www.BrophyBlog.net

MEA MAXIMA CULPA --- PATIENCE ---SITE LOADING -- BLESS Y'ALL --- may take a few seconds to load

Sun, 12 Jan 2014 17:34:00 -0700

DO NOT SCROLL>>>>UNTIL THIS BAR ROLLS>>>>>>>THIS SITE IS ONE OF THE LARGEST SITES ON THE INTERNET..........use the search bar or menu tab to find your way around.............some facilities like cameras and telescope and pictures and selective databases may require a password.............the site contains a large genealogy database ---- you will need to register to use the database>>>>>>>THIS SITE IS ONE OF THE LARGEST SITES ON THE INTERNET..........use the search bar or menu tab to find your way around.............some facilities like cameras and telescope and pictures and selective databases may require a password.............the site contains a large genealogy database ---- you will need to register to use the database
please do not break this site......................................CONTAINS MORE THAN 1,000,000 PAGES OF BABBLE....and some good stuff....................this is a libertarian site............not intended for weak minds or weak spirits..H.....Mea Culpa....Mea culpa....Mea Maxima Culpa...............1.2..3.....5........8...............13....................21............................34.......................................55.....................................89...........recognize this series??......................144.........................this is a fibonacci series................233.................................do you see the formula to predict the next term??....................377................it is really simple................................................... 610.....................each term is the sum of the two previous terms.............................................987.....................................discovered by Leonardo of Pisa........................................ 1597...............................was the Pizza named after Leonardo of Pisa?? .................................. 2584...........................................it is rumored that the Pizza was invented by.................................................. 4181..................Rabbi Pittza from the hasedic community in Brooklyn.....................................6765..............this series goes on to infinity.........10946..........................just hang on an count................................................. 17711, ...................28657, 46368, 75025, 121393, 196418, 317811, 514229, 832040, 1346269, 2178309, 3524578, 5702887, 9227465, 14930352, 24157817, 39088169.......from here out the series consists of 2 numbers..#39 is the term of the series and the following number is the sum of the 37th and 38th term, real cool......................... 39 63245986 40 102334155 41 165580141 42 267914296 43 433494437 44 701408733 45 1134903170 46 1836311903 47 2971215073 48 4807526976 49 7778742049 50 12586269025 51 20365011074 52 32951280099 53 53316291173 54 86267571272 55 139583862445 56 225851433717 57 365435296162 58 591286729879 59 956722026041 60 1548008755920 61 2504730781961 62 4052739537881 63 6557470319842 64 10610209857723 65 17167680177565 66 27777890035288 67 44945570212853 68 72723460248141 69 117669030460994 70 190392490709135 71 308061521170129 72 498454011879264 73 806515533049393 74 1304969544928657 75 2111485077978050 76 3416454622906707 77 5527939700884757 78 8944394323791464 79 14472334024676221 80 23416728348467685 81 37889062373143906 82 61305790721611591 83 99194853094755497 84 160500643816367088 85 259695496911122585 86 420196140727489673 87 679891637638612258 88 1100087778366101931 89 1779979416004714189 90 2880067194370816120 91 4660046610375530309 92 7540113804746346429 93 12200160415121876738 94 19740274219868223167 95 31940434634990099905 96 51680708854858323072 97 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Our next scheduled event is our annual luncheon at noon, on Saturday, November 10, 2012, (the date is not firm) at the Lake Sunapee Country Club, New London, NH. You will find more information below.
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Brophy Blog - Master Table of Contents

Sat, 17 Aug 2013 00:00:00 -0700

[Work in Progress...] This blog site is complex with more than a million pages of content and/or links. You can get back to this site by putting the argument joebrophy in the GOOGLE search box. This site is used by the author to keep track of things and ideas, and/or for access by his extended family and friends to family photos and genealogy data and other other topics of interest and study. Many pages require passwords. Passwords are given to researchers with serious inquiry. The political content is tilted toward a libertarian point of view and an antithetical Irish Way of Thinking. [The author believes that many of the social and political ills of the USA have been caused by the Irish and their cancerous culture of silence.] As a libertarian, all points of view are welcome, but facts rather than factoids are preferred.

If you want to contact the author, click here: josephbrophy@brophy.net

Remember the words of Einstein: For every complex problem, there is a simple solution, and it is always wrong.

THE TABLE OF CONTENTS FOLLOWS ON THE NEXT PAGE UNDER (MORE)

the author is intensively interested in all things Celtic, and the fields of study of Arbitration, Astrophysics, Astronomy, Atheism, Bagpipes (highland, uillean, cauld wind, GHBoyd Synthesizer, and most others), Consciousness and Cognition and Reality, Cosmology, Creationism, Electronic Trains (Marklin, 1 and O and H gauge), Emergence, Global Warming (including anthropogenic vs milankovitchian), Metaphysics, , the Prime Mover, Model Race cars (1/32nd scale), Rocket Science, Sudoku, Poetry , Lyrics, Rubik's Cube, Magic (primarily self-working card tricks), String Theory, Photography, Genealogy, Computers, Software, Seamus Heaney, Programming, Information Theory, Richard Feynman, River-dancing, Sound Engineering and Harmonics, Video Editing, CS5 and Photoshop, Trans-humanism, and so much more.......

There are several ways to search this site. (1) by permission via email with author; (2) by date using the calendar on the left; (3) by using the following Table of Contents (or Categories) which is under construction for simplification of access; (4) by using the search key in the upper left corner - see helpful list of key words below; (5) by searching Google with key words for access points; (6) by accessing the topics listed on the extreme left column of this page which allows access to sites connected to this site; (7) or simply by plowing through the articles ad nauseum.

HERE ARE SOME USEFUL SEARCH TERMS TO HELP YOU NAVIGATE THIS SITE: copy and paste into the search box in the upper left corner

Global Warming
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CATEGORY: GLOBAL WARMING	DOWNLOADS
Global Warming Articles - summary of recent articles	Meditation Time Out
WSJ OPINION: THE OTHER CLIMATE THEORY: more on the CLOUD THEORY	Power Point Slideshow Downloads
THE SLOW CERTAIN DEATH OF GLOBAL WARMING	Photo Gallery
A SOLAR THEORY CAST BIG DOUBT ON MAN-MADE GLOBAL WARMING	World Clock
A counter argument for Anthropogenic Global Warming	CATEGORY: SUNAPEE. LAKE SUNAPEE
New NASA Data Blow Gaping Hole In Global Warming Alarmism: a newly published peer reviewed scientific paper sponsored by NASA, showing that heat is not trapped in upper atmosphere; but rather is dissipated much more rapidly than the IPCC Climate Model predicts.	The Salmon are Running Again in Lake Sunapee
GLOBAL WARMING & POLAR BEARS - HOAX: Scientists who wrote that Polar Bears are drowning in 2000, were arresting and suspended for issuing FALSE REPORTS.	Map of Lake Sunapee (Updated Babe Sargent Map)
GLACIAL MELT & THE GLOBULL SNOW JOB: by Joe Brophy: An analysis of the science behind global warming
What Really Killed Global Warming	CATEGORY: LOONS - HABITAT - PHOTOS (work in progress)
The Global Warming Coverup - secret emails
Access to 20,000 Global Warming/Cooling Articles [Pro/Con] Just click and follow the links	BROPHY'S CONTROVERSIAL ARTICLES:
What happened to global warming?	The Death Penalty
BBC News Climatologists Baffled by Global Warming Time-Out	God & The Higher Power
AL GORE SAYS BULLSHIT TO GLOBAL WARMING CRITICS
WAS THE GLOBAL WARMING TIPPING POINT DISPROVEN?	INTERESTING PICTURES:
(a second article on the tipping point!)	global cooling over NIAGRA FALLS in 1911
Video on the Global Warming Hoax - high quality presentation
Global Warming has Stopped	[Work in Progress...]
Welcoming Committee Greets "Hide the Decline" Climate Warmist Michael Mann
Global Warning: Trust Scientists, Not Shamans
Being a Little 'Al Gore' Might Win Votes
List of Recent Global Warming Articles	SLIDE SHOWS:
	Music
	Scenic Photography
	Flower Photography

Global Warming Articles - Summary Article

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 00:00:00 -0700

[Work in Progress...] See More..

AGW = ANTHROPOGENIC GLOBAL WARMING; anthropogenic means "man made"

the burning (no pun intended) issue is: "how much of global warming/cooling is natural and/or how much is man-made through carbon emissions."

An example of Natural Phenomena include the Milankovich Cycle, [or Milankovic or Milankovitch] which is only a theory. The Astrophysics of Milankovich are universally accepted but it may not explain global warming. It's global warming explanation does contain flaws but it is gaining in scientific credibility. An example of anthropogenic is "the increasing particles of CO2 or Greenhouse Gases in the atmosphere" which everyone actually agrees on. In 1999, Michael Mann published his famous hockey stick projection showing a rapidly escalating increase in global temperatures followed by polar ice melt and rising sea levels because of increased carbon emissions. These forecasts were extrapolated to include an irreversible "tipping point." The heat buildup projection is also a theory and not supported by any peer reviewed science. In the ensuing years, a serious (some say ugly) disagreement developed between activists and skeptics as to whether the buildup of carbon particle emissions or Greenhouse Gases (such as methane) really traps heat in the atmosphere and causes global warming.

Most of us folk on the sidelines have green thumbs and want to preserve and improve the environment. But most Americans have not bought into Global Warming - there is a lingering skepticism. The reason for the lack of support may be the politicization of Global Warming. Most people are sick of politics. Global Warming Political Activists want more Government Regulation and Control over carbon, which skeptics see the regulation as More Big Government. In addition, there are huge multi-billion dollar research projects and expenditures involved withe the issue, and a good deal of the expenditures would be controlled through the UN and the IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change)

The intellectual battle has raged for more than a decade, but recently, environmental activists and supporters of AGW (anthropogenic global warming) have taken a bruising in the past few months: firstly as a result of new peer reviewed scientific findings reported in highly reputable journals; secondly by the failure of Global Warming Predictions (i.e. the hockey stick projections) to transpire as highly advertised in the Gore report and documentaries; and thirdly by malfeasance of key AGW advocates caught lying by officials, or caught lying or "fudging" in email expositions.

Consider the following: One of the major theories involves the variability of the Sun's output. Is the Sun the driving force in climate change? for example, why is Mars warming? Back in 1986, a Danish scientist named, Henrik Svensmark suggested something outrageous — that the interaction of cosmic rays and the sun might seed cloud formation. The implications, if true, had potentially enormous implications for the debate about natural causes of warming. When the sun is very active, it can be thought of as pushing away cosmic rays from the Earth, reducing their incidence. When the sun is less active, we see more cosmic rays. This is fairly well understood. But if Svensmark was correct, it would mean that periods of high solar output should coincide with reduced cloud formation (due to reduced cosmic ray incidence), which in turn would have a warming effect on the Earth, since less sunlight would be reflected back into space by clouds. GUESS WHAT WAS PUBLISHED IN THE PRESTIGIOUS NATURE JOURNAL ON SEPTEMBER 1, 2011?

Surprisingly, 15 years later, in the September 2011 issue of Nature: the prestigious publication features Svensmark's CLOUD phenomenon indicating that it seems to have been verified. The studies were undertaken at the CERN high particle physics laboratory and have been peer reviewed. This is crippling news for Anthropogenic Activists. See the Youtube videos attached to this article under the More tab. These findings are indeed profound and surely will earn Svensmark the Noble Prize if he survives the political naysayers.

Also recently published: In August 2011, the FBI and IG announced, after a long investigation, that the two government scientists, (Charles Monnett and Jeffrey Gleason) were suspended for making false reports about polar bear drownings. In 2000, the rallying cry for AGW activists was the scientific report stating that Polar Bears were drowning because of polar ice melt; and that the polar bear population was decreasing and faced extinction These assertions were also mentioned in Al Gore’s Academy Award winning documentary, An Inconvenient Truth. See the full stories immediately below by clicking on the More tab. People love their Polar Bears; ranked as the most resourceful animal on the planet.

More punishing news was delivered in July 2011, when a NASA sponsored peer reviewed report by Dr. Roy Spencer confirmed that the Greenhouse Effect was overstated and that the IPCC global warming models were incorrect. The peer reviewed scientific report which used data from satellite readings for 11 years, since 2000, showing that the Earth was more efficient in dissipating heat than expected. See the full stories immediately below by clicking on the More tab. It is worth noting the report under the green tab that criticizes Dr Spencer because he is a Christian. It is silly for this author to report such nonsense, but i mentioned above that the disagreements (on both sides) is ugly.

Several other research papers published in early 2011 undermine, if not prove, that the tipping point hypothesis is not correct. Very disturbing news for Global Warming Activists. Click on the More tab below.

FORECASTS of climate change are about to go seriously out of kilter. We could be about to enter one or even two decades of cooler temperatures, according to one of the world's top climate modellers. "People will say this is global warming disappearing," Mojib Latif told more than 1500 climate scientists gathered at the UN's World Climate Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, last week (as reported in January 2009). "I am not one of the skeptics," said Latif, "however, we have to ask the nasty questions ourselves or other people will do it."

Few climate scientists go as far as Latif, an author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and a climate physicist at the Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences at the University of Kiel, Germany. Yet many now agree that the short-term prognosis for climate change is less certain than once thought. This is bad timing. The UN's World Meteorological Organization had called the conference in order to draft a global plan on how to produce useful short-term climate predictions for different groups of people worldwide, from farmers worried about the next rainy season to doctors trying to predict malaria epidemics. But while discussing how this might be done, some of the climate scientists admitted that, on such timescales, natural variability is at least as important as the long-term changes from global warming. "In many ways we know more about what will happen in the 2050s than next year," said Vicky Pope at the UK's Met Office.

Latif predicts that in the next few years a natural cooling trend will dominate the warming caused by humans. The cooling would be down to cyclical changes in the atmosphere and ocean currents in the North Atlantic, known as the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the Atlantic Meridional Oscillation (AMO).

Breaking with climate-change orthodoxy, Latif said the NAO was probably responsible for some of the strong warming seen around the globe in the past three decades. "But how much? The jury is still out," he told the conference. The NAO is now moving into a phase that will cool the planet.

Latif says the NAO also explained the recent recovery of the Sahel region of Africa from the droughts of the 1970s and 1980s. James Murphy, head of climate prediction at the Met Office, agrees and also links the AMO to Indian monsoons, Atlantic hurricanes and sea ice loss in the Arctic. "The oceans are key to decadal natural variability," he says.

Another favorite climate belief was overturned when Pope warned the conference that the dramatic Arctic ice loss in recent summers was partly a product of natural cycles rather than global warming. Preliminary reports suggest there has been much less melting this year than in 2007 or 2008.

Global Warming Articles - new

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 11:28:00 -0700

RECENT ARTICLES ON GLOBAL WARMING:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~do not miss these~:

THE CLOUD THEORY OF GLOBAL WARMING: Developed in the CERN Nuclear Facility, and peer reviewed by 80 top nuclear physicists. This theory politically incorrect, but is so profound that the scientist, Henrik Svensmark is sure to be awarded the Nobel Prize e:

WSJ OPINION: THE OTHER CLIMATE THEORY: more on the CLOUD THEORY

THE SLOW CERTAIN DEATH OF GLOBAL WARMING

A SOLAR THEORY CAST BIG DOUBT ON MAN-MADE GLOBAL WARMING

A counter argument for Anthropogenic Global Warming

New NASA Data Blow Gaping Hole In Global Warming Alarmism: a newly published peer reviewed scientific paper sponsored by NASA, showing that heat is not trapped in upper atmosphere; but rather is dissipated much more rapidly than the IPCC Climate Model predicts.

GLOBAL WARMING & POLAR BEARS - HOAX: Scientists who wrote that Polar Bears are drowning in 2000, were arresting and suspended for issuing FALSE REPORTS.

GLACIAL MELT & THE GLOBULL SNOW JOB: by Joe Brophy: An analysis of the science behind global warming

What Really Killed Global Warming

The Global Warming Coverup - secret emails

Access to 20,000 Global Warming/Cooling Articles [Pro/Con] Just click and follow the links

What happened to global warming?

BBC News Climatologists Baffled by Global Warming Time-Out

AL GORE SAYS BULLSHIT TO GLOBAL WARMING CRITICS

WAS THE GLOBAL WARMING TIPPING POINT DISPROVEN?

(a second article on the tipping point!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Miscellaneous Articles on Global Warming

New Evidence Debunks Man-made Global Warming
New research from one of the world’s most prestigious scientific organizations indicates that cosmic rays and the sun — not man-made carbon emissions — are the major factors influencing global climate.
“The science is now all-but-settled on global warming, convincing new evidence demonstrates, but Al Gore, the IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change) and other global warming doomsayers won’t be celebrating,” writes Lawrence Solomon, executive director of Energy Probe, in Canada’s Financial Post.
“The new findings point to cosmic rays and the sun — not human activities — as the dominant controller of climate on Earth.”
The findings, published in the journal Nature, come from CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, one of the world’s largest centers for scientific research involving 60 countries and 8,000 scientists at more than 600 universities and national laboratories, according to Solomon.
CERN — the organization that invented the World Wide Web — built a stainless steel chamber that precisely re-created the Earth’s atmosphere.
“In this chamber, 63 CERN scientists from 17 European and American institutes have done what global warming doomsayers said could never be done — demonstrate that cosmic rays promote the formation of molecules that in Earth’s atmosphere can grow and seed clouds.” And the cloudier it is, the cooler it will be, Solomon notes.
“Because the sun’s magnetic field controls how many cosmic rays reach Earth’s atmosphere (the stronger the sun’s magnetic field, the more it shields Earth from incoming cosmic rays from space), the sun determines the temperature on Earth.”
So when the sun’s magnetic field is strongest, fewer cosmic rays impact the Earth, which in turn leads to decreased cloud formation and warmer temperatures.
The link between cosmic rays and global warming was first proposed by two Danish scientists in 1996, and was immediately denounced by the IPCC.
But CERN scientist Jasper Kirkby, a British experimental physicist, accepted the Danes’ theory. He told the scientific press in 1998 that it “will probably be able to account for somewhere between half and the whole of the increase in the Earth’s temperature that we have seen in the last century.”
It took Kirkby nearly 10 years to convince the CERN bureaucracy to proceed with his plan to create the chamber that replicates the Earth’s atmosphere and has produced the recent results.
But CERN “remains too afraid of offending its government masters to admit its success,” observes Solomon, author of “The Deniers: The World-Renowned Scientists Who Stood Up Against Global Warming Hysteria, Political Persecution, and Fraud.”
CERN told Kirkby and his team to downplay the results by stating “that cosmic radiation is only one of many parameters.”
Solomon concludes: “ CERN, and the Danes, have in all likelihood found the path to the Holy Grail of climate science. But the religion of climate science won’t yet permit a celebration of the find.”

***********************

Nobel Prize-Winning Physicist Resigns Over Global Warming

Published September 14, 2011

| FoxNews.com

Is Al Gore now a help or hindrance to the global warming cause?

Al Gore's Climate Reality Project is broadcasting its message to 24 time zones across 24 hours

Screen grab from the introduction of Al Gore's Climate Reality event. Photograph: climaterealityproject.org/NASA

Death by Powerpoint. I have suffered this torture too many times over the years. We all probably have.

So I was a little nervous this morning logging into Climate Reality – Al Gore's 24-hour global-warming warning – as to what I might discover. And, I have to say, my heart immediately sank.

A no-doubt sincere presenter from the Solomon Islands was showing slide after slide of extreme weather events around the world that have occurred over the past year and linking everyone, it seemed, to the rise in anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. As anyone who follows the climate debate closely knows, that is a very contentious peg on which to hang your hat. That kind of talk traditionally requires lots of caveats and careful explaining. Done with abandon and raw emotion – as this presenter seemed to be doing – and you are quickly labelled in some quarters as a climate "alarmist".

And, for me, this is one of the key challenges the Climate Reality project faces. Who exactly is it trying to convince with its urgent, sometimes breathless campaign? Is it preaching to the converted? If so, it is doing a good job.

Or is it trying to win over climate skeptics? I suspect not. I get the sense from Climate Realities tone and focus that it believes skeptics are a lost cause who are beyond redemption or reason.

That leaves the middle ground – the unconverted. Al Gore did a tremendous job connecting with this constituency in his hugely successful, Oscar-winning An Inconvenient Truth in 2006. No single person has ever done as much as Gore to raise global comprehension of both the causes and dangers of climate change.

But that was a long time ago now. The politics of climate change is much more polarized and fraught now than back then – even if the science is, it would seem, hardening – and, for right or wrong, Al Gore is a hugely polarizing figure, particularly in his homeland. Whatever he does or says in this arena – no matter how cogent or sensible - will attract scorn and derision from those that just can't see past the man. And that is a huge problem for those who still want to see the world urgently address, as Gore says, the reality of climate change.

I might have misjudged the potency and reach of Climate Reality – I didn't, for example, like its idea of asking people to donate their Facebook and Twitter accounts – so please do share your own thoughts about its strengths and/or weaknesses below. Has there been a segment of the Climate Reality broadcast that you thought worked really well and hit home the "reality"? And will you be tuning in for Gore'sfinal-hour presentation?

However, I still think there is an important, if difficult, question to be asked: despite all his efforts over the past three decades to raise awareness on this issue, is Gore now a help or a hindrance to the cause he cares so passionately about?

Return to Top

*************************************

James Delingpole

James Delingpole is a writer, journalist and broadcaster who is right about everything. He is the author of numerous fantastically entertaining books including 365 Ways to Drive a Liberal Crazy, Welcome To Obamaland: I've Seen Your Future And It Doesn't Work, How To Be Right, and the Coward series of WWII adventure novels. His website is www.jamesdelingpole.com.

Al Gore's five loaves and two fishes

By James Delingpole Environment Last updated: September 21st, 2011

Comment on this Comment on this article

Not content with having invented the internet, the great Climate Science communicator Al Gore appears to have developed still more miraculous skills of late: the ability to turn 17,000 into 8.6 million – just like that.

The figures refer to the number of "views" for Gore's special "24 Hours Of ManBearPig" which this column helped celebrate the other day. Gore claims that as many as 8.6 million flocked to his thrilling festival of climate fear; but a nasty cruel man called Charles the Moderator at Watts Up With That? has "done the math" and reckons the figure is probably more like 17,000. And that, he believes, is a generous estimate. (H/T John from CA).

So whom are we to trust? An evil climate denying website run by evil climate deniers? Or a loving family man who has selflessly made it his mission to travel the world acquiring as large a carbon footprint as possible in order to spread the word that we should all drastically reduce our carbon footprints?

I'm with Gore, obviously. Not only has his knowledge and insight proved hugely influential on our own beloved Prime Minister's climate policies – "I've just had a meeting with Al Gore. He really knows his stuff", David Cameron once told a distinguished businessman who'd come hoping for a quiet word about his economically disastrous environmental policies – but it's quite obvious that he really is a man with the power to work miracles.

Just look, for example, at the magical way he has managed to make his fortune grow. In 2000, the year he lost the presidential election, he was worth a modest $1-2 million. Now his fortune has swollen to well over $100 million, thanks to partly to his $100,000 plus speaking engagements (which have earned him at least $10 million) and partly to his canny green investment decisions (such as his decision to pull his investments out of the Chicago Carbon Trading exchange before it collapsed due to global lack of interest in trading an Emperor's New Clothes commodity invented by Enron's Kenneth Lay and championed by an even dodgier Hawaiian/Kenyan born Chicago lawyer).

Not everyone, unfortunately, seems to share my enthusiasm. Indeed it is being whispered in some quarters that Al Gore has become nothing but an embarrassment to the green movement. And this from some of his former biggest fans!

***************************************

DOWNLOADS

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 12:18:00 -0700

[This is a work in progress]

This section also contains a list of categories containing material for downloading: CLICK ON THE MORE BUTTON

Hello Everyone; .............Joe completed two religion courses:............................ [1] the first, JESUS, by Dr. Sarah Reeves at AIL in New London;..................................... [2] the second - a philosophy course on the EXISTENCE OF GOD by Dr. Larry Crocker, Dartmouth at ILEAD, Hanover. Joe is now enrolled in a third biblical course, the DEAD SEA SCROLLS taught by Dr. Art Rosen, an outstanding discussion leader:............................ [1]The Dead Sea Scrolls had a huge influence on ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION of the historical evidence about Jesus. Joe is looking forward to taking this new course exclusively about the DEAD SEA SCROLLS. In 2 sentences: We can say with some historical accuracy that Jesus prohibited divorce and the ‘taking of oaths,’ but not much more. Beyond that, it seems that much or most of Joe's beliefs and/or assumptions about who wrote the gospels are purely a matter of Faith.................................... [2]Crocker demonstrated with great finesse that philosophy is alive and well. Crocker, an atheistic son from a family of preachers has written a book, yet to be published: “Hope to God.” Not a bad idea. Whether we have Faith or not, it would seem that most normal people should Hope that God exists. The Saint Anselm Proslogium was a selling argument for Joe about the existence of God, the Prime Mover. It seems obvious to Joe now (as always) that there exists ‘ a God, the Prime Mover;’ but beyond that solid belief, everything else about God and Heaven and Hell and Soul and Spirit still remains a matter of Faith, Belief, Culture, Intuition, or Philosophical Discussion..........Having said all that, Joe does believe that the Universe is conscious, and that intelligence (or awareness) is part of the fundamental stuff of the universe. Some basic fundamental string elements attract each other. Why? That's a great question!!.................................................. Joe and Carole finished teaching two courses at ILEAD; beginners and Advanced SUDOKU; the latter focusing on Chains.

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Adventures in Learning Class on Reality & Unreality

Course Outline & Notes

Reality Outline and Syllabus updated 3-7-2010

Books and References.pdf updated 3-1-2010

Links to all videos.pdf updated 1-27-2010

PDF Files for Selected Topics on "Reality"

00 MiscellaneousNotesforClass.pdf updated 3-1-2010
01 cosmology timeline BROPHY.pdf
01 TimeLine of Cosmology.pdf
02 Time Line of Information 2500000bc-1000ad.pdf
03 Time Line of Information1000ad-2009ad.pdf
04 INTERACTIVE LINKS TO PHILOSPHERS.pdf
05 ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY.pdf
05 The Ancients and the Scholastics.pdf
06 reality wikipedia.pdf
06 The Evolution of God, Robert Wright.pdf
07 KarenArmstrong-CaseforGod-DeathofGod.pdf
08 1In Search of Human Origins Part One.pdf
08 2In Search of Human Origins Part Two.pdf
08 3In Search of Human Origins Part Three.pdf
08 4originsofhomosapiens.pdf
08 5CommonAncesterManChimp.pdf
08 6NOVA _ Are We Still Evolving.pdf
08 7NOVA _ Defending Intelligent Design.pdf
09 Epistemology.pdf
09 The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics i
10 FICTIONAL ARGUMENTS FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD.pd
11 God - Wikipedia.pdf
12 is god a mathematician.pdf
20 consciousness-ma_thesis.pdf
20 origins of the mind.pdf
20 PENROSE REVIEWS ON CONSCIOUSNESS.pdf
21 Facing Up to the Problem of Consciousness.pdf
21 Biocentrism Pseudoscience.pdf
21 biocentrism-lanza REVIEWS.pdf
22 Is There Room for the Soul.pdf
23 limits of reason.pdf
24 Geometry of Thought.pdf
24 redshift discussion 1.pdf
25 what makes us human.pdf
25 years of puzzle martin gardner.pdf
26 Religion and the Brain.pdf
30 Myth of Beginning of Time.pdf
31 Science of time.pdf
32 making space for time.pdf
40 mataphors.pdf
41 spinoza's conjecture.pdf
42 The Universe in a Grain of Sand.pdf
50 Intelligent Design, Evolution and Me.pdf
60 1LOGIC-REALITY-AIL 2010 LOGIC-RICHARD LITTLE.PDFg
60 godel and provability.pdf
60 logical limits.pdf
60 paradoxlost.pdf
60 zeno's paradoxes.pdf
60 Zeno's Paradoxes (1).pdf
70 LC-3000 YEARS WESTERN INTELLECTUAL THOUGHT.pdf
70 LC- PLATO SOCRATES ARISTOTLE.pdf
70 LC-COSMOLOGY.pdf
70 LC-ORIGINS OF LIFE.pdf
70 LC-SCIENCE AND RELIGION.pdf
80 Extraterrestrial.pdf
81 many worlds of hugh everett.pdf
82 parallel universes.pdf
82 multiverse.pdf
83 quantum threat to special relativity.pdf
84 self reproducing inflationary universe.pdf
85 speed of Light - Very difficult.pdf
86 The copenhagen Intrepretation.pdf
87 SWIMMING in curved space time.pdf
88 redshift discussion 1.pdf
89 Universe for Dummies.pdf 90 Emergence.pdf
99 quotes reality.pdf

Slide Shows for Reality & Unreality

[you can download one of the following two plugins to view slide shows, assuming you already do not have one on your computer.]

PowerPointViewer_forPC.exe
PowerPointViewer_forMAC.HQX

AIL 2010 LOGIC Day2-RLITLE.ppt
AIL REALITY_RLITLE.ppt
Clinical States of Consciousness_BURKE.ppt
COMMON SENSE CONSCIOUSNESS_BURKE.ppt
Cosmology Structure of Universe, Big Bang_VANNATTA.ppt
Decisions and Free Will_BURKE.ppt
Definitions of Reality BURKE.ppt
Emergence BURKE.pptx
HISTORY OF LOGIC - BROPHY, NOTESa.docx
HowWeMakeDecisionBURKE.pptx
Introduction Consciousness_BURKE-2.ppt
Introduction Consciousness_BURKE-1.ppt
LATEST Hubble.pps
Neuroesthetics-sites_BURKE.ppt
Neuroscience and Human Activities_BURKE.ppt
QuantumTheoryConsciousness_BROPHY.ppt
SLIDES2-Definitions of Reality-BURKE.pptx
SLIDES2-Greeks-newton-BURKE.pptx
SLIDES2-PHILOSOPHERS-BURKE.pptx

Theoretic Approaches to Consciousness_BOURKE.ppt
Tunneling-Bells-Inequality-Observation-BROPHY.docx

Where We Are Today_BOURKE.ppt

Essays by David Sowers

[work in progress] Dave is a friend of Joe Brophy and was one of the top Systems Engineers in the USA. Dave writes Essays as a hobby.

BOOK REVIEWS:

[work in progress] JoeBrophy is a consummate reader of the New York Review of Books. His favorite book reviews, annotated will be shown here.

AIL Class on Sudoku

[work in progress.] The Sudoku Compendium by joe brophy is about 5000 pages, in pdf format, containing tens of thousand of puzzles, and answers, as well as step by step solutions. The compendium contains all the 'tricks' used by experienced players. Unfortunately, most of the tricks are the product of academic work and are inscrutable in most gaming situations.

After computer analysis of 70,000 puzzles using AutoIT programming language, Brophy finds they most puzzles can be solved by using three simple rules: (1) simple cross hatching using the "only choice" rule; (2) identification of 'naked pairs," and (3) simple True/False chains. These are illustrated in the Sudoku Compendium in 'step by step' solutions for many puzzles.

Class on Genealogy

MulvihillLetter001.pdf
MulvihillLetter002.pdf
MulvihillLetter003.pdf
MulvihillLetter006.pdf
MulvihillLetter016.pdf
MulvihillLetter017.pdf
MulvihillLetter018.pdf
MulvihillLetter019.pdf

Class on Rubik's Cube

Using "The Rubik's Cube for Children" by joseph brophy.

