The Next Person Who Says "GW" Needs To Be Slapped

It's supposed to snow again today.

Global warming my donkey ;)

~Kendra Logan

Taking a Stand: The Monster Unleashed :D

Some of you may recall a blogger named JT Norlander who commented on Alex's post during Followers Say. He did not seem to think I was firm enough about my position against homosexuality. He suggested on his blog that I should "take a stand".

Those of you who know me in person: try not to laugh out loud XD

One thing I've had to be very careful about in my life is how I come across to people. When I research something and form an educated opinion, my opinions are, if you'll pardon the reference to Mulan, written in stone. I have absolutely no problem whatsoever standing up for myself and my beliefs. I frequently have to run my comments by someone else to make sure I am not completely blowing holes in what other people are saying.

Some people might call it having a temper, but I prefer to think of it as being "strong-willed". *smirks* All good training for law school, right? XD

So, just to be make it clear that I am very much a True Christian, let me run through the 11 basic beliefs we've covered on Carpe Noctem.

1. The New America: America is falling. Our founding priciples are crumbling, personal freedoms are slowly being taken away.

I thought the "New America" would be decades from now. I thought the big changes and awful things would come later.

I was wrong.

The New America is here. It is now.

America is going to fall, and when she does, who is going to pick her back up? People who are educated and persuasive. People who are good thinkers and people who can use logic.

When America falls, we will need LEADERS. Leaders with good ideas, principles and morals who can build America back up to the nation she was meant to be.

Plenty of people have good ideas, principles and morals, though. Most of them will not be able to help. Do you know why?

Because they don't know how to think, how to write, how to persuade.

It's a very basic concept, one that can be good or bad.

Winners, leaders, are not chosen because of their outstanding character. Not really. They are chosen because they know how to persuade people.

End of mini rant.

Controversial, extremist, and offensive point: When America falls, classically educated homeschoolers will rise to power because they know how to think, use logic, persuade, speak publically, and articulate their ideas well.

2. Feminism: It's not a dirty word. Feminism is not a sin. It can be pretty stupid, but it's not a sin.

Girls are just as smart as guys, but, face it, WE'RE NOT SUITED FOR THE NFL.

The whole attitude of Girls-Can-Do-ANYTHING-Guys-Can-Do-So-HAH attitude is getting really old and is frankly not true.

Girls and guys were made differently, so instead of pretending to be guys, let's celebrate the difference, shall we?

3. Discrimination: Racial discrimination is a terrible thing, a definite no-no. Discrimination, however, is not a bad thing.

Discrimination: to note or observe a difference; distinguish accurately

Is that wrong? Nope. When chosing a babysitting for your three year old, are you going to chose the tidy girl who make straight As and is always smiling, or the girl wearing black lipstick cussing her brains out at a stranger on the street?

Discrimination. Not bad in itself, just where we point it.

4. Global Warming: Bite me. You can tell me global warming is true, BLAH BLAH BLAH, but the HARD, COLD, FREAKIN' FACT is that it's

NOT.

Sorry. Do you research. All the big-name weather guys are telling you the same thing: LOOK AT THE EVIDENCE, PEOPLE. GLOBAL WARMING IS FAKE, FAKE, FAKE.

There is NOTHING WRONG WITH OUR ATMOSPHERE in the long run. This is a PHASE.

I've said this a bunch, and I'll say it again. It's a hoax. Do your reasearch.

5. Weird vs. Normal: It's all so relative that there's really no such thing.

6. Being Great: C'mon, you scaredy cat. DO SOMETHING. BE MISUNDERSTOOD. DARE TO BE GREAT.

7. Terrorists/War: Can't we just live and let live?

To put it simply, NO.

Now, some people say that we should stop fighting the terrorists. Leave them alone, they say. Live and let live.

I'm fine with that. You're probably fine with that. Most people (serial killers not included) are good with that.

Except the terrorists.

