2017 June
This blog post covers various thoughts and Facebook posts
during June & early July, 2017. It
includes: the shooting of Republican congressmen, patriotic books for the 4th
of July, real world examples of bad liberal/progressive/Leftist policies (poor
cities, the “Ponzi” party, and minimum wage hikes), real fake news (Trump-Russia
conspiracy), Democrat demonizations of conservatives, Bono on radical Leftism & capitalism, Maxine Waters town hall & chant for Trump impeachment, “The
Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity & Islam,” US shoot downs of
Syrian aircraft, Otto Warmbier’s death at the hands of N. Korea, clear media
bias and war on Trump, increasingly vitriolic language on the Left, 50th
anniversary of Israel’s 6-day war, leaks from the “deep state” including Comey’s,
Prager University short videos on building the wall, climate change & the
Paris climate accord, the fascism of the illiberal Left, & the inconvenient
truth about the Democratic Party, Trump’s 70th birthday, why some
conservatives continue to attack Trump, and a review of the NIPCC’s report on “Why
Scientists Disagree About Global Warming.”
In reverse chronological order:
July 4
In the wake of the shooting of GOP Congressmen, Dems &
the Left have hardly missed a beat in their relentless political attacks –
encouraged by Bernie Sanders and others.
From numerous mass demonstrations across the country, to viciously
hounding GOP Congressmen. Even Johnny
Depp’s explicit questioning of how long it’s been since the killing of a
president by an actor. If you blinked,
you missed any “truce.” There is little
hope for civility or rational debate.
They still simply cannot accept that, as Obama said, “Elections have
consequences.”
When I raised the issue of the shooting with a colleague at
work, noting that the shooter was a very opinionated Democrat, he told me that
the same congressmen had voted against an assault gun ban (such a gun was used
in the shooting). And that the climate (including
allusions to Trump assassination) had escalated due to Trump, and what a
terrible person/president he is. Which
shows once again, that being liberal/Left means never having to say you’re
sorry, or responsible. The same
colleague called the LA Times a conservative paper – which led me to respond
that he must be left of Bernie Sanders.
July 1
"It is the 4th of
July — time to celebrate our nation’s freedom! Being a patriotic American isn’t
just about holidays, however — it’s also about values, history, and protecting
the principles laid out in our Constitution. We’ve gathered 5 books, ranging
from the Revolutionary War to the American idea, that every red-blooded
American patriot should read — make sure to add them to your bookshelves!"
[See link below -- I've read (in 1975) and can recommend one of
them -- the Federalist Papers, by Hamilton, Madison & Jay. And now
listening to the Hamilton audiobook.]
June 28
Here are a few examples of bad
liberal/progressive/Leftist policies:
10
Poorest Cities in America (How did it happen?)
City, State, % of People Below the Poverty Level
1. Detroit, MI 32.5%
2. Buffalo, NY 29.9%
3. Cincinnati, OH 27.8%
4. Cleveland, OH 27.0%
5. Miami, FL 26.9%
5. St. Louis, MO 26.8%
7. El Paso, TX 26.4%
8. Milwaukee, WI 26.2%
9. Philadelphia, PA 25.1%
10. Newark, NJ 24.2%
What do these top ten cities (over 250,000 pop.) with the highest poverty rate all have in common?
City, State, % of People Below the Poverty Level
1. Detroit, MI 32.5%
2. Buffalo, NY 29.9%
3. Cincinnati, OH 27.8%
4. Cleveland, OH 27.0%
5. Miami, FL 26.9%
5. St. Louis, MO 26.8%
7. El Paso, TX 26.4%
8. Milwaukee, WI 26.2%
9. Philadelphia, PA 25.1%
10. Newark, NJ 24.2%
What do these top ten cities (over 250,000 pop.) with the highest poverty rate all have in common?