Class on Magic

Discussion of the Neuroscience of Magic. How magicians fool people and nueroscientists

Class on Model Railroading

Class on Cosmology

Class on Social Networking: (FACEBOOK FOR SENIORS)

Kearsarge Marine's Rocco Zullo Honored

Sat, 08 Dec 2012 13:01:00 -0700

Janet “Zooey” Zullo stands with her father, Rocco Zullo, at Cedar Hill Assisted Living in Windsor. His experiences while serving as a Marine First Sargent during the battle at the Chosin Reservoir in Korea 60 years ago, including a nearly fatal stomach wound, are detailed in the new book, "Give Me Tomorrow," by military historian Patrick O’Donnell. (Valley News — James M. Patterson)

An Unforgettable �Forgotten Warrior'

Sat, 08 Dec 2012 12:59:00 -0700

An Unforgettable ‘Forgotten Warrior'
By Susan J. Boutwell
Valley News Staff Writer
Windsor -- Sixty years ago, Marine 1st Sgt. Rocco Zullo was left for dead.
The fearless, formidable sergeant from Claremont led a company of Marines that stormed the beach at Inchon, Korea, fought through Seoul and made a heroic stand against a much larger Chinese force at the Chosin Reservoir battle.
Their exploits have been chronicled in a new book by military historian Patrick O'Donnell called Give Me Tomorrow, subtitled the Korean War's greatest untold story -- the epic stand of the Marines of George Company.
O'Donnell, an Arlington, Va., writer who has interviewed more than 4,000 service members for books he's written on a number of topics, including the battle of Fallujah and World War II, and as a historical consultant for the television miniseries Band of Brothers, said he admires Zullo.
“I could see why men followed him. He had a presence of stature that exists to this day,” O'Donnell said. “He was probably one of the top people I ever interviewed.”
“If Korea is the forgotten war, Zullo is its forgotten warrior,” O'Donnell said.
Zullo, 92, lives at the Cedar Hill nursing home in Windsor. His memory, now hazy, floats between the present and days past.
“I'd say ‘Draw your rifle and get out on the range,' ” Zullo recalled, summoning a strong, brash voice to shout the command as he entertained visitors last week.
But mostly his voice is soft and a bit hoarse. A big man seated in a wheelchair, Zullo talked a bit about the new book and had fleeting memories of his time in Korea.
“A lot of these people are dead now,” he said, tearing up as he held O'Donnell's book, which the author had autographed for Zullo by 15 surviving members of George Company, Third Battalion, First Marine Regiment, also known as the G-3-1.
“I am still in awe of the G-3-1 first sergeant. They don't make many Marines like you,” wrote one man.
Another wrote of his “constant admiration for your inspiration and leadership you gave us all.”
And, inscribed O'Donnell, “I think your men said it all. You are a true hero. Thank you for letting me tell your remarkable story.”
Several of Zullo's men had undertaken an effort to see their sergeant receive the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award for valor in combat. Three George Company men received the award after Chosin. O'Donnell said he thinks Zullo, too, is deserving of such merit.
“I really hope this book gets this under way again,” he said of the award effort. “As a historian, I can say that I think he completely deserves it.”
Zullo was already a veteran at the time of the Chosin battle, in November 1950, having taken part in fierce fighting during World War II in the Pacific Theater at Guadalcanal and Peleliu, where he was wounded and for which he received the Silver Star.
He left Stevens High School at 16 to join the Civilian Conservation Corps, later using the strength he built sledge-hammering stone to become an amateur boxer. Then, in the 1930s, Zullo followed in his father's footsteps and joined the Marines.
Three months before Chosin, Zullo, then 32, and his commanding officer put together George Company. Many of its members were youngsters, teenagers some of them, who Zullo whipped into shape at Camp Pendleton, Calif.
“We were more afraid of Zullo than the enemy,” one of his men would later say. “That man ruled the roost, even our officers were afraid of him.”
“(I)n the minds of the men, First Sergeant Zullo was the heart and soul of George Company,” wrote O'Donnell in the book.
George Company's extraordinary story leads up to the Chosin Reservoir battle, where the “Frozen Chosin” suffered inhumane conditions -- rugged territory and the coldest winter in a century, with temperatures plummeting to 30 degrees below zero.
The G-3-1 was part of Gen. Douglas MacArthur's push to the Yalu River, North Korea's border with China. The Chosin Reservoir was along the main supply route the Marines and Army, as part of a United Nations fighting force, were battling to keep open.
Two weeks of fighting at and around Chosin saw the Americans overwhelmed and outnumbered, 10 to 1, by Chinese fighters, who by then had entered the war.
In what would be his third wound in a day of heavy fighting at Chosin, on Nov. 29, 1950, Zullo was cut down by small arms fire, which left him with a grapefruit-sized hole in his side and a pulse that was slipping away. Several of his men, shocked that the mighty Zullo was apparently dying, drove their leader to a makeshift morgue tent.
Some time later, an unknown corpsman entered the tent bearing another body and he heard a cough. It was Zullo and he was still alive.
The first sergeant was rushed from the morgue for what would be hours of lifesaving surgery. After years in and out of hospitals and countless surgeries, Zullo met his wife, Constance, a nurse, in a Massachusetts General Hospital operating room.
They were soon married and started a family.
The couple and their six children would move to postings around the country as Zullo served out his 25 years in the corps.
Later he twice tried, without success, to get reinstated as a Marine, writing to the commandant of the corps during the Cuban Missile Crisis and then again during the Vietnam War.
The family settled back in Claremont, and Zullo took up teaching at Windsor High School, later becoming assistant principal there.
Windsor resident Harry Ladue remembered Zullo's tenure at the high school in the 1960s and '70s.
“On the outside, he was this big drill sergeant type guy. But inside he was a big teddy bear,” said Ladue. “I didn't have any issues with him. But I think if you crossed him, you'd have some issues.”
Imagining Zullo as an assistant principal, O'Donnell laughed.
“I'd fear for those students. But at the same time they knew they were in good hands,” he said.
That tough care was something the men of G-3-1 thought they had lost after Chosin, and the old Marine eventually lost track of his Korean War company. Then, one fall day in 1986, the George Company survivors held their first reunion at a hotel near West Point, N.Y., home of the U.S. Military Academy.
O'Donnell tells the story of that day in his book:
As the senior warriors circled the hospitality room, a ghost from the past entered -- a forgotten warrior from the forgotten war. A balding, gray-haired man, whose bearing seemed vaguely familiar, approached one of the Marines. “Have you talked to Rocco Zullo?” he asked.
“No. Rocco was killed on the road to Hagaru in November 1950.”
“No, he wasn't,” responded the man, sternly.
Another Marine overheard the conversation: “Why, he's dead!”
“He's not dead.”
The confident figure then added with an unmistakable bellowing voice, “You're talking to Rocco Zullo.”
Most of the men in the room were dumbfounded. … Overcome by emotion, one Marine fought back tears as he flashed back to one of the most difficult nights of his life.”
Zullo would be called sergeant by dozens more men during his years in the corps, but George Company held a special place in his heart, he said last week.
“I had other companies, but nothing like G Company,” he said. “My guys … I took care of them and they took care of me.”

US Marine Corps Action Videos

Sat, 06 Oct 2012 12:00:00 -0700

World Clock

Sun, 05 Aug 2012 19:59:00 -0700

National Debt Clock

Tue, 08 May 2012 12:13:00 -0700

Click on graph to activate real time data; hover over any number category for explanation which is shown near the top of the graph. Note the tab buttons at the bottom of the graph that provide other data and sources of information. Also make sure to visit the tabs in the upper right corner that provide historical data and projections into the future. In the upper left corner, the tabs provide data by state, and world data.

See additional commentary by clicking on the green (more) button immediately below to the left. Read the commentary first, then click on the usdebtclock to put it into realtime mode.

http://www.usdebtclock.org/ (click here or picture for updated live version in real time.)

Note: the box in lower right corner shows the unfunded liability for social programs* for each individual American Taxpayer is greater than $1,013,000. *Social programs include social security, medicare, and drugs. [Social programs as used here, exclude Medicaid and the cost of Food Stamp programs for 44 million Americans, as well as trillions of dollars of pension benefits for state, local and the federal government. For example, it excludes the huge hidden pension and other benefits provided to members of Congress and the Senate.]

Also note that the Real Debt is about $165.7 Trillion.* This represents more than $1,506,000 per taxpayer. If you reflect for a moment on this single statistic, you should realize that it is absurd and that the economy is broken.

* total debt taken from above graph includes $111.4 trillion unfunded benefit programs, $13.7 trillion of federal debt, $1.1 of state debt and $32 billion of household debt and corporate debt.

The total assets of the USA is only $69 trillion.

One should be able to conclude that taxing the rich is not the answer; The rich do not have enough money. The USA must cut expenses, like ordinary folk who cut expenses when spending in relation to income is too high.

Here come the BABY BOOMERS ........... the 76-million American babies born between 1946 and 1960 ............... They will begin turning 65 years of age in 2011 causing some respected Economists to dare to say that THE END IS NEAR:

for (1) MediCare and (2) MedicAid and (3) Social Security ......... !!!

THE CLOCKS IN THE ABOVE GRAPH PROVIDE EXPLANATORY NOTES WHEN YOU HOVER YOUR MOUSE OVER AN ITEM. KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE INTEREST PAYMENTS ON THE DEBT. ALTHOUGH CURRENTLY RUNNING AT $300 BILLION; IT WILL SOAR TO MORE THAN A TRILLION OR TWO OR THREE OR MORE WHEN DR. BERNANKE HAS TO START RAISING INTEREST RATES ON OBAMA.

This Real-Time METER displays many important numbers as they are actually growing, but the two most critical numbers are the red number at the top of the METER that is labeled US NATIONAL DEBT and the red number near the bottom of the METER that is labeled US UNFUNDED LIABILITIES. Many of us prefer to call these two numbers the "POSTED DEBT" and the "PENDING DEBT," respectively. The PENDING DEBT captures the debt in float as the BABY BOOMERS begin to turn 65 and make their relentless claims on MediCare and Social Security.

Letter: Congress should be bipartisan, flexible, and civil

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 20:57:00 -0700

Letter: Congress should be bipartisan, flexible, and civil

By David Sowers

St. Augustine

Editor: We have an extreme social crisis. Eleven percent or, 18 million of our homes are vacant, yet 1.5 million people are homeless. Twenty-five percent of our people have no health care insurance. There are 16 million children in poverty and 150 million Americans are persistently poor or near poor, the highest numbers in more than five decades.

The nation has a staggering debt problem, which, if unresolved, will bring unimaginable new problems, inflation, and personal hardships. There is no clear and certain path.

The Simpson-Bowles plan may have an opportunity to be revived. It would be a good start to this serious problem. The Ryan plan is bold, but has less chance of passage and would make harsh cuts — much too deep to provide assistance to the many poor and needy. Ryan does deserve great credit for specifying a budget while the U.S. Senate has been sorely remiss in failing to accept responsibility to specify an alternative budget.

Taxes and revenue will have to increase. Cuts only are simply no solution.

Medicare costs must be drastically reduced, but vouchers are a long shot.

The corporate burden to fund employer health care is also a serious problem. We are the only country in the western world that has an employer based funded health care system.

Health care beyond Medicare requires a public option and all health care needs a major change in the payment system.

We need to adjust and lessen Social Security costs, which seems the easiest task to do.

Corporate tax loopholes must be eliminated and their marginal rates reduced.

Defense cannot be a sacred cow. Cuts in entitlements and safety net programs must not be drastic. America has too many poor and disadvantaged citizens. They require support.

We are running out of time — no more kicking the can down the road. This pass-an- extension-for-a-year is pathetic and keeps the nation in an economic and financial fog.

Neither side has all the magic bullets. Congress should accept that, be flexible, bipartisan and civil!

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Comments (12)

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YUP

By charms054 | 04/27/12 - 07:05 am

Tax reform, personal responsibility and smaller government, I'm ready....

Memo from the flat earthers to lemmings Inc. Do not fear the edge is near!

(photo compliments of a liberal mind)

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The Plan

By Kahuna63 | 04/27/12 - 08:23 am

Unfortunately so far we have seen only discord and the party of no, no way, no how has continually voted against even their own initiatives eg the individual mandate ( personal responsibility) so that the President is defeated.

With a Supreme court that ruled "corporations are people" by all accounts ready to kill the Healthcare law and possibly go along with the "Papers Please Law” the Conservatives will then continue, emboldened, to gut the programs that have kept the needy and the downtrodden alive in part because they truely believe that the poor the disabled and others like those on UI have brought on this fiscal mess. They will tax the middleclass and give even more tax breaks to the rich.

If Mr. Romney is elected, as his spokeman said, they will give us Bush 3 in terms of budget items. They will grow the military and gut services to citizens.

I agree with Mr Sowers but I do not expect cooperation no way,no how!

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Don't expect a solution to these problems

By rbsacarlson | 04/27/12 - 09:43 am

There will never be near enough government revenue to deal with the many problems you have outlined. The very people you are concerned about are shooting themselves in the foot by buying products made in China and elsewhere. They are too stupid to realize that buying a product made in America helps the US economy and contributes to the tax base needed for government revenues, but buying a product made in China helps the Chinese economy and does very little for the US. These people also make bad lifestyle choices that result in expensive chronic illnesses. Don't expect this to change.

Corporations are smart enough to realize that having products made in countries with lower wages and no benefits is good for CEO bonuses and growth in investor wealth. Because these corporations own our politicians don’t expect anything to change.

The bottom line is that we have exported much of our economy along with our standard of living and tax revenue base.

Facts and logic don’t work on some people. You can’t fight illogic with logic.

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46% pay no income tax....

By me | 04/27/12 - 09:12 am

Saw this today, thought it might provoke some response:

"The Tax Policy Center estimates that for tax year 2011, 46% of households will end up owing nothing in federal income taxes.

The percentage was closer to 40% before the recession, Greenstein said.

Looking ahead if the Bush tax cuts are allowed to expire next year, the percentage of non-payers could drop to 36%, said Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center."

and

"Say lawmakers stripped out all tax breaks except those most elemental to a progressive code -- such as the standard deduction and personal exemption, which exempt subsistence-level income and dependents. Even then, about 23% of households would still end up owing nothing in federal income taxes, according to Tax Policy Center research.

In other words, a couple with two kids, earning less than $26,400, would get an $11,600 standard deduction and four exemptions worth $3,700 each, reducing their taxable income to zero, Williams noted in the blog TaxVox.

But if payroll taxes are counted, the number of non-payer households drops precipitously -- to an estimated 18% in 2011."

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-nearly-half-us-dont-094700143.html

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.” - Upton Sinclair

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rbcarlson

By Mll211 | 04/27/12 - 10:02 am

AMEN!!!! The funniest is when they are standing IN the aisles at Wal-Mart bitching about money and yet make no connection to the fact they are helping to cause the economic collapse. I DO NOT shop at Wal Mart!!

Mll211

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Just wait

By Tammy1021 | 04/27/12 - 10:49 am

Just wait until the graduating students can no longer afford to buy a home or have the disposable income to shop at Walmart. I listened to a young man talk about how he may never be able to purchase a home and start a family due to student loans. He was only 26! We have millions in the same position that we are virtually shutting out of many markets. Since student loans are not discharged by bankruptcy, it will follow them to the grave.

Fact: A student loan by a private company is the ONLY private loan in our country that is not discharged by bankruptcy.

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mll211

By me | 04/27/12 - 11:23 am

Do you know about these initiatives for small business?

"It’s called “The 3/50 Project” and its concept is simple: Pick three local businesses, spend $50 dollars between the three each month and help save the local economy."

http://www.the350project.net/home.html

"First there was Black Friday, then Cyber Monday. On November 27th comes Small Business Saturday(SM), a day to support the local businesses that create jobs, boost the economy and preserve neighborhoods around the country. Small Business Saturday is a national movement to drive shoppers to local merchants across the U.S. "

http://smallbusinesssaturday.com/

There are also many websites that can direct you to good made in the USA.

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.” - Upton Sinclair

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bi-partisan

By eraymom | 04/27/12 - 11:37 am

Maybe if we the people stopped allowing politicans to divide us by believing their propaganda it would be a good start. They feed off of making us hate the other side because that is how they stay in power. If we would stop believing their crap and make them earn their votes be they rep or dem maybe they would stop acting like bullies on the playground and do their jobs by doing whats right for all of us instead of just those that give them what they want.

eraymom

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tammy...

By Archer | 04/27/12 - 11:39 am

i believe that time is now.

undergraduate and graduate students now carry far more debt than we ever did. i don't know how they sleep at night.

i know quite a few such as the young man you mentioned.

there appears to be no solution.

higher education is the realm of the well to do.

maybe some disciplines can go back to 'reading' for degrees instead of piling up so much debt, their students won't ever live 'the american dream' nor leave anything to their children but debt.

can debtor's prison be far behind?

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Tammy

By me | 04/27/12 - 12:05 pm

If you make good faith payments to your student loan at whatever amount you agreed to, and you still have debt after 25 years, you are released from the obligation. So said the paperwork for the offspring's student loan.

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.” - Upton Sinclair

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Thanks David Sowers!

By Dr.MacMantazas | 04/27/12 - 12:14 pm

This is the first time in eons that I have seen liberals and conservatives talking plain sense on this site without taking a solely partisan view. I thought the comments of Mll211 were right on and even Charms said something positive about personal responsibility, which does speak to the mandate that everyone with any financial resources should pay into our health insurance system.

Of course we haven't heard from TM yet, but hopefully he has been banished from the site. Wouldn't it be great to have a rational dialogue on this important topic without him interjecting his angry, derogatory comments.

ME, thanks for your comments on the 3/50 Project and the helpful links. Once again, you had something positive to contribute to the discussion. I'm with you "eraymom".

Dr.MacMantazas

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me

By Mll211 | 04/27/12 - 01:44 pm

All those initiatives are great! Until the people realize they are feeding the beast it will not stop. The reality is they cannot afford the things they NEED on Social Security, food stamps and unemployment without feeding into the problem.

Mll211

From College Major to Career

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 20:20:00 -0700

From College Major to Career

Choosing the right college major can make a big difference in students' career prospects, in terms of employment and pay. Here’s a look at how various college majors fare in the job market, based on 2010 Census data. Some popular majors, such as nursing and finance, do particularly well, with unemployment under 5% and high salaries during the course of their careers.
(More: Generation Jobless: Young Men Suffer Worst as Economy Staggers)

Suggested Searches | Click on a popular major below, or enter a term in the search field

Show all

Engineering

Science

History

Education

Art

Searching for "" (Showing 1 - 50 of 173 records found)

<< first < prev 12 3 4 next > last >>

Major Field

Unemployment Percent

25th % Earnings

Median % Earnings

75th % Earnings

Popularity

ACCOUNTING

5.4%

$41,000

$61,000

$94,000

3

ACTUARIAL SCIENCE

0.0%

$52,000

$81,000

$116,000

150

ADVERTISING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS

6.1%

$36,000

$50,000

$74,000

41

AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

3.6%

$60,000

$84,000

$111,000

105

AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS

1.3%

$30,000

$57,000

$99,000

122

AGRICULTURE PRODUCTION AND MANAGEMENT

3.0%

$32,000

$48,000

$71,000

75

ANIMAL SCIENCES

5.7%

$26,000

$40,000

$60,000

67

ANTHROPOLOGY AND ARCHEOLOGY

6.9%

$30,000

$40,000

$60,000

55

APPLIED MATHEMATICS

4.1%

$52,000

$71,000

$100,000

131

ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING

5.8%

$50,000

$71,000

$96,000

140

ARCHITECTURE

10.6%

$37,000

$60,000

$85,000

33

AREA ETHNIC AND CIVILIZATION STUDIES

5.7%

$34,000

$48,000

$76,000

66

ART AND MUSIC EDUCATION

4.2%

$32,000

$41,000

$51,000

48

ART HISTORY AND CRITICISM

6.9%

$33,000

$45,000

$71,000

81

ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS

0.0%

$56,000

$62,000

$101,000

170

ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES AND METEOROLOGY

1.6%

$40,000

$68,000

$101,000

146

BIOCHEMICAL SCIENCES

7.1%

$30,000

$48,000

$80,000

87

BIOLOGICAL ENGINEERING

6.8%

$39,000

$60,000

$94,000

126

BIOLOGY

5.6%

$35,000

$51,000

$76,000

14

BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING

5.9%

$45,000

$68,000

$101,000

137

BOTANY

6.9%

$26,000

$40,000

$55,000

147

BUSINESS ECONOMICS

5.0%

$44,000

$71,000

$101,000

80

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION

6.0%

$38,000

$56,000

$85,000

1

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

3.8%

$60,000

$86,000

$117,000

49

CHEMISTRY

5.1%

$39,000

$59,000

$85,000

36

CIVIL ENGINEERING

4.9%

$55,000

$76,000

$101,000

32

CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY

19.5%

$25,000

$40,000

$61,000

168

COGNITIVE SCIENCE AND BIOPSYCHOLOGY

4.5%

$36,000

$43,000

$91,000

167

COMMERCIAL ART AND GRAPHIC DESIGN

8.1%

$31,000

$45,000

$69,000

21

COMMUNICATION DISORDERS SCIENCES AND SERVICES

3.3%

$32,000

$41,000

$50,000

98

COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES

6.7%

$33,000

$50,000

$73,000

89

COMMUNICATIONS

6.3%

$35,000

$50,000

$81,000

7

COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC HEALTH

4.1%

$31,000

$46,000

$70,000

110

COMPOSITION AND SPEECH

7.7%

$30,000

$40,000

$61,000

99

COMPUTER ADMINISTRATION MANAGEMENT AND SECURITY

9.5%

$39,000

$52,000

$75,000

114

COMPUTER AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS

5.6%

$44,000

$62,000

$86,000

31

COMPUTER ENGINEERING

7.0%

$58,000

$81,000

$102,000

47

COMPUTER NETWORKING AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS

5.2%

$35,000

$53,000

$76,000

97

COMPUTER PROGRAMMING AND DATA PROCESSING

6.2%

$39,000

$55,000

$84,000

121

COMPUTER SCIENCE

5.6%

$50,000

$77,000

$102,000

10

CONSTRUCTION SERVICES

5.4%

$49,000

$65,000

$101,000

76

COSMETOLOGY SERVICES AND CULINARY ARTS

7.3%

$26,000

$41,000

$60,000

115

COUNSELING PSYCHOLOGY

5.2%

$23,000

$34,000

$42,000

133

COURT REPORTING

4.9%

$36,000

$55,000

$81,000

151

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND FIRE PROTECTION

4.7%

$36,000

$50,000

$73,000

13

CRIMINOLOGY

5.2%

$35,000

$50,000

$71,000

92

DRAMA AND THEATER ARTS

7.1%

$28,000

$40,000

$60,000

45

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

4.1%

$28,000

$37,000

$45,000

50

ECOLOGY

5.2%

$31,000

$43,000

$60,000

109

ECONOMICS

6.3%

$42,000

$69,000

$108,000

16

<< first < prev 12 3 4 next > last >>

Source: Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce

DERSHOWITZ ON ZIMMERMAN AND COREY

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 19:26:00 -0700

I have always liked Dershowitz. Although he is a Jewish liberal of the first magnitude; he seems to be able to use common sense when analyzing factual data

I was always a skeptic on the Zimerman-Martin case; i tuned it out as soon as Al Sharpton started beating the warm drum.

When torture was a hot liberal issue, Dershowitz weighed in. Would you not torture a prisoner if one million lives are at stake. What's wrong with you, of course you would, and SHOULD.

Dershowitz Blasts Zimmerman Prosecution: 'Not Only Immoral, But Stupid'

With ABC News’ release of the George Zimmerman photo showing blood flowing freely from his head, the question becomes whether Angela Corey, the prosecutor in the case, had access to the photo before charging Zimmerman with second-degree murder.

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by Breitbart News 9 hours ago post a comment

The arrest affidavit did not mention the photograph, or the bleeding, gashes, and bruises on Zimmermans’ head. Professor Alan Dershowitz of Harvard Law School stated upon release of the arrest affidavit that it was “so thin that it won’t make it past a judge on a second degree murder charge … everything in the affidavit is completely consistent with a defense of self-defense.”

After the release of the photo, however, Dershowitz went much further, telling Breitbart News that if the prosecutors did have the photo and didn’t mention it in the affidavit, that would constitute a “grave ethical violation,” since affidavits are supposed to contain “all relevant information.”

Dershowitz continued, “An affidavit that willfully misstates undisputed evidence known to the prosecution is not only unethical but borders on perjury because an affiant swears to tell not only the truth, but the whole truth, and suppressing an important part of the whole truth is a lie."

When asked if it made a difference whether the prosecution had the bloody photograph at the time they charged Zimmerman, Dershowitz responded, “We do know that there were earlier photographs before the affidavit was done that strongly suggested blood on the back of the head, and we know the police had first access to him, so if there was blood they [the prosecution] would know about it …

"I've had cases in Florida against prosecutors,” Dershowitz said, “and this is not the first time they have willfully omitted exculpatory evidence. It's a continuing problem. Here, it’s not only immoral, but stupid. The whole country is watching. What do they benefit from having half-truths in an affidavit?"

Dershowitz added, "I'm not taking sides, but I'm insisting that both sides play by the rules, and so far the prosecution is not playing by the rules."

ON BREITBART TV
Photo Of Zimmerman's Bloodied Head Released

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JFM ARCHIVES - IRIDIUM - DID MOTO LOSE MONEY?

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 20:55:00 -0700

JFM ARCHIVES - PATENT SIX SIGMA

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 20:38:00 -0700

JFM ARCHIVES - QA METHOLDOLOGIES - AN OLD INTERNET DOCUMENT FROM THE 1990S

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JFM ARCHIVES - QUALITY IMPROVEMENT -SUNDRY-GERMAIN

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 07:19:00 -0700

JFM ARCHIVES - IRIDIUM - HOW IT STARTED

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 18:35:00 -0700

OBAMA AND HIS BUFFETT TAX PLAN

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 16:37:00 -0700

President Obama’s Secretary Paid Higher Tax Rate Than He Did

Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

President Obama today released his 2011 federal income tax, with he and his wife reporting an adjusted gross income of $789,674. The Obamas paid $162,074 in total tax – an effective federal income tax rate of 20.5%. The Obamas also reported donating approximately 22% of their income to charity — $172,130.

President Obama has been making a big political push for the “Buffett Rule,” which would require millionaires to pay a minimum of 30% of their income in taxes. To illustrate the point, the president has pointed out that billionaire investor Warren Buffett pays a lower tax rate than does his secretary.

President Obama’s secretary, Anita Decker Breckenridge, makes $95,000 a year. White House spokeswoman Amy Brundage tells ABC News that Breckenridge “pays a slightly higher rate this year on her substantially lower income, which is exactly why we need to reform our tax code and ask the wealthiest to pay their fair share. ”

It should be noted that president would not be impacted by the Buffett Rule, though he would see his taxes go up if the so-called Bush tax cuts on higher income wage-earners were allowed to expire, as the president says he wants.

-Jake Tapper

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User Comments

“It should be noted that president would not be impacted by the Buffett Rule, though he would see his taxes go up if the so-called Bush tax cuts on higher income wage-earners were allowed to expire, as the president says he wants.”

Rather, he would not have been impacted by the Buffett Rule this year, with his income on the decline. But it’s quite possible / likely he would be affected by it in the future.

Posted by: Theodore | April 13, 2012, 3:04 pm 3:04 pm

Easily remedied…FLAT TAX!!!

Posted by: angus | April 13, 2012, 3:10 pm 3:10 pm

it should also be noted that the clown Obama would not be effected by any of the “Hope and Change” rules, including the unconstitutional Obamacare nightmare!

Posted by: HUH? | April 13, 2012, 3:20 pm 3:20 pm

President Obama has said, he would have no problem adhering to the buffet rule if it was law. I’m sure he doesn’t do his own taxes. Whoever does, surely used every rule possible to lower his taxes as they should have.

The problem is we need to get rid of those frivolous rules that cost average working Americans while only benefitting the rich.

Posted by: tmferretti | April 13, 2012, 3:30 pm 3:30 pm

Obama could easily make a voluntary payment to Treasury – but he chooses not to do so. He’s more interested in using the class warfare “soak-the-rich” rhetoric for political gain – while ignoring the need to reform entitlements and control spending.

Posted by: Jeff Miller | April 13, 2012, 3:30 pm 3:30 pm

At least Obama is willing to pay more in taxes… All Rompey does is complain about it!

Posted by: Lorrie | April 13, 2012, 3:32 pm 3:32 pm

HIC – Hypocrity N Chiief

Posted by: jamescbuilder | April 13, 2012, 3:34 pm 3:34 pm

Just put in a freakin’ flat tax. Funny how they complain about the tax code being unworkable, but then the proffered solution is to add more rules to it. Messing with the tax code wont stop our impending financial collapse unless they change the substantive programs causing the problems (entitlements).

We’re all getting really pissed. 2012 is gonna be a repeat of 2010, and if the R’s dont fix it after 2012 then they will be done next time around. We are taking this country back, believe it.

Loving how Obama’s war on women and the rich are tanking simultaneously. There are real issues out there, and the D’s silence on those is deafening. Does Obama have any real solutions aimed at actually solving a problem?

Posted by: Jon Sanders | April 13, 2012, 3:35 pm 3:35 pm

Let’s do the math. If we collect the Buffett tax for the next 250 years — a span longer than the life of this republic — it would not cover the Obama deficit for 2011 alone. The Buffett Rule is a farce. Does he really think we’re that stupid?
The Buffett Rule redistributes deck chairs on the Titanic, ostensibly to make more available for those in steerage. Nice idea, but the iceberg cometh. The enterprise is an exercise in misdirection — a distraction not just from Obama’s dismal record on growth and unemployment but, more important, from his dereliction of duty in failing to this day to address the utterly predictable and devastating debt crisis ahead.

Posted by: migraine | April 13, 2012, 3:36 pm 3:36 pm

This claim is bogus. Obama’s secretary makes $95,000 a year. With an AGI of $95,000, her taxable income is, at most, $85,500, after taking into account the $5,800 standard deduction and $3,700 personal exemption. (It would be even less, if she could itemize deductions.) Even assuming her status is married, filing separately, which produces the highest tax amount of any filing status, she would owe $17,982 in federal income tax for 2011, assuming she does not qualify for any tax credits that would make this amount even lower. That computes to a tax rate of 18.92% of her AGI, which is *lower* than the President’s 20.5% rate.

Posted by: Tax Truth | April 13, 2012, 3:40 pm 3:40 pm

Can someone explain to why the president had to fund a retirement account? He put $49,000 into a SEP account further reducing his tax liability. He is presidential pension and the money he will make after he leaves office is not enough for retirement.

LIke most Americans, he toke advantage of the tax laws to minimize his tax liability. He is a hypocrite.

Posted by: Michael | April 13, 2012, 3:43 pm 3:43 pm

Typical “do as I say, not as I do” liberalism. The only thing “transparent” about Odrama and his administration is the hypocrisy. Can’t wait to here how Barry’s going to try to walk this back.

Posted by: BigSurprise | April 13, 2012, 3:43 pm 3:43 pm

The fundamentals are that the rich are protected by the same military we all are. They drive on the same interstates and they enjoy the same benefits the government provides for every citizen. It’s not asking too much that they pay their fair share of the costs of those benefits.

The republicans have this mindset that the rich are elite and should be given more breaks that hardworking Americans.

Posted by: tmferretti | April 13, 2012, 3:48 pm 3:48 pm

Who cares about her tax rate. 95K a year for being a freaking secretary???

Posted by: Reber | April 13, 2012, 3:49 pm 3:49 pm

‘
Typical Obama. Politicizes everything. I bet he jacked up his donations to charity to drop his taxable income so he could whine about people paying more taxes. Make a note of it, Obama wants to increase taxes on charitable donations!

Posted by: cntrlfrk | April 13, 2012, 3:54 pm 3:54 pm

President Obama,,you now have a record…and voters are discovering that the Emperor Has No Clothes..

Posted by: ren1aa | April 13, 2012, 3:55 pm 3:55 pm

Just remember, anyone can voluntarily pay more taxes to the federal government, if they want to, without penalty. So, instead of requiring all to pay more, let those who want to, decline their refund or play an additional amount in their tax payment???

Posted by: DPD | April 13, 2012, 3:55 pm 3:55 pm

The Obama’s could have NOT taken the charitable deduction and then they would have paid a higher rate …. simple fix for imposing higher rate …. There’s NO law requiring taxpayers to take ALL of the exemptions and or deductions that they are entitled to ….. Those who feel they don’t pay enough should simply reduce the deductions of which they avail themselves.

