Why porn studies? Why now? As the editors of Porn Studies explain, in typical academese: The field “has taken on a new urgency and significance given the continued position of pornography at the centre of controversies around media, gender, sexuality and technology. Pornographies, their spread, their imageries, their imaginaries and their consumption always have a high profile, but in the past decade or so, interest in pornography has grown exponentially – with a concomitant increase in claims about porn’s effects, both positive and negative.”The Globe and Mail
With a Minor in Positionality
Think I'm kidding? Here's the place to start building your academic library. Might I suggest you start with "Hard to Swallow: hardcore pornography on screen", and no, I didn't make that title up.
Pornography remains undertheorized. In the public sphere, there are very
few serious ideas about what porn is or how it works or what it means
to us, beside from the obvious. The Atlantic
I have to agree with Margaret Wente
Personally, I think civilization as we know it will probably survive
unreadable academic discourses on anal sex and torture porn. I’m aware
that this self-indulgent garbage makes up just a teeny-tiny part of the
worthy and important enterprise known as higher education. What bothers
me is the utter collapse of seriousness and rigour, and the utter
inability of top administrators and granting agencies to put a halt to
what is essentially a con job on the public. The Globe and Mail
It certainly gives a new look on the ivory towers of academia
House Passes Bill Without the Votes Needed to Pass
And how did they do that you might wonder? They did it under a suspension of the rules, by a voice vote, with very few members present. The bill was gavelled through just as the House came into session Thursday afternoon in a mostly empty chamber.
What they voted on was irrelevant
I've specifically avoided mention of the subject of the bill as what I wanted to address was the tactic, a bipartisan tactic executed by the leadership of both parties in a move that was a surprise to most of the members of the House.
Leadership opted to bring the bill straight to the floor “under suspension of the rules,” meaning it needed a two-thirds vote to pass — a higher threshold than the normal simple majority. But it was not clear that a sufficient number of votes could be found. Shortly after noon, the bill was passed by voice vote, with the chair — Republican Rep. Steve Womack — deciding that two-thirds of the very few members in the room had said “aye.” Most members were unaware the vote was taking place and missed it, as did quite a few reporters. Daily Caller
John Dingle (D) "I’ve seen a lot of dumb things, but I’ve never seen anything quite as comical as this"
Mick Mulvaney (R) "Bullshit"
Lynn Westmoreland (R) “No one objected. No one was there to object,”
Frank Pallone (D) "This bill is bad for seniors and it's bad for doctors "
Welcome to the Banana Republic of the United States where a handful of people actually get to make the laws through trickery and deceit.
I am in love with the Avett Brothers. They've been releasing music for over ten years, but I just discovered them a few years back, thanks to a friend of my oldest daughter. There may be hope yet for her generation if some of them are listening to such soulful and genuine music.
Their latest release, Magpie and the Dandelion, saw the song Another is Waiting get some good airplay (on the alternative station, anyway, which is all I listen to), and the album reached #1 and has been on the Folk chart since its debut 22 weeks ago.
Here is what I think will be the next hit from that album:
They inspired me to take up the banjo again, and my only regret is that I can't get any of the other musicians in my family to pick up the guitar, banjo, or fiddle, and I can only play one instrument at once. My son is into classical, but he can play a good doghouse bass, and my youngest daughter stubbornly clings to the piano and stopped trying to learn guitar because it hurt her fingers. To her credit, she does want to play fiddle, but her arms are still to short for a full size, and that's all we have in this house.
Anyway, we have fun singing their songs together, and we sound pretty good, and she can knock out a pretty good keyboard solo on Family of the Year's song, Hero, which we also sound pretty good on.
Here's an Avett Brothers interview that gives you a good picture of who they are and where they are coming from:
“You can’t have a belief system on Sunday and not live it the other six days.” ~ David Green
David Green has one of America’s great, little-known fortunes, having turned a makeshift manufacturing operation in his living room for arts and crafts into a retail monster, with 520 superstores in 42 states with 23,000 employees. Green and his family own 100% of the company and he ranks No. 79 on Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans, with an estimated net worth of $4.5 billion.
“Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver”.
Green keeps the total amount of his charitable contributions private, but based on information received from him and discussion with various recipients, FORBES estimates his lifetime giving at upwards of $500 million. Forbes
The Issue at Hand ~ Religious Freedom
“If you have anything or if I have anything, it’s because it’s been given to us by our Creator,”
There is no litmus test for religious freedom. The issue isn't whether or not David Green is right or wrong, reasonable or not, but whether or not he has the freedom to run his private corporation in accordance with his own beliefs.
