Blatant Reality

There is a lot of talk now-a-days about how hydrogen fuel cell cars are going to be the newest and best thing of the future to help stop global warming and such. The whole idea of the this new fuel cell idea seems brilliant when you first look at it because the proposed source of hydrogen would be one of the most abundant molecules on earth (water) and the only emissions of these vehicles would be water vapor.

However, the scientists that are all up in arms about how global warming are the very ones that seem to be missing a very key fact about the whole greenhouse gas deal. Contrary to what you have learned, via the media or in school, water vapor is actually the number one greenhouse gas.

Water vapor in the troposphere is the biggest contributor to greenhouse gas warming.

Following water vapor, the next highest greenhouse gas contributor is methane with carbon dioxide a distant third.

Now, you would think that if water vapor is THE biggest contributor to greenhouse gas warming, we wouldn’t want to put any more into the environment than we already have. Yet environmentalist are constantly proclaiming hydrogen fuel cell cars as “zero-emission” vehicles.

Unlike many of the hybrid and “green” cars currently on the market, hydrogen cars offer the promise of zero emission technology, where the only byproduct from the cars is water vapor. Current fossil-fuel burning vehicles emit all sorts of pollutants such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide, ozone and microscopic particulate matter. Hybrids and other green cars address these issues to a large extent but only hydrogen cars hold the promise of zero emission of pollutants. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that fossil-fuel automobiles emit 1 ½ billion tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere each year and going to hydrogen-based transportation would all but eliminate this.

It’s weird how the EPA supports hydrogen fuel cell technology when water vapor is such a major factor in the greenhouse gas warming.

The overlaps complicate things, but it’s clear that water vapour is the single most important absorber (between 36% and 66% of the greenhouse effect), and together with clouds makes up between 66% and 85%. CO₂ alone makes up between 9 and 26%, while the O₃ and the other minor GHG absorbers consist of up to 7 and 8% of the effect, respectively. The remainders and uncertainties are associated with the overlaps which could be attributed in various ways that I’m not going to bother with here. Making some allowance (+/-5%) for the crudeness of my calculation, the maximum supportable number for the importance of water vapour alone is about 60-70% and for water plus clouds 80-90% of the present day greenhouse effect.

Man, if water vapor is such a big contributor now with us just burning fuel products, imagine how big of a contributor it will be if we intentionally make it through “zero-emission” hydrogen cars.

I know there are those of you out there that will tell me that our potential affect on the water cycle will be miniscule and you may very well be right. But if you use this argument, don’t expect me to listen to you when you start going on about how we are the cause of global warming because of our carbon emissions. If we can affect the global climate in one aspect than we can surly affect it in another.

So even after that rant, I’m going to shock you a little. I’m actually in favor of hydrogen based fuel cell technology. The reason for this is that if the fact that these cars aren’t technically “zero-emission” is recognized, then things can be done to fix it. Things such as a way to capture and condense the vapor then release it as a liquid would be just one suggestion. The potential for a virtually limitless fuel source is just too good to pass up.

Anyways, I’m not a scientist, but if you are, feel free to chip in your two sense worth/tear this article to pieces in the comment section.

I usually rely on my Google News Live Bookmark to give me the latest and greatest news out there. Usually I am quite pleased with what it shows me. Today, however, I’m not to sure if I should be trusting Google to bring me the most important news stories. Why have I lost my trust? Well when a story like this gets into the top three spots of my feed, I just have to wonder.

Today, the New York Times ran an article with this headline: “Carter says Hamas and Syria are Open to Peace“. When I saw this, I thought to myself, “Wow, maybe Carter isn’t completely oblivious and worthless after all.” However, I should have known not to get my hopes up to much.

As it seems to happen quite often in the MSM, the author of this piece focussed on the completely wrong aspect of the story. After you wade through all the junk about how Carter actually did something useful you get to this very important section:

Mr. Carter had tried to get Hamas to agree to several other requests and all were turned down. Those included a prisoner exchange and declaring a 30-day unilateral cease-fire with Israel — Hamas fires rockets on Israeli towns and communities in an effort to hurt and kill civilians. On Monday a 4-year-old child was injured from shrapnel after a rocket hit a home on a kibbutz and caused damage, the Israeli army announced.

 

Mr. Meshal said at his news conference that, through Egypt, he and Israel were working on a possible mutual cease-fire or period of calm so there was no reason to accept Mr. Carter’s suggestion of a unilateral cease-fire.

