I'm in Washington on a business trip. I'm away from my beloved dvr with all my shows pre-recorded on it, and a fast forward button to skip all the commercials. On top of that, I don't even know what all the channels are without looking at a little card with a bunch of network symbols on it. Now I remember why I stopped watching tv before the advent of dvrs, and how great dvrs are. Okay, enough of the dvr plug.
I got all excited because I found a science show. There was an official looking guy talking about global warming. I wasn't paying full attention because I was eating my continental breakfast. The guy was saying blah, blah, blah, global warming, blah, blah, blah, people will die, blah, blah, blah, water level rising, etc. I finished my huge meal, and started actually watching the show with my full attention. Then I get my first sign something wasn't right. Why does this guy have an o-scope behind him, with the intensity turned all the way up and a few sin waves scrolling all over the place. No self respecting scientist or technician would do that to his oscope for any reason. It might be that way when you turn it on if your noob lab assistant was messing with it, but you would quickly adjust it to get something useful out of it. Wait, what did he just say? Genesis? Damn, this is a creationist show. What a bunch of bullshit? Man's dominion over the earth. Global warming is "only" 1.5 degrees. People will die because they don't have access to cheap energy.
Wow, how did this get on tv? Hmmm, what channel is this. Get out the card with all the station icons on there. TBN? Google, what is TBN? Trinity Broadcasting Newtwork. Ah, thanks Google, that explains a lot. I watched a little bit more to see if they had any good points. Closest thing that may actually be science had to do with cosmic rays. They claim that all the warming has to do with a change in the amount of UV rays that come from the sun. While the sun is definitely a variable that determines the earths temperature, it's niave to say that it's the only variable. The commercials in between the show, were for the show. Coral Ridge Ministries is the producer of the film. It looks like the show is on their website. I can't tell if you can watch the film, or if it's just a trailer, but I doubt anyone really wants to torture themselves.. It just says it's buffering for awhile and then fails. I think it's the hotel internet, not the site, but no way to tell from here.
So, to get to the point. Damn you creationists, get out of my science!
It's been a while since I've seen TBN. I actually mentioned it (though not by name) in one of my more long winded, rambling blog entries a couple years ago. I'll just quote the relevant part of that entry instead of typing it all over again,
ReplyDeleteI was watching T.V. in bed the other night. My wife had the remote and was looking for something good to watch. Just as I was about to fall asleep, she found a religious channel, and purposely left it there to get me riled up. It was some guy giving a presentation on how teaching "creation science" (quotes because it isn't science) isn't unconstitutional. He had all types of newspaper clippings backing up his claim.
Newspaper clippings! That was the level of his research for a nationally broadcasted show.
Which Washington are you in? The state or D.C.?
I'm in Ft. Lewis, Washington. It's about an hour south of Seattle. I'm up here providing follow up support from training I did in March. In my civilian job I train soldiers that have the same job as I have in the National Guard.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that the global warming paper was about as well researched. They just find something that vaguely resembles supporting their claim, and then run with it.
Ramen, from a fellow Washingtonian. I've been reading your most recent posts and really liked this one. You should take that quote (title of post) and make it into a bumper sticker. (Is it yours?)
ReplyDeleteAdding you to my blog roll and reader now.
Cheers!
Terra
Uh oh, I don't live in Washington, but we can still be blogging buddies. :)
ReplyDeleteAlthough it feels like I do live there. This year I'll spend almost as much time in Washington as I have spent in my home state of Texas. I'm a government contractor, and I do a lot of traveling. I spent 7 weeks this past spring at Ft. Lewis training soldiers. I spent the last two weeks doing follow up training. Then, on top of those trips, my national guard unit is activating me and sending me to Afghanistan. Booooo. Bet you can't guess where I'm going to train for 3 months before going to Afghanistan.
It is a very beautiful state though. I also think I have more in common with more people in Washington than here in the Texas bible belt. After my deployment my family and I are going to consider moving, and Washington is high on the list of contenders. I also have a cousin in Seattle.
Glad you like my blog, and that quote. As far as I know it's mine, I don't think I've heard anyone else say it. I'm sure it wasn't the first time it was said either though :)