Real Thought

Yes, that is what Neville Chamberlain thought he had achieved with the Munich accords.  He honestly believed in the promises that Hitler made and that “Der Fuhrer” was really a man of his word.  Of course, Chamberlain also said, “In war, whichever side may call itself the victor, there are no winners, but all are losers.”  It was he who in September 1939 had to announce that a state of war existed between the British Empire and the Third Reich.  Thank God there was a Winston Churchill who understood that there are some things worth fighting for.

My point?  Harry Reid has already gone on record  in stating that the United States has “lost” the war in Iraq.  During the Democratic Presidential debate last night several of the candidates, not the least of which was Dennis Kucinich, stated that they would, if elected, end the war in Iraq.  Kucinich even went on to say that the United States could not interfere in “every civil war in the world”.  I would like to contrast that with another two Chamberlain quotes:

“How horrible, fantastic, incredible, it is that we should be digging trenches and trying on gas-masks here because of a quarrel in a faraway country between people of whom we know nothing” and “However much we may sympathize with a small nation confronted by a big and powerful neighbours, we cannot in all circumstances undertake to involve the whole British Empire in a war simply on her account.”  In other words, the current Democratic leadership, like Chamberlain, is willing to throw away freedom and democracy and the safety of entire nations for peace in our time.  But I believe that if we retreat, if we “cut and run” there will be no peace.

Six bloody years and millions of deaths and the destruction of whole countries later Chamberlain was proved wrong.  Let’s hope that it doesn’t take the same to prove the Democratic party wrong.

I was supposed to go on a training cruise with my Sea Scouts this weekend.  I was all packed, up at the boat in Napa, my gear was on my bunk in my stateroom, we are going to get underway in an hour and I get a phone call from my wife, “I think you’d better come home!” “Why?”, I ask.  “Because there is water flowing out in the front yard.”  “OK.  No problem”, I reply, “Just go and turn off the sprinkler valves in the front yard and I’ll fix the sprinklers when I get home Sunday.”  “The sprinklers are off and there is water gushing in the front yard.”  “OK, I am coming home.”  I get home to discover that the main water feed for the house has ruptured and the water meter stop valve is stuck, so I have no way to shut off the water.  I contact the city water services department and they come out to turn off the water and break the stop valve.  They finally get the water shut off around 10 pm Friday night.  Yesterday, I get a plumber to come out and give me an estimate for a new feed line, $2990! WTF!!!!!??????????  I call my regular plumber and he comes out this morning and gets the water back on via some fittings and a garden hose.  His estimate?  $2000.  After the water was restored, I go to Napa to meet the boat and discover that I missed a great cruise and the scouts are bummed that I wasn’t there to enjoy it.  At least I can take a shower and go to work tomorrow.

Today is the day in which about a quarter of the world’s population celebrates Christ’s resurrection.  This is the day which marks the most singular event in the history of the world.  This is the day which fuels our belief in God, the sacrifice of his only begotten Son and life eternal.

Jesus died so that I and everyone who believes in him may be freed of the burden of sin and have life eternal.  Today, he rose from the dead and showed us that death could be conquered and that there was nothing to fear.  For that act and that act alone, I owe God my faith and thanks until the day I die.

Happy Easter.

My beloved San Jose Sharks lost their last game of the season today 4-3 in overtime. That means that they finish fifth in the Western Conference and begin the Stanley Cup playoffs without home ice advantage. They will face the Nashville Predators in the Western Conference quarterfinals beginning sometime next week. I would really like them to go all the way and bring the Cup to San Jose.

After losing two dogs in the course of a little over a month, I decided to adopt a new dog.  In February I adopted Buddy the Beagle.

Here he is in all of his houndishness:

He tries very hard to be a good boy, but I think some obedience training is in order.

What the hell has happened to the British? Once the Blessed Isle commanded the largest modern empire in the world. The sun never set on the British Empire. There is a great scene in John Boorman’s semi-autobiographical film, Hope and Glory in which the school marm instructs the class that all of the “pink bits” on the world map are British. Now all of that is a faded memory. The Labour government has decided to mothball half the British fleet and grovel to a semi-literate crackpot in Iran for the release of captured sailors and Marines. Once upon a time, this would have been a cause for war. Now? An excuse to debase an entire nation. On top of that, British teachers are now staying away from “controversial topics” like the Holocaust and the Crusades for fear of offending their Muslim students. What happened to the country which stood alone against the entire might of the Third Reich? Where is the country which spawned Drake, Nelson, Montgomery and Churchill? I think I’ll go watch Zulu and remember a time when the Brits had some pride to go along with their arrogance.

The science fiction film, won an Oscar for “Best Documentary” this year. Unfortunately, like “Fahrenheit 911″ there is very little truth in this documentary. For those of you who have been hiding under a rock or living in a cave, “An Inconvenient Truth” is a film of former vice-president Al Gore’s campaign to make us all aware of global warming and to make us understand that if we do not take drastic steps to change our lifestyle and reduce our dependence upon oil and emission of CO2 and other “greenhouse gases” we will turn the planet into a giant Easy Bake oven.

There are some major flaws in this premise. First, thirty years ago, climatologists were predicting that we were causing another ice age. Global warming simply did not exist. Second, if I remember my Biology 101, CO2 is a product of the carbon cycle, a product of animal respiration, organic decay and other natural phenomena. CO2 is not, in itself, a pollutant. Furthermore, plants need CO2 to grow and thrive. I remember an experiment in which we placed a pea plant under a bell jar and pumped in CO2. We had to keep adding CO2 because the plant used the CO2 to get carbon to grow and out gassed oxygen. The CO2 enriched plant also grew much faster and healthier than the control plant in the non CO2 enriched atmosphere.

The simple fact is that the Earth has been warming and cooling since the end of the last ice age, some 10,000 years ago. There was a “Little Ice Age” that lasted from the 1400’s until the mid 1800’s. There is evidence that during the Roman Imperial period the climate was warmer than it is now and that at the end of the Imperial period the climate cooled bringing about the Dark Ages and that cooling period was followed by a warming period which coincided with the High Middle Ages. Now, none of this is speculation, it is historical fact. Simply put, climatologists cannot predict with any certainty what the climate is going to be ten years from now, let alone fifty or a hundred.

Let’s say that I agree, for the sake of argument, that increased CO2 production is causing the planet to warm dangerously and that human activity is the main cause of this increased CO2 production. The simple answer is to decrease human activity. There are roughly 4.2 billion people living on the planet today, more than at any time in human history. I say we reduce human activity by half. We have the technology to do so. If we reduce the Earth’s population by half, roughly the populations of India and China combined, we will reduce human activity on the planet by half. A few well placed thermonuclear explosions should do the trick and the problem will be solved. Of course, no sane person would advocate exterminating half the world’s population in the blink of an eye, but who can say that Al Gore and his followers are sane?

PS. For those of you who never took a debate class, the above is an exercise in reductio ad absurdum, the reduction of an argument to its logical, yet most extreme or absurd, end. I personally do not advocate the use of thermonuclear devices, yet I do question Al Gore’s sanity.