by the Left Coast Rebel
The best segment from Beck's show today. Read this that I wrote on Sunday, scroll down to the segment of the post before the pictures. Note the Vegas reference that I made towards the Dubai sheikh Muhammed bin Rashed al-Maktoum. Note in part 2 that Beck and his guest David Buckner mention the precise. Do they read LCR? Perhaps........
by the Left Coast Rebel
I was thinking today while driving to work and listening to talk radio. I was pondering a few things. Michael Moore came up during the airwave-discussion, his plea to Obama to send the troops home from Afghanistan. Of course this will not happen as Obama has made His mind up already, however it made me think of George W. Bush and limited government fiscal conservatism, a personal note of thinking back.
I thought that the Code Pink crowd that loved and supported the Obamanation so much must feel so betrayed and disgusted by his decision to escalate the theater; to turn 180 degrees from His campaign rhetoric.
The anti-war young progressives and nutroots that supported 'O' must feel absolutely disgusted. They must now feel like politics sucks.
They must feel just like fiscal conservatives felt about George W Bush.
The funny thing is, I can see some of Moore's points occasionally here. I agree that the war in Afghanistan was a large part of the undoing of the USSR. I agree that Afghanistan may be incredibly damaging to the U.S. simply because we do not seem to have the will to win. Of course I agree on some points for the exact opposite reasons that he comes to his conclusions. I simply agree because I think that Obama thinks that he can have it both ways. Moore simply and merely hates the military.
Segments that stood out to me taken from Michael Moore's open letter to Obama:
Dear President Obama,
Now listen to this:Do you really want to be the new "war president"? If you go to West Point tomorrow night (Tuesday, 8pm) and announce that you are increasing, rather than withdrawing, the troops in Afghanistan, you are the new war president.
So now you feel backed into a corner. 30 years ago this past Thursday (Thanksgiving) the Soviet generals had a cool idea -- "Let's invade Afghanistan!" Well, that turned out to be the final nail in the USSR coffin......
With our economic collapse still in full swing and our precious young men and women being sacrificed on the altar of arrogance and greed, the breakdown of this great civilization we call America will head, full throttle, into oblivion if you become the "war president."
Choose carefully, Mr. President. Your corporate backers are going to abandon you as soon as it is clear you are a one-term president, (editor's note, we can hope) and that the nation will be safely back in the hands of the usual idiots who do their bidding. That could be Wednesday morning.
Don't be deceived into thinking that sending a few more troops into Afghanistan will make a difference, or earn you the respect of the haters. They will not stop until this country is torn asunder and every last dollar is extracted from the poor and soon-to-be poor....
Read the rest here
Via Memeorandum
UPDATE: Chris W at My Thoughts On Freedom has a great post on this same topic. A left/right dissafection with the Chosen One? You decide.
UPDATE II: h/t BBCW, War Pig Obama, the 2007 Promise edition:
Greece’s defence ministry said that one of its warships, deployed as part of the European Union’s anti-piracy patrol known as EU Navfor, is trailing the hijacked tanker as it heads towards the pirate havens that dot Somalia’s lawless 1,880-mile coastline.
Without a functioning government since 1991 Somalia is unable to enforce laws on land or at sea, allowing the arid Horn of Africa country to become an anarchic haven for pirates, Islamist insurgents and others.
This time last year Somali pirates were holding another super tanker, the Saudi Arabia-flagged Sirius Star, which at 318,000 tonnes was the largest captured. The Sirius Star was loaded with two million barrels of Saudi crude, roughly a quarter of all the oil produced by the kingdom in a day.
This convergence of odd bedfellows, and the economic angst that’s driving it all, is yet another signal that President Barack Obama is going to have more and more trouble keeping his traditional Democratic allies on his side as the economic debate continues. It seems that everyone is looking for something new to latch on to in the economic debate — even if those ideas belong to one of the more eccentric members of Congress.
But Paul isn’t stopping with the auditing measure. He sees the other financial reform proposals throughout Congress as adding, not subtracting, from the vast Fed powers. And he has allies in the heart of the Democratic Caucus.
......debt is scattered through myriad agencies in many forms, but well over a half-trillion dollars is a fair estimate. The biggest chunks of debt, however, are the unfunded obligations for pensions and health care of retired public employees.
The latest annual pension report from the state controller covers 2006, when the unfunded liability was $64 billion. But since then, state and local pension funds have lost at least $150 billion on investments, so a reasonable estimate of today's unfunded liability is $200-plus billion. A state commission, meanwhile, says the state-local liability for retiree health care is about $100 billion.
