Global warming continues unabated

News Anchor:   Record temperatures in California continue to prove that Global Warming is advancing.  Over to you, Bill.

Correspondent #1:  No, Tom, those are record low temperatures.  Grape growers are concerned about early free. . .

News Anchor:  Thanks for your report, Bill.  Now on to Oregon where more record temperatures clearly demonstrate Global Warming.  Tell us about it, Mike.

Correspondent#2:  Thanks, Tom.  Yes, once again we are experiencing temperatures not seen for 118 years.  These record low. . .

News Anchor:  Don’t you mean high?

Correspondent#2:   No, Tom.  We haven’t seen temperatures as low as this since the turn of the last century.

News Anchor:  Great.  Well, the receding glaciers in Alaska and the northern shelf still demonstrate that man is responsible for Global Warming, isn’t that right, Fred?

Correspondent#3:  Actually, Tom, the glaciers had been retreating, but they actually grew this year.

News Anchor:  Well, isn’t that just peachy.  OK folks, enough about Global Warming.  Next up, How George W. Bush single-handedly caused the worst economic meltdown of this reporter’s lifetime - after this commercial break.

Dave and Blarney Discuss the Bailout

Blarney: Well, the Senate is acting where the House flopped.

Dave: You mean because they passed a bailout bill?

Blarney: Exactly. Now if only those stubborn Republicans in the House will get on board.

Dave: Blarney, can I ask you a few questions?

Blarney: I suppose so.

Dave: Does this bill have anything to do with money?

Blarney: It has everything to do with money.

Dave: Does it have anything to do with raising revenues?

Blarney: Well, it does address taxes.

Dave: According to the Constitution, where do bills about revenue originate?

Blarney: Well, everyone knows that: the House of Representatives.

Dave: So, you don’t have a problem with Senate originating this bill?

Blarney: Oh, but it originated in the House.

Dave: But the House killed it.

Blarney: No, they didn’t. They suspended the vote before it was final. That allows the Senate to modify it.

Dave: That seems a little sneaky, doesn’t it? By the way, how many votes would it take to pass the bill in the House?

Blarney: Everybody knows that, too. With 434 or 435 members, it takes 218 votes to be a majority.

Dave: How many “No” votes were there in the House?

Blarney: Er, ah, 228.

Dave: Sounds to me that it failed.

Blarney: No, no, the vote was suspended. That was to give the Republicans time to change their minds.

Dave: How many Democrats are in the House?

Blarney: Uh, I don’t know. Maybe a couple hundred?

Dave: Would you believe, 235? If the Democrats think this is such a great bill, they could pass it all by themselves.

Blarney: But that wouldn’t be fair.

Dave: So 95 Democrats voted against the bill just to be fair?

Blarney: well, …

McCain, Obama, and the "Credit Crisis"

OK. Let's review the bidding.
1977 - Jimmuh Cahtuh and the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) - Encourage banks to make loans to risky clients.
Enter ACORN

ACORN is a non-profit, non-partisan social justice organization with national
headquarters in New York, New Orleans and Washington, D.C. To maintain
independence, ACORN does not accept government funding and is not tax exempt.

Since 1970 ACORN ( Association of [originally Arkansas] Community Organizations for Reform Now) has been pressuring banks to make loans to high-risk clients. In 1990, they launched the first challenge to block a merger based on non-compliance with CRA.

2004 - Republicans want to investigate Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Democrats oppose.

2008 - The bad loans begin to default. Freddie and Fannie hold a huge portfolio of bad paper.

2008 - President Bush, Pelosi, Reid, etc (including both McCain and Obama) push for a $700 billion bailout which is widely opposed by Main Street America. It fails in the House and the finger-pointing begins. McCain calls it a failure to act. Congress did act. They REJECTED the bailout, as the majority of Americans wanted them to. It was Bi-Partisan, with nearly 100 Democrats voting against it. Even ACORN opposed the bailout, even though a staggering amount of the funds would have gone to ACORN (in direct opposition to their statement above).

