I’ve heard it a million times: “The sun is going through a cycle and that cycle is making it warmer!” often combined with statements like, “Mars ice caps are melting just like Earth! It is the Sun that is causing increasing global temperatures!”

I’ve always known these arguments to have absolutely no basis in reality, but now I can actually link to a real scientific study regarding solar cycles. It seems that the Sun’s 7-year cycle only varies solar output up and down by 0.07%.

I wonder what the global warming deniers will use to counter this. Judging from past performances, I think we can expect wild speculation and more localized anecdotes, “It was FREEZING here last year! Global warming can’t exist!”

An area of formerly-permanent ice the size of Pakistan melted away from the Arctic between 2004 and 2005. For comparison, historical data shows that the Arctic has been losing about 0.7% of ice per year (starting around the time of the industrial revolution, how odd). That is 18 times the previous rate.

Why is this bad? Because arctic ice reflects the sun’s energy back into space. Open water absorbs the sun’s energy and increases the rate of global warming.

link

I recently came across two petitions that I felt were worthy of my signature:

• Freedom First’s Separation of Church and State petition

• DefCon’s Real American Values petition

  Both are in regards to keeping religion out of American politics. There really is nothing more un-American than mixing religion and the state. Faith-based initiatives are a form of oppression against the non-religious. Forcibly taking citizen money and distributing it to religious causes is nothing short of tyranny.

  What most people don’t seem to realize is just how much of a slippery slope this is. How would you feel if you were a Protestant Christian and the government started giving your tax dollars away to only Catholic organizations? How much power do you think the government will hold over religious institutions if it now can threaten them with taking away their funding? Separation of church and state works both ways. As Samuel James Ervin Jr.. once said:

  “Political freedom cannot exist in any land where religion controls the state, and religious freedom cannot exist in any land where the state controls religion.”

Well, this happens…

Residents of two villages in Gansu province’s Hui county were said to be seeking hospital treatment after blood tests showed high levels of lead. Air-born pollution from a nearby smelter was the suspected cause, Chinese and Hong Kong newspapers said.

Oops! Next time a hard core libertarian/anarchist tells you that “market forces” will ensure the preservation of the environment, tell them to go drink some of the water in Gansu.

What’s even worse is that the news didn’t break until villagers left town to get treatment. The local “officials” were probably personally profiting from the continued operation of the smelter…

But regional newspaper the Huashang Daily said residents were travelling to Xian in neighbouring Shaanxi province for treatment because local officials insisted they were fine.

What’s a few hundred (or thousand) people’s lives when you stand to make a buck? It reminds me of a quote by Upton Sinclair:

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.”

Unlike Bird Flu, this is a very real, deadly serious imminent threat to the health of the world:

Extreme drug resistant TB (XDR TB) has been seen worldwide, including in the US, Eastern Europe and Africa.

Even worse…

In Kwazulu-Natal, in South Africa, 53 patients were found with XDR TB. Of these, 52 died within 25 days, and 44 of the 53 had been tested for HIV and were all found to be HIV positive. [Dr Nunn] said XDR TB could have a bigger impact on developing nations, including Africa, because of the prevalence of HIV.

Very scary.

Today’s big news appears to be that a Huge Oil Find in the Gulf of Mexico that could increase the U.S. oil reserves 50%.

With headlines like that, you’d think that this would be one hell of a discovery! Well, it isn’t. Here’s the numbers:

• The wildest speculation I could find says that this “huge oil find” may hold about 15 billion barrels of oil and natural gas (assuming that all that was found was a tiny corner of it).
• The U.S. currently consumes about 8 billion barrels of oil a year.
• This mega-well could, in wild speculative dreams, hold about a two-year supply.
• This is the largest oil find in the past decade.
• This find could increase the world’s proven oil reserves by 0.01% (to 1294.5 billion barrels).
• World-wide oil consumption for 2005 was about 30.8 billion barrels.

• World oil consumption increases by about 1.4% per year

The famous Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin, has died

He was a very stout naturalist and promoted conservation and care with nature in every one of his television appearances and documentaries. He was also instrumental in the success and expansion of the Australia Zoo.

He will be missed.

I was just perusing the news and found this story at the BBC reporting that infectious diseases are starting to migrate into Europe as a result of global warming. Essentially, as the earth warms up it extends the habitat of many disease-carrying creatures (e.g. malaria-carrying insects).

While that in itself is problematic, the article had even more troubling information: As global warming creates drought and famine, it forces the migration of people and any diseases they might carry.

The researchers also believe that infectious diseases borne by humans, such as TB and HIV, are likely to spread more widely as people migrate to escape drought and other effects of climate change.

I’m starting to think that the promise of $0.50/kilowatt won’t just provide economic relief. It could save a great many lives.

I just came across a petition to Wal-Mart to stop selling the Bible (aka the “Holy Bible”). “What the heck?” Well, in case you were unaware, Wal-Mart has a long history of refusing to sell products that it deems offensive. It only seems logical that the Bible would fall under this policy.

Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t see anything wrong with selling the Bible. I’m vehemently against censorship. However, I’m also pro-consistency and I can’t stand hypocrisy, religious discrimination, and institutionalized favoritism. Especially from an organization that wields so much power in the U.S.

I signed the petition. Why? Because the Bible is probably the most offensive and hateful book Wal-Mart sells. Here’s an example from the petition (just for fun, you can follow along in your own Bible if you have one):

In Leviticus 24:16 the Bible demands: “Anyone who blasphemes the name of the LORD must be put to death. The entire assembly must stone him.” See also 2 Chron 15:12-13 and Deut 13:12-16. In the “New Testament” of the Bible, the man known as Jesus also condemns all unbelievers.

Surely such text is more offensive than John Stewart’s book, “America” which Wal-Mart recently banned from its shelves.

I just finished reading “a Sydney Morning Herald article” about the state of religion in Australia. Apparently it is on the decline:

“Increasing numbers of people are looking for the intellectual content in religion. If they find intellectual flaws in it, obviously they start to look at it as superstitious and ancient stories rather than being something of divine origin.”

That’s a quote in the article from Keysar Trad, a fellow at the Islamic Friendship Foundation. Here’s another interesting blurb, the money quote:

The study, The Spirit of Generation Y, found just 48 per cent of Generation Y, defined as those being born between 1976 and 1990, believed in a god.

52 percent? How did they pull that off? I’d be happy with 20 percent in the U.S., but we seem to be hovering around 9.

I was curious about other major dissimilarities between the U.S. and Australia so I had a look at NationMaster. Here’s some of the more interesting statistics:

• Australia has twice as many plastic surgery procedures per captia
• The U.S. spends twice as much on healthcare
• The U.S. teenage pregnancy rate per capita is more than twice as high as Australia
• Australia is 6% happier than the U.S.
• Australia is #1 in charity group volunteers at 18% of the population. The U.S. is #2 with 15%
• Australia is #1 in educational group volunteers at 25% (wow). The U.S. is #2 at 16%
• The U.S. is #1 in political party involvement (volunteer) at 12%. Dwarfing Australia which is #6 at 3%
• The U.S. has more people who think their neighbors are emotionally unstable: 47% VS 38%
• The U.S. has way more cable TV subscribers
• U.S. citizens watch an average of 6 more hours of television per week

• The U.S. divorce rate is almost double that of Australia

  Note: It is impossible to know whether these are symptoms, causes, or absolutely meaningless =). However, I suspect elevated television viewing is a large factor.