LJWorld.com

It is becoming increasingly clear that in western society the inmates are running the asylum. The idiot elite that holds power in most western nations have demonstrated their insanity by accepting the outright lie that the essential atmospheric gas carbon dioxide is a undesirable pollutant that needs to be regulated.

The scam begun by the crooked Enron corporation in the 1990's falsely claims that very slight increases in CO2 would substantially raise air temperatures. Enron, and its successors, hoped to profit from trading carbon credits like it had profited from trading credits in sulfur dioxide, a byproduct of coal combustion. http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fpcomment/archive/2009/05/29/lawrence-solomon-enron-s-other-secret.aspx

The scientific fact is air temperatures would rise substantially if atmospheric CO2 were to decline to a point insufficient to support plant life. Areas of bare ground are significantly hotter than comparably located plant covered ground because bare ground converts the solar radiation to heat.

CO2 is essential to functioning of the biosphere. Plants store solar radiation by converting atmospheric CO2 to complex carbon molecules instead of converting it to heat. The energy is stored in the form of the electron bonds that hold the molecules together. Plants also reflect solar radiation back into space, further reducing solar heating. http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1625289-CO2-Is-Essential-to-Biosphere

Those who talk about global warming have failed to provide any evidence of significant temperature change. They claim (depending on the source) only about a 0.5 - 0.7 C increase in temperature which is only a 0.23% change [Note: per cent changes are calculated using the Kelvin scale because of the arbitrary zero point of the Celsius scale - the only thing you can have less than nothing of is money.]

Such a small change could easily be the result of changes in equipment or the characteristics of measuring sites.

The claim about CO2 causing warming by trapping IR ignores the fact that physicist R. W. Wood demonstrated in a 1909 experiment that trapping IR did not heat greenhouses as many in the 19th Century had believed and thus the process could not heat the atmosphere either. http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1181679-Earths-Energy-System

Those who talk of magical greenhouse gases have no understanding of the complexity of earth's energy system. http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1181679-Earths-Energy-System

Earth gets virtually all of its heat from the sun and changes in heating are most likely caused by variations in solar output than human activity. If human activity is affecting temperature the most likely mechanism would be the heat generated by human activity or changes in the thermal characteristics of the landscape.

Except in tropical areas the human body is hotter than the air most of the time. Human activities such as cooking and operation of mechanical devices generates additional heat. Pavement produces more heat than plant covered areas.

Any Western leaders who think they can benefit from the adverse economic consequences of restrictions on CO2 emissions should be taken to the Happy Home by those nice young men in their clean white coats.

Western leaders who think an economic calamity can benefit them are living in the wrong century. Any economic collapse in the West would speed up the process of shifting the economic center of gravity from the West to Asia. China is already benefitting from the West's economic mistakes and is moving toward controlling the American economy by buying American assets and becoming the creditor for its government.

Lucas Wondra has achieved something only about 4 % of those who enter scouting achieve. He has achieved the rank of Eagle Scout.

His achievement is particularly significant because the 16-year-old Hutchinson (Kansas) High School student has the genetic disorder Down Syndrome. Lucas is one of many who are demonstrating that individuals with Down Syndrome can be productive members of society. Maybe they are not capable of performing brain surgery or becoming professional athletes, but then neither are the vast majority of the rest of us.

Individuals with Down Syndrome have an extra copy of chromosome 21 , a condition called trisomy 21, which can cause physical and mental disabilities because having three copies of some genes interferes with the normal operation of cells and development. Down Syndrome children may not be geniuses, but many of them are able to attend classes with other students instead of being limited to special education classes as was once the case.

The cause of the extra copy of the chromosome is unknown, but it is known that an extra copy may be received from one of the parents or the extra chromosome may appear during the embryonic stage of development resulting in some cells with the extra copy and some with only two copies of chromosome 21. The possibility of an extra chromosome developing in embryonic cells is a major reason why embryonic cells may be unsafe to use in treating human disorders

Lucas isn't the first Scout with Down Syndrome to earn the rank of Eagle Scout. For example, Adam Townsend of Mesquite, Texas, became an Eagle Scout on June1, 2009. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-eaglescout_01met.ART.State.Edition1.5084f30.html

A. J. Trueblood of Lakeland, Florida, became an Eagle Scout in August, 2006. http://www.theledger.com/article/20060814/NEWS/608140355?Title=Disabled-Teen-Becomes-Eagle-Scout

Clayton "Trey" Henderson of Ridgeview High School in Orange Park, Florida, became an Eagle Scout in April, 2006. http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/040106/nec_21499327.shtml

Down Syndrome scouts have to meet the same requirements as other Eagle Scouts if they are physically able to do so. A. J. Trueblood didn't even mention that he had Down Syndrome on his application.

Lucas is unable to swim so he substituted a 20 mile hike. He also completed five 10 mile hikes. I don't know if I even hiked 20 miles when I took basic training in the army, although it sometimes felt like 20 miles.

