Obama Blasts Intelligence Communtiy for Christmas Bomber

Here we go again blaming the intel people.

Obama has demanded answers on why the U.S. intelligence community never pieced together information that could have prevented Abdulmutallab, charged with trying to destroy a Detroit-bound airliner, from ever getting on the plane. Obama called the situation "totally unacceptable" when he met with reporters Tuesday and put his top intelligence officials on notice that he wanted changes.

Administration officials have spent the last week poring over reams of data, looking for failings that allowed Abdulmutallab to board the Northwest Airlines flight from Nigeria by way of Amsterdam. Officials have been sending details to Brennan, who has emerged at the center of the review.

In other words the Obama people are again checking the work of the CIA and other assets when it might be the fault of bureaucracy and turf-protection. If they come to the conclusion that our intelligence operations is just a big mess and try to change that then I hope they succeed. If it is just a "blame the CIA" sort of thing then it is yet another failure of the White House. Especially when CIA guys are now dying in foreign wars.

Politico Carries Obama's Water by Comparing Shoe Bomber to Christmas Day Bomber

This is the kind of slanted reporting that the MSM loves to put out to defend the guy that they got elected to office.

Eight years ago, a terrorist bomber’s attempt to blow up a transatlantic airliner was thwarted by a group of passengers, an incident that revealed some gaping holes in airline security just a few months after the attacks of Sept. 11. But it was six days before President George W. Bush, then on vacation, made any public remarks about the so-called shoe bomber, Richard Reid, and there were virtually no complaints from the press or any opposition Democrats that his response was sluggish or inadequate.

The problem is that it was just a few months after 9/11 and no one expected intelligence gathering and enhanced airport security to have improved so quickly. It has now been 8 years since the Shoe Bomber and we still need blind luck to thwart a terrorist attack. It is such a scary proposition and opens those same old wounds people had in the past. After all, if the true hero of this affair, Jasper Schuringa, was just a few minutes too late that plane could have blown up over Detroit.

So Americans want Obama to call a press conference the next day just to calm people down. A "be vigilant" speech where he implores Americans to keep their eyes open and remember that Al-Quida still wants to kill them would have been perfect. I mean if Obama showed even a little bit of the fire that he showed the Cambridge, Mass. Police Department people would have cheered him.

The problem is that Obama has a credibility gap when it comes to terrorism. I mean he has called them "man-caused disasters." He has his AG trying to try them in a federal court a few blocks away from where they killed so many people. He is also stupidly pushing to convict the CIA interrogators that may have successfully prevented future 9/11s.

The bad thing is that Obama doesn't seem soft of terror because he is still serving up Hellfire missiles in Pakistan to any Al-Quida scumbag that shows his face. But America just doesn't trust him to keep them safe in the same way they trusted Bush a few months after 9/11 it is just that simple.

Captain Picard now a Knight

It will be Sir Patrick Stewart to those trekkies out there.

"This is an honor that embraces those actors, directors and creative teams who have in these recent years helped fill my life with inspiration, companionship and sheer fun," said 69-year-old Stewart, who recently returned to the British stage following a long career in Hollywood that included playing Professor Charles Xavier in three "X-Men" films.

Another Terror Plot? Thanks for Telling Us Homeland Security Department

Why wasn't there a terrorist alert issued on this kind of stuff.

A man tried to board a commercial airliner in Mogadishu last month carrying powdered chemicals, liquid and a syringe that could have caused an explosion in a case bearing chilling similarities to the terrorist plot to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner, officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Wow, that kind of sounds like this thwarted terrorist attack on Christmas doesn't it? Maybe it was a dry run? Who knows? I'm glad we have Homeland Security on this with their so-called "clockwork execution."

Weird Vehicle Spotted at the NASDAQ

It seems that the threat of terrorism has crept back into America. It seems that this was just a false alarm but maybe we need a little more Bush era scare tactics to prevent another tragedy.

The Nasdaq building in Times Square has been evacuated due to a suspicious vehicle parked outside, according to the New York Police Department. The whole area in Times Square area was cordoned off but the Nasdaq building was the only one evacuated, NYPD Detective Gina Sarubbi told MarketWatch.

Dave Barry is Still the King!

This has to be one of the funniest 2009 recaps I have ever read. This part was especially funny:

In other economic news, the CEO of GM resigns under pressure from the White House, which notes that it inherited the automobile crisis from the Bush administration. GM is now essentially a subsidiary of the federal government, which promises to use its legendary business and marketing savvy to get the crippled auto giant back on its feet, starting with an exciting new lineup of cars such as the Chevrolet Consensus, a ``green'' car featuring a compressed-soybean chassis, the world's first engine powered entirely by dew, and a 14,500-page owner's manual, accompanied by nearly 6,000 pages of amendments.

He forgot to write that the Chevy Consensus also costs $ 1 billion dollars and must be built entirely in Nebraska where it will be free to Nebraskans. That was all there just to get that all important Ben Nelson patronage vote.

Could Iran Go the Way of East Germany?

It sure seems that way according to this report.

Then there is the boycott of goods advertised on state-controlled television. People in line at markets whisper to other shoppers not to buy certain products that help to subsidise the Government’s broadcasting monopoly — and its version of events. The opposition has also called for boycotts on mobile phone companies that provide technology to the Government. It is impossible to assess the impact but it adds a critical economic component to the political confrontation.

They are even doing a pretty interesting twist on social networking by putting slogans on currency that denounces the regime. So anytime a person gets change you might get a cartoon picture of Ahmadinejoke or a "death to the dictator" scrawled on it in green pen. It is kind of like a friend request sent to everyone that receives a few bills in change for a purchase. That boycott thing needs to expand outwards as well.

If these kids can somehow turn the army then you will see the fall of the regime in just a short 30 years. It would be so nice to see the nuclear issue solved by the rise of a democratic Persian nation.

Top Climate Official Has some Questionable Ties

It seems that not even the UN's "top climate official" Dr Rajendra Pachauri is without some questionable ties to the whole "climate change industry."

He and Teri insist, however, that all the money he receives for his services, such as 100,000 euros from Deutsche Bank and $80,000 from Toyota Motors are paid not to him personally but to his institute (and that he receives no fee from the Chicago Climate Exchange). Teri denies that it does not publish its accounts simply by stating that its accounts are supplied to the relevant tax authorities.

I wonder how much this Teri group is paying this guy for his "services." I bet he would fire back the same thing that Gore did that he has some skin in the climate game. In other words if the world adopts the whole GDP smashing "climate change" agenda people like Pachauri and Al Gore might become quite rich.

The problem is that this whole set of data and UN people are now tainted. They look like guys who spin a bunch of scary stories about burglars in the neighborhood so that they can sell more alarm systems.

Losses at Freddie and Fannie Uncapped

I guess they have a direct lifeline to our wallets now. I would be willing to bet that the total amount sunk into these companies will never be known.

The Obama administration, which has been using the GSEs to stabilize the housing market by reducing their underwriting standards, upped the ante to $200 billion each. Now the administration has thrown in the towel completely, and dropped a large lump of coal in each taxpayer’s stocking—it won’t even try to estimate the total losses of Fannie and Freddie.

