BubbaJake's Blog - 2old2play

Where to start...

I have not blogged a lot lately. The problem isn't that I don't have anything to say...the problem is I have too much.

Hillary and Bill's donors. I don't care about Arab Sheiks donating to Bill. He probably let them in on his Viagra source. What bugs me is the New York developer who got millions in federal $$ for his shopping mall project. Then he gave $100,000 to Bill Clinton's foundation. And 9 months later Hillary got him another $5 million in a highway bill. Sounds like cattle futures...'donate' $100k and get a 7000% return on the investment. But ask any congressman...they will tell you that money doesn't influence their legislative decisions. Jeesh. What do they think we are...stupid? Oh wait...they do think we are stupid. Sorry.

Al Frankin. We are witnessing the most incompetent election recount in modern history. 'Count every vote' is turning out to mean 'count some votes twice...if they are for the Democratic candidate'. Ironically, damaged ballots, which are to be recopied to 'duplicate' ballots, labeled as duplicates, and segregated from undamaged ballots. Someone 'forgot' to mark the duplicates properly, so the originals and duplicates were counted in the recount. 100 votes for Frankin. In another, the recount yielded more votes then were electronically recorded on election night. The canvassing board ruled to use the recount data. Score -Frankin . However, in another case, the recount yielded fewer votes then the electronic record from election night...board ruled to use the electronic data not the recount data. Score -Frankin. Counties were directed to examine and make a list of the absentee ballots that might have been improperly rejected. Frankin leaning counties did. Coleman leaning counties didn't. From this uneven response the Sec of State and former Acorn activist found another 176 votes for Coleman. At least twenty five precincts have now recorded a higher vote tally then the number of people who voted in the election. Frankin started 215 votes behind and is now 225 votes ahead. Apparently 'disenfranchisement' only applies to democratic voters.

Bailouts. GM gets billions from the Feds at 8%, and starts making loans to people with poor credit at 0%. Hey...it worked for the housing market. And Ford, who had the balls to refuse the bailout, can't afford to make 0% loans, so the Feds are giving the shitty company that is still advertising Hummers an edge. What about the Chevy Volt? 'Ah shit, that's just something we parade in front of Congress'. Buy Honda. If you must buy American, buy Ford. Fuck GM and Chrysler.

Bailouts 2. Every mayor in America is crying out for a bailout. They want to build schools and roads and synchronize traffic lights (I shit you not). Isn't that what they have already been taxing us to do all of these years? Apparently, the Highway Bills were ineffective in building and maintaining all of the infrastructure because of all of the billions in pork that they were filled with. When are we going to learn that we have a finite amount of $$ and therefore cannot do everything? Congress is like the family that goes to Disneyland every month, buys two vacation homes and a boat, new car, motorcycle, and then complains that they cannot make ends meet on food stamps. I have lost track of how much Congress is actually planning on spending. Last time I added it up we were approaching $2 TRILLION. That is money we do not have. Unless you want to be eating Tomato Soup for the next 10 years, you better start writing your Congress-idiots and complain.

Energy. Ethanol wants a bailout because, even after years of State and Federal handouts and mandates that ethanol be blended into gasoline, the downturn in demand and the drop in gas prices has made ethanol even more unprofitable. And we are converting hundreds if not thousands of square miles of land into inefficient wind and solar farms while relying on natural gas and coal to fill in the (huge) gap, while we avoid nuclear power because of the 'waste problem'. France generates the majority of their power from nuclear and because they reprocess their waste (think recycling, only it is cost effective) into new fuel. The result is that after 25 years, their 'waste' fits into the area of a public school gymnasium. And no greenhouse gases. Compare that to the mountains of coal ash we produce burning coal that we rape from the land. But nuclear is environmentally unfriendly.

Bill Richardson. Lets get personal here. I lived in New Mexico. Ah, the Politics of Patronage. Did Bill do anything wrong? Probably no more than Hillary Clinton or Ted Stevens or William Jefferson or Charles Rangel or Rod Blagojevich or... It is the way the game is played. I just love it when the mighty (arrogant) fall. The investigation will proceed, money will be donated to charity, and no 'wrongdoing' will be uncovered. Just stupidity, but like Arnold...he'll 'bebaaack'.

