Guest Blogger Ready to Debate Al Gore

By
Jay Pelzer
Guest Blogger

The "writer" (me) had done a "rational gathering of facts." The most recent (updated since my blog) numbers I could find are at: Global Temperature Report: June 2008 As you can plainly see, all the temperatures are either at, or below the 20 year average. If you wish to go check the NOAA, NASA and UAH numbers, you will find that the temperatures are now below the 2,000 year average. Since Al Gore's Jan 2006 prediction that we have "Only 10 years left.....," the global temperature has dropped 0.6 degrees C. (During which period we have had record usage of fossil fuels ... and record sized forest fires in America and Australia.)

The globe is cooler than it was at anytime between 550 and 1200 AD. In June of 2008 it was cooler than it had been since Jan 2000. But, you can bet it is going to go up again sometime. And then it is going to go back down again ... just as it has for 2,000 years.

If Al Gore is so sure of his facts, why won't he debate representatives from the other side of the argument? John Coleman, founder of the Weather Channel, has a couple of thousand PhD's behind his side. Lord Moncton, with the support of the American Physical Society (APS .... possibly the world's most renown group of physicists), has challenged Gore to an international debate on the issue. Why isn't Gore taking any of the challenges so convert the "nonbelievers?" Instead, he leaves his "20 times the national average carbon footprint" house in his SUV. Goes to the airport to get into his private jet to fly to his destination airport where he is picked up by a limousine. Then he drives off to preach to his choir.

If Gore truly believes what he says, why doesn't he have like just a 9 or 10,000 square foot house? Drive a Prius or other hybrid? Fly commercial. And try to convert the disbelievers? Why was his Nobel Prize for peace, and NOT for science? (Oh, there's no "peer review" for a peace prize!)

Thankfully, "S ... With Ardent Veracity," you did come up with the honest answer to the question about what SUV's and air conditioners did the cave men use to end the ice age?" : NONE! But the globe got warmer and the Ice Age ended. Go figure.

So far, Al Gore's 2006 prediction is doing about as well as Ted Dansen's 1987 prediction that the oceans would be "dead" within 10 years.

Note from the Santa Fe Mother Blogger: Do you agree? Let me hear from you.

Rush Limbaugh Okays Edward’s Cheatin’ Heart

Trusting and loving your partner in marriage is one of those things that can rip apart a heart when the trust is broken.

Marriage is an institution that can bring so much joy, comfort and misery than any other institution I've experienced. I'm comfortable discussing matrimony's state since I'm on my third set of vows.

We can't help but notice that the far right is pro-marriage as long as it's man and woman. But that's not what this blog is about. Yesterday the far right water carrier, Rush Limbaugh, slipped up and told the truth about himself and maybe his ditto heads when he said,

"We've been told that Elizabeth Edwards is smarter than John Edwards.  That's part of the puff pieces on them that we've seen.  Ergo, if Elizabeth Edwards is smarter than John Edwards, is it likely that she thinks she knows better than he does what his speeches ought to contain?  And what kind of things he ought to be doing strategy wise in a campaign?  If she is smarter than he is, could it have been her decision to keep going with the campaign? 

In other words, could it be that she doesn't shut up?  Now, that's as far as I'm going to go…It just seems to me that Edwards might be attracted to a woman—whose mouth did something other than talk."

Are you disgusted or do you think it's funny?

I wasn't in cancer treatment or just out of treatment like Elizabeth Edwards was while her meandering ass of a spouse was doing his thing with whomever. (Quick note, spouse #3, was my strength and blessed one while I was in cancer treatment.) However, once upon a time when I was not in good circumstances, an earlier spouse wandered from our bed into another's. I cannot express the lasting anguish that followed me for decades. At a time when I needed my husband more than ever (and Elizabeth Edwards needed hers more than ever), he was busying himself with another woman-women. Why? Because he could, and as other's have stated, like Limbaugh, maybe I should have taken "better care" of my husband.

My friends (sorry about that McCainism), this is bull crap.

May I recommend to those considering joining Club Wed, think seriously about that "in sickness and in health" business. If that doesn't really work for you, stay single.

