Top NASA Scientists, Astronauts, and Engineers Slam Hansen And Globull Warming

By William Teach April 11, 2012 – 11:00 am

Via Real Science, we get this letter from back in the end of March

March 28, 2012
The Honorable Charles Bolden, Jr.
NASA Administrator
NASA Headquarters
Washington, D.C. 20546-0001
Dear Charlie,

We, the undersigned, respectfully request that NASA and the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) refrain from including unproven remarks in public releases and websites. We believe the claims by NASA and GISS, that man-made carbon dioxide is having a catastrophic impact on global climate change are not substantiated, especially when considering thousands of years of empirical data. With hundreds of well-known climate scientists and tens of thousands of other scientists publicly declaring their disbelief in the catastrophic forecasts, coming particularly from the GISS leadership, it is clear that the science is NOT settled.

The unbridled advocacy of CO2 being the major cause of climate change is unbecoming of NASA’s history of making an objective assessment of all available scientific data prior to making decisions or public statements.

As former NASA employees, we feel that NASA’s advocacy of an extreme position, prior to a thorough study of the possible overwhelming impact of natural climate drivers is inappropriate. We request that NASA refrain from including unproven and unsupported remarks in its future releases and websites on this subject. At risk is damage to the exemplary reputation of NASA, NASA’s current or former scientists and employees, and even the reputation of science itself.

For additional information regarding the science behind our concern, we recommend that you contact Harrison Schmitt or Walter Cunningham, or others they can recommend to you.

Thank you for considering this request.

Sincerely,

Head over to Real Science to see all those who signed on to this letter.

The point of the letter seems to be “hey, we just don’t have the knowledge yet, so, stop using the good name of NASA to push your political meme.” They aren’t necessarily saying it is all a load of mule fritters, just that Hansen should stop besmirching NASA and GIS with his unhinged and unscientific view.

Looks like there is a Memeorandum thread as of the time of writing (setting up to post later in the day), featuring Anthony Watts , who points out “When Chris Kraft, the man who presided over NASA’s finest hour, and the engineering miracle of saving Apollo 13 speaks, people listen.“

Powerline has more, as does Questions and Observations, JustOneMinute, Samizdata.net, The Daily Caller and Tim Blair.

Read: Top NASA Scientists, Astronauts, and Engineers Slam Hansen And Globull Warming »

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Romney Turns Dems “War On Women” Meme Right Back At Obama

By William Teach April 11, 2012 – 8:27 am

The Democrats started their little meme of a Republican war on women a few months ago with their Sandra “I want tons of free contraception” Fluke fake Congressional hearing, and have ginned up more outrage since. Though, I’d think women would be a little ticked off that Democrats have essentially been stating that women aren’t capable of earning the small amounts necessary to purchase condoms, birth control pills, etc, on their own. Rather patronizing, eh? And Mitt Romney takes the meme and turns it back at Obama in an economic way, both on a conference call and a speech

(Washington Post) In a conference call with reporters Tuesday afternoon, Bay Buchanan, the former treasurer of the United States and a top Romney backer, contended that the Obama administration’s policies have had a detrimental effect on the country – and that the economic downturn has overwhelmingly affected women.

“The number of unemployed women have increased by nearly a million under Barack Obama,” Buchanan said, citing a Bureau of Labor Statistics report. “Ninety-two percent of the jobs lost since he took office are women.”

Bay Buchanan, for those who aren’t familiar with the name, is a woman.

(CNN) Speaking at a Delaware structural steel factory, Romney responded to Democratic claims his party had waged a “war on women” and alienated female voters. Romney turned the argument around, accusing President Barack Obama’s administration of failing working women.

“The real war on women has been the job losses as the result of the Obama economy,” he told an audience in Wilmington, saying women had lost 92.3% of jobs lost under the Obama administration.

Romney said his private sector career had helped him understand what women worry about: jobs and the economy.

Team Mitt provides this handy dandy graphic

Women And The Obama Economy [Infographic]

Team Obama provided some whiny comebacks, particularly about “women’s health” and contraception, because, in Obama World, women need the ever-present guiding hand of the male dominated government when it comes to sex.

