Wednesday, April 27, 2011 by Myke.

A good friend of mine recently asked me if I would ever run for President of the US.  I responded by saying no because I do not have the money to do so.  But it got me to thinking…what would I do if I could run for President.  What would I change?  How would I run things?  Who would be my running mate?

So here goes folks, the campaign for Presidency in 2012 begins now!

I am hereby declaring myself to run for President of these United States in the year 2012 and my running mate will be Travis Sarbin.  We will run as a private party with no ties to the Tea Party, the Democrats or the Republicans.  We are Right and Left Brain.  I have no religious ties and Travis is LDS.  We are married men with children.  We have mortgages, bills, car payments, bratty kids, careers, wives that we consider our best friends and we have guns.  We are not perfect and we have not led clean and perfect lives.  We are not afraid to share with anyone the things we have done in our lives from the day we learned to walk.  We did not have perfect childhood lives and we got whooped when we got out of line.  We know what it will take to fix this country but it will take more than just the two of us *queue the song, Just the Two of us*.  It will take an entire nation to band together and follow our lead.

Step 1 - Privatize the prison system:  If you want criminals to feel the pain and suffering that they caused, then let us privatize the prison system.  The tax payers will no longer pay to house a criminal.  Criminals will work for their food and medical care.  Criminals will be treated as criminals, no special treatment.  The law will be simple, and eye for an eye.  You kill someone, you die.  Death row will no longer exist.  If we have DNA proof and all other evidence is in line, you die.  If you are sentenced to any other term other than death then you will be sentenced to secluded islands where you can earn your way back into society.  Death Race and Death Island will become a reality.  Race for your freedom or survive for your freedom and for our entertainment.  No matter how much money or power you have, you cannot buy your way out of a prison sentence.  Rapists and child molesters will be sold as prostitutes within the prison system by the prison company.  If you rape, prepared to get raped on a regular basis.  We will learn to live by the new saying, “If you do the crime, you will do the time”.

Step 2 - Legalize Marijuana:  Marijuana will be legal to all individuals 21 years old or older.  It will be taxed and regulated like liquor.  The tax on marijuana will be 45% in all 50 States.  Each State will be allowed 50 dispensaries and no more.  The 45% tax will be broken down as follows - 20% will go to schools and education for grades K through 12, 20% will go to the national debt until it is paid and the remaining 5% will go to the State budget fund.  Once the national debt is paid, then that 20% will go to national parks and landmarks.  Marijuana will only be smoked/used/consumed in the confines of your home or dispensary or regulated establishment.  This will not only help our debt as a nation, but it will bring a certain calm to our nation and it will help get people of off other drugs and pharmaceutical drugs.  If you allow marijuana to be consumed legally, then drug users will start to back away from other drugs such as meth, cocaine and prescription drugs.  Hemp can be used for clothing and other consumer goods which will bring in another source of income for our nation.  Marijuana is better for you that 95% of the prescription drugs out there.  Get your calculators out and look at what it could do for our nations economy.  Let’s say there was $10 billion dollars sold in the first year.  That is $4.5 billion dollars collected in tax money from sales alone.  Of that, $900 million dollars will go to our nations schools and another $900 million dollars to our national debt.  I know that does not hit the debt to hard but think about it…it keeps going up right now.  After 10 years that is $9 billion dollars added to our schools and $9 billion dollars subtracted from our debt.  It adds up quick.

Step 3 - Reorganize the government:  Currently it is every man for himself in the senate and in congress with the “good old boy” clicks ruling the way.  No more. Every sector of the government will be on 8 year terms, no more. Once your 8 years is up you are out and will no need to provide for yourself just like the rest of us do.  No more retirement pay for politicians.  All government jobs will be capped on their pay, including the President himself/herself. All senators and congressmen will earn $50K/year and the President and Vice-President will earn $75K/year. if you need more, get another job.

Step 4 - Government agency cutbacks:  Law enforcement and intelligence will still receive funding but at a lower rate.  We will begin by making regulatory agencies start funding themselves as they will only receive a very small funding from the tax payers.  They will learn to get more efficient rather than just get bigger/larger.

Step 5 - Confiscated funds:  When law enforcement and military seize money/goods, it is now theirs to help fund their groups.  If we seize $150 million dollars of drug cartel money we use it.  We will no longer just store it away as evidence.  This alone would bring in around $2 billion dollars annually.

Step 6 - Skynet:  Any questions?  If we continue to get dumb as a society, then let the machines take over.  Maybe that is a bit overboard and extreme, but we are getting dumber and lazier.

Step 7 - Taxation:  There will be a tax bracket for all incomes.  If you make $50K/year you will be taxed less than the person that makes $500K/year.  The more money you make the more you get taxed…plain and simple.  No more free rides bitches.

Step 8 - Welfare:  You will need to qualify for welfare/food stamps and keep qualifying every single month.  Each person can only receive these funds for a total of 2 years, no more.  After that, you better have a job that can pay your bills.  While on welfare/food stamps you cannot have any more children, if you do you lose that privilege for life.

Step 9 - Social Security: These are funds that are locked away and can only be used for Social Security purposes. there will be no borrowing or using these funds for any other purpose.

Step 10 - National Health-care: You may apply for this if you want it but no one is required to do so. If a company provides health-care to their employees then they receive a tax break each year on the amount of money they paid into it. If a company does not offer health-care to their employees, then get taxed higher…period.

Step 11 - Medical/Dental fees: Every single sector of the health-care world will charge the exact same price no matter how good you are or think you are. If I go see Doctor X he will charge the exact same amount as Doctor Y. These fees will be set in stone and will increase 1% every 8 years and no more.

Step 12 - Gun control: If you own a gun or want to own a gun, you will attend a class every 4 years to prove you are still worthy of owning a gun. You can own any gun you care to own as long as you can hold it with your own 1 or 2 hands. There will be harsh punishments in place for any misuse or idiotic ownership. If your child steals your gun and takes it to school and shoots or just shows it off, you will be held liable and so will your child.

We could go on for days but I think you get where we are taking this list. We as a society have gone overboard and we need to take a stand and correct this crap. To be honest, I would not be surprised if there is another civil war in the US the way things are going.

One last note, we will furnish our birth certificates from day 1…not 3+ years into our term.

Posted in The Facts, Rant | Print | 1 Comment »

Wednesday, April 27, 2011 by Myke.

So I dare CSI, CSI NY or CSI Miami to make this into a show.

At the 1994 annual awards dinner given for Forensic Science, (AAFS) President Dr. Don Harper Mills astounded his audience with the legal complications of a bizarre death. Here is the story:

On March 23, 1994, the medical examiner viewed the body of Ronald Opus and concluded that he died from a shotgun wound to the head. Mr. Opus had jumped from the top of a ten-story building intending to commit suicide. He left a note to the effect indicating his despondency. As he fell past the ninth floor, his life was interrupted by a shotgun blast passing through a window, which killed him instantly. Neither the shooter nor the deceased was aware that a safety net had been installed just below the eighth floor level to protect some building workers and that Ronald Opus would not have been able to complete his suicide the way he had planned.

The room on the ninth floor, where the shotgun blast emanated, was occupied by an elderly man and his wife. They were arguing vigorously and he was threatening her with a shotgun! The man was so upset that when he pulled the trigger, he completely missed his wife, and the pellets went through the window, striking Mr. Opus. When one intends to kill subject ‘A’ but kills subject ‘B’ in the attempt, one is guilty of the murder of subject ‘B.’ When confronted with the murder charge, the old man and his wife were both adamant, and both said that they thought the shotgun was not loaded. The old man said it was a long-standing habit to threaten his wife with the unloaded shotgun. He had no intention to murder her. Therefore the killing of Mr. Opus appeared to be an accident; that is, assuming the gun had been accidentally loaded.

The continuing investigation turned up a witness who saw the old couple’s son loading the shotgun about six weeks prior to the fatal accident.

It transpired that the old lady had cut off her son’s financial support and the son, knowing the propensity of his father to use the shotgun threateningly, loaded the gun with the expectation that his father would shoot his mother.