Detroit,
MI - (1st on poverty rate list) hasn't elected a Republican mayor since 1961
Buffalo, NY - (2nd) hasn't elected one since 1954
Cincinnati, OH - (3rd) not since 1984
Cleveland, OH - (4th) not since 1989
Miami, FL - (5th) has never had a Republican mayor
St. Louis, MO - (6th) not since 1949
El Paso, TX - (7th) has never had a Republican mayor
Milwaukee, WI - (8th) not since 1908
Philadelphia, PA - (9th) not since 1952
Newark, NJ - (10th) not since 1907
Einstein once said, 'The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.'
It is the poor who habitually elect Democrats... yet they are still POOR.
Buffalo, NY - (2nd) hasn't elected one since 1954
Cincinnati, OH - (3rd) not since 1984
Cleveland, OH - (4th) not since 1989
Miami, FL - (5th) has never had a Republican mayor
St. Louis, MO - (6th) not since 1949
El Paso, TX - (7th) has never had a Republican mayor
Milwaukee, WI - (8th) not since 1908
Philadelphia, PA - (9th) not since 1952
Newark, NJ - (10th) not since 1907
Einstein once said, 'The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.'
It is the poor who habitually elect Democrats... yet they are still POOR.
I heard a great moniker for the Democrat Party – “the Ponzi party.” Because they’re all about Ponzi schemes that
promise great short term benefits, but end up failing & collapsing down the
road because they are not self-sustaining.
Like the doubling of the national debt by Obama – “stimulus,”
entitlements, incredible union pensions, etc.
Here’s yet another example of the Left’s preoccupation with
knee-jerk, feel-good, stage 1 thinking, disregarding consequences. The mandatory
increases in minimum wage have now clearly been shown to hurt workers &
businesses, though on the surface it sounds compassionate.
Fake News.
Now there’s a Project Veritas videotape showing CNN
production execs saying the whole Russia conspiracy thing is BS, and a witch
hunt. They have resigned because of
it. Yes, fake news.
And Sarah Palin is suing the New York Times for saying she
incited the shooting of Gabby Gifford.
The NYT has already made several retractions/corrections to some of
their statements.
News Flash for Dems:
Being for controlled borders & immigration isn’t racism
or xenophobia, but protectionism.
Being against gay marriage isn’t homophobia or bigotry –
just proper definition of marriage.
Being against abortion isn’t anti-woman or sexist but
pro-life.
Being against excessive entitlements isn’t racist – just good
for everyone.
June 27
Well, at least one
celebrity/rock star got it right. He's also been outspoken on capitalism
bringing people out of poverty (also linked below). So a rare, non-hypocritical
star.
Legendary rock band U2's lead
singer, Bono, is universally known for being a bit of a pompous, social justice
twerp who resides wholly on the left.
CONSTITUTION.COM
June 26, 2017
I received a flyer
inviting me to a town hall mtg. with Maxine Waters Saturday in Gardena. It
sounds like it would have been very exciting to go -- I heard about it in the
national news the other day. Then a search turned up the LA Times Article
linked below, and YouTube videos both inside & outside, also linked below.
Including a minutes-long chant she led "Impeach 45!" (Trump). The
racial makeup inside is not reflective of the Gardena or district demographics,
or views, I believe. The video shows a brave woman of color inside
standing up to the chanters with a sign saying "Impeach Mad Max!"
Appropriate. And some outside were calling her "dirty Waters." That
may come at least partly from the banking scandal she dodged by pulling the
race card (she had a large interest in a bank that directly benefited from a
piece of her legislation), as Larry Elder has pointed out. I think we have
ample justification to complain about our representation. And apparently
according to comments online many Blacks recognize the harm she's doing to
their communities. Bernie Sanders may be the only member of Congress further
Left than Mad Max. But he sounds sane in comparison.
Rep. Maxine
Waters speaks out on Republican health care bill at packed town hall meeting,
as protesters gather outside
LATIMES.COM
June 23
I heard the author of “The
Strange Death of Europe” interviewed on radio (Prager), and he's good. A sad
tale for my ancestral homelands (Denmark, England) & other favorite places
in Europe. I rather hoped they thought they had things worth preserving, but
too many apparently think not. And we continue to see what radical Islamists do
with other cultures. Not that the majority of Muslims agree, but they seem to
be intimidated, used and run slipshod over by the radicals.
