The Verdict is Still Out...

As with nearly all polarizing issues it is best to circumvent the politics of the issue and, when possible, go straight to the science. With the release of Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” earlier this year we were all treated to a firestorm of punditry, everyone from the right and the left seemed sure they had it right. Yet very few actually looked at the science of the issue. I feel obliged to write about the issue after I read an article concerning the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) refusal to accept 50,000 free DVD’s from the producers of the film. Now as this is a sensitive issue you may think the teachers made the right decision in staying out of a political debate. Well, unfortunately, you would be wrong on two counts.

Firstly, as can be read from the original Op-Ed by Laurie David, for you Curb fans that’s Larry David’s wife, the NSTA does not have a history of abstention from politics. While they claim to be wary of offering a "political" endorsement of the film, they have been content to accept over $6 million dollars from Exxon Mobile since 1996. Even more shocking NSTA's list of corporate donors also includes Shell Oil and the American Petroleum Institute (API), which funds NSTA's Web site on the science of energy. NSTA has also distributed a video produced by API called "You Can't Be Cool Without Fuel."

As one would expect the NSTA has issued a response, and as always things aren’t as black and white as we would like them to be. It would be unfair to demonize this group of teachers after being put in such a difficult position. However, there is little question that having some of your biggest sponsors as the target of a video would certainly weigh heavily in a decision about whether to distribute the DVD.

More importantly, however, is the fact that the vast majority of “An Inconvenient Truth” is supported by an even vaster majority of scientists. Next time someone informs you that “the verdict is still out on global warming” ask them where they are they getting their information. Bill O’Reilly? Rush Limbaugh? While these men may attract an incredible amount of daily listeners they are not scientists and it is very likely they, like most of us, have no idea what climatologists are talking about. Below is a short clip from the movie, if you haven’t seen it yet it is certainly worth your while.



So let’s turn to the facts, and let me preface this by saying that like all other theories in the soft sciences, there are still questions about global warming. However, when the top scientists of climatology, geology, and biology are in agreement it would seem prudent to listen.

In 2001 the Committee on the Science of Climate Change of the National Research Council published Climate Change Science: An Analysis of Some Key Questions. This report explicitly endorses the view of attribution of recent climate change as representing the view of the science community. It begins by stating that, “Greenhouse gases are accumulating in Earth's atmosphere as a result of human activities, causing surface air temperatures and subsurface ocean temperatures to rise. Temperatures are, in fact, rising. The changes observed over the last several decades are likely mostly due to human activities, but we cannot rule out that some significant part of these changes is also a reflection of natural variability. Human-induced warming and associated sea level rises are expected to continue through the 21st century.” The full report can be read here.

On May 2, 2006, the Federal Climate Change Science Program commissioned by the Bush administration in 2002 released the first of 21 assessments that concluded that there is, “clear evidence of human influences on the climate system (due to changes in greenhouse gases, aerosols, and stratospheric ozone).” And went on to say that, “observed patterns of change over the past 50 years cannot be explained by natural processes alone.” The full report can be read here.

In December 2004, Science published an essay by geologist and science historian Naomi Oreskesthat summarized a study of the scientific literature on climate change. The essay concluded that there is a scientific consensus on the reality of anthropogenic climate change. The author analyzed 928 abstracts of papers from refereed scientific journals between 1993 and 2003. 75% of the abstracts were placed in categories which either explicitly or implicitly accepted the consensus view of human caused climate change. 25% dealt with methods or paleoclimate and made no statement about the causes of change. This means that out of 928 peer reviewed scientific articles not one argued against the basic ideas of human caused climate change. It was pointed out thatsome of the authors in the last 25% may believe that current climate change is natural. However, none of these papers argued that point. The full article can be read here.



By now I hope that my thesis is clear, even if the NSTA would like to stay out of political battles, the overwhelming scientific evidence is in support of this theory and as a result should be taught regardless of popular opinion. I am dismayed to realize the parallels between the teaching of climate change and the equally verifiable evolution; both are strongly supported scientific theory and yet poorly understood by the general populace. It is a shame that due to those special interests who hope to muddy the waters by casting “doubt” on otherwise extremely important science so many remain in the dark about these important issues. We as Americans need to learn to disregard the ten second statements from our favorite pundits, this world we live in is important enough that we should take some time to listen and read articles by people who know what they are talking about.

In regard to “An Inconvenient Truth” I think Eric Steig, a climatologist and isotope geochemist, summarizes things well in his article for RealClimate.com, “It is remarkably up to date, with reference to some of the very latest research…for the most part, I think Gore gets the science right...the small errors don't detract from Gore's main point, which is that we in the United States have the technological and institutional ability to have a significant impact on the future trajectory of climate change.”

Tom Waits Addendum

A few days after I posted my Tom Waits story Pitchfork did a pretty interesting inverview with him. They talk about music, life and his new three cd set entitled Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards. If you are interested in some more Waits check it out here.

