Monday, September 01, 2014

The International Conservative Opposition to Sex Education


The Washington Post has a good piece today by NYU History and Education Professor Jonathan Zimmerman that points out a big problem. The article is about sex education and the way that it has reached a certain point and faltered, but there is a much bigger story.

In 1994, 20,000 delegates from 179 countries met in Cairo to discuss how to deal with the coming world population explosion. The convention ended up endorsing sex education for girls as well as boys, and reproductive rights to contraception and information for adolescents of both sexes.

I am skipping the set-up and will jump to the meat of the story:
In most countries, children and adolescents receive a smattering of information about their reproductive organs and a set of stern warnings against putting them to use. Whereas the Cairo meeting envisioned preparing youths to be autonomous sexual beings, most contemporary sex education simply admonishes them against sex itself.

And that’s not because certain parts of the world are “conservative” or “traditional” on the topic. Instead, conservatives around the globe have united across borders to block or inhibit sex education. On issues of sex and reproduction, it’s not East vs. West anymore. It’s liberals vs. conservatives, each of which often have more in common with their ideological soulmates in other parts of the world than they do with people next door. Sex education is a global dividing line between liberals and conservatives
You hear the term "American Taliban" used to describe a certain kind of sex-loathing American religious fanatic. The label evokes an image of the turbaned, bearded man wading into a crowd with his whip to punish a woman who has carelessly let part of her face become visible. The fact is, religious conservatives in the US have more in common with fundamentalist Muslims than they do with secular Americans.
The resolution was also condemned by the Vatican, which had sent a papal envoy to Tehran earlier that year to coordinate its campaigns against the Cairo accords. The resolution caught the attention of growing Muslim immigrant communities in Europe, who joined hands with native white conservatives against sex education. On most issues, including immigration itself, these groups were at loggerheads. But on sex education, they saw eye to eye.
What a strange thing. All human beings have physical bodies and physical needs, and each of us has to learn how to manage those needs responsibly, including sex. Why would anybody oppose learning about that?
Meanwhile, a burgeoning network of international organizations bound conservatives together. Born a year after Cairo, the World Congress of Families united Christians, Muslims, Hindus and Jews who opposed abortion, same-sex marriage and sex education. It received a letter of praise in 2004 from President George W. Bush, who had declared that one-third of U.S. foreign assistance for HIV/AIDS prevention would be devoted to abstinence-only education.

But the global right was not simply a product of conservative U.S. support, as liberal critics too often assume. When U.S. delegates condemned a reference to “reproductive health services and education” at a U.N. special session on children in 2002, the other opponents of the language were Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Libya and Syria. On sex education, one observer wryly noted, the United States had united with the “axis of evil” that it otherwise reviled.
There is a broad syndrome that is sometimes called "rape culture" or patriarchy, that includes a wide range of beliefs and behaviors which serve to keep women in a dependent and unequal state relative to men. These beliefs have to do with decisions about reproduction, have to do with norms regarding sexual presentation and behavior ("slut-shaming" being one manifestation of it), sexual identity in general -- for instance sanctions against homosexual and transgender persons, and extending to resistance to equitable treatment of women in the workplace, including equal pay and equal consideration in hiring. The idea that men should seek consent for sex is laughed off in some circles, the idea that a woman takes birth control pills makes her a slut in some groups, some people do not think a woman is qualified to determine when she should be pregnant and when she should not.

Luckily there is an alternative way of thinking of women as human beings with the expectation of fair treatment and equal opportunities, same as men. Predicated on those assumptions, it follows that it would be best if young people -- male and female -- were educated about their bodies and how they function, so they can make responsible decisions about their own health and behavior.

You might have the feeling that the world is making progress toward freedom and equality for all. And you would be wrong.
To be sure, some Western European countries still provide sustained attention to adolescent sexuality in their schools. But they have also come under fire from growing Asian and African immigrant communities, which are repulsed by schools’ rhetoric of sexual autonomy and choice. Emphasizing “modesty and obligatory innocence,” as one Dutch observer wrote, these newcomers do not see sex outside marriage as a “choice.” It’s a sin, instead, and it’s scandalous for schools to suggest otherwise.

“How can a sexuality, reproduction and health perspective based on individual rights become a global norm?” a Swedish educator wondered in 2004, on the tenth anniversary of the Cairo conference. Ten years after that, we’re no closer to a global norm on sex education. We might even be further from it.
It is a constant battle and we must remain vigilant, or we will be dragged back into the Dark Ages. Don't think it can't happen.

152 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Gay Group to March in NYC St. Patrick's Day Parade

"The prohibition on identified gay groups in the centuries-old New York parade had made participation a political issue. Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio refused to march this year, and Guinness beer dropped its sponsorship.

The parade committee, in a statement made available to The Associated Press, said Wednesday that OUT@NBCUniversal, a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender resource group at the company that broadcasts the parade, would be marching up Manhattan's Fifth Avenue on March 17 under an identifying banner.

Craig Robinson, executive vice president and chief diversity officer at NBCUniversal, said the group had applied to march, but there was no immediate word on why the group was chosen.

"We welcome the parade committee's decision to accept OUT@NBCUniversal's application to march and enthusiastically embrace the gesture of inclusion," Robinson said. "Our employees, families and friends look forward to joining in this time-honored celebration of Irish culture and heritage."

OUT@NBCUniversal is described on its website as "the affinity group for LGBT & Straight Ally employees at NBCUniversal." Parade directors voted unanimously to include the group, the statement said.

Other gay groups can apply to march in future years, spokesman Bill O'Reilly said.

"It's about time," said Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of the gay-rights group GLAAD. "Discrimination has no place on America's streets, least of all on Fifth Avenue. As an Irish-Catholic American, I look forward to a fully inclusive St. Patrick's Day Parade that I can share with my wife and children, just as my own parents shared with me." She said parade organizers "must be held accountable" on their pledge to open the parade to all.

In the past, organizers said gays were free to march but only with other groups and not with banners identifying them as gay. Most marching units in the parade carry identifying banners. There are about 320 units in next year's parade, the committee said.

The committee said its "change of tone and expanded inclusiveness is a gesture of goodwill to the LGBT community in our continuing effort to keep the parade above politics."

The statement said the parade was "remaining loyal to church teachings" and Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who is to be next year's grand marshal, issued a statement Wednesday saying the parade committee "continues to have my confidence and support."

"Neither my predecessors as Archbishop of New York nor I have ever determined who would or would not march in this parade ... but have always appreciated the cooperation of parade organizers in keeping the parade close to its Catholic heritage," Dolan said. He said he prays that the parade will be "a source of unity for all of us."

Police Commissioner William Bratton marched last year with a contingent of uniformed officers. Gay activists held a news conference before the march to say officers should not participate in uniform.

Uniformed city workers, marching bands with bagpipes, traditional Irish dancers and politicians are traditional participants at the parade, which began in 1762 and can draw hundreds of thousands of participants and spectators.

The committee's statement welcoming OUT@NBCUniversal said, "Organizers have diligently worked to keep politics — of any kind — out of the parade in order to preserve it as a single and unified cultural event. Paradoxically, that ended up politicizing the parade.""

September 03, 2014 2:17 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

JimK: "It is a constant battle and we must remain vigilant, or we will be dragged back into the Dark Ages."

"Don't think it can't happen."


Agreed.

September 05, 2014 2:59 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

County to Hold Free Vaccination Clinics in 9 MCPS Schools

With an outbreak of pertussis, also known as whooping cough, in Montgomery County, the Department of Health and Human Services will hold free vaccination clinics Sept. 9, 10 and 11 at nine MCPS schools.

About 4,200 seventh-graders in Montgomery County have yet to get the proper vaccinations in order to attend school. This could lead to students being kept out of school, according to Montgomery Community Media.

All Maryland students entering seventh grade must have one Tdap (Tetnus-diptheria-acellular pertussis) vaccination and one meningococcal (MCV4) vaccination.

The total number of cases of pertussis in Montgomery County is now 15, with the latest being a sickened student from Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda, Patch reports.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, pertussis spreads easily from person to person through coughing and sneezing. Patients are generally treated with antibiotics, which are used to control the symptoms and to prevent infected people from spreading the disease. Vaccination can often prevent the disease.

The disease is known for uncontrollable, violent coughing which often makes it hard to breathe, says the CDC. After fits of many coughs, someone with pertussis often needs to take deep breaths, which result in a “whooping” sound. Pertussis most commonly affects infants and young children and can be fatal, especially in babies less than 1 year of age.

Anyone diagnosed is reported to the Maryland Health Department and then in turn reported to the county’s health agency. Symptoms include a runny nose and a cough that sounds similar to a bark, according to the CDC.

The free vaccination clinics will run from 3 to 7 p.m. at these locations:

Tuesday, September 9

Roberto Clemente Middle School, 18808 Waring Station Road, Germantown
Eastern Middle School, 300 University Blvd. East, Silver Spring
Julius West Middle School, 651 Great Falls Road, Rockville

Wednesday, September 10

Briggs Chaney Middle School, 1901 Rainbow Drive, Silver Spring
Forest Oak Middle School, 651 Saybrooke Oaks Blvd., Gaithersburg
Parkland Middle School, 4610 West Frankfort Drive, Rockville

Thursday, September 11

Benjamin Banneker Middle School, 14800 Perrywood Road, Burtonsville
Rocky Hill Middle School, 22401 Brick Haven Way, Clarksburg
Silver Spring International Middle School, 313 Wayne Avenue, Silver Spring

Appointments are required and can be made by calling 311 or visiting the Department of Health and Human Services website.

September 06, 2014 9:46 AM  
Anonymous Robert said...

Fairfax County Public Schools, in the video on sexual Harassment and bullying shown to all high school (and maybe middle school) students, focused about a third of their 10-minute period on harassment based on gender identity or gender-non-conformity. My understanding is that they treat this under the federal laws about sexual harassment and gender-based harassment, not just bullying.

September 06, 2014 5:28 PM  
Anonymous that's funny said...

in other words, Obama is a failure

yeah, most people would like to have the government give them tons of freebies and take the money to pay for it from a minority of the population

still, anyone who tries to govern under that philosophy will be a failure because it's an unworkable model

sooner or later, you run out of other people's mony

September 09, 2014 10:55 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Republicans love to argue that programs like SNAP - the federal food stamps program – and other social safety net programs put an unfair burden on American taxpayers, but if they just took a minute to crunch the numbers, they'd realize that's flat out wrong.

In 2012, the average American taxpayer making $50,000 per year paid just $36 towards the food stamps program.

That's just ten cents a day!

That's less than the cost of a gumball.

But Republicans think that's still too high a price to pay to help the neediest and most vulnerable Americans.

And when it comes to funding the rest of America's social safety net programs, the average American taxpayer making $50,000 a year pays just over six dollars a year.

Simply put, the American taxpayer isn't paying much for social safety net programs like food stamps and Medicare.

But we are paying a lot for the billions of dollars the U.S. government gives to corporate America each year.

The average American family pays a staggering $6,000 a year in subsidies to Republican-friendly big business.

And that's just the average family. A family making more than $50,000 a year - say $70,000 a year - pays even more to pad the wallets of corporate America.

So where does some of that $6,000 that you and I are paying every year actually go?

For starters, $870 of it goes to direct subsidies and grants for corporations.

This includes money for subsidies to Big Oil companies that are polluting our skies and fueling climate change and global warming. Compare that to the $36 you and I pay for food stamps a year.

An additional $870 goes to corporate tax subsidies.

The Tax Foundation has found that the "special tax provisions" of corporations cost taxpayers over $100 billion per year, or roughly $870 per family.

But in reality, that number is much higher.

Citizens for Tax Justice found that the U.S. Treasury lost $181 billion in corporate tax subsidies, which means the average American family could be out as much as $1,600 per year.

Finally, of the $6,000 in corporate subsidies that the average American family pays each year, $1,231 of it goes to making up for revenue losses from corporate tax havens.

This money goes to recouping losses from giant transnational corporations like Apple and GE that hide their money overseas to boost profits and avoid paying taxes to help the American economy.

The bottom-line here is that American families are paying $6,000 or more per year to subsidize giant transnational corporations that are already making billions and billions of dollars in profit each year. In the past decade alone, corporations have doubled their profits.

Republicans on Capitol Hill keep suggesting that we can't afford to help the poor in this country, and they're wrong.

