Friday, December 04, 2009

Tiger Woods Voicemail Slow Jam Remix

Can you out drive Tiger?

See if you can out run a scorned woman with a golf club here......

Where is Olivia Alair?

A great piece about a woman who cast a fraudulent Ohio vote in last year's presidential election......

That is the staffer I want to focus on. That staffer was the Ohio spokesperson for the Obama/Biden campaign in 2008, Olivia Alair. According to congressional pay records, Olivia had worked as a staffer for then Senator Biden for a few years as an Assistant and Deputy Press Secretary. It was only fitting that she work for the presidential campaign as a spokesperson. After the swing state of Ohio was won as well as the over all election by the Obama/Biden campaign, Olivia stayed on as part of the transition team and political arm for the new administration as the Ohio Regional Communications Director for Obama for America, this is confirmed by her linkedin.com profile.

You will also see in her linkedin.com profile that she no longer has that position. In April of 2009 she became a Deputy Press Secretary for the Department of Transportation, a politically appointed position. And in just the last couple of weeks the Press Secretary of the DOT, Sasha Johnson, was appointed by the Obama administration to be the FAA head of communications and spokesperson thus leaving the Press Secretary job at the DOT open for Olivia to slide into. You can see that her linkedin.com profile has already been updated.

Keep in mind that Olivia worked directly for White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs during the presidential campaign since Gibbs was the national spokesperson for the campaign.

So to answer the question: "Where is Olivia Alair, the 2008 Ohio spokesperson for the Obama/Biden campaign who had to pull her illegal vote in a deal with a county prosecutor to avoid felony voter fraud charges, today?"

She just got promoted by people who know she is a vote fraudster and will be making six figures working "for you" in DC at the DOT. Another question that needs answering is: "Where will she be a year from now?"


More.....

The Gekko jobs summit

Last spring, I noted that I don't believe that anything ever got accomplished by having a meeting.

I take that back. The only thing to ever be accomplished in a meeting is the scheduling of the next meeting. If you can think of something else that was ever achieved from holding a meeting, please let me know, I'd like to have it recognized.

Meetings are the reason I got out of corporate America.

But of course, now we're in the midst of a calamity known as the Obama presidency and what does The One want to do?

Have a meeting.

Hey Big "O". If you are serious about creating jobs, don't have a meeting; just implement to these thoughts.

1) KILL nationalized medicine. Right now, employers are shaking in their boots waiting to see what your health care increases are going to mean to their costs of labor. They're not comfortable hiring new people if it results in mandatory COBRA coverage or the likes. GET RID OF THE UNCERTAINTY!!!!!!!

2) KILL the automatic minimum wage hikes. There's a reason unions pursue minimum wage hikes. Many union contracts have wage rate pegs to the minimum wage. When it goes up so do the wages of lot's of other employees. That just makes it more expensive for American companies to use American workers.

Why have a manufacturing base here when it can be done overseas for a lot less?

I've detailed the story of a clothing wholesaler/manufacturer who used to run multiple plants across this country. He still has his job. The workers at the plants no longer have their jobs. Allow companies to hire lesser skilled workers at competitive world wages and bureaucracy.

3) KILL card check and all the other liberal canards out to "help the workers". See the uncertainty issue above.

4) KILL the corporate income tax. Once again, companies are actually penalized by having operations here in this country. STOP IT! Create an environment where companies want to locate here and not Ireland.

See..... now that's not so hard you don't need to have a ridiculous meeting to cure what ails our job problem today. Unless you're not serious, then go ahead and order the donuts.

Gold

Now at $1207

You may be wondering, "why the hell does he keep posting gold prices"?

Because currently, gold prices are a reflection of confidence in the strength of the US dollar. Why is that important?

Because unlike idiots like Paul Krugman, sane investors understand that there's a point in which the US cannot conceivably pay down it's debt without doing one of the following a) default and not pay or b) just print more money which will create hyper inflation throughout our economy. Before the Obamunists took over, we were already heading to that spot. These morons slammed their foot on the accelerator.