Since the loader of the gun was aware of this, he was guilty of the murder even though he didn’t actually pull the trigger. The case now becomes one of murder on the part of the son for the death of Ronald Opus.

Now comes the exquisite twist.. Further investigation revealed that the son was, in fact, Ronald Opus. He had become increasingly despondent over the failure of his attempt to engineer his mother’s murder. This led him to jump off the ten-story building on March 23rd, only to be killed by a shotgun blast passing through the ninth story window.

The son, Ronald Opus, had actually murdered himself. So the medical examiner closed the case as a suicide.

Posted in The Facts, WTF | Print | 1 Comment »

Friday, June 11, 2010 by Myke.

If you have every gone on the Internet, you know it is filled with porn.  If you are hearing this for the first time and had no idea that the Internet had porn…well, box up that PC and give it back to the company that sold it to you.  :-)  Below is a graph that shows the scary numbers associated with porn and the Internet.  The funny part is that Utah has the highest rate of subscription to porn and the most popular day to view porn is on Sunday…coincidence???  I think not!

  Just click to view the scary numbers.

Posted in The Facts, Technology, Funny | Print | No Comments »

Thursday, February 25, 2010 by Myke.

The ever famous line from Superman, “faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound”, can now be re-written by Samantha Fraizer.  “fat enough to stop a speeding bullet, more powerful gas than a Park and Rec outhouse, able to leap a single dill pickle with a running start”  Okay that was just mean and nasty I know, but I know a small percentage of you actually laughed a bit…ADMIT IT!

Here we are today in a society that promotes weight loss, exercise, eating right and products that will make you crap more in two weeks than you usually do in a calendar year.  When I read the story I laughed at first, then thought, “you go girl, go on with your bad self”.  Can you imagine the next time her primary doctor says, “I think you need to lose a few pounds around the mid section.”  She will bust his/her knee caps with a single kick from her high heels and laugh out loud, “Bitch please.  This heavy momma and her sexy big ass just stopped a bullet mid flight.  What has your anorexic ass stopped recently other than eating?!?”.

I mean if someone like a member of America’s Next Top Model was in the path of that bullet it would have ripped right through her and the next 10 girls from the show.  That single shot would have killed all 11 ladies.  But with Ms. Fraizer in the way, her McDonald’s combo number 1 super sized with a large shake and 2 apple pies said “BAM, not this time honey pie.  Big Momma got to get her drink on so excuse me while I move along.”.

Okay again, mean topics and not very nice…sorry.  In all honesty though, this story is amazing.  The best part of all of this story is that she was wanting to lose weight…now, hell no she wants to go to the next all you can eat buffet and hit it big.  Big is not just sexy, it saves lives.

Posted in The Facts, Funny | Print | No Comments »

Tuesday, December 22, 2009 by Myke.

I know this video is in another language, I think it is either Russian or Ukranian.  Either way it is too damn funny to say the least.

Chuck Norris facts:

When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris.Chuck Norris doesn’t read books. He stares them down until he gets the information he wants.

There is no theory of evolution. Just a list of creatures Chuck Norris has allowed to live.

Outer space exists because it’s afraid to be on the same planet with Chuck Norris.

Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits.

Chuck Norris is currently suing NBC, claiming Law and Order are trademarked names for his left and right legs.

Chuck Norris is the reason why Waldo is hiding.

Chuck Norris counted to infinity - twice.

There is no chin behind Chuck Norris’ beard. There is only another fist.

When Chuck Norris does a pushup, he isn’t lifting himself up, he’s pushing the Earth down.

Chuck Norris is so fast, he can run around the world and punch himself in the back of the head.

Chuck Norris’ hand is the only hand that can beat a Royal Flush.

Chuck Norris can lead a horse to water AND make it drink.

Chuck Norris doesn’t wear a watch, HE decides what time it is.

Chuck Norris can slam a revolving door.

Chuck Norris does not get frostbite. Chuck Norris bites frost.

