Wednesday, February 17. 2010
Whenever you have just the furthest left elements of the Democratic party attempting to impose their will on the rest of the country — that’s not going to work too well.
Sen. Evan Bayh
 In Brookhaven Collider, Scientists Briefly Break a Law of Nature. It's about anti-matter, in part, and the mystery of baryogenesis: Why does matter exist?
The evil 60s: The Night They Burned Ranum's Papers
Red wine and dark chocolate are cancer killers (h/t Tiger)
Democrats Reeling Under Losses of Veteran Lawmakers, Declining Poll Numbers
Free Conrad Black!
From Gordon's Milksop Nation (h/t, Boing Boing via I Forget)
For two decades and counting, we citizens of the land of the free and the home of the brave have happily traded freedom for every scrap of bogus safety dangled before us. Indeed, we have devoted prodigious energy to inventing threats that demand the sacrifice of liberty, privacy and even basic human dignity.
Blowing threats out of proportion is, of course, the stock in trade of TV news, whether the menace in question is a summer rainstorm or the distressing stains revealed when an investigative reporter shines ultraviolet light on a freshly laundered bed sheet at an upscale hotel. But television reflects its viewers' attitudes as well as shaping them, and clearly there exists a very large audience receptive to the never-ending theme: Life is meant, ever and always, to be safe--and you're not safe.
Nigerian activist and Nobel laureate for Literature Wole Soyinka:
England is a cesspit. England is the breeding ground of fundamentalist Muslims. Its social logic is to allow all religions to preach openly. But this is illogic, because none of the other religions preach apocalyptic violence. And yet England allows it. Remember, that country was the breeding ground for communism, too. Karl Marx did all his work in libraries there."
Go figger: 2009- Global Warming Causes Foggy Days in San Francisco… 2010- Global Warming Causes Fog-less Days in San Francisco. At best, we are talking one degree per century since the Little Ice Age. As they say, "Is there anything global warming can't do?"
Prof Plimer:
Since Copenhagen there have been weekly revelations that the IPCC used non-valid sources for some of its exaggerated claims. If such activities took place in the corporate world, the courts would be full. All the poster displays of a forthcoming climate catastrophe such as Himalayan glaciers, Amazonian forests, inexorable rise in global temperature, Arctic ice, polar bears, retreating Kilimanjaro ice, etc., have been shown to be implausible, wrong, or fraudulent.
And at Am Thinker, The experiment that disproves AGW:
...the results of three different peer-reviewed papers show that over a period of 36 years, there is no reduction of OLR emissions in wavelengths that CO2 absorb. Therefore, the AGW hypothesis is disproven.
Tuesday, February 16. 2010
 From the post:
The Nazi propaganda poster says: "This person suffering from hereditary defects costs the community 60,000 Reichsmark during his lifetime. Fellow German, that is your money, too."
Grad school in the humanities is a big lie
Soda = Big Tobacco, According to No-Fun NYT Food Writer
Was there any actual warming to begin with?. Well, don't tell Cambridge, MA because they are going to save the planet!
WSJ: The continuing climate meltdown. And WaTimes: The Scam Unravels. One quote:
Not everybody is on to the global-warming scam, not yet, but all the people — or enough of them — are getting there. "Global warming," or even "climate change" as Al's marketing men now insist that it be called, is becoming the stuff of jests and jokes. Sen. James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma, a Republican, built an igloo of that hot stuff that buried Washington last week on the Capitol lawn and dubbed it "Al Gore's new home."
It has been a topic of jest at Maggie's Farm for years.
Glenn says the Climategate story reminds him of the Bellesisles story
The skeletons of wind energy. Meanwhile China is buying Canadian oil sites
Race and fairness:
A few years ago, however, when I worked as a reader for Yale’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions, it became immediately clear to me that Asians - who constitute 5 percent of the US population - faced an uphill slog. They tended to get excellent scores, take advantage of AP offerings, and shine in extracurricular activities. Frequently, they also had hard-knock stories: families that had immigrated to America under difficult circumstances, parents working as kitchen assistants and store clerks, and households in which no English was spoken.
But would Yale be willing to make 50 percent of its freshman class Asian? Probably not.
Why not?
Somin on political ignorance
Amy Bishop Is A Far-Left Extremist "Obsessed" with the President
Obama's chance to be next FDR or Reagan fading fast. The fellow is a classic Legend in His Own Mind.
