Sunday’s column: Ice cores, global warming, and Elvis sightings
You read a lot in newspapers about stuff that happens. Rarely are there stories about stuff that doesn’t. This column is one of those.
It’s about the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors. For three months that august panel has ignored a steady drumbeat of demands the county disassociate itself from an organization known the International Council of Local Environmental Initiatives.
Bravo to the board.
The group is better known by its acronym, ICLEI (ick-lee). It’s become a dirty word in certain circles, especially among members of The Roanoke Tea Party.
The county’s ICLEI membership, which dates to 2007, costs taxpayers $1,200 a year, which averaged out over the county’s population translates into less than one Tootsie Roll per person.
To understand the current controversy, all you need to do is to attend the supervisors’ night meetings, or watch them on cable TV.
Near the end of each, time is allotted for average folks to address the board. Anybody gets three minutes to talk on any subject. It could be cat dandruff, an irritating stoplight, an Elvis sighting, whatever.
Tuesday night one of the subjects was ice cores taken from glaciers in Iceland and Greenland. Another was a public transit initiative in Fort Collins, Colo. A third was energy efficiency in city-owned buildings in Cincinnati, Ohio. I’m not making this up.
And what the heck does this have to do with ICLEI? Follow me down a rabbit hole as I try to explain.
ICLEI is a group of more than 600 different communities across the country (and 600 or so others from different countries) that have allied themselves for the purpose of exchanging ideas about best ways to improve the environment in their localities. It’s a tax-exempt nonprofit.
One of the things ICLEI supports is a reduction in greenhouse gases, or carbon dioxide. Roanoke County’s stated goal is to reduce those by 30 percent by 2020. That would take the county roughly back to the level it was emitting in 1990.
Among the myriad ways to reduce carbon dioxide are to discourage unnecessary driving by encouraging car-pooling, public transportation, bicycle commuting, etc.
Other ways include using more efficient light bulbs, because those use less electricity, which helps cut down on the amount of power-producing coal that’s burned. Coal-burning power plants are huge producers of carbon dioxide.
(In the city of Roanoke, which has been an ICLEI member since 2006, ICLEI recommendations have helped city government reduce power usage in the Municipal Building South by 45 percent, for a savings of $90,000 over five years.)
Carbon dioxide, most scientists maintain, is a factor in man-made global warming, which if left unchecked could change the Earth’s environment in ways that we probably still can’t fully yet appreciate. But it’s going to be a lot worse than your lawn turning brown all summer long.
More or less, these Tea Party activists charge that ICLEI is encouraging the buses in Colorado and efficiency in Cincinatti buildings. And that’s all based on bad science taken from the wrong ice cores in Iceland and Greenland, and it’s going to cost taxpayers big money.
They also warn that ICLEI is a product of something called Agenda 21, which was sold to the United Nations by the World Socialist something-or-others.
In other words, it’s a plot devised by socialists, adopted by the U.N., based on data rigged by scientists who have been bribed to lie about man-made global warming.
And it trickles down to the local level through ICLEI and groups such as RC-Clear, a county-appointed board charged with promoting energy efficiency and clean air.
This is why five people at the Board of Supervisors Tuesday night demanded Roanoke County disassociate itself from ICLEI, pronto. (The Albermarle County Board of Supervisors already has, after similar demands).
After the speakers were finished, Windsor Hills Supervisor Ed Elswick said “it’s good to see citizens come out. They’re the ones who elect us.” And he made some funny remarks about how the county could do more to conserve energy.
Moore, who represents the Clearbrook area, stood up for ICLEI. She said: “We can learn from [ICLEI] resources. They collect information from all over.”
None of the other board members addressed the issue. Reassuringly, none of them made a motion to drop the county’s membership.
“We’ll do it when we’re ready,” Hollins District Supervisor Richard Flora told me after the meeting, barely suppressing a smile.
I also spoke with Noah Tickle, a retired railroad machinist and one of the most passionate anti-ICLEI stalwarts. He’s an earnest guy who’s been showing up for the last six Board of Supervisors meetings.
“Carbon dioxide is a joke,” Tickle insisted. “You do the research and you’ll see that.”
Then he launched into an argument that an increase in atmospheric CO2 would be good for the planet and feeding its people. And that anybody can see from an airplane that the world already has enough trees to handle all the greenhouse gases humans can pump out.
Tickle said he hopes the Board of Supervisors will one day come to its senses and give ICLEI the axe.
“You just keep hammering along, asking them to do the right thing,” he said.
“We’re not a bunch of nuts,” Tickle declared.
The mere fact he felt compelled to deny it says a lot.
October 2, 2011 - 6:00 AM
Efficient energy use or conservation of is laudable and I don’t think you would hear any argue against such – to include those you continuously refer to as Tea Party activists.
