Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Global Warming and the Scam Artists

Tom Sheppard
4/21/2020

Global warming is real. It created the English Channel about 15,000 years ago.

For years now we have been hearing lots about Global Warming.  We hear about it from politicians, scientists, and activists.  The main thrust of the rhetoric is that the world temperature is rising which will melt the glaciers and ice caps and raise sea levels dramatically.

We have known for many decades that the world temperature is increasing.  Way back in the 1970's when I was in Middle School my Earth Science class discussed the recent ending of a "Little Ice Age" (about 250 years from 1300 to 1850 AD) which came on the heels of the "Medieval Warm Period" (a 300 hundred year warm spell from 950 to 1250 AD). The chief symptom of the emergence from the Little Ice Age was the retreat of glaciers in the mountains of the world, such as those in Glacier National Park, not far from where I was born.

What is so different now than it was in the 1970's is that instead of being viewed as a wholly natural occurrence, the global temperature change is being attributed largely to man-made causes. Those who believe in human-caused global warming appear very willing and ready to silence anyone who suggests an alternate view.  This intolerant approach to science is wholly at odds with what is espoused in the scientific method and smacks more of politics or religious zealotry than science.

The geological evidence shows that the earth has a 100,000 year long-weather cycle that changes due to variations in the orbit of the Earth around the Sun.  These cyclical changes are referred to as Milankovitch Cycles, and were first identified back in the 1920's.

The orbit of the Earth around the Sun varies from a circular to mildly elliptical shape.  The elliptical orbit results in longer, colder winters, and shorter, cooler summers.  The net effect is a significant cooling of the temperature and the creation of massive ice sheets which cover large portions of both the land and sea.  An ice age.

In the waters East of the British Isles lies a raised area of seabed known as the Dogger Bank.  Fishermen have pulled up evidences that this area was once dry land.  Geologists say this was much more extensive than just a small land bridge connecting the British Isles to the mainland of Europe.  Instead, that whole area was dry land which was gradually submerged as sea levels rose as much as 300 feet due to the melting of ice at the end of the last ice age. They believe that the English Channel came into existence as little as 8,000 to as much as 15,000 years ago.  That is a pretty dramatic change in geography, driven by a dramatic, but gradual change in the climate which lifted sea levels by as much as 300 feet, up to current levels.

This short video (about 8 minutes) explains part of what happened:  
            https://youtu.be/mzLFZBb-n5U

This much longer video (one of three) about the formation of the British Isles gives even more information on these massive climate changes and how they have shaped the world we know today.  They point out that at one point, what is now Southern England was a tropical world and a savanna at different times.
             https://youtu.be/nvk6DUmTuvE

According to the 100,000 year climate cycle, the last full ice age ended about 11,700 years ago. Simple math suggests that we are nearly 40,000 years away from the next peak in global temperatures.  This means we can expect the polar caps and glaciers to keep melting and the oceans to keep rising until earth reaches its temperature peak in about 40,000 years.  After that time, temperatures will begin to drop for another 50,000 years until the next ice age peaks.

All this dramatic and massive climate change is driven by the orbit of the Earth, not by humanity,.

The next time someone says that "the science is settled" on climate change, you may want to pin them down on exactly what they mean. The science of long-term climate change, driven by nature is certainly very settled. In contrast, the "science" of man-made climate change is anything but settled. In fact, in light of geo-history, I suggest that the notion of man-made climate change is just spitting into the wind.

The belief that we can stop this environmental cycle which has been going on for millions of years, or that we can stop the current trend which has been going on for just over 10,000 years is silly. The global warming alarmists preach that by bankrupting the world and making the poor even poorer (and the rich richer) we can stop a trend that began long before Henry Ford made a car is nothing more or less than a con job designed to siphon off billions (or trillions) of dollars into the pockets of elitists posing as the environmentally conscious.

Many people like to believe that science and scientists are immune to the profit motive.  Such a view is naive and in complete denial of thousands of years of recorded human history showing the nature of humankind.  Scientists, just like anyone else, enjoy creature comforts, security, and prestige.  Their money comes from being able to snag research grants for their work and their universities or institutions.  By creating a panic around global warming, these climatologists stand to reap windfalls of staggering proportions for many decades to come.  In the end, it won't matter if they are wrong, the money will already be spent.