So here we are in the 'Year of the Change'. And nothing has changed. We just have corruption on steroids. Because spending of this magnitude breeds corruption. But I have to give a hat tip to Kwazy . To the politicians, or any of the 'special interest' groups, the voters are 'cabbages'. Unfortunately, since most voters CHOOSE to remain ignorant and uninvolved, the system works for the politicians. By the time an election comes around, the faithful don't believe or refuse to care about what their candidate really did, and the people how are informed and do care are such a small number as to not matter.

Talk about disenfranchisement.

*Pink*

[2 Comments]

Bah Humbug...with an explanation

I get really grumpy at Xmas. This year wasn't as bad because we didn't "do" Xmas until the 28th, after the youngest arrived and had a chance to do some shopping. And it was better that way. And yesterday I realized why Xmas bothers me. Nine years ago on Christmas Eve my ex served me with divorce papers. I had to 'beg' to spend time with the boys on Christmas Eve, wasn't there on Christmas morning, and then Christmas afternoon my ex hopped a plane to go visit her boyfriend, leaving the kids with me on Christmas Day. Talk about some tough explaining to do with 5 and 9 year olds. It has been an interesting 9 years. I almost lost my kids to the ex's brainwashing. Nearly went bankrupt with legal fees. Had lots of women, many who had or wanted kids of their own, dump me because I wouldn't give up the fight for my kids.

And miraculously I met DA.

No shit. It shouldn't have happened. I had tried Match.com about a year earlier. Lots of really strange people there. Really strange. After a couple disastrous dates, I let my membership expire. About a year later for some reason I cannot explain (and no, it wasn't that I was horny. I'm always horny) I took a look at who was on the site. I don't know what search terms I used, but one of the profiles that came up was DA's. It caught my eye. Shit. She lived over 300 miles away. Oh well, I sent her an email.

Now, there is a certain online etiquette followed on dating sites. It's kind of a 'I'll show you mine if you show me yours' protocol. However, without realizing it, my profile was disabled, so DA couldn't check out anything about me. Just an email out of the blue. I wasn't taking the rules seriously. It was just a whim. For some reason that only DA knows, but I have always attributed to mental illness, DA responded. Single, never married, might or might not want kids, up to her ears in horses...I was not optimistic. First, I didn't trust anyone. Second, after being dumped for being a dad, I figured this would be another 3 month run only to be told that my ex was batshit insane and that she couldn't take it anymore. So, I confess I half-heartedly started a relationship while hitting her with both barrels of the insanity. I figured if this relationship is going the same way as the others, may as well end it before I put a lot of miles on the car. I actively worked to drive her away.

Ah, romance.

Little did I know that DA had a brain. And DA could separate what was 'me' from the debris that was left by my ex. DA saw honesty and commitment, and concluded that I had the makings of a good man. And I wasn't even on my best behavior. I see now that we 'worked' because DA was comfortable with herself. She wanted a man to share her life with. She didn't need a man to make her life complete. DA showed me what it was like to have a real, healthy relationship with a woman. And she made me mad that I had wasted 20 years of my life with my ex.

Two moves later, she was living about 4 blocks away. Then we had 'the fight'. While I'm sure she remembers the cause, I remember getting really angry. Fuming. I stormed out of the room. She waited for me to return, and then eventually left. The next day we agreed to get together to talk. She came over and unloaded on me. I recall it was hours and hours and hours...ok...maybe just an hour. I didn't say anything other than "is there anything else?". When the answer was "no", I said we should go out the next night and I would tell her my side. She went home. The next night, I took her out to a restaurant. Witnesses, social pressure to keep your voice down, multiple Fire Exits to use as escape routes. No steak knives. Survivable. I told her my side. She listened. She didn't argue. When it was done, we both understood the others position, the mistakes and misunderstandings that were at the root of the argument, and we were back on track.

And I was in love.

DA respected me. She listened to me. She was willing to understand both sides and meet in the middle. And just looking at her, I saw love. I was hooked. She moved in with me shortly after that. We married a few years later in a ceremony that couldn't have been more perfect. And none of it would have happened without Match.com and that one email. It was meant to be. And I'm glad.

Happy New Year DA. I love you.

