Chamblee54

There is a bit of common sense on the climate today, from an unlikely source (thanks). It seems like James Lovelock, a much revered elder statesman of climate science, gave a pair of interviewsin the UK. Merry Olde England is the home of the University of East Anglia, whose Climate Research Unit was embarrassed recently by some hacked emails.
The Guardian printed a transcript of it’s interview with Mr. Lovelock. There are some good quotes.
“Fudging the data in any way whatsoever is quite literally a sin against the holy ghost of science. I’m not religious, but I put it that way because I feel so strongly. It’s the one thing you do not ever do. You’ve got to have standards.”
(Regarding the data fudging scandal ) “I was utterly disgusted. My second thought was that it was inevitable. It was bound to happen. Science, not so very long ago, pre-1960s, was largely vocational. Back when I was young, I didn’t want to do anything else other than be a scientist. They’re not like that nowadays. They don’t give a damn. They go to these massive, mass-produced universities and churn them out. They say: “Science is a good career. You can get a job for life doing government work.” That’s no way to do science.”
“The good skeptics have done a good service, but some of the mad ones I think have not done anyone any favours. Some of them, of course, are corrupted and employed by oil companies and things like that. Some even work for governments. For example, I wouldn’t put it past the Russians to be behind some of the disinformation to help further their energy interests. ” ( PG muses that many of the climate change skeptics are old anti communists, Now, they are playing on the same side as the Russians they once were so fond of hating.)
“I think the skeptic bloggers should worry. It’s almost certain that you can’t put a trillion tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere without something nasty happening. This is going to resolve itself and global heating is going to come back on stream and it’s these bloggers who are going to be made to look weird when it does.”
(On how humans will ever manage to tackle climate change:)” We need a more authoritative world. We’ve become a sort of cheeky, egalitarian world where everyone can have their say. It’s all very well, but there are certain circumstances – a war is a typical example – where you can’t do that. You’ve got to have a few people with authority who you trust who are running it. And they should be very accountable too, of course.
But it can’t happen in a modern democracy. This is one of the problems. What’s the alternative to democracy? There isn’t one. But even the best democracies agree that when a major war approaches, democracy must be put on hold for the time being. I have a feeling that climate change may be an issue as severe as a war. It may be necessary to put democracy on hold for a while.”
And so on and so forth. According to this esteemed scientist, global warming is real, but mankind may be too collectively stupid to deal with it. Or it might not become manifest for another thousand years. The more we learn about the climate, the more we realize that we don’t know.

As is often the case, the comments to the transcript made more sense than the primary text.
“I am surprised that in all of this article the actual problem we have is not mentioned or addressed. That the earth contains a finite resource, oil , gas , coal , minerals food which we treat as being infinite. Even if global warming did not result at all in any way from this.. we would still be heading for a complete disaster as we consume every last resource.. consumerism and capitalism will be the roots and engine of our downfall.. “
“The Stone Age did not end because we ran out of stone. We might grow more food,recycle our minerals and metals and develop alternative sources of energy. As we get richer,population drops and there will be plenty for all. Don’t worry, be happy. You are only here once, and remember : What has the future ever done for you?”
“Good point. The American Dust Bowl wasn’t caused by too much democracy, was it?! It was caused by rapacious financial interests in the form of farmers trying to get too much out of the environment for profit. That was 80 years ago & we have learnt nothing since.
Capitalism has destroyed agriculture because farmers are put under such financial pressures that they sacrifice good farming practice for profit. So it is capitalism that needs “put on hold” not democracy, Dr Strangelove….I mean Lovelock.”
” Lovelock is an arrogant old bastard who will never own up to a fundamental mistake he made many years ago. CO2 is a trace gas in the atmosphere and a poor absorber of IR compared to water vapor which is not only seven times better at getting energy from sunlight, but has 200 times as many molecules to do it! It’s effect is 1400 times that of CO2, but it is ubiquitous, cannot be be controlled or taxed so the elected class ignores it. It is just that simple.
Carbon is 84% of all petroleum fuels and natural gas. The controlling and taxing of carbon will give more political and economic power than anything that has happened in 800 years, the signing of the Magna Carta.
If CO2 were increased to 10,000 ppm it would just become significant in the atmosphere system. That would be a 2600% increase from the present 380 ppm. Give us a break.”

It is easter. Once, it was a day to celebrate springtime, the renewal of life after the chilly winter. Then, some people who take their myths literally came into control. The story of the day is of an avatar ( G-d become man), who died, and then rose from the grave.
Not only do they believe the story, but they also believe that this belief allows them to live forever. PG does not agree, and would appreciate the Jesus Worshipers a lot more if they kept their ideas to themselves. Sad to say, the believers like to talk about their beliefs. Many seem to think that the louder they talk, the more true the belief.
In the 2100 years since his life and reputed rebirth, Jesus has become quite the cult of personality. Many feel that the current Jesus has almost nothing to do with the historic Jesus. PG agrees with this view, that Jesus is a modern day golden calf, a idol created by man. The best way to learn about Jesus is through the words and deeds of his believers.
Pictures for this feature are from the Library of Congress.

