is that our dystopian memes may in some way be manifested through our collective dreaming as the ‘frightening scenarios of the imminent time to come.’ The real pandemic is in the mind.
A Pandemic of the Mind
The Scottish psychiatrist R.D. Laing pointed out that our species has a strong in-built capacity for self-deception, and that we have literally ‘tricked ourselves out of our own minds.’ Modern western civilization, though outwardly highly developed and technologically advanced, is inwardly still immature, and psychologically under-developed. We have not fully learned how to take back our own minds. Or, to put it another way, to decondition ourselves against disingenuous programming – those opinions, ideas, and perspectives – that are fostered upon us from external sources.
Today, in an age of global communications and social media, a collective mental programming can easily become a pandemic. Our institutions – such as politics, economy, and military, etc. – are carriers in the same way as the media is through TV, books, films, and artwork. Most of us don’t realize the potential for collective instability to be carefully managed as a ‘new normal.’ As R.D. Laing famously said, insanity is a perfectly rational adjustment to an insane world. The madness of our world has become so pervasive that it has become normalized. We have become conditioned to the illogical and inhumane way our world works and programmed to accept a mutated reality.
The current disturbances we now see in the world are what Jung referred to as symptoms of the ‘totalitarian psychosis.’ They are also timely reminders of the critical role that our mental states play in formation of worldly events. Never before in human history have we had the possibility to manifest the human psyche on a global scale. It is therefore critical that we bring this psychic energy under balance and control. Jung hit the nail squarely on the head when he stressed that we become enlightened by making the darkness conscious. In other words, he was saying that the very thing that is a destructive force can also be a liberating one. The very thing that puts us to sleep can also wake us up.
And wake up we must.
About the Author
Kingsley L. Dennis is the author of Bardo Times: hyperreality, high-velocity, simulation, automation, mutation – a hoax?, The Phoenix Generation: A New Era of Connection, Compassion, and Consciousness, and The Sacred Revival: Magic, Mind & Meaning in a Technological Age, available at Amazon. Visit him on the web at http://www.kingsleydennis.com/.


wakingtimes--2020-05-21--100 Years Ago Today, A Massacre Ignited a Civil War that America Has Forgotten

In the early 20th century , West Virginia was the heart of America ’ s coal country .
The picturesque Appalachian Mountains gave rise to America ’ s coal rush , and a labor struggle that turned the once peaceful countryside into a battleground for over a decade .
Following the industrial revolution , coal was a highly sought after natural resource .
By the early 1900 ’ s , coal companies had become so large they were the primary source of West Virginia ’ s income .
Companies built homes , stores , schools , churches and supported entire @ @ @ @ @ @ @ For laborers , the mines in West Virginia were some of the worst working conditions in the country .
While mine owners grew wealthier , safety and sanitary conditions remained abysmal .
Miners were paid notoriously low wages in a company currency called ‘ coal scrip ’ — which could only be used at company stores .
Companies also compelled workers to sign a pledge not to organize known as a “ yellow dog contract.
” Much like today , corrupt politicians supported the coal companies and protected their wealthy owners .
As @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and began striking for better working conditions and wages .
With the booming rush for coal in the industrial age also came movements to protect workers ’ rights .
By 1865 historians estimate the country ’ s largest miner ’ s union [ The American Miners Association ] had over 20,000 members .
Although the AMA ceased operations , workers continued their attempts to organize and later established the United Mine Workers of America ( UMW or UMWA ) .
Founded in Columbus Ohio in 1890 , the UMW sought to improve miners @ @ @ @ @ @ @ worker safety by providing miners with the opportunity to collectively bargain with their employers .
Coal companies responded to miners unionizing through the use of violence and intimidation .
They turned to private organizations known as “ union busters ” who harassed and assaulted laborers trying to unionize their workforce .
Miners who tried to organize were often fired , beaten , or arrested for engaging in union activity .
For the men who worked in the darkness of the mines—many of whom had fought in World War I—a fuse was lit that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Appalachia .
Founded in the early 1890 ’ s , the Baldwin-Felts agency originally oversaw security operations for the Norfolk & Western Railway company but , by 1910 , railway robberies had decreased significantly .
In 1912 Baldwin-Felts agents were employed to break the Paint Creek-Cabin Creek strike in West Virginia—organized by famous labor activist Mary “ Mother Jones ” Harris Jones .
Baldwin-Felts agents used brutal tactics against the striking miners and—after months of a tense standoff—miners began arming themselves .
When miners moved to attack the agents West Virginia Governor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sent 1,200 troops to confiscate the miners ’ weapons .
Although the strike ended , skirmishes between miners and coal companies persisted for years .
The Baldwin-Felts Agency would later go on to play a prominent role in the Ludlow Massacre of 1914—which resulted in the deaths of over a dozen striking miners and their families .
Tensions between the miners and coal companies eventually came to a head on May 19th , 1920 .
Matewan Sheriff Sid Hatfield and Mayor Cabell Testerman confronted a group of agents from the Baldwin-Felts detective agency—who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Coal company— to evict a group of striking miners from company housing .
When Sheriff Hatfield and Mayor Testerman stepped in to defend the miners Testerman was shot and a hail of gunfire ensued .
As the dust settled , Mayor Testerman , 2 miners , and 7 detectives lay dead… America ’ s coal wars had officially begun .
In response to the massacre martial law was declared in the county , and the governor sent over 1,000 special police officers to arrest men for participating in union activity .
The massacre @ @ @ @ @ @ @ helped miners organize an army of 10,000 men for their cause .
Over the next several months , striking miners and company supporters engaged in numerous “ guerilla warfare ” style firefights .
Following the Matewan massacre , Sheriff Hatfield was celebrated as a hero by the mining community .
Although his actions were broadly supported , they also made him a target for the Baldwin-Felts detectives who sought revenge .
Hatfield was subsequently charged with conspiracy for his involvement in the massacre and forced to stand trial .
On August 1st , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conspiracy charge though , sadly , his victory would be short lived .
While leaving the courthouse [ following his acquittal ] Hatfield was gunned down by Baldwin-Felts detectives further escalating the bloody conflict .
None of the detectives were ever convicted for Hatfield ’ s assassination .
Coal companies responded by hiring planes to drop homemade chemical and shrapnel bombs on the miners .
The battle raged for 5 days until President Warren Harding deployed 2,100 troops , and the Army Air Service to restore order .
It is believed that as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the fighting .
Members of the redneck army were later indicted for treason , though , most were never convicted .
Although the battle had ended , America ’ s coal wars were far from over .
Despite significant declines in union membership , clashes between miners and coal company enforcers continued for over a decade .
It wasn ’ t until the Federal Government passed the New Deal and the National Industrial Recovery act—to protect worker ’ s rights—that fighting in West Virginia finally began to subside .
As workers across the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of better pay and basic human rights , Americans would be wise to learn from those who fought a century ago .