So when investors see annual US budget deficits measured in TRILLIONS as opposed to BILLIONS it doesn't give them a lot of hope that our government is serious about responsible spending. When you add the TRILLION dollars of debt needed to fund a healthcare system that will do nothing more than hurt American businesses and consumers, you start to catch on that investments in dollars is not an attractive investment alternative.

So, in my opinion, gold is perfect barometer of The Messiah's approval rating. Polls don't mean nearly as much as what people are willing to invest in. Right now that doesn't appear to be the US.

If you want a non partisan piece on gold inflation, go here.....

Go Bearcats


The Gekko's will be making a trek to Heinz Field, Pittsburgh tomorrow for, what hope's to be the conclusion of a perfect regular season for the Bearcats.

Personally, I'm not looking forward to this game.

The Bearcats defense continues to give up huge chunks of real estate to running backs and Pitt has a good one.

None the less, if you know a sherpa, come up to our section and say hi!

Bill Ayers Breaks With Obama, a lovers' quarell

Bill's apparently upset because Obama cheated on him with a little harlot named reality.

Thursday, December 03, 2009

Four more years of Bush

Hillary Clinton Gets A$$ Handed to Her By Lindsey Graham

How to Fix Health Care: Lasik Surgery For The Medical Debate

If you are a regular reader of this blog you would have read this here about 2 years ago.

30th Anniversary


Today marks the 30th anniversary of The Who concert tragedy, where 11 people were trampled to death getting into a festival seating show.

I was in high school at the time and had friends who drove down from Lancaster to attend the show.

These friends showed up to school the next morning totally unaware of what happened the night before; a testament to the 24/7 news cycles of today.

I will never forget the photographs of piles of clothing and shoes collected from people trampled but still managing to get into the show.

I'll also never forget that I had tickets to an Aerosmtih show at Fairgrounds Coliseum in Columbus (is that place still open) that was subsequently canceled due to concerns about festival seating.

Another interesting note is that I've subsequently met people who were at a Led Zeppelin show earlier that year who basically said the same thing happened to them.

WVXU has detail of the victims and the tragedy here.

The sad thing is that after 30 years, the dump, I referred to as the Cincinnati Mausoleum, still stands.

Wednesday, December 02, 2009

Obama's speech - The Cliff notes

It's nothing personal against Obama, but I don't watch political speeches.

In my mind, if I want a bunch of smoke blown up my butt by a politician, Ill buy a box of Montecristos and call Tiger's girlfriends.

But from the reports of the speech from liberal and conservative commentators here's all you need to know.

1) Obama wasn't too fired up to deliver a speech on a decision that didn't include the option "present".

2) He just wanted to be left alone so he could finish his waffle.

3) He just couldn't stomach offering the word "victory" to the people risking their lives for an exit strategy.

You can now go back to your 24/7 Tiger Woods coverage.

Jon Stewart on Climategate

Gold

Closed today at $1215

Tiger's Christmas Card


It didn't take long.......

thanks reader Doug

Why I'm no longer a conservative

In an attempt to be recognized by MSNBC as a conservative fed up with the conservative movement. I've decided that I'm no longer a "conservative" but a "not a conservative".

In Charles Johnson/Andrew Sullivan fashion, below are my ten points as to why I've changed from being a "conservative" to being a "not a conservative".


Because......

1) I resent the lunatics on right wing radio and TV. Keith Olberman, Chris Matthews and Ed Schultz are quite the poster children of sane, intellectual discourse.

2) It's clear that any critic of the Obama administration is a racist lunatic even though many of these same people have voted for and been supportive of black politicians in the past.

3) It's clear that tea baggers have to meet in large parks for a rally because they don't have the persuasive capabilities to riot in the streets like these committed democrats.




4) Making sure that abortion is part of every bill sent to congress is a core American value. Even when congress votes to celebrate National Foot Massage Day

5) Being around man made global warming theists is much more tolerable than those yokels who believe in a garden variety vanilla type, omnipotent, god. Even if you have to make stuff up to prove it exists.

6) Surely Tiger would choose Susan over Ann. Right?











7) I can't be around a bunch of morons who believe that a government who can't run a "Cash for Clunkers" program can't run a trillion dollar health care system. I mean c'mon...... Medicare's the model for all successful government run health care systems. Can't you see that?