 

Stop the Name Calling Now

Police Say Church Gunman Hated Liberals

By DUNCAN MANSFIELD

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (July 28) -- An unemployed man accused of opening fire with a shotgun and killing two people at a Unitarian church apparently targeted the congregation out of hatred for its liberal social policies, police said Monday...It appears that what brought him to this horrible event was his lack of being able to obtain a job, his frustration over that and his stated hatred of the liberal movement," Knoxville Police Chief Sterling Owen IV said at a news conference.

"Aw you liberals just hate America"

"We liberals love America. We just hate goosestepping fascists bastards like you pretending to be Americans."

"Feminism was established to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream."

Name calling; hateful assumptions: Probably part of the toxicity that so poisoned yesterday's liberal hating, unemployed Knoxville man into his killing rage.

When we hear a pastor call another religion "The Great Whore," when liberal pundits refer to our current leaders as "liars and murderers," or even Nazis, or when the other side slashes opponents of their thought with words like "faggot," "dunderhead alarmists," this smarmy talk is just the nasty little ticket to trigger violent reactions by the less stable among us.

It's time to be civil in church, on the road, and in the grocery store, America. We've fallen from grace into a tarred pit of insults and entitlements.

 

Cell Phone Challenged or Communication Overloaded?

When I'm out of town daughters call me with explicit instructions:

1) Turn your cell phone on.
2) At end of day, charge your cell phone.
3) Next day, turn your cell phone on.
4) At end of day, charge your cell phone.
5) Repeat #1 and #2 until you have a land line.

They are not being smart asses. It's known that I am cell-phone challenged. It may have something to do with the looming 6-0. It may have more to do with the fact that I've answered so many useless and annoying phone calls throughout my telephone-life, that I just don't give one happy crap about having one more bell demanding response.


I don't 'hate' cell phones. They are remarkable pieces of technology, but insidious beasts at the same time. You won't catch me without my cell--mostly. However, it may not have any juice left in it, or it's likely turned off because I thought I had it turned on. Whatever!

Santa Fe satirist, Jim Terr just posted LAY YOUR CELL PHONE DOWN on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRuVgfYcHRM

I think more of us than not will go, right on, bro!

Honestly, when I was the youthful one, I could not wait to get a phone call from a BFF, or a guy! There was nothing like that crackled-testosteronish voice asking, "Is this Charmaine?" Back then I had my own pink princess phone in my bedroom--but it was the family phone line. Nature controlled my volume of calls. Today, I have at least five different telephone numbers,and five email addresses. It's communication overload. Yeah, that's the ticket.

A Not-So Nice World—But Maybe That’s Okay

Another SIXOHDEAR candidate and guest blogger, Ken Meddock of Irvine, CA, took some serious thought about the state of our planet and us as humans. It's a different point of view, and your Santa Fe Mother Blogger encourages you to read and respond.

 

 

By

Ken Meddock

 

I suppose an argument can be made that 5000 years ago the earth was a nicer place to live in. You could drink the water in most streams that you ran across, the air was nice and clean (maybe a little smoky if you sat too close to the fire), there were no landfills to speak of, and we didn't use any of the natural resources that surrounded us that were not self replicating, I suppose because we didn't know how to. Every person, all around the world, used only his or her proportionate share of the resources that we did know how to use. Not like those nasty Americans today that use up 25% of the world's resources while only making up 5% of the world's population.
 

Now we live in a world not so nice. The average lifespan has more than tripled. We spend about a quarter of our time working, a third of our time resting, and the rest of our time playing. Plus, most of the time we are warm when it's cold outside. Cool when it's hot outside. Whereas we can't drink out of streams anymore, the water we do drink is delivered to our feet and won't make us sick. Nor will the food.

 
 

Those other parts of the world that make up 5% of the world's population, and use only 5% or less of the world's natural resources are called Somalia, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Bolivia, Solomon Islands, Congo, Sudan, Angola, Guatemala, and 50 others I could name. And you know what? They all want to use up more of their resources. After all, it's not like America is the only place on earth that has natural resources. Every place has resources.

 
 

But we have something they don't have--a democracy and a free market system. Certainly corrupt in many instances (but at least we can weed them out when we find them) but still free enough to allow hard workers to succeed and non workers to fail. (The right to fail is a cornerstone in a free market system.)

 
 

But if you live in one of the countries above, you're screwed. You can't weed out the criminals when they're the leaders of the Country. (And if any of you dare say or think that Bush is a criminal, shame on you.)

