Monday, January 05, 2009

Skeptics Global Warming

Skeptics Global Warming: "Some scientists have recently remarked that 2008 could be the coolest of this century. While this does appear so, sans December data, it’s also one of the coolest of the last 25 years. In fact, year-to-date, the University of Alabama at Huntsville temperature data set suggests that 2008 will be only very slightly ..."

Obama's Science Team: A Change Of Climate? : NPR

Obama's Science Team: A Change Of Climate? : NPR: "President-elect Barack Obama filled two top science jobs Saturday. In the process, he signaled a new White House emphasis on climate change.
Harvard professor John Holdren will be the chief White House science adviser and marine biologist Jane Lubchenco will run the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Obama said his White House is determined to turn back toward science."

Be afraid..... very afraid....

Climate Change Fraud - Because the debate is not over - Wind-Farm Problems Blowin' In The Wind

Climate Change Fraud - Because the debate is not over - Wind-Farm Problems Blowin' In The Wind: "As an over-the-road truck driver, I often pass wind farms all over the country,
and usually try to make an estimate, especially on windy days, of what
percentage of the wind turbines are actually working. Typically, between 20%
and 50% of the wind turbines are NOT working, and on one wind farm in Kansas
containing at least 100 windmills, NONE of them have been working for several
months. I'll bet this knocks the hell out of the payback estimates used to
justify the massive expenditure of taxpayer dollars to build these things."

Muskegon Heights council, residents, business owners lock horns over budget

Muskegon Heights council, residents, business owners lock horns over budget
"Despite the pleas and concerns expressed by the crime victim and other residents, the city council on Monday reiterated that the city doesn't have the money to continue employing that many officers. Other budget-cutting options just don't exist, frustrated city officials said repeatedly.


Think about that.

The city leaders of Muskegon Heights are telling their citizens and businesses that every other city spending area is MORE IMPORTANT than adequate police protection.

The city is doomed.

Why is the city of Muskegon following the same plan?

Term limits law churns Michigan Legislature

Term limits law churns Michigan Legislature
"The 110-member Michigan House will have 46 new lawmakers when it reconvenes for a new session this month. Forty-four of the seats were open in last year's election because the incumbents were term-limited.
Michigan's term limits law restricts House members to three terms of two years, or six years total.
The 38 members of the Michigan Senate are limited to two terms of four years, or eight years total. Senate seats were not up for election last year. Both the House and Senate will be up for election in 2010."

And our "progressive" Chronicle tells us that those 38 term limiteds are too important and have been too successful to look for new employment.

Yeah, right....

Huge success declared in effort to stamp out hunger

Huge success declared in effort to stamp out hunger
"All any sponsoring group had to do was put up 25 percent of the $780 it takes to buy and distribute 10,000 pounds of food from the Gleaners. The foundation promised to pay the rest.
'I was just astounded at how much could be done with so little funding,' Cherin said. 'This was something we could readily wrap our arms around.'
Since their decision, the foundation has 'statistically' rid Newaygo County of hunger, said John Arnold, executive director of the Gleaners"
According to a formula he's devised that uses, as factors, the number of people in poverty in a county, the pounds of food needed to feed them, and the amount actually distributed, Arnold has declared the Newaygo County Hunger Initiative's initial goal met.

Michigan approves online, off-campus courses for 12 school districts

Michigan approves online, off-campus courses for 12 school districts
"State education officials have given 11 school districts and one charter school permission to let some students take part or all of their required classes on line and off campus......
The Avondale district in Auburn Hills received its waiver last month.
Avondale Superintendent George Heitsch tells the Detroit Free Press the online classes offers struggling students 'a shot at catching up.'"

I sure hope there is more to this story.... or less.

I do have a few observations:

1. Do our school districts already have an on line class program set up? When did that happen?

2. Or is this going to be another new bureaucracy that must be funded, and staffed and started from scratch? At enormous cost?

3. As Avondale Superintendent Heitsch so eloquently stated "the online classes offers struggling students "a shot at catching up."


What! Moving "STRUGGLING" kids from the teacher assisted classroom to their own home computer gives them " a shot at catching up"? !!!!!!!!!!

4. If computers are the answer for struggling students, will there be reductions in teaching positions? (little joke there...)

5. What if the little strugglers don't have a computer? A nifty high-speed internet connection.... any freakin' self control to keep them on their algebra lesson instead of all-day porn!!!!!!


