James-Smith blogJames Smith (1,196)    Time Magazine's Profitable Use Of Climate ChangePosted Monday, May 05, 2008 (11 days 19 hours ago.) Viewed 50 times. On April 3, 2006, the cover of Time Magazine read "Be Worried, Be Very Worried" introducing an article on Global Warming. One year later the cover of Time Magazine announced its "Global Warming Survival Guide." A Time Global Warming cover story in 2001 showed an egg in a frying pan. Time Magazine's Global Warming cover stories even date back nearly two decades. In 1989 a story called "Planet of the Year, Endangered Earth" was a featured story on a Time Magazine cover.
However, in just the past 12 months, Time has used the issue of global warming on seven separate occasions in its cover stories. The magazine's latest controversial cover story compares the climate change issue to a war and shows a picture of the Iwo Jima Memorial except that the American Flag is replaced by a tree. The Time Magazine cover has infuriated military veterans and every American who respects the Iwo Jima War Memorial, a Memorial that is dedicated to the 6000 soldiers that lost their lives as well as the 28,000 soldiers that were casualties in the brutal World War II battle. Time Magazine managing editor Richard Stengel is quoted as answering the widespread public criticism of the magazine cover as follows: "One of the things we do in the story is we say there needs to be an effort along the lines of preparing for World War II to combat global warming and climate change. The cover art was part of the publication's global warming advocacy and a way of forcing readers to pay attention." However, unlike the editor of Time Magazine, the veterans of Iwo Jima see the cover issue in a much more objective way. Donald Mates, (Iwo Jima veteran) told the Business & Media Institute that using that photograph for that cause was a "disgrace." "It's an absolute disgrace," Whoever did it is going to hell. That's a mortal sin. God forbid he runs into a Marine that was an Iwo Jima survivor. The Second World War we knew was there. There's a big discussion. Some say there is global warming, some say there isn't. And to stick a tree in place of a flag on the Iwo Jima picture is just sacrilegious". Also, consider the Time Magazine editor's comments in a speech he gave on April 21, 2008 at the University of Mississippi as part of the third annual Stuart J. Bullion Lecture. These comments should give every Time Magazine subscriber and reader a reason to pause. Stengel said: " I didn't go to journalism school, But this notion that journalism is objective, or must be objective is something that has always bothered me, because the notion about objectivity is in some ways a fantasy. I don't know that there is as such a thing as objectivity." As for journalistic standards, Stengel told the audience : "I don't even know what rules there have been all along in journalism. There are rules we kind of observed by tradition, but it's not like you know the legal code or being a doctor with the way you treat people. We sort of make it up as we go along and I think that is what will continue to happen." The truth is that the Society of Professional Journalists does have a standard of practice in their code of ethics. This industry standard of practice includes a journalistic requirement to: 1 Examine their own cultural values and avoid imposing those values on others. 2. Distinguish between advocacy and news reporting. 3. Analysis and commentary should be labeled and not misrepresent fact or context and 4. Be sensitive when seeking or using interviews or photographs of those affected by tragedy or grief. Of course, for Time Magazine, the entire issue is really all about selling magazines. Forget about journalistic standards of practice, industry code of ethics or objectivity. Do not confuse the magazine's writers or editor with the fact that the Earth has not experienced any warming for the last decade or that in the last twelve months the cooling of the planet has been the most dramatic on record. This is all about their "global warming advocacy" and leveraging profitability from the public's fear from all the climate change hype. It is also interesting to consider that a global warming agenda was not always a crusade of Time Magazine. Their global warming magazine covers only go back in time into the 1980s. So what was the magazine's climate change agenda in the 1970s? Well, the cover of Time Magazine in June of 1974 is headlined "The Cooling of America" and the article warns of a man-made ice age in the years ahead. Fear was useful in selling magazines back then too even if the outcome of climate change was going to be much colder. So, Time Magazine's readers should not be surprised by insensitive, exploitive covers. They certainly should not confuse its articles with objective journalism. In fact, if the planet continues its recent cooling trend, cover stories on a future man-made global ice age will surely soon appear. The truth is that for Time Magazine, its real agenda is to exploit the public's fear of global climate change for its own increased profitability. Its an agenda that already spans decades. Indeed, its an agenda that may be timeless.
