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News Briefs 02-02-2007

Personal carbon trading: I just bought 16 compact florescent lightbulbs – to off-set the tree that will be cut for my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Thanks, Rico.

Quote of the Day:

There are no shortcuts to moral insight. Nature is not intrinsically anything that can offer comfort or solace in human terms — if only because our species is such an insignificant latecomer in a world not constructed for us. So much the better. The answers to moral dilemmas are not lying out there, waiting to be discovered. They reside, like the kingdom of God, within us — the most difficult and inaccessible spot for any discovery or consensus.

Stephen Jay Gould

    1. Glow Bull Warming
      Actually, I don’t accept the alledged evidence as anything more than a money and power grab from both the UN and a large segment of fringe academians and scientists.

      An even cursory examination of those who most champion the “cause” will find more than sufficient grounds for doubting the validity of their data, based upon the financial ties each has to various industries and/or research funds.

      Historical climate data shows a continuous sine wave of temperature fluctuations dating back hundreds of thousands of years.

      It’s simply amazing to me how the same sort were crying and pulling their collective hairs out because the earth was entering into a “deep freeze’ a new “Ice Age” just 30 years ago. Every one was going to die, humanity perish, etc, ad nauseum, all because of those vile humans and their global pollution. It’s all their in the newspapers, magazines, reports and journals. Same crap evidence, same skewed data, same frightening jargon. Except that, funny thing is, we DIDN’T suffer a new “Ice Age” as they predicted.

      It’s hard to take these goof-balls seriously regarding their data when they stand there with their thumbs on the scales.

      BTW: Real terorists are out there. They are very real and very dangerous, and much more likely to cause your death than anything related to glow-bull warming.

      Somewhere, right now, Al Bore is laughing his ass off as he collects another royalty check from his fictional film.

      Respects,
      Gwedd

        1. Kat,
          Kat,

          Look, I DON’T work for the gubbmint, or for the Oil Companies, or anyon else. I’m self-employed. I read extensively, and I am old enough to have lived through the last “OMG the sky is falling” moment in the 70’s, where every TV talking head, every magazine editorial, etc, was beating the public silly with news of a coming Ice Age, due within just a few years!

          What’s interesting about it is that they relied extensively on the same data that they are using now. How do you use the same data to get two completely different outcomes? Well, it’s simple really. The UN does it all the time, as to groups like GreenPeace, Earth-First!, ELF, PETA, etc. You figure out the comclusions you want, the end results, then manipulate the data sets to support your claims. That’s done by cherry-picking the data, and simply discarding what doesn’t fit your model.

          As to the UN overseeing this, when was the last time the UN did anything of worth? Their own forces are busy on their annual rape and pillage tour, their executives are looting the bank accounts, supporting tinpot dictators and terrorist enablers while demanding that the west provide more cash. What about Serbia, Bosnia, Kosovo, and other areas where the UN took over. Any changes lately to the staus quo there? Nope, not yet sad to say.

          Here’s something you ought to consider closely, though. The UN is attempting a massive power grab by trying to exhort control of the web. Do you really think that a site as cool and neat as TDG and it’s friends will survive for long if the UN gains admin control? China and many Middle Eastern countries are alrady saying that too much freedom of speech exists online, and they are on record as saying the UN needs to have a comittee to approve what is allowed to be published. THAT is a much more dangerous situation than a planetary warming cycle that humans cannot control nor influence, regardless of the number of papers produced on the matter.

          Kat, I really like this site. I come here daily to read the articles, although I usually blanch a bit at the token swipes folks make about my side of the political sphere. That’s alright, freedom of speech and all that. Good thing, that. However, this is a subject where the actual facts simply do NOT support the UN conclusions.

          Respects,

          Respects,
          Gwedd

      1. United States of Denial
        No one, not even you Gwedd, can deny that humans are destroying the environment. Whether Global Warming is real or not doesn’t change that fact. Pay attention to the UN report, Gwedd — sea levels are rising, and your boat isn’t going to float because of all the holes in skepticism.

        1. Believe the UN?
          Hi Rick,

          Gwedd is exactly right, the UN report is bogus. These are the same folks that stole billions of dollars with Saddam Hussain in the Iraq Food for Oil Scam. The UN GW-report is about money.

          “Global Warming” began around 18,000-years ago. As this warming period comes to an end we might wish we has the technology to warm things up a bit, but we have very little influence over the temperature of the planet.

