Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Know when to hold'em

this is a map showing the path of Katrina.  It will take you to the NOAA site So, was everybody impressed by Hurricane Katrina? I know I was. Are you ready for more? Well, of course not, who is. I suppose the obvious rant for this entry is global warming. Now, dont start thinking, "Oh boy, here goes Dave again, stupid Liberal!"
Quit that! Take your fingers out of your ears and stop that damn humming! I'm not yet convinced that this is a case of global warming, or that global warming is even happening (in a man-made sense). I say this because there's still a lot of debate going on (even though it seems to be pretty lopsided),and because this is a global question. In case no one noticed, the globe is a really, really, really big place. I'm not sure that 5, 10, 20, or even 100 years is enough time to tell what's going on.
No, my problem is not with the science, which I'm still waiting on, but the policy.
Imagine this: You're cold, and you need a sweater, so you go to the store to buy one (this is America, after all). They have two choices. One is wool sweater. It'll keep you warm, but you know it's going to be a bit itchy. The other is incredibly, magically soft, and is guaranteed never to be too warm or too cold; the drawback (and you knew there was one) is that there's about a 50/50 chance that the sweater will suddenly sever your head from your neck. Which sweater do you choose.
Personally speaking, I'm wearing wool.
Maybe politicians are made of sterner stuff. After, almost nobody (except maybe really rich kids) ever get to the heights of power without taking a few big chances. Maybe they would take the magic sweater. But in theory, this is supposed to be a representive government. If they want to wear the magic sweater, fine with me, a 50% decrease in politicians would suit me fine. But I dont appreciate them making me wear it, too.
Too much analogy for you? Okay, here it is in a nutshell: If there is a chance that we are making life unlivable on this planet (the only one we have so far), wouldnt it be wise to stop doing the things that may be destroying it?
Years from now, if further studies show we're wrong, that we havent been warming the planet, then we can all slap ourselves on the forehead and have a good laugh with our grandchildren. Then we'll all go out, get into our electric hum-vees (charged with renewable resources) and go have a picnic someplace in the clean air.

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