*Pink*

[10 Comments]

Fox News sucks ass

I made the mistake of turning on Fox News this morning. Silly me. It was not my usual routine but with ice under newly fallen snow, I thought I might ease my way into the difficult choice of "Do I go to work?" or "Do I crawl onto the couch with a sleeping bag and snuggle the dog (DA is out of town)?". I expected perhaps an update on the run on "Bush shoes" or maybe even some info on why that plane ran off the runway in Denver. Possibly some commentary on Obama's choice for Sec of Labor and how the u/n/i/o/n/s are in heaven since she has promised to roll back the reporting and monitoring requirements implemented under Bush that uncovered extensive u/n/i/o/n management corruption.

But no.

I get to hear discussions about how Santa Claus can travel all the way around the world in one night. And an analysis of the technology behind how he knows if you have been naughty or nice. And we get to talk to a wanker at NORAD who obviously has nothing better to do than 'track' the mythical fat man on his bazillion dollar radar monitoring system.

Newsflash...children are not up at 6AM watching Fox News for Santa updates.

"According to NORAD, Santa began his latest flight early Wednesday at the International Date Line in the Pacific Ocean. Historically, Santa visits the South Pacific first, then New Zealand and Australia. NORAD points out that only Santa knows his route."

Oh bull fucking shit. And mix this in with the occasional story about the seasons 'hot' gifts, which are really only product placement ads from manufacturers begging "Please buy my crap or I'll have to request a government bailout".

No wonder we are a country of idiots.

Before you tattoo "Bah Humbug!" to my ass and thumb me down for not partaking in the 'Holiday Spirit', ask yourself...is the season really about buying crap, frantically juggling visits to relative X or Y or Z only to fail and offend them all (as you have succeeded in doing every year), and dealing with whiny nieces and nephews who aren't happy with your gift because it isn't cool enough or expensive enough? We run from store-to-store melting down the plastic while fighting asinine crowds and icy roads, only to get ourselves so stressed out that we snap and bite the head off the first family member who says the wrong thing. And we engage in this annual performance why? So that we can tell our young children that some magical being who lives at the North Pole has nothing better to do than rain crap on them once a year in exchange for about a week of good behavior and placing them in training for when they are older and Mom and Dad rain crap on them in exchange for about a day of good behavior in training for their advancement into the ranks of the debt laden American consumer.

Wouldn't it be nicer to toss a Duraflame on the hearth, warm up some apple cider (laced with rum so the kiddies get comatose really early in the evening), take a deep breath and listen to some music? Even better, go to the local food bank and either give them some of the $$ you are spending on crap, or ask them what do they really need and go to the store and buy it for them (and no, donating the Lima beans and Spam from your cupboard and expecting poor kids to suck it down does not constitute 'Holiday Spirit'). How about shoveling the driveway for the old bag across the street? Or having your kids each buy one gift for toys-for-tots?

Show your kids there is more to life than buying shit. And make sure they know that no matter how tough it is, there is always someone else out there in a tougher situation then they are.

And no, I'm not perfect. I like nothing more than spending $$ on DA and my kids. But I don't have a Xmas list this year. All I really want from them is their time. And maybe a little Crown on the rocks.

*Pink*

[1 Comments]

Foreign Policy is a many-splendored thing

Carl Levin (D-Mich) released his report on the alleged 'Bush torture abuses' last week. Congress would be horrible at making movies. The outcome is always known long before the 'conclusions' are written.

According to the Wall Street Journal, no less than 12 non-partisan investigations have been conducted over the years and not one of them reached the conclusion that the Bush Administration condoned or tolerated detainee abuse. At the time of the 2002 "torture memos", there were 30 briefings to bipartisan congressional groups that included discussions of 'torture' options and not a single Congressman objected. Congress itself has deliberately defined torture in very vague terms so as to ban only the most extreme methods and yet to preserve numerous legal loopholes. On two separate occasions Congress had the opportunity to specifically banwaterboarding. They refused. Of course, to take a strong position risked possibly accepting some of the responsibility for a future attack.

Despite all of this, Mr. Levin lays the responsibility, colorfully embellished, at the feet of President Bush, Vice-President Cheney, Defense Secretary DonaldRumsfeld, John Yoo, Jay Bybee , and Jim Haynes. Because Mr. Levin knows better than the 12 other report writers and Mr. Levin is laying the groundwork for subsequent war crimes charges in the Democrats rush to punish and assign blame.

