rayb wrote:

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 How does alarmism pay?

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I would suggest, in addition to doing some background checks in corporate pay scales, ask some of the current employees, particularly if you have career interests within said firm...  ta-da-dum!

Seriously though, if you can create a "cause" that can play on people's fears, particularly those that stem from or play on "guilt" due to short-sighted outlook and self-centeredness, you can laugh your way to the bank eventually.  Think of all the money that gets allocated, donated, diverted, etc. to some of these alarmist causes...  The time, money, and resources spent on them somehow in and of themselves create a sense of legitimacy for the cause.

For example, in the recent election, on the state ballot here was a proposal to allow the hunting of mourning doves.  I am not anti-hunting.  I've never done it, probably never will as I don't have close associations with folks who do and I certainly do not have the skills or equipment to do the hunting thing.  But it could be neat to actually hunt or fish and bring some meat home to the family I had harvested.  But, there is no point to hunting doves.  They are not a bird that has enough meat on them to eat, particularly after the bird has been hit by a spread of shot.  They are a song bird, and are not overpopulated.  So, why hunt them?  To bring in revenue that could be lost by dove hunters going to other states (let's see Michigan is going to lose hunters to what neighboring states... seeing as Michigan is a hunting destination for many types of hunting...?)?  Okay, why then if the proposal is passed, the stamp to hunt them to add to the hunter's license is only like a couple bucks at most?  Not gonna bring in a lot of revenue for the state that way...  But boy, the "alarmism" in the proposal by the PAC and lobby that was pushing for it was sure pretty convincing to the uninformed.  Don't remember if it ended up passing or not.

{edited to add}I love the last sentence in that article of where Mrs. Boxer bases her position on what oil and bank executives have said concerning global warming being a real occurrence.  I guess that means we should be asking Wall Street for advice on marital counseling. 

I am proud that the geologist had the sense to point out the fact that it is foolish to assume there is a sound scientific basis for predicting future climate change with any degree of certainty...  Climate change is a fact.  Live with it folks.  It happens all the time.  It has happened all the time throughout the history of the earth.  On a macro scale, man has had very little impact on it, and the earth does rebound from the glitches.  Man's impact on the macro environment from a climatic standpoint is about as significant as the ants in the bathroom singing "When the log rolls over, we'll all be dead..." 

-- Edited by Cat Herder at 12:33, 2006-12-07

They may poop to a comparable level as a pigeon, but I'd much rather hear them sing than a pigeon 

Most mourning doves in our area are about the size of a robin, maybe a big cardinal or grackel at best, but at least if the proposal passed, now the hunters won't feel bad when the shoot them accidently while they sit on Bambi's antlers. 

I think any issue or story that ends up going through the news media is going to end up with an alarmist twist to it...

Even the morning traffic report.

They want people watching their show / their channel so that they can get the revenue for selling the advertising time at premium rates, and the more people they have watching, the more they can charge / ad customers are willing to pay.  Therefore, unless the information is "compelling" or "sensational" they have no competitive advantage over competing channels.