David Green hasn't suddenly found religion at the feet of Obamacare, he has been running his business this way since its founding in 1972. Hobby Lobby is not a Public Corporation, it is a family owned business. That it is a corporation is irrelevant, it is not a public corporation and no one in their right mind holds this size of business in their own name.
“A religious individual may enter the for-profit realm intending to
demonstrate to the marketplace that a corporation can succeed
financially while adhering to religious values, As a court, we do not see how we can distinguish this form of evangelism from any other.” 10th Circuit Court
The Other Six Days
Hobby Lobby starts its full time employees $14.00 an hour, well above the federal mandated minimum wage and their part-time employees at $9.50. Their 13,000 full-time employees had insurance long before Obamacare. The company is closed on Sunday, Christmas, and Easter and takes out ads proclaiming Jesus Christ the Lord and Savior. Hobby Lobby takes half of its pre-tax earnings and donates them to a portfolio of evangelical ministries. The company is set up such that in the event of a sale or liquidation 90% of the profits will go to charity while only 10% will go into a generational trust for the health and education of family members.
“My grandkids can’t say, ‘I own 5% and I own 10,’ and then all of a sudden they’re sitting on a yacht,” says Green.
In short, Hobby Lobby doesn't behave like other corporations... it is run in accordance with David Green's religious beliefs, do we really want it to start acting like Wal-Mart or McDonald's?
Another important thing to remember is this, unlike a publicly traded company it only takes 1 vote to close Hobby Lobby for good, David Green's. David Green doesn't have to provide anything in violation of his beliefs, he can simply fire 23,000 people. Which is what I would do if the government tried to make me do something in violation of my beliefs, I don't think David Green would go there, I think he would believe that to be wrong, but I'm a libertarian not an evangelical.
The Russian military is ranked 2nd in the world after the United States. President Obama dismissed Russia out of hand as a "regional power", but are they? Or better yet... do they need to be anything more? I doubt Russia has any designs on American territory, or even western European territory. The Russian focus is on eastern Europe, the near east, and the far east, its self-identified sphere of influence.
The Russian military has an active end strength of nearly a million men, a mix of career military and conscripts. Their reserve forces number roughly 2.5 million. By comparison the United States has an active end strength of 1.4 million with reserve forces of 850,000.
Another consideration is that armies run on petroleum. Russia produces 11 million barrels a day and consumes 2.2 million barrels a day. The United States produces 8.5 million barrels a day and consumes 19 million barrels a day. The United States naval forces are designed around force projection, in the event of a European land war the vast majority of them would be tied up in protecting the petroleum supply, which the Russians are well equipped to disrupt. Another consideration is that all of the Russian forces are in, or convenient to, a European land war, American forces are not. Consider tanks, the Russians have 15,500, the United States currently has 22 in Europe.
What about NATO?
Lets take a look at the big 3 NATO members the UK, France, and Germany. The Numbers will be presented in that order.
UK produces 1.1 million barrels a day, consumes 1.7 million barrels. France produces 70,800 barrels a day, consumes 1.9 million barrels. Germany produces 157,000 barrels a day, consumes 2.5 million. These numbers are also with the consumption of Russian gas, what will happen when Russia turns of the tap?
Onset
The first logical choice for Russia, if it wishes to return former Soviet states to its fold is to knock off the non-Nato aligned former Soviet states. It currently has >30,000 troops poised on the border of Ukraine and we all know they're not there to fend off a possible Ukrainian invasion of Russia. The deputy speaker of the Duma (lower house) has already suggested a return to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact division of the Ukraine in letters to Poland, Romania, Hungary.
World War III
The first thing that is readily noticeable about any future conflict is that the west is heavily dependent upon imported POL. The first thing the Russians will do is disrupt that flow, either through interdiction (recall the Atlantic convoys of WWII) or through direct disruption. The Russians can and will invade or threaten to invade the middle east, tying up western forces there. Putin is not as stupid as Hitler, this is what the German Army wanted to do, instead of attacking Russia and had it done it, WWII may have had a very different outcome.
