Another reason I should have gone to college a long time ago.

This post is dedicated to all my teachers in high school who thought I was just a lazy, dumb stoner. 1. My eyes were red because of seasonal allergies. 2. I did not get good grades in your class because you did not motivate me to care about your class. I may have found the material interesting, Mr. Dickson, but I did not respect you enough to show you my work. 3. I have a 4.0 in college now. Pthththththththtiiit!!! Nyah Nyah! Suck it.

Out damn carbon, out!

See what we're doing to the oceans here.
http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/pubs/PDF/feel2899/feel2899.pdf

Read about the science of it all here.
http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/briefs/

Another Diatribe.

I have been doing a lot of research for a paper in my Biology class on atmospheric carbon dioxide and it has been a big eye opener. I knew there were many scientists talking about the impending doom of global warming and climate change due to CO2 levels but I had no idea about some of the sources for these high levels. Part of the assignment was to write an op-ed piece for the Oregonian (our local newspaper) and when I was done I sent it to them even though I didn't have to because I felt like I had something to say to other people.
Some of you who know me may just think this is one of those things that Scott gets excited about because he just learned about it and his passion will fade. (i.e. when MySpace was bought by Rupert Murdoch) I don't think this is the case. This issue is not just something I can know about and tell you about. Everyone needs to know that it WILL affect them in one way or another in the next couple of decades and the severity of those effects can be greatly reduced if something is done now. It is a global issue that law makers and governments are not willing to put in the forefront because they would rather put money in their pockets and think that nothing can be done or they talk about it a lot and appoint this guy to do this and throw some money at the issue. Consciousness is the first step and doing our part to reduce our own personal emissions is a reality.
Below is my op-ed that I wrote. I had to leave out many things because it had to be under 500 words. In future posts I am going to add more on this thought and post links to sites I think are important. The new widget to the right is part of the story. If you don't know what the numbers mean look it up or ask me. I have a lot to say about this.

In My Opinion

What do you think it would take for Oregon companies to put a check on their Carbon Dioxide emissions? CO2 emission tax? State law for reduction of emissions? Knowing that their company may be under hundreds of feet of water by 2025?

What do you think it would take Oregonians to reduce their own personal emissions? Inexpensive fuel efficiency? Knowing that their children may be dealing with millions of refugees fleeing from catastrophic conditions in as little as 40 or 50 years?

I assume the majority of people in America that saw An Inconvenient Truth, like me, took that truth with a grain of salt and said to themselves, “Al Gore sure spins a good yarn about possible effects yet he is shown flying and driving to his destination emitting CO2 every step of the way.” We know there are freedoms and comforts at stake when it comes to doing our part to reduce our own CO2 emissions but they do not have to be inconvenient. If one voice is heard by thousands and those voices are heard by millions could we not decide to choose survival of our expansive species on this tiny planet? When a majority gets together and demands change because they are fed up or they know it is the right thing to do their audience can do nothing except listen. Where would we be if Jefferson and his compatriots did not demand their audience to listen?

The facts are out there and America is the leading cause of atmospheric carbon. The “American Dream” has done our psyches well yet it has had a detrimental impact on our environment. The personal automobile, cement production and consumer product waste are the highest reasons we lead the globe in CO2 emissions. If you think about it, the freedom you feel from having your own car comes with many evils. I have been car-free for over 7 years now, by choice, and I say free because there are so many freedoms associated with not having a vehicle. I pay no insurance, fuel or maintenance costs. I have the freedom of actually knowing the ins and outs of my environment on the street level. How many of you have seen a piece of public art or park while you are driving by and thought, “Why have I never known that was there before?” How far are you willing to go to deny yourself the pleasure of knowing the city you live in, not just the path to drive from A to B? Portland has a great transit system and if more people use it, and also pay their fare, the system will only get better.

EcoFoot.org and EPA.gov have informative calculators to find how you personally affect your environment.

