Mann's climategate non-coverup non-issue

There are times when I just want to reach through the computer screen and slap some sense into people. This urge is happening more and more as I log the hits our stories receive on blogs.

Mike Mann and "climategate" has been huge in the blogosphere. It started with someone hacking into the computer of a climate scientist in England and stealing emails from the IPCC. On the minor side of it, a woman I know who has studied ice comes out and vilifies Dr. Mann to me. My comeback was along the lines of "of course, we have to believe that anyone who hacks and steals won't alter 'evidence.' And of course, everything you read on the Internet must be true."

Mann was investigated by various groups and passed with flying colors. But still, deniers like VA's AG won't let it go. I doubt there are many people who can withstand the scrutiny that Michael Mann has withstood -- especially the people who are screaming denials the loudest. Through it all, Mann has kept doing his research and letting the naysayers rant.

What has my knickers in a twist is that every time Mann comes out with new research, the screamers drag out that old dead climategate horse and flog it some more. Adding insult to injury, this little headline was written: "Mann's new hockey stick predicts global warming, er ... a Ice Age, ok ..." That's AN Ice Age, no matter how you slice it.

So to recap: get off the climategate non-coverup non-issue, get off Mann's back (he's right!) and learn the basics of grammar. Thanks!

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Fun at exercise class

I went to my water Pilates class last evening. The instructor was making sure we knew the class schedule for the coming weeks. No class July 4, of course; she'll be her the 11th, and then Chris will take the next two weeks while she's on vaca.

So of course we ask where she's going. They go to the Outer Banks to a town called Duck. I asked her if she has read any of the murder mysteries that take place in Duck. She has not, so after class I showed her the book on my Kindle.

I think I made another sale of "A Timely Vision" for Joyce and Jim Lavene!

The classes are fun. In both we have good chat while exercising. Brilliant!

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Weekend's bat watch

Bat Watch at Canoe Creek State Park

Date: May. 28, 2011
Start Time: 7:00 PM

The first bat watch of summer! Come walk to the bat sanctuary and watch the emergence of thousands of bats as they head out for a night of feeding. Learn about White Nose Syndrome in bats and its implications. Bring a flashlight for the return walk. Meet at bat sanctuary. Parking is in gravel lot across from bat sanctuary.

This is the way it was billed. This is the way it was supposed to be. Part of it came true. We did learn about White Nose Syndrome -- the hard way.

After going all over the park because MapQuest messed me up again, we did get to the right place.  The woman who ran the program was excellent.

There is a maternity colony in the attic of a decommissioned church. We all sat on the side of the hill waiting for the moms-to-be to come out to feed. In 2006, there were upwards of 20,000 bats in the colony; last year there were about 4,000. Saturday, we saw maybe ... MAYBE ... 10. The poor bats are being decimated by White Nose Syndrome. That means there will be more bugs, more West Nile and fewer bats to watch in the night sky.

An ecological disaster, to be sure. But it is also a disaster to kids (and adults like moi), who will no longer be able to lie on their backs in a filed, watching the bats perform their ballet. It's one of the simple joys of summer.

I'm gutted.

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