Climate Cultists

The world could end tomorrow....for you. Hell, it could end today. That's right, every moment you're living, you're avoiding the apocalypse and have escaped the inevitable doom all humans face. It's called death and it's appointed to all of us.

Christians though, believe that a catastrophic end is inevitable, and through the ages, different dates and times have been set. Currently, people are nervous because the Mayan calendar ends in 2012. The Dutch seem to be particularly concerned:

The Dutch-language de Volkskrant newspaper said it spoke to thousands of believers in the impending end of civilization, and while theories on the supposed catastrophe varied, most tied the 2012 date to the end of the Mayan calendar, Radio Netherlands reported Monday.

De Volkskrant said many of those interviewed are stocking up on emergency supplies, including life rafts and other equipment.

Some who spoke to the newspaper were optimistic about the end of civilization.

"You know, maybe it's really not that bad that the Netherlands will be destroyed," Petra Faile said. "I don't like it here anymore. Take immigration, for example. They keep letting people in. And then we have to build more houses, which makes the Netherlands even heavier. The country will sink even lower, which will make the flooding worse."

Earlier this year, some Russians holed up in caves and had to come out for health reasons. They'd be spared from the coming darkness while you suckers got torched. Last month, an American cult leader, convinced that he is one of the two witnesses (his wife is the other one, evidently) of Revelation fame, came back from Israel without embarrassment when the world didn't end according to his predictions.

At the one end of the spectrum, there's the manipulative cultists preparing for the world's end. Lead by a narcissistic and ego-driven (usually) man the one truth that can be counted on is this: his followers will make him very rich. Money seems to go hand-in-hand with the absolute power the disciples cede to the cult leader.

While I have a visceral dislike for cults generally, I figure the biggest harm is to the followers themselves. They usually turn on their families and give enormous amounts of cash to some idiot, but oh well. That's their choice and they are usually adhering to some fairly strict dogma which can make them decent citizens if they're following the Bible. As long as they aren't interested in imposing their skewed worldview on everyone else, they can worship how they want. It's a free country.

At the other end of the spectrum, there are secular cultists. Big sums of money, emotionalism, exclusionary status, gurus, saviors, and dogma define these guys as much as the "christianists" they like to mock. Maxed Out Mama says this:

Well, actually, I haven't seen the Pope demanding that those who are sure that God doesn't exist be put on trial. That's why I think this brand of climate science is a cult. It's not just a religion, it's a cult. And on DU, there are some true believers:

7. We're talking about CRIMES against humanity, the planet - billions of lives are at stake

Spreading doubt about climate change IS a crime, IMHO. Climate change is a PROVEN FACT, and unless we take immediate steps to rein it in, will kill BILLIONS of people over the next century. That doesn't even begin to take into account the countless species that will become EXTINCT.

This isn't about free speech. The time for debate is OVER, there is no more debate - how can you debate something that is a proven scientific fact? But unlike the "debate" over evolution, this one is going to have deadly consequences.

Darned if I know whether to laugh or cry. Hundreds of years of the Enlightenment dumped in one fell swoop.

Maybe there will be a transcript to which we can refer for the real story. I've explained as simply as possible why I believe the IPCC runaway CO2-forced warming theory is falsified, but I'd never claim that people who disagree with me should be tried for crimes against humanity!!!

Here's the problem with the global warming zealots: they don't believe in God or divine law or an overarching morality. They are god, they make the law and it is their morality that counts. In addition, not only do they want to adhere to their wacked out belief system they want to impose it on everyone.

The scary part: it's working.

In the absence of a cogent belief system, any old idea will march in take roost. Because so much is on the line and because no real Savior is coming, according to the secularists, they toss out reason to believe in a man, a myth, a legend. So Obama gets messianic status. Global warming is the religion of true believers. And socialism is the saving grace of humanity.

Christianity can be misused and abused and as the world gets more topsy-turvy, cults will abound. The absence of God has not been the presence of scientific enlightenment, unfortunately. Just the contrary. The Climate Cultists prove that.

Cross-posted at Right Wing News

Nutters In Nests

My friend in Oakland insists that I don't have the big picture. Oh, I have it alright.

