Happy Manuscript Day! :-)

After months of work, last Friday I finally turned a draft of my article manuscript over to my boss. I have really been working hard to get this together and I began to wonder if I would ever get it done. It took me so long that I was feeling down on myself and my ability to organize my thoughts and write about my research. After staring at it for so long and struggling to get it written I could not look at it with an objective view, so I was worried about how it would read. As of this morning, the boss still had not read it and I was dreading what he would say. Then, this afternoon he sent me the following email.

You have made my day/week/month. Read over your draft very quickly. Entire manuscript is excellent. There will be very little to change. Keep doing exactly what you are doing.

Oh boy, can I tell you the relief that this brought me. When he came out into the lab I thanked him for his comments and compliments. Then he said, "I don't want this to go to your head but in the ten years since I have been doing this job, this is the best manuscript I have received yet."

I have written a number of grant applications since I have been in this lab and my boss has been very happy with these so it shouldn't be a surprise that he is happy with my manuscript. I just had such a hard time getting it to sound good to myself and it took so much longer than I thought it should have that I was worried about it. Tonight I'll sleep with a lighter feeling on my shoulders.

"The greatest deception in the history of science"

This is what Dr. Timoth Ball (Ph.D in Climatology from the University of London, England) said of the idea that global-warming is the result of human produced carbon dioxide. This is good article from someone looking at the science and not the agenda-driven media hype. I liked the following quote.

"I was accused by Canadian environmentalist David Suzuki of being paid by oil companies. That is a lie. Apparently he thinks if the fossil fuel companies pay you have an agenda. So if Greenpeace, Sierra Club or governments pay there is no agenda and only truth and enlightenment?"

In the article, Dr. Ball also points to Dr. Richard Lindzen, atmospheric physicist and a professor of meteorology at MIT, as another scientific authority who often speaks out against the myth of man-made global warming.

Dr. Ball is the Chairman of a Canadian based Natural Resources Stewardship Project., which is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that is trying to provide a more reasonable voice to counter ideologically-driven environmentalist groups.

Update: I heard another good global warming discussion between Dennis Prager and Bjorn Lomborg, who is an adjunct Professor in the Department of Management, Politics and Philosophy at the Copenhagen Business School and the director of the Danish Environmental Assessment Institute. A couple of key points. Al Gore's film wildly exaggerates. For instance, they report sea level rises of 20 feet, while the latest UN report has revised their numbers down from ~2 feet to ~1-1.5 feet. Tubby's film also likes to give one sided statistics. For example, it says that there will be 2,000 more heat related deaths each year due to global warming. It neglects to mention that 20,000 less people will die each year due to cold as a result of global warming. There was also some talk about how little real effect on total carbon dioxide levels would actually occur if all of the cars, trucks, boats and airplanes in the US were to be taken out of use. Dennis' blog links to an LA times article that reports on this from the point of view that the carbon-dioxide levels are so high that there is no way we could bring them down to a globally acceptable level, even if we cut out ALL of our emissions. Some people may buy into this idea, but what it tells me is that the idea that we are causing the global warming is ridiculous. Maybe if we try really hard we can stop the earth from spinning and get it going the other way around.

Baseball to the face

This morning we got up and went to the Museum of Nature and Science. There was an exhibit on space that the Mom and the boys wanted to see. It was kind of fun, except the parents spent a lot of time trying to keep track of the two littles who had a tendency to wander off through the crowd. Can love all of the fish and turtles in the NC wildlife exhibits. Dec loved the huge replica long-neck dinosaur.

When we got home I decided that I should go out and play with the boys. Dec and I played some catch with his new Christmas mit. He is doing really well at throwing and catching. Skills that will serve him well when he starts T-ball in a few weeks. Ok, it probably will not make much difference, since they do not keep score. Sul beat me in three straight times around the world. The sad part was that I was really trying to get the basketball through the hoop and he still beat me three times in a row. The trauma of the day was when Mads and I were playing catch and he did not quite get his mit up in time to stop the ball from careening off of his face. I felt really bad but I think that he felt worse. If you look really close you can see the marks from the laces on the ball and I think that there is a faint imprint of the word "Diamond" from the brand name label. I told him that he needs to come up with a really good story to tell everyone at school, because this will probably look pretty ugly tomorrow.

