Archive for December, 2008

2008 was the year man-made global warming was disproved

Sunday, December 28th, 2008

What is it going to take to bring clear thinking liberals to the side of reason on the matter of “human-caused global warming?”

It appears to me the greatest intellectual tragedy of our time that mankind has become so blinded about the question of “global warming” that the fact the Earth is not warming and that, if it were, human activity is a negligible factor in such “warming,” demonstrates that the popularly accredited cries for us to change the ways we do things are patently insane.

As Christopher Booker notes:

First, all over the world, temperatures have been dropping in a way wholly unpredicted by all those computer models which have been used as the main drivers of the scare…

Secondly, 2008 was the year when any pretence that there was a “scientific consensus” in favour of man-made global warming collapsed. At long last, as in the Manhattan Declaration last March, hundreds of proper scientists, including many of the world’s most eminent climate experts, have been rallying to pour scorn on that “consensus” which was only a politically engineered artefact, based on ever more blatantly manipulated data and computer models programmed to produce no more than convenient fictions.

Thirdly, as banks collapsed and the global economy plunged into its worst recession for decades, harsh reality at last began to break in on those self-deluding dreams which have for so long possessed almost every politician in the western world. As we saw in this month’s Poznan conference, when 10,000 politicians, officials and “environmentalists” gathered to plan next year’s “son of Kyoto” treaty in Copenhagen, panicking politicians are waking up to the fact that the world can no longer afford all those quixotic schemes for “combating climate change” with which they were so happy to indulge themselves in more comfortable times…

One of the more common arguments I have heard for blind faith in the dangers of “climate change” is something like Pascal’s wager: Believing in it, even if it be proven wrong, is less risky than denying it should it be proven right.

I think this is crazy talk, much as if someone told us we should stop going to work, “be prepared,” and instead dig holes under our houses because the world is about to end.

The evidence is against “global warming.” The idea that humans should alter their activity to potentially alter the temperature of the Earth because mankind’s survival depends on it is nonsense. What will it take to get us over this mass hysteria? Perhaps, the economy.

Merry Christmas To Everyone!

Thursday, December 25th, 2008

Thanks and praise be to God for all He has done in my life, saving me from myself over and over again. By rights I should be dead by now, certainly not having lived to the age of 48, and certainly not with a fantastic wife, daughters and entire family still able to enjoy each others’ company, along with job, house and all of the little things that make life more wonderful than I usually even admit.

I don’t have the Christian thing down; after reading Kierkegaard’s Philosophical Fragments many years ago, at a time of soaring pride and thoroughgoing agnosticism, I assented intellectually to the fact that Jesus is the savior – but the demons also believe this, so simply knowing the fact is not much to hang my hat on. Hence I do not call myself a Christian at this time.

But I am a hanger-on to the Good News, which is why Christmas has always meant so much to me. In the Christian narrative, the Resurrection is essential, and deservedly stands as the element which provokes so much wonder and debate – but when you think about it, the Incarnation was really quite the trick. God-Outside-Of-Time is not easily construed as also one particular human being. Logically, comparing the essential natures of the two, it does not make any sense at all.

Yet that is what Christianity proclaims and what makes it unique, and what is symbolized by the Christmas holiday: In the midst of our broken and fallen state, God reached out to us. Because we could not do it, he made the first move – even though it defies all comprehension.

This notion of Divine grace which makes no sense at all tracks with my personal experience. I am fallen beyond all description, my attempts at “goodness” have in every instance been eclipsed by overwhelmingly bad behavior, and in these 48 years my “merit ledger sheet” is deeply, deeply in the red. Morally and spiritually, I am a frickin’ basket case. But God has seen fit to keep me alive.

In my daily life I barely have the faith of a mustard molecule, much less the whole seed. The world imposes challenges to faith that, to me, are currently insurmountable. So for me to ascend the steps to God – fuhgedaboudit. On my own volition I can’t even get near the staircase. There is so much wrong with the world and my personality and the universe that Divinity is billions of light years away from my outstretched arms. It is impossible to even conceive of the number of years it would take for me to find the way to God.

