The Thinking Mans Thinking Man

That was the title of the Newsweek cover on October 31, 2009. In reference to... Al Gore!

Geez, that is about the stupidest thing I've ever read. This is the thinking man that says, "shut up, it is settled science." So much for thinking. This whole movement has been about not thinking, but just accepting what ever falderal is dished up.

It seems that Nobel Peace Prize winner Gore has been missing in action since the global warming nuts' "science" has been unraveling. Maybe I have just missed it. (Which wouldn't be hard, since I tend to ignore anything that Manbearpig has to say.) But it seems he hasn't even stepped forward to say that obviously this is the work of skeptics who want the planet to be destroyed.

Canadian healthcare: Update

Danny Williams, Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, went to Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami to have a valve replaced in his heart. The reason for having this done in the U.S. rather than using Canada's vaunted public health system was because a less invasive procedure was available.

Now we all know, because we have been told ad nauseum, that the Canadian system is wonderful because it is free, and just as good as the U.S. healthcare. Here is a clear case of the U.S. system being better. If you were an American citizen you could avail yourself of this procedure and have it paid for by your health plan; insurance, HMO, PPO, Medicare. But as a Canadian, you have to leave the country and pay out of pocket to get a less invasive, lower risk operation.

I am just so thankful that my betters in the Democratic Party are going to fix this flaw in our system, and make it so much more like the Canadian system. My question is; where will Canadian premiers go for surgery when the American healthcare system has been ruined by socialism?

Help California now! Why?

California has spent years digging a big hole in which to dump its economy. Finally, they have got the hole deep enough that there is no way to see out. But do they put the shovel down? No way, they rent a backhoe so they can dig faster.

This is a state with out of control spending on every social program imaginable. Pensions are available to employees who have worked thirty years and retire. Pensions at 90% of post-retirement salaries. Firemen can retire at age 50 with thirty years service and their pension can top $100,000 per year. The state provides generous welfare benefits, and extends those benefits to the large population of illegal aliens, undocumented workers, whatever the euphemism du jour for people who are illegally in the U.S. Unions hold strong sway over the state legislature. All of this is supported by high tax rates on businesses and individuals. Employers have been departing the state as fast as they can relocate. Population growth is driven by illegals.

What is the solution to all of this responsibility? Well obviously, we (you and I and the citizens of the other 49 states) must bail California out. And we must do this without the state even making any changes in its irresponsible fiscal behavior.

I for one have no interest in helping California fix its budget mess. Texas has been pilloried for years as being stingy with social benefits, but guess what, we have a healthy economy even in the face of a national economic decline. I see no reason to sacrifice my hard earned dollars to save the citizens of a state who take no responsibility for their own fiscal house.

A year later the President is claiming that the $787 billion stimulus package has worked. There is not much agreement with that position.

The stimulus did not perform as promised, so it is hard to see how it is successful. At the time the stimulus package was enacted the Administration claimed that unemployment would reach 10% without stimulus, but with stimulus it would only reach 8%. Well, it reached 10.5%.

The President also continues to make the jobs created or saved argument. He claims that 1.5 to 2 million jobs have been created or saved due to the stimulus. Certainly, these jobs have not been created, or unemployment would not have increased beyond the worse predictions. Which leaves only the saved side. Jobs saved is not an economic argument because it is a bullshit weasel term. There is no way to know if jobs are "saved."

It is disappointing to see our President struggle so hard to find any positive accomplishment of his first year.

Scientists discover the secret of ageing

I didn't know there was a secret. I thought it happened to all of us if we lived long enough.

Of Hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons

Again the IPCC has apparently fudged statistical data in order to promote the theory of anthropological global warming.

There is no statistical basis for the idea that warming has contributed to the number or intensity of tropical storms. If you remember the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season then you can see where anecdotally this seems plausible. But statistical analysis does not seem to confirm that there are more, or more intense storms.

I have always been skeptical of the global warming enthusiasts, mainly because the dire warnings seemed overwrought. It is becoming more difficult by the day to credit any proponent of "the sky is falling" syndrome.

The hits just keep coming

Phil Jones, the Director of the Climate Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia (UEA), which is the target of Climategate, in answer to a question from the BBC:

B - Do you agree that from 1995 to the present there has been no statistically-significant global warming

Yes, but only just.

I left off the ...yes but, weasel words that followed.

So, one of the leading proponents of anthropogenic global warming admits that there has been no warming for the past 15 years? But never mind, it is scientifically proven consensus that warming is happening.

Oh, and the IPCC made another little error of fact in its report, when it stated that 55% of the Netherlands was below sea level. The real percentage is 26. That's an exaggeration of just over 100%. But again, never mind, a report rife with errors "do(es) not affect the core conclusions that human activities, led by burning fossil fuels, are warming the globe."

