Archive for July 31st, 2007

Tuesday, July 31st, 2007

Global Warming: It Must Be The Clams

The Religion of Global Warming makes it clear that the phenomenon occurs solely as a result of human activities.  It is gospel; it cannot be questioned.

Except by heretics.

The rise of mollusks across the globe was a harbinger of doom roughly 250 million years ago, ushering in the most devastating mass extinction in Earth's history, research now reveals.

Hmmm.  Now, as Global Warming Is All Your Fault - how could this be?  There weren't any humans around back then; even dinosaurs had not yet arrived on the scene.  Yet 95% of all life on the planet was wiped out in the most massive episode of Global Warming known to have occurred.  Oh, Father Gore, where art thou?  Deliver us from Fact, and return us to the fold of Your Belief!  In Gaiia's name, we beseech thee!

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Tuesday, July 31st, 2007

You, Too, Can Be A Wiener!

Willamette Week notes that an enviro magazine based out of Seattle has voted Portland as the second greenest city in the world.  While it'd be nice to see what the criteria were and who, exactly, did the "voting", it seems clear that folks who love choo-choo trains and biofools just naturally gravitate to Portland these days.

But speaking of biofools, Rolling Stone is out with an article that takes a surprisingly in-depth look at Fireman Randy's latest crusade, and concludes that it's a scam.  Although focusing on ethanol, the same applies to biodiesel; in both cases, valuable cropland is converted to produce fuels that not only do not burn cleaner than gasoline - they aren't any less expensive.  In fact, taking all of the costs into account, biofools are more expensive and cause greater environmental damage than do conventional fuels.  Of course, folks don't want to hear that, so it's all the more impressive wher the venerable Rolling Stone comes right out and says it like it is: 

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Tuesday, July 31st, 2007

Differences between Wa. St. Dems and Republicans…

Just check out these three snippets of press releases from the past week:

State Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles (Dem.):

“While I respect the wisdom and experience of the plurality, in this matter I believe they are misguided,” Kohl-Welles said. “Those who have served their sentences and followed the process to have their voting rights restored should not be denied this fundamental right over unmet financial obligations. It is not good public policy to deny the right to vote to anyone based upon monetary circumstances, while those who have the financial means can get their voting rights restored.”

State Senator Lisa Brown (Majority Senate Leader, Dem.):

“The Senate will conduct hearings during assembly days in September and use the information we receive from law enforcement, prosecutors, victims and their families to craft a reasoned package of legislation. “It is not in the best interest of the public to rush to solutions that sound appealing but may have unintended consequences.”

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Tuesday, July 31st, 2007

The culture of voyeurism claims a few more victims

We are a culture of voyeurs.  Admit it, we love to watch.  We watch the news to see the exciting things happening to someone else.  We watch the paparazzi as they chase down the rich and famous for us, to gift us with the candid glimpses.

We see John Edwards primping his hair, George Bush flipping off the camera and OJ in a drive by slow speed chase, all in blazing glorious colour, brought to us by toilet paper commercials and fast food resturants.

We like to watch the indiscretions of others on Cheaters, and the foolishness of people in everyday life, all for the chance to win 10 grand on America's Funniest videos.  In friendlier moments we watch silly pets, but then we tune into Hells Kitchen to watch hopeful chefs be browbeaten by a megalomaniac, or watch the hopeful top models be diligently trained in the creation of illusion.

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