More sceptical attention to global warming, on the cost to cap emissions and whether or not emissions should be capped without further study.
Update: while considering the questions raised above, also consider the demographics of carbon emissions by the US population over the coming decades.
More: Greenland may be green, again.
And, Gore-d on his own petard.
Even more here on the scientific consensus on global warming.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Interesting take on the crazy Iranian president's visit to the UN and stay in NYC in Mahmoud and Me: Ahmadinejad’s Wild Week, by His Translator, Hooman Majd.
Alternatively, the article could have been entitled, "How Michael Moore somehow managed to miss a free meal and a chance to take a swipe at America and the President."
Alternatively, the article could have been entitled, "How Michael Moore somehow managed to miss a free meal and a chance to take a swipe at America and the President."
Sunday, September 24, 2006
The subtitle for the article by Adam Lashinsky, Fortune senior writer, on money.cnn.com, Chaos by design, reads, "The inside story of disorder, disarray, and uncertainty at Google. And why it's all part of the plan. (They hope.)", says it all. I'm not sold on the long term positive prospects for any company run by Eric Schmidt of Novell and Sun fame, unless he's not really running it.
Saturday, September 23, 2006
The greatest enemy of miners and mining? The answer, according to Phelim Mcaleer, is misguided left-wing Western environmentalists.
From his column:
"...I have come across a lot of tragedies and hard-luck stories as a journalist, but I had never covered a situation where the solution to poverty is being opposed by educated Westerners who think that people really are "poor but happy."
When a representative of Gabriel Resources asked me to write a brochure about the project I declined, but I did suggest that if they did not interfere editorially I would make a documentary.
I gathered up extra funding and the documentary Mine Your Own Business premieres Tuesday at the Denver Gold Forum at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Denver. The film will shock and upset those who, like myself, unquestioningly believed environmentalists were a force for good in the world.
For Mine your Own Business I started looking beyond Romania and found a similar pattern in very different villages in Africa and South America.
It is sad that my fellow left-wingers and environmentalists who often come from the most developed countries are now so opposed to development.
However, it is not sad but tragic that the real losers in this clash of cultures are some of the poorest people on the planet."
As they say, read the whole thing.
Phelim McAleer is an Irish-born journalist and documentary filmmaker. The trailer for his documentary can be seen at the preceeding link; it is not posted on YouTube as the article states as of this posting.
From his column:
"...I have come across a lot of tragedies and hard-luck stories as a journalist, but I had never covered a situation where the solution to poverty is being opposed by educated Westerners who think that people really are "poor but happy."
When a representative of Gabriel Resources asked me to write a brochure about the project I declined, but I did suggest that if they did not interfere editorially I would make a documentary.
I gathered up extra funding and the documentary Mine Your Own Business premieres Tuesday at the Denver Gold Forum at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Denver. The film will shock and upset those who, like myself, unquestioningly believed environmentalists were a force for good in the world.
For Mine your Own Business I started looking beyond Romania and found a similar pattern in very different villages in Africa and South America.
It is sad that my fellow left-wingers and environmentalists who often come from the most developed countries are now so opposed to development.
However, it is not sad but tragic that the real losers in this clash of cultures are some of the poorest people on the planet."
As they say, read the whole thing.
Phelim McAleer is an Irish-born journalist and documentary filmmaker. The trailer for his documentary can be seen at the preceeding link; it is not posted on YouTube as the article states as of this posting.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Nope, No Fitzmas this year. MSNBC: Fitzgerald given way out of Libby leak case. My favorite part: the NBC News reporter, Joel Seidman, manages to avoid listing all of the reasons why the prosecutor would want to drop the charges. Namely, that Libby didn't commit the crime he was originally investigated for, and the person who could be charged for committing the non-crime, isn't a current member of the Administration.
"WASHINGTON - The judge in the CIA leak case ruled Thursday that if Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald feels that admitting certain classified documents at the upcoming trial of I Lewis "Scooter" Libby can jeopardize national security, Fitzgerald can then move to dismiss the perjury charges against Libby."
"WASHINGTON - The judge in the CIA leak case ruled Thursday that if Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald feels that admitting certain classified documents at the upcoming trial of I Lewis "Scooter" Libby can jeopardize national security, Fitzgerald can then move to dismiss the perjury charges against Libby."
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Judge Robert G. James of the United States District Court, Western Division of Louisiana is the Federal judge who declared boating illegal in all US navigable waters. A judge with no judgment, or sense, apparently.