Posted by: Hazmat77 | April 13, 2012, 4:03 pm 4:03 pm

The Buffett Rule wouldn’t apply to the Obama’s $790,000 income! (They made less than a million dollars)

Posted by: Common _ Sense | April 13, 2012, 4:03 pm 4:03 pm

“It’s the spending, stupid.” The federal govt spending nearly 25% of GDP is unsustainable.

Posted by: GreatHairGuy | April 13, 2012, 4:03 pm 4:03 pm

The President paid a tax rate of 31.2%. Taxable income of $496,376 / Tax of $156,094 = 31%

The math doesn’t lie. If his secretary chose to gift away 22% of her income and she is single, her taxable income would be $95,000 – charitable of $20,900 – exemption of $3,700= Taxable income of $70,400. The tax on that income would be $13,725 (according to IRS Tax Tables) That’s a rate of 19.5%. But nobody cares that they are lying and hardly anybody bothers to check. The math doesnt lie.

Posted by: Stickit | April 13, 2012, 4:08 pm 4:08 pm

DPD

No one is asking everyone to pay more taxes. All that’s being asked is that millionaires and corporations who enjoy the same benefits our government provides to all its citizens pay their fair share.

Posted by: tmferretti | April 13, 2012, 4:12 pm 4:12 pm

mr president pay your fair share.you are asking others to,so put your money where your mouth is.

Posted by: nugy | April 13, 2012, 4:17 pm 4:17 pm

“It’s the spending, stupid.” The federal govt spending nearly 25% of GDP is unsustainable.———Exactly!

Posted by: real_hope_and_change | April 13, 2012, 4:20 pm 4:20 pm

“All that’s being asked is Millionaires who enjoy the same benefits… pay their fair share.”

They already do… While some pay a lower percentage, they pay a greater amount. Why do the “same benefits” cost more for some folks? They don’t.

Put in a flat tax and that will be fairer… but the ultimate fairness would be for everyone to pay the same – if there are 100 people supported by the fire department charge those 100 people 1% of the costs – that’s fair. But since 47% of the country isn’t paying anything for the “same benefit” those of us who work are paying more than our fair share.

Posted by: Leith Cassone | April 13, 2012, 4:28 pm 4:28 pm

How do you know the rate the secretary paid. This is ridiculous. She could have a mortgage deduction that eats up alot of her gross pay. It is very easy to lower your tax rate with deductions. This is all speculation unless she and Buffet the Buffoons secretaries show their tax returns.

Posted by: Tom | April 13, 2012, 4:30 pm 4:30 pm

thats just wrong

Posted by: rod | April 13, 2012, 4:33 pm 4:33 pm

Fair share? Does that mean everyone pays the same amount? For Democrats, the answer is no. Does that mean everyone pays the same % in taxes? For Democrats, the answer is once again no. How do Democrats define fair share? Some pay more $ and % of their income than others because the Democrats declare that is “fair”. 47% no longer pay anything. Why should they care how much Washington wastes? It costs them nothing, or more likely, they actually receive money. Is that fair? The poster above said that everyone enjoys the “benefits” the government provides, but 47% pay nothing (or get something for nothing) while others pay both more in $ and as a % of thier income. Fair? Fair is defined in one dictionary as: 1.reasonable or unbiased: not exhibiting any bias, and therefore reasonable or impartial. Does the Democrats system of 47% paying nothing and the 53% paying it all meet the disctionary defination of fair? Nope. Fair would be we all pay the same amount (take all the government bills and divide it equally amongst the taxpayers). I bet if we did that then we would finally see the government stop wasting so much OUR money as then EVERYONE would have an equal stake!

Posted by: terdith | April 13, 2012, 4:38 pm 4:38 pm

Evidently the group of people getting hit the hardest are those like Joe the $250,000 – 500,000. Joe’s tax rate is higher than Obama’s and the secretary’s (might explain why he donates so much less to charity).

Posted by: snapboy | April 13, 2012, 4:40 pm 4:40 pm

KEITH CASSONE

Because they pay a higher amount doesn’t mean it’s their fair share. If you and I pay 30% it’s a greater hit on us than if they pay 15% of a million dollars and not what their actual tax rate is. Everyone should pay whatever their tax rate is, period.

Posted by: tmferretti | April 13, 2012, 4:42 pm 4:42 pm

you mean barry is an intellectually dishonest hypocrite? wait, let me pick my jaw up off the floor….

Posted by: James | April 13, 2012, 4:43 pm 4:43 pm

For GREATHAIRGUY

Try learning what the term EFFECTIVE tax rate means before you go calling people liars!

Posted by: SusanTR | April 13, 2012, 4:44 pm 4:44 pm

All I know is I am making less money than both of them and I pay I higher percent than both of them. But let’s face it it’s not illegal to pay in accordance to the tax law, and if I were them I would not pay more than I have to legally pay. Obama is in power so change the tax code, and while he is at it make it illegal for insider trading for the house, and how about getting rid of lobbyists, oh maybe campaign contribution laws should be tweaked, but I guess if these things happened the polished-tickens would actually have to work for the American people instead of leaching from the American people. I think Democrats and republicans alike need to step back and force the political hands to do what is right for America and quit keeping score for their failing political parties. IMHO

Posted by: KRJ | April 13, 2012, 4:57 pm 4:57 pm

I cant believe his Secretary pays more than him. I cant believe Joe Biden made 379K and gave 5 of 379 to charity. Well done boys.

Posted by: Matt | April 13, 2012, 5:00 pm 5:00 pm

At that income level, his tax rate should be at least 26%, so he obviously has tax breaks from investments, including capital gains, which he paid a lot less of a percentage on, which then brought his overall tax rate down. How come no one mentions that he, too, is paying much less in the way of taxes on his investments? That includes you, ABC.

Posted by: Leslie Weinberg | April 13, 2012, 5:03 pm 5:03 pm

You are reporting Obama’s ADJUSTED GROSS INCOME and the EFFECTIVE tax rate (i.e. the total tax owed AFTER DEDUCTIONS divided by his GROSS INCOME), that he paid, and then trying to compare this to his secretary’s GROSS INCOME, before deductions and tax credits, and then using the tax rate that would be charged on $95,000 of TAXABLE Income. If she has children she gets a $1000 per child tax credit. If she itemizes she will have an even lower effective tax rate. This is so disengenuous it is not even funny!! I expected better from you, Jake Tapper.

Posted by: RaeMarie | April 13, 2012, 5:04 pm 5:04 pm

you mean barry is an intellectually dishonest hypocrite? wait, let me pick my jaw up off the floor….

Posted by: James | April 13, 2012, 4:43 pm 4:43 pm

It seems to me President Obama has consistently said he and others as fortunate as him should be taxed at a higher rate – and he’s worked towards getting those changes implemented. It is the Republicans who have been resisting.

Posted by: Tomorrow 7 | April 13, 2012, 5:05 pm 5:05 pm

Every time I see posts like these, it makes me want to scream. If you’re lucky enough to make a million dollars a year and have a good accountant like Obama or Romney, then they will advise you to invest it into safe securities. And, if you’re lucky enough to earn capital gains, It is then taxed again. Remember this is the same money you have already paid taxes on once. Why doesn’t anyone see this?

Posted by: Linda | April 13, 2012, 5:08 pm 5:08 pm

His brother lives in a hut while he jets around on golf vacations.

The Obamessiah is much more generous with your money than he is with his own…

Posted by: Hypocritical POTUS | April 13, 2012, 5:09 pm 5:09 pm

Three words: National Sales Tax

Posted by: Anna R | April 13, 2012, 5:14 pm 5:14 pm

You can’t make this stuff up…most embarrassing president ever

Posted by: Damiante | April 13, 2012, 5:22 pm 5:22 pm

Any taxpayer can pay more than is owed by the application of the tax code. If the man feels that 30% is fair, let him make up the difference btw what he paid and that %. Can’t stand the man, but kudos to him for his generous contributions to charitable causes……………….although I’m sure politically motivated like everything else the man does.

Posted by: Ed | April 13, 2012, 5:22 pm 5:22 pm

I want to see the receipts of their charitable donations.
Because they are pathological liars.

Posted by: sablegsd | April 13, 2012, 5:23 pm 5:23 pm

“Three words: National Sales Tax”

Three words: No Frackking Way

Three more words: Cut Government Spending

Posted by: sablegsd | April 13, 2012, 5:25 pm 5:25 pm

Everyone on here is hopelessly dishonest except ROD who said;

Fair share? Does that mean everyone pays the same amount? For Democrats, the answer is no. Does that mean everyone pays the same % in taxes? For Democrats, the answer is once again no. How do Democrats define fair share? Some pay more $ and % of their income than others because the Democrats declare that is “fair”. 47% no longer pay anything. Why should they care how much Washington wastes? It costs them nothing, or more likely, they actually receive money. Is that fair? The poster above said that everyone enjoys the “benefits” the government provides, but 47% pay nothing (or get something for nothing) while others pay both more in $ and as a % of thier income. Fair? Fair is defined in one dictionary as: 1.reasonable or unbiased: not exhibiting any bias, and therefore reasonable or impartial. Does the Democrats system of 47% paying nothing and the 53% paying it all meet the disctionary defination of fair? Nope. Fair would be we all pay the same amount (take all the government bills and divide it equally amongst the taxpayers). I bet if we did that then we would finally see the government stop wasting so much OUR money as then EVERYONE would have an equal stake!

Congratulations ROD.

This is getting seriously scarry. The government had nothing to do with the money I made last year. None of my fellow Americans did either. Rod is dead on correct. Take the budget devide it by the number of PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY ABLE AMERICANS BETWEEN SAY 20-60 YEARS OF AGE AND SEND THEM A BILL. We all have the same general opportunities available to us, and we all are of about equal ability. Everyone should pay the same DOLLAR amount.
This system would insure the best health care for everyone
This system will eliminate Social Programs for undeserving people.
This system would eliminate Illeagal Aleans
This system would restore us to the undisputed Super Power of the world and the “To die for destination of all people worldwide.

STOP WITH THE EXCUSES.

I only graduated High School. I was from a poor family. My Mother was a single parent.
I, or my family have never wanted or needed anything in our lives.
I have never been unemployed and my wife has never been employed.
I am not smarter, luckier, or more talented than others.

I don’t abide anything immoral, and I work hard.

How is this possible for me but not for a hugh section of LOAFERS?

Posted by: John Nehring | April 13, 2012, 5:28 pm 5:28 pm

Posted by: Linda | April 13, 2012, 5:08 pm 5:08 pm

The principal on capital gains is not taxed. Profits on capital gains are taxed once.

Posted by: Jeb | April 13, 2012, 5:28 pm 5:28 pm

I don’t understand what the “fair share” the rich should pay. Do they want 100%. A ways back Sweden taxed income over 35,000 at 105%. So Ingmar Bergman (among others) bailed out. The Dems can’t possibly want that,can they?

Posted by: fred17 | April 13, 2012, 5:29 pm 5:29 pm

Mr Tapper get your fact right…are you saying the the tax bracket his secretary is in is slightly higher than the President or the actual tax rate she paid. It has been correctly pointed out that it is essentially impossible for her to pay a higher tax rate than the president assuming she takes even only the standard deduction.

Geez, no one understands anything about the taxes they pay…

Posted by: Pilgrim | April 13, 2012, 5:37 pm 5:37 pm

am I the only one who thinks this is poorly written? Anywho, there just aren’t enough specifics or credible sources. Judging by the amount of data I question the integrity of the article; there’s more to the story. Where did this guy to school?

Posted by: Mamoru Chiba | April 13, 2012, 5:37 pm 5:37 pm

The claim is dubious and certainly sloppy. Migraine had the right idea, but wrong arithmetic. If the secretary grossed $95,000 she would be entitled to a standard deduction (assuming she does not itemize) of $5,800 and a personal exemption of $3,700, yielding an adjusted gross of $85,500. The tax rate on that for a single woman is $17,564 yielding an effective tax rate of 17564/85,500 = 20.54%, versus 20.52% for Mr. Obama. That difference (one fiftieth of one percent) is hardly a good reason to stalinize the tax code. Further, as others pointed out, it assumes the secretary was single, did not itemize and had no other available credits or exemptions, hardly realistic. Just more hokem eagerly swallowed by a lapdog press who got gentlemen’s C’s in math for non-science majors in college.

Posted by: Lex1 | April 13, 2012, 5:37 pm 5:37 pm

Of course. His secretary is a woman and women earn 18% less than men employed at the WH. With that kind of war on women, it only makes sense that they pay higher taxes, too.

Posted by: astralweeks | April 13, 2012, 5:44 pm 5:44 pm

Now, this is interesting:

“It should be noted that president would not be impacted by the Buffett Rule, though he would see his taxes go up if the so-called Bush tax cuts on higher income wage-earners were allowed to expire, as the president says he wants.”

If the Bush tax cuts are allowed to expire, yes, Obama’s taxes will go up – but so will his secretary, and guess which of the two then will have a much higher percentage of additional taxes due – Obama or his secretary.

Yep – his secretary’s life style will be much more impacted, than Obama’s, if the Bush tax cuts expire.

Posted by: gh | April 13, 2012, 5:45 pm 5:45 pm

Its time for the rich to pay their fair share. Everyone earning more than $789,673 should pay the “Buffet Tax.”

Posted by: Vatar | April 13, 2012, 5:49 pm 5:49 pm

Grammar check: The opening sentence is wrong. “…with he and his wife…” should be “…with him and his wife…”

Posted by: Editor Shane | April 13, 2012, 5:57 pm 5:57 pm

As usual this administration is lying. According to the 2011 tax calculator the secretary would have to have an income greater than $120,000 with no dependents or deductions in order to equal Obama’s effective tax rate.

Posted by: Rick | April 13, 2012, 6:22 pm 6:22 pm

The government had nothing to do with the money I made last year
—————————–

You couldn’t be more wrong. The government provides the legal and regulatory framework upon which all wealth is created.

Posted by: elephant in the room | April 13, 2012, 6:23 pm 6:23 pm

Why would anyone expect a leftist liberal, POTUS or otherwise, to be less than utterly hypocritical when it comes to matters of money and personal perks. While you and I are forced to switch from incandescent to lousy and expensive alternative 100 watt bulbs to reduce the nation’s CO2 footprint, the Obama’s blow our contribution off into oblivion by yet another vacation armada of large jets travel to some vacation site. Oh, did I mention the squandered TAXPAYER money? Anyone looking for an example of “hypocrisy” need look no further.

Posted by: Honest John | April 13, 2012, 6:44 pm 6:44 pm

All regulations to mandate the use of non-incandescent bulbs have been defunded. Nobody is enforcing it anywhere. Let’s really try to be honest.

Posted by: elephant in the room | April 13, 2012, 6:58 pm 6:58 pm

There is absolutely no way that someone making 95k$ pays more than 19% worst case if the person has no deductions. The Whitehouse is lying again.

Posted by: Brian | April 13, 2012, 6:58 pm 6:58 pm

Migraine had the right idea and his MATH is correct.
Effective tax rate is $’s of tax paid divided by the AGI..adjusted gross income — so per Migraine (with no other deductions and assuming filing as single filer) $17,982/$85,500 = ~18.9%.
That is correct.
Obama again is a liar, stupid , or both.
Jake Tapper I thought you were a better journalist than this!!!!!!
Also she could put/defer some into a 401K and take responsibility for her own retirement instead of being the lefty she probably is and expect the government to take care of her completely. She could also donate some small amount to her favorite charity (not the government) and help the needy while helping to lower her effective tax rate some. Say she put $4K away in 401K and dontated $1K to a charity. Here taxable income would then be only $80,500 and her tax would be reduced to $16,256 and ther effective rate would then be $16,256/$95,000 = 17.1%.
As usual Obama either Lies or doesn’t know what he is talking about – or both.
Wealthy people who invest their money that they already paid earned income taxes on at some point in time anyway, into long term captital gain investments are only taxed by law at 15%. This is a tax law passed by a large majority of democratically elected congress — why does Obama oppose it. I thought he recently siad such laws should never be overturned!
But really we should all support that tax rate incentive is given to people with the resources to invest in long term capital investments..which are significantly risky — these fuel our free market economy, creating many jobs. The problem is, these people don’t trust Obama and his policies, this is what is holding back our economic growth. NOBAMA 2012

Posted by: stomer1 | April 13, 2012, 7:06 pm 7:06 pm

The ongoing myth seems to be that the money Romney invested was his own….it wasn’t. Private equity investments are other people’s money.

And again: economic growth is being held back by lack of consumer demand, nothing else.

Posted by: elephant in the room | April 13, 2012, 7:15 pm 7:15 pm

Typical liberal hypocracy. And Michelle spends tax dollars on her Marie Antoinette vacations. Can’t wait to see them put out of the White House, and maybe some jail time for the crimes they have undoubtedly been involved in.

Posted by: BobOnnit | April 13, 2012, 7:17 pm 7:17 pm

Posted by: BobOnnit | April 13, 2012, 7:17 pm 7:17 pm

It’s actually right wing hypocrisy. Previous First Ladies are allowed to take vacations of all kinds. First Lady Obama gets attacked. Talk about hypocrisy – probably a little bigotry thrown in as well.

Posted by: Judge Ben | April 13, 2012, 7:47 pm 7:47 pm

What a joke. Obama paid a lower tax rate because he received a deduction for charitable contributions. That deduction is available to anyone, including Anita Breckenridge. Obviously the percentage value of the deduction is greater when the income of the giver puts the person in a higher bracket. He wants it both ways: look good for giving to charity then wringing his hands over paying a lower tax RATE than his secretary. He still PAID more than his secretary EARNED. So what do we really learn from this? Obama just wants other people’s money and adulation. Oh, and someone tell Biden that the Hair Club for Men is not a charitable organization. He must have made a mistake on that, how else could he have (again) given only a measly 1.5% of his income to charity?

Posted by: Tom in NY | April 13, 2012, 8:29 pm 8:29 pm

The answer is simple. Lower the amount to qualify for the “buffett” rule…. That would make a lot more sense. Of course, O’Bozo COULD have avoided using deductions, like “gifts” to his daughters. They hardly need the money. Or he could give them the money and not take deductions for it. Perhaps the amount “qualifying” amount should be anyone making over $40,000 a year.

Even better? Why not just have your check go to the government? Then they can pay you an allowance each month after taking what they need……

Posted by: BigBoa | April 13, 2012, 8:43 pm 8:43 pm

The dems are using every hoax they can to avoid the real issue. The economy stinks. Only Romney can straighten out this mess. Furthermore, if you make it you should get to keep it and spend it as you please instead of sharing it with all the lazy lackeys. No one should have to pay more than 15% no matter what you make. Government fraud along with it’s elected so called “leaders” are not accountable. Pelosi with her jet, I’d like to see her returns. Better still, I’d like to see her canned.

Posted by: Rick | April 13, 2012, 9:02 pm 9:02 pm

well whats her rate you never said what her rate is ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Posted by: Mark | April 13, 2012, 9:03 pm 9:03 pm

Posted by: BigBoa | April 13, 2012, 8:43 pm 8:43 pm

You’re deducting ‘gifts’ to your daughters? Please fill us in on how that is done.

Posted by: Joe | April 13, 2012, 9:07 pm 9:07 pm

The president could do a straight tax return without any deductions. That way he would be setting the example of what he is trying to do to higher income earners.

Posted by: Berpastr | April 13, 2012, 9:20 pm 9:20 pm

CLASS WARFARE, CLASS WARFARE, CLASS WARFARE!

Obama knows Congress will never pass the “Buffett Rule”, but since he can’t run on his record of failure, he plans to run a campaign fueled by Class Warfare!
The taxes Obama is calling for is really a increase in the capitol gains tax, not income tax! If raised, millions more people will lose their jobs and the economy will crash worse than before!
Obama has no idea how to fix the economy but to make it even worse! How much longer is the media going to give him a pass while he keeps blaming Bush for Obama’s failed policies???

The fastest way to fix the economy and create more jobs is send Obama back to Chicago this November!

Posted by: BIG JIMMY | April 13, 2012, 9:26 pm 9:26 pm

he can’t run on his record of failure

Posted by: BIG JIMMY | April 13, 2012, 9:26 pm 9:26 pm

What record of failure?

Over 4 million jobs have been added since Obama’s policies hit full stride. GM is back at the #1 car company in the world! Third shifts are being added at automotive plants. Manufacturing is up. Another 200,000 jobs added in March. Iraq war has been ended. A withdrawal plan is in place for Afghanistan. Bin Laden is dead. Kaddafhi is gone. Many, many al Qaeda leaders are gone. All of the world including Russia and China are onside against Iranian nuclear development. Nuclear inspectors are back in Iran. Against odds, America has been protected from any massive terrorist attack. The stock market has gone up hugely since Obama’s policies began to kick in. People have regained all of their savings they lost under Bush and more. Oil production in the country is up. Green energy production in the country is up. Don’t ask, don’t tell ahs been repealed. Equal pay for equal work reinforced. Millions of low-income children covered under health care.

This is a top of the line administration.

Had Bush or any Republican accomplished all of this in 3 years, the right wingers would be creaming their jeans and calling him one of the greatest presidents of all time. Trouble is – it isn’t Bush – it’s Obama – and right wingers are biased hypocrites .

Posted by: Dan | April 13, 2012, 9:32 pm 9:32 pm

Why does Obama need to create a climate of fear and class envy? Well thats easy, Obama has no record of success to run on for his reelection! So he has created a number of ‘straw man’ political demons to run his campaign on. Things like “War On Women”, the “Buffett Rule”, “Fairness” are all forms of Class Warfare and out-right lies!

Posted by: BIG JIMMY | April 13, 2012, 9:42 pm 9:42 pm

Things like “War On Women”, the “Buffett Rule”, “Fairness” are all forms of Class Warfare and out-right lies!

Posted by: BIG JIMMY | April 13, 2012, 9:42 pm 9:42 pm

Nonsense. Look at the Republican legislation against women passed in Wisconsin and Virginia just for starters. Second, there is no way Mitt Romney should be paying taxes at a rate as low at 14% when he’s making multi-millions year in and year out.

These are straight forward issues the majority of Americans agree with.

And as pointed out already in the post before yours, you’re completely wrong about ‘no record of success’.

Posted by: jiffy | April 13, 2012, 9:59 pm 9:59 pm

The Democrats are making a genuine effort to end the massive redistribution of wealth that the Republicans have been engaging in for the last 30 years.

Posted by: Bainman | April 13, 2012, 10:05 pm 10:05 pm

Capital gains was taxed as regular income for a long time in the past and the economy did not crash because of it.

Posted by: Bainman | April 13, 2012, 10:18 pm 10:18 pm

If the secretary were a man, perhaps the prez would pay him more. Why are Buffet and Obama so cheap? I think it is pretty lousy that an assistant to either of these men is being paid so little

Posted by: todd | April 13, 2012, 10:33 pm 10:33 pm

All Obama needs to do is NOT INVEST in tax free bonds and stop investing for dividend income.
Those have a lower rate.

He pays a lower rate on purpose. He could easily pay a higher rate with investment income. Easy. He chooses to take the tax breaks. He could also write a check.

For Liberals: Lesson #1: Municipal bonds are tax free so the governments can pay a lower rate on the money they borrow.

So…. if you make muni/government bonds taxable what happens?
They will need to pay more to borrow.
Result? They will have to TAX YOU more to pay it.
So, raise the taxes on govt bonds and your taxes go up.

See, this is how things actually work.

I am mainly impressed with Obama’s 22% to charity. Must be for show. Wasn’t it under 2% last year and he caught flak? Always for show. And Biden gave like $600 total?

22%… that’s almost what conservatives usually give! Wow!

Did any lib here know that Buffet is fighting to NOT pay $1 Billion in taxes for one of his companies? No? Oh yeah, not covered by your media.

Posted by: ster | April 13, 2012, 10:38 pm 10:38 pm

Bainman:

It did not crash. But it did knot grow either.
Go ahead, raise it. See what happens.
You like jobs in China? Even Europe and not here?

People will invest there and not here.

Get over your envy and do what helps the most people – jobs, etc…
Once libs get over their anger and envy and greed at other people’s wealth and study what actually works best for the little guy, we will be better off.

Oh yeah… I think the word was STAGFLATION. You can look it up, Bain.

Posted by: bainmanfoolish | April 13, 2012, 10:40 pm 10:40 pm

Mitt Romney’s record of success includes risking other people’s money to buy companies, fire workers, run the companies into debt by borrowing against them, sell them off for profit, and then pay incredibly low taxes on those profits even though he didn’t risk a penny of his own money. And any cost of unemployment or failure of these debt ridden companies falls on the public. Is anybody impressed by this?

Posted by: Bainman | April 13, 2012, 10:43 pm 10:43 pm

Bain:

Let me tell you about Romdork.
Bain Cap?
Using Obama’s language, they SAVED jobs.

Those same companies would have gone bankrupt.
EVERY WORKER would have been unemployed.
Doing what they did saved thousands. Yes, they laid people off (duh),.
If not, the companies would have gone bankrupt and ALL would be laid off.

Dont let facts get in your way though. Liberals are allergic to them/

Posted by: bainmanfoolish | April 13, 2012, 10:48 pm 10:48 pm

We are quite confident that stopping the Republicans from continuing to redistribute wealth up the income ladder to those who aren’t creating jobs anyway will help the little guy more than giving Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, and all their corporate buddies even more huge tax breaks which can never be paid for.

Posted by: Bainman | April 13, 2012, 10:52 pm 10:52 pm

“If not, the companies would have gone bankrupt and ALL would be laid off”

There is not a shred of evidence to back up this claim.

Posted by: Bainman | April 13, 2012, 10:56 pm 10:56 pm

The squeals will be deafening when those riding the corporate gravy train are forced to crack open their checkbooks and pay their fair share of taxes for the first time in 30 years.

Posted by: Bainman | April 13, 2012, 10:59 pm 10:59 pm

How did the Obama’s afford all those vacations, campaign trips & golf/parties on a $790K income? Looks like an investigation is needed.

Posted by: dave | April 13, 2012, 11:25 pm 11:25 pm

Has no one caught this?
The Effective Tax Rate is what you pay in taxes divided by Taxable Income.
Taxable Income is Adjusted Gross Income less deductions and exemptions.

The Effective Tax Rate is NOT taxes divided by AGI, which is what the article explains.

Take the AGI, reduce by at least his charitable deductions, less 3700 * 4 (exemptions), less other itemized deductions …that will be his taxable income.

Which means he paid more than 20%. Then, he may be subject to Alternative Minimum Tax (don’t have those schedules memorized).

Keep in mind: I am NOT an Obama fan. But I do want people to understand the rules and proper reporting.

Posted by: cpalady | April 14, 2012, 12:07 am 12:07 am

13%. That’s what Willard’s tax rate was. Let’s go back a few years and see where his revenue was generated from. He won’t do that, will he? Yeah,jhe’s really in touch with the the common man.

Posted by: John Schwarz | April 14, 2012, 3:16 am 3:16 am

Secretaries that invest the same percentages as their bosses will pay a lower capital gains rate every time. Rather than demonizing their bosses for putting their money at risk and fueling investment in our economy, Obama wants to steal the seed corn and waste it on solar boondoggles backed by his campaign bundlers.

Posted by: Steve B | April 14, 2012, 3:41 am 3:41 am

Brian [and Migraine]: I think if you use a calculator to do the division you might change your MATH answer.

More importantly, the whole thrust of the article is misleading (since we don’t really know about her filing status, exemptions, deductions, other sources of income…), and, the Obama team knew that when they promulgated it. After all, Mr. and Mrs. Obama had a set of slick accountants who navigated them through the code to minimize their tax bill: do as we say, not as we do.

Posted by: Lex1 | April 14, 2012, 4:09 am 4:09 am

How about that, this man of hte people who is co concerned about the poor, paid more in taxes than I made working at my job. Interesting that none of his policies have done anything to assist me in getting a higher paying job, or alleviate the tax increases and rising prices inherent in his administration.

Posted by: Jon Weiss | April 14, 2012, 5:24 am 5:24 am

Obama always says he is willing to pay more taxes. FUNNY, I don’t see where he paid more than the minimum required.

Can Obama also please tell the country why he is using a SSN issued to someone born in CT in 1890 ? Don’t only illegal aliens steal SSN

Posted by: scott | April 14, 2012, 6:59 am 6:59 am

There is absolutely nothing stopping Obama from paying the 30% to set a good example. But, true to his ilk, Democrats are hypocrites who talk a lot and have nothing to say.

Posted by: roxanne | April 14, 2012, 7:33 am 7:33 am

So even if Obama gets his Buffet tax law, his secretary will still pay more taxes than Obama.
Hey Obama! Our tax system is still called a volunteer tax system. Why don’t you set an example for others to follow. Why don’t YOU volunteer some more of your personal money toward taxes.

Posted by: Mike | April 14, 2012, 7:57 am 7:57 am

So much for “the rich” paying their “fair share”! What a hypocrite!!!!

Posted by: Daxe | April 14, 2012, 8:40 am 8:40 am

Of course his secretary paid a higher rate than he did, isn’t that the way all politicians set up the tax laws, weather they are democratic or republican, they set up the tax law so the burden fell onto the middle class. The poor pay nothing, the rich have had the politicians in their pocket since day one. Who else is going to pay for our over bloated government spending?

Obama can whale all he wants about taxing the rich, but it was he and his elitist buddies in congress who set up this outrageous tax code we have. 26,000 pages of gobble gook. Both democrats and republicans are to blame, this is not a one party problem, this is an elitist problem.

Everyone knows that the tax laws in this country are in need of reform, and has been in need of reform for a very long time, but who has done anything about it? Nobody that’s who. And who is going to do anything about it? Again nobody.

So his secretary, better just get used to it, along with every other middle class American. This is your government at work. Scary isn’t it?

Posted by: Joe Lucido | April 14, 2012, 8:52 am 8:52 am

So Bo-Blame-O thinks we can just add on another page or two to the current tax code to make it fair? I’m calling BS. The days of keeping the dumbmasses ignorant are starting to fall down around our elected officials. We will correct the problem through the ballot box. If per chance it does not work, I believe we have sufficient manpower to take our country back.

Posted by: Steve | April 14, 2012, 9:11 am 9:11 am

The Pres and VP need better tax advice. With their income and connections, there are many opportunites they can be taking (all legal) to reduce their tax burden – while supporting the formation of capital to help drive the economy. I would be interested in seeing BO’s returns from before he ran for office (any office).
For them to NOT take all the legal opportunities they are allowed indicates a laziness on their part. Is this who we want as the Leader of the nation – an individual who is willing to leave money on the table – thinking the Government can spend it more effectively then they themselves can? See my point – big gov all the way for these caricatures.

Posted by: GNAC | April 14, 2012, 10:25 am 10:25 am

Jake, did you actually see the secretary’s tax return? Again, you people are mixing apples and oranges. There is no way the secretary is paying more than 20% of her income in taxes. No. Way. Her top marginal rate might be higher than 20%. That’s what they’re saying. That’s the case with Buffet’s secretary too. But in reality, at that income her effective taxation rate has to be about 11%, like pretty much all middle class incomes. Seriously, Jake, you really need to check these things and not just accept the pablum you’re fed by the White House.

Posted by: RickS | April 14, 2012, 11:05 am 11:05 am

Obamas charitable donations would probably have been less if he was taxed an additional 10%. I am assuming his speding would have been about the same but most americans natural response to paying higher tax rates is spend less. Even Buffett would abide by this rule. If he is taxed an extra Billion, he is not going to go out and decide to spend an addional billion to buy or fix a failing business model. In other words, Buffett will have a Billion less to spend.

Posted by: Tom | April 14, 2012, 11:09 am 11:09 am

Seriously, What HASN’T Obama lied about?

Why would anyone in their right mind trust someone who has told nothing but lies.