From the Amazon
description: The Strange Death of Europe is a
highly personal account of a continent and culture caught in the act of
suicide. Declining birth-rates, mass immigration and cultivated self-distrust
and self-hatred have come together to make Europeans unable to argue for
themselves and incapable of resisting their own comprehensive change as a
society. This book is not only an analysis of demographic and political
realities, but also an eyewitness account of a continent in self-destruct mode.
It includes reporting from across the entire continent, from the places where
migrants land to the places they end up, from the people who appear to welcome
them in to the places which cannot accept them.
Told from this first-hand
perspective, and backed with impressive research and evidence, the book
addresses the disappointing failure of multiculturalism, Angela Merkel's U-turn
on migration, the lack of repatriation and the Western fixation on guilt.
Murray travels to Berlin, Paris, Scandinavia, Lampedusa and Greece to uncover
the malaise at the very heart of the European culture, and to hear the stories
of those who have arrived in Europe from far away. In each chapter he also
takes a step back to look at the bigger issues which lie behind a continent's
death-wish, answering the question of why anyone, let alone an entire civilization,
would do this to themselves? He ends with two visions of Europe – one hopeful,
one pessimistic – which paint a picture of Europe in crisis and offer a choice
as to what, if anything, we can do next.
The Strange
Death of Europe is a highly personal account of a continent and culture caught
in the act of suicide. Declining birth-rates, mass immigration and cultivated…
AMAZON.COM
June 20
This article describes the dangerous brinkmanship
in Syria reminiscent of the Cuban missile crisis, and has a good map of the
complicated situation. Russia & Syria clearly don't like the greater assertiveness
of the US (in coalition with UK & Australia) the last few weeks in
defending Kurdish & Syrian opposition forces we are supporting and who are
fighting ISIS in Raqqa. And now Iran is involved.
The first priority of all sides should be the elimination of ISIS, but that is clearly not the case with the Syrians and Russians. But with ISIS nearly defeated in Mosul and now Raqqa, their main centers, Assad and his opposition are also positioning themselves for holding post-ISIS territory, like the Americans and Russians at the end of WWII.
A US fighter
jet has shot down a pro-Syrian regime drone, marking at least the fourth time
in a month that American forces have directly clashed with Bashar al-Assad’s…
TELEGRAPH.CO.UK
Death of Otto
Warmbier at the hands of his North Korean captors/torturers. There needs to be serious repercussions of
their mistreatment for a very minor “offense.”
Directly against N. Korea, but also those who do business with him and
thereby facilitate the evil regime. Just
like Bush’s policy of treatment of any
who harbor terrorists.
June 19, 2017
Backing up the
Harvard study showing clear media bias in the 2016 election &
post-election, this former New York Times journalist & professor at
Columbia gives an insider view of the consequences and future. Blaming primarily the New York Times &
Washington Post for their lead in lowering journalistic standards, influencing
the election in unexpected ways, and continuing their blatant bias and agenda, he
says the mainstream media appears broken.
But he holds out hope that alternative media will step forward,
capitalizing on free speech, free markets and savvy & supportive consumers
who better represent political demographics than the mainstream media.
For a slightly shorter version, here are several especially
interesting excerpts:
“I’ve been a journalist for a long time. Long
enough to know that it wasn’t always like this. There was a time not so long
ago when journalists were trusted and admired. We were generally seen as trying
to report the news in a fair and straightforward manner. Today, all that has
changed. For that, we can blame the 2016 election or, more accurately, how some
news organizations chose to cover it. . . .
“…most of what you read, watch, and listen to is distorted by
intentional bias and hostility. I have never seen anything like it. Not even
close.
“…As with grief, there were several stages. In the beginning,
Donald Trump’s candidacy was treated as an outlandish publicity stunt, as
though he wasn’t a serious candidate and should be treated as a circus act. But
television executives quickly made a surprising discovery: the more they put
Trump on the air, the higher their ratings climbed.