6. Who authorized this idiocy? Seriously, what are their names!

Our state is broke.

Our school systems are broke.

And total loons are running the asylums.


EPA 'Cow Tax' Could Charge $175 per Dairy Cow to Curb Greenhouse Gases

EPA 'Cow Tax' Could Charge $175 per Dairy Cow to Curb Greenhouse Gases
"Farm Bureau warns just this one rule may increase milk production costs up to 8 cents a gallon."

Sunday, January 04, 2009

Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights?

Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights?
"An open letter to the local daily paper -- almost every local daily paper in America:
I remember reading All the President's Men and thinking: That's journalism. You do what it takes to get the truth and you lay it before the public, because the public has a right to know.
This housing crisis didn't come out of nowhere."

Saturday, January 03, 2009

Newspapers Commit Suicide! Read All About It! - WSJ.com

Newspapers Commit Suicide! Read All About It! - WSJ.com: "Papers are not going out of business because bloggers will do reporters' work for free; papers are falling because they are confirming readers' belief that we cannot trust the mass media, ever, on anything, so why pay for lies? The blogosphere did not do this to you; you did it to yourselves."

Instapundit » Blog Archive » I’VE OFTEN ARGUED that the relationship between blogs and Big Media should be thought of as symbioti…

Instapundit » Blog Archive » I’VE OFTEN ARGUED that the relationship between blogs and Big Media should be thought of as symbioti…: "Smart news people — like Lail — are more interested in getting bloggers to deliver traffic than in complaining about blogger competition. And smart news organizations will take advantage of new technology to facilitate their hard-news reporting ability via the “Army of Davids” approach, rather than complaining that people who post breaking-news reports on blogs or Twitter don’t have journalism degrees."

InsideCatholic.com - The Christmas Classic that Almost Wasn't

InsideCatholic.com - The Christmas Classic that Almost Wasn't: "As a result, one of the great Christmas films of all time is once again protected by the law -- ironic, considering that it became a classic in significant part because it was legally unprotected. But God works in mysterious ways -- and sometimes the law does, too."

1-800-GOOG-411: Find and connect with local businesses for free from your phone.

1-800-GOOG-411: Find and connect with local businesses for free from your phone.

This is pretty cool.

I've tried it.
(thanks to Al M for the tip)

Friday, January 02, 2009

New Jersey Is the Perfect Bad Example

New Jersey Is the Perfect Bad Example
"Of course, there was one area where jobs did grow. From 2000 to 2007, says the New Jersey Business & Industry Association, the government added 54,800 jobs. To put that in proper perspective, that works out to 93% of all jobs created in New Jersey over those seven years."

Thursday, January 01, 2009

Beware Third-Hand Smoke and Junk Science - Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld

Beware Third-Hand Smoke and Junk Science
"Researchers have identified 'third-hand smoke,' an invisible evil that acts like a deadly Ghost of Cigarettes Past: Polluting the air, killing innocent babies and ottomans — even if they aren't present at the time."

Daly said...... the PGA Tour suspended him for six months.

My Way - Sports News
"John Daly smashed one tee shot off the top of a beer can during a pro-am. At another tournament, he returned from a rain delay with Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden as his caddie. And his most memorable photo this year came in an orange jail suit, eyes half-closed....
Daly said .....'Is it fair that I got suspended?' he said. 'It's not fair in reality, but it's probably fair in perception.'"

Baltimore not as bloody in '08 with fewer killings

Baltimore not as bloody in '08 with fewer killings
"Police in the city once nicknamed 'Bodymore, Murdaland,' are going after the most entrenched criminals and are starting to see success. As of midnight Thursday, there were 234 homicides in 2008, down from 282 killings a year ago."

Suspicious packages force mass evacuation in Aspen

Suspicious packages force mass evacuation in Aspen
"Suspicious packages and threatening notes were found at two banks, forcing the evacuation of a 16-block downtown area. A fireworks show was pushed back from 8:30 p.m. until midnight and then canceled altogether."

The lightbulb of the future?

The lightbulb of the future?
Luxim's plasma lightbulb
Silicon Valley's Luxim has developed a lightbulb the size of a Tic Tac that gives off as much light as a streetlight. ..."

Government aid could save U.S. newspapers, spark debate | Special Coverage | Reuters

Government aid could save U.S. newspapers, spark debate Special Coverage Reuters