tagged w/ Laziness
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Hmmm, seems some president took his 2011 "State of the Union", rewrote it, and preached it right back to us.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aflbmnTzU8wHmmm, seems some president took his 2011 "State of the Union", rewrote it,... more
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As glaciers melt and island populations migrate from shores to escape rising seas, many scientists remain baffled as to why the research consensus on human-induced climate change remains contentious in the U.S.
The frustration revealed itself during a handful of sessions at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, D.C., this past weekend, and it came to a peak during a Friday session, “Science without borders and media unbounded.”
Near the session’s conclusion, Massachusetts Institute of Technology climate scientist Kerry Emanuel asked a panel of journalists why the media continues to cover anthropogenic climate change as a controversy or debate, when in fact it is a consensus among such organizations as the American Geophysical Union, American Institute of Physics, American Chemical Society, American Meteorological Association, National Research Council and the national academies of more than two dozen countries.
"You haven't persuaded the public," replied Elizabeth Shogren of National Public Radio. Emanuel immediately countered, smiling and pointing at Shogren, "No, YOU haven't." Scattered applause followed in the audience of mostly scientists, with one heckler saying, "That's right. Kerry said it."
A tone of searching bewilderment was typical of a handful of sessions that dealt with the struggle to motivate Americans on the topic of climate change. Only 35 percent of Americans see climate change as a serious problem, according to a 2009 poll by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.
It's a given that an organized and well-funded campaign has led efforts to confuse the public regarding the consensus around anthropogenic climate change.
And in the absence of such a campaign, as in South Korea, there is no doubt about the findings of climate science, said Sun-Jin Yun of Seoul National University. All three of the nation's major newspapers—representing conservative, progressive and business perspectives—accept climate change with little unjustified skepticism.
Still, it is hard to explain the intransigence of the U.S. public and policy-makers on the issue.
Explanations: the media, under-education or denialism
Tom Rosensteil of the Project for Excellence in Journalism pointed the finger at the media, focusing on its overall contraction in the past two decades. Shrinking budgets have led to a proliferation of quick, cheap reporting, as well as discussion and commentary formats that rarely provide informative discussions of actual science results.
"What is shrinking is the reportorial component of our culture in which people go out and find things and verify things," he said. Truth has little chance to make itself known in the new narrow and shallow public square.
Poll after poll, and even late night TV, seems to revel in Americans’ ignorance of basic scientific facts, including the fundamentals of physics and biology.
Is this "deficit model" then the reason for our failure to accept climate change? Naomi Oreskes, a University of California, San Diego, science historian rejected that hypothesis that during a session on climate change denialism. "It's quite clear there are many highly educated people who do not accept global warming," she said. Still, scientists "must communicate climate science as clearly and effectively and robustly as we can," she added.
The current political and cultural context drive the nation's denialism around climate change, evolution and vaccines, said Gavin Schmidt, a climate scientist at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, during a session. Education and scientific literacy and general intelligence levels are not causing the problem.
Meanwhile, most Americans in fact are ignorant of the facts of climate science and even "confuse climate change with the ozone hole," Schmidt remarked. The processes around the latter's disappearance are related to global warming but "how is that a basis for having any sensible conversation?" he asked.
Solutions: Smart talking and media mastery
Surveys show that most people want more information about climate science, Schmidt said, so scientists should engage in public forums such as blogs, question-and-answer sessions and public talks, provided they are not simply stacked with angry debaters.
Scientists must engage with the public and be vigilant against projecting stereotypes of their profession—such as the elitist, arrogant scientist, Schmidt said.
Rosensteil echoed this advice and further urged scientists to bypass the media, who are no longer critical intermediaries for reaching the public given the growth of the blogosphere and the general fragmentation of the industry.
cont.As glaciers melt and island populations migrate from shores to escape rising seas,... more
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Laziness, apathy, and unwillingness to sacrifice contribute to our rapid and sickening decline. Friedman's articles provides important details.Laziness, apathy, and unwillingness to sacrifice contribute to our rapid and sickening... more
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Are people really this lazy? If you don't want the hassle of parking a car, and your destination is too far to walk, why not ride a bike or take public transportation? This strikes me as the equivalent of those scooters used by people with mobility problems (primarily the elderly), but intended for healthy, able-bodied people (well, not healthy for long).
