Looking back at Global Warming analysis

Originally posted at DeskofBrian.com: http://sites.google.com/site/thedeskofbrian/hot-topics/global-warming-climate-change-whatever-else-they-ll-call-it/lookingbackatglobalwarminganalysis

"Let's just say that global warming deniers are now on a par with Holocaust deniers, though one denies the past and the other denies the present and future." - Ellen Goodman, 2007 Boston Globe article (see below)

This old article sites voters' prioritites, dumbfounded by the low ranking Global Warming received:

"The folks at the Pew Research Center clocking public attitudes show that global warming remains 20th on the annual list of 23 policy priorities. Below terrorism, of course, but also below tax cuts, crime, morality, and illegal immigration."

"One reason is that while poles are melting and polar bears are swimming between ice floes, American politics has remained polarized. There are astonishing gaps between Republican science and Democratic science. Try these numbers: Only 23 percent of college-educated Republicans believe the warming is due to humans, while 75 percent of college-educated Democrats believe it."

Funny how those bogus scientists manipulated the data to perpetuate this fallacy and 75% of smart Democrats were more than happy to accept it as absolute truth and NEVER be skeptical.

"This works for some. But a lot of social science research tells us something else. As Ross Gelbspan, author of "The Heat is On," says, "when people are confronted with an overwhelming threat and don't see a solution, it makes them feel impotent. So they shrug it off or go into deliberate denial."

Note the exhaustive efforts to denounce deniers and marginalize real questions regarding the science, especially the short term nature of evidence.

Instead of adding Goodman to the Quotes page, I felt we could just reflect on her faith and loyalty to the Global Warming cult that has consume so many, especially on the left.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/02/09/no_change_in_political_climate/

Beck instigates "Social Justice" debate over codewords at churches

Originally posted on DeskofBrian.com: http://sites.google.com/site/thedeskofbrian/state-of-the-nation/beckinstigatessocialjusticedebateovercodewordsatchurches

Glenn Beck created a frenzy again with this statement:

"I beg you look for the words social justice or economic justice on
your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you
can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words...Am I
advising people to leave their church? Yes! If they're going to
Jeremiah Wright's church, yes!

"If you have a priest that is pushing social justice, go find another
parish, go alert your bishop and tell them, 'Excuse me are
you down with this whole social justice thing?' If it's my church, I'm
alerting the church authorities: 'Excuse me what's this social justice
thing?' And if they say, 'Yeah we're all in on this social justice
thing,' I am in the wrong place."

The fury raged across the Internet including a close minister friend of mine who vows that "social justice" and "economic justice" are essential to his mission as a Christian.



I really don't care what Beck says, but I agree in that "social justice" is a CODEWORD for socialism and "economic justice" is NOT CHARITY.



Let's dig a bit...

Social justice From Wikipedia:

Social justice is the application of the concept of justice on a social scale.

The term "social justice" was coined by the Jesuit Luigi Taparelli in the 1840s. The idea was elaborated by the moral theologian John A. Ryan, who initiated the concept of a living wage. Father Coughlin used the term in his publications in the 1930s and 40s, and the concept was further expanded upon by John Rawls' writing in the 1990s. It is one of the Four Pillars of the Green Party upheld by the worldwide green parties. Some tenets of social justice have been adopted by those on the left of the political spectrum.

Social justice is also a concept that some use to describe the
movement towards a socially just world. In this context, social justice
is based on the concepts of human rights and equality and involves a greater degree of economic egalitarianism through progressive taxation, income redistribution, or even property redistribution, policies aimed toward achieving that which developmental economists refer to as more equality of opportunity and equality of outcome than may currently exist in some societies or are available to some classes in a given society.

Let's review: progessive taxation, income redistribution and property redistribution....but let's go back and look at Wikipedia's definition of economic egalitarianism:

Economic egalitarianism is a state of economic affairs in which
the participants of a society are of equal standing and equal access to
all the economic resources in terms of economic power, wealth, and
contribution. It is a founding principle of various forms of socialism, communalism and cooperative economic organization.

Jerry Falwell delivers a succinct response:

"Jesus taught that we should give to the poor and support widows, but he
never said that we should elect a government that would take money from
our neighbor's hand and give it to the poor"



and pastors who preach economic and social justice "are trying to twist the gospel to say the gospel supported socialism."

Rev. Jim Wallis disagrees and has been making the rounds:

"The God of the Bible is the God of justice. Though the poor are in the
center of God's concern... Poverty breaks the heart of God. And it
breaks the heart of the church. So, this is about Christians who may
disagree on politics. Republicans, Democrats, it doesn't matter. Left
or right. We have different views on the role of government. Doesn't
matter, But justice is integral to the gospel. And across the spectrum,
Christians are saying Glenn Beck got it wrong." (Wallis on MSNBC's Countdown)

Wallis and other pastors doing EXACTLY what Falwell and Beck claim: twisting the Gospels.