This is Not How You Talk to the Owner of Our Money: Obama Shouts at Wen Jiabao at Copenhagen

I'm not sure how correct this Die Welt article is but if true it shows that Obama really needs to get some sleep. The last thing in the world we want to do now is to be shouting at the Red Chinese. I mean they are holding the deed to our entire economy and could cripple us financially if they want to.

According to rumors in the Bella Center, US President Barack Obama at about 11 PM, had impatiently asked to speak with Wen Jiabao in order to advance the discussion. But Obama had to wait. Wen, who, it was rumored, had rarely left his hotel room, could not be found. Finally, the US delegation located him in a room set aside for negotiations. A visibly furious Obama, according to reports, stormed into the room. “Are you now ready to talk with me, Premier Wen?” he was reported to have shouted. “Are you now ready? Premier Wen, are you now ready to talk with me?” What a scene for a US president.

Wen was not alone in the room at the time when Obama quite literally burst into the room, according to participants. At the time, the Premier was in a conversation with India’s head of state, Mammohan Singh and South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma. Suddenly the group saw itself forced into a conversation with the US president.

At the insistence of the impatient Obama, this unplanned and coincidentally-assembled negotiating round and participants, agreed on a minimal compromise.

The first time I saw South Africa mentioned as a part of this wishy-washy accord I did a double take. You would figure it would be a statement given by the G8 nations with maybe Brazil thrown in for good measure. So South Africa was puzzling until I read this. I think President Zuma was just within shouting distance of Obama and got sucked into the accord as a seemingly innocent bystander.

I would be willing to bet that this meeting between India, China and South Africa was regarding mining or some other non-climate change matter and Obama just burst into room shouting "Where is Wen!!! Bring me Wen!!! When Wen? Wen now!!!" It's like a scene out of a movie.

Uh Oh, It Seems that Cosmic Rays and CFCs may Cause Global Warming and Not Carbon

This must be hell on earth for the whole Climate Change crowd. First the leaked emails showing that they have been cooking the data and now a paper saying that CFCs and Cosmic Rays might be the cause of warming and not CO2.

In his paper, Qing-Bin Lu, a professor of physics and astronomy, shows how CFCs - compounds once widely used as refrigerants - and cosmic rays - energy particles originating in outer space - are mostly to blame for climate change, rather than carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. His paper, derived from observations of satellite, ground-based and balloon measurements as well as an innovative use of an established mechanism, was published online in the prestigious journal Physics Reports.

I wonder if the Climate Research scientists are going to ostracize Physics Reports because they dared to introduce this apostasy? I guess we have to blame the imminent death of polar bears on cosmic rays shooting toward the planet and from old refrigerators since carbon might not be the cause:

His conclusions are based on observations that from 1950 up to now, the climate in the Arctic and Antarctic atmospheres has been completely controlled by CFCs and cosmic rays, with no CO2 impact.

"Most remarkably, the total amount of CFCs, ozone-depleting molecules that are well-known greenhouse gases, has decreased around 2000," Lu said. "Correspondingly, the global surface temperature has also dropped. In striking contrast, the CO2 level has kept rising since 1850 and now is at its largest growth rate."

I think we should give trillions of dollars to the Third World right now so they can build a still to be invented cosmic ray blocker module at once. I mean think of the polar bears and those massive tidal waves swamping all coastal cities at the same time. What will Al Gore do with all those carbon offsets?

What the Hell is the CER Market?

This is probably the best primer I have ever read on the whole certificate of emission reduction (CER) market and how the money moves.

The Kyoto Protocol establishes a mechanism to certify these emission reductions called the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which establishes a bureaucratic process under the supervision of the UN to do this certification. The purpose of the CDM is to keep the process honest. Only certify emission reductions for projects that would have been built anyway and that would have had a greater carbon footprint if they had been built the way they would have been built.

Got that? You have a CER, with real cash value, as long as a UN organization will certify what you might have done, and the way you might have done it, if you had done it, and done it that way.

An interesting point brought up in the comments section is that this entire market is based off of the ability for the UN to certify these things. In other words they are the ones creating the demand and also taking care of the supply as well. They aren't backed with gold or the full faith and credit of the United States, or even a liar loan mortgage. They are backed with UN bureaucratic assumptions.

These UN assumptions are based on hypothetical dream world scenarios. For instance, if you wanted to build a steel mill in China you first think about how much carbon the thing would spew out if it were built on Narnia, Oz, Middle Earth, or Earth 1 and then you get a credit by reducing that amount in the real world.

So a Steel Mill built in Oz next to the Munchkinland staffed by the Lollipop Guild would spew out 1000 tons of CO2. Instead this Chinese businessman will build a steel mill in the real world that spews out 500 Tons of CO2 and get a credit for the difference. All he needs to do is bribe the right UN official and he can then sell 500 Tons of CO2 offsets for big cash.

Also Goldman Sachs or whomever will get a piece of both sides of the trade. Sounds like a good deal for everyone involved except for the tax payer that gets to pay a higher price for their government's participation in the scheme.

Build-A-Bear Joins the Global Warming Church: Aims Salvo Right at your Kids

It seems that Build-A-Bear Workshop is taking the climate change scare tactics and aims it directly at the tiny tots with their eyes all aglow.

Children of the world can look forward to priceless exchanges such as, “Oh my! Where will the polar bears live?” and my personal fave: “Where will the elves live?”

I suspect you’d like to think it can’t get any worse than that. Thus, it pains me to tell you that animated characters actually break into a discussion of satellite photos and that Mrs. Claus conducts a rather unscientific experiment involving ice cubes.

Needless-to-say, this constitutes brainwashing on the sleaziest and most sinister level. The good news is that this nonsense isn’t coming from our government this time and the rocky economy is our friend here. People, we have the means, if we have the will, to topple these charlatans who shamelessly prey on little children. So boycott Build-A-Bear. And, more importantly, tell the world why.

Yup, the warming scare mongers are aiming their propaganda directly at your kids. If these church of warming members want to get more Americans on board they need to talk up safe nuclear power like France and Japan have. Their goal should be to turn every coal power plant into a nuclear plant and lobby the EPA to change their permitting rules. Anything else is just advocating people to go back to living in the Middle Ages.

Instead they are trying the propaganda machine tactics by aiming it directly at kids. I can see little Jimmy saying "will all the elves drown?" The correct answer to that is "yes Jimmy, they will all drown because the Red Chinese hate pointy-eared people."

Law of Unintended Consequences: Health Care Edition

Now this would be an interesting thing to come to pass as a result of ObamaCare.

The insurance lobby is already so powerful that Democrats couldn't get the public option through now - what makes them think they'll be able to later, after they've given insurers 30 million additional customers, and required every last American to do business with them? The insurance companies are going to be to the 21st century what Standard Oil was to the 19th.

I can't think of a single thing in American History that 100% of Americans must buy or they will face a fine. Suddenly health insurance becomes one of those things. There will be a scramble to qualify so you don't get fined and end up going to jail for being a "non insurance buyer/tax evader."

I'm sure the insurance companies will make that point abundantly clear. I can picture the ad copy "Buy UnitedHealth's New Catastrophic Plus with optional Snowboarding rider or Uncle Sam will send you to Jail!" with a picture of a young guy in prison khaki's looking fearfully at a huge prison inmate intent on no-good.

