Water, water everywhere....

The 3 longest rivers in the world are (in order):

1. The Amazon

More water flows into the ocean from the Amazon River than the combined output of the Mississippi, the Nile, and the Yangtze rivers. The Amazon River is believed to be the world's longest river at 4,225.3 miles. But measuring rivers is fraught with variables such as droughts, floods, and soil deposit rates (annually changing the precise "mouths" of rivers). Of all the river waters flowing into the world’s oceans, one fifth of that volume of water comes from the Amazon. The average amount of water discharged form the mouth of the Amazon River is estimated at 180,000 cubic meters per second. That equals a whopping 47.5 million gallons per second.

2. The Nile

The Nile River contends with the Amazon for 1st position of the longest river in the world at roughly at 4,132 miles long. Its river basin encompasses NINE countries. The Nile's average water output per second is estimated at 1,584 cubic meters per second, or 400,000 gallons per second.

3. The Yangtze (actually, the Changjiang, also known as the Yellow River)

Changjiang in Chinese means Long River. It's the longest river in China estimated at 3,915 miles, and the third longest in the world after the Nile and the Amazon. The river flows through China and empties into the East China Sea. The Yangtze River's average water output per second is estimated at 35,000 cubic meters per second, or roughly 9.2 million gallons per second.

And...
4. The Mississippi

The Mississippi Rive is the fourth longest river in the world at 3896 miles, rivaling the Yangtze for third longest river by less than a hundred miles. Again river lengths are estimates and are variable. The word Mississippi is derived from the old Ojibwa (indian) word misi-ziibi, meaning Great River. It is the longest river in the US, and part of the longest river SYSTEM in North America, joined with the Jefferson and Missouri Rivers. However, it is only the tenth largest river system in terms of discharge, measured at roughly 17,545 cubic meters per second, or 4.5 million gallons of water per second.

So, doesn't it beg of us the question--with all that water flowing into the oceans every second, how come sea levels around the world don't rise up and overtake coastal cities? What then is maintaining our current apparent hydrostatic/geostatic equilibrium?

Just a thought....

--Elizabeth Ann

Sources of info:
http://www.google.com/
http://usgs.gov/
http://gcmd.nasa.gov/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6759291.stm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rivers_by_average_discharge

Phosphorus

"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with diverse lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." (2 Timothy 3:1-7)

"And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light." (2 Corinthians 11:14)

The Greek word is for light is "PHOS". The Greek word for "bearer" is "PHOROS". From these two words we get our English word Phosphorus. It means light-bearer. However, Phosphorus, being no true light, merely gives the appearance of being lighted due to a chemical reaction with Oxygen. It's light or luminosity is "carried" or "brought about" by something else--and not generated from within. Phosphorus is also a particularly poisonous element in sufficient amounts.

Interestingly, the Latin word for "light" is "LUCIS". From it we derive our word "illumination", often interchanged with "enlightened". Illumined ones are often those who may appear to be enlightened. As in the Illuminati.

The Latin word for "bearer" or "to carry" is "FERO". "LUCIS-FERO" then means, "light-bearer". The meaning of these combined words differs, however, from another Latin word "RADIARE", meaning "to radiate". To generate heat or light from within. For example, in our night sky the moon appears "luminous". Its luminosity, however, is but a reflection of the Sun's true light. The moon is therefore only a "carrier" or "bearer" of another's light then--a reflector of light. It originates no real light of its own, no true radiance.

Beware therefore the counterfeit light.

MAN OF PEACE

Look out your window, baby, there's a scene you'd like to catch,
The band is playing "Dixie," a man got his hand outstretched.
Could be the Fuhrer
Could be the local priest.
You know sometimes
Satan comes as a man of peace.

He got a sweet gift of gab, he got a harmonious tongue,
He knows every song of love that ever has been sung.
Good intentions can be evil,
Both hands can be full of grease.
You know that sometimes Satan comes as a man of peace.