No one keeps complete data on local government general obligation debt, but it appears to be roughly the same as the state's, perhaps $50 billion, plus several billion dollars in debt incurred by local redevelopment agencies.
There are tens of billions in specialized state debt, such as veteran home loan bonds, "securitization" of tobacco lawsuit proceeds, and budget deficit bonds.
The interest that must be paid on all that state and local debt is probably an additional $100 billion, so we're already talking about well over $500 billion.
by the Left Coast Rebel
First a big h/t to BBCW. It is certainly possible that indictements could be handed down over the CRU affair, at least according to Lord Monckton, the famous global warming skeptic. Go here and here for more information on him. Monckton cites the fraud and data disposal of Hadley's CRU as a criminal offense. He is requesting that charges be filed.
Hello, hyperventilating zealot.
Greetings, denialist scum.
Now that we've dispensed with the formalities, please allow me to point and laugh at you. Ahem. Ha ha ha! Point point point!
Shut up.
That's what you'd like me to do. That's what you'd like all of us to do. Shut our mouths and open our wallets. Did you really think it was going to be so easy?
This doesn't prove anything.
What doesn't?
You know.
We both do. I just want to hear you say it.
This Clim... This Climateguh. Guh.
That's it, almost there.
by the Left Coast Rebel
Via Drudge, an AP report minutes ago tells that the UAE is taking any steps to avoid a 'run' on the banks by panicked depositors:
The United Arab Emirates has pledged to stand behind foreign and domestic banks in the country, offering additional money while extolling the strength of the Gulf nation's financial sector as world markets brace for a potential day of reckoning Monday over Dubai's crushing debt.
In a statement Sunday, the UAE's central bank said it had sent notice to Emirati banks and foreign banks with branches in the country making clear they would have access to "a special additional liquidity facility."
by the Left Coast Rebel
SCIENTISTS at the University of East Anglia (UEA) have admitted throwing away much of the raw temperature data on which their predictions of global warming are based. It means that other academics are not able to check basic calculations said to show a long-term rise in temperature over the past 150 years. The UEA’s Climatic Research Unit (CRU) was forced to reveal the loss following requests for the data under Freedom of Information legislation. The data were gathered from weather stations around the world and then adjusted to take account of variables in the way they were collected. The revised figures were kept, but the originals — stored on paper and magnetic tape — were dumped to save space when the CRU moved to a new building.
First, a headline this morning from the Times of London --- Climate Change Data Dumped:
Now rememeber, for those not familiar with the standing of the CRU, just what it is and what it does:
The CRU is the world’s leading centre for reconstructing past climate and
temperatures. Climate change sceptics have long been keen to examine exactly how
its data were compiled. That is now impossible.
There are three threads in particular in the leaked documents which have sent a shock wave through informed observers across the world. Perhaps the most obvious, as lucidly put together by Willis Eschenbach (see McIntyre's blog Climate Audit and Anthony Watt's blog Watts Up With That), is the highly disturbing series of emails which show how Dr Jones and his colleagues have for years been discussing the devious tactics whereby they could avoid releasing their data to outsiders under freedom of information laws.
by the Left Coast Rebel
Ok, for all of those wannabe couch detectives, the Tiger Woods 911 Call was just released. My big question here is simple. Since Wesley Snipes is Tiger Woods neighbor and this tape is the neighbor's call to 911, is this Wesley Snipes? It sure doesn't sound like him.....or is he in prison for tax evasion? I am only kidding, of course. Here it is:
As you all know, I had a single-car accident earlier this week, and sustained some injuries. I have some cuts, bruising and right now I'm pretty sore. This situation is my fault, and it's obviously embarrassing to my family and me. I'm human and I'm not perfect. I will certainly make sure this doesn't happen again.
This is a private matter and I want to keep it that way. Although I understand there is curiosity, the many false, unfounded and malicious rumors that are currently circulating about my family and me are irresponsible. The only person responsible for the accident is me. My wife, Elin, acted courageously when she saw I was hurt and in trouble. She was the first person to help me. Any other assertion is absolutely false.
This incident has been stressful and very difficult for Elin, our family and me. I appreciate all the concern and well wishes that we have received. But, I would also ask for some understanding that my family and I deserve some privacy no matter how intrusive some people can be.
by the Left Coast Rebel
I have a few thoughts this morning. First, Stacy McCain was right. Throwing in a celebrity story into the mix, once in a while; is a good thing for a political site. 24/7 socialism and Obamanations is a tiresome journey. Mixing things up occasionally is good for traffic and soul.