The ReporterHerald reports that a Colorado State professor disputes global warming is human-caused
Go, Bill Gray! Go!
Go, Bill Gray! Go!
Monday, September 18, 2006
I was flipping channels tonight and happened to stop one tuner of my HD TiVo on Charlie Rose on PBS, and the other tuner on a speech by Bill Kristol of the Weekly Standard. Charlie's guest was a New York Times reporter or columnist (is there a difference?) who was prattling on about the import of tomorrow's speech by President Bush at the UN. Bill was recounting his memories of 9/11, and of a conversation that he had that day with Bill Bennett. Bill Kristol remembers wondering whether 9/11 would be a seminal moment in American history or not; he remembers Bill Bennett saying that he believed that it would be.
It struck me that part of America's success is so obvious as to be easily overlooked. We have a society that has agreed to play by the rules. What does that mean? It means that we drive on the right side of the road, we pay taxes, we send our kids to school. Most of us do the normal everyday things that we all take for granted in life. That is the American dream writ large: if you go to school, get pretty good grades, go to college, get pretty good grades, get married after high school (better still, after college, but not too much after), get a job, stay married, stay out of trouble, stay in the job and do the work--you'll have a pretty good life. You may not have a life like a trust fund baby or a stock options millionaire, but you'll be able to afford a lifestyle that would amaze people of not so many decades ago. If you believe in God, do good works in his name, and pass that along to your children, you will be happier still, and will leave a legacy worth leaving.
This great "compact with Americans" works, will continue to work, and is worth defending. It is the legacy that we can leave our children. You can write the life plan expressed in the preceding paragraph down and give it to your children. If they follow it, they'll have a great life too.
We are facing groups of people who do not value normalcy, or reason, or who want to play by the rules as we know them. Their society, if it can be called that, takes offense at nonsense. The American observer sees that it has no humor, it appears to take little joy in life, it does not strive to make a better, safer world for families, children and society. It attacks unbelievers who are real, and who are imagined, to restore the world to a state of anarchy. Anarchy by any definition that an American observer would apply.
Arrayed against these forces of anarchy are a relatively small group of men and women from some of the "first world nations" who have suffered many losses in wars over the centuries. In this country, we have fought wars to free ourselves from colonial rule, to put down pirates, to end slavery, to end tyranny, and to free the oppressed. Most Americans hold certain truths to be self evident, and believe that those truths are worth protecting against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
I honor those who have taken on the burden of defending America. American society is the greatest promise that has ever been made, and kept, in the history of mankind. Most Americans are religious, not jihadists, but are peaceful in their worship. If an unbelieving, amnesiac American were to fall into the clutches of a group of Southern Baptists (or any traditional denomination in the country) tomorrow, he or she would probably only have to contend with the consequences of an overdose of fried chicken and of gatherings of concerned families and friends who offered help and prayers. No sabers would be brandished.
Christianity has had a reformation. Western civilization endured its dark ages. Parts of Islam wants to return mankind to a kind of dark age, and rejects reformation and reason at the point of a gun, if not a nuclear weapon or other WMD. Those who follow Islam must learn that the comments that the Pope made are words, not weapons. Those words he quoted from centuries past show how far parts of Islam need to come to join the 21st century. The moderate followers of Islam must speak up, and embrace debate and reform, or embrace anarchy. Those who have found a good and just society based on a simple set of rules and a wonderful promise of a vibrant future will not sit still and watch anarchy destroy their hard won society. They will defend it, hard as it will be, terrible as the price may be. America has always done so, and will do so now.
The President of Iran speaks at the UN tomorrow, in a body formed by Roosevelt, Churchill and other great men at the end of WWII in the hope that war could be averted by the concerted action of nations whose societies chose to "live by the rules". He will do well to pay more attention to the thriving metropolis that surrounds the UN, and the vibrant life and hope seen in the faces of its citizens, than the "light that surrounds him" as he speaks to the General Assembly. The people of Iran, and all people not mislead by leaders drunk with power, desire the promise fulfilled of the "compact with America", and wonder why their leaders don't strive to brink it to their lands, peacefully, to join with the rest of the world in the pursuit of happiness. President Bush understands the promise of freedom, of free markets, and how those simple elements not only created America, but restored prosperity to victor and vanquished alike after WWII. We can only hope that every leader will take the same message home after tomorrow's sessions at the General Assembly.