Wallis' statement is correct as it states "GOD of JUSTICE" not justice by means of the government, government intervention or a government program.



From Rev. Wright's Trinity United Church's mission statement:

"It is God who gives us the strength and courage to continuously address injustice as a people, and as a congregation."

That is the dividing line: how are you expecting injustice to be fought and by what means?!?!



The Christian Reformed Church has an "Office of Social Justice" and here's a separate example from a Riverside Church under Missions and Social Justice beneath the heading of "Get Involved":

• Global Justice and Peace: which is support for the UN, task groups to battle "injustices toward undocumented immigrants; and 2) anti-torture and Guantanamo detainees; and 3) environmental protection."


• Marantha: "promoting equity for Lesbian, Gay,
  Bisexual, Transgender and Queer/Questioning people. To these ends, we have
  organized our ministry to serve, advocate, and support the LGBTQ community."

Not all of the goals and missions have political overtones (prison ministry, outreach to Africa) but to deny the churches' directives are politically aligned is completely dishonest.



I never thought I'd agree with Glenn Beck and Jerry Falwell on any topic, but churches need to be honest with regard to the political bias in their directives, especially with socialist terms that use the word "justice" to describe an ends.



From Ronald Nash in "Social Justice and the Christian Church":

"...being a Christian does not obligate one to adopt a liberal and statist
dogma in order to aid the poor. Helping the indigent is definitely a
foundational Biblical ethic, however, there is also a Biblical ethic
which will guide our personal polity concerning government."

http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/03/12/beck.boycott/index.html



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/12/rev-jim-wallis-glenn-beck_n_497715.html



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-wallis/an-open-letter-to-glenn-b_b_495716.html



http://blog.beliefnet.com/deaconsbench/2010/03/boycotting-beck.html



http://www.theriversidechurchny.org/getinvolved/?socialjustice



http://www.trinitychicago.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=27



http://www.crcna.org/pages/justice.cfm

Mass E-Mails: Which are True?

Originally posted on DeskofBrian.com: http://sites.google.com/site/thedeskofbrian/state-of-the-nation/masse-mailswhicharetrue

Seen this one: Barack Obama carrying and reading the book "The Post-American World" with shock factor language to insight our American patriotic spirit.



Reality Check: Picture true.



The disturbing fact is that this was taken in Montana 2008, before the election and completely ignored. The author, Fareed Zakaria, is a huge Obama fan and fan of globalization. To quote Newsweek's review:

It's true China is booming, Russia is
growing more assertive, terrorism is a threat. But if America is losing
the ability to dictate to this new world, it has not lost the ability
to lead.

Thanks to Carolyn for sending this to me as we can see that the book does in fact fit the social and foreign policy agenda of the White House.





How about the Andy Rooney email, seen this one:

CBS
DIDN'T STOP HIM- THIS IS
GREAT

Good
for him!!!




Surprised


CBS let him get away with this even though he's
right



Andy Rooney

said
on '60 Minutes' a few weeks
back:

(exerts from the email)

"Guns do not make you a killer. I think killing makes you a killer. You can kill someone with a baseball bat or a car, but no one is trying to ban you from driving to the ball game."



"When 70% of the people who get arrested are black, in cities

where 70% of the population is black, that is not racial profiling; it is the Law of Probability."



"We did not go to the aid of certain foreign countries and risk our lives in wars to defend their freedoms, so that decades later they

could come over here and tell us our constitution is a living document; and open to their interpretations."

It's 100% false.



The origins date back to 2003 and this email was so widely circulated on and off again for a couple of years, Rooney actually issued a statement in 2005:

There's a collection of racist and sexist remarks on the Internet under a picture of me with the caption "ANDY ROONEY SAID ON 60 MINUTES" If I could find the person who did write it using my name I would sue them.

I recently received this from Brian, Bill and several others - nope, not true. Andy is intense at times, but this one is complete fabrication.













www.snopes.com

Salt Ban latest in Nanny State efforts

Originally posted at DeskofBrian.com: http://sites.google.com/site/thedeskofbrian/state-of-the-nation/saltbanlatestinnannystateefforts

Felix Ortiz (D-Brooklyn) from New York is proposing Bill A10129 which is would impose "up to a" $1,000 fine for the use of salt in food preparation in any restaurant per violation.



Bye Bye McDonald's. So long Checker's Fries.