On point here --- The Tiger Woods story is ginormously huge because it is so interesting and continues to be so; namely because details are so mysterious. Today brings another highlight to the story. It's simple. If you are a massively-famous celebrity type caught in the middle of something 10x bigger than it should be, just spill the beans. Confess, get it out, talk to the authorities. Better yet, have your attorney do it. Because if you don't, a big story just becomes a record-shattering Google-bomb Zepellin.
Here's the headline that does just that --- Tiger Woods Car Accident Update: Tiger and Elin Woods Refuse to Meet With Police Today
Now granted this is the Examiner that we are talking about here and the 6,049 corresponding articles match the tabloid-ness. Even if Tiger Woods and Elin Woods, (Nordegrin) weren't refusing to talk to police, the tabloids would still come up with something incredibly salacious and/or fallacious. Like, say:
Tiger Woods Car Accident Update: Woods Claims to Have Seen UFO Right Before Crash
This is reiterated by the NYT this morning:
According to experts who advise high-profile athletes and celebrities, every
hour that passed without word from Woods might have proved damaging to his image by allowing an online rumor mill to produce conjecture and opinion.
by the Left Coast Rebel
The highway to hell and bankruptcy, Michael F. Cannon at Cato weighing in on several budgets gimmicks that Congress has implemented to come up with the (low?) figure of $1 trillion over ten years for Obamacare. The truth and actual number is far, far away from that. He explains:
Congressional Democrats are using several budget gimmicks to disguise the cost of their health care overhaul, claiming the House and Senate bills would cost only (!) about $1 trillion over 10 years. Now that critics have begun to correct for those budget gimmicks, supporters of ObamaCare are firing back.
One gimmick makes the new entitlement spending appear smaller by not opening the spigot until late in the official 10-year budget window (2010–2019). Correcting for that gimmick in the Senate version, Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) estimates, “When all this new spending occurs” — i.e., from 2014 through 2023 — “this bill will cost $2.5 trillion over that ten-year period.”
Another gimmick pushes much of the legislation’s costs off the federal budget and onto the private sector by requiring individuals and employers to purchase health
insurance. When the bills force somebody to pay $10,000 to the government, the Congressional Budget Office treats that as a tax. When the government then hands that $10,000 to private insurers, the CBO counts that as government spending. But when the bills achieve the exact same outcome by forcing somebody to pay $10,000 directly to a private insurance company, it appears nowhere in the official CBO cost estimates — neither as federal revenues nor federal spending. That’s a sharp departure from how the CBO treated similar mandates in the Clinton health plan. And it hides maybe 60 percent of the legislation’s total costs. When I correct for that gimmick, it brings total costs to roughly $2.5 trillion (i.e., $1 trillion/0.4).
Read the rest of the details here
So declares Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe, taking a few minutes away from a Thanksgiving retreat with his family. "Ninety-five percent of the nails were in the coffin prior to this week. Now they are all in."If any politician might be qualified to offer last rites, it would be Mr. Inhofe. The top Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee has spent the past decade in the thick of Washington's climate fight. He's seen the back of three cap-and-trade bills, rode herd on an overweening Environmental Protection Agency, and steadfastly insisted that global researchers were "cooking" the science behind man-made global warming.
This week he's looking prescient. The more than 3,000 emails and documents from the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit (CRU) that have found their way to the Internet have blown the lid off the "science" of manmade global warming. CRU is a nerve center for many of those researchers who have authored the United Nations' global warming reports and fueled the political movement to regulate carbon.
The problem right off the bat, (pun intended, indulge me), that I can see with the assumption that cap and trade is D.O.A is that the CRU scandal is so vastly ignored by the press and liberal elite. Liberal friends of mine have not even heard of it. It's a tough premise to substantiate given that this story is hot, but only in the independent press. I highly suspect this murderous thing could morph after midnight into some other vampirious form. Just as evil and sinister, perhaps more sinister and secret. I vote for a better alternative to kill Cap and Trade:
Step 1 Look for a hole above a grave. Sometimes vampires have to dig their way out.
Step 2 Scatter salt on the floor in the vampire's latest victim's room. Help the vampire lead you right to his or her tomb.
Step 3 Use garlic, hawthorn branches, or a cross to trap your vampire in a corner. Protect yourself from revenge by making a cross of tar on your front door.
Step 4 Dig the vampire up on a Friday. According to the early Greeks, that's when a vampire is weakest. Take advantage of the day when vampires can't come out to play.
