Saturday morning links

the United Methodist Church will go into formal schism over the issue of homosexuality. From the NYT:

Leaders of the United Methodist Church, the second-largest Protestant denomination in the nation, announced on Friday a plan that would formally split the church after years of division over same-sex marriage.

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/the-united-methodist-divorce/

#1 feeblemind on 2020-01-04 10:08 (Reply)

This is all about who is going to get the property and money when the church collapses in America. The Methodists will go down the same path as the UCC, TEC, ELCA, PCUSA. Lots of money and property but no members or attenders. That money can fund a lot of "progressivism." Who needs the members or attenders. Many of the empty churches will be sold off to be torn down and redeveloped as condominiums, or repurposed as mosques.

#1.1 Jim on 2020-01-04 14:21 (Reply)

I thought the Progressive's greatest hits of 2019 was going to be a blank sheet of paper.

#2 Grant1863 on 2020-01-04 10:13 (Reply)

Earth’s Ice Ages

QUOTE:

What causes ice ages?
. . . One possible explanation relies on the hypothesis that the amount of galactic cosmic rays striking the Earth varies as the solar system traverses the arms of the Milky Way, which it does roughly every 135 million years, plus or minus 25 million years (Svensmark and Svensmark 2017). The theory suggests that when more high-energy cosmic rays strike the Earth, more low-level clouds form. Low-level clouds cool the planet because they reflect more thermal energy than they trap under them. This reduces the warming effect of solar radiation (Svensmark, et al. 2017). This effect is one of the possible reasons that low solar activity and reduced solar wind in the eleven-year solar cycle minima cause the Earth to cool. A strong solar wind and high solar activity, during solar cycle maxima, reduce (attenuate) the cosmic rays in space before they strike the Earth, cloud cover goes down and temperatures go up, and vice-versa (Svensmark 2019). A definitive causal link has not been demonstrated to everyone’s satisfaction, although the work by Henrick and Jacob Svensmark is quite convincing. We consider the theory very intriguing, but still controversial.

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/01/03/earths-ice-ages/

#3 feeblemind on 2020-01-04 10:14 (Reply)

Milankovitch cycles.

#3.1 Saul on 2020-01-04 12:14 (Reply)

It's all about the Shai/Sunni divide. It preempts borders and governments. The Iraqi Shai wants to rule Iraq in the same way that the Iranian Shai rule Iran.

#4 OneGuy on 2020-01-04 10:49 (Reply)

Does that Taki Magazine article about sex in the 21st century make sense to the rest of you? I can understand that anonymous sex presents difficulties, but are people really having more trouble than usual establishing personal connections that include sex? I'm not seeing this in my circle of acquaintances, but then, we're older than average and tend to stay married.

#5 Texan99 on 2020-01-04 11:12 (Reply)

I used to be a regular reader of Taki's but quit when they stopped taking reader comments.

#5.1 FRP on 2020-01-04 20:33 (Reply)

So there was this touching story in the news. A Ft. Smith police officer paid for the food that a couple had shoplifted to feed their babies. Awww!
So I was watching the video and notice that both of the adults have smart phones. Am I wrong to think that it is crazy to claim you are so poor you can't feed your kids but you can afford two smart phones? I'm retired so I get the cheap phone (I actually bought it at Goodwill for $5) and pay $19.95 for a three month 90 minute phone card. AND I don't shoplift at Walmart!

#6 Saul on 2020-01-04 11:47 (Reply)

You're not wrong. Food is so easily available in this country at this time, and help so easy to get for anyone in genuine difficulty, that either hunger or shoplifting for food has to be explained better than by saying "I didn't have any cash handy at the moment." There's almost zero chance the hungry/thieving adult hadn't massively misallocated resources and missed chances.

There's a good reason the parents in that story didn't buy food and then shoplift the iPhones, or beg strangers to pay for them.

#6.1 Texan99 on 2020-01-05 01:06 (Reply)

Sadly, I did not attend a prestigious school like Rutgers and was therefore forced to read and discuss Jonathan Edwards' Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God and learned things about argument and persuasion and speaking styles against my will. No college student should be forced to learn things against their will, they should only learn things they already feel to be true. This goes double for college professors.