100 Years Ago Today, A Massacre Ignited a Civil War that America Has Forgotten
Johnny Liberty, Guest
Waking Times
In the early 20th century, West Virginia was the heart of America’s coal country. The picturesque Appalachian Mountains gave rise to America’s coal rush, and a labor struggle that turned the once peaceful countryside into a battleground for over a decade.
Welcome to Coal Country:
Following the industrial revolution, coal was a highly sought after natural resource. By the early 1900’s, coal companies had become so large they were the primary source of West Virginia’s income. Companies built homes, stores, schools, churches and supported entire towns near the mines they operated.
For laborers, the mines in West Virginia were some of the worst working conditions in the country. While mine owners grew wealthier, safety and sanitary conditions remained abysmal. Miners were paid notoriously low wages in a company currency called ‘coal scrip’— which could only be used at company stores. Companies also compelled workers to sign a pledge not to organize known as a “yellow dog contract.”
Much like today, corrupt politicians supported the coal companies and protected their wealthy owners. As a result, laborers turned to unions and began striking for better working conditions and wages.
The United Mine Workers of America:
With the booming rush for coal in the industrial age also came movements to protect workers’ rights. By 1865 historians estimate the country’s largest miner’s union [The American Miners Association] had over 20,000 members. Although the AMA ceased operations, workers continued their attempts to organize and later established the United Mine Workers of America (UMW or UMWA). Founded in Columbus Ohio in 1890, the UMW sought to improve miners’ independence from coal companies and increase worker safety by providing miners with the opportunity to collectively bargain with their employers.
Coal companies responded to miners unionizing through the use of violence and intimidation. They turned to private organizations known as “union busters” who harassed and assaulted laborers trying to unionize their workforce. Miners who tried to organize were often fired, beaten, or arrested for engaging in union activity.
For the men who worked in the darkness of the mines—many of whom had fought in World War I—a fuse was lit that would ignite a war in the heart of Appalachia.
The Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency:
Founded in the early 1890’s, the Baldwin-Felts agency originally oversaw security operations for the Norfolk & Western Railway company but, by 1910, railway robberies had decreased significantly. In 1912 Baldwin-Felts agents were employed to break the Paint Creek-Cabin Creek strike in West Virginia—organized by famous labor activist Mary “Mother Jones” Harris Jones.
Baldwin-Felts agents used brutal tactics against the striking miners and—after months of a tense standoff—miners began arming themselves. When miners moved to attack the agents West Virginia Governor William E. Glasscock declared martial law and sent 1,200 troops to confiscate the miners’ weapons. Although the strike ended, skirmishes between miners and coal companies persisted for years.
The Baldwin-Felts Agency would later go on to play a prominent role in the Ludlow Massacre of 1914—which resulted in the deaths of over a dozen striking miners and their families.
In April of 1914, anti-striker militia fired upon the wives and children of UMWA members fighting for the right to organize. 11 women and children were killed in this massacre. We must never forget the sacrifices made to ensure our right for representation. #NeverForgetLudlow pic.twitter.com/CjmIjgq4ce — United Mine Workers (@MineWorkers) April 21, 2020
The Battle of Matewan:
Tensions between the miners and coal companies eventually came to a head on May 19th, 1920. Matewan Sheriff Sid Hatfield and Mayor Cabell Testerman confronted a group of agents from the Baldwin-Felts detective agency—who had been hired by the Stone Mountain Coal company— to evict a group of striking miners from company housing.
When Sheriff Hatfield and Mayor Testerman stepped in to defend the miners Testerman was shot and a hail of gunfire ensued. As the dust settled, Mayor Testerman, 2 miners, and 7 detectives lay dead… America’s coal wars had officially begun.
In response to the massacre martial law was declared in the county, and the governor sent over 1,000 special police officers to arrest men for participating in union activity. The massacre also galvanized support for the UMW and helped miners organize an army of 10,000 men for their cause. Over the next several months, striking miners and company supporters engaged in numerous “guerilla warfare” style firefights.
Following the Matewan massacre, Sheriff Hatfield was celebrated as a hero by the mining community. Although his actions were broadly supported, they also made him a target for the Baldwin-Felts detectives who sought revenge. Hatfield was subsequently charged with conspiracy for his involvement in the massacre and forced to stand trial.
On August 1st, 1921 Sheriff Hatfield was acquitted of the conspiracy charge though, sadly, his victory would be short lived. While leaving the courthouse [following his acquittal] Hatfield was gunned down by Baldwin-Felts detectives further escalating the bloody conflict. None of the detectives were ever convicted for Hatfield’s assassination.
The Battle of Blair Mountain:
Sheriff Hatfield’s assassination outraged the miners, “The only way to get your rights is with a high-powered rifle” organizer Frank Keeney reportedly claimed. The miners began a siege against the coal company, in what later became known as the “Battle of Blair Hill.” On August 28th, 1921 10,000 miners began trading gunfire with Baldwin-Felts detectives and state police officers. The miners donned red handkerchiefs and soon became known as the “redneck army”.
Coal companies responded by hiring planes to drop homemade chemical and shrapnel bombs on the miners. The battle raged for 5 days until President Warren Harding deployed 2,100 troops, and the Army Air Service to restore order. It is believed that as many as 100 casualties were reported during the fighting. Members of the redneck army were later indicted for treason, though, most were never convicted.
Although the battle had ended, America’s coal wars were far from over. Despite significant declines in union membership, clashes between miners and coal company enforcers continued for over a decade. It wasn’t until the Federal Government passed the New Deal and the National Industrial Recovery act—to protect worker’s rights—that fighting in West Virginia finally began to subside.
As workers across the country continue to rise up in support of better pay and basic human rights, Americans would be wise to learn from those who fought a century ago.


