ahavafriend

Advice to a New Leader

2010-07-16T09:00:00.000-07:00

The new Prime Minister of Brittain is visiting the US this week. Peggy Noonan writes a brilliant article giving him some advice. Her conclusion:

Advice on your visit? Love America. It not only deserves it, at the moment it needs it. Our morale is low. Do you want to help preserve what has been called the Special Relationship? (Actually, I don't know: do you?) If you do, then when you speak here, speak of your love for this great nation. We don't, not in a deep way and not enough. Even our President doesn't. He tries, but he can't get it right because it's all so abstract to him. He associates patriotism with nationalism. But patriotism springs from legitimate love and gratitude, nationalism from shallow aggression and conceit. Obama confuses the two, can't get them straight in his head, and winds up saying little, badly. People don't like this, either.

Anyway, when you speak of America speak with love. People will hear you. It will break through the clutter, as your media obsessives say. It will be a new message, or one Americans haven't heard in a while done well, and truly. And don't focus-group it. Mean it.

Presidential Oil Spill

2010-06-16T09:00:00.000-07:00

From the LA Times article on the Presidential address given last night:

Instead, Obama was like a Harvard-trained nurse talking vacation to a new patient bleeding all over the ER floor. Hello, could we please stop the blood flow here before we discuss the long-term recovery?

It's the Sun, Stupid

2010-05-25T11:35:00.001-07:00

Here is an article in the National Post by Lawrence Solomon that finally puts the conclusion in print: The sun effects the earth's climate.

"...solar scientists are increasingly conveying a clear message on the chief cause of climate change: It’s the Sun, Stupid. Jeff Kuhn, a rising star at the University of Hawaii’s Institute for Astronomy, is one of the most recent scientists to go public, revealing in press releases this month that solar scientists worldwide are on a mission to show that the Sun drives Earth’s climate. “As a scientist who knows the data, I simply can’t accept [the claim that man plays a dominant role in Earth’s climate],” he states."
...

"By comparing temperatures in Europe since 1659 to highs and lows in solar activity in the same years, the scientists discovered that low solar activity generally corresponded to cold winters. Could this centuries-long link between the Sun and Earth’s climate have been a matter of chance? “There is less than a 1% probability that the result was obtained by chance,” asserts Mike Lockwood of the University of Reading in the U.K., the study’s lead author."

How Firm A Foundation

2010-05-11T22:18:00.000-07:00

Dr. Powlison on God's Grace and Your Suffering.

Baby's Not Born as "Blank Slate" says Study

2010-05-09T19:42:00.001-07:00

As Dennis Prager always says, studies either prove what we already know or they're wrong. In this case, this study proves what Christians have always taught: We are born sinners, or as the study says "the difference between good and bad may be hardwired into the brain at
birth."

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T12:34:00.000-07:00

The Message of the Gospel is Not "Behave!"

2010-05-01T11:34:00.001-07:00

This is a great post from "The Gospel-Driven Church". The author captures a great distinction that is WORTH meditating on and working out in our own lives/faiths/churches. Here's one excerpt:

"I believe many Christians in America would be satisfied if "the culture"
just stopped using pornography and drugs and alcohol and stopped
aborting babies and started "acting right." As far as I can tell, that
would be a Win. But it's not a win. A land where everybody acts
right and is on their best behavior, where peace reigns and social decay
is no more and the poor are helped and the hungry are fed, but Christ
is not worshiped as the sole supreme satisfaction in all the universe,
is a big fat FAIL."

Quoting from Michael Horton's Christless Christianity:

"What would things look like if Satan really took control of a city? Over
half a century ago, Presbyterian minister Donald Grey Barnhouse offered
his own scenario in his weekly sermon that was also broadcast
nationwide on CBS radio. Barnhouse speculated that if Satan took over
Philadelphia (the city where Barnhouse pastored), all of the bars would
be closed, pornography banished, and pristine streets would be filled
with tidy pedestrians who smiled at each other. There would be no
swearing. The children would say, “Yes, sir” and “No ma’am,” and the
churches would be full every Sunday . . . where Christ is not preached.

There
is a great difference between “being good” and the gospel. Some call it
moralism. Moralism, in fact, blinds us from the gospel by giving us
something of “the real thing” ensuring that we miss out on the true
gospel all together. We must remember that Christ came first not to make
bad people good but to make dead people live. If we forget that, our
Christianity will turn out to be Christless."

Noonan on the AZ Immigration "Scandal"

2010-04-30T09:46:00.001-07:00

Peggy Noonan has a great piece at WSJ about why the situation has gotten to where it is. This is the money quote, however:

"Why does the federal government do this? Because so many within it are stupid and unimaginative and don't trust the American people. Which of course the American people have noticed."

The Truth About Health Care

2010-04-27T09:25:00.001-07:00

Here are three stories that have come out today that underscore what really happened in the "Historic" vote for health care reform.

Democrats Hid Damning HC Report From Public - HHS had a report generated before the vote to determine it's own estimates of the HC reform bill's costs. Their report shows:

"...medical costs will skyrocket rising $389 billion 10 years. 14 million will lose their employer-based coverage. Millions of Americans will be left without insurance. And, millions more may be dumped into the already overwhelmed Medicaid system. 4 million American families will be hit with tax penalties under this new law."

ObamaCare Will Impose Rationing - Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag explains in an interview how a new panel called the IPAB will actually have the authority to set cost-cutting measures with the priorities of quality, not quantity of care.

Democrats Admit Corporations' to be Negatively Impacted by Bill

"When major companies declared that a provision of the new health care law would hurt earnings, Democrats were skeptical. But after investigating, House Democrats have concluded that the companies were right to tell investors and the government about the expected adverse effects of the law on their financial results. …"

Word of the Day - Avant-Garde

2010-04-22T10:37:00.001-07:00

Avant-Garde - to advance the boundaries, push the envelope, innovative. As in...

"The near certainty that yesterday's killer was driven by Islamist
impulses is deeply troubling for the Dutch, who created one of the
world's most avant-garde models of multiculturalism over the last 30
years, to the point of paying imams' salaries."

This truly shows the folly in much of what Western Europe is doing, and in what America is seemingly seeking to become. They "pushed the envelope", but someone forget to inform them that sometimes the envelope pushes back! These social experiments have consequences and just pretending completely opposing world views can live peacefully alongside each other is just wishful thinking at best, and lethal at its worst.

There's No God Like Jehovah!

2010-04-20T23:53:00.000-07:00

This version of this song really makes me want to stand up on my feet and shout!

Sea Levels NOT Rising

2010-04-19T10:17:00.001-07:00

I already posted on the retraction of this claim, but came across this interview of a Dr. Nils-Axel Morner, who used to serve on the IPCC and is one of the (if not THE) leading sea-level expert in the world today. The interview is about 1 hour, but very insightful as to how the IPCC came up with it's numbers, who's on the panel, what is really happening in the island countries that feel threatened by this claim, and how people even measure sea levels. Here's a transcription of a similar interview if you don't have time to listen to the broadcast.

How to Avoid Assuming the Gospel

2010-04-17T21:11:00.001-07:00

Here is a great post from BTW. There are times when we "assume" things. It's a "given", isn't it? Well, this is the place where we are at risk of forgetting it. Check out the post and read the questions to diagnose if your church has started the slide away from the Gospel.

Sign the Contract

2010-04-15T09:13:00.001-07:00

Here's the link to the Contract From America. It is an impressive list of principles that clearly articulates what the Tea Party is for. I even heard today that "people know what the Tea Party is against, but they don't know what it stands for." Well now they know!

The Power of the Word

2010-04-14T17:30:00.000-07:00

Wish this were true today:

"It was the simple reading of the word without preaching; yet such was the power upon the minds of the people that 'it was a common thing, as soon as the Bible was opened, after the preliminary services, and just as the reader began, for great meltings to come upon the hearers. The deepest attention was paid to every word as the sacred verses were slowly and solemnly enunciated. Then the silent tear might be seen stealing down the rugged but expressive countenances turned upon the reader. '. . . The word of the Lord was precious in those days." ~ Charles J. Brown, in The Revival of Religion: Addresses by Scottish Evangelical Leaders delivered in Glasgow in 1840, pages 316-317.

Massive Aid Does Not Mean Improvement

2010-04-09T21:45:00.001-07:00

Here is a recent study, posted at Hot Air, that affirms other studies related to international aid to poor countries, specifically in Africa. From the study (and common sense):

"Murray’s paper also found debt relief had no effect on health spending. Activists like Bob Geldof and Bono have long argued canceling African debts would allow countries to spend more on their health problems, but there was no evidence of that.

“When an aid official thinks he is helping a low-income African patient avoid charges at a health clinic, in reality, he is paying for a shopping trip to Paris for a government minister and his wife,” said Philip Stevens, of the London-based think tank International Policy Network. He was not linked to the study."

The bottom line - corruption is the root of poverty in Africa. The conclusion from HA:

"If we really want to solve the problem of poverty and illness in Africa, we need to demand political reform. Everything else is a band-aid, and not the kind of Band Aid that means aging rockers taking to the stage on G-20 conferences."

Even So, Come Lord Jesus!

2010-04-09T08:32:00.001-07:00

I have been having a discussion on another forum with a friend regarding "the signs of the times"; in particular what signs tells us Christians that the end is near. As Christians we look forward to the day when Christ will return: "Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day–and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing" (2 Tim 4:8).

And we are not the only ones longing for this redemption. According to Rom 8:19,22,23, "For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.... For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies."

So the question is, "How will we know when this will happen?" Jesus himself was asked this at various points in His ministry. He explained in Matt 24, "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains." But notice he says, these are just the beginning... the end is not yet. And since this description could be applied to just about every generation, these are things that should "not alarm" us.

Luke 21:11 adds, And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven." Well there are many unique weather phenomena that are witnessed all over the earth, including the aurora borealis and both solar and lunar eclipses. But I'm not sure this is what the verse is referring to. Regardless, none of these should alarm us as it relates to the end of the world.

