Another idiot trying to use the Bible to justify screwing the poor

By ARYEH SPERO

Who would have expected that in a Republican primary campaign the single biggest complaint among candidates would be that the front-runner has taken capitalism too far? As if his success and achievement were evidence of something unethical and immoral? President Obama and other redistributionists must be rejoicing that their assumptions about rugged capitalism and the 1% have been given such legitimacy.

More than any other nation, the United States was founded on broad themes of morality rooted in a specific religious perspective. We call this the Judeo-Christian ethos, and within it resides a ringing endorsement of capitalism as a moral endeavor.

Regarding mankind, no theme is more salient in the Bible than the morality of personal responsibility, for it is through this that man cultivates the inner development leading to his own growth, good citizenship and happiness. The entitlement/welfare state is a paradigm that undermines that noble goal.

The Bible's proclamation that "Six days shall ye work" is its recognition that on a day-to-day basis work is the engine that brings about man's inner state of personal responsibility. Work develops the qualities of accountability and urgency, including the need for comity with others as a means for the accomplishment of tasks. With work, he becomes imbued with the knowledge that he is to be productive and that his well-being is not an entitlement. And work keeps him away from the idleness that Proverbs warns leads inevitably to actions and attitudes injurious to himself and those around him.

more

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203806504577179303330474134.html

No mention of a certain fellow named Jesus anywhere....

Toon: Anyone But Obama

Toon: Building Skills

Forbes op ed- amazingly- BLASTS the WSJ over climate bias

Peter Gleick, Contributor
CEO Pacific Institute, MacArthur Fellow, National Academy of Sciences

The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board has long been understood to be not only antagonistic to the facts of climate science, but hostile. But in a remarkable example of their unabashed bias, on Friday they published an opinion piece that not only repeats many of the flawed and misleading arguments about climate science, but purports to be of special significance because it was signed by 16 “scientists.”

Serious doubt has been cast on the actual expertise on climate science of the signers and on the accuracy of the content, here and elsewhere, and the strawman arguments and technical flaws of their opinion piece are evident to anyone actually versed in the scientific debate. For example, their op-ed has fundamental errors about recent actual temperatures, they use false/strawman arguments that climate scientists are saying climate change “will destroy civilization,” they launch ad hominem attack on particular climate scientists using out-of-context quotes, and so on. Formal responses are in the works, and will be available from a variety of groups in the next day or so. [Just as an example, as pointed out here previously, and at the Union of Concerned Scientists: the authors claim there has been a “lack of warming” for 10 years. The reality? 2011 was the 35th year in a row in which global temperatures were above the historical average and 2010 and 2005 were the warmest years on record.]

But the most amazing and telling evidence of the bias of the Wall Street Journal in this field is the fact that 255 members of the United States National Academy of Sciences wrote a comparable (but scientifically accurate) essay on the realities of climate change and on the need for improved and serious public debate around the issue, offered it to the Wall Street Journal, and were turned down. The National Academy of Sciences is the nation’s pre-eminent independent scientific organizations. Its members are among the most respected in the world in their fields. Yet the Journal wouldn’t publish this letter, from more than 15 times as many top scientists. Instead they chose to publish an error-filled and misleading piece on climate because some so-called experts aligned with their bias signed it. This may be good politics for them, but it is bad science and it is bad for the nation.

Science magazine – perhaps the nation’s most important journal on scientific issues – published the letter from the NAS members after the Journal turned it down.

Do you have an open mind? Read both, side by side. And understand that every national academy of sciences on the planet agrees with the reality and seriousness of human caused climate change.
more

http://www.forbes.com/sites/petergleick/2012/01/27/remarkable-editorial-bias-on-climate-science-at-the-wall-street-journal/

The heat trapped by global warming equals 1 million Hiroshima bombs a day

BY CHRISTOPHER MIMS
30 JAN 2012 2:45 PM
“The radiative forcing of the CO2 we have already put in the atmosphere in the last century is … the equivalent in energy terms to almost half a billion Hiroshima bombs each year.”
“Radiative forcing” is the degree to which Earth is warmed by energy produced by the sun and trapped by our atmosphere. So if there were no warming going on due to gases in the atmosphere, primarily carbon dioxide, we'd have to set off almost half a billion Hiroshima bombs a year (1.3 million a day) to get an amount of warming equivalent to what's happening now.

Here's a new video from NASA showing what all that warming looks like when dissipated across the entire surface of the planet. (Keep in mind that most of that heat energy is trapped deep in the oceans, which this visualization doesn't show.)

more at link

http://grist.org/list/#item-the-heat-trapped-by-global-warming-equals-1-million-hiroshima-bombs-a-day

Monsanto’s new seeds could be a tech dead end

BY TOM LASKAWY

When I wrote recently about the next generation of genetically engineered seeds, I was in truth referring to the next next generation. The fact is that the next actual generation of seeds is already out of the lab and poised for approval by the USDA.

And I’m not talking about Monsanto’s recently approved “drought-tolerant” seeds, which the USDA itself has observed are no more drought-tolerant than existing conventional hybrids.

No, the “exciting” new seeds are simply resistant to more than one kind of pesticide. Rather than resisting Monsanto’s glyphosate-based Roundup alone, they will now also be resistant to Dow AgroScience’s pesticide 2,4-D .

“A new pesticide,“ you say. “How exciting!” Except 2,4-D, despite its catchy name, has been around since World War II. Not only is it one of the most commonly used pesticides in the world, but it came to further prominence in certain circles when it was incorporated as a main ingredient in Agent Orange.

more

http://grist.org/industrial-agriculture/monsantos-new-seeds-could-be-a-tech-dead-end/

Ill. nuclear reactor loses power, venting steam

(01-30) 15:20 PST Byron, Ill. (AP) --
A nuclear reactor at a northern Illinois plant shut down Monday after losing power, and steam was being vented to reduce pressure, according to officials from Exelon Nuclear and federal regulators.

Unit 2 at Byron Generating Station shut down around 10:18 a.m., after losing power from an off-site source, Exelon officials said. Diesel generators began supplying power to the plant equipment and operators began releasing steam from the non-nuclear side of the plant to help cool the reactor, officials said.

Even though the turbine is not turning to produce electricity, "you still need to cool the equipment." said U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokeswoman Viktoria Mitlyng. Releasing steam helps "take away some of that energy still being produced by nuclear reaction but that doesn't have anywhere to go now."

The steam contains low levels of radioactive tritium, but the levels are safe for workers and the public, federal and plant officials said.



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/01/30/national/a123655S86.DTL

Monday's Newt TOON roundup

Toon: Another View of The Brewer finger pointing incident

Bacteria colors your poop to diagnose what ails you

What if diagnosing salmonella or colorectal cancer was as easy as looking in the toilet? Scientists and designers are collaborating to create a new type of bacteria that beautifies your fecal matter while diagnosing your illness.
We mentioned E. chromi, the color-coded designer bacteria made from E. coli, back in June. When brought to genetically engineered life, the bacteria will have a number of uses, including testing groundwater and as a chemical-free food coloring. But none of them hit my juvenile funny bone while making me pray this becomes a reality quite like the poop-coloring possibilities.

The idea is that, someday soon, you'll be able to drink a probiotic shake filled with E. chromi. The modified E. coli contain genes capable of producing color. When the bacteria react with certain enzymes, proteins, and chemicals in your gastrointestinal tract, they will produce certain colors, making diagnosis as simple as reading a color chart.



Just make sure you don't eat any crayons when testing your guts, or you'll skew the results.

http://digg.com/newsbar/topnews/bacteria_colors_your_poop_to_diagnose_what_ails_you