Archive Listing
November 18, 2012 - November 11, 2012
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Your Turn
You
just gotta hate him, right?
SAME OLD NEWS ISN'T GOOD NEWS. Some sites call this an open thread. I don't. I call it directed discussion. I deliberately withhold my personal opinion to make you spout yours. It's a leap of faith. A trio of stories some of you can be counted on to care about, even if they're not front page news.
The first I could subtitle "Calling Lake!" New info on the Global Warming front:
For the clueless or cynical diehards
who deny global warming, it’s getting awfully cold out there.
The latest icy blast of reality comes from an eminent scientist whom the climate-change skeptics once lauded as one of their own. Richard Muller, a respected physicist at the University of California, Berkeley, used to dismiss alarmist climate research as being “polluted by political and activist frenzy.” Frustrated at what he considered shoddy science, Muller launched his own comprehensive study to set the record straight. Instead, the record set him straight.
“Global warming is real,” Muller wrote last week in The Wall Street Journal....
Muller and his fellow researchers examined an enormous data set of observed temperatures from monitoring stations around the world and concluded that the average land temperature has risen 1 degree Celsius — or about 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit — since the mid-1950s.
This agrees with the increase estimated by the United Nations-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Muller’s figures also conform with the estimates of those British and American researchers whose catty e-mails were the basis for the alleged “Climategate” scandal, which was never a scandal in the first place.
The Berkeley group’s research even confirms the infamous “hockey stick” graph — showing a sharp recent temperature rise — that Muller once snarkily called “the poster child of the global warming community.” Muller’s new graph isn’t just similar, it’s identical.
Muller found that skeptics are wrong when they claim that a “heat island” effect from urbanization is skewing average temperature readings; monitoring instruments in rural areas show rapid warming, too. He found that skeptics are wrong to base their arguments on the fact that records from some sites seem to indicate a cooling trend, since records from at least twice as many sites clearly indicate warming. And he found that skeptics are wrong to accuse climate scientists of cherry-picking the data, since the readings that are often omitted — because they are judged unreliable — show the same warming trend.
The latest icy blast of reality comes from an eminent scientist whom the climate-change skeptics once lauded as one of their own. Richard Muller, a respected physicist at the University of California, Berkeley, used to dismiss alarmist climate research as being “polluted by political and activist frenzy.” Frustrated at what he considered shoddy science, Muller launched his own comprehensive study to set the record straight. Instead, the record set him straight.
“Global warming is real,” Muller wrote last week in The Wall Street Journal....
Muller and his fellow researchers examined an enormous data set of observed temperatures from monitoring stations around the world and concluded that the average land temperature has risen 1 degree Celsius — or about 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit — since the mid-1950s.
This agrees with the increase estimated by the United Nations-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Muller’s figures also conform with the estimates of those British and American researchers whose catty e-mails were the basis for the alleged “Climategate” scandal, which was never a scandal in the first place.
The Berkeley group’s research even confirms the infamous “hockey stick” graph — showing a sharp recent temperature rise — that Muller once snarkily called “the poster child of the global warming community.” Muller’s new graph isn’t just similar, it’s identical.
Muller found that skeptics are wrong when they claim that a “heat island” effect from urbanization is skewing average temperature readings; monitoring instruments in rural areas show rapid warming, too. He found that skeptics are wrong to base their arguments on the fact that records from some sites seem to indicate a cooling trend, since records from at least twice as many sites clearly indicate warming. And he found that skeptics are wrong to accuse climate scientists of cherry-picking the data, since the readings that are often omitted — because they are judged unreliable — show the same warming trend.
If you're not interested in discussing AGW, there's a vigorous pundit debate underway about Herman Cain. Richard Miniter thinks he could win:
Forget the eye-rolling. Let’s look at
the numbers. Herman Cain is ahead of Romney in virtually all of the
polls conducted in the past two weeks. In both Iowa and nation-wide
Cain leads Romney by 30% to 22%,according to Public Policy Polling, a
respected pollster. Meanwhile the latest NBC-Marist poll puts Cain
ahead of Romney in South Carolina by 30%-26%, and shows Cain and Romney
neck-and-neck in Florida. Cain leads in Ohio by 15%, and in Hawaii by
12%. Only in New Hampshire does Romney stubbornly hold a solid
double-digit lead (15%).
Still, Cain could finish a strong second in New Hampshire. Cain is the second choice of Perry, Bachmann, Gingrich and Santorum voters, polls show. If some or all of them are out by the time New Hampshire Republicans go to the polls, Cain will benefit. Only Huntsman voters would shift to Romney...
If Cain can survive the sudden media attention, his support among Tea Partiers will solidify and grow. Once he won the Florida Straw Poll, he suddenly seemed electable to Tea Partiers. So he caught an updraft and is now the front-runner. He will stay there until the Tea Party loses confidence in him (and possibly elevates Gingrich).
Cain has a compelling Horatio Alger story, a warm sense of humor and sharply defined ideology. The media might call him just a “pizza guy.” They called Reagan just an actor.
