J. Grant Swank, Jr.

“The conspiracy behind the Anthropogenic Global Warming myth (aka AGW; aka ManBearPig) has been suddenly, brutally and quite deliciously exposed after a hacker broke into the computers at the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit (aka  CRU) and released 61 megabytes of confidential files onto the internet. (Hat tip: Watts Up With That).”

So now it’s been uncovered that politics and ego have played a prime role in the so-called global warming religion.

Al Gore, champion charlatan, now wipes egg off his face. Fine for truth.

Telegraph.co.uk’s James Delingo provides a revealing overview.

Emails back and forth from those trumpeting the climate creeds of global heat-up have surfaced, now much to the writers’ embarrassment.

Therefore, we can conclude that not only Barack Hussein Obama is committed to lying, per his Muslim “ethic” writ in the Koran. But other dark-side game-players have taken on lying as a virtue.

Those lifting high truth are warned repeatedly that it is to be “wise as snakes and harmless as doves.”

Read the surfaced emails for yourself:

“As Andrew Bolt puts it, this scandal could well be ‘the greatest in modern science’. These alleged emails – supposedly exchanged by some of the most prominent scientists pushing AGW theory – suggest:

“Conspiracy, collusion in exaggerating warming data, possibly illegal destruction of embarrassing information, organized resistance to disclosure, manipulation of data, private admissions of flaws in their public claims and much more.”

And now this:

Writer James Delingpole states: “One of the alleged emails has a gentle gloat over the death in 2004 of John L Daly (one of the first climate change sceptics, founder of the Still Waiting For Greenhouse site), commenting:

“’In an odd way this is cheering news.’”

Imagine that for defending facts alone. Imagine the truth-tellers closeted while the politico-money-hungry warm religionists pound away for whatever they can gain from lying.

Now get this next email:

“I’ve just completed Mike’s Nature trick of adding in the real temps to each series for the last 20 years (ie from 1981 onwards) and from 1961 for Keith’s to hide the decline.”

Read every word and uncover deceit maximum at work in this email:

“The fact is that we can’t account for the lack of warming at the moment and it is a travesty that we can’t. The CERES data published in the August BAMS 09 supplement on 2008 shows there should be even more warming: but the data are surely wrong. Our observing system is inadequate.”

Read it again: “’Our observing system is inadequate.’”

Disciples of this warm religion collaborate to destroy damaging emails:

“Can you delete any emails you may have had with Keith re AR4?

“Keith will do likewise. He’s not in at the moment – minor family crisis.

“Can you also email Gene and get him to do the same? I don’t have his new email address.

“We will be getting Caspar to do likewise.”

Then the urge to violently attack those not bowing down at the warm religion altars:

“Next time I see Pat Michaels at a scientific meeting, I’ll be tempted to beat the crap out of him. Very tempted.”

Here is an email trying to cover up the “inconvenient truth of the Medieval Warm Period (MWP)”:

“Phil and I have recently submitted a paper using about a dozen NH records that fit this category, and many of which are available nearly 2K back–I think that trying to adopt a timeframe of 2K, rather than the usual 1K, addresses a good earlier point that Peck made w/ regard to the memo, that it would be nice to try to ‘contain’ the putative ‘MWP’, even if we don’t yet have a hemispheric mean reconstruction available that far back. . .”

What are the warm religionists to do with scientists who continue to expose the warmist lies? Read it:

“This was the danger of always criticizing the skeptics for not publishing in the ‘peer-reviewed literature’. Obviously, they found a solution to that–take over a journal! So what do we do about this?

“I think we have to stop considering ‘Climate Research’ as a legitimate peer-reviewed journal. Perhaps we should encourage our colleagues in the climate research community to no longer submit to, or cite papers in, this journal.

“We would also need to consider what we tell or request of our more reasonable colleagues who currently sit on the editorial board…What do others think?

“I will be emailing the journal to tell them I’m having nothing more to do with it until they rid themselves of this troublesome editor.”

Read “Climategate: the final nail in the coffin of ‘Anthropogenic Global Warming’?” at http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jamesdelingpole/100017393/climategate-the-final-nail-in-the-coffin-of-anthropogenic-global-warming/

Water is the basic necessity of life on this planet. Without water we die. In Canada we are extremely lucky with the overall quantity and quality of freshwater that we have access to. Nonetheless, throughout the world, freshwater is a scarce commodity. If all of the water on the planet was placed into a five litre bucket, the available freshwater wouldn’t fill one teaspoon (Government of Canada, 2008).

Canada has the third largest amount of freshwater in the world behind Brazil and Russia (Government of Canada, 2008). Furthermore, British Columbia contains a quarter of all fresh flowing water in Canada (Government of British Columbia, n.d.). This definitely helps account for the “myth of abundance” (Brandes & Kriwoken, 2006, p. 76) of freshwater in Canada and in particular in British Columbia. Even in semi-arid and water stressed regions such as the Okanagan Valley we suffer from the notion that access to water is limitless (Brandes & Kriwoken, 2006). This notion is reinforced by the fact that the Okanagan Valley is filled with many lakes; the largest being Okanagan Lake, which has a surface area of 351 km² and a total volume of 24,644 km³ (International Lake Environment Committee, n.d.). Nonetheless, “drinking water supplies are at risk, conflicts among water users are common, economic opportunities are threatened, and aquatic ecosystem health and fisheries are declining” (Brandes & Kriwoken, 2006, p. 76).

