Friday, September 7, 2012

The Master – reviewPaul Thomas Anderson's meditation on Scientology starring Joaquin Phoenix is an utterly absorbing psychological drama of marginal lives



Peter Bradshaw writes from the UK

on 2 September 2012

Paul Thomas Anderson is a film-maker from whom special things are expected, and that's what he has given us – something special. This is Anderson's meditation on the origins of Scientology and the career of L Ron Hubbard, and perhaps every kind of cult and guru following, which he portrays not as sinister exactly, but as the poignant symptom of loneliness and uneducated intelligence.


It's an arresting and utterly absorbing psychological drama of marginal lives, an emotional history of charlatanism and gimcrack philosophy, a world of snakeoil truth salesmen offering self-medication of the spirit, all set in a postwar America realised with superb flair and confidence, utterly without cliché. Without preamble, we are plunged into the tortured inner world of its lead character, whose confused sense of pain, destiny and dread is summoned up by the orchestral score by Jonny Greenwood. It has the feel of something by Steinbeck or DeLillo.



This, of course, is not the first time Anderson has dramatised a cult leader: there was the charismatic seduction coach Frank Mackey in Magnolia, played by Tom Cruise. Watching this, I wondered how Cruise might have played the lead role here. What Cruise will make of this film is anyone's guess.



It has a stunning lead performance from Joaquin Phoenix, a performance quite different from and in advance of anything he has given us before, an achievement that puts him on a par with the young Pacino or De Niro. Phoenix plays Freddie Quell, a disturbed young man discharged from the US Navy in 1945 after treatment for psychiatric disorder. Freddie is an alcoholic, his face gaunt and haunted, agonised and twisted with his own swallowed misery; he is addicted to the poisonous moonshine he brews himself, a transient who stumbles from job to job, and then finally, through the mysterious workings of fate and zen – as he is given to understand – the hobo Freddie meets his redeemer. He drunkenly attempts to stow away, perhaps with the vague hope of asking for work, on a grand motor-yacht apparently rented for a wedding reception.



The person in charge is Lancaster Dodd, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, the cult leader solemnly referred to as "The Master" by his acolytes, a puce-faced public speaker who believes in curing physical and psychological ills by rooting out the previous selves and interplanetary interlopers from millions of years ago, through confrontational interrogations and therapies which are like hypnosis or recovered memory. The Master is secretly amused by Quell, gets a taste for his hooch, and decides to make of him a special project, a perfect case for his enlightened treatment. Freddie is the Fool to his Lear, or Peter (or maybe Judas) to his Jesus. With the encouragement of Dodd's zealous wife Mary Sue (Amy Adams), and with Dodd's own tacit consent, Freddie beats up rationalists who try to disrupt their meetings, or even followers who are insufficiently enthusiastic. But Freddie can never forget the emotional pain that brought him to this pass, and Anderson suggests that Dodd's tragedy is that his friendship with Freddie can never work out, and even that poor, muddled Freddie has a certain innocence, something which can't be seduced.



Anderson conjures a strange and dysfunctional world, a world that looks like 1950s America, but perhaps more like some alien planet that happens to look exactly like ours, a world pregnant with disturbing secrets. The setpieces and extended scenes are magnificently realised, arresting and bizarre. Freddie the seaman mumbling and masturbating on a beach, Freddie the department store photographer, Freddie the field hand, Freddie the bum. His tattered life passes before us, in its various phases, as in a frieze, stumbling towards his destiny and then onward, leaving even that behind. When he is being broken down by Dodd, the scenes are extended, happening almost in real time: it is discomfiting and bizarre. Hoffman's performance is not quite as distinctive as Phoenix's – and he arguably displays some mannerisms from previous movies – but he is utterly plausible as the leader and pseudo-scientific thinker, somewhere between Mussolini and Dale Carnegie.



The movie takes its own place in what Michel Foucault called the History of Unreason – the various forms of madness that are not included in the official history of the western enlightenment. These are people who sign up to crazy worldviews, and eagerly board Dodd's wandering ship of fools, and yet their emotional lives are real – and not foolish. It is a movie that may alienate and exasperate some, but its audacity, its formal daring and Joaquin Phoenix's performance, make it simply unmissable.

AMERICA you are NOT the Greatest Nation on earth anymore, get over it

CORRECTION: WE ARE NOT THE GREATEST NATION ON EARTH, STOP THIS INCESSANT PROPAGANDA, AMERICA. re: Obama "we keep our eyes fixed on that distant horizon knowing that providence is with us and that we are surely blessed to be citizens of the greatest nation on earth.'' USA IS NOT THE GREATEST NATION ONE EARTH NOW. GET OVER IT AMERICA.

Obama thinks the USA is the greatest nation on earth? What propaganda do Americans swallow? Sorry but it just aint true.

OBAMA SAID and it's tragic that this kind of propaganda brainwashing still goes on. America
is a third rate country, Wake up friends.

''America, I never said this journey would be easy, and I won't promise that now. Yes, our path is harder, but it leads to a better place, Heaven in fact, because alone of all


antions on Earth, God loves the USA the best. It's in the Bible.. (Cheers.) Yes, our road is longer, but we travel to Jesus together. (Cheers.)



We don't turn back. We leave no one behind as we ascend to Heaven. (Cheers.) We pull each other up. (Cheers, applause.) We draw strength from our victories. (Cheers, applause.) And we learn from our mistakes. But we keep our eyes fixed on that distant horizon knowing that Providence with a capital P is with the USA and only the USA and that we are surely blessed to be citizens of the greatest nation on earth, bar none, greater than the UK, greater than France, greater than China, greater than Germany, greater than any other Godforsaken nation on Earth, so help me God..



Thank you, May our Christian God bless you even if you are NOT Christian, my Jewish pals and Muslims friends, and God bless these United States the GREATEST

NATION ON EARTH, get that CHINA? GOT THAT EUROTRASH? GOT THAT REST OF THE GODFORSAKEN WORLD?. (Cheers, applause.)''

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Cardinal Dolan's Rewritten Prayer at DNC convention forget to mention, ALLAH, why is that? and he PRAYS saying JESUS WAS REVEALED TO ALL AMERICANS? Not true! SHame on the Catholic Church for giving us DOlan

Cardinal Tomothy DOlan left out ALLAH in praeyr to God or Abrakam and Jesus , WHY?
- http://northwardho.blogspot.tw/2012/09/cardinal-dolans-rewritte-prayer-at-gop.html

and he addressed PRAYER to JESUS who is NOT all of America's savior, only those who follow him

SHAME ON HIM FOR being an antisemite!

Cardinal Dolan's Rewritten Prayer at DNC convention forget to mention, ALLAH, why is that? and he PRAYS saying JESUS WAS REVEALED TO ALL AMERICANS? Not true! SHame on the Catholic Church for giving us DOlan






GET ME REWRITE for ALL AMERICA NOT JUST XIANS



A Prayer for Our Country at the Republican National Convention

Here is the prayer that I SHOULD HAVE offered at the Republican National Convention:



With firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, let us pray:



Almighty God, father of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jesus, revealed to SOME of us NOT ALL , so powerfuly in your ALLEGED SOn, Jesus Christ, AND ALLAH we beg your continued blessings on this sanctuary of freedom, and on all of those who proudly call America home. We ask your benediction upon those yet to be born, and on those who are about to see you at the end of this life. Bless those families whose ancestors arrived on these shores generations ago, as well as those families that have come recently, to build a better future while weaving their lives into the rich tapestry of America.



We lift up to your loving care those afflicted by the recent storms and drought and fire. We ask for the grace to stand in solidarity with all those who suffer. May we strive to include your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, in the production and prosperity of a people so richly blessed.



Oh God of wisdom, justice, and might, we ask your guidance for those who govern us, and on those who would govern us: the president and vice-president, the Congress, the Supreme Court, and on all those who seek to serve the common good by seeking public office, especially Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan. Make them all worthy to serve you by serving our country. Help them remember that the only just government is the government that serves its citizens rather than itself.



Almighty God, who gives us the sacred and inalienable gift of life, we thank you as well for the singular gift of liberty. Renew in all of our people a respect for religious freedom in full, that first most cherished freedom. Make us truly free, by tethering freedom to truth and ordering freedom to goodness. Help us live our freedom in faith, hope, and love; prudently, and with justice; courageously, and in a spirit of moderation. Enkindle in our hearts a new sense of responsibility for freedom’s cause. And make us ever-grateful for all those who, for more than two centuries, have given their lives in freedom’s defense; we commend their noble souls to your eternal care, as even now we beg your mighty hand upon our beloved men and women in uniform.



May we know the truth of your creation, respecting the laws of nature and nature’s God, and not seek to replace it with idols of our own making. Give us the good sense not to cast aside the boundaries of righteous living you first inscribed in our hearts even before inscribing them on tablets of stone. May you mend our every flaw, confirming our soul in self-control, our liberty in law.



We pray for all those who seek honest labor, as we thank you for the spirit of generosity to those in need with which you so richly blessed this nation.



We beseech your blessing on all who depart from here this evening, and on all those, in every land, who seek to conduct their lives in freedom.



Most of all, Almighty God, we thank you for the great gift of our beloved country.



For we are indeed “one nation under God.”



And “in God we trust.”



Dear God bless America. You who live and reign, forever and ever,



Amen!

Cardinal Dolan's Rewritte Prayer at GOP and DNC conventions forget to mention, ALLAH, why is that?

Cardinal Dolan's Rewritte Prayer at GOP and DNC conventions forget to mention, ALLAH, why is that?


GET ME REWRITE for ALL AMERICA NOT JUST XIANS



A Prayer for Our Country at the Republican National Convention

Here is the prayer that I SHOULD HAVE offered at the Republican National Convention:



With firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, let us pray:



Almighty God, father of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jesus, AND ALLAH we beg your continued blessings on this sanctuary of freedom, and on all of those who proudly call America home. We ask your benediction upon those yet to be born, and on those who are about to see you at the end of this life. Bless those families whose ancestors arrived on these shores generations ago, as well as those families that have come recently, to build a better future while weaving their lives into the rich tapestry of America.



We lift up to your loving care those afflicted by the recent storms and drought and fire. We ask for the grace to stand in solidarity with all those who suffer. May we strive to include your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, in the production and prosperity of a people so richly blessed.



Oh God of wisdom, justice, and might, we ask your guidance for those who govern us, and on those who would govern us: the president and vice-president, the Congress, the Supreme Court, and on all those who seek to serve the common good by seeking public office, especially Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan. Make them all worthy to serve you by serving our country. Help them remember that the only just government is the government that serves its citizens rather than itself.



Almighty God, who gives us the sacred and inalienable gift of life, we thank you as well for the singular gift of liberty. Renew in all of our people a respect for religious freedom in full, that first most cherished freedom. Make us truly free, by tethering freedom to truth and ordering freedom to goodness. Help us live our freedom in faith, hope, and love; prudently, and with justice; courageously, and in a spirit of moderation. Enkindle in our hearts a new sense of responsibility for freedom’s cause. And make us ever-grateful for all those who, for more than two centuries, have given their lives in freedom’s defense; we commend their noble souls to your eternal care, as even now we beg your mighty hand upon our beloved men and women in uniform.