And then, suddenly, he was winning. Only when the crowded
Republican field began to thin and Trump kept racking up primary and caucus
victories did the media’s tone grow more serious.
By the time he secured the nomination and the general
election rolled around, they were gunning for him. … The coverage of him grew
so vicious and one-sided that last August I wrote a column on the unprecedented
bias. Under the headline “American Journalism Is Collapsing Before Our Eyes,” I
wrote that the so-called cream of the media crop was “engaged in a naked
display of partisanship” designed to bury Trump and elect Hillary Clinton.
Day
in, day out, in every media market in America, Trump was savaged like no other
candidate in memory. We were watching the total collapse of standards, with
fairness and balance tossed overboard. Every story was an opinion masquerading
as news, and every opinion ran in the same direction—toward Clinton and away from
Trump.
For
the most part, I blame The New York Times and The
Washington Post for causing this breakdown. The two leading liberal
newspapers were trying to top each other in their demonization of Trump and his
supporters. They set the tone, and most of the rest of the media followed like
lemmings.
What happened to
standards? I’ll tell you what happened to them. The Times top editor, Dean
Baquet, eliminated them. In an interview last October with the Nieman
Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, Baquet admitted that the piece by his
media reporter had nailed his own thinking. Trump “challenged our language,” he
said, and Trump “will have changed journalism.” Of the daily struggle for
fairness, Baquet had this to say: “I think that Trump has ended that struggle.
. .
. . . . We now say stuff. We fact check him. We write it more powerfully that
[what he says is] false.”
The prejudice against him
blinded those news organizations to what was happening in the country. Even
more incredibly, I believe the bias and hostility directed at Trump backfired.
The feeling that the election was, in part, a referendum on the media,… and
Washington [both the Establishment]
The 2016 election was the media’s Humpty Dumpty moment. It
fell off the wall, shattered into a million pieces, and can’t be put back
together again. In case there is any doubt, 2017 is confirming that the
standards are still dead. The orgy of visceral Trump-bashing continues
unabated.
The mismatch between the mainstream media and the public’s
sensibilities means there is a vast untapped market for news and views that are
not now represented. To realize that potential, we only need three ingredients,
and we already have them: first, free speech; second, capitalism and free
markets; and the third ingredient is you, the consumers of news.
June 17
In the wake of the
mass shooting of GOP congressmen by a Leftist (Bernie Sanders supporter,
and avowed Trump/GOP-hater), Antifa violence, and the continuing stream of
explicit violent threats to Trump by prominent entertainers (Kathy Griffin,
Madonna, the Shakespeare performance, etc.), and fanning the flames by the
mainstream media & Democrats, maybe some sanity will finally begin to
prevail before things worsen. Those on
the Left, Democrats, the media and entertainers who don’t condemn in
unequivocal terms (as Bernie Sanders thankfully did) these kinds of behavior
will be just as complicit in further even worse acts as Muslim leaders who
don’t condemn terrorism in their ranks. They
implicitly accept, tolerate or even encourage such acts. To the loud-mouth hate-mongers (and
conspiracy theorists) – knock it off!
Cool your jets. Tone down the
rhetoric. Contain and deal with your
election loss and Trump hatred more sanely, civilly and productively.
For those out of touch with the news, Madonna said at an
anti-Trump rally that she has thought a lot about blowing up the White
House. Kathy Griffin shared a photo of
herself holding the bloodied, severed head of Donald Trump, ISIS-style. And the Shakespeare troupe does a play where
Caesar is a Trump look-alike, his wife has a Slovenian accent, and they are
assassinated at the end.
Of course the Left loves moral equivalence to avert condemnation and responsibility,
and makes a hollow comparison with the Gabby Gifford shooting, trying to blame
Sarah Palin’s figurative “targeting” of a congressional district on a website,
which was quickly de-bunked as the shooter was no Palin follower or
conservative, as the New York Times recently had to admit in a corrected
article. No, there is no moral equivalence between the Left & Right on the
rhetoric or violence, comparing the Obama & Trump presidencies.
