Realizing Harmony

The other day, President Obama’s Climate Guru, Dr. Stephen Chu, said that in order to reduce the effects of Global Warming we should all paint our roofs white.

Now, he’s supposed to be a really smart man.  In fact, he’s won a Nobel prize.  (Much like former-Vice President Al Gore, who’s used his celebrity to great effect.)

While painting your roof white would quite possibly have the effect of somewhat reducing your cooling bill, if Global Warming is real, and it’s caused by heat being trapped by greenhouse gases, then bouncing more heat into the greenhouse gases isn’t going to slow, much less reverse Global Warming.

This suggestion, however, reminded me of a suggestion from years ago.  It too was a suggestion to use white paint as a defensive measure.  Maybe you don’t remember it, but back in the days of the Cold War, it was suggested that we should all paint our windows white as part of civil defense.  Yes, it was suggested by the smart people in government that we might be able to survive a nuclear blast if we just used regular white paint.  ( See this link to a 12-minute video.)

White paint will help save buildings, but it won’t do much for you if that’s all that is between you and the radiation.  A much more effective “solution” is to fix the problem at the source… if that’s possible.

Now, given that I wasn’t even born at the time, why would I know about this, much less have it jump to mind?

It was a simple little song by Malcolm And The Mirrors (Malcolm was formerly recording with Alwyn Wall)  from the 1982 album “Red Alert” that locked it in my mind.  I couldn’t find a direct link to the recorded music, but here are the lyrics:

Paint Your Windows White – by Malcolm Wild

Verse:

I am the man, I am your government

I can show you how and where your money went

Put a coat over your head and forget about the rent

Verse:

When the bombs begin to fall in the middle of the night

When you start to lose it all, and your heart faints in fright

Put a coat over your head, and paint your windows white

Chorus:

“Paint your windows white,” they say, “It’ll make it all go away

You don’t have to understand, just bury your head in the sand”

Verse:

This is your school; I am your teacher too

Hear my rules and I’ll tell you what to do

Put a coat over your head, and believe that it’s all true

Repeat Chorus

Verse:

Men are fools; they make their rules

They think they’re wise in their own eyes

Men are blind; they’ve lost their mind

All because they discard God

Instrumental break

Verse:

I am a man of books, I know the human race

It’s not how it looks; I say that we all came from apes

Put a coat over your head and hide your monkey face

Repeat Chorus:

Repeat

Men are fools

They make their rules

They think they’re wise

In their own eyes

Men are blind

They’ve lost their mind

All because they discard God