Modern man as "apocoholic" who craves more frightening predictions of apocalyptic doom

The media keep feeding us more doomsday stories of fear that never come true. Modern man seems to be an "apocoholic," always craving more frightening predictions of apocalyptic doom. Why do people keep falling for it?

Best-selling ecologist Paul Ehrlich said in 1968: “The battle to feed all of humanity is over. In the 1970s ["and 1980s" was added in a later edition] the world will undergo famines—hundreds of millions of people are going to starve to death.” Jimmy Carter said in a speech in 1977: “We could use up all of the proven reserves of oil in the entire world by the end of the next decade.”

Laughable, except that people actually believed this junk. And continue to believe similar predictions of doom. Why do they keep getting it so wrong? And why do people fall for it? Matt Ridley (Wired Magazine) spells it all out in an excellent article on this topic.

Predictions of global famine and the end of oil in the 1970s proved just as wrong as end-of-the-world forecasts from millennialist religious zealots. Since Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring kickstarted the modern environmentalist movement in 1962, prophecies of doom on a colossal scale have become routine. The past 50 years have brought us warnings of population explosions, global famines, oil exhaustion, climate catastrophes, plagues, Y2K bugs, water wars, mineral shortages, ozone holes, acid rain, nuclear winters, mad cow epidemics, and cell-phone-induced brain-cancer epidemics. So far all of these predictions have turned out to be exaggerated.

In 1976 people were panicked about swine flu. Then in the 1980s, the media scared the hell out of Americans with the threat of the heterosexual AIDS epidemic: "... one in five heterosexuals could be dead from AIDS at the end of the next three years. That’s by 1990." It never happened of course. Then came Ebola.

The biggest threat of all is "us." Humans are the disease that must be eradicated. Activists like Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society: “We need to radically and intelligently reduce human populations to fewer than one billion." And other experts agreed. “It is already too late to avoid mass starvation,” said Denis Hayes, organizer of the first Earth Day in 1970. Sending food to India was a mistake and only postponed the inevitable, William and Paul Paddock wrote in their best seller, Famine—1975!

Ever since Thomas Robert Malthus, doomsayers have tended to underestimate the power of innovation. In reality, driven by price increases, people simply develop new technologies.

In the 1970s experts were predicting that lead, zinc, tin, gold, and silver would all be gone by 1990, bringing about a collapse of civilization when we'd no longer have the raw materials to make machinery. These claims were soon being repeated in schoolbooks. We were told that the world’s known supplies of oil, tin, copper, and aluminum will be used up within our lifetime. The fearmongers scare us repeatedly with dubious predictions. And many people are gullible enough to believe this nonsense. Just take a look at the results of a famous wager between Paul Ehrlich and economist Julian Simon when the metals did not run out. Indeed, they grew cheaper.

Over the past half century, none of these threatened eco-pocalypses have played out as predicted. With a track record like this, why do people keep on falling for various cataclysmic claims? Humanity is a fast-moving target. We will combat our ecological threats in the future by innovating to meet them as they arise. We always do.


Apocalypse Not: Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Worry About End Times
by Matt Ridley (Wired Magazine)

Doomsayer Paul Ehrlich Strikes (Out) Again
by Michael Fumento

The Myth of Heterosexual AIDS
by Michael Fumento
 

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Phony Fear Mongering with the Debt Ceiling

Scare tactics on economic catastrophe, automatic "default" on U.S. public debt, the political theater from Washington DC, secret negotiations on the debt limit. This is all fake political posturing. Phony baloney. A fiction used for political purposes. In a word, it's bull.

by Hal Dunn

If the U.S. government defaults on any public debts, it will only be because President Obama and Treasury Secretary Geithner decide to default on certain public debts, not because they have to. They would have to make a deliberate decision not to pay bondholders, which is highly unlikely.

The Default Myth
The Treasury Secretary isn't supposed to play politics, but at times, Geithner does just that. It's not likely that Geithner would decide not to pay bondholders, since the Treasury Secretary might end up being personally liable if there is a default. It is a myth that "not raising the debt ceiling" is equivalent to "default."