What we really can't afford is doling out $100 billion each year to corporations that don't need it.

September 09, 2014 11:06 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

looks like we're dealing with a moron here

the corporate tax rate is higher in the U.S. than most places

this is somewhat ameliorated by deductions, which you seem to think our gifts to corporations

truth is, they are simply a way to structure the tax code in order to allow the government to control the activities of corporations

the net tax paid by most corporations averages higher than other countries, which is why companies like Burger King are moving their headquarters out of the U.S.

I, and most Republicans, believe no one should starve in a prosperous and civil society so we are in favor for food stamps for those truly in need

the wealthiest minority in our country bear most of the tax burdens of supporting our society

they also are the main supporters of charities that serve the poor

the bottom 50% pay no income tax at all

if they work, they pay social security tax for which they receive more personal benefit back than they pay in

they also pay sales tax on non-essentials but not rent and food

in other words, not much

September 09, 2014 12:50 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Stick to facts and stop the name calling.

GAO: Big Companies Paid A 12.6% Effective Federal Income Tax Rate

If corporations are people, they can pay income tax at the same rate as American people do, which is based on each "person's" income.

September 09, 2014 2:35 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

corporations are, by definition, groups of people, who pay taxes on the corporations' income, at horrendous rates

why should people who own corporations pay taxes twice?

to punish them for not being part of the proletariat?

even your comrade, Putin, in Lenin's old job, has lower rates

September 09, 2014 2:57 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"12.6% is not a horrendous income tax rate"

as has been explained to your freaking idiotship, corporate income is taxed at a much higher rate than that

first, there's the corporate income tax

then, when distributed to the owners of the corporation, it is subject to personal income tax

then, to add insult to injury, dividends are subject to a 3.8% Obamacare tax

of course, that's on top of the imposition forcing them to cover their employees' health insurance costs

"Look how little corporations pay into the USA's receipts compared actual American citizens"

doesn't take into account the taxes on the owners when distributed or the burden imposed by government to cover employee health insurance

"Corporations should be taxed on their profits same as individuals are taxed on their earnings"

why? their income is taxed when distributed to individual owner

why should it also be taxed at the corporate level?

"Fair is fair"

yes, it is

and the corporate income tax is not fair

"Corporations have been getting unfair tax advantages via corporate welfare for too long"

there is no such thing as "corporate welfare"

deductions in connection with the production of income is available to all taxpayers not just corporations

that's because those deductions increase tax revenues

only true imbeciles don't get that

"We made welfare work-related and limited in time, and we should limit corporate welfare in similar fashion, too"

what you call "corporate welfare" is actually deductions favoring certain expenditures that are in the best interests of society

these are available to individuals with no more limits than those on corporations

welfare is something entirely different

"It's long past the time for corporations to pay their fair share, same as the rest of us"

corporate income is taxed unfairly

btw, Americans now favor a Republican congress:


http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/generic_congressional_vote-2170.html

September 09, 2014 9:17 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

tee hee...

what a smackdown!!

September 10, 2014 10:42 PM  
Anonymous Robert said...

Can you please stop calling names?

September 11, 2014 7:18 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Robert, sometimes facts are facts

we have corporations moving their headquarters out of the U.S. because we have the highest business tax burden in the world

this is causing real pain to those who suffer from our lackluster economy, presided over by the most inept President in history

and this person is actually arguing that corporations aren't taxed enough?

the hope is that a few candid characterizations might rhetorically slap them to reality

why do you like to pussy foot around so much?

September 11, 2014 8:38 AM  
Anonymous Barack Obama is my favor right comedian said...

just got a personal message from a true class act:

"Hey --

There are just 55 days left in this election.

That's 55 days left for Democrats in tight races across the country to build the organization they need to win -- and if we don't step up right now, it's going to be harder for our candidates and volunteers to do that. That's just the truth.

So, I'm asking for your help -- chip in $10 right now to help elect Democrats.


If you've saved your payment information, your donation will go through immediately.

https://my.democrats.org/Elect-Democrats-2014


Thanks,

Barack Obama"


September 11, 2014 9:38 AM  
Anonymous throw the bums out said...

yesterday, 48 Senators voted to amend the Bill of Rights to forfeit the right to free speech for individuals who band together in corporations

while there is no chance that this pass in 2/3 of both Houses and be ratified by the states, these 48 Senators all need to have their resumes updated

here they are:

Tammy Baldwin (Wis.), Mark Begich (Alaska), Michael Bennet (Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), Cory Booker (N.J.), Barbara Boxer (Calif.), Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Maria Cantwell (Wash.), Benjamin Cardin (Md.), Thomas Carper (Del.), Robert Casey (Pa.), Christopher Coons (Del.), Richard Durbin (Ill.), Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), Al Franken (Minn.), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), Kay Hagan (N.C.), Tom Harkin (Iowa), Martin Heinrich (N.M.), Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), Mazie Hirono (Hawaii), Tim Johnson (S.D.), Angus King (Maine), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Carl Levin (Mich.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Edward Markey (Mass.), Claire McCaskill (Mo.), Robert Menendez (N.J.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Barbara Mikulski (Md.), Christopher Murphy (Conn.), Patty Murray (Wash.), Bill Nelson (Fla.), Jack Reed (R.I.), Harry Reid (Nev.), John Rockefeller (W.Va.), Bernard Sanders (Vt.), Brian Schatz (Hawaii), Charles Schumer (N.Y.), Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), Debbie Stabenow (Mich.), Jon Tester (Mont.), Mark Udall (Colo.), John Walsh (Mont.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.), Ron Wyden (Ore.).

September 11, 2014 10:44 AM  
Anonymous Things that make you go "hmmmm?" said...

A few years ago, then-Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and his version of “family values” conservatism seemed destined for the GOP presidential nomination.

What a difference one corruption trial makes. The McDonnells exited the Virginia Governor’s Mansion accused of having used it for their own enrichment and that of their cronies.

During the recent trial the McDonnells’ marriage was revealed to be a sham. The defense—as in, the McDonnells!—argued that the union had dissolved during McDonnell’s tenure, to the point that Maureen McDonnell had an unrequited crush on the businessman with whom McDonnell was supposedly exchanging favors for lavish gifts.

It gets worse for the formerly smug governor. With his marriage on the rocks, McDonnell has been living with Wayne Ball, a Catholic priest. The impossibly-named Father Ball was caught in 2010 having sex with a man in a parking lot, a charge to which he eventually pled guilty. This is McDonnell’s new roomie.

Meanwhile, McDonnell’s version of conservatism suffered a statewide defeat at the polls last fall, with uber-Christian conservative Ken Cuccinelli, once a shoo-in to succeed McDonnell, going down to Terry McAuliffe. McDonnell’s spot in Father Ball’s pad is now all that remains of his once-ascendant family values empire.

September 11, 2014 4:06 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Warren/Posner 2016!

September 11, 2014 4:20 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Things that make you go "hmmmm?""

liberals always focus on personalities

their ideas have no legitimate arguments

anyway, I'd say that family values remain string in Virginia

McDonnell is sad but irrelevant

and whoever made the above post about hiom is, let's be honest, a piece of trash

September 11, 2014 10:05 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

global warming alert:

it's still summer and Mount Rushmore got eight inches of snow today

the Farmer's Almanac is calling for a "super-cold" wimter

September 11, 2014 10:57 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

it was an absolutely beautiful September day here in the nation's capital

so glad to be living in an age of gloriously temperate climate !!!

September 12, 2014 7:36 PM  
Anonymous Meanwhile, in places other than your own backyard.... said...

Strongest storm to ever hit Baja California slams Cabo San Lucas

"A ferocious hurricane slammed an upscale Mexican resort early Monday with 125 mph winds and six months’ rain in just one hour.

Hurricane Odile is the strongest storm to ever hit Mexico’s southern Baja California peninsula. The Category 3 storm made a direct hit on Cabo San Lucas, a resort city popular with celebrities including George Clooney and Jennifer Aniston.

Alongside the region’s gleaming megaresorts are tiny fishing villages with flimsy homes, and Mexican authorities evacuated coastal areas and readied shelters for up to 30,000 people.


Climate change: Always an adventure!

September 15, 2014 8:45 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

hurricanes have been happening since the dawn of civilization

they could use some rain

the Baja peninsula is sparsely populated and most of the inhabitants at any particular time are American tourists, looking for a warm place by the sea to chill

if the whole place went under water, they could find something else

liberal hyperbole: always an adventure!!

September 15, 2014 1:31 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

what a nice graph!

shows the temperature going up and down since 1880

indeed, around 1965 it was much higher than 1880

true, there was a spike from 1980 to 2000

but, come on

interesting that your graph ends in 2005

because, despite increasing industrial activity and lack of any substantial effort to reduce greenhouse gases, the temperatures have been pretty flat since the turn of the millennium

say, you aren't trying to manipulate the data, are you?

first you try to claim an isolated storm in the Pacific is a sign of climate change

and then you put up a graph that omits some inconvenient truths of the last ten years

btw, can you explain why Al Gore keeps investing in beachfront property?

ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ho-ho-hee-hee-ha-ha!!!

September 16, 2014 9:26 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Your blather is meaningless and you have provided no reliable data to back it up.

Show us your graphs and data proving climate change and global warming have suddenly stopped due to "some inconvenient truths of the last ten years".

September 16, 2014 9:58 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...


2014: NASA: Hottest August Globally Since Records Began In 1880

September 16, 2014 11:35 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

May 2014 Was the Hottest May in Recorded History

September 16, 2014 11:42 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Your blather is meaningless and you have provided no reliable data to back it up.

Show us your graphs and data proving climate change and global warming have suddenly stopped due to "some inconvenient truths of the last ten years"."

you're the one who tried to convince us with data that ended ten yeas ago

and showed one true twenty year spike from 1980-2000

as you well know, the Earth has been much hotter in the past and life thrived

further, in geological time we aren't far past the last ice age so the case could made we're still shifting out of it

and your posting of the average temperature from a recent month again demonstrates your reliance on short incidents in a vain attempt to prove your idiotic point

to reiterate:

ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ho-ho-hee-hee-ha-ha!!!

September 16, 2014 12:02 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

man, the alarmists just don't seem able to keep their end up today

tee-hee-hee!!!

September 16, 2014 12:41 PM  
Anonymous Robert said...

I've agreed to sponsor the GSA at my school. I'm concerned that it will be a lot of time. The leadership will work hard, but it still takes time on my part. I already sponsor or co-sponsor two other clubs.

rrjr

September 16, 2014 1:23 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

maybe PFOX would help you every other week, Robert

September 16, 2014 1:30 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"interesting that your graph ends in 2005"

Actually, what's interesting is that you only provided blabbering blather and not one iota of data to make your false point.

Now I have posted a graph that shows global temperature anomaly through 2011. I suggest you click on one of the blue "download large image (102 KB, PDF)" on this page to see the data more clearly even with all that sand in your eyes.

Are you going to shrink your period of "proof" the climate is cooling to three years now, 2011-2014?

It's no wonder you didn't bother to provide this data as it shows global warming has continued through 2011.

Additionally "the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Climatic Data Center, the Japanese Meteorological Agency, and the Met Office Hadley Centre in the United Kingdom...[have reported]...rapid warming in the past few decades, and all [four scientific organizations' measurements] show the last decade as the warmest."

September 17, 2014 11:13 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) say 2012 was the ninth warmest year since 1880, continuing a long-term trend of rising global temperatures. The ten warmest years in the 132-year record have all occurred since 1998. The last year that was cooler than average was 1976."

so, if last year was the ninth warmest and all the ten highest were in the last 16 years, that means it was cooler last year than half the last sixteen years

meaning the trend over the last sixteen years is down

doesn't take an Einstein to see that

September 17, 2014 1:38 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yo, Einstein.

You said it yourself "all the ten highest were in the last 16 years".

If all ten of the highest annual global temperatures were in the last 16 years, that most certainly does not show evidence of global cooling, duh.

September 17, 2014 2:07 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

it does if this is the ninth highest

that means eight recent years were hotter

by definition, that's a cooling trend

make it easy for you

"cooling" means when it's not as hot as it once was

if eight recent years were hotter, it's cooled

September 17, 2014 4:24 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

hey man

that's cooool

September 17, 2014 4:26 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"it does if this is the ninth highest

that eight recent years were hotter

by definition, that's a cooling trend"


Look out! Pesky facts ahead:

NOAA: Earth had its 4th-warmest year on record in 2013

"All of the top 10 warmest years on record have occurred since 1998.

