| |
|
Wednesday, April 09, 2003
|
|
My Boy, Monkey Boy
As a follow-up to Linus' story about the Gorillas and their butt-scratching, yesterday I checked the board at his school to see what he had to say during group time. His Tuesday words of wisdom were: "I went to the zoo and saw the monkeys go 'ooh ooh, aah ahh'".
Sigh. Again, it's been weeks since he has been to the zoo. He has had infinitely more interesting things going on his life since he saw the monkeys. Or at least I thought he did. And it's not like he's fixated on monkeys at all. There can only be one explanation: He busted out with a gorilla story that got a lot of laughs on Monday, and he went back to the well for more primate material on Tuesday. And make no mistake, it is material-He does a highly animated monkey "ooh ooh, aah aah", complete with scratching of armpits.
I need to ask his teachers about what these conversations entail, to confirm my suspicions. What will he come up with today? I gave him suggestions for what to say, that perhaps he could tell the class about playing baseball in the yard with his daddy last night, or maybe about working in the basement with his hammer as he helped me remodel, or about how he's going to go with his daddy to get pizza after school. He could say any of those things, really. Or maybe he's got a third monkey joke I'm not aware of. How long will the other kids in the class find these primate antics amusing? What if he does the organgutan dance and nobody laughs?
11:54:36 AM 
|
|
The Chicken Littles
This story in today's StarTribune addresses climate change that is expected to take place in Minnesota over the next century. It is based on a newly released study undertaken by a coalition of U.S. and Canadian scientists. The conclusion, that Minnesota will become hotter and more arid (they say Minnesota will feel like Kansas in 100 years...) are not ground-breaking; this has been known for some time. Although the authors are careful to point out that there are myriad factors involved in climate change, fossil fuel consumption is almost certainly one of them.
So, naturally, the story is peppered with quotes from Partners for Affordable Energy, a pro-coal coalition. How do they refute the claims of this study, and so many others? By offering iron-clad, hard scientific answers like "We don't think the sky is falling", or this beauty: "Hudelson (the spokesman from PAE) challenged the report's findings and noted that the region just endured one of its coldest winters in years, with record-thick ice and hundreds of frozen wells and septic systems. "We reject the doom-and-gloom outlook and take a more optimistic viewpoint," he said.
That's the coal lobby for you. "It was cold this year! We can't be warming." Never mind 100 years of data and climate models. What about the record hot spell we had four years ago? What did that prove? The answer, of course, is nothing. Climate change happens over much longer periods of time. I maintain this is one of the great tragedies of the Bush Presidency compared to what could have been with Gore. Gore understands the folly of fossil fuel consumption, and the need to earnestly pursue alternatives. Bushco won't even allow the GAO to know who was consulted on their energy policy. Ask yourself why.
10:52:33 AM
|
|
|
© Copyright 2003 Doug Hennessee.
Last update: 5/1/2003; 10:47:39 AM.
|
|
|