As we make our way through the first part of the 21^st century, and the awareness of environmental degradation slowly spreads, it is evident that “new approaches to long-term water planning and management” (Gleick, 1998, p. 571) are required. Whatever these approaches may take they must be both equitable and sustainable (Gleick, 1998). Too often, it is the poor and powerless that suffers the consequences of most environmental planning, absorbing the burdens of development that often benefit the rich and powerful.

In the 20^th century, the notion of growth coupled with the supplementation of water supply infrastructure dominated the paradigm of water development (Gleick, 1998). If water was needed, vast and expensive projects were undertaken to produce or exploit new sources of water. These large projects were often dams, the social and environmental effects of which are now being contested worldwide (Gleick, 1998; Scudder, 2005). The contestation of these large projects is due to the fact that people around the globe have suffered and are beginning now to understand their social and ecological repercussions (Gleick, 1998). “Tens of millions of people have been displaced from their homes by water projects in the last century…[and t]wenty-seven percent of all North American freshwater fauna populations are now considered threatened with extinction” (Gleick, 2003, p. 1).

In light of the challenges that face the issue of water supply, a new approach to managing water demand is required. Demand management and conservation practices are an effective and significant means to realizing sustainable approaches for water (Brandes & Kriwoken, 2006). Rather than focusing on exploiting new sources of water and building the requisite infrastructure to do so, Brandes and Kriwoken (2006), and Gleick (2003) describe the “soft path” for water management. The soft path is described as “[m]oving away from a focus on supply-side options and towards an integrated and long-term approach…” (Brandes & Kriwoken, 2006, p. 76) to managing water. Furthermore, “[t]he soft path for water strives to improve the productivity of water use [first and foremost] rather than seek endless sources of new supply” (Gleick, 1998, p. 3) which characterize the ‘hard path’ of water management.

It is sobering to think that while water demand in the Okanagan will increase 30 percent by 2025, the amount of precipitation received at that time is projected to decrease by 35 percent from the 1961-1990 average (Brandes & Kriwoken, 2006). Where will the necessary water come from as we see water supply decrease and water demand increase? Kriwoken and Brandes (2006) argue, “[t]he dual challenges of both water supply limitations and demand increases in the region may only be addressed by considering conservation as the best source of “new” water for the Okanagan” (78). Our present paradigm of water supply must change to one of water conservation and be directed by the soft path approach.

Our concentration on water supply in the past led to an inattention of water (over)use, which consecutively lead to ineffective and wasteful technologies and uses, and furthermore, to discriminatory distributions of water resources (Gleick, 1998). A trend towards an ethic of conservation regarding water in the Okanagan should go a long way towards reducing the amount of water that is used and wasted. This is especially true considering that 70 percent of the water used is for agricultural irrigation purposes, and 15 percent is used for business and residential irrigation (Okanagan Water Stewardship Council, 2008). It is obvious that the largest efforts at conservation need to be directed at the use of water for irrigation as 85 percent of water is used strictly for irrigation purposes.

Nonetheless, according to the Okanagan Water Stewardship Council, conservation won’t be enough as “water storage capacity will [also] need to be increased in some sub-basins to meet the joint challenges of population growth and climate change” (2008, p. IX). However, considering the reduction of precipitation that we are forecasted to see in the region, how can we increase storage capacity for water that we won’t have? If we are even able to increase capacity, what will the effect of stockpiling this water be on natural systems that will be stressed due to an overall decrease of water? We must also be reminded that “it is now increasingly difficult to build major new water supply systems because of both environmental and economic constraints” (Gleick, 1998, p. 572); constraints that are bound to greatly increase in the future.

The Okanagan Water Stewardship Council has also given water conservation an important role into the future as they state one of their goals is to “[p]romote a Basin-wide culture of water conservation and efficiency” (2008, p. VI). There seems to be an intrinsic conflict, however, between the assumption that storage capacity will need to be increased in the future, yet recognizing that conservation will play a vital role as well. There is a conflict in these two approaches because the supply side views water as a limitless resource, while the conservation approach acknowledges water is a finite resource (Brandes & Kriwoken, 2006). So, which is it? This internal conflict demonstrates, once again, a structural fear on the part of governance institutions to undertake a truly paradigm shifting approach to reaching sustainable goals. Simply readjusting or reformulating the ‘status quo‘ will nonetheless reproduce the ‘status quo‘, albeit in a different guise.