The Earth had its fourth-warmest year on record in 2013, equaling the level set in 2003, scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced Tuesday.

The average temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was 1.12 degrees above the 20th-century average and marks the 37th consecutive year (since 1976) that the annual temperature was above the long-term average.

All of the top 10 warmest years on record have occurred since 1998. The warmest year on record was 2010, NOAA reported.

Global temperature records go back to 1880.

This was one of the warmest years on record that did not include the warming influence of an El Nino climate pattern, according to Thomas Karl, director of NOAA's National Climatic Data Center.

Australia recorded its warmest year on record, while both Japan and South Korea endured their hottest summers on record...."


So if 2012 was the 9th warmest year on Earth, but 2003 and 2013 tied for the fourth warmest year on Earth, your claim of a recent cooling trend is bunk.

To repeat, going from the 9th warmest year in 2012 to the 4th warmest year in 2013 is not evidence of a cooling trend

September 18, 2014 1:59 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

< crickets chirping >

Well maybe, IF (big if) the global temperature anomaly is lower in 2014 than it was in 2013, the fourth warmest year ever, you'll call that a "one year cooling trend," judging from how desperate all your attempts to find a "cooling trend" have been on this thread.

Good luck to you!

September 19, 2014 3:56 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Well maybe, IF (big if) the global temperature anomaly is lower in 2014 than it was in 2013, the fourth warmest year ever, you'll call that a "one year cooling trend," judging from how desperate all your attempts to find a "cooling trend" have been on this thread"

actually, I'm not "desperate" to find a cooling trend

my position all along was that the climate is fairly stable

I simply pointed out that your attempt to prove global warming before, using numbers as of 2012, actually showed a cooling trend, which it did

now, after seeing what a fool you were, you've updated your numbers

but, again, it's all hyperbole

there's just nothing catastrophic happening and the basic lack of a warming trend since 1998 has been conceded by even the most rabid alarmists, except the ignorant fools who post here

September 20, 2014 8:47 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"and whoever made the above post about hiom is, let's be honest, a piece of trash"

whomever

September 20, 2014 8:29 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"With the exception of 1998, the 10 warmest years in the 134-year record all have occurred since 2000, with 2010 and 2005 ranking as the warmest years on record.

NASA: Six Decades of a Warming Earth, 1950-2013

And don't forget, May 2014 was the hottest May ever recorded and August 2014 was the hottest August ever recorded.

Good luck finding a cooling trend in any actual global data!"

again, I never said there was a cooling trend

my remark, which you latched onto in a desperate attempt to justify your alarmism, was directed at the faulty and dated data you originally posted

my original observation, and you have yet to present any data contradicting it, is that that global temperature have stabilized since 1998

I know that's an inconvenient fact if you're an alarmism

sorry to burst your bubble

September 22, 2014 10:03 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Global Oceans Break All-Time Heat Record; World on Pace for Warmest Year Ever

"The Earth’s oceans have never been this far beyond the bounds of normal.

New data released Thursday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed that Earth’s oceans reached a level last month not seen since humans have been keeping comprehensive records. Global ocean temperatures in August 2014 warmed to “the largest departure from average for any month on record” according to a NOAA statement. The previous record was set just two months ago, in June 2014.

Records date back to 1880, though there’s ample evidence that the new record hasn’t been matched in much longer than that.

Climate scientists took the news with a sense of foreboding:

See map of Land and Ocean Temperature Percentiles, Jun 2014 - Aug 2014

The NOAA data also showed the temperature of the Earth as a whole hit a new all-time August record last month, confirming similar results earlier this week from NASA and the Japanese Meteorological Agency, which use slightly different ways of crunching the numbers.

Additionally, the combined temperature of June, July, and August was also unprecedented in historical records. According to the JMA, four of the last five months have now been record-breaking for that particular month. (July was No. 2, just a hair behind the super-charged El Niño year of 1998.) The eastern United States is among the only land areas on Earth still running below normal for 2014, a legacy of the polar vortex outbreaks of earlier this year.

Later Thursday morning, NOAA expanded on the implications of the new records in a conference call, saying that on its current pace—and with the help of a newly resurgent El Niño—2014 is poised to become the warmest year ever measured.

“If the next four months rank among the five warmest on record, 2014 will be the warmest on record for the globe,” said Jake Crouch of the National Climatic Data Center...."

September 22, 2014 12:24 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Princeton Concludes What Kind of Government America Really Has, and It's Not a Democracy

"A new scientific study from Princeton researcher Martin Gilens and Northwestern researcher Benjamin I. Page has finally put some science behind the recently popular argument that the United States isn't a democracy any more. And they've found that in fact, America is basically an oligarchy.

An oligarchy is a system where power is effectively wielded by a small number of individuals defined by their status called oligarchs. Members of the oligarchy are the rich, the well connected and the politically powerful, as well as particularly well placed individuals in institutions like banking and finance or the military.

For their study, Gilens and Page compiled data from roughly 1,800 different policy initiatives in the years between 1981 and 2002. They then compared those policy changes with the expressed opinion of the United State public. Comparing the preferences of the average American at the 50th percentile of income to what those Americans at the 90th percentile preferred, as well as the opinions of major lobbying or business groups, the researchers found out that the government followed the directives set forth by the latter two much more often.

It's beyond alarming. As Gilens and Page write, "the preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy." In other words, their statistics say your opinion literally does not matter.

That might explain why mandatory background checks on gun sales supported by 83% to 91% of Americans aren't in place, or why Congress has taken no action on greenhouse gas emissions even when such legislation is supported by the vast majority of citizens..."

September 22, 2014 5:51 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

If Jesus Never Existed, Religion May Be Fiction

As someone raised in a Christian country, I learned that there was a historical Jesus. Now historical analysis finds no clear evidence that Jesus existed. If not, Christianity was fabricated, just like Mormonism and other religions. Why do people choose to believe religious fictions?

Given the depth of religious tradition in Christian countries, where the "Christian era" calendar is based upon the presumed life of Jesus, it would be astonishing if there was no evidence of a historical Jesus. After all, in an era when there were scores of messianic prophets, why go to the trouble of making one up?

In History, Jesus Was a No Show
Various historical scholars attempted to authenticate Jesus in the historical record, particularly in the work of Jesus-era writers. Michael Paulkovich revived this project as summarized in the current issue of Free Inquiry

Paulkovich found an astonishing absence of evidence for the existence of Jesus in history. "Historian Flavius Josephus published his Jewish Wars circa 95 CE. He had lived in Japhia, one mile from Nazareth - yet Josephus seems unaware of both Nazareth and Jesus." He is at pains to discredit interpolations in this work that "made him appear to write of Jesus when he did not." Most religious historians take a more nuanced view agreeing that Christian scholars added their own pieces much later but maintaining that the historical reference to Jesus was present in the original. Yet, a fudged text is not compelling evidence for anything.

September 26, 2014 5:06 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Paulkovich consulted no fewer than 126 historians (including Josephus) who lived in the period and ought to have been aware of Jesus if he had existed and performed the miracles that supposedly drew a great deal of popular attention. Of the 126 writers who should have written about Jesus, not a single one did so (if one accepts Paulkovich's view that the Jesus references in Josephus are interpolated).

Paulkovich concludes:
"When I consider those 126 writers, all of whom should have heard of Jesus but did not - and Paul and Marcion and Athenagoras and Matthew with a tetralogy of opposing Christs, the silence from Qumram and Nazareth and Bethlehem, conflicting Bible stories, and so many other mysteries and omissions - I must conclude that Christ is a mythical character."

He also considers striking similarities of Jesus to other God-sons such as Mithra, Sandan, Attis, and Horus. Christianity has its own imitator. Mormonism was heavily influenced by the Bible from which founder Joseph Smith borrowed liberally.

Mormonism fabricated in plain sight
We may not know for sure what happened two millennia ago but Mormonism was fabricated in plain sight by a convicted conman. According to Christopher Hitchens:

"In March, 1826, a court in Bainbridge, New York, convicted a twenty-one-year-old man of being a "disorderly person and an impostor." That ought to have been all we ever heard of Joseph Smith, who at trial admitted to defrauding citizens by organizing mad gold-digging expeditions and also to claiming to possess dark or "necromantic" powers."

September 26, 2014 5:07 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Hitchens writes: "Quite recent scholarship has exposed every single other Mormon "document" as at best a scrawny compromise and at worst a pitiful fake" ...

Smith's legacy was cleaned up via subsequent "divine revelations" that rejected first polygamy and then racism at convenient historical turning points. So the historical development from fakery to respectable religion is well documented.

There is no reason to believe that the genesis of any major religion was substantially different. This raises the question of why so many intelligent people choose to believe religious fictions.

The most plausible explanation is that they cannot easily distinguish between organized religion and confidence rackets.

Starting a fake religion

Religious people may find that hard to swallow, so it is interesting to see what happens when someone sets out to found a fake religion. Would this work, or would members see through the deception and promptly leave?

September 26, 2014 5:07 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

American Indian film director Vikram Gandhi studied yogis and their followers in India. He concluded that these holy men were confidence tricksters, scores of whom plied their trade throughout India in the manner of the Jesus story.

The filmmaker wondered whether he could pass himself off as a guru here in the U.S. He cultivated a fake Indian accent, grew out his hair and beard and reinvented himself as Sri Kumare, a mystic hailing from a fictitious Indian village.

In the film, Kumare (2011) the director founds his cult in Arizona where he unloads his bogus mysticism upon the unsuspecting public and soon draws a group of devoted followers who seek his counsel on their life problems and become frighteningly dependent upon his new-age advice.

The underlying psychology may be fairly simple. Common confidence tricksters work their magic by telling victims what they want to hear. The same is true of successful prophets who offer pie in the sky bye and bye as I explain in my book Why Atheism Will Replace Religion.The only reason that Jesus does not fit in this category is that he probably never existed.

September 26, 2014 5:07 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

This 1 chart exposes climate-science deniers as frauds

Yes, this one pie chart exposes the great science-deniers hoax. The first version of the chart came in 2012 based on research by geologist James Powell on DeSmogBlog, updated last year. Powell is a science author whose works include “The Inquisition of Climate Science.” A former college and museum president, Powell was a member of the National Science Board for 12 years, appointed by President Reagan and George H. W. Bush. Powell is the executive director of the National Physical Science Consortium.

Powell’s pie chart reveals why climate-science deniers have zero credibility in attacking the United Nation’s International Panel on Climate Change, the UN-IPCC’s 2,500 member scientists, or the IPCC’s five assessment reports published since 1988. Science deniers were especially upset with the scientific consensus in the fifth assessment report: that “97% of climate scientists agree that climate-warming trends over the past century are very likely due to human activities.”

Yes, “the gold standard of science is the peer-reviewed literature,” says Powell. “If there is disagreement among scientists, based not on opinion but on hard evidence, it will be found in the peer-reviewed literature,” where theories, research, conclusions and opinions can be openly challenged. Climate-science deniers avoid such exposure.

Powell searched the Web of Science for peer-reviewed scientific articles published between Jan. 1, 1991 and Nov. 9, 2012, that have the keyword phrases “global warming” or “global climate change.” The search produced 13,950 articles. Thomson Reuters’ Web of Science is the “premier research platform for information in the sciences.”

September 26, 2014 5:30 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Powell “read whatever combination of titles, abstracts and entire articles was necessary to identify articles that ‘reject’ human-caused global warming. To be classified as ‘rejecting,’ an article had to clearly and explicitly state that the theory of global warming is false or, as happened in a few cases, that some other process better explains the observed warming.”

Only “24 of the 13,950 articles, 0.17% or 1 in 581, clearly reject global warming or endorse a cause other than CO2 emissions for observed warming. The articles have a total of 33,690 individual authors. The top 10 countries represented, in order, are USA, England, China, Germany, Japan, Canada, Australia, France, Spain, and Netherlands.”

In his latest update, Powell says that when combining all his research since 1991, he has now reviewed a grand total of 25,182 scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals.” And he concludes that” only 26, about 1 in 1,000” actually “reject anthropogenic global warming.”

September 26, 2014 5:30 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Climate Myth...