Before you cite the media rhetoric about 'torture' do a little reading as to what these 'policy memos' really were, and where the requests for guidance were coming from, and what 'torture' methods were really used. The truth is always a little more complex. For example, Bush is on the way out and Obama will soon be responsible for keeping the Nation safe. The Democrats have started to acknowledge that maybe security is a little more complicated than their Congressional blustering would indicate. Dianne Feinstein, who (gasp!) will chair the Senate Intelligence Committee starting next session, recently stated that "extreme cases might call for flexibility". Ms. Feinstein released a statement that all interrogations should be conducted within the more specific limits of the U.S. Army Field Manual but said she will "consider" other views.

Interestingly, Ms. Feinstein's comments exactly follow U.S. law and exactly represent what the Bush Administration did by insisting on an exception for the CIA to use 'other techniques' in extreme cases. Go figure. Maybe Levin should include Feinstein in his list of war criminals.

But lets zoom up to 10,000 feet for a minute. Formal U.S. Foreign Policy, combined with statements made by the Administration and Congress, are listened to world-wide. After unseating Saddam,Muammar Qaddafi had a sudden revelation and decided to take responsibility for Pan Am 103, open his country to inspections, and start normalizing relations with western nations. Why? Because he feared the powerful rhetoric coming out of Washington and thought his country was next. Of course, unseating Saddam and dismantling what at that time was the third largest standing army took the regional pressure off Iran and letAhmadinejad focus his mischief more globally. North Korea is the other extreme. (Un)Healthy paranoia and a siege mentality has resulted in a string of Foreign Policy failures and the export of WMD technology to Iran and Lebanon. Under Reagan, the Soviet U/n/i/o/n was manipulated in an 'unpopular war' in Afghanistan, pressured into spending far more than they could afford on defense, neglecting the needs of their populous (even more so than usual), ending up on the brink of bankruptcy and ultimately collapsing under the pressure. At the time it seemed a well played and successful gambit. In hindsight, it was extremely dangerous. The Soviets believed so strongly that the U.S. was determined to destroy them and had so greatly surpassed them in weapons technology (particularly biological weapons), that a nuclear first strike against the U.S. was being seriously entertained as their only option for survival. Ironically, it was the Soviets desire to fend off an imagined attack from the U.S. that caused the Soviets to project as much power as possible, which heightened the U.S. fears that the Soviets were trying to take over the world and destroy the U.S.

And around and around and around...

Yet what all of these have in common is a lack of accurate intelligence information on the part of one or both sides. This has been and will continue to be a problem, especially when administrations shift reliance away from human assets to technological monitoring (Clinton) or the Nation engages in detailed public discussions of what coercive techniques or monitoring technologies are permitted (Bush). Today we are faced with a resurgent Russia and possible satellites in Cuba and South America, unknown leadership in North Korea, Iran in the infancy of becoming a regional nuclear threat, a nuclear Pakistan sliding further into third world squalor, the nebulous threat of AlQaeda , ongoing conflicts around Israel and in Indonesia, genocide in the Sudan, all coupled with the pressures of a collapsing world economy which is driving most of these countries further toward despair. This is not the time for public discussions of our intelligence gathering methods. This is not a time for retribution from the Democrats. This is not a time for the courts to decide the limits of our foreign policies. This is a time for leadership.

Too bad we don't have any.

*Pink*

[1 Comments]

The skinny one is HAWT

Embedded YouTube Video --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47SGfpTXf1Y

[4 Comments]

Congress gets a raise

After forcing Corporate CEO's to accept salaries of $1/yr based on dubious accusations of responsibility for the economic crisis, Congressmen get $4700/yr. pay increases. And that in the light of rising unemployment, a downturn in the economy, and much of the responsibility for the U.S.'s economic problems falling squarely on the shoulders of...yup, Congress and the policies they enacted. Uncontrolled spending, encouraging irresponsible debt, refusal to address the pending failures of Medicare and Scoail Security, deficit spending...that is the legacy of Congress.

Wish I could be incompetent and get a $4700 raise.

*Pink*

[7 Comments]

Opinions?

I blogged the other day that the guy who threw his shoe at Bush should be tried. He is now sucking up...errr...asking the Iraqi President for a pardon.