Step 5 Pound iron stakes through his coffin and straight into the ground if you catch him at rest.
Step 6 Bury his body under running water - vampires can't stand it.
Step 7 Fire a silver bullet blessed by a priest into his heart.
Step 8 Drive an aspen, ash or white thorn stake through his heart with a single blow if you want to make a lasting impression.
Step 9 Pour boiling water, boiling oil or holy water into his grave.
Step 10 Cremate his body or make a paste from his flesh for closure. Then sit down and feast on the beast.
This 10 step list also applies to Obamacare, Congress, leadership, the academic-left, socialism and every bad idea being floated in the United States that has been discredited throughout world history and proven to cause misery, malaise and the opposite outcome of that purported. Yes?
Via Memeorandum
Graphic courtesy of the genius of Obamanati
by the Left Coast Rebel
First off, Peter Schiff was right. That's it. He called the economic calamity that we are still in the midst of. Please watch this video. Note just how badly most of the pontificators call it. Note how Peter Schiff calls it right, spot-on; 2006 and on. We need minds like this in the United States Senate:
by the Left Coast Rebel
The Dubai debt-default story got me interested tonight in tracking down the US debt clock that I have run across on Bloomberg, CNBC and the Glenn Beck show. For anyone in my audience that want the absolute be-jeezers scared out of them, go to this link that shows the US debt clock. I believe that it is the same US debt clock that Glenn Beck shows from time to time.
Tired of arguing with idiots that think we can afford socialism? Show them the US debt clock. Tired of Keynsian RINOs that have led us to bankruptcy in part due to their acquiescence to socialism, statism, corporatism, progressivism? Show them the US debt clock. Tired of thinking that our leaders today are selfish and destroying the health and wealth of future generations? US Debt Clock. Socialized medicine? US debt clock. Cap and trade? US debt clock. Amnesty for illegals? US debt clock. More cradle to grave entitlements? US debt clock.
An individual's net worth is the amount of liabilities that he has subtracted from his assets. Financial literacy 101. Anyone interested in what the US debt clock shows the total national assets at? $74 trillion. The total according to the US debt clock of all unfunded liabilities? $106 trillion. Check the screenshot below and visit US debt clock.org for yourself.
by the Left Coast Rebel
The financial marktes were weak today, uncommonly so for a light trading session near a holiday. I switched Bloomberg on earlier and just saw a blip of the downside for the day on the ticker, however I didn't know the actual explanation for that which had traders spooked.
Via Memeorandum, it's Dubai. It's all about Dubai. The small, most populace of the seven emirate states is emblematic to me of the worldwide bubble in both real estate and commodities, notably oil. A friend of mine has visited the Dubai in the past and was dazzled by it's wealth and prominence; something that has shot up from the desert of the Arabian Peninsula faster than anyone could imagine. I've always been fascinated by regions of the world like Dubai and Hong Kong, however, I could sniff out a bubble, of oil........
Now it seems that the the region is awash in the debt and default that the house of cards that many economies were built upon, (including the US), has come crashing down. Bloomberg reports today that it is not technically a default, but:
Shares slumped from Shanghai to Brazil and European shares fell the most in seven months yesterday after Dubai World, the government investment company burdened by $59 billion of liabilities, sought to delay repayment on much of its debt. Governments have spent, lent or guaranteed $11.6 trillion and central banks held interest rates near zero percent to end the first global recession since World War II.
The worldwide decline in equities spurred by Dubai’s efforts to reschedule its debt is a sign that government spending alone won’t be enough to protect financial markets......
by the Left Coast Rebel
I would rather toil away in obscurity than be a celebrity. Let me rephrase that. I would rather have the money, then retire away into privacy and obscurity. Why? The scrutiny, the rumors, the dignity forgone. Case in point this from TMZ this morning, quite the spin on the Tiger Woods Car accident story. It seems the celebrity site had a mole in the hospital where Tiger Woods was treated. It also seems that his wife, Elin Nordegren may have more to do with the crash than previously thought.Tiger has yet to be formally interviewed by the Florida Highway Patrol -- that should happen this afternoon. But we're told Tiger had a conversation Friday -- with a non-law enforcement type -- detailing what went down before his Escalade hit a fire hydrant.
We're told he said his wife had confronted him about reports that he was seeing another woman. The argument got heated and, according to our source, she scratched his face up. We're told it was then Woods beat a hasty retreat for his SUV -- but according to our source, Woods says his wife followed behind with a golf club. As Tiger drove away, she struck the vehicle several times with the club.
