All the media outlets have addressed the issues of drug addiction in the United States with heroin being at a 20-year high, [with] individuals on multiple pain medications: The University of Michigan study estimates that one baby is born addicted to some sort of opiate every hour in the U.S. and that 13,539 babies are born with NAS (neonatal abstinence syndrome) each year.
There is an alarming rate of states that have declared bankruptcy and are in financial crisis throughout the United States. Which means we are becoming a country of the “haves” and “have nots”! What has happened to the middle class in our country (http://www.dailywire.com/news/7619/9-most-bankrupt-states-america-yours-list-aaron-bandler)?
Manufacturing jobs in the United States have been declining at an alarming rate; companies are moving their jobs out of the country due to the new trade agreement under the Obama administration. Robots are now replacing America’s workforce and will continue to grow in numbers each year. Americans are giving up farming and selling their lands to big developers, therefore America as we know it is continually changing (http://www.businessinsider.com/why-blue-collar-jobs-are-dissapearing-2012-1).
In order to defend the United States against crime, the Justice Department requested $31.8 billion. Protecting us from terrorism in the U.S. is $1 trillion. The costs of protecting our country is becoming more prohibitive each year (https://www.themarshallproject.org/2015/02/12/the-cost-of-crime-fighting and
http://www.mydaytondailynews.com/news/the-staggering-cost-keep-america-safe/QCpZKBFWdHMqoftqxdANYI/).
President Trump acknowledged that the United States cannot continue to support world nations in a multitude of ways when our own country… needs protection and growth. Now, other nations must share in the world’s financial burdens, the health crisis, fighting terrorism, helping underdeveloped nations to become [self-sufficient] and bringing back manufacturing jobs to the U.S.
The president is vocal about American companies that are gouging the consumers; pharmaceutical companies, military defense contracts, insurance companies and the educational system need to be reevaluated and revamped.
We are an incredibly intelligent nation and yet we our destroying our environment, therefore causing a global climate pandemic crisis.
The media’s reviews of Trump’s inauguration speech was deplorable, scolding and would not give him any recognition on the issues that he spoke about; sad reality is this is what United States will be embracing in 2017. Thank God that President Trump has decapitated the media; well deserved!
President Trump’s message was that even the politicians failed the people; he wants to work for the protection of all of us. Give a voice to the American people!
— Anne Catherine Gibbons
Asheville
Thank God that President Trump has decapitated the media; well deserved!
I was skimming through this, wondering whether to respond to any of the falsehoods, half-truths, distortions or propaganda, but this one says it all. Will the American Experiment survive Trump (and his supporters)? Hard to say.
The American experiment has been on hold since about 1965. It’s getting back on track though. Your America is neither safe nor free. It’s politicized, hateful, persecutes people now who weren’t around 200 years ago, is corrupt, and will go down. 20 trillion in debt ensures that one way or the other things will change. And either you accept it and lessen the blow from it or you continue to pile on debt until it crashes on its own.
Pretty accurate, and concise. Well said Lulz.
Where was Summer’s at when Obama claimed if you like your doctor you can keep your doctor? Or Pelosi who said we have to pass the bill to see what’s in it? Or the false jobs reports of the last 8 years? 1% GDP numbers? Two 700 billion dollar stimulus packages for infrastructure passed that ended up going to special interests instead? The last 8 years of lunacy, leftist politics, and a struggling economy did the democrats in. And the funny thing is as the double down on identity politics and media obstruction and continue to show themselves for what they really are, they’ll be left behind to rot. What does his ilk stand for? Approximately half the nation being shamed into working so they can pay the taxes and the laws while the other half including illegals lives off of them. And being told they’re stupid, racist, and their lives aren’t worthy of anything else except to pay for the past. And if they can’t find work, to simply die.
You don’t have to tell people that they’re stupid and racist. It just gets their backs up and rarely is the issue in doubt.
Ridicule and be smug all you want. People like you are why the democrats are losing.
Good to know. If that’s their attitude, I’m glad I didn’t drive all the way to Raleigh for the Governor’s inaugural. (I’ve already framed the invite, so I’m still going to leave it on the mantle, thank you very much. )
I realize this comes three days late. However great a discussion this has been, not many comments re the Article itself.
I would like to commend Ms. Gibbons for a most thoughtful, some may say courageous, well researched (with referenced sites), and compelling commentary.
Glad to note that no one, thus far, has posted any insulting replies to her.
Almost surprised, pleasantly, as when I first read it, I thought, okay, here we go.
Perhaps we are chilling down the rhetoric somewhat so that civil discourse may once again serve us.