James William Smith has worked in senior management positions for some of the largest financial services firms in the United States for the last twenty five years. He has also provided business consulting support for insurance organizations and start up businesses. Mr. Smith has a Bachelor of Science Degree from Boston College. He enjoys writing articles on political, national, and world events. Visit his website at http://www.eworldvu.com
Permalink Comments (0) Taking The Temperature Of Global Climate ChangePosted Thursday, May 01, 2008 (15 days 23 hours ago.) Viewed 112 times. The daily observation from the Solar & Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) clearly highlights a potential global problem. In 2008, nearly every day of each of the first four months of the year has recorded an observation of sunspot activity that is equal to zero. In fact, there have been only two days in the last four months when there has been any sunspot activity at all and each small event disappeared very quickly. The importance of sunspot inactivity is the continued confirmation that Sunspot Cycle 24 will be very weak or even delayed. The most recent solar minimum was in March of last year. The new cycle, No.24, was supposed to start soon after that, with a predicted gradual build-up in sunspot numbers. It has not yet happened. History would suggest that the longer the delay in cycle activity, the weaker this sunspot cycle will be. Consider that the future implications of this lack of sunspot activity may be enormous. Sunspots can be historically correlated with temperature change on Earth. Weak sunspot activity correlates to colder temperatures on earth. In fact, low sunspot activity in the past has led to decades of extremely cold worldwide temperatures. Indeed, a lack of sunspot activity may already correlate to the global cooling of the planet seen in the last twelve months. Therefore, current sunspot inactivity may predict even more cooling of the Earth's climate in the years to come. Last year, a dramatic cooling of the planet was measured by all four agencies that track Earth's temperature (the Hadley Climate Research Unit in Britain, the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, the Christy group at the University of Alabama, and Remote Sensing Systems Inc in California). It is now estimated that the Earth cooled by about 0.7C in 2007 which is the fastest temperature change on record. However, even as the planet was experiencing a dramatic decrease in temperature, the dubious ramifications of the misguided policies of the proponents of global warming could already be seen. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the world's poorest countries can expect the cost of imported food to rise by over fifty percent this year. The World Bank estimates that food prices have already risen by 83 percent in the last three years. Already, thirty seven countries face food crises and consequences like malnourishment, starvation, and civil unrest. Riots over the high price of food have recently broken out in Haiti, Egypt, Senegal and more than twenty other countries worldwide. Biofuels are a major reason that the price of food continues to escalate throughout the world according to conclusions from several reports on the current global food crisis. "Globalization, climate change, and the mass production of biofuels are pushing up food prices worldwide, which could jeopardize the livelihoods of the world's poorest", according to a report by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). Similar findings have also been reported by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. In addition, these reports estimate that a global temperature increase of more than three degrees Celsius due to global warming could lift food prices by an additional 40 percent. As can be seen in the reports, all the current planning is based solely on a future assumption of global warming. These reports continue to ignore the current low sunspot activity of Solar Cycle 24 and its potential correlation to an immediate future of cooling temperatures on the climate of the Earth. The unfortunate truth is that if the planet continues to cool in the years ahead there will be less total global agriculture and much higher food prices than in these forecasts. A lack of proper planning for global cooling will result in millions of people starving due to a lack of food or from cold-related diseases because the world will not be prepared for the colder climate solution. Consider that the daily report of sunspot activity may well be a signal of a future climate that is much colder than the world currently anticipates. In fact, in the years ahead, the world may even experience the extreme global effect of a mini ice age. Then, the misguided conversion of crops to fuel to save the planet from global warming would truly be catastrophic. Therefore, agricultural and climate planning should include all possible future climate scenarios, both warm and cold. Like treating a sick patient, proper diagnosis of a problem is the first action in facilitating a cure. Science involves experimentation, observation, and hypothesis. It should not be a dogmatic crusade that is closed to debate. Today, it makes little sense to starve the planet in a attempt to save it in the future through the use of biofuels. Tomorrow, it makes even less sense to plan and prepare for global warming if our future reality may require an increased use of fur coats as protection from the increased cold. That is why accurately taking the temperature of global climate change is crucial to the lives of millions of people in the years and decades ahead. James William Smith has worked in senior management positions for some of the largest financial services firms in the United States for the last twenty five years. He has also provided business consulting support for insurance organizations and start up businesses. Mr. Smith has a Bachelor of Science Degree from Boston College. He enjoys writing articles on political, national, and world events. Visit his website at http://www.eworldvu.com