THEY WANT TO KILL US. It's part of their religion. Their Bible explicitely says "KILL ALL THE NON-MUSLIMS!"

Yay, peace. Peace is good. But I think for peace to work, both sides have to agree to NOT KILL EACH OTHER.

I am all for peace. Really. As much as I enjoy stirring up trouble and debating, world peace is a wonderful that I want us to have! I think it would be WONDERFUL if we could live in harmoney with the Muslims. Some of them are probably really great people.

But as long as they are bombing America, it is America's job to fight back.

America is not "attacking" the terrorists. It is purely self-defense.

8. Articulacy: Ah, articulacy. The lost art. Let's think. If people were all articulate and persuasive, what could we achieve...?

We could paint picture in the air with our words!

We could solve disputes in half the time.

We could skip all the tedious daily arguments.

We could persuade people to do all kinds of things.

We could make people understand us.

We could talk our way up the corporate ladder.

We could charm the most uncharmable character.

We could rise to infinite power!

So, what are you waiting for? Get out a dictionary and learn to talk.

9. Going Green: Don’t get me wrong, I am all for keeping Earth alive for as long as possible, especially considering I live here. But the whole concept of “going green” has gotten SO ANNOYING. I am getting a little fed up with the whole GAHHH!!!-DID-YOU-JUST-THROW-THAT-CAN AWAY-THAT-IS-RECYCLABLE-MATERIAL!!!!!! thing. It’s really starting to get on my nerves.

The whole world is “going green”, which is a fine thing, just not when every time I open a magazine they’re screaming “secrets” about how to go even GREENER than we already are. It’s in children’s programs, even! Entire episodes of Curious George have been dedicated to making sure kids know they’re killing trees with every drawing they create.

Everyone already knows about being green. Do we have to keep dedicating entire episodes and magazine issues to the movement? Just let it sit for a while. Bring it up again for the next generation.

If we really wanted more “green” tips, we could Google it.

10. Evolution: *HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA*

*wipes tears from eyes* *gasp*

Okay, sorry. I'm not even going to go into this. If you look at your facts, you'll come to the same conclusion. If you look at the facts and don't, there is something wrong with you.

11. Homosexuality: It's bad. It's against God. It's a choice.

Line of Logical Reasoning (this will only go for those who proclaim themselves Christians):

All sin is a choice.
Homosexuality is a sin.
Therefore, homosexuality is a choice.

And it's that simple.

Hopefully this reitteration of my beliefs has helped you guys. JT, congratulations on unleashing the monster ;)

More On Followers Say...

A few quick reminders and things to say about Followers Say:

1. Make sure you've emailed me if you want to participate. I still need an emails from Katrien Scarlet and Lisabailey (not a follower), but I think everyone else has emailed me.

2. You can post up to three times on up to three different topics.

3. Posts will not be removed due to profanity or insults. I don't believe in removing comments and posts because of that. If you want to sound like an insecure fool, that is up to you.

Topics that I know will be covered:
1. Political correctness
2. "I am a democrat/republican because..."
3. Word Inflation commentary
4. Global Warming
5. Health/food
6. Freedom
7. Our President

Looking forward to hearing what you all have to say this Saturday!!

Attention All Loquacious Followers

On Saturday September 26th there is going to be a special eddition of Carpe Noctem: "Followers Say..." You will be granted access to posting on Carpe Noctem from midnight on the 25, to 11:59pm on the 26. You will be allowed to post up to three posts on any of the following topics. You may pick up to three topics, and post up to three times total.

I know my awesome followers have lots to say on lots of issues, and it's difficult to fully explain your point just through commenting.

Topics:
1. "I believe/disbelieve Evolution because..."
2. "I believe/disbelieve in God because..."
3. "My oppinion on our president is..."
4. "I am a republican/democrat because..."
5. "My view on political-correctness is..."
6. "What I think God meant in Genesis is..."
7. "I think global warming..."
8. An in-depth critique or response to any of my previous posts.
9. An idea of your own. (Please email me your idea ahead of time just so I'll know.)