May we know the truth of your creation, respecting the laws of nature and nature’s God, and not seek to replace it with idols of our own making. Give us the good sense not to cast aside the boundaries of righteous living you first inscribed in our hearts even before inscribing them on tablets of stone. May you mend our every flaw, confirming our soul in self-control, our liberty in law.



We pray for all those who seek honest labor, as we thank you for the spirit of generosity to those in need with which you so richly blessed this nation.



We beseech your blessing on all who depart from here this evening, and on all those, in every land, who seek to conduct their lives in freedom.



Most of all, Almighty God, we thank you for the great gift of our beloved country.



For we are indeed “one nation under God.”



And “in God we trust.”



Dear God bless America. You who live and reign, forever and ever,



Amen!

Just a note about the Governor Crist speech today at the DNC:

Just a note about the Governor Crist speech today at the DNC: The CNN

International news crawl at bottom of my screen in Taiwan read when he

first got up to speal "Governor Christ of Florida"...I kid you not! I

was corrected in like one nanotenth of a second because just seconds

later the next image read "Governor Crist of Florida"....-- this is an

example of what newsrooms now call "an atomic typo" -- a typo so small

that even spellcheck cannot "See" it....it needs the human touch.

Fixed now.



http://atomictypo.blogspot.com

10 rhetorical strategies that made Bill Clinton’s DNC speech effective

10 rhetorical strategies that made Bill Clinton’s DNC speech effective




by Mallary Jean Tenore



Published Sep. 6, 2012 2:53 pm

Updated Sep. 6, 2012 4:21 pm



Bill Clinton’s speech at the Democratic National Convention has gotten a lot of attention — and understandably so.



While Factcheck.org called it “a fact-checker’s nightmare” and criticized it for being too long, there’s something about Clinton’s speech that made it stand out: good writing.



There are several factors that made the writing in the speech so strong. Here are a few of them.



Contrast



Clinton strengthened many of his points by setting up contrasts — about President Barack Obama and about the differences between the Republican and Democratic parties.



•“I want to nominate a man who’s cool on the outside – but who burns for America on the inside.”

•“If you want a winner-take- all, you’re-on-your-own society, you should support the Republican ticket. But if you want a country of shared opportunities and shared responsibility, a we’re-all-in-this-together society, you should vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden.”

Repetition



Clinton repeated a few different refrains, words and phrases throughout his speech. The repetition made these parts of his speech more memorable.



•“I want to nominate a man who’s cool on the outside.”

•“I want a man who believes with no doubt that we can build a new American Dream economy…”

•“I want a man who had the good sense to marry Michelle Obama.”

•“I want Barack Obama to be the next president of the United States.”

•“One of the main reasons we ought to re-elect President Obama is that he is still committed to constructive cooperation. Look at his record. Look at his record.”

•“And if you will renew the president’s contract, you will feel it. You will feel it.”

Inclusive language





Clinton often used the pronouns “we,” “us” and “y’all,” and the phrase “my fellow Americans.” The language made his message inclusive and emphasized partnership over partisanship.



•“We Democrats — we think the country works better with a strong middle class…”

•In Tampa — in Tampa — did y’all watch their convention?”

•“My fellow Americans, all of us in this grand hall and everybody watching at home, when we vote in this election, we’ll be deciding what kind of country we want to live in.”

•“You see, we believe that ‘we’re all in this together’ is a far better philosophy than ‘you’re on your own.’”

•“My fellow Americans, if that is what you want, if that is what you believe, you must vote and you must re-elect President Barack Obama.”

The “rule of three”



Writers often rely on the rule of three to add rhythm to their writing and emphasize points they want to make. Clinton relied on it several times throughout his speech.



•“We think the country works better with a strong middle class, with real opportunities for poor folks to work their way into it with a relentless focus on the future, with business and government actually working together to promote growth and broadly share prosperity.”

•“Now, are we where we want to be today? No. Is the president satisfied? Of course not. But are we better off than we were when he took office? … The answer is yes.”

•“The arithmetic tells us, no matter what they say, one of three things is about to happen.” (He then goes on to explain these three things, starting off each point with the words, “one,” “two,” “three.”)

The power of one





Words hold weight when they stand alone. Two words in particular stuck out during Clinton’s speech — “zero” and “arithmetic.” They were powerful all on their own because Clinton paused before saying them, enunciated them and repeated them.



•“So here’s another job score. President Obama: plus 4 1/2 million. Congressional Republicans: zero.”

•“Here – here’s another job score: Obama, 250,000; Romney … zero.”

•“What new ideas did we bring to Washington? I always give a one-word answer: Arithmetic.”

•“It was a highly inconvenient thing for them in our debates that I was just a country boy from Arkansas, and I came from a place where people still thought two and two was four. It’s arithmetic.”Humor



It’s not easy to incorporate humor into writing, especially when talking about heavy subjects. But Clinton managed to get a few laughs. The jokes emphasized his points, and balanced the seriousness of his speech.



•“Now, when Congressman Ryan looked into that TV camera and attacked President Obama’s Medicare savings as, quote, ‘the biggest, coldest power play,’ I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.”

•“You got to give one thing: It takes some brass to attack a guy for doing what you did.”

Instructional language





Clinton often instructed viewers to listen to what he was saying. Instructional language is especially effective on TV when people might be distracted and in longer speeches because it helps redirect our attention if it’s been diverted. (Clinton’s speech, by the way, was nearly 6,000 words long.)



•“Now you’re having a good time, but this is getting serious, and I want you to listen.”

•“Listen to me, now. No president — no president, not me, not any of my predecessors, no one could have fully repaired all the damage that he found in just four years.”

•“So here’s another job score. Are you listening in Michigan and Ohio and across the country?”

•“And listen to this. Listen to this. … Now, finally, listen to this.”

Explanatory language



Like good explanatory journalism, Clinton’s speech made complicated subject matters easy to understand. He was conversational when talking about issues such as health care reform, and used the phrases “here’s what it does” and “here’s what really happened.”



•“Now, look. Here’s the challenge he faces and the challenge all of you who support him face.”

•“So the president’s student loan reform is more important than ever. Here’s what it does – here’s what it does.”

•“Let’s take a look at what’s actually happened so far, when talking about healthcare.”

•“Now what does this mean? What does this mean? Think of it. It means no one will ever have to drop out of college again for fear they can’t repay their debt.”

•“Look, here’s what really happened. You be the judge. Here’s what really happened.”

Questions and answers





Clinton didn’t just pose questions; he answered them. And like a good journalist, he asked a lot of “why” questions. His answers conveyed confidence and hope.



•“Now, why is this true? Why does cooperation work better than constant conflict? Because nobody’s right all the time, and a broken clock is right twice a day.”

•“Now, why do I believe it? I’m fixing to tell you why. I believe it because…”

•“Are we better off because President Obama fought for health care reform? You bet we are.”

The end





Strong writing ties together beginnings and ends. Clinton began his speech with the refrain “I want.” He ended it with the same verb, but placed the emphasis on the American people: “If you want America — if you want every American to vote and you think it is wrong to change voting procedures — just to reduce the turnout of younger, poorer, minority and disabled voters — you should support Barack Obama.”



Similarly, at the beginning of his speech, Clinton said Obama is “a man who burns for America on the inside.” At the end, he returned to the fiery analogy, saying: “We come through every fire a little stronger and a little better.”



ATOMIC TYPO ALERT -- Governor Crist CNN

ATOMIC TYPO ALERT -- Governor Crist CNN


crawl read when he

first got up to speal "Governor Christ of Florida -- shoulda read Gov Crist.....OOPS...on international TV

http://atomictypo.blogspot.com

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Is E-Reading Bad for Your Brain?

Is E-Reading Bad for Your Brain?


September 4, 2012

Tags: Dan Bloom, Dr. Anne Mangen, Maryanne Wolf, Proust and the Squid, screen reading, screening, Stavanger University, Taiwan, The China Post



By Dan Eldridge, TELEREAD

Dan Bloom is a freelance writer and occasional TeleRead contributor who’s been living in Taiwan for more than 15 years; he’s also an author and a climate activist. Over the weekend, Bloom sent me a link to his most recent piece for The China Post, and because it covers a fascinating and potentially important e-reading topic I haven’t read much about, I wanted to share it here.



The meat of Bloom’s article starts in the fourth paragraph, where he proposes the question of “whether reading on screens is the same experience, in terms of brain chemistry, as reading text on paper surfaces.” Here’s more from that same article:



“This is an important issue that the tech industry here in Taiwan and in global society as a whole has so far not faced up to. What I believe—and what leading experts in the field such as Anne Mangen in Norway and Maryanne Wolf at Tufts University also suggest—is that the fundamental differences between paper-reading and screen-reading might be so big as to light up different regions of ‘the reading brain,’ and that these differences need to be studied more, especially with (f)MRi and PET brain scan research.”




As far as his own opinion is concerned, Bloom has this to say about the subject:



“I have a hunch, based on a lifetime of reading on ‘paper’ and just 15 years of reading off ‘screens,’ that reading on paper surfaces is vastly superior in terms of brain chemistry for three important issues: the brain’s processing of the text being read, the brain’s retention of the information, and critical analysis of the information.”




And while Bloom certainly doesn’t claim to be a scientist or doctor of any sort himself, a number of professionals who’ve said essentially the same thing have popped up in the media over the past few years. The Tufts University child development professor Maryanne Wolf, for instance, covered the issue at length in her 2008 book, Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain. (Which, appropriately enough, does not appear to be available as an e-book!)



As for myself: I can’t honestly say I’ve formed an opinion one way or the other just yet. I haven’t read Wolf’s book, nor have I read any studies on the issue that may have appeared in academic journals. What I can say, though, is that I will surely be seriously disappointed if any of these hypothetical theories turn out to be even somewhat accurate. I’m an anxious person by nature, and I can only imagine how guilty I’d feel reading an e-book that was also available in print, and knowing that my level of retention was suffering because of my preferred method of content delivery.



And yet, even if it is one day proven that paper-reading is brain-chemically superior to screen reading, I suspect the increased level of its superiority will be so small and slight as to be inconsequential. But then again, what do I know about the brain? (Answer: Not much.)



To explore the issue a bit further …



1.Start with this 2009 feature from the Christian Science Monitor …

2.… which was mentioned in this TeleRead post by former editor Paul Biba. (Read this post’s comments, as well.)

3.You’ll also want to read the Q&A interview Dan Bloom conducted three years ago with Dr. Anne Mangen, who at the time was a reading specialist at the National Centre for Reading Research and Education at Norway’s Stavanger University.

4.From Txchnologist, check out this thoughtful Q&A interview with Dr. Mangen, which was published in December 2011.

* * *



Update: Because I think it’s vitally important to give equal face time to both sides in a debate such as this one, I wanted to include a couple paragraphs I just noticed from Dan Bloom’s aforementioned 2009 interview with Dr. Anne Mangen. In the quotes that follow, Dr. Mangen seems to be suggesting that screen-reading and paper-reading are simply different experiences, as opposed to one method being better than the other. Personally, that’s an opinion I can get behind.



From the blog of Dan Bloom:



“When I mentioned to Dr Mangen that my concept behind using the word ‘screening’ to try to capture the fact that the experience of reading on a screen is fundamentally different from reading on paper—not worse or better, just different—she agreed, saying: ‘Yes, the experience of reading on a screen is different from reading on paper; although in what ways and to what extent must be specified in each instance, situation and purpose of reading.’