wakingtimes--2020-05-21--Scientists Discover Evidence of Parallel Universe Where Time Flows Backward

The existence of parallel universes sounds like science fiction , but over the years a number of prominent physicists have come to believe the idea is not only compatible with conventional physics but that it may explain some of the anomalies in quantum theory .
A new discovery in Antarctica has caused a stir in scientific circles as possibly representing the first tangible physical evidence of a parallel universe .
Scientists working for NASA ’ s Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna ( ANITA ) have been conducting a cosmic ray detection experiment .
Antarctica is the ideal environment for such an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ particles rains down from outer space unperturbed by radio noise .
ANITA is a stratospheric balloon that ferries complicated instruments high into the air over Antarctica , surveying over a million square kilometers .
Its instruments search for heavier tau neutrinos trapped by solid-state matter .
But while these high-energy particles do not pass through the Earth , like their lighter low-energy cousins , they should be originating from out in space and moving “ down ” toward us .
However , ANITA scientists discovered something surprising : tau neutrino particles that seem @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Earth , implying that they ’ re moving backward in time .
Principal ANITA investigator Peter Gorham , an experimental particle physicist at the University of Hawaii , says he was surprised by this and checked for computational or equipment glitches to explain the finding .
“ What we saw is something that looked just like a cosmic ray , as seen in reflection off the ice sheet , but it wasn ’ t reflected , ” said Gorham .
“ It was as if the cosmic ray had come out of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thing .
So we published a paper on that , we just suggested that this was in pretty strong tension with the standard model of physics.
” Gorham says these “ impossible events ” are controversial but “ could indicate that we ’ re actually seeing a new class of sub-atomic particle that ’ s very penetrating .
Even more penetrating than a neutrino , which is pretty hard to do .
This particle would be passing through almost the entire earth .
So this could be an indication of some new type @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the standard model of physics.
” Surprisingly enough , one of the simplest explanations for such a finding is that when the Big Bang occurred 13.8 billion years ago , it formed both our universe and a mirror universe where time flows in reverse .
Inhabitants of that universe would likely not experience time going backward but would rather perceive us as the reverse universe .
Another possibility is that the Earth was inundated from cosmic rays from a supernova blast that penetrated our planet .
Scientists have increasingly come to accept the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years ago astronomers considered evidence of a “ bruise ” on our universe , an anomalous “ cold spot ” that could represent an ancient collision with another universe in the multiverse .

Scientists Discover Evidence of Parallel Universe Where Time Flows Backward
Jake Anderson, The Mind Unleashed
Waking Times
The existence of parallel universes sounds like science fiction, but over the years a number of prominent physicists have come to believe the idea is not only compatible with conventional physics but that it may explain some of the anomalies in quantum theory.
A new discovery in Antarctica has caused a stir in scientific circles as possibly representing the first tangible physical evidence of a parallel universe.
Scientists working for NASA’s Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA) have been conducting a cosmic ray detection experiment. Antarctica is the ideal environment for such an endeavor because a persistent wind of high-energy particles rains down from outer space unperturbed by radio noise.
ANITA is a stratospheric balloon that ferries complicated instruments high into the air over Antarctica, surveying over a million square kilometers. Its instruments search for heavier tau neutrinos trapped by solid-state matter. But while these high-energy particles do not pass through the Earth, like their lighter low-energy cousins, they should be originating from out in space and moving “down” toward us.
However, ANITA scientists discovered something surprising: tau neutrino particles that seem to be arising “up” from the Earth, implying that they’re moving backward in time.
Principal ANITA investigator Peter Gorham, an experimental particle physicist at the University of Hawaii, says he was surprised by this and checked for computational or equipment glitches to explain the finding.
“What we saw is something that looked just like a cosmic ray, as seen in reflection off the ice sheet, but it wasn’t reflected,” said Gorham. “It was as if the cosmic ray had come out of the ice itself. A very strange thing. So we published a paper on that, we just suggested that this was in pretty strong tension with the standard model of physics.” Gorham says these “impossible events” are controversial but “could indicate that we’re actually seeing a new class of sub-atomic particle that’s very penetrating. Even more penetrating than a neutrino, which is pretty hard to do. This particle would be passing through almost the entire earth. So this could be an indication of some new type of physics, what we call beyond the standard model of physics.”
Surprisingly enough, one of the simplest explanations for such a finding is that when the Big Bang occurred 13.8 billion years ago, it formed both our universe and a mirror universe where time flows in reverse. Inhabitants of that universe would likely not experience time going backward but would rather perceive us as the reverse universe.
“Not everyone was comfortable with the hypothesis,” Gorham told New Scientist.
Another possibility is that the Earth was inundated from cosmic rays from a supernova blast that penetrated our planet.
Scientists have increasingly come to accept the possibility of multiple universes. A few years ago astronomers considered evidence of a “bruise” on our universe, an anomalous “cold spot” that could represent an ancient collision with another universe in the multiverse.
Stephen Hawking’s final paper, released posthumously, proposed a theory for explaining alternate universes.
By Jake Anderson | Creative Commons | TheMindUnleashed.com


wakingtimes--2020-05-21--Plastic Bottle Made From Plants Degrades in Just One Year