The question that must be asked is this: “How can we deliver the services currently provided by water in new ways (emphasis mine) that recognize the need for long-term systemic changes to achieve social sustainability?” (Brandes & Kriwoken, 2006, p. 79). These systemic changes must come from social, political and cultural spheres of influence that produce and entrench a new ethic and paradigm of sustainability; moreover, “long-term water planning must include all stakeholders, not just those traditionally trained in engineering and hydrologic sciences” (Gleick, 1998, p. 4). Alas, it is our reliance on experts trained in the field of engineering and water sciences where we can understand why a discourse of technical solutions to water management is reproduced. What is required are “institutional changes, new management tools and skills, and a greater reliance and actions by many individual water users rather than a few engineers” (Gleick, qtd in Brandes & Kriwoken, 2006, p. 80).

The Okanagan Water Stewardship Council has included community stakeholders; however, they remain top-heavy with engineers and water scientists in their ranks. This fact could help account for the conflict in the Okanagan Water Stewardship Council’s Action Plan that calls for both hard and soft path options; increasing water supply capacity as well as promoting conservation efforts. Furthermore, is it problematic if “the intention of the [water stewardship] Council is to be a technical advisory committee” (Warwick Sears, personal communication, November 19, 2009)? Does this reduce the issue of water management to one that requires a technical solution, when it has been clearly demonstrated that the technical approach to managing water should be moderated by political, social, and cultural frameworks?

Together, education, pricing, efficiency, recycling, reuse, and conservation present considerable prospects for reducing water use and managing water demand in the future for the Okanagan Valley (Brandes & Kriwoken, 2006). In the Okanagan, and the rest of Canada, there are obstacles and perceptions that must be overcome for the soft path to be effective at managing water resources into the future. However, for the Okanagan Valley to have any chance at meeting water needs in an uncertain future, “[a]pproaches to water management must evolve to more fully embrace a fundamental water conservation paradigm if the region is to deal with the uncertainties of climate change and remain prosperous in the face of rampant growth” (Brandes & Kriwoken, 2006, p. 83). This paradigm shift could be made possible by a dedicated effort at following the soft path of water management.

As it stands now, by calling for conservation and increased storage capacity, conflict is built into the Okanagan Water Stewardship Council Action Plan, therefore impairing and subverting a true attempt at any real shift of paradigm of water management. If we are serious about creating a sustainable future for water use in the Okanagan Valley, we must undertake a serious and concerted effort at conserving our water resources. We must choose one path or the other, for as Gleick argues, “[w]e cannot follow both paths” (2003, p. 4) (emphasis mine).

Works Cited

Brandes, O. M., & Kriwoken, L. (2006). Changing perspectives–changing paradigms: taking the “soft path” to water sustainability in the Okanagan Basin. Canadian Water Resources Journal.

Gleick, P. H. (1998). Water in Crisis: Paths to Sustainable Water Use. Ecological Applications, 8(3), 571-579.

Gleick, P. H. (2003). Global Freshwater Resources: Soft-Path Solutions for the21st Century. Science, 302(5650), 1524-1528.

Government of British Columbia. (n.d.). Water Stewardship Division – Water Conservation. Mininstry of Environment. Retrieved November 19, 2009, from http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wsd/plan_protect_sustain/water_conservation/index.html

Government of Canada, E. C. (2008). Freshwater Website: Did you know (Water quantity). Retrieved November 17, 2009, from http://www.ec.gc.ca/water/en/info/facts/e_quantity.htm

International Lake Environment Committee. (n.d.). OKANAGAN LAKE. International Lake Environment Committee. Retrieved November 17, 2009, from http://www.ilec.or.jp/database/nam/nam-51.html

Okanagan Water Stewardship Council. (2008). Okanagan Sustainable Water Strategy: Action Plan 1.0.

Scudder, T. (2005). Future Of Large Dams (illustrated edition.). Earthscan Publishers.

In Japan’s early history, a serious disregard for manners could be punishable by death, and any samurai could kill any common person who failed to show him proper respect. The Japanese were required to behave in precisely prescribed ways—wearing permitted clothing, walking only a certain way, sleeping with their heads pointing in a certain direction and legs arranged a particular way. Eating, greeting, gesturing with hands, opening doors and many work tasks had to be done in assigned ways without deviation. Conduct became a measure of morality, and virtue in manners was visible for all to see. Even today, the code of conduct plays a significant role in the lives of the Japanese. Many societies, not Japan alone, have a prescribed form and manner for every familiar situation that might arise. Unforeseen situations can cause intense embarrassment or discomfort. Throughout East Asia, actions are judged by the manner in which they are performed. More important than the accomplishment of a task is the question of how someone went about trying to complete the task: Did he act sincerely? More important than winning the race is the grace of the runner. More important than expertise is the way one gets along with others. More important than profits is harmony. In contrast, Westerners and particularly Americans are more concerned with the principles of things, hard “measures” and objective facts. Although rules of ethics are extremely important, we are more goal oriented than method-conscious, we say “a good loser is a loser.”