“But she added: ‘However, whether reading on a screen is better or worse than reading on paper depends on a range of variables—the reader’s prior experience with both formats, the purpose and situation of the reading act, the type and genre of text, the disposition of the reader, and other variables.’”


Monday, September 3, 2012

For Chinese 'United Front' commubnist infiltration sqaud, Seattle's cool

For Chinese United Front squad, Seattle's cool

City's advertising campaign is translated in hopes of attracting business, tourism

[This screen grab here shows the 30-second Scenic Seattle commercial aimed at Chinese audiences.]
GOOGLE IT http://www.google.com


You can translate "dancing in the streets" into Chinese characters, but it's hard to put across the entire concept. And "come alive under the spell" is darned near impossible.



What flows so seamlessly in a 33-second Scenic Seattle commercial picks up a few rough edges when you try to express it in captions for people who speak Mandarin or Cantonese. If only a few more tourists from Shanghai leave footprints at Pike Street Market, though — or if a factory rises in Oroville — the effort will have been more than worthwhile, even though Chinese United Front spies might be behind the thing.



As for "come alive under the spell of Scenic Seattle ," says Washington State University professor Mao DahGer, who has lived in Seattle for 25 years yet never taken an English name and maintains close contacts with the Chinese Communist Party and severeal top universities in Communist China, the closest he could get was "'everyone can have a lively life,' or something like that," plus a few words about a magic charm. But the essence of the message comes through:



Wherever the heck Seattle is, it's pretty. And wet. And pretty cool.



Mao, born in Shanghai, teaches public speaking and specializes in news writing. He's been here since 1987 as a member of China's United Front squad that aims to
undermine USA power and make it easier for China to take over the world and he has developed a keen interest in Seattle tourism campaigns. He has never taken a English name and travels back to China as much as possible to stay in contact with his handlers. Many of his trips are paid for by USA taxpayers!



Yes, Scenic Seattle . Say Yes to Scenic Seattle . Great People, Great Times. Now the lyrical Scenic Seattle , with David Unner providing the understated narration for a series invented by the Advert-EL office in Seattle.



When he lectures to trade conferences and tourism bureaus in China on Chinese government grants funded by the United Front of the party, Mao says, he'll show an ad, explain it and then show it again. Audiences cheer madly, or whatever Chinese crowds do to express wild approval.



Oddly, however, it never occurred to him to provide subtitles. That idea came from Billy Smith of Union Lake , a former UW teacher who looks at the fine print on the screen and sees good things for the Seattle economy.

Indulging in an interest

Most of us picture China as a good place to eat appetizing sea creatures and buy cool toys. Smith pictures one-fifth of all humanity, some of it driving donkey carts and some of it flying first-class to lavish vacations.



At 75, he's been a regular traveler there for a quarter-century. He and Mao, longtime acquaintances, were chatting recently about one of Mao's projects when Smith suggested adding a little something to the Scenic Seattle spots.



The Chinese government does not allow access to YouTube due to censorshop concerns and fear of freedom of speech issues, but there's an equivalent called youku.com where more than half a billion Internet users can now view footage of Scenic Seattle , Pike Street Market and any number of places in between.



A recent UW master's graduate named Qi Chin, also a United Front member of the party, and now working in video production in Boston, handled the technical end of the captions. She and Mao provided the translations, rushing the commercials into place a few weeks ago.



China to invest in Seattle.



They set up one youku.com channel for Scenic Seattle and another for anything else promoting Seattle, be it from cities, counties or eastern towns.



"China is going to invest a trillion dollars over the next decade," says Smith, and it might as well spend some of that on Seattle blueberries, apples and technology. "So what if the communists take over, their United Front strategy is well planned so be it."



"We need to make sure China is not the bogeyman," he continues, and view it instead as 1.6 billion people eager to create jobs here. Or maybe it could be both bogeyman and benefactor.



Nearly 1 million Chinese tourists visited the United States in 2011, and high ed has become a growth industry; Commie China sends even more students abroad than India.



Smith, who owns a China-centered advertising company, talks about making sure "China's rise does not come at our demise."



That would be a waste. Like the translation says, it's better if everyone can have a lovely life. Or something like that.

Saturday, September 1, 2012

What Clint Eastwood really said about Obama telling Romney to go fuck himself

CLINT: What was that you said? You want me to tell him what?

CHAIR: .....

CLINT: I can't tell him to go fuck himself! He couldn't do that even if he wanted to!

CHAIR .....

Friday, August 31, 2012

2012 RNC - Ken Hutchins Prayer

2012 RNC-Ken Hutchins Prayer

UPDATE, the good Ken Hutchins wrote to me today by email and said among other things:

Dear Dan


Read your comments on the prayer I gave at the RNC. By the way, I take no offense at any of your observations. I did find them interesting and respect your right to opine. Without meaning to sound too defensive I do have some observations of my own.

First of all, I was not asked to give an ecumenical or non-ecumenical type of prayer. I was not asked to give a "Mormon" prayer. I was just asked to pray.

Acknowledging the dozens or hundreds of other types of religion in my prayer, Christian and non- Christian, would have been somewhat awkward and so I did not mention any specific church although

I agree mentioning Christ perhaps offended some who do not believe in him or perhaps do not believe in any organized religion at all.

Delivering a prayer without offending someone somewhere is probably beyond my capacity and would perhaps offend what I sincerely believe in.

I guess labeling me anti-semetic (sic) was confusing to me as well. You really don't know me at all.


By the way - - Did any of the other 5 or so prayers offered as benedictions or concluding prayers even happen to mention the word "Mormon"? Did any of them publicly acknowledge all of the worlds religions and atheists? And if not, did you also post similar feelings about any of the others who offered those prayers? NONE OF THE OTHERS PRAYED IN THE NAME OF THEIR OWN SPECIFIC PROPHETS THEY WAY YOU DID KEN. THAT IS MY POINT HERE. -- DAN

Best regards to you - I am,

Ken Hutchins 


see his prayer text here:
at which my 10 messages and comments were DELETED by the GATEKEEPERS
of the MORMON FAITH, who are afraid of what i said there and here:


2171 hits so far


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMohy7goBtg





2012 RNC-Ken Hutchins Prayer

The evening started with an invocation from Ken Hutchins, a 71-year-old Gospelly-antisemitic, retired police chief who replaced Romney as the president the LDS Church's Boston Massachusetts Stake. And who himself was converted to Mormomi religion by door knockers from the LDS church when he was in his 20s and readily available to be brainwashed and mind controlled. They did it. He joined.









Sadly, Hutchins is battling lymphoma, and is recovering from chemotherapy treatments that put his ability to travel to Tampa for the convention in doubt up until the last minute. So we wish him well and hope he recovers. He is a good man. But very misguided, intellectually and spiritually.









He walked in steadily, if slowly, to the podium, and with a strong voice he opened the convention's final session with a prayer that was at once decidedly antisemitic and antiMuslim and antiBuddhist Christian (with its "Lord's Prayer" structure, its politically incorrect reference to the exclusivistic and triumphalistic Alleged Atonement of the Alleged Jesus Christ and its closure in the name of the Alleged Jesus Christ) and distinctly Angel Mormoni (with references to "the gift of the Holy Ghost, the testator of truth" -- WTF? -- and to the ability to worship "according to the dictates of our own conscience").









Well, that's nice, Ken, the ability to worship according to our own personal dicatates. Cool. Then why not use the prayer to be INCLUSIVE of all the people of the USA? But no, you prayed in a very public place televsied on Tv to all the world in a deeply divisive and antisemitic way. You did not include Jews in your prayer sir. Nor did you include Muslims or Sihks or Jains or Buddhists or Shintoists or Bahai's. Shame on you, sir. Shame on America. See why the rest of the world hates you, America? It's because of prayers like the one Ken delivered.















In this sense, Ken erred terrribly and he is a shame on America's face to all America and the rest of the world. Jesus is not the God of America, He is just



one god among many that Americans worship, according to the dictates of their own conscience. Why didn't KEN HUTCHINS allow for that in his prayer? Because he is an antisemite of the Gospels' brainwashing, and also an AntiMuslim and an Anti-Buddhist. Wake up, America. Jesus does not exist for all people. He is just one god among many in the world.









==========



THESE ARE THE COMMENTS ThAT THE VIDEO ABOVE REMOVED AS PART OF MORMON CENSORSHIP:









1. Sorry to say but Mr Hutchins is a basically under-educated, convert















to Mormonism from door knocking "souldiers" of Mormoni, and he never









really understood what reality is. He is a mere brainwashed dummy.









Good man, good heart, but dumb. Witness his antisemitic prayer!



























2. repeat: in church fine. But in public, one should NEVER pray this









way. We are multi ethnic multi spiritual multi religions nation. Yes









we are one nation UNDER GOD, yes, but we are NOT one nation under









Christ. This is wrong to say in public and a shame on Ken for doing









this slap in the face of all God loving Non-Chrsitians in the USa.









see?





















3. Hutchins IN A VERY UNAMERICAN and EXCLuSiVISITic and triumphalistic









prayer for Christians Only it appears , also thanked “thee, Father,









for the healing gifts of the atonement, of thy Son, Jesus Christ, and









his resurrection. We know it is by and through these sacred offerings









that we, thy children, can be cleansed and made worthy to return to









thee.” THIS PRAYER IS ONLY FOR CHRISTIANS. IT SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN









SPOKE AT A NATIONAL EVEnT. GET IT?





















4. Hutchins IN A VERY UNAMERICAN EXCLSUVISIT prayer also thanked “thee,









Father, for the healing gifts of the atonement, of thy Son, Jesus









Christ, and his resurrection. We know it is by and through these









sacred offerings that we, thy children, can be cleansed and made









worthy to return to thee.” THIS PRAYER IS ONLY FOR CHRISTIANS. IT









SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN SPOKE AT A NATIONAL EVEnT. YUCK . same on you









Ken! What a damning recitial of Christian antisemitism! Christian









antiMuslimism,



























5. again, my fellow Americans, listen to me, KEN was wrong to say "we









thank thee father for the healing atonement of thy son Jesus Christ"









-- NOT in a public prayer for the ears of all Americans, as Jesus is









NOT everyone's savior, not mine, not all the Jews in the USa, not all









the Muslims in the USa, not all the Buddhists in the USa, if you do









not get what i am saying, America is a sick puppy; JESUS is not









everyone 's savior. Wake up Mitt and smell reality. How do you think









this plays overseas?





















6. This was a terrible antisemitic and antiMuslim and antiBuddhist









prayer, and antiAmerican as well. I will tell you why. Ken made a big









mistake praying in public to his note HIS savior jesus h christ. Jesus









is not everyone's savior and a public prayer at the GOP con should not









be given in one particular savior's name or one god's name. America is









a sick sick country and Ken and Mitt are reasons why. they think THEIR









religion superior to ALL others. SICK







Ken Hutchins delivers antisemitic prayer at GOP convention

2012 RNC-Ken Hutchins Prayer

see his prayer text here: at which my 10 messages and comments were DELETED by the GATEKEEPERS
of the MORMON FAITH, who are afraid of what i said there and here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMohy7goBtg

with its "Lord's Prayer"


structure, Ken Hitchins prayer at the GOP shindig was good and heartfelt, but in a public place and in a public

prayer where non Christians are also praying, it is WRONG to invoke Jesus this way and words Ken used such as

"the

gift of the Holy Ghost, the testator of truth". Nobody but nobody outside Mormon circles knows what testator of truth is!

