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Archive for the ‘end times’ Category

it must be said…

Saturday, March 6th, 2010

The following groups say the danger of human-caused climate change is a … FACT:

U.S. Agency for International Development
United States Department of Agriculture
National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration
National Institute of Standards and Technology
United States Department of Defense
United States Department of Energy
National Institutes of Health
United States Department of State
United States Department of Transportation
U.S. Geological Survey
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
National Center for Atmospheric Research
National Aeronautics & Space Administration
National Science Foundation
Smithsonian Institution
International Arctic Science Committee
Arctic Council
African Academy of Sciences
Australian Academy of Sciences
Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Sciences and the Arts
Academia Brasileira de Ciéncias
Cameroon Academy of Sciences
Royal Society of Canada
Caribbean Academy of Sciences
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Académie des Sciences, France
Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences
Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina of Germany
Indonesian Academy of Sciences
Royal Irish Academy
Accademia nazionale delle scienze of Italy
Indian National Science Academy
Science Council of Japan
Kenya National Academy of Sciences
Madagascar’s National Academy of Arts, Letters and Sciences
Academy of Sciences Malaysia
Academia Mexicana de Ciencias
Nigerian Academy of Sciences
Royal Society of New Zealand
Polish Academy of Sciences
Russian Academy of Sciences
l’Académie des Sciences et Techniques du Sénégal
Academy of Science of South Africa
Sudan Academy of Sciences
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Tanzania Academy of Sciences
Turkish Academy of Sciences
Uganda National Academy of Sciences
The Royal Society of the United Kingdom
National Academy of Sciences, United States
Zambia Academy of Sciences
Zimbabwe Academy of Science
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Association of Wildlife Veterinarians
American Astronomical Society
American Chemical Society
American College of Preventive Medicine
American Geophysical Union
American Institute of Physics
American Medical Association
American Meteorological Society
American Physical Society
American Public Health Association
American Quaternary Association
American Institute of Biological Sciences
American Society of Agronomy
American Society for Microbiology
American Society of Plant Biologists
American Statistical Association
Association of Ecosystem Research Centers
Botanical Society of America
Crop Science Society of America
Ecological Society of America
Federation of American Scientists
Geological Society of America
National Association of Geoscience Teachers
Natural Science Collections Alliance
Organization of Biological Field Stations
Society of American Foresters
Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
Society of Systematic Biologists
Soil Science Society of America
Australian Coral Reef Society
Australian Medical Association
Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society
Engineers Australia
Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies
Geological Society of Australia
British Antarctic Survey
Institute of Biology, UK
Royal Meteorological Society, UK
Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences
Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society
European Federation of Geologists
European Geosciences Union
European Physical Society
European Science Foundation
International Association for Great Lakes Research
International Union for Quaternary Research
International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
World Federation of Public Health Associations
World Health Organization
World Meteorological Organization

The following groups say the danger of human-caused climate change is a … FRAUD:

American Petroleum Institute
US Chamber of Commerce
National Association of Manufacturers
Competitive Enterprise Institute
Industrial Minerals Association
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
Great Northern Project Development
Rosebud Mining
Massey Energy
Alpha Natural Resources
Southeastern Legal Foundation
Georgia Agribusiness Council
Georgia Motor Trucking Association
Corn Refiners Association
National Association of Home Builders
National Oilseed Processors Association
National Petrochemical and Refiners Association
Western States Petroleum Association

So… where do you stand - with science or with the profiteers?

Source: Daily Kos and Skeptical Science.

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voluntary segregation

Friday, September 4th, 2009

segregation has been the cause of a lot of civil unrest in this country. so it should be no surprise that it could cause more. what is surprising is that this time it’s basically segregation by choice; this is a group of people convinced that they are being dangerously repressed, though they are not. and a large part of the convincing would have been achieved by a systematic campaign by conservative media outlets to pound the meta message that the plurality of america, the “real americans” - the white, christian, rural, small town and suburban-dwelling caricatures of what america really looks like on tv™ - are under attack by an unholy, america-hating hydra whose heads are, to name a few: illegals, gays, the government, abortionists, muslims, socialists (or fascists, because apparently there is no need for a distinction in the realm of irrational ad hominimism). and now, though not for the first time of course, another head of the hydra is the president.