Where you err, aside from your generic grouping of opponents to ICLEI, is that their Green House Gas Emissions reduction programs are solely based on the reduction of Carbon Dioxide while they still espouse the anthropogenic global warming theory. That they have changed the nomenclature of this effort to ‘climate change’ should be revealing. The Nature Journal of Science took a well deserved black eye with the ‘climategate’ scandal a few years ago and is again trying to live up to it’s reputation as a preeminent Scientific Journal.
http://www.chrissstreetandcompany.com/2011/09/nature-journal-discredits-man-made-global-warming/
Could it be that some real scientists are allowed to experiment and publish their findings on climate change?
http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/multimedia/45950
http://theswash.com/2011/08/30/cern-sun-not-man-causes-climate-change/
The science behind man-made global warming is incomplete and to enforce a government policy based on unproven theory is a fallacy at best. That others such as ICLEI propagate this does call their motives into question.
We just moved to the area this summer, and this is my first time reading Mr. Casey’s blog. After doing so, I can tell you I’m going to like it here! Well done, sir.
Luther , Danny already has admitted “knows a little bit about a lot of things but not a heck of a lot about most things. “, so should tell you how that column came about, lol, pretty pathetic and certainly shamelessly ignorant and incomplete reporting.
Mr. Mayall,
Perhaps you should read the article linked below to gain some proof of the impact of man made global warming.
8.More evidence of the impact of global warming.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44740060/ns/technology_and_science-the_new_york_times/
Comment by Ron — October 1, 2011 @ 7:57 pm
Man-made global warming advocates like to point to the past 500 years of data from ice cores from Antarctica and Greenland are correct. They just don’t like to look at data before then.
Below is a link to the information about the ices cores from Antarctica and Greenland. What they tell us is that the warming that we have experienced within the past 200 years is a statistical blip in the history of earth’s temperature fluctuations.
http://www.foresight.org/nanodot/?p=3553
Ha ha. Chris Street and Company. What a “credible” source for information. I didn’t know the flat earth society still existed.
The science behind man-made global warming is incomplete and to enforce a government policy based on unproven theory is a fallacy at best. That others such as ICLEI propagate this does call their motives into question.
Well said, Luther.
I’ll ask Dan for some sort of evidence for the following unbelievable claim, but I know nothing will be forthcoming because it is simply made up:
In the city of Roanoke, which has been an ICLEI member since 2006, ICLEI recommendations have helped city government reduce power usage in the Municipal Building South by 45 percent, for a savings of $90,000 over five years.
Pray tell, which ICLEI recommendations cut energy usage in half?
The fact is, all of the useful information out there could be put on the internet. There is absolutely NO justification for wasting $1200 a year. Kudos to the individuals trying to get this nonsense stopped.
No one has been able to explain to me why young men… and women serve in the U.S. Military for 20 years, risking their lives protecting freedom, and only get 50% of their pay. While Politicians hold their political positions in the safe confines of the capital, protected by these same men and women, and receive full pay retirement after serving one term. It just does not make any sense.
On Fox news they learned that the staffers of Congress family members are exempt from having to pay back student loans. This will get national attention if other news networks will broadcast it. When you add this to the below, just when will all of it stop?
35 States file lawsuit against the Federal Government
Governors of 35 states have filed suit against the Federal Government for imposing unlawful burdens upon them. It only takes 38 (of the 50) States to convene a Constitutional Convention.
This will take less than thirty seconds to read. If you agree, please pass it on.
This is an idea that we should address.
For too long we have been too complacent about the workings of Congress. Many citizens had no idea that members of Congress could retire with the same pay after only one term, that they specifically exempted themselves from many of the laws they have passed (such as being exempt from any fear of prosecution for sexual harassment) while ordinary citizens must live under those laws. The latest is to exempt themselves from the Healthcare Reform… in all of its forms. Somehow, that doesn’t seem logical. We do not have an elite that is above the law. I truly don’t care if they are Democrat, Republican, Independent or whatever. The self-serving must stop.
If each person that receives this will post it on their wall, in three days, most people in The United States of America will have the message.. This is one proposal that really should be passed around.
Proposed 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution: “Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply equally to the Senators and/or Representatives; and, Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators and/or Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States ..”
Now, what are you going to do about it? Read and delete, or work for reform? Share with EVERY congressman, representative, governor, the white house!!!!! Pass it around!!! Make calls, send fax’s and email’s……………or like most do nothing and keep your head bured in the sand!
We just moved to the area this summer, and this is my first time reading Mr. Casey’s blog. After doing so, I can tell you I’m going to like it here! Well done, sir.
Mrs. Morrison,
Which leftwing sinkhole did you abandon to come to Roanoke? Let me inform you; the vast majority of this valley’s residents do not subscribe to the far-left lunacy you’ll read in this blog, if that’s the criteria you’re using to gauge your happiness here. You are no doubt benefiting from our state’s terrific economy and relatively strong employment situation, but that is 100% due to conservatives in Richmond who have stood firm on their commitment not to raise taxes on the job creators and achievers. The loonies in here would like us to be econmic disasters like California or Michigan. Just keep that in mind.
pammala, no matter how little I know about anything, I’m secure in the knowledge that it’s more than you know.