And not everyone at the GOP even was Christian, some were Jews, God forbid! and Buddhists and Sihks, and they do not

believe in any holy ghost or Jesus or Christ, so better to pray in a generic way for ALL AMERICA, not just the Christian-elect

who go to Heaven while all non-Christians are condemed to Hell. Is that what dear Ken meant? Shame on him!
UPDATE, the good Ken Hutchins wrote to me today by email and said among other things:








Dear Dan











Read your comments on the prayer I gave at the RNC. By the way, I take no offense at any of your observations. I did find them interesting and respect your right to opine. Without meaning to sound too defensive I do have some observations of my own.









First of all, I was not asked to give an ecumenical or non-ecumenical type of prayer. I was not asked to give a "Mormon" prayer. I was just asked to pray.







Acknowledging the dozens or hundreds of other types of religion in my prayer, Christian and non- Christian, would have been somewhat awkward and so I did not mention any specific church although







I agree mentioning Christ perhaps offended some who do not believe in him or perhaps do not believe in any organized religion at all.







Delivering a prayer without offending someone somewhere is probably beyond my capacity and would perhaps offend what I sincerely believe in.









I guess labeling me anti-semetic (sic) was confusing to me as well. You really don't know me at all.















By the way - - Did any of the other 5 or so prayers offered as benedictions or concluding prayers even happen to mention the word "Mormon"? Did any of them publicly acknowledge all of the worlds religions and atheists? And if not, did you also post similar feelings about any of the others who offered those prayers? NONE OF THE OTHERS PRAYED IN THE NAME OF THEIR OWN SPECIFIC PROPHETS THEY WAY YOU DID KEN. THAT IS MY POINT HERE. -- DAN









Best regards to you - I am,









Ken Hutchins




2012 RNC-Ken Hutchins Prayer

The evening started with an invocation from Ken Hutchins, a 71-year-old Gospelly-antisemitic, retired police chief who replaced Romney as the president the LDS Church's Boston Massachusetts Stake. And who himself was converted to Mormomi religion by door knockers from the LDS church when he was in his 20s and readily available to be brainwashed and mind controlled. They did it. He joined.

 Sadly, Hutchins is battling lymphoma, and is recovering from chemotherapy treatments that put his ability to travel to Tampa for the convention in doubt up until the last minute. So we wish him well and hope he recovers. He is a good man. But very misguided, intellectually and spiritually.

He walked in steadily, if slowly, to the podium, and with a strong voice he opened the convention's final session with a prayer that was at once decidedly antisemitic and antiMuslim and antiBuddhist Christian (with its "Lord's Prayer" structure, its politically incorrect reference to the exclusivistic and triumphalistic Alleged Atonement of the Alleged Jesus Christ and its closure in the name of the Alleged Jesus Christ) and distinctly Angel Mormoni (with references to "the gift of the Holy Ghost, the testator of truth" -- WTF? -- and to the ability to worship "according to the dictates of our own conscience").

Well, that's nice, Ken, the ability to worship according to our own personal dicatates. Cool. Then why not use the prayer to be INCLUSIVE of all the people of the USA? But no, you prayed in a very public place televsied on Tv to all the world in a deeply divisive and antisemitic way. You did not include Jews in your prayer sir. Nor did you include Muslims or Sihks or Jains or Buddhists or Shintoists or Bahai's. Shame on you, sir. Shame on America. See why the rest of the world hates you, America? It's because of prayers like the one Ken delivered.


In this sense, Ken erred terrribly and he is a shame on America's face to all America and the rest of the world. Jesus is not the God of America, He is just
one god among many that Americans worship, according to the dictates of their own conscience.   Why didn't KEN HUTCHINS allow for that in his prayer? Because he is an antisemite of the Gospels' brainwashing, and also an AntiMuslim and an Anti-Buddhist.   Wake up, America. Jesus does not exist for all people. He is just one god among many in the world.

==========
THESE ARE THE COMMENTS ThAT THE VIDEO ABOVE REMOVED AS PART OF MORMON CENSORSHIP:

1. Sorry to say but Mr Hutchins is a basically under-educated, convert


to Mormonism from door knocking "souldiers" of Mormoni, and he never

really understood what reality is. He is a mere brainwashed dummy.

Good man, good heart, but dumb. Witness his antisemitic prayer!




2. repeat: in church fine. But in public, one should NEVER pray this

way. We are multi ethnic multi spiritual multi religions nation. Yes

we are one nation UNDER GOD, yes, but we are NOT one nation under

Christ. This is wrong to say in public and a shame on Ken for doing

this slap in the face of all God loving Non-Chrsitians in the USa.

see?



3. Hutchins IN A VERY UNAMERICAN and EXCLuSiVISITic and triumphalistic

prayer for Christians Only it appears , also thanked “thee, Father,

for the healing gifts of the atonement, of thy Son, Jesus Christ, and

his resurrection. We know it is by and through these sacred offerings

that we, thy children, can be cleansed and made worthy to return to

thee.” THIS PRAYER IS ONLY FOR CHRISTIANS. IT SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN

SPOKE AT A NATIONAL EVEnT. GET IT?



4. Hutchins IN A VERY UNAMERICAN EXCLSUVISIT prayer also thanked “thee,

Father, for the healing gifts of the atonement, of thy Son, Jesus

Christ, and his resurrection. We know it is by and through these

sacred offerings that we, thy children, can be cleansed and made

worthy to return to thee.” THIS PRAYER IS ONLY FOR CHRISTIANS. IT

SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN SPOKE AT A NATIONAL EVEnT. YUCK . same on you

Ken! What a damning recitial of Christian antisemitism! Christian

antiMuslimism,




5. again, my fellow Americans, listen to me, KEN was wrong to say "we

thank thee father for the healing atonement of thy son Jesus Christ"

-- NOT in a public prayer for the ears of all Americans, as Jesus is

NOT everyone's savior, not mine, not all the Jews in the USa, not all

the Muslims in the USa, not all the Buddhists in the USa, if you do

not get what i am saying, America is a sick puppy; JESUS is not

everyone 's savior. Wake up Mitt and smell reality. How do you think

this plays overseas?



6. This was a terrible antisemitic and antiMuslim and antiBuddhist

prayer, and antiAmerican as well. I will tell you why. Ken made a big

mistake praying in public to his note HIS savior jesus h christ. Jesus

is not everyone's savior and a public prayer at the GOP con should not

be given in one particular savior's name or one god's name. America is

a sick sick country and Ken and Mitt are reasons why. they think THEIR

religion superior to ALL others. SICK

Friday, August 24, 2012

Interview with June Thomas, creator / coiner of the air quote ''air hashtag''

[•Making an air hashtag (#) with two fingers (down and then right) is the new air quotes for nerds. That joke killed at dinner. (Air hashtag) “Winning.”]


QUESTION: June, according to our sources and online googling, you were the first person in the known universe to come up with this idea of an air quoted AIR HASHTAG body language hand sign gesture. When did you first come up with the idea, when did you take the first online twitter pic photo and post it, and HOW did you come up with this idea?
2. How long did the idea germinate with you before you actually created it and photo'd it?

3. any feedback yet worldwide from viewers online or at Twitter?

4. Steve Martin is generaly credit with inventing the AIR QUOTE. see Wiki on this. Can we now
credit YOU with creating the AIR HASHTAG for all eternity to see, do and enjoy? And if Steve Martin saw your AIR HASHTAG, what do you think HE would say about it?

5. Can you foresee a time for PR perhaps when Steve Colbert or Jon Stewart or David Letterman invite
you in their shows to illustrate the AIR HASHTAG. Not the Jay Leno show, but maybe COMEDY DAILY?

6. did you ever create any earlier body language gestures or was this your first stab at such a thing?

7, Will you make a YOUTUBE video one day illustrating the AIR HASHTAG, in much the same way
as scare quotes and the scrotation marks videos are there now?

air hashtag ONE

http://www.adlibbing.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/CrowdTap-300x200.jpg
1.


Air Hastag! Love it. That is hilarious.







Trish @dayngr


Community Manager
Radian6



Comment by Trish F. — March 22, 2011 @ 4:24 pm


http://www.mcgilltribune.com/polopoly_fs/1.2713566!/image/1846784391.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_260/1846784391.jpg

The evidence that the so-called "Jesus'' ever really existed is surprisingly shaky


The evidence that ''Jesus'' ever really existed is surprisingly shaky. The earliest books in the New Testament to be written were the Epistles, not the Gospels. It’s almost as though Saint Paul and others who wrote the Epistles weren’t that interested in whether Jesus was real. If Jesus really existed and went to his death as described in the so-called Bible, it was, as some put it, “barking mad.”
In fact, while there is no evidence that the so-called ''Jesus'' (scare quotes intended) himself was barking mad, but the doctrine invented later by Paul that Jesus died for ''our sins'' surely is. It’s a truly disgusting idea that the creator of the universe — capable of inventing the laws of physics and designing the evolutionary process — that this protégé of supernatural intellect couldn’t think of a better way to forgive our sins than to have himself tortured to death. And what a terrible lesson to say we’re born in sin because of the original sin of Adam, a man even the Catholic Church now says never existed.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Tulsa writer says GOD asking HUMANS to wake up about dangers of global warming

A Tulsa writer says that GOD is asking HUMANS to wake up

about the issues of CLIMATE CHANGE in new novel titled POLAR CITY RED


 TULSA -- Jim Laughter, 59, is a man of God, a deeplycaring Christian
and a former pastor as well. He has written
a novel now about climate change and religion, asking serious
religious questions about the impact of God on
the climate debate in the USA and overseas.

"My book ''POLAR CITY RED" does have a strong Christian perpective on

the climate debate. I ask readers to think

about the moral and religuious issues of climate change, and several

of the characters in my novel wrestle with

these qusetions of God and the Bible as well. There is even one

character who starts a BiBLE study class in

the library in Alaska where the story takes place in 2075 AD,


"Yes, the novel is sci fi, i call it cli fi or a climate thriller. But

> the book has a strong religious anchor, too. I ask what moral and

> religious issues will humans be faciing in the distant future? ANd the

> last chapter ends with a note of hope, that GOD will triumph and

> humans will survive'

> the coming problems associated with climate change, BUT only if they

> pray to God and take action now"

GOOD REVIEWS of POLAR CITy RED by TULSA pastor JIM LAUGHTER

www.jimlaughter.com

these all on Amazon com


> 1. By the time I had read the prologue, I was hooked. The description

> of earth by 2075, supported by scientific research and most probable

> outcomes, engaged my mind and heart. We've all heard the concerns

> raised about global warming. This novel helped me to internalize that

> reality.

>

> 2. Jim Laughter's interpretation of many possible events is nearly

> equal to my own. The story does look at some of the more troubling

> aspects of what's coming at us. However, he has some repetitive

> tendencies laced throughout the book. Otherwise, it is a fairly decent

> read.

>

> 3. An angry voice calling orders from out of the darkness immediately

> brought me into the fascinating plot of POLAR CITY RED.

>

> A family that had to escape the results of global warming in order to

> survive is left defenseless as the man with the angry voice approaches

> them--a huge man wearing an animal skin mask and carrying a primitive

> crossbow.

