One reader questions Thrive’s scientific claims and another wonders where a two-way Pacific Avenue fits into the city’s plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Political Science
Here’s my problem with the Thrive Movie controversy and why progressives need to disassociate themselves from its message.
Foster Gamble's views evidence a lack of critical thinking and scientific understanding. If political progressives and the Occupy Movement adopt this frame of viewing the issues that confront us, they will be marginalized and politically neutered.
Foster Gamble and friends have chosen not to respond in depth to Eric Johnson's extremely well written deconstruction of the Thrive message in the Weekly (“Blinded by the Right,”.html Currents, March 14) but rather they post their rebuttal to John Robbins' criticism.html in the Connection Magazine, the local chiropractic, nutritional supplement, conspiracy theory magazine. In a recent issue of Connection, Gamble makes statements in reference to Robbins such as, “He derides free energy with no research or facts, while ignoring numerous eye-witness reports, (including our own) and ignoring the brutal suppression of numerous inventors.”
But Gamble’s own documentary does not substantiate the claims of “free-energy” inventors with any evidence. The only “free energy” claims with a link to scientific theory have the same validity as theoretical postulation of time travel—possible theoretically, but not any time soon.
Gamble boldly rebuts Robbins' assertion that Gamble thinks that the U.S. government made the Japan earthquake happen through the actions of HAARP, an antenna array that is researching the region of atmosphere that protects the earth from high-energy bursts from the sun.
Gamble says that he never stated that he believes HAARP caused the devastating Japan earthquake, but astonishingly goes on to say that “we are familiar with HAARP's involvement in causing other earthquakes.” Really? Further, he says, “there is ample evidence in both the Haiti and Chile quakes.” He says that HAARP “can focus 3.6 billion watts of radio-frequency energy into a single area of the atmosphere.” Well, that sounds like a lot of watts. But how does that cause an earthquake? Where is the science?
He goes on with screeds against vaccines and muddled arguments against the Federal Reserve. When you subtract the indefensible positions Gamble takes, all one is left with is this—the world has problems and we should all work together, with hope and open minds, to solve them. I can agree with that, but what a mush.
The problem for progressives is that associating with muddled-headed conspiracy theorists from the libertarian right ultimately undermines the validity of a truly actionable message.
Craig Cheatham
Santa Cruz
From The Web
Pacific Driving Already Bad
[RE: “Will Pacific Go Both Ways?.html” Currents, May 30]: I was at the city parks meeting with the commission appointed to recommend the new Pogonip trail several months ago and listened to another adviser the city hired to propose greenhouse gas emissions reduction. I’m pretty sure two lanes of traffic weren’t what they had in mind. Driving downtown right now is an exercise in anger management anyway since there are already so many pedestrians crossing illegally without stopping to let cars cross.
If people have a hard time finding businesses downtown, why not just put up a bunch of “you are here” type signs, and save us all the hassle?
Denver
