Resisting Climate Hysteria

[So_Cynical]

Surely curriculum should include both sides of the debate instead of potentially brainwashing young, impressionable minds on something that even scientists are divided?

Maybe it's just an over zealous greenie teacher and not part of the curriculum.

Thoughts anyone?

I suppose its a little like those Christian schools that want to teach creationism and so called 'intelligent design' some believe that there is a genuine debate over the validity of evolution, some people think the moon landings were staged, some think the UN is under the influence of a conspiracy of some kind etc etc etc.

Educational curriculum should always follow the path of least resistance, the path of accepted and tested science, while still being open to change as the scientific evidence changes and of course encouraging debate and encouraging the individual to think for them self.

 

[Smurf1976]

Beyond the basics such as reading, writing, maths etc and practical skills such as cooking and woodwork, education on a specific subject will almost always reflect some underlying bias.

Smurf remembers quite well something in about grade 3 about state (Tas) development, resources and so on. Nice thick book to go with it, films to watch and so on. It all seemed a bit of fun, and a nice change from the normal spelling and so on.

But looking back, I now realise very well that it all amounted to one simple point being made: Hydro dams = good, any other form of power = bad. Such was the politics of the time, and this was a government school. OK, there was a bit about timber, minerals and so on but power was the key point being made that's for sure.

Same year we all got in a bit of trouble for damming the local creek at lunch time and ending up covered in mud when the "dam" broke. Pretty obvious where that idea came from... And the teachers were in a bit of a bind too - no way were they going to say there's something wrong with dams as such, just that they'd rather we didn't try building one behind the school because being covered in mud might upset our parents, and also the bus would get dirty on the way home...

Then in grade 5 & 6 I had a truly outstanding teacher who went way off the curriculum on a very regular basis and taught us all sorts of things. Finance and investments, legal system, how government works, media bias and so on. Computers were the future, and no way were we not going to learn how to type at a decent speed. We even made a film at some point in that class. Then he decided that we needed to know about industrial OH&S as well.

One of the "outside the box" subjects he taught us was "the greenhouse effect". It wasn't a political issue back then but the idea was around in a scientific sense and we explored the theory and looked at the realities of how emissions could actually be reduced globally. A lot of what is in this thread, I first learnt in grade 5 at school. I understood very well back then, that there was no simple answer. Closing factories = lost jobs etc is a point that was certainly made, as was the "no jobs on a dead planet" argument.

We built a few things in that class too and yes, a solar water heater built from scratch was among them, noting that none of us had ever seen a real one at the time. So were all sorts of electronic contraptions and we nearly ended up with a zoo as well. The water heater did work by the way, as did the electronics. A few things went wrong, like the mice escaping and an aquarium blowing up (due to student error by the way), but it was a fantastic learning experience those two years. And he did manage to fit all the usual maths, writing etc in as well - and with pretty tough pass marks and lunchtime detention for anyone who failed.

Most useful thing you can do in the education of any child is what my grade 5 and 6 teacher was really trying to achieve. Teach them to get of their ***, do something about it rather than whinging (absolutely his key point), think for themselves, do proper research into how things really are, and don't just believe what they are told. I've kept that principle ever since, and it has served me well thus far.

 

[ghotib]

Bravo Smurf, and Bravo Smurf's teacher, and Bravo schools and teachers in general.

Ghoti

 

[Julia]

Great post, Smurf. Let's hope there are still a few similar teachers around these days.
Sadly, in many of our state schools they're too busy trying to control the violent kids that seem to exist in every class.

 

[wayneL]

The mind boggles....

http://www.greenchipstocks.com/articles/3-offensive-images-of-climate-change/1122

Why Climate Change Deniers Should Be Blown To Bits!

By R.T. Jones
Wednesday, October 6th, 2010
A couple of weeks ago, a new short film by comedy screenwriter Richard Curtis was released for the 10:10 environmental campaign. And apparently, that film offended a lot of people.
I actually thought it was kind of funny. But I do have a sense of humor.

Then goes on to represent general pollution as climate change... such is the mindset of ecofascists.

 

[nioka]

... such is the mindset of ecofascists.

Its a pity in a way that the earth isnt flat. If it was then the far right would go over one edge and the far left over the edge on the other side. Those of us with an open mind would take the middle ground and live happily ever after.

 

[wayneL]

Its a pity in a way that the earth isnt flat. If it was then the far right would go over one edge and the far left over the edge on the other side. Those of us with an open mind would take the middle ground and live happily ever after.

For some on this forum though, anything to the right of Leon Trotsky is the "extreme right".

 

[nioka]

For some on this forum though, anything to the right of Leon Trotsky is the "extreme right".

And of course there are others that think anyone slightly to the left of Abbott has got to be a watermelon.

 

[wayneL]

And of course there are others that think anyone slightly to the left of Abbott has got to be a watermelon.

Incorrect.

I have never seen Dullard categorized as "extreme left" or "watermelon", even though she is an avowed social democrat. Whereas Abbott is often categorized as "extreme right".

It is a known tactic of the left to tag opposition with extremist labels.

Economic liberals as extreme right.

Climate science realists as deniers.

