If you know a little science, you already knew the two key points that this guy is making. Unfortunately, most Americans don't know a little science.
Also unfortunately, I see that YouTube has chosen to delete the video. It has been awhile since I saw the video and don't recall the second point but I am fairly sure that the first point was that water vapor is the primary greenhouse gas. Everything else is relatively inconsequential.
I suppose it is still too early to point out the falacies in man made global warming and not be censored.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Hubris
Wikipedia says that Hubris "means extreme haughtiness or arrogance. Hubris often indicates being out of touch with reality and overestimating one's own competence or capabilities, especially for people in positions of power."
Ford Motor Company used to have a slogan, "Quality is Job One." I think that based on the definition above, we could easily paraphrase Ford and adopt "Hubris is Job One" as our national slogan.
Ford Motor Company used to have a slogan, "Quality is Job One." I think that based on the definition above, we could easily paraphrase Ford and adopt "Hubris is Job One" as our national slogan.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Constitutionality
The system we have in this country where the Supreme Court decides the constitutionality of laws makes about as much sense as you having an agreement with a friend that if you and he get into a disagreement, y'all will let his older brother decided which of you is right.
Thursday, April 01, 2010
A Beater With A Heater
Back in 2004 I went up to Pittsburg (PA not TN) and bought a 1979 Mercedes 300D. I got it cheap because it was what they call up there "a beater". I didn't want a real nice car because I was going to experiment with running cooking oil in it and I didn't want to spend big bucks on something I might screw up. Until my trip up north, I don't recall ever hearing the expression beater.
Best I could tell, a beater is a cheap car that is used as transportation in the winter time when there is salt on the roads. Down here, we have cheap cars but the folks that have them drive them year round.
Back in the summer of 2008 I made a trip to Alaska. I feel in love with the place and have been working on a way to get back up there ever since. Ultimately, I would like to relocate there for at least part of the year. In my spare time I read forums that discuss life in Alaska. Many of them have a mix of people like me that are wannabes and resident Alaskans. This past week I read a thread and someone mentioned having a "beater with a heater". Just for the hell of it, I Googled "beater with a heater 'site:craigslist.org'" and found that it is not just an Alaskan expression. In fact one of the ads was for Gulfport. Must have been written by a relocated yankee. From the number of ads nationwide, beaters with heaters must be fairly popular. Considering that my yard in full of what could be loosely classifed as beaters, I think maybe I need to get an Automobile Dealers License and open up Beater Motor Company LLC. Who knows, if it was profitable enough, it might help me finance my move to Alaska.
Best I could tell, a beater is a cheap car that is used as transportation in the winter time when there is salt on the roads. Down here, we have cheap cars but the folks that have them drive them year round.
Back in the summer of 2008 I made a trip to Alaska. I feel in love with the place and have been working on a way to get back up there ever since. Ultimately, I would like to relocate there for at least part of the year. In my spare time I read forums that discuss life in Alaska. Many of them have a mix of people like me that are wannabes and resident Alaskans. This past week I read a thread and someone mentioned having a "beater with a heater". Just for the hell of it, I Googled "beater with a heater 'site:craigslist.org'" and found that it is not just an Alaskan expression. In fact one of the ads was for Gulfport. Must have been written by a relocated yankee. From the number of ads nationwide, beaters with heaters must be fairly popular. Considering that my yard in full of what could be loosely classifed as beaters, I think maybe I need to get an Automobile Dealers License and open up Beater Motor Company LLC. Who knows, if it was profitable enough, it might help me finance my move to Alaska.
The Census
I got my census form 2 or 3 weeks ago. I looked at it, decided it did not ask any questions that I had a problem answering and laid it aside. Why did I lay it aside. Because it said that they wanted to count where people were on April 1. Thats today. I had every intention of waiting until today to fill it out. Last week I got a little post card reminding me that they had not received my response yet and by law I had to submit my census form. Well, I had every intention of submitting it but I was gonna wait until today because that is when they said the count was for. I went ahead and filled it out when I got the little card and sent it in. Nothing has changed since I filled it out so the info they got is correct but why tell people you want to know what their status is on April 1 and then get upset because they are waiting until April 1 to respond. I've seen several media articles lamenting the poor response to the census. I suspect part of that is because people are following the instructions they were given. I hope the government is gonna run the new healthcare system better than they have this census but I doubt it.
Get Out While The Getting Is Good
Have you noticed how many career politicians are giving up their jobs and not running for re-election lately? Did you ask yourself why someone would give up a high paying job with virtually certain employment (over 90% of incumbents are re-elected.)? I've got an idea and it revolves around the subject phrase, "get out while the getting is good." Politicians are not stupid. They are probably corrupt and maybe inept, but not stupid. They have spend a lifetime suckling at the teat of the government cow, but they know that the cow is fixing to go dry. They, better than most of us, know how the system works and they recognize when the scam is about to play out. Like rats deserting a sinking ship, they are headed over the side. Better to be out in open water swimming than to be sucked down with the ship.
Most of the US citizens alive today were born and have lived in relatively prosperous, peaceful times. Sure, there have been a lot of wars and police actions, but they have been somewhere else. And sure, we have sent many of our brightest and best to fight and die in these places, but most folks did not have to go and were affected indirectly at most. No, its been guns and butter through out most of our lives and people tend to think that how it has been is how it's gonna be. Unfortunately for all of us, actions have consequences. As a nation, we have done a lot of imprudent things. We have told ourselves that we were doing the right things, but calling a pig's ear a silk purse does not make it so.
