What You Can Do

You CAN make a difference.

Ugly Renewable Energy

Next time someone talks about how ugly wind turbines are, think of this picture. 

Have a great weekend!

Uh-Oh

Banning Scientific Terms

     It was widely reported this week that Florida Governor Rick Scott instructed the Florida Department of Environmental to no longer use the terms "climate change", "global warming" and "sea-level rise" in official reports from the agency. There have been the usual denials from the Governor's office while more than a few employees and former employees of the state of Florida have come forward to confirm this little nugget. You asked why I get so political on here? Banning scientific terms about the environment and, more specifically Climate Change, will get me up on that soap box one more time.

     I can't say I'm surprised by this information. Rick Scott is no friend of the Environment, which is a shame, since his state will be the first to be wiped off the map by bigger and more powerful storms and the increasingly rising oceans. But as long as he can control the information that gets out to the public, then he is happy. In reading the dozens of articles about this unofficial policy, put in place in 2011 when Scott took office, the word that stuck with me was "Orwellian".

     My biggest question is...What are the Free Speech ramifications of this? Since no law was passed and the policy is unofficial I guess it doesn't fall under Freedom of Speech. I'm no constitutional lawyer, so maybe I'm wrong. But the censorship is what angers me. People scoff that there is a war on Science, yet I can provide this phantom policy by the Governor's office of Florida as proof that that war is quite real. And like any war, innocent people stand to lose the most.

Thought of the Day

    If you second guess every decision you need to make usually prevents you from moving forward. The only way to learn from your mistakes is to make one. Learn from it, don't repeat it and move forward.

According to Merriam-Webster...

     Mislead: to lead in a wrong direction or into mistaken action or belief often by deliberate deceit; to lead astray: to give a wrong impression

     Falsehood: an untrue statement; absence of truth or accuracy; the practice of lying

     Anti-intellectualism: hostility towards, mistrust of intellect, intellectuals and intellectual pursuits, usually expressed as the derision of education, philosophy, literature, art and science.

     I was curious to see how the dictionary defined these terms. I hear them and use them quite often, so I decided to look them up. It's a lazy Sunday and I am working on things to post this coming week. Consider this a bonus.