OK, page proofs are done.  Index is mostly done . . . well, it is out of my hands, anyway.  Jacket copy approved.  Happy blurbs from Mickey Glantz and Andrew Rice secured for the jacket.  Nice author photo for the jacket taken (by Scott).  Yep, pretty much done here . . . which means I can now get back to hassling the internet.  Wheeeee!
To celebrate, I bring you a completely unfair piece of insanity.  I know I come to this late, but this is so nuts I simply could not let it go.  Well, that and this may have a direct impact on my work life in the very near future . . . that’s right, it’s the battle for leadership of the House Energy and Commerce Committee!  And why, you ask, does a fairly esoteric battle for what seems to be a marginal committee (it’s not) rise to my attention?  Because one of the candidates, John Shimkus, is arguing that while climate change is real, we don’t have to do anything about it because, and I quote:

“I do believe in the Bible as the final word of God,” Shimkus said. “And I do believe that God said the Earth would not be destroyed by a flood” (via Politico)

By flood, I presume he means sea-level rise.  And by Earth, I can only presume he means his great state of Illinois, which is a hell of a long way from the nearest ocean (though Great Lakes rise could cause serious problems for Chicago).  I suspect there are a bunch of people in low-lying parts of Bangladesh and Vietnam, as well as a number of island states like Tuvalu, who are pretty much looking down the barrel of the world being destroyed by flood who might take issue with this particular mashup of climate science and the Bible, regardless of their religious background.
Holy crap.
This is old Bjorn Lomborg read through Genesis (new Bjorn Lomborg has reconsidered the math, and now thinks we should do something, though it is mostly adaptation) . . . and Rep. Shimkus might have some influence over the use of federal aid dollars for climate change work.
Look, it is one thing to debate those parts of the science that are not settled (a relatively small amount), and further to debate what to do about the impacts of what is already happening, and what is very likely to happen . . . but it is entirely another to announce that we don’t have to worry about such impacts at all because, even though climate change is real, God will save us.  History is littered with the bodies of people who waited for God to save them.  God helps those who help themselves – not those who sit around waiting for miracles . . . but it seems Rep. Shimkus’ reading of the Bible didn’t quite make it to the New Testament.