Tree Hugging

This link goes out to my tree-hugging friend. You know who you are!

P.S. My socialist San Francisco buddy probably is sorry he missed this.

Paul Krugman: Gore Derangement Syndrome Caused By Bush Derangement Syndrome

Whether it's his zeal to limit a person's choice about rock music or his zeal to limit a person's use of the atmosphere, the impulse within the man that desires to control others is what gives me a visceral response to Al Gore's policies and positions. Mr. Gore seems to have a real need to be the sanctimonious voice of morality. And since he's a Democrat, he certainly can't go back, finish seminary and actually preach in a church. No, in Mr. Gore's case, he created a mega-worldwide church and invokes damnation on anyone who refuses to believe.

And Republicans interested in science or economics who don't buy the gospel are deranged. So says Paul Krugman. Who can rationally disagree with Al Gore? Why would the Right be against his beliefs? Krugman thinks it goes back to the Right's insecurity over the Presidency of George W. Bush. Ultimately, disliking Gore's means and methods and the actual substance of his policies can be pinned on the defense of an illegitimate President Bush:

And now that Mr. Bush has proved himself utterly the wrong man for the job — to be, in fact, the best president Al Qaeda’s recruiters could have hoped for — the symptoms of Gore derangement syndrome have grown even more extreme.

***

Climate change is, however, harder to deal with than acid rain, because the causes are global. The sulfuric acid in America’s lakes mainly comes from coal burned in U.S. power plants, but the carbon dioxide in America’s air comes from coal and oil burned around the planet — and a ton of coal burned in China has the same effect on the future climate as a ton of coal burned here. So dealing with climate change not only requires new taxes or their equivalent; it also requires international negotiations in which the United States will have to give as well as get.

Everything I’ve just said should be uncontroversial — but imagine the reception a Republican candidate for president would receive if he acknowledged these truths at the next debate. Today, being a good Republican means believing that taxes should always be cut, never raised. It also means believing that we should bomb and bully foreigners, not negotiate with them.

Was Mr. Krugman writing about Gore Derangement Syndrome? Because this whole piece certainly feels like B.D.S. President Bush is al Qaeda's best friend. President Bush is a stupid rube. President Bush is an illegitimate President.

And then there's President Bush's policies. It's axiomatic to Democrats that dealing with climate change (and of course, the climate change is a bad thing, it must be, if it exists at all as anything more than the natural order of things) we must raise taxes, give in to foreign governments and "acknowledge these truths".

There's no debate in the Democrat-o-sphere. Human-caused climate change isn't science, it's an inconvenient truth. And Al Gore is the chief evangelist. And the only reason Republicans can't see the truth is that they hate Al Gore and sensible policies like raising taxes. And the Right just can't abide when the greatness of guys like Gore are acknowledged with prizes like the Academy Award and the Nobel Peace Prize.

While the Left has been bereft of zealous sermons for as long as they've been hippies, most Republicans still know a good sermon when they hear one. And they recognize a preacher posing as a politician. For all the Left's projection about George Bush, it's Albert Gore, Jr. who carries himself as the Gaia-ordained apostle of light and "truth". His faith isn't in the science of climate change, his faith is in his own rightness. If he actually believed his sermons, he'd live in a mud hut and restrict his caloric intake so he'd reduce his carbon and methane emissions.

So, Republicans are unreasonable and haters and deranged because they dare to doubt the dubious "truth" and the man who delivers it. Who's deranged again?

Laurie David An Energy Hog & Strumpet

I know, I know. I should be above this kind of thing:

"It's been six years of trophy building, which creates a very large carbon footprint," neighbor Jackie Mendez-Diez told us yesterday. "It's huge hypocrisy. Laurie flies around in her private plane telling people what kind of car to drive, and she doesn't even know where the wetlands are on her own property." Mendez-Diez said she confronted David two weeks ago, and soon after was served with a no-trespass order by Chilmark police.

"Personalities aside, there's been an incredible amount of land disturbance and development, and there's been very little public scrutiny," says Ian Fein, a reporter at the Vineyard Gazette. "They've taken an area that was largely undeveloped and turned it into 'Camp David,' as they call it." Even more interesting, since her separation, Laurie has been seen around town with a prominent island contractor -- one who worked on her house, no less. What gives?

