Friday, December 25, 2009

Something to remember in 2010 and 2012

This AP article on the UN climate summit in Copenhagen has this tidbit:
A $30 billion fund over the next three years, scaling up to $100 billion a year by 2020, was a key element of the deal brokered by President Barack Obama with the leaders of China and other major developing countries at the 193-nation conference that ended last weekend.
By now, it should be painfully apparent the whole UN climate change thing is more about redistribution of wealth than it is about melting ice caps. Furthermore, it is wealth that O doesn't have.

This is just one more example of the Democrats' fiscal irresponsibility. They can expect to be held responsible in the upcoming election cycles.

Friday, December 18, 2009

On the climate change discussion

The AP recently published an interview with Frank Euredi of Kent University. In it, Euredi basically lamented the state of the climate debate; various groups "knowledgeable or oblivious" shouting back and forth, in his view, with the Internet playing an enabling role. Then he makes this irksome observation:
Democracy in action? That’s one way of seeing it. But is something deeper afoot? As the amplification of human opinion becomes more democratic, is the suspicion of the expert and the intellectual — a long-held trope in American society — going globally viral?
A long-held trope? Oh, my. Oh, the condescension.  Where to start?

To take the current debate and generalize on the American character is to show a lack of understanding of both.  Whereas Euredi's characterization of the latter is more of a cheap shot, I shall instead address the former.

The current debate is mostly about wealth transfer between the haves and the have-nots at the expense of the public purse.  That fact alone, not to mention the numerous questions raised about the underlying data and climate models, makes this debate everyman's concern.

I can understand how Euredi would like the discussion be limited to the science community and the rest of us to just shut up and sit down.  And, the rest of us would most likely do just that if this whole climate discussion was limited to science.  But, the climate discussion is not now, if it ever was, about pure science and Euredi needs to accept the involvement of those other affected groups as legitimate.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

More CO2 regulation nonsence

There now is much ado over 1) O cannot sign a treaty at COP15 limiting CO2 emissions without concurrence of the Senate (true) and, 2) O is holding the upper hand because of the threat that the EPA will take over CO2 emissions in a "command and control" mode (false).

Congress has the authority to take climate change and CO2 emissions off the plate of not only the EPA but also the Supreme Court which ruled on CO2 emissions. All that is required is a Senate with the will to stand up against this abrogation of our national sovereignty.

More evidence of climate change chicanery

A number of sources are quoting a statement by Russia's Institute for Ecomomic Analysis claiming that temperature data from Russia may have been tampered with.  According to the RIA Novosti article entitled Russia affected by Climategate
On Tuesday, the Moscow-based Institute of Economic Analysis (IEA) issued a report claiming that the Hadley Center for Climate Change based at the headquarters of the British Meteorological Office in Exeter (Devon, England) had probably tampered with Russian-climate data.

The IEA believes that Russian meteorological-station data did not substantiate the anthropogenic global-warming theory.
The summary went on to say data from only 25% of Russian stations was used eliminating data from 40% of Russian territory.

SA. 2837 to SA 2786 to H.R. 3590 Healthcare

At the request of Sen. Coburn, Sen. Sanders' amendment 2837 is being read aloud on the Senate floor.

By my count, Sander's amendment has 366 pages. The reading began around 17:00GMT. At 18:37GMT, the clerk has reached page 46.

There is a plum in the amendment to Section 1304 concerning community organizations:
(B) ASSISTANCE.--Each State Health Security Advisory Council shall provide assistance and technical support to community organizations and public and private non-profit agencies submitting applications for funding under appropriate State and Federal public health programs, with particular emphasis placed on assisting those applicants with broad consumer representation.
Check the last clause. Can you spell ACORN?

I suspect Sen. Sanders did not wish for this reading to happen.

Fat cats

On December 13, 2009, O opened his mouth and uttered these words:
"I did not run for office to be helping out a bunch of fat-cat bankers on Wall Street," Obama said in an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes.
That description would fit George Soros. So, is O planning on cutting the ties to his patron?

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

It's not the prison walls...

Well, it finally happened. The terrorists at Guantanamo Bay are going to a prison at Thomson, Illinois. In the words of Rep. Donald Manzullo (IL-16), "Gitmo is not being closed. They're just moving it..."

A lot has been said about how no one has ever escaped from a supermax prison such as Thomson will be. But, that's not even an issue. I believe these terrorists are not going to be able to tunnel out.

The real issue is, by moving these guys to the mainland, their custody moves from the military to the purview of the civilian courts. And, I am not sure our court system is able to deal with the situation.

So, rather than finding a way to break out, some of these terrorists may be invited to walk out through the front gate.

Friday, December 11, 2009

The real meaning of Copenhagen

New climate draft has gaping holes at UN talks

Here is the essence of climate talks at Copenhagen:

…European Union leaders agreed in Brussels to commit euro2.4 billion ($3.6 billion) a year until 2012 to a short-term fund to help poor countries cope with climate change.

Forget all the hype over rising sea levels and melting ice caps.  It’s about the money.  Mainly, how much wealth can be transferred from the ‘haves’ to the ‘have-nots-but-want-some-of-yours’.

Assume, for the moment, the ‘poor’ countries get the money mentioned.  What do you suppose they would do with it?  Help their people achieve a better standard of living?  Or, will the insiders merely enrich themselves.  Will there be an accounting required of the recipients?  Or, will it be ‘none of your business’.

The real meaning of Copenhagen?  Wealth transfer on a global scale.

Update: There was an offer of US$10B per annum but the 'needy' are holding out for US$100B per annum.

Can you spell ḥuṣpāh.

Tuesday, December 08, 2009

Things a little tense over at the White House?

Gibbs: Poll like a six-year-old

A Gallup poll on Tuesday reported O’s approval rating has dropped to 47 percent.  With the possible exception of Bill Clinton, this is the lowest value in recent times for a president at this point in his first term. [link]

When questioned, White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, had this to say:

"I tell you, if I was a heart patient and Gallup was my EKG, I'd visit my doctor," Gibbs said. "If you look back, I think five days ago, there was an 11-point spread, now there's a 1-point spread. I mean, I'm sure a 6-year-old with a crayon could do something not unlike that. I don't put a lot of stake in, never have, in the EKG that is the daily Gallup trend."

Seems like the boys over at the White House are a little tense these days.

One would think these results would be taken as a hint that a change of course was in order.  After all, Gallup has a seventy-year history behind them.  But, I doubt that such a thought has, or will, cross the mind of this president.

Monday, December 07, 2009

More ‘climate change’ humbug

Louisianans Watches Native Land Sinking Into Sea

The Biloxi-Chitimacha living on Isle de Jean Charles, Louisiana will need to move because their land is being inundated by the Gulf of Mexico.  The tribal Chief is calling for the remaining tribe members to move to higher ground.

This is how ABC News characterized these events:

In the process they will become some of America's first climate refugees, fleeing for higher ground and leaving their ancestral home behind.

Characterizing what is happening to Isle de Jean Charles  as a ‘climate’ event and the tribe as ‘climate refugees’ is bald-faced humbug.

The reason the Biloxi-Chitimacha’s land is disappearing is because of the Corps of Engineer’s levee system which cut off the monsoonal floods and accompanying silting; hardly a ‘climate’ process.

But, the leftist media, along with the internationalist progressives in O’s administration, will do anything, say anything to advance the global warming/climate change meme.

What a crock…