Whores, Idiots and Heretics
When it comes to the subject of Global Warming, Climate Change or the Environment, I have concluded that everyone generally falls into one of three distinct categories: Whores, Idiots and Heretics.
The Eco-Whores: The best (or worst, depending on your perspective) example I can give is Al Gore. He has worked tirelessly spreading the gospel of climate change. He has done such an effective job that he even won a Nobel Peace Prize for his work. Note that I said “Peace” prize – not economics, physics or chemistry. You see, these prizes are for the hard sciences – things subject to extensive peer review and public scrutiny. The Peace prize, on the other hand, is a purely political prize handed out to whoever is popular at the moment. No real work goes into winning this prize – you just have to be popular.
Al Gore is a Whore because he has worked diligently to shape public policy in the US and around the world for no other reason than to expand his financial holdings. Gore was one of the co-founders of Generation Investment Management LLP, a for-profit corporation that “integrates sustainability research into a rigorous traditional investment process in order to deliver superior long-term results.” In other words, lobbies government to pass silly laws like Cap-and-Trade so that Al Gore and his buddies can make a quick buck selling eco-snake oil.
Gore isn’t the only eco-whore out there. There are thousands of “scientists” who have sold their integrity so that they could get their hands on research dollars. Here is an example as reported in The Washington Post.
In one e-mail from 1999, the center's [Climate Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia (UEA)] director, Phil Jones, alludes to one of Mann's articles in the journal Nature and writes, "I've just completed Mike's Nature trick of adding in the real temps to each series for the last 20 years (i.e., from 1981 onwards) and from 1961 for Keith's to hide the decline [in temperature]."
In other words, if the data doesn’t agree with the green agenda, lie!
The biggest Whores of all are the politicians who use a fabricated crisis to sell a bill of goods that the ignorant masses will gladly accepts. As with all the other sub-groups of Whores, the truth be damned and don’t forget to throw in a dose of theatrics to cover up your lack of hard evidence. Take the example of Senator Timothy Wirth (D-CO). In the PBS Series Frontline, the episode titled Hot Politics (April 24, 2007), the narrator states “he we was not above using a little stagecraft for [James] Hansen’s testimony”. Wirth admits, “We called the weather bureau and found out what was historically the hottest day of the summer.” They scheduled Hansen to testify on that day. Wirth further stated, “we went in the night before and opened all the windows, I will admit, so that the air conditioning wasn’t working inside the room.”
He said all this with a sly smile. Bastard! You purposely altered reality to get you agenda on the map.
The Eco-Idiots: What passes for science in the minds of most people of the world is tragic. The Idiots understand of the workings of scientists bears more resemblance alchemy than to the application of the scientific method. Like religious zealots, they simply listen to the holy word and follow the teachings of whichever Eco-Whore has pushed his way into the pulpit.
To the Idiots, the earth is heating up, the oceans are rising and we are all destined to be blown away by a category 20 hurricane sometime soon! At least that’s what they say they believe. Examine their actions, and you will see a different thing indeed. I do not know a single person who has made any significant effort to live a “green” lifestyle. Sure, some nibble around the edges by putting trash into a recycle bin or buying bullshit eco-friendly products. Sadly, they are too stupid to check things out for themselves. They don’t realize that 80% of the material chucked into the recycle bin gets forwarded to the regular landfill (while unwilling taxpayers like myself are billed to have the trash sorted at the plant). They don’t bother to read the fine print on the eco-friendly product label to see that the stuff is just a diluted version of the regular product. They just know that they “feel good” doing something green.
However, rarely does their action mesh with the lip-service they pay to the environment. Just look at the popularity of SUVs and big screen televisions. The fact is that most of these Idiots are unwilling to change any meaningful aspect of their lives in order to achieve their stated goal of reducing carbon emissions. From my perspective, the only thing that matters is knowledge and results. The Idiots have neither knowledge nor do they produce results.
The Eco-Heretic: Well, that’s me. I don’t believe any of this Anthropogenic Global Warming bullshit.
Who watches the non-profit organizations?
Under the US tax code, various types of organizations can claim tax-exempt status. There are several different flavors depending on the type of activity the organization conducts. In general, they are categorized according to the section of the Internal Revenue Code their exemption qualifies for. Traditional non-profit organizations which do bona-fide charitable work are often referred to as being “501(c)(3)”. This means that contributions made to these organizations may be used as a deduction on the donor’s tax return. Donations to another type, “501(c)(4)”, are not deductible. This is because 501(c)(4) organizations are allowed to conduct political lobbying campaigns. Some organizations have a parent which is 501(c)(4) with one or more affiliates that are 501(c)(3).
Recently, we have heard quite a bit about the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) in the press. A July 2009 congressional report — titled “Is ACORN Intentionally Structured As a Criminal Enterprise?” lists 361 organizations affiliated with ACORN. I would list the URL for this report, however sometime within the past week it has been removed from the house.gov website. Fortunately, I saved a copy of the original document before the link disappeared.
Current allegations against ACORN involve voter fraud, the mis-allocation of millions of dollars and certain scandals involving a pimp, prostitute and a hidden video camera. However, ACORN is only one of literally tens of thousands of entities recognized as non-profit by the IRS. Who watches these people?
This morning, I decided to look into non-profits associated with my friend, The Eco-Industrial Complex. I looked up financial information pertaining to 40 non-profit organizations which serve the interest of environmental causes. While my inquiries were in no way a careful, scientific study, the results are non the less eye-opening. The source of my information is Charity Navigator.
