Benny Pollak's Musings

Being an atheist, I am constantly being asked the question of where I get my ethics from. My answer is very simple: t he same place most people get them from, various sources, the 10 Commandments for example. As is the case with everybody, I cherry pick only the ones I agree with. Let's take a look at this, here's the text: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery: This isn't really a command I guess but either way I don't think I agree with it, haven't seen any evidence. You shall have no other gods before me: I have never had the need to but I'm actually OK with this one. Since I don't believe in any god, this one is fine with me. You shall not make for yourself an image, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Not that I would ever want to do this but I think it conflicts with the first amendment to the ...

Okay, the debate is over, I think it has finally become apparent that the consensus in the scientific community is that climate change not only is happening but it is most likely caused by human activity. The question is, what can we do now? I believe the short answer is: nothing. If indeed this is really a problem there is very little we can do now that will make a difference in the foreseeable future. The effects of climate change will not be immediate but gradual. When environmental problems occur and governments can realistically do something about them within a reasonable amount of time, as was the case with the London fog emergency in 1952, they do. In cases like that, it was very clear what needed to be done and there was a marked improvement in the situation in a very short time. The case of global warming is very different. First of all, it is not very clear what can be done. Yes, cutting down on carbon dioxide emissions may eventually improve things, but we...