The more I look at this ObamaCare bill the more I think Big Health Insurance will be the biggest beneficiary. That is why I have been long United Health since the public option was killed. It is a case of buying health insurance or ending up shanked in the prison library by an Aryan Nation member. (Well, more like trading tax advice with Bernie Maddoff but you never know.) Now that should be "accretive to earnings" to say the very least. The 2% bump and a 52 week high on UNH today just proves this point in spades.

I think Lots of People Will Stay Uninsured by Choice

Now this is not much of a choice for a young person just starting work.

Under the Senate bill, people who don't buy coverage would face a maximum penalty of $95 beginning in 2014. That would jump in 2016 to $750 or 2% of their annual income up to the cost of the cheapest health plan, whichever is greater. In the House bill, violators would pay as much as 2.5% of their annual income up to the cost of the cheapest plan beginning in 2013.

When people buy health insurance on their own rather than through employers, the average cost in 2016 is projected to be $5,500 for an individual policy and $13,100 for family coverage, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

So the choice is whether to pay a $95 - $750 fine or $5,500 - $13,000 for insurance. I can see many young people choosing to pay the fine instead of shelling out the big money. The problem is that these young people paying into the plan are what is supposed to "bend the cost curve." Also what will happen if you don't pay the fine? Will you be sent to jail as a tax cheat?

Obama Dubs Copenhagen Pact "unprecedented breakthrough" (for Third World Kleptocrats)

I guess they had to salvage Copenhagen with some kind of pact even if it is unclear on the details and is not binding at all.

The deal reiterates a goal that eight leading industrialized nations set earlier this year on long-term emission cuts and provides a mechanism to help poor countries prepare for climate change, the official said.

But it falls far short of committing any nation to emissions reductions beyond a general acknowledgment that the effort should contain global temperatures along the lines agreed to by the leading economic nations in July.

In other words despite all that carbon was spewed from all those airplanes and limos and the world pretty much ran in place. They should have done this whole thing via teleconference and put it on CSPAN. I guess you can count the days until that "mechanism to help poor countries" is:

1. Stolen by sticky fingered UN diplomats like Oil For Food. I bet Kofi Annan's son has already applied for a job with this group.

2. Misappropriated by Third World kleptocrats. I wonder if the Sudan already has this money earmarked for for "cleansing the carbon signatures" of various ethnic groups in Darfur? I'm sure the money will be used for hundreds of "moving windmills." IE Mi-24 Hind Helicopter Gunships. The new Sudanese "Miniguns for the Earth" program.

3. Disappear into "The President for Life's Special Governmental Fund" located in a Swiss Bank. I mean what Third World dictator wouldn't want a few extra billion to reduce his countries carbon footprint by buying a Swiss Chalet instead of yet another massive palace? Well most dictators will probably buy both so luckily we we are giving them enough money so that they can reach those goals. You no longer need oil wealth to raise giant statues of yourself anymore. The UN "climate change" reparations will do that for you.

Green Jobs Might be a Rip-Off?

At least that seems to be the case according to this German study pointed out in this article.

In the end, Germany’s PV promotion has become a subsidization regime that, on a per-worker basis, has reached a level that far exceeds average wages, with per worker subsidies as high as 175,000 € (US $ 240,000). …

Although Germany’s promotion of renewable energies is commonly portrayed in the media as setting a “shining example in providing a harvest for the world” (The Guardian 2007), we would instead regard the country’s experience as a cautionary tale of massively expensive environmental and energy policy that is devoid of economic and environmental benefits.

You have to be kidding. $240,000 per job in subsidies? That sounds like one of those stimulus jobs "created or saved." The more I look into this the bigger this Climate Change thing is just a big mess. I was an early convert to this "green jobs" plan but only if it involves nuclear plants and lots of them. I hate oil plants and using oil because it enriches the people that want to kill us. I can care less about carbon footprints now.

Russians Claim that Their Climate Data Cherrypicked

It seems like ClimateGate just gets worse and worse.

The IEA believes that Russian meteorological-station data did not substantiate the anthropogenic global-warming theory. Analysts say Russian meteorological stations cover most of the country’s territory, and that the Hadley Center had used data submitted by only 25% of such stations in its reports. Over 40% of Russian territory was not included in global-temperature calculations for some other reasons, rather than the lack of meteorological stations and observations.

Is any of this Climate data pure? It seems that these CRU guys just did whatever they wanted to with this data and just picked whatever data supported their thesis.

Super Water World Found

This could be a big discovery depending on what sort of atmosphere it has.

Its density suggests however it "is composed of about three-fourths water and other ices and one fourth-rock," it said. "There are also tantalising hints that the planet has a gaseous atmosphere."

Its temperature is estimated at between 280 and 120 degrees Celsius (536 and 248 degrees Fahrenheit) with its host star about one-fifth the size of the Sun, according to the scientists.

"Despite its hot temperature, this appears to be a waterworld," says Zachory Berta, a graduate student who first spotted hints of the planet's presence.

I wonder if that is the surface temperature or not? You figure if that was just the surface temperature you might find life deeper in its ocean where it would be colder.

Plus the gravity on the planet would be pretty high being so close to its sun so any creatures would be super strong. Could it be a world of giant, super-strong, water beasts? I'm talking sharks the size of apartment buildings and octopi the size of city blocks. I think it is time to send a probe since this planet is only 42 light years away.

The Banana War is Over: European Union Agrees to Terms

Well a 16 year old trade war between who will import bananas into Europe has finally come to an end.

The settlement, which national lawmakers are expected to ratify within four months, trade officials say, means less-expensive bananas for Europeans, more profit for U.S. fruit companies and lower revenue for some former EU colonies. It ends a 16-year-old trade dispute over access to the EU's $6.7 billion banana market, the world's largest.

Who knew the EU had the world's largest banana market? I hate bananas so I am akin to Switzerland in this whole Banana War. But this may interest investors in the reviled yellow fruit:

Banana imports from the former colonies will fall 14%, costing them $40 million a year, and imports from other countries will increase 17%, according to a study by the Geneva-based International Centre for Sustainable Trade and Development. Banana prices in Europe will fall 12%, the study added.

Ed Loyd, a Chiquita spokesman, said the agreement would save Chiquita about $12 million a year for every €10 reduction in the tariff. He said the ruling would benefit the Cincinnati company more than most of its competitors because it is the market leader in Europe and sources nearly all of the bananas it sells in Europe from Latin America.

Of course you would think that the so-called "Banana Industrial Complex" would make out at the expense of these African banana nations. In any case it boosted Chiquita stock (CQB) a cool 3.9% and might make it go higher depending on what percentage of the European market will be eating cheaper South American bananas rather than already fairly cheap African bananas.

Copenhagen Brings to the Surface some Scary Thinking

Here is more evidence that some "climate advocates" might be the scariest people since the Nazis.

Dennis Meadows, one of the authors of the Malthusian 1972 classic "The Limits to Growth," also served up some climate honesty in a recent interview with Der Spiegel. "I lived long enough in a country like Afghanistan to know that I don't want us to have to live like that in the future. But we have to learn to live a life that allows for fulfillment and development, with the CO2 emissions of Afghanistan." Mr. Meadows's chilling corollary: "If you want everyone to have the full potential of mobility, adequate food and self-development, then . . . one or two billion" people is about all the population the planet can sustain.