The myth of made-global warming

My sister-in-law was asking for some information on the myth referred to as "man-made global warming" and my response turned into the following long winded declaration of my view. I'm certainly not an expert on global warming and I don't know the "science" behind it very well. I quoted science because I think that there is at least as much political rhetoric being passed off for science as there is actual data. I am willing to concede that some level of
global warming may be occuring, but even if it is happening I find it hard to believe that it is the result of human activity. After all I've read and heard, the scientist in me says that the there really isn't enough solid data to draw a strong conclusion. There are too few data points to know what is really happening and the data collected just seems too indirect to provide reliable conclusion. The theory is based on a lot of computer models and my experience with computer models says that they mostly represent one of many possibilities, but are almost never completely accurate. The thing that really makes me skeptical about these computer models is that there is no way they can have reliable data for thousands of years worth of global temperatures and when you feed minimal amounts of data into a computer simulation, you can get wildly inaccurate output. In the end, my biggest concern with the whole idea is my gut, which tells me it is purely a political ploy/scare tactic, but I'm not exactly sure what is to be gained by it. It seems that the weak nations of the world think that they will benefit by making the US bend the knee to the global warming alarmists. I read something the other day about the Kyoto protocols that sounded pretty much on target. The Canadian Prime Minister said, "Kyoto is essentially a socialist scheme to suck money out of wealth-producing nations." I think that the idea is that if only the wealthy nations, (re. the US) are bled of their wealth by having to try and meet unachievable and very-very costly cuts in carbon dioxide emissions, then that wealth will flow to the poorer nations of the world. What the ignorant don't understand is that if the US gets poor,
the rest of the world gets poorer with it. The world prosperity is a direct result of US prosperity. Along these lines, Jacques Chirac summed things up by saying that Kyoto represents “the first component of an authentic global governance," which he thinks is a good thing. The sad thing is that the gullible masses in the US are buying into the media driven hype and scientific distortion and the left is adopting man-made global warming as a platform item because it fits well with their environmentalist, America is bad and needs to bring itself down to wallow in the mire with the rest of the world, lets get the world together under a single government where the US isn't the major power and none of the values that have made our nation great have any influence, agenda. There may be Democrats who
have actually bought into the overly politicized science (re. Tubbyt Al Gore) and so they truly think that they are trying to save the world by pushing global warming on the lemmings that follow them, but I'm sure that most of them are probably in on the "secret combination" to get wealth and power.

My opinion has been informed by many sources over the years, many of which I could not possibly remember. , Senator James Inhofe has made a number of informative statements on the issue and seems that summarize my thoughts pretty well. He used to lead the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works until the Democrats took over in January, and is a big opponent of the whole global warming scare. Some of his statements can be found here (this is a good one that has references to a lot of other web resources), here, and here. Also, a couple of recent blog entries that links to a number of other resources are here,
here, and here.

Also, Michael Crichton's book "A State of Fear" is a pretty accurate piece of fiction that is based on a lot of real research. He includes a long epilogue in which he explains why he believes as he does and I found this very insightful.

Update: Right after writing this I came across these quote in a global warming article about the recent UN report.

"global warming is 'very likely' caused by mankind and that climate change will continue for centuries even if heat-trapping gases are reduced."

"Despite the report's dire outlook, most scientists say the worst disasters — huge sea level rises and the most catastrophic storms and droughts — may be avoided if strong action is taken soon."

It all sounds a little too convenient that this catastrophe will already have effects for centuries, yet the worst disasters can be avoided by quick action, mostly from the US. If the global disaster ball, yes think on a global scale, is already rolling, can anything we do stop it? It just gets more frenzied and ridiculous every time they open their mouths or pick up their pens.

Anti-war Lefty Arrogance

I didn't get a chance to post about this Washington Post article by William Arkin, but its probably better because it made me very angry. A few quotes:

"These soldiers should be grateful that the American public, which by all polls overwhelmingly disapproves of the Iraq war and the President's handling of it, do still offer their support to them, and their respect.
Through every Abu Ghraib and Haditha, through every rape and murder, the American public has indulged those in uniform, accepting that the incidents were the product of bad apples or even of some administration or command order."

"But it is the United States, and the recent NBC report is just an ugly reminder of the price we pay for a mercenary - oops sorry, volunteer - force that thinks it is doing the dirty work."

"America needs to ponder what it is we really owe those in uniform."

We owe them everything. If you are too comfortable in you peaceful home and city to recognize that, then you need to stop writing any old bit of drivel that slips out of your mind and start reading about our country's history. We have the liberty that we do because our fathers and forefathers were willing to sacrifice their lives and comfort to provide it for us. If you can't recognize why you live in such peace and comfort, you should be strapped to the front of a Humvee and taken on a tour of Iraq.