So what happens is, God finds a way to me. When my guard is down He infects me with compassion and appreciation for the people around me. He helps me perceive the beauty of my surroundings, the overflowing wonderfulness of my family and our home and our community and this country – when my nature is dead-set on emphasizing the awfulness of everything.

In addition to clarifying the goodness in my life which any idiot could recognize but which remained opaque to me, God has at the same time given me perspective on the tragedies. I could not process the bad stuff people have done: God convinced me – again, while my guard was down – that I deserved every little bit of nastiness I suffered. I could not rationalize the horror of bad things happening to people I loved: God gave me the understanding that this was the way of all things. Everybody dies. Every mortal coil has a built-in breaking point. Knowing that has informed my perception of every human relationship in my life.

Not a whit of the above ruminations came from me. In fact, for most of my life, I have rebelled against all of those ideas. But despite my best efforts I am not able to maintain control of how I look at the world – I give up. And at that point, I am able to see another perspective. When my life situation has seemed hopeless, suddenly things were not so bad. When the sadness seemed about to become unmanageable, the viewpoint shifted.

God has intruded into my life in such significant ways over the years that I can’t describe my life accurately without reference to His influence. And it all begins with Christmas: God taking the first step.

Bush Leaves Ramos and Compean To Rot While Pardoning Actual Criminals

Wednesday, December 24th, 2008

George W. Bush leaves two Border Patrol agents to rot in prison while proving the adage that a fish rots from the head down. The fish in this case is the Republican Party.

President Bush, who I have supported on a number of issues and who will likely be looked upon favorably a decade or two hence when the history of the modern war against Islamic extremism is written, has cut the Republican Party off at the knees with his war on the US Border Patrol, which has had so many ramifications.

So with only weeks remaining for the Bush administration, we need to point out to our fellow Republicans that Bush is pardoning people most of us would not want living in our neighborhoods.

But he is not pardoning Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, two Border Patrol agents who shot an illegal alien drug smuggler, and who were then hammered by the Justice Department after the illegal was granted immunity from prosecution.

We need to remind our fellow Republicans that if anyone deserves a pardon, it is Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean.

We need to remind our fellow citizens the Bush administration is condoning the conviction of Ramos and Compean on the testimony of an illegal alien drug runner – a case described twice as “hilarious” by prep-school twit and scumbag outgoing U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton:

Despite my respect for him in several areas, I would employ every expletive I know against George W. Bush in the matter of Ramos and Compean, if this was not such a family friendly blog. And as we draw closer to January 20, I will continue to outline this case, and the expletives may indeed begin to flow.

I would rather focus my efforts on reforming the Democrats, than resuscitating the Republicans, if Ramos and Compean remain behind bars.

Scientist fired by Al Gore was told, “science will not intrude on public policy”

Wednesday, December 24th, 2008

If we are going to hammer the new President on any issues, I think the Global Warming Scam should be at the top of the list. Barack Obama seems reasonable, so this should not be such a hard sell.

(Please note also our new Global Warming scam blogroll, just beneath the regular blogroll on the left side of the screen – this is an excellent collection of information resources).

This is from today at Daily Tech:

Dr. Happer views climate change as a predominately natural process. “The earth’s climate is changing now, as it always has. There is no evidence that the changes differ in any qualitative way from those of the past.”

In 1991, Happer was appointed director of energy research for the US Department of Energy. In 1993, he testified before Congress that the scientific data didn’t support widespread fears about the dangers of the ozone hole and global warming, remarks that caused then-Vice President Al Gore to fire him. “I was told that science was not going to intrude on public policy”, he said. “I did not need the job that badly”.

Happer’s latest remarks were made yesterday, as he asked to be included in a Senate Environment and Public Works report of scientists disputing global warming alarmism. Happer joins 650 other scientists on the list, many of whom have been interviewed previously by DailyTech.

“Computer models used to generate frightening scenarios from increasing levels of carbon dioxide have scant credibility,” Happer concluded.