Posted by: Ronstradamus | April 14, 2012, 11:36 am 11:36 am

The conclusion of this article is incorrect. The maximum tax rate for a single earner (no kids, no deductions, no nothing) is 18.4%. The tax amount would be $17,557.
Tapper’s a good reporter. He should see for himself.

Posted by: Wes Miller | April 14, 2012, 11:44 am 11:44 am

I could give that percentage of my income to charity if I didn’t have to pay for food, gas, cleaning supplies, day care and utilities.

Posted by: glump | April 14, 2012, 11:56 am 11:56 am

“President Obama’s Secretary Paid Higher Tax Rate Than He Did” – Jake Tapper

Really?
Let’s compare W2s.

Posted by: Noz | April 14, 2012, 11:59 am 11:59 am

God, you conservatives are idiots. He said he should be paying more taxes and wants it changed. And he gave 22 percent of his income to charity. Wow, an evil guy!

Posted by: Tim | April 14, 2012, 12:33 pm 12:33 pm

Obama is the one who announced this as an illustration. Don’t be so quick to attack him like he’s a hypocrite. He is the one who is trying to make the point about the system not being fair.

Posted by: astroyo | April 14, 2012, 12:50 pm 12:50 pm

If he wanted to pay more taxes he could ! Nothing stopping him ! He could simply waive the itemizations, credits, etc. that he says are so “biased” for the wealthy. Just like stingy Biden could contribute more than 1.5% to charity. There is NOBODY holding a gun to Obama or Biden’s heads “making them” pay less tax. Obama and his wealthy cronies (e.g. Kerry, Geithner, etc. are FRAUDS ! They talk a good game but are the first in line to avoid taxes and to spend taxpayer money for themselves and their families !

Posted by: saduslover | April 14, 2012, 1:51 pm 1:51 pm

So what stopped this butthole from sending in a check for the DIFFERENCE? Nothing. Like most liberals he’s a LYING POS and looks for EVERY BENEFIT that he can GET as he blames others for doing the SAME! REMOVE THIS FECAL STAIN FROM THE OVAL OFFICE!!!!!

Posted by: The Arbiter | April 14, 2012, 1:58 pm 1:58 pm

Do the math — if you calculate the secretary’s taxes using the current tax table from the IRS, her effective tax assuming standard deduction and one exemption, is 18.5%. That is less than Obama’s. Once again the WH is both lying demagogging the issue!

Posted by: Mark Brown | April 14, 2012, 3:13 pm 3:13 pm

They are not the “Bush” tax cuts. They are the “Obama” Tax cuts. The Bush tax cuts expired in 2010 and were extended by a Democratic House, a Democratic Senate and a Democratic President Obama.

Posted by: Jake | April 14, 2012, 4:09 pm 4:09 pm

As has been stated by others, the statement about the tax rate paid by his secretary is almost certainly false or at best a misleading statement that does not tell all the details of her circumstances.
If she is single and takes the standard deduction her rate would only be 18.5%. It could easily be lower if she had itemized deductions. The false nature of the claim is easily discoverable and should have been part of any serious news coverage of the statement.

Posted by: James Opfer | April 14, 2012, 6:28 pm 6:28 pm

CATHOLIC BISHOPS - ON RELIGIOUS LIBERTY

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 17:58:00 -0700

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty
Our First, Most Cherished Liberty
A Statement on Religious Liberty

We are Catholics. We are Americans. We are proud to be both, grateful for the gift of faith

which is ours as Christian disciples, and grateful for the gift of liberty which is ours as

American citizens. To be Catholic and American should mean not having to choose one over the other.

Our allegiances are distinct, but they need not be contradictory, and should instead be

complementary. That is the teaching of our Catholic faith, which obliges us to work together with

fellow citizens for the common good of all who live in this land. That is the vision of our

founding and our Constitution, which guarantees citizens of all religious faiths the right to

contribute to our common life together.

Freedom is not only for Americans, but we think of it as something of our special inheritance,

fought for at a great price, and a heritage to be guarded now. We are stewards of this gift, not

only for ourselves but for all nations and peoples who yearn to be free. Catholics in America have

discharged this duty of guarding freedom admirably for many generations.

In 1887, when the archbishop of Baltimore, James Gibbons, was made the second American cardinal, he

defended the American heritage of religious liberty during his visit to Rome to receive the red

hat. Speaking of the great progress the Catholic Church had made in the United States, he

attributed it to the “civil liberty we enjoy in our enlightened republic.” Indeed, he made a bolder

claim, namely that “in the genial atmosphere of liberty [the Church] blossoms like a rose.”1

From well before Cardinal Gibbons, Catholics in America have been advocates for religious liberty,

and the landmark teaching of the Second Vatican Council on religious liberty was influenced by the

American experience. It is among the proudest boasts of the Church on

1 Cardinal James Gibbons, Address upon taking possession of Santa Maria in Trastevere, March 25,

1887.

these shores. We have been staunch defenders of religious liberty in the past. We have a solemn

duty to discharge that duty today.

We need, therefore, to speak frankly with each other when our freedoms are threatened. Now is such

a time. As Catholic bishops and American citizens, we address an urgent summons to our fellow

Catholics and fellow Americans to be on guard, for religious liberty is under attack, both at home

and abroad.

This has been noticed both near and far. Pope Benedict XVI recently spoke about his worry that

religious liberty in the United States is being weakened. He called it the “most cherished of

American freedoms”—and indeed it is. All the more reason to heed the warning of the Holy Father, a

friend of America and an ally in the defense of freedom, in his recent address to American bishops:

Of particular concern are certain attempts being made to limit that most cherished of American

freedoms, the freedom of religion. Many of you have pointed out that concerted efforts have been

made to deny the right of conscientious objection on the part of Catholic individuals and

institutions with regard to cooperation in intrinsically evil practices. Others have spoken to me

of a worrying tendency to reduce religious freedom to mere freedom of worship without guarantees of

respect for freedom of conscience.

Here once more we see the need for an engaged, articulate and well-formed Catholic laity endowed

with a strong critical sense vis-à-vis the dominant culture and with the courage to counter a

reductive secularism which would delegitimize the Church’s participation in public debate about the

issues which are determining the future of American society.2

Religious Liberty Under Attack—Concrete Examples

Is our most cherished freedom truly under threat? Sadly, it is. This is not a theological or legal

dispute without real world consequences. Consider the following:

•   HHS mandate for contraception, sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs. The mandate of the

Department of Health and Human Services has received wide attention and has been met with our

vigorous and united opposition. In an unprecedented way, the federal government will both force

religious institutions to facilitate and fund a product contrary to their own moral teaching and

purport to define which religious institutions are “religious enough” to merit protection of their

religious liberty. These features of the “preventive services” mandate amount to an unjust law. As

Archbishop-designate

2 Benedict XVI, Ad limina address to bishops of the United States, January 19, 2012.

William Lori of Baltimore, Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, testified to

Congress: “This is not a matter of whether contraception may be prohibited by the government. This

is not even a matter of whether contraception may be supported by the government. Instead, it is a

matter of whether religious people and institutions may be forced by the government to provide

coverage for contraception or sterilization, even if

that violates their religious beliefs.”3

•   State immigration laws. Several states have recently passed laws that forbid what the

government deems “harboring” of undocumented immigrants—and what the Church deems Christian charity

and pastoral care to those immigrants. Perhaps the most egregious of these is in Alabama, where the

Catholic bishops, in cooperation with the Episcopal and Methodist bishops of Alabama, filed suit

against the law:

It is with sadness that we brought this legal action but with a deep sense that we, as people of

faith, have no choice but to defend the right to the free exercise of religion granted to us as

citizens of Alabama. . . . The law makes illegal the exercise of our Christian religion which we,

as citizens of Alabama, have a right to follow. The law prohibits almost everything which would

assist an undocumented immigrant or encourage an undocumented immigrant to live in Alabama. This

new Alabama law makes it illegal for a Catholic priest to baptize,

hear the confession of, celebrate the anointing of the sick with, or preach the word of God to, an

undocumented immigrant. Nor can we encourage them to attend Mass or give them a ride to Mass. It is

illegal to allow them to attend adult scripture study groups, or attend CCD or Sunday school

classes. It is illegal for

the clergy to counsel them in times of difficulty or in preparation for marriage. It is illegal for

them to come to Alcoholic Anonymous meetings or other recovery groups at our churches.4

•   Altering Church structure and governance. In 2009, the Judiciary Committee of the Connecticut

Legislature proposed a bill that would have forced Catholic parishes to be restructured according

to a congregational model, recalling the trusteeism controversy of the early nineteenth century,

and prefiguring the federal government’s attempts to redefine for the Church “religious minister”

and “religious employer” in the years since.

•   Christian students on campus. In its over-100-year history, the University of California

Hastings College of Law has denied student organization status to only one group, the

3 Most Rev. William E. Lori, Chairman, USCCB Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty, Oral Testimony

Before the Judiciary Committee of the United States House of Representatives, February 28, 2012.

4 Most Rev. Thomas J. Rodi, Archbishop of Mobile, August 1, 2011.

Christian Legal Society, because it required its leaders to be Christian and to abstain from sexual

activity outside of marriage.

•   Catholic foster care and adoption services. Boston, San Francisco, the District of Columbia,

and the state of Illinois have driven local Catholic Charities out of the business of providing

adoption or foster care services—by revoking their licenses, by ending their government contracts,

or both—because those Charities refused to place children with same-sex couples or unmarried

opposite-sex couples who cohabit.

•   Discrimination against small church congregations. New York City enacted a rule that barred the

Bronx Household of Faith and sixty other churches from renting public schools on weekends for

worship services even though non-religious groups could rent

the same schools for scores of other uses. While this would not frequently affect Catholic

parishes, which generally own their own buildings, it would be devastating to many smaller

congregations. It is a simple case of discrimination against religious believers.

•   Discrimination against Catholic humanitarian services. Notwithstanding years of excellent

performance by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Migration and Refugee Services in

administering contract services for victims of human trafficking, the federal government changed

its contract specifications to require us to provide or

refer for contraceptive and abortion services in violation of Catholic teaching. Religious

institutions should not be disqualified from a government contract based on religious belief, and

they do not somehow lose their religious identity or liberty upon entering such contracts. And yet

a federal court in Massachusetts, turning religious liberty on its head, has since declared that

such a disqualification is required by the First Amendment—that the government somehow violates

religious liberty by allowing Catholic organizations to participate in contracts in a manner

consistent with their beliefs on contraception and abortion.

Religious Liberty Is More Than Freedom of Worship

Religious liberty is not only about our ability to go to Mass on Sunday or pray the Rosary at home.

It is about whether we can make our contribution to the common good of all Americans. Can we do the

good works our faith calls us to do, without having to compromise that very same faith? Without

religious liberty properly understood, all Americans suffer, deprived of the essential contribution

in education, health care, feeding the hungry, civil rights, and social services that religious

Americans make every day, both here at home and overseas.

What is at stake is whether America will continue to have a free, creative, and robust civil

society—or whether the state alone will determine who gets to contribute to the common good,

and how they get to do it. Religious believers are part of American civil society, which includes

neighbors helping each other, community associations, fraternal service clubs, sports leagues, and

youth groups. All these Americans make their contribution to our common life, and they do

not need the permission of the government to do so. Restrictions on religious liberty are an attack

on civil society and the American genius for voluntary associations.

The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America issued a statement about the administration’s

contraception and sterilization mandate that captured exactly the danger that we face:

Most troubling, is the Administration’s underlying rationale for its decision, which appears to be

a view that if a religious entity is not insular, but engaged with broader society, it loses its

“religious” character and liberties. Many faiths firmly believe in being open to and engaged with

broader society and fellow citizens of other faiths. The Administration’s ruling makes the price of

such an outward approach the violation of an

organization’s religious principles. This is deeply disappointing.5

This is not a Catholic issue. This is not a Jewish issue. This is not an Orthodox, Mormon, or

Muslim issue. It is an American issue.

The Most Cherished of American Freedoms

In 1634, a mix of Catholic and Protestant settlers arrived at St. Clement’s Island in Southern

Maryland from England aboard the Ark and the Dove. They had come at the invitation of the Catholic

Lord Baltimore, who had been granted Maryland by the Protestant King Charles I of England. While

Catholics and Protestants were killing each other in Europe, Lord Baltimore imagined Maryland as a

society where people of different faiths could live together peacefully. This vision was soon

codified in Maryland’s 1649 Act Concerning Religion (also called the “Toleration Act”), which was

the first law in our nation’s history to protect an individual’s right to freedom of conscience.

Maryland’s early history teaches us that, like any freedom, religious liberty requires constant

vigilance and protection, or it will disappear. Maryland’s experiment in religious toleration ended

within a few decades. The colony was placed under royal control, and the Church of England became

the established religion. Discriminatory laws, including the loss of political rights, were enacted

against those who refused to conform. Catholic chapels were closed, and Catholics were restricted

to practicing their faith in their homes. The Catholic community lived under these conditions until

the American Revolution.

5 Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations, Statement, January 24, 2012.

By the end of the 18th century, our nation’s founders embraced freedom of religion as an essential

condition of a free and democratic society. James Madison, often called the Father of the

Constitution, described conscience as “the most sacred of all property.”6 He wrote that “the

Religion then of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man; and it is

the right of every man to exercise it as these may dictate.”7 George Washington wrote that “the

establishment of Civil and Religious Liberty was the Motive that induced me to the field of

battle.”8 Thomas Jefferson assured the Ursuline Sisters—who had been serving a mostly non- Catholic

population by running a hospital, an orphanage, and schools in Louisiana since 1727— that the

principles of the Constitution were a “sure guarantee” that their ministry would be free “to govern

itself according to its own voluntary rules, without interference from the civil authority.”9

It is therefore fitting that when the Bill of Rights was ratified, religious freedom had the

distinction of being the First Amendment. Religious liberty is indeed the first liberty. The First

Amendment guarantees that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or

prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

Recently, in a unanimous Supreme Court judgment affirming the importance of that first freedom, the

Chief Justice of the United States explained that religious liberty is not just the first freedom

for Americans; rather it is the first in the history of democratic freedom, tracing its origins

back the first clauses of the Magna Carta of 1215 and beyond. In a telling example, Chief Justice

Roberts illustrated our history of religious liberty in light of a Catholic issue decided

upon by James Madison, who guided the Bill of Rights through Congress and is known as the architect

of the First Amendment:

[In 1806] John Carroll, the first Catholic bishop in the United States, solicited the Executive’s

opinion on who should be appointed to direct the affairs of the Catholic Church in the territory

newly acquired by the Louisiana Purchase. After consulting with President Jefferson, then-Secretary

of State James Madison responded that the selection of church “functionaries” was an “entirely

ecclesiastical” matter left to the Church’s own judgment. The “scrupulous policy of the

Constitution in guarding against a political interference with religious affairs,” Madison

explained, prevented the Government from

rendering an opinion on the “selection of ecclesiastical individuals.”10

6 James Madison, “Property,” March 29, 1792, in The Founding Fathers, eds. Philip B. Kurland and

Ralph Lerner (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1987), accessed March 27, 2012.

http://press- pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/v1ch16s23.html.

7 James Madison, “Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessment,” June 20, 1785, in The

Founding

Fathers, accessed March 27, 2012.

http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/amendI_religions43.html.

8 Michael Novak and Jana Novak, Washington’s God, 2006.

9 Anson Phelps Stokes, Church and State in the United States (Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1950),

678.

10 Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, 565 U.S.     _, 132 S. Ct. 694,

703 (2012).

That is our American heritage, our most cherished freedom. It is the first freedom because if we

are not free in our conscience and our practice of religion, all other freedoms are fragile. If

citizens are not free in their own consciences, how can they be free in relation to others, or to

the state? If our obligations and duties to God are impeded, or even worse, contradicted by the

government, then we can no longer claim to be a land of the free, and a beacon of hope for the

world.

Our Christian Teaching

During the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, Americans shone the light of the Gospel on

a dark history of slavery, segregation, and racial bigotry. The civil rights movement was an

essentially religious movement, a call to awaken consciences, not only an appeal to the

Constitution for America to honor its heritage of liberty.

In his famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail” in 1963, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. boldly said, “The

goal of America is freedom.” As a Christian pastor, he argued that to call America to the full

measure of that freedom was the specific contribution Christians are obliged to make. He rooted his

legal and constitutional arguments about justice in the long Christian tradition:

I would agree with Saint Augustine that “An unjust law is no law at all.” Now what is the

difference between the two? How does one determine when a law is just or unjust? A just law is a

man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is

out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of Saint

Thomas Aquinas, an unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law.11

It is a sobering thing to contemplate our government enacting an unjust law. An unjust law cannot

be obeyed. In the face of an unjust law, an accommodation is not to be sought, especially by

resorting to equivocal words and deceptive practices. If we face today the prospect of unjust laws,

then Catholics in America, in solidarity with our fellow citizens, must have the courage not to

obey them. No American desires this. No Catholic welcomes it. But if it should fall upon us, we

must discharge it as a duty of citizenship and an obligation of faith.

It is essential to understand the distinction between conscientious objection and an unjust law.

Conscientious objection permits some relief to those who object to a just law for reasons of

conscience—conscription being the most well-known example. An unjust law is “no law at all.” It

cannot be obeyed, and therefore one does not seek relief from it, but rather its repeal.

11 Martin Luther King Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” April 16, 1963.

The Christian church does not ask for special treatment, simply the rights of religious freedom for

all citizens. Rev. King also explained that the church is neither the master nor the servant of the

state, but its conscience, guide, and critic.

As Catholics, we know that our history has shadows too in terms of religious liberty, when we did

not extend to others the proper respect for this first freedom. But the teaching of the Church is

absolutely clear about religious liberty:

The human person has a right to religious freedom. This freedom means that all men are to be immune

from coercion on the part of individuals or of social groups and of any human power, in such wise

that in matters religious no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs …

whether privately or publicly, whether alone or in association with others, within due limits. . .

. This right of the human person to religious freedom is to be recognized in the constitutional law

whereby society is governed. Thus it

is to become a civil right.12

As Catholics, we are obliged to defend the right to religious liberty for ourselves and for others.

We are happily joined in this by our fellow Christians and believers of other faiths.

A recent letter to President Obama from some sixty religious leaders, including Christians of many

denominations and Jews, argued that “it is emphatically not only Catholics who deeply object to the

requirement that health plans they purchase must provide coverage of contraceptives that include

some that are abortifacients.”13

More comprehensively, a theologically rich and politically prudent declaration from Evangelicals

and Catholics Together made a powerful case for greater vigilance in defense of religious freedom,

precisely as a united witness animated by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.14 Their declaration makes it

clear that as Christians of various traditions we object to a “naked public square,” stripped of

religious arguments and religious believers. We do not seek a “sacred public square” either, which

gives special privileges and benefits to religious citizens. Rather, we seek a civil public square,

where all citizens can make their contribution to the common good. At our

best, we might call this an American public square.

The Lord Jesus came to liberate us from the dominion of sin. Political liberties are one part of

that liberation, and religious liberty is the first of those liberties. Together with our fellow

Christians, joined by our Jewish brethren, and in partnership with Americans of other religious

12 Second Vatican Council, Declaration on Religious Liberty (Dignitatis Humanae), no. 2, in The

Documents of

Vatican II, ed. Walter M. Abbott (New York: Guild Press, 1966).

13 Letter from Leith Anderson et al. to President Obama, December 21, 2011 (available at

www.becketfund.org/wp- content/uploads/2011/12/To-President-NonCatholics-RelExemptionSigned.pdf).

14 Evangelicals and Catholics Together, “In Defense of Religious Freedom,” First Things, March

2012.

traditions, we affirm that our faith requires us to defend the religious liberty granted us by God,

and protected in our Constitution.

Martyrs Around the World

In this statement, as bishops of the United States, we are addressing ourselves to the situation we

find here at home. At the same time, we are sadly aware that religious liberty in many other parts

of the world is in much greater peril. Our obligation at home is to defend religious liberty

robustly, but we cannot overlook the much graver plight that religious believers, most of them

Christian, face around the world. The age of martyrdom has not passed. Assassinations, bombings of

churches, torching of orphanages—these are only the most violent attacks

Christians have suffered because of their faith in Jesus Christ. More systematic denials of basic

human rights are found in the laws of several countries, and also in acts of persecution by

adherents of other faiths.

If religious liberty is eroded here at home, American defense of religious liberty abroad is less

credible. And one common threat, spanning both the international and domestic arenas, is

the tendency to reduce the freedom of religion to the mere freedom of worship. Therefore, it is

our task to strengthen religious liberty at home, in this and other respects, so that we might

defend it more vigorously abroad. To that end, American foreign policy, as well as the vast

international network of Catholic agencies, should make the promotion of religious liberty an

ongoing and urgent priority.

“All the Energies the Catholic Community Can Muster”

What we ask is nothing more than that our God-given right to religious liberty be respected. We ask

nothing less than that the Constitution and laws of the United States, which recognize that right,

be respected.

In insisting that our liberties as Americans be respected, we know as bishops that what our Holy

Father said is true. This work belongs to “an engaged, articulate and well-formed Catholic laity

endowed with a strong critical sense vis-à-vis the dominant culture.”

As bishops we seek to bring the light of the Gospel to our public life, but the work of politics is

properly that of committed and courageous lay Catholics. We exhort them to be both engaged and

articulate in insisting that as Catholics and as Americans we do not have to choose between the

two. There is an urgent need for the lay faithful, in cooperation with Christians, Jews, and

others, to impress upon our elected representatives the importance of continued protection of

religious liberty in a free society.

We address a particular word to those holding public office. It is your noble task to govern for

the common good. It does not serve the common good to treat the good works of religious believers

as a threat to our common life; to the contrary, they are essential to its proper functioning. It

is also your task to protect and defend those fundamental liberties guaranteed by the Bill of

Rights. This ought not to be a partisan issue. The Constitution is not for Democrats or Republicans

or Independents. It is for all of us, and a great nonpartisan effort should be led by our elected

representatives to ensure that it remains so.

We recognize that a special responsibility belongs to those Catholics who are responsible for our

impressive array of hospitals, clinics, universities, colleges, schools, adoption agencies,

overseas development projects, and social service agencies that provide assistance to the poor, the

hungry, immigrants, and those faced with crisis pregnancies. You do the work that the

Gospel mandates that we do. It is you who may be forced to choose between the good works we do by

faith, and fidelity to that faith itself. We encourage you to hold firm, to stand fast, and to

insist upon what belongs to you by right as Catholics and Americans. Our country deserves the best

we have to offer, including our resistance to violations of our first freedom.

To our priests, especially those who have responsibility for parishes, university chaplaincies, and

high schools, we ask for a catechesis on religious liberty suited to the souls in your care. As

bishops we can provide guidance to assist you, but the courage and zeal for this task cannot be

obtained from another—it must be rooted in your own concern for your flock and nourished by the

graces you received at your ordination.

Catechesis on religious liberty is not the work of priests alone. The Catholic Church in America is

blessed with an immense number of writers, producers, artists, publishers, filmmakers, and bloggers

employing all the means of communications—both old and new media—to expound and teach the faith.

They too have a critical role in this great struggle for religious liberty. We call upon them to

use their skills and talents in defense of our first freedom.

Finally to our brother bishops, let us exhort each other with fraternal charity to be bold, clear,

and insistent in warning against threats to the rights of our people. Let us attempt to be the

“conscience of the state,” to use Rev. King’s words. In the aftermath of the decision on

contraceptive and sterilization mandates, many spoke out forcefully. As one example, the words of

one of our most senior brothers, Cardinal Roger Mahony, thirty-five years a bishop and recently

retired after twenty-five years as archbishop of Los Angeles, provide a model for us here: “I

cannot imagine a more direct and frontal attack on freedom of conscience than this ruling today.

This decision must be fought against with all the energies the Catholic community

can muster.”15

15 Cardinal Roger Mahony, “Federal Government Mandate for Contraceptive/Sterilization Coverage,”

Cardinal Roger Mahony Blogs L.A. (blog), January 20, 2012,

cardinalrogermahonyblogsla.blogspot.com/2012/01/federal- government-mandate-for.html.

A Fortnight for Freedom

In particular, we recommend to our brother bishops that we focus “all the energies the Catholic

community can muster” in a special way this coming summer. As pastors of the flock, our privileged

task is to lead the Christian faithful in prayer.

Both our civil year and liturgical year point us on various occasions to our heritage of freedom.

This year, we propose a special “fortnight for freedom,” in which bishops in their own dioceses

might arrange special events to highlight the importance of defending our first freedom. Our

Catholic institutions also could be encouraged to do the same, especially in cooperation with other

Christians, Jews, people of other faiths, and indeed, all who wish to defend our most cherished

freedom.

We suggest that the fourteen days from June 21—the vigil of the Feasts of St. John Fisher and St.

Thomas More—to July 4, Independence Day, be dedicated to this “fortnight for freedom”—a great hymn

of prayer for our country. Our liturgical calendar celebrates a series of great martyrs who

remained faithful in the face of persecution by political power—St. John

Fisher and St. Thomas More, St. John the Baptist, SS. Peter and Paul, and the First Martyrs of the

Church of Rome. Culminating on Independence Day, this special period of prayer, study, catechesis,

and public action would emphasize both our Christian and American heritage of liberty. Dioceses and

parishes around the country could choose a date in that period for special events that would

constitute a great national campaign of teaching and witness for religious liberty.

In addition to this summer’s observance, we also urge that the Solemnity of Christ the King—a feast

born out of resistance to totalitarian incursions against religious liberty—be a day specifically

employed by bishops and priests to preach about religious liberty, both here and abroad.

To all our fellow Catholics, we urge an intensification of your prayers and fasting for a new birth

of freedom in our beloved country. We invite you to join us in an urgent prayer for religious

liberty.

Almighty God, Father of all nations,

For freedom you have set us free in Christ Jesus (Gal 5:1). We praise and bless you for the gift of

religious liberty,

the foundation of human rights, justice, and the common good.

Grant to our leaders the wisdom to protect and promote our liberties;

By your grace may we have the courage to defend them, for ourselves and for all those who live in

this blessed land.

We ask this through the intercession of Mary Immaculate, our patroness,

and in the name of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, with whom you

live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Acknowledgments

Excerpts from The Documents of Vatican II, Walter M. Abbott, SJ, General Editor, copyright © 1966

by

America Press, Inc. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

Excerpt from Pope Benedict XVI, Ad limina address to bishops of the United States, January 19,

2012, copyright © 2012, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Vatican City. Used with permission. All rights

reserved.

Copyright © 2012, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, DC. All rights

reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,

electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and

retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright holder.

The document Our First, Most Cherished Liberty: A Statement on Religious Liberty, was developed by

the Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

(USCCB). It was approved by the Administrative Committee of the USCCB at its March 2012 meeting as

a statement of the Committee and has been authorized for publication by the undersigned.

Msgr. Ronny E. Jenkins, JCD General Secretary, USCCB

Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty

Chairman

Most Rev. William E. Lori, Archbishop-designate of Baltimore

Bishop Members

Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington

Most Rev. Charles J. Chaput, OFM Cap, Archbishop of Philadelphia

Most Rev. Wilton D. Gregory, Archbishop of Atlanta

Most Rev. John C. Nienstedt, Archbishop of St. Paul–Minneapolis

Most Rev. Thomas J. Rodi, Archbishop of Mobile

Most Rev. J. Peter Sartain, Archbishop of Seattle

Most Rev. John O. Barres, Bishop of Allentown Most Rev. Daniel E. Flores, Bishop of Brownsville

Most Rev. Thomas J. Olmsted, Bishop of Phoenix

Most Rev. Thomas J. Paprocki, Bishop of Springfield, IL

Bishop Consultants

Most Rev. José H. Gomez, Archbishop of Los Angeles

Most Rev. Stephen E. Blaire, Bishop of Stockton

Most Rev. Joseph P. McFadden, Bishop of Harrisburg

Most Rev. Richard E. Pates, Bishop of Des Moines

Most Rev. Kevin C. Rhoades, Bishop of Fort Wayne–South Bend

JFM ARCHIVES - NORM HALVORSEN

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 08:04:00 -0700

JFM ARCHIVES - BOB BECKNELL

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 07:58:00 -0700

JFM ARCHIVES - ART SUNDRY

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 07:50:00 -0700

JFM ARCHIVES - CO-INVENTOR JAMES J MIKULSKI RESUME

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 07:40:00 -0700

JFM ARCHIVES - CELL PHONE CASE STUDY - MOTOROLA DECISION PROCESS

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 07:30:00 -0700

USA DEBT > EU DEBT

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 21:34:00 -0700

America's Debt Is Greater than Entire Eurozone's (and U.K.'s) Combined Debt

The Republican side of the Senate Budget Committee will release this chart later today, clearly showing that America's debt is greater than the combined debt of the entire Eurozone and the U.K.:

As the chart shows, America's debt is currently $15.1 trillion, while the Eurozone (which includes France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, the U.K., and others) has a combined debt of $12.7 trillion. (All dollar amounts are in U.S. dollars, and the data refers to closing 2011 numbers.)

The Eurozone is larger than the United States, so America's debt per capita also exceeds the Eurozone's. According to the Census Bureau, the U.S. has a population of 313 million, whereas the Eurozone has a population in excess of 331 million.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney frequently warns that the United States should not become like Greece. "We need to rein in government and unleash the extraordinary vitality and creativity of the American people," Romney wrote in a December op-ed. "We must not wait to suffer a crisis like Greece's or Portugal's to right the ship of state."

But with charts like this, that formulation might already be out of date, considering the enormity of America's debt burden.

JFM ARCHIVES - LETTER TO MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENT

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 20:49:00 -0700

January 9, 2008

Re: Cell Phone Research Inquiry for Middle School Student

Ava, Your Grandpa, Chuck Lynk, managed one of those labs, the Communications Research Lab was listed as a co-inventor of the first cell phone

You have put together an excellent set of questions on the history of the cell phone! You could almost write a book in answering the first six of them they are so comprehensive. Rather than answering them in the order you asked them let me try to sketch out some of the ideas behind cellular telephone and its history that, I hope, will serve your needs. (I will try to keep in mind that the audience is very talented and gifted middle school students – not engineers.)

First of all there is a cellular radiotelephone SYSTEM in which the cellular PHONE or HANDSET operates. The PHONE is what everyone sees and touches and uses so it is most often identified with cellular telephony. But it is the SYSTEM, the organization of the base sites (radio transmitters, receivers, antennas), the controllers and switches, and the operating logic behind the scenes that gives the system its CELLULAR identification and makes it possible for the PHONE to work. The SYSTEM also defines what the PHONE must do and what it must be like. There are or have been many cellular systems around the world (there are currently two major systems in the U.S., different from each other and requiring different phone designs in each one.)

The inspiration for the invention of the cellular SYSTEM was necessity. (Remember the old saying “Necessity is the mother of invention”.) The U.S. and other countries in the world were finding that they did not have enough RADIO SPECTRUM or CHANNELS available to meet the projected future need for mobile telephone service and other services called Land Mobile Radio Services, LMRS. (LMRS generally serves police, fire departments, utilities and private business usage.) In about 1969 or 1970 the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) which regulates the use of spectrum in the U.S. started an inquiry called Docket 18262 that would make available 115 MHZ of spectrum they would reassign from television service for the use of LMRS and public radio telephone service. That’s about 20 television channels taken from the high end of the television band. While that was more spectrum than these two services already had, it was seen that it would eventually prove to be inadequate if used in the same way as in the past. So the FCC asked industry to study and propose new techniques to improve the efficiency of the use of that spectrum and propose new systems. Two major participants in that planning and in putting forward proposals were AT&T (at that time the only telephone system in the U.S. – a private monopoly) and Motorola Inc. (a private company very much involved in LMRS). The FCC did not say how they would divide that 115 MHz of spectrum between LMRS and telephone and that created some differences of opinion and some competition between AT&T and Motorola because their primary interests were in different areas. That competition made the years from 1969 through 1985 very interesting!

