GUEST POST from Don – Earth 2.0?

EARTH 2.0??

On May 24, 2024 CNN Space + Science reported that another “potentially habitable” planet was found a mere 40 light years away (a hop, a skip, and a jump).

Gliese 12b “orbits a cool red dwarf star situated in the constellation Pisces“ scientists say.  It is “potentially habitable,” they say.  This is funny.  

Earth 1.0 averages about 57 degrees F. and scientists HERE say that a mere rise of 2 or 3 degrees will end life as we know it.  Thus, humans cannot thrive, according to global warming theorists if the present earth exceeds 60 degrees F.  YET, Earth 2.0 is “potentially habitable” at 117 degrees F.  That does not compute, does it?!!

Maybe if we could cool Gliese 12b by 2-3 degrees F. it might just be “habitable?”  I don’t think penguins would like it, though.

Should we send a crew of global warming scientist tadpoles to study it up close?  Its only 225 years away with current technology, they are quoted as saying.  How many plastic trash bags would that take?  (Seriously??  We don’t presently have the technology for humans to travel one year in space without re-supply and an A.I. Crew would get lost just beyond our moon.)

POLLS vs PUBLIC OPINION

Just because someone agrees with a poll statement (“inflation is too high”) does not mean they are of the opinion that government policy has any impact on inflation.  They almost never connect the dots.  That’s not their job, after all.  Certainly, “their party” is not in any way responsible for it.  That’s always the result of the other party’s interference, right?  

So, if you included some data with the poll, like “under the previous administration inflation never exceeded 3%, but under the current administration it has never been below 3%” one has to wonder if it would connect dots for them.  Would they still agree that “inflation is too high” or would they temper their answer?  Would they still not see that administrative policy can impact inflation?

Many have come up with better plans for who can vote.  Like, “those who have a mental capacity above 70” or “those who can read or write at or above a third grade level” or “those who are full citizens of the United States.”  We certainly wouldn’t want someone elected because they appealed to the most ignorant or least capable.  “A chicken in every pot,” for example.  Or, “Pot in every chicken.”

Recently I’ve been re-reading C.S. Lewis.  He speaks about the underlying assumption of the knowledge of right and wrong.  Looking around I sometimes think that things have changed a good deal since the 1940s when he wrote it.  We have a ton of people who have no better sense of right and wrong than “I’m better than those other losers!”  Really??  That makes you OK?  

Maybe we should have a quiz at the voting polls to find out whether the voters know a single thing about the person for whom they are voting.  Do they know, for example, what position the candidate has taken on “fruits for school lunch programs.”  As a result voters are forced to guess “someone whose name begins with M?”  

But I’m “better” than the average voter, and that makes my choices OK (SARCASM).

TATTOOS and CANCER??

Early studies, according to an article in The Daily Mail from May 27, 2024, suggest that there may be a link between tattoos and certain cancers.  “Researchers from Lund University in Sweden found that tattooed individuals had a 21 percent higher risk of lymphoma, compared to people without tattoos.”

Actually, I am not surprised.  Someone is pumping dyes beneath the skin which amount to foreign bodies your system thinks it has to fight.  Those create mini-infections.  After a while the body comes to terms with the implanted foreign bodies.  But think about this, when a surgeon replaces a knee with a hunk of titanium he or she usually also treats the body to a chemical mixture with reduces the body’s chance of recognizing the new knee as something foreign.  Does your “artist” do that?  (Didn’t think so…unless that weed you were smoking when you decided to get a “cat on a fence” counts.)

Let’s be clear here… correlation does not equal causation.  Just because lymphoma was 21% greater among those who had gotten a tattoo doesn’t mean the tattoo had anything to do with it.  It could be that people prone to getting cancer are more likely to opt for paying an artist to make a picture under their skin.  Or it could be that those who get lymphoma are more artsy than non-lymphoma folk.

I’m going to give more thought to allowing people to jab me with needles.  Should I limit blood tests and ER visits, too?  Except THOSE needles did not increase risk of cancers.

YOU HAVE IMPROVED

The average American in the year 2000 produced 20.5 tons of CO2.  Did they tell you that you have improved?  Yes, you have.  By the year 2020 you only produced an average of 13 tons of CO2.  That’s a 37% improvement in just 20 years.  Congratulations!

China hasn’t.  India hasn’t.  You have.

That is in spite of the over-production of exactly 16 people, who collectively have added 32,323 tons of CO2 in 2020 just with their personal jet jaunts (that’s 2,020 tons each).  They are averaged along with you, so you are contributing even less than 13 tons.

Has the government sent you a “Thank you?” Or do they just push you to “Do more!” while they do nothing about those 16 people who are messing with your average?

[PLEASE NOTE that Don is always open to discussing the thoughts and opinions he shares here and welcomes comments as shared in the comment section. He doesn’t use other social media platforms and won’t see whatever you’d like to share with him if you post it elsewhere.
ALSO, Don is always open to offer his thoughts on various topics. If you have a specific request, you can let him know in a comment; he reads – and replies to – them all. ~ Sherry]

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