Hawaiian Climatologists in Bed with Al Gore?

 

It’s the only explanation I can think of for this epic feat of Really Bad Science, as reported by the good folks at Watts Up With That? Let us begin by looking at the siting of the ASOS station at the Honolulu Airport.

Is there anything that strikes you odd about the location and peripherals surrounding the temperature sensor? Perhaps the asphalt road, air conditioning vent, and power transformer combine to generate a bit more heat than a given date and time warrants? I wonder. (Of course locations like these are not unusual in positioning highly scientific record-keeping weather equipment.)

Then of course, there’s the malfunctioning temperature sensor itself, which was found to be off by at least three degrees, and possibly four, when compared to a more accurate calibrating thermometer.

So the record heat that the good citizens of Honolulu have been experiencing for the past week or so hasn’t actually broken any records. And yet…

And yet, the National Weather Service has decided to let the new non-records stand, though they know the data is faulty. Why do you suppose that is?

Either the scientists are not aware of the problem, which is manifestly untrue, or they are too lazy to make the changes, which seems very unlikely since  they add information all the time; it can’t possibly be that difficult to edit a week’s worth of incorrect information.

As the WUWT folks said:

“Let me say it first:  THIS IS JUST WRONG.

 If they know the error, how can they possibly justify keeping the new maximum records? You can’t get away with this sort of thing in the world of professional sports records, Olympic records, or even the cheesy Guinness Book of Records.  Heck they even fix mistakes made on the TV quiz show Jeopardy and dock the contestant’s winnings!

Surely NOAA has more scruples than a TV game show?

If the record can’t be verified because the equipment is faulty, how does that make it a valid record? They can’t, it’s FUBAR!”

Therefore, I am left with the conclusion that these scientists have some sort of vested interest in keeping incorrectly high temperatures on record for purposes of continuing the global warming boondoggle.

Just one more reason to view Al Gore and his Global Warming scammers with more than extreme skepticism.

Stoutcat

Area of Concern™ Rachel Lucas

“Senile” IG Not So Addled After All

 

Gerald Walpin, the Inspector General who was fired by President Obama last week for being “confused” and “disoriented” (in other words, senile), fired a shot back at the hatchet man and his minions. After standing up to the threat from the President to resign or be fired, Walpin was, in fact, fired, for reasons which defy common sense:

“Mr. Walpin was removed after a review was unanimously requested by the bi-partisan Board of the Corporation,” Obama ethics counsel Norm Eisen wrote in a letter to senators Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Me.), with a copy directed to McCaskill. “The Board’s action was precipitated by a May 20, 2009 Board meeting at which Mr. Walpin was confused, disoriented, unable to answer questions and exhibited other behavior that led the Board to question his capacity to serve.”

Mr. Walpin, daring to stand up and defy his detractors, sat with Glenn Beck and underwent the humiliation of having to prove himself of sound mind on national television. I applaud Mr. Walpin for his effort, and Glenn Beck for supporting him.

 Are we really to the point in this country where false accusations are allowed to rule the day? I truly hope not.

Stoutcat

The Contreras Letter: Read Now, Act Now

In case you don’t know the story, Glenn Beck received and read a letter from a concerned citizen the other day. It was an open letter to our nation’s leadership. The letter says pretty much what many of us are feeling these days.  Below are some selected quotes, but I urge you to read the whole thing here:

I’m a home grown American citizen, 53, registered Democrat all my life. Before the last presidential election I registered as a Republican because I no longer felt the Democratic Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. Now I no longer feel the Republican Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. The fact is I no longer feel any political party or representative in Washington represents my views or works to pursue the issues important to me. There must be someone. Please tell me who you are. Please stand up and tell me that you are there and that you’re willing to fight for our Constitution as it was written. Please stand up now.

One, illegal immigration. I want you to stop coddling illegal immigrants and secure our borders. Close the underground tunnels. Stop the violence and the trafficking in drugs and people. No amnesty, not again. Been there, done that, no resolution.

Two, the TARP bill, I want it repealed and I want no further funding supplied to it. We told you no, but you did it anyway….