Plastic Bottle Made From Plants Degrades in Just One Year While some are trying to clean up the plastic pollution in the oceans , and others are removing it from beaches , one company is looking to end the need for plastic bottles that last hundreds of years and are rarely recycled .
A Dutch company is looking to fight the plastic crisis with a plant-based alternative that degrades in one year , as The Guardian reported .
Avantium , a biochemical company in the Netherlands , is fundraising for a new project that will turn sustainably grown crops into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gained the attention of beer maker Carlsberg , beverage giant Coca-Cola and Danone .
All three companies have signaled that they plant to use Avantium ’ s technology in the future , according to Ubergizmo .
Carlsberg , for example , hopes to sell its pilsner in a cardboard bottle lined with an inner layer of plant plastic , according to The Guardian .
Avantium posted a picture of Carlsberg ’ s paper bottle on Instagram .
“ It is a milestone in the development of high-value applications such as specialty bottles , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s Managing Director , as LADbible reported .
“ The Paper Bottle shows how we , together with partners , can use innovation to help shape packaging for a circular and sustainable future.
” The move towards a plant-based plastic from a sustainable source would mark a major step forward for Coca-Cola , which has consistently ranked as the world ’ s worst plastic polluter , according to the advocacy-group Break Free From Plastic , as EcoWatch reported .
The millions of plastic products in the world are almost entirely derived from oils @ @ @ @ @ @ @ atoms that can be manipulated and rearranged to make plastics of varying strength , rigidity and opacity .
They are cheap to produce , too , meaning it is often much more expensive to recycle them than it is to produce new ones .
Of course , all that plastic made from oils takes hundreds of years to decompose , as CleanTechnica reported .
Around 300 million tons of plastic is made from fossil fuels every year , which is a major contributor to the climate crisis .
Beverage makers have been loath @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it means investing in a sustainable alternative to fossil fuel-derived plastic .
That may change with Avantium ’ s new technology .
The company says it “ has found ways to start with plant sugars and transform them into a plastic capable of standing up to carbonated beverages like soda and beer but which will also break down in as little as a year in a composter or three years if left exposed to the elements , ” as CleanTechnica reported .
“ This plastic has very attractive sustainability credentials because it uses @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recycled – but would also degrade in nature much faster than normal plastics do , ” said Tom van Aken , Avantium ’ s chief executive , to The Guardian .
Van Aken told The Guardian that he hopes to have a major investment in the bioplastics plant by the end of 2020 .
The project , which has continued and remains on track despite the coronavirus lockdown , will reveal partnerships with other food and drink companies later in the summer .
The hope is to have the product on store shelves @ @ @ @ @ @ @ make about 5,000 tons of plastic every year using sugars from corn , wheat or beets .
It will assess how customers respond to the new bottles .
Then , Avantium expects its production and scale to grow considerably as demand for the sustainable plastics increases , according to The Guardian .

Plastic Bottle Made From Plants Degrades in Just One Year
Jordan Davidson, EcoWatch
Waking Times
While some are trying to clean up the plastic pollution in the oceans, and others are removing it from beaches, one company is looking to end the need for plastic bottles that last hundreds of years and are rarely recycled. A Dutch company is looking to fight the plastic crisis with a plant-based alternative that degrades in one year, as The Guardian reported.
Avantium, a biochemical company in the Netherlands, is fundraising for a new project that will turn sustainably grown crops into a plant-based plastic. The technology has gained the attention of beer maker Carlsberg, beverage giant Coca-Cola and Danone. All three companies have signaled that they plant to use Avantium’s technology in the future, according to Ubergizmo. Carlsberg, for example, hopes to sell its pilsner in a cardboard bottle lined with an inner layer of plant plastic, according to The Guardian. Avantium posted a picture of Carlsberg’s paper bottle on Instagram.
“It is a milestone in the development of high-value applications such as specialty bottles,” said Marcel Lubben, Avantium’s Managing Director, as LADbible reported. “The Paper Bottle shows how we, together with partners, can use innovation to help shape packaging for a circular and sustainable future.” The move towards a plant-based plastic from a sustainable source would mark a major step forward for Coca-Cola, which has consistently ranked as the world’s worst plastic polluter, according to the advocacy-group Break Free From Plastic, as EcoWatch reported.
The millions of plastic products in the world are almost entirely derived from oils, which offer a complex arrangement of atoms that can be manipulated and rearranged to make plastics of varying strength, rigidity and opacity. They are cheap to produce, too, meaning it is often much more expensive to recycle them than it is to produce new ones. Of course, all that plastic made from oils takes hundreds of years to decompose, as CleanTechnica reported. Around 300 million tons of plastic is made from fossil fuels every year, which is a major contributor to the climate crisis.
Beverage makers have been loath to leave behind profits, even if it means investing in a sustainable alternative to fossil fuel-derived plastic. That may change with Avantium’s new technology. The company says it “has found ways to start with plant sugars and transform them into a plastic capable of standing up to carbonated beverages like soda and beer but which will also break down in as little as a year in a composter or three years if left exposed to the elements,” as CleanTechnica reported. “This plastic has very attractive sustainability credentials because it uses no fossil fuels, and can be recycled – but would also degrade in nature much faster than normal plastics do,” said Tom van Aken, Avantium’s chief executive, to The Guardian.


wakingtimes--2020-05-22--The Slippery Slope to Despotism: Paved with Lockdowns, Raids and Forced Vaccinations