I have to agree with Barry. If the President is working “for the protection of us all” by decapitating our media watchdogs, his home-security system needs improvement.
“The American experiment has been on hold since about 1965. It’s getting back on track though.”
Jim Crow’s never coming back, “man of the people”, as much as you might wish for it.
I give the letter writer credit for understanding the global climate crisis. The President, not so much.
LOL, maybe we can become like that enlightened state of California. You know the one that spends all its money on illegals and none of it on such trivial things as dam upkeep. LOL, LOL, let’s just fleece taxpayers even more while the government bums, welfare queens, illegals, and everyone else who isn’t a while guy live off of them. And make sure you bus them to the polls too to vote. At the cost of infrastructure, the economy, everything. Simply so leftist can attain power and control.
That’s quite a to-do list. Is there a deadline or can I focus on the big-ticket items first?
With all this rage, it’s astounding you don’t have the courage to post under your real name. I might take you more seriously, but for now I’ll just LOL.
LOL, the manufactured global climate crap is nothing more than a war against capitalism. Period. But communist like you are all for it.
Did you read about the top NOAA whistleblower who just exposed that they ignored data archiving procedures and inflated temps for a report that was used to influence world leaders at the Paris Summit? I think that was done in Asheville.
All that guy did was reveal that the traditional methodology used was rushed. The data itself was never in question, nor was it shown to be invalid.
It goes a bit farther than that. They didn’t archive the data and the computer they used to develop the paper mysterious died. So they are not able to reproduce the study that was submitted in the Paris Agreement. I think I read that they redid the whole thing and the temperatures came down.
“They didn’t archive the data and the computer they used to develop the paper mysterious died” — ok, really? If that’s right it’s either an EPIC fail and much should be in question because of the ineptitude. (Who doesn’t archive data of intricate work?)
Or, it’s a big, fat lie — and much more should be in question. We live in a world of lies, folks. Which is why we should all not be quick to chug the kool-aid from any smooth talking salesmen. Except for Luther, he doesn’t believe that humans conspire so he gets to guzzle as much as he wants.
Sorry, guys, Fake News has spoken. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/20/business/energy-environment/climate-change-dispute-john-bates.html?.
Luther…👍🏼
Please stick to criticizing the ideas, not the people expressing them.
This is a silly double standard, Tracy. Does “communist like you” not count as a personal attack when it’s being flung around merely as an insult?
I see what you’re saying, but “communist” to me is a political characterization, whereas “loon” seems more of a flat-out insult.
I think you folks do a great job.
It’s not easy being the umpire, Luther, especially on the sandlot. I’d give Tracy a pass. And your revised comment is better, anyway. So I’d let it go.
The arctic sea ice doesn’t have an ideology. When it’s finally gone, then angry, twisted people who’ve convinced themselves that it’s a plot against capitalism mostly won’t be around either. What a shameful way to live one’s life.
I’m neutral on the human-made climate change thing (b/c it’s above my pay grade). But, Luther, what are we supposed to do when an insider says this? http://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/climate-change-scare-tool-to-destroy-capitalism/
And, another insider declares falsified data: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4192182/World-leaders-duped-manipulated-global-warming-data.html
How do you reconcile that?
I think that scandalous NOAA study was done in Asheville.
How do you reconcile that?
By actually looking beyond the sensational headlines on these fake news stories. The first is a two-year old article where the person quoted didn’t say anything like what she was accused of saying. The end.
Not surprisingly, the second is also bulls***:
“But in interviews with the Associated Press and E&E, an online energy and environmental news outlet, Bates said he had not accused his colleagues of data manipulation.
Bates told the AP on Feb. 6 that there was “no data tampering, no data changing, nothing malicious” involved with his colleagues’ study. “It’s not trumped up data in any way shape or form,” he said.”
http://www.factcheck.org/2017/02/no-data-manipulation-at-noaa/
But they did choose to use temperatures from ocean-going ships rather than the more accurate sea buoys. The former are always warmer than than the latter.
“Dr Bates said: ‘They had good data from buoys. And they threw it out and “corrected” it by using the bad data from ships. You never change good data to agree with bad, but that’s what they did – so as to make it look as if the sea was warmer.”
I think that scandalous NOAA study was done in Asheville.
It was done in Asheville, but the only thing ‘scandalous’ about it is how fake news gets passed around as true by anonymous sockpuppets seeking to mislead people.