Why the Russkis still see the US as an enemy
Monday, February 15. 2010
It's like a full-time job trying to keep up with all of the debunking of the IPCC report. Today, Hurricanegate. There has been no increase in tropical cyclones, contrary to the IPCC claims.
Monster waves. Wonderful photos.
Sunday, February 14. 2010
The University of California campus at Irvine was the scene a few days ago of pro-Palestinian demonstrators interrupting the presentation by Israel’s Ambassador to the US, Michael Oren. Scott Johnson at PowerLine sums up the demonstrators’ core proposition: “The actions are based on the proposition that the defense of Israel in speech is beyond the bounds of civilized discourse just as the defense of Israel in deed is illegitimate because Israel is illegitimate.”
Martin Solomon posted a video of the action. More details at Solomon’s post. Oren conducted himself with dignity in not backing down from free speech. This key question: “Where are the grownups in the UC Irvine administration?”
The usual suspects defend the protestors as somehow engaged in rightful “civil disobedience.”
Max Boot, a graduate of "Berzerkley", wrote at Contentions, of this and similar campus attacks, “Anything short of expulsion, or at least suspension, would seem to be a wrist-slap that will only encourage more such misconduct in the future and make a mockery of the free speech that universities are supposed to champion.”
The San Diego Union-Tribune editorial read: “It was an embarrassing display of inhospitality [at Irvine]. It was also a wasted opportunity. The critics should have stayed and listened. As a U.S.-born scholar on the Middle East and a best-selling author with a Ph.D. from Princeton, Oren has much to say about one of the most important and interesting corners of the globe.”
By contrast, Ambassador Oren appeared at the University of California campus at San Diego a few days later.
Thanks to the firm position taken by UCSD’s administration led by Chancellor Marye Ann Fox, this lecture was not a repeat of the unfortunate incident in UC Irvine on February 8th where the Israeli Ambassador’s speech was disrupted by a well-organized group of student protesters.
In sharp contrast, UCSD’s administration demonstrated resolve and determination to conduct a program in a peaceful and civilized manner and in the best traditions of the university’s commitment to freedom of speech and exchange of ideas. The presentation started with a strong statement from Peter Cowhey, Dean of the UC San Diego School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, that interruptions would not be tolerated during Ambassador Oren’s presentation and that members of the audience would have the opportunity to ask questions at the end of the presentation. The lecture proceeded smoothly…
Though the Q&A was dominated by pro-Palestinian students, “Ambassador Oren responded to each question with the knowledge of the accomplished historian that he is and with the wisdom of a true diplomat.”
The audience and the subject were treated with respect and benefited from civil discourse. University administrators or others who are willing to forfeit that freedom of speech and minimal manners themselves do not belong on campus.
Where is the MSM with this story?
We never doubted it for a minute: Moonbattery. Manchurian Candidate, thanks to the MSM's homo- or hetero- or Lefto- or whatever-eroticism.
I wouldn't mind if he had changed his view of the world since then, but I haven't heard that road-to-Damascus story yet.
Climategate's Phil Jones Confesses to Climate Fraud. For starters,
Imagine a man who has spent the better part of the past 25 years toiling to convince the world of CO2-forced 20th-century warming now admitting that the difference in warming rates for the periods 1860-1880, 1910-40 and 1975-2009 is statistically insignificant. Jones even acceded that there has been no statistically-significant global warming since 1995; that in fact, global temperatures have been trending to the downside since January of 2002, although he denied the statistical significance of the -0.12C per decade decline.
All the details at link above. And he said:
And he said that for the past 15 years there has been no ‘statistically significant’ warming.
Related, IPCC admits that they are not a scientific organization.
Related, World may not be warming, say scientists. Al Gore, Call your Agent.
Their party is over. My big question is "Why aren't the Warmists pleased and relieved to learn that it was a giant hoax perpetrated by grant-seekers, rent-seekers, carbon-credit investors like Al Gore and the oil companies, greedy governments, and the absurd, corrupt, and amoral UN?" Why not celebrate! They should be thrilled to know that they can quit worrying, and just get on with life.
But it just seems to make them more angry. Go figger. Maybe some people just like to be angry and upset about something or other to give life a bigger meaning.
Saturday, February 13. 2010
Poof! You're in the union. Right when you thought you were your own boss.