In fact there are no extreme parties in mainstream Australian politics, with the major parties bluing over the middle ground,

"The Greens" are unquestionably a fair way to the left of the spectrum, earning the title of watermelons. Openly socialist, but still not extreme... on the face of it anyway.

 

[explod]

Those of us with an open mind would take the middle ground and live happily ever after.

Do you mean that those either left or right of your middle ground do not have open minds nioka?

 

[wayneL]

Its a pity in a way that the earth isnt flat. If it was then the far right would go over one edge and the far left over the edge on the other side. Those of us with an open mind would take the middle ground and live happily ever after.

So... you want everybody who's not in the middle to die?

MAybe you can get Franny to make you a film. ::::

 

[So_Cynical]

In fact there are no extreme parties in mainstream Australian politics, with the major parties bluing over the middle ground,

"The Greens" are unquestionably a fair way to the left of the spectrum, earning the title of watermelons. Openly socialist, but still not extreme... on the face of it anyway.

wow

just

wow

The greens openly want to shut down all native forestry in Australia and also want to stop mono culture and exotic plantation forestry, close all coal fired power plants and totally ban any type of nuclear power...and yet this is not extreme?

And i suppose the Australian Protectionist Party and The Australia First Party aren't racist :dunno: perhaps we have different ideas about what is and isn't extreme.

 

[wayneL]

wow

just

wow

The greens openly want to shut down all native forestry in Australia and also want to stop mono culture and exotic plantation forestry, close all coal fired power plants and totally ban any type of nuclear power...and yet this is not extreme?

And i suppose the Australian Protectionist Party and The Australia First Party aren't racist :dunno: perhaps we have different ideas about what is and isn't extreme.

Well I did say mainstream didn't I? You cannot ignore key adjectives and hope to comprehend the meaning of a written passage SC.

Of those you mention, the Greens are the only one even remotely close to the mainstream of Australian politics. Yet they still aren't extreme on the grand scale of things.

Treacherous? Yes.

Dishonest? Yes.

Extremely economically inept? Absolutely.

Delusional? Probably.

Extremist? No. You can go a lot further left than The Greens.

 

[nioka]

I have never seen Dullard categorized as "extreme left" or "watermelon", even though she is an avowed social democrat..

Gillard is power hungry and will do what is necessary to have and retain power. To get that power she has to bow to the wishes of the greens and the powerbrokers within the party. In the present government that makes her a potential watermelon. Her main aim in life was to be Prime Minister. Her main aim now is to hold on as long as possible.

On the other hand Abbott has also proved that he would do the same. You only have to look at the promises that they both made to the indies in an effort to secure that power.

 

[explod]

Gillard is power hungry and will do what is necessary to have and retain power. To get that power she has to bow to the wishes of the greens and the powerbrokers within the party. In the present government that makes her a potential watermelon. Her main aim in life was to be Prime Minister. Her main aim now is to hold on as long as possible.

.

Has to be, that's the survival technique of being in politics. Show me one that is not. Have to play whatever ball is thrown and play it hard.

So what.

 

[So_Cynical]

Well I did say mainstream didn't I? You cannot ignore key adjectives and hope to comprehend the meaning of a written passage SC.

How did i miss that :dunno: you prob could have left out the whole sentence, as in mainstream tends to mean the centre and thus not the extremes.

 

[nioka]

So what.

So what? If you dont know what happened to honesty and the courage of your own convictions them You will be a very unhappy person with a troubled conscience. There are still some around.

 

[explod]

So what? If you dont know what happened to honesty and the courage of your own convictions them You will be a very unhappy person with a troubled conscience. There are still some around.

Yep agree, but as an idealist myself realise that it is not going to make it to the top in politics.

We are in Far Far Away Land, where seemingly, climate is not longer an issue.

 

[wayneL]

How did i miss that :dunno: you prob could have left out the whole sentence, as in mainstream tends to mean the centre and thus not the extremes.

ROTFL

Not necessarily. I can think of a few places where the extreme tends to be mainstream, both past and present.

 

[Smurf1976]

Bearing in mind that the environment versus development debate is now 4 decades old, it's good to see a more rational approach finally developing.

Note: FIAT = Forest Industry Association of Tas. The Wilderness Society is the dominant green group, and was the main public face of the entire conservation movement prior to formal establishment of The Greens.

Environment Tasmania, The Wilderness Society and the Australian Conservation Foundation today reconfirmed their unified support for a sustainable timber industry that secures jobs and creates new economic opportunities.

Environment groups have agreed that a pulp mill could be part of the state’s economic future

FIAT’s agreement removes the last barrier to the signing of the principles agreement, which includes a moratorium on the logging of high conservation value forests to apply within three months and eventual agreement on shifting the industry from native forests to plantations.

Any final agreement will have national ramifications, most likely leading to the phase out of native forest logging nationally.

Mr Edwards said he was aware that green groups, including The Wilderness Society and the Australian Conservation Foundation, were comfortable with the changes proposed by FIAT.

He expected the principles agreement to be signed within days.

http://tasmaniantimes.com/index.php...-the-woods-today-youre-in-for-a-big-surprise/

So far, I'd have to say that this Labor-Green government and general co-operation between both sides of the broader environment versus industry debate is working rather well. Let's hope that it keeps going...