Should he get one?

What should happen to him?

Douche exploiting the system or do you think he really believes he made a mistake?

*Pink*

[8 Comments]

And I wasn't even in Arkansas

Map showing the risk of death from 'Natural Hazards'. Gives new meaning to the whole 'Red State/Blue State' thing. Oprah unavailable for comment.

[1 Comments]

Art Auction

Hey...I forgot I was supposed to put in a word for the 2old2play Holiday Art Auction. It goes through Dec 22 and there is some cool shit. And it is 2old2play art, not Holiday Art, so if you are looking for midget elf porn, go use google.

*Pink*

And check out Obama, the College years.

[0 Comments]

Czars

When our government was formed, we had four cabinet positions, State, War, Treasury, and the Attorney General. The President's Cabinet was to advise and assist the President in running the Executive Branch and these were clearly the most important functions. In addition to normal operations, the intent was that in time of crisis, the President had the best advice available and the important sectors of public policy had a voice.

Over the years, the Cabinet has grown to 15 Departments plus 6 Cabinet level positions (the VP, White House Chief of Staff, Administrator of the EPA, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, The Director of National Drug Control Policy, and the U.S. Trade Representative). The expansion of the Cabinet was political (duh) and intended by a given President to show that he felt a particular issue or area was important. Personally, I fail to see the role the Secretary of Veterans Affairs plays in a National of International crisis, but I'm sure someone got some votes out of the deal and now that the position exists, it cannot be undone.

So how does a new President show that his Administration is serious about say, Energy? Appoint a really good Sec. of Energy? No, that will never do. Not flashy enough. So yesterday, Mr. Obama, of the President ElectObama's , named Carol Browner, the former EPA chief, as a White House Energy Czar. Now he also named people to head the Dept. of Energy and the EPA. And he filled the position of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development while also saying he will be naming an urban-affairs czar to work out of the White House.

And dispite the fact that he has the Treasury Department, the Council of Economic Advisers, and the National Economic Council, he named PaulVolker

as the Economic Czar...probably to have him try and make sense out of what the Treasury Department, the Council of Economic Advisers, and the National Economic Council are telling him.

Tom Daschle is unique in that he is going to be secretary of Health and Human Services AND Health Czar. I wonder if he gets half pay for each, double pay for both, or time-and-a half?

Even Congress is trying to get in on the act and has been making noise about appointing a 'Car Czar'.

Yet read what Paul Light, and expert on Government from NYU says:

"There've been so many czars over last 50 years, and they've all been failures."

"Nobody takes them seriously anymore."

(reference to homeland security and drug policy)

"The problem is that 'czars' are meant to be all-powerful people who can rise above the problems that plague the federal agencies, but in the end, they can't."

"We only create them because departments don't work or don't talk to each other,"

"It's a symbolic gesture of the priority assigned to an issue, and I emphasize the word symbolic. When in doubt, create a czar."

Am I the only one who sees that if you have a Secretary of Energy and an Energy Czar, you are setting up a huge turf battle? From the Obama camp...

"the goal is to give special attention to the issues he cares most about, said a transition official. The transition team is currently reviewing campaign promises and options as officials figure out how many more of these jobs are needed."

More Czars. But the era of the 'Czar' is ending. The public is tiring of term. It has been used so much that is it starting to become what it really is...meaningless. 'Prince' sound weak. 'King' threatensObama's manhood. 'God' doesn't work for either the religious right or the loony left.

So my advice to the Obama team is to reinvent the government and come up with some new terms that will inspire the ignorant masses. We don't need Secretaries and Czars, we need Bad-Assed Mother-Fuckers and Omniscient Super Beings. Think about it. Imagine Samuel L. Jackson introducing himself to Kim Jong Il..."I'm the BAMF from State and I'm here to talk to you about those missiles you sold to the Iranians". Beats the crap out of "I'm the Czar in charge of negotiating with pain-in-the-ass countries run by dwarf Chihuahuas."

But seriously...how big does the government need to get? It is already so unwieldy we need an 'Uber-Czar' to manage the Czars. Then we will need Uber-Uber Czars...

