Global Warming or Climate Change?

     I have been saying it for a long time. If I am to believe in global warming, then I first have to see proof that termperatrues around the world are going up.

     According to a report by Gerald Traufetter, temperatures have not been going up, and climatologists do not agree on why that is so.

     I wonder if that is why they have chosen to talk about “climate change” now instead of “global warming.”  Of course, if they were wrong about global warming, what else are they wrong about?

     Or have the last ten years or so been a temporary reprieve, and the real warming is still to come?

     In the spirit of making predictions about the future, I predict that someday people will look back and wonder how they could have been so gullible.  I think they will wonder why they believed a prediction as shaky as any psychics, all the while calling it “science.”

War on Christmas 2009

     Before anyone scolds me for bringing up this topic early, let me say that I am not the first to do so.  I have already noticed that things are already starting to simmer, and I know that from reading other blogs where the topic has already come up.

     I do not want to write about this issue for the next thirty days, unless a particularly interesting incident occurs.  I simply want to give some general thoughts before things heat up this year.

     First, I think that it is important to distinguish between the American holiday of Christmas and the celebration of the birth of Christ.  Many people celebrate Christmas without celebrating the birth of Christ.  That’s sad in one way, because the name itself tells what the holiday originally was, but it does appear to have evolved into something else.  Some Christians celebrate the birth of Christ without celebrating Christmas.  I was in that camp for a few years myself.  Such Christians observe that Christmas as a traditional holiday is not the same as a reverent commemoration of the birth of the Savior, and they therefore reject all the trappings of Christmas adopted by the society at large.  Other people mix the two.

     Therefore, I do not see the War on Christmas primarily as an attempt to squelch or stamp out the Christian religion.  I see it more as an attempt to squelch a rich, cherished tradition that many generations of Americans have loved.  (Of course, some people in the anti-Christmas camp do see it as a way to keep “relgion” out of public life.)

     Second, it must be clear what people object to.  If people on the ”anti-Christmas” side object to having a nativity scene erected in front of the city hall building, that’s one thing.  If they object to seeing a decorated tree in front of a department store, that’s an entirely different thing.  I can fully understand the former but find the latter absolutely mean-spirited, stingy, and rude.  How does a decorated tree on private property (though property open to the public) hurt anyone?  Seriously.  For that matter, how would a decorated tree or a Santa statue on public property hurt anyone?

     I also think that the “pro-Christmas” people need to make their objections clear.  Are they objecting to the removal of some of their cherished traditions, such as wearing a Santa hat or being wished Merry Christmas by others, from public life, or are they objecting to other people’s religions?  For example, if somebody wants a city to put up a nativity scene, but they protest the erection of a Hanukkah menorah, they are being unfair.  In fact, they are being mean-spirited, stingy, and rude.

     Third, I get very angry at people who say that it is right to remove Christmas from the public arena, and then turn around and say with their next breath that there is no such thing as a War on Christmas.  That is disgustingly unfair.  Just admit that you want to stamp out public recognition of Christmas, which is basically a war on Christmas, and have the courage of your convictions.  Don’t speak out of both sides of your mouth.  Don’t petition a large store to take down their Christmas posters and then turn around and say that people have imagined the War on Christmas.

     Fourth, I wish that we could just get back to some good old fashioned courtesy.  Do you remember what that is?  If you know somebody does not celebrate Christmas, then do not wish them a Merry Christmas.  On the flip side, if a person does not know that you are anti-Christmas, do you really have to be “offended” when they give you that firendly greeting?  You could graciously smile and return the greeting or just say thank you for the kind gesture, right?  If you do not enjoy decorated trees or people dressed as Santa Claus, can’t you just ignore it and let other people enjoy the fun?  If you are on the other side of the “war” and you want to put up a nativity scene, can’t you do it on the lawn of a church instread of insisting that the city has to erect it on publicly owned property?

     Fifth, despite some things I said above, I do not think it is wrong for a government body to allow religious displays on public grounds, as long as they neither favor nor disfavor a particular religious group.  I say that we should bring on the nativity scenes, the menorahs, and whatever other symbols people want to put up.  The more the merrier!  This is America, after all.  It’s supposed to be a land of religious freedom.

In the News

A man was arrested at the airport in Los Angeles for having 15 lizards strapped to his chest.  I can’t help wondering what the felt like–the lizards wiggling around in his money belt, not the arrest.

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A Congressman wants people to stop complaining about problems in our country.  He has introduced a bill to make the Wednesday before Thanksgiving a complaint-free holiday.  Isn’t it our right to complain, and isn’t it his duty to listen?  What’s next–Congress enacting a “Stop Picking On Us” holiday?

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From limiting speech to limiting the press. . .the U. S. Army first prohibited the media from attending an appearance by Sarah Palin at Fort Brag, then they allowed some media personnel, and now they have opened the event to the media.