Ultimately, Jesus told his disciples, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority" (Acts 1:7). Elsewhere he explains, "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or 'There!' for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you" (Luke 17:20,21). Jesus said he will come like a thief in the night, or when we least expect it (12:39,40). So we are called to be ready, not necessarily look for signs.

But in our longing, we look for the slightest hint or the clearest indication of His return. For me, what Jesus said in Matt 24:37 has particular relevance: "As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man." This refers most basically to the idea that no one was prepared for what was about to happen. No one anticipated that God was "paying attention" to how they were living, nor were they ready for His reaction to the sins of men on earth.

But, I believe it also gives us a hint to consider what that generation was like as we compare our own generation. Gen 6:5 says that in the days of Noah, "The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time". And more specifically, in 6:13, God explains, "I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them." And Gen 8:21 reveals Gods reaction to Noah's sacrifice after the flood had dissipated, considering how the entire human race (save Noah and his family) had just been destroyed, saying "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood."

So, at one level, the Son of Man will return when every inclination of the thoughts of man's heart is only evil all the time even childhood, to the point of filling the earth with violence. This understanding has been the forefront of my mind as I have considered several stories in the news of late:

4/6/10 - Group of "Mean Girls" bully 15 year old girl to death

4/4/10 - 15 year old sells 7 year old step sister for gang rape

3/25/10 - Flash mobs of teenagers brawl, vandalize, and assault pedestrians

2/22/09 - 11 year old murdered father's pregnant girlfriend

4/14/08 - 6 Teen Girls gang beat 16 year old for youtube video

These examples, and many others that flash across our eyes on the nightly news, stun me as I consider the ages of the assailants. It makes me consider that whatever natural restraints there used to be in society, these seem to be eroding for our youngest members. And although world violence in general is in decline, there are an estimated 300,000 child soldiers around the world , and millions more held captive in the sex slave trade or human trafficking industry globally. Violence seems to fill the earth; ...every thought being only evil all the time.

And this makes me think of the days of Noah and considering how God watched this for generations until He finally declared ENOUGH! These stories remind me of what Gary Haugen describes, saying:

[W]hat must it be like for God to be present, this year, at the rape of all the world’s child prostitutes, at the beatings of all the world’s prisoners of conscience, at the moment the last breath of hope expires from the breast of each of the millions of small children languishing in bonded servitude. As I would approach my God in prayer, I could hear his gentle voice saying to me, ‘Son, do you have any idea where your Father has been lately? …[If] we really want to know God, we should know something about where he has been—and what it has been like for him to suffer with all those who are hurting and abused.”

And so for me, as I see the world seem to grow more and more violent, to the point that even from childhood every thought is only evil all the time, it causes me to long all the more for his return. Because there will come a time when again God will declare ENOUGH! And then rend the skies and make all things new! Even so, COME LORD JESUS!

Dialogue on Christian Responses to Poverty and Affluence

2010-04-07T12:35:00.001-07:00

BTW brought my attention to this important conversation between Marvin Olasky (whom I've referenced previously) and Jim Wallis, a modern proponent of the Christian Social Justice movement. The ideas of Compassion have been of great interest to me, especially as I've been involved with ministry to the under-priveleged and in full-time ministry. The best ways to "do compassion" are worth all Christians wrestling with. This exchange is a good start (about 1.5 hours). Here's a summary of Olasky's response to the conversation:

[In the debate, Wallis] kept trying to position himself as a centrist rather than a big government proponent. . . . [M]odern usage [of the term "social justice"] by liberal preachers and journalists is thoroughly unbiblical: Many equate social justice with fighting a free enterprise system that purportedly keeps people poor but in reality is their best economic hope. How to respond? I’d suggest four possible ways. . .
Challenge those who speak of “social justice” in a conventionally leftist way. If your local church is committed to what won’t help the poor but will empower would-be dictators, pray and work for gospel-centered teaching. If necessary, find another church.
A second: Try to recapture the term by giving it a 19th- (and 21st?) century small-government twist. The Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute are trying to do this. I wish them success.
A third way: Accept the left’s focus on systemic problems but not its faulty analysis. Learn about the biggest institutional hindrance to economic advance for the poor: the government’s monopoly control of taxpayer funds committed to education and welfare. Work for school vouchers and tax credits that will help many poor children to grow both their talents and their knowledge of God.
Fourth and best: Tutor a child. Visit a prisoner. Help the sick. Follow Christ.

I Will Always Love You by Asian Boy

2010-04-07T10:24:00.001-07:00

Taiwan's version of Britain's Got Talent just found their next "Susan Boyle" when this stocky boy sang a pitch perfect rendition of Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You". Who says singing Karaoke won't get you anywhere. Maybe he could fill in for Houston herself.

Motivation to Watch TV

2010-04-06T11:00:00.001-07:00

... or is it a motivation to exercise? Whichever it is, this should go public. Cycle to watch!

Compassion/Mercy/Nature of Animals

2010-04-06T00:36:00.000-07:00

This is really interesting. Several examples of species caring for different species. I'm sure there's a lesson in it for us humans, just can't think of what it could be.

The Resurrection by Ron DiCianni

2010-04-05T11:35:00.000-07:00

Here is a video previewing a painting by Ron DiCianni of the Resurrection of Jesus.

Topless Women March in Portland

2010-04-05T09:46:00.001-07:00

Here's the story. Don't worry, the photo only shows the march as it passed (back view). I thought the caption under the photo was telling: "...They were promoting the freedom of women to be topless in public. The group attracted many amateur and professional photographers." Great time to become an "amateur photographer"! But the punch line came in a quote from the article:

"Ty McDowell, who organized the march, said she was "enraged" by the turnout of men attracted to the demonstration. The purpose, she said, was for society to have the same reaction to a woman walking around topless as it does to men without shirts on."

Enraged? To get society to have the same reaction to both topless men and women? Well, maybe if topless men and women looked exactly the same, there might be the same reaction, but since boys and girls ARE in fact different, there is naturally a different reaction. This simply illustrates the absurdity in some thinking today.

He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!

2010-04-03T21:47:00.001-07:00

How Deep the Father's Love For Us

2010-04-03T08:47:00.000-07:00

The Gospel 101

2010-04-02T12:30:00.000-07:00

Here is a 5 min video explaining the Gospel in three fundamental parts and the dangers of just focusing on any one. Well worth your viewing.

Gospel 101 from Sojourn Community Church on Vimeo.

Here is a video of John Piper explaining what the Gospel is in 6 components:

Here is a video that introduces a book about the Gospel by Greg Gilbert. May be a great resource for pastors and all believers.

Make Your Soul Happy in the Lord

2010-04-02T12:18:00.000-07:00

Here is a great quote I found over at The Resurgence regarding prayer: "Müller excelled in prayer only after he meditated on Scripture, that "getting his soul happy” was accomplished through meditation, which enabled communion with God through prayer." Here is the story from an entry in George Müller's diary, dated May 7, 1841 that brought about this conclusion:

I saw more clearly than ever that the first great primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord . . . not how much I might serve the Lord, . . . but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man might be nourished. For I might seek to set the truth before the unconverted, I might seek to benefit believers . . . and yet, not being happy in the Lord, and not being nourished and strengthened in my inner man day by day, all this might not be attended to in a right spirit. Before this time my practice had been . . . to give myself to prayer after having dressed myself in the morning. Now, I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God, and to meditation on it, that thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, instructed; and that thus, by means of the Word of God, whilst meditating on it, my heart might be brought into experimental communion with the Lord.

A Sweet and Bitter Providence by John Piper

2010-04-01T23:17:00.000-07:00

Came across this wonderful video, which actually is an ad for an upcoming book by John Piper. It is in and of itself a wonderful truth and encouragement. The book can only be a larger dose of this.

A Man With Principles

2010-04-01T09:01:00.001-07:00

Actor Neal McDonough was fired for not being willing to do sex scenes in his new TV series Scoundrels. Glad to hear of this rare conviction. I wish there was a way to let him know people support his stand.

Global Warming Thermometers

2010-03-31T10:55:00.000-07:00

How do we know if the earth is warming if we don't know what the actual temperature is? It seems simple enough, but if there are only 4 agencies that measure global temperatures and they don't agree with each other, how do we know what the truth is? NASA declares their data isn't really trustworthy according to this article, and that leaves the CRU, which is at the center of the climate-gate scandal. Additionally, according to one site, SurfaceStations.org, 90 percent of the thermometers are less than 100 feet from "biasing influences", like garbage incinerators, asphalt roads, industrial centers, etc. So, again, how are these scientists really certain what the temperature really is?

Gabriel's Oboe by Ennio Morricone

2010-03-20T21:05:00.001-07:00

This is my muse for my sermon tomorrow. "...This grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known..." Eph 3:8,9.

Here's an extended trailer for the movie this soundtrack was written for, which also has a sampling of the music - profoundly stirring. If you haven't seen the movie, it's well worth renting/owning.

Floppy Ears

2010-03-20T10:17:00.001-07:00

I was reading an interesting article regarding some recent scientific studies that challenge what the mainstream believes about evolution. The article is interesting enough, but my take-away was this line:

"...not every trait a creature possesses is necessarily adaptive. Some just come along for the ride: for example, genes that express as tameness in domesticated foxes and dogs also seem to express as floppy ears, for no evident reason."

Probably the most adorable trait of my basset hound, and the one that has intrigued me the most is just that - his floppy ears. If size is an indicator of degree, basset hounds must be the most tame dogs out there. He is very playful and I have not seen any indicators of aggression, except towards a ball or rope.

But the other issue with his ears that has been floating through my mind is all the uses his ears seem to serve. Just to name a few:

Sponges - no matter what he drinks, his ears seem to soak up at least half as much.
Pillows - his ears are really soft and if I had two silky-soft bags hanging from each side of my head, I'd be napping just as much as he does.
Eye covers - you know those mask-like things some people wear at night or on airplanes. Well, if he has laid his head on one ear, the other drapes over his eyes like one of those masks - very useful.
Rakes - as he walks along and follows a scent with his nose, his ears seem to be raking up all the debris along side his head. Maybe that's the way he "kicks up" stuff to find what he's looking for.