We have a War on Drugs that is a failure (at least for the 800,000 non-violent criminals it has put in prison, not for the police agencies that get to confiscate Corvettes), State is a mess...just look at how many times under both Clinton and Bush II North Korea has promised to behave only to say "Never mind", Defense has Congress shoving weapons systems down their throats that they don't want, don't need, and cannot afford because it saves jobs in some congressional district. Homeland Security? Don't get me started -- it's aclusterfuck . Veteran's Affairs? Sorry, but crack whores are treated better by the government. Education? Fuck Education, we need a Parenting Czar who carries a big stick. Energy? They watch nukes age and pump oil INTO the ground. Treasury? Great understanding of economics there. Interior doesn't know if they are cutting down or planting trees this week. The AG is too busy chasing adults watching porn to worry about governmental corruption. Agriculture is paying the non-farming owners of rural property to not farm (seriously...Realtors tell city folks who want to get out of the city that it is a 'bonus' for owning the rural property). Sigh.

So given the option of more people working for the government trying to do more fucked-up things in a more disorganized manner, I'm for firing half of the government so that they can do fewer bad things.

*Pink*

[3 Comments]

Sex...or the Internet?

So which is it? Sex or the Internet? I realize that for some of you, it is the same thing. But seriously...if you would give up sex with the person you love in order to have net connectivity...you are pretty messed up.

"Fully 65% of the respondents felt they couldn't live without Internet access". Ummm, OK wankers, think about what you just said. Do you have no clue as the to difference between being inconvenienced and a necessity?

Seriously screwed up.

*Pink*

[4 Comments]

Democracy in Iraq

OK...Iraqi asswipe reporter, who doesn't seem to be much different that U.S. asswipe reporters, throws a shoe at President Bush. I read that to a Muslim, being shown the bottom of the foot or shoe is supposed to be the ultimate insult. The guy is pissed at what Bush has done to his country and at the American 'occupation' of Baghdad.

Clearly this reporter, Muntazer al-Zaidi, is an idiot. It was not that long ago that the act of throwing a shoe at a visiting dignitary, a guest of So-damn-insane, would have resulted in a swift and likely immediate death. If you were lucky. It could have resulted in being slowly tortured to death in one of the many Iraqi prisons. Does this fact register with Mr. al-Zaidi? Doubtful. After all, I'm sure he would say that So-Damn would have never invited a dignitary that he didn't approve of, so there would be no need to 'voice' any disapproval. Yeah. That's democracy.

Sad part is that while in custody, it appears that Iraqi police or jailers roughed him up a bit...broken ribs and a broken arm. Too bad.

What they should have done is to let him go.

Iraq had an opportunity to send a strong message that they are now a Democratic country. True, throwing a shoe at a visiting President is probably not something you want to encourage, so arresting the reporter is not inappropriate. Beating him up simply shows that Iraqi's are human too. It's wrong, but give they a chance to get a grip on this democracy thing. You don't shrug off the effects of So-Damn that quickly. And given that this reporter, who sounds more like an Anti-American activist (could likely get a job at MSNBC!) embarassed the Iraqi people on the world stage. That will result in an emotional reaction.

So what Iraq needs to do now is get this guy good medical care and give this guy a fair trial...probably a fine for bing an asswipe, and then conduct a full investigation as to how the security forces treated him and charge and try those who violated the law, and demonstrate that criminals will get due process, and the government is not above the law. That will go a long way to reinforcing the idea that Iraq is changing for the better.

*Pink*

[4 Comments]

Think about this

There is a lot of talk about how bad radical muslims are and how they 'misread' the Qu'ran. Listen to this and think...messed up people are not that far from home.

Embedded YouTube Video --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YoSkBQkc5E

[11 Comments]

Nice Dodge

Pretty nimble for an old guy.

Embedded YouTube Video --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttwpFIulpMM

[1 Comments]

Global Bunk

I have long been skeptical of the claims made by the Global Warming...err...Climate Change crowd. My basis is work I did in the 1990's on the Mission the Planet Earth where we were called upon to use our expertise in the development of remote sensing systems to design sensors and platforms for characterizing the Earth's atmosphere (incoming solar radiation, refelcted solar radiation vs altitude, water vapor profiling, etc) over regions that corresponded to the size of the simulation 'cells' used in the Global Circulation Models. The problem at that time was the GCM's, when run backwards, gave large errors as to the temperatures in the early 1900's. Of course, these are the same GCM's being used to predict Global Warming...Cooling...Change.