One aspect of form is the concept of “face.” Much has been written about “face-saving” in Japan and China, but face-saving is important absolutely everywhere. The difference is only a matter of degree and nuance. Where an American might feel a little guilty or inadequate, an Asian, Arab or South American may feel deep shame and humiliation. What an American might see as a little honest and constructive criticism, the foreigner may take as a devastating blow to pride and dignity. A foreigner is likely to be sensitive to feelings of others in transactions that an American would consider strictly impersonal, such as returning a defective product or switching hairdressers. The traveler simply must be more conscious of saying things or behaving in ways that cannot be taken as disrespect, criticism or humiliation. In some countries it seems just about anything can be taken personally, even such indirect affronts as not taking your shoes off in a mosque or complaining about the heat.

Harmony with the environment can be as important as sensitivity to people in some cultures. In Japan a woman wears a soft pastel dress to a flower show so as not to take away from the beauty of the flowers. In countries where people believe in reincarnation they are careful about all forms of life. In India, for example, people are careful not to swallow gnats or step on ants—one might be a relative.

My Consultancy–Asif J. Mir - Management Consultant–transforms organizations where people have the freedom to be creative, a place that brings out the best in everybody–an open, fair place where people have a sense that what they do matters. For details please visit www.asifjmir.com, Lectures, Line of Sight.

I’ve been working on an article about spiritual considerations for sterilization for a long time.  It’s finally done.

http://hubpages.com/hub/Christian-Considerations-for-Sterilization

It might be published elsewhere, but here it is now.

An Ethical Question: Does a Nazi Deserve a Place Among Philosophers?

I don’t have to express my opinion, coz nobody reads my blog!

It’s be stupid if I write here what I think, coz noboby read my blog ^^

First of all, I’m not a real life journalist. I’m just another player in Evony-Free forever, who thought it’d be interesting to cover the events and situations in the virtual world of Evony.

The first thing I should consider is the spy-suspected which every talent player should have when I’ll talk with for interviews.
How I’m going to cover things, without revealing a sensitive information, and hurt someone’s towns? I think the best way to deal with is to be obligated to some rules of ethics, so everyone will know what I’m going to publish, and information I should keep secret, if a user/lord revealed it to me.

I’ll be obligate to the rules of ethics, in order users will rely on me. My interest is to cover as much interesting stories, and the more I’ll be reliable, the more users will trust the information they are sharing will be safe.

So, the first rule I thought about is:
I) No specific user names, alliance name nor coordinates. Unless it is necessary and the relevant side approved to publish it.

Second rule was suggested by a player I talked with him:
II) (suggestion) The journalist should not join any alliance.

What do you think? I told the player I joined an alliance in order to feel and experience of being a member of an alliance, for future articles. He agreed this is a nice reason to join, but he said there are other ways to do so. So, meanwhile I won’t quit the alliance, but when I’ll start interview players and it’ll be relevant, I’ll acknowledge them on my membership, so they will be censure themselves, or at least be cautious. Anyway, my obligation is to rule (I) so i won’t publish any sensitive information.

III) Any article involved in interviewing players, publishing the article will be only after the relevant players read the article before, and make their comments, requests and corrections.

Anyway, it’s late now. I don’t have any more power to think among these rules. I’ll try to develop these rules-of-ethic and will publish the entire proclamation later, separately.

Nighty night, and play well.

Lord Harlem

This topic has been bothering me for awhile now.
What exactly am I, as a citizen of the United States of America, entitled to?
The Declaration of Independence provides an answer. I am entitled to my God-given rights of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
The Constitution in the Bill of Rights gives me additional entitlements which help define how I can go about getting that Life, Liberty, and Happiness.
For instance;
I am entitled to being able to worship in the manner which I see fit according to my faith.
I am entitled to being able to speak my mind within the rule of law
I am entitled to being able to have a free press.
I am entitled to petition the government for redress
I am entitled to these things and many others.
I am however not entitled to a free lunch.
I have to work for the life which I have. I have to work for my liberty. In my pursuit of happiness I have to work. I am entitled to fail in these endeavours as well.

So what has happened in our country? I am seeing people who choose to not work and live off the efforts of others. When did we become a welfare state?

The purpose of the dole should be to get people off of the dole. Not to base their entire existence on the income from the dole. Once again, no one in this country is entitled to a free lunch. We need to teach people to work.

The work ethic in this country is deplorable. That is right, as a whole, our collective work ethic is non-existent. This is a result of our collective acceptance of mediocrity as being good enough. If you do not believe me, take a trip to McDonald’s. The people who are employed there, could care less about the work that they do and pass that ethic onto their customers. When we accept the “quality food” from McDonald’s we are perpetuating the mediocrity.

Another example? How about those pilots who overshot their destination by more than 150 miles, and cost the taxpayers money by having to have jets deployed to intercept them. All because they were breaking company policy, FAA regulations by messing around with their laptops. No work ethic.

The victim mentality and lack of work ethic are bringing this country down.

So let’s get to work. We are not entitled to anything except what we are born with, those rights which are guaranteed us in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution.

Rocsi tells Honey Mag -“I think a lot of these Web sites need a story.  They need to find somebody to pick on, and I just so happen to be one of those girls.  I’ve always had that coming up against Free on a black network and not being black.”

