Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Coldest In 18 Years

Earliest Subzero Temps Since ’95; More Bitter Cold And Snow Coming « CBS Chicago:

As I'll say over and over, 18 years isn't "Climate", neither is 40 or 50. One certainly has to be over 100 years to talk about Climate vs weather and weather patterns. It was cold (and hot, it was very extreme) in the 1930s. The 60's and 70's were pretty cold winters at least in the upper midwest ... the snowmobile craze really took off and we had some of our deepest snows and coldest winters.

In WI, the coldest temperature recorded was -55 in Feb in '96. This link shows the coldest temperatures recorded by state.

Historically, "the weather" was the safest most non-controversial topic one could talk about. It is a strong sign of the politicization and coarseness of our culture that even the weather has now become a controversial political topic that various media outlets will align their reporting of hot temps or cold temps around!

Enjoy the cold! Go ahead and mention that it is cold and say Merry Christmas! Our society needs to ratchet it's Political Correctness fussiness down a WHOLE BUNCH of notches!

'via Blog this'

Coldest In 18 Years

Earliest Subzero Temps Since ’95; More Bitter Cold And Snow Coming « CBS Chicago:

As I'll say over and over, 18 years isn't "Climate", neither is 40 or 50. One certainly has to be over 100 years to talk about Climate vs weather and weather patterns. It was cold (and hot, it was very extreme) in the 1930s. The 60's and 70's were pretty cold winters at least in the upper midwest ... the snowmobile craze really took off and we had some of our deepest snows and coldest winters.

In WI, the coldest temperature recorded was -55 in Feb in '96. This link shows the coldest temperatures recorded by state.

Historically, "the weather" was the safest most non-controversial topic one could talk about. It is a strong sign of the politicization and coarseness of our culture that even the weather has now become a controversial political topic that various media outlets will align their reporting of hot temps or cold temps around!

Enjoy the cold! Go ahead and mention that it is cold and say Merry Christmas! Our society needs to ratchet it's Political Correctness fussiness down a WHOLE BUNCH of notches!

'via Blog this'

God Loves BOcare

In Government We Trust: The Progressive Religion - Derek Hunter - Page 1:

Nothing new here to longer term MooseTracks readers, just a new case of the same old "Liberalism as Religion".

Ed Schultz and Chris "Kneepad" Mathews channeling God and "morality" on BOcare is especially rich. Suddenly the man upstairs has decided to embrace Democrats, turn a blink eye to 10's of millions of aborted babies crying out in pain, to wholly embrace the outsource of human care and charity to Big Government. I'm sure God was and is equally thrilled with the Godless USSR, Nazi Germany, China, Cuba, etc.

Pretty decent article, a teaser:
In nearly every way government has replaced religion in the progressive sphere. It is the grantor of rights, the arbiter of morality, the moderator of justice, the compass of true north. Government is the religion, and the agenda is God.
Any act done in service to the agenda is justified; the end is what matters, the means are irrelevant. That’s how you rationalize selling big lies, known lies, to a public wanting to believe your snake oil is the cure for what ails them.
'via Blog this'

Amazing Helicopter Pilot!

This Helicopter Pilot Is Masterful At His Job - Digg:

'via Blog this'

Coldest Temperature Ever Recorded

Coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth in Antarctica: -94.7C (-135.8F) | World news | theguardian.com:

135F ... enough to make one say Brrrrrr!

Does it mean that the planet is cooling, warming, or staying the same?

None of the above, it is DATA, data is how we LEARN ... provided that our minds aren't so clouded by some belief. ("Settled Science" is NEVER science, and always belief)

Those with the belief of Global Warming however will try to minimize the fact of this data while they have and will heavily publicize every warm temperature recorded to the maximum extent they can.

Ignoring one set of data and focusing on another is propaganda, and when it creeps into what was formerly science, it is a good "Canary in the Coal Mine" warning of the road to tyranny. (See Lysenko, Mengele)

Those names should justifiably make you feel even colder, as should the very idea of Science being used in the service of propaganda.


'via Blog this'

Monday, December 09, 2013

The Myth of the Independent Press

America's economic mobility myth - Dec. 9, 2013:

One of the things that was formerly unique about America was that we had an independent press. When a Republican is in the WH we still do! But clearly not with BO, so much like Pravda in the days of the old USSR, when our "Dear Leader" decides to "pivot" to "income inequality", our lapdog MSM tries to help him as much as they can.

So CNN proudly tells us that US mobility is a "Myth". Meanwhile, the NYTs says "Location Matters" 

The Times article gives one a lot more ability to do some figuring on your own. A few elements seem to jump out ... the deep south is worse for mobility, some parts of the US are just as good or better than even the supposed leader ... Denmark. In looking at the map and areas like North Dakota, it seems that exploiting natural resources is very helpful ... which likely goes a long way to explaining Canada.