Just as a side note: I’ve gone on record here noting I was wrong about Barack Obama. Who will be the first of our liberal commenters to admit they were wrong about global warming? The clock is ticking, folks, and the evidence is piling up.

How To Help Family Burglarized Yesterday

Wednesday, December 24th, 2008

We’ve gotten an update on yesterday’s story about the single mother of several kids whose Sterling home was burglarized yesterday afternoon.

Below is a summary (and below the fold the complete message) I just received from Supervisor Delgaudio, who has apparently done a good job organizing the relief effort in a short time:

Toys and gift cards delivered earlier tonight at five p.m. More tomorrow. We are covered on that front!

Betsy Faulkner, Mark Gunderman, Rev. Charlie Grant, are working on this and asking for help. My thanks to them all for making such great progress in just one day.

>>>Raising The Mortgage Payment.

$500 has been raised for the “Harrison Rd. Christmas Project” fund at Wachovia Bank.

Checks should be made out to “Harrison Rd. Christmas Project – Account No. 1010225052110″ To help with the goal of raising a total of $2200.00 –a balance of $1700.00 must be raised. Please consider bringing the check to Wachovia, Herndon Junction branch 47040 Community Plaza VA1166 Sterling, Va. 20164 (phone 703-444-7954) or you can email me at eugenedelgaudio@erols.com and make arrangements to post the check to your door for me to pick up.

I would be delighted to pick up the donation due to the goal of making up the lost payment. The account will be closed once the goal of making the mortgage payment is accomplished. Thank you.

This is a good cause. Of course everyone is tapped out right now as a result of the problems with the economy and all, so please don’t interpret this as a demand for charity: But if anyone can throw a few bucks to this family I know it will be greatly appreciated. It is something we can do on a small scale to make a difference for one of our own in Loudoun who has been the victim of a crime. If you can stop by that bank and drop off a check in any amount, or contact Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio to pick it up from you, it would be a great Christmas gift. I imagine it does not need to be done tomorrow, so anytime in the next few days you could make it to the bank would be wonderful.

Thanks to Supervisor Delgaudio for doing this! His complete message is below the fold.
(more…)

NVTH Christmas Thread

Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008

In case I have despoiled this front page with the Scorpion Lady pictures and dope stories, I will take this opportunity to direct you to ACT’s Christmas post here, which is generating an intense comment thread.

If you are here to hang out and chat, that’s where you should be. Sorry for the irreverance.

420

Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008

I guess we might need a category or tag for “info for old guys” whereby we all research and marvel at facts everyone under 35 in this society knows but about which we have not a clue.

Anyways, I and the wife – who could easily pass for 23 but just is not up on this stuff – were watching the “America’s War on Drugs” documentary on Showtime this evening. It started off well but devolved into an Oliver Stone-”JFK”-like blizzard-of-conspiracies screed. The guy captured tons of excellent video interviews and intermittently maintained a thin narrative logic of argument about the war on drugs, but he wasted it because, in my view, he was stoned when he made the film.

During the course of the documentary there was a reference to “420″ being a significant number or pop culture symbol for marijuana use. Neither of us had any idea what they were talking about.

But here is the answer from the mother of all wikis:

The teens would meet after school at 4:20 p.m. to smoke marijuana at the Louis Pasteur statue.[1] The term became part of their group’s salute, “420 Louis!”,[2] and became popularized in the late 1980s by fans of the Grateful Dead.[3]By extension April 20 (“4/20″ in U.S. date notation) has evolved into a counterculture holiday, where people gather to celebrate and consume cannabis.[4]

Obviously, I have a dog in the fight.

Sterling Burglary In Broad Daylight

Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008

Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio just sent this notice of a Sterling resident whose house was burglarized today (Monday) around 2:30 pm; it does not say where but references another break-in on Kennedy which is right near here:

“Dear Eugene:

“Took my kids out for one hour, MAYBE an hour and a half to go buy a Christmas tree and when we got home, found out that someone had ruined our Christmas. Someone broke into my house ransacked the rooms, took the cash I was going to deposit for our mortgage, and use to buy my four children Christmas presents. I have been working overtime and running four kids to and from their various sport practices, games and musical events. Today was the day I was going to get the presents. Not now, thanks to some crummy grinch.