The Slippery Slope to Despotism : Paved with Lockdowns , Raids and Forced Vaccinations You have no rights .
That ’ s the lesson the government wants us to learn from this COVID-19 business .
Well , the government is wrong .
For years now , the powers-that-be—those politicians and bureaucrats who think like tyrants and act like petty dictators regardless of what party they belong to—have attempted to brainwash us into believing that we have no right to think for ourselves , make decisions about our health , protect our homes and families and businesses , act in our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from government , or generally operate as if we are in control of our own lives .
We have every right , and you know why ?
Because we were born free .
As the Declaration of Independence states , we are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights—to life , liberty , property and the pursuit of happiness—that no government can take away from us .
Unfortunately , that hasn ’ t stopped the government from constantly trying to usurp our freedoms at every turn .
Indeed , the nature of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its limits , abuses its authority , and flexes its totalitarian muscles .
Take this COVID-19 crisis , for example .
What started out as an apparent effort to prevent a novel coronavirus from sickening the nation ( and the world ) has become yet another means by which world governments ( including our own ) can expand their powers , abuse their authority , and further oppress their constituents .
Until now , the police state has been more circumspect in its power grabs , but this latest state of emergency has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
We are on a slippery slope to outright despotism .
This road we are traveling is paved with lockdowns , SWAT team raids , mass surveillance and forced vaccinations .
It is littered with the debris of our First and Fourth Amendment freedoms .
This is what we have to look forward to in the months and years to come unless we can find some way to regain control over our runaway government .
The government has made no secret of its plans .
Just follow the money trail , and you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s in store : more militarized police , more SWAT team raids , more surveillance , more lockdowns , more strong-armed tactics aimed at suppressing dissent and forcing us to comply with the government ’ s dictates .
It ’ s chilling to think about , but it ’ s not surprising .
Remember that Pentagon training video created by the Army for U.S. Special Operations Command ?
The one that anticipates the future domestic political and social problems the government is grooming its armed forces to solve through the use of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ video , obtained by The Intercept through a FOIA request and made available online , paints a dystopian picture of the future bedeviled by “ criminal networks , ” “ substandard infrastructure , ” “ religious and ethnic tensions , ” “ impoverishment , slums , ” “ open landfills , over-burdened sewers , ” a “ growing mass of unemployed , ” and an urban landscape in which the prosperous economic elite must be protected from the impoverishment of the have nots .
But here ’ s the kicker : what they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ law , packaged as a well-meaning and overriding concern for the nation ’ s security .
This COVID-19 crisis is pushing us that much closer to that dystopian vision becoming a present-day reality .
For starters , let ’ s talk about the COVID-19 stormtroopers , SWAT team raids and ongoing flare-ups of police brutality .
With millions of dollars in stimulus funds being directed towards policing agencies across the country , the federal government plans to fight this COVID-19 virus with riot gear , gas masks , ballistic helmets , drones , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ although crime rates have fallen dramatically in the midst of this global COVID-19 lockdown , there ’ s been no relief from the brutality and violence of the American police state .
While the majority of the country has been social distancing under varying degrees of lockdowns , it ’ s been business as usual for the nation ’ s SWAT teams and police trained to shoot first and ask questions later .
In Kentucky , plain-clothed cops in unmarked cars used a battering ram to break down Breonna Taylor ’ s door @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her home after midnight .
Fearing a home invasion , the 26-year-old emergency medical technician and her boyfriend—who had been in bed at the time of the invasion—called 911 and prepared to defend themselves .
Taylor ’ s boyfriend shot one of the intruders—later identified as police—in the leg .
Police fired at least 20 shots into the apartment and a neighboring home , killing Taylor .
The drug dealer who was the target of the late-night raid lived 10 miles away and had already been arrested prior to the raid on Taylor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ police opened fire in a subway station , shooting a 33-year-old man who allegedly resisted their attempts to tackle and arrest him for violating a city ordinance by passing between two cars of a moving train .
Ariel Roman , a short-order cook , claimed he was suffering from an anxiety attack when he was “ harassed , chased , tackled , pepper-sprayed , tasered and shot twice ” by police .
In Maryland , police dispatched on a nuisance call to break up a crowd of neighborhood kids ( half of them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ around 4 and 5 years old ) gathered in an apartment complex parking lot opened fire on a 29-year-old man seen exiting his car with a gun .
An eyewitness claimed “ the officer pointed a flashlight and his gun at the group immediately and began chasing and shooting a minute or two after getting out of the patrol car.
” Police reportedly shot the man after he threw down his gun and ran in the opposite direction .
In Virginia , more than 80 local , state , and federal police agents @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vulnerable population ” when they raided a low income , public housing community in an effort to crack down on six individuals suspected of selling , on average , $ 20 to $ 100 worth of drugs .
In Texas , a SWAT team backed up with a military tank Armored Personnel Carrier raided Big Daddy Zane ’ s Bar whose owner and patrons were staging a peaceful First and Second Amendment protest of the governor ’ s shutdown orders .
Police have even been called out to shut down churches , schools @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been found “ in violation ” of various lockdown orders .
Now there ’ s talk of mobilizing the military to deliver forced vaccinations , mass surveillance in order to carry out contact tracing , and heavy fines and jail time for those who dare to venture out without a mask , congregate in worship without the government ’ s blessing , or re-open their businesses without the government ’ s say-so .
There are rumblings that the Transportation Security Administration ( TSA ) will start thermal screenings to monitor passengers ’ temperatures @ @ @ @ @ @ @ addition to the virtual strip searches that have become routine aspects of airport security .
Restaurants in parts of the country are being tasked with keeping daily logs of phone numbers , emails , and arrival times for everybody who participates in dine-services , with no mention of how long such records will be kept on file , with whom they will be shared , and under what circumstances .
With the help of Google and Nest cameras , hospitals are morphing into real-time surveillance centers with round-the-clock surveillance cameras monitoring traffic in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , however .
Google has a track record of sharing surveillance footage with police .
And then rounding out the power-grabs , the Senate just voted to give police access to web browsing data without a warrant , which would dramatically expand the government ’ s Patriot Act surveillance powers .
The Senate also voted to give Attorney General William Barr the ability to look through the web browsing history of any American — including journalists , politicians , and political rivals — without a warrant , just by saying it is relevant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ privacy experts warn that the new provisions threaten to undermine the free press by potentially preventing the media from exposing abuses of power or acting as a watchdog against political leaders .
If we haven ’ t already crossed over , we ’ re skating dangerously close to that line that keeps us on the functioning side of a constitutional republic .
It won ’ t take much to push us over that edge into a full-blown banana republic .
In many ways , this is just more of the same heavy-handed tactics @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years but with one major difference : this COVID-19 state of emergency has invested government officials ( and those who view their lives as more valuable than ours ) with a sanctimonious , self-righteous , arrogant , Big Brother Knows Best approach to top-down governing , and the fall-out can be seen far and wide .
It ’ s an ugly , self-serving mindset that views the needs , lives and rights of “ we the people ” as insignificant when compared to those in power .
That ’ s how someone who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a former Harvard law professor , can suggest that a free people—born in freedom , endowed by their Creator with inalienable rights , and living in a country birthed out of a revolutionary struggle for individual liberty—have no rights to economic freedom , to bodily integrity , or to refuse to comply with a government order with which they disagree .
According to Dershowitz , who has become little more than a legal apologist for the power elite , “ You have no right not to be vaccinated , you have no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you have no right to open up your business… And if you refuse to be vaccinated , the state has the power to literally take you to a doctor ’ s office and plunge a needle into your arm.
” Dershowitz is wrong : while the courts may increasingly defer to the government ’ s brand of Nanny State authoritarianism , we still have rights .
The government may try to abridge those rights , it may refuse to recognize them , it may even attempt to declare martial law and nullify them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ legislate or forcefully eradicate them out of existence .
Up to now , we ’ ve been largely passive participants in this experiment in self-governance .
Our inaction and inattention has left us at the mercy of power-hungry politicians , corrupt corporations and brutal , government-funded militias .
As I make clear in my book Battlefield America : The War on the American People , these ongoing violations of our rights—this attitude by the government that we have no rights—this tyrannical movement that is overtaking our constitutional republic and gaining in momentum and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in which government officials appointed to represent our best interests keep selling us out to the highest bidder—all of these betrayals scream for a response .
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute , where this article ( The Slippery Slope to Despotism : Paved with Lockdowns , Raids and Forced Vaccinations ) was originally published .
He is the author of A Government of Wolves : The Emerging American Police State and The Change Manifesto .

