Contrarian Consulting » The Power of Perception and the Press

Any number of causes, both legitimate and bogus, are fostered and exacerbated by stroking perception, not necessarily by examining empirical evidence. I don’t care whether it’s the threat of the swine virus, global warming, recycling, the Loch Ness Monster, home schooling, or the chances of being hit (again) by a wondering meteor. We are so self-absorbed that we seem to think that if something is happening during our lifetimes it is unprecedented, or must be our fault, or must be fixed by us. That is our perception. The thought that we just might be a part of larger, immutable trends is abhorrent. Our perception is that we are the center of the universe.

The press is often the initiator and instigator of these causes, no longer simply the reporter.

A battle brewing over NREPA

For the past 16 years, movement ecology grew in popularity, as did the concept of global warming. Now the two ideas have merged into a movement that says corridors must be established to accommodate animal movements as those creatures respond to the effects of global warming.
“That’s what our primary focus is right now,” said Sierra Club Regional Director Steve Thomas. “We look at what habitats and corridors are critical in terms of climate change.”

Obama's Ag Secretary wants US farmers to cash in on the biggest scientific fraud in history - Forbes.com

Instead of resisting climate change reforms, agricultural lobby groups are examining ways they can benefit from them.
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Climate change and farm policy. The farm sector's new approach has been given a boost by Secretary of Agriculture (and former Iowa governor) Tom Vilsack, who has suggested that agriculture would be wise to agree to the tying of "direct payments" (federal cash subsidies) to climate change mitigation efforts. At present, these direct payments lack any rationale other than maintaining income flows to producers of a handful of crops. Although the idea has not yet attracted much visible support from the agricultural community, the underlying message has been absorbed.