The Rich Wasp

In a story about John Edwards and his affair with Rielle Hunter in which he quotes the National Enquirer, Roger L. Simon closes with this paragraph:

Oh, one last thing, for those of you who say it’s The National Enquirer, how do we know it’s true? I suggest you Google the “National Enquirer and OJ Simpson.” They broke most of the important stories on that case. In general, these days they’re vastly more reliable than The New York Times.

It has to hurt when someone slams “the paper of record” by saying that the most famous supermarket tabloid is more reliable.  Even worse, it’s the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Glenn Reynolds linked to a Guardian article which has a disturbing quote:

James Hansen, one of the world’s leading climate scientists, will today call for the chief executives of large fossil fuel companies to be put on trial for high crimes against humanity and nature, accusing them of actively spreading doubt about global warming in the same way that tobacco companies blurred the links between smoking and cancer.

I think that there are three factors which could explain the rise in temperature measured from 1970 to 2000 and only one of those is human causation due to greenhouse gas emissions.  The other two factors are changes in the output of the sun and the heat island effect.  There have been climate changes which were clearly not caused by man.  There was a warming period from 900 AD to 1300 AD and a little ice age in the 18th Century.  If you measure the temperature in a grassy field and in an adjacent parking lot, one would reasonably expect the grassy field to give a lower temperature reading than the one from the parking lot.  That we tend to measure temperatures in developed areas that are growing should naturally cause the temperature reading to slowly rise.

I am not stating that human caused global warming is not happening.  I am speculating that it may be happening at a somewhat lower rate than the alarmists say is happening.  The alarmists are proposing drastic changes to deal with the problem.  If the problem is not as severe as they insist it is, then we have time to take a much less drastic solution to the problem.

I believe we should care about the environment, and that a healthy environment is an important thing.  However I believe a healthy economy is also an important thing.  Many of the policies demanded by the global warming alarmists have powerful negative economic consequences.

I’m glad nobody reads this blog, because if they did, people like Hansen would be accusing me of crimes against humanity for daring to question their credibility.  The severity of global warming should be open to scientific debate.  The religious fervor with which Hansen and others demonize their critics suggests to me that that the debate has gone from a scientific one to a religious one.

This blog is going to be filled with whatever I feel like saying at the time.  Generally the topics will be about politics and current events.  However the topic may shift elsewhere if I feel so inclined.

A few things about me.  While I am a white male of primarily Anglo-Saxon descent and attend a Protestant church when I don’t sleep in on Sunday mornings, I’m not the stereotypical WASP by any means.  For example, I’m more Native American than Ward Churchill.  My best friend is an Irish Catholic who’s even more Native American than I am.

The only people who would call me rich are leftist politicians.  My wife and I have an annual income that is a five digit number, and our net worth is another five digit number.  We are unapologetically looking to make both numbers grow.

If you haven’t figured out, my sense of humor is both snarky and sarcastic.

You are welcome to disagree with what I have to say, but if you are rude or profane, I reserve the right to delete your comments.  While you do have a First Amendment right to say almost anything, that doesn’t mean you have a right to say it in the comments section of my blog.