Wait there are 6.8 billion people currently living on the earth. In other words this Dennis Meadows just talked about the potential genocide of nearly 5 billion people. He did it so breezily that it might have been Dr. Mengele saying it about Jews and Gypsies. That is about the most chilling thing I have read by someone that is "here to save us."

This guy is actually a professor and is President of the Laboratory for Interactive Learning whatever the hell that is. Of course he also does not say anything about getting to that magic 1-2 billion number. That is one question that he needs to answer to put his money where is Malthusian mouth is.

Also I wonder if Dr. Meadows will be a member of those 1 -2 billion saved people? I mean he is a trained systems manager and the UN Climate Genocide Board will probably figure he is worth at least 1000+ uneducated Chinese villagers or Brazilian Favela dwellers. The elites like Dr. Meadows will never have to face the genetically tailored super-germs or the forced abortions and sterilizations it would need to wipe out 5 billion people.

More Environmental Control: No Hamburger for You!

I wonder how long it will be until this kind of thing is written into some UN edict?

“If the world sharply reduced its meat consumption, we would significantly reduce the amount of methane,” said Mr. Lux outside the main conference hall here on a snowy morning.

Reducing meat demand would shrink the cattle-raising industry and, therefore, the amount of bovine emissions, a methane goldmine, he says.

Copenhagen Conference Descends into Chaos

I knew it would happen eventually.

Police fired tear gas, brandished batons and detained more than 200 protesters who tried to push through the security cordon around the Bella Center, as negotiations inside bogged down, for the second time this week, over differences between China and the West over emissions, funding issues and transparency.

Why should the Red Chinese slow their growth for any reason? They would not mind if other economies knee-capped themselves by 1 -2 % GDP because it put them that much ahead. Mark my words: A Cap-and-Trade Bill imposed on us by the UN will send us into a double dip recession. I don't think Americans can afford a massive tax whenever they turn on a light switch. Especially if this tax mostly goes to buying mansions for dictators in Third World countries.

What is the significance of 515?

Now this is one weird theory that was recently proven true:

Efimov had calculated that the triplet of bound particles was possible, and that it was repeating: New bound states could be achieved at higher and higher energy levels in an infinite progression. All of the bound states would occur at energy levels that were multiples of 515.

To prove that they had really created the trios, called Efimov trimers, the researchers produced one set of three lithium atoms bound together, and then reproduced it with a binding energy 515 times the first one. (Essentially, binding energy indicates how tightly the particles hold onto one another and how much energy it would take to pull them apart.)

The researchers used a setup called a Feshbach resonance that allowed them to tweak the energy levels of their atoms. They found that when they hit multiples of 515, the particles would bind, but at other energies they wouldn't, proving that the trios really were Efimov trimers.

I wonder why 515 was so significant? Hmm, I wonder if that is some sort of magical golden mean number or something. It might be something for a mathematician to take a look at.

Climate Research Unit Takes Down their Webpage

I guess they are "hiding the decline" in their credibility by hiding from public view.

The news page that you get redirected to hasn’t much to say, and has not been updated since December 3rd.

And it’s not just subfolders with data, it is the entire Climate Research Unit website that is shielded from public view. Try the main link which has been functional for years:

http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk

If I was a climate scientist I would not want to hear about the Climate Research Unit ever again.

Exploding Deficits? We go 4 entire NFL Franchises Deeper in Debt Each Day

Now this is some sobering news if you are a deficit hawk.

Speaking of the federal deficit, latest figures out before any healthcare legislation reveal that in the first two months of its first full fiscal year in office, the Obama administration spent $292 billion more than it took in.

That's $11 billion worse than the deficit in the last two months of the previous demon administration with eight years of failed policies headed by you-know-who.

That works out to $4.78 billion of spending in the hole for each of the 61 days in that period. Looks like Washington might be learning the wrong lessons from its close association with American automakers.

But that was all "stimulus" that saved what could be billions (maybe trillions) of imaginary jobs. The idea that we go $4.78 billion in the hole every day is crazy. That is equal to 4 entire NFL franchises per day. I hope the Red Chinese don't send us a margin call.

Insane Canadian Environmentalist Advocates the Slaughtering of Third World Children

Now this is exactly why people are deathly afraid of environmentalists getting any modicum of real power.

The "inconvenient truth" overhanging the UN's Copenhagen conference is not that the climate is warming or cooling, but that humans are overpopulating the world.

A planetary law, such as China's one-child policy, is the only way to reverse the disastrous global birthrate currently, which is one million births every four days.

Okay, this was not cut and pasted from an old copy of Der Sturmer from the 1930s. This is a mainstream Canadian Financial paper. However, it does look like it came out of some Nazi tract with Jews changed to third world peoples and racial purity changed to environmental sustainability.

What makes this suggestion by this monster Diane Francis so sickening is what she implies. I mean most of the countries in the developed West are coping with negative reproduction rates. So Europe and the US (and Canada) could easily comply with this edict because we have access to birth control and abortions on demand.

It is the second and third world who will have the forced abortions, mass sterilizations, and female child abandonment that would come out of this global one child policy. I wonder just how many "Green" death camps for "excess" children this Francis would be satisfied with in South America, the Middle East, Africa, and India? Does she actually want a UN abortion clinic to be set up in every third world nation?

I'm sure that wasn't her intention but that is exactly what she advocates. She wants the children of the poor third world ground up so the environment can be saved.

She also mixes in a little anti-religion with her eugenics as well

Unfortunately, there are powerful opponents. Leaders of the world's big fundamentalist religions preach in favor of procreation and fiercely oppose birth control. And most political leaders in emerging economies perpetuate a disastrous Catch-22: Many children (i. e. sons) stave off hardship in the absence of a social safety net or economic development, which, in turn, prevents protections or development.

You thought the Muslim world hated the West before? Wait until people like Ms. Francis are trying to force birth control and abortions on them in order to "save the planet." They will be literally bombing these people to keep their unborn children alive.

I really think that this attitude that environmentalists have that they can impose totalitarian control to prevent something that might happen in 2050 is despicable. Think about how much more advanced we are from the 1950s. Who's to say that by 2050 we won't have vat grown beef and super foods that can be grown on half the land and yield 10 times the calories that they do now? The idea that technology would not change in 50 years is ludicrous.

In any case, people like Ms. Francis should keep writing op-ed pieces and we should pray that she never becomes Prime Minister or holds any kind of policy making job. That would be far more dangerous to third world children then any famine or war.

The Report is In: Senate Healthcare Bill Will Actually Raise America's Health Care Costs

Wait I thought all this crap was to bend the cost-curve down. Instead this is what will happen.

A new report from government economic analysts at the Health and Human Services Department found that the nation's $2.5 trillion annual health care tab won't shrink under the Democratic blueprint that senators are debating. Instead, it would grow somewhat more rapidly than if Congress does nothing.

So we will all end up paying more then if the Senate did nothing? But wait I thought draconian cuts in Medicare was going to pay for this Trillion dollar tab?

More troubling was the report's assessment that the Democrats' plan to squeeze Medicare for $493 billion over 10 years in savings relies on specific policy changes that "may be unrealistic" and could lead to cuts in services. The Medicare savings are expected to cover about half the nearly $1 trillion, 10-year cost of expanding coverage to the uninsured.