The second thing you will notice is that we have a preponderance of aircraft. This follows the western theory of warfare in that the first thing you need to establish is air superiority. This will work out well for us in the initial stages of the land war... that is until the petroleum runs out. The other thing that you will notice is that Russia can disrupt our POL supplies without directly attacking us, we can not disrupt theirs without attacks on Russian territory, throw in the nuclear card and you can see the restraint that throws into the politics. Western forces will be reluctant to stage attacks directly on Russian soil barring direct invasion of the core (western European) NATO members, my apologies to the Balkans.
The third thing you will notice is that Russia has the preponderance of men and mechanized ground forces, and is better equipped for amphibious operations. When air superiority is neutralized by interruption of the POL supply lines, this will be the deciding factor on the ground. Russia is well equipped and well poised to restore Europe to its pre-1991 borders.
A fourth consideration is, given a European ground war, will Russia even need to take any independent action to disrupt POL supplies. Syria and Iran may well be willing to do it for them while the US and NATO is otherwise preoccupied. Even then, all it would take is one nuclear false flag operation to disrupt the western economies for years to come. While we could undoubtedly prove Russian fissile material was used in the device, we could probably never prove it was the Russians that set it off. In all likelihood it would be attributed to Muslim extremists or Iran, plausible deniability. Hell, he might even set it off on Iranian territory... and frame oops! Iran for it.
Take it with a grain of salt
This is just one cold warrior's top-level analysis. It is what I would do if I were Putin and if I wanted to restore Russia to its former Soviet era glory by going to war.Take out the non-NATO aligned states and wait for western reaction. Disrupt the middle-east oil supply prior to staging any additional hostile action. Invade the former Soviet NATO states.All it takes is a set of brass ones, and we are in no position to stop it.
Troops at one of the last major Ukrainian bases in Crimea defiantly sang their national anthem on Saturday as Russian forces stormed their compound and demanded their surrender. As the Russian
force, bristling with heavy machine guns, over-ran the base, the
Ukrainians realized it was pointless to try to fight back. Instead, they
lined up on the parade ground and burst into song as the intruders held
them at gunpoint.
Ratcheting up the pressure on Russia, Chicago threatens to suspend sister-city agreement with Moscow. Now at least four Chicago alderman — including Ald. Edward Burke (14th) — have endorsed the resolution suspending the Sister Cities agreement with Moscow. I'm sure Putin's reconsidering his actions as you read this.
Now known as Kaliningrad, the Kaliningrad Oblast is an exclave of Russia completely surrounded by the EU states of Lithuania and Poland on the Baltic Sea. See the little red spot on the far left of the first map, that's Kaliningrad. The formerly Prussian and German city of Königsberg was a gift to Stalin at the end of WWII. It is home to the HQ of the Russian Baltic Fleet, in Kaliningrad and Baltiysk (Formerly the German City of Pillau), is the only Russian Navy port on the Baltic that is ice-free year round.
Are your Economic Sanctions Being Laughed At?
Close the land borders between Lithuania, Poland, and Kaliningrad. No rail, no road, no gas pipelines, no electricity... nothing crosses those borders. Let the Russian government feel the pain of resupplying their Baltic fleet entirely by sea or air. It doesn't require military force, it doesn't directly impact the Russian people themselves, and it can be accomplished in its entirety by two EU and NATO members.
Jeff Jacoby in the Boston Globe published an article Sunday about how the mean pensioners are devastating not only the poor of this country...
the “startling injustice” of poor and working-class taxpayers forced to
make do with less and less so that the gold-plated pensions of
public-sector retirees, which already gobble an outsize share of
government budgets, can keep devouring more and more.
But also the progressive agenda...
Dismay at that injustice is increasingly bipartisan, as it becomes clear that liberal priorities will die on the vine without pension reform.
He goes on to describe the horrors and burden of public sector pensions.
And how much is a full-career public employee pension worth in dollars
and cents? In the average state, those lifetime retirement benefits —
again, not including health coverage — have a present value worth
$768,940. In many states, they’re worth even more — $848,735 in
Massachusetts, for example, and more than $1.3 million in Nevada.
The Great Lie
I call this a lie not because the public pension burden is fictitious, but because Jacoby makes it out like it the pensioners are getting something for nothing, or something that all of us public or private can't get. He makes it out like the pensioners are at fault, are guilty of some 'startling' crime.