The new Food Prohibition is just beginning as regulating our activities and freedoms move to the top of the priority list. Michelle Obama is pushing an anti-Obesity campaign and there's movement to alter the labels on sodas.



The billion dollar campaign to alter the food in schools has already been traced to SEIU and the benefits for the 400,000 school workers serving this food.

The workers and their unions recommend that the USDA:

• Increase federal reimbursement rates for meals to enable
  schools to cover the rising costs of meeting dietary guidelines and to
  purchase fresh, healthy foods. SPEND MORE MONEY
  
  




• Reach more struggling
  families by relaxing eligibility requirements, streamlining application
  processes, and allowing for regional variations in cost of living in
  determining eligibility. COVER MORE PEOPLE - INCREASING COSTS
  
  




• Improve food safety, nutrition,
  health and wellness, and customer service through additional training
  for food service employees. ADDITIONAL TRAINING COST MONEY
  
  




• Fund dinner-time meals for children in afterschool programs whose parents must work long hours. FUND = COST

The freight train of Big Government is headed to our kids' cafeterias, our dinner tables and the drive thru on the corner -- all over America!



Here's the price of Freedom to consume all of that salt:



"The Stanford University School of Medicine and the Veterans Affairs
Palo Alto Health Care System have a cheap solution to help solve rising
healthcare expenses: Cut back on salt.





A study by the two groups says that cutting salt by 10% could
prevent hundreds of thousands of heart attacks and strokes over several
decades and save the government $32 billion in healthcare costs. The
Institute of Medicine says that high blood pressure costs the US $73
billion a year in heathcare costs."



Do you see the game?



Just a shell game of save here, spend there. Take away your freedom here, so I can help you over there. Where are all of those Patriot Act opponents?



Federal increases in taxation on cigarettes was 2009, now salt, possibly soda, beer and more - who baby sits the nanny state.







http://www.einnews.com/pr-news/74389-researchers-cut-the-salt-save-billions



http://campaignforqualityservices.org/2008/12/service-workers-unions-call-for-stronger-nutrition-safety-net-for-americas-children.html



http://michellemalkin.com/2010/02/03/seiu-fatcats-behind-first-lady%E2%80%99s-anti-obesity-campaign/

German home school refugees granted asylum in Tennessee

Originally post at DeskofBrian.com: http://sites.google.com/site/thedeskofbrian/state-of-the-nation/germanhomeschoolrefugeesgrantedasylumintennessee

Recently I discovered homeschooling was illegal in Germany and violators could face fines and/or jail time. As I continue to research the attack on home schooling families, the NY Times (and others) reported on the Romeike family who were granted asylum in Morristown Tennessee.

Uwe and Hannelore Romeike, desired homeschooling their five children, which is illegal in Germany, their native land.

My previous "State of the Nation" on Homeschooling Illegal in Germany

The Romeikes are Christians and Uwe, a piano teacher, discusses in the article how the unruly behavior in schools (public and private) were a distraction for his children.

“I don’t expect the school to teach about the Bible,” he said, but “part of education should be character-building.”

The article confirms my research as Germany (and others) characterize homeschoolers as “fundamentalist religious nuts who don’t want their children to get to know what is going on in the world, who want to protect them from everything.”

Absurd.

Even worse, as I mentioned, the family would face severe penalties in Germany for homeschooling:

"But they soon discovered differently, he said, facing fines eventually totaling over $11,000, threats that they would lose custody of their children and, one morning, a visit by the police, who took the children to school in a police van. Those were among the fines and potential penalties that Judge Burman said rose to the level of persecution."

“We’re all surprised because we consider the German educational system as very excellent,” said Lutz Hermann Görgens, the German consul general in Atlanta. He defended Germany’s policy on the grounds of fostering the ability “to peacefully interact with different values and different religions.”

The German education rates very high, but one of the goals, that you as a parent and a student must submit ti, is social conformity and as German courts describe it: social integration.

Fortunately America remains a safe haven for freedom. This battle to protect homeschoolers rages on, both in Europe and here in the states and we'll further explore those details.

In the meantime, the Romeikes can raise and teach their children as they see fit, not under the iron fisted mandates from the state.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/01/us/01homeschool.html

Eric Massa outing Democrats & Obama polarizing in own party

Originally post at DeskofBrian.com: http://sites.google.com/site/thedeskofbrian/state-of-the-nation/ericmassaoutingdemocratsobamapolarizinginownparty

"I was set up for this from the very, very beginning. The leadership of the Democratic Party have become exactly what they said they were running against." - Eric Massa

Massa has blasted Rahm Emanuel, Congressional leadership and the White House as Massa resigned, facing an investigation in his personal behavior, including incidents during an informal Navy ceremony in '83 on the USS New Jersey and one that occurred in a state room later during his Navy career. He insisted he had done nothing uncommon, insisting his sin was foul language.