Actually, the city has saved quite a bit more than $90,000 based on recommendations from ICLEI (which will no doubt make Suzie quite upset). Here’s the full email I received from City Manager Chris Morrill about it:
“Dan,
We have been a member of ICLEI since 2006. It is our understanding that 17
VA local governments are members. Our dues for this year are $1,200.
We joined for the following reasons:
ICLEI provides a common method to calculate greenhouse gas emissions.
Membership provides us the software for these calculations
They provide technical expertise in the field of energy use/reduction
that has helped us reduce energy costs. For example, we reduced kWh
usage by 45% in Municipal Building South for a savings of $90,000 since
2006. We’ve also reduced kWh usage by 39% in the Market Street Garage
and by 51% by converting traffic signals to LEDs.
ICLEI does not recommend specific goals for carbon emission. They leave
that up to localities to determine that based on local needs.”
Gary M,
It’s an absolute lie that a member of Congress who serves a single term and then retires will collect 100 percent of his/her congressional salary. You should look this stuff up before you spout nonsense you hear on Rush or Glenn. Seriously.
doubt it danny
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/10/02/cain-tea-party-movement-pushed-black-candidate-to-top-gop-pack/
If someone did nothing but post corrections to the plentiful RW lies on this blog, it would be the equivalent of a part-time job.
For the most part, they’re not worth addressing.
A half dozen teabaggers get together in one spot and it’s wall to wall media coverage. Protests by thousands on Wall street and throughout the nation against the corporate greed…eh, not so much. Next time you hear some wingnut blathering on about the “liberal media” give them a swift kick in the pants.
Below are the rules on Congressional pensions.
Under both CSRS and FERS, Members of Congress are eligible for a pension
at age 62 if they have completed at least five years of service. Members are eligible
for a pension at age 50 if they have completed 20 years of service, or at any age after
completing 25 years of service. The amount of the pension depends on years of
service and the average of the highest three years of salary. By law, the starting
amount of a Member’s retirement annuity may not exceed 80% of his or her final
salary.
As of October 1, 2006, 413 retired Members of Congress were receiving federal
pensions based fully or in part on their congressional service. Of this number, 290
had retired under CSRS and were receiving an average annual pension of $60,972.
A total of 123 Members had retired with service under both CSRS and FERS or with
service under FERS only. Their average annual pension was $35,952 in 2006.
Here’s a link to the entire report, from which the two paragraphs above came, if you’d like to read it.
http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RL30631.pdf
Dan,
You still haven’t answered how the city allegedly cut half it’s energy expense in the Municipal South building. All you did was repeat the claim that they did. Maybe for the Roanoke Times that constitutes “proof” but for the rest of us it doesn’t.
It’s also an absolute lie that their family members are exempt from repaying student loans.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/studentloans.asp
http://www.factcheck.org/2011/01/congress-not-exempt-from-student-loans/
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2011/jan/11/chain-email/do-members-congress-have-pay-back-student-loans-ye/
http://www.rollcall.com/issues/56_120/ornstein_rumored_perks_congressional_service-205495-1.html?zkMobileView=true
The facts from this link I posted in my other comment. Fox News should be ashamed. Those who don’t search for the truth on their own should be also.
http://www.rollcall.com/issues/56_120/ornstein_rumored_perks_congressional_service-205495-1.html?zkMobileView=true
“Congressional pensions, like those of other federal employees, are financed through a combination of employee and employer contributions. … Members of Congress are eligible for a pension at age 62 if they have completed at least five years of service. Members are eligible for a pension at age 50 if they have completed 20 years of service, or at any age after completing 25 years of service. The amount of the pension depends on years of service and the average of the highest three years of salary. By law, the starting amount of a Member’s retirement annuity may not exceed 80% of his or her final salary.
“As of October 1, 2006, 413 retired Members of Congress were receiving federal pensions based fully or in part on their congressional service. Of this number, 290 had retired under [the Civil Service Retirement System] and were receiving an average annual pension of $60,972. A total of 123 Members had retired with service under both CSRS and [the Federal Employees Retirement System] or with service under FERS only. Their average annual pension was $35,952 in 2006.”
On the Fox News assertion about student loans, this from factcheck.org (responding to dozens of inquiries):
“Are members of Congress exempt from repaying student loans?
“Are members’ families exempt from having to pay back student loans?
“Are children of members of Congress exempted from repaying their student loans?
“Do congressional staffers have to pay back their student loans?
“The answers are: no, no, no and yes — although some full-time congressional staffers participate in a student loan repayment program that helps pay back a portion of student loans. No more than $60,000 in the House and $40,000 in the Senate can be forgiven and only if the employee stays on the job for several years.”
On the assertion that Members of Congress are exempt from the provisions of the Affordable Care Act: also false. Members of Congress are subject under the health care reform law to the same mandate that others are to purchase insurance, and their plans must have the same minimum standards of benefits that other insurance plans will have to meet. Members of Congress currently have not a gold-plated free plan but the same insurance options that most other federal employees have, and they do not have it provided for free. They have a generous subsidy for their premiums, but no more generous (and compared to many businesses or professions less generous) than standard employer-provided subsidies throughout the country.