Remember the Soviet Union? They decided to quit after watching a DeltaForce marathon on Satellite TV.

Contrary to popular belief, America is not a democracy, it is a Chucktatorship.

Posted in The Facts, Funny | Print | No Comments »

Friday, October 9, 2009 by Myke.

Please accept this post as a message from the general public and one very outspoken fan of professional sports and the American People.  You suck.  I have watched you go from a flashy tie wearing, decent comment speaking guy to a complete moron with s**t in his mouth and hands and you fling it like it was beads at Mardi Gras.  I actually used to listen to you and think maybe this guy has a point.  Then I started to grow up and realize what a complete idiotic jack@$$ you are.  Every once in a while you come out with some decent speech or rant and it sounds good but then you follow it up with complete diarrhea of the mouth.  Being a huge professional sports fan I was angry and sad at your comments when you tried your ESPN Countdown gig about 6 years ago.  Now that you are attempting to buy a stake in the St Louis Rams, the NFL had better stand up and point your @$$ to the closest KKK rally and send you packing.

Let’s take a look back at what you suggested on ESPN Countdown.  You suggested Eagles black quarterback Donovan McNabb was overrated by a sports media concerned about looking politically correct.  Are you kidding me man?  McNabb is a solid QB with a solid career and has numerous charity events and groups he dedicates his time to.  The guy was drafted and booed like there was no tomorrow yet he stuck it out and fought through everything.  Now the city of Philadelphia loves their QB and can appreciate everything he has done for their football team.

Do you think that McNabb has zero friends in the NFL?  If you were allowed to buy into the Rams you would get boycotted by just about every player in the league.  These guys are a family and stick by each other.  Just ask Michael Vick if his brotherhood of NFL players stick by each other.  The NFL does not need you or care about you.  What the NFL needs is leaders and mentors, not jerk @$$, moronic s**t flinging numb-nuts like yourself.

Want to keep this debate up?  Then let’s move forward with your brilliance of speech.

Statement about our President Obama: “Adolf Hitler, like Barack Obama, ruled by dictate.” - Holy s**t @$$munch!  I may not be sold on Obama or some of his political agendas but to compare a husband/father/leader to one of the worst human beings of all time.  That is just flat out stupid and uneducated of a statement.  If Obama were anything like Hitler, my guess is that you would have been cooked well done on a nice over-sized oven by now.

Statement about Michael J. Fox’s struggle with Parkinson’s disease: “He is exaggerating the effects of the disease. He’s moving all around and shaking and it’s purely an act… This is really shameless of Michael J Fox.”- Wow man, seriously?!?  So he is faking his disease and faking the shakes.  Do you actually know anyone with Parkinson’s disease?  My Grandmother on my Father’s side of the family has it and she shakes without any control what so ever.  She is aging faster than you can imagine and to think that someone would say she is faking…we need to talk face to face to settle this one.  You and I need to put on the gloves, step into the cage and settle this one like men.  I really hope for this comment you get some life threatening disease that takes you down so someone can come out and say you are faking.  Maybe then and only then will you ever understand what that comment felt like.

Statement to a black caller on his radio show: “Take that bone out of your nose and call me back.”- Yet another reason I would steer clear of the NFL if I were you.  Where I work we actually do work in Africa and have an African working here in the States.  I can admit I have never seen or heard of anyone wearing a bone in their nose.  Now I have seen tribes people in Africa/South America/Central America that do body dis-figuration’s of all kinds but they do not represent the average person from those regions.  If you want to see bone wearing folks, look right here in the States at some of the younger generation running around.  They disfigure their ears, eyes, noses, mouths and anything else they can stick a piece of metal/bone through.

Statement about the NAACP: “The NAACP should have riot rehearsal. They should get a liquor store and practice robberies.”- Can you say stereotype @$$hole?!?  So now black people are the only people that rob liquor stores???  So all the white/hispanic/latino/asian people in prison/jail never robbed a liquor store before?  Weird, I thought robberies were committed by every race there is.  But what do I know, you are the all mighty and all knowing “Master Race”.  Do you think this comment will sit well with NFL players?

