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Friday, July 18, 2008

"The Courage to do Nothing"

this is a post in its entirety from today's daily newsletter from the Americans for Limited Government website GetLiberty.org . google them if you want the link, because right now things are down for remodeling over there.

so this is about global warming, and if you have read my blog long enough, you know that i think the hysteria over global warming is without scientific merit, based on an extensive and avid check of the actual science behind the computer models and rhetoric. the fact that algore has been lionized simply shows emotions play far better at getting attention than rigorous and ethical analysis. why is the global warming issue such a hot button for the "progressives"? one theory proposed by Jonah Goldberg in Liberal Fascism is that to "energize and mobilize" the citizenry to accept Big Government edicts and controls, one needs a moral equivalent to war. my take on most of the blather regarding global warming is just that. to independently and "pedantically" assess the information and draw your own conclusion seems to be way beyond the attention span or skill set of the majority of folks. they would rather get fed sound bites and USAToday simple piecharts for their info, because if someone of stature says it's true, it's true.
regardless of the expense that realigning the world's energy consumption, the fact that people are now dieing around the world because of our shortsighted drive to find "alternative fuels" must make some inroads into the Green movement's collective mind. probably not.

anyway, enough of my soapbox. here's AGL's soapbox. enjoy.

The Courage to Do Nothing


“[W]e must get the science right, or we shall get the policy wrong. If the concluding equation in this analysis (Eqn. 30) is correct, the IPCC’s estimates of climate sensitivity must have been very much exaggerated. There may, therefore, be a good reason why, contrary to the projections of the models on which the IPCC relies, temperatures have not risen for a decade and have been falling since the phase-transition in global temperature trends that occurred in late 2001. Perhaps real-world climate sensitivity is very much below the IPCC’s estimates. Perhaps, therefore, there is no ‘climate crisis’ at all. At present, then, in policy terms there is no case for doing anything. The correct policy approach to a non-problem is to have the courage to do nothing.”—Christopher Monckton of Brenchley, Physics & Society, July 2008.



There is no “climate crisis.” So says a recent study published in Physics & Society this month, a devastating blow into the all-important computer models utilized by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change—the very models that today are used by demagogic politicians to justify radically reducing, restricting, and taxing the use of fossil fuels.


Christopher Monckton’s conclusion and advice to politicians: Do nothing. The science of global warming is wrong, and has been wrong. And the policies necessary to radically reduce carbon emissions will be devastating to a world heavily dependent upon industry to maintain the largest population explosion in human history.


Dr. Monckton has provided a valuable service to policy makers, but mostly, to the general public who would suffer under the alarmist rule of the Greens. His contribution is a critical warning to all who value civilization.


According to the study, “The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007) concluded that anthropogenic CO2 emissions probably caused more than half of the ‘global warming’ of the past 50 years and would cause further rapid warming. However, global mean surface temperature has not risen since 1998 and may have fallen since late 2001.”


In other words, the computer models that have projected excessive global warming are wrong—drastically, horribly wrong—because they predicted uninterrupted warming of the earth leading to a catastrophe on the order of the Apocalypse. And it did not happen. So the study observes:


“[N]o great reliance can be placed upon the IPCC’s central estimates of climate sensitivity, still less on its high-end estimates. The IPCC’s assessments, in their current state, cannot be said to be ‘policy-relevant’. They provide no justification for taking the very costly and drastic actions advocated in some circles to mitigate ‘global warming’, which Eqn. (30) suggests will be small (<1 °C at CO2 doubling), harmless, and beneficial.”



In short, the IPCC’s models are unreliable, they have grossly exaggerated the impact of increased carbon emissions on the climate, and according to the study, whatever impact the emissions have will actually be beneficial.


Therefore, the continued use of the IPCC’s models to inform public policy will only produce dire consequences. To keep the world of 6.6 billion people fed, a considerable amount of energy is required. And to actively seek to drastically reduce the use of the sources of energy that the world depends upon every day can only result in drastic reductions of the world’s population.


In other words, if politicians continue to listen to the Greens, people will die. Because they will starve.


And one can only wonder, based upon the religious zeal of the Greens, if that’s not what they actually have in mind. Theirs is a religion that views practically all human activity as “unnatural”—even evil—that must be countered by the “all-wise”, “all-knowing” rulers of Big Government. And in so restricting human activity, theirs is a cause that is completely repugnant to the philosophy of individual liberty.


And to the advancement of civilization as we know it. Theirs is a totalitarianism more insidious than its predecessors. Theirs is a “utopia” that seeks to undo the industrial and technological progress of thousands of years of human history in less than a century. Theirs is an ideology that will control every aspect of human existence. And it can only result in the enslavement of billions to poverty, economic depression, and ultimately, starvation.


Instead, as Dr. Monckton implores, leaders need to have the courage to do nothing about the climate crisis, because there is no climate crisis.


ALG Perspective: Now that the Cult of Global Warming’s oracle—computer-generated climate change models—have been debunked, it will be interesting to see how the Greens react. Ultimately, it will reveal that they really have no interest at all in science, or preventing climate change. They will in all likelihood deny the findings presented by Dr. Monckton without any scientific refutation or critical analysis whatsoever. And that is because their goals are ultimately political and economic in nature: 1) destroy the U.S. economy; 2) restrict individual liberty; and 3) expand governmental control over all human activity.



the link didn't copy, so here's a link to the Monckton paper at American Physical Society's site. Physics and Society: Monkton

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Tuesday, July 15, 2008

start thinking about the holiday baking....

just saying.. i know that if you want to bake anything with the real deal anise oil, not some watered, uh, alcoholed down anise flavoring, you better think about ordering now. it's almost impossible to find fresh anise oil the closer you get to Christmas. me, i order mine from King Arthur Flour online. just a friendly reminder from one who didn't get to bake authentic springerle cookies one year because i was forced to use an anise extract. why? because i waited too long.