Read: Romney Turns Dems “War On Women” Meme Right Back At Obama »

Posted in Barry Obama, Democrats, Economy, Elections, Romney | 2 Comments | Trackback URL

Latest Cybersecurity Bill Even More Of A Concern Than Last Attempt

By William Teach April 11, 2012 – 8:10 am

If you thought SOPA/PIPA were bad, wait till you see CISPA

(ABC News) Congress is set to act on cybersecurity legislation that has been making its way through committees in both chambers for several years. The House is set to vote on these bills during the week of April 23, dubbed “Cybersecurity Week.” The Senate will take action soon after.

A lot of important work has gone into these bills that are intended to strengthen both the government and civilian response to cyber threats. Yet parts of these bills are alarming because, if passed, any information we put online—work, play, personal and sensitive—could be put at risk.

Thoughtful policy can help harden critical infrastructure targets—such as the electric grid, nuclear power plants, and communication networks—against unauthorized intrusions, making the Internet a safer place for all. But if Congress does not step up to make important changes in these bills, we may face an epic loss of our civil liberties.

What is this bill?

(RT) H.R. 3523, a piece of legislation dubbed the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (or CISPA for short), has been created under the guise of being a necessary implement in America’s war against cyberattacks. But the vague verbiage contained within the pages of the paper could allow Congress to circumvent existing exemptions to online privacy laws and essentially monitor, censor and stop any online communication that it considers disruptive to the government or private parties. Critics have already come after CISPA for the capabilities that it will give to seemingly any federal entity that claims it is threatened by online interactions, but unlike the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Acts that were discarded on the Capitol Building floor after incredibly successful online campaigns to crush them, widespread recognition of what the latest would-be law will do has yet to surface to the same degree.

The main purpose of CISPA is to protect American intellectual property from state-sponsored digital theft of intellectual property, a worthy notion. And, we learn from PC Magazine

….. the broad language means there is no explicit restriction about the type of information being shared between government and companies, so long as it could somehow be linked to cyber-threats. That’s very worrisome on privacy grounds, since it makes it easier for companies to hand over any information the government asks for and not worry about getting sued by irate users.

Back to the ABC article

Why should companies participate in the “voluntary sharing” the Rogers bill authorizes? The quid pro quo may be irresistible: more useful cybersecurity information from the government and other companies and broad immunity from lawsuits in exchange for sharing. In contrast to the Lungren bill, there are no data restrictions to stumble over and few discernable brakes on the system. When the NSA comes calling with its Easter basket full of goodies, in the form of needed expertise and knowledge of global cyber threats, there will be powerful incentives for industry to return the favor.

Which is why, unlike with SOPA/PIPA, companies are not jumping on the bandwagon in opposing CISPA.

And under Rogers, once your personal information is in the hands of the government, all bets are off. It can be used for any national security purpose, including to track patterns of communications to decide whether to seek authorization to wiretap you. In can be used to prosecute you for any crime, provided an intelligence agency also finds at least a significant national security or cyber security purpose for the information. Lungren by contrast limits sharing to cybersecurity purposes including related law enforcement.

All the Central Government has to due is proclaim that you might possibly sorta maybe just wondering if you could be a threat, and they can get all your online personal information easy peasy. To wrap up, the Center For Democracy and Technology describes it thusly

  • The bill has a very broad, almost unlimited definition of the information that can be shared with government agencies notwithstanding privacy and other laws;
  • The bill is likely to lead to expansion of the government’s role in the monitoring of private communications as a result of this sharing;
  • It is likely to shift control of government cybersecurity efforts from civilian agencies to the military;
  • Once the information is shared with the government, it wouldn’t have to be used for cybesecurity, but could instead be used for any purpose that is not specifically prohibited.

See the full list of CISPA co-sponsors here. See a complete list of companies and groups that support CISPA here, which includes IBM, AT&T, Facebook, and Verizon. Contact your Congress critter and tell them “hell no!” Tweet it. This short little law, only 13 pages, is too vague, and, will certainly interfere even more with our civil liberties and privacy. It’s not a Democrat/Republican issue, nor a Liberal/Conservative issue, it is a people vs the government issue.

Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU.

Read: Latest Cybersecurity Bill Even More Of A Concern Than Last Attempt »

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Globull Warming Killing US Ecosystems…..Oh, Wait

By William Teach April 10, 2012 – 7:59 pm

This is what happens when scientists leave the computer model room and go out in the field

(The Register…kinda sucks that I have to go to a British news outlet for this info) Scientists monitoring water flow in streams at test sites across the USA have found, unexpectedly, that the global warming seen in the late 20th century had basically no effect on most of the ecosystems they studied.

The world in general is thought to have warmed up by approximately half a degree C from 1980 to the year 2000, and while the past decade has seen no further increase, most full-time professional climate scientists expect warming to resume in the near future. However there has been much disagreement as to just what effects this could have.

I wonder what they found?

For this reason, the US government has been establishing long-term monitoring facilities across its territory for decades now, allowing accurate records to be collected showing exactly what ecosystem impacts have occurred. Results are now in on 35 important headwater basins feeding river systems across the States over the last 20 to 60 years: and they show that in 28 of these, no effects on water flow from warming could be found at all.

Even where a warming-driven effect could be identified in the record, it was small compared to other more important factors such as “municipal and agricultural water usage, forest management, wildfire, hurricanes, and natural climate cycles”.

So, nature isn’t really bothered by a bit of warming?

Tom Nelson finds a press release

An analysis of 35 headwater basins in the United States and Canada found that the impact of warmer air temperatures on streamflow rates was less than expected in many locations, suggesting that some ecosystems may be resilient to certain aspects of climate change.

The resulting real world data always seems to be “less than expected.” Must have ticked off the Warmist organization National Science Foundation, which was a sponsor of the study.

Read: Globull Warming Killing US Ecosystems…..Oh, Wait »

Posted in Collapsing Science, Global Warming | 10 Comments | Trackback URL

Santorum Suspends Campaign, Mitt’s Pretty Much The Nominee

By William Teach April 10, 2012 – 3:46 pm

Via The Hill

Rick Santorum dropped out of the presidential race Tuesday afternoon, essentially guaranteeing Mitt Romney the GOP nomination.

Santorum announced that he is suspending his campaign at an event in his home state of Pennsylvania —his first public appearance following the release of his daughter Bella from the hospital and after he took a break from the campaign trail for a long Easter weekend.

Part of the reason was his daughter’s sickness, part is dropping poll number, particularly in Pennsylvania. He gave it a good run, but, just not enough to close the deal.

Now we await Newt and Ron Paul dropping out, but, they both seem to want to gum up the works.

It’s time to get on the road to defeating Obama. If you can’t get behind Mitt, get behind the notion of Anybody But Obama.

Read: Santorum Suspends Campaign, Mitt’s Pretty Much The Nominee »

Posted in Elections, GOP | 5 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach April 10, 2012 – 1:00 pm

…is an evil cat using up Gaia’s precious resources and making the seas rise, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Blogmocracy.

Read: If All You See… »

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Why, Yes, Warmists Are Plagued With “Crippling Anxiety”

By William Teach April 10, 2012 – 11:26 am

From an article by Auden Schendler, posted at both the HuffPo and Grist

With magazines like Scientific American publishing articles titled: “Global Warming Close to Becoming Irreversible,” and 15,000-plus temperature records set this spring in the U.S., it’s no wonder the CFO of the business I work for said to me yesterday: “I have this crippling anxiety about climate change… what are our children going to have to deal with?” (snip)

This all leaves most of us in the movement to solve climate change with a borderline debilitating creeping terror that haunts our daily activities and inclines many of us to want to rock in the corner holding our knees, eating Chinese food out of the box.

Fortunately, Auden says they have hope, because all the Warmists are going to voluntarily go out and live the life they say everyone else should be mandated to live…..eh, who am I kidding, they have hope because they can no target non-CO2 greenhouse gases, that there is supposedly some sort of bipartisan (which, I suppose means both liberals and progressives agree), and there is “stealth” action by the Obama admin to pass regulations on Someone Else.