“As far as I am concerned, this is not civics education — it gives the appearance of creating a cult of personality,” said Oklahoma Republican state Sen. Steve Russell. “This is something you’d expect to see in North Korea or in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.”

it appears that the far right have officially decided to voluntarily segregate themselves from the rest of the country. this is an ideological manifestation that is causing a segment of our populace to distrust anyone who doesn’t look like them. it can be as benign as a steadfast, damn-the-facts, science-denying, government is bad, give or take a dash of “values voter” indignancy. or it can be a more threatening version: armed to the teeth, sometimes fundamentalist but definitely militarist, waiting for the day the government comes and tries to take their weapons; convinced that day is soon.

either way, these are “voters subject to non-rational persuasion.” and they have their own media to do the persuading. and the traditional media aren’t helping, either. this isn’t a problem that will fade away quickly or easily, and the signs that we have crossed a threshold are evident: people showing up to presidential events openly carrying weapons; fistfights and other outright violence regularly breaking out at congressional town hall meetings; a dauntingly steady stream of right wing domestic terrorism; and most importantly, the simultaneously indifferent and sensationalistic coverage of it all by almost every facet of the traditional media. read this ap article. notice the tone - just a regular news story about normal, concerned americans who think the president is trying to brainwash their children. with one speech. because now even listening once to someone with whom you don’t agree could cause permanent brain damage. think of the children! you see how america really is? this is just normal! it’s normal for a state senator to accuse the president of the kind of despotism “you’d expect to see in North Korea or in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq,” without the news outlet attempting to put that into perspective.

it’s normal for people to hide behind a wall of ignorance and spew falsehoods for the press to blithely repeat to the public as if it’s fact. it appears that the voluntary segregators are an integral part of the grand traditional media created reality show that is america™. sure, there’ll be some yelling, maybe a little violence - it’s great for ratings. but this pot probably can’t take too much more stirring until it boils over, and that’s when things truly, and disturbingly, get real.

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is the sky falling yet?

Thursday, February 26th, 2009

i’ll be the first to admit that i’ve been apprehensively awaiting the end of the world (as we know it, heh) since about 1993. not really sure why, just one of those things that comes with growing up in the 80s and being “inspired” by the bellicose rantings of our petrified hair-laden leading man — you know, republican jesus — ronald reagan.

people tend to forget that we did literally have the threat of nuclear annihilation present every single day; and no, i don’t think i’m conflating the feeling due to some overdeveloped red dawn-like stigma. furthermore, we were reminded of it constantly in the news and in films like the day after, testament, wargames and even “comedies” - spies like us come to mind. so by the mid-90s, maybe it was just pure nostalgia that gave way to the sense that some calamitous event was absolutely headed down the pipe.

but then it never happened. we even had a most promising scenario with y2k, but still, no dice. over time i suppose the feeling subsided a bit (probably during the years i was living in australia and generally became a happier person), but it has always remained even in some latent form.

all that is, no doubt, an interesting preamble to my thoughts on our current situation. but here’s how it relates: when someone today talks about a financial crisis, my mind usually goes back to when i was in college in the 90s, just formulating my disaster hypothesis. one vivid memory i have is being in the student center at middle tennessee state university and seeing the tables set up there by credit card companies hawking their false promise of free money. because that’s what it is to an 18 year old just out of the reach of their parents’ influence - free money.

it doesn’t take a nobel prize in economics to deduce that this won’t end well. back in 1993 i didn’t even know what a credit score was…but i did know that we had become one nation, under debt. and now, the earliest financial lesson many newly independent american teenagers were going to learn on their own was it is the american way to worry about it later. put it on the card, throw the unopened statements in a drawer somewhere, and ignore it until one day you get a call from someone who wants their money.

and you have a crisis on your hands.

well, the phone’s ringing and the bills are due, america. we’ve had a congress, financial system and almost an entire population living the american way — put it on the card…worry about it tomorrow. well, guess what? today is tomorrow. or at least it had better be. we can’t act like teenagers with brand spankin’ new shiny plastic credit cards any more. we have to learn a new american way. cash is king, baby, and it’s the only tomorrow-proof economy there is.

the solution to today’s crisis can’t be about finding some way to keep doing things the way we’ve been doing them. the longer we try that, the worse the outcome will be. the sky will fall and there will be no tomorrow.

the great farce of our society is that we actually have the means to provide for everyone — food, shelter, medicine, and even plenty of the non-essential distractions that we american consumers tend to enjoy so much. alas, we’ll even spend money we don’t have to give the appearance of strength and stability, rather than take the steps necessary to be truly strong and stable.

so…are we going to change? do i get to go down in history as yet another rube in his day prophesying the end times? there was an era of my life when i had a perverse semi-interest in the coming of calamity. at least it would be interesting. for a while. but then, i realized, it would get old. really fast.

these days — i hope i’m wrong.

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