The politicians know this and they are taking their lifetime pensions with their superior health care plans and heading off into sunset. Best to be long gone when the shit hits the fan. Many folks I am sure doubt this, after all, things have been good for so long, and our intentions are good, but you can't spend more than you make, kill anyone that disagrees with you and expect it to go on forever. Sooner or later the cows come home and unfortunately, I fear our herd is quickly becoming dry.
Most of the US citizens alive today were born and have lived in relatively prosperous, peaceful times. Sure, there have been a lot of wars and police actions, but they have been somewhere else. And sure, we have sent many of our brightest and best to fight and die in these places, but most folks did not have to go and were affected indirectly at most. No, its been guns and butter through out most of our lives and people tend to think that how it has been is how it's gonna be. Unfortunately for all of us, actions have consequences. As a nation, we have done a lot of imprudent things. We have told ourselves that we were doing the right things, but calling a pig's ear a silk purse does not make it so.
The politicians know this and they are taking their lifetime pensions with their superior health care plans and heading off into sunset. Best to be long gone when the shit hits the fan. Many folks I am sure doubt this, after all, things have been good for so long, and our intentions are good, but you can't spend more than you make, kill anyone that disagrees with you and expect it to go on forever. Sooner or later the cows come home and unfortunately, I fear our herd is quickly becoming dry.
One of these days ...
One of these days I am gonna drop dead. When I do, some of my friends and family will no doubt say they knew I should have been going to the doctor. If I had, they (the doctors) would have caught that and treated it. Well, they will probably be right, but it won't make me any difference because I will be dead.
So far in my life I have been blessed with very good health. Since I have not been sick a lot, I have not had to go to the doctor much. Sometimes I think that I have not been sick a lot because I don't go to the doctor much. It's funny about people and doctors. Who do you know that takes his car into his mechanic every year and asks him to check and see if there is something that needs fixing? Sure, people have their cars oil changed and they put additives in their gas tank, but that is just routine maintenance like taking vitamins and supplements would be for a person. And people check their coolant and oil levels and look out for their check engine light on their cars, much like getting a blood pressure cuff and regularly checking blood pressure would be to an individual, but who among us would ever consider driving up to a dealership and asking them to see if they could find something on their car that needed replacing?
But that is exactly what well care is all about. When you feel fine and you go to a doctor, he or she is going to find something that needs treating. Its what they do. They have a hammer in their hand; you are the nail. And what does all that treatment accomplish? Mostly it winds up putting you on prescription drugs that may mitigate the symptoms of one thing and create or exacerbate the symptoms of half a dozen others. In a recent article, Bill Sardi made this statement, "The only three proven medical technologies are (a) mending broken bones; (b) replacing cloudy cataracts; (c) repairing decayed teeth. The rest are questionable." When I first read this, I was a little taken aback, but then I remembered where I had read recently that it had never been statistically proven that anyone had lived longer because of heart surgery. How much of what passes for medicine today is really just "busy work"?
Now obviously there are people who suffer from conditions that need medicine and treatment. Insulin dependent diabetics are the first ones that pop to my mind. I am sure that you can think of dozens if not hundreds of other conditions, but these are people who are sick. And also keep in mind that insulin does not cure diabetes, it just enables the diabetic to live longer with the ailment. Clearly, I am not encouraging anyone to go against their own judgment. If you feel a need to go to a doctor, even though you fell fine, by all means go, but when you hear about me dying, don't despair. I may not have lived every minute possible, but I did enjoy some extra time along the way that others lost sitting in waiting rooms.
So far in my life I have been blessed with very good health. Since I have not been sick a lot, I have not had to go to the doctor much. Sometimes I think that I have not been sick a lot because I don't go to the doctor much. It's funny about people and doctors. Who do you know that takes his car into his mechanic every year and asks him to check and see if there is something that needs fixing? Sure, people have their cars oil changed and they put additives in their gas tank, but that is just routine maintenance like taking vitamins and supplements would be for a person. And people check their coolant and oil levels and look out for their check engine light on their cars, much like getting a blood pressure cuff and regularly checking blood pressure would be to an individual, but who among us would ever consider driving up to a dealership and asking them to see if they could find something on their car that needed replacing?
But that is exactly what well care is all about. When you feel fine and you go to a doctor, he or she is going to find something that needs treating. Its what they do. They have a hammer in their hand; you are the nail. And what does all that treatment accomplish? Mostly it winds up putting you on prescription drugs that may mitigate the symptoms of one thing and create or exacerbate the symptoms of half a dozen others. In a recent article, Bill Sardi made this statement, "The only three proven medical technologies are (a) mending broken bones; (b) replacing cloudy cataracts; (c) repairing decayed teeth. The rest are questionable." When I first read this, I was a little taken aback, but then I remembered where I had read recently that it had never been statistically proven that anyone had lived longer because of heart surgery. How much of what passes for medicine today is really just "busy work"?
Now obviously there are people who suffer from conditions that need medicine and treatment. Insulin dependent diabetics are the first ones that pop to my mind. I am sure that you can think of dozens if not hundreds of other conditions, but these are people who are sick. And also keep in mind that insulin does not cure diabetes, it just enables the diabetic to live longer with the ailment. Clearly, I am not encouraging anyone to go against their own judgment. If you feel a need to go to a doctor, even though you fell fine, by all means go, but when you hear about me dying, don't despair. I may not have lived every minute possible, but I did enjoy some extra time along the way that others lost sitting in waiting rooms.
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