Well, first he's in the background, then he's in the front,
Both eyes are looking like they're on a rabbit hunt.
Nobody can see through him,
No, not even the Chief of Police.
You know that sometimes Satan comes as a man of peace.

Well, he catch you when you're hoping for a glimpse of the sun,
Catch you when your troubles feel like they weigh a ton.
He could be standing next to you,
The person that you'd notice least.
I hear that sometimes Satan comes as a man of peace.

Well, he can be fascinating, he can be dull,
He can ride down Niagara Falls in the barrels of your skull.
I can smell something cooking,
I can tell there's going to be a feast.
You know that sometimes Satan comes as a man of peace.

He's a great humanitarian, he's a great philanthropist,
He knows just where to touch you, honey, and how you like to be kissed.
He'll put both his arms around you,
You can feel the tender touch of the beast.
You know that sometimes Satan comes as a man of peace.

Well, the howling wolf will howl tonight, the king snake will crawl,
Trees that've stood for a thousand years suddenly will fall.
Wanna get married? Do it now,
Tomorrow all activity will cease.
You know that sometimes Satan comes as a man of peace.

Somewhere Mama's weeping for her blue-eyed boy,
She's holding them little white shoes and that little broken toy
And he's following a star,
The same one them three men followed from the East.
I hear that sometimes Satan comes as a man of peace.

--Copyright © 1983 Bob Dylan/Special Rider Music

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2V4OjNnp5s

Not dark yet, but it's gettin' there....

About propaganda...

Confusion among us comes not from God, it is but an effective display of force exerted by the principalities of darkness directly against Creation. And while the opposing principalities and powers cannot entirely dismiss Him and remain credible, they have successfully muddied the waters of truth for all peoples. Sadly, even the slightest distortion of reality is most times sufficient to dissuade humanity.

When confounding the people with contradiction between what is said and what is no longer proves an effective deterrent, the apparent lack of absolutes may sufficiently discourage them.

All who acknowledge propaganda's usefulness, appreciate this. Confusion, followed by despair and hopelessness, will destroy us from the inside out.

It is the Devil's masterpiece.

NOT DARK YET

Shadows are falling and I've been here all day
It's too hot to sleep time is running away
Feel like my soul has turned into steel
I've still got the scars that the sun didn't heal
There's not even room enough to be anywhere
It's not dark yet, but it's getting there

Well my sense of humanity has gone down the drain
Behind every beautiful thing there's been some kind of pain
She wrote me a letter and she wrote it so kind
She put down in writing what was in her mind
I just don't see why I should even care
It's not dark yet, but it's getting there

Well, I've been to London and I've been to gay Paree
I've followed the river and I got to the sea
I've been down on the bottom of a world full of lies
I ain't looking for nothing in anyone's eyes
Sometimes my burden seems more than I can bear
It's not dark yet, but it's getting there

I was born here and I'll die here against my will
I know it looks like I'm moving, but I'm standing still
Every nerve in my body is so vacant and numb
I can't even remember what it was I came here to get away from
Don't even hear a murmur of a prayer
It's not dark yet, but it's getting there.

--Copyright © 1997 Bob Dylan/Special Rider Music

http://www.youtube.com/

And...

War Between The Fears

Call upon the innocent
Call upon the weak
Call me down an avatar
I am afraid to speak
Won't you conjure me one witness
Let him dare to share the truth
Then please call upon my children
For they never needed proof

I am silenced by your intellect
Confounded by your brain
I have stood before your altar
And I've found myself in flames
I've seen your burned out buildings
And the rubble in the street
And I 've stood beside your people
But they lie between the sheets

Now there is a distant fire
And the smoke does surely rise
For the Watchman in his tower
He doth seek to crucify

I have come before your counsel with your name upon my tongue
I have counted every bullet that you've held on everyone
There is no shame in mercy
But there are no heroes here
And there will be no survivors
In this War Between The Fears