Well, whatever function or purpose his ears possess, they are adorable.

Theology Matters

2010-03-18T20:15:00.001-07:00

I had the privilege of speaking at the Chi Alpha group on the campus of USM last week. I chose the topic of Doctrine and the importance of Loving the Lord your God with all... your mind - what Jesus said was the greatest commandment. I think it went well.

But today I came across this video trailer for a book call Dug Down Deep. It makes the case that we all should be theologians and I'm intrigued to read it. It fits well with the point of my presentation to Chi Alpha, and my thoughts in general on the subject.

DugDownDeep_Carnahan.mov from Covenant Life Church on Vimeo.

Gulf of Mexico Oil Goes to Russia

2010-03-18T20:00:00.001-07:00

Of course it does, since we're not going to take any of it! How infuriating!

Deep Conversations Make Us Happy

2010-03-18T19:35:00.001-07:00

I have found this to be true in my own life, but now there's a study to support my own experience. I always have felt recharged after a long, personal conversation with a close friend. I guess I always just thought it was "just me", but it seems there's more to it than that. I think this is also why people still feel so isolated and lonely even with the increased, but shallow connectivity with today's technology. Real relationship doesn't happen over FB, Myspace, or Twitter. It happens over the phone, in a letter, or over coffee. According to the study:

"But, he proposed, substantive conversation seemed to hold the key to happiness for two main reasons: both because human beings are driven to find and create meaning in their lives, and because we are social animals who want and need to connect with other people."

So this might actually imply you should sacrifice updating your FB status and pick up the phone instead, if you want to be happier.

Breakthrough Needle

2010-03-17T21:41:00.001-07:00

For all you crafty people out there, this is a must-have. It's a brilliant modification to an age-old tool - the needle.

Check out the link on Bits and Pieces.

Sizing Up Sperm

2010-03-12T20:49:00.000-08:00

OK, admittedly this is a little odd/iffy, but it's being done by National Geographic, so hopefully we can trust it won't be merely gratuitous. It airs Sunday March 14th. Here's the preview.

NASA Temps No Good

2010-03-11T19:48:00.001-08:00

Here is another bit-o-info regarding global warming data that supports how "concensus" was found - merely copying by NASA from CRU. It really is sad, truly sad, that this is the state of our best and brightest institutions which the rest of us are counting on to understand the planet's temperatures.

"There are only four climate datasets available. All global warming study, such as the reports from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), must be based on these four.

They are: the NASA GISS dataset, the NCDC GHCN dataset, the CRU dataset, and the Japan Meteorological Agency dataset.

Following Climategate, when it became known that raw temperature data for CRU’s “HADCRU3″ climate dataset had been destroyed, Phil Jones, CRU’s former director, said the data loss was not important — because there were other independent climate datasets available.

But the emails reveal that at least three of the four datasets were not independent, that NASA GISS was not considered to be accurate, and that these quality issues were known to both top climate scientists and to the mainstream press."

10 Questions to Ask a Pastor - R.C. Sproul Jr.

2010-03-09T17:24:00.001-08:00

Here is a great post that is worth thinking about. Just reading the title, I thought it might be for finding a church and what lay persons would ask of their potential pastor. But it is more for search committees to interview pastors. Regardless, if you ever did have a chance just to ask any pastor these questions you might learn a lot about his values/priorities in ministry. Sproul does actually offer an answer to these questions, which is also encouraging to read.

Racial Sensitivity for Walmart?

2010-03-09T13:34:00.001-08:00

It's not what you think. Admittedly, I am white and may not be able to truly understand the issue from a minority perspective, but this is really taking things too far for me. This is retail - it's business. This really has nothing to do with race! But this is about as silly to me as telling teachers they will psychologically harm children by using red ink to grade papers. A few excerpts:

"The implication of the lowering of the price is that's devaluing the black doll," said Thelma Dye, the executive director of the Northside Center for Child Development, a Harlem, N.Y. organization founded by pioneering psychologists and segregation researchers Kenneth B. Clark and Marnie Phipps Clark.... Walmart could have decided "that it's really important that we as a company don't send a message that we value blackness less than whiteness," said Lisa Wade, an assistant sociology professor at Occidental College in Los Angeles and the founder of the blog Sociological Images.

The End of ... Barack Obama

2010-03-08T23:21:00.001-08:00

Here is a scathing article about the situation of America under B.O., mostly filled with statistics. The conclusion:

The slickness of campaigning that comes from a combination of heavy funding and public relations expertise does not inevitably translate into an ability to govern. There is no point a nation's having the audacity of hope unless it also has the sophistication and the will to turn it into action. As things stand, Barack Obama and America under his leadership do not.

Wii Fit Parady

2010-03-05T19:14:00.001-08:00

Here is a funny video/commercial for a Wii Fit. It's my kind of exercise. I particularly like the "Ikea" comment.

HT B&P

Understanding Culture

2010-03-04T18:03:00.000-08:00

Here is an interview with Ken Myers regarding Christianity and culture.

Interview with Ken Myers from Southeastern Seminary on Vimeo.

HT BTW

Mommy/Daddy Politics

2010-03-02T20:55:00.001-08:00

I found this article by David Paul Kuhn from Real Clear Politics linked on BTW and found it very intriguing. I have recently thought of this dichotomy and this article captures it well. Here's a glimpse of the thinking:

"This mother and father schema came to define our politics in the sixties. Debates over culture, crime, race and war began to re-sort the electorate. The political right stressed law and order. The political left stressed societal welfare. And not much has changed since.

Today, the daddy party views government as a force for order. Government exists to prevent harm, whether to life or way of life. Washington is to structure politics, not improve society. But this more minimal state, like the stereotypical detached father, can also feel callously indifferent.

The mommy party views government as a means to feel safe. Washington provides a freedom from jeopardy to nurture citizens. Government is both safety net and springboard. But this active government, like the stereotypical overbearing mother, can also feel oppressive and invasive.

Another American media failure

2010-03-02T09:20:00.001-08:00

Here is a great article at HotAir about the MSM's horrible coverage of anything "Global Warming". Comparing how the media "blindly swallowed" the claims of WMD by the government, which led to the war in Iraq, you would think they would have learned their lesson:

"After wearing sackcloth and ashes for so long, one might believe that the American national media would leap at the chance to show its newfound mission of skepticism and challenge to authority. Unfortunately, US journalists have missed a grand opportunity to demonstrate that it learned a lesson about swallowing a story from the government without question, if indeed that is what happened in 2002 on Iraq. We know this because their colleagues across the pond in the United Kingdom have not missed the chance to speak a little truth to power, both in their own government and to multilateral organizations that issued faulty analyses, false data, bad research, and hysterical demands for action. Do I refer to our military efforts in Afghanistan? In Pakistan? Fiscal policy among the G-20? No. The Australian and British press have eaten the American media’s lunch on the collapse of credibility at the IPCC and in the anthropogenic global-warming (AGW) movement."

Health Care Summit

2010-02-26T09:14:00.001-08:00

I was able to watch most of the summit yesterday. To no one's surprise, it was fairly boring and most people talked past their opponents. I do believe, if anyone was listening, the R's did get to present an image of agreeing there's a problem, being serious about it, and having credible solutions. Now the D's can't claim the opposite of this anymore - at least without shame. But here really is one of the better presentations, for those who missed it.

Paul Ryan from Wisconsin:

Sea Levels NOT Rising?

2010-02-23T10:41:00.001-08:00

Obama was right when he promised that his election would be the historical marker indicating when the global sea levels would stop rising. What he didn't realize is that the claim was an error and it was only during his first term as POTUS that scientists would retract the claim! This goes back to that whole bone of contention that I have with much of Global Warming Alarmism - models.

"Unfortunately, we have since found that our projections were affected by two oversights in our model approach. "

This is the point with models and "science". The two are not the same. A model is the hypothesis, but scientific discovery/conclusions must come as a result of testing the model/hypothesis - not just declaring we have a model that extrapolates all the data we included. The reason this is not credible is because our ecosystem is so big and complex, for the most part, that we don't know all the factors that influence and effect climate change. Additionally, the Alarmist camp seems so dedicated to an ideological conclusion that they ignore other factors (i.e. the sun, regular climate cycles, etc.).

Run the models - I have no objection to that. But don't declare the findings as science until you can see reality verify the model is accurate. And as a result:

"Thus we no longer have confidence in our projections for the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and for this reason the authors retract the results pertaining to sea-level rise after 1900."

George Will on the Dependency Culture

2010-02-21T22:36:00.001-08:00

Here is George Will's speech at CPAC this year. Will has always fascinated me as a marvellously insightful AND articulate thinker. He is brilliant in understanding and explaining our current political climate, and sadly hysterical in the process. A take-away quote for me, which resonates with a lingering thought I keep mulling over:

"People more often need to be reminded than instructed." ~ Samuel Johnson

Quote of the Day

2010-02-21T22:11:00.001-08:00

By George Will:

"It is now a tissue of assertions impervious to evidence, assertions which everything, including a historic blizzard, supposedly confirms and nothing, not even the absence of warming, can falsify."

Minced Fish

2010-02-14T19:38:00.000-08:00

I saw this commercial recently and it reminded me of my neice, Charli.

Climate Expert Jones Concedes UPDATED

2010-02-13T21:53:00.001-08:00

He doesn't come out and actually admit he lied. In fact he says he did not "cheat" the data nor did he "unfairly influence the scientific process." But he does concede that:

"two periods in recent times had experienced similar warming. And he agreed that the debate had not been settled over whether the Medieval Warm Period was warmer than the current period...."

This effects the "hockey stick" graph that shows global warming in this century is unprecedented. If it is not, than this could imply what is happening now is NOT related to humans or CO2. Stay tuned...

UPDATE: Now there is a study that suggests there was no warming to begin with, but rather the instruments that measure warming were capturing land development and urbanization. The study also notes that many of the temperature measuring sites are in questionable sites like water treatment plants or incinerators.

UPDATE AGAIN: Here is a great article detailing the various revelations in the IPCC report. I think there are 14 main issues detailed... so far.

