Ventures into scepticism
The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) would allow the US government to block any of us from accessing sites if they allegedly contain copyright infringing material.
Big sites like YouTube, Facebook or even small start-ups can be shut down by a company accusing them of publishing copyrighted material.
No court, no judge, nobody checking if someone actually did something wrong. Read more
It has been a busy month, with for example organizing the 12 hour fundraiser show for the Secular Students Alliance. And now handling all the traffic I got from the shout-out from TheLivingDinosaur. Not to mention a very busy month at work.
It was fun, but a bit draining. So I’m going to celebrate the holidays with my family and friends for some needed rest. But I’ll leave you with a nice seasonal greeting from Fox news:
As winter descends, Fox is keeping with its annual tradition of using snowstorms and cold temperatures to mock global warming. But scientists say climate change could make winter storms stronger and more frequent.
Seasons Greetings From Fox News
This saturday, starting at 19:00 GMT, SkepticTV will be doing a special 12 hour show to raise funds for the Secular Students Alliance (SSA):
The mission of the Secular Student Alliance is to organize, unite, educate, and serve students and student communities that promote the ideals of scientific and critical inquiry, democracy, secularism, and human-based ethics. We envision a future in which nontheistic students are respected voices in public discourse and vital partners in the secular movement’s charge against irrationality and dogma.
AVAAZ is gathering signatures to petition our leaders in Durban to commit to act on the reality of global warming. Please sign this petition so our leaders know we want them to take action.
Here is the call to action from AVAAZ (emphasis theirs):
Dear friends,
Our oceans are dying, our air changing, and our forests and grasslands turning to deserts. From fish and plants to wildlife to human beings, we are killing the planet that sustains us, and fast. There is one single greatest cause of this destruction of the natural world — climate change, and in the next 4 days, we have a chance to stop it. Read more
The following is a reprint of a news release issued by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on Nov 21, 2011
The amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached a new high in 2010 since pre-industrial time and the rate of increase has accelerated, according to the World Meteorological Organization’s Greenhouse Gas Bulletin. It focussed special attention on rising nitrous oxide concentrations.
Between 1990 and 2010, according to the report, there was a 29% increase in radiative forcing – the warming effect on our climate system – from greenhouse gases. Carbon dioxide accounted for 80% of this increase.
“The atmospheric burden of greenhouse gases due to human activities has yet again reached record levels since pre-industrial time,” said WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud. “Even if we managed to halt our greenhouse gas emissions today – and this is far from the case – they would continue to linger in the atmosphere for decades to come and so continue to affect the delicate balance of our living planet and our climate.” Read more