You’d think that a human being would be able to try their best without being critisized and proclaimed a failure.

Sometimes I feel like a teacher I know is the type of person that picks away at a person’s flaws until there is nothing left to degrade you. Then, when they have nothing left to complain about, they create it. They object to what little power you have left in you.

It’s like being held up like a pinata and beaten to the ground. Instead of taking the candy and rejoicing about it, they beat it too. They beat it into little bits until there is absolutely nothing left of you.

They are too lazy to come up with their own questions for you, so they assign you twenty questions out of the textbook. When you don’t finish them, they call you a typical lazy teenager.

They are always disappointed with the star pupil and not-so-subtly hint that everyone else is stupid.

They hold every person up to impossible standards. Metaphorically, you are expected to pole-jump over a bar raised halfway to the moon.

These people cannot possibly be satisfied.

I am satisfied in the fact that I won’t end up like that.

I’m going to try my best to work with this teacher, since they won’t be a main character in my life for very long, and if I do end up failing this course, at least I’ll have tried my stinkin’ best.

If I fail doing my very best, at least I will still have my dignity.

Besides, giving up would guarantee failure.

And I, Alex Violet, don’t want to give up. It’s against my philosophy.

Off to try my best,

Alex Violet.

Addendum: There have been some lively comments in response to the post below, but there seem to be misapprehensions that 1) I am calling all Atheists fundamentalists, and that 2) I am defending Abrahamic faiths, or that this blog is about Abrahamic faiths.

This is not so.

First, I am talking specifically about intolerance – when it appears among Atheists. Extremists (who are often marked by intolerance) are found in every group, and Atheists are no exception.

If you are Atheist and tolerant of other people’s religious and spiritual beliefs, then this article is NOT about you.

If you feel it could be about you, well, then try to take home the message of the golden rule, ‘Do unto others as you would have done to you’.

Second, please read “About the Author” And “About Helleneste kai Grammateus” before posting.

Thank you. Now for the post…

I read a new term today: “Fundamentalist Atheists” referenced in KCRW’s The New Atheists.

The label is meant for those who don’t believe in any deity (soft or hard) and view the influence of any religion or spirituality as a threat to reason and science and fight back. They believe that religion inherently fosters ignorance and war and fight aggressively against beliefs in anything spiritual. Theirs is called the New Atheism movement.

I would agree that one can be Atheist and be Fundamentalist about it. One doesn’t have to believe in spirituality in order to be so adamant about that belief (or non-belief if you prefer) to proselytize and show intolerance.

I didn’t have the term for it back then, but I had a friend once, a smart young Brit, who had been raised and educated among like-minded people (Atheists).  He had very intelligent arguments but lacked…a certain compassion and tolerance for those who believed otherwise.  He humilated other friends of mine because they believed in one or more gods and mocked them in a public forum.  He said he felt like Galileo fighting against the church.

I happened to be reading the works of Galileo at the time, and cited passages in which he likened the astronomical phenomenon to angels and other excerpts in which his religious belief was clear.

Deeply concerned, I wrote to him that not everyone who follows a religion or spirituality is fundamentalist, not all of them proselytize. I gave the examples of Buddhists and Unitarian Universalists (my parents).  It is easy to fall into the trap of over-generalizing.

Furthermore, religion and spirituality have great benefits for mental health and community.

He said that Unitarian Universalism is “among the least threatening” of religions. I told him that I was dismayed and disappointed (in a sad but kindly way) by his lack of tolerance. In the end, he said that it’s difficult growing up around many people who think the same way, but good to be challenged, and he was grateful for the opportunity to bridge the gap of understanding.

He is still atheist, and I’m still a theist, but I think we reached mutual understanding and tolerance. I think that’s the only way to approach closed-mindedness, of any variety.

Related Article: Vatican Celebrates Galileo

Have you thought of giving to charity as an offering in the name of Zeus Sôtêr “the Savior” and Epidôtês “Giver of Good”?*

You can do it remotely from the computer, and without spending anything!

I’ve added the option to my sidebar for folks visiting Helleneste kai Grammateus to donate to charity.  How?  By clicking on the icon for Hunger and Poverty, the sponsor(s) will donate towards this charity, and feed the impoverished.  The sponsors will change, but the cause was my choice:  Hunger and Poverty.  My goal is to raise 400 points.

You may be asked to participate in an “event”.  The one I just did rated an advertisement video by PowerBar (fitting, hu?).  When I spent my time on this, I earned points for the charity, which works to feed those who need it most.