Talk about a spin on the story. Hell hath no fury like that of a woman scorned? We'll see how this develops.
by the Left Coast Rebel
The Other McCain has the Google bomb of the day. Again, as was the case with yesterday's slow news day it involves the Tiger Woods story. Today however we turn to the floozy of his rumored affair, Rachel Uchitel.
The grass is always greener?
How could that even be possible being married to a Swedish-beauty-class act, Elin Nordegren? If the rumor is true, it simply just proves the corruptive, corrosive effect of fame + fortune. Look no further than 'John and Kate + 8' on this theme. Right?
Now here it is. Obviously Rachel Uchitel is an attractive lady, right? But is she beautifully, stunningly gourgeous like Tiger Woods wife Elin Nordegren? Not so much.
You see, because Elin Nordegren is beautiful and she has that girl next door look as well. Just my honest opinion.
Click here for more Rachel Uchitel photos.......
by the Left Coast Rebel
This story interests me tonight to no avail. Yes, it is a slow news evening, aside from Dubai near-defaulting on it's debt and the depressing implications that may have for the US, the Tiger Woods story has my intrigue. I'm sure that millions of others feel the same, my statcounter showed that the Tiger Woods Car Crash story gave more hits here than all of my content for the day.
Details are hard to come by, other than what I already blogged on. Here's something I missed. Sources are saying that Woods wife actually heard the car crash from inside their home and rushed outside to aid Tiger Woods. Apparently she broke the back window of his car, ironically with a golf club to free Woods. He was then fading in and out of consciousness when police arrived. This for me fits into other accounts that Tiger Woods had left the home angrily after the couple had been fighting. I imagine that she heard him speed off and then to her horror heard the crash. Police also reported that he had substantial lacerations to his face, namely his lips. Here are a few pictures that I found:
by the Left Coast Rebel
Pictured above is Tiger Woods home, (middle), Wesley Snipe's residence is at the left with the red-clay roof. This just hitting the internet, Tiger Woods apparently crashed his car leaving his home early this morning. The Orlando Sentinel reports:
Tiger Woods' wife used a golf club to smash out the back window of his Cadillac Escalade and get her injured husband out of the SUV after he smashed it into a fire hydrant and into a tree early Friday morning outside his Isleworth mansion, Windermere Police Chief Daniel Saylor told The Associated Press.
Elin Nordegren was in the couple's home about 2:30 Friday morning when she heard the accident and came outside.
Saylor said Woods had cuts on his lips and blood in his mouth, AP is reporting. Saylor said officers gave Woods first aid until medical personnel arrived about 10 minutes later. A call report compiled by the Orange County Sheriff's Office and obtained by the Orlando Sentinel indicates Woods was unconscious but breathing when officers arrived on the scene. Woods was unconscious for about six minutes.
Bruhn said Woods had facial cuts in a minor accident. Woods was treated at Health Central early this morning and released.
The first thing that I thought when hearing this story pertained to alcholol. Was he under the influence? It sure seems highly possible, especially seeing that 'charges are pending' with the case. Being that he was alone in his car and was the only car involved it sure seems likely to me that alcohol was a factor. At this point that is pure speculation however:
FHP said alcohol is not considered a factor in the accident, and it is unknown
whether he was wearing a seat belt.
The crash is under investigation, and charges are pending.
The internet is all a-twitter too on the possibility that Tiger Woods has been cheating on his wife, these rumors have been floating around for a while. Multiple law enforcement officials have also confirmed to TMZ that Tiger Wood's crash came directly after an argument with his wife Elin Nordegren. The grass is always greener......
Anyway this story is a little different for the Left Coast Rebel, it's a slow news day and a relaxing day for me personally. I just thought that I would report this as I think that Tiger Woods is a good role model for young people, (and blacks), and someone that has perserved with an amazing talent. A true class-act guy that shines in his sport. Kind of like Michael Jordan was too for basketball and sports in general.
I'll never forget in the 1990s when Tiger Wood's star was just starting to shine. His brilliance and talent caught the eye of a certain Arkansasian --- then President Bill Clinton. Clinton invited Woods to the White House for a photo-op or some such thing.
Tiger Wood's reply to Clinton?
Thanks but no thanks, you didn't care about me when I was a nobody so why should you now.
My kind of guy, hopefully he recovers soon and there wasn't mischief involved.
Via Memeorandum
by the Left Coast Rebel
I don't know about you but I despise, deplore so called black friday shopping crowds. In my opinon if there is anything seemingly worse than a shopping mall, it's a shopping mall packed to the gills on black friday. Do folks even really snag the 'deals' that they assume are bounty? I have my doubts, it goes with the saying that if you spend 2x to 3x the money, (in pure dollar amount), because things are on 'sale' then you are still out that 2x to 3x of dollars. I sound like a jaded shopper don't I?
