loPEZ Dispenser

Big Shocker, right?!?! I am so tired of all the coverage. I am tired of the LIES. I am tired of the HYPE. I am tired of the PROJECTED FEAR that my kids will cook alive on the surface of our planet if we don’t “do something now”.

I’ve written about global warming quite a bit. You can see past articles of mine here,
here, and
here. I am a skeptic. Anyone who dares bring up this issue in my presence is asking for an earful of Dan’s opinion. Well thats the problem, isn’t it. It’s my opinion, right? Wrong.

I studied science in elementary, middle, and high school. I studied science and engineering for my undergraduate degree and I am now studying them for my masters degree. One thing that has been drilled into my head over and over during those years of study is the scientific method. For those of you that don’t remember, the scientific method was a set of steps a scientist should perform to create/validate ideas. It was created to help make sure that thoroughness has been attained. From wikipedia:

The scientific method involves the following basic facets:

* Observation. A constant feature of scientific inquiry.

* Description. Information must be reliable, i.e., replicable (repeatable) as well as valid (relevant to the inquiry).

* Prediction. Information must be valid for observations past, present, and future of given phenomena, i.e., purported “one shot” phenomena do not give rise to the capability to predict, nor to the ability to repeat an experiment.

* Control. Actively and fairly sampling the range of possible occurrences, whenever possible and proper, as opposed to the passive acceptance of opportunistic data, is the best way to control or counterbalance the risk of empirical bias.

* Falsifiability, or the elimination of plausible alternatives. This is a gradual process that requires repeated experiments by multiple researchers who must be able to replicate results in order to corroborate them. This requirement, one of the most frequently contended, leads to the following: All hypotheses and theories are in principle subject to disproof. Thus, there is a point at which there might be a consensus about a particular hypothesis or theory, yet it must in principle remain tentative. As a body of knowledge grows and a particular hypothesis or theory repeatedly brings predictable results, confidence in the hypothesis or theory increases.

* Causal explanation. Many scientists and theorists on scientific method argue that concepts of causality are not obligatory to science, but are in fact well-defined only under particular, admittedly widespread conditions. Under these conditions the following requirements are generally regarded as important to scientific understanding:

* Identification of causes. Identification of the causes of a particular phenomenon to the best achievable extent.
* Covariation of events. The hypothesized causes must correlate with observed effects.
* Time-order relationship. The hypothesized causes must precede the observed effects in time.

Ok. That is pretty complicated so I’ll dumb it down for you. Here is the interpretation for laypeople:

# 1. Observe some aspect of the universe.
# 2. Invent a tentative description, called a hypothesis, that is consistent with what you have observed.
# 3. Use the hypothesis to make predictions.
# 4. Test those predictions by experiments or further observations and modify the hypothesis in the light of your results.
# 5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until there are no discrepancies between theory and experiment and/or observation.

I have spent a lot of time researching available data and reading articles. I have watched Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. I have watched all the specials on TV that warn of our impending doom. All these programs have done is further convince me that the arguments presented in favor of man-made global warming vigorously violate the principles of the scientific method.

I wanted to create a place where I can compile all my “skeptics” information. Materials I can use to point people to the fact that this is all a big lie. I also wanted a place where I can summarize my beliefs.

With that said, I have created a new section of the loPEZ Dispenser called Dan’s Skeptic Guide To Global Warming. You can access by on the page with the same title under the Navigation header in the right panel of this site.

Feel free to comment and discuss. And now for our second poll:

[poll=3]

So I finally was able to see my current favorite band in concert. I know Steve already did a review of their show a while back. He mentioned that the vocals seemed a little weak at times. Well, I must say that their time off from touring has done them some good! Their performance was spot on. Every note, every riff, and every word sung were right were they were supposed to be.

There was only one disappointing aspect of their performance. Their set was way too short. Unfortunately the were not the headliners of the night and their set was limited to about 35 minutes. I believe they played seven songs in all. We did get a sneak peak of one new song that will be one their new album. The song was called Waiting and the album, due to release this summer, will be called Singularity.

On Kiddie Bands

I have a better understanding of what Steve meant when he discussed “kiddie bands”. There we were, five twentysomething grown men, standing in line surrounded buy immature teens and youth pastors. After watching them a few minutes we really decided that it made us feel like old men.

I thought back to when I was in High School. For events such as this I would dye or paint my hair strange colors, hook up my longest and shiniest wallet chain, and wear the band shirt of my current favorite (unless it was the band playing…thats a no no). I would be down in the front right in the middle of the pit bumping and shoving all the others like me.

For this show we all retreated to the balcony. It was there we were joined by other likeminded “old” people who share our respect for the bands, reluctant fathers who would do anything to be somewhere else, and those youth group kids who were not allowed on the main floor for safety reasons. For this show I wore my special hifi earplugs to protect my hearing. There was no jumping and not even any sweating (but we did do some headbanging and air guitar…you can’t really help that). I was quite comfortable. I never thought one of my most enjoyable concerts would be described as comfortable.

I guess its because I don’t go to shows anymore to be rowdy. I go to hear the music of bands that I have come to love and respect. I’d rather watch the musicians create their art then be trapped in the middle of a crowd drenched in sweat and emitting adolescent hormones.

On Theatrics

Three bands played at the show Saturday. Mae, as described above, was awesome. Relient K, the headliners of the evening, were also excellent and entertaining. This brings me to the third band: Sherwood. They were the openers of the evening. Their music isn’t bad (although their sound was terrible at the show) so I thought they might perform a nice show. It didn’t take long to find out that they were one of those “weird” bands. This was particularly evident in their piano/keys player. He decided that it would be fun to dance while he played. Normally that wouldn’t bother me much but this guy looked like Andy Dick wearing 80’s rockers clothes (a la tight jeans) and his dancing was a cross between a ballerina and the Elaine dance from Seinfeld. Actually, I wouldn’t even call it a dance. It was more of a prance. Towards the end be blindly threw a tamborine over his head across stage and I watched as it headed directly for a piano belonging to one of the other bands. To close the show out he took a handful of sunflowers resting on his rig and started beating the keyboard with them only to again blindly throw them across the stage. Whats the point?

These theatrics seem to be popular right now. Maybe they always have been. Groups like the boy bands and solo acts like Baldy Britney and Beyonce rely on theatrics to keep the crowd entertained. Groups like Mae and Relient K rely on their talent as musicians to keep the crowd entertained. Thats what I am looking for.