David Rose’s sensationalist story claiming that “world leaders were duped into investing billions over manipulated global warming data” was entirely without scientific merit. It was a giant nothingburger, or as NASA GISS director Gavin Schmidt called it, “a NOAA-thing burger.”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/feb/13/this-is-why-conservative-media-outlets-like-the-daily-mail-are-unreliable
That the comment was made 2 years ago is irrelevant. Really? Using that standard, Al Gore has been promoting his thesis for over 10 years and things have not evolved as he predicted (but he and his buddies have made plenty of dough off of the program in that time – yippee) so should we start ignoring him?
Do you have comprehension problems? Or just a severe case of denial? Figueres is precisely saying that. Maybe you prefer Naomi Klein. https://www.amazon.com/This-Changes-Everything-Capitalism-Climate/dp/1451697392 From Amazon book description: The most important book yet from the author of the international bestseller The Shock Doctrine, a brilliant explanation of why the climate crisis challenges us to abandon the core “free market” ideology of our time, restructure the global economy, and remake our political systems.
More John Bates: https://www.insidescience.org/news/retired-noaa-scientist-doubles-down-climate-data-controversy
Oh boy, Factcheck.org — well that settles it, surely! Their facts are extra special good.
Scroll down to the end of the discussion on this thread, Mr. Real World: http://mountainx.com/opinion/letter-writer-there-can-be-no-justice-without-truth/. I swear these guys are as relentless as papal assassins.
From the Reformation era, I mean.
Yeah, that second Bates article doesn’t help your case.
“Global warming,” Bates said, “is a scientific fact.”
“How do you reconcile that?”
How come you always choose the tinfoil-hat conspiracy theory option, no matter what?
“Global warming,” Bates said, “is a scientific fact.”
That’s irrelevant. Most scientists will agree with that. Warming is good. Catastrophic warming is bad, and so far there is no evidence of that whether man-caused or not. All of the predictions have failed.
Summers – ya, of course, the globe warms…..and it cools too. If what Bates meant (and was inadequately quoted) was that: ‘human-influenced global warming is scientific fact’ — then why does the data need to be manipulated/altered?? Dr. Judith Curry is one of the rational voices in all this.
Luther – always trying to deflect when he’s got nothing to offer but his devout religious fervor. Good grief, were you born yesterday? As if anywhere on this planet that huge sums of money and control are involved, there aren’t scads of people conspiring to acquire as much of both as they can. Have you ever been out of Mayberry? But, I’ll remember your conspiracy aversion the next time someone asserts that Russia got Trump elected. Boy, the Dems sure have gone long on tin-foil hats since Nov.
“Good grief, were you born yesterday?”
Click-click-clicking your way to the most marginal contrarian position might make your days more interesting, but it doesn’t grant you special wisdom. When the power goes out during a storm, I tend to blame fallen branches and call Duke Energy.
The “scandal” has been completely and repeatedly debunked. There was no falsified data. The criticism was over whether certain protocols related to data storage were properly followed. https://phys.org/news/2017-02-major-global-defended.html.
Protocol requires that all data be accessed in order to assign it higher value. For example, buoy data have a higher value than ship data if protocol is followed. Scientific integrity requires that data with higher value be used. By not following protocol cherry-picked data was assigned a higher value, and that’s what was used in the K15 paper (per Bates).
So this is basically what happened.
Scientist 1: Use buoy data rather than ship data
Scientist 2: Buoy data show cooling
Scientist1: Use ship data
btw the truth will come out. A congressman suspected malfeasance when the K15 paper came out and opened an investigation, which subpoenaed all NOAA data and communications on the matter. They stonewalled Congress, and got away with it because of Obama. The investigation has been reopened and a new subpoena issued. I doubt Trump will allow non-compliance. So we will see…
Arctic sea ice is greater now than when the prediction was made in 2012 that it would be gone in 4 years. And arctic ice growth since the start of Sept 2016 is the greatest on record.
When are we going to start seeing some of these predictions actually come true?
http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/.
https://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/kids/impacts/signs/.
EPA. Garbage. Politically driven “science”. Let’s hope they’re gone within the next few years.
Lawmakers introduce bill to end EPA
http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Lawmakers-introduce-bill-to-end-EPA-10910411.php
“Lawmakers introduce bill to end EPA”
And lawmakers are going to go precisely nowhere with that. You clearly don’t have any clue about the devastation that will wreak on industries around the country, causing untold numbers of layoffs and business closings. This is in addition to the environmental havok that will be unleashed.
You know, people in private businesses all over the country actually DO WORK keeping our land, air, and water clean. It’s not something that just happens. You do know that, right?
