Even though they’re listed as “Climate Change Skeptics” on the image above, the website author seems to go back and forth between calling them “skeptics” and calling them “deniers” (note that the link is “climate-change-deniers-vs-the-consensus”). Personally, I feel a bit conflicted about the whole naming convention. On one hand, the term “denier” has a negative connotation and smacks of name-calling and attempts to steer the debate. On the other hand, the term “skeptic” seems a little too generous, and I think it has a positive connotation that essentially amounts to steering the debate in the favor of the anti-global-warming crowd.
Personally, I haven’t delved very much into learning about the whole global warming thing. It’s an interesting summary of the arguments on each side. (I generally trust the scientists, have seen a lot of bad arguments on the anti-global warming side, and think the ultra-rich oil industry is doing the same thing to undermine global-warming research as the tobacco industry did with to undermine smoking research.) It’s also sad that opinions about global warming fall largely along political lines.
While three-quarters of Democrats believe the evidence of a warming planet is solid, and nearly half believe the problem is serious, far fewer conservative and moderate Democrats see the problem as grave. Fifty-seven percent of Republicans say there is no solid evidence of global warming (Source)
Personally, I think Republican pundits are dismissive of global warming largely because the Democrats take it seriously, and because there’s enough confusion on the issue that they can use it to cast Democrats in the “they’re stupid socialists” role. The political divide makes it hard to make headway. It means that a Republican pretty much has to admit that the Democrats are right about something and the Republicans are wrong in order to accept global warming, which is something a lot of Republicans won’t be happy to do.
“It’s never the right time to have kids, but it’s always the right time for screwing. God’s not a dumbshit. He knows how it works.”
– Source: Shit My Dad Says
This single frame is pretty funny in itself. You can read the whole comic here.
About the clip, Sean Hannity replied: “Although it pains me to say this, Jon Stewart, Comedy Central, he was right… It was an inadvertent mistake but a mistake nonetheless.”
Then, a week later, FOX repeats the same mistake. This time involving Sarah Palin’s book-signing:
As footage rolled of a smiling and waving Palin amidst a throng of fans, Jarrett noted that the former Republican vice-presidential candidate is “continuing to draw huge crowds while she’s promoting her brand-new book,” adding that the images being shown were “some of the pictures just coming in to us…. The lines earlier had formed this morning.”
Actually, they used footage of a 2008 McCain/Palin campaign rally, suggesting that it was footage of people turning-out for her book-signing in Grand Rapids, MI.
Had this been a democrat and another news-media outlet, FOX news would decry it as obvious political manipulation by the media to build-up public perception of a democrat.
I just thought this was an odd bit of media scaremongering.
Wow. 189 dead and one million infected. That’s a mortality rate of 0.019% (as compared to the morality rate of normal flu: 0.1%.) Yeah, yeah, I know – mortality trails infection rates.
And just to clear things up:
GENEVA — The World Health Organization says tests on swine flu samples from Ukraine show no significant mutation of the virus.
WHO had sent an expert team to Ukraine last week after reports of an unusual flu outbreak.
My ex-girlfriend truly believes 2012 is the end of the world. She bet me 50 dollars that the world would end in 2012. I explained to her if the world is going to end, then there’s no way I could pay her. I either win the bet, or we’re all dead. With a frustrated look on her face, she doubled the bet to 100 dollars.
-Thomas, UCSD
I’ve been listening to John Hummel’s 52 Weeks, 52 Religions podcast lately. He’s a former Mormon who’s out doing interviews with religious groups around Tampa Florida. About half of his interviews are with various Christian denominations, but he includes Muslims, Jews, Satanists, Pagans, etc in his podcast. It’s interesting stuff if you like hearing people talk about their religious beliefs.
One of the questions that he asks people during the interview is: “do you think the world is getting better, worse, or is it just as it’s always been?” One thing that’s struck me is that virtually every Christian group says that the world is getting worse. Most non-Christian groups seem to pick “better” or “same as always”. It’s remarkably pessimistic of Christians. Afterall, the human condition – in terms of education, health, lifespan, free-time, entertainment, etc – is far better in modern times than it has ever been in history. It seems that the Christian groups don’t really care about those things so much as being completely focused on people following their conservative version of morality and belief in Christianity. I suppose it could also have to do with Christian eschatology – since they believe the world will go to shit before Jesus returns.
His website is available here. The podcast only contains the last 10 episodes, but they’re all available on his blog.
