Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Ramble On...

Follow-up…Monday I gave all y’all a link to a National Geographic article on Rory Stewart, the young Scotsman who’s on a quest to save Old Kabul. I didn’t notice it at the time, but there’s a link on the NatGeo site to a photo essay on Mr. Stewart and places in Kabul the author, Mr. Stewart, and the NatGeo photographer visited. There are 23 photos, all quite good (Hey, it IS NatGeo we’re taking about here!). Recommended.

Hat tip: Shaun Mullen at The Moderate Voice. I should point out Chap had this story on June 16th, I stole it from Chap on the 18th, and The Moderate Voice posted it today. Good stuff makes the rounds on these here inter-tubes, now, don’t it?

Via Gerard…Here’s “Roger That!”

The man has a point.

You could do worse than stopping by van der Leun’s place today. No new essays or other tours de force, but he does have a collection of good links to check out. His “Airbus saving the planet” link is good, but I particularly like what he has to say about Mikey:

Sicko's gonna make you sick: Forget the film. You can avoid that. What you can't avoid will be the next 500 cable news segments about Michael Moore, the 18,620 blog posts about Michael Moore, and the endless images of Michael Moore. Brace yourself.

Gerard’s right…it’s already begun. I think I caught two or three flashes of Moore’s fat ass last night alone. The ol’ remote is gonna get quite the workout during the next week or so. (No link. If you’re all that interested in The Fat Guy, google him.)

The Nutroots on The Nutroots:

The woman at the podium is the pseudonymous blogger Digby (of Hullabaloo), in her first public appearance (as far as I know). She was accepting, on behalf of progressive bloggers— all those people you see behind her —the Paul Wellstone Citizen Leadership Award. In so doing, she invoked every single moonbat cliché there is, save one (there wasn’t any mention of the 9/11 Truthers; Thank God for small favors). But anyway…if you want to know what drives the Nutroots, Digby explains it all. You can’t make this stuff up.

From yesterday’s Guardian (UK)China overtakes US as world's biggest CO2 emitter:”

China has overtaken the United States as the world's biggest producer of carbon dioxide, the chief greenhouse gas, figures released today show.

The surprising announcement will increase anxiety about China's growing role in driving man-made global warming and will pile pressure onto world politicians to agree a new global agreement on climate change that includes the booming Chinese economy. China's emissions had not been expected to overtake those from the US, formerly the world's biggest polluter, for several years, although some reports predicted it could happen as early as next year.

It’s gonna be real interesting to see how the Global Warming climate change Chicken-Littles are gonna spin this lil bit of information…and whether or not there will be calls to include China in global targets for greenhouse gas emissions. You’ll remember, of course, that China was exempted from the Kyoto Protocol. Because they’re… you know…“developing.” Well, it looks like they’ve developed to the point where they’re outstripping the perpetually-guilty party among the community of nations, eh? As far as emissions go, anyway.

So. Becky tagged me with a meme while I was off on my mid-life crisis motorcycle mega-ride last month, and Kris tagged me day before yesterday with what I think is the same one…to wit: tell us eight things we don’t know about you. Pretty hard, that. It’s not easy to come up with eight things you don’t know, as I tend to share everything… “everything” being code for “too much information,” as it were. And then there’s that gray area concerning the statute of limitations for various and sundry things. I dunno if one can effectively blog from jail. But anyway. Let us attempt to fill this square.

  1. I didn’t get serious about life until I was well into my 30’s… Up until that time my life could have been characterized by a single phrase: “I’m here for the party.” And party I did. It’s amazing I managed to survive, and I credit The Second Mrs. Pennington for turning me around saving my life. But, you knew that last bit, Gentle Reader.
  2. I voted for George McGovern in ’72. Worse yet, I voted for Carter in ’76. Dept. of Everlasting Shame.
  3. Things I did to make (extra) money as a young airman: Bagged groceries. Weeded bean fields. Busted tires in the tire shop at Sears Roebuck. Cleaned a beauty shop every Sunday night for a year.
  4. I got fired from the tire shop job at Sears. The only time I’ve ever been fired in my life. I destroyed a radial tire while trying to mount it. The foreman had absolutely no sense of humor about that.
  5. I hate carrots.
  6. The Second Mrs. Pennington and I hitch-hiked from Tokyo to Kyoto over the Christmas holiday in 1975. It was only after we returned (by train) from Kyoto that we learned one simply doesn’t hitch-hike in Japan. Ever.
  7. The most amazing place I’ve ever been is Cappadocia. Ever.
  8. London is my favorite city in all the world.

And there you have it, Gentle Reader. Can we have a moratorium on memes, now?

9 comments:

  1. OK Buck, on my site you said we had three things in common (and it wasn't the ballerina dream - thank god for that...). I only see one thing here - the eternal shame of once being a Democrat. So what are the other 2?

    And what did carrots ever do to you?! :-) Melt a little margarine with some fresh chopped chives and mix with some nicely steamed, slightly crunchy carrots - YUM!

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  2. "...if you want to know what drives the Nutroots..."

    Buck - I quite unexpectedly found this out yesterday - go here for a recap. I'm "uneducated" because I didn't agree with someone's opinion about the motivation of Palestinian homicide bombers...and this from a (former) friend!

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  3. I'm sure that China now replacing US as first place will somehow be our fault. Yeah, waiting for the spin on that one, too.

    Well, they're are worse things than Carter. Had I been old enough to vote, instead of the ripe old age of 2, I may have voted for him as well (because he was a Georgia boy). Don't beat yourself up too bad over it.

    I hate raw carrots. But I enjoy them cooked with a roast and potatoes and onions, or a good carrot cake.

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  4. Kris: The other two: I'm not a college grad either and we both have eclectic musical tastes.

    Re: carrots... I can take 'em raw (with a good dip, and lots of it) but NEVER cooked. They're just so... ORANGE!

    And carrot cake...that's not carrots, that's DESSERT! (yum)

    ;-)

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  5. Hmm, I think I may have known about your voting for Carter.

    Becky tagged me, but I keep putting off trying to come up with things that no one knows about me. If you don't already know something about me, chances are you don't want to know. Okay, I will think about it.

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  6. I'm with you on the carrot thing, Buck. I can eat them raw, but can't abide them cooked.

    I wasn't old enough to vote for Carter, and I don't know if I would have if I was. I remember a bumper sticker from the day, though. It said,

    "Miz Lillian was right. Billy is smarter."

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  7. Got through about 6 minutes and felt myself beginning to get sick...

    I can't believe they actually believe this stuff...

    Take back America? Who stole it?

    I didn't realize America was missing? Did someone put up a poster on a telephone pole?

    MISSING: The only world superpower. Last seen when Liberals and Lefties were in charge. Reward for return. Please call 1-800-IMNIDIOT.

    They're killing me...

    SN1

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  8. Regarding the China story, perhaps I'm a chiken-little as you put it; but, the United States, on a per person basis, emits four times as much carbon as China.
    See the numbers here.

    Also keep in mind that much of what they produce is for American consumption, so whose emissions are those?

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  9. Buck sez: Did someone put up a poster on a telephone pole?

    Heh. Didja get to the part where she says she's angry...and it's because she and the other "progressives" were told when Bush won in 2000 to "get over it"...and she "never got over it?" The root of all evil, that.

    John-Google said: Also keep in mind that much of what they produce is for American consumption, so whose emissions are those?

    Follow the money... if the money ends up in China, then China owns the emissions. Your "per capita" emissions information is interesting, John, but it's spin.

    Crippling the American economy to resolve a problem that is not yet proven, and probably can't be proven, given the tools we have, not to mention the available data for modeling such a complex system as global climate.

    Throw in the fact that there are competing, and valid theories as to exactly why the climate is changing (such as this article in today's Financal Post {Canada}), and I submit it's premature to begin throwing around solutions such as carbon taxes, cap and trade schemes, and the like.

    One of the issues I have with alarmists, John, is their attitude that climate change is "settled," the debate is OVER, and no argument to the contrary will be entertained. Ever. There are AT LEAST two sides to this question, and it's premature, not to mention short-sighted, to dismiss the contrarian arguments.

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Just be polite... that's all I ask.