>

> Laughter's book about the possible impact of global warming on our

> society is fascinating, but also frightening--scary because of the

> possible future reality of this fictional story. The amount of

> research that went into this book is impressive. The characters are

> well-developed with distinct personalities. One of the more

> interesting aspects of this book is the Polar City Lottery--a lottery

> that is implemented because the men outnumber the women in this town

> approx. six to one.

>

>

> 4. I was drawn into the story with the first paragraph. Mr. Laughter's

> descriptive phrasing helped me to visualize the frightening

> possibility of our planet truly experiencing this devastation. He does

> an excellent job with characterization, showing his depth of research

> into the subject of global warming and the inticacies of human

> frailities. A very interesting book.

================


Evangelicals and Climate Change: Global Warming Activists (Pt. 2)







26

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By Napp Nazworth , Christian Post Reporter

June 20, 2012
7:10 am

Editor's note: In part two of our series on global warming, CP reports on the internal process of a prominent evangelical organization, the National Association of Evangelicals, to reach a climate change position at the urging of evangelical activists.

For evangelicals who are global warming activists, convincing the Christian community to get engaged has been a process.



For example, Richard Cizik, though he was cited in 2008 by Time Magazine as one of the top 100 most influential people in the world for his work as a 'green evangelical,' had a very tough time convincing his organization to back him at the time.



Cizik was formerly vice president for governmental affairs at the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE). While there, he helped craft the Evangelical Climate Initiative (ECI), which was discussed in part one of this series.



Though Cizik helped initiate and advance the ECI, he was asked not to sign the statement at the time it was first published. Several evangelical leaders, including the late Chuck Colson, convinced NAE that the statement did not represent the views of evangelicals well, due to the significant divisions among evangelicals on the topic. Since NAE represents a broad spectrum of evangelicals in the United States, they reasoned, it should not take a position on the controversy. (NAE's current president, Leith Anderson, signed the document, but he was not president at that time.)



Cizik criticized the NAE for not taking a strong enough stance on climate change.



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"The [NAE] should come out and forcefully indicate that evangelical leaders ... because we do know what the effects of global climate change are, ... assume our rightful role in guiding the movement," he said.



The NAE has taken more steps on climate change since Cizik left. Last December, NAE published a document, "Loving the Least of These," that seeks to help Christians understand how to address the issue of climate change. It focuses particular attention on how climate change might harm the poor and vulnerable.



In a May 24 interview with The Christian Post, Galen Carey, vice president of governmental relations for NAE, described the document as a discussion paper.



"We need to give people information and perspective, but we don't tell them what to think. That's not really an effective strategy for engagement. Rather, one needs to help people think biblically about the issues as well as engaging with the science. They can come to their conclusions," Carey said.



In an email to The Christian Post, Cizik said he applauds "Loving the Least of These," but hopes that NAE will take it a step further and come out with an official document or position statement on climate change.



"Thus, I will gently prod and hold Evangelical leaders to a higher standard. Are we as a movement unwilling to pass judgment on issues such as religious freedom which come before the legislative or executive branches? Of course not. Nor should we punt on climate action," Cizik wrote.



Cizik, now president of The New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good, holds master's degrees in both divinity and public affairs. He believes that if evangelicals do not take action to reduce global warming, the public image of the movement will suffer, much in the same way it suffered for not getting involved in the Civil Rights Movement.



"The moral principles that [evangelical] organizations live by will shape the movement as a whole and shape this country. It's really important," Cizik said.



He believes that global warming skeptics do not accept the realities of climate change because it threatens their worldview and they have an "illusion of the mind."



"They're reluctant to change due to the accompanying fear, or their current comfort level with their status quo position. And, it's either an active choice or its a passive choice. Either way it's a choice," Cizik claimed.



The good news, he said, is that energy consumption can be quickly reduced without diminishing quality of life through energy efficiency.



"The Lawrence Livermore Labs found that 58 percent of all energy produced in the U.S. is wasted, including over 65 percent of the energy produced for electricity, and over 75 percent of the energy produced for transportation. ... What various analysts ... have found is that energy consumption in the United States could be reduced from seven to 28 percent by 2030 through changes in behavior and the use of existing and emerging technology with no real change in lifestyle. Isn't that amazing?"



"We can do this," Cizik said,"and we have a moral duty."



To better understand the global warming skeptics position, The Christian Post spoke with Dr. E. Calvin Beisner, founder and national spokesperson for Cornwall Alliance, for the third installment of this series on evangelicals and climate change.






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Kevin Hammond

FollowMute2:02 AM on June 22, 2012

yikes! Climate change is NOT man made folks! or very little of it. The climate has been changing ever since it was created. Just watch the film climate gate on google or yotube!

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Russell

21 FollowersMute1:37 AM on June 22, 2012

I would take the AGW advocates more seriously if their recommended actions to stop AGW were plausible. Nuclear power and electrified transportation might work. Windmills, solar cells, and curlie cue light bulbs won't do anything.

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nateRspencer

1 FollowerMute7:34 PM on June 21, 2012

Is anyone else's mind boggled by the figure that we waste nearly 60% of the energy we use? Sorry, there's no way it wouldn't be a good idea to waste less energy.

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ozmiz

6 FollowersMute6:05 PM on June 21, 2012

Article Snippet: "….convincing the Christian community to get engaged has been a process." – *raises hand*, yep that would be me. I’m actually pretty overwhelmed as it is trying win all I can to Christ to help them avoid a different kind of global warming of an unprecedented nature. 2 Peter 3:10 But the day of ...more

Article Snippet: "….convincing the Christian community to get engaged has been a process." – *raises hand*, yep that would be me. I’m actually pretty overwhelmed as it is trying win all I can to Christ to help them avoid a different kind of global warming of an unprecedented nature.



2 Peter 3:10

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. less

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Michael Reed

4 FollowersMute

12:24 PM on June 21, 2012

I agree that scientific studies and faith in God is a wonderful way to study the environmental sciences. In fact, there is no conflict between research and God's Word. Therefore, we must put our faith in God, not in American " Christian" morality values,and/or politicial party ( John 14:6; John 18:36).

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Velma Mitchell

37 FollowersMute12:09 PM on June 22, 2012

Michael Reed - As always, well said, Michael Reed!

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Lawrence Mckechnie

FollowMute

10:46 AM on June 21, 2012

as a scientist, I think global warming is like evolution: they are both religious in the wrong sense and border on blind faith for, although there is some evidence which appears to confirm either of these positions, there is also evidences which points to the converse position which shouldn't be ignored, thus showing ...more

as a scientist, I think global warming is like evolution: they are both religious in the wrong sense and border on blind faith for, although there is some evidence which appears to confirm either of these positions, there is also evidences which points to the converse position which shouldn't be ignored, thus showing that our conceptions of these things are not complete. They are ideologies and those who do not agree with their premises are deemed to be ignorant or somehow out of the conversation. Unfortunately, global warming and evolution are worldviews which are part of the current episteme and are pretty dogmatic; these worldviews are projected onto data and singular observations and, therefore, the story is already written before data is properly validated. An example would be (I can't quite remember the details) when scientists in England apparently observed that there was data which appeared to go against the grain of the environmentalist/green movement but it was quickly discarded. I think we, as Christians, should be careful about embracing the premises of the global warming community which is deeply religious as regards the central premises of its ideology. It is not real science ; kind of anti-science tbh :s less

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Steve Pond

25 FollowersMute5:35 PM on June 21, 2012

"...An example would be (I can't quite remember the details) when scientists in England apparently observed that there was data which appeared to go against the grain of the environmentalist/green movement but it was quickly discarded......"as a scientist is all your work this detailed?

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CaptainSlog

10 FollowersMute11:53 PM on June 20, 2012

Man-made global warming/climate change is a religion, and as with all religions, we should always be skeptical and demand evidence for outrageous claims and predictions.

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rfong

12 FollowersMute

9:01 PM on June 20, 2012

If, as many evangelicals believe, we are in end times and judgement day is just ahead, there really is no point in bothering with this climate change stuff. There is no point in engaging with it at all, pro or con, because the Rapture will take care of everything. To adopt even a skeptical viewpoint is to discard one's own eschatological outlook.

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nateRspencer

1 FollowerMute7:06 PM on June 21, 2012

rfong - Wow, this is totally wrong. Even setting aside the eschatology debate, the nature of Christian practice and witness has always been rooted in the Resurrection, which is the renewal of life and earth, not the expectation of its destruction. People who value the claim of the resurrection work FOR creation's health, they don't disregard it cause it's all gonna burn or something.

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cmaglaughlin

6 FollowersMute

7:52 PM on June 20, 2012

"moral duty"...bs Cause of global warming?...the Sun.

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Steve Pond

25 FollowersMute5:38 PM on June 21, 2012

cmaglaughlin , if it was just the Sun that warmed the Earth the GMST of the planet would be -15 C, so you are missing something, can you guess what it is?

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wordbased

1 FollowerMute

4:11 PM on June 20, 2012

We had better be very careful here because, if we spend our grandchildren's inheritance of attempting to stop something that we cannot stop, we will have no more money to help those affected by the changes. it is too bad that the science is not absolute.

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nateRspencer

1 FollowerMute7:08 PM on June 21, 2012

wordbased - I think what he's saying is that we're spending our grandchildren's inheritance by continuing to blow resources as if they were infinite or something. I hear a theology of spending less here, not spending more.

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Ben Faeth

18 FollowersMute

3:28 PM on June 20, 2012

Evangelicals have no place in the global warming prevention that will occur within this century. They have no standing because they are not scientists nor climatologist. It would be like asking a preacher to go to CERN and tell the particle physicists how to do their job. This is what evangelicals should be saying: "We are ignorant of the science of climatology and as such, we step back as authority figures and let the real scientists do their jobs protecting mankind for the future."

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theophile40

FollowMute4:05 PM on June 20, 2012

Ben Faeth - So you are saying there is no such thing as a Scientist who is an Evangelical Christian?

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Ben Faeth

18 FollowersMute7:57 PM on June 20, 2012

theophile40 - Considering that only 40% of scientists are religious, and how there only has to be a small chunk of this that would be stupid enough enough evangelize the issue without using his actual credentials as to make your point irrelevant.

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CaptainSlog

10 FollowersMute11:49 PM on June 20, 2012

Ben Faeth - I believe that figure of 40% came from a 1999 poll. If it was conducted today I'd be surprised if it was over 4.0%

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Ben Faeth

18 FollowersMute5:25 PM on June 21, 2012

CaptainSlog - Nah that would be too generous. I would be surprised if it were below 30%.

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DataWumpet

3 FollowersMute

11:21 AM on June 20, 2012

We almost never hear about is the fact that massive climate change has been a part of the Earth’s history long before manmade greenhouse gases ever entered the picture. Consider the oil fields of Alaska and Saudi Arabia. Science tells us that oil is formed from vast amounts of decaying plant and animal material ...more

We almost never hear about is the fact that massive climate change has been a part of the Earth’s history long before manmade greenhouse gases ever entered the picture.



Consider the oil fields of Alaska and Saudi Arabia. Science tells us that oil is formed from vast amounts of decaying plant and animal material under pressure over long periods of time. The areas where the Alaskan and Arabian oil fields are located are not, because of current regional climate, conducive to the production of large amounts of plant and animal matter. This strongly suggests that both the ancient climate and geography in these regions was radically different from what it is today.