Still you call out to your brothers
Yes you raise the battle cry
While you fornicate the others
You would love what you despise
Tell me who does tend your children
While you're polishing your throne
The Wolf is in The Garden
And your lambs are all alone

I have read The Book of Knowledge
I have pondered every page
And the madman-in-the-mirror
Looks alot like my own face
I question every answer
And The Keeper Of The Keys
He has led my children from me
To the land of his disease

And they stood before the altar
He did pound upon his breast
And I felt my courage crumble
They were easily impressed

Call me down a warrior
Call me down a sage
Call my God a taxi for I fear
He is too late
And I'll conjure you some mercy
If you let my people go
And I will not tell the children
What they would not want to know...

--Copyright ©1995 Betty Elders/
Whistling Pig Music (ASCAP)

http://www.bettyelders.com/War.html

Sick 'em, O Mikey!

Michael Moore speaks out against the press on CNN, July 9, 2007
SEE THE Whole CNN VIDEO HERE!
(scroll to the bottom of the page for the video, and wait)

A friend and I watched "Sicko" on Sunday. It has taken two days for me to process what I observed. To get over my rage. I am still getting over it.....and believe me when I say I have done an extensive amount of research into the "state of (our) union." So none of what was posited by Mr. Moore in his documentary should have been a revelation. And while I am too old old and far too informed to be surprised by anything anymore, I am still able to be distressed and discouraged with each new revelation.

Moore's latest documentary concerns the despicable state of our American health care system(s).

You see, Richard Nixon sealed our fate and the deal with Kaiser Permanente less than one week after the birth of my first child--February 19, 1971. By the time I went to work in nursing in 1974, the state of medical care in the USA had undergone a transformation; health care was in process of becoming thoroughly managed; that is, thoroughly corporatized. Before that, only the wealthier citizens could afford health insurance. Average or middle class citizens paid as they went. The poor either got no medical care at all or looked toward charity--Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security.

No, Nixon did not "make health coverage available for all Americans", as he promised. Instead, what Nixon and all his successors, culminating in George Bush 2, actually did was to "insure" the ultimate and eternal wealth of insurance (investment) companies by legalizing their ultimate domain over us--collecting and slowly raising premiums and gradually decreasing the amount of service companies would provide for their "insured."

This all happened really slowly and imperceptibly over thirty years. And we, like the proverbial "Frogs Cooking in the Pot", distracted by "life, liberty, and the (relentless) pursuit of happiness", never noticed a thing.

Meanwhile we were being warned that Universal Health Care was merely socialized medicine and THAT was the stuff of Communist countries, where quality of medical care was repeatedly portrayed to Americans as nothing short of medieval.

So, throughout Viet Nam and its aftermath until Desert Storm and 9/11 and Sadam Hussein, we feared the C-word, and the S-word (Socialism), and any one or any country associated with either word.

In my lifetime, however, we have feared communism and communists the most.

Throughout history, governments have manufactured many "-ism's" for us to fear and fight. Can you name a few?

Now we are fighting "terrorism". We no longer hunt for communists under every bed, but now daily sift our airports and neighborhoods, vigilantly, for terrorists. And in like manner "pacif-ism" is being equated to "terror-ism", and both are America's (and freedom and democracy's) latest enemies.

Well, the truth is we will believe anything we are told.

Truth is, being told what to do is far easier and more convenient than figuring out what to do. Churches are filled weekly with people just sitting there waiting to be told what to do. Living rooms across America are nightly filled with folks just waiting to be told who our next enemy is. Even if it is those people who may be seated next to them who are against war, even if it is members of our own family who live right there among us--pacifists--tomorrow's new enemy combatants.