Obama claims that if the debt ceiling is not raised, there will be big trouble. And trouble is probably not an overstatement. Yes, it could be bad. The economic consequences do not look good. When a government runs up debts to the tune of $14 trillion, the outcome will not be pleasant, no matter how they slice it. There is no easy way out. However Obama has threatened to withhold Social Security checks, which is not likely to be something he would choose not to pay if money was to get real tight.

None of Your Business
On June 6, 2011, Judicial Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the Bureau of Public Debt (BPD) seeking an answer to a simple question: What is the Obama administration prepared to do if Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling? But the Obama administration did not provide a serious response. The BPD found 172 pages of records that were responsive to this question, but the White House chose to release only 17 unhelpful pages.

Transparency?
Should these debt negotiations be done in secret or should they be public? Judicial Watch says it's not being done in accordance with the Constitution and they are willing to sue the Federal government to open up the debt negotiation process to the public, as they say it should be, to force it to be transparent and televised on C-Span or any neutral TV station. This would demonstrate to American citizens that it's all a political game, and it's not a serious debate to avoid default as they portray it to be.

Playing Politics
The White House wants to force the debt deal to be big enough to last beyond the 2012 elections and the GOP wants the deal to be a short-term deal, small enough so that we bump up against the debt ceiling again before the 2012 election. The GOP is betting that these debt debates hurt Obama politically more than it hurts the Republicans, so they want to guarantee that this debate is re-played again before the next election. In fact, they want it to happen next year in the middle of Obama's 2012 presidential campaign attempt to win re-election.

Both sides are playing games in an attempt to gain political advantage. The liberal Democrats want to raise tax revenues to solve the short-term "debt crisis" before August 2nd. This is short-sighted, but it could allow the government to keep on paying its bills . . . for a while. The White House and many in the media see this as the most important issue to solve right away.

The conservative Republicans want to cut spending in an attempt to help reduce the long-term problem of government debt and endless spending. This is a bigger problem than the August 2nd debt-limit issue. They know that raising tax revenues won't solve the bigger problem, so they're using this particular debt-limit debate to address the overall spending and overall debt issue.

Political gamesmanship during debt debates is nothing new in America. This sort of thing has been going on since before the USA was officially formed in the late 1700s. And the debt ceiling laws have been set and then revised again over a hundred times. But at some point, we'll need to realize there really is a ceiling that can't be adjusted upward forever.

Do the Math
The federal government takes in between $170 billion and $200 billion a month in revenues, but it only pays out $29 billion a month in interest payments on the debt. So Geithner could meet all of the federal government's debt obligations and still have more than $140 billion left over for other spending. That $140 billion is short of the $300 billion in spending the federal government is scheduled to spend for all of August, but missing any those payments would not qualify as a default on the debt.

As the Bipartisan Policy Center has confirmed, Geithner could pay: the interest on the debt, all Social Security obligations, all Medicare and Medicaid obligations, all Defense contractor bills, all Veterans payments, and all active duty troops; and still have almost $7 billion left over for other items.

Geithner would still have to cut overall federal spending by 44%, and that would have economic consequences. But those consequences would not be as bad as defaulting on the debt. Not paying civilian federal workers would be unpopular, but it's not the same as a default. Not raising the debt limit would cause a limited government shutdown, not a default, as Obama has been claiming. The mostly likely reason why Obama has not been honest with the American people about that fact is because he wants to maximize their fear.

Both sides of these negotiations have been playing these games, and not being honest with the American people. The Republicans and Democrats in Congress, as well as the Obama White House and Tim Geithner. It's political theater, and not a real worry about "economic Armageddon." The debt ceiling deadline actually passed a few months ago, and Geithner pushed it out to August 2nd. If there was any real concern, the international financial markets would have been panicking during the last several months, and that hasn't happened.

But at least the Republicans have put forth some concrete plans. The White House has not. The House Republicans have already passed Cut, Cap, and Balance. Paul Ryan has put forth detailed plans for dealing with the debt ceiling, government spending, and deficits. The GOP has presented plenty of details, while the Democrats have offered vague promises and pouty speeches. Even the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has commented on how they can't score speeches; they need a proposal of some sort. They've got nothing to work with.

