Blowing Past Four Hundred

Look at the little widget on the right side of the page, it measures atmospheric carbon dioxide at Mauna Loa in Hawaii where they have been monitoring the level continuously since the 1950's. It is now poised to go over 400 parts per million(ppm), a level not seen on earth in three million years. This should be front page news but because of the well funded merchants of doubt the general public still think there is a debate among scientists about what is the major forcing that is driving climate change.

CO2 is a greenhouse gas. That is simple physics and can be demonstrated by a smart sixth-grader. We have now gone from about 250ppm to 400 in only a hundred and fifty years, but some still think this has no affect on global temperatures. I've got some news for you deniers - nothing else fits the already observed warming EXCEPT forcing by carbon dioxide. If you can prove otherwise I'd love to see it because believe it or not - I WANT TO BE WRONG! I would love nothing better than to see some peer-reviewed science showing that we are not totally screwed as a civilization but right now the vast majority of papers I see point to ecological disaster right around the corner.

Shit, might as well drink a toast. To humanity! We had a good run but we are still just apes with guns.

There's A New Sharrif In Town

The Vikings really scored on the first round of the NFL draft Thursday night. Because of the run on offensive linemen there were some quality players available when the Vikings picked at 23 and 25. The biggest (literally) surprise was that Sharrif Floyd, the big defensive tackle from Florida was sitting there at 23 when he was predicted to go in the top 5 so the Vikings practically sprinted up to the podium to get him. At 25 they got Florida State cornerback Xavier Rhodes, one of the best cornerbacks in the draft.

They weren't done yet, though. They traded three draft picks with the Patriots to move back up to 29 and get Tennessee wide receiver Cordarelle Patterson, a raw but extremely talented receiver who can return kicks and stretch the field. The price was steep but this kid has amazing open field skills.

All in all I think they got three immediate starters and had the best first round of any NFL team. Now they can get a linebacker in the fourth round and add some depth later.

SKOL VIKINGS!!!!!!!!!!

Humanity Just Sucks

Fuck. The worthless fucking congress can't even pass a toothless fucking background check bill with more holes than Swiss cheese.

Nothing is ever going to get done on climate change.

Fuck I hate my species.

Paranoia Strikes Deep

I am getting really sick of hearing from the gun nuts about how background checks are some kind of new government list to come and get their guns. Do they live under a fucking rock? The goddamn government has a fucking file on everyone, even your elderly aunt Millie. If they want to figure out who has guns it would not be hard for them to do. This paranoid bullshit is pissing me off because I think it should be at least as hard to buy a Bushmaster as it is to buy a fucking used Chevy.

End of rant.

Full disclosure: I own two rifles and a shotgun and eat plenty of wild game. These people who claim to speak for gun owners do not speak for me.

A Test Of Poe's Law

OK, which one is real?

First this:

"
Now the state’s “Committee on Energy and Environment” is proposing a law that would prohibit spending on anything that won’t set Kansas on a course to self-destruction. House Bill No. 2366 would ban all state and municipal funds for anything related to “sustainable development,” which it defines as: “development in which resource use aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come."

Now this:

"f Earth's species were meant to change over successive generations through physical modifications resulting from the adaptation to environmental challenges, then God would have given them the genetic predisposition to select mates and reproduce based on their favorable heritable traits and their ability to thrive under changing conditions so that these advantageous qualities would be passed down and eventually encoded into the DNA of each generation of offspring," Olathe public school teacher and creationist Joyce Eckhardt said. "It's just not natural."

Some warn that the strict wording of the law could have a deleterious effect on Kansas' mostly agricultural economy, since it also prohibits all forms of man-made artificial selection, such as plant hybridization, genetic engineering, and animal husbandry. A police raid on an alleged artificial-insemination facility outside McPherson, KS on Friday resulted in the arrest of a farmer, a veterinarian, four assistants, one bull, and several dozen cows.




If this isn't textbook Poe's Law I don't know what could be.




God humans suck.

Thanks Oregon, I Feel So Honored

The state of Oregon has decided to name S. cerevisiae as the official state microbe. I hope to make everyone very happy and to work especially hard making those fine Oregon beers. Being able to eat sugar and piss ethanol makes one very popular.

I should be back to more frequent posts soon - damn real life.