As IF Times

link There’s a mini ice age coming, says man who beats weather experts.

If this article is accurate, it makes you wonder about the label “expert”.  If the “experts” are generally proven wrong, why would they be called upon for advice?   It’s as if the place kicker for the New York Giants missed all of his field goal tries.  Is he an “expert” place kicker?  Why should the world listen to this lone voice, Piers Corbin, on his forecasts for weather patterns and probabilities when he is endowed with only a computer, a telescope and lots of historical data?  He is up against the accepted mainstream of meteorological thinking with unlimited resources.  I can think of one compelling one:  he’s been right.  According to the article:

“…He seems to get it right about 85 per cent of the time and serious business people – notably in farming – are starting to invest in his forecasts. In the eyes of many punters, he puts the taxpayer-funded Met Office to shame. How on earth does he do it?  He studies the Sun.  He looks at the flow of particles from the Sun, and how they interact with the upper atmosphere, especially air currents such as the jet stream, and he looks at how the Moon and other factors influence those streaming particles…”

Hmm, now there’s some frizzy haired theory, the sun exerts more influence on the earth’s climate then people driving SUV’s.  It’s amazing he hasn’t been locked up in a padded room.  Daring to provide forecasts that go against the popular groupthink scientific culture, he manages to best them all with his forecasts.  Maybe he’s a witch.  Rational people, much less scientists, should be assessing Mr. Corbin’s  methods since they seem to track reality a little better than the alarmists’ forecasts which inconveniently are the opposite of what is observed in real life.  Rational people could have come to the same conclusion of course by merely observing who was spreading the global warming fertilizer in the first place.  A lawyer cum politician cum environmental evangelist.  They could assess the braintrust supporting the apocalyptic forecasts of the GW crowd,  which includes such as the soon to be ex Governor of California, The Terminator himself, Arnold Schwarzennegger.  Recently, our hero invoked a statement in support of his interest in working as an environmental czar for the Obama administration.   He said:

“..I’m a big believer in environmental issues,” Schwarzenegger said, who added that he wanted a post where he could use his “celebrity power … knowledge and experience” to impact public policy. “I’ve traveled the world. … I’m very familiar with the world…”

This from a guy whose grocery getter is a Hummer H1 and who commutes to work by private jet.  As far as ” very familiar with the world”, I’m sure it will get the same notoriety as Sarah Palin’s alleged ” I can see Russia” comment.  Not.

I would think it behooves people in the policy making racket to pay attention to Mr. Corbin with his 85% accuracy record as opposed to the Celebrity and Political glitterati with their somewhat less impressive 0% accuracy record.  But that’s coming from a numbers guy.  If only Corbin’s forecasts weren’t such an inconvenient truth.

link Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Reynolds divorced due to `busy schedules` – Monsters and Critics.

This only bears comment because it’s all over the popular news EVERY day.  While the lives of celebrities seems to offer no end of fascination for a large audience out there, increasingly, it becomes obvious that their lives are as banal as those of the average person.  Starlet A is with child!  Star B gets DUI.  Starlet A seen with Star B in a bar! Starlet A seen arguing with Star B in bar, consoles herself with Starlet C!  Starlet D goes shopping!

None of this sensationalism is the fault of the pop celebs of course, they’re just minding their own business.   In the case of most beautiful woman in world, Scarlett Johansson and most handsome guy, Ryan Reynolds, that is more debatable.  While the marriage seems to be so perfect given their respective most attractive statuses, the harsh reality of life as a married couple was the only minor glitch on otherwise perfect lifetime bliss.   

The spin is that they were too busy for each other.  Hmm.  Their careers apparently got in the way and they never saw each other.  Well, then the only logical decision is to split up! The adoring fans can take this news either of two ways.  The first way would be at face value. The stresses of living apart were too much and they concluded that the flame of passion wasn’t strong enough to feed, so ixnay on the arriagemay.  While this may appear to be a pragmatic decision, what it really reveals is glaring immaturity and glibness when it comes to the notion of marriage.  If you are willing to divorce or separate from the pinnacle of perfection of the opposite sex, it implicitly means, “I think I can do better”. It is truly ironic that in a time where lesbians and gays are fighting to attain their rights to be married, those with the privilege use or discard it like some wad of kleenex. 

Being somewhat familiar with marriage vows, I seem to recall some key ones such as, ‘forever and ever’, ’till death do us part’, ‘ for richer for poorer’ etc.  While these words are easy to say when caught up in the moment, they are harder to live up to especially after 20 years.  After barely 2 years, with only sporadic contact, any effort to abide by the uttered vows seems token at best. 

The other possibility is that the entire thing was a publicity stunt for both of their careers.  There is no evidence of this, but in today’s cynical world, you have to consider that angle.  Exposure these days is the same as stardom.  How else to explain the gossip mags’ obsession with Kate, of 8 kids fame, or Kim Kardashian who is devoid of obvious talent other than showing up in Star Weekly.   Either way, it adds credence to the voices of those who claim celebrities are for the most part vapid and shallow spokes-models.   If that’s the case, it makes it all the more compelling to ignore most of what they say outside of a paid role.  Remember that the next time some celebrity  tries to bring you around to some Quixotic cause, like oh say, global warming or immigration reform.  There should be disclaimers at the bottom of the screen.  ” This has been a paid commercial message and spokesman may not mean what they say”.