This link is a simple reference for people to use in discovering which current presidential candidate agrees with them on the most hot-button issues. The issues are laid out quite clearly, some have options where others are simple yes/no or agree/oppose. Questions can be weighted for their importance to you.
In case anybody is interested, apparently my top candidate is Bill Richarson. He's closely followed by John Edwards and Dennis Kucinich. Rudy Giuliani is the only Republican to make the top 10 (I guess that's not surprising).
It should be noted that I got very different results when I skipped answering the abortion question.
To have a website determine the best candidate for you in an extremely arbitrary manner, go here: http://www.wqad.com/Global/link.asp?L=259460
Monday, October 22, 2007
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Kentucky Fried Insanity
Today there are some people protesting at the Kentucky Fried Chicken in Eau Claire. It’s really sort of cute the way they’re doing it.
Apparently a bunch of PETA members have taken it upon themselves to dress up as skeletons and stand around in the rain to protest the cruelty of killing innocent chickens.
The protesters are carrying signs that read, “I’d rather be dead than eat Kentucky Fried Cruelty.” I’ll grant them that the slogan is just a little bit clever, but what are they honestly hoping to accomplish other than proving that they’re crazy enough to put on costumes and dance around like jackasses?
I can attest to the cruelty. I’ve seen chickens killed. When I say that I’m sure people picture a chicken factory or a man with a hatchet. To tell the truth, my grandmother used to do it with her bare hands. She’d break their necks then spin them and pop the heads off.
The other chickens watched her do it. They didn’t seem overly disturbed, not even to the degree that I was.
I ate that same chicken later, after it had been plucked and gutted. It was delicious.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that I hate PETA. For the most part, it seems like they’re a bunch of self-righteous asshats who value animal rights over human rights.
I can’t help but think that child sweat shop labor in third world countries just might be a more valid reason for protest than the killing of an animal with a brain that weighs less than my fingernail.
These people need to understand that extremism (like dressing up as a skeleton) is not the proper way to win the hearts and minds of a moderate public. If anything, it seems to me that they’re probably scaring more people away from PETA than they are from KFC.
I was speaking with a vegan friend of mind the other day who is amazingly open minded. I say that her open-mindedness is amazing because, in my experience, vegetarians and vegans tend to be very snooty about their eating habits.
There is an undercurrent in the vegetarian community that seems to always be saying, “I’m more pure because I use less animal products than you.” This has always disgusted me. It’s one thing to take on the challenge of avoiding animal products and quite another to hold yourself in a superior air for doing so.
Your diet and clothing choices do not make you better than anyone else, they just make you different from the majority of the American population.
While speaking with the vegan friend whom I mentioned earlier, I was pleased to find that her beliefs were well reasoned. She calls herself a vegan, but is not one in the strictest sense. When I asked why she uses the word if she isn’t a strict non-user of animal and animal tested products, she responded that the label is quite useful when doing things like ordering at a restaurant. People understand what it means and thus she doesn’t have to explain her exact dietary specifications.
I was surprised to find that she is accepting of meats that come from hunted game and family farms. Her main objection is to the factory farms which, over the last few decades, have come to provide greater and greater amounts of the meat, milk and eggs that we consume.
In that sense, she and I are in agreement. She, unlike myself, has put her belief into practice, which I respect. Even more than that, she is not a mouthpiece for her own school of thought. While she might suggest that a person try to consume less animal-derived items, she would never look down on or chastise anyone just because they chose not to.
I find this same general attitude to be applicable in many walks of life. Take religion for example. I have no quarrel with any person of any faith, so long as they avoid trying to sell it to me.
I find this example to be particularily illuminating since it seems that these types of dietary choices are practically a religion for some people, and one of the things my grandmother (the one who killed chickens) taught me, it’s that you shouldn’t talk about religion among strangers because you never know who you’ll offend.
The skeleton KFC protest reminds me in a way of an anti-war protest I went to when I was a freshman in college. I was lucky enough to be at a protest where counter-protesters (war supporters) were present to represent an opposing belief.
Of course, many of the anti-war crowd didn’t feel as blessed as I did that we were part of a representative democracy in action.