          Bill

          1. Oh dear
            Your understanding of the UN and how it works is laughable.

            You, Kat and Gwedd are useful idiots for the oil companies, fed by a narrow-minded nationalist interest and right-wing neo-capitalist ideology.

          2. Thank you, Lee
            [quote=Lee]Your understanding of the UN and how it works is laughable.

            You, Kat and Gwedd are useful idiots for the oil companies, fed by a narrow-minded nationalist interest and right-wing neo-capitalist ideology.[/quote]

            Hi Lee,

            Thanks for the chuckle. By placing Kat, Gwedd and me in the same camp you have demonstrated that you have no understanding whatsoever on the topic being discussed here. But you did make me laugh aloud. Thanks.

            You might as well throw Rick, Richard, and Earthling in there as well. That doesn’t make any sense either.

            Bill

    1. Oil lobby
      >>Geez, ain’t they stingy?

      But, but – they sweetened the pot to include travel and an expense account. Geez, whaddaya expect from companies that are only making $100+ million per day in profits?

      Then again, the big pharma companies directly give doctors an average of $30,000 a year in kickbacks for prescribing their meds, so maybe it’s those oil-lobby middlemen who are soaking up the difference.

      Kat

  1. Pottery Books
    Now we all know that these fluorecent light bulbs are good only in the long run, that’s why I have those myself.

    But of course you (that’s you Kat) can also reduce the CO@ burden in the same easy way that SUV owners can.

    Don’t drive the frivolous SUV, don’t buy the frivolous Harry Potter book. Or as least recycle the lot.

    Oh well we must all try.

    —-
    You probably would not worry about what people think of you, if you could know how seldom they do (Olin Miller)

    1. Also good short term
      >>Now we all know that these fluorecent light bulbs are good only in the long run, that’s why I have those myself.

      Compact flourescent lightbulbs used to be expensive, were too bulky for most light fixtures and lamps, and gave off a yellowish light. I know this because the two I bought about 4 years ago are still lying unused in my spare-bulb box.

      I bought these new ones – Philips Marathon 100 Energy Saving Bulbs – at Costco for less than half the price I paid per bulb four years ago. The 25 watt bulbs (with the same light output as regular 100w bulbs) come four to a package, and the 12 watt bulbs come eight to a package, they’re small enough to fit my lamps and fixtures, and they have a nice white light.

      40% of the average household’s electricity useage is for lights, so with these new bulbs my electricity useage will be reduced by about 30% per month. I don’t know how many months it will take for me to recoup the cost of the bulbs, but the long-term savings on my utility bill wasn’t the main reason I bought them.

      The main reason was to reduce my personal consumption of coal-fueled electricity. (Yes, I signed up – and pay extra – for 100% wind-generated electricity, but my utility company still uses coal as its main fuel.)

      My secondary reason was that the lights in my office stay on so much, I usually have to replace the two bulbs in the ceiling fixture every month. Since these compact flourescents last 13 times longer than regular bulbs, I’ll now be hauling my ladder up and down two flights of stairs much less frequently.

      So there are two immediate gains, and one long-term gain – slightly less CO2 generation by my utility company, changing a once-a-month chore into a once-a-year chore, and lower monthly utility bills.

      You’re right, I do drive an SUV. But I don’t feel too guilty about that because for the entire time I’ve owned it, I’ve driven it less than 5,000 miles a year. I also keep it tuned up, keep the tires properly inflated, and obey the speed limit.

      Now, if I can just manage to install the rest of that insulation I bought… 😉

      Kat

      1. similarly
        I get those fluorescent light bulbs because I get tired of replacing the old ones too. I don’t see how I will amortize my little investment by saving on electricity costs, most of my electric bill goes to the fridge and computers.

        But I can finance the “investment” in the light bulbs by just slightly reducing the frivolous part of my expenses. We all could do that.

        I don’t have a car, because with my current life I don’t need one. But when I do need one in the future, I will get a relatively small one, but it must be very fast. And it must corner very well – so I can outrun and out-corner the big SUVs so they don’t hit me 🙂

        Speed limits – well, you do realize that going the speed limit is not the most fuel efficient way to drive. Sometimes slower is better, sometimes faster is better. That is in terms of total fuel consumption for the trip, which is a close approximation to CO2 output.

        —-
        You probably would not worry about what people think of you, if you could know how seldom they do (Olin Miller)

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