And the Virginia governor quickly
went to the gun control argument – if Scalise hadn’t been there with his
security detail, many would have died without guns. Fortunately, it appears that prayers are
being answered on Scalise’s behalf for his survival.
The shooter was a big Rachel Maddow
(MSNBC) fan, called Trump a traitor (similar to others’ language who are
pushing for impeachment & even execution), and that his people are a threat
to democracy. Really? And killing democratically elected
representatives – and police officers at the behest of the Black Lives movement
-- is not a bigger threat to democracy?
The cognitive dissonance of these nuts knows no bounds.
This continuing unsubstantiated
Russia conspiracy theory and idiotic, groundless impeachment movement (one clue
to that is an outspoken, hate-filled nut job proponent Maxine Waters –
unfortunately my district’s “Representative”).
And for those with even a scintilla of sanity, impeachment or
assassination may soothe your hatred, but will only bring greater conservatism
by Pence et al.
And the media (CNN, MSNBC, etc.) is also complicit – see
this story that has some truth to it.
June 10
Today is the 50th anniversary of the conclusion of the 6-day
war between Israel and its neighbors -- expected to be a "war of
annihilation" by the latter. I remember well how incredible it was,
considering how badly Israel was outnumbered and outgunned on 3 fronts. 19
years after its first fight for survival and nationhood against the same
neighbors, and followed 6 years later by the Yom Kippur War -- another miracle.
And as a teenager reading a book about the 6 day war -- I was
especially impressed by the account of a lone Israeli tank commander on the
Golan Heights staving off a much larger force and fighting for multiple days
without sleep, just on adrenalin.
In 1991 (24 yrs. after the
war, and 26 years ago) I toured Israel and went to the Golan Heights where a UN
"peacekeeper" or observer there let me hold his gun (photo attached).
At the tourist kibbutz we stayed at we heard of how the Syrians used to fire
Russian Katyusha rockets on them from the heights. And Hezbollah still was
doing that to villages just south of this Lebanese border photo. Earlier in
that year (1991) during the Gulf War Iraq fired SCUDs into Israel. I also went
to Egypt which signed a peace treaty with Israel following the 1973 war. Here
are a couple of links on the 6 day war for anyone interested:
June 8
2 of the
recent leakers identified – an NSA contractor, and James Comey, former FBI
director. Hopefully they'll get more, and prosecute them fully. People need to
start taking this seriously.
June 6, 2017
Charles Krauthammer gives some common-sense
solutions to the illegal immigration problem in this 5-minute Prager University
course.
Can America
solve its illegal immigration problem both justly and humanely? Yes, but it
requires first building a border wall. Washington Post columnist and Pulitzer
Prize-winning author Charles Krauthammer explains why.
PRAGERU.COM
This former president of
the College Democrats of Maryland is a liberal, and calls out, in the Huffington
Post no less, the fascist, undemocratic (& I would say Bolshevikian)
tactics of the leftist "social justice warriors," at the very
liberal/Left Evergreen College, Berkeley, etc. McCarthyism pales in comparison.
Liberals have put up with this stuff so long and been bullied by it that the
monster has grown out of control, taking the Democrat party far left.
He says, "To be frank, if this ordeal does not boil your blood and
make you want to fight the regressive left and campus extremism, then you are
either ideologically possessed or intellectually blind. For the rest of us,
there is clearly fight on our hands for the heart of Western civilization which
calls on all of us to speak up....this insanity is unrepresentative of true
liberalism. Liberals who don’t call out these illiberal fascists are complicit
in their growing influence and impunity. We real liberals must wake up, we must
stand up, and we must act."
At Evergreen
State College in Washington, the dangerous authoritarian streak of
college-aged, left-wing extremists is being exposed in disturbing detail....