What happened is that both sides shouted at each other. The pro-war side held up pictures of soldiers in combat and called the anti-war side traitors. The anti-war side held up pictures of dead babies and called the pro-war side murderers. It reminded me alot of watching senate debates on C-span, only a little bit more civil.
It was as if the two sides were standing on either edge of a canyon. Each was yelling at the other to get to work building a bridge, but no one was picking up tools.
I mentioned converting moderates earlier and think that this is really the key point. In my metaphor above, the moderates would be at the bottom of the canyon wondering what all the shouting is about. Some of them may want to climb the walls, but everyone up top is too busy making noise to reach a hand down and help them. Most are probably just tired of people making all that noise in what was once a peaceful canyon.
Apparently a bunch of PETA members have taken it upon themselves to dress up as skeletons and stand around in the rain to protest the cruelty of killing innocent chickens.
The protesters are carrying signs that read, “I’d rather be dead than eat Kentucky Fried Cruelty.” I’ll grant them that the slogan is just a little bit clever, but what are they honestly hoping to accomplish other than proving that they’re crazy enough to put on costumes and dance around like jackasses?
I can attest to the cruelty. I’ve seen chickens killed. When I say that I’m sure people picture a chicken factory or a man with a hatchet. To tell the truth, my grandmother used to do it with her bare hands. She’d break their necks then spin them and pop the heads off.
The other chickens watched her do it. They didn’t seem overly disturbed, not even to the degree that I was.
I ate that same chicken later, after it had been plucked and gutted. It was delicious.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that I hate PETA. For the most part, it seems like they’re a bunch of self-righteous asshats who value animal rights over human rights.
I can’t help but think that child sweat shop labor in third world countries just might be a more valid reason for protest than the killing of an animal with a brain that weighs less than my fingernail.
These people need to understand that extremism (like dressing up as a skeleton) is not the proper way to win the hearts and minds of a moderate public. If anything, it seems to me that they’re probably scaring more people away from PETA than they are from KFC.
I was speaking with a vegan friend of mind the other day who is amazingly open minded. I say that her open-mindedness is amazing because, in my experience, vegetarians and vegans tend to be very snooty about their eating habits.
There is an undercurrent in the vegetarian community that seems to always be saying, “I’m more pure because I use less animal products than you.” This has always disgusted me. It’s one thing to take on the challenge of avoiding animal products and quite another to hold yourself in a superior air for doing so.
Your diet and clothing choices do not make you better than anyone else, they just make you different from the majority of the American population.
While speaking with the vegan friend whom I mentioned earlier, I was pleased to find that her beliefs were well reasoned. She calls herself a vegan, but is not one in the strictest sense. When I asked why she uses the word if she isn’t a strict non-user of animal and animal tested products, she responded that the label is quite useful when doing things like ordering at a restaurant. People understand what it means and thus she doesn’t have to explain her exact dietary specifications.
I was surprised to find that she is accepting of meats that come from hunted game and family farms. Her main objection is to the factory farms which, over the last few decades, have come to provide greater and greater amounts of the meat, milk and eggs that we consume.
In that sense, she and I are in agreement. She, unlike myself, has put her belief into practice, which I respect. Even more than that, she is not a mouthpiece for her own school of thought. While she might suggest that a person try to consume less animal-derived items, she would never look down on or chastise anyone just because they chose not to.
I find this same general attitude to be applicable in many walks of life. Take religion for example. I have no quarrel with any person of any faith, so long as they avoid trying to sell it to me.
I find this example to be particularily illuminating since it seems that these types of dietary choices are practically a religion for some people, and one of the things my grandmother (the one who killed chickens) taught me, it’s that you shouldn’t talk about religion among strangers because you never know who you’ll offend.
The skeleton KFC protest reminds me in a way of an anti-war protest I went to when I was a freshman in college. I was lucky enough to be at a protest where counter-protesters (war supporters) were present to represent an opposing belief.
Of course, many of the anti-war crowd didn’t feel as blessed as I did that we were part of a representative democracy in action.