#7 Jerryskids on 2020-01-04 12:19 (Reply)

"When Obama made a deal with Solemani"

Obama gave Soleimani amnesty from his war crimes in the illegal "Iran Deal." And also illegally transferred $150 billion to Iran that was supposed to be used compensate the victims of Iranian terror. The $150 billion was free for the Iranians to continue to export terror and to develop nuclear weapons. And as for the "Deal"? The Iranians immediately announced it was only binding on the Western signatories, but not on Iran. (Weak understanding of Western legal concepts here.) Obama and other appeasing butt-heads said that perhaps the Iranians might still follow the terms of the deal even if they immediately disavowed it.

Trump rightly repudiated this sham when he was elected. But we can never get the $150 billion back.

Obama was never challenged by the leftstream media. He was never impeached or removed from office for his collaboration of the enemy. And he is not in prison. Yet.

At least Soleimani has now been punished for his crimes.

#8 Jim on 2020-01-04 14:37 (Reply)

Re: Duh Blasio, pizza, and economics

Let's see, the Dominoes customers are happy, the Dominos employee is happy, and certainly Dominos is happy. The only one not happy is a guy who was not involved in the transaction. Maybe he should just STFU.

But he didn't so some questions arise. Did someone else bring pizza to the crowd for a lower price? If yes, then there was choice available and no reason for anyone to get upset if someone chose to pay more than he had to. If not, then it's probably because the price would not have been high enough for the other pizzerias. The pizzeria that did deliver them would likely not consider it worthwhile to deliver pizza to the crowd for less so if they were forced to charge their usual prices, they would sit it out. Potential customers would not be happy, the delivery guy would not be happy, and Dominos would not be as happy.

It's just not that difficult.

#9 mudbug on 2020-01-04 15:24 (Reply)

This is so simple. It is THE difference between capitalism and socialism. Because the capitalist expended the extra effort and risked his own money to have pizzas ready to eat there were pizzas available for those who wanted one. But the socialist model would provide no incentive, so no one would put in the extra effort or risk their own money and thus there would be no pizzas available. THAT is why grocery stores in socialist countries are full of empty shelves and grocery stores in capitalist countries have everything you could want and more.

#9.1 Anon on 2020-01-04 18:45 (Reply)

Old communist-era Polish joke:

Capitalism, Socialism and Communism were all sitting around talking.

Capitalism says: "I just ate a big plate of kielbasa sausages! And they were delicious!"

Socialism replies: "Well, I had a few kielbasa sausages but I had to share them with my neighbours. They were good though."

Communism asks: "Hey, you guys! Just what are these kielbasa sausages you keep talking about anyway?"

#9.1.1 JJM on 2020-01-04 23:49 (Reply)

Israeli intelligence: Soleimani ordered the attack on the embassy and was planning to take hostages there.

https://breakingdefense.com/2020/01/israelis-soleimani-intercept-sparked-drone-strike-us-reinforces-region/

Basically a replay of Benghazi, in which Soleimani was also involved.

#10 Jim on 2020-01-04 16:18 (Reply)

Ah, but a NYT reporter says his source tells him the evidence that Soleimani was planning additional strikes was "razor thin."

As if Soleimani was ever NOT planning additional anti-US strikes. The story doesn't make even superficial sense, unless he's only trying to say that Soleimani was up to his usual schtick, with no dramatic recent uptick--not that I believe that, either, just because some NYT guy has a confidential source. They blew their credibility a long time ago.

#10.1 Texan99 on 2020-01-05 01:11 (Reply)

Smells like the administration just smoked out another congenital leaker.

#10.1.1 Aggie on 2020-01-05 17:18 (Reply)

"Why are Iranian troops, militias, and terrorists in Iraq?"

Same reason California leftists are moving to Texas. They bastards want to run every single little thing.

#11 Fred Z on 2020-01-05 07:52 (Reply)

re A Scorecard on the First Decade after the Arab Spring

A long read and very interesting, particularly the water situation.

#12 feeblemind on 2020-01-05 14:30 (Reply)

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Saturday, January 4. 2020

Saturday morning links