Three: Czars, I want the circumvention of our checks and balances stopped immediately. Fire the czars. No more czars…

Four, cap and trade. The debate on global warming is not over. There is more to say.

Five, universal healthcare… Don’t you dare try to pass this in the middle of the night and then go on break. Slow down!

Six, growing government control. I want states rights and sovereignty fully restored. I want less government in my life, not more…

Seven, ACORN. I do not want ACORN and its affiliates in charge of our 2010 census. I want them investigated…

Eight, redistribution of wealth. No, no, no. I work for my money. It is mine…

Nine, charitable contributions. Although I never got a job from a poor person, I have helped many in need…

Ten, corporate bailouts. Knock it off. Sink or swim like the rest of us…

Eleven, transparency and accountability. How about it? No, really, how about it?…

Twelve, unprecedented quick spending. Stop it now.

Ms. Contreras elaborates beautifully on each of the points above, and adds some pretty sharp insights into what’s going on and why it needs to change. She finishes with the following:

Democrat, Republican, independent, libertarian. Understand this. We don’t care. Political parties are meaningless to us. Patriotic Americans are willing to do right by us and our Constitution and that is all that matters to us now. We are going to fire all of you who abuse power and seek more. It is not your power. It is ours and we want it back… We are coming. Are we coming for you? Who do you represent? What do you represent? Listen. Because we are coming. We the people are coming.

This is going to go viral, if it hasn’t already. And it should. Every concerned citizen should be sending this letter to every corrupt, venal, power-hungry politician in Washington, in every state capital, and in every city, big or small.

This is what the Tea Parties are about. This is our “I’m as mad as hell” manifesto. This is the time to act.

Let’s roll.

Alan Speakman

PETA Objects to Fly Kill

 

Ummm… Errr…

From the folks who suggested that Ben and Jerrys Ice Cream replace cows’ milk with human breast milk, comes word that they’re unhappy with President Obama killing a fly.

Yeah, bloggers are supposed to be thoughtful and offer insight. The very best I can come up with is…  Ummm… Errr…

Alan Speakman

Ensign Resigns… And I’m Confused

 

As we reported earlier, Sen. John Ensign (R) of Nevada just resigned his leadership position in the Senate after admitting to an extramarital affair. He can now shamefully join the astonishingly long list of powerful middle-age men (Jesse Jackson, John Edwards, Bill Clinton…) who just can’t seem to control themselves. I mean seriously… The list goes on forever. What is the problem here? This is a big hit for the GOP — not to mention Ensign’s loved ones. Again, what is the problem here?

Well, these are the possible explanations (or non-explanations) as I see them…

• These men fell in love with the “other woman”: That happens – love is tricky business. Except that when these turkeys got caught, each of them dumped the “other woman” like she had an STD.
• Were they particularly virile or perhaps mainlining Viagra? I guess that’s a possibility. But then again, the option for romance at home would exist.
• How to put this next alternative politely? Have these individuals never considered a brief private retreat to “Camp Spanksalot”? I mean, they do have hands right? I guess they choked that notion out.

Maybe they were facing some crushing mid-life crisis and needed to “reaffirm their manhood”… Uhhh… Losing some weight and doing some lonely push ups would probably have addressed that issue rather well.

Bottom line? I think we all know what the bottom line is… This is 2009 in America. People who engage in this kind of hanky panky behavior are selfish, weak, power junkies whose integrity and honesty extend no more than three inches beyond their abdomen. And these are our leaders. These are the people we trust, we look up to, …and we voted for!

Deep sigh…

Alan Speakman

The Deeper Significance of Sarah Palin’s Beat-Down Of David Letterman

 

Like most, I was appalled by the now infamous non-joke made by Late Show host David Letterman regarding the daughter(s) of Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin.  And also like most, I just wanted Dave to go away. The last thing I wanted to see was the press covering it endlessly for two reasons:

• This may have been a calculated “No such thing as bad publicity” attempt to trump NBC’s re-vamped “Tonight Show” with Conan O’brien who, after a solid start, is slipping badly. Why give Letterman free promotion?
• There are two hot spots in the world (The Middle East and North Korea) that deserve to have the spotlight on them because they pose a far greater threat to us.