It struck me that part of America's success is so obvious as to be easily overlooked. We have a society that has agreed to play by the rules. What does that mean? It means that we drive on the right side of the road, we pay taxes, we send our kids to school. Most of us do the normal everyday things that we all take for granted in life. That is the American dream writ large: if you go to school, get pretty good grades, go to college, get pretty good grades, get married after high school (better still, after college, but not too much after), get a job, stay married, stay out of trouble, stay in the job and do the work--you'll have a pretty good life. You may not have a life like a trust fund baby or a stock options millionaire, but you'll be able to afford a lifestyle that would amaze people of not so many decades ago. If you believe in God, do good works in his name, and pass that along to your children, you will be happier still, and will leave a legacy worth leaving.
This great "compact with Americans" works, will continue to work, and is worth defending. It is the legacy that we can leave our children. You can write the life plan expressed in the preceding paragraph down and give it to your children. If they follow it, they'll have a great life too.
We are facing groups of people who do not value normalcy, or reason, or who want to play by the rules as we know them. Their society, if it can be called that, takes offense at nonsense. The American observer sees that it has no humor, it appears to take little joy in life, it does not strive to make a better, safer world for families, children and society. It attacks unbelievers who are real, and who are imagined, to restore the world to a state of anarchy. Anarchy by any definition that an American observer would apply.
Arrayed against these forces of anarchy are a relatively small group of men and women from some of the "first world nations" who have suffered many losses in wars over the centuries. In this country, we have fought wars to free ourselves from colonial rule, to put down pirates, to end slavery, to end tyranny, and to free the oppressed. Most Americans hold certain truths to be self evident, and believe that those truths are worth protecting against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
I honor those who have taken on the burden of defending America. American society is the greatest promise that has ever been made, and kept, in the history of mankind. Most Americans are religious, not jihadists, but are peaceful in their worship. If an unbelieving, amnesiac American were to fall into the clutches of a group of Southern Baptists (or any traditional denomination in the country) tomorrow, he or she would probably only have to contend with the consequences of an overdose of fried chicken and of gatherings of concerned families and friends who offered help and prayers. No sabers would be brandished.
Christianity has had a reformation. Western civilization endured its dark ages. Parts of Islam wants to return mankind to a kind of dark age, and rejects reformation and reason at the point of a gun, if not a nuclear weapon or other WMD. Those who follow Islam must learn that the comments that the Pope made are words, not weapons. Those words he quoted from centuries past show how far parts of Islam need to come to join the 21st century. The moderate followers of Islam must speak up, and embrace debate and reform, or embrace anarchy. Those who have found a good and just society based on a simple set of rules and a wonderful promise of a vibrant future will not sit still and watch anarchy destroy their hard won society. They will defend it, hard as it will be, terrible as the price may be. America has always done so, and will do so now.
The President of Iran speaks at the UN tomorrow, in a body formed by Roosevelt, Churchill and other great men at the end of WWII in the hope that war could be averted by the concerted action of nations whose societies chose to "live by the rules". He will do well to pay more attention to the thriving metropolis that surrounds the UN, and the vibrant life and hope seen in the faces of its citizens, than the "light that surrounds him" as he speaks to the General Assembly. The people of Iran, and all people not mislead by leaders drunk with power, desire the promise fulfilled of the "compact with America", and wonder why their leaders don't strive to brink it to their lands, peacefully, to join with the rest of the world in the pursuit of happiness. President Bush understands the promise of freedom, of free markets, and how those simple elements not only created America, but restored prosperity to victor and vanquished alike after WWII. We can only hope that every leader will take the same message home after tomorrow's sessions at the General Assembly.
Friday, September 15, 2006
I am proud to be "Blogging for Bolton", and not at all for Lincoln Chaffee. I'm inclined to agree with Hugh on Chaffee.
The Plameout continues to be a source of good fun. In today's episode, Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's prosecutorial conduct is examined by one of his peers who is in a very good position to know whereof she speaks.
What a Load of Armitage! What did Patrick Fitzgerald know, and when did he know it? By Victoria Toensing in Opinionjournal.com
What a Load of Armitage! What did Patrick Fitzgerald know, and when did he know it? By Victoria Toensing in Opinionjournal.com
Where is Margaret Thatcher when you need her? Iain Murray discusses White House wobbling on global warming in his post at National Review Online
Update: here's a link to a post by Rich Galen that Iain Murray refers to in The Corner at National Review Online.