Anyway, here is my advice for black friday, a potential solution. You are net savy, right? You are reading this blog so you know your way around the internet. Put that to work for you today. Search for black friday online deals. Try the Fatwallet shopping portal. There you will find coupons, sales, goodies etc.
By the way too, yesterday at our friend's house before our delicious thanksgiving dinner, (turkey soup anyone?), I couldn't help but overhear that Walmart had some great deals going on right now too. My friend, as smart and anti-mall savy that he is noted that the same deals were to be had via Wal Mart's website at a certain time tonight I believe.
The best advice I could offer you for black friday? Go to Amazon.com and snag a bunch of great deals and take advantage of the free super savings shipping. Black friday from the comfort of your office? Sounds too good to be true, doesn't it?
Full disclosure: I'm not paid for any of this advice, just thought I would sharpen my pen on an easy topic this morning and help my readers out.........
by the Left Coast Rebel
Massive h/t to The Other McCain for finding this video. And they call us 'wingnuts' for scrambling to protect our freedoms? What are leftist thankful for on Thankgiving? Start at .50, at least nostrilitis says that America is a great country, the other two mentioned above, not so much.
Our nation was founded by people who were fleeing tyranny and religious persecution. They boarded small ships and set sail on a perilous journey across rough waters to arrive in a land where they had nothing. They knew many would not survive what was to come, and yet they were thankful to the creator. Thankful for the opportunity that they felt had been bestowed on them to be able to make that trip. Thankful that they would soon be able to live in a land and make their own way free from an over bearing and all too intrusive government that had long since quit serving their needs. Everything that they were to have was to come from the blood sweat and tears and their labors to tame the land and bend it to their will. Mistakes were certainly made, lives were lost, and yet, they were still thankful. The thanks that they gave as they grew and prospered was to their creator and to their fellow man.Give thanks today, say a little prayer. Hug a loved one and enjoy. Take not for granted your family, your health, your life and your freedom. For as soon as you may, it just might be gone.
This much is known: About 7:15 Tuesday night, a glittering blonde, decked out in a red and gold sari, holding the hand of her black-tuxedoed escort, swept past the camera crews and reporters camped out to catch the red-carpet arrivals for the first state dinner given by President Obama.Via Memeorandum
They swept past the camera crews and followed the trail of other bigwigs attending the dinner.But neither Mr. nor Mrs. Salahi, best known in the Washington area for promoting wine and polo in Virginia, were on the guest list for the event, a fact first reported Wednesday morning on the Washington Post Web site.
Edwin M. Donovan, a spokesman for the Secret Service, said Wednesday night that “initial findings identified a Secret Service checkpoint which did not follow proper procedures,” allowing the couple to gain access to the festivities, even though their names were not on the invitation list.
by the Left Coast Rebel
Perusing the analytics for my site this early Thanksgiving morning, I found that the 'hacked global warming email' search was still a hot search item for the site. Indicative of skeptical thinkers searching for more news, the hacked global warming email story, mainly the fallout now; is still raging hot, (pun not intended). It's almost like the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls for Christianity. I've decided to simply run a lowdown post on what others have said recently as well as new key stories, excerpts and links. I will not debate minutiae in the comments here, I am simply passing along what others are saying. Happy Thanksgiving all!
First off friend of the site New Conservative Generation weighed in on the issue with a post titled the Global Warming Hoax and How Unscience Begets Unscience. He starts off with this particularly funny parody video:
Key excerpts from his piece:
However, while you watch the global warming hoax unravel, make sure to be mindful of how unscience begets more unscience....Read the rest here
What am I talking about? Long before these emails were released, estimates from AGW scientists simply did not make sense.
Problems such as the fact that the earth has been much cooler and much hotter regardless of human activity were no obstacles to the unscience of AGW. Ian Plimer, an Australian scientist and AGW skeptic has often pointed out that in the history of the entire planet, we are in a cool period. Today, even the most ardent AGW scientist would not disagree that the planet has been cooling for the last 4 years (many others say 10 years). They shrug. "Temperatures are not constantly going up, they go up and down, but trend up,"
Instead of dealing with the unscience of their science, they chose more uscience. Now that the house of cards is falling, don't expect them to fall back to any body of science they've been perfecting for vindication
The New Zealand Government’s chief climate advisory unit NIWA is under fire for allegedly massaging raw climate data to show a global warming trend that wasn’t there.The scandal breaks as fears grow worldwide that corruption of climate science is not confined to just Britain’s CRU climate research centre.