Government research grants are your and my tax dollars.  In short, they are taking money out of your pocket and mine to pay themselves.  The Green New Deal and other extreme political measures and tax plans are nothing more or less than scams designed to turn your and my money into their money.  Wealth transfer is the fancy name for this sort of legalized robbery.  The plans will consolidate power into the hands of a very few, very well compensated government officials and turn the rest of us into their subjects and servants.  Our lives will be lived solely for the good of the state and our own dreams and aspirations will be considered heretical or seditious thinking.

I have no doubt that some who read this article will label me a "climate change denier."  The truth is far less black and white.  I wholly believe in climate change.  I wholly disbelieve in man-made climate change.  Just because mankind can use machines and explosives to make a big pile of rock and dirt doesn't mean I believe they can build a new Mount Everest.  Likewise, although I know that mankind can pollute their environment and make it inhospitable for ourselves, I don't believe all our industrial might can make any measurable or appreciable change in weather cycles which have been at work since long before woolly mammoths ceased to roam the land.

If the global warming fanatics would pause in their attempts to burn all the heretics they might find that someone has a better model that can actually show how much, or how little, we can affect these trends.  My belief is that the changes we can make are only at the margins.  We would be far better off to figure out how we can adapt to a changing world where ocean levels are likely to rise for the next 40,000 years, instead of trying to stop something that is truly bordering on a cosmic event.

When I hear the global warming alarmists, I hear in their voices the same tones I find in the calls of carnival hucksters trying to get me to put my money on a rigged game.  It is the same tone you hear in the voice of the expert confidence artist who swindles you, or your aging parents, out of thousands all to either get rich quick, or to protect you from some non-existent danger.  Anyone who believes what these hucksters are selling about how we can stop it should feel embarrassed that they were ever taken in by such a patently absurd scam. It only goes to show that P.T. Barnum was right. "There's a sucker born every minute."

Tom Sheppard is a business consultant and coach to small business owners and individuals. He is a recognized author with dozens of titles in business and fiction to his credit. One of his endeavors is to help those who want to see their own book in print. He does this through his trademarked Book Whispering Process (TM).

The author is not an official spokesperson for any organization or person mentioned herein.

(c) Copyright 2020 A+ Results LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Your comments are welcome... Please observe some ground rules. No profanity, vulgarity, or personal attacks. Profanity, vulgarity and personal attacks not only betray a lack of vocabulary and imagination, they also are the hallmarks of bigotry, and bigotry is the hallmark of someone who is fundamentally insecure in their views. Facts are always welcome.

If you believe Government is NOT the answer to all our problems, you will want to read
 Godvernment: Government as God

Friday, April 10, 2020

What if God Stopped COVID-19 Today?


Photo cover detail from Godvernment by Tom Sheppard (C) Copryright Thomas K Sheppard

Tom Sheppard
4/10/2020

Today is Good Friday.  The day Christians celebrate as the time when Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled his mission by atoning for the sins of the world, was crucified, and on the following Sunday (Easter) rose from the dead to begin the resurrection of mankind preparatory to them being recalled into the presence of God for judgement.

Not coincidentally, this is also the weekend when Jews celebrate the Passover.  Remembering how God killed the first born of all Egypt to punish them for not letting the Israelites depart, while passing over every Israelite houshold that smeared the blood of the sacrificial lamb above their door.

Egypt was afflicted with several plagues before this final, terrible visitation brought death into nearly every household.  The death of the first-born hit the house of Pharoah as well as that of the slaves and everyone in between.

Today, we are all feeling a bit like the Egyptians.

As of this writing, COVID-19 has claimed 97,292 lives and infected more than 1,623,910 (confirmed) people world-wide.  It has shuttered the economies of nearly every country and inspired the US government to pass a stimulus bill that will have massive tax implications for everyone after this crisis is behind us.  It has also allowed state governments and the Federal government to implement curtailments of our constitutional rights which were unthinkable just a few short months ago.

Today, some localities (Rhode Island) have police and National Guard going door to door searching out potential violators of travel restrictions with orders to forcibly take violators into custody and impose quarantines.