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The Postal Service first cancelled a program that answers letters to Santa Claus, but has now reinstated it.  You know, as the Army found out with this Fort Brag silliness, it’s better to the right thing first than have to reverse a stupid decision.

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What do you think about any or all of these stories?

A Libertarian Christmas Poem

I don’t plan to do lots of linking to my other blog, but I am quite proud of this post at My Own Pie.

Please tell me if you love it or hate it or feel something in between.

Thanksgiving Fare

     I was thinking about Thanksgiving and how it seems that people have different traditions when it comes to the food. 

     For me, the one absolute must at a Thanksgiving dinner is cranberry sauce.  I spent eight years of my life on Cape Cod, and so cranberries are both nostalgic and traditional for me.  It’s not really Thanksgiving without them.  My second necessary dish at Thanksgiving is cornbread dressing, which reflects my adopted Southern heritage.  If you haven’t had cornbread dressing with turkey gravy, you simply have not lived.

     How about you?  What is the one dish that you must have at a Thanksgiving feast?  What says Thanksgiving to you in a way that nothing else does.  The turkey is a given, so you can leave it out.  What side dish or dessert is your favorite?

     Is it the pumpkin pie or some candied yams or something more unusual and esoteric?  For my mother and some of my siblings a tray with sweet pickles and green olives and pickled beets would be the thing.  For some of my wife’s family it would be green bean casserole and fruit salad.

     Let’s hear from you!

Migraine Falsehoods and Migraine Truths

     I wrote yesterday about a blog dedicated to disseminating truth and exposing falsehood when it comes to migraine disease. Today I want to list a few of the significant falsehoods that are circulating about migraine. After each one I will explain the truth.

     Falsehood #1   There is a cure for migraine.

     Many unscrupulous people claim that they have found the cure for migraine.  Do not beleive it, no matter how much you wish it were true.  Medical science is working on developing better and better treatments, but there is no cure.  Scientists do not even understand the mechanism of migraines completely.  It has something to do with the blood vessels in the head and with brain chemistry.

     People will try to sell you vitamin pills, herbs, or a book that outlines their treatment plan.  Some claim that they can cure you at their clinic.  These people cause harm, because they take your money and leave you no better off than you were before.

     It is true that some vitamins and some herbs are thought to be helpful, but you do not have to buy a certain brand from a certain company.  If you want to try one of those treatments, just buy them at a health food store, pharmacy, or even at a department store.  You’ll save money that way and you will not be supporting deceitful people. 

     And see a doctor.

     Falsehood #2    You just have to suffer through a migraine attack.

     I have run into people in cyberspace and in person who do not realize that there are treaments available for migraine.  Some have suffered for years, taking over-the-counter pain medicines that do not usually have much effect on migraine.

      There are drugs to prevent attacks that can be taken on a regular basis.  There are also drugs to abort an attack in progress.  If one drug doesn’t work, there are several others to try.  A person suffering from migraine should get medical help and should be persistent until a good treatment is found or until all possibilities have been exhausted.

     Some people never seem to get relief from migraine, but many people have found drugs that at least reduce the frequency and/or intensity of their attacks.  Many people have identified triggers that they can avoid, as well, thus reducing, or in some cases, eliminating migraine attacks.

     Falsehood #3     Migraine is just a bad headache.

     This falsehood is harmful for two reasons.  First, it is harmful because it can keep people from having justifiable sympathy for migraine sufferers.  Second, it is harmful because it can keep some migraine sufferers from realizing or believing that that is their problem.

     Migraine is more than a bad headache.  Those who have migraine headaches have compared them to knives being jabbed in their head or to having their head squeezed unmercifully in a vice.  In addition to the headache, many migraine suffererers are so sensitive to light and/or sound that they are nearly or completely unable to function.  Often they experience extreme nausea along with the pain.

     Some migraine sufferers get aura symptoms before the pain.  These include visual or auditory disturbances, tingling sensations, dizziness, and loss of vision or hearing.

     It’s not just a bad headache.  It’s a disease–a complicated and often debilitating disease.

     Sometimes people have aura symtpoms without experiencing the headache pain, or at least without experiencing the headache pain during every episode.  The latter description fits me.  Various names have been used for such migraine conditions, but they are definitely migraine.  I never realized that I had migraine disease, because I rarely had the headache.  I am glad that a doctor finally realized it.

     It is important to realize that you can have migraine disease without having headaches, because a person you know or you yourself could have migraine without even knowing it.  It could keep such a person from discussing his or her symptoms with a doctor.  If you have any migraine symptoms, it is important to tell your doctor about them–about all of them–so that you can be on the road to a diagnosis and then to treatment.

Learn More at Migraine Cast

Crusader for Migraine Truth

     When it comes to migraine, you will find misinformation and misconceptions about it on the Internet.  You will also find outright deception from people trying to profit from other people’s suffering.