So, start by reading this -- UN Blowback: More Than 650 International Scientists Dissent Over Man-Made Global Warming Claims.

Then, reference Thousands Negotiate New Climate Treaty.

Finally, take a look at the biography of the U.N.'s Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change -- these are the guys charged with setting global dogma...oops...policy for combating Climate Change. Specifically,

Commencing his career with the Diesel Locomotive Works, Varanasi, where he held several managerial positions, Dr Pachauri joined the North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA, where he obtained an MS in Industrial Engineering in 1972, a PhD in Industrial Engineering and a PhD in Economics, and also served as Assistant Professor (August 1974 -- May 1975) and Visiting Faculty Member (Summer 1976 and 1977) in the Department of Economics and Business.

Now...he seems like a smart guy, and Engineering and Economics are certainly useful fields. And likely he is a good manager, which is probably what the IPCC needs. But Dr. Pachuri has the gall to describe the heathen Climate Change Skeptics as "Flat Earthers", yet a recent peer reviewed study points out that half of the recent warming was due to changes in solar output, something that the Climate Changers have repeatedly tried to ignore. Mr. Pachuri is not leading a reasoned discussion of the science, but in it's stead, he is leading a religion that supresses dissent and advocates for a massive transfer of wealth from the poor to the very rich, ala 'cap and trade'. "The IPCC has actually become a closed circuit; it doesn't listen to others. It doesn't have open minds." [Indian geologist Dr. Arun D. Ahluwalia of the Center of Advanced Study in Geology at Punjab University and a visiting scholar of the Geology Department at University of Cincinnati]

Perhaps the most interesting statement I say was this:

"The skeptics are doing a good job because they are making us present ironclad proof," said Lawrence E. Buja, a climate change researcher for the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado.

But since that battle is over, he said scientists need to move on and look at the detailed impact of climate change.

Wait...did he just admit that in scientific endevours, Skeptics are useful? Heretic! Of course, I have yet to see anything I would call "ironclad proof". But he goes on to say...

Buja, who contributed to the IPCC report, said scientists are looking at futuristic solutions to halt global warming, such as imitating the cooling effects of a massive volcanic eruption by spreading sulfur in the atmosphere, or scattering billions tiny refractors high in the air to dim the sun and lower the temperature.

But he said such radical solutions involve risks.

"How are you going to go up and find all those little refractors and pull them down if something bad starts to happen?" he asked.

But wait...these enlightened scientists and their ironclad proof, coupled with their advanced and perfectly accurate understanding of the atmosphere (after all, how can you have "ironclad proof" without a full undertstanding of all the effects and relationships), they could make a mistake by unleashing a "solution" that could cause "something bad" to happen? It sounds like a bad Sci Fi movie. "The tiny reflectors have caused an ice age and the microwave generator we developed to burn them out of the atmosphere is heating the ocean and creating a Cat 10 hurricaine that is heading for Al Gore's palace in New York City. Anybody have any Nukes left? Too bad we had all those Global Warming skeptics put to death."

And what about claims that Global Warming is really a measure of Urbanization? It has been shown repeatedly that if you remove the data from monitoring stations located near urban areas, the 'rural' stations don't show the profound warming trend that is being used to justify recommendations of radical and severe changes to the global economy. But this data is magically 'corrected' by the experts and the warming trend is preserved. Bunk.

We need to reduce our impact on the earth. We need to work toward developing new energy sources and technologies. We need engergy independence. But we need to do it in a sane way that doesn't cripple economies around the world while letting Al Gore plane 30 trees and continue living with a 'carbon footprint' the size of Kuwait. Did you see recently that environmentalistsin Taos are protesting a landowner erecting a wind farm? Why...noise, bird kills, and degradation of the mesa's scenic appeal. There is no source of energy that will satisfy these wackos so we need to write them out of the decisions and move forward with nuclear. The NIMBY crowd is going to fight anything and everything and the average citizen has no idea how much energy we really use. Wind, Solar, and Hydro will not do it even with extensive conservation efforts.

Sane steps. That is what we need.

*Pink*

P.S. It snowed in Houston yesterday.

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