Anyway, his response to all of the abuse (obviously only written and verbal, which is better than he deserves) that he has received is as arrogant and ignorant as his first article.

"These men and women are not fighting for money with little regard for the nation. The situation might be much worse than that: Evidently, far too many in uniform believe that they are the one true nation. They hide behind the constitution and the flag and then spew an anti-Democrat, anti-liberal, anti-journalism, anti-dissent, and anti-citizen message that reflects a certain contempt for the American people."

How dare he talk like he and his ilk are "the American people." Just because polls say that the majority of Americans are not happy with the war and the way it is being handled, doesn't mean that they hold is cowardly, anti-military opinions. I'm very comfortable that more Americans would agree with me than him.

"Again, I understand the frustration of those in uniform and the supporters of the war. But these are not the only people who have a valid opinion, and there is great danger for the nation - as Bush-Cheney and company have already demonstrated - when people arrogate to themselves the sole determinant to make a judgment about national security."

It seems to me that there was an election in November of 2004 in which the majority of the American people gave President Bush, as Commander-in-Chief, the authority to make the final decisions on national security. That doesn't mean his decisions will always be popular with all, or even a majority of Americans, but he certainly didn't "arrogate" the authority to himself. Children, or the childish, do not always agree with the decisions their parents make in trying to care for and protect them but that does not make the parents wrong.

Mr. Arkin complains that he should be allowed to have voice his opinion without being criticized for it but if his opinion hurts our nation or it soldiers, as it truly does, then he needs to keep it to himself or at least he needs to refrain from spewing it into the public square. We revere freedom of speech in this country, but sometimes irresponsible freedom of speech should result in consequences or the irresponsible party. In the very least, Mr. Arkin should find himself in the position of seeking another source of employment, but of course, the Washington Post probably will not do anything about him.

Update: A new post by the arrogant one.

"Note: On the advice of my editors, this is the last column I will post for awhile on this subject."

Kyoto a socialist scheme to bleed wealthy nations

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper:

"Kyoto is essentially a socialist scheme to suck money out of wealth-producing nations"

reported here.

Sounds to me like he hit the nail on the head.

Images - Feed the Ducks

While we were hiking at Harris Lake Can kept wanting to feed the ducks. We had bread to feed them, but these ducks weren't as tame as the ones at the local pond. I kept thinking that if Grandpa was there he could have told us what kind of ducks these were. (taken 1/15/07)

Wrong to let a boy grow up to be a man. Huh??

I thought that was the natural course of things. From a recent news story out of Germany:

"A boy of 12 is believed to have become the world's youngest sex change patient after convincing doctors that he wanted to live the rest of his life as a female. The boy - originally called Tim, but now known as Kim - has started to receive hormone treatment, in preparation for the operation that will eventually complete the sex change."

The line that really got me:

"It would have been very wrong to let Kim grow up to be a man."

Obviously somebody doesn't understand the meaning of right and wrong. How can it be wrong to let a boy grow up to be a man. That is just how things work. Next thing we know they will be saying it is wrong for a human baby to grow up to be a human. Lets make it grow up into a cow instead. What a messed up world we live in.

Images - Reflection

A pond adjacent to Harris Lake. (Taken 1/15/06)

Puke and concussions

Yesterday was a sick day at our house. Poor Dec spent the night curled up at the head of his bed with no covers after he was sick in the middle of his bed. We keep our house pretty cold at night so the poor boy must have been miserable.

While I was at work, I got a phone call from the school. I'm not sure why they always call me instead of calling Mom at home. The said that Mad was complaining of a headache and a stomach ache, and he had a low-grade fever of 99 degrees. This is the third time I've received one of these calls this year so I wasn't very pleased, or convinced. I asked to speak to him and he pretty much failed to convince me that he was sick, but I called Mom to let her know. When I arrived home I found out that she had picked him up. I was informed that he made a few attempts to look puny before settling into his normal home demeanor. When I got home I told him that from now on there had better not be any more phone calls unless chunks had been blown.

When I was a boy the hard and fast rule was that unless you threw up or had a pretty bad fever, you were going to school. Once when I called home after getting my head banged on the ice during recess my Mom said that I knew that Dad would not allow me to come home. I told her that I had barfed, which isn't necessarily a good sign after getting hit on the head, so she picked me up and took me to the hospital. They said that I had a concussion so I guess it was a good thing she came and got me.