The White House has had more than two years (over 800 days) to do their job and create a budget, but they have not done it yet. Obama and the Democrats have not put forth a budget yet. Instead they have just been winging it and spending taxpayer money at will. There has been no talk of a Federal investigation to determine if there has been any negligence or to find out why they have not produced a budget after two years.

Both sides are lying. It won't be the end of the world if the debt ceiling isn't raised. It will be uncomfortable, that's for sure. But default is not inevitable just because the debt ceiling is not raised on August 2nd, no matter how many times Obama or the media repeat that lie.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Washington Examiner: There is no Risk of Default

Reason Magazine: The Facts About the Debt Ceiling

Mercatus Center - Debt and Deficits: The Symptoms, not the Disease

Daniel Mitchell: Why are Geithner and Bernanke Trying to Panic Financial Markets with Debt Limit Demagoguery

Forbes: Why the Republicans will lose the Debt Limit Fight

Mercatus Center - Debt Ceiling Key Concerns (PDF)

DownsizeDC.org - Tearing Defeat from the Clenched Jaws of Victory

Mercatus Center - Truth and Consequences: A Guide to Understanding the U.S. Government Debt and Deficits (PDF)

Fox Business - Lou Dobbs: More Transparency needed in Debt Negotiations (video)

Obama White House to American People on Debt Ceiling Plans: None of Your Business!

Washington Examiner: Washington gets $200 billion a month, Social Security costs $50 billion a month, and Obama is threatening to starve Grandma

Cato Institute: Thoughts on the Debt Limit Debate
 

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Trivia, facts, and origins of Christmas

Christmas is celebrated as a major festival and public holiday by a large number of non-Christians worldwide, including many whose populations are mostly non-Christian.

Here are a few interesting facts about the history and origin of everyone's favorite holiday, Christmas.

December 25 was chosen to commemorate the birth of Jesus, the central figure of Christianity, although the date is not known to be the actual birthday of Jesus.

Christmas is an amalgam of the traditions from several cultures, accumulated over centuries.

Dies Natalis Solis Invicti means "the birthday of the unconquered sun". Celebrated on December 25. The Sun God, Mithras was popular among pagan Romans in the first century BC.

Winter festivals were the most popular festivals of the year in many cultures. Roman Saturnalia was in honor of Saturn, god of agriculture. Customs of the winter festivals include gift-giving and merrymaking from Roman Saturnalia, greenery, lights, and charity from the Roman New Year, and Yule logs and various foods from Germanic feasts.

Pagan Scandinavia celebrated a winter festival called Yule, held in the late December to early January period. As Northern Europe was the last part to Christianize, its pagan traditions had a major influence on Christmas.

Many historians believe that the church wanted their own winter festival to compete with the pagan festivals, and chose December 25 to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

The custom of embracing under a sprig of mistletoe (but not actually kissing) was a popular custom among the Druids in Britain in the 2nd century BC.

Father Christmas is the name used in many English-speaking countries for a symbolic figure associated with Christmas. Father Christmas is said to wear (these days) a bright red suit, but in Victorian and Tudor times he wore a bright green suit.

Father Christmas typified the spirit of good cheer at Christmas, but was neither a gift bringer nor particularly associated with children. In the English-speaking world, the character called "Father Christmas" influenced the development in the United States of "Santa Claus." The folklore of "Saint Nicholas," (Sinterklaas), the gift-giver, merged with English character Father Christmas to create the modern Santa Claus character.

The original Saint Nicholas was born in Turkey in the 400s. St. Nick brought gifts to children. He wore red and white bishop's ropes and had a long white beard. He traveled, not by reindeer and sleigh, but on a donkey. But Saint Nick was slender and elegant, not large and round.

In America in the 1860s, Cartoonist Thomas Nast created the modern Santa, with rosy cheeks and a rotund figure.

Marketing concepts at the Montgomery Ward department store in Chicago in 1939 included "Rollo, the red-nosed reindeer" and "Reginald, the red-nosed reindeer." Both were considered, but then changed to "Rudolph."

The earliest Christmas trees were undecorated, and began in Germany in the 700s.

In the 1820s, the US Postal Service complained of homemade Christmas cards that were clogging the mail. Commercially printed Christmas cards originated in London in 1843.

