Quote of the day: Yogi Berra Week

In honor of Friday:

"I want to thank you for making this day necessary." - Yogi Berra

If you still believe global warming is going to cause the end of the world...

...read these and get back to me:

The Real 'Inconvenient Truth'

If "global warming" is real, what could be causing it?

For those of you still arrogant enough to think man can ruin this planet, consider the year 1816, otherwise known as "The Year without a Summer". The 1815 volcanic eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia is generally considered the cause of this (from Wikipedia):

"The unusual climate aberrations of 1816 had the greatest effect on the American northeast, the Canadian Maritimes, Newfoundland and northern Europe. Typically, the late spring and summer of the northeastern U.S. are relatively stable: temperatures average about 68–77°F (20–25°C), and rarely fall below 41°F (5°C). Summer snow is an extreme rarity, though May flurries sometimes occur.

In May of 1816, however, frost killed off most of the crops that had been planted, and in June two large snowstorms in eastern Canada and New England resulted in many human deaths. Nearly a foot of snow was observed in Quebec City in early June. In July and August, lake and river ice were observed as far south as Pennsylvania. Rapid, dramatic temperature swings were common, with temperatures sometimes reverting from normal or above-normal summer temperatures as high as 95°F (35°C) to near-freezing within hours. Even though farmers south of New England did succeed in bringing some crops to maturity, maize (corn) and other grain prices rose dramatically. Oats, for example, rose from 12¢ a bushel the previous year to 92¢ a bushel."

Somehow, the Earth managed to return to normal. But our little CO2 emissions are ruining the planet?

My response:

"Go sell crazy somewhere else, we're all stocked up here." - Jack Nicholson, from As Good as It Gets

Quote(s) of the day: Yogi Berra Week

I have seen two variations on this quote, so here are both of them:

"You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you're going, because you might not get there." - Yogi Berra

"If you don't know where you're going, chances are you will end up somewhere else." - Yogi Berra

Personally, I prefer the second one.

Of course, Yogi also said:

"I didn't really say everything I said." - Yogi Berra

Quote of the day: Yogi Berra Week

“The future ain't what it used to be.” - Yogi Berra

Have you noticed how predictions for the future have changed?

Back during the Cold War, the world was going to be destroyed by nuclear bombs. While we still have nuclear bombs, no one worries about them anymore. Unless terrorists get them...

Ironically, we had terrorists back during the Cold War, but nobody worried about them then (unless you lived in the Middle East).

We can always rely on the enviro-nazis to find a way in which humanity is ruining the planet. Back during the 1970's, it was global cooling. Now, it is global warming. Is anyone taking bets on how long it will take them to go back to global cooling? Regardless, the one constant is it will be mankind's fault. You know we are gods, right?

Of course, we can always count on the Christians to predict the second coming of Christ. Unfortunately, they keep pushing back the date. Some things never change.

Something to worry about...

For you global warming fear-mongers out there, here is something to REALLY worry about: Asteroids.

What we know about the effect of greenhouse gases on the Earth is nothing compared to what we know about asteroids.

Asteroids have hit the Earth before, possibly having wiped out the dinosaurs.

Unless there is a miracle, we WILL get hit by a large asteroid again.

We are doing more to limit greenhouse gases than we are doing to prevent an asteroid from hitting the Earth.

Of course, denial is a wonderful thing. You can keep believing that humanity can control the Earth's atmosphere (which we can't), while living in denial about the possibility of the Earth being hit by an asteroid, about which we COULD actually do something.

Quote of the day: Yogi Berra Week

The perfect summertime quote:

"It ain't the heat, it's the humility." - Yogi Berra

Unfortunately, on the subject of global warming, humans have NO humility. We think we have advanced so far, yet we still think the universe revolves around humanity. We think our little greenhouse gases are going to end life on this planet.

Here is a thought for you Chicken Littles out there: If we detonated every single nuclear weapon we have, we would do more to hurt the planet than if we doubled our greenhouse gas emissions. On top of that, the planet WOULD recover from the nuclear devastation.

Arrogance, thy name is human.

Quote of the day: Yogi Berra Week

On a week that starts off with the birthdays of both Abner Doubleday and Derek Jeter, I figured it was only appropriate to dig into the archives of the most quotable baseball player of all time: Yogi Berra.

"It's hard to make predictions, especially about the future." - Yogi Berra

I have seen this quote attributed to both Berra and writer Robert Storm Petersen. Even if Berra did not say it, it has Berra written all over it.

Quote of the day

“We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will.” - Chuck Palahniuk

When I read this quote, I thought "How astute!". When I saw who said it, my thought was "Who the heck is Chuck Palahniuk?".

I included a link to the Wikipedia entry for him, should anyone be curious. In summation, he is a writer who is best known for the novel "Fight Club".

(Hat tip to Thinkexist.com for the quote)

The sky is falling!