The invention of the cellular telephone SYSTEM can best be described as an evolution. Think of that 115 MHz of spectrum as a loaf of bread that has to be shared between all
the people who want some of it. You can slice the bread thinner and thinner as more users come forward (that is called using narrower channels per user); you can share the slices of bread in some way (something called trunking); and you might be clever and think of ways to “reuse” the loaf – sort of like creating duplicate copies of it. That last point is the really unique feature of cellular systems – you figure a way to use some of those channels in one location (a cell) and then reuse those same channels in another location (another cell) some distance away. The trick is that the distance between those same channels must be large enough to keep usage in the first cell from interfering with usage in the other. (If you and another classmate each try to have a conversation with a friend while sitting next to each other you will both hear both conversations. However, if the two of you and your friends go to opposite ends of a room and carry on the conversation you will not “interfere” with each other – you will each be reusing the audio “spectrum” in different “cells” – and your conversations will be private.)

That’s the basic idea behind a cellular radiotelephone SYSTEM. I say it evolved because television channels and all radio systems had used that principle for years. There are TV channels 2, 5, 7, etc. in Chicago, which I will assume, are also used in Dallas – Fort Worth. The difference is that those “cells” are very large in area, covering an entire metropolitan area – over 50 miles in radius – and they are used in widely separated cities. To make cellular radio telephone systems work and to meet all the projected demand in the future those cells could be no more than 5 miles in radius and be capable of being reduced in size through division of the cells to smaller and smaller radii, as small as one-half mile or less. This meant that the height of the antenna towers would have to be 100 feet or less (television antennas are often on towers or buildings over 1000 feet high). A city would thus be covered by a honeycomb of small cells, much like a pattern of small tiles covers a large floor. In fact, the picture of siided tiles, hexagons, which was often found in flooring or in the honeycomb hive of bees, was used as the planning model for cellular coverage. A channel, which was used in one cell of one-mile radius, might be reused in another cell less than 5 miles away. As the size of the cell was reduced, to one-half mile say, the distance to the first reuse of that channel was also reduced, to less than 2.5 miles. That’s a lot closer together than is the case with TV channels and allows for reuse of the same channel many times in a city.

This ability to reuse channels very often over a metropolitan area satisfying all the demand for usage is what made the proposals meet the FCC’s objectives. It also meant that there would have to be techniques developed in the SYSTEM and the HANDSET or PHONE to LOCATE the phone in a particular cell, to SIGNAL that PHONE information telling it where it was and what channel to use, to HANDOFF that phone to another cell and another channel as it moved out of range of the cell in which it began its call, and to CONTROL the operation of the entire process. Engineers at AT&T and at Motorola worked on these problems along with the definition of the basic radio parameters and over a period of many years came up with solutions. While I said all of this started in 1969 the motto at Motorola at that time was “stay alive ‘til ‘85”. This was because over that long period of time a great deal of investment had to be made to develop all of the system and find a large number of paying customers. It wasn’t until 1983 that the FCC made all of its decisions and operating systems, and paying customers could come on line.

AT&T was a very large monopoly and the Bell Telephone Laboratories was its engineering research and development organization. Motorola was a much smaller business – AT&T’s annual profits were bigger than Motorola’s annual sales. They were at least 20 times as large. At Motorola the work was started in what was then the Applied Research Labs of the Communications Division. Your Grandpa, Chuck Lynk, managed one of those labs, the Communications Research Lab, and I reported to him. Another engineer reporting to him was Don Linder. While I had responsibility for the SYSTEMS aspects of the development, Don had responsibility for the development of the first PORTABLE PHONE. That was the biggest difference between AT&T’s approach and that of Motorola. AT&T kept talking about a MOBILE PHONE, one that would be as big as a suitcase, fit in the trunk of a car, and is used only in the car. Motorola’s experience in LMRS showed that users wanted to use a phone anywhere, at any time; the SYSTEM would have to accommodate low-power, hand-held, lightweight cellular PORTABLE PHONES. At a time when your Grandpa and I were involved in demonstrating all of our system development to the FCC and Congressional staff in Washington, DC (at a place called the Watergate – just after it had made news for a political trick that eventually brought an end to Richard Nixon’s presidency) two of Motorola’s top managers reached the decision that Motorola would have to demonstrate a portable system to the FCC to convince them of our point of view.

That event led to a very concentrated activity focused on the development of a PORTABLE RADIO TELEPHONE SYSTEM proposal and of the PORTABLE PHONE.
Motorola concentrated that activity into roughly a five-month period – a very demanding schedule. It ended with a filing with the FCC for a portable cellular telephone system, which we called Dyna.T.A.C., using New York City as the model for its implementation, and a demonstration of a portable phone in New York in the spring of 1972. While that phone would eventually not work in any of the actual cellular systems developed over the next dozen years, it captured the attention and the imagination of everyone, especially the FCC. The system planning and the filing were an area where I had the major role. The development of that phone and the team of Motorola engineers led by Don Linder who worked so hard on its creation were honored this past year as one of the “unheralded” engineering events that has affected our lives. Motorola also filed a patent application that became U.S. Patent #3,906,166 for a “Radio Telephone System” issued on September 16, 1975, that was one of the basic methods of accommodating portable cellular phones. Inventors’ names on patents are always listed alphabetically so the patent is referred to as “Cooper, et al”. One of the top executives that urged us to develop this system was Marty Cooper and his name went to the top of the list – the other executive was John Mitchell and his name is in the middle of the list. Your Grandpa’s name, Charles Lynk, and mine, James Mikulski, are on that list of inventors. We sure did a lot of important work. Motorola engineers continued to work on the development of portable cellular phones and systems for use throughout the world over the next 25 to 30 years and continue to do that even today.

James J. Mikulski, co-inventor of the first cell phone April 3, 1973

JFM ARCHIVES - SIZE, COST HAVE DROPPED, USAGE SOARED

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 20:36:00 -0700

JFM ARCHIVES - CALL HIM (COOPER) DAD

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 20:19:00 -0700

JFM ARCHIVES - KEVIN MITCHELL LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 19:59:00 -0700

JFM ARCHIVES - THE FIRST CELL PHONE APRIL 3 1973

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 19:53:00 -0700

JFM ARCHIVES - DOCTORAL DEGREE IWC

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 19:15:00 -0700

IRS ENFORCE OBAMACARE

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 07:15:00 -0700

White House has diverted $500M to IRS to implement healthcare law By Sam Baker - 04/09/12 05:15 AM ET Tweet

The Obama administration is quietly diverting roughly $500 million to the IRS to help implement the president�s healthcare law.

The money is only part of the IRS�s total implementation spending, and it is being provided outside the normal appropriations process. The tax agency is responsible for several key provisions of the new law, including the unpopular individual mandate.

Republican lawmakers have tried to cut off funding to implement the healthcare law, at least until after the Supreme Court decides whether to strike it down. That ruling is expected by June, and oral arguments last week indicated the justices might well overturn at least the individual mandate, if not the whole law.

�While President Obama and his Senate allies continue to spend more tax dollars implementing an unpopular and unworkable law that may very well be struck down as unconstitutional in a matter of months, I�ll continue to stand with the American people who want to repeal this law and replace it with something that will actually address the cost of healthcare,� said Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.), who chairs the House Appropriations subcommittee for healthcare and is in a closely contested Senate race this year.

The Obama administration has plowed ahead despite the legal and political challenges.

It has moved aggressively to get important policies in place. And, according to a review of budget documents and figures provided by congressional staff, the administration is also burning through implementation funding provided in the healthcare law.

More from The Hill � Another Obama health law faces court challenge � Inviting Bill Clinton on campaign carries risk, reward for Obama � Juan Williams: Four cases will determine high court�s standing � RNC video previews strategy against Obama �hypocrisy� � NRA, Club for Growth attack primary-threatened Sen. Lugar � The man who wants to be the Marco Rubio of Texas � DNC chairwoman says GOP ‘rooting for economic failure’

The law contains dozens of targeted appropriations to implement specific provisions. It also gave the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) a $1 billion implementation fund, to use as it sees fit. Republicans have called it a �slush fund.�

HHS plans to drain the entire fund by September � before the presidential election, and more than a year before most of the healthcare law takes effect. Roughly half of that money will ultimately go to the IRS.

HHS has transferred almost $200 million to the IRS over the past two years and plans to transfer more than $300 million this year, according to figures provided by a congressional aide.

The Government Accountability Office has said the transfers are perfectly legal and consistent with how agencies have used general implementation funds in the past. The $1 billion fund was set aside for �federal� implementation activities, the GAO said, and can therefore be used by any agency � not just HHS, where the money is housed.

Still, significant transfers to the IRS and other agencies leave less money for HHS, and the department needs to draw on the $1 billion fund for some of its biggest tasks.

The healthcare law directs HHS to set up a federal insurance exchange � a new marketplace for individuals and small businesses to buy coverage � in any state that doesn�t establish its own. But it didn�t provide any money for the federal exchange, forcing HHS to cobble together funding by using some of the $1 billion fund and steering money away from other accounts.

The transfers also allow the IRS to make the healthcare law a smaller part of its public budget figures. For example, the tax agency requested $8 million next year to implement the individual mandate, and said the money would not pay for any new employees.

An IRS spokeswoman would not say how much money has been spent so far implementing the individual mandate.

Republicans charged during the legislative debate over healthcare that the IRS would be hiring hundreds of new agents to enforce the mandate and throwing people in jail because they don�t have insurance.

However, the mandate is just one part of the IRS�s responsibilities.

The healthcare law includes a slew of new taxes and fees, some of which are already in effect. The tax agency wants to hire more than 300 new employees next year to cover those tax changes, such as the new fees on drug companies and insurance policies.

The IRS will also administer the most expensive piece of the new law � subsidies to help low-income people pay for insurance, which are structured as tax credits. The agency asked Congress to fund another 537 new employees dedicated to administering the new subsidies.

The Republican-led House last year passed an amendment, 246-182, sponsored by Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.) that would have prevented the IRS from hiring new personnel or initiating any other measures to mandate that people purchase health insurance. The measure, strongly opposed by the Obama administration, was subsequently dropped from a larger bill that averted a government shutdown. Tweet View Comments

GLOBAL WARMING REBUTTAL BY SKEPTICS

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 17:02:00 -0700

In the Climate Casino: An Exchange

this article warms the cockles of my heart. William Nordhaus, Economics Professor, Yale argues in favor of global warming

16 experts, among 300 distinguished professors emeritus of physics and related temperature fields refute his argument.

joe, see below, more comments from Brophy later
april 26, 2012
Roger W. Cohen, William Happer, and Richard Lindzen, reply by William D. Nordhaus

In response to:

Why the Global Warming Skeptics Are Wrong from the March 22, 2012 issue

To the Editors:

In the March 22, 2012, issue of The New York Review, William Nordhaus presents his opinion on why global warming skeptics in general, and the sixteen scientists and engineers who wrote two Wall Street Journal Op Eds¹ in particular, are “wrong.” We are three of those sixteen authors, and we respond here to Professor Nordhaus.

Professor Nordhaus’s essay contains six points.

Victoria and Albert Museum, London/Art Resource

Thomas Rowlandson: The Hazard Room, 1792

The first point contorts the obvious fact that there has been no statistically significant warming for about the past fifteen years into a claim that we did not make: that there has been no warming over the past two centuries. Professor Nordhaus proceeds to confuse this with the issue of attribution, i.e., the determination of what caused the warming. Attribution is a distinctly different matter. While there is much to contest in the published temperature records, there is general acceptance that there has been a net increase in global mean temperature similar to that shown in Professor Nordhaus’s first graph.

The prior two- to three-hundred-year period was much cooler and is known as the Little Ice Age, and, of course, a longer record would have shown still-earlier periods as warm or warmer than the present. The observation that the last few years include some of the warmest years on record no more implies future warming than record stock market highs imply a steadily rising future market. The fact that warming has greatly slowed does imply that, at the least, there are other processes that are currently competitive with the impact of steadily increasing greenhouse gases.

The second point concerns our observation that current computer climate models appear to exaggerate warming due to CO2. This bears on the critical issue of the climate sensitivity, the temperature rise for a doubling of atmospheric CO2. Professor Nordhaus presents two graphs from the IPCC 2007 report² that purport to show that without anthropogenic emissions, models successfully simulate the global mean temperature until about 1970 but cannot do so thereafter. This is the basis for the IPCC’s claim that it is likely that most of the warming over the past fifty years is due to man’s emissions. Such a procedure absolutely requires that the model include correctly all other sources of variability. However, the failure of the models to predict the hiatus in warming over the past fifteen years is acknowledged to indicate that this condition has not been met.³ Furthermore there is the embarrassing fact that the models do not reproduce the 1910–1940 warming, which is nearly identical to the 1970–2000 warming but occurred before man’s emissions became large enough to be considered important.

With respect to climate sensitivity, it should be noted that the IPCC referred to all of man’s emissions rather than just CO2. The reason is that without the cooling effect of aerosols formed from certain emissions, the models significantly overpredict warming from greenhouse gases. However, each model needed a different value for the aerosol cancellation.⁴ This lack of consistency means that aerosols were merely an adjustment factor to bring the models into agreement with the historical record, while preserving a high climate sensitivity. Therefore, the claim that the models cannot account for post-1970 warming without including human emissions means nothing scientifically.

The third point concerns our statement that CO2 is not a pollutant, that we were perhaps using a commonsense, dictionary definition of pollutant. The Oxford English Dictionary defines pollutant as “a polluting agent; esp. a noxious or poisonous substance which pollutes the environment.” Professor Nordhaus says, “The contention that CO2 is not a pollutant is a rhetorical device.” Rather he takes a 5–4 Supreme Court decision to be definitive. In fact, the Supreme Court majority did not rule CO2 a pollutant; it merely found that the Clean Air Act’s definition is so broad that CO2 falls under the statute, regardless of the facts of the matter. The concurrence of an economist (Richard Tol) is then taken as confirmation of the existence of specific externalities associated with CO2. We consider such references to be the real “rhetorical devices” because they obscure the key scientific issue: whether this critical component of the earth’s biosphere will cause significant and destructive global warming.

In another rhetorical flourish, Professor Nordhaus’s fourth point misrepresents us as claiming that “skeptical climate sci-entists are living under a reign of terror about their professional and personal livelihoods.” This reductio ad absurdum is inappropriate, but we observe that individuals like climate scientist James Hansen, environmental activist Robert Kennedy Jr., and economist Paul Krugman have characterized critics of climate alarm as “traitors to the planet.” We noted the systematic dismissal of editors who publish peer-reviewed papers questioning climate alarm, as well as the legitimate fears of untenured faculty whose promotions depend on publications and grant support. We note here that editors like Donald Kennedy at the prestigious Science magazine have publically declared their opposition to the publication of papers finding results in opposition to climate dogma.⁵

The Climategate e-mails⁶ specifically describe these tactics, and numerous examples are given in Lindzen (2012.)⁷ While defense of existing paradigms is normal in science, the present situation is clearly pathological in its imposition of conformity. We cannot speak to the situation in economics, but the notion that dissident voices and new theories are encouraged in climate science is downright silly, though Professor Nordhaus is correct to view such encouragement as critical to a healthy science. Unfortunately, the current situation in climate science is far from healthy. Professor Nordhaus contributes to this when he succumbs to the introduction of the false analogy with tobacco, and his call for political leaders to “be extremely vigilant to prevent pollution [sic] of the scientific process by the merchants of doubt” is not atypical of the current situation.

Regarding Professor Nordhaus’s fifth point that there is no evidence that money is at issue, we simply note that funding for climate science has expanded by a factor of 15 since the early 1990s, and that most of this funding would disappear with the absence of alarm. Climate alarmism has expanded into a hundred-billion-dollar industry far broader than just research. Economists are usually sensitive to the incentive structure, so it is curious that the overwhelming incentives to promote climate alarm are not a consideration to Professor Nordhaus. There are no remotely comparable incentives to the contrary position provided by the industries that he claims would be harmed by the policies he advocates.

In his sixth point, Professor Nordhaus says that we did not properly represent his results when we said, “Nearly the highest benefit-to-cost ratio is achieved for a policy that allows 50 more years of economic growth unimpeded by greenhouse gas controls.” He objects to our reference to this ratio instead of net benefits as a metric for comparing policies: “Elementary cost- benefit and business economics teach that [benefit-to-cost ratio] is an incorrect criterion for selecting investments or policies.” Yet values of calculated benefit-to-cost ratios are highlighted in the key summary Table 5-3 of his book A Question of Balance.⁸ Indeed, this ratio is often used for guidance in the real world of business investment. One reason is that it can be relatively insensitive to the choice of discount rate and therefore may give more robust insights, whereas net benefits may be extremely sensitive to this choice (more on this below). Both benefit-to-cost and net benefits have their place.

But it matters little which metric one uses. The difference between Professor Nordhaus’s optimal carbon tax policy and a fifty-year delay policy is insignificant economically or climatologically in view of major uncertainties in (1) future economic growth (including reductions in carbon emissions intensity); (2) the physical science (e.g., the climate sensitivity); (3) future positive and negative environmental impacts (e.g., the economic “damage function”); (4) the evaluation of long-term economic costs and benefits (e.g., the discount rate); and (5) the international political process (e.g., the impact of less than full participation).

Professor Nordhaus computes a $0.94 trillion difference between the net benefits of the two policies, just 4 percent of the computed maximum $22.55 trillion in supposed environmental damage. Results are given to three or four numerical significant figures. Yet we do not know the underlying driver for all of this, the climate sensitivity, to even one significant figure.

This relatively small difference, indeed whether it is positive or negative, depends critically on factors such as the five listed above, in particular the value of the climate sensitivity. Professor Nordhaus chooses 3.0 degrees C for doubling of CO2,⁹ a value that empirical evidence suggests is greatly exaggerated.¹⁰ To illustrate the point, for a climate sensitivity of 1.0 degree, a value suggested by a number of empirical studies, Professor Nordhaus’s “DICE” model calculates that the optimum policy’s net benefits drop from about $3 trillion to a net cost of about $1 trillion, and the benefit-to-cost ratio plunges from 2.4 to 0.5. The fifty-year-delay policy is then greatly preferred.

We are asked to take the computed difference between the two policies seriously despite Professor Nordhaus’s finding¹¹ that the optimal policy ultimately “saves” only about 0.1 degree C in global warming relative to the fifty-year delay. Putting this in perspective, 0.1 degree is only about 10 percent of the observed warming since 1850 and is a typical year-to-year fluctuation. This tiny difference is predicted by the DICE model to occur fifty years to two centuries in the future, and yet climate models have failed the test of prediction over twenty years. Furthermore, as outlined in our Op Eds, the strong negative environmental impacts assumed in the DICE model’s economic damage function are acknowledged to be extremely uncertain. There exist potential net benefits of increased atmospheric CO2, especially for a small climate sensitivity (e.g., in agricultural and timber productivity).¹²

We are not the first to note that Professor Nordhaus’s optimal carbon tax is hardly distinguishable from a policy of delay. For example, economist Clive Hamilton said in an essay entitled “Nordhaus’ Carbon Tax: An Excuse to Do Nothing?”¹³ written shortly after publication of Professor Nordhaus’s book, “For some of those who want no action, arguing for a carbon tax has become the tactic du jour.” Advocates such as Dr. Hamilton and Sir Nicholas Stern favor a discount rate far below anything familiar in a market economy, for to do otherwise means that (per Hamilton) “the interests of future generations disappear from the analysis.” This, along with wildly exaggerated climate damage scenarios, is needed to justify aggressive short-term interventions such as the Al Gore or Stern proposals.¹⁴ Since calculated net benefit results for a two-hundred-year horizon are extremely sensitive to the choice of a discount rate, the debate over the discount rate is far more than technical.

Thus, when one considers the nature and magnitude of uncertainties in the climate sensitivity, the economic damage function, and the discount rate, Professor Nordhaus’s defense of a difference in policies that is tiny compared to these uncertainties is difficult to understand.

The larger point here is that uncertainties in the physical science and the economic science need to be properly considered. As suggested above, a key uncertainty in the economic analysis can be treated by examining the economic impact of realistic values of the climate sensitivity. We have seen that a likely small climate sensitivity turns the optimum policy economic values sharply negative. Mother Nature continues to tell us that the climate sensitivity is likely to be below the range considered by Professor Nordhaus.¹⁵ This is not surprising because his choices of its most likely value and its statistical “spread” were strongly influenced by a suite of climate models that have exaggerated past warming and that share common problems. These considerations make Professor Nordhaus’s option of a fifty-year delay the wisest policy choice.

Roger W. Cohen
Fellow, American Physical Society.
He receives no funding and declares no conflict of interest.

William Happer
Professor of Physics, Princeton University.
His research is supported by the United States Air Force Office of Scientific Research.
He declares no conflict of interest.

Richard Lindzen
Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, MIT.
His research has been supported by grants from the NSF, NASA, and the DOE.
He currently has no research funding and declares no conflict of interest.

William Nordhaus replies:

In reading the letter from Roger Cohen, William Happer, and Richard Lindzen (CHL), I have the sense of walking into a barroom brawl. They defend the article by sixteen scientists in The Wall Street Journal by firing a fusillade of complaints at everyone in sight, including Science editor Donald Kennedy, climate scientists with hacked e-mails, columnist Paul Krugman, biologist Paul Ehrlich, activist Robert Kennedy Jr., economist Nicholas Stern, and even former Vice President Al Gore.

However, when all the shooting has stopped and you look up from behind the table, what you see can be summarized in one central point. They argue that global warming is full of uncertainties, but its dangers are being systematically exaggerated by climate scientists. I will review the key issues in this response.

CHL begin by agreeing that global temperatures have in fact risen over the last century. So we have cleared at least one of the hurdles raised by climate-change skeptics.

They asserted in their original article that temperatures have declined over the last decade. In my article I pointed out that, because the year-to-year movements in temperature are so volatile, declines over a decade contain little information. Here is a useful way to see this point: we have a reading of average global temperature from 1880 to 2011 (shown in the figure of my article). Take the ten-year change in temperature for each of the 122 years for which we can make that calculation. Of those, forty-one show declines. In other words, if we were to pick a year at random, the chance is one in three that the ten-year change would be negative. Short-term movements in such volatile series do not provide information about long-term trends.^a

As a final comment on their discussion, it has a stale quality of people repeating ancient arguments that do not reflect the current state of climate science. Climate scientists have moved way beyond global mean temperature in looking for evidence of human-caused climate change. Scientists have found several indicators that point to human-caused warming, including melting of glaciers and ice sheets, ocean heat content, rainfall patterns, atmospheric moisture, river runoff, stratospheric cooling, and the extent of Arctic sea ice. Those who look only at global temperature trends are like investigators using only eyewitness reports and ignoring fingerprints and DNA-based evidence.

The second point in CHL’s response involves climate modeling. I noted that the climate models reviewed by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) showed that temperature trends in the last century could not be explained on the basis of natural forces (such as volcanic eruptions) alone. The IPCC indicated that the long-term rise in global temperatures over the last century could be explained when the influence of CO2 and other human factors were introduced into the models.

CHL do not dispute the point that model simulations excluding human influences cannot capture global temperature trends. Rather, they contend that the models overstate the sensitivity of climate to atmospheric CO2 concentration.^b This subject has been intensively studied over more than three decades. Different climate models show different climate sensitivities, and the differences among them have not been resolved. The actual number might be smaller than the consensus, or it might be larger, but CHL have no special insight or results to demonstrate that they are right and others are wrong. I return to the issue of the uncertainties in the last point below.^c

The next three points are argumentative and have little scientific significance. Surprisingly, the statement by the sixteen scientists that “CO2 is not a pollutant” is defended by reference to a common dictionary rather than to a scientific source.^d But in the end they agree that the real issue is whether this “component” will “cause significant and destructive global warming.” This simply returns the discussion back to the major question under discussion.

I also criticized their suggestion that climate-change skeptics are suffering under a reign of terror similar to that of Soviet geneticists in the Lysenko era; they dismiss my criticism as a “rhetorical flourish.” If they did not mean to imply a parallel of the situations of Soviet geneticists and Western climate skeptics, why did they use the example? Their approach is like the campaigner who smiles benignly and says, “I would never call my opponent a Communist.”

As a fifth point, they defend their argument that standard climate science is corrupted by the need to exaggerate warming to obtain research funds. They elaborate this argument by stating, “There are no remotely comparable incentives to the contrary position provided by the industries that he claims would be harmed by the policies he advocates.”

This is a ludicrous comparison. To get some facts on the ground, I will compare two specific cases: that of my university and that of Dr. Cohen’s former employer, ExxonMobil. Federal climate-related research grants to Yale University, for which I work, averaged $1.4 million per year over the last decade. This represents 0.5 percent of last year’s total revenues.

By contrast, the sales of ExxonMobil, for which Dr. Cohen worked as manager of strategic planning and programs, were $467 billion last year. ExxonMobil produces and sells primarily fossil fuels, which lead to large quantities of CO2 emissions. A substantial charge for emitting CO2 would raise the prices and reduce the sales of its oil, gas, and coal products. ExxonMobil has, according to several reports, pursued its economic self-interest by working to undermine mainstream climate science. A report of the Union of Concerned Scientists stated that ExxonMobil “has funneled about $16 million between 1998 and 2005 to a network of ideological and advocacy organizations that manufacture uncertainty” on global warming.^e So ExxonMobil has spent more covertly undermining climate-change science than all of Yale University’s federal climate-related grants in this area.

The final part of the response of CHL comes back to the economics of climate change and public policy. They make two major points: that the difference between acting now and doing nothing for fifty years is “insignificant economically or climatologically,” and that the policy questions are dominated by major uncertainties.

Is the difference between acting now and waiting fifty years indeed “insignificant economically”? Given the importance attached to this question, I recalculated this figure using the latest published model. When put in 2012 prices, the loss is calculated as $3.5 trillion, and the spreadsheet is available on the Web for those who would like to check the calculations themselves.^f If, indeed, the climate skeptics think this is an insignificant number, they should not object to spending much smaller sums for slowing climate change starting now.

But the larger point is that climate-change economics and policies are haunted by vast uncertainties. They mention five: economic growth, physical science, the impacts of climate change, politics, and discounting.

Economists have made major efforts to include these uncertainties in their models. However, other uncertainties have proven much more resistant. The first is a set of threats from climate change to the “world’s cultural and natural treasures” (to cite the words of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention), among them major glaciers, marine and terrestrial biodiversity, archaeological sites, and historical cities and settlements. For example, with respect to sea-level rise, there are major threats to the cities of London and Venice and to several low-lying coastal ecosystems.^g Ecologists and economists have been unable to find reliable ways of incorporating these threats into economic models.

A second and even more dangerous uncertainty is caused by “tipping points” in the earth system. Among the global-scale tipping points identified by earth scientists are the collapse of large ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, changes in ocean circulation, feedback processes by which warming triggers more warming, and the acidification of the ocean.^h

The thrust of CHL’s argument is that the uncertainties are likely to resolve in favor of inaction rather than strong action to slow climate change policies, and in any case, they argue, policies are unimportant given the size of the uncertainties.

Are the uncertainties likely to be resolved in favor of inaction? Of course, if we knew the answer, we would not be uncertain. However, the economic models have attempted to reflect the state of scientific knowledge and uncertainty as it is reflected in the best unbiased assessments. In the one area that has been around long enough to judge—the impact on climate of rising concentrations of CO2—the interesting finding is that assessments of the uncertainties have changed little since the first major review in 1979.

However, the major problem with the conclusions of CHL is that they ignore the perils of the climate-change uncertainties. To illustrate, think of the issues as if we are playing roulette in a Climate Casino. Each time the roulette wheel stops, we resolve one of the uncertainties. Our best guess is that CO2 doubling will increase temperatures by 3°C, but if the ball lands on black it will be 2°C while a ball on red will produce 4°C. Similarly, a ball in a black pocket will lead to minimal damages from a certain amount of warming, while a ball in a red pocket will lead to much larger warming than we anticipate. On the next spin, a ball in the black will produce low growth and slow growth in emissions, while a ball in the red will produce rapid growth in CO2 emissions. And so forth.

But, in the Climate Casino, the ball also might land on zero or double-zero. If it lands on zero, we find significant loss of species, ecosystems, and cultural landmarks like Venice. If it lands on double-zero, we find an unanticipated shift in the earth’s climate system, such as a rapid disintegration of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.

CHL suggest in effect that the ball will always land in the black pocket. We might hope that all the balls land to our advantage on black, but the odds of that outcome on five spins of the wheel are only 1 in 50.ⁱ Moreover, when the different uncertainties interact, the outcomes are likely to be even more costly because of nonlinearities in the physical system. For example, assume that the climate uncertainties are larger than we thought and that the impacts were much more damaging than we projected. This would lead to disproportionately larger damages than in the “best-guess” case.

The point is that CHL have the impact of uncertainty exactly backward. A sensible policy would pay a premium to avoid the roulette wheel in a Climate Casino. This means that the economic model estimates of the cost of doing nothing for fifty years are understated because they cannot incorporate all the uncertainties—not just the obvious ones such as climate sensitivity but also the zero and double-zero uncertainties such as tipping points, including ones that are yet undiscovered.

The arguments of the sixteen scientists in The Wall Street Journal, their response here, and others who continue to attack climate science and economics are sometimes serious and sometimes foolish. We sometimes hear that we cannot act because scientists are not really 100 percent sure that global warming will occur. But a good scientist is never 100 percent sure of any empirical phenomenon. This point was captured by the following comment on scientific uncertainty by the distinguished physicist Richard Feynman:

Some years ago I had a conversation with a layman about flying saucers…. I said, “I don’t think there are flying saucers.” So my antagonist said, “Is it impossible that there are flying saucers? Can you prove that it’s impossible?”

“No,” I said, “I can’t prove it’s impossible. It’s just very unlikely.” At that he said, “You are very unscientific. If you can’t prove it impossible, then how can you say that it’s unlikely?” But that is the way that is scientific. It is scientific only to say what is more likely and what less likely, and not to be proving all the time the possible and impossible.^j

This story is a reminder about how good science proceeds. It is possible that the world will not warm over the coming years. It is possible that the impacts will be small. It is possible that a miraculous technology will be invented that can suck CO2 out of the atmosphere at low cost. But in view of the evidence we now have, it would be foolish to bet on these outcomes just because they are possible.

In the end, this barroom brawl is just an entertaining diversion from the main issue. Scientists, economists, and politicians have serious challenges beyond dodging distractions. We must continue to improve our scientific understanding, particularly of the impacts of climate change; we must implement policies such as raising the market price of carbon to provide incentives to households to alter their consumption so that they will have a low- carbon diet; we must also raise carbon prices to send a signal to firms like ExxonMobil that their future lies in research, development, and production of low-carbon fuels; and we must devise mechanisms so that countries will join in a global effort rather than one limited to northwest Europe. All these efforts need to start now, not in fifty years.