"When I voted against the cap and trade bill, the phone rang and it was the chief of staff to the president of the United States of America, Rahm Emanuel, and he started swearing at me in terms and words that I hadn't heard since that crossing the line ceremony on the USS New Jersey in 1983," Massa said. "And I gave it right back to him, in terms and words that I know are physically impossible."

Re: Investigation: "Steny Hoyer has never said a single word to me at all, never, not once," Massa said. "Never before in the history of the House of Representatives has a sitting leader of the Democratic Party discussed allegations of House investigations publicly, before findings of fact. Ever."

So what is happening with the Democrats? Are they truly facing the same allegations that their Republican counterparts faced in recent years? Lastly, why hasn't President Obama provided the unity, not just between parties, but within his own party?



The average difference in Obama's approval ratings between Democrats and Republicans turned out to be 65 percent -- the highest first-year gap of any president so measured.



"The extraordinary level of polarization in Obama's first year in office is a combination of declining support from Republicans coupled with high and sustained approval from Democrats," Gallup's Jeffrey Jones reported.



Obama's 88 percent approval rating from Democrats is the second highest level of party support for a first-year president, trailing only the 92 percent Republican support for George W. Bush in 2001.



On the other hand, Obama's 23 percent rating among Republicans is tied for lowest party rating of a rookie president, matching GOP "backing" of Bill Clinton back in 1993.



"Prior to Ronald Reagan, no president averaged more than a 40-point gap in approval ratings by party during his term," said the Gallup report. "Since then, only the elder George Bush has averaged less than a 50-point gap."



"I think we live in a divided country," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told USA Today. "Washington has been a polarizing place for quite some time."



As an extension from the Cap-and-Trade fallout, Messa blames the health care debate for the attacks and his resignation.

"Mine is now the deciding vote on the health care bill and this administration and this House leadership have said, quote-unquote, they will stop at nothing to pass this health care bill, and now they've gotten rid of me and it will pass. You connect the dots."

Obama can't seem to unify the votes in his own party, often blaming Republicans for their opposition.

Back door deals, corruption, sexual misconduct, Congressional investigations....different party, same results.

I personally am not surprised.

Just a footnote too Messa's most cutting characterization of Emanuel:

"Rahm Emanuel is the son of the devil's spawn. He is an individual who would sell his mother to get a vote. He would strap his children to the front end of a steam locomotive."

http://open.salon.com/blog/rwnutjob/2010/03/08/dem_rep_eric_massa_vs_rahm_emanuel

http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2010/03/massa_implicate.php

http://newsmax.com/InsideCover/obama-gallup-polarizing-gop/2010/01/25/id/347929?s=al&promo_code=9609-1

John Edwards faces Grand Jury Indictment

Originally post at DeskofBrian.com: http://sites.google.com/site/thedeskofbrian/state-of-the-nation/johnedwardsfacesgrandjuryindictment

The National Enquirer scooped the major newspapers and "journalists" by breaking the story that John Edwards will face a Grand Jury indictment for using campaign funds to cover-up his affair with Rielle Hunter.



The Enquirer article quoted a "friend" close to Edwards:



"John is terrified that he's going to be indicted. While he believes he's done nothing illegal in trying to hide his
extramarital affair with Rielle and their daughter, he thinks the Feds
are going to make an example of him."



In February, Edwards admitted he was the father of Hunter's child and the affair with his campaign videographer prompted Federal investigation into his use of campaign funds.



John Edwards aide Andrew Young's tell-all book "The Politician" chronicles the affair and the cover-up. Young wrote that Edwards concluded "that if I helped him, I would make
Mrs. Edwards's dying days a bit easier. 'I know you're mad at her,
Andrew, but I love her. I can't let her die knowing this.'"



Yes, as a reminder, recall that Edwards' wife was battling cancer at the time of his indiscretions.



It was rumored that Edwards had purchased a $3.5 million dollar beachfront home for Hunter and himself and that Edwards has in fact, proposed to Rielle Hunter and awaited the passing of Elizabeth.





Congrats to the Enquirer for continuing to behave like real journalists because you almost certainly will not hear this story on CNN, MSNBC or the major three networks. If FOX devotes any time to the coverage, it will be dismissed as hate-mongering or old news.



My previous look at Edwards and the media cover-up: Media providing damage control for Democratic scandal



DOB's Robert Herriman reporting on Edwards admitting to fathering the child: Is there a lower form of life?