Rest In Peace, George Carlin

Link dump

Still having a rough time, health wise. Cold is mostly gone, but the coughing fits are still a problem. Don't trust myself to drive, actually. Last thing I need is to be behind the wheel when one of them hits. :-P

So, in lieu of posting, may I direct your attention to these interesting stories, most courtesy of Tom Nelson.

Enjoy.

The Chilling Costs of Climate Catastrophism

The Marxist Roots of the Global Warming Scare

Global Warming? No.

The Making of a Climate Skeptic

A Big Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Study: Trees twice as large in cities, stunted in rural areas

*hack*cough* shiver

So, while folks in the East are having a heat wave, things are pretty cold in the Western half. There was also what I'm pretty sure is a first for us - tornado warnings. Not that they're all that unusual in this part of the world, but it's nothing compared to tornado alley in the US, and we've simply never had them anywhere we've lived before, that I can remember. We got quite the thunder and lightning this afternoon, but so far as I know, no funnel clouds. Things have finally calmed down for tonight, but it's pretty cold for this time of year, and we're looking at more thunderstorms tomorrow. I hope that doesn't happen, as we're expecting to be at some friends to take in a back yard performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream. I was talking to an online friend living in Victoria, BC, and she's considering building a portable greenhouse to protect her tomatoes from the cold. In Victoria. In June.

Meanwhile, I've been diligently trying to cough my lungs out for the past two days. It's getting rather painful. I even went so far as to call for doctor's appointment - and much to my surprise, I got one this week! I don't know what good it'll do, but I'd really like to find out what the heck is wrong with my lungs. I've gone through all the tests before, and they call came back normal. Which is good, but frustrating. It's been 5 or 6 years though, so maybe I'll be "lucky" and whatever's making me cough will have done enough damage, they'll be able to find something on the Xrays. Assuming I get sent for Xrays again. Who knows.

Such fun. :-P

Thoughts on a couple of articles

Just caught a couple of articles in today's news that got me thinking.

In light of all the claims that we are running out of oil, like, yesterday, I found this interesting...

Oil shortage a myth, says industry insider

Current estimates suggest there are 1,200 billion barrels of proven global reserves, but the industry's internal figures suggest this amounts to less than half of what actually exists.

The misconception has helped boost oil prices to an all-time high, sending jitters through the market and prompting calls for oil-producing nations to increase supply to push down costs.

...

Explaining why the published estimates of proven global reserves are less than half the true amount, Dr Pike said there was anecdotal evidence that big oil producers were glad to go along with under-reporting of proven reserves to help maintain oil's high price. "Part of the oil industry is perfectly familiar with the way oil reserves are underestimated, but the decision makers in both the companies and the countries are not exposed to the reasons why proven oil reserves are bigger than they are said to be," he said.

...

The environmental implications of his analysis, based on more than 30 years inside the industry, will alarm environmentalists who have exploited the concept of peak oil to press the urgency of the need to find greener alternatives.

"The bad news is that by underestimating proven oil reserves we have been lulled into a false sense of security in terms of environmental issues, because it suggests we will have to find alternatives to fossil fuels in a few decades," said Dr Pike. "We should not be surprised if oil dominates well into the twenty-second century. It highlights a major error in energy and environmental planning – we are dramatically underestimating the challenge facing us," he said.

Hmmm...

Visit the full article here.


In this next article from Times Online, it's not the article itself that perked my attention, but rather the comments below. When I first started researching AGW a couple of years ago, an alarmist article like this one would be filled with comments agreeing and making even more extreme claims. Instead, more and more, I'm seeing commentors recognizing the double talk and contradictory claims - in other words, more commentors that are actually thinking critically about what they're reading, rather then blindly accepting what was said. I find that encouraging.

Global warming turning sea into acid bath

It would be funny...

Gosh, it's been a long time since I've posted! :-/ I just had to make a comment on this blurb I just found.

Polar Bear shot and killed in Iceland

REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — Police in Iceland say they fatally shot the first polar bear seen in the country in 20 years after the animal threatened people.

They shot it because they didn't have the tools to drug it. Then, at the very end, there's this ...

It’s not known how the polar bear reached Iceland; it may have come on an iceberg or swam. Scientists blame global warming for the disappearance of sea ice — vital for the bear’s survival.

Just what, exactly, does that last line have to do with the story? It just got thrown in there... why? Obviously, the bear's survival is more in danger from wandering into populated areas, threatening people and getting shot, then from lack of ice. Just look at where Iceland is in relation to Greenland. And if you look at this map, you'll notice something else. Iceland is south of the Arctic Circle. No real surprise there, since Polar bears are common in the Churchill area, which is also quite a bit south of the Arctic Circle, even for those who insist it's actually farther south than the maps say. For a bear to get to Iceland is a lot more impressive, though.

Note the article says that they haven't been seen in 20 years - which means they *have* been seen there before. Polar bears are strong swimmers and quite intelligent and adaptable. It's not global warming, anthropogenic or otherwise, that's a problem for Polar bears.