And the Reagan analogy is coming up, again and again. The New Republic’s Walter Shapiro wrote: “…Cain is certainly not an extremist out of the Robertson and Buchanan playbooks. He is a cheerful conservative in the Ronald Reagan mold.”
Still, Cain could finish a strong second in New Hampshire. Cain is the second choice of Perry, Bachmann, Gingrich and Santorum voters, polls show. If some or all of them are out by the time New Hampshire Republicans go to the polls, Cain will benefit. Only Huntsman voters would shift to Romney...
If Cain can survive the sudden media attention, his support among Tea Partiers will solidify and grow. Once he won the Florida Straw Poll, he suddenly seemed electable to Tea Partiers. So he caught an updraft and is now the front-runner. He will stay there until the Tea Party loses confidence in him (and possibly elevates Gingrich).
Cain has a compelling Horatio Alger story, a warm sense of humor and sharply defined ideology. The media might call him just a “pizza guy.” They called Reagan just an actor.
And the Reagan analogy is coming up, again and again. The New Republic’s Walter Shapiro wrote: “…Cain is certainly not an extremist out of the Robertson and Buchanan playbooks. He is a cheerful conservative in the Ronald Reagan mold.”
But Mark Steyn is reluctantly determined to sound like a grownup:
Don’t get me wrong, I like Herman Cain.
I like “Imagine There’s No Pizza”: It would be the greatest
presidential campaign song since “Tippecanoe And Tyler, Too.” I like
his sunny disposition: Mien can be determinative — it’s why Rick
Santorum is right on almost everything, and going nowhere. I like
Cain’s electrified fence gags, on the general principle that no sane
person should climb into the straitjackets of the politically correct
enforcers.
And yet, and yet. . . . The foreign policy, hostage-trading, abortion stuff is becoming more difficult to ignore. I don’t think Charles Krauthammer’s assertion that Cain’s “winging it” fully explains it, nor does the Pundette’s that he is “incoherent.” Cain’s boast that he can’t name the president of Beki-beki-beki-beki-beki-beki-stan gets closer to it. It’s a cute line, notwithstanding that parochial braggadocio is easier to carry off when you’re a soaring hyperpower rather than a multi-trillion-dollar sinkhole whose citizens’ future is increasingly mortgaged to foreigners of one degree of unsavoriness or another.
But the ’stan shtick is a glimpse of the greater truth – that there are whole areas of public policy in which he simply has no interest. None. You ask him a question and from the recesses of his mind swim up half-recalled phrases from some panel discussion he caught once long ago, and he hopes he grabs the conservative line (“I’m proud to stand by Israel,” “we don’t negotiate with terrorists,” “life begins at conception,” whatever) but just as often he doesn’t (with Gretchen Carlson this morning: “No, abortion should not be a part of the political discussion”).
His fans say he’s being set up with “Gotcha” questions. But these aren’t the Hoogivsastans way out on the fringe of the public policy map. They’re the first stops on the central thruway of American politics, and have been for most of Cain’s adult life. And it’s becoming harder to avoid the obvious truth that he hasn’t given them a moment’s thought.
And yet, and yet. . . . The foreign policy, hostage-trading, abortion stuff is becoming more difficult to ignore. I don’t think Charles Krauthammer’s assertion that Cain’s “winging it” fully explains it, nor does the Pundette’s that he is “incoherent.” Cain’s boast that he can’t name the president of Beki-beki-beki-beki-beki-beki-stan gets closer to it. It’s a cute line, notwithstanding that parochial braggadocio is easier to carry off when you’re a soaring hyperpower rather than a multi-trillion-dollar sinkhole whose citizens’ future is increasingly mortgaged to foreigners of one degree of unsavoriness or another.
But the ’stan shtick is a glimpse of the greater truth – that there are whole areas of public policy in which he simply has no interest. None. You ask him a question and from the recesses of his mind swim up half-recalled phrases from some panel discussion he caught once long ago, and he hopes he grabs the conservative line (“I’m proud to stand by Israel,” “we don’t negotiate with terrorists,” “life begins at conception,” whatever) but just as often he doesn’t (with Gretchen Carlson this morning: “No, abortion should not be a part of the political discussion”).
His fans say he’s being set up with “Gotcha” questions. But these aren’t the Hoogivsastans way out on the fringe of the public policy map. They’re the first stops on the central thruway of American politics, and have been for most of Cain’s adult life. And it’s becoming harder to avoid the obvious truth that he hasn’t given them a moment’s thought.
And for those who are fatigued with the political horserace, I have a third line of controversy. Tim Tebow:
After Tebow's first start of the season on Sunday, the debate remains open for all but the most fanatical in either camp.
The Floridian combines a Johnny Unitas throwback hairstyle with a running back's physique, a winning smile and a take-home-to-Mom politeness, all wrapped up with home-schooled Christian values.
That makes him a marketing and branding dream for the Denver Broncos, the NFL, television and all manner of sponsors.
But there are those who think he might prove to be the NFL's version of Russian tennis player Anna Kournikova -- popular, attractive and talented but not cut out for the weekly grind of the professional circuit.
For three quarters of the game at the Miami Dolphins, the critics appeared right. Tebow's passing was poor, he needed too much time to read situations and he just never looked comfortable.