 

Mr. Carter said he found the Hamas leadership, including Mr. Meshal, to be clear-thinking, educated people who gave no sign of fanaticism, although he did condemn in harsh terms their use of violence. He said they did not break for prayer, talk of holy land or God. “It was secular talk,” he said.

 

“They are just as rational as you are,” he said, adding, “The thing that Meshal and I have is that we are both physicists.”

At this point in the article, I just begin to shake my head in despair. Honestly, what kind of peace talks can happen when the enemy (yes, Hamas is the enemy) won’t even agree to stop murdering innocent civilians including children? Carter didn’t accomplish anything other than finding out that he had more in common with a terrorist than the majority of the American people.

It truly shocks me that the NYT would try to spin this story into some kind of win for Carter. The real title for this article should be “Carter Fails: Hamas Will Continue Rocket Barrages” or “Hamas Won’t Agree to Ceasefire” or my favorite “Hamas Will Continue Mercilessly Killing Innocents.” Take your pick. Any of those would be ten times better than the current headline. Even a Russian news source got a better headline with “Hamas rejects Carter’s call to halt rocket fire on Israel for 1 month”

Well, I guess I can’t complain too much about this. It’s things like this that get me all riled up and give me something to write about.

Check out Gateway Pundit for some more on this.

A new ceramic, technically yttria-stabilized zirconia, could be our answer to storing radioactive waste in the future.

You can see on the left the effects of radiation on two materials. “In yttria-stabilized zirconia (top), the defects produced by radiation are few and far between, having less impact on the properties of the material. In zircon (bottom), the defects are clustered, which could compromise the material’s integrity.” (Credit: PNNL) Here is a link to a larger version of this figure.

 

This research project has been led at PNNL by scientists Ram Devanathan and William Weber. Here are some of their comments about this research project. “‘If you want a material to withstand radiation over millennia, you can’t expect it to just sit there and take it. There must be a mechanism for self-healing,’ said Devanathan. ‘This research raises the possibility of engineering mobile defects in ceramics to enhance radiation tolerance,’ Weber said. He noted that materials capable of handling high-radiation doses also ‘could improve the durability of key equipment and reduce the costs of replacements.’”

So far it seems that this material is still in the ‘theoretical’ stage but with nuclear energy quickly making a comeback, the need for a material like this is definitely there.

And he obviously bordering on being worthless. He met with again today with Khaled Meshaal, the exiled Hamas leader in Syria, to discuss a ceasefire and a prisoner exchange between Israel and the Palestinians. However, Hamas launched another attack today, the eave of Passover.

Palestinian suicide bombers from Gaza drove three explosives-laden vehicles into the Kerem Shalom goods crossing on the border with Israel early on Saturday, detonating two of them, the Israeli military said.

 

Three bombers were killed in the blasts and 13 Israeli soldiers were wounded, three moderately and the rest lightly, the military said.

 

Hamas, the Islamic group that controls the Gaza Strip, claimed responsibility for the attack. It came on the eve of the weeklong Passover holiday in Israel and hours before former President Jimmy Carter held a second meeting in Damascus with exiled leaders of Hamas, reportedly to explore the possibility of a cease-fire and a prisoner exchange between the group and Israel.

An obvious sign that they want to talk peace, right? Thank goodness that they only succeeded in killing themselves. Now you might be thinking that it is because of these suicide bombings that we need Carter there. Well guess what, he’s obviously not succeeding and both the the Israeli and United governments do not want him negotiating with known terrorists.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter met with exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal again Saturday in Syria, despite objections from both Israel and the United States.

 

Mr. Carter did not comment after his talks with Meshaal on Friday night and Saturday morning in Damascus.

 

A Hamas official, Mohammad Nazzal, told reporters Mr. Carter proposed a cease-fire between Israeli forces and Hamas fighters, a prisoner exchange, and the lifting of Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip.

 

The official said Hamas would respond soon.

Yea and we now know what that response would be: a suicide attack against Israeli soldiers on one of Israel’s most important holidays.

Jimmy Carter, go back home, grow some peanuts, and relax. We all know you did the whole thing between Israel and Egypt but it is quickly becoming evident that you are a “one hit wonder.” Give it up. You are only succeeding in distracting the media from the real issue at hand and that is the fact that Hamas is a terrorist organization and should be dealt with as such.