1934 - hottest year on record
Steve McIntyre noticed a strange discontinuity in US temperature data, occurring around January 2000. McIntyre notified NASA which acknowledged the problem as an 'oversight' that would be fixed in the next data refresh. As a result, "The warmest year on US record is now 1934. 1998 (long trumpeted by the media as record-breaking) moves to second place."

The year 1934 was a very hot year in the United States, ranking fourth behind 2012, 2006, and 1998. However, global warming takes into account temperatures over the entire planet. The U.S.'s land area accounts for only 2% of the earth's total surface area. Despite the U.S. heat in 1934, the year was not so hot over the rest of the planet, and is barely holding onto a place in the hottest 50 years in the global rankings (today it ranks 49th).

Climate change skeptics like to point to 1934 in the U.S. as proof that recent hot years are not unusual. However, this is another example of "cherry-picking" a single fact that supports a claim, while ignoring the rest of the data. Globally, the ten hottest years on record have all occurred since 1998, with 2005 and 2010 as the hottest.

The fact that there were hot years in some parts of the world in the past is not an argument against climate change. There will always be regional temperature variations as well as variations from year to year. These happened in the past, and they will continue. The problem with climate change is that on average, when looking at the entire world, the long term trend shows an unmistakable increase in global surface temperatures, in a way that is likely to dramatically alter the planet.

September 26, 2014 5:31 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Wyatt/bad anonymous likes to post B.S. along the lines of: "The 97% number has been thoroughly debunked. All it means is that 97% of scientists agree that the planet is warmer now than in 1900. The cause, the extent, the effects, and much more is a matter of disagreement among scientists. debunking the 97%:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamestaylor"

Another standard page out of the bad anonymous "lying-through-ommission" playbook. Just as he points to extremely short term and very isolated cooler than average temperatures in the Eastern U.S. which represents less than 1% of the earth's surface and claims this proves global warming isn't happening while ignoring the other 99% of the planet that has much warmer temperatures than average, he posts a link to a pathetic article where people who wrote less than half a dozen of 12000 papers reviewed on global warming complain they were misrepresented, not because they didn't say humans caused global warming but that they said humans didn't cause most or all of the global warming. And of course the article ignores the 99+ percent of papers where scientists did say humans have caused most, if not all global warming we've seen since the industrial revolution. The truth is out of 25,182 scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals only 26, (about 1 in 1,000) actually reject anthropogenic global warming.

September 26, 2014 5:32 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The College Board’s Advanced Placement Program® supports the actions taken by students in Jefferson County, Colorado to protest a school board member’s request to censor aspects of the AP U.S. History course. The board member claims that some historical content in the course “encouraged or condoned civil disorder, social strife, or disregard for the law.”

These students recognize that the social order can -- and sometimes must -- be disrupted in the pursuit of liberty and justice. Civil disorder and social strife are at the patriotic heart of American history -- from the Boston Tea Party to the American Revolution to the Civil Rights Movement. And these events and ideas are essential within the study of a college-level, AP U.S. History course.

The College Board will always listen to principled concerns based on evidence -- and in fact has announced a public-review process for the AP U.S. History course framework. But in light of current events, an important policy reminder is in order:

College faculty and AP teachers collaborate to develop, deliver, and evaluate AP courses and exams. Their partnership ensures that these courses align with the content and rigor of college-level learning, while still providing teachers with the flexibility to examine topics of local interest in greater depth.

To offer a course labeled “AP” or “Advanced Placement,” a school must agree to meet the expectations set for such courses by the more than 3,300 colleges and universities across the globe that use AP Exam scores for credit, placement, or consideration in the admission process.

As vital context for the courageous voices of the students in Colorado, the AP community, our member institutions and the American people can rest assured: If a school or district censors essential concepts from an Advanced Placement course, that course can no longer bear the “AP” designation.

September 26, 2014 9:41 PM  
Anonymous Robert said...

Many colleges don't give credit for even high scores on AP exams.

September 27, 2014 9:38 AM  
Anonymous Robert said...

"Rather than award credit for an introductory course to incoming students who got the highest score on the AP test, the department gave those students a condensed version of the Dartmouth course's final exam. Ninety percent failed, Tell said. And when those students went on to take the introductory class, they performed no better than those who did not have the high AP test scores."

September 27, 2014 10:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The time has come, the walruses said, to gather on land since we can't find any ice around

"Nearly 35,000 walruses were discovered this month on a northwest Alaskan shore as result of being unable to find sea ice to rest upon, a problem aggravated by climate change, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said.

The unusually massive walrus gatherings were first spotted on Sept. 13 when NOAA conducted its annual arctic marine mammal aerial survey, a spokeswoman told the Associated Press.

The marine mammals use sea ice as diving platforms to hunt for food in shallow areas, or as resting points to avoid long, exhausting swims. While it is normal for sea ice to recede into deeper parts of the Arctic Ocean as temperatures warm in the summer, in recent years the ice has moved even further.

According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the accelerated loss of sea ice is associated with climate change, in which open water absorbs more heat and speeds up the melting process. WWF estimated that Arctic ice loss was 3.5 to 4.1% each decade between 1979 and 2012.

The habitat destruction has contributed to large groups of walruses arriving on shore. Walrus gatherings were first spotted near Alaskan shores in 2007, and they returned in 2009 and 2011, experts at the NOAA said.

“The walruses are telling us what the polar bears have told us and what many indigenous people have told us in the high Arctic,” Margaret Williams, managing director at the WWF, told AP. “And that is that the Arctic environment is changing extremely rapidly and it is time for the rest of the world to take notice and also to take action to address the root causes of climate change.” "

October 01, 2014 8:00 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

The U.S. supreme court has refused to hear appeals of lower court rulings finding gay marriage bans unconstitutional.

(scroll up to get to beginning of article)

Gay marrige will begin immediately in several more states and soon thereafter in other states covered by lower circuit appeals courts decisions in favour of marriage. In total 30 states will be enacting marriage equality in short order.

The refusal to hear appeals of these lower court orders thus allowing gay marriaes to procede signals the U.S. supreme court is unlikely to later take an appeal and rule that states have a right to ban gay marriage.

October 06, 2014 2:38 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Those states are Virginia, Utah, Oklahoma, Indiana and Wisconsin.

And there's even more good news from the Supremes:

The Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal of a former Ohio public school science teacher who was fired for introducing creationism into his classes.

The high court’s decision not to hear the Freshwater v. Mount Vernon City School District Board of Education case brings the matter to a close. Last year, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that Mt. Vernon City School District had the right to fire eighth-grade science teacher John Freshwater because the First Amendment does not permit him to ignore orders from his bosses or display whatever religious items he pleases in his classroom.

October 06, 2014 5:25 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Priya, if there was no suffering or evil of any kind, would you still despise the notion of a creator and an afterlife?

October 07, 2014 12:59 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Patrick I don't despise the notion of a creater and an aferlife per se. Eternal life where you have everthing you want, yes, that'd be great, I'd be all for that. A creator that won't allow evil, yes, I'd be all for that. None of which would change the fact that everything I see in universe isn't better explained by the existance of a creater than it is by the non-existence of a creator.

What I do despise is the thought of a creater who is essentially like a wife beater who commands "Love me or else". I despise the thought of a creater who claims to want people to have free will to choose to love him but then threatens them with eternal torture if they don't. I despise the thought of a creater who etnerally tortures people for the harmless thought crime of not believing in him. I despise the thought of a creator who hardens Pharoah's heart so Pharoah won't let the Israelites go so that creater can have an unjustifiable excuse to kill the innocent first born of the Egyption people for a vain display of how powerful he is. I despise the thought of a creator who says "I'm going to torture and kill the innocent Jesus because of the guilt of others so as to appease myself rather than just forgiving the guilty without torturing an innocent", a creator who is terribly unjust.

So, no I don't despise the idea of a creator or an afterlife, I despise the idea of the Christian god, Jesus, the Islamic God, and the Jewish god.

October 07, 2014 2:51 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Super Typhoon Vongfong explodes, becomes most intense storm on Earth in 2014

"Super Typhoon Vongfong has rapidly intensified over the past 24 hours, from the equivalent of a category two hurricane to a monster typhoon with 155 mph wind speeds, and an estimated central pressure of 908 millibars.

Based on satellite estimates of central pressure, Vongfong is now the most intense storm on Earth so far in 2014, and forecast models suggest it could rival the intensity of deadly Typhoon Haiyan of 2013 over the next 24 hours.

During the 24 hours between Monday and Tuesday mornings, Vongfong ballooned from wind speeds of 89 mph to 168 mph, based on satellite estimates. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center estimates that Typhoon Vongfong has maximum winds of 155 mph on Tuesday morning, though this is likely a conservative estimate.

Vongfong is now the sixth super typhoon of 2014, with winds speeds over 150 mph...."

October 08, 2014 10:41 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...


California’s Drought Is So Bad, Even Its Hydropower Is Drying Up


California’s ability to produce renewable energy from hydroelectric dams has been significantly hampered over the last few years because of an increasingly severe and widespread drought, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Monday.

Hydroelectric power used to account for 20 percent of California’s in-state electricity generation for the first six months of each year from 2004 until 2013, the EIA said. But during the first six months of 2014, hydropower generation was halved, making up only 10 percent of California’s in-state electricity generation.

California’s drought is currently so critical that “14 communities on the brink of waterlessness,” the LA Times reported this month. Hundreds of people living in rural San Joaquin Valley either have no water or are having “some kind of water issue,” according to the Porterville Recorder, causing emergency services teams to deliver rations of bottled water to the community. The heat waves that have been contributing to the drought have forced school closures across Southern California, and more than 100 schools in San Diego have been forced to shorten individual school days to protect students from high temperatures.

The most recent drought monitor for the state showed 58 percent of the state in “exceptional drought,” the most intense category. Almost the entire state is in severe drought.

The severity of the drought in California has been directly linked to climate change by Stanford University researchers, who found last month that the conditions causing California’s drought are “at least three times as likely to occur in the present climate as in the preindustrial climate.”



October 08, 2014 2:11 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

US tidal floods will be 'chronic' in 15 years study shows.

Washington (AFP) - Many US coastal communities already struggle with flooding at high tides, a problem that will become "chronic" in the coming 15 years due to global warming, scientists said Wednesday.

As shorelines are growing more populated, sea levels are swelling due to melting glaciers and polar ice sheets, putting more populations at risk, said a report by the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Particularly dire consequences are expected along the US east coast and the Gulf Coast, the report warned.

"Our analysis shows that increases in tidal flooding will be substantial and nearly universal," said the report, based on tidal gauges in 52 coastal communities from the northeastern state of Maine down to Florida and along the Gulf Coast of Texas.

"That means the steady creep of sea level rise will force many communities largely unfamiliar with tidal floods today to grapple with chronic flooding in the next 15 to 30 years."

From 1880 to 2009, global sea levels rose about eight inches (20 centimeters). Today, oceans are rising at an even faster rate.

"No longer an intangible global trend, sea level rise has arrived on the doorstep of communities scattered up and down the east coast, delivered by the tides," it added.

"In the next 15 years alone, two-thirds of these communities could see a tripling or more in the number of high-tide floods each year."

The problem is not new, and some east coast communities have already seen "a fourfold increase in the annual number of days with tidal flooding since 1970," it found.

October 08, 2014 2:16 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Since the badly misnamed "Defense" of Marriage Act was struck down last year there have been 39 lower court decisions in favour of marriage equality vs 2 losses.

October 08, 2014 2:40 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Priya: "None of which would change the fact that everything I see in universe isn't better explained by the existence of a creator than it is by the non-existence of a creator."

I appreciate your candidness, Priya, thanks for the reply. I’m working on a response -- I just want to take some time with it though, so as to avoid any misunderstandings like the last time we spoke on the subject. : )

October 10, 2014 6:25 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Vatican Proposes Dramatic Shift In Attitude Towards Gays, Same Sex Couples

"(Reuters) - In a dramatic shift in tone, a Vatican document said on Monday that homosexuals had "gifts and qualities to offer" and asked if Catholicism could accept gays and recognize positive aspects of same-sex couples.

The document, prepared after a week of discussions at an assembly of 200 bishops on the family, said the Church should challenge itself to find "a fraternal space" for homosexuals without compromising Catholic doctrine on family and matrimony.

While the text did not signal any change in the Church's condemnation of homosexual acts or its opposition to gay marriage, it used language that was less judgmental and more compassionate than past Vatican statements under previous popes.