Hmmm... and there's more on the "Carbon Sasquatch":

"Actually, Laurie David has been creating one HUGE carbon footprint here on Martha's Vineyard for the last 6 years. Her disgusting and ostentatious trophy building has been virtually ceaseless for about 6 years now. The trucks and pollution stop only when Mrs. Carbon Sasquatch is here for her summer vacation, making herself the center of everyone's attention.

And I'd say the fact that I saw Laurie and her hottie but dumb building contractor, Bart Thorpe, holding hands while walking on a secluded dock to a boat yesterday, has a lot more to do with her marriage breaking up than the scratchy toilet paper she's forced on her family. I've also seen Bart bicycling in front of my house with a little girl he kept calling, Romy [Laurie's daughter is named Romy]. Bart, coincidentally, left his wife recently, too.

I met Laurie David 6 years ago. I didn't like her then. I don't like her now. She is the prime example of a spoiled, selfish, rich girl who says, "do what I say, not what I do". She is a narcissist and a hypocrite to the nth degree."

Man. Other than the fact that she thinks posting nasty blog comments about her neighbors is an appropriate venue for dispute-settlement, we're kind of liking this Jackie Mendez-Diez! "Scratchy toilet paper." Heh. Seriously, life is too short for that stuff.

Speaking of scratchy toilet paper, a good friend caused a marital spat when she bought recycled toilet paper. When her husband complained about his "@!$!! bleeding bum" they switched back to the tree-killing kind. It was one of the funniest stories I've ever enjoyed.

H/T Ace

Childless, Sin-Free & You Might Earn Gaia's Salvation, But Probably Not

I'm one of those stupid women not working in my acquired profession to raise my children when a perfectly adequate illegal Spanish-speaking nanny could do the work for me while I changed the world one spine at a time, so I'm already a feminist failure. It gets worse. I'm not satisfied with the morally defensible family of four. There are three Clouthier children. I'm just greedy that way. Not Laurie David greedy, mind you. There are no private jets or pied-a-terres, but most excess resources go to feeding, clothing, educating, and entertaining those dirty little creatures--children. My husband drives a ten-year-old Chevy Malibu (long paid for) when he could drive a fancy schmancy hybrid which certainly counts as another sin. And then there is my gas-guzzling Suburban monster for which there is no defense besides it actually works for a big family. The sins keep coming. I voted for Bush, twice, and there's just no atonement for that. I'll be suffering eternal Gaia damnation, and I toiled lo, these long years thinking that recycling would buy me some grace.

No. There's no grace for me. Or you, probably, either. The list of sins keeps growing.

About those pesky kids:

Professor Guillebaud says that, as a general guideline, couples should produce no more than two offspring.

The world's population is expected to increase by 2.5 billion to 9.2 billion by 2050. Almost all the growth will take place in developing countries.

The population of developed nations is expected to remain unchanged and would have declined but for migration.

The British fertility rate is 1.7. The EU average is 1.5. Despite this, Professor Guillebaud says rich countries should be the most concerned about family size as their children have higher per capita carbon dioxide emissions.

What about divorce? I think the creation of two homes when one would do is selfishness beyond comprehension. Two McMansions instead of one. Two rooms of furniture for the two kids, killing untold rain forests.

Divorce creates the need for two lawyers and that's gotta be some kind of ec0-crime. Disproportionate predators and all that.

American Idol: Stamp Out Malaria

No mention whatsoever of why so many kids are dying of Malaria. The answer is that environmentalists succeeded in getting DDT spraying discontinued in Africa. Mosquitos carry Malaria. Malaria spreads.

Newsflash: these people will have to come out of their bug netting eventually. Luckily, countries have reversed their DDT stance and will use it to save the children and pregnant women who are primarily afflicted:

Noting that the rate of malaria infection in Tanzania was "unacceptably high", the minister said between 16 and 18 million cases were reported every year, leading to more than 100,000 deaths, of which about 75 percent occur among under-five children and pregnant women.

It's true, children need to be saved. So, let's really save them.