So much for global warming. High tomorrow: 24 degrees, Low: 7 degrees. It is, frankly, hilarious to listen to people who have no scientific expertise whatsoever pontificate ad nauseum about changes in global temperature for their own ideological benefit. The limits of even the scientific community to make broad judgements on the subject are real, given the relatively short historical data available. And what data we have suggests that temperatures have changed drastically over the history of our planet, and the level of the oceans has risen before. The only difference this time, is that we have a group of extremists, and the more mainstream followers they've gained through the liberal media and stunt movies like An Inconvenient Truth, using these phenomena to advance an agenda. And it's an agenda that goes frighteningly beyond conservation and alternative fuels. Is the planet doomed? Yes, because every planet in this universe has a lifespan. Our job as the human race is to figure out how to get off this planet and beyond our own solar system before that distant doomsday occurs. So there is irony in the complaints that George Bush's space initiatives (which are admittedly modest, but more than anyone else is proposing) are taking priority over studying our own environment. Global warming is up for legitimate debate; the lifespan of the sun is not.

It was plenty cold already Saturday morning when I left for our County Republican Party Convention at the the University of Maryland Shady Grove campus. When I went through the drive-thru at McDonalds, I tried to roll down my window and found it was frozen shut. After arriving at the campus, I manned the table for District 16. Our first vice chair, Dan Willard, who organized the convention started the actual program which had many speakers including our state national committeepersons Louis Pope and Joyce Terhes. Jim Pelura, the new state party chairman, also spoke. We had a presidential straw poll and the winner was Rudy Giuliani. Mitt Romney was second, and Newt Gingrich, third. Surprisingly, John McCain finished low on the list. I'm not committed to any candidate yet, as I want to know their positions on all of the issues and their platforms. I have concerns about the current frontrunners' positions on social issues, deep concerns in some cases.

We actually had some enthusiastic District 16 Republicans who took time to come out early on a frigid Saturday to participate in the convention, and they had many good ideas that we can utilize. One thing we all agreed on was to continue having District 16 meetings. All Republicans, and anyone who wants to register as a Republican, in District 16 are invited to our monthly meeting at the Bethesda Library on Arlington Road, February 22, 2007 at 7 P.M.