A Simple IRA invested in over a lifetime at the maximum $5500 contribution rate will be worth roughly $375,000 after a lifetime of work and investment at today's 5-yr rate of 1.45%
A 401K investing 10% of a 40,000/yr annual salary without employer matching would be worth $1,250,504
A 401K investing 10% of a 40,000/yr annual salary with employer matching would be worth $1,625,555
Both those 401K investments are calculated at a mere 7% rate of return. Boost that to the historical 9.6% and those two accounts inflate to $2,684,446 and $3,489,780 respectively, far outstripping Nevada's horrifying 1.3 million dollar burden.
The Greatest Robbery of All Time
The biggest lie of all time is transferring the blame and responsibility for the crisis onto the pensioners. As illustrated above, the problem isn't that some great financial crisis that wiped out all the wealth, it is the greatest robbery of all time... Uncle Sam has been raiding the piggy bank for the last fifty years and is now left empty handed with a sheepish look on his face.
The reason "poor and working-class taxpayers forced to
make do with less and less" has nothing to do with the "gold-plated pensions of
public-sector retirees" and everything to do with politicians robbing us blind for the money to buy our votes.
You didn't think they were spending their own money, did you?
The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defense recognized by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.
Estonia
24.8% Russian, but Harju County is 36% Russian and Ida-Viru is 70% Russian.
Latvia
26.9% Russian, but Daugavpils is 54%, Rēzekne 46.5, and even Riga, Latvia's capital is 40% Russian.
Russification
Russification is a form of cultural assimilation process during which non-Russian communities, voluntarily or not, give up their culture and language in favor of the Russian one.One example of 19th century Russification was the replacement of the Ukrainian, Polish, Lithuanian, and Belarusian languages by Russian in those areas. This was a common practice during the Soviet Era, with mass deportations, reeducation, and forced schooling in Russian. It also explains large Russian populations in places like Kazakhstan.
So the question is...
When Putin moves again to "protect" the next group of Russian speakers, and he will move again, what are we going to do? Are we going to war for Estonia or Latvia?
In an interview with NBC station KNSD San Diego, President Barack Obama ruled out a "military excursion" by
the United States in Ukraine, saying that engaging Russia militarily
"would not be appropriate." In a separate interview with KSDK in St Louis, Obama reiterated that a military option is not on the table.
I'd Love to play Poker with this guy...
Uh... I only have two fours, can I have three cards? Now before you liberals get your panties all twisted and knotted up, I'm not advocating military action in the Ukraine. We are not going to go to war over Crimea, I know it, you know it, Putin knows it, but our President doesn't need to do six television news interviews to confirm it. It's like putting your house up for sale for $300,000 and taking out an ad saying "House for Sale, $300,000... won't take less than $250,000". In negotiations, you don't inform the other side of what you're willing or not willing to do. Here's a brief simple lesson for our President:
Congratulations Mr. President
You just told Putin all you're holding is a pair of twos.
It has recently come to our attention that the following passengers on Flight MH370 were traveling together and have been identified.
If you have any information as to their intentions or whereabouts please contact Western Hero immediately.
First for those not aware of who these two people are, the first is Carmen Sandiego of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego fame, the second is Waldo (Wally for those of you not in the US or Canada) of Where's Waldo.
One of our digital competitors, Tomnod,is hosting online satellite imagery enabling ordinary folks like you to participate in the search for MH370. Not wanting to be outdone, Western Hero is going by the theory that if you find the passengers you find the plane, so we offer this up to you our readers for examination:
Please help us find Waldo, and thus the plane.
Seriously though...
Isn't this getting a bit ridiculous? Yesterday it was a "remote stretch of ocean off Australia", the day before it was the Maldives, before that it was off the coast of India...the Malacca Strait... the Andaman Islands... the South China Sea. I feel like I'm watching a modern remake of the Keystone Cops.
See ya later, I'm going to go sit on my ass, eat a pound of bacon in cream gravy, down a fifth of Jack, and smoke a pack of Lucky Strikes... I'm kidding, there's no way I could eat a pound of bacon.
Crimean Prime Mister Sergey Aksyonov tweeted the above photograph of President Obama in a Russian military uniform. Nothing like a little R-S-P-E-C-T! It turns out the "Severe Sanctions" hanging over Moscow like the Sword of Damocles turns out to be travel bans on seven Russians and 4 Ukrainians. Word is you can hear the laughter from Sarah Palin's backyard.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin called Obama a prankster.
"Russia is the only country in the world realistically capable of turning the United States into radioactive ash,"
Dmitry Kiselyov said on the state controlled Rossiya 1 television network to reinforce his comment that the United States and President Barack Obama were living in fear of Russia led by President Vladimir Putin.