Lucas is physically unable to speak but can communicate using sign language and a PDA with voice software. He used the PDA to communicate with a congregation while serving as a chaplain's aide including offering a thought for the day and leading in the Lord's Prayer.

Many of those with Down Syndrome never had the opportunity for achievement that these Eagle Scouts had because their mothers listened to ignorant, prejudiced doctors and others who persuaded them to have abortions. Many share the prejudiced (or is it bigoted) view of Nicholas Provenzo that "a person afflicted with Down syndrome is only capable of being marginally productive (if at all) and requires constant care and supervision." http://ruleofreason.blogspot.com/2008/09/palins-down-syndrome-child-and-right-to.htm

Provenzo obviously doesn't understand what those with Down Syndrome can do. I wonder how many of those who think Down Syndrome individuals cannot do anything had the drive to become Eagle Scouts.

Perhaps the lamest argument for aborting Down Syndrome babies has been suggested to students on more than one occasion by University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Professor Albert K. Harris. "In my opinion, the moral thing for older mothers to do is to have amniocentesis, as soon during pregnancy as is safe for the fetus, test whether placental cells have a third chromosome #21, and abort the fetus if it does. The brain is the last organ to become functional." http://www.newsobserver.com/news/health_science/story/947991.html

"I know somebody who had a child like this, and it ruined their life," he said.

Down Syndrome babies do require more time and effort than some other babies, but that doesn't mean they should not have the opportunity to be born and live.

Active "normal" children may actually require more supervision than Down Syndrome children because they may be physically able to get into dangerous situations faster than Down Syndrome children.

Potential parents who are concerned that a child with Down Syndrome might require more of their time should reconsider the decision to become parents. Down Syndrome isn't the worst thing that can happen to a child.

A child could be afflicted with a fatal form of cancer or Muscular Dystrophy. A child might be severely injured in an accident or abducted.

A child might require greater effort from parents because of hyperactivity or autism. A "normal" child may decide to get involved with drugs or gangs.

These and many other problems that can occur with children can adversely affect families, but the problem isn't with the children. Major illness of the death of a child from any cause potentially can destroy a family if parents start playing a blame game. The problem in these situations is with parents who cannot accept adversity.

Sue Thomas was born in May, 1950, and was a normal child until she suddenly lost her hearing at 18 months. The "experts" told her parents that she would never amount to anything and should be institutionalized. Her parents ignored the advice and made sure that she had the opportunity for as normal a life as possible including attending school with children who could hear.

At the age of 7 she became the youngest Ohio Champion free style skater in history. In 1979, she became part of an elite FBI surveillance team. In 2002 a tv series Sue Thomas: F.B. Eye debuted based on her career, although many of the episodes dealt with the type cases facing the FBI at the time of the series rather than cases from the 80's. The Gospel Music Channel is bringing that series back on September 14.

Some people try to define others by what they cannot do instead of what they can do. Lucas Wondra, Adam Townsend, A.J. Trueblood and Clayton Henderson have done something I couldn't have done when I was their age. They have become Eagle Scouts.

I was a Cub Scout, but my family moved to another town when I was in the 6th grade and I never became a Boy Scout. Even if I had participated, I doubt that I could have fulfilled the requirements for an Eagle Scout because I was the stereotypical "98 pound weakling" in high school.

I cannot play a musical instrument like Sarah Itoh who has Down Syndrome and who was playing the clarinet by the time she was11 years old. She is an accomplished public speaker who particularly enjoys telling audiences how she enjoys Special Olympics. At her age I had enough trouble just repeating lines in a church Christmas play. http://www.somi.org/blog.php?entryID=558

We all have different abilities and disabilities. We can do some things that others cannot do and they can do some things that we cannot do.

Sue Thomas responded to her loss of hearing by learning to read lips. That skill got her a job as an FBI agent because she could what other FBI agents could not do. She could tell what a suspect under visual surveillance was saying without the need to plant a microphone near him.

We don't know the full potential of what individuals with Down Syndrome can do because for many years people just labeled them "retarded" and assumed they couldn't do anything. Maybe none of the Eagle Scouts mentioned will become an astronaut like Eagle Scout Neil Armstrong or a movie director like Eagle Scout Steven Spielberg. However, drama student and cheerleader Clayton Henderson might become a successful actor like Joseph "Chris" Burke who has Down Syndrome and was a star of the successful tv series "Life Goes On.."

How many of us could star in a tv series?

Some people claim that Down Syndrome children cost to society in the form of government programs that have assisted them. I doubt seriously all Down Syndrome individuals together have cost society nearly as much as Bernie Madoff.

Former NBC anchorman Tom Brokaw has been reduced to doing infomercials. I don't know if it's because he has some psychological need to be on tv or he lost his money to Bernie Madoff. Perhaps he expects to profit from trading carbon credits.

Most of us have watched at least portions of infomercials. They often use a similar format. A shill pretending to be a real interviewer asks the questions the seller wants to answer.