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Monday, July 14, 2008

firebirds at a well deserved rest

as many of you know, this has been one hell of a fire season in northern california, and it's only the beginning of july.

please note that all pictures can be selected for larger image choices


i'd like to point out that at least some of the firefighting equipment and crews are military, military reserves, or national guards. these folks are doing a fine job helping where they are needed most. one of the places is flying C-130 cargo planes
firebirds6
loaded with MAFFS tanks, which store and deliver fire retardant from cargo planes. the MAFFS tanks were in dire straits when they sent them to us for inspections. read about what we did for them here. so for those along the firelines in the big sur area, and around Paradise, home of the world's finest internet radio station, your homes were saved by a combination of civilian and military personnel, and the use of a nuclear reactor to inspect the tanks. just thought i'd bump that out there for those who really don't like either. and it's a win win for me, because my favorite internet music stream is still on line, partially because of me and the facility i work at.
this last week has been crazy, with an almost constant takeoff and landing of firefighting aircraft, ranging from the small OV-10 Bronco spotter planes, S-2 Tracker converted bombers
cdf bomber2
to a couple of converted DC-10s and even a converted 747
evergreen 747
which i blogged about a while ago at big assed airplane.
well today it looks like they either have the fires pretty much under control, or they are giving the pilots and ground crew a much needed rest. here are some of the planes sitting on the tarmac today, including a bunch of different helicopters.
firebirds4
C-130s, a DC-10 tanker, and in the foreground a new to us tanker bomber with ConAir on the tail. That's a Convair 580 tanker conversion (i think) operated by ConAir of British Columbia, one of the biggest names in aerial firefighting in Canada. That's impressive, because we are getting help not just from out of state, but from our neighbors up in canuckistan. good on ya, eh?
here are a couple of random photos i took of the various helicopters resting after a grueling couple of weeks.
firebirds3
firebirds5
firebirds2A
i overheard one of the helicopter pilots talking the other day. when discussing the arrival of the canadian aircrews, he said that california fire has more operational helicopters than the entire canadian military. and he wasn't joking.
in closing, i'd just like to say that all of you pilots have given us a hell of an air show, especially the Air Guard C-130 pilots. those dudes took off with full tanks of retardant onboard, and peeled off impressive military turns once airborne, changing directions to the next drop. to all the fire crews on the ground and in the air, you have our most heartfelt thanks for putting your lives in danger to help control, contain and ultimately extinguish the fires that are still burning throughout northern california. like the CDF crew boss said on the radio the other day, "It's only July. This is going to be one hell of a fire season." again, you all have my thanks and respect.

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Thursday, July 10, 2008

Oregon roadtrip

so my dad called me up one day and said, "hey, thinking of heading into eastern oregon over the 4th of July weekend. want to come along? your brother wants to go too". i bought a ticket to Portland that evening.
We headed out from the Salem area, traveling to Bend for the night. the next day, we wandered souheast, stopping at Chickahominy Reservoir for a little light fishing and reading. hey, this is what you're supposed to do on a roadtrip, right? fish and read, relax and take it easy. no problem here!
As with most of the pictures
at the geezer's corner,
clicking will take you to a selection of various sizes,
for your viewing pleasure
chickahominy reservoir


then it was off to Burns, where we lived for 4 years during my youth. what a great town to grow up in. we left at just the right time, before i entered high school. there is about a 5 year window where that tiny town in the middle of nowhere would be intolerable. as a kid, and as an adult, that place is truly a paradise for the outdoorsman.

we got a bit of fishing in at Krumbo Reservoir on the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge where i saw spectacular scenery and i also caught one hell of a nice fish.
tectonic geology eastern Oregon

Img_0380

frontside of Saddle Butte
a real Saddle Butte
got proof
Proof

then we headed further in towards the Steens Mountain through a little hole in the wall called Frenchglen. Nearby, we drove in and then hiked up the Blitzen River, one of the Wild and Scenic Rivers protected by the govt. what needed protecting was US, because the mosquitoes feasted on us. without repellent, your entire exposed skin surface would be one giant bite. they were voracious and relentless. but that was a small price to pay for fishing along that beautiful small river.
fly fishing the evening hatch blitzen2
fishing during the evening hatch

besides fishing, i was almost run over by a big damned doe that Jake rustled up
Steens Mt mule deer doe
, met a beaver that was intent on protecting his den
guarding the den
and even had to jump about 3 feet when i was warned by a rattlesnake that i was too damned close.
the next day, we headed back to Krumbo, because Darrel wanted to take his little boat out and fly fish for the smallmouth bass that thrive along the reeds along the shoreline. of course, his dog Jake
good dog
refused to be left behind.
a boy and his dog
evening came and we packed it up to head back to Burns
evening at Krumbo
.
the rest of the trip was revisting old haunts and seeing new things on the way back north west towards Salem.
To see the flickr set of this trip, follow this link

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Wednesday, July 02, 2008

have a safe and fun 4th of July!

i'm off to do a little dry fly fishing with my dad, one of my brothers, and my nephew. we're heading to a little blip along the road in eastern oregon called Burns, where we spent some time growing up. there's a river outside of town called the Donner und Blitzen River. honest, that's its name, but we always called it the Blitzen. anyway, as my brother so eloquently puts it, God placed the Blitzen on earth for dry fly fishermen, to give them a taste of what heaven is like.
hope you are all going to celebrate your freedom in as fun a way as i am this year!