Well at least there is long-term care insurance run by the very best the government has to offer:

In still more bad news, the report starkly warned that a new long-term care insurance plan included in the legislation could "face a significant risk of failure" because it would attract people in poor health, leading to higher and higher premiums, and eventually triggering an "insurance death spiral."

Finally, some good news:

The one bright note: The bill would provide coverage to 93 percent of Americans, reducing the number of uninsured people by about 33 million, the report said.

So let me get this strait. This bill will not cover "all Americans that need health care insurance" it will make America's health care tab go up, and seniors may get a cut in their care if they are on Medicare. Wow, Harry Reid is a genius! He succeeded in making every one of the things that Obama promised in his "health care epistle to the Congress" look like lies. Now they are rushing to finish it by Christmas. Now that is a gift that no one wants.

UN Thugs Threaten Journalist at Climate Conference

Ah, the famous free speech practiced in Denmark. This journalist and filmmaker Phelim McAleer tried to ask a Climate Scientist Stephen Schneider some questions about ClimateGate at a press conference and this is what happened:

“These questions should be answered. The attempts by UN officials and Professor Schneider’s assistant to remove my microphone were hamfisted but events took a more sinister turn when they called an armed UN security officer to silence a journalist.”

Two officers corralled the film crew and one officer can be seen on tape threatening the cameraman. The Guard can also be heard warning that if the crew did not stop filming their would seize the equipment and the journalists expelled from the conference.

I mean this filmmaker is a "denier" so he should be threatened by UN security goons. Doesn't he care about Polar Bears and making Gore a billionaire? They should have pistol whipped him and smashed his camera! Maybe apply a little waterboarding with melted polar ice to get him to confess for his crimes against the climate!

Obama's Nobel Prize Speech Masterful

I hope the Obama U.S. Apology tour is officially over. This speech could have easily been given by Truman, FDR, Reagan or even Bush. I especially liked this line:

Whatever mistakes we have made, the plain fact is this: The United States of America has helped underwrite global security for more than six decades with the blood of our citizens and the strength of our arms. The service and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform has promoted peace and prosperity from Germany to Korea, and enabled democracy to take hold in places like the Balkans. We have borne this burden not because we seek to impose our will. We have done so out of enlightened self-interest — because we seek a better future for our children and grandchildren, and we believe that their lives will be better if other people's children and grandchildren can live in freedom and prosperity.

Also we may get a sense of an Obama doctrine as well:

I face the world as it is, and cannot stand idle in the face of threats to the American people. For make no mistake: Evil does exist in the world. A nonviolent movement could not have halted Hitler's armies. Negotiations cannot convince al-Qaidas leaders to lay down their arms. To say that force is sometimes necessary is not a call to cynicism — it is a recognition of history, the imperfections of man and the limits of reason.

The idea of the so-called "necessary war" might be an artifact of this speech. It is also good to hear a liberal actually say evil does exist in the world and that nonviolent movements cannot always succeed.

I hope this rejects all that stuff about if we just negotiate enough and turn the other cheek enough the evil people in the world will be cowed. Some of the far left think if we run away and back off enough times everyone will live in peace.

Video Game Sales Dissapoint

It seems that the recession is still doing a number on video games. You figure that there would be a modest upturn once Modern Warfare 2 came out but I guess not. Other than Assassins Creed 2 there really wasn't anything worth buying in November.

According to data released by the NPD Group late Thursday, sales of video-game software in the United States slipped 3.1% during the month compared with the same period a year ago.

Most analysts were anticipating a mild gain for the month, which was expected to be a rare bright spot in what has otherwise been a disappointing year for the sector. Game makers have had to contend with a slumping economy, high console prices and a general lack of hits -- as well as a slowdown in previously popular genres such as music.

Iranian Democracy? No That is Not an Oxymoron

Holy crap, the Mullah's better watch their back because the "Green Revolution" might just sweep them out of power.

The slogans of the protestors are no longer about election fraud. Today they include "Death to the Dictator," "Freedom Now," and "Iranian Republic, Not Islamic Republic!" One slogan is a direct message to President Barack Obama: "Obama, Are You With Us or With Them?"

In short, the protestors no longer regard the present regime as the legitimate government of the country.

Hmm, I think Obama should make a real gamble and throw in 100% with these protestors. I mean worse case scenario is you have Iranian officials stone-walling you on Iranian nukes (as if they weren't already) and best case scenario is the government falls and an Iranian democracy agrees to nuclear terms. Bush pacified and enemy by force and Obama would pacify an enemy with words. Now that would be worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize.

The New American Dream: Walk Away From your Home and Rent

Ugh, now this is a new way to game the system from people that are underwater in their home.

Schoolteacher Shana Richey misses the playroom she decorated with Glamour Girl decals for her daughters. Fireman Jay Fernandez misses the custom putting green he installed in his backyard.

But ever since they quit paying their mortgages and walked away from their homes, they've discovered that giving up on the American dream has its benefits.

Both now live on the 3100 block of Club Rancho Drive in Palmdale, where a terrible housing market lets them rent luxurious homes -- one with a pool for the kids, the other with a golf-course view -- for a fraction of their former monthly payments.

Yup they walked away from $4000+ mortgages and signed up for luxury homes that rent for $2200. They don't pay homeowners insurance, property tax, or upkeep on the homes and they still get to live in a luxury home. This is all at the taxpayers expense as well.

One part of me thinks this is repulsive to walk away from your debts like this. But another part of me thinks this may actually be good for the economy in the long run. I mean these people are taking the savings from the amount they should be paying for a mortgage and spending it instead thus stimulating the economy right now. They also won't be laying on double and triple home equity loans or other nonsense and getting deeper in debt.

They might even be living within their means and might hopefully build up an emergency fund and also fully funding their 401Ks. Or they could be blowing their money on LCD TVs and stupid crap but at least they won't have the ticking time bomb of debt hanging over their head. They are also probably much less likely to buy a home in the future. Which means one less person that is not cut out for home ownership is out of the market.

Al Gore Has Trouble Telling Time

It seems that Al Gore is just a moron when it comes to any kind of science and should just be ignored when it comes to this stuff.

Despite the fact that some of the 10 year old emails discussed important issues like the 2001 IPCC report and what made it into it…the most recent emails in Climategate were from November 2009. Last month, this year, earth time.

Also this email about there being no warming as a travesty was from October 12, 2009:

The fact is that we can't account for the lack of warming at the moment and it is a
travesty that we can't. The CERES data published in the August BAMS 09 supplement on 2008 shows there should be even more warming: but the data are surely wrong. Our observing system is inadequate.

So Al Gore just picks a play right out of the Clinton playbook. Deny, deny, deny, It's old news. Seems about right since it looks like Al Gore's climate change billions might be slipping through his fingers. I think Gore needs to give back his Nobel and apologize.

Tiger's Harem?

Wow, some of Tiger's Harem are not the best looking girls in the world. That porn star right below him (Joslyn James) might be one of the ugliest porn actresses I have ever seen. I guess the one to his right (Rachel Uchitel) might be the best looking one of the bunch.

It still boggles the mind that he gave up a marriage to the woman directly above him (and destroyed his reputation) for cheap and dirty thrills with these gals. Oh well I guess it is the Clinton factor all over again. Sometimes powerful men just go for whoever comes within easy reach even if they are a freakish looking porn actress.