Statement about the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal: “This is no different than what happens at the Skull and Bones initiation, and we’re going to ruin people’s lives over it, and we’re going to hamper our military effort, and then we are going to really hammer them because they had a good time.” - Just because the enemy commits horrible acts against our men and women during war does not give us the right to act a fool.  Did they hurt anyone doing this?  No.  But was it a disgrace to us as a nation?  Yes.  99% of our men and women in the armed forces are great people with a great head on their shoulders.  Having a good time during war is having a drink with the troops; going to a USO show; calling home; getting letters from home.

Last but not least is your statement about the NFL: “Look, let me put it to you this way: the NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons.”- The icing on the cake my man.  I am sure that every single player in the NFL and retired from the NFL thinks this is a good and okay statement to make.  Two thirds of the NFL is black and yes, there have been some morons to join the league (PacMan Jones* and Michael Vick** are great examples) but they do not represent the average player in the NFL.  These guys work damn hard at what they do.  They entertain us and they break our hearts.  They work damn hard at charity work and good will gestures.  To associate the black players in the NFL to gang bangers and thugs is flat out stupid.

I once saw an episode of Southpark where everyone figured out how to crap from their mouths.  Listening to you and watching what you do I can now understand where the episode came from.  You have so much s**t flowing from your mouth it is disgusting.  Remember one thing Rush, you do not represent the average American like you say you do and you will never be able to live these statements down.  You made them, you live with them.  Stay out of the NFL and away from our children.

* - I chose PacMan Jones because he is a moron and a thug wanna-be.  He flashed his cash, when he had some and thought he was the top dog and King of the World.  Funny how fast your World crumbles when you do not take care of it and let your so called friends help run your life.

** - I chose Michael Vick because he was a leader of a very strong underground World.  He is trying to make amends and that is great.  He is a gifted athlete and only time will tell if he has actually changed his life for the better.  I would actually shake his hand and tell him congrats and wish him the best.  I for one understand what getting a second chance at life is about.

To any and all NFL folks reading this.  Rush Limbaugh is the modern day Anti-Christ and he would hurt the NFL more than help it.  Keep him as far away as possible and find a solid hard working group of investors to work with.

Posted in Pro Sports, The Facts, Rant | Print | 1 Comment »

Friday, August 7, 2009 by Myke.

WTF?  If that is your response then we are on the same page on this story.  Trina Thompson, a 27 year old recent college graduate is suing her college because she feels they have not helped enough in her job placement.  Um, guess what honey bear, join the f**king crowd of unemployed Americans.  She actually gloats about her 2.7 GPA…um again honey bear I had a 3.8 and I hate school and have hundreds who can vouch for that.  All of my technical training I have scored a 90% or better.  But lets not compare numbers here, let’s compare your whiner ass to other candidates out there.  You have a bachelor of business administration degree in information technology “which includes a 2.7 grade-point average and a solid attendance record”.  You have one major problem with all of that…ZERO experience.  I know, how do you get experience if you cannot get a job.  Very simple, apply for an internship and get some experience under your belt and work your way up from there.  Quit your bitching and actually earn yourself some respect.  Companies today are looking for smart, outgoing, solid personality employees with some experience.

Put yourself in the shoes of an employer.  If you have Joe Blow with a degree and 5 years experience on one hand and Trina with a degree and no experience and they both want the same money and same job…who do you think they will go with?

Listen, you need to step up in this world and sell yourself.  You have no experience…sell your other qualities.  Tell them you are smart, friendly, willing to learn anything and everything and that you can and will be an incredible employee.  Your lawsuit tells me one thing as an employer…you are a whiner, with no motivation, not the smartest tool in the tool box (proud of your 2.7 which is basically a C+ average) and you want things for free in life.  Think that is too harsh?  You are suing your college because they can get you a job…WTF?!?  You need to get your own job or go about it a different route…get a recruiter on your side.  I can give you a list of 12 SOLID IT/IS recruiters in this country and they would do more for you in 2 weeks than your college job placement group could in 1 year.  Get yourself out there, take what comes to you and work at the rest.  Let people help you, don’t bash them and attack them.