HUFFINGTONPOST.COM
June 5
Birthday greeting via the Medved link:
Happy Birthday,
Mister President! Just a note as one
who supported your election, and has been defending the great things you've
been doing as president in my blog & Facebook posts. And arguing how, in the face of incessant,
concerted & blatant media & partisan attacks attempting to stymie a
conservative agenda and delegitimize you, an effectual domestic civil war, and
an ongoing world war with radical Islamism, it is more important than ever for
conservatives to close ranks behind you.
We've got you're back. Keep up
the good work.
Facebook post:
In the face of incessant, concerted and blatant media &
partisan attacks
(my May 26 post) attempting to stymie a conservative agenda and destroy Trump,
an effectual domestic civil war, and an ongoing world war with radical
Islamism, it is more important than ever for at least conservative
never-Trumpers to close ranks. Dennis Prager, true to his priority of clarity
over agreement, in this widely published op-ed clearly enunciates several reasons some conservatives continue
to oppose Trump, and why they need to reconsider at this critical time, 7 months after the election.
Foremost, they do not
regard the left-right battle as an existential battle for preserving our
nation, and feel that Hillary would have been a better choice. Then there are
the purists/utopians -- conservative and moral, with intolerance for any flaws.
The cultural elitists who must preserve their social acceptability. And
finally, those who predicted electoral disaster and inability to fulfill
campaign promises who are unable to admit their error, and are content with
Trump failure to prove their rectitude. And combinations of these (e.g., George
Will?).
I made my own
civil war analogy in a last-minute, pre-election post (Nov. 5) about Col.
Chamberlain at Gettysburg saving the day (& probably the Union) by
persuading a large group of deserters dissatisfied with flawed leadership to
take up arms. Mark Levin, Michael Medved and Dennis Prager and myself were
among the conservative voices who strongly opposed Trump in the primaries, but
who now stand beside the many solid things he's done and is working to do,
while remaining cognizant and critical of his flaws.
They/we
recognize the overarching priorities, and that Trump, with all his flaws, is
our general in critical fights, and will need the support of the best fighters.
For those who have been AWOL, it is not too late, or early, to report for duty.
Let's give our commander-in-chief our support as a 71st birthday gift June 14.
Enlist at
When people
you know well, admire, and who share your values do something you strongly
oppose, you have two options: 1) Cease admiring them or 2) try to understand
them and change their minds.
TOWNHALL.COM
June 3
Lomborg is a voice of sanity in an alarmist world.
In 5 minutes, he shows how the focus on carbon emissions is a cost-ineffective
approach to climate change (which is inevitable, regardless of the cause).
Policy needs to be understood and determined in a larger context than only
worst case science, and misrepresentations of it.
Are droughts,
hurricanes, floods and other natural disasters getting stronger and more
frequent? Are carbon dioxide emissions, global temperatures and sea levels
putting us on a path for climate catastrophe? Bjorn Lomborg, Director of the…
PRAGERU.COM
June 2
Bjorn Lomborg, a prominent climate scientist in
Copenhagen, gives in 5 minutes some great facts and figures showing why the
Paris accord is a bad idea -- an extremely poor return on investment compared
to other approaches.
The Paris
Climate Agreement will cost at least $1 trillion per year, and climate
activists say it will save the planet. The truth? It won't do anything for the
planet, but it will make everyone poorer--except politicians and
environmentalists. Bjorn…
PRAGERU.COM
June 1
I repeat
this post of a couple weeks ago for any who missed it. It provides timely
arguments in support of Pres. Trump's announced withdrawal today from the Paris
accord.
I was recently reminded of the climate debate when seeing a
trailer for Al Gore’s sequel to his alarmist climate movie, and hearing shouts
in the theater both against & for.
We continue to hear that “97 percent of scientists agree” on the
causes & consequences of climate change -- that recent and projected
climate change is significantly man-made and dangerous. Many or most uninformed
people probably take these loud voices at face value, without digging deeper as
to the validity of that figure, and in the face of vague statements, asking
where exactly consensus lies. And assume they must either agree with the worst
case projections and proscribed policies or be branded science deniers. “…the
climate science establishment has become intolerant to disagreement and debate,
and is attempting to marginalize and de-legitimize dissent as corrupt or
ignorant.” This has the intended result of "herding" -- among the
general public, but also to some extent among scientists. Recall “Climategate”
in 2009. But even if the consensus number were accurate, it wouldn’t be the
first time in the history of science that a consensus was later proven wrong.