When I got home, Can toddled over to me and then started crying. I couldn't see anything wrong, but he just didn't seem right. I was a little worried about holding him as he was drinking red juice and I had experienced the surprise puke of a two year old before, but he seemed to settle down. I got out the barf bowl anyway and we sat down to eat. Sure enough a few minutes into the meal, he started making some strange noises and we just got the bucket placed in time to save everybody's dinner from a shower. Of course, this kind of thing doesn't help the old appetite much.

Fortunately, today everybody seems better. Hopefully we're done with that adventure.

Images - Along the Trail

Hiking at Harris Lake. (Taken 1/15/07)

My kids do listen to me

Mad is doing a school project on the tundra. His teacher told him that he should make sure to talk about global warming and the effects it is having on the tundra. He told his Mom that he wasn't sure to write about this because Dad says that global warming is a bunch of crap. I guess he only listens to me when I'm talking about something important. I noticed this morning that he had put down that global warming is making the polar ice caps melt and thawing the tundra, so we need to make less pollution because it warms everything up. I asked him why he decided to put global warming on the project and he said that it was because he could not think of anything else to write. So he took the lazy way out and went with the rest of the gullible world.

While I certainly hold to the opinion that he global warming is a bunch of crap, I should do a better job of expressing on my views in a more thoughtful and comprehensive way. Mad's last project was on Sweden and I told him that one good thing about living in Sweden is that everybody gets "free" healthcare and one bad thing about living in Sweden is that everybody gets the same crappy healthcare. I was just ranting but he put it in the report anyway. I think that he could not think of anything else to say. He ended up getting a good grade, so I guess my rant did not hurt him.

Images - Piercing the Shadows

I took this last summer while I was supervising some boys at scout camp. (Taken 06/28/06)

Images - Beautiful Pond Scum

This pond was very striking with its surface of green. When we came around the corner and saw it Can said, "Oh, gwoss!" (taken 01/08/07 at Harris Lake, NC)

Pinewood Derby Night

Tonight was the big pinewood derby. Both boys lost more than they won, but they still came away smiling.

Sul's car won the prize for the most patriotic colors.


Mad's Car won the judges favorite award.

When the two cars raced against each other Sul won by a hair. I guess that if we build slow cars, at least they are both pretty equally slow. It may not be obvious, but Sul is putting his car on backwards because he found that it went faster that way. This may because we were trying an experiment. We made his car so that only three wheels touched the track to try and reduce friction. I think that putting the two wheels towards the front instead of the back helped it move faster.

We are at war and wishing doesn't make it go away

A good column by Liz Cheney (V.P.'s daughter) about how the battles in Iraq are only part of a bigger war and if we decide that we can just walk away, we'll only have to face the Islamo-facists elsewhere, perhaps here at home.

We are at war. America faces an existential threat. This is not, as Speaker Nancy Pelosi has claimed, a "situation to be solved." It would be nice if we could wake up tomorrow and say, as Sen. Barack Obama suggested at a Jan. 11 hearing, "Enough is enough." Wishing doesn't make it so. We will have to fight these terrorists to the death somewhere, sometime. We can't negotiate with them or "solve" their jihad. If we quit in Iraq now, we must get ready for a harder, longer, more deadly struggle later.

Overcoming Procrastination

I gave a talk last Sunday on overcoming procrastination. Here are a few of the quotes I used.

“life is such a precious gift, it should be guarded from needless dilution… 'Each day is not just another day but more like a falling drop of water, a golden moment of life's span adding to an increasingly rich pool of living.'” Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin quoting Thomas J. Parmley, April 1998

“Satan called a council of his agents and asked how they would combat the forces of righteousness. One said, “I’ll go and tell them it isn’t true.” Satan said, “No, that wouldn’t do.” The second said, “I’ll tell them it’s only half true.” “No,” Satan said, “that’s not enough.” The third said, “I’ll go and tell them it’s all true, but there is no need to hurry.” “Go,” Satan said. “That will get them every time.”” Patriarch Eldred G. Smith, Ensign, Nov. 1974, 25

“We are here [in this life] with a marvelous inheritance, a divine endowment. How different this world would be if every person realized that all of his actions have eternal consequences. How much more satisfying our years may be if . . . we recognize that we form each day the stuff of which eternity is made.” President Gordon B. Hinckley

“Procrastination, as it may be applied to Gospel principles, is the thief of eternal life--which is life in the presence of the Father and the Son.” Elder Joseph Fielding Smith

Goof Balls

The reason I don't have many pictures of the older boys is because when I try to take them they act like this.

Images - Mad and Mom on Hike

Mad and Mom on our hike at Harris Lake. (Taken 01/15/07)

Images - Lakeside

Another photo from our hike around Harris Lake. (Taken 01/15/07)