A quick thought/question...

I was thinking about "green" vehicle technologies, specifically hydrogen cars of the future. I found this quote...

"When hydrogen cars become the status quo, the U. S. can lessen its dependence upon foreign oil, achieve lower prices at the fuel pumps and cut down on the greenhouse gases that produce global warming."

It got me thinking about the "cut down on the greenhouse gases that produce global warming" part. I do believe it's well known that water vapor is one of the largest greenhouse gases today and it's also common knowledge that hydrogen fueled cars emit water vapor as exhaust.

/sarcasm on
So by exhausting water vapor, will we be warming up the planet even more?
/sarcasm off

There are some things in life...UPDATE

So, thankfully, everything has turned out as well as it could have and everyone is breathing a large sigh of relief. I don't remember the last time I completely lost control of my emotions like I did with this scare.

My wife has dictated that we should never have to receive calls like that from my parents ever again :-). Way too hard to handle.

In my last post, I said I would tell you what to do in situations like this. To tell you the truth, I really focused on daily life, going to my Son's football games, going out with friends, riding my motorcycle, having dinner with my wife, etc... All of this helped put the problem in perspective and allowed me to see and accept all possible outcomes. As stated before, thankfully, it turned out as well as it could have and life goes on.

Stay positive, take things as they come and with a grain of salt.

There are some things in life...

Some things that you can't escape, some things that happen despite living a good life, some things that happen regardless of race, religion, gender or age. One of these things happened to me (not me exactly but a family member) and I'm struggling to make sense of it, struggling to cope, and struggling to stay positive.

This is one of those things that make people find religion, not an option for me. So what do I turn to? What do I do when I can't fix the issue. I really don't know yet. In just 24 hours time, I've seen different responses to this, none are wrong but none help me. My wife asked the very poignant question today, "In times like this, how do you cope?". I knew what she meant, as I am atheist through and through.

As an atheist I have a different view of the world. To me the world is a logical set of inevitabilities. There are no reasons for things happening other than the fact that they do. Many look to outside influences (religion) to help explain why things happen. They look to these same outside influences to soften the blow and for the strength to move forward. I don't see it that way, in fact, quite the opposite.

I see religion as an excuse to stop thinking. I see it as debilitating and an offense to humanity today. No, I won't turn to religion. I'm not a terribly spiritual person either and so I won't turn to spirituality. What does that leave? Science? Sure, I've studied the problem and I do have a greater understanding of the why's, how's, and what's but that's not a soft squishy pillow to make me sleep better. So, what do I do?

I don't know yet...but I'll let you know when I do.

Holy Crap! Pardon my pun...

So I was sitting here watching Seinfeld and didn't realize it had ended and Jack Van Impe Presents had started. I was about to post my rant on religion and started listening to Jack and his co-host. I am just flabbergasted at the amount to crap these people spew. It's actually distrubing to me to think that there are people out there that really listen and believe these types.

What disturbs me the most is that these people believe this crap so much that they would be willing to do evil things to make their point.

"Born of a virgin" says Jack, without doing a whole lot of research I do believe there were at least a handful of other deities at the time of Jesus that were not only more popular but also born of a virgin. Mut-em-ua, the virgin Queen of Egypt, supposedly gave birth to Pharaoh Amenkept III through a god holding a cross to her mouth.
Ra, the Egyptian sun god, was said to be born of a virgin. So was Perseus, Romulus, Mithras, Genghis Khan, Krishna, Horus, Melanippe, Auge and Antiope. If memory serves me right, Jesus, in one of the original texts was not born of a virgin but that wasn't sensational enough to procure followers. Paul, the earliest New Testament author, never mentions the virgin birth. For someone who we rely upon for much of Christian theology, it is an odd omission. Paul refers to Jesus’ birth twice (Rom 1:3; Gal 4:4) and never says he was born of a virgin or of different means than anyone else. You’d think that would be important. The virgin birth is also not in Mark, the earliest gospel, or in John, the only other gospel not based on Mark. Why is such an important story left out of all the early sources? Probably because it hadn’t been made up yet. The virgin birth was not put in until later.