Global warming v. science

The problem with global warming theory is, and always has been, that the scientific consensus (an oxymoron) is not really science. The data is cherry picked and incomplete, and then in order to create a forward looking climate model, it is pushed into computer models that must assume facts that are not only unknown, but unknowable. The variables of climate are almost infinite, certainly too large to control for in any meaningful way.

Climate modelers promote modeled findings of climate in 100 years as given fact. These very models have been inaccurate over the last decade. Meteorological modeling becomes problematic after a 24 hour period, yet climate modelers express confidence in there 100 year models.

Michael Crichton, who was a scientist, discusses the problems with global warming consensus, and the science in general. This speech does not so much question warming, which may indeed be happening, and may be the fault of man, but questions the scientific method, and the reason for scientists promoting the theory.

As to the modeling, he says:

Let's think back to people in 1900 in, say, New York. If they worried about people in 2000, what would they worry about? Probably: Where would people get enough horses? And what would they do about all the horseshit? Horse pollution was bad in 1900, think how much worse it would be a century later, with so many more people riding horses?

This is succinct and to the point. What was unknown in 1900 regarding 2000 is probably several orders of magnitude less than what is unknown about 2100 from 2000.

It's a miracle

Farouk Shami, who is running for Governor of Texas, announced today, the invention of a blow dryer that causes hair to regrow and smooths out wrinkles. Shami's day job, when he's not proving how clueless he is about state government, is selling hair care products. Billions of dollars worth of hair care products. This invention should add a few more billion.

It's good to know he'll have something to fall back on when he gets his butt kicked in the Democratic Primary.

Obama saves Iraq

Thank goodness we (meaning those of you who actually voted for him) elected Obama in 2008! He has managed to turn Iraq into a success story.

The Bush administration is to blame for everything that is wrong with the country; the economy, partisan politics, deficits, on and on ad nauseum. But since the One has been elected, Iraq is succeeding. This is apparently due to all the attention President Obamas has paid to Iraq, and the frequent visits by Vice Biden.

Give me a f***ing break!

R.I.P. John Murtha

Congressman Murtha died of complications of surgery. He was one of the most powerful members of the House.

Murtha had a laparoscopic cholecystectomy (gall bladder removal) performed at National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, this is the same hospital that takes care of the President. According to CNN, doctors "hit his intestine." This procedure is performed 10's of thousands of times per year, in virtually every hospital in the country. One of the outcomes of any surgery can be death, but with this procedure that is unlikely. If this had happened to John Doe in General Medical Hospital, Anytown, USA, a lawyer would already be preparing the lawsuit.

In my opinion this is a medical error, and is inexcusable. But as the discussion continues over health care reform, this matter should be considered, and be part of the discussion. Errors do happen. Doctors are human, and therefore imperfect. What should be done in the instance that the physician's error causes the death of a 77 year old man? Should it just be handled by the John Edwards' of the world, suing for as much as they can get, or should there be another avenue of redress?

Carly Fiorina for California, has a ring to it doesn't it?

Weird!

With the Pink Floyd soundtrack, it is so much better. See the difference?



HT: Andrew Sullivan

Sullivan v. Palin

On the Trig stuff, it was just too absurd to doubt her story, however factually implausible it appeared.

Andrew Sullivan.

I enjoy reading Andrew Sullivan, but what the hell does that comment mean? What is he saying? This is about as dumb as the 9/11 deniers. Gov. Palin was pregnant. She had a retarded child. What is there to doubt about any of that? Is it implausible that she didn't have an abortion?

I just don't get it.

Canadian healthcare

It is repeated so often that it is taken as an article of faith; Canada has a wonderful healthcare system that is available to everyone. The word "free" is used a lot, but obviously someone pays for it. That would be the Canadian taxpayer.

Therefore, it is interesting to learn that the Premier of Labrador and Newfoundland (those are provinces I gather, so he is the equivalent of a Governor of a U.S. state,) is travelling to the United States to have heart surgery. This is not just a skip across the border either. St. John's, the capital, is a long way from the nearest state (Maine), so this requires air travel, or a long drive and ferry ride.

I look forward to hearing why he is leaving Canada to come to the U.S. for surgery. I am willing to bet that the reason is the long wait for surgery in Canada could very well endanger his life.

ADDED: According to Acting Premier Kathy Dunderdale, Premier Williams' doctors recommended that he go to the U.S. for his heart procedure. The CEO of the province's largest health authority said; "There's no question that this is not a queue-jumping issue."

Using dollars

"I was making the simple point that families use vacation dollars, not college tuition money, to have fun," Obama said.

This is a clue to how the President thinks about money. He sees money as funds to be taken from here, and used over there. A very governmental view of money. Money can just be shifted from this program to that. But, the source of the money is not given much consideration.

The reality is money is fungible. Any dollar that is spent on vacation, is a dollar that is not available for tuition. As an individual, or a family, dollars are interchangeable.

There is nothing wrong with spending money on a vacation, but those are dollars that will not be available for any other use, they are spent.