To most Americans, Members of Congress live pretty lush lives, including all those facilities like a posh dining room, a beauty salon and a spa in the Capitol (more exaggerations). They do make more money than most other Americans, especially during a time of high unemployment, and certainly don’t live like paupers. The pensions are generous — especially the cost of living adjustments. But for most lawmakers, the lifestyle is anything but luxurious, and the jobs are brutal, from the constant travel to the insane fundraising pressures.
It is not surprising that, in tough times, Americans would be inclined to believe the absolute worst about their elected officials — especially when some of them cynically exploit voters’ darker instincts by showboating through sleeping on cots or couches in their offices. But at least let the criticism be fair and based on facts instead of persistent urban legends.
What else do you have, GaryM?
“The mere fact he,” Mr. Casey, is forced to make a living pretending to be a well educated, objective journalist says a great about him and about the editors of the Roanoke Times.
“Fox News should be ashamed.’
The FCC should be ashamed for allowing them to broadcast. Apparently it’s perfectly legal to lie to the public.
Don’t worry, folks, Gary M won’t be back to acknowledge that he posted some fallacies.
so list them Kristen go ahead..lets see what ya got
NOBODY has to repay a loan if they’re name isnt on it.
I had a tea person recently warn me about the dangers of “icicle”.
Auh, Come on Folks, Let’s give Case a break, “Ole Casey at The Bat” likes it too much. When he comes at me with that infectious grin I feel like I’m in an Irish Pub and we’re ready to elbow a few Guinness down. He and I both have lots of Irish blood in us. It’s fun. There’s not a serious bone in tha Lad. He knows good news doesn’t sell. He needs to elbow it some to make it bad enough so we’ll read it. That’s the effort of any good Irishman. When I’m called a nut(my Mom and Wife does) I just say, “Oh you mean N.U.T.-Noah Utters Truth”. Same applies here. (:
Luck-O-Tha-Irish tar Yah.
“NOBODY has to repay a loan if they’re name isnt on it.”
Comment by pammala
Please explain that comment.
“NOBODY has to repay a loan if they’re name isnt on it.”
Get the heck out.
Let me clarify, pammala. Please explain what your remark about loans has to do with the lies that Fox News told, regarding members of Congress, their staffers/family members repaying student loans.
Pammala,
I think many of the folks in here haven’t had much experience with home mortgages. Quite a few career renters in this crowd, and that might explain their confusion.
Debbie,
pammala’s gonna’ be tied up for a spell. God bless her little heart; she was at the laundry mat and got mesmerized by the spin cycle on the jumbo machine with the glass door again. She’ll probably be fixated on it ’till she runs out of quarters or they close. Happens every time she forgets to bring the latest National Enquirer with her to occupy her curious little mind…
Just thought you ought to know in case you were waiting on a prompt reply.
Giants come back from behind and win in the last few seconds, and the Cowboys suffer their most crushing defeat in franchise history.
Best. Day. Ever.
Being a Lions fan, I totally agree Kristen.
Bet OJ does too!
My father always tells me that I should stay out messes like this one. He tells me that, being a public school teacher, it is too dangerous for someone like me to take a stand in a public forum. He is convinced that, one of these days, I am going to get myself fired.
To be perfectly honest with everyone, I am tired of that. One of the reasons that some people think that they can call of us Tea Party folks whatever names the like is that they think we are all scared, scared to stand up and be counted. Thus, many simple folk who get their news from sources like the Roanoke Times, actually think us Tea Party folks are truly nuts and morons.
The truth is many of my colleagues are just as conservative as I am and are just as sympathetic to the Tea Party movement as I am. None of us are nuts, crack pots, or morons, nor is my father, Noah Tickle.
I have a B.A. from Roanoke College and an M.A. from James Madison University. I stopped working on my Ph.D. half-way through my dissertation when my immediate supervisor at a major state university sat me down in her office one day and lovingly, carefully explained to me that I needed to find a new line of work because a white man my age had less than no chance of getting a tenure-tracked position that paid a living wage at any college or university in the USA. She knew this for sure because her own husband had a Ph.D., and he was never going to get a real job either.
So, I know a little something about liberal, far-left stupidity, and I can tell you that some of the smartest people in the world are climate change skeptics and that most of those same people are concerned about the various plans around the world to heard us all together in a one-world government.
I would also like to take this opportunity to show you what an intelligent discussion about climate change looks like by sharing part of an exchange that I had today with a former student who is a brilliant young scientist studying at Virginia Tech:
“—–Original Message—–
From: “Shawn Tickle”
Sent: 10/2/2011 10:09:00 PM
To:
Cc:
Subject: RE: My Actual Letter
I will try to respond to your letter and your evidence the best way I know how, given my circumstances and given the time I have available.
[Name Removed], I remember you quite well, and I was always impressed with your insight and with the quality of your analysis. As I told you and Spencer then, you should have been on the Debate Team.
