Ok, now what?

According to this CNN article, we've finally come to the consensus that global warming is real.

Human-induced global warming is real, according to a recent U.S. survey based on the opinions of 3,146 scientists.

The study was produced by the University of Illinois and according to the article asked two major quesitons.

Two questions were key: Have mean global temperatures risen compared to pre-1800s levels, and has human activity been a significant factor in changing mean global temperatures?

About 90 percent of the scientists agreed with the first question and 82 percent the second.

A little late in the game if you ask me. We needed to be working on solutions years ago. It's also interesting to take note of who were the biggest doubters of global warming. Petroleum geologists and *drum roll* meteorologists.

Petroleum geologists and meteorologists were among the biggest doubters, with only 47 percent and 64 percent, respectively, believing in human involvement.

Heh. Meteorologists can't even get the short term weather correct, what makes anyone think they're reliable in the long term?

So ... now what? This really is an issue that needs to be addressed NOW. Enough with these questionnaires, and onto some solid, workable solutions.

For my part, I work on greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural waste, so attempting to understand the microbial involvement (which is rather large) and how we can curb it, will hopefully be my contribution.

Perhaps ...

... we should have children write any complaint letters we ever need to write.

"Dear Mr. Claudet," the letter from the 7-year-old girl began. She described in four sentences problems at Southdown West Park, the small greenspace by her home. The plastic slide needed to be more slippery, she wrote, and an electrical panel near the tennis court was "dangerus."

When she mailed the letter, little did she know that she would set the parish's bureaucratic wheels in motion.

All her requests for improvements were met during the holidays after the letter landed on Parish President Michel Claudet's desk. He opened it himself, he said, and took the young girl's input seriously.

Edolphus Towns (D-NY) is a Moron

With all the problems our country is facing, you know what with the two wars we're fighting, an economy in shambles, the mortgaging of our future with almost a trillion dollars in bailout money with very little strings (or expectations) attached, this fool wants to hold hearings about the Bowl Championship Series because he doesn't think a "true #1" came out of the BCS.

"I think you really do not get a true No. 1 out of (the Bowl Championship Series)," Towns told the newspaper. "Nobody questions the Super Bowl. The team that wins is the best team that year. I think we can do the same thing at the college level where once it's over there is no questions about who is No. 1 and who is No. 2."

WHO CARES!?!?!!!!

This is all this fool can think about? Jimminy Christmas! Everyone who voted for this guy should be summarily slapped upside the head for picking such an obvious "winner".

At least someone speaks common sense at the end of the article though.

Former house Majority Leader Dick Gephardt of Missouri said he thinks Congress won't have time to deal with this issue with so many issues, particularly the economy, facing lawmakers. "I think this is something that colleges will have to figure out together," Gephardt told USA Today. "I'm not sure this is what the public wants Congress to be spending their time on."

And I repeat ...

I'm not sure this is what the public wants Congress to be spending their time on.

Damn Friggin Skippy!

So, while I think a playoff would be nice ... I don't think Congress should be wasting my tax payer dollars making it so. I can certainly live without a playoff. I cannot live without my government functioning properly and ensuring that the services I pay for actually work for me (now and when I retire).

So, Mr. Towns get your ass in gear and do something USEFUL and IMPORTANT! You damn fool.

I am not a number, I am a free man!

RIP Patrick McGoohan.

Currently

Listening ToCaravan is one of the best songs of all time.

Screwed

If you haven't accepted it yet, perhaps think about this one as well.

One of the nation’s largest health insurers has agreed to pay $50 million dollars in a settlement announced today after being accused of overcharging millions of Americans for health care.

How?

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo says Ingenix has been manipulating the numbers so insurance companies pay less. In a just-released report, he contends that Americans have been “under-reimbursed to the tune of at least hundreds of millions of dollars.” Although UnitedHealth Group and Oxford Insurance were the only entities investigated, other major insurers use Ingenix, including Aetna, CIGNA and WellPoint/Empire BlueCross BlueShield.

If you've been screwed, don't ever expect the screwer to say "Sorry".

