His conclusion: It's Worse Than We Thought
Silence about the bogus science. Anyone who dares disagree is a 'denier'. Apocalyptic warnings that only massive government intervention can save us. The North Pole is melting away before our eyes, even though the ice cap is growing. No word lately on the polar bears.
A browse through his blog is educational, to say the least.
Gotta get back to work. Tennessee is snowed in.
Again.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Livin' The High Life: The Congressional Black Caucus
OS ran across bits of this, and thought--nyah, this is just some rant from some guy living in his mom's basement with his gun collection and Confederate flag.
In 2008, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation spent more on the caterer for its signature legislative dinner and conference — nearly $700,000 for an event one organizer called “Hollywood on the Potomac” — than it gave out in scholarships, federal tax records show.
OS has a friend on the faculty at Fisk University, a flagship black university, founded and built by freed slaves. They struggle to keep the doors open. Certainly, this story is overblown. What could Fisk do with 700 grand?
But, just to be certain, he kept searching, and the original story is sourced at the New York Times.
The quote was accurate. And the whole story is much uglier than just that paragraph.
Time was, the Times would never, ever print a story like this. They were the original LiberalGuiltAssCovering service. No matter how egregious, never a murmur about any black Democrat. Back in the day, Adam Clayton Powell ran Harlem as a personal duchy, right under the nose of the Times.
Well, times has changed(unintentional pun...) Reality is setting in. Their people won. Statehouse, Congress, White House. Black governor, black president. The Dream is reality.
And the wheels are coming off.
The Times, to survive, must regain at least a semblance of credibility. They no longer control the conversation, and increasingly, the country doesn't care what their editorial page thinks.
Obama and company are losing their cover, and cold winds are beginning to blow.
In 2008, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation spent more on the caterer for its signature legislative dinner and conference — nearly $700,000 for an event one organizer called “Hollywood on the Potomac” — than it gave out in scholarships, federal tax records show.
OS has a friend on the faculty at Fisk University, a flagship black university, founded and built by freed slaves. They struggle to keep the doors open. Certainly, this story is overblown. What could Fisk do with 700 grand?
But, just to be certain, he kept searching, and the original story is sourced at the New York Times.
The quote was accurate. And the whole story is much uglier than just that paragraph.
Time was, the Times would never, ever print a story like this. They were the original LiberalGuiltAssCovering service. No matter how egregious, never a murmur about any black Democrat. Back in the day, Adam Clayton Powell ran Harlem as a personal duchy, right under the nose of the Times.
Well, times has changed(unintentional pun...) Reality is setting in. Their people won. Statehouse, Congress, White House. Black governor, black president. The Dream is reality.
And the wheels are coming off.
The Times, to survive, must regain at least a semblance of credibility. They no longer control the conversation, and increasingly, the country doesn't care what their editorial page thinks.
Obama and company are losing their cover, and cold winds are beginning to blow.
Obama And Iran Explained
Maybe this is the reason our President seems so, shall we say, intimidated by the Iranian question.
Just sayin'...
(ooh, that was uncivil...)
Just sayin'...
(ooh, that was uncivil...)
P & G Scores Big With Their Olympic Ad
Proctor and Gamble will weather our present troubles. They make the everyday products the world consumes. Pampers, Crest, Tide, Pepto-Bismol, the list stretches on.
They also have execs in place who have the intelligence and insight to commission ads like this for the Winter Olympics. It's brilliant stroke, as they build the brand value and barely mention any of the products they sell. There will be time for that later. For now, they spread good cheer and good will.
They also have execs in place who have the intelligence and insight to commission ads like this for the Winter Olympics. It's brilliant stroke, as they build the brand value and barely mention any of the products they sell. There will be time for that later. For now, they spread good cheer and good will.
Global Warming, Or, The Weather Station Next To The Waste Incinerator
Bit by bit, person by person, week by week.
The global warming scam is being exposed. The Sunday Times reports:
The United Nations climate panel faces a new challenge with scientists casting doubt on its claim that global temperatures are rising inexorably because of human pollution. In its last assessment the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said the evidence that the world was warming was “unequivocal”.
No debate allowed. The UN, and Al Gore had spoken. Any who dared disagree were simply ignorant, backward, Luddites, not worthy of consideration. Obama ran his campaign on the assumption of global warming, and the promise to set all right. Billions upon billions of dollars of government spending has already occurred, seeking a solution to a problem that likely never existed. Then there are the private sector costs incurred, due to legislation and regulation. The list goes on and on...
