We are fast becoming environmentally-minded misguided missiles, captivated by some green package, truck, or environmental business name.   In the name of the environment, we actually do many things that are destructive to it.   This, all for a molecule that has no statistical relationship with temperature.  With increased CO2, temperatures historically have gone down as well as up.    The alarmism over CO2 began in earnest in 1976, when the Pacific Ocean switched from its periodic cold cycle to a warm one.   In a 3 year period, Alaska’s average state temperature rose by 6 degrees, but you’re told that the Arctic … Continue reading Misguided Missiles

I know!  Central American nations have scads of people eager and dying (literally) to come to the United States, and we have a bunch of basketball players and other ingrates who think that the republic is filled with privileged white racists who all conspire to oppress everyone else.  Let’s swap.  We’ll be better off, but I’m not so sure about Honduras and Guatemala.  The spoiled brats won’t have to worry about us evil white people hurting their feelings anymore, just murderous drug gangs, tin-pot dictators, and hopeless poverty.  That’s a fair trade, right? While we’re at it, perhaps the Black … Continue reading Random Thoughts, Swap Meet Edition

It’s ironic that the ETSU basketball team has chosen to kneel in protest of 400 years of white suppression, especially when all but two of the players come from outside East Tennessee and probably know little of its history.   So, if such protests are to be made, it seems quite proper to note some historical facts concerning why such a demonstration is ill-founded in this area.   Although Tennessee was considered a Confederate state, East Tennessee was decidedly 70% pro-Union, even supplying soldiers to the Union states, operating the Underground Railroad here to free slaves to the North, publishing … Continue reading Stand Up and Be Counted

As I write, the Senate has just voted to acquit former President Trump, and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has delivered a blistering speech denouncing Trump for his actions leading up to and during the Stop the Steal riot.  Both well and good. McConnell made a strong case that, since Trump is no longer President, he could not be impeached, while acknowledging that both sides of that dispute have strong arguments.  I’m not convinced by either.  Impeachment isn’t a criminal proceeding, it’s a political proceeding, and it would seem that the wording in the Constitution is purposefully vague for that reason.  … Continue reading Trump Deserves Censure

In 1848 the United States was preoccupied with wrapping up the war against Mexico, hordes of settlers moving west, destitute Europeans pouring across the Atlantic, and the issue of slavery approaching a rolling boil.  Not that it paid much attention to Europe, anyway, and practically none to Asia; the nation followed George Washington’s advice and avoided foreign entanglements. Which may explain why we Americans know so little about the events that shook Europe in 1848.  Revolutions broke out from one end of the continent to the other.  The specific grievances in each country were so diverse that it’s hopeless trying … Continue reading 1848 – History is Rhyming

Joe Biden has been a busy man, having issued a bunch of executive orders since being inaugurated.  How many?  I lost count, but when your cheerleaders at the New York Times are telling you to slow down, you can bet it’s a lot. Now, if you ask me, executive rule by pen and phone is unconstitutional, but nobody asked me.  Until someone with standing challenges it and spends a decade or so in the courts, leading up to the Supreme Court telling the President to cool it, executive orders can be expected to multiply. It’s the consequence of a closely-divided … Continue reading Go On, Joe, I Dare You

Liberal misdirection concerning climate has developed into a major art form.   Natural warming is intentionally conflated with manmade.   In 2006 we had 10 years to solve the climate crisis, now it’s 9 more years, and in 2030 it will be 2040.   Meanwhile, the world’s oceans will return to their periodic cool state and prove them wrong.   Today, data involving sea level rise, runaway temperatures, climate theory, etc., have all been proven incorrect, but the unsuspecting public is unaware.  A recent letter argued incorrectly about record Arctic heat when it’s been warmer before, CO2 residence times of … Continue reading Liberal Inconsistencies on Climate Change

Glass is a marvelous material.  Its discovers in ancient Egypt thought it was magic; because they had almost no understanding of how it came to be, it was considered a jewel as valuable as gold and gems.  Now it’s commonplace, but at the same time, irreplaceable.  We’re surrounded by it in our homes, in our cars, and at work; how different these places and things would be without the transparency that glass provides.  Nearly indissoluble, nearly impenetrable, chemically inert and cheap, it’s still the material of choice for bottling and storing a wide variety of materials.  In the high-tech form … Continue reading Leather, Steel, Stone, Glass

“You keep using that word.  I do not think it means what you think it means.” -Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride As every civilized person knows, The Princess Bride is the greatest movie ever made.  But we can discuss that another time. Whenever things don’t go his way, which is often, the evil Vizzini exclaims “Inconceivable!”.  Finally, the swordsman Montoya, befuddled by Vizzini’s befuddlement, says, “You keep using that word.  I do not think it means what you think it means.”  Interesting how a fairy tale – and that’s what The Princess Bride is – captures in one funny line a … Continue reading I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means