Global warming=Religion

-paedia has a good look at how global warming has become a large belief system, rather than science, with the jump into the indulgence-like carbon offset.

I always figured the carbon offset was like Bonsai Kitten, but this is a good comparison too.

UPDATE 2:50 PM: McQ adds some very interesting information in the debate. Turns out there is a much higher correlation between sunspots and global temperatures than previously suggested. Not proof positive, but those who have implied that the correlation of carbon dioxide and temperatures is "proof" will look real foolish trying to use the "correlation does not imply causation" argument. (Another possibility is that carbon dioxide increases may be driven by increased sunspot activity or greater temperatures, but this may be harder to prove.)

Apparently, an apology is not enough

Why am I not surprised?

Consensus? The Debate is Over?

Al Gore's film might be winning an Oscar for Best Documentary (I guess documentary has changed meaning these days, with pieces of fiction like Fahrenheit 911 winning and all), but he has a lot more opposition than he realizes. Patrick Michaels notes much of the evidence that Gore ignored, while NewsBusters reports a new site that is against the political use of global warming (in a real way, not like Heidi Cullen's so-called stance against politics in climate change). This discussion is far from over.

This gets a little scary

Carl Kilo has shown me more information concerning my earlier post on the attack on a Republican in Fredericksburg. Michelle Malkin reports that Andrew Stone used Facebook to seek out as many UMW CRs as possible. And this man tries to suggest that he is anti-violence! I have been on Facebook for a while myself, and can see that Stone's profile still exists, though I cannot access information in it (somewhat ironic since Facebook profiles are more open now than they have ever been). I know I will now be restricting further who can see my profile.

So let's review, add a complete loon with a little too much information being available on Facebook, and you have a recipe for danger. And it gets a little more daunting. Michelle Malkin says the attacker is a little over six feet tall and two hundred pounds; I am no shrimp myself, but Stone is clearly larger than I am, and if I had been the target, I would expect to be in a hospital bed right now.

And do not be naive; this isn't happening everyday, but this thought process is. He again shows the moonbattery of the Democratic Underground, and has done so many times in the past. This could very well happen again, so be careful with whom you associate with and, in particular, with who you let in your house.

And thanks for pointing this out to me Carl. I am spreading this one as much as I can (ironically enough, that includes on Facebook).

UPDATE 1:50 PM: Interestingly enough, I have not yet seen any Virginia liberal bloggers post on this topic yet, beyond Richmond Democrat's half-baked theory in my earlier post that it may have been a Republican attacking these young men. Wise move, or are they afraid of the repercussions of this event in general?

This is one reason I have chosen to remain anonymous

And yet, I'm sure there will be some who will say that this was totally justified.

Talk about counting your chickens before they hatch.

Some in New York and Congress believe Senator Bill Clinton would ring well with a Hillary Clinton White House win. Haven't Democrats gotten in trouble the last couple of presidential elections when they stated what would happen when (rather than if) they won the White House?

Woodward has it right

Bob Woodward seems to be all over the map concerning the War in Iraq (his first book, Bush at War seems to show a favorable opinion, while later books are more critical). However, he is nothing if not honest, and reminds us that Democrats had just as big of a part in the build up to war in Iraq, and that they hold a great deal of responsibility concerning what happens next if they cut funding. Why can't more members of the mainstream media just be this honest or acknowledging?

A Message For Our Black Youth

Jerry Fuhrman has a good message concerning race. This sort of thing needs to be further discussed today; too many people are acting the roles of victims, and if it does not stop soon, we may never be able to see a truly color-blind society.

Coward

That is the only way I can describe John Murtha without dipping into the four letter words. Write your representatives; your congressman, John Warner, even James Webb. The slow bleed cannot be allowed; by forcing troops to return home before the conditions allow it only put at risk those troops who remain and put at risk any attempts being put forward to bring peace in Iraq.

The Democrats are leading us to defeat, not to mention giving al-Qaeda reason to cheer. We should not be negotiating with Osama bin Laden; we should be serving him a big heaping of justice, and same goes for any terrorist, save for those who surrender or are captured.

al-Anon?