What happened is that both sides shouted at each other. The pro-war side held up pictures of soldiers in combat and called the anti-war side traitors. The anti-war side held up pictures of dead babies and called the pro-war side murderers. It reminded me alot of watching senate debates on C-span, only a little bit more civil.
It was as if the two sides were standing on either edge of a canyon. Each was yelling at the other to get to work building a bridge, but no one was picking up tools.
I mentioned converting moderates earlier and think that this is really the key point. In my metaphor above, the moderates would be at the bottom of the canyon wondering what all the shouting is about. Some of them may want to climb the walls, but everyone up top is too busy making noise to reach a hand down and help them. Most are probably just tired of people making all that noise in what was once a peaceful canyon.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Things I Hate: Concert Edition
Are you that guy that just has to yell “WOOOOOOO!” at a concert? Are you so desperate for attention that just making noise so that people will look at you has become a viable option?
I guess I can’t fault this sort of behavior at a sporting event, where the reactions of the crowd have very little to do with the real object of attention. But when these kinds of outbursts start to occur at movies, concerts and lectures, I really just want to start stabbing people in the kidney.
Why the kidney? Because humans have two of them and can generally get by without one as opposed to lungs, which you really need both of, or the heart, which is essential and has no backup.
Forgive me for feeling like I want to hear whatever band I just handed over good money to hear.
If I wanted to hear mentally deficient people scream I’d just go to a shelter for the mentally handicapped and start kicking residents in the junk.
If you’re out raged by that last statement then perhaps you’re beginning to understand how I feel when someone makes a noise like a bull elk being castrated while I’m trying to listen to my favorite band who is 50 feet in front of me.
If you don’t want to do the same then why are you there in the first place.
I’m sure there are those of you who are scratching your heads and wondering how else you’re supposed to show your appreciation for the creative genius of the musician.
It’s called clapping, nimrod. Let me explain to you how it works.
Step 1: Put your hands together like you do when you’re asking your god to serve up a smorgasboard of drunken poontang at the all-night kegger.
Step 2: Pull your hands apart like when you’re exagerating the size of your penis to an intoxicated sorostitute in the hope that she’ll let you dissapoint her later.
Step 3: Bring both your hands together in a double slapping action. Like that time you smacked that bitch off the party porch when she laughed at your haircut.
Step 4: Repeat.
Please note that clapping is a bit more complicated than screaming at random times. You should only use it when the object of entertainment completes a portion of their act. If you’re confused as to what that means, just watch for when everyone else is doing it and follow along since that’s probably what you do best anyway.
If you’re that ready to comply with my instructions, let me try one more.
Step 1: Shoot yourself in the head.
Ok, now that we have all the incredibly stupid people gone, let’s continue with this rant.
Also at fault in my eyes are the morons who feel the need to put their hands in the air and do that morion that looks like they’re flicking imaginary water at the band.
If you want to pretend you’re dancing, try wiggling your hips a bit while shuffling your feet. You might look a little silly, but believe me that it’s nothing compared to how dumb you look trying to flick air at the performers. Keep your hands down and nod your head. If you absolutely have to do it, then try to limit it to a few seconds when you feel the music is really good. Like most gestures, it get worn out really fast when you use it too much.
I’ve saved my final complaint for last since it’s an all too common one. Turn your goddam cell phone off. Unless you’re a doctor, you really don’t need it on. If you have spent the time and money to make it through med school, then you should be smart enough to understand how the vibrate setting works. Use it.
Nobody, especially me, paid to hear a monophonic rendition of “We Are the Champions” or “Big Pimpin’” so shut the damn thing off.
Alright, rant concluded. We now return you to your regularily scheduled blogging.
I guess I can’t fault this sort of behavior at a sporting event, where the reactions of the crowd have very little to do with the real object of attention. But when these kinds of outbursts start to occur at movies, concerts and lectures, I really just want to start stabbing people in the kidney.
Why the kidney? Because humans have two of them and can generally get by without one as opposed to lungs, which you really need both of, or the heart, which is essential and has no backup.
Forgive me for feeling like I want to hear whatever band I just handed over good money to hear.