Could a Greek Debt Crisis Destroy the Euro?

That might be in the offing if the Greeks default on their debt.

A Greek bankruptcy thus has serious implications for Europe, and indirectly, for the rest of us. European banks are heavily invested in Greek bonds, and if the country defaults, it's probable that speculators will start eying other euro zone members. Consider Ireland, which has a relatively low debt-to-GDP ratio--but which saw that ratio spike from 25% in 2007 to 43% in 2008. Europe's finance ministers face some tough decisions in the days ahead.

The idea of vulture speculators making bond runs on various weak European countries sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. We saw from our own financial collapse that systemic risk can run through the system like a wildfire. Everyone remembers how much damage Lehman Brothers did to the world economy.

Imagine what would happen if Greece, Spain and Ireland all went bankrupt in a domino effect. The Euro would be shattered by such a scenario. Too bad Europe doesn't have a system of balanced budgets in place like many US states do. That may have prevented what could be the next great world economic smackdown. Well, I guess dollar bulls would be happy as capital fled back into our currency.

UN Economists are Nuts

It is just that plain and simple. I have to agree that any economist that tries to predict global economic trends 10 years in the future might as well be reading the entrails of a goat.

They went on to produce stacks of calculations about the economy of the planet over the next 10, 20, 30 or 40 years or more. Thus, for instance, do we find such hocus-pocus as the UNFCCC providing estimates that in the year 2030, climate “mitigation” will require “$200 to $210 billion” in order to “return greenhouse gas emissions to current levels.” This is accompanied by a slew of estimates involving such stuff as percentages of global GDP needed for “climate” projects, flows of resources to developing countries two decades from now and prompts for governments to direct what is laughably referred to in this context as “private investment.”

I have to agree that the developing world could easily become the developed world in even 20 years time. But what is more likely is third world kleptocrats and sticky fingered UN officials will make sure that that the vast majority of climate mitigation money will go to Villas in the South of France or Chalets in Gstaad and not to windmills in Burundi.

The more we look at it the more it looks like one of the biggest transfers of wealth from the developed world to criminal elements in the developing world in history. I guess this is the payback for all those years of the "colonial powers" ripping off the natural resources of the rest of the world.

What the Hell is the Beast of Kandahar?

Now that sounds like some kind of cryptozoological monster or something. But it is actually some kind of stealth drone.

Aviation experts dubbed the drone the "Beast of Kandahar" after photographs emerged earlier this year showing the mysterious aircraft in southern Afghanistan in 2007.

The image suggested a drone with a radar-evading stealth-like design, resembling a smaller version of a B-2 bomber.

Hmm, I wonder if this guy can shoot hellfire missiles or drop bombs as well? Too bad they didn't call it the UFO of Kandahar or something like that.

Public Option May Be Dead

It seems that Dem moderates may have won in the end.

In place of a government-run plan, originally designed as a way of forcing competition on private industry, officials said the Democrats had tentatively settled on a private insurance arrangement to be supervised by the federal agency that oversees the system through which lawmakers purchase coverage.

On the other hand this part is pretty odd:

Additionally, the tentative deal calls for Medicare to be opened to uninsured Americans beginning at age 55, a significant expansion of the large government health care program that currently serves the 65-and-over population.

So it seems that a program already headed for bankruptcy and is a huge drain on the federal budget will be expanded? Hopefully these new people on Medicare will pay in at a higher rate to balance out the cost of expanding the program.

Then when they become 65 they will be able to capture a so-called senior discount. In any case I think this health care monstrosity will actually have a chance of passing without the public option.

The Government Spending Bubble

Hmm this jump in spending does have the same feel as the housing bubble a few years ago. This article might be spot on.

Think about it. The federal deficit was $1.4 trillion in the fiscal year that ended in September, or 10% of GDP, the largest peacetime deficit on record. But net interest--the cost of servicing the national debt--was only 1.3% of GDP, the lowest in about 40 years. For comparison, net interest was absorbing about 3% of GDP in the 1980s and 1990s.

Your credit card bills aren't so bad when the interest rate is 1.3% but wait until that number doubles or triples. If we can't finance our debt and go bankrupt then it would be a world wide catastrophe. I guess that is why Moody's is slinking around with the debt downgrade stick. They might be able to raise our borrowing costs all by themselves by dropping out AAA rating.

Ah the Real Reason Behind Copenhagen Climate Crap: Free Hookers!

Now we are getting to the bottom of why all these people had to come to Copenhagen instead of running it through a giant teleconference via Skype or something.

And this being Scandinavia, even the prostitutes are doing their bit for the planet. Outraged by a council postcard urging delegates to "be sustainable, don't buy sex," the local sex workers' union – they have unions here – has announced that all its 1,400 members will give free intercourse to anyone with a climate conference delegate's pass. The term "carbon dating" just took on an entirely new meaning.

Talk about your global warming! Bada-bump!

The EPA Says You are a Greenhouse Gas Emitter!

It seems that the EPA has just declared the lungs of every human on earth a threat to public health and welfare.

Jackson said carbon dioxide emissions go beyond damaging the environment -- they also endanger public health.

The agency made the announcement because it is required to issue an "endangerment finding" -- evidence that carbon emissions are dangerous to the public health -- before it can regulate carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases under the federal Clean Air Act.

Yup, you are killing your fellow man by doing all that breathing. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson wants you to suffocate yourself post-with in order to reduce the carbon you generate from your lungs. Do your part for the planet people eliminate climate change by doing what the EPA prescribes: stop breathing at once! Only your death will help stop climate change.

Climate Change Summit to Emit the Carbon Footprint of Morrocco

Now that is some conference on preventing carbon.

In all, the UN estimates that the carbon footprint of the Carbonhagen Slummit should be roughly 40,584 tons of carbon-related emissions, or approximately the entire carbon output of the nation of Morocco for all of 2006. That comes out to 100,083.5 dead polar bears per 400kg of carbon emissions. Are there even that many polar bears on Planet Earth? Won't be by Wednesday! And all that's not even counting all the limos being driven to Carbonhagen from all over Europe, or all the CO2 about to be spewed by 16,500 blowhards.

How many people will be killed by all this carbon? Don't they care about the polar bears and people with lung diseases? Can't these people just do this by teleconference and save a few drowning polar bears?

Obama Changes Date he Will be in Copenhagen

I will be willing to bet that it doesn't matter when he goes to this thing it will still result in failure.

President Barack Obama on Friday abruptly altered the timing of his upcoming appearance at an international climate summit in Copenhagen, hoping to capitalize on steps by India and China and build a more meaningful political accord, the White House said.

The move means Obama will be at the summit on Dec. 18, considered a crucial period when more leaders will be in attendance, as opposed to his scheduled stop in Denmark on Wednesday on his way to Nobel Peace Prize events in Oslo.

In other words he stakes his rep on yet another doomed to failure drive by like he did to get Chicago the Olympics. He also sceduled a little Russian "laughing in our face time" as well to polish his Peace Prize laurels.

It is also possible that Obama could tack on another agenda item to his revamped, final trip of the year: the signing of a broad treaty with Russia to reduce both nations' nuclear arsenals. The White House had hoped that deal would be ready in time to coordinate it with his receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, but talks have not produced a final breakthrough.

