Climategate: a scandal that won’t go away
"If you were faced with by far the biggest bill of your life, would you not want to be confident that there was a very good reason why you should pay it?
That is why we need to know just how far we can trust the science behind the official view that the world is threatened with catastrophe by global warming – because the measures proposed by our politicians to avert this supposed disaster threaten to transform our way of life out of recognition and to land us with easily the biggest bill in history.
(The Climate Change Act alone, says the Government, will cost us all £18 billion every year until 2050.)"
.....The crown jewels of the IPCC’s case that the world faces catastrophic warming have been all those graphs based on tree rings which purport to show that temperatures have lately been soaring to levels never known before in history – thus eradicating all the evidence that the world was hotter than today during the Medieval Warm Period, long before any rise in CO2 levels.
Best known of these graphs, of course, was Michael Mann’s “hockey stick”, comprehensively discredited by the expert Canadian statistician Stephen McIntyre and Professor Ross McKitrick.
But the IPCC was able to defend its case with the aid of another set of “hockey sticks”, based on different tree rings, produced by Mann’s close allies at the CRU.
The most widely quoted of the Climategate emails was that from the CRU’s director, Philip Jones, saying that he had used “Mike’s Nature trick” to “hide the decline”.
If there was anything in the CRU’s record which a proper inquiry should have addressed it was the story behind this email, because what it highlighted was the device used by the CRU to get round the fact that its tree-ring data hopelessly failed to show the result the warmist establishment wanted.
When their Siberian tree rings showed temperatures in the late 20th century sharply dropping rather than rising, the “trick” used by Prof Jones and his colleague Dr Keith Briffa, copied from Mike Mann’s own “hockey stick”, was simply to delete the downward curve shown by the tree rings, replacing them with late 20th-century temperature data to show the dramatic warming they wanted.
The significance of this sleight of hand can scarcely be exaggerated.
Why, in using this misleading graph, did the IPCC not explain the trick that had been played by its leading scientists?
If tree rings were so inadequate in reflecting 20th-century temperatures, why should they be relied on to reflect temperatures in earlier centuries?
Why, when fresh Siberian tree ring data came to light, making a nonsense of the CRU’s earlier temperature reconstructions, did the CRU simply ignore the new data?
Anyone who has followed the meticulous analysis of this curious story by Steve McIntyre on his Climate Audit website might well conclude that we are looking here at a complete travesty of proper scientific procedure, matched only by the bizarre methods used by Mann himself to construct his original hockey stick.
Yet these are the men, Mann, Jones and Briffa, who acted as the “lead authors” of the key chapters of the IPCC’s 2001 and 2007 reports.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Oakland County won’t enforce smoking ban, Patterson says
Oakland County won’t enforce smoking ban, Patterson says
"Oakland County says it doesn’t plan to enforce Michigan’s smoking ban that’s set to take effect May 1.
County executive L. Brooks Patterson told WJBK-TV he’ll sue over the smoking ban next week. Patterson says the law amounts to an “unfunded mandate” if county health departments must oversee and enforce the ban.
Patterson says the county doesn’t have the resources to enforce the ban."
"Oakland County says it doesn’t plan to enforce Michigan’s smoking ban that’s set to take effect May 1.
County executive L. Brooks Patterson told WJBK-TV he’ll sue over the smoking ban next week. Patterson says the law amounts to an “unfunded mandate” if county health departments must oversee and enforce the ban.
Patterson says the county doesn’t have the resources to enforce the ban."
Editorial: Voters need to know who are paying for campaign ads |
Editorial: Voters need to know who are paying for campaign ads
"The decision raises the specter that shadowy groups — labor unions, multi-national companies or wealthy individuals with axes to grind — will quietly pull the strings of state and national elections and never be held accountable for their actions"
"The decision raises the specter that shadowy groups — labor unions, multi-national companies or wealthy individuals with axes to grind — will quietly pull the strings of state and national elections and never be held accountable for their actions"
George F. Will - The perils of the value-added tax
George F. Will - The perils of the value-added tax
"adoption of a VAT would proclaim the impossibility of serious spending reductions and hence would be the obituary for the Founders' vision of limited government."
"adoption of a VAT would proclaim the impossibility of serious spending reductions and hence would be the obituary for the Founders' vision of limited government."
B-36: Bomber at the Crossroads
B-36: Bomber at the Crossroads History of Flight Air & Space Magazine
"It was the biggest warplane ever to wear an American star, and in the summer of '49 the Peacemaker found itself a war--in Washington."
"It was the biggest warplane ever to wear an American star, and in the summer of '49 the Peacemaker found itself a war--in Washington."
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Why Volcanic Ash Is Dangerous to Airplanes
Why Volcanic Ash Is Dangerous to Airplanes - Volcanic Ash Engine Failure - Popularmechanics.com
"Today, authorities closed airports across Britain and Northern Europe due to clouds of volcanic ash in airspace from an Icelandic eruption."
"Today, authorities closed airports across Britain and Northern Europe due to clouds of volcanic ash in airspace from an Icelandic eruption."