I guess we would likewise report Jesus Christ if He walked among us today, because he was a "pacifist". Though once angrily disrupting money-changers in the temple courtyard (the only part of the Jerusalem temple where foreigners were permitted to worship YHVH, the God of the Israelites.The outer court of the temple was called the court of the Gentiles. In there was a large bazaar for the sale of sacrificial animals and birds, and also a money-exchange for changing foreign coins for the Jewish half-shekels. Jesus did not condemn the sale of what was necessary for sacrifices, but the place where the sale was held--the Temple, the house of prayer. On the day Jesus overturned the money-changers, the Court of the Gentiles was so crowded with $ business there was no room for "a house of prayer" for all nations.), Jesus more often constrained his disciples from outright insurrection against a thoroughly oppressive government (Rome). He was not called "Man of Peace" for His advocacy of violence or swordplay. And Jesus today would simply be locked up (as an enemy combatant) far from legal counsel and due process (Guantanamo) and then never given a fair trail by a jury of His peers (h-mmmm....) , and ultimately (unfairly) pronounced "guilty" (of pacifism and/or terrorism) and subsequently sentenced to death via an international military tribunal (Rome and the Sanhedrin) in order to make an example of Him to the others.

Oh, but wait, didn't we already do that....

And just as the American people do not understand who the Federal Reserve really is (are) or how they operate, they do not today know that ALL insurance companies, be it health or homeowners or automobile, exist solely to make money--not to help you. (I just threw the Fed in there because you really DON'T know who they are--or who you actually pay taxes to, or what for. Trust me. Get this book for more info: http://shop.wnd.com/store/item.asp?ITEM_ID=1882.)

And don't we all, just like the proverbial Frogs about to boil in the Pot, believe the (hot) water we are now in is nice and cozy?

La la la-la lala-lala-la-aaaaaaah.

That what Mr. Moore has been trying to tell us for some time. But if he were to tell us the WHOLE truth, he'd be a marked man.

My question? Why do we always shoot the messenger...

They came, they saw, they conquered!

"Look beneath the two opposing lions--the coat of arms.
Read: "VENI, VIDI, VICI".
(Translation: "I came, I saw, I conquered.")

My outrage at discovering this odious Philip-Morris logo, boldly emblazened upon each and every pack of Marlboro (Marlboro Lights and Marlboro Ultra-Lights) cigarettes for the past 51 years, enabled me to stop smoking in 1999.

I studied Latin for four years. I knew who had been "vici'd"...
To see more images of PM's logo, go here.

Gotta Serve Somebody

This is it. This Bob Dylan song says it all. All that needs saying. In the end it all comes down to this. Nothing else we have done will matter. None of the deals we have brokered. None of the wins, none of the successes, none of the failures--none of them will matter. Just one thing will matter. Whom we have served. Funny thing is, we never had to "worship" the darkness in order to fall, we only had to serve ourselves. And no matter how "free" one thinks he is, nor how "free" one imagines his will to be, sooner or later we all become slaves to something. Knowingly or unknowingly, we serve. Even if we only serve ourselves.

Especially if we only serve ourselves.

And, by the way, nothing was ever free.
Amen, Bob.

Performance from 1980.

GOTTA SERVE SOMEBODY

You may be an ambassador to England or France,
You may like to gamble, you might like to dance,
You may be the heavyweight champion of the world,
You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You're gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody.

You might be a rock 'n' roll addict prancing on the stage,
You might have drugs at your command, women in a cage,
You may be a business man or some high degree thief,
They may call you Doctor or they may call you Chief

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You're gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody.

You may be a state trooper, you might be a young Turk,
You may be the head of some big TV network,
You may be rich or poor, you may be blind or lame,
You may be living in another country under another name

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You're gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody.

You may be a construction worker working on a home,
You may be living in a mansion or you might live in a dome,
You might own guns and you might even own tanks,
You might be somebody's landlord, you might even own banks

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You're gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody.

You may be a preacher with your spiritual pride,
You may be a city councilman taking bribes on the side,
You may be workin' in a barbershop, you may know how to cut hair,
You may be somebody's mistress, may be somebody's heir

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You're gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody.