1

Claude Allegre et al., “ No Need to Panic About Global Warming,” The Wall Street Journal , January 27, 2012; Claude Allegre et al., “ Concerned Scientists Reply on Global Warming ,” The Wall Street Journal online, February 21, 2012. ↩

2

Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis: Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change , edited by S. Solomon and others (Cambridge University Press, 2007), p. 687. ↩

3

D.M. Smith, S. Cusack, A.W. Colman, C.K. Folland, G.R. Harris, J.M. Murphy, “ Improved Surface Temperature Prediction for the Coming Decade from a Global Climate Model,” Science , Vol. 317 (2007); N.S. Keenlyside, M. Latif, J. Jungclaus, L. Kornblueh, and E. Roeckner, “ Advancing Decadal-Scale Climate Prediction in the North Atlantic Sector,” Nature , Vol. 453 (2008). ↩

4

J.T. Kiehl, “Twentieth-Century Climate Model Response and Climate Sensitivity,” Geophysical Research Letters. , Vol. 34 (2007). ↩

5

D. Kennedy, “Science, Policy, and the Media,” Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences , Vol. 61 (2008). ↩

6

The complete Climategate documents can readily be found on the Web. A short summary is available at http://www.climateau dit.info/pdf/mcintyre-heartland_2010.pdf. ↩

7

R.S. Lindzen, “ Climate Science: Is It Currently Designed to Answer Questions?” Euresis Journal (in press). An earlier version is available online at http://arxiv.org/abs/0809.3762. ↩

8

William D. Nordhaus, A Question of Balance: Weighing the Options on Global Warming Policies (Yale University Press, 2008). ↩

9

Nordhaus, A Question of Balance , p. 45. ↩

10

Evidence for a small climate sensitivity can be found in the peer-reviewed literature, as well as online sources. It includes results from a variety of different empirical approaches, including (1) time series analyses of the published temperature record; (2) examination of the response of the earth’s outgoing radiation response to transient climate events; (3) calorimetric studies of the ocean-atmosphere system; (4) mechanisms for secular climate change arising from ocean circulation systems and astronomical influences; and (4) radiative and convective heat transfer in the oceans and atmosphere. ↩

11

Nordhaus, A Question of Balance , Table 5–8. ↩

12

The Impact of Climate Change on the United States Economy, edited by Robert Mendelsohn and James Neumann (Cambridge University Press, 1999); Robert Mendelsohn, The Greening of Global Warming (AEI Press, 1999). ↩

13

Clive Hamilton, “Nordhaus’ Carbon Tax: An Excuse to Do Nothing?,” May 4, 2009, available at http://www.clivehamilton.net .au/cms/media/critique_of_nordhaus.pdf. ↩

14

Nordhaus, A Question of Balance , p. 18. ↩

15

Nordhaus, A Question of Balance , p.127. ↩

a

This can be seen more generally as follows. Assume, based on the historical data, that temperature is following an upward trend with an average increase of 0.006°C per year and a random variability (standard deviation for a normal error) of 0.133°C per year. Elementary statistics will show that this process will have decadal declines in temperature in 44 percent of the years. ↩

b

More precisely, CHL argue that the standard estimates of the sensitivity of climate to increases in CO2 and other greenhouse gases are overstated. The technical term for this is the “equilibrium climate sensitivity,” which is the equilibrium or long-run global average surface warming following a doubling of atmospheric CO2 concentration. ↩

c

CHL further argue that the inputs into the models for the simulations of historical climate models are reverse-engineered to produce the results, that is, that modelers have selected the inputs of radiative forcings for their models to match historical temperature changes. “Radiative forcing” is a technical term denoting the impact of the different gases and climate-affecting factors on the earth’ s energy balance. Forcings are measured as watts per meter squared in the lower atmosphere, but I simply call these “warming units.” Some impacts, such as those caused by CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere, are well determined. However, others are very difficult to measure. CHL correctly point to the large uncertainties here. The largest uncertainty is the forcing due to “aerosols,” which are basically particles caused by sources such as power plants, agriculture, and clearing of forests. (For this discussion, I rely on the authoritative discussion in the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis: Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, edited by S. Solomon and others (Cambridge University Press, 2007.)
To give a sense of the magnitudes here, the IPCC estimated the change in forcings from 1750 to 2005 from CO2 alone to be 1.7 units of warming, while the total including all other factors was estimated to be 1.6 units. However, there is great uncertainty about the impact of the other forcings, particularly aerosols. The IPCC estimates that the uncertainty range for total warming was between 0.6 and 2.4 units of warming (p. 4). This range is the (5, 95) percentile confidence interval and reflects the authors’ expert judgment that there is at least a 9 in 10 chance that the actual number is within the cited range.
Climate scientists have recognized this uncertainty for many years and are working to reduce it, but model-building is not simply a curve-fitting exercise. A recent model comparison shows clearly the importance of aerosols for simulating historical climates. The model ensemble with aerosols alone is estimated to reduce global mean temperature by about 0.5°C over the last century. Simulations that include all forcings except aerosols lead to an overprediction of approximately the same amount (see Olivier Boucher et al., “Climate Response to Aerosol Forcings in CMIP5,” CLIVAR Exchanges , No. 56, Vol. 16, No. 2, May 2011). The ultimate answer to the uncertainty is not to dismiss our climate models but to improve our measurements, particularly of the effects of aerosols. ↩

d

For example, a leading textbook on air pollution cites the following definition from the US Environmental Protection Agency as a good place to start thinking: “Air pollution: The presence of contaminants or pollutant substances in the air that interfere with human health or welfare, or produce other harmful environmental effects.” Daniel A. Vallero, Fundamentals of Air Pollution , fourth edition (Academic Press, 2008), p. 3. ↩

e

“Smoke, Mirrors, and Hot Air,” available at www.ucsusa.org/assets documents/global_warming/exxon_report.pdf. ↩

f

For those who would like to see the Excel spreadsheet model on which these calculations were made to check them, or try other experiments, it is available at www.econ.yale.edu/~nordhaus/homepage/NYRB_RICE.htm. Download the Excel program, go to the sheet named “50yeardelay” and follow the instructions there. You will be able to verify the number in the text and do other experiments as well. ↩

g

The case studies can be found in Augustin Colette et al., Case Studies on Climate Change and World Heritage (Paris: UNESCO World Heritage Centre, 2007), available at unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0015/001506/150600 e.pdf. ↩

h

A major source here is Timothy M. Lenton et al., “Tipping Elements in the Earth’s Climate System,” Nature , Vol. 105, No. 6 ( February 12, 2008). ↩

i

More exactly, it is (16/38) ⁵ = 0.0238. Moreover, on five rolls of the wheel, there is a 24 percent chance that a zero or double-zero catastrophic event will occur. These probabilities are only illustrative to show how multiple uncertainties interact. ↩

j

Richard Feynman, The Character of Physical Law (MIT Press, 1970). ↩

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Why the Global Warming Skeptics Are Wrong

March 22, 2012

William D. Nordhaus

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Olaf Otto Becker

Icebergs in Iceland’s Jökulsárlón lagoon, which is constantly growing as the Vatnajökull glacier—Europe’s largest—melts; photograph by Olaf Otto Becker from his book Under the Nordic Light: A Journey Through Time, Iceland, 1999–2011, which has just been published by Hatje Cantz

The threat of climate change is an increasingly important environmental issue for the globe. Because the economic questions involved have received relatively little attention, I have been writing a nontechnical book for people who would like to see how market-based approaches could be used to formulate policy on climate change. When I showed an early draft to colleagues, their response was that I had left out the arguments of skeptics about climate change, and I accordingly addressed this at length.

But one of the difficulties I found in examining the views of climate skeptics is that they are scattered widely in blogs, talks, and pamphlets. Then, I saw an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal of January 27, 2012, by a group of sixteen scientists, entitled “No Need to Panic About Global Warming.” This is useful because it contains many of the standard criticisms in a succinct statement. The basic message of the article is that the globe is not warming, that dissident voices are being suppressed, and that delaying policies to slow climate change for fifty years will have no serious economic or environment consequences.

My response is primarily designed to correct their misleading description of my own research; but it also is directed more broadly at their attempt to discredit scientists and scientific research on climate change.¹ I have identified six key issues that are raised in the article, and I provide commentary about their substance and accuracy. They are:

• Is the planet in fact warming?

• Are human influences an important contributor to warming?

• Is carbon dioxide a pollutant?

• Are we seeing a regime of fear for skeptical climate scientists?

• Are the views of mainstream climate scientists driven primarily by the desire for financial gain?

• Is it true that more carbon dioxide and additional warming will be beneficial?

As I will indicate below, on each of these questions, the sixteen scientists provide incorrect or misleading answers. At a time when we need to clarify public confusions about the science and economics of climate change, they have muddied the waters. I will describe their mistakes and explain the findings of current climate science and economics.

1.

The first claim is that the planet is not warming. More precisely, “Perhaps the most inconvenient fact is the lack of global warming for well over 10 years now.”

It is easy to get lost in the tiniest details here. Most people will benefit from stepping back and looking at the record of actual temperature measurements. The figure below shows data from 1880 to 2011 on global mean temperature averaged from three different sources.² We do not need any complicated statistical analysis to see that temperatures are rising, and furthermore that they are higher in the last decade than they were in earlier decades.³

One of the reasons that drawing conclusions on temperature trends is tricky is that the historical temperature series is highly volatile, as can be seen in the figure. The presence of short-term volatility requires looking at long-term trends. A useful analogy is the stock market. Suppose an analyst says that because real stock prices have declined over the last decade (which is true), it follows that there is no upward trend. Here again, an examination of the long-term data would quickly show this to be incorrect. The last decade of temperature and stock market data is not representative of the longer-term trends.

The finding that global temperatures are rising over the last century-plus is one of the most robust findings of climate science and statistics.

2.

A second argument is that warming is smaller than predicted by the models:

The lack of warming for more than a decade—indeed, the smaller-than-predicted warming over the 22 years since the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) began issuing projections—suggests that computer models have greatly exaggerated how much warming additional CO2 can cause.

What is the evidence on the performance of climate models? Do they predict the historical trend accurately? Statisticians routinely address this kind of question. The standard approach is to perform an experiment in which (case 1) modelers put the changes in CO2 concentrations and other climate influences in a climate model and estimate the resulting temperature path, and then (case 2) modelers calculate what would happen in the counterfactual situation where the only changes were due to natural sources, for example, the sun and volcanoes, with no human-induced changes. They then compare the actual temperature increases of the model predictions for all sources (case 1) with the predictions for natural sources alone (case 2).

This experiment has been performed many times using climate models. A good example is the analysis described in the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (for the actual figure, see the accompanying online material⁴). Several modelers ran both cases 1 and 2 described above—one including human-induced changes and one with only natural sources. This experiment showed that the projections of climate models are consistent with recorded temperature trends over recent decades only if human impacts are included. The divergent trend is especially pronounced after 1980. By 2005, calculations using natural sources alone underpredict the actual temperature increases by about 0.7 degrees Centigrade, while the calculations including human sources track the actual temperature trend very closely.

In reviewing the results, the IPCC report concluded: “No climate model using natural forcings [i.e., natural warming factors] alone has reproduced the observed global warming trend in the second half of the twentieth century.”⁵

3.

The sixteen scientists next attack the idea of CO2 as a pollutant. They write: “The fact is that CO2 is not a pollutant.” By this they presumably mean that CO2 is not by itself toxic to humans or other organisms within the range of concentrations that we are likely to encounter, and indeed higher CO2 concentrations may be beneficial.

However, this is not the meaning of pollution under US law or in standard economics. The US Clean Air Act defined an air pollutant as “any air pollution agent or combination of such agents, including any physical, chemical, biological, radioactive…substance or matter which is emitted into or otherwise enters the ambient air.” In a 2007 decision on this question, the Supreme Court ruled clearly on the question: “Carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and hydrofluorocarbons are without a doubt ‘physical [and] chemical…substance[s] which [are] emitted into…the ambient air.’ …Greenhouse gases fit well within the Clean Air Act’s capacious definition of ‘air pollutant.’”⁶

In economics, a pollutant is a form of negative externality—that is, a byproduct of economic activity that causes damages to innocent bystanders. The question here is whether emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases will cause net damages, now and in the future. This question has been studied extensively. The most recent thorough survey by the leading scholar in this field, Richard Tol, finds a wide range of damages, particularly if warming is greater than 2 degrees Centigrade.⁷Major areas of concern are sea-level rise, more intense hurricanes, losses of species and ecosystems, acidification of the oceans, as well as threats to the natural and cultural heritage of the planet.

In short, the contention that CO2 is not a pollutant is a rhetorical device and is not supported by US law or by economic theory or studies.

4.

The fourth contention by the sixteen scientists is that skeptical climate scientists are living under a reign of terror about their professional and personal livelihoods. They write:

Although the number of publicly dissenting scientists is growing, many young scientists furtively say that while they also have serious doubts about the global-warming message, they are afraid to speak up for fear of not being promoted—or worse….

This is not the way science is supposed to work, but we have seen it before—for example, in the frightening period when Trofim Lysenko hijacked biology in the Soviet Union. Soviet biologists who revealed that they believed in genes, which Lysenko maintained were a bourgeois fiction, were fired from their jobs. Many were sent to the gulag and some were condemned to death.

While we must always be attentive to a herd instinct, this lurid tale is misleading in the extreme. Some background on Lysenko will be useful. He was the leader of a group that rejected standard genetics and held that the acquired characteristics of an organism could be inherited by that organism’s descendants. He exploited the Soviet ideology about heredity, the need for agricultural production, and the favor of a powerful dictator—Stalin—to attract adherents to his theories. Under his influence, genetics was officially condemned as unscientific. Once he gained control of Russian biology, genetics research was prohibited, and thousands of geneticists were fired. Many leading geneticists were exiled to labor camps in Siberia, poisoned, or shot. His influence began to wane after Stalin’s death, but it took many years for Soviet biology to overcome the disastrous consequences of the Lysenko affair.⁸

The idea that skeptical climate scientists are being treated like Soviet geneticists in the Stalinist period has no basis in fact. There are no political or scientific dictators in the US. No climate scientist has been expelled from the US National Academy of Sciences. No skeptics have been arrested or banished to gulags or the modern equivalents of Siberia. Indeed, the dissenting authors are at the world’s greatest universities, including Princeton, MIT, Rockefeller, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Paris.

I can speak personally for the lively debate about climate change policy. There are controversies about many details of climate science and economics. While some claim that skeptics cannot get their papers published, working papers and the Internet are open to all. I believe the opposite of what the sixteen claim to be true: dissident voices and new theories are encouraged because they are critical to sharpening our analysis. The idea that climate science and economics are being suppressed by a modern Lysenkoism is pure fiction.

5.

A fifth argument is that mainstream climate scientists are benefiting from the clamor about climate change:

Why is there so much passion about global warming…? There are several reasons, but a good place to start is the old question “cui bono?” Or the modern update, “Follow the money.”

Alarmism over climate is of great benefit to many, providing government funding for academic research and a reason for government bureaucracies to grow. Alarmism also offers an excuse for governments to raise taxes, taxpayer-funded subsidies for businesses that understand how to work the political system, and a lure for big donations to charitable foundations promising to save the planet.

This argument is inaccurate as scientific history and unsupported by any evidence. There is a suggestion that standard theories about global warming have been put together by the scientific equivalent of Madison Avenue to raise funds from government agencies like the National Science Foundation (NSF). The fact is that the first precise calculations about the impact of increased CO2 concentrations on the earth’s surface temperature were made by Svante Arrhenius in 1896, more than five decades before the NSF was founded.

The skeptics’ account also misunderstands the incentives in academic research. IPCC authors are not paid. Scientists who serve on panels of the National Academy of Science do so without monetary compensation for their time and are subject to close scrutiny for conflicts of interest. Academic advancement occurs primarily from publication of original research and contributions to the advancement of knowledge, not from supporting “popular” views. Indeed, academics have often been subject to harsh political attacks when their views clashed with current political or religious teachings. This is the case in economics today, where Keynesian economists are attacked for their advocacy of “fiscal stimulus” to promote recovery from a deep recession; and in biology, where evolutionary biologists are attacked as atheists because they are steadfast in their findings that the earth is billions rather than thousands of years old.

In fact, the argument about the venality of the academy is largely a diversion. The big money in climate change involves firms, industries, and individuals who worry that their economic interests will be harmed by policies to slow climate change. The attacks on the science of global warming are reminiscent of the well-documented resistance by cigarette companies to scientific findings on the dangers of smoking. Beginning in 1953, the largest tobacco companies launched a public relations campaign to convince the public and the government that there was no sound scientific basis for the claim that cigarette smoking was dangerous. The most devious part of the campaign was the underwriting of researchers who would support the industry’s claim. The approach was aptly described by one tobacco company executive: “Doubt is our product since it is the best means of competing with the ‘body of fact’ that exists in the mind of the general public. It is also the means of establishing a controversy.”⁹

One of the worrisome features of the distortion of climate science is that the stakes are huge here—even larger than the economic stakes for keeping the cigarette industry alive. Tobacco sales in the United States today are under $100 billion. By contrast, expenditures on all energy goods and services are close to $1,000 billion. Restrictions on CO2 emissions large enough to bend downward the temperature curve from its current trajectory to a maximum of 2 or 3 degrees Centigrade would have large economic effects on many businesses. Scientists, citizens, and our leaders will need to be extremely vigilant to prevent pollution of the scientific process by the merchants of doubt.

6.

A final point concerns economic analysis. The sixteen scientists argue, citing my research, that economics does not support policies to slow climate change in the next half-century:

A recent study of a wide variety of policy options by Yale economist William Nordhaus showed that nearly the highest benefit-to-cost ratio is achieved for a policy that allows 50 more years of economic growth unimpeded by greenhouse gas controls. This would be especially beneficial to the less-developed parts of the world that would like to share some of the same advantages of material well-being, health and life expectancy that the fully developed parts of the world enjoy now. Many other policy responses would have a negative return on investment. And it is likely that more CO2 and the modest warming that may come with it will be an overall benefit to the planet.

On this point, I do not need to reconstruct how climate scientists made their projections, or review the persecution of Soviet geneticists. I did the research and wrote the book on which they base their statement. The skeptics’ summary is based on poor analysis and on an incorrect reading of the results.

The first problem is an elementary mistake in economic analysis. The authors cite the “benefit-to-cost ratio” to support their argument. Elementary cost-benefit and business economics teach that this is an incorrect criterion for selecting investments or policies. The appropriate criterion for decisions in this context is net benefits (that is, the difference between, and not the ratio of, benefits and costs).

This point can be seen in a simple example, which would apply in the case of investments to slow climate change. Suppose we were thinking about two policies. Policy A has a small investment in abatement of CO2 emissions. It costs relatively little (say $1 billion) but has substantial benefits (say $10 billion), for a net benefit of $9 billion. Now compare this with a very effective and larger investment, Policy B. This second investment costs more (say $10 billion) but has substantial benefits (say $50 billion), for a net benefit of $40 billion. B is preferable because it has higher net benefits ($40 billion for B as compared with $9 for A), but A has a higher benefit-cost ratio (a ratio of 10 for A as compared with 5 for B). This example shows why we should, in designing the most effective policies, look at benefits minus costs, not benefits divided by costs.

This leads to the second point, which is that the authors summarize my results incorrectly. My research shows that there are indeed substantial net benefits from acting now rather than waiting fifty years. A look at Table 5-1 in my study A Question of Balance (2008) shows that the cost of waiting fifty years to begin reducing CO2 emissions is $2.3 trillion in 2005 prices. If we bring that number to today’s economy and prices, the loss from waiting is $4.1 trillion. Wars have been started over smaller sums.¹⁰

My study is just one of many economic studies showing that economic efficiency would point to the need to reduce CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions right now, and not to wait for a half-century. Waiting is not only economically costly, but will also make the transition much more costly when it eventually takes place. Current economic studies also suggest that the most efficient policy is to raise the cost of CO2 emissions substantially, either through cap-and-trade or carbon taxes, to provide appropriate incentives for businesses and households to move to low-carbon activities.

One might argue that there are many uncertainties here, and we should wait until the uncertainties are resolved. Yes, there are many uncertainties. That does not imply that action should be delayed. Indeed, my experience in studying this subject for many years is that we have discovered more puzzles and greater uncertainties as researchers dig deeper into the field. There are continuing major questions about the future of the great ice sheets of Greenland and West Antarctica; the thawing of vast deposits of frozen methane; changes in the circulation patterns of the North Atlantic; the potential for runaway warming; and the impacts of ocean carbonization and acidification. Moreover, our economic models have great difficulties incorporating these major geophysical changes and their impacts in a reliable manner. Policies implemented today serve as a hedge against unsuspected future dangers that suddenly emerge to threaten our economies or environment. So, if anything, the uncertainties would point to a more rather than less forceful policy—and one starting sooner rather than later—to slow climate change.

The group of sixteen scientists argues that we should avoid alarm about climate change. I am equally concerned by those who allege that we will incur economic catastrophes if we take steps to slow climate change. The claim that cap-and-trade legislation or carbon taxes would be ruinous or disastrous to our societies does not stand up to serious economic analysis. We need to approach the issues with a cool head and a warm heart. And with respect for sound logic and good science.

—February 22, 2012

Letters

In the Climate Casino: An Exchange April 26, 2012

1

The author is Sterling Professor of Economics at Yale University. He has received support for research on the economics of climate change during the last decade from the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, and the Glaser Foundation. Other than research associated with these and any future grants, the author declares no conflict of interest. ↩

2

The three series are produced by the UK Hadley Center, the US Goddard Institute for Space Studies ( GISS ), and the US National Climatic Data Center ( NCDC ). For those who question whether the series on global mean temperature are themselves products of a scientific conspiracy, here is yet a further check. Together with my colleague Xi Chen, I constructed yet another index of global mean temperature. We did this by getting grid-cell temperature data and aggregating these into a global average using land-area weights from our own research. To be even more conservative, we also did an audit of the grid-cell data by going back to station data selected quasi-randomly for selected grid cells around the world (such as Dakar, Albuquerque, Casablanca, Llasa, Yinchuan, and Yellowknife). The historical temperature series we constructed behaved very similarly to the ones constructed by the climate scientists. ↩

3

For those who would like a sample of how statisticians approach the issue of rising temperatures, here is an example. Many climate scientists believe that CO 2-induced warming has become particularly rapid since 1980. So we can use a statistical analysis to test whether the trend in global mean temperature is steeper in the 1980–2011 period than during the 1880–1980 period.

A regression analysis determines that the answer is yes, the rise in temperature is indeed faster. Such an analysis proceeds as follows: The series “ TAV t” is the average of the GISS , NCDC , and Hadley annual series. We estimate a regression of the form TAV t = α + β Yeart + γ (Year since 1980)t + εt. In this formulation, “Yeart” is simply the year, while (Year since 1980)t is 0 up to 1980 and then (Year-1980) for years after 1980. The Greek letters (α, β, and γ) are coefficients, while εt is a residual error. The estimated equation has a coefficient on Year of 0.0042 (t-statistic = 12.7) and a coefficient on (Year since 1980) of 0.0135 (t-statistic = 8.5). The interpretation is that temperatures in the 1880–1980 period were rising at 0.0042 °C per year, while in the later period they were rising at 0.0135 °C per year more rapidly. The t-statistic in parentheses indicates that the coefficient on (Year since 1980) was 8.5 times its standard error. Using standard tests for statistical significance, this large a t-coefficient would be obtained by chance less than one time in a million. We can use other years as break points, from 1930 to 2000, and the answer is the same: there has been a more rapid rise in global mean temperature in the most recent period than in earlier periods. ↩

4

I use this example to illustrate one experiment that has been conducted to determine the consistency of climate models and temperature observations. The experiment started with fourteen different climate models. The climate modelers calculated the temperature trajectory over the 1900–2005 period both with and without CO 2 and other human-induced factors. In the below figure from the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, the bottom part shows the calculations including only natural forces, such as volcanic eruptions and changes in solar activity. The heavy black line is the actual temperature record, while the heavy blue line is the models’ average calculated global temperature with only natural forcings (“Without GHG s”). The several thin blue lines are the results of the individual models, while the gray vertical lines represent major cooling events due to volcanic eruptions.

The top part shows the calculations with both natural forces and with estimated greenhouse gas concentrations and forcings. Again, the heavy black line is the actual temperature record, while the heavy red line is the models’ average calculated global temperature with CO 2 and other greenhouse gases as well as natural forces (“With GHG s”). The cloud of thin yellow lines represents the results of the individual models

This experiment shows that the climate models are consistent with temperature trends over recent years only if the estimated warming induced by accumulations of CO 2 and other greenhouse gases are included. The source is Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change edited by S. Solomon and others (Cambridge University Press, 2007), p. 685f. ↩

5

S. Solomon and others, Climate Change 2007 , p. 687. ↩

6

Opinion of the Court in Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency , 549 U.S. 497 (2007). ↩

7

Richard S. J. Tol, “The Economic Effects of Climate Change,” The Journal of Economic Perspectives , Vol. 23, No. 2 (Spring 2009). ↩

8

A chilling account of the history is told in Valery N. Soyfer, “The Consequences of Political Dictatorship for Russian Science,” Nature Reviews Genetics , Vol. 2 (September 2001). ↩

9

Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation, “Smoking and Health Proposal” 1969, available at Legacy Tobacco Documents Library (legacy.library.ucsf.edu). There is an extensive literature on the tobacco industry’s strategy for distorting the scientific record and promoting views that were favorable to smoking. See Stanton Glantz et al., The Cigarette Papers (University of California Press, 1996); and Robert Proctor, Cancer Wars: How Politics Shapes What We Know and Don’t Know about Cancer (Basic Books, 1995). The history is updated to the modern era and industry attacks on environmental science in Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway, Merchants of Doubt (Bloomsbury, 2010). ↩

10

The estimate is from A Question of Balance: Weighing the Options on Global Warming Policies (Yale University Press, 2008), p. 82. The updated number is calculated as follows. We update from 2005 to 2012 prices using the US GDP price index, which is estimated to be 15.6 percent higher in 2012 than in 2005. Then the number is put in 2012 economics by using a real discount rate of 6 percent per year. ↩

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No Need to Panic About Global Warming

There's no compelling scientific argument for drastic action to 'decarbonize' the world's economy.

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Editor's Note: The following has been signed by the 16 scientists listed at the end of the article:

A candidate for public office in any contemporary democracy may have to consider what, if anything, to do about "global warming." Candidates should understand that the oft-repeated claim that nearly all scientists demand that something dramatic be done to stop global warming is not true. In fact, a large and growing number of distinguished scientists and engineers do not agree that drastic actions on global warming are needed.

In September, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Ivar Giaever, a supporter of President Obama in the last election, publicly resigned from the American Physical Society (APS) with a letter that begins: "I did not renew [my membership] because I cannot live with the [APS policy] statement: 'The evidence is incontrovertible: Global warming is occurring. If no mitigating actions are taken, significant disruptions in the Earth's physical and ecological systems, social systems, security and human health are likely to occur. We must reduce emissions of greenhouse gases beginning now.' In the APS it is OK to discuss whether the mass of the proton changes over time and how a multi-universe behaves, but the evidence of global warming is incontrovertible?"

In spite of a multidecade international campaign to enforce the message that increasing amounts of the "pollutant" carbon dioxide will destroy civilization, large numbers of scientists, many very prominent, share the opinions of Dr. Giaever. And the number of scientific "heretics" is growing with each passing year. The reason is a collection of stubborn scientific facts.

Perhaps the most inconvenient fact is the lack of global warming for well over 10 years now. This is known to the warming establishment, as one can see from the 2009 "Climategate" email of climate scientist Kevin Trenberth: "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." But the warming is only missing if one believes computer models where so-called feedbacks involving water vapor and clouds greatly amplify the small effect of CO2.

The lack of warming for more than a decade—indeed, the smaller-than-predicted warming over the 22 years since the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) began issuing projections—suggests that computer models have greatly exaggerated how much warming additional CO2 can cause. Faced with this embarrassment, those promoting alarm have shifted their drumbeat from warming to weather extremes, to enable anything unusual that happens in our chaotic climate to be ascribed to CO2.

The fact is that CO2 is not a pollutant. CO2 is a colorless and odorless gas, exhaled at high concentrations by each of us, and a key component of the biosphere's life cycle. Plants do so much better with more CO2 that greenhouse operators often increase the CO2 concentrations by factors of three or four to get better growth. This is no surprise since plants and animals evolved when CO2 concentrations were about 10 times larger than they are today. Better plant varieties, chemical fertilizers and agricultural management contributed to the great increase in agricultural yields of the past century, but part of the increase almost certainly came from additional CO2 in the atmosphere.

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Corbis

Although the number of publicly dissenting scientists is growing, many young scientists furtively say that while they also have serious doubts about the global-warming message, they are afraid to speak up for fear of not being promoted—or worse. They have good reason to worry. In 2003, Dr. Chris de Freitas, the editor of the journal Climate Research, dared to publish a peer-reviewed article with the politically incorrect (but factually correct) conclusion that the recent warming is not unusual in the context of climate changes over the past thousand years. The international warming establishment quickly mounted a determined campaign to have Dr. de Freitas removed from his editorial job and fired from his university position. Fortunately, Dr. de Freitas was able to keep his university job.

This is not the way science is supposed to work, but we have seen it before—for example, in the frightening period when Trofim Lysenko hijacked biology in the Soviet Union. Soviet biologists who revealed that they believed in genes, which Lysenko maintained were a bourgeois fiction, were fired from their jobs. Many were sent to the gulag and some were condemned to death.

Why is there so much passion about global warming, and why has the issue become so vexing that the American Physical Society, from which Dr. Giaever resigned a few months ago, refused the seemingly reasonable request by many of its members to remove the word "incontrovertible" from its description of a scientific issue? There are several reasons, but a good place to start is the old question "cui bono?" Or the modern update, "Follow the money."

Alarmism over climate is of great benefit to many, providing government funding for academic research and a reason for government bureaucracies to grow. Alarmism also offers an excuse for governments to raise taxes, taxpayer-funded subsidies for businesses that understand how to work the political system, and a lure for big donations to charitable foundations promising to save the planet. Lysenko and his team lived very well, and they fiercely defended their dogma and the privileges it brought them.

Speaking for many scientists and engineers who have looked carefully and independently at the science of climate, we have a message to any candidate for public office: There is no compelling scientific argument for drastic action to "decarbonize" the world's economy. Even if one accepts the inflated climate forecasts of the IPCC, aggressive greenhouse-gas control policies are not justified economically.

Related Video

Princeton physics professor William Happer on why a large number of scientists don't believe that carbon dioxide is causing global warming.

A recent study of a wide variety of policy options by Yale economist William Nordhaus showed that nearly the highest benefit-to-cost ratio is achieved for a policy that allows 50 more years of economic growth unimpeded by greenhouse gas controls. This would be especially beneficial to the less-developed parts of the world that would like to share some of the same advantages of material well-being, health and life expectancy that the fully developed parts of the world enjoy now. Many other policy responses would have a negative return on investment. And it is likely that more CO2 and the modest warming that may come with it will be an overall benefit to the planet.

If elected officials feel compelled to "do something" about climate, we recommend supporting the excellent scientists who are increasing our understanding of climate with well-designed instruments on satellites, in the oceans and on land, and in the analysis of observational data. The better we understand climate, the better we can cope with its ever-changing nature, which has complicated human life throughout history. However, much of the huge private and government investment in climate is badly in need of critical review.

Every candidate should support rational measures to protect and improve our environment, but it makes no sense at all to back expensive programs that divert resources from real needs and are based on alarming but untenable claims of "incontrovertible" evidence.

Claude Allegre, former director of the Institute for the Study of the Earth, University of Paris; J. Scott Armstrong, cofounder of the Journal of Forecasting and the International Journal of Forecasting; Jan Breslow, head of the Laboratory of Biochemical Genetics and Metabolism, Rockefeller University; Roger Cohen, fellow, American Physical Society; Edward David, member, National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Sciences; William Happer, professor of physics, Princeton; Michael Kelly, professor of technology, University of Cambridge, U.K.; William Kininmonth, former head of climate research at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology; Richard Lindzen, professor of atmospheric sciences, MIT; James McGrath, professor of chemistry, Virginia Technical University; Rodney Nichols, former president and CEO of the New York Academy of Sciences; Burt Rutan, aerospace engineer, designer of Voyager and SpaceShipOne; Harrison H. Schmitt, Apollo 17 astronaut and former U.S. senator; Nir Shaviv, professor of astrophysics, Hebrew University, Jerusalem; Henk Tennekes, former director, Royal Dutch Meteorological Service; Antonio Zichichi, president of the World Federation of Scientists, Geneva.

A version of this article appeared January 27, 2012, on page A15 in some U.S. edi

REAL UNEMPLOYMENT DATA

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 11:47:00 -0700

NFP Big Miss: 120K, Expectations 205K, Unemployment 8.2%, "Not In Labor Force" At New All Time High

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/06/2012 08:32 -0400

Unemployment

March NFP big miss at just 120K. Unemployment rate declines from 8.3% to 8.2%. Futures slide, for at least a few minutes before the NEW QE TM rumor starts spreading. The household survey actually posted a decline in March from 142,065 to 142,034. Considering Birth Death added 90K to the NSA number, the actual number was almost unchanged. And as always, as we predicted when Goldman hiked its NFP forecast yesterday from 175K to 200K saying "if Goldman's recent predictive track record is any indication, tomorrow's NFP will be a disaster", Goldie once again skewers everyone. Finally, Joe LaVorgna's +250,000 forecast was just 100% off... as usual.

