Here Comes Yet Another Tipping Point

By William Teach December 4, 2013 – 12:28 pm

At least several times a year the Climatologists trot out some sort of tipping point. Why? Because the previous ones never seem to happen. Remember when we had the 10 years left tipping point? Trotted out in 1989. Now they yammer on about far flung tipping points, more akin to visiting a carnival fortune teller than actual science (via Climate Depot)

(AP) Hard-to-predict sudden changes to Earth’s environment are more worrisome than climate change’s bigger but more gradual impacts, a panel of scientists advising the federal government concluded Tuesday.

The 200-page report by the National Academy of Sciences looked at warming problems that can occur in years instead of centuries. The report repeatedly warns of potential “tipping points” where the climate passes thresholds, beyond which “major and rapid changes occur.” And some of these quick changes are happening now, said study chairman James White of the University of Colorado.

The report says abrupt changes like melting ice in the Arctic Ocean and mass species extinctions have already started and are worse than predicted. It says thousands of species are changing their ranges, seasonal patterns or in some cases are going extinct because of human-caused climate change. Species in danger include some coral; pika, a rabbitlike creature; the Hawaiian silversword plant and polar bears.

How many times have I, and others, written something along the lines of “because Earth is always supposed to stay exactly the same, just like it did for the previous 4.5 billion years”?

At the bottom of the world in Antarctica, the melting ice in the west could be more of a wild card than originally thought. If the massive ice sheet melts it may happen relatively rapidly and could raise world sea levels by 13 feet, but researchers aren’t certain how soon that may occur.

Yeah, too bad the Antarctic is still doing pretty darned well, in defiance of Warmist hysteria. And, of course, the scientists involved in the study want more Government money for a “warning system”. Why don’t they spend their own money, or get some of the private Warmist groups to fund it? Warmists always seem to want taxpayer money to fund their wackadoodleness. I wonder what the former co-founder of Greenpeace has to say about this

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Obamacare’s So Awesome that Harry Reid Exempts Some Of His Staff

By William Teach December 4, 2013 – 9:16 am

I thought everyone was going to love this law?

(CNN) Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, one of Obamacare’s architects and staunchest supporters, is also the only top congressional leader to exempt some of his staff from having to buy insurance through the law’s new exchanges.

Reid and his personal staff will buy insurance through the exchange.

But it’s also true that the law lets lawmakers decide if their committee and leadership staffers hold on to their federal employee insurance plans, an option Reid has exercised.

Who wants to bet that Reid and and other Dem leaders find a way to circumvent having to enroll themselves by the end of 2014?

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Whiny People Whine About “Militarizing Santa”

By William Teach December 4, 2013 – 7:12 am

It’s “completely out of line” or something

(Fox News) A North American Aerospace Defense Command website showing Santa Claus delivering presents while flanked by fighter jets has some child advocates raising concerns about Saint Nick’s new travel companions.

NORAD Tracks Santa, operated by the joint U.S.-Canada command, has provided children with information about Santa’s whereabouts since 1955. In recent years, Santa updates have included animated videos showing Santa on his flight path.

In addition to Santa’s traditional sleigh and reindeer, NORAD has added an animated fighter plane escort to give a realistic feel to the popular program, a command spokesman told Reuters.

Well, I’m shocked that NORAD would think to use fighter jets in their animation. Don’t they usually fly unicorns and docile dragons?

Allen Kanner, a California child and family psychologist and co-founder of the Boston-based Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood, told The Boston Globe the Pentagon is “completely out of line” for linking Christmas with the military.

“Children associate Santa with gifts and fun and everything else that is positive about Christmas,” Kanner told the newspaper. “They are associating this with the military in children’s minds.”

I actually listened to some of this whining yesterday on CNN while passing through the break room, though I’m not sure if it was the same group, or just typical Progressives whining. Because fighter jets can’t be fun for kids, I guess. Good thing no one ever invented the model military airplane kit, ya know.

Davis told Reuters that NORAD videos have linked fighter escorts and Santa since the 1960s, but 2013 marked the first time the jets had appeared in an animated version.

