The (subtle) war on Science

Outside of the blatant Anti-Science attacks like Sarah Palin’s War on Science! There are more subtle attacks, a smearing of Science research that undermines Science such as this article; The world’s smelliest magnets I call BS on these sort of studies, any farmer knows that cows face away from the Sun when grazing. No Magnets involved. But the assertion is that this is what constitutes ‘Science’. The attempt is to make a mockery of more Hard Core Scientific Research. Science has a hard enough time getting funding, but to allow anyone to point at magnet cows as an example of ‘Fundamental Scientific Research’ undermines all scientific research. So the next time you muse at a ‘Scientific Study’ of why Men find red-clad women hotter you will know that you are being manipulated against Science.

Defeat McCain with the Truth

While the mud slinging and lies are flying from the GOP, the Obama campaign I’m sure are trying to find a strategy that will nullify the muck flowing from McCain and Palin. This West Wing Clip, while addressing a religious nut job from a talk show, ends with a quote, ‘That is how I will defeat him {my presidential opponent}” and while it’s subtle, it speaks one thing, Obama should defeat McCain and Palin with the truth, with the facts, with honesty, in other words, with everything they are not!.



Medicine and medieval torture

Having a Transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) a Angiogram and a Transesophageal echocardiogram (TOE) in that order over the last three hospital working days, I can truly see that if you have the chance to avoid the hospital, you should make every effort. The medical procedures are more akin to medieval torture than you might believe. It’s a good thing they drug you for the last two of these, as they would be a lot less fun than they sound 😉

And everything else

As we were talking about our cat, my wife mentioned; “What would we do without him”, and I replied “Everything else!” And this brought to mind an old saying that was common when I was in the Navy. “A bitchy sailor, is a happy sailor”. This is more or less what blogging is about, a place and a platform to bitch about things, and as I blog more about politicians and government, I could apply this meaningful cat dialog to my blogging. What would I do without bad politicians and rotten government, why, everything else. Governments could reform health care, cure cancer and fly to the Moon, Mars and the Stars. We could live in peace and have happier lives with our families. And I would have to find another subject to blog about. 😉

Evolution is for optimists

I was watching a program on origins of humanity and realized that while listening to Zeresenay Alemseged, that people who believe in Evolution are optimists. And that brings into perspective those that are trying to suppress and dilute the teaching of evolution in schools both in the U.S. and Europe.

They are pessimists, they are certain that mankind is destined to pass away. That mankind will never get any better. That science or evolution will never better mankind.

For me that makes no sense, no common sense in any case.

Global Warming Scandal

Having watched a program on E4 about the ‘The Global Warming Scandal’ I was gobsmacked, while I believe both sides of the argument tend to cherry pick the data, and that I believe that no-one has yet put all the environmental variables into a proper simulation of the environment (a simulation not a model) There was one point that I got out of this program. That the Africans are being suppressed from exploiting their own resources, coal and oil and that they are being denied their own industrial revolution and western prosperity. That they are forced to rely on unreliable Solar and wind-power for their electricity. And to this I want to rebuke.

First off the example of solar and wind power is presented from one of the worst and most incompetent installations of a solar panel I have ever seen. The presentation indicated that they had only the ability to run a refrigerator or a lightbulb. The first question you should ask is this, why do you need a light bulb in the day, the second is why only one solar panel, and then where is this an example of wind power. A very poor example altogether. But beyond this is another issue, and one that will completely underline the real purpose of this program. Economic viability!

Lets assume that these poorer countries did exploit their resources. The first issue is who will mine their coal, since these countries will either have to borrow money to finance the effort, or that some private firm will exploit this effort. This done, they will have to finance the building of power plants to burn the coal, building them near the major population centers is common. Or they will have to have a private industry build them.

Now one, any loan for these countries will require payment for loans, repayment in what ever resource the country might have, this falls squarely on the one resource that they were intended to exploit for the benefit of the country in question. Building the power generation facilities fall under this same problem.

Two, mining and generation provided by private industries will seek profit. And while mining will provide a re-sellable resource, it’s mostly not going to be profitable selling to the countries that need it. So power plants will either be small, located near large population centers, or non existent. And even if electricity were abundant in the cities, there would never be a power-grid built to supply electrify to this poor medical facility which was used as an example of poor solar installation. Because it would not be profitable! SO this would not solve the energy crisis for this instance.

Beyond this, the likelihood of a single lump of coal ever reaching an African power-plant is nearly zero. As the economics of energy predicates that the most willing to pay, will drive the price. And the western world will always be the ones to pay. This will drive the price of coal beyond the ability of the Africans to buy their own resources back from the mining companies.

Therefore the purpose of this program is to exploit African resources for the western world. Nothing else could be so clear. It completely removes creditability from this program. Forget the scientist’s and experts presented in this program, the underlining meaning is not to preserve the jobs and careers of Global Warming researchers (a poor point as they did not present any wealthy researchers), but to prevent the loss of jobs in the oil, gas and coal energy industries. To prevent any disturbance to the status quo in the wealthiest industry on the planet.

UPDATE:

Royal Society vice-president Sir David Read said: “People should not be misled by those that exploit the complexity of the issue, seeking to distort the science and deny the seriousness of the potential consequences of climate change.

