photo credit: woodleywonderworks

There is an interesting article in the Feb/Mar 2007 issue of National Wildlife Magazine (www.nwf.org) that caught my attention. The article is titled: “Global Warming: Coming To Your Backyard?”

The article describes how global warming will probably cause certain plants such as poison ivy and ragweed to prosper because of the increased amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. It also suggests that this will result in increased hay fever allergies for humans, as well as an increase in the population of some insect pests such as mosquitoes and ticks.

Anyway, one part of the article in particular made me do a double-take. Apparently, biologists from Duke University recently conducted a study that resulted in these claims. The article describes the experiment where they:

“…used pipes to pump carbon dioxide into circular areas of forest, each about 100 feet in diameter. The biologists raised the CO2 in the air to the level anticipated for our atmosphere by 2050 if CO2 emissions continue unchanged –about 585 parts per million.”

The article goes on to say:

“After five years of experimenting…”

Now, this may be an example of poor editing, but I got the impression that the experiment with CO2 took five years. I’m no scientist, but I believe that they would have to pump a very large amount of CO2 into those 100 foot areas of forest in order to make any conclusions. Just exactly how much CO2 does it take to cover at least two (implied by the plural “circular areas”) 100 foot areas for five years? Isn’t the whole idea to DECREASE the amount of CO2 we pump into the atmosphere? I’m so confused!

Computer, cellphone, and PDA users in the U.S., from big corporations to individuals, are going to have a major headache this coming week. The U.S. Government, with minimal input from the people, has decided to change the dates when daylight savings time begins and ends. So now we have to worry about computers getting confused as to what time it is. If you don’t have all the necessary “hot fixes” to your software, you may find yourself out of synch. I’m not even sure how this will affect companies and organizations that use time clocks at work, so check your paychecks closely.

It’s bad enough that we even use this archaic method of time keeping. The original idea came from Benjamin Franklin, primarily as a means to assist farmers. It was implemented with the idea of saving energy. But not every state participates, making it very confusing for me personally because I have family in Arizona, which doesn’t participate. So half the year California and Arizona are on the same time, but the other half of the year Arizona is one hour ahead of California.

The whole concept is stupid, especially during our modern era of global communications and commerce. The military and most transportation industries use Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), using the 24 hour clock instead of a 12 hour one. Our concept of “time” has always been based on the rising and setting of the sun. GMT is based on longitude, which makes sense because the earth rotates, exposing the planet to sunlight.

A lot of people have difficulties with the 24 hour clock, where 5pm is 1700 hours. I understand that it can be confusing, because not only do you have to know how to convert it to the 24 hour clock, but you also have to know how many hours different you are from GMT. In California, we are currently GMT+8 which means that when it is 1300 GMT (1pm) in Greenwich, England, it would be 2100 (9pm) in California. 1300 + 0800 = 2100

So why are we messing with the system even further? The worst part is that the government is calling this change an “experiment”, suggesting that they could change their mind if it doesn’t work as expected. If for some reason they decide to change it again, then all of the clocks that are programmed for daylight savings time will have to be reprogrammed yet again.

Personally, I think the whole world should be run on the 24 hour clock and GMT. Set it once and leave it alone!

Proving that politicians in the U.S. aren’t the only nuts in the tree, France has just passed a new law criminalizing the act of filming or recording of acts of violence, including acts of violence committed by police. Ironically, this law was passed exactly 16 years after Los Angeles police officers were caught on film, beating Rodney King. The violent arrest was filmed by George Holiday, an amateur videographer. If the same thing were to happen today in France, Mr. Holiday would very likely end up in jail for his efforts. Doesn’t this sound like a reversal of the final episode of Seinfeld, where they were sent to jail for witnessing but not doing anything to prevent the robbery?

The law also applies to anyone who publishes these images, including websites. What does this mean for companies like YouTube? Will they be held accountable for any violent images on their site that are accessible from France? It’s a crazy world.

California state senators Darrell Steinberg and Bob Dutton recently authored a bill, sponsored by the “New America Foundation”, that would provide $500 to every baby born in California, regardless of their parents’ financial or immigration status. Of course, this piece of legislation (SB 752) would require California tax payers to foot the bill. The idea is for each baby to receive the $500 in a tax-free, long term investment account, untouchable until they turn 18. There are so many things wrong with this bill, I can’t believe it was even considered!

First of all, California’s budget is so overwhelmed that Governor Arnie has been forced to cut and slash a host of programs that help the needy and disabled. At an estimated cost of more than $283 million per year, it would require even more drastic cuts in the state budget.

Second, we already provide free education and healthcare for the children of illegal immigrants. Now, don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against immigrants - my own mother is one. But she did it legally. We don’t need yet another incentive for illegal immigrants to come to California.

Senator Steinberg was quoted as saying, “If we ask people to invest in California, California must invest in its people.” and, “Every child ought to grow up knowing that they are worth investing in, from birth on.” So does that mean that everyone born in California prior to some cut-off date are not worth investing in?

Of course, family and friends would be encouraged to make regular contributions to these investment accounts. It is estimated that if the account averaged a 5% annual gain, AND was supplemented with a monthly contribution of $50, the total after 18 years would be about $17,500. Whoopie! At the current rate of inflation, that $17,500 might pay for a year of college, or perhaps an old, barely running, used car. It won’t even come close to a down payment for a new home.

At least Senator Dutton woke up from his mental coma and revoked his support for the bill. Of course, it probably helped that his office was swamped with complaints during the 2 days immediately following the press release. I don’t know how Steinberg is reacting, but I hope his mental coma is just as short-lived as Dutton’s.

This is exactly the kind of thing that drives me crazy about politicians! They spend as little time as possible doing real work, and when a difficult decision needs to be made, they turn it into a proposition for the voters to decide. How much time, money, and resources did these two waste on this stupid idea? Heck, I could accept half their salary and spend my time coming up with stupid ideas.