Why Al Gore Shouldn't Run For President

First of all, congratulations to Al Gore for winning the Nobel. With that said, PLEASE don't run for President! Why you ask? Well, it's the very thing he won the Nobel for, the environment!

Whether you agree with him or not, he has brought a great deal of attention to this topic. After all, Galileo took a lot of criticism for contradicting Aristotle. Eventually, the geocentric mentality went bye bye. Mainly because Galileo didn't give up doing what he was doing, and that is why Al Gore shouldn't give up doing what he is doing. And while I would vote for him, since I did once already, I am afraid that the issue of the environment will get lost if he were to get elected.

The environment is a big enough issue for Al Gore to deal with by itself, he doesn't need to get involved in the mess known as the United States Congress! Besides, they are too busy going after political pundits!

The NASA Two Step

This is why politicizing agencies is not in the best interest of the American people. I bet you can pick out the statement by the political nominee from that of the NASA scientist.

Even "moderate additional" greenhouse emissions are likely to push Earth past "critical tipping points" with "dangerous consequences for the planet,"

Or

"I have no doubt that a trend of global warming exists, I am not sure that it is fair to say that it is a problem we must wrestle with."

Is Harriet Meyers leading NASA now?

Hot Springs On Mars?

The Mars rover, Spirit, has come across soil that scientists say may suggest the presence of hot springs on Mars. Yet another find from the rovers that suggest life may have existed on Mars once.

Creation Or Evolution?

Christopher Hitchens was on FOX NEWS with Sean Hannity and they were discussing Hitchens' new book, "God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything". In part of the interview, the discussion goes to creation v. evolution. One of Hannity's points was that if you believe in evolution, you have to believe it created itself, that there was no starting point. He references God as that starting point for creation. But the question that I have is, who created God? If the problem some have with evolution is that there is no one who created energy, then are we to make the same assumption about creation because no one can explain where God came from?

If we use Ockham's razor theory and "agree" that the beginning of both creation and evolution leave people wanting more, what makes more sense? A mysterious man in the clouds made things the way they are? Or that the force of nature and energy created it?

New Habitable Planet?

Scientists have discovered a new planet that they say meet the requirements to be considered habitable. No big deal you say? After all, Mars fits into that category. Well this planet is a first for one very big reason.

(SF Gate/AP) For the first time astronomers have discovered a planet outside our solar system that is potentially habitable, with Earth-like temperatures, a find researchers described Tuesday as a big step in the search for "life in the universe."

And it's only 120 trillion miles away. Did I hear somebody say, "Road Trip"!

SCOTUS Tells EPA To Act On CO2

In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the EPA has authority to regulate CO2 because,

(LA Times) In its ruling, the Supreme Court agreed that global warming represented a different kind of air pollution problem. Gases such as carbon dioxide, once released into the atmosphere, "act like a ceiling of a greenhouse, trapping solar energy and retarding the escape of reflected heat," the court said.

The majority opinion, written by Justice John Paul Stevens, said that under the Clean Air Act, the EPA was required to regulate the emission of "any air pollutant" that was likely "to endanger public health or welfare."

He said the word "welfare" was defined broadly to include "effects on the climate and weather."

In scolding the EPA for not moving to regulate greenhouse gases, he said the emissions fit well within the law's definition of air pollutants and that the agency had "the statutory authority to regulate the emission of such gases from new motor vehicles."

However, he does say that the EPA can "avoid" taking action on CO2 and greenhouse gases if they are proven not to contribute to climate change. I wonder what Bush and the loopy Sen. Inhofe will come up with in response to this?

Total Lunar Eclipse This Weekend

It is supposed to start at 2:18pm CST with the total eclipse happening at 4:44 pm CST

Evolution Happening Before Our Eyes

I was going to put this in Today's Strange News, but I think it is a little too important for that. Chimpanzees in Africa have been observed making and using spears to hunt prey.

(WaPo) Using their hands and teeth, the chimpanzees were repeatedly seen tearing the side branches off long, straight sticks, peeling back the bark and sharpening one end, the researchers report in Thursday's online issue of the journal Current Biology. Then, grasping the weapon in a "power grip," they jabbed into tree-branch hollows where bush babies — small monkeylike mammals — sleep during the day.

After stabbing their prey repeatedly, they removed the injured or dead animal and ate it, the researchers reported in yesterday's online issue of the journal Current Biology.

The use of sticks by Chimps isn't a new phenomenon according to scientists, it's the fact that they are now using them to hunt that is creating the interest.

The new observations are "stunning," said Craig Stanford, a primatologist and professor of anthropology at the University of Southern California. "Really fashioning a weapon to get food — I'd say that's a first for any non-human animal."

Oh shit, there goes the planet!

Climate Change Coming To A Glacier Near You

The largest tropical glacier, Qori Kalis in Peru, could lose 50% of it's mass over the next 12 months and be completely gone in five years. Initially the rate of retreat for the glacier was about six meters a year, now it is somewhere around 60 meters a year.

January 2007 Hottest Ever

Climate change with a dash of El Nino made January 2007 was the hottest January ever recorded!

25 Million Year Old Frog Found

This reminds me of Jurassic Park.