Update: here's a link to a post by Rich Galen that Iain Murray refers to in The Corner at National Review Online.
Pajamas Media collects a series of posts to pay homage to a woman who stood strong in the face of tyranny throughout her life IN MEMORIAM: ORIANA FALLACI, 1930 - 2006
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
The Miami Herald reports, "Hulk Hogan's car catches fire on Bay Harbor Islands." Another comeback is sure to be in the works after this.
Betsy's Page's post entitled Giving a "political" speech in wartime excerpts a column by Tony Blankley in the Washington Times that is well worth reading.
Betsy's introduction to the column:
"The Democrats have gotten all up on their high horses about Bush giving a speech on Monday, the anniversary of 9/11, in which he defended the war in Iraq and tried to rally support for that war. Horrors! Apparently, to the Democrats, talking about the war is a political speech. In their minds, it is Bush's war and thus it is a political war. And defending his efforts in the war on terrorism - that's political too. And shouldn't be said. Presidents shouldn't try to rally support when the country is at war if the other party opposes the war. The rules keep changing. Remember when they said that the President wasn't explaining to the American people why we were fighting?"
Betsy's introduction to the column:
"The Democrats have gotten all up on their high horses about Bush giving a speech on Monday, the anniversary of 9/11, in which he defended the war in Iraq and tried to rally support for that war. Horrors! Apparently, to the Democrats, talking about the war is a political speech. In their minds, it is Bush's war and thus it is a political war. And defending his efforts in the war on terrorism - that's political too. And shouldn't be said. Presidents shouldn't try to rally support when the country is at war if the other party opposes the war. The rules keep changing. Remember when they said that the President wasn't explaining to the American people why we were fighting?"
Google Video has a recording of the PBS debate between Loose Change Vs. Popular Mechanics. I'd say that it should be called on account of incredible ignorance, misreporting, omission of evidence and just silliness.
"As a model of directness, the idea of creating enough chaos to collapse the current world system has few peers."
A must read post at The Belmont Club introduces Lawrence Wright's article in the New Yorker.
From post at The Belmont Club, "The view looking out from within al-Qaeda is completely different from the standard narrative provided by the newspapers. We learn about a man who converted Bin Laden to Salafism and who later accused him of leading the Jihad to catastrophe -- a man who is in US custody. Wright describes the pivotal role of Afghanistan in creating a place for Jihad to train and formulate its plans, and why September 11 is regarded by some Islamic radicals as a complete mistake."
A must read post at The Belmont Club introduces Lawrence Wright's article in the New Yorker.
From post at The Belmont Club, "The view looking out from within al-Qaeda is completely different from the standard narrative provided by the newspapers. We learn about a man who converted Bin Laden to Salafism and who later accused him of leading the Jihad to catastrophe -- a man who is in US custody. Wright describes the pivotal role of Afghanistan in creating a place for Jihad to train and formulate its plans, and why September 11 is regarded by some Islamic radicals as a complete mistake."
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
What a whuppin' the socialists are taking today on the topic of state control of free markets in an excerpt from an upcoming article by Richard Epstein that will be published in the Hoover Digest. Please read The Corner on National Review Online: Free Markets Under Siege. Epstein and Hitchens in the same day!
The wonderful Christopher Hitchens ties a hapless Australian Broadcasting Corporation interviewer in the tatters of his formulaic arguments from the Michael Moore debating club in this post from The Belmont Club: How not to hunt a tiger
More bad news for those who suffer from BDS in Yahoo! News Katrina's Floodwaters Far Less Toxic Than Feared
Thoughts on the politicization of scientific research--that is, scientific research that is funded by the federal government.
Prometheus: The Promotion of Scientific Findings with Political Implications
Prometheus: The Promotion of Scientific Findings with Political Implications
The fifth anniversary of 9/11. I continue to feel emotions that change in a moment every year on this date after 2001: great sadness after watching amateur video that expresses the same raw emotion and confusion that we all felt at first. I felt anger after watching the second episode of "The Path to 9/11" on ABC. Anger at the terrorists. Frustration with a government that refused to take the terrorists seriously until they committed an act that could not be ignored. Pride in re-reading a story of the bravery and selfless devotion to duty, honor, and country exhibited daily by our mighty warriors in the Special Forces. And resolve after listening to our President address the nation tonight. 
Long may she wave. America will never submit to Islamofascism.
Long may she wave. America will never submit to Islamofascism.