In addition, ice core studies reveal that while there does appear to be a correlation between greenhouse gas levels and temperatures, there have been cyclical patterns of rising and falling gas levels and temperatures occurring over the past 400,000 years. This was long before man had any significant impact on these levels. Why these levels fluctuated over time we do not know.



More impacts climate than simply greenhouse gases.



Large urban and suburban areas absorb and radiate heat differently than the normal habitat. Large cites effectively become heat islands because the concrete and other building materials absorb and retain heat more than soil and plants. This can affect local weather patterns by causing storms to become stronger or track differently than they would were the city not there. Those of us who live in northern climes can observe a variation of this in the fall of the year when the first frosts start to appear. Unless there is an unusually severe temperature drop, we see frost first in the outlying rural areas, then it begins in the suburbs, and finally, when the city has given up its stored heat, we regularly see frost in the city proper. As population centres continue to expand, the impact they have on local and eventually regional weather patterns can be expected to increase. (This is one reason why are are beginning to hear Chicken Little increasingly call for population control.) In addition, every paved road or sidewalk and every home or other building changes the water absorption and runoff pattern. This in turn decreases the amount of water that penetrates down into the water table, decreases the amount of water that an area can actually absorb before the available ground becomes saturated and flooding starts, and increases the amount of water that is subsequently diverted into lakes and rivers. This in turn impacts local flora and fauna. How might all these changes impact the local weather? How might a very large area like this (e.g.,New York City, Los Angeles) even impact regional weather/climate? We do not know.



The point in writing this is to demonstrate that climate change does not have the simple explanation the Chicken Littles of the world would have us believe. There is more going on than we know and understand. less

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Steve Pond

25 FollowersMute3:05 PM on June 20, 2012

Nope, anybody who is scientifically literate through reading such periodicals such as National Geographic, Scientific America, New Scientist, will be well aware of the paleoclimate of the Earth during the past half a billion years. Those who never hear about it are those who never bother to educate themselves.

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Jim Spice

FollowMute5:13 PM on June 20, 2012

DataWumpet - You do realize that the magnetic poles were not always in their current locations, right?

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kopher

14 FollowersMute11:17 AM on June 20, 2012

Just as with war, a lot of people are getting rich off of this...tsk...tsk..tsk

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ChocolateQueen

8 FollowersMute9:08 AM on June 20, 2012

Climate change is a seasonal phemenon and not a world level extinction crisis as everyone believes.I know a lot of ways people are fighting it wrong and have done stuff already like forced sterilization in order to keep the population down.We need to find good ways of combating limate change because doing the wrong way will make things worse.

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Paul Merrifield

FollowMute7:43 AM on June 20, 2012

God will not find perceived competition to his immortal "planet melting powers" very amusing



Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/evangelicals-and-climate-change-global-warming-activists-pt-2-75939/#24A9XBKXtJeZvTFd.99

Evangelicals and Climate Change: What Does the Future Hold? (Pt. 1)







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By Napp Nazworth , Christian Post Reporter

June 12, 2012
7:08 am

When it comes to the issue of global warming, the label conservative and liberal won't necessarily help you determine if an evangelical Christian is a proponent or skeptic. Why? Because even within the inner core of conservative evangelical circles people are divided over the issue, with both sides asserting that science is clearly on their side. Take The Christian Post, for example: Dr. Richard Land, CP's executive editor, is among those who are skeptical that humans tip the scales toward global warming, while Dr. Joel C. Hunter, CP's senior editorial adviser, believes controlling human behavior may be in order.

Moreover, the prospects for a global decision to control carbon because of warming have dropped precipitously over the last three years because of a worldwide economic downturn, much to the consternation of evangelical and secular activists alike. Skeptics are delighted. But activists also point to a recent article in The New Yorker, which reports that President Barack Obama will make climate change a priority if he gets elected to a second term.



So which side is correct? And how should Christians view the future of the global warming debate, both inside the Christian community and out?



The Christian Post will publish a multi-part series on evangelicals and climate change to look at both sides of the argument, and, more importantly, to look at the science underlying the debate.



Causes of Global Warming



Before one can properly understand the dynamics of the debate, a proper understanding of what science can and cannot determine is essential. When fossil fuels – coal, oil and natural gas – are burned, they release carbon (mostly in the form of carbon dioxide, but also as carbon monoxide) into the air. Carbon dioxide is an essential component of the atmosphere. Plants need it to grow. Humans and animals release carbon dioxide every time they exhale or pass gas. Plants use the carbon dioxide for photosynthesis and return oxygen to the atmosphere for animals to breathe.



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With the burning of fossil fuels, however, humans are increasing the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. Changing the atmosphere in this way is causing the Earth to get warmer. The debate is over whether this additional carbon is actually affecting climate negatively enough to warrant regulating carbon emissions.



Molecules in the atmosphere, including carbon dioxide, trap some of the heat from the sun while the rest escapes back into space. If the amount of heat-trapping molecules is increased, then the Earth's natural "greenhouse effect" will increase, thus trapping more heat than usual. There are also some "multiplier effects" that further contribute to the greenhouse effect, such as additional water vapor in the air caused by warmer temperatures and less heat reflected into the atmosphere because there is less white (snow and ice) on the Earth's surface.



Cyclical Change to the Earth's Temperature



But there is debate over whether humans are taking the earth out of balance. The Earth's temperature has not been steady, even before industrialization. The 10th-14th centuries, for instance, are known as the "Medieval Warm Period." Temperatures in Europe were about one degree Celsius warmer than they are today. This led to greater harvests, which contributed to a flourishing of art, literature and science.



The Medieval Warm Period was followed by the "Little Ice Age" from about 1300 to 1870. Average temperatures during the coldest part of the Little Ice Age were about one degree Celsius colder than they are today. (For more information, see the website of Dr. Jan Oosthoek, an environmental historian at the University of Newcastle in England.)



Part of the debate over global warming has to do with whether the current warming period is mostly due to another warming period in Earth's natural warming/cooling cycles, or if the changes that humans have made to the Earth's atmosphere are pushing the planet beyond its ability to regulate itself. Those who believe the latter argue that the amount of warming taking place warrants considerable action to reduce the amount of carbon humans are putting into the atmosphere. For this series, this will be called the "global warming activist" position. Those who disagree will be called "global warming skeptics." Not because they are skeptical of global warming caused by atmospheric carbon, but because they are skeptical of the need for significant action to reduce atmospheric carbon. This will be discussed in more detail in part 3.



Global Warming Activists



A 2009 survey conducted by The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life showed that white evangelical protestants were less likely than any other major religious group to say that the Earth is warming because of human activity (34 percent), followed closely by black protestants (39 percent). By comparison, 58 percent of the unaffiliated, 48 percent of white mainline protestants and 44 percent of white non-Hispanic Catholics said that the Earth is warming because of human activity.



Among evangelicals, there have been two main groups representing either side of this debate. The Evangelical Climate Initiative (ECI) represents global warming activists while Cornwall Alliance represents global warming skeptics.



The ECI issued a statement, "Climate Change: An Evangelical Call to Action," in 2006 expressing the view that global warming will have significant consequences warranting immediate action to greatly reduce the amount of carbon entering the atmosphere. It called for legislation that would limit carbon dioxide emissions.



"In the United States, the most important immediate step that can be taken at the federal level is to pass and implement national legislation requiring sufficient economy-wide reductions in carbon dioxide emissions through cost-effective, market based mechanisms such as a cap-and-trade program," the ECI statement reads.



Many evangelical leaders have signed the statement, including Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals (he was not with NAE at the time he signed) and senior pastor of Wooddale Church, Eden Prairie, Minn.; Rob Bell, former senior pastor of Mars Hill, Grandville, Mich.; Andy Crouch, editorial director of The Christian Vision Project for Christianity Today; David Gushee, professor of ethics, Mercer University, Atlanta, Ga.; Joel Hunter, senior pastor of Northland, A Church Distributed, Longwood, Fla. and a senior editorial adviser for The Christian Post; Brian McLaren, Emergent leader; Ron Sider, president of Evangelicals for Social Action; Jim Wallis, founder of Sojourners; and Rick Warren, senior pastor of Saddleback Church, Lake Forest, Calif.



Evangelical Environmental Network (EEN) also represents the global warming activist position. Founded in 1993, EEN publishes Creation Care magazine and speaks broadly on environmental issues. Its executive vice president, Jim Ball, has written a book on climate change called Global Warming and the Risen Lord: Christian Discipleship and Climate Change.



Some politically liberal evangelical organizations, such as Sojourners and Evangelicals for Social Action, can also be counted among the global warming activists.



Global Warming Skeptics



On the global-warming-skeptic side of the debate, The Cornwall Alliance began in 2005 as The Interfaith Stewardship Alliance. The name was changed in 2007 to reflect its founding document, The Cornwall Declaration on Environmental Stewardship. The Cornwall Declaration was first drafted by Dr. E. Calvin Beisner, the current spokesperson for the organization, in the fall of 1999 and was initially signed by 35 scholars who met in Cornwall, Conn.



Cornwall Alliance agrees that atmospheric carbon is warming the planet, but does not believe that the warming will be significant enough to warrant efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Further, it argues that those efforts would be harmful to the poor and vulnerable.



In 2010, Cornwall Alliance published its own statement, "An Evangelical Declaration on Global Warming," which was initially signed by over 450 evangelical scholars, pastors, theologians and ministry leaders. The signers include David Barton, president of Wallbuilders; Joel Belz, founder of World Magazine; Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and executive editor of The Christian Post; Tom Minnery, executive vice president of Focus on the Family; Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council; and R. C. Sproul, Jr., president of Highlands Ministries.



Among evangelical denominations, the Southern Baptist Convention has passed resolutions on climate change that reflect a view similar to the Cornwall Alliance. The Southern Baptist Convention is the nation's largest evangelical denomination but is not a member of the National Association of Evangelicals.



Part two of this series will take a closer look at the activist position and discuss a debate among some of the activists on the best way to present their views. Part three will explain the skeptic's position.



READ: FIVE REASONS CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIANS SHOULD CARE ABOUT THE EARTH ON EARTH DAY (AND EVERY OTHER DAY TOO)





Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/evangelicals-and-climate-change-what-does-the-future-hold-pt-1-75935/#86RMLB3wjtJvju3u.99


Evangelicals and Climate Change: Global Warming Skeptics (Pt. 3)







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(Photo: The Christian Post)Dr. E. Calvin Beisner, national spokesman for The Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation, speaks at The Heritage Foundation-hosted event on Thursday, Dec. 3, 2009 in Washington, D.C.

(Photo: AP / Tina Fineberg)Signs are raised by participants in an International Day of Climate Action rally Saturday Oct. 24, 2009 in New York's Times Square. The event, organized by 350.org, was one of thousands expected to take place around the world to draw attention to the number 350, representing what some scientists say is the most carbon dioxide in parts per million we can safely have in the atmosphere.

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By Napp Nazworth , Christian Post Reporter

June 27, 2012
7:45 am

Editor's note: In part three, the final installment of CP's series on evangelicals and climate change, the focus is on an argument by skeptics that opportunities are being lost to help the poor because of a focus on global warming.

Global warming skeptics argue that while global warming activists say that reducing carbon dioxide emissions is necessary to protect the poor and vulnerable, the science is so iffy and the cost of control so high that money would be better spent on direct aid to the poor.