Primary Movers #3 Tom Waits

Sometimes for those of us not artistically inclined it is hard to understand the process by which a musician creates music or an actor portrays a character. It is especially astounding when an individual can excel at both tasks, and do so with an utterly unique style. It may seem as though there is an excess of actor/musicians out there these days but I challenge you to name more than a handful who do it well. Tom Waits has succeeded where most fail by creating, both in his acting and in his musical career something distinct.

I was first introduced to Mr. Waits by way of an excellent movie entitled “Down By Law” written and directed by the brilliant Jim Jarmusch. Mr. Waits plays Jack, one of three prisoners who escape a New Orleans prison. Mr. Jarmusch’s black and white camera and gritty set pieces work perfectly with Mr. Waits’ portrayal of the disaffected outlaw. The cautious friendship that evolves as the three prisoners spend time together in and out of prison makes for some incredibly affecting cinema. Below you can watch a short clip of the movie, Tom Waits is the guy on the right, you may also recognize the Italian guy named Roberto Benigni from “Life is Beautiful”.



As must happen with most who see the movie I sought out more of Mr. Waits’ material and was pleased to find a great deal to investigate. He has played a variety of roles in both small and large budget films, most notably The Fisher King and Bram Stoker's Dracula.

While he brings a great deal of value to acting it is his musical composing and performance that really sets him apart. I am working my way through his sizable catalogue and while I cannot speak to the entire list, the music I have heard has not disappointed. Although not well known in the United States his music, like many other great musicians, is well known abroad. His music often takes the form of narratives, the combination of his gritty, unrefined voice coupled with elements blues, jazz, and Vaudeville and is often immediately recognizable. For those of you who have listened to Captain Beefheart’s, Trout Mask Replica you will recognize the experimental tone and disregard for many musical conventions characteristic in much of Mr. Waits’ music. You may also recognize his voice from the Primus song Tommy the Cat.

What I find particularly attractive about many of his albums is the breadth of musical genres sampled, all while retaining a central feel to the album. Rain Dogs, my personal favorite at the moment, is full of jarring rhythms and unusual instrumentation provided by marimba, accordion and various percussion instruments. Mr. Waits’ sings along with lyrics seemingly chosen for rhythm rather than for sense. While it makes for a chaotic and sometimes cacophonic record and it does provide for interesting musical exploration and a downright enjoyable musical experience. Watch below for an example of Mr. Waits’ skillful songwriting from his album Mule Variations with a song entitled “Hold On”.



Another of Mr. Wait’s admirable qualities is his complete refusal to allow the use of his material in commercials. He has even gone so far as to sue companies who use his music. Frito Lay had approached him to use one of his songs in an advertisement and Mr. Waits declined. Instead, Frito Lay hired a Waits sound-alike and made the commercial. Mr. Waits won the lawsuit, becoming the first artist to successfully sue a company for using an impersonator without permission.

Although I do love writing about music and movies it is clearly no substitute for the real thing, so if you like what you have heard and read go listen to a record, make sure to give it a little time, his records like so many good ones take some time to figure out.

Pre-Midway

Hello everyone, as you may or may not know I have been hunting for a volunteer position for the past five months. I was having a great deal of difficulty finding something that would not only allow me to help out a worth while cause but also something that didn’t cost a fortune. Last March I applied for a position on Midway Island as a ecological volunteer. I had not heard back until about a week ago when I received an emial inquiring about times I was availble. As it turns out I was accepted for a position on the island starting January 25th and going through April 21st. I am elated, it allows me time to get my law school applications done and gives me a great excuse to go somewhere warm and sunny during the cold strech following Christmas here in Minnesota.

Accoring to the website I will be assisting with habitat restoration, growing native plants in a greenhouse, outplanting plants, and hand-pulling verbesina and other nonnative plants. I will also help with seabird monitoring and marine debris removal. I did not really know a whole lot about Midway so I thought as I learned about the island I would post the information here.



Midway Atoll is a 6.2 square kilometer atoll located in the North Pacific Ocean, and is about one-third of the way between Honolulu and Tokyo. It consists of a ring-shaped barrier reef and several sand islets.

The atoll is an unincorporated territory of the United States, part of the United States Minor Outlying Islands, designated an insular area under the authority of the U.S. Department of the Interior. It is a National Wildlife Refuge administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
It is probably best known as the location of the Battle of Midway, fought in World War II on June 4, 1942. Nearby, United States Navy defeated a Japanese attack against the "Midway Islands," marking a turning point in the war in the Pacific theater.

Midway was designated an overlay National Wildlife Refuge on April 22, 1988 while still under the primary jurisdiction of the Navy. As part of the Base Realignment and Closure process, the Navy facility on Midway has been operationally closed since September 10, 1993, although the Navy assumed responsibility for cleaning up environmental contamination at Naval Air Facility Midway Island.