A murderer is calling out a former alcoholic. Is this supposed to drop moral or give us a few laughs? I think it becomes clear that not only is this a propoganda piece, but also a hint of just how bad things are for al-Qaeda right now. We are winning, and all al-Zawahiri will do is repeat the same joke that has been on late-night talk shows for the last 7 years. At this point, the only other thing he can do is admit defeat.

UPDATE 2/14 1:25 AM: Still don't believe we are winning? Tell that to Muqtada al-Sadr.

Heroes

They say that the troops are just underpriveleged kids who feel they cannot do better for themselves.

Some even call them "mercenaries".

Clearly, though, they are truly heroes, and Michelle Malkin chronicles the lives of a few of these patriots whom others have derided, not defended.

Jim Webb, the embarassment

The SWAC Girl posts a good letter to the editor sent to The Free Lance-Star concerning James Webb.

I am very proud to call Virginia my home. I think this is a grand state. However, sometimes we do something foolish, like voting in James Webb as our senator.

Go there to read the whole thing.

This should not be surprising; James Webb has used his status as a veteran to get votes, and I imagine veterans do not vote for candidates simply because they also happen to be veterans. With unimpressive approval ratings so early in his position as United States Senator, James Webb appears to be a waste of the Virginia voter's vote. Is he actually going to do anything for this state, or is he just going to continue to complain about George W. Bush? Democrats in other states actually do things in the Senate, whether we agree with them or not; has Webb quit already?

Ladies and gentlemen, your unbiased media

Chris Matthews is explicit this time. Caution: language and video in this link contain some foul language.

This is stupid

Are there no Democrat Party blogs worth reading?

Credit where credit is due

While the media was going out of their way to notice that there were two black coaches in the Super Bowl (I'm pretty sure these two men are more than just their race, despite what the MSM seems to imply), Tony Dungy noted the importance of their faith over all else.

I tell you what. I'm proud to be representing African-American coaches, to be the first African-American to win this. It means an awful lot to our country. But again, more than anything, I've said it before, Lovie Smith and I, not only the first two African-Americans, but Christian coaches, showing that you can win doing it the Lord's way. We're more proud of that.

Do not expect to hear more of this from our media; they will continue ot go on and on about Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy being black.

In the end, what does it matter? This does not help foster a color blind society. Dungy and Smith did not deserve to be in the Super Bowl because they were black; they deserved to be there because they built strong teams and proved themselves to be good leaders. And more so, they relied on God to guide their decisions and judgments, and while only one team could win it all, God blessed both coaches for their faith, not for the color of their skin.

It is true; we have a long way to go when it comes to race relations; but I believe that blacks have just as much responsibility as whites to break down the divide. Marking every thing that a black person does for the first time cannot help that.

Problems with global warming

Recent reports suggest that global warming may lead to an average temperature increase of 3° C (that's about 5.5° F for anyone still unsure of metric measurements) and sea levels rising by 1.5 meters (that is, about 4.8 feet). Global warming fanatics love to flaunt numbers behind the science, but some of these numbers just don't add up.

Global warming claim: There is a consensus!
Fact: They use consensus as if they are to imply that all scientists agree with it. Clearly, that is untrue, with an increased number of scientists coming out against it. And when a conference brings in 600 scientists who overwhelmingly believe global warming is a threat, what kind of response would you expect? Think George W. Bush would be president if 600 Democrats got together to make such a selection?

But if we really want to be accurate, science has never been about the "consensus". Theory is all well and good, but quite simply, theory is not fact. More importantly, just because 4 out of every 5 experts believe something does not make it true. Or do you still believe that the Earth is flat too?

Claim: Deniers say that global cooling used to be used as a form of fear-mongering, but it was nothing more than media hype.
Fact: So global warming supporters does not utilize the media? On the contrary, the media has played a greater part in the spread of this theory than any scientist ever could. And while the noise may not have been as loud in the past, similar trends have been documented in the past, showing a regular two to three decade cycle in climate change. And yes, scientists did believe it; Newsweek even admits as much.

Claim: Well look at the last (50, 100, 200, 10000, million, whatever number) years. We can show that there has been warming over that period of time that can clearly be attributed to humans.
Fact: First off, accurate temperature records only extend back about a century and a half. Claims that temperature records go further back are somewhat misleading; they are nowhere near as accurate as today's records, nor as extensive. Still, let's give them the benefit of the doubt and say that the last 500 years of temperature records are accurate. Wikipedia displays the following image.