The document will be the basis for discussion for the second and final week of the assembly, known as a synod, which was called by Pope Francis and focuses on the theme of the family.

It will also serve for further reflection among Catholics around the world ahead of another, definitive synod next year.

"Homosexuals have gifts and qualities to offer the Christian community: are we capable of welcoming these people, guaranteeing to them a further space in our communities? Often they wish to encounter a Church that offers them a welcoming home," said the document, known by its Latin name "relatio".

"Are our communities capable of proving that, accepting and valuing their sexual orientation, without compromising Catholic doctrine on the family and matrimony?" it asked.

John Thavis, Vatican expert and author of the bestselling 2013 book "The Vatican Diaries", called the document "an earthquake" in the Church's attitude towards gays.

"The document clearly reflects Pope Francis' desire to adopt a more merciful pastoral approach on marriage and family issues," he said.

A number of participants at the closed-door synod have said the Church should tone down its condemnatory language when referring to gay couples and avoid phrases such as "intrinsically disordered" when speaking of homosexuals.

That was the phrase used by former Pope Benedict in a document written before his election, when he was still Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and head of the Vatican's doctrinal department.

EDUCATIONAL CHALLENGE

The language and tone of Monday's document, read to the assembly in the presence of Pope Francis, appeared to show that the advocates of a more merciful tone toward homosexuals and Catholics in so-called "irregular situations" had prevailed.

It said that the 1.2 billion-member Church should see the development of its position on homosexuals as "an important educational challenge" for the global institution.

While the Church continued to affirm that gay unions "cannot be considered on the same footing as matrimony between man and woman", it should recognize that there could be positive aspects to relationships in same-sex couples.

"Without denying the moral problems connected to homosexual unions it has to be noted that there are cases in which mutual aid to the point of sacrifice constitutes a precious support in the life of the partners," the document said.

Pope Francis has said the Church must be more compassionate with homosexuals, saying last year: "If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge."..."

October 13, 2014 10:56 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Patrick I agree with Stephen Hawking who says science offers a more convincing explanation than religion for the origins of the universe and the miracles of religion aren't compatible with scientific fact.

October 13, 2014 12:39 PM  
Anonymous Cooling trend? What cooling trend? said...

2014 Could Be the Hottest Year on Record

"May, June, August and September have all been record-breaking months

The earth could be heading for its warmest year on record, meteorologists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced on Monday.

Last month was the warmest September in 135 years of record keeping, with the global average temperature 60.3 degrees Fahrenheit (15.72 degrees Celsius), the Associated Press reports. May, June and August were also record-breaking months.

NOAA climate scientist Jessica Blunden told AP it was “pretty likely” that 2014 would be the hottest year since measurements began.

The reason for the rise in temperature is partly due to a band of warm water that develops in the Pacific Ocean called El Niño. Other record-breaking years started off with El Niño, and meteorologists forecast one is likely to occur this year.

“This is one of many indicators that climate change has not stopped and that it continues to be one of the most important issues facing humanity,” University of Illinois climate scientist Donald Wuebbles told AP."

October 21, 2014 9:05 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The Kansas Supreme Court on Friday upheld the murder conviction in the killing of Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller.

But the court vacated the “Hard 50” life sentence of Scott P. Roeder and ordered the case back to Sedgwick County for resentencing.

Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett said in a written statement Friday that he anticipates seeking a new Hard 50 sentencing hearing for Roeder.

Roeder, 56, was found guilty of first-degree murder in the 2009 shooting death of Tiller in the Wichita church where Tiller served as an usher. Roeder was also found guilty of two counts of aggravated assault for threatening to shoot two other ushers.

His challenge to the convictions on a number of grounds was rejected by the court.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article3343580.html#storylink=cpy

October 27, 2014 1:52 PM  
Anonymous laughing with joy said...

http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/millennials-bolt-obama-for-gop-in-midterms-20141029

October 30, 2014 7:29 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Supreme Court upholds law to prevent crisis pregnancy centers from lying to women

The New York City law requires antiabortion counselors to disclose whether they have medical personnel on site

The Supreme Court rejected an appeal from several so-called “crisis pregnancy centers” on Monday over a controversial New York City law that requires centers to inform clients whether or not they have medical personnel on site. The 2011 law was enacted to prevent CPCs from portraying themselves as medical facilities that offer abortion services and other reproductive health care, a tactic many centers use to manipulate pregnant women into antiabortion counseling.

The justices upheld the medical personnel disclosure provision in accordance with an earlier ruling from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which previously struck down several other provisions of the law, Reuters reports:

The appeals court threw out a provision that make centers state whether they provide abortions and other reproductive care and a requirement that the centers tell clients that New York City health officials recommend that pregnant women consult a licensed healthcare provider.

The centers, according to critics, are typically located near hospitals and Planned Parenthood facilities, are staffed by people wearing medical garb and offer ultrasounds but do not provide licensed medical care."


The CPCs involved in the appeal, including the Evergreen Association Inc and the Life Center of New York Inc, claim the provisions violate their First Amendment free speech rights. Meanwhile, city officials counter that the law is meant to protect consumers from false advertising."

November 03, 2014 3:30 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Likely Millennial Voters Up-for-Grabs in Upcoming Midterm Elections, Harvard Youth Poll Finds

While more 18- to 29- year-olds (50%-43%) surveyed in the IOP’s fall 2014 poll would prefer that Congress be controlled by Democrats instead of Republicans, the numbers improve dramatically for the GOP when only young people who say they will “definitely vote” are studied. Among these likely voters, the IOP’s latest poll shows the preference shifting, with slightly more than half (51%) preferring a Republican-run Congress and 47 percent wanting Democrats to be in charge...

...When it comes to young voters’ assessment of how Congressional Democrats and Republicans are handling specific issues, the trends are similar for the 18- to 29 year old cohort overall compared to likely voters. Asked who is better equipped to handle the economy – which 77 percent considered very or somewhat important in their November decisions – Democrats were preferred overall by a 30 to 26 percent margin. Among likely voters, 39 percent said they trusted Republicans and 35 percent said they trusted Democrats.

On who is better trusted to handle foreign policy, Democrats win, 29 percent to 24 percent. But among likely voters, the GOP held an advantage, 40 percent to 35 percent. On immigration policy, Democrats are seen as better equipped, 32 percent to 26 percent, to deal with the issue but among likely voters, the GOP is seen as the better stewards by a margin of 40 percent to 35 percent.

Democrats win in both race relations and health care. Overall, young Americans report Democrats, by a 34 to 16 percent margin (46% were not sure), are more trustworthy when it comes to race relations. The gap is almost as significant among likely voters, who favor Democrats on the issue by a 40 to 26 percent margin.

On health care, Democrats also prevail among both young voters overall (who say Democrats are better at dealing with health care than Republicans by a 33 to 25 percent margin) and likely young voters (who side with Democrats by a slim 40 to 38 percent margin)...

...Approval Rating for Congressional Republicans Below 25%

While President Obama’s performance has not met the expectations of young Americans of late, neither have the Republicans in Congress. At 23 percent, Congressional Republican approval is approximately half of the president’s (Republican disapproval is 72%). Democrats in Congress hold a significantly higher approval rating of 35 percent, with 60 percent disapproving.

In trends that mirror polling on the electorate at large, young voters are clearly troubled with how Washington is working, and how their elected officials are doing. Asked who is to blame for the political gridlock in Washington, a strong majority (56 percent) said both Republicans and Democrats, or “all of them.” For nearly every demographic, be it party affiliation, income, gender, race, level of education or intention of voting this fall, the answer of “all of them” was a majority or plurality of responses. Among Independents, a full 70 percent blamed the full DC team for Washington’s dysfunction. Among young Americans overall, Republicans in Congress got the second-biggest amount of blame (22%), followed by President Obama (13%) and then Congressional Democrats who were singly blamed by just five percent of voters."

November 03, 2014 3:44 PM  
Anonymous the man of mirth said...

what a glorious autumnal morning in America!

while the brilliant leaves float in the air and pumpkins guard every good doorstep, Americans will make their way to churches and schools across the land and resolutely reject everything that TTF stands for

have fun everybody

we're gonna get high tonight!!

November 04, 2014 6:14 AM  
Anonymous I thought so said...

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/all-ages-see-higher-premiums-under-obamacare/article/2555546

November 04, 2014 6:19 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I’m an evangelical minister. I now support the LGBT community — and the church should, too.

November 04, 2014 10:54 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

HealthPocket.com reports:

"...Overall the increase in premium costs from 23 to 63 years old dropped from a national average of 260.0% in 2013 to 187.3% in 2014. In most states, the increases from age 23 to 30 and from age 23 to 63 were lower in 2014 than in 2013...

...There are several factors that have contributed to higher premium costs in 2014. With the new prohibition on application rejection due to health, insurance plans in the individual market expanded its number of enrollees with expensive medical conditions. Additionally, the average health plan benefit package also expanded. Under the Affordable Care Act, all health plans on the individual market were required to cover ten categories of Essential Health Benefits, including pediatric oral and vision care, as well as maternity and newborn care. In the 2013 pre-reform market, 92% of plans excluded coverage for children’s dental check-ups, 87% excluded children’s eyeglasses, 67% excluded delivery, and 64% excluded prenatal and postnatal care. Less than 2% of pre-reform plans provided all of the essential health benefits."...


Health insurance premiums went up less in 2014 than they did in 2013, when only "2% of pre-reform of plans provided all of the essential health benefits." Additionally, more Americans with expensive medical condition were covered in 2014 than had been before.

November 04, 2014 11:25 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

funny, Americans don't see the benefit

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/obama_and_democrats_health_care_plan-1130.html

this is a democracy, right?

November 04, 2014 11:36 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Democracy?

Hell no!

It's a KochOligarchy!

November 04, 2014 11:53 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

have you heard?

after Democrats complained loud and long about Citizens United, it turns out one out every twenty political ads this year were paid for by a group controlled by Harry Reid

may be why Americans are getting Obamacared when they don't want it

http://time.com/3553907/senate-majority-pac-campaign-finance-citizens-united/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/23/super-pac-donors_n_5613495.html

November 04, 2014 3:54 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

democrat hypocrites are done after today

November 04, 2014 3:56 PM  
Anonymous duck, America said...

America is in grave danger from a committed TTFer.

Obama still has two more years left in his final term.

Already, he has demonstrated again and again that he has no regard for the constitution or the legitimacy of laws when they do not suit his agenda. He flaunts his disregard for the constitutional process, dismisses laws he doesn’t like and rewrites others.

He mocks the powers of Congress. The Supreme Court has slapped him down more than any president in recent times. All of this as he tells us he is an expert on constitutional law.

Now come his very explicit threats to pass more illegal and unconstitutional presidential edicts to grant amnesty to illegal aliens already in the United States. This, in turn, will issue invitations for millions more illegals to come streaming across the border.

It will not end at immigration. Unchecked power is addictive.

Disowned by Democrats and made to feel irrelevant in this election, President Obama’s enormous and unjustified ego is deeply wounded. He is frustrated and feels caged, cornered. This is when people like him are most dangerous.

Buoyant Republicans will make an effort to engage him.

But President Obama is not a listener. He is not a negotiator. He is not a learner. He will just take what he wants. It is easier that way.

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s court-packing scheme during the Great Depression was nothing like the strains this president has put on Constitution. Indeed, not since the Civil War has America faced such a dire threat to her existence as a lawful, constitutional republic.

November 05, 2014 7:33 AM  
Anonymous yes, thanks everyone said...

Great news: We're already getting reports in from Maryland, and it looks like a lot of your friends and neighbors are voting.

Make sure you join them -- look up where you can vote for Democrats today:

http://my.democrats.org/Lookup

In races this close, the election in Maryland could come down to a few votes in your precinct. Make sure to get out there and vote before polls close at 8:00 p.m. tonight.

If you've already cast your ballot -- thanks for being a 2014 voter! But we still need your help to get everyone you know out to the polls, so make sure to forward this email to three friends or family members in Maryland, too.

Thanks for everything you're doing.

Pratt

Pratt Wiley
National Director of Voter Expansion
Democratic National Committee

November 05, 2014 9:16 AM  
Anonymous snicker snicker said...

do you guys hear?

the voters had a backlash against incumbents and threw them out all over the country

although they did make a special exception for any Republican incumbents

how about that?