In New Zealand’s case, the figures published on NIWA’s [the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric research] website suggest a strong warming trend in New Zealand over the past century:
I have seldom felt so alone. Confronted with crisis, most of the environmentalists I know have gone into denial. The emails hacked from the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia, they say, are a storm in a tea cup, no big deal, exaggerated out of all recognition. It is true that climate change deniers have made wild claims which the material can't possibly support (the end of global warming, the death of climate science). But it is also true that the emails are very damaging.Read the rest here.The response of the greens and most of the scientists I know is profoundly ironic, as we spend so much of our time confronting other people's denial. Pretending that this isn't a real crisis isn't going to make it go away. Nor is an attempt to justify the emails with technicalities. We'll be able to get past this only by grasping reality, apologising where appropriate and demonstrating that it cannot happen again.
by the Left Coast Rebel
Many of us in the limited government movement have mistrusted every move that the Obama administration has made regarding changes to financial regulations, the economy, bailouts, takeovers of industries, etc. You name it. Above all, we don't trust the rhetoric vs. the reality. We don't trust that Obama desires to merely 'right' the markets and the free market in particular. We don't trust his credentials. We don't trust his past. We don't trust the present and myriad radical initiatives to assume historic Federal control and tentacles into unprecedented areas of American life and economy. For the most part, we don't trust that he even believes in or trusts freedom, free minds and free markets; the American model of capitalism, entrepeneurism.
Nick Schulz at the American Enterprise Institute points to just why we think this. Remember, charts and graphs don't lie:
A friend sends along the following chart from a J.P. Morgan research report. It
examines the prior private sector experience of the cabinet officials since 1900
that one might expect a president to turn to in seeking advice about helping the
economy. It includes secretaries of State, Commerce, Treasury, Agriculture,
Interior, Labor, Transportation, Energy, and Housing & Urban Development,
and excludes Postmaster General, Navy, War, Health, Education & Welfare,
Veterans Affairs, and Homeland Security—432 cabinet members in all.
We live during historical, unprecedented and dangerous times. What say you?
Via Memeorandum
Editor's note: Recall the story several months ago, (seems an eternity now), where Kenneth Gladney, the conservative black man was beaten and thrown to the ground by SEIU members at the Russ Carnahan town hall? Well perhaps there is justice in the world.
by Chris W from My Thoughts on Freedom
FINALLY! It only took nearly 4 months.
Of course the paper calls it a disturbance and not once does it mention SEIU by name. Also, ordinance violations in St Louis are lesser charges than a misdemeanor so apparently if union goons beat someone there it's not really a big deal.
St Louis Post-Dispatch :
ST. LOUIS COUNTY • Six people arrested in August outside a raucous town hall
meeting in south St. Louis County have been charged with misdemeanor ordinance
violations.
The six, including a Post-Dispatch reporter, had attended a demonstration outside an Aug. 6 forum called by U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-St. Louis, at Bernard Middle School in Mehlville to discuss health care reform.
The charges were filed Tuesday by the St. Louis County counselor’s office, which prosecutes misdemeanor ordinance violations in unincorporated areas. All are to appear in court Jan. 21.
The maximum penalty upon conviction would be one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Gladney, 39, of St. Louis, who police said had been assaulted, said a call from a reporter Wednesday was the first he had heard of the charges. "I’m shocked it took this long," he said.
He said he believes the crime against him should be prosecuted as a felony. "I’m mad as I-don’t-know-what about this," Gladney said. "It seems like average people can’t get justice."
by the Left Coast Rebel
Great Beck segment tonight relating to the concept of Christmas Jars:
A Christmas Jar is a pickle jar, peanut butter jar, Mason jar or whatever else you have around to collect your spare change each day.
All coins are dedicated to the jar, and during the week before Christmas you carefully select someone to give it to anonymously. Was a neighbor laid off? Is a coworker struggling with health problems? Has a friend lost a loved one?
Simply put your jar on their porch, in their car, on their desk--wherever--and you could change their life for good!
$50, $100, even $200, you'll be surprised how much change you can generate and how much you can affect someone's life.
Will you pledge to give away a Christmas Jar this year?
by the Left Coast Rebel
Despite the hecticness that pervades my site and mind at times, all in life is not politics, as it were. A beautiful evening, balmy-60s, clear water, picture perfect....not a fish in sight, for me at least.