Usually the seller has a manufactured product, some medical treatment, a book or perhaps some get rich quick scheme. The format can also be used for political candidates or ideas.

Infomercials differ from presentations by journalists because journalists feel a duty to talk to those with alternate views and consider arguments against whatever ideas the interviewee is attempting to "sell". Real journalists are willing to ask interviewees potentially embarrassing questions.

Brokaw's program "Global Warming: The New Challenge With Tom Brokaw" attempts to sell the carbon credit program begun by the Enron corporation in the 90's. The program repeats the line that Enron's Ken Lay pushed: Minor increases in carbon dioxide supposedly will produce catastrophic global warming.

Enron had done very well selling sulfur dioxide credits and Lay realized a bigger profit could be made if the company could get a program for carbon credits. First the company had to get government to enact a program. Lay discovered that he could easily get the support of the Clinton administration. Clinton even allowed Lay to suggest a framework for the Kyoto Treaty that would financially benefit the company. Enron provided financial support for various purported environmental groups for its carbon trading program. These facts have been known since 2002 so Brokaw should have been aware of them before he did the program. Even the Washington Post reported on the issue.

Brokaw neglects to mention that Dr. Michael Oppenheimer whom he "interviews" got his Ph. D in chemical physics rather than climatology. The fact that Oppenheimer had an association with a political body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, doesn't necessarily mean he has any expertise on climate.

Oppenheimer was the manager [rather than a researcher] of the Climate and Air Program for the Environmental Defense Fund which has been openly supportive of Enron's carbon trading proposal. The EDF failed to criticize an Enron pipeline in Brazil that was environmentally damaging and supported an Enron wind power proposal in California.

Brokaw should have asked if it was only a coincidence that Oppenheimer left EDF for Princeton in the year after Enron imploded or if he had been paid by Enron while at EDF. Did the fall of Enron mean the EDF could no longer afford Oppenheimer's salary at EDF of $197,022? Did Oppenheimer receive more or less from Princeton when he started there?

In 2003 the Washington Post reported that money had compromised the Nature Conservancy which was an early recipient of Enron money. Had something similar happened at EDF?

Brokaw began by repeating the standard lie that there is a "consensus" about human caused global warming. Actually, no consensus exists. Those on both sides can present lists of scientists taking one side or another, however, there is no real consensus about specifics. There is no agreement about whether any warming has occurred or on whether carbon dioxide can affect temperatures. Some scientists say CO2 can have no impact on temperature. Others argue that any impact would be extremely small.

Many astrophysicists argue that fluctuations in the sun's output causes fluctuations in earth's temperature. Some believe that the sun goes through centuries long cycles and the sun may be about to enter a period when its output will decline as occurred a few centuries ago.

Supporters of warming provide no evidence of significant global temperature change. Their figures indicate only a 0.7 C or 1.25 F temperature (about 0.24%) change during the century. Such a change could easily be the result of changes in equipment or its placement. Equipment a century ago might not have been that accurate.

If Brokaw had checked he would have discovered that mathematicians have argued that the whole idea of an average global temperature is an impossibility.

Investigative weather journalist Anthony Watts has operated a blog for some time that exposes problems with the sites for temperature measurement that could lead to inflated temperatures.

In his opening Brokaw talked about global warming "hurting our wallets" and neglected to mention the high cost to consumers of carbon trading. The money that would be made by carbon traders would come from consumers.

Brokaw repeats many of the lies made by global warming scammers. For example, he talks about "tropical diseases" becoming a problem in temperate regions. The fact is that malaria was a major problem in North America, including Canada, during the Revolutionary War period even though that period was much cooler than today. Malaria was part of the cost of slavery. African slaves brought the parasite with them from Africa and passed it along to their owners.

Brokaw like many global warming alarmists uses "global warming" to cover up ways humans actually may harm the environment. For example, he blames the declining amount of snow on Mt. Kilamanjaro on global warming instead of the gradual elimination of the rain forest that provides moisture that falls as snow on the mountain.

Salt water encroachment on the Everglades in Florida is more due to human diversion of water that had flowed through the Everglades. Salt water is moving in because too little water is flowing out rather than because of any change in sea levels.

Brokaw neglects to mentions human actions in Florida that have led to more instances of freezing weather. The draining of wetlands in northern Florida have allowed freezing weather to move farther south into Florida's citrus regions.

Brokaw blames global warming for increased damage from hurricanes when the real cause is excessive development in areas with a virtually 100% chance of being hit by a hurricane over the long run.

Brokaw demonstrates the real reason for the program with a segment that suggests that even if increasing the amount of CO2 doesn't raise temperatures it might increase the growth rate of ragweed. He neglects to mention that increasing atmospheric CO2 might allow greater growth by plants that can be used for fuel and that food crops need large amounts of carbon that they get from CO2. For example, each molecule of sugar, sucrose, contains twelve carbon atoms.

Tom Brokaw was once one of the leading television journalists. His decision to serve as a shill on this infomercial destroyed whatever credibility he once had as a journalist.