Might like to wear cotton, might like to wear silk,
Might like to drink whiskey, might like to drink milk,
You might like to eat caviar, you might like to eat bread,
You may be sleeping on the floor, sleeping in a king-sized bed

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You're gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody.

You may call me Terry, you may call me Timmy,
You may call me Bobby, you may call me Zimmy,
You may call me R.J., you may call me Ray,
You may call me anything but no matter what you say

You're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You're gonna have to serve somebody.
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody.

Copyright © 1979 Bob Dylan/ Special Rider Music

Jimmy Webb in Concert (my first show--a letter to a far away pal)

Since it is the first time I have ever seen JW live, I had to try to describe how it was for me. I am such a fan of this man's gifts that once upon a time in 2000 I wrote anonymously (for Amazon.com):

The Holy Grail of songwriting..., March 25, 2000

Reviewer: A music fan

Yep, here 'tis... The preeminent effort of pop music's melancholy maestro. This exquisitely sparse gem is a requirement for every serious student of great songwriting, and my personal prescription for every single solitary soul squeezed through the sieve of life. It and the Bible will fix all your broken parts. And what Ten Easy Pieces can't mend, it will make bearable. The opening strains of "Galveston" alone are worth the ticket price. In his heartbreakingly beautiful introduction here, Webb has poured [out] the landscape of a lifetime. Here again is innate genius - - these songs may have once sounded "simple" at a glance, in their lowest common denominator commercial presentation, but that simplicity was deceptive. Here are ten "easy" pieces, not easy at all, rich with the same intelligence which earmark the greatest musical compositions in history; as Copland, Berlin, Gershwin, Thompson, Bernstein, Bach, etc., full of soaring lines and aching, grinding dissonances - - the stuff life is made of (and quite an accomplishment for a mere teenager to have attained, once). Webb's melodic wisdom, combined with an innate lyric sense, results in a subtly articulated intelligence insinuated throughout the entire CD. Thank God he slowed these cuts down from their previously hyper-sterilized commercial formulaic homogeny. We can view those astonishing landscapes now, one exquisite moment at a time. Other aural jewels here include "If These Walls Could Speak","The Moon's A Harsh Mistress," his version of "Highwayman" which I could write volumes on, alone, and "All I Know." In fact, there isn't a note played or sung on this remarkable collection anywhere which could be considered wasted. This IS the quintessential Jimmy Webb collection; ten of his best-known songs, performed in an achingly tender, intimate context, the way they should be offered... by 'him what conceived them;' just him, and his piano. This IS The Holy Grail of songwriting.

OK. I'm not a journalist. I am a songwriter. An admirer of music, and of great art even. But this man's talent has, until "Ten Easy Pieces," flown beneath the journalistic radar in a way that seems almost intentional. The power and beauty of what he does in perfomance needs to be covered by one with greater eloquence (and typing skills) than I possess.

That said, I concede that there are some things that remain simply inexpressible. My reaction/response to his concert is accordingly so, for I cannot find sufficient words to properly describe what I witnessed. However, I will attempt to (below) give you some impression of the evening.

Due to great fortune and--no doubt--God's mercy, I sat in the front row, dead center. Normally such seating would have proven too profoundly uncomfortable a position for me. I am not a front row concert person. It feels too invasive. I have a few fans and even friends, however, who can sit nowhere else. They stand in lines for hours to see concerts--many even camp outside venues for days in tents for significant events...NOT me. I don't; no, I simply won't exalt any performer(s) to that degree. OK, before last night.

Last night I found myself in company of such rabid fans. Downtown is now dangerous at night and I, not wanting to walk alone post-concert to my van in the dark, accompanied good friends who were determined to see JW up close. I have to tell you though, it was a revelation to have to sit in line with so many other "Webb-heads" devouring boxed dinners on their laps, waiting for the choicest seats, rabidly poised to spring at the slightest cracking of the venue door. And I, too, last night--no longer performer myself--sat and waited there in full view with good friends, alongside fans and sycophants, uncomfortably close to the "gate".