8) I can't stand being around these goofball birthers. Or was that truthers? Or was that the Dan Rather fake/but true stories? OK, Never mind.

9) A right-wing blogosphere that is dominated by raging hate speech (Powerline, NRO, Hot Air, Free Republic, Ace of Spades, etc.). Once again, if you want sane conversation about government see the Daily Kos or The Democratic Underground.

10) What type of special dumb ass do you have to be to support the only democratic country in the Middle East and our only friend? Everyone knows that the only way appreciate an ally is to persecute every move they make.

So there you go.

Now, if you are a producer from MSNBC, contact my agent, he'll inform you that my integrity can't be purchased but it can be leased at a reasonable price.

It's my hope that I can make the "not a conservative" "conservative" talk circuit and rub elbows with the likes of David Frum, David Brooks, Kathleen Parker, Andy and Charlie, et al.

It's a much more effective way to get on mainstream mediums than being a plain, ordinary conservative.


Memo

To All Jihadists

From O. bin Laden

RE Vacation plans



Last night, me and my goats watched with glee as President Obama introduced a withdrawal plan by Summer of 2011. We look forward to the day we can all roam freely about Pakistan and Afghanistan without persecution by an American president.

On an unrelated note. Obviously, as you have all learned from watching CNN international, the current economy is a difficult one and we jihadists are not immune to poor investment performance. It is, after all, the money we use to fund our commitment to Allah.

As a result of our poor cash flow, I've decided to give you all an unpaid leave until September, 2011. By then, I'm convinced that the stock market will rebound and I will be more than able to fully fund our endeavors.

You all have worked very hard to kill infidels, so please look at this as vacation time to reconvene with your families in Iran, Oman, Saudi Arabia, etc. before hooking up with scores of virgins in the afterlife.

Please enjoy yourself during your time off. Also note that you are expected to reconvene in Kabul on September 11, 2011. Be back, refreshed and ready to kill satin when you return.

Don't be late!

OBL

Smokefree Ohio Voter Fraud

Where's Jennifer Brunner?

Chris Matthews calls West Point "Enemy Camp"

Gold

Now at $1200.

Is this bad news?

According to the AP........

MOST of the world’s population will be wiped out if political leaders fail to agree a method of stopping current rates of global warming, one of the UK’s most senior climate scientists has warned.

Professor Kevin Anderson, director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change, believes only around 10 per cent of the planet’s population – around half a billion people – will survive if global temperatures rise by 4C.

Anderson’s warning comes just eight days before global leaders meet in Copenhagen for the most crucial talks on climate change reversal since the Rio summit in 1992. Current Met Office projections reveal that the lack of action in the intervening 17 years – in which emissions of climate changing gases such as carbon dioxide have soared – has set the world on a path towards potential 4C rises as early as 2060, and 6C rises by the end of the century.

Anderson, who advises the government on climate change, said the consequences were "terrifying".


Exactly how is terrifying?

Think about this from a "progressive" point of view. As "progressives" we all know human beings are the scourge of the earth. If humans end up dying as a result of global warming that would be a good thing, right?

Of course the fewer people on earth means there are fewer corn growers, meat eaters, house builders, incandescent loght bulb users and SUV drivers which should mean the climate should get better because all of the heinous polluters are now dead, right?


Thanks to Jeremy for the heads up.

Read the rest......

Williams nails it!

If you ever wanted a lesson in conservatism 101, Walter Williams delivers it here.......

The ultimate constraint that we all face is knowledge -- what we know and don't know. The knowledge problem is pervasive and by no means trivial as hinted at by just a few examples. You've purchased a house. Was it the best deal you could have gotten? Was there some other house you could have purchased that 10 years later would not have needed extensive repairs or was in a community with more likeable neighbors and a better environment for your children? What about the person you married? Was there another person who would have made for a more pleasing spouse? Though these are important questions, the most intelligent answer you can give to all of them is: "I don't know."

Since you don't know the answers, who do you think, here on Earth, is likely to know and whom would you like to make these decisions for you -- Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, George Bush, a czar appointed by Obama or a committee of Washington bureaucrats? I bet that if these people were to forcibly make housing or marital decisions for us, most would deem it tyranny.