Economic Solutions

2010-02-07T21:23:00.001-08:00

George Will has a great article in the Washington Post re: "How to get the country to solvency on entitlements."

Here's a sample, but it's well worth the whole thing:

Some calamities -- the 1929 stock market crash, Pearl Harbor, Sept. 11 -- have come like summer lightning, as bolts from the blue. The looming crisis of America's Ponzi entitlement structure is different. Driven by the demographics of an aging population, its causes, timing and scope are known.

Funding entitlements -- especially medical care and pensions for the elderly -- requires reinvigorating the economy. Ryan's map connects three destinations: economic vitality, diminished public debt, and health and retirement security.

"Open the Doors" to Climate Change Science

2010-02-07T14:58:00.001-08:00

This is article from The Globe and Mail has a good summary of my thoughts on the subject. This is what I have been a "denier" of, if anything - advocacy in the name of science. Science is not about concensus, nor is it agenda-driven. Furthermore, models are just that - models. Policy is a wholly other thing.

None of this is to say that global warming isn't real, or that human activity doesn't play a role, or that the IPCC is entirely wrong, or that measures to curb greenhouse-gas emissions aren't valid. But the strategy pursued by activists (including scientists who have crossed the line into advocacy) has turned out to be fatally flawed.

By exaggerating the certainties, papering over the gaps, demonizing the skeptics and peddling tales of imminent catastrophe, they've discredited the entire climate-change movement. The political damage will be severe. As Mr. Mead succinctly puts it: “Skeptics up, Obama down, cap-and-trade dead.”

These thoughts are echoed in this HA post, as well:

The IPCC doesn’t do science. They do advocacy, mainly for the idea of international control of energy and manufacturing, with a healthy dose of redistribution of wealth. These revelations should put an end to any reliance on IPCC work for American policy, and the UN should be pressured to fire everyone involved in this sham, starting with railroad engineer Rajendra Pachauri.

Economic Lessons From France

2010-02-06T09:09:00.001-08:00

Here is a great article from Fortune that a friend emailed me. It retells the situation of French President Mitterrand and his economic policies from the 80's. Here's a brief review of some important details:

Mitterrand won the presidential election on the Socialist ticket in mid-1981, pledging an ultra-Keynesian agenda of government expansion, and a program of sweeping nationalizations. His moderate supporters were certain that he would take a far more centrist approach once in office. But to their horror, Mitterrand kept his most radical promises. At the time, France, like the rest of Europe, was mired in recession. Mitterrand's strategy was to revive the economy by boosting consumer demand through vast increases in wages and government spending.

The Mitterrand plan was the ultimate experiment in extreme stimulus, a Gallic campaign to out-Keynes even Keynes. The new president raised pay for civil servants and employees of state-owned companies.... He created 250,000 new government jobs, and lavishly increased payments to mostly middle-class families through a program called Allocations Familiales. The minimum wage rose sharply, and the government flooded the banks with easy money.

To pay for all the new spending, Mitterrand tripled the budget deficit. Mitterrand not only talked like a Socialist, he acted like one, nationalizing 38 banks, including Paribas, and seven big industrial giants, ranging from chemical colossus Rhone-Poulenc to container producer Pechiney.

The results were an unmitigated disaster. In 1982 and 1983, inflation stood in double digits, twice the level in the Germany and America. Unemployment soared to over 10%. Mitterrand devalued the franc no less than three times to keep France's exports of wine and insulation competitive. The French economy was growing by millimeters while its European neighbors recovered in long strides. Top talent was fleeing: Bernard Arnault, now the CEO of luxury goods marketer LVMH, departed for the U.S., declaring that his homeland was becoming a "banana republic."

Then, in early 1983, Mitterrand made an historic change in direction. Admitting that he'd been "intoxicated" by his Keynesian vision in 1981, Mitterrand, as the French say it, "put water in his wine" by shifting to far more conventional, prudent, and, frankly, capitalist policies.

It sounds very familiar, doesn't it? Check out the rest of the article to find out what happened. Ultimately, the article concludes:

"So Americans should hope for what they can get, a president willing to put water in his wine, and recognize the virtues of a policy that revived France 27 years ago, when François Mitterrand traded fantasy for austerity."

JK Rowling on Failure

2010-02-04T19:43:00.001-08:00

Here is the 2008 commencement speech at Harvard given by "Harry Potter" author JK Rowling (20 min). I was very impressed and think it very wise. She obviously is a great story-teller, and thus a good speech-writer. She addresses two topics in her time: Failure and Imagination. Of course she stands as a successful woman, even the richest women in England. But this was not always so. One poignant line from her speech: "Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life."

When discussing the idea of Imagination, she gets there in an unexpected way. In describing her early life experiences at Amnesty International, she comes to the rare expression of gratitude for living in a country of laws and personal human rights. This idea struck me (and I was grateful for her expressing it), because it is something that I have understood from my own study of genocide. We truly do live in an exceptional time and place. The majority of the world, both past and present, has never known our comfort and our opportunities. We live in the exception, not the rule.

She ends her speech by quoting Senneca: "As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is that matters." Honestly, one of the best speeches I've ever heard.

J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement from Harvard Magazine on Vimeo.

The Impact of the Internet - UPDATED

2010-02-04T19:15:00.001-08:00

I enjoy checking out The Technium every once in a while (Link in the margin). Below are some excerpts from a post related to the title above. It is interesting to consider how the internet does change the way we think (and live). I'm sure there are many ways, but here are some of Kevin Kelly's thoughts:

We already know that our use of technology changes how our brains work. Reading and writing are cognitive tools that, once acquired, change the way in which the brain processes information.... Psychologists...concluded that "the acquisition of reading and writing skills has changed the brain organization of cognitive activity in general is not only in language but also in visual perception, logical reasoning, remembering strategies, and formal operational thinking."...

... I now no longer to try remember facts, or even where I found the facts. I have learned to summon them on the Internet. Because the Internet is my new pencil and paper, I am "smarter" in factuality. But my knowledge is now more fragile. For every accepted piece of knowledge I find, there is within easy reach someone who challenges the fact. Every fact has its anti-fact. The Internet's extreme hyperlinking highlights those anti-facts as brightly as the facts....

My certainty about anything has decreased. Rather than importing authority, I am reduced to creating my own certainty — not just about things I care about — but about anything I touch, including areas about which I can't possibly have any direct knowledge . That means that in general I assume more and more that what I know is wrong. We might consider this state perfect for science but it also means that I am more likely to have my mind changed for incorrect reasons. Nonetheless, the embrace of uncertainty is one way my thinking has changed....

While hooked into the network of networks I feel like I am a network myself, trying to achieve reliability from unreliable parts. And in my quest to assemble truths from half-truths, non-truths, and some other truths scattered in the flux (this creation of the known is now our job and not the job of authorities)....

I no longer can tell when I am working and when I am playing online. For some people the disintegration between these two realms marks all that is wrong with the Internet: It is the high-priced waster of time. It breeds trifles. On the contrary, I cherish a good wasting of time as a necessary precondition for creativity, but more importantly I believe the conflation of play and work, of thinking hard and thinking playfully, is one the greatest things the Internet has done....

My thinking is more active, less contemplative. Rather than begin a question or hunch by ruminating aimlessly in my mind, nourished only by my ignorance, I start doing things. I immediately, instantly go. I go looking, searching, asking, questioning, reacting to data, leaping in, constructing notes, bookmarks, a trail, a start of making something mine. I don't wait. Don't have to wait. I act on ideas first now instead of thinking on them....

Compared to the passive consumption of TV or sucking up bully newspapers, or of merely sitting at home going in circles musing about stuff in my head without any new inputs, I find myself much more productive by acting first.... To my eye they are not wasting time with silly associative links, but are engaged in a more productive way of thinking then the equivalent hundred of millions people were 50 years ago....

This approach does encourage tiny bits, but surprisingly at the very same time, it also allows us to give more attention to works that are far more complex, bigger, and more complicated than ever before. These new creations contain more data, require more attention over longer periods; and these works are more successful as the Internet expands....

[UPDATE] As it relates to the third quoted paragraph, I stumbled on this Chesterton quote that is very fitting:

“What we suffer from today is humility in the wrong place. Modesty has moved from the organ of ambition. Modesty has settled upon the organ of conviction, where it was never meant to be. A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth. . . .

We are on the road to producing a race of men too mentally modest to believe in the multiplication table.” Orthodoxy (Garden City, 1959), pages 31-32.

The Thorn

2010-02-04T16:22:00.001-08:00

I love poetry and even write some occasionally. Here is a poem I found over at BTW.

The Thorn
by Martha Snell Nicholson
I stood a mendicant of God before His royal throne
And begged him for one priceless gift, which I could call my own.
I took the gift from out His hand, but as I would depart
I cried, “But Lord this is a thorn and it has pierced my heart.
This is a strange, a hurtful gift, which Thou hast given me.”
He said, “My child, I give good gifts and gave My best to thee.”
I took it home and though at first the cruel thorn hurt sore,
As long years passed I learned at last to love it more and more.
I learned He never gives a thorn without this added grace,
He takes the thorn to pin aside the veil which hides His face.

Hebrews 10:19,20 "Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh...."

The 5000 Year Leap by W. Cleon Skousen

2010-02-03T19:26:00.000-08:00

Last summer I read this book and have wanted to write a review ever since. It is a fascinating review of our Founding Fathers' literature (both what they had to read to influence their thinking, and what they wrote). The subtitle clarifies the focus: "The 28 Great Ideas That Changed the World". There are many quotes in the book that I had never heard before related to views our Founding Fathers held about various topics. I'll include some of the more profound below.

Over all, it was not a well-written book in that it seemed like a prof's lecture notes simply transcribed for publication. There were a lot of connect-the-dot jumps in the material and not a fluid presentation, like someone who was telling a story. This made it a bit difficult to slog through the book. I think it could be better organized, but grant it is a substantial amount of material compressed into just over 300 pages.

I would recommend it in the end for the content, with the understanding that the presentation is weak.