I am so thankful I did. It was the best gift I could have ever given myself. I have waited to see this man perform for ten years. Not many such gifts have actually ever been afforded me. He has not played Austin to my knowledge but one other time, during a SXSW closed concert. Last year I did see songwriting hero Bob Dylan in a gorgeous concert hall in San Antonio, but our seats were so far away, even at a high ticket price we might as well have been in the next county. It was my first experience of Dylan live, though, and not quite the gratifying experience we had hoped for. Although his artistry was undeniable.

But seeing Jimmy Webb last night became nothing short of an epiphany. I could see his eyes. I was four mere feet from his piano. He struggled with it, too, a clunky old Yamaha baby grand rental piano. His difficulty negotiating it seemed to me sort of like a prima ballerina having to dance Swan Lake in construction boots. But his consummate artistry and humility enabled the end result, song after phenomenal song, to transcend its trappings. And I wept.

Repeatedly, Webb gave accolades to those who had put him on the map--luminaries like Glen Campbell whose (commercially distilled) renditions of his songs had given JW a reason to exist...and yet he related how his own good friend Harry Nilsson had under influence of alcohol once opined , "Jim, your singing sucks."

But I wanted to rise up and shout, "God and I LOVE your singing, Jimmy....yours is the stuff of angels! The Lord has every one of your albums... He (and I) know every one of your songs...by HEART !!!"

I never did though. My friends wouldn't have understood. However, I did remove my sandals for the entire duration of his concert. For even I recognized at once that, despite my original uneasiness about the front row, I had indeed been blessed to be seated upon truly holy ground.

At one point between sets I was told by a female friend seated two rows back that the only thing she had enjoyed more than seeing JW live for the first time herself, was watching my enjoyment of him.

Indeed.

At concert's end, I was again at the mercy of my friends' schedules...to get home early--their work day early in the morning and all that. I had no time to stay and introduce myself or possibly cause subsequent embarrassment to my family :-)

Between you and I, though, beyond my surprising emotional response to the evening, I found it overwhelming to observe a vestigial torment others' disapproval/dismissal has wrought upon this man. It is a rejection overtly familiar to me. My instinct in such matters is to at once comfort all those similarly afflicted. For I believe that in The End, contrary to what we posit, it will be our human un-kindness to each other that will be longest remembered as our human legacy, and not our accomplishments.

So, if you ever have occasion to do so, then somewhere down the line would you please tell Mr. Webb that in my humble opinion, his own versions of those songs he's penned is the ONLY version of them that has ever fully displayed their true beauty and perfection. And while others' recordings may have given those songs the visibility and even credibility they indeed deserved, it was him performing his creations last night in such world-weary humility--just one man; one piano--that left me quite certain that I had truly been in the presence of one of God's beloved.

I will never forget it.

Living in Fear (or, "Get Along Little Dogies....") **REVISED 2010***

Researchers Admit Global-warming Fraud

Global-warming Fraud Uncovered

Canada's Free Press Weighs In

A Billion Dollar Hoax
Indeed. Someone needs to go to jail. 
Humans are being conditioned to fear everything.
It's a great way to keep us rollin' along like cattle...(Or is that "chattel?)
http://www.ibiblio.org/jimmy/folkden-wp/?p=6935.

Rollin' rollin' rollin; here's a short soundbyte of that longtime cowpoke standard:
http://www.gearchange.org/clips/Frankie%20Laine%20-%20Rawhide.mp3 .