If I wanted to hear mentally deficient people scream I’d just go to a shelter for the mentally handicapped and start kicking residents in the junk.
If you’re out raged by that last statement then perhaps you’re beginning to understand how I feel when someone makes a noise like a bull elk being castrated while I’m trying to listen to my favorite band who is 50 feet in front of me.
If you don’t want to do the same then why are you there in the first place.
I’m sure there are those of you who are scratching your heads and wondering how else you’re supposed to show your appreciation for the creative genius of the musician.
It’s called clapping, nimrod. Let me explain to you how it works.
Step 1: Put your hands together like you do when you’re asking your god to serve up a smorgasboard of drunken poontang at the all-night kegger.
Step 2: Pull your hands apart like when you’re exagerating the size of your penis to an intoxicated sorostitute in the hope that she’ll let you dissapoint her later.
Step 3: Bring both your hands together in a double slapping action. Like that time you smacked that bitch off the party porch when she laughed at your haircut.
Step 4: Repeat.
Please note that clapping is a bit more complicated than screaming at random times. You should only use it when the object of entertainment completes a portion of their act. If you’re confused as to what that means, just watch for when everyone else is doing it and follow along since that’s probably what you do best anyway.
If you’re that ready to comply with my instructions, let me try one more.
Step 1: Shoot yourself in the head.
Ok, now that we have all the incredibly stupid people gone, let’s continue with this rant.
Also at fault in my eyes are the morons who feel the need to put their hands in the air and do that morion that looks like they’re flicking imaginary water at the band.
If you want to pretend you’re dancing, try wiggling your hips a bit while shuffling your feet. You might look a little silly, but believe me that it’s nothing compared to how dumb you look trying to flick air at the performers. Keep your hands down and nod your head. If you absolutely have to do it, then try to limit it to a few seconds when you feel the music is really good. Like most gestures, it get worn out really fast when you use it too much.
I’ve saved my final complaint for last since it’s an all too common one. Turn your goddam cell phone off. Unless you’re a doctor, you really don’t need it on. If you have spent the time and money to make it through med school, then you should be smart enough to understand how the vibrate setting works. Use it.
Nobody, especially me, paid to hear a monophonic rendition of “We Are the Champions” or “Big Pimpin’” so shut the damn thing off.
Alright, rant concluded. We now return you to your regularily scheduled blogging.
Things I Hate: Concert Edition
Are you that guy that just has to yell “WOOOOOOO!” at a concert? Are you so desperate for attention that just making noise so that people will look at you has become a viable option?
I guess I can’t fault this sort of behavior at a sporting event, where the reactions of the crowd have very little to do with the real object of attention. But when these kinds of outbursts start to occur at movies, concerts and lectures, I really just want to start stabbing people in the kidney.
Why the kidney? Because humans have two of them and can generally get by without one as opposed to lungs, which you really need both of, or the heart, which is essential and has no backup.
Forgive me for feeling like I want to hear whatever band I just handed over good money to hear.
If I wanted to hear mentally deficient people scream I’d just go to a shelter for the mentally handicapped and start kicking residents in the junk.
If you’re out raged by that last statement then perhaps you’re beginning to understand how I feel when someone makes a noise like a bull elk being castrated while I’m trying to listen to my favorite band who is 50 feet in front of me.
If you don’t want to do the same then why are you there in the first place.
I’m sure there are those of you who are scratching your heads and wondering how else you’re supposed to show your appreciation for the creative genius of the musician.
It’s called clapping, nimrod. Let me explain to you how it works.
Step 1: Put your hands together like you do when you’re asking your god to serve up a smorgasboard of drunken poontang at the all-night kegger.
Step 2: Pull your hands apart like when you’re exagerating the size of your penis to an intoxicated sorostitute in the hope that she’ll let you dissapoint her later.
Step 3: Bring both your hands together in a double slapping action. Like that time you smacked that bitch off the party porch when she laughed at your haircut.
Step 4: Repeat.
Please note that clapping is a bit more complicated than screaming at random times. You should only use it when the object of entertainment completes a portion of their act. If you’re confused as to what that means, just watch for when everyone else is doing it and follow along since that’s probably what you do best anyway.