Where I have been

I've visited 31 states (62%), and I've lived in 4 of them. Create your own visited map of The United States. I haven't been outside the United States (aside from Mexico and Canada) so I won't bother with that little meme. Oddly enough, I grew up in New York, and I've never bothered traveling up into New England.

h/t to Phil from DC Dispatches.

Anything but Normal, in Normal IL

Wedding in Taco Bell.

"We have the same brain, just in two bodies," Paul Brooks said.

No comment. Well, other than to say I guess that explains getting married in a "Toxic Hell". Having half a brain will do that to ya I suppose.

Lay off the VapoRub

So says new study.

The strong-smelling ointment often dabbed under noses or rubbed on the soles of feet can be an irritant, increasing the production of mucus and decreasing how fast it’s cleared, potentially causing dangerous breathing problems in infants and very young children.

I don't know why people even bother using that stuff. It stinks and it doesn't really do anything. If I'm feeling like crap, and I use Vicks ... I just wind up stinking AND feeling like crap.

Jessica Rosenberg, 32, of Santa Clara, Calif., said she rubs Vicks onto the soles of her kids’ feet to quiet nighttime coughs. The new study is interesting, she said, but not enough to make her stop.

What?!?!

Dear God. Why would rubbing menthol on your kids foot keep them from coughing? Idiocy abounds.

This urban legends site dispels the silly "menthol on feet is good for you" myth. Though this 1908 explanation is amusing, and so very very backward: "internal morbid processes may at times be relieved by creating external irritations". In other words, if you have a headache, hit your hand with a hammer. It'll make you forget all about the headache. Oh,the fun we could have with this one.

Requiescat In Pace

Reverend Richard John Neuhaus, editor of First Things.

I think ...

... I know how I'm going to make my money and get myself to early retirement. I'm going to steal a supertanker filled with Saudi oil.

Quote of the Day

Don't try to be happier than happy. - Colin Cowherd

As if there wasn't enough to worry about?

Now NASA is warning that solar storms could knock out a large portion of the world's electronics, and electrical infrastructure if we're really, really unlucky. And who can really claim to have good luck right about now?

Damage to power grids and other communications systems could be catastrophic, the scientists conclude, with effects leading to a potential loss of governmental control of the situation.

Hmm, if this happens perhaps that crazy Russian would be right. I don't really want to be a part of the EU though ... if they even still existed.

Boomer Sooner!

Thrash the Gators!

Nifty Agricultural Tool

Was at a Soil and Water Conservation meeting earlier in the week and saw a talk on compost. This product was mentioned, and boy is it a neat idea. Gardensoxx. Just place it where you want it, cut a slit to insert your seeds and Viola! within a week, you have the starting of a garden. These soxx are multipurpose, used for erosion control, agriculture, gardening ... and relatively inexpensive when compared to what you'd pay for a garden's expenses anyways.

Five Ways the World Might End

Here's a really chipper story for the new year. Good news? None of these are predicted to happen tomorrow.

Linkage

Bureau of Communication

Funny stuff.

Currently ...

Listening To

Did You Make a New Years Resolution?

If it involves working out and/or losing weight, here is a handy tip chart for you. Me, I'm not into the whole resolution thing. I have been committed to losing a few extra pounds that I gained during graduate school, but I didn't feel the need to make a resolution on Jan 1st at 00:00:01 for it. I have found that losing the extra pounds can be done slowly but surely by two things. Exercise and portion control. No need for a fancy diet, or pay out the butt to have a company mail you food. Four to six ounces of meat at dinner along with a healthy salad and a generous helping of green vegetables works just fine.

If you're gonna go ...

... you might consider going in a National Park.

[At] least 33 people who chose to end their lives last year in a national park. The number is higher than recent years, although the National Park Service hasn't consistently tracked suicides.

"It's some place where, toward the end of someone's life, when they're feeling a total sense of despondency, they want to return to a place of natural beauty ... for their final moments," Suddath said.

Personally, I don't believe suicide is the answer. As they say, it's always darkest before the dawn. I truly believe that, and I hope I always will. Nevermind the terrible wake of psychological damage that is inflicted on those left behind.