Anyway, you have read my other rants regarding the state(s) of just about everything. There have been so many, I had to delete an entire year's worth--2004--from this blog. (Sorry I did that--won't happen again) Now, I feel it incumbent upon me to remind all you over-thirty-something(s) and, even more so, those-not-yet-well-read-enough-to-have-stumbled-across-this-article, that a mere thirty years ago science was drumming fear (sound familiar?) into our brains regarding the impending doom of GLOBAL COOLING. Yessirree! That's right--GLOBAL COOLING--science was sounding the alarm for a 2nd ICE AGE. (You are reading correctly.) And just so you don't comment on HOW I could fabricate anything so preposterous, go look at NEWSWEEK's original article from April 28, 1975. 
And...for a video look: http://newsbusters.org/node/9473


Let me dare to suggest, that when you hear incredible news that causes your stomach to knot up, e.g; http://news.aol.com/topnews/ -- please ask yourself, who benefits from (your) fear?

How about this...remember when you learned in Science Class that plants need Carbon Dioxide (CO2) to effect photosynthesis? That's right. CO2 is a natural byproduct of a LIVING WORLD. Living, breathing mammals give off Carbon Dioxide. CO2. Plants utilize CO2--in fact, all the carbon needed for photosynthesis comes from Carbon Dioxide. CO2. Plants need energy, however, to convert carbon dioxide and water into glucose; this energy comes from sunlight. In fact, just so I don't hear from disgruntled scientists about this--those four elements necessary for photosynthesis to take place are:

• carbon dioxide
• water
• light energy
• chlorophyll

And, as a result of photosynthesis, plants give off Oxygen.
From http://www.sambal.co.uk/(a UK children's science site):

"Photosynthesis is the conversion of carbon dioxide and water into a sugar called glucose using sunlight energy. Oxygen is produced as a waste product."

More HERE.

Last night, I overheard our local weather forecaster previewing an upcoming segment on global warming and HOW HUMANS ARE RESPONSIBLE for it (via too much CO2 being emitted by our vehicles, industry, etc.). How are cow farts and CO2 getting into the atmosphere anyway?
Moo-o-oooo, mooo-o-ooo. (Oh yeah, the Bible calls us "sheep."  Ba-a-aaaa, ba-a-aaa...)  

Time to break out of the herd, sheeple, and do a little more research than simply browsing T.V. Guide for tonight's lineup.


 
http://washingtontimes.com/commentary/20030825-090130-5881r.htm
http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2006/08/30/mits_inconvenient_scientist/
http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110008220
http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/environment/waterworld.html
http://www.ncpa.org/ba/ba230.html
http://www.plantsneedco2.org/default.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

 
In fact, the spectre of Global Warming may simply be a hoax, though finacially and socially advantageous...that is, to some:

In The First Global Revolution, published by the Council of the Club of Rome, an international (elitist) organization, the authors note that, "In searching for a new enemy to unite us, we came up with the idea that pollution, the threat of global warming, water shortages, famine, and the like would fit the bill. All these dangers are caused by human intervention... The real enemy, then, is humanity itself." (The First Global Revolution: Club of Rome, Alexander King and Bertrand Schneider, Pantheon Books, New York, 1991, p. 115.)

• The "Real" Inconvenient Truth  and...
• Oh, Please Don't Tell Me I've Been Hoaxed 
• Agenda-ism and Fraud

• Keeping Our Perspective
  
• Debunking Modern Climate Myths
• Science Pointing Away from Truth of Global COOLING
• The Global Warming Folly
• The Physicists Weigh In  
• Lord Christopher Monckton Weighs In
• What The Weather Channel Says
  

Finally, let us consider who benefits from our fear:

http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/05/dialectic.htm
http://www.ninehundred.net/control/mc-ch5.html
Those who refuse to learn from history are condemned to repeat it....
I Love Co2!


P.S. For those outside of Texas, "Dogie" is pronounced "Doe-ghee".
Ya know...Cow. Steer.
Nevermind.

Adieu, adieu to "Whiteman Stew"...

What a loss of a remarkable effort from fellow musician and Dylan fan, Patrick Crosley. Those of us who have loved Bob's TTRH will now have to work a little harder to preserve those historic broadcasts he so scrupulously maintained. All the best to you and your music, Patrick...