If you’re that ready to comply with my instructions, let me try one more.
Step 1: Shoot yourself in the head.
Ok, now that we have all the incredibly stupid people gone, let’s continue with this rant.
Also at fault in my eyes are the morons who feel the need to put their hands in the air and do that morion that looks like they’re flicking imaginary water at the band.
If you want to pretend you’re dancing, try wiggling your hips a bit while shuffling your feet. You might look a little silly, but believe me that it’s nothing compared to how dumb you look trying to flick air at the performers. Keep your hands down and nod your head. If you absolutely have to do it, then try to limit it to a few seconds when you feel the music is really good. Like most gestures, it get worn out really fast when you use it too much.
I’ve saved my final complaint for last since it’s an all too common one. Turn your goddam cell phone off. Unless you’re a doctor, you really don’t need it on. If you have spent the time and money to make it through med school, then you should be smart enough to understand how the vibrate setting works. Use it.
Nobody, especially me, paid to hear a monophonic rendition of “We Are the Champions” or “Big Pimpin’” so shut the damn thing off.
Alright, rant concluded. We now return you to your regularily scheduled blogging.
I guess I can’t fault this sort of behavior at a sporting event, where the reactions of the crowd have very little to do with the real object of attention. But when these kinds of outbursts start to occur at movies, concerts and lectures, I really just want to start stabbing people in the kidney.
Why the kidney? Because humans have two of them and can generally get by without one as opposed to lungs, which you really need both of, or the heart, which is essential and has no backup.
Forgive me for feeling like I want to hear whatever band I just handed over good money to hear.
If I wanted to hear mentally deficient people scream I’d just go to a shelter for the mentally handicapped and start kicking residents in the junk.
If you’re out raged by that last statement then perhaps you’re beginning to understand how I feel when someone makes a noise like a bull elk being castrated while I’m trying to listen to my favorite band who is 50 feet in front of me.
If you don’t want to do the same then why are you there in the first place.
I’m sure there are those of you who are scratching your heads and wondering how else you’re supposed to show your appreciation for the creative genius of the musician.
It’s called clapping, nimrod. Let me explain to you how it works.
Step 1: Put your hands together like you do when you’re asking your god to serve up a smorgasboard of drunken poontang at the all-night kegger.
Step 2: Pull your hands apart like when you’re exagerating the size of your penis to an intoxicated sorostitute in the hope that she’ll let you dissapoint her later.
Step 3: Bring both your hands together in a double slapping action. Like that time you smacked that bitch off the party porch when she laughed at your haircut.
Step 4: Repeat.
Please note that clapping is a bit more complicated than screaming at random times. You should only use it when the object of entertainment completes a portion of their act. If you’re confused as to what that means, just watch for when everyone else is doing it and follow along since that’s probably what you do best anyway.
If you’re that ready to comply with my instructions, let me try one more.
Step 1: Shoot yourself in the head.
Ok, now that we have all the incredibly stupid people gone, let’s continue with this rant.
Also at fault in my eyes are the morons who feel the need to put their hands in the air and do that morion that looks like they’re flicking imaginary water at the band.
If you want to pretend you’re dancing, try wiggling your hips a bit while shuffling your feet. You might look a little silly, but believe me that it’s nothing compared to how dumb you look trying to flick air at the performers. Keep your hands down and nod your head. If you absolutely have to do it, then try to limit it to a few seconds when you feel the music is really good. Like most gestures, it get worn out really fast when you use it too much.
I’ve saved my final complaint for last since it’s an all too common one. Turn your goddam cell phone off. Unless you’re a doctor, you really don’t need it on. If you have spent the time and money to make it through med school, then you should be smart enough to understand how the vibrate setting works. Use it.
Nobody, especially me, paid to hear a monophonic rendition of “We Are the Champions” or “Big Pimpin’” so shut the damn thing off.
Alright, rant concluded. We now return you to your regularily scheduled blogging.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Terrorism is wrong, no matter what you're trying to do.
If “insert some minor and otherwise insignificant event here” doesn’t happen, then the terrorists have won.