2008-Sep 29 - The market (Dow Jones Average) falls over 770 points in one day, the largest single point loss in history. As a percentage of the Dow, however, it is about 6.5% and would not make the list of the ten largest drops.

2008-Sep-30 - The market rebounds with the Dow gaining 485 points. Meanwhile, the media and the political talking heads decry the tragedy of not getting the bailout pushed through.

Let's see what happens tomorrow. And visit here for more information.

Hil(l)ar(y)ious Sarah

Joe Biden on McCain's speech

Imagine, Joe Biden took the time to send me an eMail. Wow. My comments are next to his.

From: Joe Biden [mailto:info@barackobama.com]
Sent: Friday, September 05, 2008 5:01 AM
To: Pat'sRick
Subject: McCain's speech

Richard -- John McCain just accepted the Republican nomination and adopted the most conservative platform in the history of his party. And I say, right on. It’s about time! After days of negative attacks -- and no mention of real proposals to fix our economy, get more people health care, or make America safer -- the party that brought you eight years of disastrous policies is asking for four more. Yes, I know you have spent a week attacking Sarah Palin, but beyond that, it isn’t the government’s job to “fix” the economy. They tried that for years in the Soviet Union and it never works. Besides, unemployment is lower now than during the Clinton years. As for health care – nobody is denied health care. You are confusing health INSURANCE with health CARE. Republicans make America safer by taking the fight to the terrorists. Well, not if we have anything to say about it. And that’s what is scary. Across this nation, people like you (you wish) have joined this movement because you believe that we are better than the past eight years. And now that we are entering the final stretch, it's going to take all of us to bring the change we need. Step up at this crucial moment and make a donation of $5 or more to change our country. I will, to McCain-Palin. After the last eight years, it's up to you to keep America's promise alive. How can John McCain pull us out of the deep hole we're in when he voted with George Bush more than 90% of the time? See, here is my question: what hole? The American people deserve more than a 10% chance at change. And they deserve better than Chicago thug politics. No matter what McCain says, we can't bring about change by relying on the same ideas that have failed us for the last eight years. Obviously, you haven’t been listening. Show the McCain campaign that people coming together, giving what they can afford, and working toward a common purpose will transform this country. I will, I ‘ll double my McCain contribution. Change begins with you. Please make a donation of $5 or more now: Thanks for everything you're doing, Joe

Questions About Man-made Global Warming

You could call these questions about Anthropogenic Global Warming, if you wanted to impress your professor.

 

1.       Where do you take the global temperature?  (temperature will vary by latitude.  It is generally hotter at the equator and cooler at the poles)

2.       If the answer to #1 is that we take average readings, what would be the effect of several thousand stations in the colder latitudes not reporting?

3.       Assuming we can answer number 1, what time of day should we take the temperature?  (Global cooling occurs at night, doesn’t it?) 

4.       Assuming we can answer both 1 and 3, what should the temperature be? (If the current temperature is below the ideal, then Global Warming is a good thing.)

5.       Assuming we can answer 1, 3, and 4, has the planet ever been colder than it is now?  What was that like?

6.       Has the planet ever been warmer than it is now?  What was that like?

7.       Are there generally more weather-related deaths due to cold weather or due to hot weather?

8.       Do plants, on average,  grow better in cold weather or in warm weather?

9.       When you say “Greenhouse gases” what exactly do you mean?  Can you name the specific gases?

10.   What portion of greenhouse gases does NOT contain carbon?

Global Warming is Bad for Your Health

There are many things about the Anthropogenic (man-made) Global Warming hysteria that are, well, funny.  It seems that every day we find things that “Global Warming may cause” in supposedly reputable news sources. 

 

I thought news sources were to report something that has already happened, not something that “may” happen.  One of the latest I have seen is that Global Warming may cause kidney stones.  No, really.  Read it for yourself here.

 

In case you haven’t been paying attention, here is a partial list of things that may be caused by Global Warming (forget for the moment that the globe has been cooling since 1999):

Floods and Droughts

Less frogs … and … more insects

Go here for a complete list.