Tag Archives: middleeast

The United Arab Emirates and Climate Interventionism

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In typical “man versus nature” fashion, the UAE wants to alter the rainfall patterns in the region. The country plans to achieve this by erecting an artificial mountain, which should literally scrape the atmosphere for humidity and cause it to fall as rain:

http://gizmodo.com/hell-no-the-uae-should-not-build-a-rain-making-mountai-1775007447^

Sometimes, these projects are nothing more than attention grabbers and pompous declarations. But our planet’s climate is no laughing matter. It’s disturbing that such plans have even made it this far.

It’s what I’d like to call “climate interventionism”. As if it wasn’t enough that we’ve worsened global warming, now we go about thinking we can understand climate models well enough to tamper with the airflow of an entire region.

What terrified me is not that the project is doomed to fail. It’s that it might work. The question we should be asking the builders is: at whose expense will this benefit you? Obviously, if the UAE diverts ocean humidity for its own purposes, somebody down the line is going to get less of it. And, as the butterfly effect^ shows, the consequences will be global and difficult to fathom.

Our planet’s air is much more of a shared resource than our rivers and lakes. Building a dam on a river has less of a global effect than interfering with massive quantities of air that was otherwise going on its merry way towards the other side of the planet.

To me, such projects showcase the extreme arrogance of man. We’re talking here about a country that wastes water in huge quantities, as the article I linked above points out. I have nothing against a country that tries to survive, but some humbleness would be expected before invoking the survival instinct.

We’ve seen many gargantuan projects completed by the oil-spoiled countries of the Middle East. Part of the heat that is currently building up in our oceans and atmosphere comes from oil extracted there. I wonder if they’ll think of this when the planetary ocean drowns their Palm Islands^. Life is not without a sense of irony.

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Not the Usual Sermon Against Terrorism

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Of all the things I’ve learned throughout my life, I think nothing is more important than starting to have an understanding about the meaning of duality. For me, the very challenge of life is to reconcile the duality I observe with the oneness I strive for. Duality is not only about good and evil or about life and death. Duality is also about us and the others, and it is this aspect that I’d like to write a few words about.

I think humans have a tendency to strive for perfection. In the same time, most humans know that they will never be perfect. It’s a correct conclusion, I believe, since only oneness can be perfect. As long as there is something missing from anything, neither side can be perfect. However, duality is only a temporary absence of perfection. And, as long as we are alive and playing our different roles, I believe we can learn from duality while waiting for perfection.

Today, it is difficult to write about terrorism without touching on the subject of religion. But it is exactly religion that I do not wish to discuss on this website. Ever. This is because I believe that spirituality is a deeply personal experience. Words tend to sully it.

So what can I say about terrorism without going into complex and endless diatribes on religion, politics or society? Not much, really. Just the simple truth that…

It’s not easy knowing we’re imperfect. Smart, heinous people are aware of this and are harvesting the emotional pain caused by our discomfort. Through the use of psychological manipulation techniques, people are turned into stereotypes or, to use a more powerful word, drones. The terrorist drones are among the most difficult to understand, because they’ve been led to believe that they can prove their worth towards their Gods (and symbols of perfection) by tearing other people to pieces, by “imperfecting” them.

If we’d have proper education and opportunity across the world, none of this would have come to pass. But we all know that, don’t we? And yet we sit in our comfortable bubbles, like the nice drones that we are. However, that may change at any point, especially if these obedient drones start turning into confident people. The best way to prevent this from happening is to cultivate fear and terror. And so, the great military alliances march on, playing with the money that should be invested in education, science and healthcare.

And since this has been a Dissected News posting, here’s the two events that seeded my words.

The terrorist attack in Pakistan:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Lahore_suicide_bombing^

The terrorist attacks in Belgium:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Brussels_bombings^

Seemingly unrelated, here’s how a traffic accident victim is being ignored somewhere in Asia:

https://www.facebook.com/4Tuning.ro/videos/10154652045284056/?__mref=message^

While terrorism is one of the most acute symptoms of a failed society, this last video I linked shows the systemic problem. It’s one of innumerable examples that illustrate the worrying degradation of our society. As long as we continue our journey in this way, our path will remain a bloody one.

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