As last week  unfolded, Letterman acted as most of us expected: Defensive, refusing to give a full-on (and richly deserved) apology. Instead, he posed himself as victim. We just weren’t getting the joke, he told us. That was the problem. Not him.

Millions lapped it up. After all, this was “just Sara Palin, right?”

But something no-so-funny happened on the way to Letterman’s victory party: Governor Palin defined perfectly the conservative approach to problem-solving.  And much of the public, greatly to Letterman’s surprise, was, on her side.

As Letterman learned this week, Sarah Palin is no joke. She’s no pushover and she’s not stupid. The stupid one was the loudmouth who thought his joke was funny and (initially) worth defending by pulling the liberal trick of claiming we all just misunderstood.

And therein lies the deeper significance of Sara Palin’s “beat-down” of David Letterman:

Palin stood  up, not just for her daughters, but also for what is simply right and decent.And she did so in an intelligent, direct manner. She didn’t take it personally, but responded to it globally by pointing out that this was inappropriate for anyone’s daughter to face this kind of treatment from a 62 year-old man.

The target of her legitimate anger knew he was being dressed down in no uncertain terms, as he deserved to be. There was no worry about political correctness here. Palin stayed on point. In doing so, she exposed Letterman for what he truly is. But beyond that, she showed she has the character of a leader. One who stands up and defends what’s right. Her words resounded with a truth and wisdom that was straight to the point:

“Concerning Letterman’s comments about my young daughter (and I doubt he’d ever dare make such comments about anyone else’s daughter): ‘Laughter incited by sexually-perverted comments made by a 62-year-old male celebrity aimed at a 14-year-old girl is not only disgusting, but it reminds us some Hollywood/NY entertainers have a long way to go in understanding what the rest of America understands — that acceptance of inappropriate sexual comments about an underage girl, who could be anyone’s daughter, contributes to the atrociously high rate of sexual exploitation of minors by older men who use and abuse others.’”

This is the kind of comment a true leader makes. It would have sounded perfectly normal coming out of Ronald Reagan’s mouth. Palin showed us she, like Reagan, is not the kind of person  to travel around the world apologizing for what’s right with America. In short, she has what Barack Obama doesn’t have: my confidence in her leadership to defend the Constitution of the United States, not to apologize for it.

There are those in the public who still want their pound of flesh, however, and are still planning to protest Letterman’s show.  As for me, I’m like the policeman at the scene of an of an accident: “Move along, folks… there’s nothing more to see here…”

Gerry Ashley

Ensign Resigns Leadership Post

 

The AP reports that, after admitting to an extra-marital affair during which he was blackmailed by the husband of his mistress, Nevada Sen. John Ensign has resigned his Senate leadership post as chairman of the Republican Policy Committee.

Good for him.

UPDATE: Malkin beat us to the punch. Again.

Stoutcat

Flip-Flopper in Chief Throws a Scrap to the Gay Community

 

Miss California was publicly pilloried for stating her views on the issue of same-sex marriage. California residents and their supporters who carried Proposition 8 through the state legislature were vilifed and threatened for basically holding a majority view.

President Obama (who shares that same view) has had to run no such gauntlet because of it.

Obama has stated both during his campaign as well as after he was elected, that he believes that marriage should be between one man and one woman. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.) It’s just the double standard that frosts me.

And speaking of double standards, the Obama administration just recently pulled a complete 180 from his campaign promise to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), by asserting the constitutionality of the Act! That’s not just a flip-flop, that’s a two-and-a-half gainer with a half-twist in piker position, degree of difficulty, 3.0. And yet the judges still give him a 9.7. I don’t understand it.

Here’s another thing that mystifies me: Obama also campaigned on the promise to reverse the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy for gays serving in the military. And yet just over a week ago, his administration gave legal backing for Supreme Court’s refusal to hear a challenge to that law. There wasn’t much of an outcry over that, either.