But, with doubts arising, and evidence of fraud surfacing, the IPCC invited outside review of its last report. The evidence points away from their conclusion.
Ross McKitrick, professor of economics at the University of Guelph, Canada, was one scholar invited to review the findings. The Times reports:
The experience turned him into a strong critic and he has since published a research paper questioning its methods.
“We concluded, with overwhelming statistical significance, that the IPCC’s climate data are contaminated with surface effects from industrialisation and data quality problems. These add up to a large warming bias,” he said.
Such warnings are supported by a study of US weather stations co-written by Anthony Watts, an American meteorologist and climate change sceptic.
His study, which has not been peer reviewed, is illustrated with photographs of weather stations in locations where their readings are distorted by heat-generating equipment. Some are next to air- conditioning units or are on waste treatment plants. One of the most infamous shows a weather station next to a waste incinerator.
...a weather station next to a waste incinerator.
...a weather station next to a waste incinerator.
...a weather station next to a waste incinerator.
And we are expected to change everything about our lives, predicated on conclusions created by this kind of junk science. And we are expected to be civil whilst this happens.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch:
The principal scientist upon whose 'research' the whole hysteria has been based admits he has perhaps lost the data, and that there has been no global warming since 1995.
And that it is likely the earth was warmer for a long period during medieval times.
Still others are chiming in. Reputable scientists, who understand that truth matters, that numbers and words have meaning.
And Al Gore's office, back in Nashville, has no comment to offer.
This country came within a whisker of electing Al Gore to the Presidency in 2000. Luckily, his home state would have none of it.
So, as OldSouth awaits the next round of snow here tonight in Tennessee, he breathes a temporary sigh of relief. The scammers won't go away easily. They'll think of some other way to hustle the taxpayer and wage war on the economy.
But, November is coming. There is a public record of who did and did not drink the AlGore Koolaid.
This will be an interesting year.
The global warming scam is being exposed. The Sunday Times reports:
The United Nations climate panel faces a new challenge with scientists casting doubt on its claim that global temperatures are rising inexorably because of human pollution. In its last assessment the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said the evidence that the world was warming was “unequivocal”.
No debate allowed. The UN, and Al Gore had spoken. Any who dared disagree were simply ignorant, backward, Luddites, not worthy of consideration. Obama ran his campaign on the assumption of global warming, and the promise to set all right. Billions upon billions of dollars of government spending has already occurred, seeking a solution to a problem that likely never existed. Then there are the private sector costs incurred, due to legislation and regulation. The list goes on and on...
But, with doubts arising, and evidence of fraud surfacing, the IPCC invited outside review of its last report. The evidence points away from their conclusion.
Ross McKitrick, professor of economics at the University of Guelph, Canada, was one scholar invited to review the findings. The Times reports:
The experience turned him into a strong critic and he has since published a research paper questioning its methods.
“We concluded, with overwhelming statistical significance, that the IPCC’s climate data are contaminated with surface effects from industrialisation and data quality problems. These add up to a large warming bias,” he said.
Such warnings are supported by a study of US weather stations co-written by Anthony Watts, an American meteorologist and climate change sceptic.
His study, which has not been peer reviewed, is illustrated with photographs of weather stations in locations where their readings are distorted by heat-generating equipment. Some are next to air- conditioning units or are on waste treatment plants. One of the most infamous shows a weather station next to a waste incinerator.
...a weather station next to a waste incinerator.
...a weather station next to a waste incinerator.
...a weather station next to a waste incinerator.
And we are expected to change everything about our lives, predicated on conclusions created by this kind of junk science. And we are expected to be civil whilst this happens.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch:
The principal scientist upon whose 'research' the whole hysteria has been based admits he has perhaps lost the data, and that there has been no global warming since 1995.
And that it is likely the earth was warmer for a long period during medieval times.
Still others are chiming in. Reputable scientists, who understand that truth matters, that numbers and words have meaning.
And Al Gore's office, back in Nashville, has no comment to offer.
This country came within a whisker of electing Al Gore to the Presidency in 2000. Luckily, his home state would have none of it.
So, as OldSouth awaits the next round of snow here tonight in Tennessee, he breathes a temporary sigh of relief. The scammers won't go away easily. They'll think of some other way to hustle the taxpayer and wage war on the economy.
But, November is coming. There is a public record of who did and did not drink the AlGore Koolaid.