I’ve read this serious 110-page booklet (online version linked
below) from the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC),
and with my graduate degree in Astrophysical, Planetary & Atmospheric
Sciences, find it compellingly scientific in disputing the claim of consensus,
in fact demonstrating the contrary, and providing hard science supporting the
skeptics.
It is a summary of a multi-volume larger report, and begins by showing the unscientific nature of the 4 most commonly cited (e.g., by the UN’s IPCC) literature surveys, and that more objective independent research shows a clear lack of consensus, especially on the most central issues of CO2 sensitivity and projected impacts. It discusses the reasons scientists disagree, and provides a detailed survey of the physical science of global warming.
It discusses the complexity of this multidisciplinary science,
which few specialty scientists surveyed have a full grasp of, uncertainties
from observations and limitations of global climate models (GCM’s -- various
forcings and feedbacks unaccounted for), politicization of the IPCC, and forms
of bias, including ignoring the null hypothesis. It discusses flawed
projections (including overestimates of CO2 sensitivity), demonstrably false
postulates and circumstantial evidence (e.g., extreme weather and droughts).
Models and theories don’t explain the leveling of temperatures over the most
recent 18 years. And the models perform poorly even for re-creating
(“hindcasting”) recent variations, let alone forecasting many decades into the
future. It presents several long-term global temperature histories clearly
showing that 20th century increases (and even worst case projections) are well
within natural and non-disastrous climate variations driven by other factors
(e.g. solar). I saw this first-hand in Greenland, where the climate was much warmer
when the Vikings settled there about 1000 A.D. than today, and the glaciers
significantly smaller than today. Then they were frozen out by the Little Ice
Age a few hundred years later. And there has been some pre-industrial warming
since.
This would suggest that the most prudent approach for government
policies is, rather than excessive socio-economic impacts of draconian CO2
reductions, focusing on preparing for the larger natural variations (e.g.,
California drought). And other urgent matters (e.g., geopolitical, terrorism
& state sponsors, refugees, nuclear proliferation). Alarmists cite the
precautionary principle – even if the science isn’t settled, we should act as
if it were, just in case. By the same logic, being in the defense industry, I could
make a case for drastic expenditures to defend against nuclear missiles, which
arguably could have a similarly drastic human impact as any worst case climate
projections. Or as an emergency preparedness specialist, for vast expenditures
to protect our electrical grid, or mitigate the “Big One” (earthquake) in L.A.,
whose likelihoods, impacts and vulnerabilities are very well established.
Mike Hulme at King’s College calls climate change “a classic
example of …’post-normal science”…where facts are uncertain, values in dispute,
stakes high and decisions urgent….because the idea of climate change is so
plastic, it can be deployed across many of our human projects and can serve
many of our psychological, ethical and spiritual needs.” Yes, it is an ersatz
religion to many activists, and cause celebre for partisan politicians (e.g.,
Obama's claim that climate change is the greatest threat we face). Stephen
Schneider said “to reduce the risk of potentially disastrous climate change… we
need to get some broad based support, to capture the public’s imagination.
That, of course, means getting loads of media coverage. So we have to offer up
scary scenarios, make simplified, dramatic statements, and make little mention
of any doubts we might have.” Al Gore fills the bill nicely.
Another great short (5
minute) Prager University course worth watching. The presenter is a Black
professor of political science at Vanderbilt University. It brings out key points
also covered in Dinesh D'Souza's 2016 film "Hillary's America: The Secret
History of the Democratic Party."
Did you know
that the Democratic Party defended slavery, started the Civil War, founded the
KKK, and fought against every major civil rights act in U.S. history? Watch as
Carol Swain, professor of political science at Vanderbilt University, shares…
PRAGERU.COM
Comments
Post a Comment