It seems like I can’t read the daily news or open my email without someone making that claim. Of course, there are people who use it in a very wry sense, like if someone smiles and says “If I don’t get another drink then the terrorists have won,” as an excuse to stay for a couple extra minutes at the bar.
But aside from that I consider the entire statement to be asinine. It is not only ludicrous in most contexts, but disrespectful to victims of terrorists attacks.
A recent use of this invective came in the form of an opinion column which I get from different organizations and people every day.
It said, “If spending in Iraq means America can’t afford health care for our children or infrastructure maintenance to keep our bridges from falling down, then the terrorists have won.”
Now, as it happens, I happen to disagree with our spending practices in Iraq. We “won” a long time ago (At least I think that’s what the “Mission Accomplished” banner was supposed to mean when the President stood underneath it in 2003 and declard an end to combat operations in Iraq) but we still spend millions of dollars and hundreds of lives in a cyclone of violence that seems never-ending.
Even with in the depths of my disagreement with the war, I still think the use of terrorism as a prod for action against it is wrong.
What the writer of the statement is doing, on a psychological level, is threatening our children. The implication here is that your child will fall sick and die with noone to care if the war continues. The writer is using fear to motivate a response, and that is the very definition of terrorism.
Logically speaking, the arguement isn’t even very sound. It occurs in a basic format known as the “If/then” statement. It is one of the foundations of all logical arguements, “If A then B.”
Taking a look at only the A section we see that it really occurs in two parts which consist of “spending in Iraq” and “America can’t afford health care for our children or infrastructure maintenance to keep our bridges from falling down.”
So obviously it’s a simple choice, Iraq and falling bridges and dying children or, none of that and a happy-go-lucky world where everyone smiles and has enough money left over at the end of the year for a trip to Disney world.
I find this case particularily disgusting because it is turning trade on a recent disaster and also echoing one of my other most hated political opportunist phrases, “Think of the children.”
There are good and solid reason for ending the war in Iraq, but lets not pretend that stopping the war will magically solve other problems. Stopping the war will only end the problem of being at war. Other problems, like our continuing dependence on foreign oil, a lack of children’s health care or a crumbling infrastructure are seperate issues that require their own solutions.
It seems like I can’t read the daily news or open my email without someone making that claim. Of course, there are people who use it in a very wry sense, like if someone smiles and says “If I don’t get another drink then the terrorists have won,” as an excuse to stay for a couple extra minutes at the bar.
But aside from that I consider the entire statement to be asinine. It is not only ludicrous in most contexts, but disrespectful to victims of terrorists attacks.
A recent use of this invective came in the form of an opinion column which I get from different organizations and people every day.
It said, “If spending in Iraq means America can’t afford health care for our children or infrastructure maintenance to keep our bridges from falling down, then the terrorists have won.”
Now, as it happens, I happen to disagree with our spending practices in Iraq. We “won” a long time ago (At least I think that’s what the “Mission Accomplished” banner was supposed to mean when the President stood underneath it in 2003 and declard an end to combat operations in Iraq) but we still spend millions of dollars and hundreds of lives in a cyclone of violence that seems never-ending.
Even with in the depths of my disagreement with the war, I still think the use of terrorism as a prod for action against it is wrong.
What the writer of the statement is doing, on a psychological level, is threatening our children. The implication here is that your child will fall sick and die with noone to care if the war continues. The writer is using fear to motivate a response, and that is the very definition of terrorism.
Logically speaking, the arguement isn’t even very sound. It occurs in a basic format known as the “If/then” statement. It is one of the foundations of all logical arguements, “If A then B.”
Taking a look at only the A section we see that it really occurs in two parts which consist of “spending in Iraq” and “America can’t afford health care for our children or infrastructure maintenance to keep our bridges from falling down.”
So obviously it’s a simple choice, Iraq and falling bridges and dying children or, none of that and a happy-go-lucky world where everyone smiles and has enough money left over at the end of the year for a trip to Disney world.
I find this case particularily disgusting because it is turning trade on a recent disaster and also echoing one of my other most hated political opportunist phrases, “Think of the children.”