The big story over at CNN.com, "Study: Earth hottest in 400 years":

"The National Academy of Sciences, reaching that conclusion in a broad review of scientific work requested by Congress, reported Thursday that the "recent warmth is unprecedented for at least the last 400 years and potentially the last several millennia."

A panel of top climate scientists told lawmakers that the Earth is running a fever and that "human activities are responsible for much of the recent warming." Their 155-page report said average global surface temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere rose about 1 degree during the 20th century."

1 degree huh? Yawn.

The most interesting thing is that nowhere in the entire story are the words "sun" or "solar" used. Until a study is done which excludes the main source of heat on Earth as a cause of global warming, I refuse to take this any more seriously than a guy walking down the street with a sign saying "Repent! The End Is Near!".

UPDATE: You have to love CNN.com. They wear their bias on their sleeves. They have updated their headline story. Now it is "Study: Earth 'likely' hottest in 2,000 years". Mind you, the original article had the following quote:

"Climate scientists Michael Mann, Raymond Bradley and Malcolm Hughes had concluded the Northern Hemisphere was the warmest it has been in 2,000 years. Their research was known as the "hockey-stick" graphic because it compared the sharp curve of the hockey blade to the recent uptick in temperatures and the stick's long shaft to centuries of previous climate stability.

The National Academy scientists concluded that the Mann-Bradley-Hughes research from the late 1990s was "likely" to be true, said John "Mike" Wallace, an atmospheric sciences professor at the University of Washington and a panel member. The conclusions from the '90s research "are very close to being right" and are supported by even more recent data, Wallace said."

In other words, they are not saying anything new with the new article. Just beating the dead horse. Of course, they will blame the horse's death on global warming.

Quote of the day

"It may very well be that the price for accepting all manner of compromises is having a movement totally compromised." - Robert A. George

Robert George wrote this in a National Review editorial back in 2000, referring to how Rudy Giuliani's personal affairs go against the beliefs of the Republican Party, yet they were still going to support him in his run for the Senate against Hillary Clinton (he later backed out of the race).

It is ironic that the Republican Party, without any help from Rudy Giuliani, ended up proving Robert George prescient. How many compromises has the GOP made in order to keep power, at the sacrifice of conservatism?

Quote of the day

“I hate victims who respect their executioners.” - Jean-Paul Sartre

There shall be no respect for anyone who would kill me physically or spiritually. If I am ever a victim, it will only be because I am not strong enough to win by myself, NOT because I could not fight.

Quote of the day

"Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." - Elizabeth Stone

There is no truer love than that between parent and child. Because that love is contained within every fiber of your being, and every fiber of your child's being.

To My Dad

"Sherman made the terrible discovery that men make about their fathers sooner or later...that the man before him was not an aging father but a boy, a boy much like himself, a boy who grew up and had a child of his own and, as best he could, out of a sense of duty and, perhaps love, adopted a role called 'Being a Father' so that his child would have something mythical and infinitely important: a Protector, who would keep a lid on all the chaotic and catastrophic possibilities of life." - Tom Wolfe, from The Bonfire of the Vanities

Dear Dad,
I read the quote above and thought of you. Specifically, I thought of the dichotomy of you: what you are, and how I view you.

As I have grown older, and had a son of my own, I have seen in my own self the little boy that I was once. What a scary thing it is to see your son through the eyes of the seven year old I was at one time. Even though he is not me, there is me in him. It is there in a movement, or a phrase, or just the way he plays. I imagine there was a time when you did the same to me.

If I look at my son that way, and you looked at me that way, then am I nothing more than you, repeating an endless cycle of life? That is a thought both depressing and pleasant. All men would like to hope we are something greater than we are, that we are somehow unique. While all men are unique in many little ways, the main ways which pass from generation to generation remain unaltered within a family tree. In essence, immortality.

When we spoke the other day, you talked about how you were going through some of your old stuff and trying to imagine what I would do with it after you are gone. If I would throw it away, you decided you would go ahead and get rid of it. I would say this to you: Keep the stuff that is part of our immortal essence. Do not think of it as losing yourself. Think of it as keeping what will last forever.

If you find that you have nothing left, then you will understand that what is truly important about you has already been shared with me, as I have already shared it with my children.

But do not despair. This just means you have fulfilled your role as protector of our immortal essence. I hope that I serve in this role as well as you have, and as well as you do!

Thank you Dad! I love you!

Policeman of the Year

If anyone knows the name of this cop, or if this is a true story, please let me know.

(Special hat tip to Neal Boortz's website for this one):

If you ever testify in court, you might wish you could have been as sharp as this policeman.

He was being cross-examined by a defense attorney during a felony trial. The lawyer was trying to undermine the policeman's credibility....

Q: "Officer -- did you see my client fleeing the scene?"

A: "No sir. But I subsequently observed a person matching the description of the offender, running several blocks away."

Q: "Officer -- who provided this description?"

A: "The officer who responded to the scene."

Q: "A fellow officer provided the description of this so-called offender. Do you trust your fellow officers?"

A: "Yes, sir. With my life."

