State of Fear

Hello people

Things are great in Baroda. The rain has abated, and the donkey-mating season is in full bloom. Any time of the night, in every alley, you would see them making most of the opportunity :)

Today we celebrated our Independence, but this (long due) addition to the blog is more about some interesting bits of the book that I recently read:

Well he talks a lot about global warming due to the greenhouse effect, and presents a lot of facts/studies and disapproves the entire theory!!! That is what it is, a theory, there are no conclusive statistics, facts that it is in fact taking place. Over the last 40-50 years temperatures have gone up in some cities, and gone down in others. But if you compare it for the last 150-200 years then they remain balanced! CO2 started increasing post the industrial revolution, so the temperatures should be rising for then, but studies don't show any conclusive evidence.

About temp rise in the future - they are all approximations, theories, all in all... guesses! Scientists have done a lot of work on computer models, but the reality is that we still don't have a good understanding of climate/environment. So all these are mere guesses.

And things like, Greenland is melting - well it has for the last 6000 years! The melting rate has not increased in the last century! Snow on Kilimajaro is melting? Thatz because of deforestation, cause drier wind is hitting the mountain. Its crazy!

He has also bought on the table some more interesting discussions. One of the most thought provoking is on "State of fear" - the environment that the politicians, lawyers and media have created and that of fear. Similar to the one George Bush is accused off in Fahrenheit 9/11

DDT is not a carcinogenic! There has been more loss of human life by banning DDT (because of the rise in malaria cases) than because of it. In a study people where exposed to DDT for 2 years, and it did not seriously affect them. The pesticides used to replace DDT were more expensive & harmful then DDT. US decided not to provide aid to countries that used DDT, and thus there is a worldwide ban on DDT! The US environmentalists realized their mistake when US had already made this part of their foreign policy.

Then he talks about Eugenics. Do you know anything about that? Well the theory developed in US and was endorsed by almost everyone, (including Presidents, Graham Bell!) Its said if Jesus were alive, He would have supported it. The theory postulated a crisis of the gene pool leading to the deterioration of the human race. The best human beings were not breeding as rapidly as the inferior ones - the foreigners, immigrants, Jews, degenerates, the unfit, and the "feeble minded". The center of this theory shifted from US to Germany, and gave birth to concentration camps. You know the rest of the history. So basically US then fought a war with Gery for the same reasons. Its true that the victor does write the history, cause this potion were conveniently forgotten!

Well an American has written the book, so I do want to get more perspectives on these topics. In some parts I got the impression that he was defending USA's controversial stand on the Kyoto Protocol. But it was really interesting to read the book. Apart from the fact, that the author has tried to add some romance into the novel, which I always had a feeling he didn't have the capacity to conceive. He has done an average job of it, but if anyone can be patient with his arguments and scientific theories, then I am sure they would enjoy the book!

The link below gives a pretty good sum up & description of the book:
http://www.techcentralstation.com/011905B.html

Thatz it from this side of the world, I know you want more, but nope - not happening! :p

Guten nacht,
Prabs