On October 31, 1996, President Bill Clinton signed Executive Order 13022, which transferred the jurisdiction and control of the atoll to the US Department of the Interior. The US Fish and Wildlife Service assumed management of the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. The last contingent of Navy personnel left Midway on 30 June 1997, after an ambitious environmental cleanup program was completed. The atoll fell under the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands National Monument that was established in 2006.

The islands of Midway Atoll have been extensively altered as a result of human habitation. Ironwood trees from Australia were planted to act as windbreaks, removal of these trees will be one of my primary jobs while on the island.

The island was made to support as many as 5,000 people. A lot of the infrastructure including buildings were removed when the Navy transferred the property to USFWS, but approximately 120 buildings remain as well as roadways, piers, an airfield, fuel farm, and harbor. Suprisingly, and luckily for me there are a variety of other buildings still open on the island including a movie theatre, racketball court, pub and library.

When I arrive there will be approximately 65 people living and working at Midway Atoll including 4 USFWS staff, 2-4 USFWS volunteers, 1-6 cooperating researchers, and about 50 people working directly for or as subcontractors to Chugach Industries Incorporated.

When I was looking for a volunteer position I tried to limit my search to places where there would be a certain amount of adventure associated. I did not want to work in an office or as part of a “tourist” volunteer group where the idea is to give of yourself yet you are bused in to thte poor areas in the morning and bused out at night to live in nice hotels. With Midway I think I will avoid that type of experience. However there are some downsides as I will be cohabitating with a variety of dangerous creatures. Centipedes, jellyfish, ticks, spiders, and sharks will all be sharing the island or sea with me. According to an email I received several people have been bitten by centipedes while in bed, while others have been bitten by black widows and bird ticks. Swimming at night is highly discouraged due to the sharks.

Thats about all I have for today, I will keep you posted as the departure date gets closer. I will have access to email on the island so I hope to keep this site updated and I plan to put up pictures as I take them.

Found Sound #5 Finding Sound

Greetings everyone, welcome back for another edition of Found Sound, today we will be discussing the innumerable opportunities for obtaining music online. Certainly many of you know about the more mainstream outlets for music downloads, i Tunes, Walmart, and hundreds of other sites offer quick and easy $.50-.99 downloads. However, for those of you without the financial means to buy all the music you desire I offer you a few alternatives.

Firstly, I will refer you to a few of the many online radio stations popping up all over the internet. Pandora is a pretty impressive site which allows you to enter all the types of music you like. This may take the form of artists, albums or songs, and then you will be presented with many of those songs along with a variety of choices the program thinks you may like. The songs selected for you are hit and miss but if you are patient you may find some great new music. Another option is Lastfm which offers much the same service although it is attempting to build more of an online community. Both sites offer remarkably good sound quality and provide great diversions for long days in the office or on the computer.

Next we will talk about a few of the sites that I use frequently in my search for new music. Archive.org is a site I have mentioned here before but it is worth emphasizing. Here you can find an incredible amount of live recordings from a great diversity of artists. Downloading is free and legal because all of the artists on the site have generously agreed to allow taping at their concerts. If you are in the mood for a quick listen rather than downloading the entire concert, streaming audio is also available. Make sure to check out the 75 live shows from My Morning Jacket, the 28 from Explosions in the Sky, the 2,843 from the Grateful Dead, the 29 from the Mountain Goats or the 129 from Ween.

Another site I frequent is Sugarmegs.org, which allows streaming audio of over 12,000 live shows on their site. Very much allied with the Grateful Dead’s ideals of sharing music this site has compiled a huge archive of primarily jam concerts, although others types of music can be found too. Phish shows, which are oddly missing from Archive.org can be found in abundance here. As you are scanning the shows keep in mind that many of the band names are abbreviated so Phish is ph, the Grateful Dead are gd and Medeski, Martin, Wood are mmw.

Finally, I present you with a new music detection technique I discovered recently. I have found many uses for it in finding legally recorded live shows as well as other forms of media. Keep in mind that while it may be used illegally I do not suggest doing so. First, you need to navigate to a search engine, Google is always a good choice. Secondly, select the artist or album name you wish to find, enter its name along with either; “sendspace”, “megaupload”, or “yousendit”. For example “Grateful Dead Live sendspace”. Google will then give you a listing of all of sites containing these words and, here's the secret, most of the time you will be directed to pages which will provide you links to download the artist or album you are looking for. Most of the time you will be connected to a message board where users are uploading music for other users, all you have to do is click on the links provided and download the files.

These files will be in a condensed form when downloaded and so it will be necessary to download WinRar to access the music. Once you have loaded WinRar and downloaded the file it will just be a matter of running the program and you will have your music! In the interest of saving time while you search for the file on the message boards use the find function (Ctrl +F) to quickly locate it.

In case you were wondering Sendpace, Megaupload and Yousendit are all file transfer and exchange networks, which enable millions of users to distribute large files. There are often limits put on the amount of information you can download in a day but this is not usually a problem. These sites also can make it possible to send large numbers of photos or music to friends without having to worry about clogging up their email.

That does it for me, you have a lot of music to enjoy so I will let you get to it.