Q: "With your life? Let me ask you this then officer. Do you have a room where you change your clothes in preparation for your daily duties?"

A: "Yes sir, we do!"

Q: "And do you have a locker in the room?"

A: "Yes sir, I do."

Q: "And do you have a lock on your locker?"

A: "Yes sir."

Q: "Now why is it, officer, if you trust your fellow officers with your life, you find it necessary to lock your locker in a room you share with these same officers?"

A: "You see, sir -- we share the building with the court complex, and sometimes lawyers have been known to walk through that room."

The courtroom erupted in laughter, and a prompt recess was called.

Quote of the day: Stating the obvious edition

"I recognize that I have a responsibility to safeguard my health in the offseason so I can continue to lead our team effectively. I never meant any harm to others nor to break any laws. I was confident in my ability to ride a motorcycle and simply believed such an accident would not happen to me. If I ever ride again, it certainly will be with a helmet." - Ben Roethlisberger

Ben, ya think?

In the immortal words of Bugs Bunny, "What a maroon!".

Quote of the day

"If you read all the fine print in all the documents you have to sign, you would have no time left to live a life." - Thomas Sowell

This is why legal disclaimers are pointless. No one reads them, so why bother having them at all?

Even worse, when there is a true warning of which we need to be made aware, it gets lost in the din of legal disclaimers which warn us of things which MIGHT happen to one person in a million people, and usually only when that one person is too stupid to live anyway.

At some point in the near future, a judge will realize that legal disclaimers are just white noise. Disclaimers are the legal version of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf".

Quote of the day

"They can change their minds, but they can't change me." - Jim Croce, from the song "I Got a Name"

If you ever want to get a feel for "Americana", listen to the music of Jim Croce. Croce had a knack for just telling a story. From his biggest hit "Bad Bad Leroy Brown", to some of his lesser known songs like "Rapid Roy" or "Roller Derby Queen", Croce told stories of people that made you feel.

Croce died at the age of 30 in a plane crash in 1973.

Quote of the day

I took another few days off, but I am back now.

"When small men attempt great enterprises, they always end by reducing them to the level of their mediocrity." - Napoleon Bonaparte

How often have we seen this? From politics to corporate management, this seems too sadly prevalent.

Quote of the day: Dennis Miller Week

“You know there is a problem with the education system when you realize that out of the 3 R's only one begins with an R.” - Dennis Miller

Quote of the day: Dennis Miller Week

“Washington, DC is to lying what Wisconsin is to cheese.” - Dennis Miller

Quote of the day: Dennis Miller Week

"I'm actually equal parts cynicism and apathy. I'm always willing to believe the worst as long as it doesn't take too much effort." - Dennis Miller

Just speaking for myself, I am a contrarian. This works out really well since most people are wrong most of the time.

(Hat tip to Quotationspage.com)

Quote of the day: Dennis Miller Week

In my opinion, Dennis Miller is a comedic/philosophical genius. His observations on our world are funny and thoughtful at the same time. I would call him a modern day George Carlin.

“It's ironic that in our culture everyone's biggest complaint is about not having enough time; yet nothing terrifies us more than the thought of eternity.” - Dennis Miller

One of the nice things about the afterlife is you don't have to worry about being on time for it.

(Hat tips to Thinkexist.com for the quote and to Dennismillerinfo.com for the photo)

The argument for third parties

Peggy Noonan nails down the real argument for third parties in her editorial today, "Third Time":

"I don't see any potential party, or potential candidate, on the scene right now who can harness the disaffection of growing portions of the electorate. But a new group or entity that could define the problem correctly--that sees the big divide not as something between the parties but between America's ruling elite and its people--would be making long strides in putting third party ideas in play in America again."

Amen Peggy.

Quote of the day

"Better to fight for something than live for nothing." - George S. Patton

Too often I hear liberals claiming we should not be in Iraq, we are causing people to die. This shows the limited vision of the modern day liberal.

If we can establish a working democracy in Iraq, and I will admit the jury is still out on that question, then the deaths are worthwhile. Even if we cannot, the deaths are still worthwhile because it is a worthy endeavor.

This is an experiment. If it works, it will lay the groundwork for future endeavors of this kind. If it fails, it means we will have to refine our methods in future endeavors. Either way, we will have accomplished something.

But the liberals don't see that. To the liberal, death is something to be avoided at all costs, regardless of the benefit to humanity. To the liberal, it is better to live in chains than to die for freedom.

To our soldiers in Iraq, I say to you: What you are doing is far greater than what our own Founding Fathers did. They risked their lives to gain their own freedom. You risk your lives to give freedom to others. God bless you and protect you, for you are truly the best mankind has to offer.

Quote of the day

"The market is not an invention of capitalism. It has existed for centuries. It is an invention of civilization." - Mikhail Gorbachev

This is why communism doesn't work. It kills the market.

This is why socialism doesn't work. It paralyzes the market.

This is why republican governments work. They feed the market.