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Originally Posted by example1
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You claim that there is plenty of indication of rising global temperature, but there isn't. The article you link mentions rising arctic temperatures in the title, but it gives no statistics to support that statement. Since 1998, the warming trend has stabilized with 2006 being the coldest year in that period.
http://blogs.wsj.com/informedreader/...rming-stopped/
Some say that this cooling trend has led to the greater usage of the term Global Climate Change as opposed to Global Warming.
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Originally Posted by example1
[That said, I think it is a really poor reason to disbelieve the best in modern scientific thought. Honestly, your politics resemble your opinions about baseball. It's a whole lot of telling me what you've seen in a similar situation before, then you talk about being disillusioned, and now you deserve to be able to remain on the outside looking in because you're cynical. We won't blame you when the shit hits the fan, because you were disillusioned by past experiences.
We all have our particular filters, and I do genuinely sympathize with your prior broken trust between you and your government and you and the Red Sox. I tend to trust you when you talk about Yaz and the good old days, but we've certainly seen some good things come to pass despite your protests to the contrary over the past few years.
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People have convenient memories, and when they disagree with them they tend to characterize those people in a certain way, so they think they know how those people will react in certain situations. If you want to debate a point with me that's fine, but attempts to fit me into a box to explain my opinions is just lame. Stop trying to figure out why I make certain statements and arguments and just debate the merits of the argument.
When it comes to the Red Sox, this group of owners had my full support this year. They did what they had to do after they made some very bad moves in 2005-06 resulting in a very embarrassing 2006. You will blame injuries, global warming etc., but they did a sucky job those years. Yes they had a long term plan, but part of the plan was not too be embarrassed. The team was way too thin in 2006 and they paid the price. To their credit, they took responsibility and admitted their mistakes. Theo had a press conference to offer his Mea Culpa. They opened their wallets in unprecedented fashion in the 2006 off season and made several key acquisitions to accelerate their long term plan. I was critical of the FO in 2005 and 2006, and they deserved it. The only thing that got me really mad was the poverty card they tried to play in 2006 when the Yankees trumped them and landed Abreu. That reminded me of the old ownership. It was BS. They have had tremendous resources all through the years, and now it is no secret.
Do I trust the government? No, and I don't care who is in charge. It's all about getting, keeping and expanding power over its citizens. That is human nature. That is the history of mankind. Our Constitution is supposed to protect us from our Government encroaching on our freedoms. If the politicians and the Courts continue to shred the Constitution, we will have no protection against our government.
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Originally Posted by example1
I hope you're right and it is all a bunch of BS; however, the consequences seem too great to not do ANYTHING about it and the sooner we start the better off we will be in the long run.
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This leads to my second question. What will be the cataclysmic consequences if we don't take action? The IPCC itself predicts that sea levels will rise between 7 to 24 inches in the next 100 years. The worst case scenario is 1/4 inch per year. I feel to see any reliable evidence that this will have cataclysmic consequences.
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Originally Posted by example1
I find it foolish to think that something like the greenhouse effect is far-fetched. We have seen other planets that appear to have undergone their own greenhouse effect (Venus is a giant ball of CO2). It seems naive to think we're immune, unless you have a really strong faith in an interventionist protector of some sort.
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As far as I know there is no Human life on Venus and yet it is a giant ball of CO2. If it is going to happen to earth, man is helpless to prevent it. We cannot control heating patterns of the sun or the closeness of the earth to the sun.
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Originally Posted by example1
Given the amount of science that says there IS global warming doesn't it make even more sense to at least try to make the little life changes that would really help? Support public projects to that effect, for instance? I don't know...
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I think spending billions and making major changes to the world economy cannot be justified without hard evidence that the trends will be reversed and that reversing those trends will have any real benefit.
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Originally Posted by example1
I would also be fine if CEO's went back to getting only 43 times more than their average employee (1980) instead of the 364 times margin that we have today, thus paying for a huge portion of this project and giving back to the employees in the form of better health care or retirement packages.
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I could put you in a box and call you a communist, but I will not. I think this generation of CEO's are pigs, much more so than the CEO's of different eras when business and industry were much less regulated. Also, there were just as many philanthropists among the rich in those times. It's amazing that government regulation of business and industry hasn't reduced greed. In fact, ironically, it seems to have increased. I am a firm believer that you have to let business cycles play out without government interference.