And, I never once suggested to you that, just because you are a scientist, you had no business making judgments about great works of literature. That would be just as absurd as someone suggesting that an expert in classical literature has no business looking at the evidence surrounding the climate change debate and passing judgment on what he finds there, especially if that expert in classical literature, or Anglo-Saxon poetry, is being asked to carry a crushing new burden that will fundamentally change the lives of millions, perhaps billions, of people.
A friend of mine, who is a very rich corporate lawyer, took his B.S. in Physics the same year I took my B.A. in English Language and Literature. Before he went to Duke and took his M.A. in International Relations and his J.D. simultaneously, he wrote a book about the work of James Joyce. Neither I nor anyone else tried to tell him that a Physics major is not supposed to do well at Duke’s Law School or that a Physics major is not supposed to write a book about James Joyce. He did both brilliantly.
So, obviously, there are some things upon which we will have to agree to disagree. You will have to understand that I am approaching this matter from a political and rhetorical point of view. When a large number of scientists in the world get together and tell all the people of the Earth that they must radically change every aspect of their lives, or life as we know it will be snuffed out, and–by the way–you all are going to have to write us a check for several trillion dollars, then the burden of proof is necessarily going to fall on those who want me to radically change my life and to give them what little money I have left to help them save the planet. The scientists of the world have not sufficiently proven their theory to the people who are going to have to shoulder the great burden that they are trying to dump upon them.
There have been charlatans and snake-oil salesmen in the world since there were human beings in the world to be duped by them. I suppose that you could even call the serpent in the Garden of Eden to be the first and greatest charlatan.
Now, on to God, I suppose. I have never once suggested that being a scientist requires that one be an atheist. In fact, I truly believe that a scientist who does not have real faith in God has no hope of actually finding the truth about anything, scientific or otherwise. God, of course, was the first and the greatest scientist. Understanding the laws of nature and discovering the secrets of the universe means understanding the mind of God. This absolute truth does not prevent good people from making the mistake of replacing God with some other priority. People who make their own global warming crusades into the number one priority in life, over and above every other thing. Those people have made that new priority into their new God. Some of those people will be atheists and other will be Christians, but a Christian who has let himself fall into this trap has ceased to be a Christian and become a Adept of the Church of Man-made Climate Change.
I used Don Easterbrook’s article for the very reason that it was rejected by the conference in question. It was not rejected because of his evidence or because of his methodology. It was rejected by the conference because the directors of the conference did not like his conclusions and their social, economic, and political implications.
I used the Pravda article precisely because I thought it would be funny to point out to Enviro-Marxists that the former propaganda mill of the Marxist-Communist USSR was actually taking a stand against their most sacred position.
I am perfectly willing to admit, though, that my chapter on Green-Marxism needs some serious updating. A great deal of newer, better evidence has come to my attention, and I need some time to consider it and to assimilate it. The producers and distributors of Al Gore’s movie have been forced to admit, in court, that their movie lies to its audience 7 times or more. The IPCC has had to back off on more than one of its reports, admitting the evidence was either exaggerated or completely fabricated, and the climate gods on Olympus, aka the University of East Anglia, have been caught fabricating and lying about their evidence in order to keep the tax payer billions flowing from around the world.
My favorite new piece of evidence comes from that other Olympian-European locale CERN:
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v476/n7361/full/nature10343.html#/ref1
http://opinion.financialpost.com/2011/08/26/lawrence-solomon-science-now-settled/
http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/46953
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/07/18/cern_cosmic_ray_gag/
But, just because I am not yet convinced that does not mean I do not respect your very careful, thorough analysis or that I think you are a charlatan like Mr. Gore. Your motives are pure, and you mind is strong. Perhaps, one day, I will have to admit I was wrong. But, that day has not come yet.
You are young and brilliant and filled with promise. I am old, tired, and cynical. Even so, I still believe another wise old saying to be true: “It is not paranoia if they really are all out to get you.” Most conspiracy theories are just a bunch of crap, but some of them are real.
—–Original Message
Sent: 9/19/2011 10:23:00 PM
To: stickle@bedford.k12.va.us
Cc:
Subject: My Actual Letter
Dear Mr. Tickle,
First I’d like to apologize for the tone I took in the email I sent
earlier today. I was getting a little frustrated from not having a
response, and let it carry over in to the email. The actual letter
itself does not contain that sort of diction. Second, even though the
diction itself was not justified, it represents some of the feelings I
have. You certainly have not insulted my religion with your section on
global warming (I’m actually Catholic), but you have insulted a large
part of what makes me, me. I’m really interested in science, and when
people try to steal the awe and wonder of science away from me and
others, it’s pretty damn close to insulting my religion.
Without further ado, the letter is included as a word document because
of its length, and the sources are included as pdf’s as well.
Best Regards….”
#33 Love to see them Cowboys lose.
#32 Lord knows we’ve spent enough time trying to help her find the shift key, Steve. She appears to hit it by accident every now and then, but it’s not a consistent thing yet.
“My father always tells me that I should stay out messes like this one.”
Good advice.
Noah and Shawn Tickle, welcome to the blog!