Navy SEALs have secretly captured one of the most wanted terrorists in Iraq — the alleged mastermind of the murder and mutilation of four Blackwater USA security guards in Fallujah in 2004. And three of the SEALs who captured him are now facing criminal charges, sources told
FoxNews.com.The three, all members of the Navy's elite commando unit, have refused non-judicial punishment — called an admiral's mast — and have requested a trial by court-martial.
Ahmed Hashim Abed, whom the military code-named "Objective Amber," told investigators he was punched by his captors — and he had the bloody lip to prove it.Now, instead of being lauded for bringing to justice a high-value target, three of the SEAL commandos, all enlisted, face assault charges and have retained lawyersOf bloody lips and American lives at risk due to political engineering-correctness in wartime. For anyone that doesn't know as well, the Obamanation approved some 30,000 + additional troops to enter the theatre in Afghanistan. Bring them home. Now.
by the Left Coast Rebel
This one coming from UK's Telegraph, Bob Ainsworth, among many things blaming Barack Obama and the US for tumbling British support for the war in Afghanistan. Can anyone recall a time when our key ally - Britain and it's Defense Secretary criticized a US president like this? I'm not here to tell you what to think of this, I just think that it is astounding and worthy of note:
Mr Ainsworth took the unprecedented step of publicly criticising the US President and his delays in sending more troops to bolster the mission against the Taliban.What I can take of this is that the Brit Defense Secretary took his gloves off and called Obama on his diterhing. Look, I'll say it again, either we kick ass in Afghanistan and then get out or we just get out and not suffer the financial cost and lives lost. We simply cannot afford anything in between. What do you think?A “period of hiatus” in Washington - and a lack of clear direction - had made it harder for ministers to persuade the British public to go on backing the Afghan mission in the face of a rising death toll, he said.
Ministers say the mission is vital to stop international terrorists using Afghanistan as a base, but Gordon Brown has promised an “exit strategy” that could start next year.
The Defence Secretary’s blunt remarks about the US threaten to strain further a transatlantic relationship already under pressure over the British release of the Lockerbie bomber and Mr Obama’s decision to snub Mr Brown at the United
Nations in September.
First, though, Mr. Dobbs is working to repair what a spokesman conceded is a glaring flaw: His reputation for antipathy toward Latino immigrants. In a little-noticed interview Friday, Mr. Dobbs told Spanish-language network Telemundo he now supports a plan to legalize millions of undocumented workers, a stance he long lambasted as an unfair "amnesty."
Frank Sharry, who heads America's Voice, a group that advocates for legalizing undocumented immigrants, said Mr. Dobbs's conversion isn't credible, given his history of opposing efforts to liberalize immigration policies.
by the Left Coast Rebel
The apple doesn't fall from the tree?
Barack Obama does not have Angelina Jolie's seal of approval."She hates him," a
source close to the U.N. goodwill ambassador, 34, tells the new issue of Us Weekly (on newsstands now).
"She's into education and rehabilitation and thinks Obama is all about welfare and handouts. She thinks Obama is really a socialist in disguise," adds the source.
But don't expect to see the Salt actress rally against Democrats on Fox News like her staunch Republican father, Jon Voight.
"Angie isn't Republican, but she thinks Obama is all smoke and mirrors," the source says. And those political views are putting her at odds with Brad Pitt, 45, who is a big fan of the president and even went solo to the 2008 election party in Chicago.
"They get in nasty arguments all the time about it," says the source. "She doesn't respect Brad when it comes to politics, but, in the end, this won't tear them apart."
by the Left Coast Rebel A few days after leaked e-mail messages appeared on the Internet, the U.S. Congress may probe whether prominent scientists who are advocates of global warming theories misrepresented the truth about climate change. The leaked documents (see our previous coverage) come from the Climatic Research Unit of the University of East Anglia in eastern England. In global warming circles, the CRU wields outsize influence: it claims the world's largest temperature data set, and its work and mathematical models were incorporated into the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's 2007 report. That report, in turn, is what the Environmental Protection Agency acknowledged it "relies on most heavily" when concluding that carbon dioxide emissions endanger public health and should be regulated.
Declan McCullagh at CBS News:
Sen. James Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican, said on Monday the leaked correspondence suggested researchers "cooked the science to make this thing look as if the science was settled, when all the time of course we knew it was not," according to a transcript of a radio interview posted on his Web site. Aides for Rep. Darrell Issa, a California Republican, are also looking into the disclosure.
Read the rest of the story here....
Via Memeorandum
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