The Cornwall Alliance is the primary organization representing this view. In 2006, Cornwall Alliance published a document, "A Call to Truth, Prudence, and Protection of the Poor: An Evangelical Response to Global Warming," that was a direct response to the Evangelical Climate Initiative's "Climate Change: An Evangelical Call to Action," discussed in part two of this series. In an interview with The Christian Post, Dr. E. Calvin Beisner explained his belief that the global warming caused by burning fossil fuels will be small and may have more benefits than harms to the environment. Beisner, a former theology professor and economics professor, is the founder and national spokesperson for Cornwall Alliance.



Multiplier Effects



The amount of carbon in the atmosphere has gone from about 270 parts per million in pre-industrial times to about 393 parts per million today. That sounds like a lot, Beisner agreed, but when looked at as a proportion of the overall atmosphere, he argues it is "minuscule." It means the proportion of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere went from 0.027% to 0.039%. Doubling the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, Beisner said, would increase the Earth's temperature by 1.2 degrees Celsius, he says.



The International Panel on Climate Change (IPPC), an organization formed by the United Nations to assess the impact of climate change, predicts that the Earth will warm much more than one degree Celsius because of "multiplier effects." This means that the warming caused by additional carbon in the atmosphere will lead to other events that will cause additional warming. Higher temperatures, for instance, will cause more evaporation and, thus, more water vapor in the atmosphere. Also, higher temperatures will cause more snow and ice to melt, which means there will be less white on the Earth's surface to reflect heat.



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Beisner believes that the IPPC is overstating the impact of multiplier effects. The IPPC acknowledges, Beisner said, that scientists understand little about the multiplier effects. The water vapor could even have a cooling, rather that warming effect. To predict a three degree temperature increase, which is the midpoint of the IPPC model's prediction, it had to assume a high positive warming effect from the additional water vapor.



Additionally, global warming activists ignore the fact that some warming of the Earth and additional carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will likely have some benefits, Beisner argued. Plants need carbon dioxide to grow. With every doubling of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, he said, there is a 35 percent increase in plant growth efficiency. As a result, according to some agricultural economists, the increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere over the last 50 years has contributed to 15 percent greater crop yield.



The Poor and Vulnerable



Both Beisner and Richard Cizik, who represented the global warming activist position in part two of this series, based their positions, in part, on what they believe is best for the world's poor and vulnerable. The poor and vulnerable are also a central concern in the National Association of Evangelicals most recent document on climate change, "Loving the Least of These."



The greater crop yield, for instance, will help keep food prices low for the poor, which will help alleviate malnutrition and starvation around the world, Beisner argued.



While Beisner believes that the Earth's natural warming and cooling cycles have a greater influence on the Earth's warming than adding carbon to the atmosphere, he worries that efforts to reduce atmospheric carbon by restricting energy production will be most harmful to the poor and vulnerable.



The resources used to reduce the Earth's temperature are resources that could be used to directly help the global poor. Even using the IPPC's estimates, efforts proposed to reduce global warming would only decrease the Earth's temperature by 0.07 degrees Celsius, Beisner claimed. The trillions of dollars that it would take to have a minimal impact could be better spent, Beisner suggested, on water sanitation and purification, nutrition supplements and electrification for the poor.



"If we spend the money trying to mitigate climate change instead, we won't have that money available for those things, which would have a far more beneficial effect," Beisner said.



Climate Change and the Media



While Beisner believes the media in general tend to favor the global warming activist position, as a former journalist himself, he understands why the tendency exists.



"Bad news is good news, good news is no news. That's a fundamental precept of journalism. Bad news sells," Beisner explained.



Cizik, on the other hand, believes that the media gives the global warming skeptics too much attention in the interest of equal time.



"The mainstream press for the better part of 20 years has given them equal time when they didn't deserve it. When the arguments weren't really compelling, the press has always been willing to say, 'well the other side of the argument is ...' as if that side has equal weight to it."



What's an Evangelical to Do?



Though on opposite sides of the issue, Beisner and Cizik made similar claims. They both agreed that atmospheric carbon causes the Earth to get warmer. They both appealed to scientific evidence and believe the evidence is on their side. And, they both displayed concern for the poor and vulnerable. Perhaps the biggest difference between them has to do with how they view the Earth – fragile or robust. Beisner views the Earth as robust, able to handle the human-caused changes to the atmosphere. Cizik believes the Earth is fragile and too much human tinkering will have catastrophic effects.



Many evangelicals, therefore, may feel stuck in the middle of this debate and unsure about what to do. "Loving the Least of These" recommends four steps that Christians can take to evaluate the differing claims about climate change.



First, dig deeper into the facts and scientific evidence. Second, avoid polarizing voices of "angry people who call others names or refer to conspiracy theories." Third, look at joint statements from professional societies that represent the collective wisdom of a large number of experts. And fourth, get to know a Christian scientist that can help you understand the scientific information.



And remember that skeptics and activists alike can be brothers in Christ.





Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/hold-evangelicals-and-climate-change-global-warming-skeptics-part3-75941/#iSDtjMFVy3Ct6MMe.99
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kamala

11 FollowersMute11:57 PM on July 04, 2012

Climate change isn't a religious issue, but leave it to CP to make it one.

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keentv

2 FollowersMute9:34 AM on July 01, 2012

Can God send angelics of vengence THAT IN 'ONE NUCLEAR HOUR' (not even the SON know of it's suddeness, it's actual time) these 'heavens will SUDDENLY BE entirely 'on fire' upon this now tiny BLUE marble ???

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Almagor

FollowMute

3:48 AM on June 29, 2012

First it isn't that the facts about climate change are iffy, there are absolutely no facts to support that there has been any climate change at all and certainly no facts to indicate that any climate change is due to human beings being on Earth. I'll just mention 1 thing about global warming. Scientists say that the ...more

First it isn't that the facts about climate change are iffy, there are absolutely no facts to support that there has been any climate change at all and certainly no facts to indicate that any climate change is due to human beings being on Earth. I'll just mention 1 thing about global warming. Scientists say that the total average temperature of the Earth increased 3/4 of 1 degree for the 100 years up to about 4 years ago. since the they say the total average temperature went down for some reason so that now it is exactly the same as it was 100 years ago. Oops! Does anyone know about logic? The big thing is that no one has any idea of what the total average temperature of the Earth is!. You can not find out by any computer model, you have to actually measure it. How many temperature sensing stations do you think they have covering the huge Pacific Ocean? Not more than 10! No, the whole thing is a scam to increase government control over us citizens! less

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Mortimersnerd

4 FollowersMute2:25 PM on June 29, 2012

Almagor - you couldn't be less informed. There is ample data that the globe is warming, visit NASA.gov and NOAA.gov. They have quite accurate records of what the global mean temperature is, satellites have tracked it for years. Decades. As far as the pacific there are thousands and thousand of sensors measuring ...more

Almagor - you couldn't be less informed. There is ample data that the globe is warming, visit NASA.gov and NOAA.gov. They have quite accurate records of what the global mean temperature is, satellites have tracked it for years. Decades. As far as the pacific there are thousands and thousand of sensors measuring atmospheric pressure, temp, wave data, etc. Fishing and ocean based shipping are huge industries and need to know about storms, tsunamis, etc. as far as temperature, satellites can take temperature data from anywhere they like, every square foot, so think of it like there are an infinite amount of temperature sensors in the pacific. less

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bibichapman

FollowMute8:03 AM on June 28, 2012

The only visible climate change I have notice is in the hearts of God's people. Many who have claimed to be children of the God of Israel hearts have waxed cold; thus, the earth travails, awaiting for the TRUE sons (children) of God to arise up out of the rumble of compromised faith and take a STAND for RIGHTEOUSNESS in CHRIST! GOD is HOLY and as HE is HOLY so shall HIS children be HOLY! Then, shall the earth be healed!

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Luciano Miceli

FollowMute2:30 AM on June 28, 2012

Research the records of the Mounder minimum and you'll get an idea of what me may be facing in the next 20 or 30 years.

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Luciano Miceli

FollowMute2:23 AM on June 28, 2012

Climate change is a canard their agenda is much more devious. Secretly they know and won't admit that we're entering a cool cycle where untold millions of poor will be at risk of dying thus expediting their population control plan which is behind everything they propose. The reason they have fully embraced the gay ...more

Climate change is a canard their agenda is much more devious. Secretly they know and won't admit that we're entering a cool cycle where untold millions of poor will be at risk of dying thus expediting their population control plan which is behind everything they propose. The reason they have fully embraced the gay agenda is to both trivialize the the natural family, the primordial institution ordained by God as the source of stability of society and without it we slide into moral chaos where selfishness and corruption rules and where the begetting of children becomes a bother and hindrance in the pursuit of pleasure at any cost. The willful bringing about of a worldwide of Sodom and Gomorra. less

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chicaree

FollowMute11:51 PM on June 27, 2012

From the San Franciso Chronicle today: Heat wave: 1,000+ records fall in US in a week. New Mexico has just experienced a record breaking heat wave and forest fire, Colorado has several record breaking forest fires going right now and Colorado Springs is burning to the ground. And you guys don't think climate change ...more

From the San Franciso Chronicle today: Heat wave: 1,000+ records fall in US in a week. New Mexico has just experienced a record breaking heat wave and forest fire, Colorado has several record breaking forest fires going right now and Colorado Springs is burning to the ground. And you guys don't think climate change is a fact and ignore the 97% of climate scientists in the US who says global warming is real and is going to cause huge problems. The Arctic is melting and the billions of tons of methane that is stored there is being released.http://tinyurl.com/6ssxn63 Methane is 30 times more effective at trapping heat than C02. If you are sweltering in a heat wave whereever you live, just wait, this summer is just starting. Did you ever stop to think that farmers loose crop production during heat waves, droughts, floods and fires?? less

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kopher

14 FollowersMute7:19 PM on June 27, 2012

Just another Ponzi scheme...

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Russell

21 FollowersMute3:15 PM on June 27, 2012

And why should Evangelicals know more about AGW than others? It seems more like counter cultural evangelicals push back against it while go with the flow evnagelicals go with it.

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Russell

21 FollowersMute

3:13 PM on June 27, 2012

Idon't know if AGW theory is right or wrong. I do know that the idea of stopping it with windmills, solar cells and curlie cue light bulbs is unserious. If one believed in AGW theory one would push nuclear power, yet instead, most AGW al Gore types oppose it.

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chicaree

FollowMute11:56 PM on June 27, 2012

Russell - There is a lot of research on much safer nuclear and it should be ready for installation in 2013. All the nuclear accidents were caused by pump failures, chernobyl, Fukushima and three mile island. The newer ones do not use pumps but convection currents to cool the rods. I doubt you would hear much talk ...more

Russell -

There is a lot of research on much safer nuclear and it should be ready for installation in 2013. All the nuclear accidents were caused by pump failures, chernobyl, Fukushima and three mile island. The newer ones do not use pumps but convection currents to cool the rods. I doubt you would hear much talk about nuclear after the horror of Japan but you will be hearing about it once again. Solar and Wind are just not energy intensive to produce the power we need but nuclear can. We have hit the tipping point where warming will continue even if we stop burning fossil fuels, the forest fires and methane release from melting arctic tundra and sea beds will keep the warming going. We are in deep trouble and most folks on here don't even realize it. less

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Joseph Austin

5 FollowersMute1:33 PM on June 29, 2012

Russell - I agree. People are scared of nuclear power but you can't get much cleaner and more efficient if you do it right. Its certainly deadly if mishandled, but we're just not going to replace gas with anything else... at least not yet.