Shawn Tickle has linked to four stories regarding research at CERN which he implies is evidence against man made climate change. I thought everyone who didn’t look at the links would like to know what the lead scientist, Jasper Kirkby, said about the results of the experiment:
“At the moment, it actually says nothing about a possible cosmic-ray effect on clouds and climate…”
Hope daddy didn’t pay for your education.
#32 Steve C,
Silly me, asking a question of her, like I expect a rational answer. If I get any answer at all, I doubt it will make any sense at all.
Pammala, lest you get sidetracked and take comment #31 as support, the subject was student loans. Unless you just threw your comment, “NOBODY has to repay a loan if they’re name isnt on it.” out there without knowing what previous remark you were responding to. That is certainly possible.
Shawn,
This blog deeply appreciates your message. It is refreshing when people actually in the trenches confirm what we know about the far-left political machinery in academia.
“Thus, many simple folk who get their news from sources like the Roanoke Times, actually think us Tea Party folks are truly nuts and morons.”
Wrong. They post on RT blogs pretty frequently. Far from being scared to “stand up and be counted”, it’s tough to shut them up.
Dear Mr. Tickle,
Posting a ridiculous rant on a local blog with your work email address is probably bad form. I’m sure the school board will look kindly upon you using the county’s email servers for this claptrap unrelated to your work duties. Enjoy the talk with your boss.
NRV is outraged that someone who speak subversively against Big Education using their computer address (as if such usage costs the state anything). Now if he were like Sandi Saunders who posts anti-business trash on her boss’ computer during work time, that might (or might not) be another matter, but Mr. Tickle posted Sunday night clearly on his own time.
@35 – Sir, I do not think it is mutually exclusive for a person to have faith in God and also feel strongly about trying to protect God’s gifts (the earth, the animals and plants, etc.) from damage due to mankind’s short-sightedness. As a matter of fact, it seems to me that Christians should care very deeply about protecting the environment since it was lovingly given to them to care for by their creator.
Again, I dislike this rigid approach that if you believe in God, then you will see things “X” way. It honestly seems to me that the “green movement” should have always been a cause championed by Christians…if in fact they value the gifts given to them by GOD.
What is is that I am missing in this equation?
Regardless, can we please stop claiming God on only one side or the other of an issue?
I skip over Suzie posts, but since he started #47 with my handle, it caught my eye:
Sorry, no outrage here. I really couldn’t care less as idiots don’t enrage me, they actually entertain me. I was merely pointing out that posting a clownish screed that includes your full name and work email address on a local public blog is stupid and is a good way to upset your employer. Apparently even you Suzie manage to keep those things to yourself. Regardless of the time of day, Mr. Tickle was using his work email, the contents of which are owned by his employer, for discussions that level headed people would relegate to their personal email.
Re: #49
Yup!
“stickle@….” was posted plainly, for all to see.
Not, too smart, IMHO.
OTOH, cut-and-paste is the source of embarrassment to a bunch of folk, from time-to-time.
To be perfectly honest with you all, it was late at night, and I thought that I had redacted all the e-mail addresses. I missed one. I made a mistake. Mea culpa.
Even so, I intentionally told everyone everything but the e-mail address. I wanted people to know that all public school teachers are not brain-dead liberals. Some public school teachers are conservative Tea Party members.
Some people here don’t seem to understand the distinction I was trying to make between standing up for the constitution and for smaller government and standing up for ourselves when we are the objects of ad hominem, personal, attacks. When left-wing radicals attack us personally rather than engaging our arguments, we must defend ourselves. Our opponents are thugs and bullies. The only way to deal with thugs and bullies is to stand up to them. If we allow them to characterize us as bigots, nuts, and fools, then some people will believe us to be just that.
I have said nothing with which I am afraid to be associated publicly. I do not think that the administrators of BCPS will have anything negative to say to an AP and College Dual Enrollment English teacher for having an intellectual discussion with a former student via his county e-mail address. I am the Debate Team Coach and an instructor of classical rhetoric and college-level composition. I am required to instruct my students in the fine art of advancing their own arguments and defending their positions against the attacks of their opponents. This student was merely carrying on a process that started before his graduation from high school.
His position was diametrically opposed to my own, and he had previously presented me with his very well-developed argument. I responded in kind, like a civilized gentleman. These are all things that my employers and my mentors encourage me to do on a regular basis.
Anyone who would rather attack someone personally by calling your carefully considered, well developed argument a “clownish screed” probably isn’t capable of writing a clownish screed of his own.
Global Warming / Climate Change is a SCAM. We’re currently suffering from draughts caused by the very natural La Nina, which is Pacific Ocean COOLING.
Good News:
US Cities, Counties begin to listen to citizens and withdraw from ICLEI, Oct 3, 2011 (http://www.citizenreviewonline.org/ICLEI.html). Yippee.
See Democrats (like me) Against ICLEI & UN Agenda 21, http://www.democratsagainstunagenda21.com/how-have-we-resisted-agenda-21.html. Yipee again!