“Now the deputies and CSI are dusting for prints. Hopefully they will be able to get some and catch the thoughtless creep that stole our money, gifts and my childrens’ piece of mind and comfort……

“This happened between 2:30pm and 3:45pm today. The kind deputy also said there was a break in on Kennedy.

“Please remind people to be careful, keep lights on and radios. I turned all mine off to try and save money and lower the electric bill. I don’t know what I am going to do. Please call the neighborhood watches, let them know, tell them these creeps will stop at nothing and come right during the day and daylight… “

(more…)

Nominee for “Would Most Like To Have A Beer With” Award

Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008

Women by virtue of being the fairer sex add an exotic charge to activities that if performed by men would seem merely banal or at best odd.

Nobody cares about men with guns, but I think we can all agree that women with guns are, in some preternatural way, very cool.

Ditto for putting large scorpions on your face.

Thai Scorpion Woman

Thai Scorpion Woman

It’s the stuff of fetishes, I tell you: Edgy, but in a wholesome sort of way. PG at worst.

Thoughts of Christmas Past, Present and Future.

Monday, December 22nd, 2008

Christmas.  Anyone is allowed to enjoy it in the manner that they see fit.  Christmas is most honored by Christians and it holds special meanings and traditions to everyone differently.  I wish to share what Christmas has done for me over the years.

When I was young, Christmas was all about those presents.  The Sears Christmas catalog couldn’t come fast enough.  The pages had many dog-ears between me and my four siblings.  Circling items and putting our names by them was no chore at all.  We always had time to make changes or add items before that special day.  Sing-along with Mitch Miller or the Ray Coniff Singers were always a good time.  My mother started me early with Charles Dickens “A Cristmas Carole” and, since I was 8, I have either read the book or watched the movie (the version with George C Scott is absolutely the best..and closest to the book) every Christmas since.  We would go to symphonies and/or choir/chorral performances and just listen to the music.  Between roaming carolers and the church performances, we could really get some wonderful music.  Good part was that the performances were free and you didn’t have to be a member of the church; all were welcome.  We also made the roadtrips to find the best Christmas display.  I have seen so many great ones from coast to coast and have many fond memories.

My parents are gone but I have tried to instill in my children some of the simple and wonderful pleasures of Christmas.  They have some new traditions as well as some old.  I find that I don’t search out the lights as much anymore.  Nor do the “presents” command the day anymore.  I’m more into Christmas giving nowadays with my time and money so that others might have a day of joy and understand what a true blessing the day brings.  I still do my symphonies and search out those choirs at a church.  Along with Ray Coniff and Mitch Miller I have found a group that absolutely beats all others.  It is called Musica Sacra (Sacred Music) and is done by a group in New England.  If I may coin a phrase, this music is absolutely heavenly.  And, yes.  I still do my Dickens.

In the future I’m sure I will do most of the same things I do today.  I have found that the music is what drives my spirit and the Dickens is what keeps my heart open to remember that “people are our business”.  Yes, it is a time of giving what you can to those that need.  It is also about giving your love and joy which can touch others.  When we can do what Jesus expected of us, everyone we touch benefits.  What we all need to do is to “keep the Christmas spirit throughout the year” and not lose track of the meaning or the gift it gave us all. 

With that I will say Merry Christmas, and GOD bless us-everyone.

Reality vs Global Warming

Monday, December 22nd, 2008

This is just a little news roundup from the aggregators today.

Question: In light of the following, and the fact we’ve seen this trend for the past two plus years, how much U.S. public support will there be for new measures to reduce anthropomorphic anthropogenic “global warming” which will require major sacrifices by the American people? (Pay higher taxes, pay higher energy prices, drive less safe vehicles?)

Related question: And how hard will our new president push for such measures, given the fact he is proving more and more each day to be more a pragmatist than an ideologue?