But, Liberals need something to whine about, and the CCFC sure seems like a typical Leftist group.

From the Boston Globe article

But as the word gets out, the plan is taking flak. Some say the Pentagon appears to have lost its way by introducing destructive weaponry to the otherwise jolly image of Santa setting out from the North Pole. Up to now, the most threatening aspect of Santa’s flight had been lumps of coal.

These people need to get a life. Seriously, the jets appear for a total of 5 seconds

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Posted in Christmas, Liberal World | 2 Comments | Trackback URL

Obama: Obamacare “Is Working”

By William Teach December 4, 2013 – 6:53 am

No, really

(The Hill) President Obama declared Tuesday that ObamaCare “is working” and that “we’re not going back,” as the White House looked to reboot its efforts to sell Americans on the president’s signature healthcare law.

If he means that 5.5 million were supposed to lose their health insurance, that the bulk of people attempting to sign up would be moved to Medicaid, that premiums and deductibles would skyrocket while networks would be limited, and that tens of millions are looking at seeing their employer based insurance drastically changed and made more expensive or having it cancelled, then, yeah, it’s working. If he means lying about the law again and again and again, yeah, that’s working.

Unshockingly, he attacked Republicans for wanting to do away with this terrible law, as I predicted yesterday (though, with Obama, predicting he will attack Republicans is like saying the Sun will rise)

Earlier Tuesday, McConnell said the president’s “campaign-style event wouldn’t solve the myriad problems facing consumers under ObamaCare.”

“The American people have been learning about the impact ObamaCare will have on individuals and families in the form of higher premiums, disrupted insurance, and lost jobs — more broken promises from the administration. And they’re becoming increasingly aware of the fact ObamaCare is broken beyond repair,” McConnell said.

Hopefully, Obama will continue his partisan push on Obamacare, tanking his ratings further, and, better yet, cratering the chance for the Dems to hold on to the Senate.

Crossed at Right Wing News

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Warmist Dresses As Father Christmas To Spread Awareness

By William Teach December 3, 2013 – 3:22 pm

Over to England

(Daily Mail) Downton Abbey’s beloved Carson has swapped his butler’s uniform for a Father Christmas costume in a bid to raise awareness of global warming.

Actor Jim Carter donned a fluffy beard and red robes to appear in a special Greenpeace film titled An Urgent Message From Santa.

The 65-year-old urges viewers that Christmas could be cancelled unless world leaders take more action to protect the melting Arctic. (snip)

‘I want to do my part to help raise the profile of the threats posed to the Arctic by oil drilling and climate change.

‘So I was pleased to have this opportunity to support Greenpeace and their amazing Christmas campaign.’

The film ends with Carter in character as Santa asking for help to save his home in the North Pole, otherwise children worldwide will be left with empty stockings.

Read: Warmist Dresses As Father Christmas To Spread Awareness »

Posted in AGW Idiocy, Global Warming | 1 Comment | Trackback URL

Android Today: Music Players

By William Teach December 3, 2013 – 2:31 pm

While I rely mostly on my 5 year old Creative Zen as my primary MP3 player in the car, I do use my phone quite a bit to play music out and about. I probably have around 2/3 to 3/4 of my songs on my Droid. So, like you, I need a good player.

There are 5 things I look for:

  1. Ease of use
  2. Great sound
  3. Ability to shuffle tracks (love the old style mix)
  4. Equalizer
  5. Have a lettering system

The last one is partly from having an iPhone previously, and my Creative Zen (16Gb, built in radio, awesome sound quality) has it. Makes scrolling through 700 plus songs easy (and I keep adding more). Finding that is a last consideration. Have yet to find a player that’s free with it plus the other 4.

My favorite is Rocket Player. Has the top 4 needs. I find it faster to scroll through than some others because the line space between listings (songs, groups, albums, etc) is tiny (unlike, say, doubleTwist). Sound is excellent. Shuffle works quite fast. And it is very user friendly.

The equalizer works very well, including with the Beats Audio on my HTC One S. There are also different themes. I’m using the red one (as in NJ Devils red). Numerous settings, including whether one wants to let Bluetooth headsets control (I do).