There is only one possible response to that comment:
Food for Thought
Imperial County California has a higher percentage of Hispanics than Crimea does of Russians. Fortunately polls show a higher chance of them seceding and joining Arizona than Mexico. Just sayin'
On the eve of the referendum vote in Crimea, Russian forces seized the town of Strilkove in Kherson outside of Crimea and its natural gas distribution facility. Meanwhile Balaclava masked members of the Berkut are here to assist you in your vote:
1. Are you in favor of the reunification of Crimea with Russia as a part of the Russian Federation?
2. Are you in favor of restoring the 1992 Constitution and the status of Crimea as a part of Ukraine?
Retaining Crimea’s current status, is not an option. NYT
Here is a little light music to vote by:
“You just don’t in the 21st century behave in 19th century fashion by
invading another country on completely trumped up pre-text,” John Kerry
Really? I'd like to ask John Kerry, who told you the rules had changed? Where power, wealth, or land can be seized by force absent resistance it will be, and no amount of idyllic utopian dreaming is going to change that basic premise.
The problems with pacifism aren't pacifists, it's everybody else.
Governor Chris Christie’s administration blocked Tesla Motors, the electric-car maker that doesn’t have franchised retail dealers, from direct auto sales in a move the company said could shutter its only two stores in New Jersey. Bloomberg
The state’s motor vehicle commission voted Tuesday to ban automakers
from selling cars directly to consumers, instead requiring them to work
through franchised dealers, a rule supported by the New Jersey Coalition
of Automotive Retailers (NJCAR). Fox
The change will force Tesla to close its existing sales operations in the state and layoff 27 employees, according to documents posted to the commission's website. CNN
Tesla will stop selling cars in New Jersey on April 1. Like many other dealer groups across the country, New Jersey dealers did
not want Tesla to be able to sell cars directly to customers. Two other states that have banned Tesla from direct sales are Arizona and Texas. Forbes
You're too stupid and must be protected by the State
Let's cut the crap here. Banning direct sales has nothing to do with protecting the consumer and everything to do with protecting a contributing special interest group, the NJCAR in this case. The State has no legitimate reason to tell me who I must buy from or how I must buy, as if I'm competent enough to afford a $70,000 dollar automobile yet am somehow unable to rationally decide for myself if I am willing to buy sans dealership middleman. This is Crony Crapitalism at its worst and it's why there is no way in hell I will ever vote for Chris Christie. One wonders if it was Ford and not niche automaker Tesla, that Christie's administration would be singing a different tune.
... this was what I considered to be Parmesan cheese. It was always in our kitchen, it was what we put on spaghetti, my mother's macaroni casserole. Garlic bread back then didn't have cheese on it, so we didn't use it there. Really nothing more than a cardboard tube with a yellow lid full of a yummy product somewhat reminiscent of sawdust. I can't honestly recall the last time I ever used it.
Photo: Zerohund
Today...
... this is what I expect my 'Parmesan' cheese to look like. Grated at the table over a mind-blowing variety of pastas and cheeses we never dreamed of when we were kids; Asiago d'allevo, Crotonese, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Pecorino di Romagna, to name a few.
A Rose by any other name...
As part of trade talks, the European Union wants to ban the use of
European names like Parmesan, feta and Gorgonzola on cheese made in the
United States. The Europeans say Parmesan should only come from Parma, Italy, not those
familiar green cylinders that American companies sell. Feta should only
be from Greece, even though feta isn't a place. MSN Money
What do you think? Should Kraft be able to manufacture and sell "Parmesan" cheese in the United States? Should "Feta" be restricted solely to cheeses made in Greece? Wine has its Terroir, where geography, geology, and climate have a distinct influence on the taste and outcome of the final product. A Burgundy made from Pinot Noir grapes grown in Burgandy tastes differently than a Burgundy made from Pinot Noir grapes grown in California (or so I'm told... I can't really tell the difference with wine, but I can make a pretty good guess when it comes to Scotch). Should cheeses and other products have a PDO or Protected Designation of Origin? Does it matter if you make Parmesan cheese in Parma vs. Utica?