Well, the natives are finally getting restless. Heavens, even Andrew Sullivan is losing patience! And if Obama has lost Andrew Sullivan…

So in order to cover his… well, to shield himself from further criticism, he has decided to throw the gay and lesbian community a bone in the form of extending benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees. This is an initiative that is expected to be announced from the White House some time this morning.

I wonder if it’s enough of a sop to keep the gay community quiet, to keep them supportive, and most especially, to keep their money flowing into Obama’s coffers.

Time will tell.

H/T: Instapundit

Stoutcat

Prepping Endeavor – NASA Image

 
UPDATE: Sigh. Launch scrubbed due to liquid hydrogen leak. Next window for launch is July 11. Stay tuned…

Yup, NASA does it (or more accurately is doing it) again…

Photo courtesy NASA

But how big is the Endeavor really?

• Putting a scale on it, if a six foot person were to stand next to the entire shuttle assembly (boosters, external tank, etc.), that would be roughly the same as laying a penny on a table and standing your thumb next to it and referencing to the web of your hand. How does it feel to be a penny?
• The Endeavor weighs 4.5 million pounds at takeoff… So what does 4.5 million pounds mean? That’s 2,250 small cars sitting on the launch pad.
• And the power needed to drive a beast like that? Let’s put it this way… If there were to be a catastrophic failure at liftoff, the resulting crater would probably be roughly 600′ in diameter and resemble the remains of a small nuclear weapon. (Check out: http://virtualglobetrotting.com/map/68750/view/?service=0)
• How fast does the vehicle go… Zero to 17,000 mph in about nine minutes.

Yup, the upcoming shuttle launch is a very big deal indeed…  Don’t forget that you can watch it on NASA TV…

Alan Speakman

Nuclear Arms Race in the Middle East

…Apparently it’s okay with President Obama, as long as it’s not triggered by Iran’s obtaining a nuke.

In his comments yesterday about the Iranian election, while he was feeling troubled about the whole issue, he also found the opportunity to slip in this gem:

“Now, with respect to the United States and our interactions with Iran, I’ve always believed that as odious as I consider some of President Ahmadinejad’s statements, as deep as the differences that exist between the United States and Iran on a range of core issues, that the use of tough, hard-headed diplomacy — diplomacy with no illusions about Iran and the nature of the differences between our two countries — is critical when it comes to pursuing a core set of our national security interests, specifically, making sure that we are not seeing a nuclear arms race in the Middle East triggered by Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon; making sure that Iran is not exporting terrorist activity.” [emphasis mine] [quote from the LA Times]

Geez, take a breath, will ya? But am I the only one who noticed that within PrezBO’s interminably loooong sentence about the odiousness of Ahmadinejad and hard-headed diplomacy, that he slid that little doozy in?

There are so many ways to read it:

“…making sure that we are not seeing a nuclear arms race in the Middle East triggered by Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon…”

He could mean that Iran must not obtain nukes. That’s what a simple hearing suggests. But it’s not quite what he said.

Conversely, he could mean that a Mid-East arms race is okay, as long as it’s not Iran getting nukes that triggers it.

Or he could mean that we’re going to allow Iran to obtain nukes, but it had better not set off a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.

Being the incredibly intelligent, savvy, diplomatic, eloquent speaker that he is, it seems unlikely that he would obfuscate unless he wanted to hide his real meaning behind a verbal quick-step. His previous stern utterances on the subject include:

• “It is not in their [Iran's] interest to pursue a nuclear weapon and they should change course.” [Washington Times]
• When asked whether there was a moment in time when the U.S. would stop trying to negotiate with Iran over its nuclear program, Mr. Obama said he did not “want to set an artificial deadline.” [Washington Times]
• “Without going into specifics, what I do believe is that Iran has legitimate energy concerns, legitimate aspirations…” [AP]

If I were Ahmadinejad, I’d be quaking in my boots. Why, next thing you know, Obama might send a strongly-worded letter to the United Nations!

It seems clear to me that President Obama has resigned himself (and us, and the rest of the world) to the fact of a nuclear Iran. The question is, what are we going to do about it?

Stoutcat