Some quotes from the author:
de Tocqueville found that Americans were the freest people in the world. "Eventually, the world found that they were also the most generous people on earth. And all this was not because they were Americans. The Founders believed these same principles would work for any nation. The key was using the government to protect equal rights, not to provide equal things" p 119.

"Under no circumstances is the federal government to become involved in public welfare. The Founders felt it would corrupt the government and also the poor. No Constitutional authority exists for the federal government to participate in charity or welfare" p 121.

The real genius of the Constitution is that it "was designed to control something which has not changed and will not change - namely, human nature" p166.

Some quotes from the Founding Fathers:
"Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters." Benjamin Franklin

"If there be [no virtue among us], we are in a wretched situation. No theoretical checks, no form of government, can render us secure. To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people, is a chimerical idea." James Madison

"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." John Adams

"I, however, place economy among the first and most important of republic virtues, and public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared." Thomas Jefferson

"...if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be know that we are at all times ready for war." George Washington to Congress

"The very fame of our strength and readiness would be a means of discouraging our enemies; for 'tis a wise and true saying, that 'One sword often keeps another in the scabbard.' The way to secure peace is to be prepared for war." Benjamin Franklin

"That some should be rich shows that others may become rich and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise. Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another, but let him work diligently to build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence...." Abraham Lincoln

Becoming Men

2010-01-31T23:20:00.001-08:00

I came across this great article about some of our Founding Fathers on a website designed to encourage young people to do hard things for God - The Rebelution. Here is a summary paragraph in the article:

"...As an old saying goes, “As a twig is bent, so grows the tree.” This understanding is what our founding fathers had in common. It was the secret to their greatness. They put into practice the principle of Lamentations 3:27, “It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.” As young adults they adopted the determination and high ideals that went on to characterize their entire lives. Their history-making adult years were directly connected to their focused years as young adults.

It is no coincidence that the same Samuel Adams who organized the Boston Tea Party at age 51 wrote his master’s thesis in defense of the people’s liberties at age 21. It is no coincidence that David Farragut, who became the U.S. Navy’s first Admiral at age 65, was given command of his first ship at age 12. It is no coincidence that Alexander Hamilton, who became our nation’s first Secretary of the Treasury at age 34, was a clerk in a counting house at age 13. Likewise, it is no coincidence that, as the primary author of the Federalist Papers at age 32, Hamilton had already been publishing political pamphlets since he was 19. And, of course, it is no surprise that the same George Washington who became the Commander-in-Chief of the Revolutionary Army at age 43, was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Virginia Militia 20 years earlier.

3 Strikes and You're Out, IPCC

2010-01-31T17:26:00.001-08:00

Here's the third story of a "scientific" conclusion made in the IPCC that has now been revealed to be based on something less than pure science:

"A STARTLING report by the United Nations climate watchdog that global warming might wipe out 40% of the Amazon rainforest was based on an unsubstantiated claim by green campaigners who had little scientific expertise.... The source for its claim was a report from WWF, an environmental pressure group, which was authored by two green activists. They had based their “research” on a study published in Nature, the science journal, which did not assess rainfall but in fact looked at the impact on the forest of human activity such as logging and burning."

Beauty and Brains on Fox News

2010-01-30T18:01:00.001-08:00

I wanted to watch the Miss America Pageant tonight, but not for the obvious reason. Most years I could care less. But this year is special - Rush Limbaugh is a judge. So, I tuned in to see how he looked/came across on TV in such a mainstream venue. This is all actually just an intro to the clip below from Jon Stewart, which I saw quite a while ago and thought was very funny/sad. Stewart is actually mocking Fox Newscaster Gretchen Carlson for "dumbing down" herself for the news. Carlson is actually a former Miss America, which brings this all together.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Gretchen Carlson Dumbs Down

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Health Care Crisis

I don't really watch this show on Fox and Stewart is pretty fair to point out the ridiculousness of it all.

The Real Side of Foreign Aid

2010-01-30T11:10:00.001-08:00

Here's an account of one effort to distribute food to the needy in Haiti. The idealism in us says if we send money or other contributions, the rest of the work will be easy. But conditions on the ground, as this case shows, sometimes can make that impossible. There really is no ONE to blame, but a thousand factors why people in need can't get help that is available. That's why it is called a disaster. The article is insightful and should demonstrate why good plans and good intentions don't always solve all the problems.

Quotes from a Criminal Mind

2010-01-29T23:33:00.001-08:00

I have seen a few episodes of the TV show Criminal Minds recently. Each episode starts and ends with a quote. Here is a website that is transcribing them. Here are a few that I found particularly profound:

A belief is not merely an idea the mind possesses. It is an idea that possesses the mind. ~ Robert Oxton Bolton

Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of overcoming it. ~ Helen Keller

We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark. The real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. ~ Plato

Nothing is so common as the wish to be remarkable. ~ [attributed to] Shakespeare

Murder is unique in that it abolishes the party it injures, so that society must take the place of the victim, and on his behalf demand atonement or grant forgiveness. ~ W.H. Auden

Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls. The most massive characters are seared with scars. ~ Khalil Gibran

Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity, nothing exceeds the criticisms made of the habits of the poor by the well-housed, well-warmed, and well-fed. ~ Herman Melville

There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They are messengers of overwhelming grief and of unspeakable love. ~ Washington Irving

Prager University

2010-01-29T22:08:00.001-08:00

I have really enjoyed Dennis Prager when I have had the chance to listen to him. Unfortunately, he's not on where I now live. But I did find this website where he posts 5 minute video "lectures" in his Prager "U". Check these out and check back regularly. You will enjoy. Here's one to tease you: The Most Important Verse in the Bible.

Obama Inherited Budget Deficits from... HIMSELF

2010-01-28T15:02:00.001-08:00

I don't know why someone [DOESN'T] point this out every time Obama makes this claim. Congress passes the budget, not the President. And Obama voted for the 3 budgets from the last few years of Bush's time in office. Each budget since the Dems took control of Congress in '06 increased Federal spending well beyond what Bush had asked for. So, in all actuality, Senator Obama [along with all the other members of the Democrat-controlled Congress] gave President Obama these massive budget deficits. Per the post at Hotair:

"Obama repeatedly insisted that he inherited massive budgetary problems from George Bush, but the Con Law professor may want to retake his high-school civics class. Congress passes budgets, not the President, and the last three budgets came from Democrats. In three years, they increased annual federal spending by $900 billion, while the admittedly profligate and irresponsible Republican Congresses under George Bush increased annual federal spending by $800 billion — in six years. And during the last three years before taking office as President, Obama served in the Senate that passed those bills, and he voted for every Democratic budget put in front of him."

Pet Hippo

2010-01-26T09:03:00.001-08:00

I have heard of the song about getting a hippo for Christmas, but this one is for real. This is one glimpse of what heaven will be like, when the animals are not afraid/ or a threat to us anymore.

Science AGAIN not a Science

2010-01-26T08:30:00.001-08:00

If you can't figure out why "Deniers" exist, this one article would explain my position. Unintended consequences are very common, especially when politics or ideology trump true science. At the end of the day, our ecosystem is very complex. I don't understand why I get this, but many in the "science" fields don't comprehend this until they stumble upon "unexpected" results - the fact that something is unexpected proves to me science didn't get them to their recommendations in the first place. Doesn't the basic scientific method say that a hypothesis is tested and results can be repeated? If so, there should be no unexpected results to social experiments/environmental policy/etc. Case in point, remember that hole in the ozone layer that was going to destroy the world:

The Leeds team found that beneath the Antarctic ozone hole, high-speed winds whip up large amounts of sea spray, which contains millions of salt particles.

This spray then forms clouds, and the increased spray over the last two decades has made these clouds brighter and more reflective – helping to keep global warming in check.

Prof Carslaw described the phenomenon as an "unexpected and complex climate feedback".

He highlighted that atmospheric impacts on the climate were "inordinately complicated" and it was not unusual for unexpected consequences to be revealed.

So why didn't people know about the sea spray 20 years ago? Why was this not studied or observed before now? No one wondered about the clouds in the whole process? This is what makes me say slow down on public/social policy when attempting to determine how, OR IF, to fix to planet. Is anyone looking to see if the planet will "fix" itself before we legislate ourselves back to the dark ages?

Scientist Admits Politics Valued over Science

2010-01-24T23:30:00.001-08:00

Here is another in a recent flurry of articles detailing the role ideology has played in the Global Warming Alarmism, as opposed to true science. In particular,

"The scientist behind the bogus claim in a Nobel Prize-winning UN report that Himalayan glaciers will have melted by 2035 last night admitted it was included purely to put political pressure on world leaders. Dr Murari Lal also said he was well aware the statement, in the 2007 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), did not rest on peer-reviewed scientific research."

As for the stringent scientific scrutiny that this data goes through to reach "scientific consensus" and, thus included in the IPCC reports that effect international policy,

"Dr Lal said: ‘We knew the WWF report with the 2035 date was “grey literature” [material not published in a peer-reviewed journal]. But it was never picked up by any of the authors in our working group, nor by any of the more than 500 external reviewers, by the governments to which it was sent, or by the final IPCC review editors.’ In fact, the 2035 melting date seems to have been plucked from thin air."

How is this possible? And although the article does report that some people questioned this, the decision-makers ignored these concerns, so much so that:

"...Hayley Fowler of Newcastle University, suggested that their draft did not mention that Himalayan glaciers in the Karakoram range are growing rapidly, citing a paper published in the influential journal Nature. In their response, the IPCC authors said, bizarrely, that they were ‘unable to get hold of the suggested references’, but would ‘consider’ this in their final version. They failed to do so."

How is it that they could not get a copy of Nature journal! Again, a political ideology valued above the science. And the Alarmists wonder why we are skeptics.

World Poverty is Falling

2010-01-22T19:11:00.000-08:00

Here is an interesting study that shows how world poverty rates are calculated, but also demonstrates that those who live on less than $1 /day have decreased around the world:

"World poverty is falling. Between 1970 and 2006, the global poverty rate has been cut by nearly three quarters. The percentage of the world population living on less than $1 a day (in PPP-adjusted 2000 dollars) went from 26.8% in 1970 to 5.4% in 2006"

White Lie

2010-01-04T17:13:00.001-08:00

I love the TV show "Lie to Me" on Fox (I actually watch it on Hulu). In a recent episode, there was a great kids song performed by one of the main characters. I thought it was brilliant.