The unemployment rate drops to 8.2% for one simple reason: the number of people not in the labor force is back to all time highs: 87,897,000.

Birth Death:

DEMOCRAT VS REPUBLICAN

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 20:08:00 -0700

A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost. She lowered her altitude and spotted a man in a boat below. She shouted to him, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."

The man consulted his portable GPS and replied, "You're in a hot air balloon, approximately 30 feet above ground elevation of 2,346 feet above sea level. You are at 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude.

She rolled her eyes and said, "You must be a Republican. "I am," replied the man. "How did you know?"

"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct. But I have no idea what to do with your information, and I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help to me."

The man smiled and responded, "You must be an Obama-Democrat."

'"I am," replied the balloonist. "How did you know?"

"Well," said the man, "You don't know where you are -- or where you are going. You've risen to where you are, due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. You're in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but somehow, now it's my fault.

Religion and American Government�How separate?

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 14:15:00 -0700

Essay: Religion and American Government…How separate? April 2012

Summary: As we approach Easter, I selected a thorny subject to discuss. In 1787 the Continental Congress commissioned the first penny. The motto was "Mind Your Own Business”…not very religious. In 1864, during the Civil War, the Union introduced a 2-cent coin with the motto "In God We Trust". In 1956, “In God We Trust” was mandated for all our currency. Yet, our forefathers created the First Amendment of the Constitution: the right of freedom of religion. In 2012, we are among the most religious people in the world but our government plays a small role in promoting, endorsing or funding religious institutions. Today, there is a debate about the separation of Church and State and religious/moral issues regarding abortion, in vitro fertilization, contraception, marriage between two people of the same sex, and even birth control pills. These ethical/moral subjects have become heated during the presidential election season. This essay offers some history and perspective. I realize that this will be a long, perhaps tedious read. Since the issues regarding religion and government are complex and are rarely black and white, their history and evolution are placed in a “Detailed Review” section.

The full essay is attached.

DAVID SOWERS April 2012

Happy Easter to all!

Essay       Religion and American Government…How separate?    April 2012

Summary: As we approach Easter, I selected a thorny subject to discuss. In 1787 the Continental Congress commissioned the first penny. The motto was "Mind Your Own Business”…not very religious. In 1864, during the Civil War, the Union introduced a 2-cent coin with the motto "In God We Trust". In 1956, “In God We Trust” was mandated for all our currency. Yet, our forefathers created the First Amendment of the Constitution: the right of freedom of religion. In 2012, we are among the most religious people in the world but our government plays a small role in promoting, endorsing or funding religious institutions. Today, there is a debate about the separation of Church and State and religious/moral issues regarding abortion, in vitro fertilization, contraception, marriage between two people of the same sex, and even birth control pills. These ethical/moral subjects have become heated during the presidential election season. This essay offers some history and perspective. I realize that this will be a long, perhaps tedious read. Since the issues regarding religion and government are complex and are rarely black and white, their history and evolution are placed in a “Detailed Review” section.

Conclusions: Robert Wood, a recent military advisor in national security affairs and religion wrote “that America is a model for the world in terms of how a separation of church and state is good for both the church and the state, allowing a variety of religions to flourish.” He said that the freedom of conscience and assembly allowed under such a system has led to a "remarkable religiosity" in America that is not present in other industrialized nations. Wood explained that the U.S. operates on "a sort of civic religion," which includes a generally-shared belief in a creator who "expects better of us." Beyond that, individuals are free to decide how they want to believe and fill in their own creeds and express their conscience. He calls this approach the "genius of religious sentiment in the United States.

Regardless of the genuine attempt to separate religion and government, the wall (or line) will remain murky. With the growth of non-Christian religions, over the next 100 years, it will be even more ambiguous. The question is not church and state. It is many churches or many religions versus one state. What is moral or legal in one denomination is not necessarily moral or allowed in another. The clearest line in the sand is this: There will be no state sponsored religion in the United States of America. The fundamental tenet of morality repeatedly declared by Ben Franklin was “The most acceptable service to God is doing good to man.” So, we Americans must get along and accept that no institution has all the answers to life’s mysteries. When we gaze at the stars and a full moon on a summer night, we surely know they did not come from “nothing”.

Detailed Review: Let us begin with the verbatim words in the Bill of Rights!

Amendment I - Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

What does that first phrase mean?

·        My government (at all levels) can neither impose a state religion on me nor punish me for exercising the religion of my choice. I can attend and support the religion or sect or denomination of my choice.

·        I do not have to practice or believe in any religion.

·        I may express my opinions on religious and moral issues.

·        I may write and publish what I wish regarding religion and God.

·        I may gather peacefully with others and formally ask our government to correct injustices that I think are morally wrong or inconsistent with my own religious beliefs.

·        I may gather peacefully with others in public places to pray or execute other religious practices.

·        I do not have to pay taxes to support any religious institutions.

In 1947, in the case Everson versus Board of Education, the Supreme Court declared, "The First Amendment has erected a wall between church and state. That wall must be kept high and impregnable. We could not approve he slightest breach." It is important to note that the "separation of church and state" phrase which the court invoked, and which today is so familiar, was actually taken from an exchange of letters between President Thomas Jefferson and the Baptist Association of Danbury, Connecticut, shortly after Jefferson became President. It is NOT referenced in the US constitution.

The election of Jefferson – our first Anti-Federalist President – elated many Baptists since that denomination was Anti-Federalist. Having a President who not only had supported the rights of Baptists in Virginia but who also had sought clear limits on the centralization of government powers, the Danbury Baptists wrote Jefferson a letter of praise. In their letter the Baptists also expressed concern over the First Amendment guarantee for "the free exercise of religion.” The inclusion of protection for the "free exercise of religion" in the constitution suggested to them that the right was government-given rather than God-given, and that the government might someday attempt to regulate religious expression. Jefferson understood their concern. He made numerous declarations about the constitutional inability of the federal government to regulate or interfere with religious expression.

He believed that the First Amendment had been enacted only to prevent the federal establishment of a national denomination. He wrote that “The clause of the Constitution… which covered the freedom of religion, had given to the clergy a very favorite hope of obtaining an establishment of a particular form of Christianity… and as every sect believes its own form the true one, every one perhaps hoped for his own, but especially the Episcopalians and Congregationalists.”

He wrote: “Gentlemen, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between Church and State.”

Jefferson believed that God, not government, was the Author and Source of our rights and that the government, therefore, was to be prevented from interference with those rights.

The Supreme Court then summarized Jefferson's intent for separation of church and state: “The rightful purposes of civil government are for its officers to interfere when principles break out into overt acts against peace and good order. In this is found the true distinction between what properly belongs to the church and what to the State.

It should be noted that the colonies of New York, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia were officially Church of England.

A charter granted in 1632 to George Calvert and his son Cecil, both recent converts to Roman Catholicism, founded the Colony of Maryland. Under their leadership many English Catholic families settled in Maryland. However, Maryland’s government was officially neutral in religious affairs, granting toleration to all Christian groups.

In 1763, Spanish Florida was ceded to Great Britain. The British then divided Florida into two colonies. Both East and West Florida continued a policy of toleration for the Catholic residents.

In 1789 Georgia amended its constitution. "No person within this state shall be deprived of the privilege of worshipping God in any manner agreeable to his own conscience or be compelled to attend any place of worship contrary to his own faith…No one religious society shall ever be established in this state, in preference to another; nor shall any person be denied the enjoyment of any civil right on account of his religious principles."

Nevertheless, the court in the Nesbit and Lindenmuller case identified actions into which – if perpetrated in the name of religion – the government did have legitimate reason to intrude. Those activities included:

·        Human sacrifice

·        Polygamy

·        Bigamy

·        Concubinage

·        Incest

·        Infanticide

·        Parricide

·        Advocation and promotion of immorality.

Such acts, even if perpetrated in the name of religion, would be stopped by the government since, as the Court explained, they were "subversive of good order" and were "overt acts against peace." However, the government was never to interfere with traditional religious practices outlined in "the Books of the Law and the Gospel" – whether public prayer, the use of the Scriptures or public acknowledgements of God.

Earlier, the courts had always viewed Jefferson's Danbury letter for just what it was, a personal, private letter to a specific group. There is probably no other instance in American history where words spoken by a single individual in a private letter – words clearly divorced from their context – have become the sole authorization for national policy. Jefferson's Danbury letter should never be invoked as a stand-alone document.

The Congressional Records from June 7 to September 25, 1789 record the months of discussions and debates of the ninety Founding Fathers who framed the First Amendment. Significantly, not only was Thomas Jefferson not one of those ninety but also, during those debates not one person ever mentioned the phrase "separation of church and state." It seems logical to me that if this had been the intent for the First Amendment – as is so frequently asserted today-then at least one of those ninety who framed the Amendment would have mentioned that phrase.

In 1928 New York’s governor Al Smith, an Irish Catholic, ran as the Democratic candidate for president against the Republican Herbert Hoover. That campaign is considered by historians to be one of the dirtiest in American history. Many Protestant religious establishments mobilized against Smith, and stated that he would be the tool of the Vatican and turn America into a Catholic theocracy.

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum recently stated that he “almost threw up” after reading John F. Kennedy’s 1960 campaign speech on the proper relation between church and state in American politics. Santorum has become a visible face of politically conservative Catholicism as a result of this and other statements. A cradle Catholic myself, I believe Kennedy’s 1,500 well-chosen words lifted a cloud of suspicion that had hung over our nation’s Catholics. The election of Jack Kennedy as president in 1960 was a happy day for American Catholics, in part because it helped heal deep historical wounds.

He wrote: “I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute--where no Catholic prelate would tell the President how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote--where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference--and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the President who might appoint him or the people who might elect him.

"I believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant nor Jewish - where no public official either requests or accepts instructions on public policy from the Pope, the National Council of Churches or any other ecclesiastical source -- no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials -- and where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against all." Kennedy provided the template for dealing with one of the trickiest issues in American governance, the proper coexistence of church and state.

For more than 50 years his speech has stood as the guiding statement on this subject. At a campaign event during the Michigan primary, Senator Santorum described his vision for the role of religion in public life. "I'm for separation of church and state. The state has no business telling the church what to do” and that Kennedy’s speech “had thrown his faith under the bus." Religion has become a cornerstone of his campaign in recent weeks. Senator, what if Islam became America’s primary religion? Would you still advocate more religious activity and expression in the public square? Look at today’s enormous growth of Islam in Europe. Time reported that by 2030, there would be more Muslims in the world than Christians.

Religious practices still remain a cloudy issue. Let us review key examples.

Ø Until 1877 the New Hampshire Constitution required members of the State legislature to be of the Protestant religion.

Ø The North Carolina Constitution of 1776 disestablished the Anglican Church, but until 1835 it allowed only Protestants to hold public office. From 1835-1876 it allowed only Christians (including Catholics) to hold public office. The current NC Constitution still forbids atheists from holding public office. Such clauses were held by the United States Supreme Court to be ‘unenforceable’ in 1961.

Ø In the 1878 Mormon polygamy case Reynolds v. U.S, the court cited Jefferson and Madison, seeking a legal definition for the word religion. Writing for the majority, Justice Field cited Jefferson's letter to the Danbury Baptists to state that "Congress was deprived of all legislative power over mere opinion, but was left free to reach actions which were in violation of social duties or subversive of good order." Considering this, the court ruled that outlawing polygamy was constitutional.

Ø In 1962, the Supreme Court addressed the issue of officially sponsored prayer or religious recitations in public schools. By a vote of 6-1, it determined it was unconstitutional for state officials to compose an official school prayer and require its recitation in public schools, even when the prayer is non-denominational and students may excuse themselves from participation. (The prayer required by the New York State Board of Regents prior to the Court's decision consisted of: "Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers, and our country. Amen.") The court stated: “that the constitutional prohibition against laws respecting an establishment of religion must at least mean that it is no part of the business of government to compose official prayers for any group of the American people to recite as a part of a religious program carried on by government.”

Ø In 1968, the Supreme Court considered an Arkansas law that made it a crime "to teach the theory or doctrine that mankind ascended or descended from a lower order of animals," or "to adopt or use in any such institution a textbook that teaches" this theory in any school or university that received public funds. “The court held that the Establishment Clause prohibits the state from advancing any religion, and has no legitimate interest in protecting any or all religions from views distasteful to them."

Ø In 1971, the court determined that a Pennsylvania state policy of reimbursing the salaries of teachers of secular subjects in religious schools or the costs of secular instructional materials in religious schools violated the Establishment Clause. The court's decision argued that the separation of church and state could never be absolute: "Our prior holdings do not call for total separation between church and state; total separation is not possible in an absolute sense. Some relationship between government and religious organizations is inevitable…Judicial caveats against entanglement must recognize that the line of separation, far from being a "wall," is a blurred, indistinct, and variable barrier depending on all the circumstances of a particular relationship."

Ø Subsequent to this decision, the Supreme Court has applied a three-pronged test:

1. First, the law or policy must have been adopted with a neutral or non-religious purpose.

2. Second, the principal or primary effect must be one that neither advances nor inhibits religion.

3. Third, the statute or policy must not result in an "excessive entanglement" of government with religion.

Ø The decision in Lemon v. Kurtzman hinged upon the conclusion that the government benefits were flowing disproportionately to Catholic schools, and that Catholic schools were an integral component of the Catholic Church's religious mission, thus the policy involved the state in an "excessive entanglement" with religion. Failure to meet any of these criteria is a proof that the statute or policy in question violates the Establishment Clause.

Ø In 2002, a three judge panel on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that classroom recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in a California public school was unconstitutional, even when students were not compelled to recite it, due to the inclusion of the phrase "under God." Congress then passed measures reaffirming their support for the pledge, and condemning the panel's ruling. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court, where the case was ultimately overturned in June 2004, on procedural grounds not related to the constitutional issue. The majority held that Newdow, suing on behalf of his daughter, lacked standing to sue.

Ø When the Louisiana state legislature passed a law requiring public school biology teachers to give Creationism and Evolution equal time in the classroom, the Supreme Court ruled that the law was unconstitutional. The court said that it was intended to advance a particular religion, and did not serve the secular purpose of improved scientific education.

Ø The display of the Ten Commandments as part of courthouse displays was considered in a group of cases decided in summer of 2005. While parties on both sides hoped for a clarification of the Lemon test, the two rulings ended with narrow 5-4 and opposing decision.

Ø In 2005, the United States Court of Appeals ruled that the continued display of the Ten Commandments as part of a larger display on American legal traditions in a Kentucky courthouse was allowed, because the purpose of the display (educating the public on American legal traditions) was secular in nature. In ruling on the Mount Soledad cross controversy in 2006, however, a federal judge ruled that the cross on public property on Mount Soledad must be removed.

Ø While sometimes questioned as violations of separation, the appointment of official chaplains for government functions, voluntary prayer meetings at the Department of Justice outside of duty hours, voluntary prayer at meals in U.S. armed forces, inclusion of the (optional) phrase "so help me God" in the oaths for many elected offices, FBI agents, etc., have been held not to violate the First Amendment, since they fall within the realm of free exercise of religion.

Ø Relaxed zoning rules and special parking privileges for churches, the tax-free status of church property, the fact that Christmas is a federal holiday, etc., have also been questioned, but have been considered examples of the governmental prerogative in deciding practical and beneficial arrangements for the society. The national motto "In God We Trust" has been challenged as a violation, but the Supreme Court has ruled that ceremonial deism is not religious in nature.

The Biggest controversy: Roe v Wade!

This was a landmark decision by the Supreme Court on the issue of abortion. Decided simultaneously with companion case Doe v. Bolton, the Court ruled that a right to privacy under the due process clause in the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution extends to a woman's decision to have an abortion. The court stated that this right must be balanced against the state's two legitimate interests for regulating abortions: protecting prenatal life and protecting the woman's health. They concluded that the state’s interests become stronger over the course of a pregnancy, and the Court resolved this balancing test by tying state regulation of abortion to the woman's current trimester of pregnancy.

The Court later rejected Roe's trimester framework, while affirming Roe's central holding that a person has a right to abortion until viability. The Roe decision defined "viable" as being "potentially able to live outside the mother's womb is usually placed at about seven months (28 weeks) but may occur earlier, even at 24 weeks." In disallowing many state and federal restrictions on abortion, Roe v. Wade prompted a national debate that continues to this day. It has reshaped politics, dividing much of America into pro-choice and pro-life camps, while activating grassroots movements on both sides.
Background of abortion laws

According to the Court, "the restrictive criminal abortion laws in effect in a majority of States today are of relatively recent vintage." In 1821, Connecticut passed the first state statute criminalizing abortion. Every state had abortion legislation by 1900. In June 1969, Norma McCorvey discovered she was pregnant. She returned to Dallas, where friends advised her to assert falsely that she had been raped, as she could then obtain a legal abortion (with the understanding that Texas' anti-abortion laws allowed abortion in the cases of rape and incest). However, this scheme failed, as there was no police report documenting the alleged rape.

In 1970, attorneys filed suit in the U.S. District Court in Texas on her behalf (under the alias Jane Roe). The defendant in the case was Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade, representing the State of Texas. McCorvey was no longer claiming her pregnancy was the result of rape, and later acknowledged she had lied earlier about having been raped.

The district court ruled in McCorvey's favor on the merits, and declined to grant an injunction against the enforcement of the laws barring abortion.

The district court's decision was based upon the Ninth Amendment, and the court relied upon a concurring opinion by Justice Arthur Goldberg in the 1965 Supreme Court case of Griswold v. Connecticut.

Before Roe v. Wade reached the Supreme Court in 1970, the Justices delayed taking action on Roe and a closely related case until they decided Younger v. Harris, as they felt that the appeals raised difficult questions on judicial jurisdiction. The Court narrowly upheld the statute, though in doing so, it treated abortion as a medical procedure and stated that the physician must be given room to determine what suffices as a danger to (physical or mental) health. The day after they announced their decision they voted to hear both Roe case.

After a first round of arguments, seven Justices tentatively agreed that the law should be struck down, but for varying reasons. Chief Justice Burger assigned the role of writing the Court's opinion in Roe to Justice Blackmun, who began drafting a preliminary opinion that emphasized what he saw as the Texas law's vagueness. Justices Rehnquist and Powell joined the Supreme Court too late to hear the first round of arguments. Additionally, Blackmun felt that his opinion was an inadequate reflection of his colleagues' opinions. Blackmun proposed that the case be reargued. Justice Douglas threatened to write a dissent from the reargument order (he and some other Justices were suspicious that Rhenquist and Powell would vote to uphold the statute). The case was reargued on October 11, 1972. Weddington continued to represent Roe, and Texas Assistant Attorney General Robert C. Flowers stepped in to replace Wade. Blackmun continued work on his opinion over the summer recess.
The actual Supreme Court decision

The Court issued its decision in 1973 with a 7-to-2-majority vote in favor of Roe. Given today’s political climate, it is important to note that Republican presidents appointed five of the seven in the majority. The Court deemed abortion a fundamental right under the United States Constitution, thereby subjecting all laws attempting to restrict it to the standard of strict scrutiny. The Supreme Court rejected the district court's Ninth Amendment rationale, and instead asserted that the right of privacy was broad enough to encompass a woman's decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.

The Court asserted that government had two competing interests:

1. Protecting the mother's health.

2. Protecting the "potentiality of human life.

The Court stated that during the first trimester, when the procedure is safer than childbirth, the decision to abort must be left to the mother and her physician. The State has the right to intervene prior to fetal viability only to protect the health of the mother, and may regulate the procedure after viability so long as there is always an exception for preserving maternal health. The Court additionally added that the primary right being preserved in the Roe decision was that of the physician's right to practice medicine freely absent a compelling state interest. The Court explicitly rejected a fetal "right to life" argument.

The Justices had discussed the trimester framework extensively. Blackmun wrote: "You will observe that I have concluded that the end of the first trimester is critical. This is arbitrary, but perhaps any other selected point, such as quickening or viability, is equally arbitrary.” Political scientists and legal scholars can parse that speech better than I. There really are no permanent and definitive bright lines separating “churches” and state in American society, try as we might. The boundaries of debate on politics and religion are ever shifting, as new issues arise, and our thinking as a result must evolve to suit circumstances.

Health and Religion versus Government

The religious freedom debate extends to so many denominations. Again, it is important to note that the issue is the “separation of churches and state.”

Dr. Gerald Howard, (also a book editor) in New York wrote “Jehovah's Witnesses won’t allow blood transfusions...I almost had a patient die after surgery because she refused.” Often, this church causes quite a dilemma when someone has injuries and they die because they refuse blood transfusions. Several cases have gone to higher courts. There have been court cases where the courts had to force parents to have medical treatment for their sick children…or even to place them in a hospital. The Wall of Churches and State is very fragile in so many practical situations.

Mary Baker founded Christian Science, a homegrown American religious and medical sect. She suffered from a variety of ailments. After Parkhurst Quimby effected a cure through his system of massage, encouragement, and "mental healing," she became his student and associate. Later, in 1866, she fell on an icy street and was confined to bed. She began reading the Bible and came to believe that her “life was in God”. From this revelation followed her healing; she got out of bed, dressed and walked.

In 1875, she asserted that "all is mind and there is no matter," death and sickness are illusions, and that everything emanates from God.

In 1892, Mrs. Eddy founded the “First Church of Christ, Scientist, of Boston”. This denomination often denies medical treatment.

Today, there has been heated discussion regarding the Obama Administration’s contraception coverage mandate. Much of the debate has focused on women’s sex lives and the types of birth control that doctors prescribe for women to prevent pregnancy. Related considerations are the separation of church and state, the mandate’s infringement on religious freedom and the Catholic Church’s First Amendment rights. Other considerations are women’s health, women’s rights, use of birth control pills to treat certain medical conditions, including polycystic ovary syndrome and endometriosis. These conditions can cause severe pain and lead to other health problems. Most medical panels recommend the contraception coverage because “those services are basic to individual health.”

The Catholic bishops, however, believe that contraceptive coverage and some hospital services are in conflict with the church’s “moral conscience.” The bishops believe that the church has the right to deny certain types of health insurance coverage for women who work for Catholic institutions. It does not matter to the bishops whether their female employees are members of other religions…or even atheists. The church’s position is that all female employees of Catholic institutions should be denied access to all forms of contraceptives and not be provided medical insurance that would cover the cost of certain medical procedures. The bishops also believe that certain types of treatment and procedures—including tubal ligations—should not be provided to women at Catholic hospitals.

In January 2011, the National Women’s Law Center issued a report on women’s health and lives being at risk at some hospitals because of religious restrictions. Their report described cases where doctors noted a discrepancy between the medically accepted standard of care for miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy and the treatment provided by hospitals due to their religious affiliation. When the standard of care for certain ectopic pregnancies required patients to receive methotrexate, the study reported many hospitals disallowed the use of that drug. Instead, patients were either transferred to another hospital or required to undergo unnecessary and invasive surgery to resolve their condition, thus being denied the standard of care.

In some of the miscarriage cases described, the standard of care also required immediate treatment. Yet doctors practicing at Catholic-affiliated hospitals were forced to delay treatment. Even though these miscarriages were inevitable, and no medical treatment was available to save the fetus, some patients were transferred because doctors were required to wait until there was no longer a fetal heartbeat to provide the needed medical care. This delay subjected these patients to further risks of hemorrhage and infection and could have violated their right to receive emergency medical treatment under federal law.

Jill Morrison, Counsel for NWLC, said that religious dictates should not “trump bedrock legal protections that entitle patients to the standard of care and informed consent in the American medical system.” According to the National Catholic Reporter, “Catholic health care facilities form the largest not-for-profit health service sector in the United States, caring for nearly one-sixth of all U.S. hospital patients each year.”

Twenty percent of U.S. hospitals abide by directives created by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. They ban abortions for any reason, forbid distribution of birth control (often including “morning after” pills for rape victims), deny sterilization operations, and nullify advanced directives and “living wills” that conflict with Catholic doctrine. Generally, when Catholic hospitals merge with non-Catholic institutions, the latter are required to accept the directives as part of the deal.

Sister Margaret McBride, an administrator of St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona, chose to sign off on an abortion “for a woman who was eleven weeks pregnant and suffering from life-threatening pulmonary hypertension.” The woman was twenty-seven-years-old and the mother of four children. Doctors at the hospital had determined that terminating the woman’s pregnancy was the only way to save her life. Phoenix Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted was “furious” and demoted Sister McBride. He also announced that she had automatically excommunicated herself from the Catholic Church by her actions. The New York Times wrote that Bishop Olmsted had spent much of his life “as a Vatican bureaucrat climbing the career ladder.” They concluded that we would see more clashes like the one between the bishop and the hospital in Arizona in the future “as the church hierarchy grows more conservative, and as hospitals and laity grow more impatient with bishops who seem increasingly out of touch.”

As stated in the Conclusion, the genuine attempt to separate religion and government, the wall (or line) will remain murky. With the growth of non-Christian religions, over the next 100 years, it will be even more ambiguous. The question is not church and state. It is many churches or many religions versus one state. What is moral or legal in one denomination is not necessarily moral or allowed in another. The clearest line in the sand is this: There will be no state sponsored religion in the United States of America. The fundamental tenet of morality repeatedly declared by Ben Franklin was “The most acceptable service to God is doing good to man.” So, we Americans must get along and accept that no institution has all the answers to life’s mysteries. When we gaze at the stars and a full moon on a summer night, we surely know they did not come from “nothing”.

CONSERVATISM: DEFAULT IDEOLOGY - FUNCTION OF LOW BRAIN POWER

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 00:08:00 -0700

Is Conservatism Our Default Ideology?

New research provides evidence that, when under time pressure or otherwise cognitively impaired, people are more likely to express conservative views.

A research team led by University of Arkansas psychologist Scott Eidelman argues that conservatism — which the researchers identify as “an emphasis on personal responsibility, acceptance of hierarchy, and a preference for the status quo” — may be our default ideology. If we don’t have the time or energy to give a matter sufficient thought, we tend to accept the conservative argument. Eidelman and his colleagues’ paper will surely outrage manyon the left (who will resist the notion of conservatism as somehow natural) and the right (who will take offense to the idea that their ideology is linked to low brainpower.) The researchers do their best to preemptively answer such criticism.

Researchers at CalTech MedTransplant have also weighed in relative to the anomoly of disparity in cost of brainial transplants. Michael Cohen, MD, head of the school's transplant unit, noted that the cost of brainial transplants of patient-donors of conservative ideology cost

about 60% less than those of liberal ideology, noting that the primary reason is that conservative brains have more mileage on them, i.e. they tend to be "used brains."

see rest of gallup survey below.
By Tom Jacobs

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(Varina and Jay Patel/Shutterstock)

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According to a recent Gallup poll, 40 percent of Americans describe themselves as conservative, while only 21 percent call themselves liberal. (Another 35 percent are self-identified moderates.)

This gap has long puzzled scholars. If left and right ideologies comprise a mutually dependent yin-yang system, reflecting different approaches to meeting our most basic needs, shouldn’t they be held by roughly the same proportion of people?

One possible explanation is that some “conservatives” wear the label quite loosely. Another points to the long-established link between right-wing attitudes and a tendency to perceive the world as threatening. In an era where the latest scare is constantly being hyped on television and the Internet, it stands to reason that conservatism would dominate.

Newly published research proposes a somewhat different, and quite provocative, answer.

A research team led by University of Arkansas psychologist Scott Eidelman argues that conservatism — which the researchers identify as “an emphasis on personal responsibility, acceptance of hierarchy, and a preference for the status quo” — may be our default ideology. If we don’t have the time or energy to give a matter sufficient thought, we tend to accept the conservative argument.

“When effortful, deliberate responding is disrupted or disengaged, thought processes become quick and efficient,” the researchers write in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. “These conditions promote conservative ideology.”

Eidelman and his colleagues’ paper will surely outrage many on the left (who will resist the notion of conservatism as somehow natural) and the right (who will take offense to the idea that their ideology is linked to low brainpower). The researchers do their best to preemptively answer such criticism.

“We do not assert that conservatives fail to engage in effortful, deliberate thought,” they insist. “We find that when effortful thought is disengaged, the first step people take tends to be in a conservative direction.”

The researchers describe four studies that provide evidence backing up their thesis. In each case, they used a different method to disrupt the process of deliberation, and found that doing so increased the odds of someone espousing conservative views.

Their first method was a time-tested one: inebriation. Researchers stood outside the exit of a busy New England tavern and offered to measure patrons’ blood alcohol level if they would fill out a short survey. Eighty-five drinkers agreed, expressing their opinions of 10 statements such as “production and trade should be free of government interference.”

“Bar patrons reported more conservative attitudes as their level of alcohol intoxication increased,” the researchers report.

A second experiment featured 38 University of Maine undergraduates who filled out a similar survey. Half did so while working on “a distraction task” that required them to listen closely to a tape of tones that varied in pitch.

Those who had to do two things at once, and were thus under a heavier “cognitive load,” were more likely than their peers to endorse conservative attitudes, and less likely to endorse liberal positions.

In a third experiment, participants under time pressure were more likely to endorse conservative viewpoints than those who were not. In a fourth experiment, those asked to “give your first, immediate response” were more likely to express support for words and phrases linked to conservatism (such as “law and order” and “authority”) than those who were instructed to “really put forth effort and consider the issue.”

Eidelman notes that this dynamic was found with different populations (college students and bar patrons) and in people from different parts of the country (three of the experiments were conducted in Maine, a fourth in Arkansas). He adds just one caveat: “Largely, our sample consisted of political centrists.”

“Ideology is multiply determined, coming from many sources, including values, experience, history and culture,” the researchers note. It’s unclear whether this rightward drift would occur in a population of strongly committed but cognitively overloaded liberals.

Similarly, it’s not certain whether die-hard right-wingers would express even more conservative views under these conditions. What does seem clear is that our first impulse tends to be to stick with the tried and true, and this attitude aligns better with conservative ideas than liberal ones.

“The bad news for liberals is we’re saying that conservatism has a certain psychological advantage,” Eidelman said. “The bad news for conservatives is that someone who has a knee-jerk conservative reaction may change their mind about an issue after giving it more thought.”

Of course, it’s an open question as to what percentage of the population genuinely ponders political issues, rather than simply going with their initial instincts. This suggests liberals face a significant challenge in converting people to their cause.

As Eidelman puts it: “It might take a little extra effort to convince yourself (to support a liberal position), and a little extra work to convince others.”

Sign up for the free Miller-McCune.com e-newsletter.

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JFM ARCHIVES -FOUR MITCHELL BROTHERS

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 19:41:00 -0700

JFM ARCHIVES - TENOR VOICE

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 19:38:00 -0700

WILLIAM & BRIDIE MITCHELL

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 19:35:00 -0700

SMOKE RINGS AND STRING THEORY

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 00:38:00 -0700
Physics on the Fringe: Smoke Rings, Circlons, and Alternative Theories of Everything

Physics on the Fringe: Smoke Rings, Circlons, and Alternative Theories of Everything
by Margaret Wertheim
Walker, 323 pp., $27.00

Pierpont Morgan Library/Art Resource

An engraving by William Blake from The Song of Los, 1795

Physics on the Fringe describes work done by amateurs, people rejected by the academic establishment and rejecting orthodox academic beliefs. They are often self-taught and ignorant of higher mathematics. Mathematics is the language spoken by the professionals. The amateurs offer an alternative set of visions. Their imagined worlds are concrete rather than abstract, physical rather than mathematical. Many of them belong to the Natural Philosophy Alliance, an informal organization known to its friends as the NPA.

Margaret Wertheim’s book discusses her encounters with the natural philosophers. She is interested in them as characters in a human tragedy, with the seriousness and dignity that tragedy imposes. Her leading character is Jim Carter, and her main theme is the story of his life and work. Unlike most of the philosophical dreamers, Carter is a capable engineer and does real experiments to test his ideas. He runs a successful business that gives him leisure to pursue his dreams. He is a man of many talents, with one fatal flaw.