"Rules":
-You can chose 1-3 topics from the above list.
-If you have another topic you would like to discuss, please shoot me an email ahead of time just so I'll know.
-You can post up to 3 times during the 12 hour period.
-Profanity is discouraged, but if that's the only way you can think to express yourself, go right ahead. Hopefully, though, we're all articulate enough to avoid that whenever possible.
-Preferrably, you must be a follower of Carpe Noctem to participate, but you don't *have* to be. I'd appreciate it, though :)

Preferred formatting of your post(s):
-Please put your name and the title of your post in the title.
-Please state which idea you chose at the beginning of your post.
-Please address one idea per post. (Don't address all the possible ideas in a single post.)

This is an extremely laid-back kind of thing. I'm not going to remove part or all of your post because it offends me. Even if it does, this is your time to share, not mine.

If you or someone you know would like to participate in Followers Say...email me at livinglovinglaughinglearning@gmail.com and I'll send you the link to join Carpe Noctem for the day of September 26. Hope you decide to join!

Appealing to Authority: A Little Healthy Skepticism Never Hurt Anyone

One thing that really drives me crazy about today's culture is how quick we are to take things in. Or, to put it bluntly, how gullible everyone has become.

Appealing to authority: a logical fallacy when someone believes something just because so-and-so says.

Example: "Leaves DO SO turn purple when they fall off; my big brother says so!"

Everywhere you look, people are shouting out theories and guesses and sometimes even just LIES, and their audience is taking it in like it's proven fact.

Um, sorry, but for something to be "proven fact", it has to be PROVEN first.

Think about all the stuff we Americans are taking in by the minute.

Tabloid gossip.


Global warming.


Evolution.

There are more, but those are the ones that come to mind, and that I'm going to try to focus on.

First of all, I completely understand why tabloids print such awful stuff about celebrities, and I can also understand why people read them. No problem there. The problem comes when the general public BELIEVES all that junk just because a trashy magazine says so. Puh-leez. Sure it's fun to read, but don't you think the writers of those magazines are going to try to put the worst and juciest spin on things?

That's kind of a minor issue in my book, though. So people believe gossip, okay. It's not a matter of life or death, or even public intelligence. It's just silly and vaguely annoying, but that's about it.

Now come the big two:

Global warming and Evolution.

I already ranted about global warming, so I won't do it again, don't worry. I'm just going to say that to believe in global warming, you're forced to rely on the least accurate and smallest pieces of information. If you ask any earnest scientist, s/he will tell you that as much comotion as people are making about GW, it's not really a problem. The earth naturally runs in cycles like this. In twenty years, we'll probably be going through a "global cooling" scare again.

Yes, AGAIN. That already happened. And now we're into global warming.

And the disgusting thing is, WE STILL BELIEVE IT!

COME ON, people! Global cooling? Global warming? They're just big hoaxes designed to get us all stirred up.

Don't believe me, though. I don't want you to do that.

I want you to go do some research for yourself. I've done mine, you do yours. Don't take stuff from me or even big shot scientists without looking into it a little. A little healthy skepticism never hurt anyone. In fact, it's actually been known to help occasionally. Especially in times like these when selective use of evidence is booming.

Which brings me to my final section of this tirade: Evolution.

*sigh*

If you believe in Evolution (capital "E"), you are going to skip this section, so I'm pretty much wasting my breath. Still, I'm going to try to straighten this out even a little.

First, define terms. This is really important, especially in an Evolution debate, because there are two definitions to Evolution, and I believe in one of them.

evolution: the belief that things change slightly over time to adapt to their surroundings.

Evolution: the belief that life began as an unguided fluke, then species gradually changed and mutated into completely different species.

Take a wild guess which one I believe? :)

There's really so much I could say about Evolution that I could do a whole series on it.