A few months ago, if the Federal or any state government had ordered us to stay at home and taken travel restriction enforcement actions they would have been met with massive protests in the streets.  I mention this not because I think we should be fighting these current restrictions.  I mention this because I fear that now that we have crossed this boundary where our constitutional right to freedom of assembly has been breached and accepted, this will condition the citizens to be more accepting of similar actions in the future which may be motivated by power-grabs instead of genuine public safety.

Today, Russell M. Nelson, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has asked that all who are able fast and pray for relief from this plague.  This is not just for the 16 million members of his church.  It includes an appeal to all people of faith.  He solicits our prayers for those infected, the medical professionals caring for them, the scientists trying to stop it, and for our economies.  He asks God to stop this plague, if it is His will.

I wonder what would happen if God decided to stop this plague in its tracks?  What if, in an instant, the virus simply shut down?  How would the world react?  Would they thank God, seeing it as a miracle?  Or, would they pin the abrupt cessation on some fluke of cosmic rays?

I suspect that many would credit divine intervention, if it ended so abruptly.  However, if God enlightens the minds of some scientists and guides them to create an effective vaccine, instead of intervening directly what would people say then?

I fear many would overlook the role God plays in revealing things to our minds and guiding us.  Instead, they would simply credit the scientists, claiming that humankind saved itself.

The plague of COVID-19 isn't the worst thing to happen to humanity in the last 100 years.  The worst thing happening to humanity is the failure of their faith in God.  There is no counter which shows how many people in the world are suffering from failing faith and how many have already died spiritually.

God, having engineered humanity and all creation from the ground up is uniquely knowledgeable to cure the Corona Virus.  Having all power he is uniquely able to make changes in the body of every living person and cause the virus to cease to be effective.  In spite of this knowledge and ability many people lack faith.  They don't believe that if God exists that he has any rational motive to do all the good things he can do.  They do not understand that his motives are the same as those of every good parent, because he is literally, not figuratively, our parent.  He is our creator just as our earthly parents are our creators.  He is the father of the spirit that resides in each of us and he is the father of our bodies by virtue of being the father of the bodies of Adam and Eve, our first parents.

If God is a loving parent with the ability to stop all this carnage and suffering, why doesn't he?

Some will wield that question like a sword, trying to disembowel any person of faith.  But, have they really considered the question?

Does good parenting consist of solving all the problems your children have for them, without any effort on their part?  When you see children where that has happened, you see children who are spoiled brats with an overweening attitude of entitlement.  Those children become monsters.

Good parents prepare their children to solve their own problems and leave them the freedom to fail and help them to learn from those failures.

A piercing examination of sacred scriptures from all cultures reveals just such a pattern.  God gives humankind tools, knowledge, and directions.  The scriptures provide anecdotes of people who failed and then learned and of those who failed to learn and perished.  Some scriptural stories are appropriately cautionary.  Others show what can happen when we succeed and subtlety clue us in that success may not be what we think it is.

The COVID-19 plague, like any other disaster I have witnessed, will result in two primary outcomes for those affected.  Some people will seek to take advantage of the chaos to enrich themselves at the expense of others.  The crisis will bring out the worst in them.  Other people will give selflessly, knowing that there is no adequate earthly reward for the service they render others.  The crisis will bring out the best in them.

Will this plague bring out the best in you, or the worst?  You cannot choose whether or not the crisis will affect you.  You can choose how you react to it.


Tom Sheppard is a business consultant and coach to small business owners and individuals. He is a recognized author with dozens of titles in business and fiction to his credit. One of his endeavors is to help those who want to see their own book in print. He does this through his trademarked Book Whispering Process (TM). 

 The author is not an official spokesperson for any organization or person mentioned herein. 

(c) Copyright 2020 A+ Results LLC. All Rights Reserved. 

 Your comments are welcome... Please observe some ground rules. No profanity, vulgarity, or personal attacks. Profanity, vulgarity and personal attacks not only betray a lack of vocabulary and imagination, they also are the hallmarks of bigotry, and bigotry is the hallmark of someone who is fundamentally insecure in their views. Facts are always welcome.

If you believe Government is NOT the answer to all our problems, you will want to read Godvernment: Government as God