Seriously people, are we that f**king petty that we have to sue everyone for everything???  It seems that more and more these days everyone expects everything for free in life.  Guess what folks, life sucks unless you make it better yourself.

I know you are sitting there reading this thinking, “What a f**king prick!  Who is he to tell me what to do?!?”  Honey bear, I have 15 years of IT/IS experience and have had to find jobs myself.  Besides, if you hate me, then I have succeeded…because IHATEMYKEREINHOLD.com too!  If you want some help finding a job, ask for it.

Alumna sues college

Posted in The Facts, Hater, WTF | Print | No Comments »

Monday, July 6, 2009 by Myke.

It has been some since I wrote or spoke about Global Warming.  I promise you that I regularly pester and challenge the Green Peace monkeys on the 16th Street Mall in Denver.  I also promise that Right-Brain continues his challenge of the Green Peace monkeys and to this day non of the wanna be Global Green Caron Credit collecting turds has been able to live up to their “beliefs”.  How can you say you are out their to educate the public when you cannot actually provide any written and proven fact to the general public?!?  My point is well documented in an article I just read that shows 5 very high profile Global Warming freak-outs proven to be media overblown and falsely given data.  If you want to start a Global Warming media frenzy, just give a simple story to your local news agency with what appears to be hard data collected over a 5 year study.  Then let the media blow it way out of proportion…then follow up with a simple, “Sorry, we were just playing and read the data wrong.  Okay, actually we put data together that we collected while playing 2nd life and decided it looked good and official.  Sorry.”.  If it were not for the media, Al Gore never would have gotten as far as he has.  Okay, back to this story.  The story is titled, 5 Climate Studies That Don’t Live Up to the Hype.  It goes through 5 very big and media driven stories that were proven to be either 100% false or so far fetched that they could make a movie out of it.  Want to have fun?  Ask a Green Peace activist if the movie The Day After Tomorrow (2004).  I have asked 10 of them to date and all 10 said the exact same thing.  “Um, so like Al Gore is a God and we worship his every word and our binders are filled with trueness and Godness from his holyness.”

Myke- “Hey tree humper!  Are movies like The Day After Tomorrow accurate?”

Tree Humper - “If you need any proven truth to that question, watch An Inconvenient Truth (2006) by Al Gore.”

Myke- “But that documentary was based on falsely collected and documented data.  The Al Gore group has even come back and aid that some data was misdriven and misguided but for the most part accurate.  To me that sounds like the famous ‘I am not a criminal’ or ‘I did not have sexual relations with that woman’ or better yet ‘I did not offer sex to that man in the bathroom stall, I was simple asking him for toilet paper’.  Come on man, every bit of ‘data’ you have in that binder is so out-dated and biased it is not even funny.”

Tree Humper1 and Tree Humper2- “Why don;t you just move along carbon emitting lazy mammal.”

Myke- “Really?  Really?!?  Is that the best you have now???  Move on you carbon emitting lazy mammal.  Let em guess, you do not pass gas and your shoes are made from sea weed and the clothes you have on were woven from weeds in the darkest forest and your binder is filled with inkless paper made from an inkless printer.  Sad, so very sad.”

At this time the dynamicless-duo proceeded to the other side of the street.

My point being is very simple folks, the Earth was once covered in Ice, Mother Nature will soon shake us off again, Greenland was once green and very soon Al Gore will have his day as people begin to wonder why they have given him so much money for nothing other than to pay for his homes, cars and McDonald’s burgers.  Wake up people, if you want to help slow the next coming of the ice age…walk, run, use public transportation or ride a bicycle.  We are an evolving World and to think that we can stop what has already been started is just plan idiotic.  Try stopping Right-Brain at BD’s from getting any meat on his plate…exact same thing as trying to stop Mother Nature from hitting the reset button.

Here is the story written with information collected by Gavin Schmidt, a NASA climate modeler, author and PM editorial advisor.