The 40 organizations I chose where selected more or less at random. Here are some interesting numbers:
Their total annual income was $3,023,011,143
Their total annual expenses were $2,236,940,217
They collected $786,040,756 more than they spent
Their total assets were $6,963,054,523
Almost $7 Billion in assets (over $4 Billion held by The Nature Conservancy)! That’s enough money to buy 245,600 Prius automobiles! It seems to me that if these organizations really cared about the environment, rather than sitting on all that capital, they would put it to work in a way that would promote their stated goals.
The average personal automobile in the US gets about 17 miles per gallon (remember, there are a lot to SUVs and pickup trucks out there). A Prius gets about 45. Suppose that we replace 245,000 average cars and that the average person drives 10,000 miles per year. That would save 89,670,000 gallons of gas and create 851,865 fewer tons of carbon dioxide. Not that I believe any of this human-caused global warming bullshit. Obviously, the environmental charities don’t either, otherwise, they would really do something about it! Furthermore, these numbers are for only 40 eco-charities. Not counted were what is likely to be thousands more non-profits and hundreds of 501(c)(4) organizations.
P.S. For the record, I drive a smart and get about 35 miles per gallon. See my actual mileage.
Article 1, Section 8
I have found a new favorite web site – www.opencongress.org – which allows anyone to create a profile and set up legislators, pieces of legislation and issues to track.
Article 1, Section 8 of the US Constitution enumerates only 18 powers which Congress has. The good folks over at opencongress.org have sub-divided those into a mere 4,754 issue categories. I’m so glad congress holds to their oath to “protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic“.
Iditarod
Last year, I went to Alaska. As part of my preparation for the trip, I watched many of the Alaska themed television shows. The topic of one of these shows was the Iditarod.
This famous dog sled race is run each year in March – dozens of mushers and hundreds of dogs make the 1,000 mile + trey through the frozen Arctic landscape.
Last year’s shows made it sound as if the dogs were running along in the Mohave desert. What, with Global Warming and all, the snow was already beginning to melt in March!
Well, I too became inspired to enter the race. I have decided to enter the first all chihuahua team. Comprised of 61 Chihuahuas, my team should be able to outrun even the most experienced dog sled team. Training has already begun – for three hours each day, I turn the heater off in the office so that Gracie will get used to the cooler temperatures; the thermometer here in the office has been known to dip down to 74 degrees! Brrrrr….
That is only one part of the training; as for myself, I have been watching coverage of the 2009 Iditarod. Unlike last year, instead of warm temperatures and melting snow, they are reporting cold and icy conditions. What changed? Could it be that Global Warming has subsided? Is the planet getting cooler? Maybe!
On February 20, 2009, Bloomberg.com reported that the US National Snow and Ice Data Center had underestimated the Arctic ice sheet by 193,000 square miles (that is about the size of California!) due to a “glitch” in satellite sensors. According to a report in The (UK) Guardian, 2008 was the coolest year of the decade. There are many, many more reports like this; all you have to do is seek them out.
The “Gorey” myths about Global Warming may melt away under the heat of scientific scrutiny, but the Arctic Ice is here to stay. Don’t worry Gracie, there are plenty more years of Iditarod races ahead of us!
The Eco-Industrial Complex
In 1961, President Eisenhower delivered a farewell address in which he referenced the “Military-Industrial Complex.” He was referring to a system whereby a relationship develops between business leaders (ever seeking the loot easily obtained from government contracts) and the military (ever seeking more expensive and sophisticated weapon systems under the mantle of National Defense).
This speech was delivered just before the Cuban Missile Crisis and at the height of the threat of The Red Menace. Sputnik had recently orbited the earth, children had been taught to “duck and cover” and Civil Defense signs marked the location of fallout shelters. During this era, the hysteria-mongers honed their craft.
Fast forward 28 years (1989) and we see the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Eastern Block. We were promised a “peace dividend” by President George HW Bush resulting from decrease in military spending. This turned out to be nothing more than a political slogan. While spending on defense did decrease, spending by the federal government did not. If properly framed, there is always another “war” to fight.
Just one summer earlier, James Hansen of NASA delivered his infamous Global Warming testimony before Congress. In collusion with Senator Timothy Wirth (D-CO), they conspired to hold the hearings on the hottest day of the year. Wirth said, “We called the weather bureau and found out what was historically the hottest day of the summer. Well it was June 6 or June 9th, whatever it was. So, we scheduled the hearing that day and bingo, it was the hottest day on record”. He further stated, “We went in the night before and opened all the windows, I will admit, so that the air conditioning wasn’t working inside the room”. Don’t take my word for it, view the video from PBS’s series Frontline, episode “Hot Politics” which aired April 24, 2007.
What was the motive of Wirth, et. al.? The answer can be found in a quotation in Michael Crichton’s State of Fear: “But the military-industrial complex is no longer the primary driver of society. In reality, for the last 15 years we have been under the control of an entirely new complex, far more powerful and far more persuasive, I call it the politico-legal-media complex. The PLM. And it is dedicated to promoting fear in the population – under the guise of promoting safety.”
Crichton’s theory, as expressed in a fictional work, is that various pressure groups use government coercion to promote their agenda. This is particularly true for the Green movement; it is the central tenant of State of Fear.
Originally, I intended to write a single post regarding this topic. However, there are so many details and examples to express, that I must open an entire category of posts dedicated to The Eco-Industrial Complex.