This will be an interesting year.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Avoidable Tragedy
This tragic and bizarre story emerges from the past of Amy Bishop, the apparent killer of three at University of Alabama Hunstville.
It appears Dr. Bishop held a shotgun that discharged and killed her younger brother in 1986. She was nineteen at the time. An unspeakable tragedy, attributed as an accident at the time.
We'll probably never know 'why' the Huntsville tragedy took place. None of us are exempt from tragedy, or from the possibility that something this bizarre may indeed visit our lives; that we or someone we love may fall victim to an evil act. Perhaps more tragically, someone we love and think we know may perpetrate some tragedy. Perhaps, even ourselves. It can be scary to contemplate, and hopefully breeds humility in us all. Absent grace, we all are capable of anything.
We can't know the individual stories and family histories of every person in every room we enter. As one old Presbyterian preacher once quipped: 'If you knew everything about me, you wouldn't want to be in those pews. If I knew everything about you, I wouldn't want to be in this pulpit!' And, since we all fail, we should not be obligated to live our lives defined only by our failures and tragedies. OS has seen this happen, and it almost happened to him along the way. Without grace, all lives grind to a halt.
That said, however...
Guns are designed to not discharge by accident. It requires several deliberate acts to load a shotgun of any design, chamber the shell, disengage the safety, and pull the trigger. They are designed for safety, to be operated by responsible people who are trained to them. OS is so grateful he grew up shooting, always supervised. He knew they weren't toys.
Yet, accidents can and do happen. They are chains of events, in reality. Leave a loaded firearm within reach of an untrained young person who doesn't understand the dangers, and...you've taken at least two of the deliberate safety steps out of the process. OS's childhood next-door neighbor was a police detective, a grizzled veteran. When he came home from work, he stepped into the house. His first act was always to unload his service revolver in the sight of all. The revolver went to one side of the room, out of reach of any child, and the cartridges went to the other side of the room, out of reach of any child.
It was his ritual. He never failed to observe it.
A terrible tragedy later visited his home, but it was not the tragedy of one of his sons killing the other.
How did the tragedy of 1986 set the stage for the tragedy of 2010? We'll never know, really.
Was 1986 an accident, or an act of evil? We'll never know, twenty-four years removed. And to exhaustively re-examine the question only increases the agony for the innocent members of that family.
In the meantime, OS has an aging neighbor with macular degeneration, prone to depression. Who owns a pistol with a rather complicated safety. Which now sits, unloaded, clip out, in OS's closet. He checked it himself, twice. The shells are in the pickup truck.
OS is a proud NRA member, and plans to get his carry permit this year.
He doesn't want this particular, avoidable, tragedy to visit his house. Or subsequent tragedies to visit someone else's house in 2034.
Please, if you have weapons, think things through. Get proper training. If the 'bird on your shoulder' tells you that someone in your world has both weapons and a personal crisis underway, quietly intervene. If you are that person in crisis, park your weapon with a friend for a while, OK? The crisis will pass. OS did it about twenty years ago. Don't ask why.
N.B.--The biathlon coverage of Winter Olympics just began. A combination skiing/shooting event.
The competitors undergo a rifle safety check just before they are sent onto the course.
'Nuff said.
It appears Dr. Bishop held a shotgun that discharged and killed her younger brother in 1986. She was nineteen at the time. An unspeakable tragedy, attributed as an accident at the time.
We'll probably never know 'why' the Huntsville tragedy took place. None of us are exempt from tragedy, or from the possibility that something this bizarre may indeed visit our lives; that we or someone we love may fall victim to an evil act. Perhaps more tragically, someone we love and think we know may perpetrate some tragedy. Perhaps, even ourselves. It can be scary to contemplate, and hopefully breeds humility in us all. Absent grace, we all are capable of anything.
We can't know the individual stories and family histories of every person in every room we enter. As one old Presbyterian preacher once quipped: 'If you knew everything about me, you wouldn't want to be in those pews. If I knew everything about you, I wouldn't want to be in this pulpit!' And, since we all fail, we should not be obligated to live our lives defined only by our failures and tragedies. OS has seen this happen, and it almost happened to him along the way. Without grace, all lives grind to a halt.
That said, however...
Guns are designed to not discharge by accident. It requires several deliberate acts to load a shotgun of any design, chamber the shell, disengage the safety, and pull the trigger. They are designed for safety, to be operated by responsible people who are trained to them. OS is so grateful he grew up shooting, always supervised. He knew they weren't toys.
