The Dooryard

Brrrr! Global warming is cold!

The high temperature in New York City for the last two days has been under 20 degrees. Today it is supposed to get all the way up to the mid-20s. Until the middle of next week, the high is supposed to dance around the freezing mark. The temperature map of the United States for the last two weeks has been covered in shades of blue and purple, and at least six deaths have been blamed on the sub-zero temperatures in the Midwest.

This is my big problem with the fearmongering so many global-warming alarmists have taken to.

Remember the hurricane predictions being made last spring and summer? It was supposed to be the worst year ever, with above average hurricanes hitting the Caribbean, and many of them category 4 or 5. Some of these same alarmists were saying that a new category would have to be invented for the fierce hurricanes that would hit this year. How many did we see? Five; And one of those, Ernesto, was a hurricane for less than 12 hours. Not one of them hit the United States.

Now, in the midst of "global warming," the country is locked in a frigid cold spell, one of the worst in years. People are scratching their heads about it. Some of the alarmists have said that global warming actually makes cold spells colder. Right.

With all of this said, I don't know what I think about global warming. To me, it's mostly a tool of the alarmists to get what they want. For me, I don't need to hear that the weather will get warmer (lol - God forbid!) to do what I can to conserve resources. I am a true environmental CONSERVative. I think we should keep sacred our natural resources and not waste them.

But many of these alarmists are the same people who take elevators instead of stairs; They take cabs instead of biking or walking; They take frequent plane flights; They are thoughtless when choosing how to light their homes; They live in the suburbs and commute to the city instead of living near work. They want to make the evil Americans (and many of them are Americans themselves) pay, but they don't want to sacrifice their own lifestyle. It's always someone else's fault, someone else's responsibility.

I also think that the Bush Administration needs to do more. Bush seems to be giving lip service to the development of cleaner energies, yet he refuses to utilize his position of power to take what could be critical steps in reducing polution. Administrations before him, including Clinton and Gore, have usually taken the same route, giving lip service and doing little. But that is no excuse.

I just wish the alarmists would stop their fearmongering. They're as bad as the religious set that keeps saying gay marriage will lead to beastiality.

The waning day

If you couldn't tell from the dropping temperature that autumn had arrived, the fast-setting sun has now become a daily reminder. While I enjoy the cooler days, the added darkness is a bit depressing. I love getting home, going to the gym, and getting back home before the sun sets. Now, that's not possible. The day won't be as long as it was today until mid-March. Alas, I see a lot fewer trips to the gym and a lot more evenings at home writing and reading; and hitting the town for an after-work cocktail. Cosmo, please. I guess the longer nights do have their benefits.

The ivory-billed woodpecker

Growing up on Cape Cod, I was in love with birds. My grandmother kept a Roger Tory Peterson book of birds on her kitchen table and regularly recorded what birds she had seen on one of her many bird feeders. From a very young age, I followed suit.

So it was with great excitement that I read the stories this morning of the discovery of an ivory-billed woodpecker in Arkansas. I had heard of the bird, which has been thought to be extinct for the last 60 years, when I was a kid. But, it's not as though I have some nostalgic connection with the bird. The idea of discovering something thought to be extince would be like finally seeing the Loch Ness Monster.