While “clownish screed” might be a bit harsh, Mr. Tickle’s posts are full of a mid-witted self-righteousness of which he is probably unaware.
One hopes that he does not teach his composition students that it is acceptable or persuasive to use sentence fragments, such as: “People who make their own global warming crusades into the number one priority in life, over and above every other thing” (sic), or basic English grammatical errors, such as “a adept” (sic), both from post #35. Nor does one want him teaching that grammatical redundancy bolsters one’s message, as in “…we are the objects of ad hominem, personal, attacks” (sic) in post #51, (ad hominem attacks being by definition personal). Despite perhaps being indicators of a pedestrian intellect, these can each be excused as minor errors in a quickly drafted message.
What is more worrisome is the possibilty that he conveys to his debate students his tendency to neglect self-critique. Declaring that “I am old, tired, and cynical” (post #35) is a justification, not a critique. With no apparent sense of irony, he follows his declaration of feeling personally attacked by saying “Our opponents are thugs…” (post #51). He recasts a saying about paranoia as “It is not paranoia if they really are all out to get you” (post #35); his addition of the word “all” being very telling of his sense of besiegement.
But why characterize these posts by Mr. Tickle as mid-witted and self-righteous? We can do so because he displays simplistic binary thinking, implying that public school teachers divide into either “brain dead liberals” or “conservative Tea party members” (post #51). He seems unable to recognize occasions when, after a regressive position has been engaged on its’ dubious merits, the exponent of the regressive position themselves resort to irrelevancies or personal attacks (pervasive in both posts). He immodestly characterizes his own efforts as “well developed” (post #51), and employs the faux humility of being “perfectly willing to admit” that there is better evidence for his position than he offers(post #35). I don’t know him, so to be fair, I suppose he may be just as “perfectly willing to admit” that he is a better athlete, smarter businessman and better lover than he chooses to show, too. But on the evidence of these posts, he is not among the “bigots, nuts and fools” (post #51), but merely a self-defeatingly unpersuasive voice.
ShawnTickle
Your Dad was right. When I want to read a novel I’ll stop by Barnes and Noble or download one to my Nook.
You’ve got to laugh at the flat-earthers who think just because it’s cold there’s no global warming.
I think there is something wrong with the weather – manmade or not, I don’t know.
Yeah but Art, even coming out of the Ice Age, there was ‘global warming’.
Even today when someone claims there is ‘global warming’, not every place on Earth is actually getting warmer.
Bachelor of Arts, and Master of Arts are all i needed to read to debunk.
you’ve got to laugh at the alarmists that think global warming is man made
The people who claim that we don’t have a long enough record of weather to claim that current conditions are man-made are the same pack who claim the earth is only 14K years old. So which is it.
So the Earth is billions of years old… Let’s take the entire time that man has inhabited the Earth compared to how long we have been keeping data recording temperatures around the planet. Oh, be sure to keep in mind that over the last 20 years, the number of data points (places around the Earth that were used to accurately record temperature) have dwindled to half of what it used to be, mostly due to underfunding and dilapidated equipment. So if there were 88 weather stations where precise temperatures were kept around the globe, now there would be 44 or so.
I cannot wait till someone rebuts with ‘bu..bu.. but they have been using satellites to measure the temperature on the face of the Earth for several years now.’
So much for accurate, consistent data concerning this.
@34 Mark…yep, it was a great sports day on Sunday with the Lions and Tigers both winning, and the Tigers continued it yesterday (barely). Now, getting to face AJ Burnett in game 4 today? I like their chances! And the Red Wings get going this week too, it’s great to be a fan of Detroit this week…
Saturday’s high – coldest on record. There are actually kooks out there who say that fact is proof of global warming. How do you even talk to people like that? I mean it’s like debating Warlock. (which reminds me of my first-round knockout of Warlock in that much-ballyhooed religion debate)
http://tinyurl.com/3ra3j54
**
Who’s Bankrolling the Climate-Change Deniers?
By BRYAN WALSH Tuesday,
Oct. 04, 2011
Not too long ago, belief in climate science wasn’t a political issue. Honestly! As recently as the 2008 U.S. presidential election, both the Democratic and Republican candidates professed belief in the threat of global warming, and each advanced policies designed to curb U.S. carbon emissions. Senator John McCain had even co-sponsored one of the first congressional bills to create a carbon cap-and-trade system. And it wasn’t just McCain; Mitt Romney, runner-up for the GOP nomination last time around, supported a regional cap-and-trade program while he was governor of Massachusetts. There was still a wide gap between Democrats and Republicans on the severity of the climate-change threat and on how ambitious carbon-cutting policy should be, but at least there was a general agreement that global warming was a real thing.
Not anymore. With the exception of Jon Huntsman — who barely registers in polls — you can’t find a Republican presidential candidate who unequivocally believes in climate science, let alone one who wants to do anything about it
SNIP
Fossil-fuel companies like Exxon and Peabody Energy — which obviously have a business interest in slowing any attempt to reduce carbon emissions — have combined with traditionally conservative corporate groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and conservative foundations like the Koch brothers’ Americans for Prosperity, to raise doubts about the basic validity of what is, essentially, a settled scientific truth. That message gets amplified by conservative think tanks — like the Cato Institute and the American Enterprise Institute — and then picked up by conservative media outlets on the Internet and cable TV.