What's With Texas?

Why does Texas produce so many anti-science people? Pick your topic and Texas will tell you why the science is wrong and the bible is right. But this one takes the cake, the Chairman of the Texas House Appropriations Committee, Warren Chisum, doesn't believe that the planets revolve around the Sun, but rather the Sun revolves around the Earth. That's right, Mr. Chisum thinks Copernicus was wrong. Where does it stop with these religious nuts?

NIDA Edits Wiki Entry

Is it proper for a government agency to edit Wikipedia to push an agenda, while deleting anything that questions that agenda? Well that is what exactly what happened.

(The Politico) In late August, someone with an IP address that originated from the National Institutes of Health drastically edited the Wikipedia entry for the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which operates within NIH. Wikipedia determined the edit to be vandalism and automatically changed the definition back to the original. On Sept. 18, the NIH vandal returned, according to a history of the site's edits posted by Wikipedia. This time, the definition was gradually changed, presumably to avoid the vandalism detector.

If they would have had proper software or knew how to hide their ip address, would they have gotten away with it?

Crazy Parent Has Inconvenient Truth Banned

A parent in a school district in suburban Seattle has stopped the showing of Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth. I understand the idea of teaching all sides of something, but when your reasoning for not having your child watch the film is "judgment day", you lose all credibility.

"No you will not teach or show that propagandist Al Gore video to my child, blaming our nation -- the greatest nation ever to exist on this planet -- for global warming," Hardiman wrote in an e-mail to the Federal Way School Board. The 43-year-old computer consultant is an evangelical Christian who says he believes that a warming planet is "one of the signs" of Jesus Christ's imminent return for Judgment Day.

I guess his propaganda is okay. So what kind of balance is he looking for? How does he explain balance?

Before the board meeting started Tuesday night, several residents buttonholed Larson and asked him if there should be a "balanced" presentation of the Nazi Holocaust, because there are many who deny that it occurred.

"The Holocaust happened," Larson said. "We have evidence and photos. The difference between the Holocaust and the global warming is we don't have photos of what will happen 50 years from now."

Not for nothing, but where are the photos and evidence of his savior?

Evangelicals Take Up Global Warming Fight

To say I am shocked is an understatement. But a group of evangelicals has joined scientists in urging the government to get serious about global warming.

(Seattle Times) "God will judge us for destroying the creation. Therefore, we as evangelicals have a responsibility to be even more vigilant than others," Cizik said. "Science can be an ally in helping us understand what faith is telling us," he said. "We will not allow the creation to be degraded, destroyed by human folly."

Chivian said: "There is no such thing as a Republican or Democrat, a liberal or conservative, a religious or secular environment."

Hopefully now they can work on a consistent "pro"-life policy.

Lettuce Also Blamed For Taco John's E. coli Outbreak

Just like with Taco Bell, lettuce is to blame for the E. coli outbreak in the Midwest at Taco John's.

(SF Gate) State and federal investigators said they have matched the strain of the bacteria associated with the outbreak to two samples taken from dairy farms in California's Central Valley. The farms are located near lettuce fields, the Food and Drug Administration said.

Investigators continue to study whether bacteria-laden manure from the dairy farms could have contaminated the nearby lettuce-growing areas, the FDA said. The FDA said other sources of contamination were possible.

I am beginning to think that genetically engineered food wouldn't be a bad idea.

Shuttle To Make White Sands Landing?

If so it would be only the second time that a shuttle landed in the desert.Why you ask?

(USA Today) A combination of tight schedules and bad luck conspires to make a White Sands landing more likely than in other years. Bad weather is forecast Friday for both the shuttle's primary landing site at Florida's Kennedy Space Center and the backup site at California's Edwards Air Force Base. Good weather is forecast for White Sands.

Isn't it funny that the of all the things the shuttle can encounter in space, that rain and bad weather seem to be the cause of so many problems?

Water Flowing On Mars?

New pictures of Mars suggest that water has been flowing out of some craters.

(Guardian)Researchers have previously found evidence that ancient lakes once dotted the Martian landscape, and vast quantities of water ice are known to be locked up in sheets of permafrost at the planet's frigid poles. But this is the first evidence that liquid water, crucial to nurture life, might still be found on the planet today.

Nasa scientists compared pictures of the Martian landscape taken between 1999 and 2006 and looked for signs of recent changes on the surface. They identified two craters where light streaks suggested water had erupted from the walls and poured down the slopes, leaving mineral deposits for hundreds of metres.

Y2K Back For NASA?

Or should I say Y2K + 7? And these are the people we are going to trust to build a moon base?

Moon Bases By 2024

And you thought property in Manhattan was expensive? What do you think 2,000 sq ft will cost you on the moon?

(Chi Trib)The new lunar plan recalls NASA's Apollo era, when six missions landed on the moon between 1969 and 1972. But unlike Apollo and its lunar lander, the new space transport being developed--the Ares I rocket and Orion capsule--will have a lander designed for reuse and to serve as a kind of pickup truck, according to Horowitz. The plan calls for development of a pressurized moon rover that would allow astronauts to ride around the moon without wearing cumbersome spacesuits

Good luck finding a parking spot too!