Spanking Works According to New Study

2010-01-04T16:45:00.001-08:00

A study done by Calvin College, posted in the British Daily Mail, explains that spanking, referred to as "smacking", IS beneficial to a child's well-being:

"Young children who are smacked by their parents grow up to be happier and more successful than those who have never been hit, research claims.

It found that children who are smacked before the age of six perform better at school when they are teenagers.

They are also more likely to do voluntary work and to want to go to university than those who have never been physically disciplined.

But the study also revealed that children who are smacked after the age of six were more likely to exhibit behavioural problems, such as being involved in fights....

Teenagers in the survey who had been smacked only between the ages of two and six performed best on all the positive measures.

Those who had been smacked between seven and 11 fared worse on negative behaviour but were more likely to be academically successful. Teenagers who were still smacked fared worst on all counts."

Review of Avatar

2009-12-27T20:05:00.001-08:00

Here is an intriguing quote from the NYT's review of James Cameron's latest blockbuster, Avatar:

"Religion exists, in part, precisely because humans aren’t at home amid these cruel rhythms. We stand half inside the natural world and half outside it. We’re beasts with self-consciousness, predators with ethics, mortal creatures who yearn for immortality.

This is an agonized position, and if there’s no escape upward — or no God to take on flesh and come among us, as the Christmas story has it — a deeply tragic one.

Pantheism offers a different sort of solution: a downward exit, an abandonment of our tragic self-consciousness, a re-merger with the natural world our ancestors half-escaped millennia ago.

But except as dust and ashes, Nature cannot take us back."

It is interesting to hear such thoughts expressed in the NYT. Maybe I'm not as critical a thinker as I need to be, or I'm secure in my world view, but this neither bothered me, nor seduced me while I was watching it. I actually found the movie quite amazing and well-worth the watching in the theater.

I have read this critical review knocking the movie as an "anti-war politic[al] movie". But after watching the film, I walked away thinking I agreed with the movie's "agenda" as I understand it. It really was more of an anti-colonialism movie, which I can proudly say America does NOT embrace this ideology. Yes, we have a history of it, but not anymore. And as we look back and see the destruction that colonialism had on a native people, this movie portrays that well. No one group of people has the right to enslave or exile another group for the first group's own benefit - no matter how you slice it. That was the political message I got. Additionally, the "anti-war" agenda that was present was more tied to this use of the military, more than a pure "anti-war" theme. Of course, there were the stereo-typical strawmen comments/arguments in the movie. But overall, they are easily over-looked for the benefit of the rest of the movie.

As I saw it, it was a brilliant and redeeming portrayal of an ugly historical theme. World history has reflected the battle of colonialism countless times. The movie portrayed it in a future setting in another world. Aside from that, it was fascinating, creative, beautiful, and moving, as well as scientifically curious related to the "avatar" technology. I overlooked the pantheism the movie presented - it actually reminded me of a Native American culture, which was not offensive to me. I highly recommend this movie. It's great eye candy.

My New House So Far - UPDATED

2009-12-23T20:34:00.000-08:00

[UPDATED with paint and cabinets on the wall]

I bought a house this year taking advantage of the fed grant for first-time home-buyers. Here are some before/during pictures (I'm not to the "After" stage yet).

When you walk into the house you used to see into a hallway staring at the furnace closet. Now you see an entryway closet and there is just a foyer, no hallway anymore.

This is looking toward the kitchen at a door that goes to the car port and another (on the left) that goes to the laundry room. The wall on the right is where the double oven is. I tore out all the panelling, took out that full wall and moved it out another foot or so, creating a breakfast bar and expanding the kitchen to include the eating area on the left of the first picture. (I closed off the door on the right to the car part)

[Here is the same view -one before and one now with paint and cabinets]

Here is a view looking from other corner into the same room. I closed of the door going into the back yard on the far right and took out the window to make room for the wall going across the room and added the french doors.

[Here's what it looks like now with paint and cabinets and furniture]

Here's what it looked like from inside and outside the house to close off the door and window and make an opening for the French doors.

This is the living room looking at the wall to the dining room/kitchen. The door on the right goes down the hallway to the bedrooms. So to create more of a Great Room/open floor plan, I have cut 2 six-foot doorways into the dining room and taken out the door to the hallway. Right now the new cabinets are sitting in the living room waiting for the kitchen to be done.

Well, I'm getting close to finishing the new drywall in the kitchen and dining room and then will be able to paint. It will be nice to have things put in place soon. Stay tuned for the "after" pictures. And feel free to come visit!

Global Warming Takes on the Family Pet

2009-12-22T16:35:00.001-08:00

If your God is Mother Earth it makes sense you will take on anything that assaults her honor. It's interesting that this whole "carbon footprint" calculation could be turned on everything from how much your plasma tv is desecrating the holy Mother to the obvious abomination of the driving an SUV. Well the Crusade has made it to the new frontier of the family pet!

Combine the land required to generate its food and a "medium" sized dog has an annual footprint of 0.84 hectares (2.07 acres) -- around twice the 0.41 hectares required by a 4x4 driving 10,000 kilometres (6,200 miles) a year, including energy to build the car....

"Owning a dog really is quite an extravagance, mainly because of the carbon footprint of meat," Barrett said.

Other animals aren't much better for the environment, the Vales say.

Cats have an eco-footprint of about 0.15 hectares, slightly less than driving a Volkswagen Golf for a year, while two hamsters equates to a plasma television and even the humble goldfish burns energy equivalent to two mobile telephones....

And pets' environmental impact is not limited to their carbon footprint, as cats and dogs devastate wildlife, spread disease and pollute waterways, the Vales say.

But there was one point I could agree with in the article:

But the best way of compensating for that paw or clawprint is to make sure your animal is dual purpose, the Vales urge. Get a hen, which offsets its impact by laying edible eggs, or a rabbit, prepared to make the ultimate environmental sacrifice by ending up on the dinner table.

"Rabbits are good, provided you eat them," said Robert Vale.

I've always said, "I like cats - they taste like chicken."

O Holy Night

2009-12-19T22:45:00.001-08:00

This is my favorite traditional Christmas hymn. This version is by David Archuleta. He was a contestant on American Idol 7. I had heard of him before, but this version popped up on my pandora account and I really like what he does on the second verse. Enjoy

Don't Waste Your Cancer - John Piper

2009-12-18T21:42:00.001-08:00

I actually had someone reference this to me recently and checked at a local bookstore for it. I had not heard of it, but was intrigued. This is an article John Piper wrote in 2006 after being diagnosed with cancer himself. Here are the main points:

   1. You will waste your cancer if you do not believe it is designed for you by God.
   2. You will waste your cancer if you believe it is a curse and not a gift.
   3. You will waste your cancer if you seek comfort from your odds rather than from God.
   4. You will waste your cancer if you refuse to think about death.
   5. You will waste your cancer if you think that “beating” cancer means staying alive rather than cherishing Christ.
   6. You will waste your cancer if you spend too much time reading about cancer and not enough time reading about God.
   7. You will waste your cancer if you let it drive you into solitude instead of deepen your relationships with manifest affection.
   8. You will waste your cancer if you grieve as those who have no hope.
   9. You will waste your cancer if you treat sin as casually as before.
10. You will waste your cancer if you fail to use it as a means of witness to the truth and glory of Christ.

A Look at Charity

2009-12-18T21:33:00.001-08:00

HT: Between Two Worlds

Quote of the Week

2009-12-18T13:24:00.001-08:00

This from an article lambasting the events of the Copenhagen Summit on Global Warming:

This week has been truly historic. It has marked the beginning of the landslide that is collapsing the whole AGW imposture. The pseudo-science of global warming is a global laughing stock and Copenhagen is a farce. In the warmist camp the Main Man is a railway engineer with huge investments in the carbon industry. That says it all. The world’s boiler being heroically damped down by the Fat Controller. Al Gore, occupant of the only private house that can be seen from space, so huge is its energy consumption, wanted to charge punters $1,200 to be photographed with him at Copenhagen. There is a man who is really worried about the planet’s future.

What Causes Terrorism?

2009-12-18T00:07:00.000-08:00

Here is a good article related to the idea that "Gitmo causes terrorism" and thus, we should close the prison. I have always found this argument laughable and am glad to see someone take it on. One quote from this article in National Review that sums things up:

After 17 years of attacks, we should have learned the difference between causes of terrorism and pretexts for terrorism. Terrorism is caused, and terrorist recruitment is driven, by Islamist ideology and by American weakness in the face of terror attacks. In that sense, Senator Durbin causes more terrorism than Gitmo ever will. Terrorist organizations are encouraged when they come to believe they can win — when they come to believe they can outlast America because we lack resolve.

Sarah Palin is Straight?

2009-12-17T12:36:00.001-08:00

So it's come to this. This is the first time I've ever seen this type of description in print:

"The failed Vice Presidential nominee took time off from shilling her book to vacation with her son Trig, daughter Piper and opposite sex spouse Todd, in President Barack Obama's birth state of Hawaii on Tuesday."

I guess I just always thought that would be assumed unless otherwise noted!

Climategate Spreading

2009-12-16T17:49:00.001-08:00

Now that people are trying to just defend the mere credibility of the AGW position, there seems to be a lot of people reviewing and verifying info that was previously taken as "solid". In this article from the UK Telegraph we now see that the data from Russia has most likely been "fudged":

The IEA believes that Russian meteorological-station data did not substantiate the anthropogenic global-warming theory. Analysts say Russian meteorological stations cover most of the country’s territory, and that the Hadley Center had used data submitted by only 25% of such stations in its reports. Over 40% of Russian territory was not included in global-temperature calculations for some other reasons, rather than the lack of meteorological stations and observations.

The data of stations located in areas not listed in the Hadley Climate Research Unit Temperature UK (HadCRUT) survey often does not show any substantial warming in the late 20th century and the early 21st century.

