From Dennis McAllister:

Re: “Extreme” rain follows global warming (Aug. 7): There are several problems with this stupid hypothesis.

Satellite and surface measurements show that the earth has been cooling for the last 10 years (while CO2 has increased. ) Since clouds have 3000 times the effect on trapping re-radiation of heat as does CO2, the proper conclusion would be that the rain causes localized warming and not vice versa. Just as global warming has been shown to precede an increase in CO2 by several hundred years for the last several million years. When the ocean heats up because of an increase in clouds correlating to an increase in sun spots, and cosmic rays from other parts of the universe (i.e.. position of planets, stars, and position of the earth with regard to the plane of the Milky Way galaxy) then the ocean releases CO2.

As a Russian climatologist warned, “Prepare for 40 years of global cooling!” And in spite of record cold spells in many parts of the northern hemisphere last year, the Farmer’s Almanac predicts an even colder winter this year.

You need to delete this article or print a retraction. You have been duped by the far left dinosaur medium!

Dennis McAllister
San Diego, CA

From Alberto Portugheis:

Re: Washington’s doctors absolved (Aug. 19): I have always absolved the President’s doctors, because they were too innocent or naive to realize what had “really” happened to their patient. I think that Washington’s biographer, Paul Ford, consciously or not, said the truth, when he declared the case “noth­ing short of mur­der.” To me, George Washington was assassinated. The method? poisoning. Either something that went into his food or drinks on his last day out or some slow poisoning over a period of time. I’m more inclined towards the first possibility.

Washington’s progressive views and plans made him many enemies, mostly connected with the Church. Knights of This, Knights of That, Freemasons and above all, the Vatican. The Vatican murdered even their own Popes with the “poison cup”.

I hope history will one day be told as it really happened and not as the Establishment wants us to believe it happened.

From Marsha Robinson:

Re: Scientists: century-old drug might cure Parkinson’s, more (Aug. 18): Regarding this article, it begged the question about taking this drug as a preventatve measure against Alzheimers. Also, the way the article is written, it seems you could use it as an anti-aging remedy.

Marsha Robinson
Education Programs Consultant
Calif. Dept. of Education

From Mike Pickett:

Re: “Extreme” rain follows global warming (Aug. 7): I would suggest that these “scientists” brush up on Dynamical Systems and “strange attractors or repellors” before they pop off about global warming (which isn’t). Consider that the creation of that massive dam in China just may have changed the whole dynamics of the S. E. Asian jet streams.

It is obvious that these guys are “proof texting” (Bible scholar term for people who use selected texts for exegesis). I use BIBLE scholar terms because “Global Warming” is one branch of the new, virulent faith entitled “Environmentalism” (for a clear discussion of this new faith, see Freeman Dyson’s essay “The Question of Global Warming” here. The planet had “reasonably” settled into a jet stream pattern that accommodated the Aswan Dam, Hoover Dam, and many other anomalies (irrigation changes, &c.) when along came a totally new attractor. Now the jet streams are in violent oscillation as they respond to this new “node” in the planetary system. Ergo: “Extreme rain,” and other Hegelian blather, Meanwhile, though, the planetary temperatures continue to drop, as does the crop line in North America here (thank you very much David Archibald).

Mike Pickett
Math Department
Institute for Extended Learning
Colville, WA

From Adrian Selden:

Re: Is The Odyssey astronomically accurate? (June 23): As a professional scientist with an amateur interest in both astronomy and the classics, I found the evidence for an ancient eclipse occurring in the appropriate time frame for the fall of Troy compelling, but of course the Odyssey, like the Iliad, belongs in the realm of mythology. The question then is whether the details of a real eclipse were included in the epic as a portent of doom i.e.poetic licence, or whether the Odyssey and its events are a part of a ‘folk memory’ of the return from Troy, suitably embroidered with the adventures of ancient heroes - some of whom may be based on real historic personages. All very fascinating!

Adrian Selden
Physics Dept
Univ Zimbabwe

From Philip R. Nader:

Re: Road to obesity may start by age two (Aug. 2 , 2008): I wish every pediatrician would read this... I have been working in this arena for 25 years, see our Pediatrics article in September 2006 and my recent JAMA article July 16 on Declining Activity, and CHAPTER on Preschool (misconception: At three, nothing can be done to prevent obesity) in the new resource for providers and parents listed below:

Philip R. Nader MD
Author: You CAN Lose Your Baby Fat
www.youCANloseyourbabyfat.org

From Ian Cox:

Re: Built-in brain “templates” may clue tots to threats (Sept. 18): I’m not surprised by this finding. It makes sense in evolutionary terms. It reminds me of a piece of psychological research a few decades ago. Experiments with a glass floor which extended over a drop found that babies old enough to crawl would not venture over the drop. Something was warning them that it was dangerous.

Ian Cox
www.coxsoft-art.com

From GS Chandy:

Re: Dolphins and the evolution of teaching (Aug. 7): Thanks for this excellent story. I would go much further: I claim that “All living creatures teach their progeny, though we may not be able to recognise or understand how they do it”. That is our shortcoming, not that of the dolphins or of other living creatures. Only those afflicted with the cursed attitude that “Humans are the Masters of the Universe” would claim that only humans are able to think, reason, teach, etc. - which is a total bunch of nonsense and nonscience.

GS Chandy
Intelligent Systems for U and Me (i-SUM)
Mumbai, India

From Jim McClarin:

Re: “Extreme” rain follows global warming (Aug. 7): I am so jaded by the political agenda served by global warming studies that I always suspect their findings are cooked.

Even in the few paragraphs available it should be possible to cite a few historical stats for comparison to help allay fears that this is just another instance of agenda driven junk science.

From Tom Nichols:

Re: Dolphins and the evolution of teaching (Aug. 7): I Am completely amazed by this -- I know we’ve evolved alongside these species, but I didn’t know how closely.

From Vivekan:

Re: Study finds lasting benefit in banned mushroom drug (July 1): Thank you for publishing this. My personal experiences echo these findings.

Regarding the accounts of fear, as the MD, Rick Strassman alluded to in, “DMT: The Spirit Molecule: A Doctor’s Revolutionary Research into the Biology of Near-Death and Mystical Experiences”, a huge variable in the study’s volunteers relating fearful episodes may well be the sterile, clinical setting in which these studies had been conducted compounded by researchers probing and hovering over them while the volunteers were experiencing heightened states of awareness.

My personal experiences of fear had more to do with the illegality of it and fear of draconian penalties for its possession and use.

Vivekan
Brooklyn, NY