Hurricanes Will Be Bad This Year...Or Not

Last year, NOAA (The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) predicted an above average year for hurricanes. It didn't happen. Earlier this year, they made the same prediction for this year. It hasn't happened yet. Today, NOAA announced that it will be an above average season but not as bad as they thought it was going to be. These guys can't predict what the weather is going to be like from June to October, but we're expected to believe that they can predict what climate change will do to the weather 100 years from now.

A new study in the Aug. 2 issue of the British science journal Nature found that the solid particles suspended in the atmosphere (called ÒaerosolsÓ) that make up Òbrown cloudsÓ may actually contribute to warmer temperatures Ñ precisely the opposite effect claimed by global warming alarmists. So does this mean global climate change will be worse than expected or better? The fact is no one knows because the underlying data is so bad.

The fact is nobody knows what is going to happen, so let's take steps that have nothing to do with global warming.

1) We know that increased pollution in the air causes asthma and allergies and has other negative effects on health. Clean up emissions so they don't affect our health.

2) Terrorist groups get funding from OPEC nations in the Middle East. You want to stop the terrorists, stop their funding. You want to stop funding them, reduce our need for foreign oil.

3) There are people starving all over the world. Biotechnology can create plants that will be drought resistant. Let them do so.

My point is climate change is a mystery. If we take care of the related issues that we know about, climate change will take care of itself.

The Taste Of A Brand

A recent study asked children to taste two items of food, and tell researchers which they liked the best. The only difference in the food was that one was in a McDonald's wrapper and one was in a plain white wrapper. The results clearly showed that children preferred the McDonald's branded item to the non-branded item (ironically the exception to this was the classic McDonald's hamburger). The big revelation of this study is that branding works.

Anti-corporate groups are using this study to try to limit the marketing that companies do. They say it unfairly targets our children.

I say get a life.

I have two young children. They like McDonald's. That doesn't mean they get it, though. It's the parents responsibility to say no. When did parents become so weak-willed that they can be out-argued by a two year old? It's not the company's responsibility to feed a child. It's not the government's responsibility; it's the parent's responsibility. Proponents of a nanny state argue that a parent can't possibly win in the face of billions of dollars in marketing. That's preposterous. Parents control the purse strings. All they have to do is not buy what they don't want their child to have.

These same organizations who whine about marketing causing obesity in children are the same organizations that forced schools to cut back on competitive games like dodgeball because it was harming kids' egos. Nurturing your child is wonderful. Coddling them is not. You can't have it both ways. Either they play competitive sports or they get fat. Marketing doesn't enter into it.

Home Run Record Not Even Worth An Asterisk

This past weekend San Francisco Giant Barry Bonds tied Hank Aaron for the all-time record for most home runs in a career. Even Giants fans aren't sure it should count. Most of us are sure it shouldn't.

The question of whether or not he is currently using steroids is irrelevant. This is a record set over a career. Bonds himself admitted to using steroids in 2003. Since that's part of his career, the validity of this record is null and void.

But Bonds' didn't stop at steroids. He had mechanical help as well. It was recently revealed that the "armor" that he wears to protect his elbow, is hinged and keeps his arm in perfect position. Note that he doesn't hit nearly as well in home run derbies, where he has no excuse to wear the armor.

Forget the asterisk on this record. Just throw it, and Bonds, out of baseball. Let someone break Hank Aaron's record the way Aaron set it, on skill alone.