     Thank God for a blog called Migraine Truth, which seeks to analyze and catalog the various mistakes and lies about migraine that are circulating.  It is run by Arabella, a migraineur like me.  She started the blog because she got “tired of misconceptions, misunderstandings, and outright lies!”

     If you do not want to take the time to read her various informative posts, you will at least want to make use of her lists of trusted websites, websites not trusted, and disappointing websites.  The lists will point you to the best, most reputable sources of information about migraine available on the Internet.

 

Muslims Chastising Muslims

     As promised here is a post dedicated to showing that there are Muslims who condemn terrorism and who have spoken out on terrorist acts as contrary to the teachings of Islam.

     At the Religious Tolerance website you can read an answer to the question Why are there no condemnations from Muslim sources against terrorists?  Their answer is that there have been such condemnations, but they are not widely publicized.  Both MPAC and CAIR issue condemnations of terrorist acts regularly.  At least 700,000 Muslim people have signed a petition that condemns acts of terror done in the name of Islam.

     At the Star Tribune blog, Rabbi Amy Eilberg mentions two other organizations who have condemned terrorism:  the Islamic Society of North America and Muslims for Progressive Values.

     In her post Eilberb mentions “prayers for the healing of the madness in our world that gives rise to violence.”  That phrase sends off a yellow light in my mind.  It certainly could be interpreted as anti-American or anti-West.  I do not believe that madness, or anything else, gives rise to violence.  I believe that people choose to commit acts of violence.  If it is proper to say that we are not fighting Islam, then it is also proper to say that we are not fighting madness either.  We who want peace are fighting people who disrupt peace. 

     These condemnations are good, and it is a start.  However, what I would like to see is some evidence that these Muslims are directly confronting the groups and individuals involved in terrorism, not just issuing public statements.  I would like to see evidence that they are actively working to shut down schools and mosques that promote and plan terrorist acts.  I would like to see evidence that they are cooperating with intelligence agencies and police forces to the point of atually turning people in whenever possible.

     It’s easy to say that one is appalled at terrorism.  Any decent person would say so.  Now it is time to put some action to the words.  At the very least, peace-loving Muslims should disseminate their message throughout the Muslim world, so that young people growing up in Saudi Arabia, Iran, and other Muslim countries realize that their imams are wrong about Islam and realize that no rewards from Allah await them for killing innocent people.

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Thanks to Language Lover for the links.

Putting It All Together

     When we read about terrorist acts perpetrated by Muslims, we tend to see each one in isolation.  In fact, the media seem to work overtime to remind us that each act was an isolated act–the work of an off-balance individual.

     In a blog post today, Victor Davis Hanson catalogues attacks and plotted attacks by Muslims since September 11, and the list is staggering.  When you put them all together, it is clear that it is a pattern.  It is clear that none of these is an “isolated incident.”  Rather they are part of a larger plan by a network of radical Muslims.

     Says Hanson, “In other words, the attack on Fort Hood happened on schedule. It was the rule, not the exception. And something like it will occur again – soon.”

     I wish that it were not so.  But we cannot make something go away by wishing.  Worse yet, the people who keep telling us that these are “isolated” incidents had better snap back to reality.  How many “isolated incidents” do they need before they recognize that this is a systemic problem?

Dead People Matter More Than Word Choice

     At the FOX News website they are conducting an opinion poll.  The question is wheher the shooting at Fort Hood was an “act of terror” or a “horrific cime.”

     Wasn’t it both?

     It’s just like the term “hate crime.”  What crime isn’t a hate crime?   There aren’t love crimes are there?

     Meanwhile, some of the victims are dead and others are recovering from wounds.  I would say that they were sufficiently terrified to justify calling the incident an act of terror.  I would also say that I am sufficiently horrified by it to justify calling it a horrific crime.

     How about you?  Do you see some substantial difference between terror and horror?  Do you see an important difference between an act of terror and a crime? 

     What they meant, I suppose, is whether the perpetrator committed the crime as a way to uphold his religious beliefs and to support his co-religionists or whether he was simply an individual killing people fo his own idiosyncratic reasons.  Why can’t they just say it that way?  Well, not exactly that way, but they could say, “Did he do it to uphold his religious beliefs or for some other reason?”

     How would anyone know the answer to that question anyway?  We still have insufficient information to make such a determination, although the reported facts do seem to suggest that he was just on more devout Muslim bent on fighting against the “infidels.”  Shame on FOX for sensationalizing a very sad event.

     Meanwhile, the murdered people are dead.  What we call the incident does not change that fact.  Their families are suffering incredible pain.  Who cares if you call it terror or horror?  Who cares if the man was a jihadist or just a nut?  It doesn’t make his victims either more dead or less dead.