All I got to say is wow, this is a great article. For all of you who still are wondering what Obama’s whole “people cling to religion” and “when the government fails, God is my backup” quotes mean, just read this article by Sarah K. Here is my favorite part:

This statement that God is a backup plan after the government fails tells me all I need to know about Obama: Government is his god; God is just there as a fall-back. This is why it’s so important to him and people like him that we have a huge government. He doesn’t believe God will take care of his needs and thinks that the U.S. government is more powerful than God — pretty sad for someone who claims to be a Christian. Why does he even profess faith in God and Christ if he has none? Oh yeah, I forgot. Sweet, sweet Chicago votes.

You might as well just add this to the long list of other disturbing trends that are happening in England.

This will be the 5th installment of my “Tranquil Tableau” series where the whole goal of it is to put you in a relaxed mood for the weekend (not to mention it gives me a chance to show off some of my awesome pics). This week’s pic is of some Cyprus trees(?) that were along the main road that leads from San Francisco to Monterey Bay (Yes, I was in San Francisco and yes I did enjoy it surprisingly).

Somewhere between San Francisco and Monterey Bay, CA

If you happened to catch Saturday Night Live this past weekend, you will be familiar with the two part mini-skit called “Death by Chocolate.” After watching it again tonight, I found some interesting parallels to the 2008 election. Before I explain my theories/correlations, please watch both videos because they are funny in and of themselves in a morbid sort of way.

Death by Chocolate (Part 1)

Death by Chocolate (Part 2)

Now, before I go off on this little conspiracy theory-esque explanation, let me preface this by the fact that its been a long day and I am very tired. Therefore, come morning, I could read this post and shake my head in disbelief that I actually publish something so crazy. Keep that in mind as you read the following explanation.

First off, what makes me think that this could be some sort of analogy for the 2008 election race is that fact the show’s opening skit (not the Death by Chocolate skit) had all three of the presidential candidates in it. In this skit, everyone seems to admit that Barack is going to be the next president with no questions asked. Even General Patreus believes that Barack is going to win. This set the tone for the rest of the show.

Now, if you don’t see where I’m going with this after watching the videos plus reading the above paragraph, I will spell it out for you in detail. First off, I believe that the giant chocolate bar symbolizes Barack Obama. Where in the world would would I get that idea? Well, being raised by the “typical white person” must mean that he has some whiteness inside of him just like Ashton Kutcher was inside the giant chocolate bar.

Still not seeing the similarities? Don’t worry, I got more. The old man who is rummaging around in the trash is obviously John McCain because who else would be as oblivious to a giant chocolate bar dancing around you with a knife. He’s old and he was probably looking around for his hearing aid in the trash.

Need more proof? Well you’re in luck. The second part is obviously about how Clinton’s campaign has been on life support and is quickly fading since the polls are showing Barack with an impressive lead. Obviously, he is going to get rid of her and, in the process, some how destroy the health system as we know it (the bullet to the doctor’s chest).

The only good thing about this whole skit if it is an accurate prediction of how the election will end up is the fact that Barack owns a gun and knows how to use it. Maybe this will mean that he will let the rest of us enjoy the right to have our own (doubtful).

Well, there you have it folks, my very own “Death by Chocolate” interpretation. Hope you enjoyed it and I hope that I won’t regret this in the morning…

I always seem to get very nervous when known terrorist organizations support a political campaign. Call me old fashioned but when that happens, it’s normally a hint that I probably shouldn’t support them. So how do you think I feel about Presidential hopeful Barack Obama when I heard that Hamas recently endorsed him.

“I hope Mr. Obama and the Democrats will change the political discourse. … I do believe [Obama] is like John Kennedy, a great man with a great principal. And he has a vision to change America to make it in a position to lead the world community, but not with humiliation and arrogance,” Yousuf said, speaking from Gaza

 

(…)

 

Together with presidential candidates John McCain and Hillary Clinton, Obama called Hamas a “terrorist organization” that should remain isolated until it renounces violence and recognizes Israel. Obama told reporters he opposed Carter’s meeting with Hamas.But Yousuf chalked up Obama’s statements to political posturing.

 

“I understand American politics and this is the season for elections and everybody tries to sound like he’s a friend of the Israelis … so whatever [the] Israelis didn’t like they will take from all those candidates,” he said.

 

Yousuf said that in Hamas’ view, Obama has “a vision to change America to make it in a position to lead the world community but not with humiliation and arrogance.”

Note the highlighted segments above. Obama believes Hamas is a terrorist organization yet they still support him! In today’s world, terrorists need to be afraid of our president. Obama is going to be like that one kid who talks all tough in the school yard but everyone just laughs at him because they know they can trounce all over him any time they want.

Do you really want that kind of leader? I don’t.

(Hat Tip Right Wing News)