National Prayer Day Shot Down; What Will Obama Do?
National Prayer Day Shot Down; What Will Obama Do? - Law Blog - WSJ
"according to Wisconsin federal judge Barbara Crabb, who ruled on Thursday that the federal statute that created the day violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
“[I]ts sole purpose is to encourage all citizens to engage in prayer, an inherently religious exercise that serves no secular function,” wrote Judge Crabb.
“In this instance, the government has taken sides on a matter that must be left to individual conscience.”"
"according to Wisconsin federal judge Barbara Crabb, who ruled on Thursday that the federal statute that created the day violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
“[I]ts sole purpose is to encourage all citizens to engage in prayer, an inherently religious exercise that serves no secular function,” wrote Judge Crabb.
“In this instance, the government has taken sides on a matter that must be left to individual conscience.”"
‘BEHAVIOR PLACEMENT’: GE’s Orwellian NBC Wants ‘You To Do Good’
‘BEHAVIOR PLACEMENT’: GE’s Orwellian NBC Wants ‘You To Do Good’
"Forget product placement, NBC Universal is trying “behavior placement” with some of its shows. Characters from programs such as “30 Rock” and “The Office” are acting out eco-friendly behaviors that advertisers hope will sway viewers.
WSJ’s Amy Chozick reports.
In just one week on NBC, the detectives on “Law and Order” investigated a cash-for-clunkers scam, a nurse on “Mercy” organized a group bike ride, Al Gore made a guest appearance on “30 Rock,” and “The Office” turned Dwight Schrute into a cape-wearing superhero obsessed with recycling."
Next time you consider purchasing a GE product.....think again.
"Forget product placement, NBC Universal is trying “behavior placement” with some of its shows. Characters from programs such as “30 Rock” and “The Office” are acting out eco-friendly behaviors that advertisers hope will sway viewers.
WSJ’s Amy Chozick reports.
In just one week on NBC, the detectives on “Law and Order” investigated a cash-for-clunkers scam, a nurse on “Mercy” organized a group bike ride, Al Gore made a guest appearance on “30 Rock,” and “The Office” turned Dwight Schrute into a cape-wearing superhero obsessed with recycling."
Next time you consider purchasing a GE product.....think again.
Spending, Not Tax Cuts, Is the Real Driver of the Fiscal Mess
Spending, Not Tax Cuts, Is the Real Driver of the Fiscal Mess — The American, A Magazine of Ideas
"To balance the budget over the next 25 years, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says, would require an immediate and permanent increase in tax revenues, or reduction in spending outlays, equal to 5.4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
To put that in context, that equals a 29 percent increase in all federal tax revenues relative to historical levels.
That means not just income taxes, but payroll taxes, corporate taxes, capital gains and dividends taxes, and other sources of revenue.
And it doesn’t mean just a 29 percent increase in tax rates, but—to account for the disincentive effects of higher taxes—even higher rates so that total revenue rises by 29 percent.
That’s a pretty big deal."
"To balance the budget over the next 25 years, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says, would require an immediate and permanent increase in tax revenues, or reduction in spending outlays, equal to 5.4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
To put that in context, that equals a 29 percent increase in all federal tax revenues relative to historical levels.
That means not just income taxes, but payroll taxes, corporate taxes, capital gains and dividends taxes, and other sources of revenue.
And it doesn’t mean just a 29 percent increase in tax rates, but—to account for the disincentive effects of higher taxes—even higher rates so that total revenue rises by 29 percent.
That’s a pretty big deal."
Fond memories of Norton Shores founder, Robert Hunter, 93
Fond memories of Norton Shores founder, Robert Hunter, 93
"Family and friends of Robert Hunter are remembering the man known for his community leadership and the fair way he treated people.
Hunter, who played a key role in the transition from Norton Township to the city of Norton Shores"
His name is on the street connecting Sternberg and Ellis by the airport.
Who'd of guessed?
"Family and friends of Robert Hunter are remembering the man known for his community leadership and the fair way he treated people.
Hunter, who played a key role in the transition from Norton Township to the city of Norton Shores"
His name is on the street connecting Sternberg and Ellis by the airport.
Who'd of guessed?
Extramarital sex fuels earthquakes
Extramarital sex fuels earthquakes: Senior Iran cleric - Middle East - World - The Times of India
"TEHRAN:
A senior Iranian cleric has claimed that dolled-up women incite extramarital sex, causing more earthquakes in Iran, a country that straddles several fault lines, newspapers reported on Saturday.
'Many women who dress inappropriately ... cause youths to go astray, taint their chastity and incite extramarital sex in society, which increases earthquakes,' Ayatollah Kazem Sedighi told worshippers at Tehran Friday prayer."
"TEHRAN:
A senior Iranian cleric has claimed that dolled-up women incite extramarital sex, causing more earthquakes in Iran, a country that straddles several fault lines, newspapers reported on Saturday.
'Many women who dress inappropriately ... cause youths to go astray, taint their chastity and incite extramarital sex in society, which increases earthquakes,' Ayatollah Kazem Sedighi told worshippers at Tehran Friday prayer."
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