One can quickly figure out it is quite complicated if the US and Britain share poor numbers, since Britain is more socialist than the US, yet their numbers are WORSE!  Broken homes, certainly are a factor, but how about "once great nations in decline"? Britain and the US certainly fit that, Denmark never was great. France probably BELIEVES they are still both "great and exceptional", but .41 isn't really much better than the US and England.

So CNN does the BO "public service" by declaring mobility a "myth", but look a little closer at the NYTs article. They set the bar REALLY high ... from the BOTTOM 5th to the TOP 5th! That truly is the old Horatio Alger "Rags to Riches" story ... an AMAZING 35% chance to clear that HIGH bar if you happen to come from Williston or Dickinson ND!!

We really have no clue where CNN's "class mobility" is at. Bottom 5th to top would certainly cover that, but I'd think that just moving out of the bottom 5th would as well.

A look at the map in the NYTs article gives the lie to the CNN basic assertion that "a lot more redistribution, especially to education will fix this". I'm certain BO and his patron teachers union whole heartedly agree, but does anyone really believe that schools in Williston or Dickinson ND are THAT much better? Let alone that ND has the kind a redistributive tax policy that makes this kind of success happen????

'via Blog this'

Sunday, December 08, 2013

Making Gun "News" Via Fabrication

The real tragedy of America's gun violence – Global Public Square - CNN.com Blogs:

No unusual shootings going on, SO, let's MAKE some negative gun "news" as a "public service" BANNER HEADLINE:


Naturally, since the facts don't fit the narrative of our anti gun story, let's make some up!
And we do have an actual experiment. In the aftermath of its own Newtown-like massacre, Australia changed its gun laws. The result? Homicides and suicides plummeted in the decade that followed. Of course, like all real world problems, the link between guns and violence is a complex issue. But one rarely has so much evidence pointing in the same direction.
Only a couple of tiny problems here:
  1. One would have THOUGHT they would have stated "GUN homicides and suicides plummeted" ... because of course homicides and suicides were unaffected. People just used other means! 
  2. However, they are STILL WRONG, not even GUN RELATED HOMICIDES and SUICIDES DROPPED! Here we have that from the noted right wing media outlet Time Magazine ... Stating in the headline "Australia's Gun Laws: Little Effect"
So in fact the entire article is nothing but a lie!! But there is MORE! We make the gratuitous snarky claim that "does ANYONE think that we have 12x the psychologically troubled people"?
America's per capita gun homicide rate in 2009 was 12 times higher than the average of Canada, Germany, Australia and Spain. Does anyone think that we have 12 times as many psychologically troubled people as they do in these countries?
Note the persistence of their use of GUN HOMICIDE as opposed to HOMICIDE. Unfortunately for the news MAKERS at CNN the Time article gives us an answer:
Firearm homicides in Australia were declining before 1996 and the decline has simply continued at the same rate since, McPhedran says. (In 2002-3, Australia's rate of 0.27 gun-related homicides per 100,000 people was one fifteenth that of the U.S. rate.)
So PRIOR to the great leap forward of Australia gun confiscation, the rate was 15X in the Aussies sane advantage, but AFTER it was only 12x!! So what is "anyone" to think? Rounding up the guns caused 3 points MORE psychosis relative to US?? It CERTAINLY wasn't guns, right?? They were confiscated! But the Aussies got WORSE by 3 pts relative to the US.
In a world where sane people held sane discussions, there are LOTS of "reasonable thoughts" here:
  1. There may just not be enough statistical Australian data to provide accuracy at the level that comparisons are being made. (invalid statistical set)
  2. It IS possible that mental health policy in Australia is different than the US. Prior to us deciding that being "free" was a "right" even if you were insane, and having the mental institutions patients released in droves to be the "Homeless" of the Reagan years, a lot of these shooters were in institutions. It IS actually very possible that the Aussies kept 3.38 more people per 100K institutionalized! (.27 person per 100K and 4.05 person per 100K ( 4.05 is .27x15) is 3.88 people per 100K)
  3. While we are at it, is it REALLY "impossible" that there are 3.88 more crazy people per 100K WALKING AROUND in the US than in Australia? There are 33 obese people per 100 (ONE HUNDRED) people in Mississippi vs 21 per 100 in Colorado, or a difference in obesity of 12% between two states in the US. A difference of 3.88 out of 100K on the other hand is .00388 % !!! 
We know this answer folks. This BANNER HEADLINE ARTICLE is 100% false anti-gun PROPAGANDA foisted on unsuspecting people who largely buy it hook line and sinker by a media bent on removing their rights under the Constitution.

In case there is any doubt of that, they point that out at the end of the article ... the 2nd Amendment doesn't mean what it says! So there!

Why is it we can't all get along? Because given the elites and the MSM, there are a large set of people playing with their own "facts", and they want to use those fabricated facts to take away basic human rights like the right of self defense!

OZ (BO) Admits He Is Humbug!