Steyn. A quote re the USA:
...the difference between America and Europe is that, when the global economy nosedived, everywhere from Iceland to Bulgaria mobs took to the streets and besieged Parliament, demanding to know why government didn't do more for them. This is the only country in the developed world where a mass movement took to the streets to say we can do just fine if you control-freak statists would just stay the hell out of our lives, and our pockets. You can shove your non-stimulating stimulus, your jobless jobs bill, and your multitrillion-dollar porkathons. This isn't karaoke. These guys are singing "I'll do it my way" for real.
Photo: A fair likeness of your News Junkie at Cannon Mountain this winter, with his few remaining brain cells well-protected after a nasty run-in with a hostile tree in early January.
Remember the Global Cooling hysteria? Well, Rare snowfall in Rome as cold snap grips Italy
Vibrator addiction?
Addicted to growing opium. Is it a Libertarian thing?
Licenses to use the internet? (h/t, Insty)
Homeland Sec refuses to use the I word. It might offend, I guess. The problem is that this sort of baloney offends me, and insults my intelligence. Plus I am paying for it.
VDH: The New Commandments on the Animal Farm Barn Wall
Putin Orders Obama Not to Defend America. Like Iran, the Russians see the O as a pussy to be pushed around. Yes, we did just call the O a pussy.
Re Sowell's Intellectuals and Society
Tough love for Greece:
Members of both government and opposition parties in the Bundestag said there would be no parliamentary support for any financial rescue package for Greece without clear evidence of drastic cuts in state spending. Eurozone finance ministers are due to meet on Monday, but no detailed rescue plan will be on their agenda.
Re NJ, at Tiger:
One state retiree, 49 years old, paid, over the course of his entire career, a total of $124,000 towards his retirement pension and health benefits. What will we pay him? $3.3 million in pension payments over his life and nearly $500,000 for health care benefits -- a total of $3.8m on a $120,000 investment. Is that fair?
Pretending that it was not the Dems who were blocking civil rights
Chose your side: Salmon vs. farmers. Not enuf water for both.
Joe Biden: We did it
Laurence Tribe via Surber:
“Laurence Tribe, one of the most brilliant lawyers in America, has said that Barack is the most incandescently brilliant student he ever taught. I think brains count. When you combine it with the kind of international background that he’s had, what’s he’s been through as a black person. It has not made him angry, but he’s rather hopeful by it. He’s an extremely positive person about the future of America. He’s the president I’ve been waiting for all my life.”
Get a room, Laurence.
Re the anti-obesity campaign:
"As the government assumes a larger share of health care costs, it is increasingly able to use that as a justification to intrude into personal decisions or private enterprises, whether it's a matter of smoking policy, trans-fats, or salt," we wrote last month. Now the Wall Street Journal is out with an editorial praising Michelle Obama's campaign against childhood obesity, reasoning, "the reality is that U.S. obesity imposes huge costs on taxpayers. In 2006, the per capita increase in spending attributable to obesity was 36% for Medicare and 47% for Medicaid, according to a paper last year in Health Affairs. Many fat kids grow up to be fat adults, and you've got to start somewhere."
This is treacherous turf.
Friday, February 12. 2010
Two assessments of the O:
Pajamas: Academically approved. A quote:
If only someone as gifted and righteous as The One were able to work freely on behalf of the common good, all would be well. After all, how could America go wrong pinning its destiny to a man that uses the word “elegant” and the phrase “academically approved” in the same sentence? You certainly weren’t going to get that from George Bush.
God save us from "academically-approved."
Noonan: The Off-center President. She asks "How did the president lose the room? How did he lose popularity?"
We think "global warming" is a political movement with quasi-religious overtones. Video via Moonbattery, who comments: "Is the global warming hoax a totalitarian plot? In a word: yes."
Something has changed. Office romance is OK again.
The (loony) Lancet quietly corrects the record on autism
Bin Ladin's son thinks his Dad is a creep
What does "compromise" mean? Powerline
Obama-Care and Clinton's stent
Broder: Palin is pitch-perfect
Obama's Budget Would Redistribute $112 Billion From Top 1% of Taxpayers. Yes. That's the point.
At Kaus, the bit about the NYT and food stamps.
Iran has no respect for the O. They see him as a weak horse.
The O is changing his mind about raising taxes on the middle class. Nasty rant about the O at Blue Crab.
Via Surber:
“The fundamental understanding of the science of climate change, however, remains unchallenged and unchanged.”
Says who?
