I often wonder how much we should listen to scientists and other so called experts about whatever it is they are researching. While never a big believe in man made global warming, I do believe the earth has gotten warmer over the past 50 years. I also think we'll get over it. At some point we will cool off again too. No one ever talks about things like the mini ice age that occurred before the industrial revolution. We obviously didn't cause the earth the get cooler then but now with all our machinery and cars etc we are making it warmer. I will hold out that this is possibly true. I will also hold out that NOTHING I have seen proves to me that we are the cause of it and when I read about how leading scientific establishments have fudged the data to make it fit their theories like here and here, I listen a lot less.
What brought this on you may ask. Well I just watched a program about cane toads and now I am watching one about the whale that blew up. I was hoping this was about the whale that was dynamited (yes blowed up see this story) in Oregon in the early 70s. It's a pretty funny story about combining TNT with a dead whale. But I was wrong. It was a bout a dead sperm whale, a 50 or 60 foot one, that washed up in Taiwan and after the geniuses decided to remove it to the local university across town for more study, they managed to take so long and foul up so much that the carcass literally exploded while on the flatbed trailer in the middle of town. Whale guts in the street, blood all over the cars across the road, in short some really funny shit since I don't live there.
This leads me into thinking of other scientific disasters. Like importing silver carp to control algae. I believe Ken and Lightning are familiar with these stories. People have to avoid jumping carp while motorboating in numerous lakes and rivers in Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, etc. You're just minding your own business cruising down the river when a 30lb fish slaps you in the face. No picnic, for you or the fish. Here in sunny Florida we have the same issue with sturgeon jumping in a few rivers when they come in from the Gulf to breed but at least they are native species here. They also can grow to 8 feet long and 200 lbs. Oh boy doesn't that sound like fun? Definitely not what you want to run into on a jetski.
Probably the most famous importation that went bad was the Africanized honey bees that were imported into Brazil by scientist trying to make them less aggressive because they were such great honey producers and much stronger than European bees in the climate there. A group with a queen escaped into the wild and they've been proliferating ever since. Back in the 70s articles started coming out that they were moving north and would eventually get to the US and it would be Bugmageddon then. Well they're pretty established in the Southwest now and have been found from Lousiana to California with some pockets in Florida probably stowaways on ships. While not as terribly dangerous as earlier articles suggested, around 20 people have been killed by killer bees here in the US. Fortunately after the initial invasions, the bees tend to interbreed and bee keepers manage to dampen the more aggressive strains so that they are not as threatening. Also they tend to not do well in cold weather so they are not expected to establish much further north than Maryland or so. Then again the experts have been wrong before.
Then there is the cane toad I was watching a little while ago. They are from Central and South America and because they eat the bugs that infest cane fields, they got the name cane toads. Back in the 30s a bunch of them were imported to Australia to control the cane beetles there. But it was hard to catch the cane beetles and there were numerous other bugs there so they started eating everything else around, small rodents, bugs, snakes, etc. What makes them so bad is they have no natural predators in Australia and they have poison glands in the skin. Almost anything that eats them, dies. Even crocs are sickened by eating them (apparently caimans in South America are immune to their poison however) so the natural predators that bite or eat them end up dying. They are also prolific breeders and both their eggs and tadpoles are poisonous as well. So fish and birds can't control them either. Now they've spread through more than half of Australia in 70 years. They were imported to the sugar fields here in the 30s as well. One night about 5 years ago I ran into one. I thought it was a can of beer sitting on the ground at first but when I got closer I saw it was a giant toad. Didn't touch it at least.
So when I hear about scientific experiments on this or that and genetic manipulation I start to cringe. Yes a lot of great things have come from these experiments but damn, a lot of bad thinsgs have as well. While their experiments are usually done with the best of intentions, I think Dante was right when he wrote "the road to Hell is paved with good intentions". So I try to take all these great plans with a grain of salt and look for the bad things that could happen as well.
Sorry for the lack of poker content. I did go play last Saturday night. Went out 8th in the tourney. Made the right decision and pushed in on the river. Guy had an overcard and a gutshot draw on the river. Filled the gutshot. Same guy should have been on life support but a few hands earlier he'd beaten KK and A10 with JJ when he four flushed them on the river. Another Robbery, especially after an ace hit the flop. It just pays to be a lucktard sometimes. I'm gonna give Omaha a try again today. Broke even last week in that. So I'm off. Hope y'all have a great weekend and get lucky.
8 comments:
Well, the Asian Carp came from southern fish farming operation where some state employee said something like, "Gee, that sounds like a good idea, Mr. Major Donor Sir." And so it goes with many similar problems. I really can't call that science.
As you point out, warming has been going on for a long time. Hurrah, say I. If it hadn't been, my home would have the view of a massive glacier just miles north. The planet didn't come with a thermostat or rather the one we have isn't adjustable by us.
Science is good with rigorous peer review. But, if that were going on the global warming issue might not be seen as a vehicle for government funding. Science has a term for proper progress: RIGOR.
The salvation is in another word: RESILIENCE. We've seen the DDT over reaction with all the bird diversity being lost. Eagles and raptors were on their last leg. Now there is eco tourism taking advantage of their substantial numbers. In the meantime, DDT is banned in Africa where it could save thousand of lives lost to disease. Maybe we need to add the word PERSPECTIVE>
The real solutions are people of all stripes paying attention and not expecting a bureaucrat to handle it for us.
Can't say I've ever been slapped in the face by a carp. Would not surprise me in the least if KenP had been at least once by a female carp.
Don't forget kudzu. Not a good idea to mess with mother nature.
Can't say I've ever been slapped in the face by a carp.
Unproven but possibility true. However, he's the only one out there hoping it will happen.
Neo,
you are kind of arguing backwards concerning global warning. In all your other arguments you are taking examples of where men, mainly to make money, have tampered with nature and haven't thought about the long term consequences which have turned out horrible. About the global warming tho you are talking about a situation where man has already done the tinkering without knowing the consequences and now is trying to make it right before said consequences get worse. You may be right, it may be a molehill rather than a mountain but then again maybe not but what's the worst that can happen if we do try and reduce man's effect on our atmosphere? We get back closer to the way the planet should be which, if I take your use of the incidences here, is where you think we should be. OTOH, we do know that an increased carbon footprint does contribute to planetary warming and its inherent consequences. Just take our neighbor Venus as an example. Given that we are discussing the life support system for spaceship Earth I would rather err on the side of caution myself.
Nah Wolf, I gotta look at the Man behind the curtain when it comes to global warming. While I'm not for burning all the coal and wood on the planet, I'm also not in favor of going backward either. But you cannot tell me "well we kinda fudged the data to make it work" and then go Chicken Little and tell me the sky is falling at the same time.
BTW though you've not been slapped in the face by a carp Light, I'm sure many other creatures have wanted to do it to you, especially human females
I would guess that at least a couple have had the thought cross their minds. : o P
Post a Comment