The HadCRUT database includes specific stations providing incomplete data and highlighting the global-warming process, rather than stations facilitating uninterrupted observations.

On the whole, climatologists use the incomplete findings of meteorological stations far more often than those providing complete observations.

IEA analysts say climatologists use the data of stations located in large populated centers that are influenced by the urban-warming effect more frequently than the correct data of remote stations.

The scale of global warming was exaggerated due to temperature distortions for Russia accounting for 12.5% of the world’s land mass. The IEA said it was necessary to recalculate all global-temperature data in order to assess the scale of such exaggeration.

Global-temperature data will have to be modified if similar climate-date procedures have been used from other national data because the calculations used by COP15 analysts, including financial calculations, are based on HadCRUT research.

And it seems like this issue has been around for some time based on the following source:

As Steve McIntyre reports at ClimateAudit, it has long been suspected that the CRU had been playing especially fast and loose with Russian – more particularly Siberian – temperature records. Here from March 2004, is an email from Phil Jones to Michael Mann.

Recently rejected two papers (one for JGR and for GRL) from people saying CRU has it wrong over Siberia. Went to town in both reviews, hopefully successfully. If either appears I will be very surprised, but you never know with GRL.
Cheers
Phil

And then there's this video posted at Hot Air reviewing the computer model programming from CRU:

Harmonica Like You've Never Heard

2009-12-14T18:25:00.001-08:00

Here is a clip from a Gaither Concert of Buddy Greene playing Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring and the William Tell Overture! Unbelievable! Enjoy.

A Fake Christmas Tree

2009-12-14T15:30:00.001-08:00

I found this amusing narrative at James Lileks blog. It made me laugh, so I thought I would share for your amusement as well. I love Christmas trees and have always been fond of real ones. But I'll take a fake one if it's easier - that's just where my priorities are. I've never owned/bought one personally, but maybe next year. Here's James' experience:

We got a fake tree on Saturday. It looks just as good as an original, except it doesn’t have that je en sais quoi, which is French for “needles in the rug six months later.” Doesn’t have that piny good smell, but real trees lose their bouquet almost immediately. Mainly because they are dead. Every year we put a tree in water, and every year the water gets undrunk. And we think it’s cute when kids put out cookies for Santa: same childlike belief. The tree may take a sip at first, but eventually it realizes that there’s no point prolonging this. Whatever lies the woodsman told the tree – oh, you’re going to a better place with even better roots – it has to realize that this nightmare will only end in death. You can say we treat the trees well in their last days, dressing them up and making them feel special, but those scarified on Mayan altars got a bath and some perfume, too.
The new tree has joints and hinges; it’s wired like – well, like a Christmas tree, with the lights woven into the very essence of the tree itself. I expect it will pay for itself in three years. Best of all: no fears it will set the house ablaze. If this tree gets set on fire, it will just melt.
That’s the other amusing thing about real trees: they can burn your house down, even though they’re the only piece of wood in the house sitting in a pail of water.

Climategate "Smoking Gun"?

2009-12-09T22:03:00.001-08:00

Here is an amazing article by Willis Eschenbach at Watts Up With That?. He actually does the work of re-evaluating the temperature records for one particular climate station to see how the numbers were adjusted. The graphs are pretty shocking. If you can't follow the explanation at least look at the graphs. This really is disturbing and continues to add fuel to the fire (pun intended).

Welcome to Hattiesburg

2009-12-05T00:07:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Hattiesburg, also known as "The Hub City" because it connects most of the other major cities in the region. I went out sightseeing the other day with a friend and learned that the city was named after the wife of a surveyor who came from one of the railroads in the late 1800's. Hattie Hardy was her name. One of the major thoroughfares in town is called Hardy St.

The city is roughly 60,000 people, not including around 12,000 college students. I am finding it a wonderful town with all the regular attractions of a medium size town. There is a pretty active urban development initiative here to bring life back to the "downtown" area. There is some great archetecture and a wonderful theater, which I had the privelege to get a private tour of while we were walking around taking pictures. It has recently been completely renovated and is very impressive.

The other great feature of the town is the railroads. There is a beautiful train depot that has recently been renovated as well, and the depot brings a wonderful feeling of travel, exploration, and commerce to the town.

If you're ever in the area, whether passing through, or passing nearby, please stop for some sweet tea or even a warm bed. Would love to visit with you for a bit.

Fireflies

2009-12-04T22:19:00.001-08:00

Here's a song that I find very interesting. It's Fireflies by a band called Owl City. I like it for several reasons:
1) It has some interesting poetry/lyrics. I love what he does with the imagery.
2) I really like the video and would love to see a "behind the scenes" how they made it. I can imagine 50 people with wind up toys/light switches all trying to get their toy on the set and get themselves out of the shot. Pure chaos I'd imagine.
3) It's retro enough that it reminds me of my childhood.
4) I like fireflies.
5) The tune is catchy and interesting. Kinda reminds me of Postal Service.

Climate Gate

2009-12-04T21:44:00.001-08:00

[Updated with new link at bottom]
Sorry it's been a while since I last posted. I am now settled and ready to start posting again. The recent scandal known as "Climategate" is a worthy topic to start things off again. If you're not familiar with what has happened, the link below has a brief summary of what happened. You can read, search, etc the emails and other documents for yourself via a website created by Pajamas Media - browse away.

No, I don't think they put a nail in the coffin of AGW, but it does expose a serious issue that has been a sticking point with us "Deniers" - the idea of credibility among Global Warming Alarmists and the true influence that "Science" is playing in this issue. Even before the emails, these were some of the more difficult points for me. Now my doubts seem to be well-founded.

UPDATE: Here is a great article by Kevin Williamson at National Review that summarizes the issue of Global Warming quite well.

Too Much to Ask...

2009-11-08T23:33:00.000-08:00

Here's a fun little video that has Nancy Pelosi, then Minority Leader, complaining how she couldn't even read a bill before voting on it and how disgraceful that was. I guess she learned something from her years in the minority -- how to ignore them once she was in the majority. It goes both ways, which is just normal politics. However, the frustrating thing is that she can't be honest enough to admit it. Enjoy:

The Contrast in Theology and Life

2009-10-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

I quote in full a recent post from Christ is Deeper Still:

Fred Sanders reflects on the death of Paul Tillich -- liberal theologian, serial adulterer -- here. Sanders recounts:

After his death, [Tillich's wife Hannah] returns home and opens his locked drawers. “All the girls’ photos fell out, letters and poems, passionate appeal and disgust. Beside the drawers, which were supposed to contain his spiritual harvest, the books he had written and the unpublished manuscripts all lay in unprotected confusion. I was tempted to place between the sacred pages of his highly esteemed lifework those obscene signs of the real life . . . ."

If there could be placed between the sacred pages of our theological lifework the obscene signs of the real life, would there be much difference between Paul Tillich and us, really?

Noonan on the Presidents "Rubble"

2009-10-23T22:50:00.000-07:00

In a wonderfully-written article by Peggy Noonan (I've always liked her style), she explains why it's time for the President to "own" his lot in life. The take-away quote for me, however, is:

"...It is never a good sign when the president gets folksy, dropping his g's, because he is by nature not a folksy g-dropper but a coolly calibrating intellectual who is always trying to guess, as most politicians do, what normal people think. When Mr. Obama gets folksy he isn't narrowing his distance from his audience but underlining it. He shouldn't do this. "

The Beta-Male President

2009-10-12T22:07:00.000-07:00

This is an interesting analysis of President Obama's approach to global issues/leaders from the American Thinker. Author Greg Lewis uses the dog-meet-dog metaphor to help explain the logic in Obama's interactions on the world stage. It is very well thought-out and written. It is well worth the read, and fairly persuasive over all. Although it is the most logical conclusion to the argument, I did not expect the very last line of his piece:

"It's the height of folly to think that other nations won't be doing everything they can to make President Obama their bitch."

Type without a Brain

2009-10-11T19:12:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted a "funny comment" post in a while, but this one made me laugh out loud. It was at Hot Air on a post related to SNL's lame attempt to mock Obama for winning the Nobel Peace Prize. The commenter is quoting some else's comment and then giving his reply (and I did LOL):

I think it’s funny how Limbaugh thought that Bush should get the Peace Prize.

LOL

Spathi on October 11, 2009 at 4:26 PM

I think it’s funny how you can type without a brain.

LOL.

Tu Y Yo (You and I) by Juanes

2009-10-11T18:34:00.000-07:00

I have been listening to this song on the canned music at work for the last couple weeks or more and have combed the world (google) trying to find out who sang it. I finally found someone who spoke Spanish in the store and they told me it was Juanes. So I found the song on youtube and the translation, as well. I normally prefer a female voice, but there's something about the sound of this guys voice that I really enjoy. After listening to most of the songs on his album through Playlist.com, it seems World Market has used almost every song on the album in their stores. He really is that good. Enjoy.

Here is the loose translation:
You And I
You and I, we really love each other
and we've made a home together...you and me
The most beautiful time of my life were these years that I've spent with you, Sweetheart
We've lived so many things
We've had so many glories and defeats

Bonded for ever because we love each other
and we need each other
in the name of the love of all these years
I want to give you this song
You know this love was handmade
just the way good craftsmen work
With lots of pulse, care and dedication
I'm telling you...

Look how beautiful life can be now
let's make the most of the fact it toasts for us being together
because this house needs you to look it more beautiful
Let's make the most of the fact we love each other with no limits

You and me...
We love each other...
We desire each other...
Till death do us part, you and me...

You and me,
we really love each other
and we've made something valuable out of this love...you and me
Till the moment you've entered my life
I've never been so happy before, sweetheart
We've lived so many things together, so many glories and defeats, you and me

Bonded for ever because we love each other
and we need each other
in the name of the love of all these years
I want to give you this song
You know this love was handmade
just the way good craftsmen work
With lots of pulse, care and dedication
I'm telling you...