Consider a donation of your time to the charity as an offering.  Say a prayer to Zeus,the Savior and Giver of Good when you do so! : )

 http://www.socialvibe.com/?r=706516

Reference
*  SOTER (Sôtêr), i. e. “the Saviour” (Lat. Servator or Sospes), occurs as the surname of several divinities:– 1. of Zeus in Argos (Paus. ii. 20. § 5), at Troezene (ii. 31. § 14), in Laconia (iii. 23. § 6), at Messene (iv. 31. § 5), at Mantineia (viii. 9. § l), at Megalopolis (viii. 30. § 5; comp. Aristoph. Ran. 1433 ; Plin. H. N. xxxiv. 8). The sacrifices offered to him were called sôtêria. (Plut. Arat. 53.) 2. Of Helios (Paus. viii. 31. § 4), and 3. of Bacchus. (Lycoph. 206.)
 Theoi.com

CNN Can’t Have It Both Ways: It Can Either Broadcast Hateful Lou Dobbs or Have a Latino Audience … posted by Roberto Lovato … AlterNet. … posted October 14, 2009. … excerpted … Latinos across America are intensely concerned about CNN’s hypocrisy: broadcasting Dobbs’ anti-immigrant extremism while running a Latinos in America special series. … As CNN begins broadcasting its Latino in America series (LIA) … Its most important and expensive attempt to capture Latino audiences – Latinos are of one mind about the two faces of CNN. I know this because I just spent the last two weeks traveling the country talking to Latino communities about Lou Dobbs and CNN. I got to meet some of the more than 50,000 people who, in just the last four weeks, have signed our petition at bastadobbs.com.

DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE . . . It’s not only Fox News which is being caught with its pants down but so too is CNN … once vaunted as the most trusted name in news …

People are becoming “aware” and awakening to the fact they hold authentic power and are in the process to begin to honorably exercise that power. For the for-profit-corporate-interest$ this is a most frightening acknowledgment as they can only hold power when they are able to exercise and induce fear.

Reminiscent of lyrics from the civil rights era … “we shall overcome” … and that day is here and now.

- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – –
… People should never be afraid of their government, government should always be afraid of the people …

… “Everyone has the right to clean and accessible water, adequate for the health and well-being of the individual and family, and no one shall be deprived of such access or quality of water due to individual economic circumstances” …

… I am most willing to present and discuss any water issue with any audience in Arizona where open full disclosure and two way dialog is permitted. …

Respectfully submitted,

In the scope of the work of having several matters that must in pay attention to so that we always have the spirit that was high in working. This was needed that our career could develop and achieve feelings feelings that were wanted by us

Indeed sometimes to create the spirit that inggi in working often was affected by the environment around, the condition for the company et cetera. However from anywhere that his influence that was most important for us was lest the influence negative from curved could enter easily in ourselves. Fortify yourself with the conviction that we could or could develop although many influences negaif round us. Try to get anything that happened we continued to try maximal to become that was best.

Therefore had several matters that must be done so that we always are enthusiastic in working. In the opportunity this time I tried to divide tips & the trick so that the spirit of the work always is in ourselves. Regarded worked was:

1. obligations

Anggaplah obligations worked that was an obligation & our obligation to menafkahi and satisfied the requirement for our family life.

2.  Love

Don’t we felt happy to work in the big company if we in fact did not like the work that was carried out by us. Love our work, If we loved the work then every time we departed from the house to work automatically will emerge the spirit to work.

3.  Art

The art was beautiful, beautiful that interesting. Then made the work be an art that must be developed by us so that more beautiful and more interesting. Because something that was beautiful and interesting that must have the value sold that was high. His intention was if we considered the work was our automatic art will have the spirit that more to develop the our work

4  Worship

We worked not only look for thought in a materil manner that could produce something that was seen physically, money for example or took the form of the other thing. If we regarded worked was certain religious duties also we will get the reward that definitely has been useful to dikehidupan we came (after dying). With our note worked dengantulus and sincere.

If to four matters above could in undertook simultaneously us was convinced pointed perfection the success that will be gained by us.

Moslem Work Ethic

The church denounced Galileo’s theory as dangerous to the faith. Tried as a heretic in 1633 and forced to recant, he was sentenced to life imprisonment, later changed to house arrest.

The ruling helped fuel accusations that the church was hostile to science — a reputation the Vatican has been trying to shed ever since.

In 1992, Pope John Paul II declared that the ruling against Galileo was an error resulting from “tragic mutual incomprehension.”

The exhibit, and other Vatican initiatives to mark the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s telescope and the U.N.-designated International Year of Astronomy, is part of the Vatican’s continuing rehabilitation effort.

From here.

My first reaction to this news was to suspect the Catholic Church of being hypocritical. Their pope celebrates a man who the church had condemned as a hypocrite and excommunicated?! There are plenty of examples of this religious organization suppressing and condemning beliefs that are not theirs as “blasphemy”.

But I took a step back, and thought about it again. The way the article presents it, and knowing that the previous Pope apologized for how the church had treated Galileo in the past, I now perceive this act of spending money, and effort, on promoting Galileo’s ideas as an apology. For hundreds of years there was the belief that the Pope (and thus the church) couldn’t be wrong; and that’s changing – for the better I think.

There are still cases of intolerance for other points of view in that particular religion, and it is something we must all guard against, but I think this is one positive step forward.