Rocket it my #1 recommendation.

DoubleTwist is also an excellent player. Sound, shuffle, ease of use. Equalizer costs $$, though. I tend use it more for playing movies on my phone and tablet. I also use it on those few occasions when I use the tablet to play music. I supposed I should download Rocket, but, eh, it’s rare. Still an excellent choice, and you can purchase air twist for over the air features.

There’s also Play Music, the Google app. It’s popular, but then it also probably comes with most Android devices. It’s basic, kinda “meh”.

I’ve tried Poweramp free, wasn’t that impressed, it did not have shuffle when I did try it. Same with Winamp.

Fusion Music player is also an excellent player, I’d same just as good as Rocket Player. Was playing with both at same time, just preferred Rocket a bit more.  More on that in a moment

I also use mconnect free. It does have shuffle, though no equalizer. It’s also not quite as easy, but I use it simply to stream to my Bluray player via DNLA, which goes to TV which has audio output (obviously) to the stereo. I do not use it otherwise.

A great addition is Cover Art Downloader. It obviously downloads ….. cover art. It’s not perfect, some you will have to manually download via the app. One reason I settled on Rocket over Fusion was that I wasn’t thrilled with the way the covers displayed on Fusion. However, the covers never show up on DoubleTwist nor Play Music, you have to use their own built in programs.

Read: Android Today: Music Players »

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If All You See…

By William Teach December 3, 2013 – 1:00 pm

…is a flooded drought world, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The Other McCain, with a post on slaves of the progressive cause.

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Bob Dylan Charged With “Public Insult” And “Inciting Hate”

By William Teach December 3, 2013 – 11:27 am

One of the big wigs of the hippie movement, which morphed into today’s Progressives, learns exactly how much tolerance Progressives have

(Fox News) Legendary singer/songwriter Bob Dylan has been charged with “public insult and inciting hate” in France following a complaint by a Croatian group based in that country over remarks made in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine.

Dylan, 72, was notified that he was under judicial investigation last month, when he was in Paris to receive the prestigious Legion d’Honneur award from the French government.  Paris prosecutor’s office spokeswoman Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre told the Associated Press Tuesday that the charges were filed in mid-November.

The interview in question was published by Rolling Stone in September 2012. At one point, Dylan said that racism was holding America back, saying “Blacks know that some whites didn’t want to give up slavery – that if they had their way, they would still be under the yoke, and they can’t pretend they don’t know that. If you got a slave master or (a Ku Klux) Klan (member) in your blood, blacks can sense that. That stuff lingers to this day. Just like Jews can sense Nazi blood and the Serbs can sense Croatian blood.”

It was a pretty stupid statement, but, hey, people are allowed to say stupid things….except in Liberal World, where the Progressives do not allow any unapproved speech. The Council Of Croats In France were Offended, so they filed a complaint. They aren’t interested in money, they just want an apology, so, the use the far far left appendages of the Government of France to attempt to force said apology, because, you know, their feewings were hurt. Really, this is all about the tolerance of the Left.

Read: Bob Dylan Charged With “Public Insult” And “Inciting Hate” »

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Bummer: “Climate Change” Is Aiding Al Qaeda

By William Teach December 3, 2013 – 7:16 am

This isn’t exactly a brand spanking new meme, Warmists have Blamed “climate change” for years for terrorism, even though the rise of Islamic terrorism received a big boost during the years when scientists and media types were concerned about a coming ice age. But it does show he utter derangement of Warmists

(Daily Caller) Has global warming helped al-Qaida’s recruiting? At least one expert says that Islamic fundamentalist groups feed upon people’s frustrations and fears in a warmer climate to turn them against the West.

The GlobalPost asked climate experts how rising global temperatures would affect Africa’s Sahel region, which includes countries like Sudan and Chad, where conflicts have been raging for years.

“[C]limate change makes people feel small and helpless, and Islamic fundamentalists have been very good at turning helplessness and despair into anger and action,” Drew Sloan of energy efficiency company Opower told the GlobalPost. “If you give someone who feels small a gun, they stop feeling small.”