Look how beautiful life can be now
let's make the most of the fact it toasts for us being together
because this house needs you to look more beautiful
Let's make the most of the fact we love each other with no limits

You and me...
We love each other...
We desire each other...
Till death do us part, you and me...
From: http://www.lyricstranslate.com

The Social Organization of Denial

2009-10-02T23:44:00.000-07:00

As I was tracking through links for the last post, I came across this blog post at Well Sharp. The post summarizes a research paper written for The World Bank. The blogger opens her summary with this disclaimer:

[The paper is mainly focused on understanding what is happening in the rich (and high greenhouse gas emitting) countries of our world. It seems reasonable to assume that similar dynamics may be at play for the rich within less-developed nations, but that different dynamics are at work for the world's poor.]

I'm intrigued that it "seems reasonable to assume" that all rich people have similar denial issues regardless of the wealth of the country they come from. But let's not linger on this.

The real shocker to me was the following summary:

Thinking about the problem of climate change is deeply disturbing for most people – it generates a cascade of negative emotions that motivate us to processes of denial.
Our sense of ontological security is threatened: Large scale environmental problems such as climate change seem threaten the very conditions of our life and society. This feeling may be amorphous, but it is certainly unpleasant. (p.30)
We feel helpless: The problem often seems overwhelming, far too large to grapple with, and we don’t always have confidence that our governments and the world community can be relied upon to solve the problem. (p.30)
We feel guilty: We are aware that our privileged lifestyles and actions contribute to the problem, and that makes us feel bad. (pp.30-31)
We don’t want to feel like ‘a bad person” or a member of a ‘bad nation’: Individually and collectively, citizens of rich nations gain very real material benefits from their greenhouse gas polluting activities. We want to continue to believe in ourselves as good people. Engaging with climate change issues, and with climate change facts such as our failure to meet emission reduction targets, challenges that positive sense of self. (p.32) Clean-Green New Zealand, anyone?
It is difficult to link to daily life:“rather than [being] a problem we can touch and see for ourselves, climate change is a threat which must be interpreted for us through scientific expertise, using complex instrumentation. As a result, the environmental problem of contaminated water feels invisible to those who can easily afford to buy their water bottled.” (p.33)

I'll jump to the chase: Option #5 is the only real issue for me, being the wealthy man that I am. The other 4 options are actually laughable. But this is the thinking that the World Bank is now operating with. I'm speechless. Let me set the record straight - I don't feel guilty. I have no shame. I am not embarrassed. I don't think I come from a bad nation. None of this applies AT ALL.

There is not one hint that the wealthy people ARE informed and just don't buy it. Is it not possible that our denial comes from our reasoning abilities? No, of course not. And this is made clear from the next portion of the summary as follows:

Furthermore, talking about it with others is difficult, as for most people it falls outside social norms – it is not a popular activity to talk about matters that make people feel uncertain and guilty. And yet conversation is vital for the sharing of information and ideas, and the creation of collective meaning and the building of community, so this absence of talk about climate change leaves us in a position where in a sense “we don’t know how to know about it”. (p.28)

Really? I don't know how to know about Global Warming? I hear about it in the news, at public rallies, every company in my world is "going green" and I have no idea what they are talking about. I even have the internet. I'm curious how "conversation is vital for...the creation of collective meaning and building of community..." has anything to do with global warming. I guess the conversation I have, and the resulting community and meaning I get from it, must not be significant enough if I don't include the ideas of global warming. Now that I think about it, I really do feel so alone in this polluted world. Will someone help?

But the paper doesn't stop there.

Finally, there are a range political-economic factors that work as barriers to effective action, including:

1. The ability of the fossil fuel industry to influence government policy [and in countries less directly influenced by the industry, the influence major fossil fuel using industries and the general economic growth ideology]
2. The existence of climate change skepticism campaigns funded by fossil fuel interest groups
3. The lack of quality information about climate change in the mass media
4. The distortion of climate science as presented in the media due to the operation of “balance as bias” (pp.36-37)

I have no problem talking with people about such issues. I actually quite enjoy such lively discussions. But of course, the fossil fuel industry is the evil satan and has us all deceived or enslaved so we cannot break free from our bondage and see the world as it really is. Either that, or my "general economic growth ideology" prevents me from acknowledging it. I'm not sure which one it is.

Funny, I've never taken a dime of funding from any fossil fuel interest group (although I wouldn't refuse it if they offered it to me), and yet I still think the way I do. How is it possible? Truly a mystery.

I'm glad the World Bank has got this paper to explain it all. And now you know as well.

No Hockey Stick Here

2009-10-02T21:27:00.001-07:00

This chart shows two lines: The red one going up and the black one maintaining a level "bounce" across the page. This happens to reflect the graph Al Gore used in his "Inconvenient Truth" movie and the results of doing the tests over again (resulting in the black line).

There is an article in the UK Telegraph that explains how this black line came to be. It is an interesting story and worth clicking through the links, as well as an opposing view here.

There's quite a "dialog" about this review of the data that has produced these new results. Obviously, someone is wrong with their projections and there are consequences for being wrong (i.e. credibility, funding, the destruction of the planet, etc).

The "Believers" (in Man-made global warming, which the red "hockey stick" demonstrates) say,

"So along comes Steve McIntyre, self-styled slayer of hockey sticks, who declares without any evidence whatsoever that Briffa didn’t just reprocess the data from the Russians, but instead supposedly picked through it to give him the signal he wanted. These allegations have been made without any evidence whatsoever."

The "Deniers" (of Man-made Global Warming, which the black line validates) say,

"In a comment to the same post, I clearly stated my view that there was no crude cherrypicking of the type that Briffa accuses me of implying. I stated :

bender, I agree with your point. I've tried to steer a careful line here. If you think otherwise, can you give me particulars as I don't wish to unintentionally feed views that I don't hold. It is not my belief that Briffa crudely cherry picked. My guess is that the Russians selected a limited number of 200-400 year trees - that's what they say - a number that might well have been appropriate for their purpose and that Briffa inherited their selection - a selection which proved to be far from random and which, as you and I agree, falls vastly short of standards in the field for RCS chronology (as opposed to corridor or spline chronologies)."

Well, I guess us non-scientific people will just have to stand back and watch this food-fight continue. Again, my own bias is to default to the sceptic view. So if, as the Telegraph article explains, this new black line is a true result of the data being worked again, and is a valid use of the data that originally produced the "hockey stick", than maybe the world won't end before I die. That's what I'm hoping for, at least. Now if we could only find some climate scientists who were as certain as the economists we have around this country we'd be in great shape.

Post Office Jobs

2009-09-30T19:48:00.000-07:00

I thought only GM and the auto-worker's union did stuff like this. But I guess someone thought it was a good business practice for the US Postal Service as well.

I really don't understand how anyone can justify this. But that's what happens when you get a government job, I guess.

Humanity Undone

2009-09-25T23:05:00.000-07:00

On a recent trip I took, I had several hours in a hotel room to watch some tv. I don't own a tv, so this was an opportunity to channel surf and explore. I was honestly blown away by two different shows that I saw. I can't tell you the last time I felt something so strongly after watching a tv program. Maybe it could be compared to the feeling I had walking out of the movie theater after watching The Passion of Christ - dumbstruck, silent, amazed. But this time for very different reasons.

The two shows I watched were Hoarders and Half Ton Dad. I guess I always knew in my mind, and realized from personal experience, that humanity is lost and, left to our own, prone to self-destructive behavior. But there were limits to my imagination. Yes, there is Mardi Gras and all the debauchery you can think of with passions gone wild. But these two shows exposed the more subtle, almost benign means by which people can actually destroy their lives.

Considering that there are almost 3 million people classified as "Hoarders" and almost 7 million Americans are considered "Morbidly Obese", it is difficult to wrap my brain around these obsessions/compulsions. To watch the stories of a man who played football in high school, had 4 kids, and lived a fairly normal life balloon up to 1000 lbs in 7 years after his divorce is truly shocking. To say it is a sin is to miss the point. To say it is demonic is probably closer in that the enemy of our souls is known to seek every avenue to steal, kill, and destroy. He will do it "by any means necessary", including eating ourselves to death! At a point this surpasses the concept of gluttony, for sure. It is simply unexplainable to me. It all gave me a great sense of sadness at the lostness of people in our world.

Flag Burning 101

2009-09-25T21:03:00.000-07:00

Don't burn the flag flying in front of a VFW hall!

This guy learned the hard way. I think he got off easy.

Global Warming Videos

2009-09-25T20:36:00.000-07:00

Here's an interesting website/link that has 25 videos posted regarding the scam that is Man-Made Global Warming. I browsed through a few of them and thought it was worth at least a link. There's everything from documentaries, interviews, and newscasts. Enjoy.

Present from Obama

2009-09-22T21:11:00.001-07:00

The word "Present" honestly sums up the man, President Obama. This is true in several ways:
1) During the election it came out that he voted "Present" more than any other IL Senator. This can only be to avoid making difficult or politically risky decisions. It is the least courageous and most troubling aspect of the man.

2) Since he has taken office, he is constantly demanding that "Now is the time...." There is no better time than the PRESENT. And everything is critical. We must solve the financial crisis NOW. We must solve health care NOW. We must deal with global warming NOW. We must have a Palestinian/Israeli Peace NOW. Now is the time to do everything. There is no nuance, no prioritizing, no depth or complexity to life and global issues. Now is the time - let's get it done. It's as if in his world there is only now and everything is as equally pressing, important, significant, and doable. But this isn't reality. And this is proven by the fact that the Democrats can't even find agreement on a health care bill and the Palestinians and Israelis both were unimpressed with Obama's weak attempts to move them closer together. There is more than just declaring something must be done now in order to make something important or even to get movement toward progress.

3) And today I was reminded of another "Present" from Obama. It is so bizarre that he references so many things as if the world began when he became President. He has almost no recollection of even recent history - or at least his speeches give no indication that he is aware of it. It is as if the present year, hour, season is all there ever was. There is nothing before now and nothing after worth considering. Just focus on the present and we won't have to look back at campaign promises or possible consequences of present decisions. The present is all we have and all we need - according to Obama.

Well, all of these "presents" from Obama are quite disturbing.