Blown Away By the Climate Change Debate

Is global climate change real? I don't know for certain, but I am definitely a skeptic. In my opinion, a group of neglected climatologists started looking for juicy gossip to breathe new life in the profession. They threw out a bunch of ideas, and climate change seemed intriguing.

Climate change has been a trendy topic in the early 2000s, but I can't see the argument adding up to much.

For starters, the debate is championed by the same goofball that said he invented the Internet. Second, I have spent a good portion of my life outdoors, and weather seems to be a zero-sum game. Some years are warmer and some are cooler, but in all, I'm not trading in my coveralls for t-shirts. Then, climategate only deepened my suspicions.

I don't believe the ocean caps are turning to mush, polar bears are going extinct and the the world is melting. Could it happen? Absolutely. Does my disbelief make me an evil, earth-destroying heathen? I don't think so. I simply think the debate is irrational.

Farmers and ranchers are some of the world's best conservationists. Caring for the land and animals they raise is essential to productivity, but good stewardship is more just a profit motive. It's woven in the fabric of rural America. Producers don't take their responsibility lightly.

Who Made Celebrities Food Experts?

A weekend of great March Madness action was interrupted on Sunday with a television commercial about  the latest entertainment endeavor by actress Kirstie Alley. The new A&E show Kirstie Alley's Big Life will focus on the actress's struggles with losing weight and keeping it off.

I was disturbed as the commercial made wisecracks at the expense of a serious problem in Alley's life, and the lives of many others -- the struggle to make healthy food and lifestyle choices.

The discomfort hit a new level when I read about Alley's recent comments on The Late Show with David Letterman on Monday morning: