Author: Leon

Seth Borenstein of the Associated Press wrote an article on a study claiming that humans are causing global rises in humidity. The Fark headline for this was “Nonexistent global warming is causing a mythical rise in theoretical humidity levels in imaginary parts of the world“. Beautiful.

To show that this is man-made, Gillett [one of the authors] ran computer models to simulate past climate conditions and studied what would happen to humidity if there were no man-made greenhouse gases. It didn’t match reality.

These guys start with the conclusion that humans are causing catastrophic change, set up the variables to support it and these simulations. It’s an interesting trick because on the surface it’s nothing the unsuspecting person with a health respect for science would question. Yet, the idea of “man-made greenhouse gases” seems to smuggle in the whole idea of global warming in the first place.

The article goes on to claim that that humans are negatively affecting 10 separate aspects of the environment.

Climate scientists have now seen the man-made fingerprint of global warming on 10 different aspects of Earth’s environment: surface temperatures, humidity, water vapor over the oceans, barometric pressure, total precipitation, wildfires, change in species of plants in animals, water run-off, temperatures in the upper atmosphere, and heat content in the world’s oceans.

Regretfully, they have omitted one other factor, proven by a much more solid theory. In his Open Letter to the Kansas School Board, Bobby Henderson clearly shows how global warming is most certainly caused by the dramatic drop in pirate populations. Even if your faith isn’t strong, how can you argue with such a precise chart?

Lately I’ve been interested in improving meetings at Clear Ink. I listened to Death By Meeting by Patrick Lencioni, and really liked it. On Crunch Notes today Mike Arrington linked to a College Humor video that demonstrates how a business meeting would go if it were like blog comments. Of course, it’s NSFW.

Vicky, my wife, finally decided to start blogging. I had suggested it long ago as perfectly suited to her lifestyle as a mom of two little kids. She might have been worn down by me responding with, “that would be a great thing to blog about” whenever she told me a story about one of the kids being cute. Or she may have been spurred on by the Sarah Lipman’s blog. A few weeks ago, I set up WordPress for her on vickyatkinson.com–suddenly, lots of great content!

However, yesterday came the downside: husbandly shame. Yesterday, Vicky posted after she got back from a haircut.

Well, I have bangs now. When he saw my haircut, Tre said, “You look like a different mom.” I asked him why, and he said it was because of the hair on my forehead.

Of course, I was totally oblivious. Maybe it was because I had the two kids alone for more than five hours. I’m amazed that she handles that day after day even when she’s sick. I’ve got to file this tip away for future use: if your wife goes to the hair stylist, figure out what changed and complement her about what changed.

I’ve just finished reading The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, and I really enjoyed it. It is frequently amusing, although perhaps only to fellow atheists. It examines why people believe in God and argues against this belief. With me, he’s preaching to the choir, but it’s interesting to hear his take.

His logic is careful and thorough. I guess I only need to point that out for someone who’s unaware of his reputation. What you might not know is how well he can explain his point with an economy of words. That’s a skill I’ve practiced in my own writing, and not always to the level of Dawkins in this book.

If I have one criticism of his argument, it’s that it stops just short in several instances of being certain. Perhaps it’s a device for being charming or more convincing, but the title of Chapter 4 should have been “Why There Is No God”, not “Why There Almost Certainly Is No God”. Correctness and certainty are two different qualities. Sometimes we’re certain and incorrect. The great thing about the scientific approach is that when you’re wrong, you get to change your mind.

But don’t this this minor criticism dissuade you from this book. For me it was enjoyable and light, kind of like walking down a path you’ve traveled long ago. For others it will be challenging and enlightening. If the whole premise irritates you, you’re probably not ready to check it out.

On Monday, when I get back from my camping trip, I’m going to switch my phone service to Comcast.  AT&T is just begging, “Please Kill Us”. I only have AT&T for our archaic land line (local and long distance). I’ve been really happy with my Speakeasy SDSL for the past six years.