Author: Simon

I was looking at Nir Shaviv’s site Science Bits and came across an interesting paragraph. According to the IPCC (AR4), the solar irradiance is responsible for a net radiative forcing increase between the Maunder Minimum and today of 0.12 W/m2 (0.06 to 0.60 at 90% confidence). We know however that the Maunder minimum was about…

The Cash For Clunkers Program that I wrote about here is a rousing success. So much so that the $1 billion that was supposed to last three months is gone in a week. The Obama administration is telling lawmakers that its much-touted “cash-for-clunkers” program is already running out of money, according to three Senate aides…

Tim Price has an interesting take on bankers. …the coinage “banker” has now completely replaced its assonant rival as a term of abuse to describe the hopelessly objectionable and contemptible. Given the state of the economy shouldn’t the term be “tanker”? However, many blame W for the current mess. And if the above sentence doesn’t…

Lefty economist Paul Krugman asks about Canadian health care. H/T Judith Weiss on Facebook Cross Posted at Power and Control

John Conyers thinks we should have a new right. He is not talking about a change in his political opposition either. During his speech at a recent National Press Club luncheon, House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) said he is introducing a constitutional amendment that would establish health care as “a right” for all Americans.…

Ronald Reagan said: If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism. Well guess who is speaking at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on August 8th? Sarah Palin. Her first order of business as a private citizen is to speak Aug. 8 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in…

The government market regulators are having a meeting. It’s a busy day for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as testimony is heard regarding the controversial proposal to limit position sizes on all finite commodities. Evidently there will be no limit on stupidity. Cross Posted at Power and Control

The American Physical Society is reviewing their stance on the issue of man made global warming. Petitioning for a revised statement on climate change By S. Fred Singer, Hal Lewis, Will Happer, Larry Gould, Roger Cohen & Robert H. Austin We write in response to your issue discussing “the coming climate crunch”, including the Editorial…

Evidently Henry Gates is a Professor at Harvard. His discipline is called Angry Studies. It confers a degree in Anger. The initial degree is BS Anger. The next is Master of Anger. The ultimate is Doctor of Anger. A Doctor of Anger gets to write peer reviewed papers explaining why their anger is special. Dave…

President ∅’s minions say the Democrats can’t deliver on their health care bill without the help of Republicans. And the Republicans are not helping. President Barack Obama’s push to overhaul health care needs Republican votes, lawmakers from both parties say. Democratic and GOP officials acknowledged Sunday that Obama’s ambitious plan would not pass without the…

There is an organization called Climate Justice that works to get Climate Change Laws (CO2 taxes) enforced. They are looking for cases. I sent them this letter: It has come to my attention that global temperatures have stalled with CO2 rising and that the head of the IPCC says we will be cooling until 2020.…

Here are some other videos in the series. This one is especially heart wrenching: Unable To Help – the Good Juice Love, Death, and the War On Drugs: I’m Not A Good Deal These videos were prompted by a comment at Who Pays? by Ms. Cris Ericson. (1) The Vermont Board of Medical Practice has…

Cross Posted at Power and Control

Sarah Palin is reading a book. Thomas Lifson writing for the American Thinker: Sarah Palin has already demonstrated a capacity to connect with ordinary Americans. This charisma frightens and angers many and the left, and not a few Republicans as well. I fully expect Governor Palin, whose mind displays the quality of a rapid learner…

India is not going along with the climate change scare. India has taken the hardest line in the negotiations so far. Along with China, India refused at the meeting of the Group of Eight industrialised nations this month to sign up to a target of cutting global emissions by half by 2050. The countries were…

I found a really good Obama Joke in the comments at ECN magazine: A woman in a hot-air balloon realized she was lost. She lowered her altitude and spotted a man in a boat below. She shouted to him, “Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour…

An interview with author Harry Stein by Glenn Reynolds. A discussion of liberal tribalism. Here are links to the books discussed in the interview: I Can’t Believe I’m Sitting Next to a Republican: A Survival Guide for Conservatives Marooned Among the Angry, Smug, and Terminally Self-Righteous How I Accidentally Joined the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy: (and…

And what sort of political regime/philosophy tries to silence its citizens? A guy wrote a book about it: Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Change Cross Posted at Power and Control

I like some of the ideas presented. Like a national market for insurance. I’m not sure of all the ideas presented but at least they are ideas vs. the government swallows everything. In other related news the President has delayed releasing the latest economic report until after the health care vote. My assumption is that…

President Obama is satisfied with his insurance. Obama says it’s not about him. “I have great health insurance and so does every member of Congress,” the president said in remarks prepared for his news conference Wednesday night. “This debate is about the letters I read when I sit in the Oval Office every day, and…