Related Article: Fundamentalist Atheists

I learned of the release of Agora at Kallisti in Spain on October 6th, 2009. I hope it’ll come out in the US soon.

Historical & Religious Context
Agora takes place in the 4th century C.E. (Common Era) in Egypt under the Roman Empire. This is the year that Christians in Alexandria go on an iconoclastic rampage, obliterating pagan statues and images throughout the city, as well as the Temple of Serapis. Co-emporer Theodosius (of Rome) orders that all non-Christian works be destroyed. Fire consumes the Great Library of Alexandria (established in 275 B.C.E. [Before Common Era]), considered one of the wonders of the ancient world. Among the works lost were parchments by the astronomer Aristarchus of Samos asserting that the Earth orbits the sun (see Ptolemy, 140 A.D.; Copernicus, 1543 A.D.), and dozens of dramatic works by Sophocles and Euripides.*

Hypatia, brilliant astronomer and philosopher, trapped inside the burning Library, fights to preserve ancient knowledge.

This is a mere 78 years after Constantine and his co-emporer Licinius accept Christianity (in 131 C.E.).*

In 321 C.E. (70 years prior to the setting of this film) Constantine declared that Sunday would thereafter be a day of rest throughout the Empire (although, he continued to worship Apollo despite his acceptance of Christianity).*

In 324 C.E. (67 years prior to the film setting) he bans “pagan” sacrifices and pillages “pagan” temples.*

A year after this the council of Nicaea is held* in which many issues are debated and doctrine of the Christian church is established (note, there are pieces of the Bible that were not included in the final agreement of this council, and Revelations was only barely approved.

About Hypatia
From About.com:Women’s History**

Hypatia dressed in the clothing of a scholar or teacher, rather than in women’s clothing. She moved about freely, driving her own chariot, contrary to the norm for women’s public behavior. She exerted considerable political influence in the city…

Cyril [Christian bishop, later made a saint] probably objected to Hypatia on a number of counts: She represented heretical teachings, including experimental science and pagan religion. She was an associate of Orestes ["pagan" opponent of Cyril - who objected to Cyril expelling Jews from the city, and was murdered for his opposition to Cyril]. And she was a woman who didn’t know her place. Cyril’s preaching against Hypatia is said to have been what incited a mob led by fanatical Christian monks in 415 to attack Hypatia as she drove her chariot through Alexandria.

Notes
*4th Century C.E. via EndNotes.com
**About.com: Women’s History: Hypatia: Philosopher, Astronomer, and Mathematician

Note:  This past year has been one of reflection regarding family, friends and career, especially in light of what happened earlier this year. This will be one of many posts regarding various topics that I’ve mulled over from time to time through the year. Thank you in advance for your support and comments as I explore these topics.  

My husband likes to say that marketing and public relations is about who lies the best. When he tells me this, I am completely offended. Yet, I have to admit, there is a kernel, and probably a big one at that, of truth in his perception.

Our job is to present our companies or clients in the best possible light. The question is how far are we willing to take it in order to land the big story or customer? At what point does “spinning” lead to outright lying?

The Ethical Quandary

We’ve all probably been in that situation  – we’re marketing or publicizing a product /company that we know deep down can’t deliver on the promise. Or a competitor is blatantly lying and no one is catching on. It’s a very difficult position to be in, especially in today’s economic times when you don’t want to jeopardize your job security.

“The Truth Will Set You Free” – Gospel of John

It reminds me of the movie Liar Liar of Jim Carrey. His whole persona is about lying to win, until one day, he can only tell the truth. At first, this creates embarrassing situations for him. But the moral of the story was that by telling the truth, he was able to win a court case, and more importantly, his family back.

Or more recently, David Letterman’s predicament. He honestly, and painfully, revealed himself on his late night talk show. He didn’t downplay the situation or minimize his role. He took it head on. And in doing so, he defused the inevitable media storm, refocused it on the blackmailer and gained sympathy from most viewers.

“To thine own self be true” – William Shakespeare

Staying true to oneself is important. The decisions you make today do have an impact on you professionally and personally down the road. While it may not be easy, there will be times when you have to stand your ground.

 In the end, who do you want staring back at you in the mirror?

Ethical Dimension of Technology

ETHICS, VALUES, TECHNOLOGY

By

VIKRAM KARVE

The historical derivation of the term technology comes from the Greek word technikos, meaning “of art, skilful, practical” and the portion of the word ology indicates “knowledge of” or a “systematic treatment of.”

Thus the derivation of the term technology is literally “knowledge of the skilful and practical.”

However, this definition is too general to imply how one may predict knowledge of the useful before it exists.

For this reason, let us use a slightly different definition of technology.

We will define technology as the knowledge of the manipulation of nature for human purposes.

This definition retains the notions both of knowledge and practicality (human purposes) but adds the new concept of manipulation of nature.

This implies that all practical or technical skills ultimately derive form alterations of nature.

Technology depends on a base in the natural world but extends the natural world through the phenomenon of manipulation.

Since we want to manipulate nature, the ability to predict what nature will do when manipulated is most useful, indeed imperative.