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) accused the CIA of secretly removing documents, searching committee-used computers and attempting to intimidate Congressional investigators by requesting an FBI probe of their conduct — charges that CIA Director John O. Brennan disputed vigorously within hours of Feinstein’s extraordinary appearance on the Senate floor. Washington Post
"I have grave concerns that the CIA's search may well have violated the separation of powers principles embodied by the United States Constitution, including the speech and debate clause," she said. "It may have undermined the Constitutional framework essential to effective congressional oversight of intelligence activity or any other government function. The search may also have violated the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and an executive order that prohibits the CIA from conducting domestic searches or surveillance.
No Shit?
The American intelligence community violating the Constitution? Who'd have thunk? A better question for Senator Feinstein may be, given all of the revelations about the American intelligence community's activities, why does this surprise you?
Who us?
"We weren't trying to block
anything," Brennan said. "The matter is being dealt with in an
appropriate way, being looked at by the right authorities, and the facts
will come out," he added. "But let me assure you the CIA was in no way spying on [the committee] or the Senate." NBC News
Meanwhile:
USN Vice Admiral Mike Rogers who has been tapped by Obama as the next head of the NSA responded to Senate questions for his confirmation hearing with:
"The telephone metadata program under Section 215 was designed to map the communications of terrorists so we can see who they may be in contact with as quickly as possible. I believe that we need to maintain an ability to make queries of phone
records in a way that is agile and provides results in a timely fashion.
Being able to quickly review phone connections associated with
terrorists to assess whether a network exists is critical. I welcome dialogue"
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, a Boeing 777-200 took off from Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital, at
12:41 a.m. Saturday (Friday afternoon ET). It was scheduled to arrive
in Beijing at 6:30 a.m. the same day, after a 2,300-mile
(3,700-kilometer) journey. But around 1:30 a.m., air traffic controllers
in Subang, outside Kuala Lumpur, lost contact with the plane as it was
flying over the sea between Malaysia and Vietnam.
Crawling out of the Woodwork
From Wikipedia: The aircraft was a Boeing 777-2H6ER, serial number 28420, registration 9M-MRO. The 404th Boeing 777 produced, it first flew on 14 May 2002, and was delivered new to Malaysia Airlines on 31 May 2002.
An HTTP 404 error means "not found", and this is the 404th Boeing 777 produced.
Theories abound... from Terrorism and Catastrophic Systems Failure to Space Aliens and the Chinese version of the Bermuda Triangle.
Have at it
What are your theories on the disappearance of FLT 370
These are the results of the CPAC/Washington Times straw poll. Rand Paul increased his performance from last year, climbing 6%, Ted Cruz also improved over last year rising 7%. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie improved slightly from 7% to 8% finishing fourht. Marco Rubio plunged from a 23% second place finish last year down to only 6% this year and Paul Ryan fell from 6% to 3%.
Of course these results are far more reflective of the 2,459 CPAC attendees that participated than Republican voters in general.
The Huronian Ice Age lasted from 2400 to 2100 million years ago, 300 million years. The Cryogenian Ice Age lasted from 800 to 635 million years ago, 165 million years. The Andean-Saharan Ice Age lasted from 450 to 420 million years, 30 million years. The Karoo Ice Age lasted from 360 to 260 million years, 100 million years.
Welcome to the Ice Age
Welcome to the Quaternary Ice Age, it began 2.58 million years ago. But when did it end? You may ask... it hasn't. We are in the Quaternary Ice Age. The current interglacial period began about 11,800 years ago and is probably (worst case) due to end in the next 1500 years, some say 2000 years, best case... a few millennia. When people talk about the next ice age, they don't really mean the next ice age, they mean the next period of glaciation in this ice age.
But wait! Rome fell 1500 years ago, just a blink of an eye.
Geoengineering
Some anthropomorphic global warming activists think we ought to be performing geo-engineering to get the atmospheric CO2 levels back down to a normal 200-300 ppm, but is that wise? If we can get atmospheric CO2 up to about 750 ppm we might, just might push the next glaciation off by about 50,000 years.
David Archer, a computational ocean chemist and professor of Geophysical Sciences at the University of Chicago, is a published researcher on the carbon cycle of the ocean and seafloor. He seems to think that if we could get our hands on all the fossil fuels on earth, releasing 5000 Gigatons of carbon dioxide we might, just might be able to push the next period of glaciation off by 500,000 years. We can't stop it mind you, only delay it.
Just something to chew on
What is the greater catastrophic risk to mankind? A 5-7 degree rise in temperature? Or the next glacial period? If the climatologists of the 70's were right about entering the next ice age, would we be burning carbon like crazy now trying to prevent it?
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