You say, "Williams, Congress is not making such monumental decisions that affect my life." Try this. You are a 22-year-old healthy person. Instead of spending $3,000 or $4,000 a year for health insurance, you'd prefer investing that money in equipment to start a landscaping business. Which is the best use of that $3,000 or $4,000 a year -- purchasing health insurance or starting up a landscaping business -- and who should decide that question: Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, George Bush, aczar appointed by Obama or a committee of Washington bureaucrats? How can they possibly know what's the best use of your earnings, particularly in light of the fact that they have no idea of who you are?


Read the rest and tell me where he's wrong.

Don't show Elin this

Tiger better sleep with one eye open.
This summer, police found 37-year-old Donessa Davis in a motel room. He had been allegedly assaulted, and his penis was glued to his body.


More....

Tiger Woods, a Chinese reenactment

This is hilarious

Tuesday, December 01, 2009

And we want these guys to run health care?

The first and, maybe, sole role of government is to protect it citizenry of threats within and outside it's borders.

So when Mike Huckabee decides that it's good for him to forgive and forget atrocities committed by criminals he seemed to forget that his number 1 job as a governor is to protect his citizens. His negligence resulted in the death of four cops among others victims from his clemency chubby.

When government cannot even take care of it basic role, how in the world can we expect it to satisfy our demand for health care?

Here's a great piece by a former Huckabee aide and his analysis of Huckabee's clemency decisions.

Nanny of The Month - November 2009

A few polar bears is worth a good cricket match

Hilarity from Mark Steyn.....

In order to save the planet from global roasting, it seems entirely reasonable to ask Mr. and Mrs. Joe Peasant to subordinate their freedom of movement to an annual "carbon allowance" preventing them flying hither and yon and devastating the environment. As Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, the chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, explains:

Hotel guests should have their electricity monitored; hefty aviation taxes should be introduced to deter people from flying; and iced water in restaurants should be curtailed, the world’s leading climate scientist has told the Observer.

Rajendra Pachauri? Hey, if you're manning the VIP lounge at Heathrow, that name may ring a bell:

Dr Rajendra Pachauri flew at least 443,243 miles on IPCC business in this 19 month period. This business included honorary degree ceremonies, a book launch and a Brookings Institute dinner, the latter involving a flight of 3500 miles.

Wow. 443,243 miles. How many flying polar bears does Dr. Pachauri kill in an average quarter? Well, not to worry, he probably offsets his record-breaking ursocide with carbon credits from carbon billionaire Al Gore.

And in any case it's okay to devastate the planet on IPCC business — plus the occasional cricket match:

So strong is his love for cricket that his colleagues recall the time the Nobel winner took a break during a seminar in New York and flew in to Delhi over the weekend to attend a practice session for a match before flying back. Again, he flew in for a day, just to play that match.

And why not? Aside from a slight increase in the risk of polar bears dropping from the skies onto stray Indian bowlers and wicket-keepers, where's the harm?

P.S. I like the headline on Dr. Pachauri's climate'n'cricket story: "Heat On Cricket Pitch Warms This Climate Change Laureate." If you're waiting for some journalist to ask him about the contradictions between his lifestyle and the one he wants the rest of us to submit to, that sound you hear is cricketers chirping.

We Are Change Chicago/Ohio Confronts Al Gore on Climategate at Borders - Global Warming Hoax

It pays to hire professionals

Isn't it sad how all of Tiger's ho's are now coming out. Each one obviously feeling violated..... each believing they were his only true skank on the side. Oh, the humiliation of it all.

Of course, it's not so humiliating as to go public with the "I am a slut" moniker.

Hey Tiger, take a hint from Charlie Sheen "I don't paid prostitutes for sex, I pay them to go home after wards".

How the crashers got through

CNN Politics reports that the Salahis are in debt to everyone from the Montgomery County, Md., traffic court (a $65 parking ticket) to a gasoline giant ($3,000 due Exxon-Mobil) to other credit card companies ($60,000 in unpaid billings), not to mention almost $100,000 allegedly owed attorneys who got involved in various Salahi dealings.

