Letters to the Editor
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Sam Sham and "doomsday"
"Bullshit. They're using the word "catastrophe". I hate when people back-peddle when pressed. I'm not. Cults may be a controversial stance to take but I'm sticking to it."
So your objection, then, is to the idea that something bad will happen?
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DeeGeeOH
"I do find it somewhat interesting that patently indefensible notions such as these are unabashedly offered, in a progressive, left-leaning publication; and yet on those two issues I find barely a peep. Instead, the comments section is dominated by discourse on Global Warning."
This might be because her column was teased with specific reference to the global-warming part. In my case, I read her article specifically to find out why she was skeptical of global warming. I suspect others followed a similar path.
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@Xrandadu Hutman
You have the patience of a saint to keep trying to engage S.H.A.M. etc. in a reasoned debate. If s/he really wanted to discuss the merits of his/her points s/he wouldn't be so confrontational and use so much pejorative language. I'm all for an honest exchange of ideas on their merits. I refuse to spend my limited time arguing with someone who isn't really listening.
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CRL
Thank you sir. I don't blame you for avoiding an ongoing debate. I'm going to bow out soon myself.
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RE: Not gonna be quiet about this
Self-righteous preening? Ok, flame on, brother, flame on.
>> ...I pay my Salon premium membership (rather than stealing someone else's login)...
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Criminy.
Apparently double right brackets cut off letters. Le sigh.
RE: Not gonna be quiet about this - Joseph Quote:
...I pay my Salon premium membership (rather than stealing someone else's login)...
Moi? Or the scheming nameless hackers in the shadows?
I'm not really a Premium Member. I just play one on TV. Oh, I used to be one, but then I flushed my membership after pleading uselessly with Salon to improve their hired guns/writers. Not too shockingly, their code updates lag behind their bookkeeping. Go figure.
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Helloooooooo! Where are you my Lefty friends??
Where are you Xrandadu Hutman, CLR and MajorAHole???
Hey my new friend - S.H.A.M Scam Sam. God, its fun to taunt these Lefty gasbags with cold hard facts. Prick their thin membranes with a sliver of Truth and they jet about in big loops, making continuous, wet farting noises while they deflate.
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@CaptainGroove
I asked for specific, credible evidence, not a google search. But, wanting to give you the benefit of the doubt, I did some sleuthing of the scientific literature and reputable sites, e.g., NASA and was not rewarded with much substance. The most compelling thing that I could find was a suggestion that increasing solar radiation might account for as much as 25% of global warming, but that was not referenced. Even if this is correct, that leaves 3/4 of the warming unexplained.
Since you are making the claim for increasing levels of solar radiation as the source of global warming, it falls on your shoulders to provide the specific, credible sources in the scientific literature.
Oh and one other point. You show yourself to be disingenuous about listening when you post things like the following,
"God, its fun to taunt these Lefty gasbags with cold hard facts. Prick their thin membranes with a sliver of Truth and they jet about in big loops, making continuous, wet farting noises while they deflate."
This is troll language. You don't really expect anyone to take you seriously when you baldly state your interest is political baiting rather than a serious discussion of the subject on its merits.
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Sham Scam Spam Sam Flim Flam Ding Damn
Sam, I would respond to some of the points you raise directly (and I'm amazed by the persistence and patience of Xrandadu), but you haven't demonstrated any remote ability to think rationally. You reached your conclusions long ago, and you're grasping frantically for any shred of an argument, however nuts they may be (and are), that seem to offer any kind of remote support for what you'd like to believe.
I'd like to believe that climate change isn't real. The possibilities it presents for humanity are nightmarish, and there are no easy solutions. There are some pretty damn good ideas out there that have come to light in recent years in response to the threats (e.g. Permaculture, Biointensive farming, Cradle to Cradle design, Earthship architecture, Nader Khalili's domes, new theories on Natural Capitalism and economics, etc.), but the momentum of society is huge and nigh impossible to change, the threats remain just as real, and I still lie awake each night worrying... so while on some level I envy your ignorant, blissful optimism, I despise your seemingly deliberate stupidity.
Sam, if you respond to nothing else whatsoever in any other post by anyone else, please just answer me this one question: have you ever taken any academic courses from an accredited institution in Statistics or Epidemiology? As Mark Twain said, "there are lies, damned lies, and statistics." And yet ALL OF SCIENCE is based upon statistics, of figuring out what's probable and what's not, and it's up to each individual to be able to figure out and interpret statistics and what they mean. Epidemiology deals principally with how statistics operate within the context of a given study and whether the data were gathered in a non-biased way that are representative of how the world actually works. The mainstream media hasn't got a clue about how to deal with science - none of this stuff is prerequisite study for being a loud pundit, and the numbers and charts and graphs and equations take years of dedicated study to understand and appreciate.
I'm a person of science. I have a Bachelor's degree in evolutionary and ecological Biology, a Master's degree in Epidemiology, and I'm halfway through an M.D. program. From all I have read of your writings, you do not think in a remotely scientific or rational way. I cannot take any of what you say seriously. This is not 'crazy left-wing railroading' on my part, and I'm not seeking to silence dissent. I hope you'll respond, but please START by telling us whether you know anything at all about (1) what constitutes reliable scientific data, and (2) what constitutes competent statistical analysis.