So, now that we understand the virgin birth as a myth then what do you have to say about the rest of the story? I like this quote...Thomas Paine, American revolutionary and author, said “Is it more probable that nature should go out of her course, or that a man should tell a lie? We have never seen, in our time, nature go out of her course, but we have good reason to believe that millions of lies have been told in the same time; it is therefore at least millions to one, that the reporter of a miracle tells a lie.” Is it possible that the entire thing is a myth? Of course, there have been many examples, the most obvious being Greek and Roman mythology. I doubt we would find many today that still believe the Greek or Roman gods as anything but mythology, why should we think that Christianity is any different. The fact is it's not any different...it is mythology (albeit very popular mythology).

I find religion insulting and an damaging to modern human society. Religion had it's place when we didn't understand what the Sun was or why it went across the sky everyday, for example. It's time we move out of the dark ages. I am an atheist and have been as long as I can remember. I grew up in the Episcopal Church and was confirmed. I went to church every Sunday and Sunday school after services. I questioned everything and continue to do so.

There are many people in the world today that would commit atrocities in the name of whatever God they believe. They would be proud to announce it as a religious act. As far as I know, no one has ever committed an act of evil in the name of atheism...it wouldn't really make any sense since it's not a belief. Which then, would you rather have? Nut cases proclaiming their "evil" in the name of good or rational people with no need to believe in this crap?

Before I had even heard of Richard Dawkins, I had thought up the phrase "religion is the root of all evil". I thought to myself, how clever. Then my co-worker explained to me that Richard Dawkins had already made a documentary with the same name...oh well, at least I wasn't alone in that thought. Religion does do some good. It gives people a framework to live by who otherwise would not be able to come up with one themselves. There are some religious charities that do enormous good though I can't see why we couldn't do the same thing without the church.

I could go on and on and I will but now I should sleep...more to come...

The Great Smoking Debate

Gonna make this quick...I'm pro smoking legislation and I have many reasons for that but rather than spelling them out here I'll point you to another blog that may have the definitive discussion on the subject. Ryan (arclightzero) at http://arclightzero.wordpress.com/ (Pro Patria) was kind enought to endulge me in a smoking debate. Read it in it's entirety here http://arclightzero.wordpress.com/2007/12/27/ryan-vs-the-anti-smoking-movement/

Now, Ryan, alaskancamel, WAstatesmoker, myself and others had quite the discussion on the recent rash of smoking bans. I have point out that Ryan's views are quite conservative but we won't fault him for that. Aside from a few of the posts, the debate was very well thought out and though it's quite long we all held our ground and refrained from the typical name calling and swearing that so plagues these types of debates.

Anyway, it's a good read. Read it and post any comments you have there or here.

ANWR...drilling is long overdue!

Yet another topic ripe with controversy. It would seem that many people that are opposed to drilling don't really understand the whole story. An opponent to drilling might argue that we can't drill and save the wildlife at the same time...wrong. They might argue that it would destroy the pristine environment...huh? Drilling in ANWR would be restricted to just a tiny fraction of the total land in the refuge. Anywhere from .01%-8% would be open to oil exploration. Even if oil is discovered, less than 2000 acres of land would be affected. It's almost as if the majority of opponents to drilling in ANWR don't have a clue what ANWR is or just how big it really is. About 75% of Alaskans support drilling. This comes as no surprise to me considering how dependent Alaska is on oil revenue. Tourism and oil, that's it...well maybe a bit of fish thrown in with some other natural resources but oil is by far the largest revenue maker for the state of Alaska.

"We need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels"...no kidding, but this can't and won't happen overnight. We do, however, need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. The more oil we find in the US the better off we are and the more responsible we can be at reducing the overall use of fossil fuels. Forcing the issue too hard and too fast can have serious consequences in the World economy...oh wait, that's happening already.

"Wind and solar power are the energy sources of the future"...ok great, I'm all for it but the cost and efficiency need to be improved before we can hope to make even a small dent in the energy needs of the US. The minute I can afford to run my house with solar power I will but unfortunately I'm not there yet. As a matter of fact, I actually don't think I know anyone that uses solar power.

"More oil means more burning of fossil fuels which means more green house gases"...dammit people, there is no absolute in climate modeling. Every model has so many variables and permutations, the slightest change or guess can have major effects on the end result. Read and comment on http://alaskanspawn.blogspot.com/2008/07/alright-now-for-something-completely.html if you have something to say about global warming.