SNIP
**
Suzie Q,
It’s obvious that you failed to follow the link below that I posted on another thread. It fits you perfectly.
http://www.idrewthis.org/d/20040209.html
Ron
Great link and perfect description!
Please watch this 3 part Youtube video by Rosa Koire on UN Agenda 21 and her personal experience with it. Rosa is a liberal feminist gay rights activist in California who just so happens to have problems with UN Agenda 21 as it relates to property rights.
Here is part 1 of her interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddvlzZcwe30&feature=related
I saw some of those Tea Party nut jobs talking to local government officials about their wacky conspiracy theory one time. It reminded me of how Saturday Night Live used to get big laughs by simply repeating exactly the same things Sarah Palin had said with a straight face in an interview. The Tea Party is SO off the charts in their lunacy, one has to wonder if they are simply a bunch of comic performance artists impersonating right-wing extremists and wondering when somebody will get the joke.
Loved Ron’s link.
http://www.purgit.com/carbon-dioxide-for-plants/
A good short read CO2 and Global Warming truth.
Noah,
Dr. Sylvan Wittwer, the author of the publication you linked above, is an interesting study. Among his many connections was service as a Board member of the Greening Earth Society and the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change. Funding for those two organizations was provided by the Western Fuels Association which was funded by Peobody Coal Company. If you go to the Western Fuels Association website the headline on the opening page reads “COAL IS WHERE YOUR POWER BEGINS.”
The Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change has received significant funding from ExxonMobil and the Sarah Scaife Foundation which is part of the Scaife Family Foundations and is controlled by Richard Mellon Scaife. Think about that name and its connections. The Center is managed by Craig, Sherwood and Keith Idso. Craig Idso also started and manages Cenospheres which provides services to oil companies in the oil fields of the western part of the U.S. and Canada. The Center also completed research projects for the Greening Earth Society.
Are you beginning to see how this “circle” of influence works? My point in sharing all this with you is that it didn’t surprise me the Dr. Wittwer would write such an article given his connections and his board service.
It’s also worth noting that Noah spent his career at a company whose revenues depend a lot on its service hauling coal, and his retirement savings, if they are invested in NS stock, do too.
Who’s Bankrolling the Climate-Change Deniers?
Yawn. George Soros and U.S. Taxpayers are the ones bankrolling the Global Warmer hoaxers.
At least the global warming nuts now have all their bases covered. Going with ‘climate change’ means it’s now a threat for the following occurences:
It’s hot.
It’s cold
It’s temperate
It rains
It snows
It’s dry
Average precipitation
Heavy hurricane season
Light hurricane season
Average hurricane season
Heavy tornado season
Light tornado season
Average tornado season
Many earthquakes
Few earthquakes
An average number of earthquakes
But at least the climate change crowd will stop demanding billions when any of the above-listed occurrences cease to occur
Yes, “A-Case” is right, I do love coal for many reasons. I have coal/propane/wood safely stockpiled here at my home to use as supplemental heat if necessary due to power failure, etc.. I might be the most self-sufficient person I know.
It is sad this day and time that truth is less important to most. It is important to always look for the truth. The folks in the future will be those that suffer for our irresponsibility.
The people that give up their self sufficiency, during disasters,etc.,they and their families will suffer greatly for their bad attitude.
Our lack of common sense is not good.
We all should be involved in our problem solving and not leaving it to a few or an industry. Their greed will let us down. Thanks to those here that try to express common sense and humor too.
Here is an additional global warming CO2 truth: http://www.purgit.com/sources-of-co2/
Mention of the Peabody Coal Co. made me think of this John Prine song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vC65_cq0Js
ALSO, I love Railroads(Rail Fan) and Railroad Songs.
After reading your column for several years I have accepted the fact that you are more than willing to broadcast your opinions, often with what appears to be a less than in depth knowledge of your subject, and ridicule people who hold opposing views.
You have the advantage of the newspaper to belittle people who are willing to stand up for what they believe in.
The folks at the County Supervisors meeting recognize what they see as a danger to our country. There probably is some real value to ICLEI. The problem is when you start looking at the source of the program. You arrogantly and ignorantly dismiss the entire subject.
From the manner in which you cavalierly mentioned Agenda 21 I am willing to bet that you know little or nothing about the programs or where they originated.
Fortunately for you on Saturday night, October 15, at 7:00PM at the Tanglewood Holiday Inn there will be a presentation by a gentleman named Don Casey (that is not a mistake). Mr. Casey is acknowledged to be the best authority on Agenda 21.
As liberal I know you will appreciate the fact that it’s free; someone else is paying for it.
I, personally, had not heard about Agenda 21 until 2 months ago but I think I will learn a little more about it before I start abusing others.
I realize this is short notice but as a journalist I just thought that you might be interested in getting the facts for a change; or not.