And amidst all those IOUs is an "unknown" amount due the IRS.

The Salahis' alleged financial troubles are detailed, says CNN, in at least 16 different civil suits.


I can see how The Secret Service let them through, they probably thought they were cabinet officials.

More.....

Charles leaves the ranch he was never on

I used to be a regular reader of Little Green Footballs. But about the last 18 months, he just started getting weird; like Andrew Sullivan. I just found that if he wasn't talking about atheism, a fight with another blogger or Sarah Palin, he didn't have a subject to talk about.

Eventually, I took him off my links because I never read anything thought provoking.

Well lo and behold, Charles has posted as to why he parted with the right.

1. Support for fascists, both in America (see: Pat Buchanan, Robert Stacy McCain, etc.) and in Europe (see: Vlaams Belang, BNP, SIOE, Pat Buchanan, etc.)

2. Support for bigotry, hatred, and white supremacism (see: Pat Buchanan, Ann Coulter, Robert Stacy McCain, Lew Rockwell, etc.)

3. Support for throwing women back into the Dark Ages, and general religious fanaticism (see: Operation Rescue, anti-abortion groups, James Dobson, Pat Robertson, Tony Perkins, the entire religious right, etc.)

4. Support for anti-science bad craziness (see: creationism, climate change denialism, Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, James Inhofe, etc.)

5. Support for homophobic bigotry (see: Sarah Palin, Dobson, the entire religious right, etc.)

6. Support for anti-government lunacy (see: tea parties, militias, Fox News, Glenn Beck, etc.)

7. Support for conspiracy theories and hate speech (see: Alex Jones, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Birthers, creationists, climate deniers, etc.)

8. A right-wing blogosphere that is almost universally dominated by raging hate speech (see: Hot Air, Free Republic, Ace of Spades, etc.)

9. Anti-Islamic bigotry that goes far beyond simply criticizing radical Islam, into support for fascism, violence, and genocide (see: Pamela Geller, Robert Spencer, etc.)

10. Hatred for President Obama that goes far beyond simply criticizing his policies, into racism, hate speech, and bizarre conspiracy theories (see: witch doctor pictures, tea parties, Birthers, Michelle Malkin, Fox News, World Net Daily, Newsmax, and every other right wing source)

And much, much more. The American right wing has gone off the rails, into the bushes, and off the cliff.

I won’t be going over the cliff with them.


Here's a news flash for Charles. If you believe all the things noted above are true (which I don't) they were just as true 10-20 years ago. The anti-abortion movement has always aligned with conservatives.

Just because Pat Buchanan calls himself a conservative doesn't make it so. I don't believe I've read one post on a conservative blog who's linked to Pat Buchanan or noted anything he's ever said. He's the token conservative on MSNBC who they like because he rips republicans more than democrats. He's the Pat Caddell of MSNBC.

In fact, unlike Michael Moore (who gets a front row seat at democratic conventions), the only way Buchanan gets into the GOP convention anymore is with a press pass.

While it's true that most republicans don't support gay marriage, it's the exact position of our current socialist president.... and California. Yet, somehow, conservatives are homophobes.

Charles names Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh as hate peddlers. Hello! have you ever watched Ed Schultz and Keith Olberdouche. If it wasn't for hate, there'd be no emotion at all.

Anti-Islamic bigotry? That was the hallmark of his blog for years. Me thinks Charles is suffering from a fatal bout of psychological projection

Life in "Progress" City

From the windy city of Chicago, who hasn't had a conservative in city government since Mrs. O'Leary's cow went vandalizing.

I know life is different in "Redville". For instance, my family had dinner and told stories and enjoyed each others company.

Of course we're apparently just a bunch of hayseeds. Because how "progressives" celebrate the holidays is to go on a shooting rampage..........

It was a violent and deadly holiday weekend in the Chicago area, with nine people reported slain between Wednesday and Sunday nights.

The violence began around 5 p.m. Thanksgiving eve, when Shannon Moore, 18, was found lying on the ground with gunshot wounds in the hallway of a building at 537 E. 44th St.

A witness who saw Moore involved in an argument went to call police, and as he was going to make the call he heard multiple gunshots, Perez said.