US Pulls Fairly Easy World Cup Group

Other than England it looks like clear sailing in the first round of the World Cup.

The U.S. opens against England in Rustenburg on June 12, their first World Cup matchup since the Americans' 1-0 upset victory at the 1950 tournament in Brazil.

The United States then plays Slovenia at Johannesburg's Ellis Park on June 18 and completes the first round on June 23 with its first-ever match against Algeria in Pretoria.

Could NASA be Cooking the Climate Change Books?

It certainly seems like they are trying to stonewall one skeptic who is going to sue them for the information.

Chris Horner, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said NASA has refused for two years to provide information under the Freedom of Information Act that would show how the agency has shaped its climate data and would explain why the agency has repeatedly had to correct its data going as far back as the 1930s.

He wants to know why NASA had to alter some temperature data:

The numbers matter. Under pressure in 2007, NASA recalculated its data and found that 1934, not 1998, was the hottest year in its records for the contiguous 48 states. NASA later changed that data again, and now 1998 and 2006 are tied for first, with 1934 slightly cooler.

Yeah, I would like to know if these numbers were altered twice due to errors or was it another case of "hide the decline?" If it was errors then there needs to be transparent checks in place to make sure it doesn't happen again.

India Bows out of Climate Caps

It seems that India won't be knee-capping their economy any time soon.

India will not accept a legally binding emission cut nor a peak year of carbon emissions at the global climate talks in Copenhagen, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said on Thursday.

"There is no question of India accepting a legally binding emission reduction cut," he told parliament, laying out India's negotiating position ahead of the December talks.

India would however accept international verification of reductions if supported by financing and technology transfers.

In other words they won't be doing anything unless the West comes up with the cash and the tech. I would make the exact same deal if I were them. I mean they are slowly moving millions of people from abject poverty. So why should the West slow their GDP growth by 1 - 1.5% with some carbon cap BS? So China, Australia and now India are off the GDP capping wagon. Why should any other nation who isn't crazy sign on?

It's the Jobs Stupid

It seems that Democrats are finally getting around to the 10.2% unemployment.

The report is the work of Democracy Corps, the influential polling organization run by Democraic strategists James Carville and Stanley Greenberg. The two men found voters are nearly beside themselves about unemployment, angry about the deficit, pessimistic about the future, and in a mood to punish Democrats if things don't get better soon. "This is about the economy, and it's not pretty," they write.

If the failed stimulus slashed payroll taxes or provided some other incentive to hire workers then health care would be a soft sell. Instead it looks like the Dems are fiddling with healthcare when all people want are jobs.

The scary part if you are a Dem is that when mutual funds stop performance chasing after January 1st we might see another stock market correction. This would be just after some people have put their 401ks back into stocks as well.

I think what the GOP needs now is a jobs bill that is funded with whatever is left of the stimulus and the TARP money. Make it old school tax cuts and incentives for small businesses to hire workers. If they are called the "party of No" shoot back they are the "party of no more job losses."

Iran Vows to Enrich Uranium to Bomb Making Levels

Well that sound you heard was the Israeli's warming up their jets. It seems that meetings without preconditions is not working out for the White House as well as they planned.

In a defiant speech, Iran's president declared Wednesday that his country will enrich uranium to a much higher level — a fresh rejection of an international plan to curb Tehran's nuclear program.

Experts said that could put Tehran on the road to making the material needed to arm a warhead within months.

Ahmadinijoke knows that he can pretty much do whatever he wants knowing that Obama was so silent on the plight of the protesters. I said it once and I said it again: the Iranians will go nuclear before the end of Obama's first term. Mark my words.

Fraud, Waste and Abuse Found in Danish CO2 Trading

That is a nice headline that people can take into the Copenhagen Climate Talks.

Denmark is the centre of a comprehensive tax scam involving CO2 quotas, in which the cheats exploit a so-called ‘VAT carrousel’, reports Ekstra Bladet newspaper.

Police and authorities in several European countries are investigating scams worth billions of kroner, which all originate in the Danish quota register. The CO2 quotas are traded in other EU countries.

I think you can change the word Denmark for the US if cap and tax should happen to be passed by some miracle.

Aussies Dump Cap and Tax

Now we need to follow the lead of our Aussie friends and dump Cap and Tax forever.

Emboldened following the Climategate scandal, the Liberal opposition in Australia's parliament threw out its pro-Kyoto leader yesterday and then today, under the leadership of global warming skeptic Tony Abbott, voted down the government's plan to pass cap and trade legislation. The proposed legislation, intended to be a feather in the cap of Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd prior to his departure for climate change meetings in Copenhagen, failed by a vote of 41 to 33 in the Senate, Australia's upper house.

Let's hope Copenhagen turns out to be a dismal failure as well. The data is just so crappy there is no way that trillions will be wasted on these schemes.

Super Earths May Harbor Life

It sure would be weird life forms though.

Whether made of rock or ice, Sasselov says Super Earths will be only 1 or 2 times the actual size of Earth because they become densely compressed as they gain mass. This higher density will result in greater gravity. Sasselov says the most massive Super Earth would have about 3 times the gravity of Earth. Tests of human resistance to vertical G-force, where the blood is pulled down to the legs, have found the typical person can tolerate up to 5 Gs before losing consciousness. So while you might feel much heavier walking on a Super Earth, the extra gravity wouldn't be beyond what human explorers could endure. Of course, any life that evolved on a Super Earth would be adapted to the greater gravity, just as a human feels comfortable on the 1 G surface of Earth.

That means that these creatures would probably be super strong to handle that atmosphere for very long. I wonder if their extensive musculature would have an effect on their brain power? It would seem that they would need most of their added nutrients to keep them standing upright on a +5G planet so not as much will be going to brain development. It is also nice to see that scientists have the same belief as I do about the so-called Fermi Paradox.

Sasselov's own suggestion for the Fermi paradox relates to the age and evolution of planets in the universe. When the universe was young, only hydrogen and helium were available. Generations of stellar evolution were needed to produce the heavier elements, such as silica and iron, which build rocky planets. Even though the universe is approximately 14 billion years old, our solar system only formed about 4.6 billion years ago. (Astronomers did find a 12.7-billion-year-old Jupiter-mass object in our galaxy, but Sasselov thinks this so-called ancient planet could instead be the remnant of a red or brown dwarf star that was stripped of some of its mass.)

You would figure that most alien races close by us would be about as old as we are so they wouldn't develop truly advanced technology like things that can tap the power of their suns or develop faster than light travel. However, I can see them just sending a spaceship with slightly more advanced life support on them in the 20 years that it would take to get to get back and forth from their planet.

Even if you look at our planet we had a false start in the dinosaurs that were wiped out before mammals developed. That could easily happen on other planets too. They could have an alien race as evolved or more evolved then us suddenly get wiped out by solar radiation, a comet, an asteroid hitting their planet, or even a world war. Then they will be back to the stone age again and the race would have to rediscover everything.

Now New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric research is Cooking the Books?

You have to be kidding me. Does anyone in the Climate Change community have clean numbers?

Gone is the relentless rising temperature trend, and instead there appears to have been a much smaller growth in warming, consistent with the warming up of the planet after the end of the Little Ice Age in 1850.

I think there should be a total halt to any policy decisions on climate change until all of these matters can be dealt with. Right now none of these people have any credibility and all of their research is suspect.