I suppose I could go on and on about why we should drill in ANWR but a buddy of mine that runs http://www.anwr.org/ has far more information than me. If you are from Alaska and are against drilling (Shannon) feel free to post your rebuttal but remember that reducing our dependence on foreign oil and ultimately reducing our dependence on fossil fuels takes time and MUST BE DONE RESPONSIBLY! Do not make the mistake of using ANWR as a poster child for special interests or personal agendas. Remove yourself from the emotional response associated with drilling for oil and understand the larger picture.

Btw, I do have a healthy disgust for the irresponsible actions of big oil companies. Having lived through the Exxon Valdez fiasco and many other spills I really have no respect for them. Please do not think you can derail my argument by saying I am in some way benefitting from the oil companies. I am not.

Also, I am aware that Alaska alone cannot support the entire US oil needs. It does not need to. With North Dakota finding oil, apparently significant amounts, we can reduce our dependence on foreign oil...reduce. I do believe this is the necessary first step.

Alright, now for something completely different...well not really

Climate change, global warming, whatever you want to call it is still a bunch of bull and I'm about sick and tired of hearing about it. Polar bears, ice caps, rising ocean levels, and the shut down of the global warm water currents are all supposed issues, again nothing but bull. So, there is no way that myself or anyone posting comments on this blog will ever be sure of the data but I think we can all agree that warming periods as well as cooling periods have happened before and will happen again.

In our recent history on this planet, we've been able to piece together some data about these periods of warming and cooling. Interestingly, it would seem that through all of these recent cooling and warming periods man...as well as the polar bears...have managed to survive, go figure. Does global warming occur, yes. Are we the cause, in my opinion (based on the data I've read), NO. Of course, should we be better stewards of our planet, sure...who would argue that? Should we all lose our minds and create an absolute panic about us destroying the planet, NO. This panic is creating an economy based on fear but that's another subject for another post.

For your reading pleasure... http://wattsupwiththat.wordpress.com/2007/10/03/nh-sea-ice-loss-its-the-wind-says-nasa/ or http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/06/080626-arctic-volcano.html or http://wattsupwiththat.wordpress.com/2008/05/27/cold-irony-arctic-sea-ice-traps-climate-tour-icebreaker/

I'm not saying NASA is correct or National Geographic but it does make you think. Where did all the data come from, who interprets the data, and finally who twists it to make it fit their agenda? Is this current warming trend caused by us or is there a natural explanation? It's good to note that neither the NASA report nor the National Geographic report is willing to make the connection to global warming. This is both good and bad. It seems to me that neither are willing to go out on a limb to change the current status quo...that's bad. The good is they are sticking with just the science of what they find and don't seem to want to pollute it with political agendas.

So, for those of you worried about the sea ice in the Arctic or the polar bears, STOP. The bears will find a way to survive as they have done for thousands of years. The sea ice will regain it's former breadth as it has done since before we were around. To tell you the truth, after this last winter, I welcome a little warming trend.

Edit: I was just looking at our local weather this evening to see if I will be able to ride my motorcycle tomorrow and noticed a link to an editorial. This particular editorial/blog was written by our local news weather intern Joe Hansel. It deals with the question of global warming...http://kstp.com/article/stories/S499627.shtml?cat=3 There are many studies out there concerning global warming and if you use a little common sense it becomes very clear that we (humans) have a neglible effect on global climate.

Let's take care of this planet but let's be responsible about how we do it.

I'll be wearing this...

Just ordered this T-shirt from psychoreindeer. For those that know me well, you'll understand why I like it so much and why it's so appropriate.

Quin and his favorite cousin Oliver

Quin and Oliver got along great and by the end of the trip they were best buds.

Before and after fishing the Kenai

It was quite chilly that morning but we had an incredible sunrise and lot's of anticipation as we prepared to jump in the drift boat.


No fish, except for the trout we had to release. No one was really catching anything that day and Kalo had the only real bite but lost it shortly after. Good memories and great pictures and I think Quin was excited to have the chance to fish in Alaska. Next time we'll find the right hole and pull in some big Kings!

Quin bringing in a trout

Quin brought in 2 Rainbow trout on this trip, this was one of them.