Will Canada see its first white Christmas since ‘71?

SEVERE COLD WAVE TO HIT EUROPE

Beijing’s coldest December day in 57 years

Seattle area hard hit by a rare snowstorm over the weekend

Snow, rain and ice blankets much of US

The biggest snowstorm to hit Las Vegas since 1979

Frigid Storm Closes California Freeways, Drops Snow in Malibu

Thailand: “30 of these provinces need emergency assistance as villagers there have been affected by extreme cold weather conditions”

A Special Circle of Hell

Sunday, December 21st, 2008

The Bernard Madoff story is singular in that the fraud Mr. Madoff committed is so large and so widespread. The cumulative figure of affected accounts is estimate to be in the $50 billion range.

The parties who appear poised to lose their assets include rich folks, but also regular folks, institutional investors and innumerable other investors in all sorts of classes.

What Bernard Madoff did is not just a crime, it is an infraction against existence itself. The $50 billion figure includes the large personal investments of so many individual people that the revelation it was all just a Ponzi scheme means that billions of dollars in personal wealth has disappeared. Divide “billions” by any number of individual investors at only the $2 million dollar level and you have an almost incomprehensible number of accounts.

This one man has managed to screw a large, large number of people out of their life’s savings. Talk about a game changer. It will be another year before the implications of this fraud are fully understood by most Americans. When the reality of what this guy has done sinks in, I predict the entire conversation about “torture” will transform.

People will want to see Madoff roasting on a spit.

First Dicey Weather Of Winter

Sunday, December 21st, 2008

Sitting here at the dining room table at 0-dark-30, as is my wont, I perceive that eastern Loudoun is currently beset by frozen precipitation, and what sounds like the tinkle-tinkle-tinkle of little pieces of ice raining down upon us. Which, I believe, is exactly what is happening. Supposedly it’s going to warm up by tomorrow afternoon, but our current advisory seems to be on target, so if you are reading this Sunday morning I recommend when you go out to pick up your copy of the Washington Times from the driveway, you do not go bounding out with gusto, huzzahs and slippers akimbo because you will probably end up flat on your ass. It’s going to be slippery out there.

Dec. 21 for our first real winter weather here in NOVA: Not too bad considering how the rest of the country has been doing.

Economic downturn is illegal migration’s Waterloo

Sunday, December 21st, 2008

The rubber hits the road: The “jobs Americans won’t do” controversy is over thanks to the falling economy.

Growers across the country are reporting that farmhands are plentiful; in fact, they are turning down potential field workers. “For the first time since 9/11, we have applicants in excess of our requirements,” says Bob Gray, chief executive of Duda Farm Fresh Foods Inc., a grower, packer and shipper based in Salinas, Calif.

In particular, Mr. Gray has observed an influx of U.S.-born Latinos and other workers who previously shunned field work. “These are domestic workers who appear to be displacing immigrants,” says Mr. Gray.

A similar situation has emerged in U.S. cities from New York to Los Angeles, where unemployed, nonimmigrant laborers are seeking informal work that typically has been performed by low-skilled immigrants that once commanded a 50% premium over the hourly minimum wage.

The basic economic reality is a dog-bites-man story: Obviously, when jobs become scarce, legal residents will have a huge advantage over illegal workers and gradually displace the latter in the workforce.

What I find most interesting is that the current deepening recession, which appears to be causing the biggest joblessness trend since the 1970s and which is the first of this magnitude since the disastrous amnesty initiatives of the 1980s and 1990s, may offer a major opportunity for those Americans who lost their livelihood to illegal workers to take it back. People who worked in construction-related jobs of all types may have a chance to get back in business once the dust has settled and the illegal workers and contractors have gone back to their countries of origin.

Pravda Rags on Obama

Sunday, December 21st, 2008

Sheesh, guy can’t catch a break ….

“John McCain was a Senator before Obama even knew what name to call himself.”

[Found via Ed Flinn's "yeti" story, about which I have to ask: Does it strike you as "yick", or scary, or .... something else?]