It was dead saturday 1973, the day between good friday and easter. PG and his friend Gibson have traveled from Athens GA to Charlotte NC to see a rock concert. The plan was eight bands in a crowded football stadium.
PG had never been to an outdoor concert, and had some ideas about how it would be. They were in the house early, and set up a blanket about thirty feet in front of the stage. For the first part of the day, the crowd stayed off their turf.
The first electric act was Brownsville Station. The first thing they did was encourage the audience to crowd in front of the stage, resulting in a mob scene for the rest of the day. BS played loud heavy metal, with a guitar/vocals guy painted like a clown. They were a three piece band that day, as their bass player had gotten a job selling furniture in Kansas. “Smokin in the Boys Room” was a hit for this ensemble later that year.
The concept of multiple stages had not hit North Carolina, and there was a long wait between acts. The next band was Mason Profit, who rocked. “you are talking about boogie, you don’t know shit about boogie.
By this time, the crowd was getting off on their downers, the sun was shining, and PG was out of water. It only got better as the day went on. The scheduled next act was Captain Beyond, but they canceled. The replacement was another Capricorn act, Marshall Tucker. They were good, but not really memorable.
The afternoon went on and on. Goose Creek Symphony came and went, followed by Wet Willie. WW had a routine where this pretty girl was walking down ___ street, which in Charlotte was Independence Boulevard. Eventually, the sun went down, and ZZ Top came on stage.
ZZ Top was the high point of the day. The beards were only about four inches long. They introduced one song, saying ” this is something you might know about, song called beer drinkers and hell raisers”. They were the only band to do an encore, with “Francine”.
The next act was Mahavishnu Orchestra, which PG was convinced was the greatest band that ever lived. The stadium crowd was not conducive to their style, but they delivered a good show. John McLaughlin played a twin necked guitar, which PG found a bit disconcerting. The electric violin player was a stand out.
By the time MO finished, PG wanted to get away from the front of the stage. He took to wandering around the back of the stadium while the Allman Brothers played. The back of the house was full, although there was room to walk around. Before long, it was time to hit the road back to Georgia.
Pictures for this feature are from The Library of Congress. The people in the pictures were at the show, in spirit.

PG got a chain letter email a few minutes ago. In the spirit of tmi, the answers to this will be a post for today. Answers were not made under oath. Pictures are from the library of congress. They are from the Roger Fenton pictures of the Crimean War in 1855.

Welcome to the FIRST 2010 edition of getting to know your friends and family.
Change all the answers so they apply to you, and then send this to your friends including the person who sent it to you. The idea is that you will learn a lot of little things about your friends that you might not have known! Just press the ‘forward’ button then you can erase my answers and add yours.
1. High heels, boots, or sneakers? Sneakers//2. What time did you get up this morning? don’t remember//3. Diamonds or pearls! electronics// 4. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? That thing Sean Penn directed about the Emory graduate who got weird. //5. What is your favorite TV shows? NFL //6. What do you usually have for breakfast? steamed potatoes//7. What is your middle name? Campbell//8. What ood do you dislike? eggs, olives//9. What is your favorite CD at the moment? Workingmans Dead//10. What characteristic(s) do you despise? Selfishness //11. Favorite Clothing? cheap //12. Anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? Italy//13. Are you an organized person? sometimes//14. Where would you retire? here//15. What was your most memorable birthday? six//16. What are you going to do when you finish this? eat//17. Furthest place you are sending this? the internet//18. Person you expect to send it back first? don’t expect it back//19. When is your birthday? May 6//20. Are you a morning person or a night person? Afternoon//21. What is your shoe size? 12// 22. Do you own any animals? no//23. Any news you’d like to share? disgusted with Good Friday//24. What did you want to be when you were little? Astronaut //25. What is your favorite flower? reefer//26. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? April 3//27. Do you wish upon stars? Leave Marilyn Monroe alone.// 28. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? melted on a lightbulb//29. How is the weather right now? Sunny and warm..//30. Last person you spoke to on the phone? “Bradley”//31. Favorite soft drink? Tea.// 32. Favorite restaurant? Depends on my mood //33. Hair color? gray, and it is all there //34. What was your favorite toy as a child? baseball bat//35. Summer or winter. spring//36. Chocolate or vanilla? bubble gum //37. Coffee or tea? Tea//38. Do you want your friends to email you back? better than any enemies//39. When was the last time you cried? don’t remember//40. What is under your bed? hardwood and a crawl space//41. What did you do last night? copied pictures from the library of congress//42. What are you afraid of? Jesus//43. Salty or sweet? Sour//44. Favorite day of the week? Monday//45. How many people will you send this to? whoever bothers to read//46. Do you like finding out all this stuff about your friends? it depends