Hi Robert For your blog, it might be interesting to compare Leo Strauss with Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen and the ecological economists. There's quite a lot in the list archives about Georgescu-Roegen.
http://www.robertluisrabello.com <snip> > I spent some time there and appreciate the reasoned logic of the >positions presented. But did you read the comments? This sort of thing >is precisely what I deal with all the time: > > " This site is hilarious! I notice that most of the "rebuttals" >were posted five years ago, so I'm guessing the East Anglia scandal, >NASA recently discovering that more heat is escaping the atmosphere than >previously expected (thus rendering all climate models null and void), >and Michael Mann's hockey stick graph being proven to be statistical >bollocks by Canadian researchers, has taken the wind out of your sails, >hey lad? Oh, and we can't forget CERN can we? Those pesky hacks over >in Europe who just proved that neutrinos can travel faster than the >speed of light, and who also spanked ACC theorists by pointing out that >climate change is being caused by the sun and cosmic rays. Oh I know, I >know. Those fools! Those damn flat-earthers! Granted, 1,300,000 Earths >could fit into the Sun and a rogue solar flare would turn our planet >into a toasted marshmallow, but anyone who honestly believes that solar >phenomenon could impact our climate are obviously delusional denialists." The tone is always the same, and it always reminds me of conspiracy theorists - different song, same tune. Unlike Wagner, it's even worse than it sounds. (Avtually, so is Wagner, IMHO.) Rgds Keith >On 2/4/2012 3:27 PM, Keith Addison wrote: >> Interesting posts at your blog, Robert. > > When I objected to my best friend's badgering about writing a blog >by claiming that no one would care what I think, he said, "Not true! >You're very INTERESTING!" > > People have accused me of being humorless, but no one has ever >said I wasn't interesting, or thoughtless . . . > > ;) >> >> This is also useful: >> >> How to talk to a climate skeptic >> http://grist.org/series/skeptics/ > > I spent some time there and appreciate the reasoned logic of the >positions presented. But did you read the comments? This sort of thing >is precisely what I deal with all the time: > > " This site is hilarious! I notice that most of the "rebuttals" >were posted five years ago, so I'm guessing the East Anglia scandal, >NASA recently discovering that more heat is escaping the atmosphere than >previously expected (thus rendering all climate models null and void), >and Michael Mann's hockey stick graph being proven to be statistical >bollocks by Canadian researchers, has taken the wind out of your sails, >hey lad? Oh, and we can't forget CERN can we? Those pesky hacks over >in Europe who just proved that neutrinos can travel faster than the >speed of light, and who also spanked ACC theorists by pointing out that >climate change is being caused by the sun and cosmic rays. Oh I know, I >know. Those fools! Those damn flat-earthers! Granted, 1,300,000 Earths >could fit into the Sun and a rogue solar flare would turn our planet >into a toasted marshmallow, but anyone who honestly believes that solar >phenomenon could impact our climate are obviously delusional denialists." > > And on it goes . . . (Until the long Hindi post at the end, which >utterly confused me.) > > Last night as I was discussing this kind of response with my >psychologist friend, he said that most of the objections center on a >perceived threat to a way of life, or a way of thinking. The natural >response to this kind of threat is typically emotional in nature. What >makes all of this arguing particularly difficult for me, personally, is >that people in my family and others who have had a profoundly positive >influence on my life insist that I've bought into a hoax by believing >climate change is real and anthropogenic in origin. > > In other words, there is a significant social cost for me to >maintain a position that so strongly runs against those in my family and >among others with whom I attend church. > > This negative attitude toward climate change is closely linked to >others that inform the societal behaviors contributing to the problem. >For example, the people I love who deny climate change also believe that >resource extraction--particularly oil drilling--should accelerate, that >neoliberal economic theory is the ONLY viable means by which an economy >can be sustained (my eldest sister, who is a stock broker, holds this >view most stridently) because it rewards diligence, that people who are >poor should simply pull themselves out of poverty by working harder, and >that the US government is oppressing its people and stifling growth with >high taxes and regulation. All of these attitudes grow out of the same >root, and the climatic changes I'm witnessing are the natural fruit of >this wicked plant. > ><snip> >> What we see happening right in front of our >> eyes is happening right in front of their eyes too, but they're blind >> to it. > > Blind, apathetic, or both. There will be a post under the >biographical section of the blog which will outline why I esteem >conservation. This is a theme that weaves through my experience from >early childhood, when my favorite place in the world became a garbage >dump . . . My eye for what goes on in the natural world developed out >of my boyhood love for nature, animals and the symbiotic linking of all >living and nonliving things. For me, this insight reveals the wisdom of >God, but to my family, who also claim faith, the world is not so much a >revelation of incredible fortune and tender, divine care as it is a >thing to be taken for granted. The scriptures say we will be judged for >holding that attitude, yet when I bring that up, their response ranges >from anger and ridicule to dumbfounded silence. > >> >> I suppose there's some dark amusement to be had in the sure knowledge >> that their precious opinions aren't even their own, they're just >> implants, and not at all in their best interests. > True, but those implanted opinions have a nasty way of impacting >the rest of us, especially those in our world who do not have the >requisite wealth to more easily cope with increasingly unstable climatic >conditions. My garden is more of a hobby than a lifeline because I have >the luxury of being affluent enough to buy whatever food I want. That's >simply not true for most people in the world, and as good citizen of >this planet AND a believer in Jesus Christ, it's my duty to concern >myself with the well-being of other people. > > That's why I think it's important to set a good example, be >well-informed and willing to educate others on the dangers we're >facing. I may pay a social price for this, but I'd rather be a man of >integrity with few friends than a popular icon with a broken moral compass. >> >> Best solution, IMHO: thump them with a hockey stick. > Most of them can thump back quite stridently, Keith . . . >> >> Meanwhile there's a record killer freeze in Japan: >> >> http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120204a1.html >> Record lows recorded at 38 locations >> >> And in Europe: >> >> >><http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2095509/Eastern-European-death-toll-hits-150-big-freeze-continues-continent.html> >> Snow falls in Rome for the first time in 26 YEARS as -36c >> temperatures across eastern Europe send death toll to 150 >> >> :-( > > Deep sigh . . . And of course, those who confuse weather with >climate have MORE ammunition whenever they hear stories like this. > > >Robert Luis Rabello >Adventure for Your Mind >http://www.newadventure.ca > >Meet the People video: >http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txsCdh1hZ6c > >Crisis video: >http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZedNEXhTn4 > >The Long Journey video: >http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vy4muxaksgk _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
