chuck kottke

Jay, I feel the same way. (It's like denying that the earth revolves around the sun at this point.) Just the very basic fact that we have taken massive quantities of carbonaceous matter from the Earth's crust (coal, oil, gas, etc.), and combined that with oxygen from the atmosphere/biosphere is simply self-evident. However, there does appear to be a problem, based on credible scientific evidence. The exact extent of the problem, how much we must change to avoid undesirable consequences, and what measures are most effective is debatable. It also seems likely that by staving off an ice age, we may have in fact improved our survival by burning a certain amount of this stored carbon. What is unique about the current situation is perhaps that by increasing the levels of CO2 during a cooling period as we have done, we have changed the normal cyclical nature of climate on the planet. This makes it harder to predict the outcomes based on past experiences. Plus, given the very high levels of CO2 in the atmosphere, there exists the possibility of exceeding a "tipping point" where a sort of positive feed-back loop may warm the planet rapidly, until it reaches a new equilibrium. Bill thinks this to be around 350 PPM CO2, and we're currently coasting along at 387 PPM. The changes required to bring us down to 350PPM are not that significant, and in many ways will make our economy more efficient, and our quality of life improve because we will have the comfortable homes we desire without drafts and noisy machinery running, and autos that cost us less to fuel with whatever we so desire. But yes, campaigns are based on marketing hype to a large extent - "we must fight the..." It's melodramatic, and in many ways insincere the way politicians use a problem as a tool to control. What would be better, would be to combine all the risk factors into a reasonable assessment, and present it that way to the American people.

How about Strawberry Swing with a Bluegrass band?

The Once and Future King by T.H. White Or Arudhati Roy's An Ordinary Person's Guide to Empire

Welcome to the magical world of the Global chat surrounding Coldplay, Marsu:sunny::curtain:!

That's sad to hear about the boy loosing his arm - how horrible! Perhaps this was an unusually aggressive one. But it's Louisiana, and the Gators are part of the natural scene, albeit something nobody wants in their swimming pool! I've hear the neighbors tell stories about the alligators in Florida waiting / wading in the ponds & waterways on golf courses. (makes retrieving lost balls a bit tricky..)

Viva la Siesta! :laugh3: Gracious!

Hello and welcome to the cloudless sky!:)

:sunny::drummer:Congrats Will, and Violet's bell sounds fantastic when you're hammering on it!:)

It does harden tooth enamel, if it's on the outside. But it's good to rinse afterwards.. I think good teeth happen as anyone grows from infant to child, when the permanent teeth are coming in - that's when enough calcium and vitamin D make a big difference (and the luck of genes..).

Alright, I could see that!:)

:rolleyes:God as a cracker??:laugh3: Well, I think we've all done things a little like that at times.. Opening windows though? How did you find them so well in your sleep?? I gather that once, after ingesting too many math problems at the U (solve this 3-dimensional equation using the method of cylindrical shells..) - I used to solve math problems out loud in my sleep!

Fluoride in toothpaste I think is less a risk, as by not swallowing it, and by spitting out the paste, then rinsing, should get most of it out of the mouth and out of the body.. But yes, it should not be in drinking water!! It's rare enough of an element, that one wonders why something that should be carefully recycled in industry isn't confined to those processes, and valued accordingly..

:stunned:I am quite stunned! Well, yes, there has to be good values taught at home, but also lots of love and hugs and fun and rest periods for young children and babies. Playing together, and learning how to be fair and increase the happiness of one's siblings at an early age makes a lot of sense! It just takes good examples, rules and fair treatment of all, family togetherness, and common sense. Much harder to change things once the problems grow.. But to blame Gordon Brown for this is a little ridiculous. Personal responsibility begins with parents teaching values and togetherness, then with the children themselves, and less so with the availability of 24 hour-a-day liquor stores.. That's just moving the blame to something else. Constructive outlets for energy, and training, education, and work help make for greater stability in general; but even so, when we partied at the University, it was after all the studying and classes were over, and it was just for fun socializing and relaxation! Violence wasn't in our hearts and minds - so something else is amiss.. Here, the emphasis put on income, and wealth as a measure of status has grown; having a competitive environment where displaying peacock feathers are more important than sharing and caring is definitely not a good message for anyone, as it preens the super-ego at the expense of shared values and compassion for one-another. So, when Daffy Duck is in charge, look out!;) I was talking with a maintenance man at the rest home the other day, and he remarked that greed has taken over in this country. Globally, it's often the same today, as everything gets more and more connected. So, a value system gone super-selfish is not the kind of examples to set for future generations.. There has to be some balance between self-absorbed desires and competition, and selfless togetherness and learning to share discovery, accomplishment, and compassion for other fellow human beings. I've seen a few of the babies and young children coming from these homes, and yes, they're only getting attention when they're aggressive, and there's a lot of neglect going on. Plus, the parents are setting examples that are definitely not good. Some of it here is from income inequities, as when parents loose the ability to cope financially and loose their self-esteem and confidence, then they often revert to some bad behaviors, and that travels down to the kids.. So, the solution is to teach how to be better parents, and how to get along better, improve social equity so nihilism is not the chosen path?? Ideas??