Then, with time running out, he took the game by the scruff of the
neck and the Tebow that had delighted fans of the 2008 Florida Gators
national championship winning team -- brimming with confidence and
willing to improvise -- re-emerged and won the game for his team...
On Sunday he surpassed himself. Commenting over the highlights of the Broncos' last minute come from behind victory over the Dolphins, he was over the top in attributing every part of the comeback to Tebow -- Tebow with the onside kick, Tebow with the kick recovery, Tebow with the game-winning field goal. It was nasty, and it was obviously personal. At every turn, he compared Tebow's prior failures in the game to the performance of Aaron Rodgers, as if not being Aaron Rodgers right now were proof of a youngster's inborn incompetence.
Compare this with the way so many ex-players, including Dukes, have treated the return of Michael Vick. He made a mistake. He paid his debt to society. He deserves a second chance.
So.... uh.... why doesn't Tebow even deserve a first chance? What, uh, mistake has he made? He hasn't slaughtered dogs? He hasn't killed someone in a DUI accident? He hasn't committed a drug/gun/domestic abuse felony? No. He's a Christian missionary who actually seems to live his faith. He's derided as a virgin. What a creep. No wonder he has to be ridiculed in his first ever NFL start.
Exceptions in the punditry class, to be fair, have included Chris Berman, who defended Tebow against a scornful ESPN crew, and Terry Bradshaw, who early in the season acknowledged an NFL prejudice against unconventional talents and -- based on the fledgling exploits of Cam Newton, who was also supposed to be a Tebow-like bust -- promised to open his mind to the possibilities of youngsters.
But when it comes to Tebow, I think there's more going on, and I don't think it's all about football.
As I say: Your Turn. Do these three stories have something in common? Your call. But if you can't get fired up about any one of them, that would be on you.
posted at
1:35 pm
by
RL
Friday, October 21, 2011
Republican Debates
Who forgot about
Beth Phoenix... er... Newt Gingrich?
FULL CIRCLE? So Romney and Perry are slapping at one another like jealous cheerleaders. Great. Romney was wanting Anderson Cooper (?) to save him from his Rick Perry confrontation. He was almost stamping his feet. Rick Perry was in the mode of "I'll say no every time you say yeah" and "I'lll say yeah every time you say no. And your Mormon mother wears army boots." Presidential. Right. Bunch of girls gouging each other with their fingernails.
They think they're carving up the Republican electorate. Herman Cain thinks he's mopping up the blood they spill between them. How can we be in this much of a mess? The president is a disaster. All we need is a credible candidate. But Romney's a liar. Perry's a dunce. (Even I can't stand that mush-mouthed Texas twang...) Cain's an amateur in a year when, let's face it, amateurs aren't exactly what the electorate wants.
Which leaves us where we were four years ago. With the only man who can be absolutely counted on to annihilate Obama in the debates.
Boy, am I depressed.
posted at
3:07 pm
by
RL
How to Win
(N at all SFW)
(N at all SFW)
We keep forgetting the "Government by the people" part of the arrangement.
IT'S SIMPLE. Stop pining for a leader. Seriously. Stop. It. This podcast explains what we really need.
You can read a half-reliable transcript after the jump.
posted at
5:46 pm
by
Brizoni
Thursday, October 20, 2011
The Obaminator
No wonder the neo-McGovernites
are confused.
THE CURSE OF MEMORY. Ah. The irony. The man who won the Nobel Peace Prize before he'd been president even a few months has precious few accomplishments to brag about. Domestically, he's turned a recession into what looks to be an FDR-style generational depression. In foreign policy, he's concluded no peace treaties of any kind and has succeeded in pissing off such long-term allies as the U.K., Germany, and Israel.
So what's his claim to fame? He's managed to engineer the violent deaths of three leaders of the muslim world he kowtowed to in his apologetic "outreach" to Islam: Bin Laden, Awlaki, and Qaddafi. And some members of his own party are hopping mad about his kill order on Awlaki because he was an American and absolutely in line with the Democrats on matters of foreign policy. How could Hating America First be a killing offense?
It wouldn't be so funny if he had any other foreign policy successes. But he doesn't. Just last week, the Germans told him to piss off and mess out of the E.U.'s ongoing financial meltdown. "Like we need your advice, Mr. Deficit...) And we understand the Mexicans are very understanding about the Fast & Furious program that killed one Border Patrol agent and 200 Mexicans. Although the Iranians do appreciate the fact that his sanctions against an intended act of war on U.S. soil amount to holding their man-purse in the teacher's drawer until the end of the day's classes.
But with all the sixties nostalgia that's going on, we can't help thinking of the old chant outside the Johnson White House: ""Hey, hey, LBJ! How many kids did you kill today?"
Hey, hey, BHO! How many hits are still to go?
No wonder the Republican party leadership is too nervous to point out that the jobs bill is exclusively about government jobs. I mean, drones work just as well over the Maryland suburbs as they do over Afghanistan.
We won't know for sure until he announces that his 2012 campaign slogan is, "I'll be back."
With a pronunciation of the letter "a" that matches his pronunciation of "Pakistan."