Dubai Restructes its Debt and it Roils Markets

Hmm, it seems that Dubai may be having trouble with their debt load.

"Obviously, the debt restructuring has caught investors very much by surprise," said UBS analyst Saud Masud, who believes the UAE and Dubai governments wouldn't risk so much damage to their financial reputation unless it was essential to a larger plan of achieving long-term stability.

This makes sense so instead of just writing a big check underwritten with their oil wealth they are going to let the market decide what happens. Seems like a good plan and they should have a sound balance sheet once the bad debt gets flushed out of the system.

Tiger Woods Seriously Injured in Car Wreck

It seems he crashed his car pulling out of his driveway. I wonder if he was wearing his seatbelt?

The Florida Highway Patrol said Woods, 33, hit the hydrant and a tree after pulling out of his driveway in his 2009 Cadillac sports utility vehicle.

The patrol reported his injuries as serious, and that he was taken to Health Central Hospital. His condition was not immediately known. A supervisor in the emergency room said Friday afternoon that Woods was not a patient there.

PETA Wants University of Georgia Mascot to be a Robot

Who doesn't PETA get to work on this robot dog at once. That way the University of Georgia doesn't have to waste money and time trying to cater to a group that pretty much kills all the pets put into their care.

On its 2002 federal income-tax return, PETA claimed a $9,370 write-off for a giant walk-in freezer, the kind most people use as a meat locker or for ice-cream storage. But animal-rights activists don't eat meat or dairy foods. And during a 2007 criminal trial, a PETA manager (testifying under oath) confirmed the obvious -- that the group uses the appliance to store the bodies of its victims.

I understand what PETA is trying to do now. I think a robot dog is a good idea because if the next UGA falls into PETAs clutches then he is DOA.

The Real Problem with Climate Science? The Model is Broken

It seems that all of the emails with their various ethical violations should pale at the thought of the bedrock of their research the climate model may be a big mess from a programming standpoint.

The emails seem to describe a model which frequently breaks, and being constantly "tweaked" with manual interventions of dubious quality in order to make them fit the historical data. These stories suggest that the model, and the past manual interventions, are so poorly documented that CRU cannot now replicate its own past findings.

That is a big problem. The IPCC report, which is the most widely relied upon in policy circles, uses this model to estimate the costs of global warming. If those costs are unreliable, then any cost-benefit analysis is totally worthless.

About all you can do is scrap the entire model and built it again from scratch. In other words this model in which all this policy and trillion dollar changes needs to go back to base code. Then we need new scientists and programmers to put the thing together. If it predicts global warming then spend the trillions and fix the problems. Any other decisions based on this stuff is worthless until the bedrock code is cleaned up.

Less than 10% of Obama Cabinet Members Have Any Private Sector Experience

It seems that I have more experience in the private sector then just about the entire Obama cabinet. Which is kind of sad in a way.

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.

No wonder they are having so much trouble creating jobs for people. Most of them have never had to run a business that had to make a profit or compete in the marketplace. I mean the closest thing Obama had to the business world was working at Baskin and Robins as a teenager.

I still think Hillary should have won the Democratic race. At least she ran a Law Firm at some time in the past and was on the board of directors of Wal-Mart. Oh well maybe she would have the guts to run against Obama in 2012.

How a Monoculture Destroyed Climate Science

Now this is an interesting article on how a monoculture in Climate Science is so dangerous.

For years, with the media’s active participation, criticism of the mainstream scientific position on global warming has been painted as somehow outside the bounds of reasonable discourse. Skeptics are called “deniers,” with the intent to equate them with those who deny the Holocaust. At every turn, global warming activists with the help of the media, have tried to make it uncomfortable, even impossible, to criticize the science of catastrophic man-made global warming. In the extreme, this has degenerated into outright threats.

I have the agree whenever a monoculture forms it quickly becomes destructive to the people who are not members of it. This happened with the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages, Stalin and his Cult of Personality, Mao and cronies and on-and-on. A small elite group at the top protected their own and treated their enemies as "counterrevolutionaries" or "wreckers" and even tried to kill vast swaths of them.

This Climate monoculture was exactly the same. They closed ranks, excommunicated heretics, and even tried to destroy the careers of their enemies. They all thought alike and tried to treat their enemies as "deniers" by lumping them in with odious Holocaust deniers. The even sprinkled a little information denial in by trying to get their contacts to reject the papers of the "deniers." It was strangly similar to the extreme information control practiced by the Catholic Church and the Soviets. The more I think about it the more this leak may have been one of the great turning points in history.

Is Angelina Jolie Anti-Obama?

Well at least some unnamed source close to the star thinks so.

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).

Maybe she was for Hillary? Also I wonder if this will get her passed over for some jobs in Hollywood now?

Women Plan to Ignore Mammogram Commissar

As well they should. I think it is egregious that this seems to only effect women. Of course you don't see this same Health Politboro (aka U.S. Preventive Services Task Force) issuing edicts about "guidelines" on when men can be checked for prostate cancer.

Women across the USA have reacted angrily to the recommendations and expressed concern that delaying the tests could endanger their lives. In the new survey of 1,136 women, 76% of women say they disagree or strongly disagree with the recommendations.

And 84% of women ages 35 to 49 say they plan to get mammograms before age 50 despite the independent panel's advice. That's in keeping with the guidance of the American Cancer Society, which recommends annual mammograms beginning at age 40.

I'm pretty sure that he CANCER society has a better handle on when women should be checked for CANCER. In fact I think all women should simply ignore the U.S. Preventive Commissar in Charge of Patriotic Womens Health in Defense of the Motherland (USPCCPWHDM) or whatever this group is called when it comes to their lives.

What is really sad is this Health Commissar issued this Dictat right after Breast Cancer Awareness month just finished. Hell, even the NFL got in on the act. Then this USPCCPWHDM pisses all over that. Talk about tone deaf.

Black Men Decimated by the Recession

I really hope Obama gets as mad about the plight of these African Americans as he did about some cops harassing his rich, tenured Harvard professor friend.

Joblessness for 16-to-24-year-old black men has reached Great Depression proportions -- 34.5 percent in October, more than three times the rate for the general U.S. population. And last Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that unemployment in the District, home to many young black men, rose to 11.9 percent from 11.4 percent, even as it stayed relatively stable in Virginia and Maryland.

Obama Finally Makes an Afghanistan Decision

After much dithering, hemming and hawing, and like 10 meetings with his "war cabinet" he came to the decision that he could have made 3 months ago.

"I can tell you, as I've said before, that it is in our strategic interest, in our national security interest to make sure that al-Qaida and its extremist allies cannot operate effectively" in the area, he said. "We are going to dismantle and degrade their capabilities and ultimately dismantle and destroy their networks. And Afghanistan's stability is important to that process."

Military officials expect an infusion of approximately 32,000 to 35,000 troops to begin in February or March, the largest expansion since the beginning of the war and one that could bring the cost above $75 billion annually.

Maybe Obama got tired of holding out his hand in friendship and having it slapped away. Dems can be strong war Presidents just ask Woodrow Wilson, FDR, and Truman. I would be willing to cheer Obama if he does finally show some spine when it comes to the Taliban and Al-Quida. A loss in Afghanistan would be devastating to US prestige going forward.