Yet, accidents can and do happen. They are chains of events, in reality. Leave a loaded firearm within reach of an untrained young person who doesn't understand the dangers, and...you've taken at least two of the deliberate safety steps out of the process. OS's childhood next-door neighbor was a police detective, a grizzled veteran. When he came home from work, he stepped into the house. His first act was always to unload his service revolver in the sight of all. The revolver went to one side of the room, out of reach of any child, and the cartridges went to the other side of the room, out of reach of any child.
It was his ritual. He never failed to observe it.
A terrible tragedy later visited his home, but it was not the tragedy of one of his sons killing the other.
How did the tragedy of 1986 set the stage for the tragedy of 2010? We'll never know, really.
Was 1986 an accident, or an act of evil? We'll never know, twenty-four years removed. And to exhaustively re-examine the question only increases the agony for the innocent members of that family.
In the meantime, OS has an aging neighbor with macular degeneration, prone to depression. Who owns a pistol with a rather complicated safety. Which now sits, unloaded, clip out, in OS's closet. He checked it himself, twice. The shells are in the pickup truck.
OS is a proud NRA member, and plans to get his carry permit this year.
He doesn't want this particular, avoidable, tragedy to visit his house. Or subsequent tragedies to visit someone else's house in 2034.
Please, if you have weapons, think things through. Get proper training. If the 'bird on your shoulder' tells you that someone in your world has both weapons and a personal crisis underway, quietly intervene. If you are that person in crisis, park your weapon with a friend for a while, OK? The crisis will pass. OS did it about twenty years ago. Don't ask why.
N.B.--The biathlon coverage of Winter Olympics just began. A combination skiing/shooting event.
The competitors undergo a rifle safety check just before they are sent onto the course.
'Nuff said.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
The Huntsville Tragedy
This summary from Associated Press provides the facts as they are known now.
A biology professor at the University of Alabama's Huntsville campus was charged with murder late Friday in the shooting deaths of three fellow biology professors at the campus.
A biology professor at the University of Alabama's Huntsville campus was charged with murder late Friday in the shooting deaths of three fellow biology professors at the campus.
Authorities say Amy Bishop, an instructor and researcher at the university, opened fire during an afternoon faculty meeting, killing the three colleagues and injuring three other school employees. Bishop has been charged with one count of capital murder, which means she could face the death penalty if convicted.
The immediate provoking factor seems to have been the notification that Dr. Bishop had not achieved tenure at University of Alabama at Huntsville.
There will be a flood of images and words in the next few days, until the nation's attention is drawn somewhere else. So, at 1:25 a.m. local time, OldSouth is attempting to get a head start.
OS has friends who have been denied tenure. It is disheartening, painful, maddening to labor for seven years and come up empty-handed. The process, at its core, is quixotic, arbitrary, and undoubtedly corrupt in some cases. But, anyone on a tenure track should have the smarts to understand that grim reality. It goes with the territory.
They all licked their wounds and moved on, and in time were grateful to not be laboring in the salt mines of that particular institution. Not one of them contemplated carrying a pistol to a faculty meeting.
This is beyond the pale. Nothing explains, or excuses, this crime.
It will be called a tragedy, an incident, an occurrence. Amateur and professional shrinks will offer explanations. Liberals will call for gun bans, conservatives will counter that the gun ban on campus prevented nothing. Yadda, yadda, yadda.
OS hopes a simple fact will remain foremost in all our minds.
What occurred was a crime. To carry a pistol to a faculty meeting, into a room of unarmed academics, for what promised to be the occasion of unpleasant news, can only indicate a decision had already been made to turn that weapon on those people. Dozens of people, if not hundreds, have had their lives irrevocably altered by this brutality.
Sympathies and prayers go out to the families and friends of the murdered and injured.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Civility Watch
In celebration of the President's call for civility in the public discourse, some thoughts from Charles Krauthammer of the Washington Post.
He is a civil gentleman, who civilly explains why the irritation level in the US may be a bit elevated these days.
The Left live by a simple credo: The dim, led by the malicious, vote incorrectly.
The rest of us find this, well, uncivil.
So, in the interests of civility, OS hopes you take time to read the thoughtful essay linked above.
He is a civil gentleman, who civilly explains why the irritation level in the US may be a bit elevated these days.
The Left live by a simple credo: The dim, led by the malicious, vote incorrectly.
The rest of us find this, well, uncivil.
So, in the interests of civility, OS hopes you take time to read the thoughtful essay linked above.