Real Science goes with a picture from The Exorcist. And wonders if they were terrified by global cooling last year.

Meanwhile, cold temperature records fell across Alaska, Siberia, Europe, and Asia. There was snow in Israel and Iraq, not too mention the massive snow in Eastern Europe and Western Asia, as well as Alaska and Greenland. And during the summer in Australia. While the USA was hot, the rest of the world was cold. But, the media doesn’t like to discuss that. And, even with all those hot records, still doesn’t prove anthropogenic causation.

Also, it’s funny that Warmists aren’t worried about leaving their children and future generations with crippling debt and unpaid liabilities.

Read: Why, Yes, Warmists Are Plagued With “Crippling Anxiety” »

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California Shows Why Globull Warming Laws Are Called “Green”

By William Teach April 10, 2012 – 8:43 am

Time and time again, Climate Realists like myself have pointed out that the whole “climate change (hoax)” movement is not about actually dealing with the “carbon poison” and saving the Earth from rising temperatures (which are well within the norm for warm periods over the last 7,000 years): it’s about control and…..money! (via Climate Depot)

(Mercury News) For the past 10 years, California has struggled with huge budget deficits and wrenching cuts. Suddenly, however, the state is poised to raise billions from an unusual new source: the proceeds from its landmark global warming law.

The windfall could come as soon as this fall, when state officials are set to begin auctioning off pollution credits to oil refineries, power plants and other major polluters as part of a new “cap-and-trade” system.

The amounts are potentially enormous: from $1 billion to $3 billion a year in 2012 and 2013, jumping to as high as $14 billion a year by 2015, according to the nonpartisan state Legislative Analyst’s Office. By comparison, the state’s current budget deficit is $9 billion.

Of course, because of previous legal rulings, the California government will be limited as to how it can spend this windfall: they won’t be able to use it for whatever the want, but, will have to spend it on greenhouse gas reductions. Plus, there are huge numbers of lawsuits pending. And many other problems. But, fortunately, Californians will see a return as their power bills and cost of living go up

And in a follow-up interview with this newspaper, Dan Richard, chairman of the rail authority, asserted that a large portion of the money could go to fund high-speed rail.

Everyone from environmentalists to utility companies are jostling for ways to spend the money. The wish lists include renewable energy projects, bus systems and forest restoration.

So, trains that no one wants and few will take. Energy projects that produce little energy but have huge costs. In reality, we know that the Dems in the California government will find a way around any restrictions, and use the money for their pet projects. And, the companies that are required to purchase the credits will simply……leave, if they are able to. If not, they’ll raise their prices. And Californians should also get used to rolling brownouts and blackouts. Fortunately, companies are fleeing from California to other states, so, there are fewer companies using said electricity.

Related, California is declaring war on single family homes.

Read: California Shows Why Globull Warming Laws Are Called “Green” »

Posted in Carbon Credits, Energy, Global Warming | 6 Comments | Trackback URL

Team Romney Has Obama’s New Campaign Slogan: “Making The World Safe For Hypocrisy”

By William Teach April 10, 2012 – 7:57 am

Many in the liberal media are loving Team Obama’s attacks on Mitt Romney over his taxes and tax returns. Over at Political Punch, ObamaZombie Devin Dwyer writes that TO Skewered TR

As part of a weeklong campaign around the Buffett Rule, President Obama’s re-election team is making Mitt Romney the face of income tax inequality.

On a conference call with reporters Monday, top Obama surrogates blasted the Republican candidate for keeping years of tax returns secret, using offshore bank accounts for some investments, and enjoying a lower effective tax rate than most middle-income Americans.

Kind of funny: a millionaire who is solidly in the 1% and spends little on charitable contributions slapping another big millionaire and pushing class warfare. But, hold on a second

(Buzzfeed) Romney spokesman Eric Fernstrom accused the Obama campaign of “hypocrisy” for refusing to release 23 years of tax returns, while calling on the presumptive GOP nominee to do the same.

