Mars Melt Hints at Solar, Not Human, Cause for Warming, Scientist Says

"In 2005 data from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor and Odyssey missions revealed that the carbon dioxide "ice caps" near Mars's south pole had been diminishing for three summers in a row."

Three whole years worth of data? "Abdussamatov's work, however, has not been well received by other climate scientists." Ya think?

Increased solar activity and theories of warming caused by cosmic rays are the Intelligent Design of climate science. Every hypothesis deserves exploration, but extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

Shame on the National Geographic for packaging this story like a cut from the Drudge Report.

Labels: climate change, Mars, NASA

The space shuttle Discovery will soon be launched. Its mission will be historic. Not because its intrepid crew has been given a 1-in-100 chance of survival. And its not because this mission is crucial to NASA's financial future, and DHS looks hungry for another agency. Don't worry, the kids will love faith-based space exploration.

No, the Discovery mission will be historic - oddly enough - for what it discovers: evidence of alien life.

This news will rock the world as religious zealots have to stop between thoughts of how best to kill non-believers, and ponder their existence for moment. Lets face it, the Administration could use some news like this right now.

International Director of the Center for the Study of Extraterrestrial Intelligence (CSETI), Dr. Steven M. Greer, has claimed that such evidence already exists. According to Dr. Greer, two sources from SETI have disclosed that their project - a much distinguished and respected scientific search for radio transmissions of non-Earth origins – has collected signals indicative of intelligent, but alien design.

While Dr. Greer is somewhat disliked by some in the greater UFO community, he has been a strong proponent UFO and ET research in hearings before the U.S. Senate and around the world. He also has ardent supporters. If his assertions are true, such information would be extraordinarily valuable to the Bush Administration at this point.

We are entering the doldrums of Summer and the American people are about to:

- realize that 150,000 U.S. troops are trapped between Iran and Israel

- face what is likely to be the worst hurricane season in the history of recorded time

- decide whether or not the President will be impeached by Congress.

News like this would hit like a bomb. Come to think of it, the Administration probably isn't going to use the discovery of intelligent alien life, and the existence of top secret technologies capable of changing the course of human history forever, to its advantage. They'll probably just cow the American population back into a sufficiently submissive state by running a shock-and-awe media campaign emphasizing the threat level of this year's July 4th celebration.

I, for one, will welcome news of our alien neighbors should it ever be confirmed.

Happy birthday America. Remember, "Justice is the end of government. It is the end of civil society. It ever has been and ever will be pursued until it be obtained, or until liberty be lost in the pursuit." ~ James Madison

Labels: NASA, SETI

The last manned mission to the moon was in 1972. They left a plaque on the moon's surface baring the signature of then U.S. President Richard M. Nixon - megalomaniac. Not to be out done, billionaire boys club president and Richie Rich protege George W. Bush wants to send Americans - or at least American outsourced - astronauts back to the moon by 2020, with the ultimate goal being a manned mission to Mars at some point before the Chinese have set up a casino resort on Icaria Planum.

To that end "NASA is canceling or delaying a number of satellites designed to give scientists critical information on the earth's changing climate and environment." Research programs designed to help earthbound weather forecasters detect severe weather patterns more quickly and accurately have been canceled to allow more funding for Bush's exploration initiatives. According to the Boston Globe, "Almost every planned earth studying mission, all that have some contribution to understanding global warming, has been affected."

Most significantly, the launch of the Deep Space Climate Observatory, a satellite intended to study Earth's climate, and make that data publicly available, has been shelved...again. The brainchild of former Vice President Al Gore, the satellite was researched, designed, and built years ago with American taxpayer dollars. It's just never been launched.

This is politics at its worst. There's no fear the satellite will find incontrovertible evidence of global climate change due to human activity. That already exists. The fear is that an idea dreamed up by Gore will be successful and thus call into question the "legacy" of this administration. Perish the thought!

I understand the drive to explore other worlds. I support that endeavor, but not if it means risking our own planet. We can not afford the hubris of this administration when it comes to the lives and well being of future generations of humanity.

Labels: Mars, NASA

Just when I try to get this blog up and rolling again, the shit hits the fan. Once upon a time I was worried about the fate of our nation under the current administration. Specifically I was concerned with the long term consequences of what I viewed as a misguided foreign policy. Today there's so much wrong with where our nation has gone and what has been done in our name that I don't know where to even begin when choosing topics to included in this electronic screed of mine.

In the past week the vice president has proven himself to be above the law by having dismissed local law enforcement seeking to investigate a hunting accident he was involved in. Conspiracy theories aside, the man is an American citizen and subject to the laws of this land. He should have - at the very least - been interviewed by local authorities. In avoiding this he has sullied the reputation of the United States as a lawful nation of the people, by the people and for the people. Dick Cheney is a disgrace.

Also this week, a top NASA scientist - previously gagged by woefully unqualified administration appointees - announced that Greenland's ice shelf is melting far faster than previously thought. The resulting rise in global ocean levels is only one possible consequence. North Atlantic ocean temperatures will drop due to the increased inflow of ice melt, greatly improving the chances of a stalled Gulf Stream. Should this occur, Europe will suffer a dramatic climate change.

Pictures of abuses inflicted upon innocent Iraqis by US service members and Pentagon contractors at Abu Ghraib were released by an Austrailian news service. These images were then immediately republished around the globe where they were met with universal scorn and criticism. Well...almost universal. Here in the US, no news outlet made a very big deal of the images, and the administration dismissed them altogether stating that those responsible had already been punished, and refusing to accept that the 1,000+ images indicated that the torture which occurred was indeed systemic in nature and not the act of a handful of individuals.

On top of all of this Secretary of State Condi Rice lied point blank to congress. As did former FEMA head Michael Brown, and current Department of Homeland Security Head Michael Chertoff.

Meanwhile the list of former administration officials and functionaries who now criticize their former masters continues to grow. Paul Pillar, the CIA's national intelligence officer for the Middle East and South Asia from 2000 to 2005, and Ari Fleischer who served as President George W. Bush's first press secretary joined those growing ranks this week.

When will this ship of the damned finally sink?

Labels: Abu Ghraib, Ari Fleischer, cia, climate change, Condoleza Rice, Dick Cheney, NASA, Paul Pillar