Moore was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he died at 4:45 p.m. Saturday, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.

In the early morning hours of Thanksgiving Day, a shooting at an Englewood gas station left one man dead.

Ricky Coleman, 21, was shot at the gas station at 810 W. 59th St., and was pronounced dead at 1:35 a.m. at Saint Bernard Hospital and Health Care Center, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office. The man was in the street when an unidentified gunman approached on foot and fired several shots at him about 12:30 a.m., police News Affairs Officer Hector Alfaro said.

Read the rest of the coroner's scroll here.

What's so "progressive" about a full morgue?

OOPS!

A big snafu on a news billboard.....



WPMI-TV insiders have confirmed what has been a swirling rumor for the past day — that the station’s general manager and news director were suspended for a week because of an embarrassing billboard.

General Manager Shea Grandquest and News Director Wes Finley have been suspended, allegedly because of a “snafu” with one of the electronic billboards in town that showed a picture of anchors Greg Peterson and Kym Thurman and Chief Meteorologist Derek Beasley alongside the headline “3 Accused of Gang Rape in Monroeville.” The headline was under the header “Right Now on Twitter,” and clearly was aimed at promoting the station’s breaking news, but a photo of it has made its way to e-mails all over town and brought plenty of laughs.

But c'mon, these guys have fact checkers and all.

More...

Global Warming Challenge Update

The month of November was a big comeback for the Branch Gorevidian warming alarmists in my Global Warming Challenge.

The average high temperature for the month of November was 56.7 degrees versus an historical high of 53.6 degrees.

The average low temperature was 38.3 degrees versus an historical low of 35.7 degrees.

That brings the score to a tie of

Warm 11
Cool 11

Now I could be like your average climate "scientist" and not share my data with you or communicate how I computed my figures and just tell you to trust me. But I'm a lowly novice who doesn't know anything but the common sense my parents instilled in me. Therefore, if you want to check my work click here.

Unfortunately, I don't have the skills to delete large quantities of data off of my computer which probably disqualifies me as a serious scientist.

By the way, that p&%^y Eric from Plunderbong has refused to show up and take me up on my challenge and "put his money where his mouth is". I guess he doesn't really believe or he be more than willing to take some money from the great Gordon Gekko. I mean c'mon, unlike a climate scientist, he can at least get the benefit of checking my work.

Where's that international community?

Remember the good old days when beer was served in those thick returnable bottles and the world hated us because George Bush was president?

Remember how a President Obama would salve all wounds and have the world join us in our crusade to wipe out terrorism?

Someone needs to get the memo to Kevin Rudd.........

Kevin Rudd has thrown his support behind US President Barack Obama's new Afghanistan strategy but the prime minister reaffirmed his position that Australia would not boost troop numbers in the war-torn country.

The two leaders met in the White House Oval Office on Monday with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to discuss a "wide range of issues" from Afghanistan to the upcoming United Nations climate change summit in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Mr Rudd was briefed on Obama's new blueprint for Afghanistan, which is expected to include an injection of 30,000 more US troops and strategies to fast-track the training of Afghan military and police so the responsibility of security can be handed back to the Afghans.

Obama will reveal the details of the plan in a televised address in the US on Tuesday.

"This approach outlined by President Obama is one which Australia fully, I repeat, fully supports in the future," Mr Rudd said, speaking at a press conference in Washington DC after his day of high-powered meetings, told reporters.


I always like that phrase "fully support" when the person "fully supporting" you doesn't do a damn thing.

More....

Monday, November 30, 2009

A Branch Gorevidian sees the light

Clive Crook on the Climategate emails...........
In my previous post on Climategate I blithely said that nothing in the climate science email dump surprised me much. Having waded more deeply over the weekend I take that back.

The closed-mindedness of these supposed men of science, their willingness to go to any lengths to defend a preconceived message, is surprising even to me. The stink of intellectual corruption is overpowering. And, as Christopher Booker argues, this scandal is not at the margins of the politicised IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] process. It is not tangential to the policy prescriptions emanating from what David Henderson called the environmental policy milieu [subscription required]. It goes to the core of that process.