In a state established by pioneers I feel the spirit still lives on. Followers can only follow if a leader is willing to lead. Since America is the leading country in CO2 emissions isn’t it our responsibility to lead the change to a self-sustaining future?

Scott Farley
Portland, OR
(Student)

Distractions

I'm sitting in Jackson Hall of the Pcc Cascade campus on the second floor in a nice secluded corner by two massive windows and I CANNOT concentrate. I'm funkin' out to Bootleggin' by Simtec and Wylie on my iPod and watching the rapidly moving multi-colored clouds morphing and the comings and goings of busy students and it is very nice. It is VERY distracting. I have to go into a stinky lab now and deal with some annoying rudimentary BIO concepts. I doan wanna!! Wah! Poopy. Whatever. Almost done with the term and then I can relax for a minute again. Wish me luck.

For some reason last night I thought it was really funny to take pictures of Soren's blocks spelling out geometric and algebraic equations.
<---Volume of a cube and slope-intercept form of a line-->









I also had a curiosity about who was written-in for the 2008 presidential election. I wrote someone in for a certain office because I could not choose between the two candidates. I just wanted to see if I could find some write-in names. Turns out Santa Claus would have won in West Virginia if it was based on write-ins.

Crappy Days

So, my Wednesday turned out to be not so pleasant. I got my first quiz back in math class and I got a 45%. It was reminiscent of high school but that was when I wasn't trying at all. My last math teacher made it really easy for me to ace his class but for some reason this teacher has an agenda to try and trick her students by putting things on her tests that are the uncommon methods of doing things, not what we have been practicing in the homework.
I was going to try and do some of my Spanish homework in the online workbook between classes but my teacher had closed the section not letting me finish. Poop.
I went to stand in line for my student loan refund check because I had nothing else to do. Little did I know that everyone else had that same exact thought that day. The line was ridiculous. It took 45+ min. to reach the crowd control barriers (where you zigzag back and forth) then I was where the line usually starts. Groan!
Between Spanish and BIO I walked 15 blocks up to the bank and found another line of people who had just picked up their PCC refund check and waited for them too. They all had to open accounts to cash the check so it took even longer.
BIO went well. We finally got our hands on the microscopes. Everyone was having a lot of problems figuring them out but I took to it like it was second nature. That seems like a good thing because I will be staring into one of those things everyday in the career I'm pursuing.
I headed home and ran for the Max train that was just pulling into the station, hopping on just in time. Three stops later I hear the transit police asking for proof of fare. The train was just pulling into another station so I was gonna hop out to avoid being caught. I had not bought a ticket because I had to run for the train and didn't want to wait 20 min. for the next one. The doors opened and I was about to step off when one of the transit police stepped in front of me and asked for my fare. I was busted. It only took five or so minutes to write me a ticket for $115! I left the platform and looked for the nearest pub 'cause daddy needed a shot of whiskey. Didn't find one. So I started walking home. I was in a neighborhood unfamiliar to me toting valuables and pissed as hell for being stupid. So I walked home from Albina/Mississippi which is probably 3 miles. Not that big of a deal except when I got to the transit center where our beautiful Rose Garden Arena is, there were people everywhere trying to cram into the parking garages to see the Blazers game, and every car was driving like they needed to fill their quota of killing pedestrians before the night ended. I almost got hit like six times and every time the driver thought it was my fault. I do tend to jaywalk but I obey traffic laws and crosswalk signs when there are lots of cars present, so I was in the right in every situation. Assholes! Now it was time for that shot. I went to Joey Rose and Aztec Willie's (our local taqueria and cantina) and had a stiff shot of whiskey before plodding home to give Chosephine the bad news. I came home to hear all about Soren's bad day. Poor guy had a bad day too. I'm sure she will write about it and since she was there you should read what she says.

We made a Fruit Pizza for Soren's 2nd Birthday. Isn't it yummy looking. OOOH! It is tasty too.