Thursday, February 11. 2010
If Amsterdam airport had a high-tech body scanner, the Christmas panty-crotch bomber wouldn’t have gotten on board. They’re in use at 19 US airports, so far. For those with privacy concerns about the explicit images they can produce, there is the option of a pat-down search.
Can you visualize the pat-down searches? Do you believe that a pat-down search would be as revealing of metal or non-metallic weapons, plastic or chemical explosives?
The Dutch are now using full-body scanners for US bound flights. “New software, however, eliminates that problem by projecting a stylized image onto a computer screen, highlighting the area of the body where objects are concealed in pockets or under the clothing and alerting security guards.”
Not to let science stand in the way of disarming security, the Figh Council of North America affiliate of the Islamic Society of North America and CAIR protesteth.
"It is a violation of clear Islamic teachings that men or women be seen naked by other men and women," FCNA explained. The group noted that Islam emphasizes modesty, considering it part of the faith. "The Qur'an has commanded the believers, both men and women, to cover their private parts" and to be modest in their dress.
While exceptions can be made in cases of "extreme necessity," FCNA indicated that passenger body scans do not rise to that level.
I wonder if using them for this purpose would rise to that level?
An Arab Ambassador in the United Arab Emirates is suing his wife for emotional and moral damage after he married her without seeing her face and discovered that she was cross-eyed and had a beard.
In The Examiner:
...Obama was faced with a fundamental choice. He could either chart a bipartisan course in response to the economic emergency, or he could try to expand government to Western European magnitude as Democratic congressional leaders, elected for years in monopartisan districts, had long wished to do.
The former community organizer and Chicago pol chose the latter course.
To the surprise of many who watched previous presidents present specific administration policies to Congress, he allowed Democratic leaders to design the stimulus package they rushed into law in six weeks.
One-third of the money went to state and local governments -- an obvious payoff to the public employee unions that contributed so much money to Democrats -- and much of it went to permanently increase the baseline spending of discretionary programs, a longtime goal of Democratic congressional leaders.
Is Greece too big to fail? I doubt it. Also, at Cato, let them go bankrupt.
They obviously need a fresh start. Like California.
The O, via Biased BBC:
"The Middle East is a problem that has plagued the region for centuries."
 Dog training jigsaw puzzle for snowy days
Dr. Helen: Carnival of Misandry
Goofing off in college - and how colleges adjust to it (they lower their expectations)
Bearded and cross-eyed under her burkha
In which Krugman freaks out about the O. Yes, that was about News Flash: Obama Praises Capitalism
Obama Willing to Sign Less Ambitious Healthcare Bill. Duh.
Why Washington is blowing off Euroland
Two photos: Lahore and the UK
Menace in mad march of the thought police. h/t Steyn's Celebrate Conformity
The political goals of immigration in the UK, exposed. Put another way, can a government elect its own voters?
Rasmussen on the political class
MSM Ignores Republican Half of the Story on Healthcare Reform Efforts
From Bolt in Australia:
By deliberately not crossing T’s and dotting I’s, this government blew your billions, torched your houses, made death traps of others and lured four men to their deaths.
That in a simple scheme just to put insulation in roofs. Now they plan a great new tax to re-engineer our whole economy.
Should be a doddle for these clowns.
Andrew Cuomo's role in the housing mess
Knoller via Q&O:
When a sitting president calls for bipartisanship by the opposition – he really means surrender. And if they block his proposals, its “obstinacy” and not political views they hold as strongly as he holds his.
Wednesday, February 10. 2010
Mead: AP Story Breaks US Media Wall of Denial on IPCC Mess; Al Gore Still Silent. (via Driscoll's Global Warming: Is There Nothing It Can’t Do? Part Deux).
Also, from Mead's response to the NYT:
This is limp reportage and does a grave disservice to the Times readership. In the first place, a number of additional allegations have surfaced — some trivial, some more substantial. Rosenthal’s readers come away from this piece with no understanding of why the Guardian ran a commentary headlined “The Case for Climate Change Must Be Remade From the Ground Upwards” or another entitled “The IPCC’s Problems Have Been Exacerbated By Its Imperious Attitude“. They will not understand why in this Guardian report of Monday February 8 (“Climate Scientists Hit Out at ‘Sloppy’ Glacier Error“) climate scientists who worked on the IPCC report are said to be calling on Pachauri to step down. In case any New York Times readers are reading this post, here’s a quick summary of what the real story is and what it means...
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