The Slippery Slope to Despotism: Paved with Lockdowns, Raids and Forced Vaccinations
John W. Whitehead, Rutherford
Waking Times
“You have no right not to be vaccinated, you have no right not to wear a mask, you have no right to open up your business… And if you refuse to be vaccinated, the state has the power to literally take you to a doctor’s office and plunge a needle into your arm.”—Alan Dershowitz, Harvard law professor
You have no rights.
That’s the lesson the government wants us to learn from this COVID-19 business.
Well, the government is wrong.
For years now, the powers-that-be—those politicians and bureaucrats who think like tyrants and act like petty dictators regardless of what party they belong to—have attempted to brainwash us into believing that we have no right to think for ourselves, make decisions about our health, protect our homes and families and businesses, act in our best interests, demand accountability and transparency from government, or generally operate as if we are in control of our own lives.
We have every right, and you know why? Because we were born free.
As the Declaration of Independence states, we are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights—to life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness—that no government can take away from us.
Unfortunately, that hasn’t stopped the government from constantly trying to usurp our freedoms at every turn. Indeed, the nature of government is such that it invariably oversteps its limits, abuses its authority, and flexes its totalitarian muscles.
Take this COVID-19 crisis, for example.
What started out as an apparent effort to prevent a novel coronavirus from sickening the nation (and the world) has become yet another means by which world governments (including our own) can expand their powers, abuse their authority, and further oppress their constituents.
Until now, the police state has been more circumspect in its power grabs, but this latest state of emergency has brought the beast out of the shadows.
We are on a slippery slope to outright despotism.
This road we are traveling is paved with lockdowns, SWAT team raids, mass surveillance and forced vaccinations. It is littered with the debris of our First and Fourth Amendment freedoms.
This is what we have to look forward to in the months and years to come unless we can find some way to regain control over our runaway government.
The government has made no secret of its plans.
Just follow the money trail, and you’ll get a sense of what’s in store: more militarized police, more SWAT team raids, more surveillance, more lockdowns, more strong-armed tactics aimed at suppressing dissent and forcing us to comply with the government’s dictates.
It’s chilling to think about, but it’s not surprising.
We’ve been warned.
Remember that Pentagon training video created by the Army for U.S. Special Operations Command? The one that anticipates the future domestic political and social problems the government is grooming its armed forces to solve through the use of martial law?
The chilling five-minute training video, obtained by The Intercept through a FOIA request and made available online, paints a dystopian picture of the future bedeviled by “criminal networks,” “substandard infrastructure,” “religious and ethnic tensions,” “impoverishment, slums,” “open landfills, over-burdened sewers,” a “growing mass of unemployed,” and an urban landscape in which the prosperous economic elite must be protected from the impoverishment of the have nots.
But here’s the kicker: what they’re really talking about is martial law, packaged as a well-meaning and overriding concern for the nation’s security.
This COVID-19 crisis is pushing us that much closer to that dystopian vision becoming a present-day reality.
For starters, let’s talk about the COVID-19 stormtroopers, SWAT team raids and ongoing flare-ups of police brutality.
With millions of dollars in stimulus funds being directed towards policing agencies across the country, the federal government plans to fight this COVID-19 virus with riot gear, gas masks, ballistic helmets, drones, and hi-tech surveillance technology.
Indeed, although crime rates have fallen dramatically in the midst of this global COVID-19 lockdown, there’s been no relief from the brutality and violence of the American police state.
While the majority of the country has been social distancing under varying degrees of lockdowns, it’s been business as usual for the nation’s SWAT teams and police trained to shoot first and ask questions later.
In Kentucky, plain-clothed cops in unmarked cars used a battering ram to break down Breonna Taylor’s door and carry out a no-knock raid on her home after midnight. Fearing a home invasion, the 26-year-old emergency medical technician and her boyfriend—who had been in bed at the time of the invasion—called 911 and prepared to defend themselves. Taylor’s boyfriend shot one of the intruders—later identified as police—in the leg. Police fired at least 20 shots into the apartment and a neighboring home, killing Taylor. The drug dealer who was the target of the late-night raid lived 10 miles away and had already been arrested prior to the raid on Taylor’s home.
In Illinois, police opened fire in a subway station, shooting a 33-year-old man who allegedly resisted their attempts to tackle and arrest him for violating a city ordinance by passing between two cars of a moving train. Ariel Roman, a short-order cook, claimed he was suffering from an anxiety attack when he was “harassed, chased, tackled, pepper-sprayed, tasered and shot twice” by police.
In Maryland, police dispatched on a nuisance call to break up a crowd of neighborhood kids( half of them teenagers, and the other half youngsters around 4 and 5 years old) gathered in an apartment complex parking lot opened fire on a 29-year-old man seen exiting his car with a gun. An eyewitness claimed “the officer pointed a flashlight and his gun at the group immediately and began chasing and shooting a minute or two after getting out of the patrol car.” Police reportedly shot the man after he threw down his gun and ran in the opposite direction.
In Virginia, more than 80 local, state, and federal police agents risked spreading COVID-19 to “a highly vulnerable population” when they raided a low income, public housing community in an effort to crack down on six individuals suspected of selling, on average, $20 to $100 worth of drugs.
In Texas, a SWAT team backed up with a military tank Armored Personnel Carrier raided Big Daddy Zane’s Bar whose owner and patrons were staging a peaceful First and Second Amendment protest of the governor’s shutdown orders.
Police have even been called out to shut down churches, schools and public parks and beaches that have been found “in violation” of various lockdown orders.
Now there’s talk of mobilizing the military to deliver forced vaccinations, mass surveillance in order to carry out contact tracing, and heavy fines and jail time for those who dare to venture out without a mask, congregate in worship without the government’s blessing, or re-open their businesses without the government’s say-so.
There are rumblings that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will start thermal screenings to monitor passengers’ temperatures in coming weeks. This is in addition to the virtual strip searches that have become routine aspects of airport security.
Restaurants in parts of the country are being tasked with keeping daily logs of phone numbers, emails, and arrival times for everybody who participates in dine-services, with no mention of how long such records will be kept on file, with whom they will be shared, and under what circumstances.
With the help of Google and Nest cameras, hospitals are morphing into real-time surveillance centers with round-the-clock surveillance cameras monitoring traffic in patients’ rooms. Forget patient privacy, however. Google has a track record of sharing surveillance footage with police.
And then rounding out the power-grabs, the Senate just voted to give police access to web browsing data without a warrant, which would dramatically expand the government’s Patriot Act surveillance powers. The Senate also voted to give Attorney General William Barr the ability to look through the web browsing history of any American — including journalists, politicians, and political rivals — without a warrant, just by saying it is relevant to an investigation. If enacted, privacy experts warn that the new provisions threaten to undermine the free press by potentially preventing the media from exposing abuses of power or acting as a watchdog against political leaders.
If we haven’t already crossed over, we’re skating dangerously close to that line that keeps us on the functioning side of a constitutional republic. It won’t take much to push us over that edge into a full-blown banana republic.
In many ways, this is just more of the same heavy-handed tactics we’ve been seeing in recent years but with one major difference: this COVID-19 state of emergency has invested government officials (and those who view their lives as more valuable than ours) with a sanctimonious, self-righteous, arrogant, Big Brother Knows Best approach to top-down governing, and the fall-out can be seen far and wide.
It’s an ugly, self-serving mindset that views the needs, lives and rights of “we the people” as insignificant when compared to those in power.
That’s how someone who should know better such as Alan Dershowitz, a former Harvard law professor, can suggest that a free people—born in freedom, endowed by their Creator with inalienable rights, and living in a country birthed out of a revolutionary struggle for individual liberty—have no rights to economic freedom, to bodily integrity, or to refuse to comply with a government order with which they disagree.
According to Dershowitz, who has become little more than a legal apologist for the power elite, “You have no right not to be vaccinated, you have no right not to wear a mask, you have no right to open up your business… And if you refuse to be vaccinated, the state has the power to literally take you to a doctor’s office and plunge a needle into your arm.”
Dershowitz is wrong: while the courts may increasingly defer to the government’s brand of Nanny State authoritarianism, we still have rights.
The government may try to abridge those rights, it may refuse to recognize them, it may even attempt to declare martial law and nullify them, but it cannot litigate, legislate or forcefully eradicate them out of existence.
Up to now, we’ve been largely passive participants in this experiment in self-governance. Our inaction and inattention has left us at the mercy of power-hungry politicians, corrupt corporations and brutal, government-funded militias.
Wake up, America.
As I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, these ongoing violations of our rights—this attitude by the government that we have no rights—this tyrannical movement that is overtaking our constitutional republic and gaining in momentum and power by the minute—this incessant auction block in which government officials appointed to represent our best interests keep selling us out to the highest bidder—all of these betrayals scream for a response.
To quote the great Rod Serling: “If we don’t listen to that scream—and if we don’t respond to it—we may well wind up sitting amidst our own rubble, looking for the truck that hit us—or the bomb that pulverized us. Get the license number of whatever it was that destroyed the dream. And I think we will find that the vehicle was registered in our own name.”
About the Author
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute, where this article (The Slippery Slope to Despotism: Paved with Lockdowns, Raids and Forced Vaccinations) was originally published. He is the author of A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State and The Change Manifesto.


wakingtimes--2020-05-22--Monarch Butterflies Will Be Protected Under Historic Deal

Monarch Butterflies Will Be Protected Under Historic Deal The side of the road isn ’ t usually thought of as ideal habitat .
But for insects , such as butterflies and their caterpillars , the long expanses of land along roads and utility corridors add up to a considerable amount of home turf .
More than 45 transportation and energy companies , as well as dozens of private landowners , have agreed to create or maintain monarch butterfly ( Danaus plexippus ) habitat along “ rights-of-way ” corridors across the United States .
The U.S .
Fish and Wildlife Service @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Illinois at Chicago ( UIC ) have signed a historic agreement that allows participant landholders to dedicate a percentage of their lands to monarch conservation management in exchange for regulatory flexibility on the rest of their enrolled lands .
Populations of both eastern monarchs and western monarchs have declined by more than 80 % over the past decade and are nearing a tipping point for migratory collapse .
In light of these declines , the USFWS is set to decide in December 2020 if the monarch butterfly will be classified as a federally @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Land managers and businesses expressed concerns that if they voluntarily created monarch habitat and the monarch was then listed as federally endangered species , the resulting regulations to protect monarchs could complicate their operations or subject them to additional permitting requirements .
This led Caldwell and her colleagues in the Rights-of-Way as Habitat Working Group ( a group of 200 transportation , energy , government , and nonprofit organizations ) to ask what kinds of tools existed to eliminate these regulatory uncertainties faced by landowners .
The group decided to make use @ @ @ @ @ @ @ CCA ) and Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances ( CCAA ) .
Both are formal , voluntary agreements between participant landowners and the USFWS aimed at conserving and protecting at-risk species .
In the CCAA , the USFWS provides assurance that the landowner participants will not be required to take additional conservation measures on their enrolled lands if the monarch butterfly later becomes listed as an endangered species .
Some of the conservation actions available and recommended to the landholder participants are : adjusting the timing of mowing practices to avoid periods when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ moving away from broadcast herbicide spray to targeted herbicide applications ; replanting after a construction project on their right-of-way ; and using a native seed mix across their system that help promote beneficial plants .
This is why the role of UIC in coordinating efforts among all the partners who are involved will be really important , Caldwell says .
UIC will serve as an intermediary between the landowner participants and the USFWS .
The participants will be required to monitor certain data and self-report annually to UIC .
UIC will follow up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ then submit an annual report summarizing all of the overall work and efforts and any findings across the agreement to the Fish and Wildlife Service .
This is the largest and first nationwide CCAA in history , and Caldwell said she ’ s hopeful that the data collected will lead to insights to inform best management and adaptive management practices for the conservation of monarchs .
Monarchs have a much wider range of habitat and potential habitat than rights-of-way corridors .
Up to 75 % , of potential monarch habitat is on agricultural @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , urban sprawl , pesticide and herbicide‐intensive agriculture , and climate change have contributed to the global declines of insects , including monarchs .
An ESA listing would afford the species greater protection across their range .
“ The enrolled lands outside the adopted acres [ areas managed for conservation ] can not be credited with benefiting monarchs , ” the Center for Biological Diversity said in written public comments to the USFWS .
“ It is important that when the Service weighs the value of these lands in other contexts , such @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ‐ listing decision , that not all enrolled lands be considered to be providing habitat for monarchs.
” “ I think anybody who knows the science behind the monarch ’ s decline , and the extent of it would say , yes , this [ agreement ] could provide some benefits , but it can not preclude the listing of the species , ” Cornelisse said .
The USFWS anticipates that between 2 million and 26 million acres ( 809,000 to 10.5 million hectares ) of land may be enrolled in the CCAA @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the enrolled land that will be managed for conservation is still to be determined .
Liz Kimbrough is a staff writer for Mongabay .
Find her on Twitter @ lizkimbrough_ .