I'm thinking how our world has gone "Outland" over the past decade and a half. Supersizing everything (the Paul Bunyan effect here in the US; for Europeans, The Zeus or Thor effect, depending on your local). It has pretty much wiped out appreciating things at a human level, and replaced it with megalopolis. Now I see why programmers coming here from India are shocked by the US, since it really is nuts, seeing it from outside the box! Not that I think my country is bad, just that with the corporate monsters at the helm, it's gone way too gonzo. Once, you could take a bike ride safely down the road, wind around the gentle curves, arrive at the lake, and go swimming. There was a sense of place, and you could catch your breath, hear the birds singing, and actually take time to smell the rain.. Now, it's a little dicey - get out and get clobbered by a pickup pulling some monster 500-hp boat; they wiped out all the curves in the roads, and did away with the earthy swimming beaches. I don't quite know how to explain it, but it's like an end of the innocence..

It's been 128 years since the Internal Combustion Engine has had a major overhaul! Here are a few places working on the solution (to double the efficiency of Auto engines): Atkinson Engine : http://ernsblog.com/engineeff.html Japanese car with Miller cycle engine: www.autobloggreen.com/2007/05/31/japanese-market-mazda2-gets-new-miller-cycle-engine/ Engine Efficiency: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engine_efficiency Crower six stroke (uses water to turn engine waste heat into power) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_stroke_engine Scuderi split-cycle engine: www.scuderigroup.com

:stunned:..I was on another wavelength, one akin to engine efficiency.. And after reading the above, that all flew out the window!:laugh3:

river of life.. Life is of the moment; so to be sincere when sincerity is called for, to be free when freedom is to be, and to walk the path in life that you fit best is perfectly natural. There's always going to be disagreement about what to do when, as no two paths are alike, no two operate at the same speed, and it's so very hard to see another's place and perspective from one's own. So, it is worth the while to Imagine what it's like, and try and bring some happiness, or a better, more positive outcome out of a given situation. To walk a mile in the moccasins on another is to know them better, as the Chippewa say. I like John Lennon's song Imagine, because it's such a relief from all the stress we all feel in the modern world, and a chance to realize we all share common threads; take time to relax and be at ease with your fellow human beings. "Take time to make time; Make time to be there. Look around. Be a part... "

CO2 rises follow temperature rises, but when several equations are combined, what we often see is not the whole picture. Considering that there are complex feed-back loops involved, it's probably not that simple. As temperature rises, CO2 levels will naturally rise, since more greenhouse gases are given off by the exposed land, and the increased activity of soil bacteria in breaking down organic matter; also, the scaling back of plant photosynthesis due to higher temperatures. Cause and effect may not be so apparent. True, solar activity has an enormous effect, as well as the wobble of the Earth. Global Warming at the present appears to be man-made, as from what I've been reading in Scientific American, we are, through our activities, masking a cooling trend. If there's no sound science behind it, then how and why would anyone be publishing peer-reviewed articles on the subject? Yes, many things are debatable, but to assert that there's no hard scientific evidence is being too dismissive of the research work being done. I am aware that there is debate about the whole series of processes at work, but often it's a matter of approach and focus, where putting the puzzle pieces together is the biggest challenge. One thing that sticks in my mind, is the simple fact that we humans have been removing vast quantities of stored carbon from the crust, and moving that into the air, water, and biotic portion of the world. What % has been transferred, and how large an impact this is having seem reasonable start points, but the fact remains that we have done this. Also, systems do have tipping points, and the Earth's climate systems are no exceptions. So, if our activities are sufficiently large enough to push the scales in the other direction, we could be in for some undesirable consequences. Naturally, the Earth's wobble, solar activity levels, and giant volcanic eruptions can and will change the climate dramatically as well; but to discount our activities as insignificant is missing the point - we have been having affecting climate for thousands of years, and we continue to do so.