First off, note the black trend line. That shows actual differences from the suggested average. Again, note it only goes back 150 years. The trend going back from that black line is near linear. So clearly, it must've done the same for the 500 years before that as well.

Now lets consider just the last 150 years. If you take that data and extend it backward similarly, it would suggest that average temperatures have increased 4° C (at least 7° F) in the past millenium. See how easy a line works?

Now, we will consider a similar 150 year period of time, but take a look at this graph.



Look at the last 150 years. Somewhat similar to the graph produced by the scientists, but the years before that show a cyclical pattern. More realistically is the following graph, showing shorter periods within larger ones, building on the suggested couple decade long period.



While I cannot conclusively claim that these graphs are correct or even close to correct, neither can scientists with theirs. A simple understanding of statistics will tell you two things. First, you can do anything with numbers that you want; if you can suggest some sort of realistic trend, then it is easy enough to show why it may be true. And secondly (and more importantly), without accurate and consistently measured values, spread out randomly over the long run, then a trend cannot be trusted. Yeah, the trend of the past 150 years suggests warming; is that what happened before? How sure can we be since the mid-1800s was when the last mini-ice age ended?


Claim: Regardless, there is no doubt that global warming is real, is caused by humans, and is bad.
Fact: Global warming may very well exist; Venus and Earth both seem to suggest that a greenhouse effect does take place, as a planet without an atmosphere will be much cooler (and potentially warmer) at the extremes. But can it be proven that humans caused this? Well, what other possibilities may there be?

Plenty. Is it possible that the Earth's own heat production could vary and also increase temperatures? I haven't seen anything contrary to this, and would be interested to see some research there. Is it possible that the Sun could actually be more active right now, increasing temperatures? That is a definitive yes. One new theory already suggests that the Sun periodically enters increasing and decreasing periods of energy output. Moreover, it is very possible that a shorter period exists; we already know that the sunspot cycle (11 years) and magnetic oscillation cycle (22 years; interesting, in the 20-30 year period mentioned earlier) operate on a much shorter time period.

And is it bad? Average temperature increases are apparent based on data, but Antarctic ice seems to be getting thicker, certainly not supporting warmer temperatures there. Increased carbon dioxide levels are blamed, but greater levels of carbon dioxideare proven to be great for plants who feed on it almost the same way animals and humans live on oxygen. An increase of carbon dioxide could increase plant life and self-regulate the planet by taking that carbon dioxide and making it oxygen again. And just how solid are the numbers for increased sea levels? This may depend greatly on just where the warming occurs. Again, if more ice is being frozen into the Antarctic, it seems doubtful that sea levels could rise.

The fact is, global warming is not known to be fact. Enough noise though will make anyone believe anything. Good science suggests that any theory is falsifiable. The media and these "scientists" would have you believe global warming is not. This is bad theory, and bad science. When global warming is able to stand up for itself against other theories, and not needing to be defended, then global warming skeptics (myself included) will pay attention. Until then, keep that hot air in; you might just be aiding the global warming.

UPDATE 2/3 12:20 PM: CNS reports that the summary the UN found does not truly represent the scientific data.

A terrible day for someone

I got up early for work.

I felt terrible after working a full week and having little sleep last night.

The day nearly felt like it would not end.

And yet...



I remember there are some people I must feel better than.

Virginia 68, Duke 66. Go Hoos!

UPDATE A FEW MINUTES LATER: Virginia needs to stay on their toes still. They face Miami only a couple days after this game against a tough tenth-ranked team, and this is the classic set-up for a let-down. Sean and JR need to rest up and be ready to light up the scoreboard. If they can get to 7-2 in the ACC, a tournament run almost becomes easy.

Democratic, Democratic, Democratic, Democratic, Democratic, Democratic,...

Just had to tease those so-easily offended Democratics, er, Democrats.

Can someone explain to me why being called the Democratic Party is such a bad thing? You'd think people were using a racial slur the way they have responded recently.

As for me, I do not care what they think. The Democrats of the Democratic Party can deal with it.

There's no warming up to the Nobel Foundation

Al Gore has been nominated for his work concerning global warming.

In other news, Heidi Cullen says that those who disagree with the theory of global warming are playing a political game.

Should I be laughing or shaking my head at such idiocy?