Permalink Comments (1) Beijing 2008 Was A Bad Bet By The I.O.C.Posted Monday, April 14, 2008 (32 days 15 hours ago.) Viewed 143 times. The 2008 Summer Olympic Games and events in Beijing are still several months away. However, sad and disturbing world headlines concerning China and these Olympic Games are everywhere. Last week the Chinese government reported that air pollution in Beijing reached its highest level on record as a sandstorm from the north shrouded the capital in dust, choking pedestrians, and delaying flights. In fact, filthy, polluted, air in Beijing has just convinced Ethiopian runner Haile Gebrselassie to pull out of the Beijing Olympic marathon. The world record marathon holder was a favorite for a gold medal this summer and will now focus solely on the 10,000 metre run because of air pollution and his problems with asthma. The truth is that China has not been effective in improving the quality of the air in Beijing. As a result, these 2008 Summer Olympic Games will feature participating athletes wearing charcoal masks with team trainers and doctors close by with ibuprofen and asthma medication. It should now be obvious that to award the Olympic Games to a country with extreme environmental issues like China was not in the best health interest of any of the 10,500 participating world class athletes.
In addition to the problems with air pollution, China has been restricting the free speech of reporters and arresting internal dissidents. Also, world newspaper headlines describe a possible potential boycott of the opening ceremonies of this summer's games by France and other countries due to the recent Chinese government military crackdown against protestors in Tibet.
It is now apparent that the 2008 Olympic Games have become hostage to China's sad record on the environment and human rights. All the current controversy is really the result of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) vote in 2001 which named Beijing as the 2008 host city. In fact, only two rounds of voting were necessary for Beijing to obtain a majority of ballots over four other candidate cities. Beijing received 56 votes in the second round to 22 for Toronto, 18 for Paris, and 9 for Istanbul. Osaka, Japan, was eliminated in the first round. Of course, China's dubious record on human rights and the environment was well known in 2001. So, we may ask the question of why China was awarded the honor to host the 2008 Olympic Games? An answer to this somewhat puzzling question was given after the award announcement seven years ago by Francois Carrard, (Executive Director of the I.O.C.) . He said that delegates faced one overriding political issue with regard to Beijing: human rights. ''Some people say, because of serious human rights issues, 'We close the door and say no'. The other way is to bet on openness. Bet on the fact that in the coming seven years, openness, progress, and development in many areas will be such that the situation will be improved. We are taking the bet that seven years from now we will see many changes.'' Today, seven years later, it has become obvious that the IOC has lost the bet. In the decision to ignore China's human rights record and bet that improvement would occur through time and the prospect of Olympic sport, the IOC now appears to be complicit with China in the continued compromise of that country's basic human rights. Now that the 2008 Olympic Games opening ceremonies may be subject to a boycott, the IOC's basic position, (as stated repeatedly by IOC President Jacques Rogge), is that it is a sports organization and unable to pressure China or any other country on political matters. The fact is that the current government crackdown under the cover of Olympic security has made China's sad human rights record become even worse. Also, it has become apparent that by voting for China to host these Olympic Games, the IOC chose a venue that is in violation of the spirit of its own Olympic Charter. The Charter states that sport must be "at the service of the harmonious development of man, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity." In 2001, the award of the summer Olympic Games for Beijing was a bet by the I.O.C. that China would be serious about cleaning up its environment. The award was also a bet on the promise by China to improve its sad human rights record. The reality is that for these 2008 Olympic Games, the dubious worldwide headlines now serve notice that, like all bad bets, the time has come to pay.
James William Smith has worked in senior management positions for some of the largest financial services firms in the United States for the last twenty five years. He has also provided business consulting support for insurance organizations and start up businesses. Mr. Smith has a Bachelor of Science Degree from Boston College. He enjoys writing articles on political, national, and world events. Visit his website at http://www.eworldvu.com
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