Sunday, April 18, 2010

Sunday Morning (Afternoon) Thoughts



Well, I'm still battling a kind of weariness that won't let go of me, but my brain is ticking away this morning, so I thought I'd blather on for a bit and see if I can't push myself past my inertia and start posting again.

So anyway..... things I'm thinking about.

The volcano in Iceland. Somewhere over the winter I was listening to an interview Fahreed Zakaria (one of the only Sunday morning shows worth listening to) had with some computer guy who was convinced that we could turn back global warming by putting focussed pollution into the atmosphere. He had come to this theory because of research he had done on the impact volcanoes have had on the ozone layer. I think that's what he said, anyway. It was quite a while ago and I just remember thinking it was a very cool idea. So anyway, here we have this awesome volcano, not only spewing stuff into the atmosphere in a very focussed way, but grounding massive numbers of polluting air planes. Maybe this is a gift from the Universe. Of course then all the loony tunes people who don't believe in global warming will delude themselves that they were right all along, but let them, if we get a reprieve on all the pain of the reality they have been ignoring. I went and did some googling to see if I could add a reference and it looks like there are different views on volcanoes and global warming. Some say they add to it, some say they can cause cooling, depending on what kind of stuff they spew. I'm going to hold happy thoughts that this volcano is benevolent. At the least it's cut back on air traffic, which is apparently a major factor in the warming process. That's something.

So then, when I was done thinking about that, I was (sorry, talking head day and politics is everywhere I turn) listening to Religion in America on PBS which is part of my Sunday morning routine. They were doing a piece on Jimmy Carter's work that has almost completely defeated one of the worst diseases that has ravaged Africa. I was listening to this and at the same time listening to a clip of Clinton saying he had been wrong on some economic policy and I got to thinking that these two men embody in some ways the deepest difference between Republicans and Democrats. The Republican presidents I can think of have retired to their ranches and made money giving speeches and writing books. The two living Democrats are both totally involved in trying to solve world hunger, disease and other social ills. They build houses, they are completely absorbed in making the world a better, healthier place... and not with big government, by the way, with individual actions. I think that speaks volumes.

Dan included the new Google Chrome browser when he gave me his computer. I like it a lot, but I'm still getting used to some of the differences with how it works with blogger. Great browser. I like it ever better than the Mozilla one. Doesn't crash as often. Of course that might have as much to do with the computer as the browser. I continue to loathe Explorer.

I had some other thought earlier but I got side-tracked for about 4 hours and can't remember what it is/was.

Weather here has turned chilly again and it's gray and rainy besides. Sigh. Even so, though, there are daffodils in bloom and my quince has got flowers, so Spring is here even if the temperatures are in the 30s today. Finally reinstalled my Canon program thingy so I've added a pictures of Angel and Tara Grace, my sweet girls.

4 comments:

quilly said...

Hey, Raven -- it's nice to "see you out and about" so to speak. I am glad you have a better computer at your fingertips now.

Janie B said...

Good to hear your "thoughts" again, Raven. Hope you are feeling better. You sound better.

sgreerpitt said...

Nice pictures of your kitties. I think that the affects of volcanos are more localized, and don't do much to counteract the more global warming factors. While it is true that planes are huge consumers of fossil fuels and therefore big producers of CO2, there are other offsets -- if the weather is cooler, people are using more fuel to keep warm, they are turning to automobiles (like John Cleese traveling half way across Europe by Taxi) for transportation, and so the CO2 reduction affect of a decline in air travel may be washed out by other things that people do to cope with travel dislocations.

Carletta said...

The warm sunshine seems to be making the girls sleepy.

I can sympathize with computer problems. I've been without for a few days. Some virus. Hubs is rebuilding my blogging PC for the second time in six months. :(

It is good to see you posting.