THE ETHICAL DIMENSION

By very definition, technology manipulates nature for human purposes.

Thus, technology intervenes in the lives of human beings, directly or indirectly, trying to alter behaviours.

Technology, therefore, has an ethical dimension.

The very raison d’etre of technology is human purpose.

What is the fundamental purpose of human life?

Is it to increase standard of living?

Or is it to improve quality of life?

Or is it to enhance satisfaction in life?

All these various aspects can be distilled into a single holistic concept: VALUE OF HUMAN LIFE.

VALUE OF HUMAN LIFE

The value of human life may be defined as the balance or ratio between satisfaction or happiness and pain or suffering.

VALUE OF HUMAN LIFE = HAPPINESS / SUFFERING

In the context of this definition, the ultimate purpose of technology is to enhance the value of human life, with a long-term perspective, by maximization of happiness and satisfaction and a concomitant reduction or minimization of pain and suffering (physical, mental and emotional).

As a generalization, people want a better life. A better life can usually be transcribed as freedom from want, access to and possession of at least some of the nonessentials or luxuries, good health, a reasonable life expectancy, the absence of emotional stress, satisfying human relations (resulting from gratifying work experience), intellectual stimulation, and personally rewarding leisure activities.

NEEDS AND VALUES

Human needs and values change through time as technology advances.

Man tends to accept the fruits of new technology more readily (satisfaction/happiness/comfort) whereas he is reluctant to accept changes in his personal life.

Thus social and cultural changes always lag behind technology causing a mismatch which consequently leads to unhappiness, dissatisfaction, pain and suffering (emotional) and consequent lowering of the value of human life.

A crude but practical way of classifying human values is to divide needs into those that are essentially physiological and those that are psychological. Most new technologies cater to physiological needs by performing dangerous, dirty, or difficult tasks (the 3 D’s) thereby enhancing the value of human life.

As regards psychological needs, an example pertaining to Information Technology (IT) may be in order.

IT caters to two unique categories of psychological needs of humans: Cognitive Needs which refer to the human need for information so as to be ready to act or make decisions that may be required, and Affective Needs which refer to the emotional requirements of human, such as their need to do challenging work, to know their work has value, to feel personally secure, and to be in control.

Undue emphasis on cognitive needs and the neglect of affective needs may cause emotional pain which counterbalances the gains to cognitive needs which may be detrimental to the value of human life as a whole.

CONSEQUENCE OF TECHNOLOGY

In our haste to milk technology for immediate economic advantage we often lose sight of the long-term consequences: the higher order and indirect effects, especially the delayed and unintended effects of technology.

The Sorenson multiple effect network methodology is a useful technique for an analyzing the impact and consequences of technology.

The term malefit is introduced to represent harmful effects and consequences of a technology in contrast with benefit as a useful output.

The consequences of a technology [Effects vs Consequences] may be categorized as:

EFFECTS CONSEQUENCES

(i)      First Order           :         Benefits

(ii)     Second Order        :         Direct Malefits

(iii)    Third Order          :         Indirect Malefits

(iv)     Fourth Order        :         Unintended Malefits

(v)      Fifth Order          :         Delayed Malefits

Such analyses definitely help in assessing the impact of various consequences of a technology on the value of human life in the long-term perspective in holistic manner.

Early identification of factors detrimental to the value of human life may prove useful in technology assessment to reduce mismatches.

We must not lose sight of our basic premise that the cardinal aim of technology is to increase the value of human life by maximising happiness and minimising suffering.

VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve 2009

Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve

vikramkarve@sify.com

Well, it all begins with what brings happiness? It’s the question no one knows the answer to and really can’t describe happiness, unless you’re completely crazy and think that happiness is something that you’re living in right now. No matter what you’re life will never be happy, it’s just something that the world doesn’t want for you.

No matter what there will always be someone out there, that isn’t happy and wants a change in their life. So that’s where this little writing piece comes in handy. If you want the change, all you need to do is work for it. Nothing can be more acheiving than hard work and determination. With those two qualities you can do almost anything you want in the world. Hard work brings out the best in people and sometimes the worst, it can make you love someone or hate them like a nemesis.

Determination is another thing on a whole different level. It takes a lot to say that you’re a determined person, because most people would say it, but when asked to demonstrate it they couldn’t be able to. Determined people are very special and unique, their hard to come by in the world so if you meet one make sure you befriend them. Determined people are the types of people that are going to make it far, if you want something and you set your mind to accomplish that goal, it’s called being determined. Anyone who accomplishs a goal will receive happiness in return. Most people who set goals, set them to be happy.

So a couple of things to look up on if you’re looking for a life filled with happiness, is determination and hard work ethic. With those two tools, you can accomplish things that no one else can. All you need to do is believe in yourself and get the job done, no matter what the costs are.

This is just a little something to think about when you’re on your way to work riding the bus or something. Maybe just a kid reading up on some blogs, or a journalist looking for another story. Remember, there’s only one type of happiness, and that’s the kind that you earn.