November 05, 2014 4:47 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

looks like Dems are going to have to chaaange

November 06, 2014 8:12 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

looks like Dems are going to have to chaaange

November 06, 2014 8:13 AM  
Anonymous the redcoats have come said...

probably the biggest political mistake in U.S. history was when the Democrats nominated Barack Obama for President six years ago

now, Republicans have flipped the House, Senate, Governors and State legislatures to make an American map look mostly red by any criteria

this will give Repubs a tremendous bullpen going forward and expanded gerrymandering opportunities

and Obama? he's looking forward to chillaxing in couch potato status the next two years

thanks, guys

we needed that!!

http://www.nationaljournal.com/white-house/his-party-is-at-a-low-point-and-obama-seems-passive-20141105

November 06, 2014 9:34 AM  
Anonymous too much wine and too much song said...

back in early October, the Big Barry gave a speech saying that, though he is not on the ballot, his policies are, "every single one of them"

yes, they were, Barry

now, the Republicans hold the Senate

Republicans have most governors' mansions, including our most liberal states, Maryland and Massachusetts, and Big Barry's home state of Illinois

Republicans have more seats in the House of Representatives than at any time since Charlie Chaplin was making silent movies

Republicans have most state legislatures, and are entirely persona non grata in the entire South, including Arkansas and Tennessee, where the last successful Dem presidential team, Clinton and Gore, came from

no Dems asked Obama to campaign for them and some even refused to say whether they voted for him

polls show clear majorities detest Obamacare

meanwhile, despite the grandest efforts of Obama, America is poised to become energy independent and meet the carbon reduction targets of Kyoto, not by government fiat but private enterprise fracking activity

after years of Harry Reid blocking votes in the Senate, and falsely accusing Repubs of obstruction, scores of bills will now be passed

and, if Obama vetoes, well, considering that every other political entity is controlled by Repubs and that Obama's approval rating is dismal, it's hard to see him winning the hearts of the public for Dems

and, oh yes, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnatti yesterday upheld the right of states to define marriage

you may remember that Ruthie Bader Ginsburg said the Supreme Court didn't consider the issue because all the lower courts were in agreement

no longer true

so, now the issue will be decided by a Supreme Court that has five conservative members

and best of all, TTF has gone silent

November 07, 2014 9:31 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"we must remain vigilant, or we will be dragged back into the Dark Ages. Don't think it can't happen."

BWAHAHAHAHA!!

November 07, 2014 10:51 AM  
Anonymous geisha guy said...

hey kids, did you know that every candidate that ran on a War on Women platform Tuesday lost?

ask Mark Udall in Colorado, Sandra Fluke in California, Wendy Davis in Texas

yet, the new Congress will have more women than any in history

the Dems have been exposed as anti-women by the American voter

another plank in TTF's artificial façade comes crashing to the ground

November 08, 2014 8:55 AM  
Anonymous ha-ha said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

November 08, 2014 8:57 AM  
Anonymous Robert said...

The Fairfax County School Board voted Thursday to add Sexual Orientation, but not Gender Identity/Expression, to its non-discrimination policy.

rrjr

November 12, 2014 2:50 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

well, Robert, that's viewpoint discrimination

wanting to have homosex is clearly a preference of some but there is no evidence showing that preference is the result of inherent "orientation"

btw, did you know that Democrats are now view favorably by fewer Americans than Republicans?

http://www.gallup.com/poll/179345/democratic-party-favorable-rating-falls-record-low.aspx

this just ain't a good month for those on the lunatic fringe

is it?

November 12, 2014 3:19 PM  
Anonymous boy, this just ain't TTF's month said...

Jonathan Gruber, MIT professor of economics and a key advisor to Obama during the formulation of Obamacare:

"Basically, call it the stupidity of the American voter or whatever, but basically that was really, really critical for the thing to pass,"

here's another one form the Grubester:

"They proposed it and that passed, because the American people are too stupid to understand"

and the Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether people on Federal exchanges can be subsidized by Obamacare;

the law says they only can if the exchange was set up by a state

Obama says that's ridiculous and the law doesn't and never has mean that

here's a quote from the Grubester:

"What’s important to remember politically about this is if you’re a state and you don’t set up an exchange, that means your citizens don’t get their tax credits – but your citizens still pay the taxes that support this bill. So you’re essentially saying [to] your citizens you’re going to pay all the taxes to help all the other states in the country. I hope that that’s a blatant enough political reality that states will get their act together and realize there are billions of dollars at stake here in setting up these exchanges."

November 12, 2014 3:28 PM  
Anonymous Robert said...

The choice of one's partner seems more fundamental to me than whether one likes pork chops better than lamb chops, or prefers pumpkin pie to sweet potato pie. Does it not to you?

November 13, 2014 8:02 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Robert, we have a system that forbids the teaching of fundamentals

we don't allow, in public schools, discussion of the most fundamental questions, like how do we determine God's will, or how do we glorify God

the rationale is that these are in a realm beyond empiricism and, thus, religious

the question you mention is also beyond empirical establishment and, thus, shouldn't be a matter where public schools take a position

personally, I think we're wrong to exclude discussion of the most fundamental questions under this rationale

but, it is worse to follow this principle some times, for some groups and not others

November 13, 2014 8:26 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

it's almost sickening how many viable options the Republicans have for President in 2016 while the Democrats are stuck with a choice between Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Warren and Martin O'Malley

haha!!

here's the guy who will be the next President:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mike-huckabee-rebuilds-political-team-with-eye-on-another-presidential-run/2014/11/12/8cb28ccc-69b3-11e4-b053-65cea7903f2e_story.html

November 13, 2014 8:30 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Robert, have you ever seen the restored gay scene in the old movie, Spatacus?

Laurence Olivier, trying to seduce Tony Curtis, says "Antonious, some men like oysters and some men like snails. Antonious, I like both"

Hollywood has spoken. It's just a matter of preference.

November 13, 2014 9:20 AM  
Anonymous Robert said...

There are classes that study god (and gods, for that matter).

rrjr

November 13, 2014 10:32 AM  
Anonymous jeepers, Mr Wilson said...

but none that take the position that Zeus is actually on Mt Olympus

can't be proven one way or another

the classes just teach that people once believed he is

should be the same with myths like "sexual orientation"

it would be fine for the schools to teach that some people think they are born that way

but to take for granted that "sexual orientation" exists?

it's inappropriate for a governmental group to endorse something as dubious as that without an empirical basis

November 13, 2014 10:57 AM  
Anonymous shut up, Dennis said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

November 13, 2014 10:58 AM  
Anonymous I'm home, Margaret said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

November 13, 2014 10:59 AM  
Anonymous splain said...

what did those posts say?

was it something ....entertaining?

November 13, 2014 2:20 PM  
Blogger JimK said...

No.

November 13, 2014 2:38 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

what a grouch!

the election was last week

get over it

November 13, 2014 4:22 PM  
Anonymous I got a gift said...

if you're a normal American, you gotta love the Democratic Party

if you have to have lunatics in a country, nice to see 'em just keep doublin' down on failure and rejection

so Obama pretends like nothing's happened and vows to keep gridlock going by vetoing every bill passed by Congress

Pelosi and Reid are being run up the leadership pole again

great job, fellas

and, oh this is too good: Hillary remains unopposed for the 2016 nomination

meaning she will traverse our land far and wide, cooling down any enthusiasm that might develop for dumb Dem causes

maybe her dreary, worn-out-his-welcome hubby will make some more of those ads that Marylanders loved so much

(point his finger, narrow his right eye, "you must have a leader. Anthony Brown is that leader" - haha!!)

the Democratic Party

the gift that keeps on giving

haha!!

November 13, 2014 5:28 PM  
Anonymous Tayshawn Oruly said...

hey, I ain't voting Democratic anymore

Ben Carson is running as a GOP and I'm going with him!!

November 13, 2014 5:43 PM  
Anonymous don't lose it said...

Mike Huckabee, Scott Walker, Paul Ryan, Jeb Bush, Rick Perry, Ben Carson, Marco Rubio, Rob Portman, Rand Paul....

when you guys regain control of your bodily functions, let is know which of these Hillary Clinton could survive a general election against

November 13, 2014 6:32 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/charles-krauthammer-the-gruber-confession/2014/11/13/474595bc-6b6b-11e4-9fb4-a622dae742a2_story.html

November 14, 2014 7:18 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

that's a good comment!

November 14, 2014 9:24 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

If you announced that healthy people were going to pay and sick people were going to get money, then the bill would not have passed.

But that is exactly what health insurance is. Some people pay more than they take out and some people take out more than they pay in. You can't say it that way though, because -- surprise! -- people are stupid. Healthy people would feel that they were being taken advantage of, and let me guess, they would blame black people and immigrants for draining the system. But healthy people do not know if they will get sick, and so it benefits them to buy insurance. Because the truth is, there is no difference between sick people and healthy people, and people do not get sick on purpose. This guy was absolutely right about how they had to get the bill passed, and we are glad that we now have affordable health insurance available for everyone.

November 14, 2014 10:20 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Gruber also had some unkind words for his former pupil, Mitt Romney. There's "zero difference" between Romneycare and Obamacare, he told Pillifant. "This is, to my mind, the most blatantly obvious case of politics trumping policy I’ve ever seen in my life. Because this is an idea, that four or five years ago, Republicans were touting. A guy from the Heritage Foundation spoke at the bill signing in Massachusetts about how good this bill was."

But, what about when Romney says his law is different from Obamacare? "The problem is there is no way to say that, because they're the same fucking bill. He just can't have his cake and eat it too. Basically, you know, it's the same bill. He can try to draw distinctions and stuff, but he's just lying. The only big difference is he didn't have to pay for his. Because the federal government paid for it. Where at the federal level, we have to pay for it, so we have to raise taxes."

November 15, 2014 3:35 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Mike Huckabee, Scott Walker, Paul Ryan, Jeb Bush, Rick Perry, Ben Carson, Marco Rubio, Rob Portman, Rand Paul....

...let is (sic) know which of these Hillary Clinton could survive a general election against"

The averages of polls at RCP, show Hillary beats every GOP candidate by 6-13 percentage points.

SWING LEFT
2008 Obama beat McCain, Democrats picked up 24 House seats and 8 Senate seats

SWING RIGHT
2010 GOP picked up 63 House seats and 6 Senate seats

SWING LEFT
2012 Obama beat Romney, Democrats picked up 8 House seats and 2 Senate seats

SWING RIGHT
2014 GOP picked up 12 House seats and 9 Senate seats

Guess which way it will SWING in 2016.

November 17, 2014 8:13 AM  
Anonymous salivating said...

“The 2014 election was a major defeat of Democrats – a wave election that will have long-term consequences,”

Democratic strategist James Carville

Republicans have a ton of candidates, with proven ability to win tough elections in traditional Dem territory, who are in their forties and early fifties

the idea that an elderly Hillary Clinton, with no message and a poor record at the State Dept, will be able to handle an election against them

is preposterous

Dems are currently doing mass hari-kari by not considering anyone else

and the press is notorious for pumping up someone until they throw their hat in the ring

and then pouncing once they do

can you imagine the unresolved scandals from Bill's term, not to mention when she was put in charge of devising a national healthcare scheme

it's not going to be pretty

November 18, 2014 9:19 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

November 18, 2014 12:12 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

let's see

the Dems get together and decide let's vote on Keystone

denying science, which has ruled the pipeline is actually more eco-friendly than alternatives to transporting the oil, Obama threatens to veto

despite the pleas of Harry Reid and the Washington Post and others in his party, Obama is planning to unilaterally legalize millions of illegal aliens, a move he deemed "illegal" in 2013

now the NY Times is attacking Obama:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/18/opinion/david-brooks-obama-in-winter.html?ref=opinion&_r=1

Obama may become the first president forced to resign because of incompetence

it's a long way from Oprah crying in a Chicago park in 2008

November 18, 2014 12:27 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

maybe Sweden can offer him a Nobel Peace Prize if he resigns

yes, we can!!

persuade him to leave

free trip to Scandinavia and a slug of cash

who could turn it down?

we probably don't even have to offer him 72 virgins

November 18, 2014 1:28 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

boy, oh boy

Obama really screwed the Democratic Party, didn't he?

maybe republicans planted him like a Manchurian candidate

ha-ha

btw, there is measurable snow at many places in the U.S. and Washington is freezing

let me guess:

global warming strikes again!