Maybe take some time and learn what the EPA actually does:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Environmental_Protection_Agency
The “representative” that wrote the bill to abolish the EPA. one Matt Gaetz of FL, also wrote that “the American people are drowning in rules and regulation promulgated by unelected bureaucrats. And the Environmental Protection Agency has become an extraordinary offender.”
What he means to say is that the EPA enforces laws passed by ELECTED officials. The foundation of his bill is based upon a lie.
Every state has an EPA. Getting rid of the federal EPA simply removes an unnecessary bureaucratic regulatory layer.
You have no earthly idea what the EPA is, do you?
Every state does not “have an EPA.” They might have their own environmental agencies, but they don’t “have an EPA.” The EPA has jurisdiction in every state, however.
But to get past your lack of understanding, to the point I assume you were trying to make, what you seem to be saying is that there is no need for a federal agency to protect the air and water, because states do an adequate job. But that denies that interstate environmental issues arise, and that’s just nonsense.
It also denies that there are any environmental issues that are universal, affecting all Americans. Again, sheer nonsense.
So, unless you have something truly insightful to add to the conversation, I suggest you spend your time looking into what the EPA has done over the past 46 years to protect the lives of all Americans.
Or go jump in a lake (that’s not polluted, thanks to the EPA).
“Getting rid of the federal EPA simply removes an unnecessary bureaucratic regulatory layer.”
In the spirit of civility: if you think one set of standards creates a regulatory burden, wait until there are 50 of them competing with each other. What happens when toxins from plants in Tennessee end up blowing across the state line in the air or washing down rivers into NC, if it becomes legal to pollute there and not here?
Here’s a handy guide for keeping track of where our friends are in the climate debate: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2013/sep/16/climate-change-contrarians-5-stages-denial.
If I had known a letter about the President’s inaugural speech was going to take this turn, I’d have posted it at the beginning for easier reference.
AARP recognizes the importance of protecting our Medicare and Social Security payments as evidenced by their new ad campaign. The new campaign urges congress to protect Medicare and Social Security from harmful cuts.
http://www.aarp.org/about-aarp/press-center/info-06-2011/aarp-launches-new-tv-ad-calling-on- congress-to-protect-medicare-and-social-security-from-harmful-cuts.html
We now have a 25% to 35% increase in insurance premiums which is a heavy burden for those on a limited income.
The article that we are commenting on is not about President Trump’s campaign or his philosophical issues; it is about the medical care and cost of insurance which is prohibitively expensive.
Let this thread stand as an object lesson for those who insist that progressives should pipe down and give our new rulers a chance to run everything. A letter praises the President’s inauguration address. I don’t agree with much in it, but, seeking common ground, I applaud the letter writer for expressing concern about climate change and the environment. I am immediately informed by a dignitary of the local conservative establishment that I am a “communiss” (“Confederacy of Dunces” spelling) bent on world revolution. And the “conversation” devolves from there. Any wonder why people are protesting in the streets?
PR – thanks for labeling me a dignitary; I accept. But don’t pigeon-hole me politically (the simple black/white concept is easier for you, I get it. But, it’s not accurate. There are others than just angels and devils.)
I figure, in time, there will be plenty to legitmately protest. However, the current stuff is based largely on people with an inability to think for themselves as evidenced by numerous reporters asking what they’re protesting and they can’t answer. They’re pure groupies. While many of the others are paid. So, all-around — most impressive!
I was referring to Lulz, who called me a “communist” earlier on this thread. You I consider a dignitary, to be sure, but not necessarily a conservative one. I have noted some flexibility in your positions. Though I hasten to add that your commitment to the Asheville Tourists has always been steadfast, uncompromising and true, and let no man say otherwise in my presence.
Here’s my bottom line: it’s quite obvious to me that there is fraud, bullsh** and charlatans in all political wings as well as some good things or people in each. I guess I feel a duty to try to ferret both the truth and the scammers.
I have loyalty to no party but, do believe that less Federal govt and more State govt would allow us all to pay better attention to our ‘hired help’ and all the money they like to fritter away. We need the Feds for some things but not for many others and I’d like to see that power structure shift.
I do like The Tourists and enjoy the McCormick Field experience all-around. To my taste, it’s much more fun than major league ballparks or ballgames.
The president’s inauguration has been quite an all-’round inspiration to many.
“The Republican National Committee announced Monday that it will file a $19.8 million FEC report. This is the largest amount the Republican Party has ever filed in a post-presidential election month.”
http://bit.ly/2m7RBdY
“The juggernaut of optimism unleashed by President Donald Trump’s presidency will continue to steamroll its way through the market, paving the way for stocks to carve out new highs and keep hungry bears at bay.”
http://on.mktw.net/2lHvPkf