The poinsettia become associated with Christmas in North America in the mid-1800s.

Following the Protestant Reformation in the 1500s, groups such as the Puritans strongly condemned the celebration of Christmas, considering it a Catholic invention and the "trappings of popery" or the "rags of the Beast." The Catholic Church responded by promoting the festival in a more religiously oriented form.

England's Puritan rulers banned Christmas in 1647. The Restoration of King Charles II in 1660 ended the ban, but many clergymen still disapproved of Christmas celebration.

In Colonial America, the Puritans of New England shared radical Protestant disapproval of Christmas. The English Parliament banned the celebration of Christmas entirely, considering it a time of wasteful and immoral behavior.

Christmas celebration was outlawed in Boston from 1659 to 1681. The ban by the Pilgrims was revoked in 1681 by English governor Sir Edmund Andros.

In the mid-19th century, celebrating Christmas became fashionable in the Boston region. At the same time, Christian residents of Virginia and New York observed the holiday freely.

Christmas fell out of favor in the United States after the American Revolution, when it was considered an English custom.

In the 1820s, some writers began to worry that Christmas was dying out. In 1843, Charles Dickens wrote the novel A Christmas Carol, that helped revive the "spirit" of Christmas and seasonal merriment.

The Roman letter X, has been used as an abbreviation for Christ since the mid-16th century. Hence, Xmas is sometimes used as an abbreviation for Christmas.

Christmastide is defined as the period from Christmas Eve to the evening of January 5, the day before Epiphany. This period is also commonly known as the Twelve Days of Christmas, as referred to in the Christmas carol of the same name, or "Yuletide."

Today, in America, Christmas is the most popular holiday of them all.


Christmas
(Wikipedia)

Panati's Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things
Charles Panati

 

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Scary Swine Flu (Crying Wolf)

Now that the flu season is officially over, what were the results of the scary Swine Flu pandemic? 12,500 total flu deaths. This is about a third the usual number. This was a very mild flu season.

The flu season is officially over. Has the media reported the results of the scary Swine Flu pandemic? We've had about 12,500 total flu deaths. This is about a third the usual number (according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates).

This was one of the mildest flu seasons we've had in a long time, yet hospitals and first-aid clinics had the highest levels of visits for "flu-like illness" of the century. Not to mention all the school closures, work absenteeism, vaccines, ad campaigns, and other costly efforts. The Obama administration declared two national swine flu emergencies and the public swamped emergency rooms with the worried well, delaying access for the truly ill.

There was no excuse for the media induced panic. They knew what they were doing. They were well aware that the threat was grossly overstated. The media deliberately hyped it, despite the evidence. The seasonal flu is responsible for many deaths per year, and the swine flu was no more deadly that the typical flu that we see every year. See Michael Fumento's article, Purveying Pig Flu Panic at the Post.

Writing about the swine flu, Washington Post columnist Anne Applebaum wrote, "Panic is what we want. Panic is good." Some op-eds claimed that U.S. deaths could be in the 89,000 to 207,000 range. Some warned that worldwide, "between 9 million and 10 million could die."

For more good info on the phony flu, see The Phony Flu: Just the Facts, M’am; Just the Facts.

Phony flu fast facts you should know:

Fumento notes that the number of flu deaths in an average season is 36,000. Yet the official estimate of flu deaths that actually occurred this season is 12,500. During the panic, all along there was ample evidence that swine flu was remarkably mild. New York City data from spring: "Seasonal flu is 10 to 40 times deadlier than swine flu."

Health authorities terrified parents, telling them swine flu was cutting a swathe through our youth, in an effort to get them to vaccinate their kids with vaccine that wasn’t even available. But, in fact, the percentage of U.S. childhood deaths caused by swine flu was 0.63 percent.

Has the World Health Organization (WHO) declared an end to the pandemic yet? Nope.

How many health officials have apologized for hyping swine flu? Zero.

How many major U.S. news outlets that have apologized for hyping swine flu? Zero.