November 18, 2014 3:29 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"denying science, which has ruled the pipeline is actually more eco-friendly"

You must be using GOP science again.

You know, the kind that confuses WEATHER with CLIMATE.

Global droughts and wild weather extremes continue.

What caused these early cold temperatures in the lower 48 in November 2014?

An explosive storm that was more powerful than Hurricane Sandy battered Alaska's Alutian Islands, lashing the remote region with 96mph winds and 50-foot waves.

The remnants of Super Typhoon Nuri, believed to be one of the most intensive storms to ever hit the North Pacific, struck the Arctic with a wallop, knocking the polar vortex southward.

Oh, and try to learn something from this video showing all the spills of America's Dangerous Pipelines, 1986-2014.

November 18, 2014 4:33 PM  
Anonymous good night, noises every where said...

oh, that tricky polar vortex

point is, how the weather will change is unpredictable

those who think they can forecast the future were forced to change their propaganda from global warming to climate change

since you profess faith in science, you no doubt know there is no evidence CATASTROPHIC climate change is coming

the government has done several studies attesting to the safety of the pipeline

Obama keeps hoping if he has another one done, he can find a problem

(actually, he doesn't - he just pathetically playing to the one interest group that hasn't completely abandoned him)

turns out gay marriage isn't currently a constitutional right since the Supreme Court said it wasn't a Federal issue in a Minnesota case in the 1960s:

http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/let-people-decide_819008.html#

good night, gay marriage

good night, over-reaction to global warming

good night, Obamacare

good night, higher taxes and the Maryland governors' mansion

good night, hair brush and the red balloon

good night, moon

November 18, 2014 6:31 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

good one

these stupid TTFers can't catch a break these days

November 18, 2014 6:45 PM  
Anonymous Glad to live in one of 33 Marriage Equality states said...

"good night, gay marriage"

Maybe in your dreams, but here in the Real World, marriage equality is becoming the law of the land, state by state:

More than 30 states and the District of Columbia allow marriage for same-sex couples. This map shows which states recognize marriages for same-sex couples, which have a constitutional or statutory ban and what the tax implications of these laws are in each state, based on data compiled by accounting firm Marcum LLP. As a result of the Supreme Court's June 2013 decision to strike down a key part of the Defense of Marriage Act, same-sex couples married in states that allow it are now entitled to federal benefits afforded to heterosexual couples.

Currently 33 states have marriage equality while only 17 states deny marriage equality for US citizens residing in them.

November 19, 2014 8:45 AM  
Anonymous good night, light said...

gay "marriage" should only be created by the normal processes of state law

same as prostitution, it's not a constitutional right but whether to legally accommodate it should be decided by voters in a state

have a map that shows where the definition of marriage has been altered by legislative or voter approval?

as the judge in Cincinnati rightfully pointed out, the other judges who ruled in favor of gay "marriage" used multiple and contradictory logical leaps

it will be straightened out by the SCOTUS

in the final analysis, look for this to be a phenom of the NE and Western coasts

"we must remain vigilant, or we will be dragged back into the Dark Ages"

oops

looks like you weren't vigilant enough

good night, gay agenda

it's dark now

November 19, 2014 10:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"it's dark now"

Spoken like a GOPer with his head firmly buried in the sand!

Open your eyes, enjoy the sunshine!

November 19, 2014 10:12 AM  
Anonymous buy your dreams, a dollar down said...

oh, it's mornin' in America

it's just dark for the gay agenda

when morning comes to America's towns

the merchants roll their awnings down

and milk trucks make their final rounds

and the gay agenda's down

deep down inside a well

you weren't vigilant enough

November 19, 2014 10:26 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh that's a good one!

While you have kept your head buried deep in the sand, this great nation, with the help of vigilant progressive activists, has evolved from having only ONE state allow marriage equality in 2007 to having THIRTY-THREE states allow marriage equality in 2014.

Oops! It's back to the drawing board for you and your anti-marriage equality crowd. Now all you can do is hope for an activist SC to rule against the 14th amendment's equal protection under the law provision.

"Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

November 19, 2014 10:44 AM  
Anonymous good night, chair said...

you're still avoiding the question

how many of the 33 states were forced to accept a changed definition of marriage by an activist judge?

the answer is most

if the 14th amendment were to be interpreted as you suggest, it would also apply to marriage to animals, relatives, multiple partners simultaneously or even the dead

it's self evident that if states are empowered to issue licenses, they can set the criterion

this will soon be clear

good night, gay agenda

November 19, 2014 11:33 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

http://gaymarriage.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=004857

in 22 of the 33 states, courts forced gay "marriage"

in only 3 states have voters approved gay "marriage"

the SCOTUS will return America to normalcy with one ruling

November 19, 2014 12:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Get your head out of the sand and remember seventeen states had anti-miscegenation laws on their books before the SC ruled on Loving v. Virginia.

They were many of the same seventeen states that have anti-marriage equality laws on their books today, which are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Nebraska, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas.

States with anti-miscegenation laws overturned June 12, 1967 by Loving v. Virginia ruling:

1. Alabama
2. Arkansas
3. Delaware
4. Florida
5. Georgia
6. Kentucky
7. Louisiana
8. Maryland*
9. Mississippi
10. Missouri
11. North Carolina
12. Oklahoma
13. South Carolina
14. Tennessee
15. Texas
16. Virginia
17. West Virginia

*Maryland repealed its law in response to the start of the Loving v. Virginia case, and was the last state to repeal its own law.

November 19, 2014 12:44 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

that's fascinating but it's racist to say that the minority skin color is the equivalent of deviant sexual desires

that's just wrong

39 states wouldn't have gay "marriage" if it wasn't imposed by a activist judge

probably more, if the voters were allowed to weigh in

good night, gay agenda

lunatic fringe gay advocates are bullies and the long arc of history bends toward justice

let's look at Barilla Pasta company

last year, their president said they would not feature gay couples in their advertising

gay groups went ballistic, organizing worldwide boycotts

to save their business, the owner was forced to apologize, pay for sexual reassignment surgery for confused employees, put lesbian couples on their website, et al

bullying, plain and simple

becoming more and more common

it's over now

November 19, 2014 1:24 PM  
Anonymous gruber is stupid said...

when the SCOTUS hears the latest Obamacare case, they will be treated to claims by Obama that it was always intended that the Feds would subsidize healthcare for citizens in states that didn't start their own exchange

probably is reality

the famous designer of the ACA who thinks we're all stupid said it was intended that such states would lose out on subsidies

so, the SCOTUS will rule the subsidies illegal, which means there will no employer mandate in those states, which means insurance will be so expensive that there will effectively be no individual mandate either

meaning the only thing left of Obamacare will be a requirement that insurers allow pre-existing conditions

which means they will go out of business in those states

no problem

Congress can just enact the subsidies

hahahahahaha!!!

http://thefederalist.com/2014/11/18/its-time-for-leftist-gruber-truthers-to-give-it-a-rest/

November 19, 2014 1:57 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

the nuts are running scared now

bitterly regretting the day they voted for Barry Obama

November 19, 2014 5:24 PM  
Anonymous The profit motive speaks softly and carries a big stick said...

"to save their business, the owner was forced to apologize, pay for sexual reassignment surgery for confused employees, put lesbian couples on their website, et al "

Oh there's a whopper right there. Why don't you provide documentation that Barilla was "forced to pay for" anyone's surgery.

Of course you won't find any, but apparently the meaning of the commandment "THOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS" escapes you.

There was no gun to Guido's head when he made his apology and came to realize the value of all families.

It's grand how a falling bottom line can motivate some people to focus on how to be a decent human being.

Why even Chick-fil-A’s Foundations Dramatically Reduce Anti-LGBT Giving

"....the drop from $3,623,938 to $25,390 in anti-LGBT donations represented a reduction of more than 99.2 percent...."

November 19, 2014 5:32 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"the SCOTUS will rule the subsidies illegal"

I'm sure President Huckabee, one of your past predictions, will be as pleased as punch.

November 19, 2014 5:36 PM  
Anonymous good night, spoon said...

"Why don't you provide documentation that Barilla was "forced to pay for" anyone's surgery."

I don't need to. You can look it up yourself. One of Barilla's employee benefits is now treating transgender disorder.

"Of course you won't find any, but apparently the meaning of the commandment "THOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS" escapes you."

actually, you've truncated that line of scripture

why don't you quote it correctly?

"There was no gun to Guido's head when he made his apology and came to realize the value of all families."

actually, homosexual advocate bullies were threatening to put him out of business

bullying never makes anyone "realize the value" of anything

"It's grand how a falling bottom line can motivate some people to focus on how to be a decent human being."

he was actually a pretty decent human being before

a year ago, he said he doesn't have anything against gays but it wasn't his vision of what marriage should be so he wasn't going to make ads that didn't match his vision

sounds pretty decent to me

but, of course, it wouldn't to a bully

bullies think anyone who disagrees with them must be hurt

how one treats those who disagree with them is a good measure of decency

President of Barilla decent

TTF blog commenter indecent

anyway, here's a little trip down memory lane:

“Elections have consequences.”

Barry Obama, January 2009

yes they do, Barry

and the despicable day of anti-family forces has neared nightfall

good night, gay agenda

November 19, 2014 5:47 PM  
Anonymous good night, Dems said...

"I'm sure President Huckabee, one of your past predictions, will be as pleased as punch"

we all are pleased as punch

their is no evidence to back up the contention that Congress meant to include subsidies for Federal exchanges and, now, thanks to Gruber the Stupid, there is incontrovertible evidence that it didn't

is there really much chance that the Supreme Court will join Obama and just unconstitutionally ignore laws passed by Congress?

let's be honest:

the reason Obamacare is law is because Congress had to ram it through before the numbers in Congress changed after an election where Dems lost big largely because of this issue

and the reason losing at the SCOTUS would be such a disaster for Dems is because the Congress since has accurately reflected the public view that Obamacare is a disaster

and they will long remember how hard it to undo a disaster once Dems are in charge and create one

according to polls, Huckabee has a good shot at the next election

he's been around, the public knows him and likes him, he's currently working at the top-rated cable news channel, he doesn't wear thin and comes across as reasonable

pair with Scott Walker or Marc Rubio and Hillary will get a chance to enjoy the grandchildren

you disagree?

November 19, 2014 6:05 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"actually, homosexual advocate bullies were threatening to put him out of business"

Barilla is the one who tried to put himself out of business. He said:

“I would never do [a commercial] with a homosexual couple, not for lack of respect, but because we don’t agree with them,” according to reports. “Ours is a classic family where the woman plays a fundamental role.” WaPo reported Barilla also "said he would never feature a same-sex couple in an ad. If gays didn’t like it, he added, they could eat something else."

That's Barilla being a bully telling gays if they didn't like his view of what a family should be, they could go eat something other than his products.

Barilla came to realize he had no one to blame but himself for gays boycotting his products because he told gays himself to "eat something else" beside his pasta.

"Not for a lack of respect?"

Apparently Guido Barilla has had an epiphany and sees the value of and has new-found respect for all forms families take these days, not just those that mirror his own.

Go figure.



Huckabee's

a wannabe

who'll never be

PUSA.

November 20, 2014 7:07 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh and FYI lazybones liar, a google search for "Barilla's employee benefits is now treating transgender disorder" yields this response:

"Did you mean: Barilla's employee benefits is not treating transgender disorder."

And then it lists articles with these titles, none of which agrees with your lie:

"Barilla Earns Gay Boycott, Learns Taking Sides Is Bad For Business

7 Companies That Don't Support Gay Rights - Huffington Post

Barilla Tries to Recover From Chairman's Anti-Gay Comments ...

Anti-Gay Barilla Prompts Boycotts, Petitions, Other Choices for Pasta ...

Barilla Pasta anti-gay comments - Food Media & News - Chowhound

Hobby Lobby Allegedly Fired Employee Due to Pregnancy"


You continue to bear false witness against Guido Barilla and your transgender neighbors.

November 20, 2014 7:38 AM  
Anonymous the lunatics go toxic said...