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Incredible! Could the father of Islamism really be a sexually repressed, introverted, self-hating, bitter ignoramus? The Observer Review The age of horrorism (part one)
Friday, September 08, 2006
Monday, September 04, 2006
We lost a very good man today. Steve Irwin, the famed Crocodile Hunter of TV and of at least one movie, died while filming a documentary.
Some of the reactions have criticized him for taking unnecessary risks, or for his perceived politics, or for an episode where he apparently put one of his children in dangerous proximity to a crocodile, or for other equally silly reasons.
I prefer to remember Steve as an incredibly enthusiastic person. I had the privilege to travel to Australia and New Zealand several times in the 1980s while I worked for a data communications start-up. Australia is full of enthusiastic people; people who love life and are eager to embrace those who are friendly and return their embrace.
Queensland has lost a great ambassador. The world has lost a great conservationist. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family, his friends, and all who loved him and whom he loved, no matter the species.
CNN.com: State funeral possible for Irwin
Some of the reactions have criticized him for taking unnecessary risks, or for his perceived politics, or for an episode where he apparently put one of his children in dangerous proximity to a crocodile, or for other equally silly reasons.
I prefer to remember Steve as an incredibly enthusiastic person. I had the privilege to travel to Australia and New Zealand several times in the 1980s while I worked for a data communications start-up. Australia is full of enthusiastic people; people who love life and are eager to embrace those who are friendly and return their embrace.
Queensland has lost a great ambassador. The world has lost a great conservationist. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family, his friends, and all who loved him and whom he loved, no matter the species.
CNN.com: State funeral possible for Irwin
The SciGuy exclaims, "Wow ... IPCC report leaked ... most interesting."
For me, not so much. More like, "Grudging acknowledgment in leaked IPCC draft report that global warming disaster scenarios belong in movies, not in real life. For the rest of us, break out the tube tops and sun tan lotion, and get ready for longer growing seasons, better and cheaper food, and more beach music."
For me, not so much. More like, "Grudging acknowledgment in leaked IPCC draft report that global warming disaster scenarios belong in movies, not in real life. For the rest of us, break out the tube tops and sun tan lotion, and get ready for longer growing seasons, better and cheaper food, and more beach music."
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Counterterrorism Blog: The "Azzam" Threat: A prelude to Future Jihad in America
If wanna-be Jihadist Adam Gahdan thinks that he'll convert Americans to Islam by threatening beloved figures like Billy Graham (in one of the groups Gahdan singles out for destruction), he's got another thing coming. Try playing that tune down South, beard-boy. Counterterrorism Blog: The "Azzam" Threat: A prelude to Future Jihad in America
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Kenneth Anderson writes in the New York Times Magazine, "It's Congress's War, Too".
We deserve a Congress that would seriously take up the issues that Kenneth raises without demagoging them.
We deserve a Congress that would seriously take up the issues that Kenneth raises without demagoging them.
Can I get 400 PPM? Anyone? Science tempers fears on climate change News The Australian
Poor Crazy Al. Now he's accused of helping to make the MTV Music Awards more boring and pointless than ever. I didn't see them, and won't, despite the incessant repeats, but I understand he said, "here's a photo of a glacier melting".
To this I say: Al, don't blink.
Poor Crazy Al. Now he's accused of helping to make the MTV Music Awards more boring and pointless than ever. I didn't see them, and won't, despite the incessant repeats, but I understand he said, "here's a photo of a glacier melting".
To this I say: Al, don't blink.
Tom Evslin posts "Weakness Invites Attack" on his excellent blog, Fractals of Change
I couldn't agree more. I believe a corollary to his post is that wars are won and real change occurs when the enemy is utterly and undeniably defeated. Our ability to fight precision warfare without exposing the enemies' inability to protect any of its population is, ironically, a sign of weakness. We cannot afford to show many more such signs to such dementent leaders as Kim Jong-Il and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
I couldn't agree more. I believe a corollary to his post is that wars are won and real change occurs when the enemy is utterly and undeniably defeated. Our ability to fight precision warfare without exposing the enemies' inability to protect any of its population is, ironically, a sign of weakness. We cannot afford to show many more such signs to such dementent leaders as Kim Jong-Il and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Friday, September 01, 2006
Byron York's post at The Corner on National Review Online quotes an amazing letter by Joe "Plameout" Wilson asking the left wing nut job blogs to "keep hope alive". Instapundit has a round up of posts that make the rubble of the Plameout "...bounce. Bounce, rubble, bounce!"
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