Not Islamist Enough

Life really does immitate art.

Did anyone happen to notice, last week, the goings on in Gaza? It seems the Islamist "Warriors of God" group rose up against Islamist Hamas, accusing them of "not being Islamist enough".

It reminds me of that scene out of Life of Brian...

Wobble

While politicians, bureaucrats and social engineers around the world debate carbon targets and emissions trading schemes, science continues to pop out research that casts doubt on climate modelling.

One of the cornerstones of the humans-did-it climate debate has been a rise in CO2 levels at the end of the ice age. Climate change proponents point to this rise as "proof" that evil CO2 is responsible for global warming, while skeptics point to the disparity in timing, showing that the rise in CO2 comes AFTER a warming event, therefore can't be its trigger.

An article published today in Science Daily headlined "Long Debate Ended Over Cause, Demise Of Ice Ages?" would seem to support the nay sayers.

Researchers at Oregon State University and other institutions blame known wobbles in Earth's rotation. This imperfection, they say, caused global ice levels to reach their peak about 26,000 years ago, stabilize for 7,000 years and then begin melting 19,000 years ago, eventually ending the last ice age and delivering our currently enjoyed mild climate.

They further suggest that their research proves that melting was first caused by more solar radiation, not changes in carbon dioxide levels as suggested by the pro human-caused climate change proponents.

Ah well. I suppose we shouldn't expect facts to get in the way of a good story, so carbon-induced climate doom will remain on front pages everywhere.

You can read the full SD article HERE.

Practical Thinking

You can always trust the Americans to come up with simple, practical solutions to problems that bureaucrats want to solve with over-complex regulations and processes. Here's one that is so stunningly simple I'm actually annoyed I didn't think of it myself.

Regular readers will know that I'm a global warming skeptic, but that doesn't meant I'm pro waste or in favour of continues pillage of our environment.

So against that background, here's a great idea...

Make Thursday the new Friday.

It's stunningly simple. A workplace just starts work an hour earlier in the morning and finishes an hour later in the evening, Monday through Thursday, and then is closed on Fridays, with the lights out and air conditioning off. For most, that would mean a miniscule change to working hours because I remember my deskbound days were usually 7.30ish to 6.30ish anyway.

It's already in trial in places like Utah, where about 17,000 civic employees have been working the 4 day/40 hour week for about a year, saving the state around US$1.8mil.

Bloody brilliant. 20% less commuting. 20% less air conditioning and lighting. Big drop in power and fuel consumption. It saves money and the environment at the same time.

THIS is the sort of solution we ought be be looking for instead of stupid emissions trading schemes and meaningless reduction targets.

Brilliant. When can we start?

Cool

I was paddling around the web a few days ago and found this...

http://www.liveatc.net/

It's a feed from ari traffic control channels around the world. You simply pick the tower channel you want to listen to, and there it is.

Mind wasting, time wasting coolness.

Back

Ok. So I've ignored my blog for a couple of months. Call it a vacation. Or a sabbatical. Or anything you like. I'm not sure I care what you call it, or even if you call it anything at all.

Truth is, I've been distracted. And my blog had turned into an anti-islamofascist rant that was getting boring and repetitive. I'll try hard to avoid doing that.

Anyway... Chester's back.