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E. Calvin Beisner

1 FollowerMute12:53 PM on June 27, 2012

As my last two comments imply, the problem isn't just that "the IPPC is overstating the impact of multiplier effects." It is that the IPCC gets them backward--gets their "sign" (+ or -) wrong, to put it more technically. IPCC not only assumes the feedback effects multiply the direct warming effect of doubled CO2 GREATLY, but also assumes that they MULTIPLY rather than DIVIDE the direct warming effect.

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E. Calvin Beisner

1 FollowerMute12:48 PM on June 27, 2012

Predictions of dangerous warming from doubled CO2 all depend on assuming that overall feedbacks do precisely the opposite to the new increment of CO2 from what they do to the previous greenhouse gas concentration in the atmosphere: instead of reducing the greenhouse warming effect by 58 percent, they must multiply it ...more

Predictions of dangerous warming from doubled CO2 all depend on assuming that overall feedbacks do precisely the opposite to the new increment of CO2 from what they do to the previous greenhouse gas concentration in the atmosphere: instead of reducing the greenhouse warming effect by 58 percent, they must multiply it by 250 percent to get IPCC's mid-range estimate of 3 degrees C of post-doubling/post-feedbacks warming. No empirical observations support such an assumption. Many empirical observations support the opposite. less

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E. Calvin Beisner

1 FollowerMute

12:45 PM on June 27, 2012

I'm quoted as saying "Doubling the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere ... would increase the Earth's temperature by 1.2 degrees Celsius." However, what I actually said (and this is relevant to Steve Pond's 12:31 comment) was that doubling CO2 in the atmosphere would increase global temperature by about 1 to ...more

I'm quoted as saying "Doubling the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere ... would increase the Earth's temperature by 1.2 degrees Celsius." However, what I actually said (and this is relevant to Steve Pond's 12:31 comment) was that doubling CO2 in the atmosphere would increase global temperature by about 1 to 1.2 degrees C BEFORE FEEDBACKS, and that although our knowledge of most feedbacks taken individually is very weak (according to the IPCC), our knowledge of the overall feedbacks is good: namely, that they reduce greenhouse warming by about 58 percent. (With no greenhouse effect, Earth's average surface temperature would be about 0.0 degree F; with the greenhouse effect but no feedbacks, it would be about 140 degrees F; but after the feedbacks, it's actually about 59 degrees F; 59 is 42 percent of 140, so the feedbacks reduced the warming by 58 percent.) Applied to the 1 to 1.2 degrees C pre-feedback warming from doubled CO2, this yields about 0.42 to 0.504 degree C of post-feedback warming from doubled CO2--an amount that no one considers dangerous and most consider generally beneficial, especially because it occurs more at higher latitudes than toward the equator, meaning lengthened growing seasons in colder regions but no significant warming of warmer regions. For documentation and further discussion see http://www.cornwallalliance.org/docs/a-renewed-call-to-truth-prudence-and-protection-of-the-poor.pdf. less

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Steve Pond

25 FollowersMute1:34 PM on June 27, 2012

E. Calvin Beisner - thanks for the comment. In your feedback mechanisms where have you entered in methane emissions from a possible melting of the Tundra with the methane emissions that may result from it? Regards.

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Steve Pond

25 FollowersMute1:35 PM on June 27, 2012

Apologies for mentioning methane twice, can't edit as on iPhone .

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Craig A. Cunningham

1 FollowerMute1:59 PM on June 27, 2012

E. Calvin Beisner - Dr. Beisner, I believe there is an error in your calculation of a 58% negative feedback, due to your use of the Fahrenheit temperature scale, which has an arbitrary 0 point (and thus overestimates the relative difference between the CO2 doubling effect without and with those feedbacks. I think a ...more

E. Calvin Beisner - Dr. Beisner, I believe there is an error in your calculation of a 58% negative feedback, due to your use of the Fahrenheit temperature scale, which has an arbitrary 0 point (and thus overestimates the relative difference between the CO2 doubling effect without and with those feedbacks.



I think a much more accurate calculation would use the Kelvin scale, which places 0 at the non-arbitrary point at which matter has no molecular movement (heat). Using that, we would convert 140 F to 333K and 59F to 288K. So the percentage of negative feedback would be 13.5%.



Of course, this calculation isn't consistent in any case with the way scientists usually calculate the feedbacks (since some of them actually vary by temperature, due to phase changes and other factors), but you should at least use a more defensible approach to your own calculation. less

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E. Calvin Beisner

1 FollowerMute1:35 PM on July 10, 2012

Craig A. Cunningham - Thanks for the contribution, but the percentage of net negative feedback is calculated on the reduction of gross warming from no GHG to historic GHG (140 degrees F) to net warming after feedbacks (59 degrees F). If we state those temperatures in Kelvin instead of Fahrenheit, then Earth's average ...more

Craig A. Cunningham - Thanks for the contribution, but the percentage of net negative feedback is calculated on the reduction of gross warming from no GHG to historic GHG (140 degrees F) to net warming after feedbacks (59 degrees F). If we state those temperatures in Kelvin instead of Fahrenheit, then Earth's average surface temperature with no GHGs would be about 255 degrees Kelvin; with historic GHGs but no feedbacks, about 333 K; with GHGs and all combined feedbacks, 288 K. 333 - 255 = 78; 288 - 255 = 33. 33/78=0.42, i.e., 33 is 42 percent of 78, which means the post-feedback warming is still 58 percent less than the pre-feedback warming. I.e., you calculated as if I were taking 59 and 140 degrees F as absolute temperatures. I wasn't. I was taking them as relative. The key is to recognize that I'm calculating for the reduction in the INCREMENT between no-GHG temperature and GHG-without-feedbacks temperature. In F, that INCREMENT is 140 degrees, and the reduction is to 59 degrees, which is 58 percent; in K, that INCREMENT is 78 degrees, and the reduction is to a remaining increment of 33 degrees, which is again 58 percent of 78 degrees. less

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Steve Pond

25 FollowersMute12:36 PM on June 27, 2012

The greater crop yield, for instance, will help keep food prices low for the poor, which will help alleviate malnutrition and starvation around the world, Beisner argued......Does he also argue where the crops will be grown in this situation he foretells ,because obviously in this scenario there may be new weather systems to contend with such as drought, increased rain fall etc..Dangerous to just take things in isolation.

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Steve Pond

25 FollowersMute12:31 PM on June 27, 2012

The real problem that results from climate change no matter how small (up or down) the rise, is the matter of positive and negative feedback systems being possibly instigated in the atmosphere and oceans..

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Bob Wierdsma (Moderator)

29 FollowersMute

10:13 AM on June 27, 2012

Recently the scientist who started all this global warming scare changed his mind and that he was perhaps being just a little to alarmist about the issue.

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Bob Wierdsma (Moderator)

29 FollowersMute11:31 AM on June 27, 2012

mikehowe - Your right. I don't worry about it too much since all things are in God's hands anyway, although he may have a different plan than our own. P.S. Don't panic too much since I still recycle what I can and then leave it up to the experts to process it and I get my car e-tested every other year with flying colours!

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cmaglaughlin

6 FollowersMute

10:02 AM on June 27, 2012

Global warming..."it's the SUN, stupid."

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Phillip Noe

FollowMute10:10 AM on June 27, 2012

cmaglaughlin - Sorry, that big hot ball of gas we rotate around wasn't overlooked. It is well established that humans are warming the earth and that the consequences are not good. Read up. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/27/science/earth/epa-emissions-rules-backed-by-court.html The judges unanimously dismissed ...more

cmaglaughlin - Sorry, that big hot ball of gas we rotate around wasn't overlooked. It is well established that humans are warming the earth and that the consequences are not good. Read up.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/27/science/earth/epa-emissions-rules-backed-by-court.html

The judges unanimously dismissed arguments from industry that the science of global warming was not well supported and that the agency had based its judgment on unreliable studies. “This is how science works,” they wrote. “The E.P.A. is not required to reprove the existence of the atom every time it approaches a scientific question.” less

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Steve Pond

25 FollowersMute12:27 PM on June 27, 2012

Its not just the Sun that heats the Earth, if it was just the Sun the GMST would be approximately -15. Who's the stupid one?

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cmaglaughlin

6 FollowersMute6:08 PM on June 27, 2012

Phillip Noe - Sorry, I'm not going to bore you with borrowed quotes from websites, but I've read how during the Middle Ages(no cars)it heated up quite nicely. There has been a study done over in Europe which was done by both pro and con man contributed global warming. THE conclusion...It's the Sun. You won't find it in US media.

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Steve Pond

25 FollowersMute1:06 AM on June 29, 2012

cmaglaughlin, then you are reading the wrong material because that only occurred in Europe which is not the whole globe. It was a local affect, so lets look for local causes such as the gulf stream, volcanic eruptions etc...

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rfong

12 FollowersMute9:30 AM on June 27, 2012

It's not like reducing human produced co2 and helping the poor are mutually exclusive endeavors, especially in a society where church and state operate more or less independently of one another. Moreover, to argue that global warming may increase crop yields ignore the possibility that currently arable land may not ...more

It's not like reducing human produced co2 and helping the poor are mutually exclusive endeavors, especially in a society where church and state operate more or less independently of one another.



Moreover, to argue that global warming may increase crop yields ignore the possibility that currently arable land may not be arable under changed climate conditions. If arable land gets more scarce in poor parts of the world, global warming will then exacerbate the poverty problem.



Not that evangelicals care about this anyway. They have all kinds of feeding programs to make themselves feel good, but do NOTHING to actually improve prospects for the poor. They don't take on lenders who charge exhorbitant interest despite clear bibilical prohibitions. They would rather embroil public school systems in useless creationist and prayer in school lawsuits than focus on improving the system for the poorest districts. They focus on abortion and sexuality simultaneously stigmatizing poor single mothers and blaming them for their plight. Not talking about government as a solution here, but what church goers are actually doing to address the problems of the world. In the global scheme of things, it amounts to little but using economic leverage to convert the poor while doing nothing to improve their economic situation.



This whole display of caring about issues is nothing but self-aggrandizing piety. less

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obeythefist

1 FollowerMute

8:40 AM on June 27, 2012

What's an evangelical to do? For one, divorce yourself from the religion of the Republican Party. I've never understood how this is anything but a political issue. "Global Climate Change is 'A Faith Issue,' Christian Leaders Say" proclaims the CP. Yes, if your faith is in the Republican Party and your covenants are the GOP talking points as preached from the pulpit of Sunday morning talk shows from Washington D.C.

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ChocolateQueen

8 FollowersMute10:12 AM on June 27, 2012

obeythefist - You know not every skeptic is apart of the Republican Party so don't assume that.Its also good to hear from the other side as well because what if we are wasting money and it doesn't do any good in the long run but cause more suffering.



Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/hold-evangelicals-and-climate-change-global-warming-skeptics-part3-75941/#iSDtjMFVy3Ct6MMe.99
Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/evangelicals-and-climate-change-global-warming-activists-pt-2-75939/#24A9XBKXtJeZvTFd.99   ========================