"General Motors may be so short of cash that bankruptcy is among its dwindling options, but the company is still in the business of creating dreams."
Creating dreams...of an even less healthy American public. I'm picturing overweight people riding these around and
Which makes the user look cooler - this, or the Segway?Are people really this lazy? If you don't want the hassle of parking a car, and... more
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You know those QR codes that Ralph Lauren Rugby is using so you can use your phone to buy clothes instantly? Well, a couple designers have a new idea about how to use them. Marguerite Charmante and Wolfgeng Peter Schmiller put QR codes on a dress, and, hypothetically, a guy could see a girl waiting for a drink at the bar and scan the code on her dress using his phone. Instantly, he could be directed to her Facebook page (or blog, or whatever website she wanted), and he could assess whether or not he wanted to go after her. Just another way technology could help us become creepy stalkers!You know those QR codes that Ralph Lauren Rugby is using so you can use your phone to... more
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Have you ever wondered why you can't get off the couch and exercise — despite paying for an expensive gym membership, despite your New Year's resolutions, even despite the doctor's scolding at your last checkup? Turns out that your inertia may be coded right into your genes.
Based on some intriguing preliminary studies in animals, J. Timothy Lightfoot, a kinesiologist, and his team at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, suggest that genetics may indeed predispose some of us to sloth. Using mice specially bred and selected according to their activity levels, Lightfoot identified 20 different genomic locations that work in tandem to influence their activity levels — specifically, how far the animals will run. Lightfoot's team is the first to identify these genetic areas and the first to figure out that they function in concert. The researchers say the areas they found on the mouse genome may have analogs in humans, and the UNC team is now gearing up to conduct a similar study in men and women. "We have put forward a fairly complete genomic map of the areas that are associated with regulation of physical activity," says Lightfoot, whose study is published in the current issue of the Journal of Heredity.
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Read the rest at link.Have you ever wondered why you can't get off the couch and exercise —... more
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It seems that most of the UK are still not convinced that climate change is caused by humans, according to a new poll released in Britain. Action, not lip service, is required to move the human race forward in the struggle against global warming and its negative implications on our environment. Guidelines can be put in place, but who will follow these restrictions when more than half of those expected to adhere to the regulations are still not willing to recognize their impact on the issue? It's difficult to say whether it boils down to denial or sheer laziness. People either need to wake up or read up.It seems that most of the UK are still not convinced that climate change is caused by... more
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Discover the world of low-cost, do-it-yourself political ads. David Roth sets out to create his very own TV ad with help from Spot Runner. All David needs is a catchy slogan, a few snapshots, and $499.Discover the world of low-cost, do-it-yourself political ads. David Roth sets out to... more
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According to The Sun, the French ignored Thom Yorke's attempt to save the world from climate change because they are too lazy to ride a bike.
50 free passes for a sold-out gig in France were available on a first-come, first-served basis at XL's Paris office. The only snag was that fans would have to collect them by bicycle.
35 of the 50 tickets went unclaimed.
Mais vous êtes cons ou quoi?!?According to The Sun, the French ignored Thom Yorke's attempt to save the world... more
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How many overweight people do you think there are in the world today? 1.3 billion (that's right, billion with a B)... And how many undernourished people (not ENOUGH food) do you think there are in the world today? Probably MANY more than the 1.3 billion that are overweight, right? Wrong. There are only 700 million people who are undernourished.
There are MORE overweight people in the world than there are people who are hungry. Shocking isn't it.
And here's the most horrific part... This has all happened in the last 50 years. Even countries in the Third World that have been battling starvation and food shortages for centuries are now facing a new problem - obesity.
What's going on here? Why is the world getting so fat? In "The World Is Fat" Barry Popkin argues that there is nothing "natural" about this stage in human evolution. And that there are things happening to our food supply that we HAVE to be aware of.
I'm going to be asking him questions that the big food manufacturers wish I wouldn't... And find out for YOU exactly what we can do together to stop this global widespread epidemic.
Source: KarmaAir.com
Full Show: http://www.karmaair.com/ShowBlog.aspx?episodeid=832How many overweight people do you think there are in the world today? 1.3 billion... more
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