A Bush Secret Weapon Used Against Iran?

Most people probably haven’t caught on to this, but careful analysis of several news stories reveals startling evidence of another Bush plot to take over the world.

First, it’s no secret that George Bush is looking for a way to go to war against Iran.

Second, it’s also no secret that George Bush doesn’t care that the planet is burning up through our use of those evil fossil fuels.

Third, though skeptics laugh, it’s also true that weather extremes such as below average temperatures and blizzards are the result of global warming.

Finally, Iran has just been hit with the worst snow storms in recent memory.  Bitterly cold tempertures, up to 22 inches of snow, dozens of people killed, government offices shut down.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what’s going on here. Obviously, Bush and his Big Oil buddies have figured out a way to accelerate the extreme effects of global warming, and even isolate them against a specific target, namely, Iran. A few more attacks with this new secret weapon, and Iran will be begging for terms.

He may have thought he could get away with this, but we’re on to his sinister schemes. Just one more reason why Bush must be impeached.

Weather vs. Climate: Let’s Have Some Consistency

I accept the fact that one cannot project long-term climate trends on the basis of short-term weather fluctuations. Most objective students of science recognize this.

But environmental scientist Roger Pielke, Jr., of the University of Colorado, notes a curious lack of consistency among climatologists when commenting on weather anomalies. He offers two quotes from the folks at Real Climate as evidence. First, they tied the record-setting Arctic ice melt last summer to the long-range IPCC climate model. But later, they criticized Pielke and John Tierney for challenging the IPCC model on the basis of weather patterns over the span from 2000 to 2007.

Pielke concludes,

So according to Real Climate, one-year’s ice extent data can be compared to climate models, but 8 years of temperature data cannot.

Right. This is why I believe that whatever one’s position of climate change is, everyone should agree that rigorous forecast verification is needed.

For the record, Pielke is not a global warming skeptic. He is not in the pocket of the energy companies. He is a scientist who is pleading for intellectual honesty in the climate debate.

I repeat: Some day the current hysteria over global warming will be taught in universities as a good example of how not to do science. Hmmm. Perhaps Prof. Pielke is already teaching that.

No One Can Accuse Me of Sitting Down on the Job

Several weeks ago I came across this article about a novel way to lose weight: stand up. Research now indicates that office workers, who generally tend to sit down all day, can burn more fat by simply standing up to do their work.

I’ve been somewhat frustrated with my attempts to lose a few pounds, so inspired by this article, I contacted our facilities people and had them raise a portion of my workspace up to standing height. Here’s what my new digs look like now.

I’ve just completed my first week with this arrangement, and I like it a lot. Note that I still have my chair and a couple of normal height desktops. That’s a good thing, since I do need to sit down for a few minutes now and then to give my feet a break. But at the end of the day, I definitely feel like I’ve been, well, working.

Naturally, the sight of me standing at my computer has sparked a lot of questions from passersby. In fact, I got so many questions, I finally just posted a copy of the article outside my cube.

I’m curious if anyone else out there uses a standing height cubicle. What do you think of it?