Let’s be clear, don’t blame The Daily Caller, they’re simply covering the Global Post article, which notes when asking three “experts”

Their short answer? It’s complicated, but climate change is making things harder for those who live in a politically unstable and economically challenged region.

Weather is always going to be pesky, whether it is getting warmer, getting cooler, or simply being “statistically insignificant”, known as a 17 year pause in warming. During the cool periods, such as the Little Ice Age and Dark Ages, conflict was higher then during the warm periods. But it still existed during the warm periods, such as the Roman expansion during the Roman Warm Period.

Two of the three “experts” said to be really cautious about creating links

Busby, a climate change expert, is also cautious about “causal paths” linking climate change and conflict. “The science is just not there yet,” he says.

But

But those who live in the region see a direct — and very personal — link, as this GlobalPost video from Gao, Mali, illustrates:

So, ask the experts but do not listen.

“The climate situation is almost surely getting worse,” says Burke. “We know that temperatures are going up, and that soon they will be on average much warmer than anything the region has experienced and this is likely to increase the incidence of conflict.”

Except, the world is still in pause, and was much warmer during previous warm periods. Of course, the “experts” solutions are to build barely working “alternative” energy, like wind and solar. Nothing like providing poor people with really expensive energy they can’t afford. And give them money (redistribution).

The Daily Caller article notes that many other things, like poverty and government oppression rank much higher. And the fact that Islamists of all stripes are nuts who take advantage of people. Many of the 9/11 hijackers were well educated. But, Warmists just can’t help themselves with the blame game.

Read: Bummer: “Climate Change” Is Aiding Al Qaeda »

Posted in AGW Idiocy, Global Warming, Islamification, RoP | 4 Comments | Trackback URL

Obama To Pitch Don’t Call It Obamacare At Campaign Style Rally

By William Teach December 3, 2013 – 6:50 am

I wonder if he’ll mention the huge increases in premiums and deductibles, and that millions have lost their plans and doctors, with tens of millions scheduled to have the same happen to them?

(The Hill) President Obama will hold an event Tuesday touting the benefits of the Affordable Care Act, as the White House looks to reset public perception of the embattled healthcare law following two months of repairs to the glitchy ObamaCare website.

The president’s event at 2:30 p.m. (so, around 3:15 or so) will look to refocus attention on areas where the law has succeeded, while selling the public on signing up for coverage despite headlines dominated by the technical glitches and messaging errors that have defined the launch of the president’s signature policy initiative.

According to a White House official, the president will look to “focus attention back on the core principles of reform that have been lost in the attention on the website, and invoke the successes that are already flowing from the law and what it means for the millions of Americans who are already directly benefiting.”

Shouldn’t be a very long speech, then. Those few “successes” could easily have been included without all the things that make this law so utterly terrible. The rest of the speech will surely be spent demagoguing and deriding those who oppose the law. Which is the majority of Americans.

On Monday, Politico reported the president’s event would launch a three-week drive designed to focus attention on the law’s benefits ahead of the Dec. 23 enrollment deadline. Individuals hoping to purchase coverage by Jan. 1 must complete their application for health coverage by that date.

According to the report, the White House will tout a different benefit of the law each day until the enrollment deadline, with Democratic lawmakers, campaign committees, and advocacy organizations looking to echo that sales pitch.

The president will highlight lower-cost preventive care on Wednesday, protections for those with preexisting conditions on Thursday, and the slowed growth of health care costs on Friday.

Oh, good, the Neverending Campaign will be in full force. I wonder if he will mention how the contraception rule surely violates the 1st Amendment? Or perhaps how zero people have signed up in Oregon? How so many are being moved onto Medicaid rather than regular insurance?  How Team Obama’s mid-line prognostication is that 90 million will ultimately lose their “plan they like”? How the health care networks are small and do not include the best medical facilities? Perhaps he can explain how no security was built into the Exchange, putting people’s personal information at risk?

*I’m not sure who created the graphic.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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