“Maybe they should adopt as their new slogan: Barack Obama — making the world safe for hypocrisy,” Fehrnstrom told BuzzFeed, mocking the Chicago team’s continued struggle for a slogan to match 2008’s “Yes We Can!” and “Change We Can Believe In.”

Lest you think Buzzfeed is making it up, here’s far left Talking Points Memo

President Obama’s campaign ran into an awkward moment in a conference call with reporters pushing Mitt Romney to disclose more of his tax returns when they were asked about their own returns.

Obama campaign manager Jim Messina suggested Romney release 23 years of tax returns, noting that he had reportedly given that many years’ worth to John McCain when he was being vetted as a potential running mate. But when asked by the Huffington Post’s Sam Stein whether Obama had plans to release 23 years of returns himself, Messina pointed to Obama’s 12 years of returns without committing to further releases.

Hmm, so, Team Obama trots out the hypocrisy in wanting Mitt to release 23 years of returns, while Obama won’t do the same. But, then, this is all about optics, and pandering to Obama’s base. Almost no one in the media has mentioned that Obama won’t release the 23 years of returns. It’s also part of Obama’s push for the Buffett Rule, you know, that one that would raise a whopping $47 billion over ten years if passed. Well, provided those making over $1 million a year keep their behavior exactly the same, instead of sheltering more money, taking advantage of the tax code. The White House even admits that this has nothing to do with deficit reduction

(Politico) The Obama administration is emphasizing “fairness” over deficit reduction in its renewed pitch for the “Buffett rule” ahead of next week’s scheduled Senate vote.

Expect much of Obama’s re-election campaign to be about class warfare: really, he can’t run on his pathetic record.

Oh, and if you really want to have fun, use Twitter to demand Obama2012 (@barackobama) #release23years.

Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU.

Read: Team Romney Has Obama’s New Campaign Slogan: “Making The World Safe For Hypocrisy” »

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Good Grief: The Chive Peddles Globull Warming In Post On Venice

By William Teach April 9, 2012 – 3:28 pm

Look, I love the Chive, been reading, well, viewing, it for a long, long time. Back when I used to do picture posts (look under the “Awesome” category), The Chive was the inspiration. But, there’s a post entitled Venice Italy is sinking! The permalink says Venice Italy is literally beginning to sink. And, we get this bit of classic Warmist claptrap

Rising sea levels are an obvious problem for the canal-laden city of Venice, Italy, which is threatened with increased flooding due to climate changes. To make matters worse, scientists have found that the city is actually beginning to sink. Venice is sinking into the water at a rate of about 2 millimeters per year, which I agree doesn’t sound like much, however combined with the rising waters it’s starting to lead to an increased flood rate every year.

But there is hope yet for the city. A multi-billion dollar project is currently underway to create a system of floodgates around the city to prevent the sort of flooding that now occurs a handful of times a year.

I responded in the comments

Good grief. Venice has been sinking for around 1,000 years. It was built in marshlands and islands in the middle of a lagoon. The introduction of more canals made it worse. Furthermore, the African plate is drifting north, raising the Alps and lowering areas like Venice.

Stick with posting pictures, Chive. (and, yeah, I know I’ll get a lot of down thumbs, but, I can’t let this idiocy stand).

Warmists will usually acknowledge that, yes, Venice has been sinking for a long time, but, will then add that “climate change will make it worse (insert Howard Dean scream here)!” Looking back to 2010, we were already learning the reality, that the seas weren’t really rising anymore. Venice has been prone to flooding for a 1,000 years. Tides can get rather extreme in the Mediterranean, and always have. Particularly in Venice. Did I mention Venice was built in a swampy area with lots of islands in the middle of a lagoon? Watts Up With That highlighted that Venice is not sinking from “climate change” last year.

As for those floodgates, they’ve been around for a while.

Stick with picture posts, Chive. Oh, and perhaps a few less self promoting ones?

Read: Good Grief: The Chive Peddles Globull Warming In Post On Venice »

Posted in AGW Idiocy, Global Warming | 6 Comments | Trackback URL
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