Whopper of the Month
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Whopper of the Month Behold the 'Green Dragon'
Posted by Stephen George on Wed, Jan 5, 2011 at 11:28 AM
It’s been more than a decade since various Christian factions began adopting a mantra called “creation care,” an idyllic and self-referential view that interprets biblical doctrine to call on Christians as protectors of the natural world from the ills and harms of mankind. The movement has picked up pace in recent years, especially among evangelical Christians; last summer, leaders staged a national day of prayer for creation care and marched on Washington, D.C.
In Tennessee, more than 2,000 Christian churches carry and promote materials from LEAF, the Lundquist Environmental Appalachian Fellowship, a Knoxville-based creation care group whose bill to curb mountaintop removal in the state has died on the vine the last two years. And Nashville’s Lipscomb University, a Church of Christ school, has undertaken a progressive new calling to promote sustainability.
Needless to say, the real estate on which old-school evangelical crusaders used to mount their stands against federal regulation of greenhouse gases, carbon emissions and destructive coal mining practices has largely been foreclosed on.
But a group announced in June 2010 and bearing the catatonic name “Resisting the Green Dragon” is now using The Tennessean to peddle its wares, according to an article that appeared Tuesday. The group, a top-down kind of affair composed of a few heavy-hitters in the evangelical community, is suggesting the creation care movement is a “cult” and that Christians who believe in environmental stewardship are “radical.”
For an idea of the logical long-jump the group is making to promote its view that environmentalism’s endgame is global domination of organized religion, poor people and the unborn, take this quote from Janet Parshall, a Christian radio talk show host, in the third paragraph of the fish-wrapper’s story: “Around the world, environmentalism has become a radical movement. Something we call the ‘Green Dragon.’ And it is deadly. Deadly to human prosperity, deadly to human life, deadly to human freedom. And deadly to the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Leaving aside sticky biblical questions over who’s called to do what and where the Good Book demands less government regulation over companies polluting God’s Green Earth, The Tennessean conspicuously ignored a few key facets of this organization. Chief among them: who’s funding it.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Whopper of the Month Canard in a Coalmine: Report Says Mountaintop Removal 'Reclamation' a Sham
Posted by Jim Ridley on Tue, May 18, 2010 at 5:07 AM
From City Paper editor Stephen George, who has been tracking the issue of mountaintop removal:
King Coal has long pulled a two-fisted argument on detractors of mountaintop removal mining, a form of surface mining that has partially or completely leveled at least 500 mountains in the Appalachian region since the 1970s.
The argument: Mining itself brings jobs to impoverished regions, and the post-boom reclaimed mine sites — when put to “equal or better economic use,” as the federal regulatory legalese goes — bring a second storm of money, jobs, investment, and so forth. A Walmart store in Hazard, Ky., for example, is built on a reclaimed mine site. So is that city’s modest airport.
First there was the dramatic drop in employment by the coal industry, mostly due to the prevalence of highly mechanized MTR.
And now it turns out about 90 percent of those reclaimed sites have no economic value, according to a report released Monday by the Natural Resources Defense Council and the group Appalachian Voices.
The report's title says it all: "Reclamation FAIL."
Friday, June 26, 2009
Whopper of the Month / Woods Whopper of the Month: Who's the Best Liar in the Land?
Posted by Jeff Woods on Fri, Jun 26, 2009 at 5:21 AM
Friday, April 3, 2009
Whopper of the Month / Woods Competition Fierce for 'Whopper of the Month' Award
Posted by Jeff Woods on Fri, Apr 3, 2009 at 5:15 AM
Monday, January 26, 2009
Politics / Whopper of the Month / Woods Who's January's Worst Liar: You Decide
Posted by Jeff Woods on Mon, Jan 26, 2009 at 10:26 AM
"Politics is not my life. It's a 12-year vehicle that I used to try to better the lives of other people."--Bill Frist, announcing he won't run for governor.
"I'm the best qualified candidate."--Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, talking about how much he'd like to run for governor.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Politics / Whopper of the Month / Woods Odom Tells Big Whopper
Posted by Jeff Woods on Mon, Dec 8, 2008 at 8:33 AM
After a new round of negative publicity, House Democratic Leader Gary Odom has finally deigned to explain why he stopped the governor from closing a fat tax loophole for rich developers in the last legislative session. And it's a really creative explanation. If we still gave out our Whopper of the Month awards, Odom would win hands down.
Odom has refused to talk to Pith since we first reported on his tireless fight to save rich people's money. He chose instead to defend himself in an email to the City Paper in which he whines again about the governor's calling him a shifty character. Adopting the Republican mantra, Odom refers to the tax loophole's beneficiaries as "family owned businesses." Sounds better than "fabulously wealthy real-estate tycoons who give out tons of campaign cash."
"This tax increase, according to the Tennessee Department of Revenue, would have raised $45 million in new taxes," Odom stated. "Others have indicated it could raise much more than the Department's estimate. The Administration requested this tax increase be included in legislation referred to as the 'technical corrections bill.' The 'technical corrections bill' is introduced annually to address provisions in the tax laws that are vague or unclear to taxpayers. This legislation is not a vehicle to implement a new tax increase in the last days of the legislature. To have done otherwise would have circumvented the proper legislative process. That is why I opposed the Administration's effort."
So there you have it. Odom opposed closing the loophole because it would have circumvented the proper legislative process. Why didn't you just say so in the first place, Gary? We would have understood.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
By the Way / Crazy Crap / Politics / Whopper of the Month CCA Shows a Flair for Creative PR Fiction
Posted by Matt Pulle on Thu, Aug 21, 2008 at 5:43 AM
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
40 Jealous Whores / Kotz / Law and Order / Politics / Whopper of the Month Ask Robert Reich: Loansharking Is Good for Tennessee
Posted by Pete Kotz on Tue, Aug 12, 2008 at 5:34 PM
Media / Whopper of the Month Editor, Read Thyself
Posted by Matt Pulle on Tue, Aug 12, 2008 at 9:36 AM
Monday, August 11, 2008
By the Way / Crazy Crap / Hicks From the Sticks / Law and Order / Whopper of the Month Cordenus Eddings or the Chamber: Which One's Worse?
Posted by Matt Pulle on Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 11:20 AM
