December 09, 2003

thats funny. i agree with most.

i made a list tonight. but it also has 9. i couldn't think of ten.

I love the end of Clancy's Rainbow Six where they take the environmental wackos and dump 'em naked in the jungles of Brazil. Back to nature you go dipshits!

Fresh fruit & veggies all year long.

Fresh meat without having to kill something daily.

When I light off the forge, I don't have to make the steel myself.

Or cut and burn trees for charcoal to fuel it.

Firearms you don't have to make yourself. (knives are different, I like making them myself).

Dental care is #1 because life would be very, very unpleasant with a mouth full of rotting teeth. Ouch.

I think most of us 'modern' humans would miss a LOT, but after awhile one of the things I'd miss a LOT is a good pair of shoes. Sure the sole of the foot will toughen up, but some good boots will go a lot further.

Humm...perhaps i'm missing the point. Or I just like my boots. LOL

Rob & Readers,
Author Michael Crichton delivered a speech recently that touches on and expands on the ideas Rob placed in this post. You can find it by going to http://www.crichton-official.com/speeches/index.html, then click on the link titled "Remarks to the Commonwealth Club - September 15, 2003". It isn't short, but it is a good read.

Dammit, Dammit, Dammit!

Denny Wilson stole my thunder! Damn but that is one of my favorite books by Tom Clancy

His latest is great too, but now he's gotten too smart. Teeth of the Tiger is just the first in a sequel. OOOOH!

For what it's worth, my comments posted at NorthCoastCafe:

I think remaining skeptical about global warming is a natural reaction to the "1970s ice age baloney" that you mention, at least for those of us over 40. Government agencies and scientists were the ones warning us back then of global cooling. I sat in junior high and high school social studies/government/civics classes in the mid-seventies and we were taught it as fact, not theory, less than 30 years ago. Then it suddenly switched to global warming.

I'm only 44 and I've lived through periods when scientists warned us both of the coming disasterous effects of global cooling, and now global warming. Throw in the other warnings about the upcoming food and oil shortages that we also heard, and that never happened, and it seems more foolish NOT to be skeptical.

I've yet to read anything that explains how we (scientists actually) went from global cooling to warming. Maybe if some of them could explain why they were wrong then and right now it would help, but one thing that will not convince me is computer models.

It’s obvious what happened, why the scientists switched from global cooling to global warming. I doubt you’ll get this picture:

http://climvis.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/cag3/hr_display3.pl

but try here:

http://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/cag3/Z0.html

and select for the annual temperature. There were some cold years in DC from 1966 – 70 and 74 – 80. Most of the fifties were cold, but this site doesn’t have that data. So by trends it was cold for thirty years. What are the money grubbing scientists going to say when it’s snowing outside, that we are getting warmer?

100% I do not agree with scientists who say humans cause global warming. The main message should be: we can’t stop it, no matter which way the temps are going. The last 10k years have been remarkably stable. Past that, the earth’s climate has been fluctuating for millions of years. When it has been stable, it’s been hotter than it is now. Of course there have been ice ages, which were also long periods of stable temps, but most of the time it’s been warmer.

70% of the surface area is water. Even discounting large but practically land locked places like Hudson Bay and the Mediterranean; the surface is still 2/3 water. How much do we know about the mechanisms, how much the oceans affect the planet’s climate? I do believe the theory that as the North Pole melts; the cold water will shut off the Gulf Stream making Europe freeze.

The question is: do we bury our heads in the sand and try stop gap measures or do we let technology loose and find solutions so humans can survive anything that comes our way?

How many years warning do we need to survive a planet-killing asteroid? While climate change is slower, we still need time to adapt, not try and stop it.

I’m more worried about the magnetic field shifting.

Aw, come on. One can live "naturally" and still have a warm bed with lots of covers. Wool's natural, and felt ain't hard to make. Kinda scratchy, though.

I bet a hot shower could be rigged up, but it wouldn't be fun or efficient.

Yay, technology.

I spend a LOT of time talking to the Amish and even they aren't completely back to nature. : )

That Northern hippy got his---To think scientists working for the gummint are above straight-up lying to keep those tax dollars rolling in = naivety. Hey, they lied about secondhand smoke, why not another unquantifiable argument? Lefty environmentalism is a religion and its followers fools.