Carter’s flaw is his unshakable belief in a theory of the universe based on endless hierarchies of circlons. Circlons are mechanical objects of circular shape. The history of the universe is a story of successive generations of circlons arising by processes of reproduction and fission. He verified the behavior of circlons by doing experiments with smoke rings at his home. A smoke ring is a visible manifestation of a circlon. He built an experimental apparatus using garbage cans and rubber sheeting to make long-lived smoke rings under controlled conditions. The fact that smoke rings can interact with one another and maintain a stable existence proves that circlons can do the same. Just as the standard theory of nuclear physics is verified by accelerator experiments, he claims that his theory is verified by his garbage can experiments at a million times lower cost. Like Coleridge’s Ancient Mariner, he tells his story over and over to listeners who will not believe it.

The most dramatic period of Carter’s life, Wertheim tells us, was the decade of the 1970s, when he made a living as a diver collecting abalone from the sea bottom around Catalina Island. His first vision of a circlon was a perfect ring of air bubbles that sometimes rose from the exhaust valve of his underwater breathing apparatus when he exhaled. In those days, abalone were abundant and the demand for them insatiable. He could make enough money in a day of diving to allow him to stay at home for a week and work out the theory of circlons.

The practical limit to his income was the difficulty of transporting large quantities of abalone from the sea bottom to land. He solved this problem by inventing a device called a lift bag, which is a large bag with one compartment for freight and another compartment inflated with air. A small tank of compressed air released into the bag can lift hundreds of times its own weight. The lifting capacity of the bag is the weight of water displaced by the air, and the water weighs a thousand times as much as the air. With the help of his wife, he designed a lift bag that was elegant and user-friendly, using brightly colored materials to improve its underwater visibility. He was soon receiving orders for lift bags from people engaged in underwater operations of all kinds, from raising sunken ships to drilling for oil. The Carter Lift Bag Company was bringing him a larger income than he had ever earned from abalone.

Carter was unaware, until Wertheim told him the news, that his smoke ring experiments had been done with similar apparatus and for a similar purpose 130 years earlier. William Thomson and Peter Tait, a famous physicist and a famous mathematician, had invented a theory of matter similar to Carter’s theory of circlons. They imagined every atom to be a vortex in a hypothetical fluid known as ether that was supposed to pervade space and time. They imagined the vortices to be knotted in various ways that explained the chemical differences between atoms of various elements. Vortices in a perfect fluid, either knotted or unknotted, would be permanent and indestructible.

Like Carter, Thomson and Tait used smoke rings as visible images of their imagined atoms. Like Carter, they failed to find any convincing evidence of a connection between image and atom. Unlike Carter, they were professional scientists, highly respected leaders of the international scientific community. Thomson was later ennobled by Queen Victoria and became Lord Kelvin, his name immortalized in the Kelvin scale of absolute temperature. Tait created a mathematical theory of knots, which grew in the twentieth century into a new branch of mathematics known as topology. Thomson and Tait were honored and respected, even as their theory of vortex atoms fell into oblivion. Wertheim asks: Why should Jim Carter be treated differently?

In my career as a scientist, I twice had the good fortune to be a personal friend of a famous dissident. One dissident, Sir Arthur Eddington, was an insider like Thomson and Tait. The other, Immanuel Velikovsky, was an outsider like Carter. Both of them were tragic figures, intellectually brilliant and morally courageous, with the same fatal flaw as Carter. Both of them were possessed by fantasies that people with ordinary common sense could recognize as nonsense. I made it clear to both that I did not believe their fantasies, but I admired them as human beings and as imaginative artists. I admired them most of all for their stubborn refusal to remain silent. With the whole world against them, they remained true to their beliefs. I could not pretend to agree with them, but I could give them my moral support.

Eddington was a great astronomer, one of the last of the giants who were equally gifted as observers and as theorists. His great moment as an observer came in 1919 when he led the British expedition to the island of Principe off the coast of West Africa to measure the deflection of starlight passing close to the sun during a total eclipse. The purpose of the measurement was to test Einstein’s theory of General Relativity. The measurement showed clearly that Einstein was right and Newton wrong. Einstein and Eddington both became immediately famous. One year later, Eddington published a book, Space, Time and Gravitation, that explained Einstein’s ideas to English-speaking readers. It begins with a quote from Milton’s Paradise Lost:

Perhaps to move
His laughter at their quaint opinions wide
Hereafter, when they come to model heaven
And calculate the stars: how they will wield
The mighty frame: how build, unbuild, contrive
To save appearances.

Milton had visited Galileo at his home in Florence when Galileo was under house arrest. Milton wrote poetry in Italian as well as English. He spoke Galileo’s language, and used Galileo as an example in his campaign for freedom of the press in England. Milton had witnessed with Galileo the birth struggle of classical physics, as Eddington witnessed with Einstein the birth struggle of relativity three hundred years later. Eddington’s book puts relativity into its proper setting as an episode in the history of Western thought. The book is marvelously clear and readable, and is probably responsible for the fact that Einstein was better understood and more admired in Britain and America than in Germany.

As a student at Cambridge University I listened to Eddington’s lectures on General Relativity. They were as brilliant as his books. He divided his exposition into two parts, and warned the students scrupulously when he switched from one part to the other. The first part was the orthodox mathematical theory invented by Einstein and verified by Eddington’s observations. The second part was a strange concoction that he called “Fundamental Theory,” attempting to explain all the mysteries of particle physics and cosmology with a new set of ideas. “Fundamental Theory” was a mixture of mathematical and verbal arguments. The consequences of the theory were guessed rather than calculated. The theory had no firm basis either in physics or mathematics.

Eddington said plainly, whenever he burst into his fundamental theory with a wild rampage of speculations, “This is not generally accepted and you don’t have to believe it.” I was unable to decide who were more to be pitied, the bewildered students who were worried about passing the next exam or the elderly speaker who knew that he was a voice crying in the wilderness. Two facts were clear. First, Eddington was talking nonsense. Second, in spite of the nonsense, he was still a great man. For the small class of students, it was a privilege to come faithfully to his lectures and to share his pain. Two years later he was dead.

After I came to America, I became a friend of Immanuel Velikovsky, who was my neighbor in Princeton. Velikovsky was a Russian Jew, with an intense interest in Jewish legends and ancient history. He was born into a scholarly family in 1895 and obtained a medical degree at Moscow University in 1921. During the chaos of the Bolshevik Revolution he wrote a long Russian poem with the title “Thirty Days and Nights of Diego Pirez on the Sant’Angelo Bridge.” It was published in Paris in 1935. Diego Pirez was a sixteenth-century Portuguese Jewish mystic who came to Rome and sat on the bridge near the Vatican, surrounded by beggars and thieves to whom he told his apocalyptic visions. He was condemned to death by the Inquisition, pardoned by the pope, and later burned as a heretic by the emperor Charles V.

Velikovsky escaped from Russia and settled in Palestine with his wife and daughters. He described to me the joys of practicing medicine on the slopes of Mount Carmel above Haifa, where he rode on a donkey to visit his patients in their homes. He founded and edited a journal, Scripta Universitatis atque Bibliothecae Hierosolymitanarum, which was the official journal of the Hebrew University before the university was established. His work for the Scripta was important for the founding of the Hebrew University. But he had no wish to join the university himself. To fulfill his dreams he needed complete independence. In 1939, after sixteen years in Palestine, he moved to America, where he had no license to practice medicine. To survive in America, he needed to translate his dreams into books.

Eleven years later, Macmillan published Worlds in Collision, and it became a best seller. Like Diego Pirez, Velikovsky told his dreams to the public in language they could understand. His dreams were mythological stories of catastrophic events, gleaned from many cultures, especially from ancient Egypt and Israel. These catastrophes were interwoven with a weird history of planetary collisions. The planets Venus and Mars were supposed to have moved out of their regular orbits and collided with the Earth a few thousand years ago. Electromagnetic forces were invoked to counteract the normal effects of gravity. The human and cosmic events were tied together in a flowing narrative. Velikovsky wrote like an Old Testament prophet, calling down fire and brimstone from heaven, in a style familiar to Americans raised on the King James Bible. More best sellers followed: Ages in Chaos in 1952, Earth in Upheaval in 1955, Oedipus and Akhnaton in 1960. Velikovsky became famous as a writer and as a public speaker.

In 1977 Velikovsky asked me to write a blurb advertising his new book, Peoples of the Sea. I wrote a statement addressed to him personally:

First, as a scientist, I disagree profoundly with many of the statements in your books. Second, as your friend, I disagree even more profoundly with those scientists who have tried to silence your voice. To me, you are no reincarnation of Copernicus or Galileo. You are a prophet in the tradition of William Blake, a man reviled and ridiculed by his contemporaries but now recognized as one of the greatest of English poets. A hundred and seventy years ago, Blake wrote: “The Enquiry in England is not whether a Man has Talents and Genius, but whether he is Passive and Polite and a Virtuous Ass and obedient to Noblemen’s Opinions in Art and Science. If he is, he is a Good Man. If not, he must be starved.” So you stand in good company. Blake, a buffoon to his enemies and an embarrassment to his friends, saw Earth and Heaven more clearly than any of them. Your poetic visions are as large as his and as deeply rooted in human experience. I am proud to be numbered among your friends.

I added the emphatic instruction, “This statement to be printed in its entirety or not at all.” A quick response came from Velikovsky. He said, “How would you like it if I said you were the reincarnation of Jules Verne?” He wanted to be honored as a scientist, not as a poet. My statement was not printed, and Peoples of the Sea became a best seller without my help. We remained friends, and in that same year he gave me a copy of his Diego Pirez poem, which I treasure as the truest expression of his spirit. I hope it will one day be adequately translated into English.

Why do I value so highly the memory of Eddington and Velikovsky, and why does Margaret Wertheim treasure the memory of William Thomson and Jim Carter? We honor them because science is only a small part of human capability. We gain knowledge of our place in the universe not only from science but also from history, art, and literature. Science is a creative interaction of observation with imagination. “Physics at the Fringe” is what happens when imagination loses touch with observation. Imagination by itself can still enlarge our vision when observation fails. The mythologies of Carter and Velikovsky fail to be science, but they are works of art and high imagining. As William Blake told us long ago, “You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough.”

Margaret Wertheim ends her book with a description of two conferences that she attended. The first was in 2003 at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at Santa Barbara. The second was in 2010 at California State University in Long Beach. Both conferences were supposed to be about physics. The subject of the Santa Barbara conference was “string cosmology.” It was a gathering of the leading professional experts in the most fashionable part of theoretical physics, with David Gross, who won a Nobel Prize in 2004, presiding. Each expert in turn described a personal vision of the cosmos, delineating either a single universe or a multiplicity of universes. The various visions were incompatible with one another, and no observational evidence could prove any of them right or wrong.

The Long Beach conference was organized by the Natural Philosophy Alliance, the amateurs on the fringe. Their meeting resembled a professional conference, with PowerPoint presentations followed by vigorous question-and-answer sessions. Jim Carter was there, and presented his vision of the universe among 120 others. Wertheim was probably the only person who attended both conferences. She is one of very few people who are at home in both worlds. She is a professional science writer with a degree in physics, and she has made friends with many insiders as well as outsiders. She asks at the end the central question raised by her book: Why should we pay more attention to one set of self-proclaimed experts than to the other?

So far as science in general is concerned, the answer to Wertheim’s question is clear. There is good reason to pay more attention to scientific experts than to amateurs, so long as science is based on experiments. Only trained experts can do experiments with the care and precision that experiments demand. Expert experimenters are not infallible, but they are less fallible than amateurs. Experiments give orthodox beliefs a solid basis. An experimental basis exists for the established disciplines of physics and chemistry and biology. However, some parts of physics are less secure than others, because the experts in physics are divided into experimenters and theorists.

Over most of the territory of physics, theorists and experimenters are engaged in a common enterprise, and theories are tested rigorously by experiment. The theorists listen to the voice of nature speaking through experimental tools. This was true for the great theorists of the early twentieth century, Einstein and Heisenberg and Schrödinger, whose revolutionary theories of relativity and quantum mechanics were tested by precise experiments and found to fit the facts of nature. The new mathematical abstractions fit the facts, while the old mechanical models did not.

String cosmology is different. String cosmology is a part of theoretical physics that has become detached from experiments. String cosmologists are free to imagine universes and multiverses, guided by intuition and aesthetic judgment alone. Their creations must be logically consistent and mathematically elegant, but they are otherwise unconstrained. That is why Wertheim found the official string cosmology conference disconcertingly similar to the unofficial Natural Philosophy conference. The insiders and the outsiders seem to be following the same rules. Both groups are telling stories of imagined worlds, and neither has an assured way of deciding who is right. If the title Physics on the Fringe fits the natural philosophers, the same title also fits the string cosmologists.

The fringe of physics is not a sharp boundary with truth on one side and fantasy on the other. All of science is uncertain and subject to revision. The glory of science is to imagine more than we can prove. The fringe is the unexplored territory where truth and fantasy are not yet disentangled. Hermann Weyl, who was one of the main architects of the relativity and quantum revolutions, said to me once, “I always try to combine the true with the beautiful, but when I have to choose one or the other, I usually choose the beautiful.” Following Weyl’s good example, our string cosmologists are making the same choice.

BILLIONS OF HABITABLE PLANETS CLOSE BY

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 22:04:00 -0700

New 'life in space' hope after billions of 'habitable planets' found in Milky Way

New 'life in space' hope after billions of 'habitable planets' found in Milky Way

Billions of potentially habitable planets may exist within our galaxy, the Milky Way, raising new prospects that life could exist near Earth, a study has found.

Hundreds of thousands of stars crowded into the swirling core of our spiral Milky Way galaxy Photo: NASA

11:00AM BST 28 Mar 2012

Comments

Researchers discovered that at least 100 of the ''super-Earths'' may be on our galactic doorstep, at distances of less than 30 light years, or about 180 trillion miles, from the sun.

Astronomers say the findings were made after conducting a survey of red dwarf stars, which account for about four in five stars in the Milky Way.

They calculate that around 40 per cent of red dwarfs have a rocky planet not much bigger than Earth orbiting the ''habitable zone'', in which liquid surface water can exist.

Scientists say that where there is water, there also could be life although they add that being in the habitable zone is no guarantee that life has evolved on a planet.

Dr Xavier Bonfils, from Grenoble University in France, who led the international team, said: ''Because red dwarfs are so common - there are about 160 billion of them in the Milky Way - this leads us to the astonishing result that there are tens of billions of these planets in our galaxy alone.''

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In their study, the team of astronomers surveyed a carefully chosen sample of 102 red dwarfs using the European Southern Observatory's 3.6-metre telescope at La Silla, Chile.

A total of nine super-Earths - planets with masses between one and 10 times that of Earth - were found. Two were located within the habitable zones of the stars Gliese 581 and Gliese 667 C.

These data were combined with other observations, including those of stars which did not have planets.

The astronomers, whose research was reported in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, worked out that habitable zone super-Earths orbiting red dwarfs occurred with a frequency of around 41 per cent.

Meanwhile massive planets similar to Jupiter and Saturn were rare around red dwarfs. Less than 12 per cent of the stars were expected to have such ''gas giants''.

Because red dwarfs are common near the sun, many ''super-Earths'' may not be far away in astronomical terms. The scientists estimate there could be around 100 habitable zone planets within 30 light years.

Red dwarfs are cooler than the sun, which means planets must orbit close to their parent stars to be warm enough to be habitable. Scientists said this might not be good news for life.

Dr Stephane Udry, from Geneva Observatory, who is also a member of the international team, added: "The habitable zone around a red dwarf, where the temperature is suitable for liquid water to exist on the surface, is much closer to the star than the Earth is to the sun.

''But red dwarfs are known to be subject to stellar eruptions or flares, which may bathe the planet in X-rays or ultraviolet radiation, and which may make life there less likely.'' One light year is nearly six trillion miles.

JFM ARCHIVES - PORTRAIT - PUBLIC DOMAIN

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 21:05:00 -0700

THIS PHOTO IS IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN

JFM ARCHIVES -PATENT OFFICE NYC APRIL 3, 1973

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 15:17:00 -0700

Eagle Cam

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 10:52:00 -0700

FullScreen load (may not work for everyone, see alternate link below):

http://bglive-w.bitgravity.com/alcoa/live/feed01

or (load in their webpage):

http://www.alcoa.com/locations/usa_davenport/en/info_page/eaglecam.asp

------------------------------------

These steps are not required, but may be prefered. If the top link asks you to download a file, it means you do not have a compatible plugin installed to play the live stream.

If you'd like to try to get the top link, fullscreen, to load without the surrounding webpage, VLC with browser plugin enabled, will work. Other plugins may or may not work also:

Step 1: Download VLC for your operating system:

            VLC for Windows: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-windows.html

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VLC for other O/S: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

Step 2: Install VLC, making sure the browser plugin is enabled [√]

             Closing your browser before installing, is suggested.

Step 3: Open your browser, and go to this link: http://bglive-w.bitgravity.com/alcoa/live/feed01

It should now play full screen in your browser window.

------------------------------------
Video's with Commentary by: Joseph Brophy

Bald Eagle Facts

Facts and Figures

Breeding

Bald Eagle Nests

Food Habits

Migration

Causes of Mortality

Bald Eagles and DDT

Conservation and Management

The bald eagle has been our national symbol since 1782, when Congress adopted the design for the Great Seal of the United States. Ranging from Alaska to the northern border of Mexico, and from the Pacific to the Atlantic coast, the bald eagle is the only eagle found exclusively on the North American continent. Long a key symbol in Native American cultures, the bald eagle has more recently been emblematic of freedom and democracy as well as wilderness and the environmental ethic.

Facts and Figures

The bald eagle is not really bald. "Bald" is from an obsolete English word meaning white. Bald eagles do not attain their white head and tail feathers until their 5th year of age. Immature birds undergo progressive annual changes in plumage pattern from uniformly dark brown their first year to extensive white and brown mottling in their fourth year. Other notable characteristics include a large downward-curving yellow bill, and yellow feet with sharp talons for catching prey.

Size: Size increases with latitude; Alaskan birds are noticeably larger.

Weight: Males 7-10 pounds, Females up to 14 pounds

Wingspan: Males greater than 6 feet Females up to 8 feet

Age (record longevity): 28 years in wild, 36 years in captivity

Breeding

Capable of breeding in fifth year of life when adult plumage attained. Pairs mate for life. In the Chesapeake Bay area, breeding activity begins in November and can last through mid- July. Most eggs laid mid-January to late February. Females lay 1-3 eggs, 2-egg clutch most common (79%). Incubation period is 35 days. Males participate, but female does most of incubating (72%). Both parents hunt and feed young. Young eaglets fledge in average of three months (8-14 weeks).

Bald Eagle Nests

Both sexes participate in nest building, which usually begins 1-3 months before egg-laying. Generally built in one of the largest live trees available with accessible limbs capable of supporting the nest. Nests built in top quarter of tree just below the crown, against the trunk or in the fork of large branches close to the trunk. Nest constructed from sticks collected on the ground or broken off of trees. Grasses, mosses, and other material may be added as filler. The nest bole is lined with finer woody material and ultimately with downy feathers from adults. Additional materials added throughout the year, including daily additions during breeding season. Nests used for multiple years may reach enormous dimensions. Bald eagle nests are among the largest nests of all birds; Typical size is 5-6 feet in diameter and 3 feet tall! Famous Ohio nest used for 34 years measured almost 9 feet in diameter, close to 12 feet tall, and weighed over 2 tons! Record St. Petersburg, Florida nest was 9.5 feet in diameter and 20 feet tall!

Food Habits

Bald eagles, like other raptors, are birds of prey. They usually seek out aquatic habitats (bays, lakes, large rivers), as fish are their preferred food, but bald eagles are opportunistic foragers.

In addition to fish, they eat a great variety of aquatic and terrestrial mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. They will also feed on carrion, especially in winter, and are known to steal prey from other birds, such as osprey.

Diet of nesting bald eagles (summary of 20 studies):

Food Percent

Fish 56%

Birds 28%

Mammals 14%

Other 2%

Migration

Northern (breeding north of 40° N), non-coastal populations including those in Alaska, generally migrate south for the winter between August and January.

Bald eagles in the Great Lakes region and adjacent areas in Canada may migrate eastward to winter along the Atlantic Coast from Maine and New Brunswick to Chesapeake Bay.

Because of its rich food resources, Chesapeake Bay also is host to a large influx of summer migrants from Florida and other Gulf Coast states from May to September.

Most immatures on Chesapeake Bay limit movements to the bay. Less than 10% of radio-tagged individuals moved north in summer.

Northern birds return to breeding grounds as soon as weather and food availability permit, generally January to March.

Causes of Mortality

Most bald eagle mortality is human-related, either directly or indirectly. Of 1,428 individuals examined by the National Wildlife Health Center from 1963 to 1984, death was attributed to following causes:

Cause Number Percent

Trauma
(impact with wires or vehicles) 329 23%

Gunshot 309 22%

Poisoning 158 11%

Electrocution 130 9%

Trapping 68 5%

Emaciation 110 8%

Disease 31 2%

Undetermined 93 20%

Bald Eagles and DDT

Reproduction impaired due to eggshell thinning across lower 48 states during years of DDT use: 1947-1972.

Changes in nest success (percentage of active nests with at least one young fledged) and productivity (number of young fledged/active nest) for Chesapeake Bay:

Pre-DDT Nest Success: 79%

1962 Nest Success: 14%

Pre-DDT Productivity: 1.6 young fledged/nest

1962 Productivity: 0.2 young fledged/nest

2005 Productivity: 1.58 young fledged/nest

In lower 48 states, bald eagle populations have shown tremendous growth since DDT banned in 1972:

1963: 417 estimated breeding pairs

1982: 1,482 estimated breeding pairs

1997: 5,000 estimated breeding pairs

2005: 7,066 estimated breeding pairs

Conservation and Management

Bald eagles were protected under the Bald Eagle Protection Act in 1940 in Alaska and lower 48 states. The Act prohibited taking or possession of bald eagles or any parts including feathers, eggs, and nests.

Bald eagles are further protected as Endangered Species under 1973 Endangered Species Act, however, expanding populations led to down-listing as a Threatened Species in 1995.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is moving forward with a proposal to remove the bald eagle from the Endangered Species Act. Public comment on this proposal was accepted until January 11, 2007. Following a review of the scientific documents and public comments the FWS will make a final decision regarding delisting the Bald Eagle.

Bald eagles will continue to be protected by the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. But future growth of their populations, both in Virginia and across the country, may be constrained by the loss of protection of potential nest sites and suitable bald eagle habitat as a result of Federal de-listing.

JFM ARCHIVES - THE TOP 20 SEARCH ENGINES

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 13:02:00 -0700

JFM ARCHIVES -LARGEST BANKRUPTCIES OF ALL TIME

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 10:22:00 -0700

JFM ARCHIVES - RONALD REGAN & GEORGE HW BUSH USE PROTOTYPE CELL PHONE

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 21:57:00 -0700

Major Field	Unemployment Percent	25th % Earnings	Median % Earnings	75th % Earnings	Popularity
ACCOUNTING	5.4%	$41,000	$61,000	$94,000	3
ACTUARIAL SCIENCE	0.0%	$52,000	$81,000	$116,000	150
ADVERTISING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS	6.1%	$36,000	$50,000	$74,000	41
AEROSPACE ENGINEERING	3.6%	$60,000	$84,000	$111,000	105
AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS	1.3%	$30,000	$57,000	$99,000	122
AGRICULTURE PRODUCTION AND MANAGEMENT	3.0%	$32,000	$48,000	$71,000	75
ANIMAL SCIENCES	5.7%	$26,000	$40,000	$60,000	67
ANTHROPOLOGY AND ARCHEOLOGY	6.9%	$30,000	$40,000	$60,000	55
APPLIED MATHEMATICS	4.1%	$52,000	$71,000	$100,000	131
ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING	5.8%	$50,000	$71,000	$96,000	140
ARCHITECTURE	10.6%	$37,000	$60,000	$85,000	33
AREA ETHNIC AND CIVILIZATION STUDIES	5.7%	$34,000	$48,000	$76,000	66
ART AND MUSIC EDUCATION	4.2%	$32,000	$41,000	$51,000	48
ART HISTORY AND CRITICISM	6.9%	$33,000	$45,000	$71,000	81
ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS	0.0%	$56,000	$62,000	$101,000	170
ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES AND METEOROLOGY	1.6%	$40,000	$68,000	$101,000	146
BIOCHEMICAL SCIENCES	7.1%	$30,000	$48,000	$80,000	87
BIOLOGICAL ENGINEERING	6.8%	$39,000	$60,000	$94,000	126
BIOLOGY	5.6%	$35,000	$51,000	$76,000	14
BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING	5.9%	$45,000	$68,000	$101,000	137
BOTANY	6.9%	$26,000	$40,000	$55,000	147
BUSINESS ECONOMICS	5.0%	$44,000	$71,000	$101,000	80
BUSINESS MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION	6.0%	$38,000	$56,000	$85,000	1
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING	3.8%	$60,000	$86,000	$117,000	49
CHEMISTRY	5.1%	$39,000	$59,000	$85,000	36
CIVIL ENGINEERING	4.9%	$55,000	$76,000	$101,000	32
CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY	19.5%	$25,000	$40,000	$61,000	168
COGNITIVE SCIENCE AND BIOPSYCHOLOGY	4.5%	$36,000	$43,000	$91,000	167
COMMERCIAL ART AND GRAPHIC DESIGN	8.1%	$31,000	$45,000	$69,000	21
COMMUNICATION DISORDERS SCIENCES AND SERVICES	3.3%	$32,000	$41,000	$50,000	98
COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES	6.7%	$33,000	$50,000	$73,000	89
COMMUNICATIONS	6.3%	$35,000	$50,000	$81,000	7
COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC HEALTH	4.1%	$31,000	$46,000	$70,000	110
COMPOSITION AND SPEECH	7.7%	$30,000	$40,000	$61,000	99
COMPUTER ADMINISTRATION MANAGEMENT AND SECURITY	9.5%	$39,000	$52,000	$75,000	114
COMPUTER AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS	5.6%	$44,000	$62,000	$86,000	31
COMPUTER ENGINEERING	7.0%	$58,000	$81,000	$102,000	47
COMPUTER NETWORKING AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS	5.2%	$35,000	$53,000	$76,000	97
COMPUTER PROGRAMMING AND DATA PROCESSING	6.2%	$39,000	$55,000	$84,000	121
COMPUTER SCIENCE	5.6%	$50,000	$77,000	$102,000	10
CONSTRUCTION SERVICES	5.4%	$49,000	$65,000	$101,000	76
COSMETOLOGY SERVICES AND CULINARY ARTS	7.3%	$26,000	$41,000	$60,000	115
COUNSELING PSYCHOLOGY	5.2%	$23,000	$34,000	$42,000	133
COURT REPORTING	4.9%	$36,000	$55,000	$81,000	151
CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND FIRE PROTECTION	4.7%	$36,000	$50,000	$73,000	13
CRIMINOLOGY	5.2%	$35,000	$50,000	$71,000	92
DRAMA AND THEATER ARTS	7.1%	$28,000	$40,000	$60,000	45
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION	4.1%	$28,000	$37,000	$45,000	50
ECOLOGY	5.2%	$31,000	$43,000	$60,000	109
ECONOMICS	6.3%	$42,000	$69,000	$108,000	16

Cause	Number	Percent
Trauma (impact with wires or vehicles)	329	23%
Gunshot	309	22%
Poisoning	158	11%
Electrocution	130	9%
Trapping	68	5%
Emaciation	110	8%
Disease	31	2%
Undetermined	93	20%

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Global Warming Articles - Summary Article

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Another favorite climate belief was overturned when Pope warned the conference that the dramatic Arctic ice loss in recent summers was partly a product of natural cycles rather than global warming. Preliminary reports suggest there has been much less melting this year than in 2007 or 2008.

Global Warming Articles - new

RECENT ARTICLES ON GLOBAL WARMING:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~do not miss these~:

A counter argument for Anthropogenic Global Warming

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Miscellaneous Articles on Global Warming

Nobel Prize-Winning Physicist Resigns Over Global Warming

Is Al Gore now a help or hindrance to the global warming cause?

James Delingpole

Al Gore's five loaves and two fishes

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Adventures in Learning Class on Reality & Unreality

PDF Files for Selected Topics on "Reality"

Essays by David Sowers

BOOK REVIEWS:

AIL Class on Sudoku

Class on Genealogy

Class on Rubik's Cube

Class on Magic

Class on Model Railroading

Class on Cosmology

Class on Social Networking: (FACEBOOK FOR SENIORS)

Kearsarge Marine's Rocco Zullo Honored

An Unforgettable �Forgotten Warrior'

US Marine Corps Action Videos

World Clock

National Debt Clock

Also note that the Real Debt is about $165.7 Trillion.* This represents more than $1,506,000 per taxpayer. If you reflect for a moment on this single statistic, you should realize that it is absurd and that the economy is broken.

Letter: Congress should be bipartisan, flexible, and civil

Letter: Congress should be bipartisan, flexible, and civil

From College Major to Career

From College Major to Career

DERSHOWITZ ON ZIMMERMAN AND COREY

I have always liked Dershowitz. Although he is a Jewish liberal of the first magnitude; he seems to be able to use common sense when analyzing factual data

Dershowitz Blasts Zimmerman Prosecution: 'Not Only Immoral, But Stupid'

With ABC News’ release of the George Zimmerman photo showing blood flowing freely from his head, the question becomes whether Angela Corey, the prosecutor in the case, had access to the photo before charging Zimmerman with second-degree murder.

ON BREITBART TV

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New Photo: Zimmerman's Head Bloody, Bruised, Battered

George Zimmerman's bail set at $150K

Trayvon Martin shooter apologizes to teen's parents

Zimmerman Speaks

Zimmerman And Martin's Parents Face-To-Face

JFM ARCHIVES - IRIDIUM - DID MOTO LOSE MONEY?

JFM ARCHIVES - PATENT SIX SIGMA

JFM ARCHIVES - QA METHOLDOLOGIES - AN OLD INTERNET DOCUMENT FROM THE 1990S

JFM ARCHIVES - QUALITY IMPROVEMENT -SUNDRY-GERMAIN

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President Obama’s Secretary Paid Higher Tax Rate Than He Did

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CATHOLIC BISHOPS - ON RELIGIOUS LIBERTY

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty Our First, Most Cherished Liberty A Statement on Religious Liberty

We are Catholics. We are Americans. We are proud to be both, grateful for the gift of faith

which is ours as Christian disciples, and grateful for the gift of liberty which is ours as

American citizens. To be Catholic and American should mean not having to choose one over the other.

Our allegiances are distinct, but they need not be contradictory, and should instead be

complementary. That is the teaching of our Catholic faith, which obliges us to work together with

fellow citizens for the common good of all who live in this land. That is the vision of our

founding and our Constitution, which guarantees citizens of all religious faiths the right to

contribute to our common life together.

Freedom is not only for Americans, but we think of it as something of our special inheritance,

fought for at a great price, and a heritage to be guarded now. We are stewards of this gift, not

only for ourselves but for all nations and peoples who yearn to be free. Catholics in America have

discharged this duty of guarding freedom admirably for many generations.

In 1887, when the archbishop of Baltimore, James Gibbons, was made the second American cardinal, he

defended the American heritage of religious liberty during his visit to Rome to receive the red

hat. Speaking of the great progress the Catholic Church had made in the United States, he

attributed it to the “civil liberty we enjoy in our enlightened republic.” Indeed, he made a bolder

claim, namely that “in the genial atmosphere of liberty [the Church] blossoms like a rose.”1

From well before Cardinal Gibbons, Catholics in America have been advocates for religious liberty,

and the landmark teaching of the Second Vatican Council on religious liberty was influenced by the

American experience. It is among the proudest boasts of the Church on

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty
Our First, Most Cherished Liberty
A Statement on Religious Liberty