Monarch Butterflies Will Be Protected Under Historic Deal
Liz Kimbrough, Mongabay
Waking Times
The side of the road isn’t usually thought of as ideal habitat. But for insects, such as butterflies and their caterpillars, the long expanses of land along roads and utility corridors add up to a considerable amount of home turf.
More than 45 transportation and energy companies, as well as dozens of private landowners, have agreed to create or maintain monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) habitat along “rights-of-way” corridors across the United States.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) have signed a historic agreement that allows participant landholders to dedicate a percentage of their lands to monarch conservation management in exchange for regulatory flexibility on the rest of their enrolled lands.
Populations of both eastern monarchs and western monarchs have declined by more than 80% over the past decade and are nearing a tipping point for migratory collapse. In light of these declines, the USFWS is set to decide in December 2020 if the monarch butterfly will be classified as a federally endangered species under the Endangered Species Act.
Land managers and businesses expressed concerns that if they voluntarily created monarch habitat and the monarch was then listed as federally endangered species, the resulting regulations to protect monarchs could complicate their operations or subject them to additional permitting requirements.
“Some companies wanted to wait to see how the listing would play out,” Iris Caldwell, a program manager at the Energy Resources Center at UIC, told Mongabay. “But if you are following what’s happening with the butterflies you know we really can’t wait. We need to be creating habitat on a variety of different landscapes, as much as we can.”
This led Caldwell and her colleagues in the Rights-of-Way as Habitat Working Group (a group of 200 transportation, energy, government, and nonprofit organizations) to ask what kinds of tools existed to eliminate these regulatory uncertainties faced by landowners.
“How can you incentivize a regulated entity or a utility to do this voluntary proactive work,” Caldwell asked, “and still give them kind of the flexibility and the certainty that they need and be able to, in fact, invest in that work without kind of a fear of repercussion?”
The group decided to make use of the USFWs Candidate Conservation Agreement (CCA) and Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances (CCAA). Both are formal, voluntary agreements between participant landowners and the USFWS aimed at conserving and protecting at-risk species.
In the CCAA, the USFWS provides assurance that the landowner participants will not be required to take additional conservation measures on their enrolled lands if the monarch butterfly later becomes listed as an endangered species.
“So they can just kind of go about business as usual. And if they happen to accidentally kill monarchs in that process, they won’t be subjected to the under the endangered species laws,” Tara Cornelisse, a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity, an organization who submitted comments on the agreement, told Mongabay. “So, in turn, what they’re supposed to do is give a percentage of those enrolled lands over to conservation.”
Some of the conservation actions available and recommended to the landholder participants are: adjusting the timing of mowing practices to avoid periods when the monarch larva will be present; moving away from broadcast herbicide spray to targeted herbicide applications; replanting after a construction project on their right-of-way; and using a native seed mix across their system that help promote beneficial plants.
“Some of these organizations manage hundreds of thousands of acres of land and implementing some of these actions across a system of that scale is no small feat,” Caldwell said. “I think that kind of learning curve early on and rolling out and implementing some of these conservation measures at scale, may present a challenge for some.”
This is why the role of UIC in coordinating efforts among all the partners who are involved will be really important, Caldwell says. UIC will serve as an intermediary between the landowner participants and the USFWS. The participants will be required to monitor certain data and self-report annually to UIC. UIC will follow up on any discrepancies or concerns and will then submit an annual report summarizing all of the overall work and efforts and any findings across the agreement to the Fish and Wildlife Service.
This is the largest and first nationwide CCAA in history, and Caldwell said she’s hopeful that the data collected will lead to insights to inform best management and adaptive management practices for the conservation of monarchs.
“The elephant in the room,” Cornelisse said, “is if this would preclude the listing of the species [as a federally endangered species].”
Monarchs have a much wider range of habitat and potential habitat than rights-of-way corridors. Up to 75%, of potential monarch habitat is on agricultural lands. Over the past few decades, urban sprawl, pesticide and herbicide‐intensive agriculture, and climate change have contributed to the global declines of insects, including monarchs. An ESA listing would afford the species greater protection across their range.
“The enrolled lands outside the adopted acres [areas managed for conservation] cannot be credited with benefiting monarchs,” the Center for Biological Diversity said in written public comments to the USFWS. “It is important that when the Service weighs the value of these lands in other contexts, such as the [Endangered Species Act]‐ listing decision, that not all enrolled lands be considered to be providing habitat for monarchs.” “I think anybody who knows the science behind the monarch’s decline, and the extent of it would say, yes, this [agreement] could provide some benefits, but it cannot preclude the listing of the species,” Cornelisse said.
The USFWS anticipates that between 2 million and 26 million acres (809,000 to 10.5 million hectares) of land may be enrolled in the CCAA and CCA agreements, but the percentage of the enrolled land that will be managed for conservation is still to be determined.
“What is striking to me is so often we just don’t think of these [rights-of-way] as conservation landscapes,” Caldwell said. “Oftentimes, we don’t think of them at all. We’re just driving past thousands of miles of roadsides and utility corridors. And so, the whole idea of being able to maximize these landscapes to create habitat for species that really need it, I think, is really exciting.”
About the Author
Liz Kimbrough is a staff writer for Mongabay. Find her on Twitter @lizkimbrough_.