[Dixielandjazz] realistic future for Dixieland jazz

[Bill Gunter]

Hi all,

I wrote an analogy to the decline in dixieland jazz popularity by citing the 
nature of the horse and buggy.

I wrote (regarding the public desire for dixieland by adding):

> > But (this is "but" number 2) there is no way anyone can INCREASE the 
>public
> > desire to tool around in a horse and buggy!

And Jerry from Norwich responded:

>How about increasing the tax on gasoline to a level whereby the Americans
>will have to stop being the worlds greatest generators of greenhouse gases?

Wow! Two separate issues in one short sentence:

Issue #1 - increas tax on gas so we Americans will HAVE to stop . . .

This is, of course, a "punitive" tax. A tax designed to punish us for some 
perceived misdeed. It's this sort of thinking that was partially to blame 
for the Revolutionary War (circa 1776).

Issue #2 - Americans will have to stop being the worlds greatest generators 
of greenhouse gasses.

Au Contraire - check these stats:

98% of total global greenhouse gas emissions are natural (mostly water 
vapor); only 2% are from man-made sources. And the American contribution to 
this is considerably less that that 2%!

By most accounts, man-made emissions have had no more than a minuscule 
impact on the climate. Although the climate has warmed slightly in the last 
100 years, 70% percent of that warming occurred prior to 1940, before the 
upsurge in greenhouse gas emissions from industrial processes. (Dr. Robert 
C. Balling, Arizona State University).

A Gallup survey indicated that only 17% of the members of the American 
Meteorological Society and the American Geophysical Society thought the 
warming of the 20th century was the result of an increase in greenhouse gas 
emissions.  So what did the other 83 percent think?  Would you hold that the 
17% is the decisive proof or would you tend to withhold judgment on that?

What do you know about the "little ice age" circa 900-1300 a.d.? The climate 
warmed up for a century or two (global warming) and then cooled down (global 
cooling) for a century or two.  It wasn't due to human activities.

One of the reasons that "Reputable" meteorologists decline to state 
categorically that makind is damaging our climate is because when the return 
to cooler conditions occurs they won't have "egg on their faces."

Respectfully submitted,

Bill "Perhaps we should tax popular music" Gunter
jazzboard at hotmail.com

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