A leading climate scientist argues that overbroad claims by some researchers—coupled with overblown reporting in the media—can undermine the public’s understanding of climate issues. Gavin Schmidt, a NASA climate modeler, author and PM editorial advisor, concurs with the consensus view that the planet’s temperature is rising due largely to human activity. But, he says, many news stories prematurely attribute local or regional phenomena to climate change. This can lead to the dissemination of vague, out-of-context or flat-wrong information to the public.

“People think that if there’s a trend, it has to be connected to this bigger trend,” he says. “You often get this kind of jumping the gun.” Sometimes researchers are citing a potential connection to global warming to get noticed, he says, and sometimes journalists are focusing on that connection to make the story more compelling. “There’s a bit of a backlash amid people who have a brain,” says Schmidt. “It’s akin to [the media’s reporting on] medical studies. It adds to people’s confusion.”

Here are 5 studies Schmidt points to that made unfulfilled promises, used loose, questionable climate connections to sensationalize a story or predicted events that never came to be.

The Study: In a study released to the public last month and set to be published in the Journal of Geophysical Research in August, a team of American scientists found by gathering wind-speed data across the country that average and peak wind speeds in the Midwest and the East had decreased since the 1970s.

The Fallout: Though the authors acknowledged their study was preliminary, they raised an intriguing possibility—that if dying wind were a true trend, global warming could be the cause. The reasoning was that warming in polar regions, brought on by climate change, would shrink the temperature difference between the poles and the equator, as well as the pressure difference. This would mean that winds would die down, and wind-power generation would be harmed by the very thing its proponents are trying to combat.

The Truth: Despite the delicious irony, Schmidt says, it’s far too early to say that the dying wind is even a trend, much less one caused by climate change. Windiness is a complex phenomena with different causes in different places, he says, and is not one that can be measured by a singular cause on a global scale. Winds can change in one area, but if they do, expect to see changes in phenomena related to wind, like temperature gradients, as well. The data don’t bear that out, he says, and his climate models don’t predict wind changes over the North American continent caused by global warming.

The Study: The thermohaline circulation is crucial to the Earth’s climate, acting like a conveyor belt carrying warm water into the North Atlantic and moderating the climate of North America and Europe. Many studies, however, have suggested that freshwater from melting sea ice might have the potential to shut down that circulation. A 2005 study showed a steep slowdown of the circulation between 1957 and 2004.

The Fallout: The idea that thermohaline circulation could come to an end, pushing the planet into a new ice age, exploded into popular culture after it showed up in movies like The Day After Tomorrow (2004) and Al Gore’s documentary, An Inconvenient Truth (2006).

The Truth: Schmidt says that what looked like a full-blown trend of the circulation weakening can be explained in part by studies showing that the circulation can vary its strength over many timescales, making it hard to see a real trend in the noise. That doesn’t mean that circulation could never be changed, Schmidt says, but the possibility was blown out of proportion. “The Gulf Stream shutting down is such a powerful meme,” he says.

The Study: In early 2006, a study in Nature published surprising results that plants were giving off trace amounts of methane.

The Fallout: We know that methane is a far more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, so the suggestion that it comes from plants led to a blizzard of headlines suggesting that trees could be contributing to global warming.

The Truth: The researchers balked after the media coverage of their study broke. The scientists said they were widely misinterpreted when it was reported that plants contribute to global warming. Rather, if plants do give off methane, they’ve been doing it since long before humans were on the scene and their emissions aren’t connected to today’s anthropogenic climate change. Schmidt says the findings were controversial among scientists from the beginning, because plants had never been known as methane emitters. “Subsequent work has dialed down the magnitude of this new effect tremendously,” he says.

The Study: A catastrophic rise in sea level is one of the worst consequences that some climate scientists predict for a warmer world. A study in Science in 2006 noted that temperatures by the end of the 21st century could be comparable to those 130,000 years ago, when global sea levels were about 20 feet higher.

The Fallout: Unsurprisingly, given the implications of the sea level rise, this study was sensationalized with headlines like “London Underwater by 2100 as Antarctica Crumbles into the Sea.” In his world tour, Al Gore also picked up the statistic, which led to much backlash both among scientists trying to get the science corrected and among climate skeptics.

The Truth: There’s a big gap between saying something is possible and predicting that it will occur, Schmidt says, and the authors didn’t predict that climate change would turn London into Atlantis by 2100. As Science’s editors said in the same issue, past climate changes should be taken into account when trying to predict future climate change, but they won’t be exactly the same. When media and others used the study as a predictive measure‹to say the sea will rise 20 feet in less than 100 years, Schmidt says, that “was a pretty egregious mess-up.”

The Study: In 2007, scientists found the oldest authenticated DNA ever, gathered from 400,000-year-old tree and insect samples entombed in the bottom of a Greenland glacier. About half a million years ago, the study concluded, Greenland was a pretty warm place.

The Fallout: When the study came out, Schmidt says, about many people responded to the DNA find itself. But the others keyed onto one sentence in the press release, in which the lead author suggested that the finding meant the Greenland ice sheet was more stable than scientists had previously thought. Because these seeds and DNA specimens were found in the ice sheet, the ice must have been intact for at least a half-million years and survived the warm period 130,000 years ago. This could mean that Greenland is more stable than scientists thought and in less danger from current warming.

The Truth: Schmidt isn’t impressed with the claim. The fact that Greenland was hot so recently (geologically speaking) shows that the ice isn’t that stable at all, and the latest satellite evidence contradicts the stability claim and shows that Greenland is steadily losing mass.

Posted in The Facts, Rant | Print | 1 Comment »

Tuesday, June 30, 2009 by Myke.

I am posting this for one simple reason, my step-father the math magician guru wizard.  Could math actually teach our children how to survive and live better in the future?  Could math solve our economic problems?  Well, growing up I hated math and just about every subject in school.  Today, I educate myself everyday and will until the day I die.  Math was always my worst subject but today I consider myself a good math person.  Watching this video and listening to this guy I actually think he has a very solid point.  If we were to teach our children the needed tools of math and not focus so much on the ridiculous parts of math, maybe kids would understand things better.  Okay, starting to ramble so I need to let you watch the video.  Does he have a point?

Posted in The Facts | Print | 1 Comment »

Friday, June 12, 2009 by Myke.

I remember watching Leave it to Beaver as a kid and of course The Brady Bunch, but was that how life really was???  Actually it was very much like that.  Men worked, kids played and went to school and the wives cooked and cleaned.  So when did we transform into this sex crazed, hectic and fast paced lifestyle where everyone works and the kids are little devils with attitudes and cell phones?  Well for me I can remember my Mom working her entire life so she was never a stay at home Mom until she retired.  As a society we have changed so much over the years it makes me wonder what will change next and what will we look at as being okay.  When I was a kid and the Sear’s catalog or National Geographic would arrive in the mail and I was all ready to go explore the world of mastu…um maybe that is too much information.  That was all that arrived that was even close to being open mail for all to see.  Of course Pop’s got the Playboy or the Penthouse Forum, but those were sealed tight for no one to see until the parent’s left the house. 

Today…WOW how times have changed.  Let’s start with Frederick’s of Hollywood; hello TnAwith some hot chicas.  Man if that showed up in the mail when I was a kid I would have gone blind by the age of 12 easily.  Then there is the Victoria’s Secret (which has not been a secret for years) and my favorite…drum roll please…Adam and Eve.  Where would we be today without the greatest company on the planet?  Thanks to Adam and Eve I can tell you what everyone in this World finds hot and sexy and orders on a regular basis.  I mean they tag some items as “Customer Favorite” or “Hottest Reviews”.  And folks, that is just what comes in the mail.  Think about TV and how it has changed.  Way too much to discuss here today.

Let’s get back to the old days and have some fun with old school ads.  After I saw these ads I actually was laughing at how bad of a lawsuit that would get filed today if someone tried to use this kind of advertisement in today’s society.  Enjoy as always.

p.s.  I do not endorse these Ads in any way…I just find them funny as hell!

Posted in The Facts, WTF, Funny | Print | 1 Comment »