"Barilla being a bully telling gays if they didn't like his view of what a family should be, they could go eat something other than his products."

that's bullying?

must be a new definition

sounds like a live-and-let-live attitude to me

lunatic fringe gay advocates love to re-imagine English

"Barilla came to realize he had no one to blame but himself for gays boycotting his products because he told gays himself to "eat something else" beside his pasta."

he told them they didn't have to eat his pasta if they were bothered by his views

he didn't tell them they couldn't be reasonable and choose to patronize businesses even if their owners believed in gender-diverse marriage

more important he didn't tell them to organize a world-wide boycott and pressure businesses to stop buying and selling his product, lest they be boycotted themselves

they chose bullying tactics on their own

"Huckabee's

a wannabe

who'll never be

PUSA."

really?

did you know how people become PUSA?

Huckabee is currently tied with Rand Paul and Jeb Bush among Republicans for the lead in 2016 Repub nom polls, a little ahead of Chris Christie:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/us/2016_republican_presidential_nomination-3823.html

he also has a clear lead in the first contest in Iowa:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/ia/iowa_republican_presidential_caucus-3194.html

are you just pretending to be as stupid as Gruber?

"Oh and FYI lazybones liar, a google search for "Barilla's employee benefits is now treating transgender disorder" yields this response:

"Did you mean: Barilla's employee benefits is not treating transgender disorder.""

I guess Barilla is lying then, in yesterday's Washington Post:

"Talita Erickson, chief diversity officer for Barilla, said that the company has demonstrated its sincerity with its actions. It has expanded its health benefits to include transgender-related care. It has instituted a thorough diversity training that all 8,000 of its workers will eventually undergo."

not only transgender treatment but they've also agreed to a brainwashing program for employees

they were bullied into it

good night, TTF

November 20, 2014 9:28 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yes, well, as Jim's post above demonstrates, the WaPo author of yesterday's article is at least as misguided as you are.

Again, a google search for "Barilla's employee benefits is now treating transgender disorder" comes up empty.

You know, transgender people get sick just like cis people do and need health insurance to cover them too. I

Unlike you and the WaPo, Guido Barilla sees the light and welcomes LGBT folks as customers after telling those very same folks to "go eat something else" if they didn't like his blowhard bigotry, for which he has apologized numerous times.

November 20, 2014 10:30 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"blowhard bigotry"

!new gay agenda definition alert!

this means believing marriage should have the representation of both genders

Jim's post is a crock of crap, without need of refutation

he equates a decision to depict gendered marriages in pasta commercials with racial discrimination, Nazism and serial homicide

ant TTFers here think that's a little, uh, extremist?

November 20, 2014 10:39 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"there's just nothing catastrophic happening"

That's not what they are saying in Buffalo this week.

Buffalo hit with epic snowfall, with more on the way, 'and that's saying something in Buffalo'

"BUFFALO, N.Y. — Homeowners opened their front doors to find themselves sealed in by sheer walls of white. Shovelers turned walkways into head-high canyons. A woman gave birth in a firehouse after the snow prevented her from reaching the hospital.

Even for Buffalo, a place that typically shrugs at snow, this was an epic snowfall, the kind of onslaught folks will be telling their grandchildren about.

The Buffalo area found itself buried under as much as 5½ feet of snow Wednesday, with another lake-effect storm expected to bring 2 to 3 more feet by late Thursday.

"This is an historic event. When all is said and done, this snowstorm will break all sorts of records, and that's saying something in Buffalo," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said during a visit to the city....

...With an additional 2 to 3 feet possible by Thursday, the one-week totals for the Buffalo area will approach the average snowfall for a year: 93.6 inches, or close to 8 feet. Cuomo warned that a weekend warm-up could lead to significant flooding when the thick blanket of snow melts. Forecasters say rain is possible this weekend...."

November 20, 2014 10:41 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

wow!

big snowstorm

that proves the planet has warmed up

November 20, 2014 11:20 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

That's right, due to a polar vortex knocked down from the arctic by Super Typhoon Nuri.

November 20, 2014 2:49 PM  
Anonymous boo!! said...

which just goes to show, weather is unpredictable and one thing leads to something corrective

which was what was always the problem

we don't understand the system enough to predict the conditions next week

much less 2100

example: everyone was all a-dither when the U.S. didn't sign Kyoto

turns out the U.S. will meet the carbon reduction goals anyway because of technology shifts

if you're really worried, make like Johnny Appleseed and plant some trees

November 20, 2014 3:34 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

There’s growing evidence that global warming is driving crazy winters

"It may be the timeliest -- and most troubling -- idea in climate science.

Back in 2012, two researchers with a particular interest in the Arctic, Rutgers' Jennifer Francis and the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Stephen Vavrus, published a paper called "Evidence linking Arctic amplification to extreme weather in mid-latitudes." In it, they suggested that the fact that the Arctic is warming so rapidly is leading to an unexpected but profound effect on the weather where the vast majority of us live -- a change that, if their theory is correct, may have something to do with the extreme winter weather the U.S. has seen lately.

In their paper, Francis and Vavrus suggested that a rapidly warming Arctic should interfere with the jet stream, the river of air high above us that flows eastward around the northern hemisphere and brings with it our weather. Sometimes, the jet stream flows relatively directly from west to east; but other times, it takes long, wavy loops, as in the image above. And according to Francis and Vavrus, Arctic warming should make the jet stream more wavy and loopy on average – some have called it “drunk” -- with dramatic weather consequences.

Here's the atmospheric physics behind the idea: Warm air expands, and naturally there is much more warm air at the equator than at the poles. Thus, the atmosphere is thicker at the equator, and the jet stream's motion is driven by the decline in atmospheric thickness as one moves in a poleward direction -- in effect, its atmospheric river flows "downhill," in Francis’s words. However, if the Arctic is warming faster than the mid-latitudes, then the difference in thickness as you move in a poleward direction should decrease. And this should slow the jet stream, leading to more loops and turns -- and consequently, weather of all types getting stuck in place for longer. There's a nice video explanation of this by Francis here:

According to Francis, the extreme U.S. winter of last year and now, the extremes at the beginning of this season, fit her theory. "This winter looks a whole lot like last winter, it’s a very amplified jet stream pattern," she says. "We know that when we get these patterns, it tends to be very persistent. And it is definitely the type of pattern that we expect to see more often as the Artic continues to warm so fast."

To be sure, Francis acknowledges that our recent bout of extreme cold was kickstarted most directly by Typhoon Nuri, which swerved up into the mid-latitudes and exploded into an atmospheric bomb over the Bering Sea. "That had the downstream effect of basically taking the jet stream and giving it a whip, whipping a wave into it," says Francis. But she also suspects that the jet stream is more susceptible to these kinds of dramatic influences because it is weaker now....

November 21, 2014 4:37 PM  
Anonymous when wil mariage between people and trees be legalized? said...

"According to Francis, the extreme U.S. winter of last year and now, the extremes at the beginning of this season, fit her theory."

of course it does

if it didn't, Francis wouldn't have said anything

anybody can do that

my theory is that a magical wizard came to Ann Arbor yesterday and cast a spell on the Wolverines and allowed the Terps to win

and the final score "fits my theory"

so the theory must be right

right?

btw, isn't Francis the one who played Aunt Bea on the old Andy Griffith show?

"Francis acknowledges that our recent bout of extreme cold was kickstarted most directly by Typhoon Nuri, which swerved up into the mid-latitudes and exploded into an atmospheric bomb over the Bering Sea"

is this another gay agenda re-definition?

what does "explode" mean on your planet"

so now the alarmists say that colder winters are caused by global warming

who knows?

maybe they're right

but it came as a surprise to them

so why should we believe them when they extrapolate all these catastrophic scenarios for the future

they obviously don't understand how slightly warmer temperatures globally will manifest themselves

but it's pretty clear the human race will survive

and it's a good bet that if we try to artificially manipulate the climate, there is more potential for disaster

it's cold enough already

what would happen if we stopped pumping carbon into the atmosphere?

all the tree huggers need to return to their first love

plant some trees

and relax

November 23, 2014 8:50 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Buffalo got an entire year worth of snow last week and today their temperatures will climb to the high 40s, which is expected to cause massive flooding.

Meanwhile, here in DC, we suffered through some terribly cold temperatures as we got hit with the same polar vortex almost the entire country experienced last week, the one knocked down from the Arctic by Super Typhoon Nuri.

Today's DC warm up (it's 67 degrees already) may break the record for the warmest November 24 at National and Dulles airports -- 74 degree.

And then two days from now on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, we might get hit with another snow event up and down the east coast as the temperatures again drop.

All these weather extremes are exactly what has been projected to occur as greenhouse gasses continue to cause climate change and planet Earth to warm.

November 24, 2014 11:34 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

it wasn't originally what was projected

indeed, it wasn't precisely what was projected

as you've conceded, this is only affected a relatively small area

global alarmists have now phrased their predictions in such nuanced and nebulous ways that anything can confirm their theories

it's a cheap, well-worn fortune teller's trick

don't drop your crystal ball on your foot

Emily is her actual name

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

November 24, 2014 12:05 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

By all means, keep your head deeply embedded in the sand, or snow, whichever you prefer, and ignore weather extremes as they continue to grow more frequent and more widely spread around the globe.

"November 23, 2014

MUCH of the nation sweltered today as a blistering heatwave moved southeast across the country into New South Wales after already baking Queensland and South Australia.

After a hot Friday — when it was 36C by 10am — the temperature soared to record highs in Sydney’s west. It hit 45.3 in Richmond, which broke the previous highest November temperature of 43.6C set in 1982, and 44.9 in Penrith, which is the highest recorded temperature at that weather station, said Rebecca Kamitakahara, of the Bureau of Meteorology....

...But that brief spell of heat has got nothing on inland Queensland, where the town of Longreach has smashed a record for the most consecutive days over 40C (104 F).

The outback town has topped 10 days in a row over 40C for the first time ever, and that run won’t end until Wednesday..."

November 24, 2014 1:56 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

no one here was born yesterday nor is anyone ignorant of history

weather extremes are actually the norm

and, obviously, they are not "as predicted by her theory"

there are various localized events

some hot

some not

and some in the middle

call it the Goldilocks refutation

political advocates have set back the cause of science by pressuring scientists to make unwarranted predictions with unwarranted certainty

November 24, 2014 3:34 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yet global temperature continues to rise since the Industrial Revolution.

Go figure!

November 24, 2014 5:11 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

We broke record cold temperatures last Wednesday, November 19. " While it was freezing in the central and eastern U.S., the opposite is happening in parts of Alaska, with record highs broken in both Anchorage and Nome..."

And yesterday we had another RECORD EVENT REPORT

"NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC
0442 PM EST MON NOV 24 2014

...RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE TIED AT WASHINGTON NATIONAL DC...

A HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 74 DEGREES AT WASHINGTON NATIONAL DC TODAY
TIES THE OLD RECORD OF 74 SET IN 1958."


And now we're expecting accumulating snow in the area tomorrow.

Wild weather extremes caused by global warming continue to increase.

November 25, 2014 8:22 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Yet global temperature continues to rise since the Industrial Revolution.

Go figure!"

actually, that's not when it started

they started going up at the end of the most recent Ice Age

go figure

over the last 150 years, despite no cessation of any human activity, there have been long stretches with no temperatures

we seem to be in the midst of one of those stretches now

go figure

"We broke record cold temperatures last Wednesday, November 19. " While it was freezing in the central and eastern U.S., the opposite is happening in parts of Alaska, with record highs broken in both Anchorage and Nome..."

And yesterday we had another RECORD EVENT REPORT

"NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC
0442 PM EST MON NOV 24 2014

...RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE TIED AT WASHINGTON NATIONAL DC...

A HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 74 DEGREES AT WASHINGTON NATIONAL DC TODAY
TIES THE OLD RECORD OF 74 SET IN 1958."

And now we're expecting accumulating snow in the area tomorrow.

Wild weather extremes caused by global warming continue to increase."

maybe you can make up a theory this all fits into...

it's what any respectable charlatan would do

November 25, 2014 8:53 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

When you firmly implant your head in the sand (or snow), it's no wonder you are of the opinion:

"over the last 150 years, despite no cessation of any human activity, there have been long stretches with no temperatures

we seem to be in the midst of one of those stretches now

go figure"


What an idiot!

Far from there being "no temperatures," right now it is 56 degrees at Washington National Airport.

And far from there being "long stretches with no temperatures," there are in fact temperatures every second of every day.

Go figure indeed!

November 25, 2014 11:59 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home