There are good and solid reason for ending the war in Iraq, but lets not pretend that stopping the war will magically solve other problems. Stopping the war will only end the problem of being at war. Other problems, like our continuing dependence on foreign oil, a lack of children’s health care or a crumbling infrastructure are seperate issues that require their own solutions.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Global Warming=Crock of Shit
If there’s one thing I hate, it’s a global warming alarmist.
Concern for the planet’s ecosystem, especially global temperature change is part of the mark of a citizen who is in touch with the current issues facing us as human beings today. Developing an ulcer because you’re worried about the ice caps melting and flooding the world is just ludicrous.
For one thing, one of the more prevalent models of catastrophic climate change predicts that the melting of the ice caps due to global warming would trigger a back swing of global cooling. A second ice age would envelope the world and most plant and animal life would die.
So you can see that warming might be the least of our worries.
Another misconception is that all scientists everywhere are in agreement that global warming is an imminent threat. The truth is that many researchers continue to say that there is either not enough evidence or that the changes we see are merely the natural fluctuation of the earth’s temperature.
Lot’s of people will go straight to a meteorologist if they want to know about global warming, and any one of them who has studied climate change will tell you that the earth is indeed getting warmer, but that’s not the whole story.
Weather patterns are a tricky and fickle beasts. They can move and change, sometimes with barely a moment’s notice. For this reason, when reviewing global weather changes, we need to look at a more solid science, rock solid.
Any geologist will tell you that the earth is approximately 4 billion years old. If the earth were a football field, then human history would be a space the width of a hair on the goal line. For this reason, actual measurements of temperature change represent an insignificant portion of the whole story.
Geological study reveals that the earth is in constant transition. It periodically gets warmer and colder depending on a number of factors, including continental drift and reflective gasses in the atmosphere.
According to one theory, it was a worldwide climate change that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs, and I’m fairly sure that none of them were burning fossil fuels.
I myself am not convinced that this ecological change is the fault of humankind. I believe that we have allowed our collective ego to convince us that we are more important than is actually true.
I am not suggesting that cutting greenhouse gas emmissions, decreasing power consumption, researching alternative fuel sources, or decreasing the excessive packaging on products, all ideas which have stemmed from the ecological movement (which itself seems to be driven by global warming extremists), are bad ideas.
These ideas are good in and of themselves, regardless of the temperature.
Decreased emmisions means clean air for you and your children, now and in the future. Emissions are directly linked to power consumption, the less power used, the less it is necesarry to generate, meaning that the power plant uses less fuel.
The fuel those plants are using is mostly fossil fuels and often that means oil. It is the dependency on foreign oil that has led to the war in Iraq for which taxpayers will be paying through the nose until God knows when.
Not only has our dependence on oil caused a war (or two), but it is an ever increasing component in the trade deficit which is one of the reasons why the American Dollar continues its fall in value (it is now trading at essentially equal value to the Canadian Dollar).
The solutions to these problems are not easy, and they cannot be taken care of by elected officials. In 1997 a meeting of world leaders saw the establishment of the Kyoto Protocols, a promise by many nations to reduce emmissions by the year 2012.
Unfortunately, the agreement has done nothing to curb the proliferation of greenhouse gas emmissions. As many as 36 of the 161 nations (including the United States) which signed on are not on track to meet there emissions goals.
So what is the next step? Set new goals, of course. But what’s to stop us from ignoring the new goals just like we did before? Absolutely nothing.
A popular definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over again and expecting a different result.” That’s what this policy is, insane.
A recent study showed that 2/3 of Americans “strongly believe” that “strong action” should be taken on the environmental “crisis”. I’d lay a wager that 90 percent of those people leave unused appliances plugged in, drive to work without trying to find a car pool or even consider riding a bus.
The point is that change doesn’t start from the top down. If we’re to have an environmental revolution then it has to come from you and me. We need to make a concerted effort to live cleaner and “greener” lives. Laws won’t help. Emmissions goals are pie in the sky wishes. And politicians promises to “fix” the environment are beaureaucratic double-talk.