 
 

Now having said all this, could we be nicer, of course we could. But we have demonstrated that we are the most generous nation to have ever taken up space on the planet. And it is only through our continued use of our resources, natural and otherwise, that will allow that prosperity to continue and to be shared around the world, at least by those that want it.

 
 

 
 

Parental Care-Giving: A Common Challenge Today

Cathy Rudy of Santa Fe is today's SIXOHDEAR guest blogger. Cathy is a local businesswoman. We used to lunch regularly, but her life has changed over the years as her mother requires more care than before.

 

This issue of parental care-giving is one that I will not have to face, however, so many of us must.

 

 

By Cathy Rudy

 

I still have several years to go before I reach SIXOHDEAR, but the stress of being a caregiver makes me feel like I am already one hundred and SIXOHDEAR. 

 
 

A few months ago I went to Kohl's and bought a new throw rug to put at our front door.  It was on sale, but rang up even less than I was expecting.  I looked at the register screen and saw they had given me the senior discount, since it was Tuesday or something.  I asked how old you had to be for the senior discount and the young girl would not give me a specific age.  She just said she noticed my gray hair and thought she should give it to me.  I would have said I didn't deserve it, but since she was not giving me a specific age, I could not prove it.

 
 

A few weeks ago I stopped at McDonald's and ordered some chicken nuggets and a drink (I need comfort food in all shapes and forms!)  The young girl rang it up, then glanced at me, and said "oh," hit a bunch more keys and the total went down.  Later I looked at my receipt and saw she had charged me for a "senior drink."

 
 

The best though was when I went to Albertson's and happened to be there on the day they give senior discounts.  This saved me almost $10.  Again I asked how old you had to be to get the discount, and the answer was nonspecific. The youngin threw out a couple numbers, all of which were higher than my current physical age.  Again, I would have said I was younger than that, but it was already a done deal, and I figured for all the times Albertson's has overcharged me for *sale* items, maybe this was a way to make us even.

 
 

I did not ask for any of these discounts, but apparently I look like I deserve them.  Maybe I do, maybe there is some benefit from growing older, but they do not outweigh the parts that are not fun.  At least not as far as I can see in my 89-year-old mother, or in myself since taking on the responsibility of caring for her.  Tomorrow I have an appointment to get her hair cut and colored, and while I am there, I will be making an appointment for myself.  Maybe we will both feel younger.

 

A Rebuttal to “Cause & Effect” Blog by Guest Blogger

 
 

I am shocked that someone with such high education equates "SUV's and air conditioners the cavemen were using to end the Ice Age". I would have trusted that a higher education and a greater trail of experience than the average Joe would dictate rational gathering of facts, ability to digest those facts, and the lost art of stating a factual summarization.

 

Maybe I should not take the writer's question literally. If so, maybe I should not take this particular blog seriously. Was the writer trying to make a point? In making a point, did the writer selectively use a statistical oxymoron with a purpose? Maybe ALL the statistics should have been introduced to us readers so we could have realistically evaluated this blog. Maybe the writer is a person who just wants to get people thinking about a real problem. Maybe he is an environmentalist in disguise. Maybe the writer is a person who really does not want to make a decision on what facts are real and what facts are not. Maybe part of the problem is that he chooses to believe in selected facts. Maybe by using name calling, the writer hopes he will snag someone who will argue with him. If so, I wish him luck.

 
 

I will step up and answer his question as to "what SUV's and air conditioners the cavemen were using to end the Ice Age." The answer is none. 

 
 

Having said this, no one is really disputing that there is global warming going on. Global warming is a problem.  There is a fundamental approach to problem solving. All problems have a solution. Sometimes the solution is to, for the moment; lessen the load of the problem until a solution can be found. Sometimes this in itself will eventually solve the problem. I want to put forth an effort. I DON'T want to look back and say I should have seen this coming but "there was NO logical reason" why the Exxon Valdez should NOT have traveled into pristine waters.

 
 

The Writer's article has not disappointed me. Thank you Writer. Your article has "caused" me to try to have an "effect" on global warming, no matter how small a percentage my individual effort will contribute.

 
 

I want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.  So, I will put my energies into an effort not an argument.

With Ardent Veracity….S