Purveying Pig Flu Panic at the Post
By Michael Fumento
Canada Free Press, June 10, 2010

The Phony Flu: Just the Facts, M’am; Just the Facts
By Michael Fumento
Canada Free Press, June 7, 2010
 

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Three common misperceptions about eggs.

Are brown eggs better than white eggs? What about "Free-range eggs"? Organic?

Myth: Brown eggs are different than white.

Fact: The only difference between a brown and white egg is the color of the shell, which is merely a reflection of the breed of the hen. One isn’t healthier, more "natural," or more eco-friendly than the other. There aren't any differences in nutritional quality, flavor, or cooking characteristics.

Myth: Free-range eggs come from hens that roam freely outdoors.

Fact: The claims are not regulated for eggs, according to Consumer Reports. The "free range" label doesn't mean anything. The following labels are also meaningless when it comes to eggs: "free roaming," "hormone free," and "raised without antibiotics."

Myth: Organic eggs are healthier.

Fact: Uh, nope. They certainly can be, but it all depends on the chicken’s diet.

See more by reading the entire original article on Yahoo! Green.
 

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Mexico's Independence Day: Cinco de Mayo

Does the average U.S. citizen know what Cinco de Mayo is? Is it an official national holiday in Mexico? Is it Mexico's Independence Day? Or is it a day for Americans to get drunk on Margaritas?

Cinco de Mayo marks the defeat of the French army by the Mexican militia at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. It's not Mexico's Independence Day. That date is September 16.

Cinco de Mayo (translates to English as 5th of May) is a Mexican holiday that is celebrated more widely in the United States than in Mexico. Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of the victory over French forces in the Battle of Pubela in Mexico on May 5 in 1862. The day is marked with food, parades, festivals, dancing and music. It is a time to celebrate the achievements and experiences of those of Mexican heritage.

The Battle of Puebla lasted for 4 hours. The Mexican forces were led by General Ignacio Zaragosa and the Mexican forces defeated the French forces. In addition to being a source of national pride for Mexico, the battle is significant because it was the last time any foreign government attacked a territory in North America.

Cinco de Mayo is one of over 300 Mexican festivals. It is not a major holiday, in fact it is not considered an official national holiday. Even though it is not widely observed in Mexico, it is celebrated in Puebla, the site of the 1862 battle. In Puebla, about 100 miles from Mexico City, it is commemorated with a parade, and a re-enactment of the battle; there is also an abundance of food, drink, music, dancing, and games with women wearing colorful traditional dresses.

The Battle of Puebla: Although considerably outnumbered, the Mexicans defeated a much better-equipped French army. This battle was significant in that the 4,000 Mexican soldiers were greatly outnumbered by the well-equipped French army of 8,000 that had not been defeated for almost 50 years. Second, it was significant because since the Battle of Puebla no country in the Americas has been invaded by a European military force.

The holiday has been celebrated in California continuously since 1863, is virtually ignored in Mexico. And many Mexicans living in the U.S. wonder what all the fuss is about.
 

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Acid rain indicated by a dark circle around the moon?

Have you noticed dark circles around the moon?

Could it be acid rain? A dark circle appeared around the moon! Oh no. Ignore emails claiming this means acid rain is on the way.

Circles of such nature are nothing special — they take place regularly, and their appearance has nothing to do with acid rain. This optical illusion comes about when there's a combination of very clear skies and fine ice particles in the upper atmosphere.

"Be careful from 20th to 28th of this month (March). There is possibility of an ACID RAIN. The dark circle appeared around the moon on 17th last month is an indication. Apparently this happens once in 750 years. It rains like normal raining. It may cause skin cancer if you expose yourself."

All bunk!

This information is not from NASA.

"From today till the 28th, please be careful not to be caught in the rain. This acid rain is the biggest since 750 years ago and stands a good chance of giving you skin cancer."

Bull!

"A volcano that erupted in Europe has spewed a large cloud of volcanic ash into the atmosphere to form a highly acidic layer."

April 2010 versions of the acid rain warning tied it to the 15 April 2010 volcanic eruption in Iceland that sent a large ash plume into the skies. Said cloud shut down airports in more than 20 European countries, some for up to five days.

Acid rain does not cause skin cancer, nor did the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) send out this alert.

From Snopes...
 

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