UPDATE 2: ‘No Sun link’ to climate change is another nail in the coffin of this film.

Update 3: it just keeps coming Prominent Skeptics Organizations and their funding sources.

Update 4: The Truth About Global Warming

Windpower and Solar face uphill battle in energy land

In this age when oil and gas, nuclear and coal and turf are being pushed as the ‘Only realistic’ source of energy for the future. The real issue is not that solar and wind power can’t supply the current and future energy requirements. It’s that it can’t supply the energy needs in the same way as is currently provided! A centralized, controlled, and profited by, a central authority or business.

Solar and wind are distributed power sources. Shoe horning solar and wind into the monopoly energy scheme is impractical. This is an example in miniature of what wind energy represents, independence; Handheld windmills. Now I’m not claiming that we need to carry iPods with little windmills attached. What this presents is that this device is independent of the power-grid, the tit we are all used to nurse from.

It is not impossible to supply a few hundred houses from wind, wave or solar power. You just can’t do this by pumping this energy into a national grid. If each community were wired into a local wind, solar or wave system, a community could become independent from the energy monopolist.

And that is also why these resources are never developed, monopolies do not see the profit for themselves, and resist competition from any other alternative.

Centralization is control.

Time for us to seek energy independance. Think Solar wind and wave.

Catholicism moving back into the Dark Ages

Just when you thought that the Catholic church was becoming modern, they take a turn into the Dark Ages when the Pope sacks astronomer over evolution debate. Religious conservatives everywhere must be rejoicing that truth and knowledge will be suppressed. And you wonder the Catholic Church is loosing members. They would rather defend child molesters in their ranks, than a scientist teaching knowledge.

Solar Maximum and Global warming

There may be a glimmer of hope, a slim one, and I can’t say for sure. But as we approach Solar Minimum, the effects of global warming are amplified by the increased intensity of solar thermal output. This current minimum is estimated to be 2007. Minimum Sunspots, maximum thermal output. After 2007 the sun spot activity increases to Solar Maximum So there is hope that global warming will slow down after 2007.
More here. Sun’s Output Increasing in Possible Trend Fueling Global Warming

The Future is how you see it.

I did not graduate from the university with a Computer Science degree, I graduated with a degree in Future Studies. I only got into Computers (as a minor in college) because I was passionate about them, and they were easy. It has also earned me a fair salary over the years. so when I see articles containing “Futurist” I am intrigued, as in this article, which has a universal applicability to such things as Web 2.0, iPods and other technology, economic and social issues.

Twelve Things Journalists Need To Know to be Good Futurist/Foresight Reporters

Can we all say “Common Sense”?

A favorite, particularly good for Web 2.0:

…any futurist who tells you that something is inevitable probably has something to sell

Do Bloggers have a Gene?

A good article about Gene’s and That Wild Streak? Maybe It Runs in the Family. So the argument about Nature vs Nurture is back in the news.

The real question is something more important, is it genetics or the ‘self fulfilling prophecy’! If people Believe they are predisposed to some action, or behavior they will act on that belief whether or not there really is a gene for that social behavior. What if I believe I’m predisposed to mass murder, or worse yet, that I am genetically destined to Blog?

What about freedom of choice? Does that also go by the wayside?

Global Warming Climate Science under attack again

What’s wrong with this picture when science is prohibited from researching global warming, to support a half-baked Idea of a glorious return to the moon?

NASA is canceling or delaying a number of satellites designed to give scientists critical information on the earth’s changing climate and environment…as NASA prioritizes its budget to pay for completion of the International Space Station and the return of astronauts to the moon by 2020 — a goal set by President Bush

A real Inconvenient Truth, the earth will survive without us.

There has been a lot of talking about An Inconvenient Truth (the movie) and how it makes sense to start taking action on environmental concerns. The real inconvenient truth it more frightening. The Earth does not need us to survive! Think about that, for more than a minute, if global warming kills off humanity, and many other species, it won’t kill the earth. It will recover and any remaining animal and plant life left will recover and adapt to the new conditions. What climate change will do, is eliminate humans from the equation. So, with that in mind, the real concerns about the climate, aren’t economic, they are no less than the extinction or preservation of Mankind. That, and any other species we choose to allow to survive with us.

Just remember, the Earth doesn’t care if we are here or not. It was here long before us, and it will continue, with or without, us along for the ride.

IT Media migration

I am reminded that in any information technology as the media changes from papertape, to Hollorith card decks, from 9 track tape to DLT Tape or from any media containing vital information.

It’s important to maintain legacy hardware to prevent the loss of vital data as NASA has discovered.

A lot of the remaining data (more than 19 years of it) were stored on old 7- and 9-track magnetic tapes needed to be saved and converted to modern media.

I was reminded of this as my wife had me checking for dublicate VHS movies against the current selection of DVD’s this weekend 😉

Iran nuclear bomb ‘in 10 years’

Iran nuclear bomb ‘in 10 years’

I could build a nuclear bomb in 10 years, this is like saying that they haven’t made any progress. But I’ll bet the Bush and company will make this out to be a great threat to ‘Freedom and Liberty’ and I see another axis of evil speech coming.

Any, and I do mean ANY physics student at any university could make a nuclear bomb in less than 10 years. And if you are interested, let me know, and I’ll post you some clear instructions.