Actual science and climate

Elevated carbon dioxide making arid regions greener: "Scientists have long suspected that a flourishing of green foliage around the globe, observed since the early 1980s in satellite data, springs at least in part from the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere. Now, a study of arid regions around the globe finds that a carbon dioxide “fertilization effect” has, indeed, caused a gradual greening from 1982 to 2010."

I have often argued that since CO2 is plant food it cannot be pollution. It merely causes an increase in plant life wherever the CO2 happens to be. IIRC there was a huge spike in ocean algae in the past due to high CO2 levels. The Earth wants to survive. It adapts to do so. It is not static as some would have you believe. It changes. Even when man comes in and screws everything up (c.f. Salton Sea) the ecology adjusts and rolls on. Even Chernobyl is teeming with life. It may be different than it was but life goes on. What is the likely cause of all this global warming? CFCs. What happens when we match the climate predictions to the actual results? This.

Where were you ten years ago Tony?

Tony Blair says murder of Lee Rigby PROVES 'there is a problem within Islam'

Where was this when he was in office. Sorry but this rings a little hollow now. It's awfully convenient to figure this out now years after you've left office and the problem grew under your watch.

Oceania 'tis for thee

Administration defends collecting phone records: "The order requires Verizon, one of the nation's largest telecommunications companies, on an "ongoing, daily basis" to give the NSA information on all telephone calls in its systems, both within the U.S. and between the U.S. and other countries."

If you think Verizon is the only company that was forced to comply you're dreaming. They're probably pissed they're going to take the stock and PR hit while everyone else just keeps mum. This is absolutely Orwellian. "Oh they're not recording the contents of the calls, just the metadata." Really? That's what you're going with? So would it also be OK if I just made random checkpoints miles from the border and had it staffed by border agents who stopped EVERY driver for questioning or if I could seize your private property and give it to someone else because I felt like it? What if the ATF decided it should shore up the reason for its own existence by letting drug cartels buy weapons? Or if the government started targeting political enemies by punishing them with regulation, paperwork and endless, over reaching requests? It would be like living in a totalitarian society. Thanks to our Dear Leader for keeping us safe and uh..free.

it's all about control

What's the one question that can derail any Democrat running for office:




The answer is ALWAYS bigger government and MORE taxes. Nothing but nothing is ever left to the people or the market. It's all about control folks.

Adana El Nusra operation: 2 pounds sarin gas found - Radical Turkey

Adana El Nusra operation: 2 pounds sarin gas found: "Adana Security Directorate, which began after the massacre of Reyhanlı connected with the organization Al-Qaeda and the accused is detained in an operation against Al Nusra Front and addresses of two kilograms were seized in the sarin gas."

OK so Al-Qaeda linked groups are now taking WMDs out of Syria. They keep crossing that red line and nothing changes.

The Charm of New Jersey

Non-Americans of reddit, what aspect of American culture strikes you as the strangest? : AskReddit: "As a Texan currently abroad, it makes me so sad to not have this. When I'm walking somewhere, if we make eye contact there needs to be a friendly gesture! A nod, a smile, whatever. Its so weird when they just glare at you."

Which prompted the following response:

"You should never come to New Jersey."

Ooopsie! I just plain forgot about that other $80

Pritzker Understated Income, Files Amended Disclosure - Bloomberg:

Chicago billionaire Penny Pritzker inadvertently understated a portion of her income by at least $80 million in a disclosure form required for her nomination to be U.S. Commerce secretary and has amended the document. Forms released online last night by the Office of Government Ethics show that Pritzker earned additional income for consulting work on hundreds of trusts, including family trusts, beyond what she disclosed last week. The omission, discovered by Pritzker’s financial advisers, was due to a clerical error, said Susan Anderson, the nominee’s spokeswoman.

If confirmed to run the Commerce Department, Pritzker Realty Group LLC Chairman Penny Pritzker would be among the wealthiest cabinet secretaries in U.S. history.

“It is a substantial amount and we moved to correct the mistake as soon as it was discovered,” Anderson said in an e-mailed statement. Documents released last week show Pritzker received $32.2 million for a decade’s worth of consulting on the restructuring of domestic trusts. The filings released yesterday show she earned at least $80 million for that work, according to Bloomberg’s compilation of the data. The revised total is in addition to the amount reported last week, according to Anderson.

Yeah, I remember the time that I forgot all about that $80 Million dollars I made.

Seriously, either she lied or she makes so much money that she just forgot about $80 million of it. What happened to the idea that we don't need millionaires and billionaires controlling our country. Guess that only applies to Mitt.

The Genius of Adam Carolla

Lessons From a Self Made Millionaire: Meet Adam Carolla - 5/16/2013: "“You shouldn't be eating anything that takes six minutes to microwave.”"

'via Blog this'

For once David Axelrod is right!

Axelrod: ‘Impossible’ for Obama to have known about IRS targeting: "“Part of being president is there’s so much underneath you because the government is so vast,” he added. “You go through these [controversies] all because of this stuff that is impossible to know if you’re the president or working in the White House, and yet you’re responsible for it and it’s a difficult situation.”"

YES! This is what libertarians have been saying for years. The government is so vast and intrusive it is impossible to be managed well (if at all) and even the best of intentions can go very very wrong and the answer to all of it is smaller government. Less regulation and more liberty. Let California be California and let Utah be Utah. Push the 10th Amendment and make it count. Encourage California and Colorado's marijuana laws even if you don't agree with them for your state. It is about constraining the Feds to their proper federal role and not having them insert themselves in every aspect of your life.

Clinton, Obama will escape Benghazi scot free

How do I know?  Because the man who's 100% wrong on everything just said the opposite:

Dick Morris: "This attempt is, of course, doomed to fail. Once we learn — as we have already — that the intelligence reports were doctored, and that the military actions were aborted, it is only a matter of time until the blame filters up to Obama and Clinton, ruining one presidency and possibly preventing another."

Crap! If they both skate on this one we are truly a banana republic and we ain't coming back.