Margaret Thatcher On Church And State
Twenty-two years ago, Margaret Thatcher delivered perhaps the best address on church and state of her generation.
Cranmer was kind enough to remind us of it last month.
Some things never go out of style. So, this weekend, perhaps give this a few minutes of your time.
A nugget from near the end...
But there is little hope for democracy if the hearts of men and women in democratic societies cannot be touched by a call to something greater than themselves. Political structures, state institutions, collective ideals—these are not enough.
We Parliamentarians can legislate for the rule of law. You, the Church, can teach the life of faith.
Cranmer was kind enough to remind us of it last month.
Some things never go out of style. So, this weekend, perhaps give this a few minutes of your time.
A nugget from near the end...
But there is little hope for democracy if the hearts of men and women in democratic societies cannot be touched by a call to something greater than themselves. Political structures, state institutions, collective ideals—these are not enough.
We Parliamentarians can legislate for the rule of law. You, the Church, can teach the life of faith.
Don't Drink The Academic Kool-Aid
The academic job market, especially in liberal arts, has experienced the downward 'hockey-stick' phenomenon.
Too many scholars, sporting PhD's, or at the fabled 'ABD' point, are chasing too few jobs. It's simply the terrible math at work right now. One of OS's acquaintances has been caught in the squeeze, losing a very good job in spite of doing an admirable job in that particular university department. Glowing peer reviews, and the job is gone, 'cuz the money's gone.
Endowments are essential for universities, but (a.) they must be able to preserve capital base, and (b.) actually earn a return, so cash can be made available to the institution. When ZB decided to peg interest rates at ZERO, in order to float the housing market, and give his friends on Wall Street free money to play with, he wasn't thinking of what might happen to the other parts of the culture. Like he cares...(har-rumph!)
But, that being said, things are as they are, and a lot of academics will have to formulate a Plan B.
This author reminds us that that's really not so bad, and perhaps, the academic life is not that prestigious and lovely, after all.
There is life off campus. Lots of it. And lots of people in need of what lies between the ears of the educated people. The business challenge is how to connect one set of people with the other, and make it pay off for all concerned; without the ***!!!*** guv'mint inserting its silly self into the process. They've done quite enough already, thanks.
This is America. There has to be a way; or rather, a bunch of ways to skin this particular feline.
OS recently took a tour of the neighborhoods near his alma mater, a large public urban research university. He was shocked by the experience. Four blocks away, and light years of cultural separation between the institution and its surroundings. It felt like being on a different planet.
Now, the university has unveiled plans to solve the problem, by condemning and razing the neighborhoods, and building more university facilities in their place. Spending taxpayer money, or money raised with taxpayer guarantees, of course.
Hmmm...that should solve the problem.
Maybe it's a good time to be moving off campus, after all.
Too many scholars, sporting PhD's, or at the fabled 'ABD' point, are chasing too few jobs. It's simply the terrible math at work right now. One of OS's acquaintances has been caught in the squeeze, losing a very good job in spite of doing an admirable job in that particular university department. Glowing peer reviews, and the job is gone, 'cuz the money's gone.
Endowments are essential for universities, but (a.) they must be able to preserve capital base, and (b.) actually earn a return, so cash can be made available to the institution. When ZB decided to peg interest rates at ZERO, in order to float the housing market, and give his friends on Wall Street free money to play with, he wasn't thinking of what might happen to the other parts of the culture. Like he cares...(har-rumph!)
But, that being said, things are as they are, and a lot of academics will have to formulate a Plan B.
This author reminds us that that's really not so bad, and perhaps, the academic life is not that prestigious and lovely, after all.
There is life off campus. Lots of it. And lots of people in need of what lies between the ears of the educated people. The business challenge is how to connect one set of people with the other, and make it pay off for all concerned; without the ***!!!*** guv'mint inserting its silly self into the process. They've done quite enough already, thanks.
This is America. There has to be a way; or rather, a bunch of ways to skin this particular feline.
OS recently took a tour of the neighborhoods near his alma mater, a large public urban research university. He was shocked by the experience. Four blocks away, and light years of cultural separation between the institution and its surroundings. It felt like being on a different planet.
Now, the university has unveiled plans to solve the problem, by condemning and razing the neighborhoods, and building more university facilities in their place. Spending taxpayer money, or money raised with taxpayer guarantees, of course.
Hmmm...that should solve the problem.
Maybe it's a good time to be moving off campus, after all.
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