Which is exactly what I'm going to do.

I'm going to close this post, and begin my series on Evolution.

I'm sorry if this wasn't much of a post. I feel like I wasted a good thought. Hope you don't feel that way.

Global Warming: Let's Do Some Research...

Here's the main problem with the theory of Global Warming:

It doesn't exist.

Yeah, you read that right.

Now, before you roll your eyes, say "typical skeptic" and close this window, maybe you want to hear what I have to say?

I'm not an out-and-out skeptic. Not in the usual sense anyway. Yes, I am very skeptical of things until I have looked into them myself, but I DO look into them. I don't just dismiss every theory that sounds unpleasant; I do actually research them first.

I didn't actually challenge the theory of global warming until last semester. I just figured that it was true, or at least mostly true. Well, it's not quite.

Basically, the theory is that if the concentration of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases were to increase too much, the earth would get too warm. But, as civilization has become more industrialized, people have been burning a lot more fuel than they used to. Before the Industrial Revolution, people burned wood and coal to heat houses and businesses, but that was about it. As a result of the Industrial Revolution, however, people are burning coal, wood, natural gas and gasoline in huge quantities to generate electrical power, run manufacturing machinery, etc. As a result, we have been putting a lot more carbon dioxide into the air than we used to.

This is where worries about global warming come from. Carbon dioxide is a participant in the greenhouse effect, which warms the planet. We also know that the amount of carbon dioxide in the air has been rising steadily over the last 80 years or so. Well, increased carbon dioxide means an increased greenhouse effect, which will result in global warming right?Not quite.Although the fear of global warming IS based on scientific reasoning, it's actually more complex than most people think.

If you look at most scientific graphs, you can tell that over the past 80 years, the amount of carbon HAS risen, but then it dropped back down to an extremely low point, where it stays today. Every once in a while, the carbon dioxide level in the air seems to rise, but it always drops back down again. Thus, global warming isn't actually a problem at all. It's almost a hoax even.

Many people who talk about global warming discuss the fact that in their area of the world, the winters have been unusually warm over the past few years. They say global warming must be happening. This neglects the fact that the entire world is often quite different from one person's corner of it. While one area of the world might be experiencing unusually warm winters, other parts of the world might be having abnormally cool summers. As a result, the GLOBAL temperature does not change very much, despite what might be happening in one region of it.

It is also common to hear that certain large ice sheets that have been the same size for a long time are now starting to melt. This is then used to conclude that the earth ahs a whole is getting warmer.This is not sound scientific reasoning.

The fact that an ice sheet is melting is only evidence that *the part of the world that holds the ice sheet* is warming up. For example, a large ice sheet in the Antarctic Peninsula, the Larsen B ice shelf, has experienced a remarkable decline in size over the past few years. Some say that this is evidence for global warming. The problem is that the WEST Antarctic ice sheet has been THICKENING over the past few years. Thus, while the Antarctic Peninsula is getting warmer, the western part of the Antarctic is getting cooler. It turns out that temperature measurements of Antarctica indicate that overall, Antarctica has actually been cooling since the 1960's.

But, if you dig hard enough, you CAN find some evidence to show the earth is warming up as a whole. For example, land-based temperature measurements do show a slight warming trend, even over the past twenty years. The problem with these data, is that they ignore the 70% of the earth's surface, because they ignore what is happening over the OCEANS. When the entire globe is measured by satellites, no significant warming trend is seen.

Thus, to believe that global warming is occurring, you are forced to rely on the least reliable data and ignore the most reliable data. That's not good scientific practice.

Just something to think about. And please do THINK about it. Today's society takes things from the media without even looking into it.

Huh.

I just got an idea for another rant...

Until next time. And don't forget: don't just seize the day, seize the night as well.

(This information came primarily from "Exploring Creation with Physical Science" by Dr. Jay L. Wile.)