Welcome aboard, Robzoro!!!;)

Yes!! It does make sense in terms of feed-back loops. Complex feed-back loops, but definitely as things warm and melt, more dark surfaces are exposed, and that accelerates the process. Bil McKibben's proposal to reduce our CO2 levels to 350 PPM makes sense to me, since this level reduces the acceleration rate, and it isn't all that hard to drop from some odd 387 PPM down to 350 PPM in the atmosphere. While I do realize there is an incentive to create false fronts, and use them to one's advantage (which does happen in Scientific circles, as well as Business circles from time to time), often the biggest stumbling blocks to real progress come in the form of set ideas about how things work. At our present stage of research on the matter, we do have ample data to view, and can use a great deal more to get a better picture. I favor a cautious approach, as the stakes are high even if we haven't gotten it all figured out yet, and we can only improve our quality of life by making the changes necessary to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It's win-win really, and with much less hazards on other fronts as well.. If you're interested, McKibben's group has a group working on it. http://www.350.org/en/about

Better.

Well, the crowd loved it! It seemed to be timed, as part of the act?:) Well, he seemed to jump right back up, so looks like all went well.;)

Ramblings.. John Lennon's song Imagine.. "Imagine there's no heaven; imagine there's no hell. Nothing to live or die for; No country or possessions.. it isn't hard to do.. Imagine all the people; living day to day.." Perhaps what we don't see is what is truly at work, and it's all too much for anyone to fathom, so we only see slices of the orange; never the whole Orange. I do believe there is something unique about life, and about us. But for us to fathom it, we can only have a momentary glimpse out of a frosted window, as slowly the larger truth is revealed to us. We are one, we are groups, we are numerous, and we again are one at a larger level. The past, the present, all the meshing of humanity's gears, as our neural networks slowly unravel the mysteries of the universe... and our place in that larger sphere! But once the concept of God was idealized as Greek "Gods" (human ideals), with mythical proportions and actions. For some cultures, other animals, and their feeling and thoughts impacted us. Still others included objects with souls, and having feeling. The Aztecs meshed corn and seasons with renewal and harvest with sacrifice. And the Hebrew God, as a singular entity, with a better set of rules for behavior in society. Since the enlightenment, I see God as the Universe, and our part as unraveling the mystery. We work collectively, as well as individually, bringing the truth to light in time, and improving our survival and well-being simultaneously. But in doing so, the broad tapestry of human experience is essential, and each and every one of us has an important role to play - from the nurturing of a newborn by mother and father, to the times of joy and discovery, to practical application of knowledge, to the stone mason placing the stones to create the buildings.. All the workings done in unison.. Ultimately, seeking motivations that bring forth the consistency that makes it all possible, and creates new paths and possibilities for humanity to follow, while maintaining the fruitfulness of civilization. Yet we are also life, not much different from the bird, the frog, the badger, and the deer. And not all that different from the pine trees, the bananas, and even the moss growing in fat little clumps on the roof. All that, in a sphere of a planet floating in space, but still precariously perched in a universe of risk, with giant calderas that could explode and severely alter the climate, rocks that could smash in and change the circumstances in short order. It's amazing we're here at all, given the odds! So, looking at the sheer improbability that any creature could culturally grasp as much as we do, and link communications networks with such success and with such incredible technologies, it's just simply amazing. It's with this realization that I think we are part of something larger; it's almost as though humanity were propelled by the infinite improbability drive, since those are the odds of us having gotten this far..:)

Hmm.. Priuses are ugly and slow? Well, I suppose the colors are rather bland!:laugh3: If it's pickup isn't up to snuff, then we ought to be looking at more power-packing capacitors to allow for a faster acceleration. Unfortunately, one trade off of vehicles is to get better mileage, they generally have to have a lower profile. However, some wind tunnel tests on autos designed to look and mimic the shape of a boxfish, has been looking quite promising, so perhaps the SUV could be re-invented with this natural shape that offers an excellent slip-stream. Lots to learn from nature! I think SUV's are appealing because they offer a higher-up view, and a "sense of command of the terrain" not offered by low-slung cars, as well as large interiors. But, my feeling is that living rooms are where the space is, and riding high shouldn't come at a cost to the planet's ecological future.. I suppose anything's possible if we put our minds to it, so you might have to settle for an auto that looks more like a fish.:P All fringe thinking aside, I think it's pretty clear that by removing huge quantities of stored carbon from the crust (coal, oil, gas, shale) and burning this carbon store in short order, allowing it to enter the biotic sphere of water, air, and organic matter.. it's bound to have an effect. Perhaps not quite the precision forecasting yet, but it's changing the Earth's "balance" no doubt. According to what I've been reading in Scientific American, it may be actually covering over a natural cooling trend; So, perhaps not necessarily all bad, if we could meter down the levels a bit. If the North Atlantic conveyor quits, it could disrupt much of the globe's weather, making Europe cooler as a result! Either way, we seem to be inducing the warming trend, which while offsetting a cooling trend that could have resulted in another ice age, is in the immediate causing ice to melt, seas to rise, etc.

I saw the movie "Sleeper" with Woody Allen once - does that count?:P