It’s we, the people, who matter and we need to make the changes on our own. Not because the earth is warming and we could be extinct some day, not because that guy from Greenpeace is making us feel guilty, we need to change for the most personal of reasons, because it’s the right thing to do.
Concern for the planet’s ecosystem, especially global temperature change is part of the mark of a citizen who is in touch with the current issues facing us as human beings today. Developing an ulcer because you’re worried about the ice caps melting and flooding the world is just ludicrous.
For one thing, one of the more prevalent models of catastrophic climate change predicts that the melting of the ice caps due to global warming would trigger a back swing of global cooling. A second ice age would envelope the world and most plant and animal life would die.
So you can see that warming might be the least of our worries.
Another misconception is that all scientists everywhere are in agreement that global warming is an imminent threat. The truth is that many researchers continue to say that there is either not enough evidence or that the changes we see are merely the natural fluctuation of the earth’s temperature.
Lot’s of people will go straight to a meteorologist if they want to know about global warming, and any one of them who has studied climate change will tell you that the earth is indeed getting warmer, but that’s not the whole story.
Weather patterns are a tricky and fickle beasts. They can move and change, sometimes with barely a moment’s notice. For this reason, when reviewing global weather changes, we need to look at a more solid science, rock solid.
Any geologist will tell you that the earth is approximately 4 billion years old. If the earth were a football field, then human history would be a space the width of a hair on the goal line. For this reason, actual measurements of temperature change represent an insignificant portion of the whole story.
Geological study reveals that the earth is in constant transition. It periodically gets warmer and colder depending on a number of factors, including continental drift and reflective gasses in the atmosphere.
According to one theory, it was a worldwide climate change that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs, and I’m fairly sure that none of them were burning fossil fuels.
I myself am not convinced that this ecological change is the fault of humankind. I believe that we have allowed our collective ego to convince us that we are more important than is actually true.
I am not suggesting that cutting greenhouse gas emmissions, decreasing power consumption, researching alternative fuel sources, or decreasing the excessive packaging on products, all ideas which have stemmed from the ecological movement (which itself seems to be driven by global warming extremists), are bad ideas.
These ideas are good in and of themselves, regardless of the temperature.
Decreased emmisions means clean air for you and your children, now and in the future. Emissions are directly linked to power consumption, the less power used, the less it is necesarry to generate, meaning that the power plant uses less fuel.
The fuel those plants are using is mostly fossil fuels and often that means oil. It is the dependency on foreign oil that has led to the war in Iraq for which taxpayers will be paying through the nose until God knows when.
Not only has our dependence on oil caused a war (or two), but it is an ever increasing component in the trade deficit which is one of the reasons why the American Dollar continues its fall in value (it is now trading at essentially equal value to the Canadian Dollar).
The solutions to these problems are not easy, and they cannot be taken care of by elected officials. In 1997 a meeting of world leaders saw the establishment of the Kyoto Protocols, a promise by many nations to reduce emmissions by the year 2012.
Unfortunately, the agreement has done nothing to curb the proliferation of greenhouse gas emmissions. As many as 36 of the 161 nations (including the United States) which signed on are not on track to meet there emissions goals.
So what is the next step? Set new goals, of course. But what’s to stop us from ignoring the new goals just like we did before? Absolutely nothing.
A popular definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over again and expecting a different result.” That’s what this policy is, insane.
A recent study showed that 2/3 of Americans “strongly believe” that “strong action” should be taken on the environmental “crisis”. I’d lay a wager that 90 percent of those people leave unused appliances plugged in, drive to work without trying to find a car pool or even consider riding a bus.
The point is that change doesn’t start from the top down. If we’re to have an environmental revolution then it has to come from you and me. We need to make a concerted effort to live cleaner and “greener” lives. Laws won’t help. Emmissions goals are pie in the sky wishes. And politicians promises to “fix” the environment are beaureaucratic double-talk.
It’s we, the people, who matter and we need to make the changes on our own. Not because the earth is warming and we could be extinct some day, not because that guy from Greenpeace is making us feel guilty, we need to change for the most personal of reasons, because it’s the right thing to do.
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