One theme, in addition to those already mentioned about the suppression of dissent, the suppression of data and methods, and the suppression of the unvarnished truth, comes through especially strongly: plain statistical incompetence. This is something that Henderson's study raised, and it was also emphasised in the Wegman report on the Hockey Stick, and in other independent studies of the Hockey Stick controversy. Of course it is also an ongoing issue in Steve McIntyre's campaign to get hold of data and methods. Nonetheless I had given it insufficient weight. Climate scientists lean very heavily on statistical methods, but they are not necessarily statisticians. Some of the correspondents in these emails appear to be out of their depth. This would explain their anxiety about having statisticians, rather than their climate-science buddies, crawl over their work.

I'm also surprised by the IPCC's response. Amid the self-justification, I had hoped for a word of apology, or even of censure. (George Monbiot called for Phil Jones to resign, for crying out loud.) At any rate I had expected no more than ordinary evasion. The declaration from Rajendra Pachauri that the emails confirm all is as it should be is stunning. Science at its best. Science as it should be. Good lord. This is pure George Orwell. And these guys call the other side "deniers".


Really an excellent read. Finish it here.....

The media's complicity

Maybe the larger scandal in the climategate dust up is the media's continued inattention to the leaked memos.....

The BBC has become tangled in the row over the alleged manipulation of scientific data on global warming.

One of its reporters has revealed he was sent some of the leaked emails from the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia more than a month ago – but did nothing about them.

Despite the explosive nature of some of the messages – which revealed apparent attempts by the CRU’s head, Professor Phil Jones, to destroy global temperature data rather than give it to scientists with opposing views – Paul Hudson failed to report the story.

This has led to suspicions that the scandal was ignored because it ran counter to what critics say is the BBC’s unquestioning acceptance in many of its programmes that man-made climate change is destroying the planet.

Life in "Progress" state

They called it Paradise
I don't know why
Somebody laid the mountains low
While the town got high

From the golden state of California, who hasn't had a conservative in state government since the summer of love.........
Just days before Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislators finalized a water package, including an $11.1 billion bond issue, state Treasurer Bill Lockyer warned them not to do it.

California is already deeply in debt, Lockyer warned, has huge budget deficits and can't afford another big bond issue.

"The days of blithely heaping more and more debt burden on the general fund are over – at least they should be," Lockyer said.

The earmark-laden bond issue, the package's single most controversial element, raises an interesting question: Just how deeply in debt are our state and local governments?

The answer: No one knows for certain, since debt is scattered through myriad agencies in many forms, but well over a half-trillion dollars is a fair estimate.

Lockyer's warning pertained to the state's "general obligation debt," which currently stands at $59 billion, and there are an additional $50-plus billion in general obligation bonds that have not yet been sold. 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.

Last night, the Lovely Mrs. Gekko (my no drama mama) and I were doing our weekly run to our local Mexican restaurant and started a conversation with our server about his travels.

Here's a man who was born in Tijuana, lived in California for six years and in his opinion "California is a horrible place to live" amongst other observations.

What's so "progressive" about insolvency?

More.....

Why nationalize?

Hugo Chavez has it all wrong......

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday he could nationalize private banks unless they comply with the law, adding he had "no problem with that because the banks don't want to extend credit to the poor."

In a broadcast from nationalized farmland in central Venezuela, he said: "To all the country's private bankers ... (I'm saying) he who slips up loses; I'll take over the bank, whatever its size."

"You want me to nationalize the banks?" he said during the broadcast of his weekly TV show "Alo Presidente."

"I have no problem with that because the banks don't want to extend credit to the poor, they don't comply, they don't want to comply with the bank's purpose for existence, and that is the law."

Chavez said the purpose of banks was not to enrich a small group of people but "should be to collect funds and savings to help aid the country's development by making loans, extending credits for housing."

In power for a decade, Chavez has nationalized broad swathes of the economy.

Hugo buddy take a tip from the world's biggest socialist. You don't nationalize the banks. What you do is set up a huge fund of TARP money force banks to take the money even if they don't need it, then tell them what they can do with their businesses once they have it.

It's all the fun without any of the responsibility.

Thanks reader Jeremy for the link....