Review & Outlook: The ObamaCare Buck Finally Stops - WSJ.com:

As a nation loses more and more of it's will to think independently, one of the BIG warning signs is the loss of irony. If you are confident you understand irony and why it is important to humans, you can just skip to the bold below.

Since our education today is so minimal and our meaningful social interactions even less (meaning CIVIL social discussion on critical issues), I'm including a link to this SHORT and I think well executed definition of irony.

The usage called out by the linked article is essentially BO stepping into the puddle that he just criticized others for falling into ... the criticism of government.

Why is loss of the ability to detect or use irony a warning sign?

  1. The use of the Socratic method is indispensable to teaching the art of critical thought. Indoctrination can't work via that method because an intelligent and clear thinking student will often turn the tables on an arrogant and self important teacher trying to indoctrinate under the cloak of authority. So today, rote learning of the desired responses is the order of what we call "education". 
  2. There is no computerized test for irony. It is HUMAN ... and therefore related to DIVINE since man is created in Gods image. As with all human activity that is not God directed, the outcome tends toward the opposite of the stated objective.

    In the case of "secular humanism", things like the Socratic Method, irony, theology, and true philosophy have to be replaced by rote learning, name calling, anger, exclusion and similar tactics. "Uncomfortable" (for humanists) viewpoints like Christianity have to be removed from education and the public square. Viewpoints other than those proffered by the humanist need to be marginalized and eventually named "hate speech".

    Other examples of "humanism" creating the opposite (See Orwell to better understand):

    "Freedom" -- Becomes "Democracy", then Mob Rule, then Tyranny

    "Welfare" -- Becomes Dependency, Destruction of family, complete spiritual and physical destruction of person.

    "Liberal" -- Becomes Political Correctness, Totalitarian control of all of life and thought from birth to death by "experts" blocking out all thought which disagrees with current Statist objectives. (See "Road to Serfdom") 

So BO comes out and says:
"The challenge, I think, that we have going forward is not so much my personal management style or particular issues around White House organization," he said. "It actually has to do with what I referred to earlier, which is we have these big agencies, some of which are outdated, some of which are not designed properly. . . . The White House is just a tiny part of what is a huge, widespread organization with increasingly complex tasks in a complex world."
GOT THAT????? Big government is the problem! The Government has gotten too big and too complex for the poor little White House, and by extension the Great and Powerful BO himself (Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!) to execute the socialization of 1/7th of the US economy!

Had our press and people not lost the ability to understand irony and what it means for our existence, this would be FRONT PAGE NEWS!!! ... and perhaps the Great and Powerful OZ (BO) would have to come out from behind the curtain and admit even more explicitly to poor little Dorothy and Toto (the American People) that he is indeed a Humbug, a traveling nostrum salesman with no great powers whatsoever.

But we are no longer enough of a nation to even understand how exposed that man behind the curtain is, so the huge smoking, belching and thundering of our MSM and Elites will keep mesmerizing the masses even after the curtain of BO's extreme smallness and incapacity being lifted by his own hand.

'via Blog this'

Saturday, December 07, 2013

Superpowers Return to Moon, Get Web Site Working

China launches its first moon rover mission:

While the declining US is busy trying to get a web site up to help deepen our multi-trillion deficits*  via a new health care "benefit",  China is attempting a soft landing on the moon with a rover this weekend.

China's plans include exploiting the moon for solar energy, mining and manufacturing.

They are spending 10's of billions on space including a manned program (they have their own manned space station). They seem to believe that there is some future beyond paying off debts and caring for a declining and dying elderly population.

Crazy fools. The intelligent folks are sitting around freezing here in the US worrying about Global Warming and anxiously awaiting new reports on our exciting new web site!

Ah, Irony. I used to love the US space program. Now I'm just bursting with pride that it looks like we my be making progress with an actual working web site!! ... at least BO says so, and if you like that, it must be true!  What a country!

*counting what the Fed is printing to buy bonds for nothing
'via Blog this'

When Will the Wind Blow or Sun Shine?

Green Weenie of the Year: The Wind-Talkers | Power Line:

or what will the temperature be in a few days? A few days ago it was going to be in 20's tomorrow for a shooting event at the gun club. Now it says 18 degrees. Somehow it is shocking to nobody that our weather geniuses can predict the warming of our temperatures 100 years in the future to a half a degree, yet they often can't get within 5 degrees on the temp 3-5 days from now!

Oh, BTW, that is NOT the same as saying you know I will die someday, you just don't know when. It is more akin to predicting my weight on Jan 1 and the day I die within a pound (although MUCH harder, since the planet is even bigger than me. EVEN on January 1!!!)

Here we have a quote on the obvious from the not very right wing LA Times:
 "Green energy is the least predictable kind. Nobody can say for certain when the wind will blow or the sun will shine. A field of solar panels might be cranking out huge amounts of energy one minute and a tiny amount the next if a thick cloud arrives. In many cases, renewable resources exist where transmission lines don’t."
So it isn't very reliable, it costs too much to build without subsidies, and it kills tons of birds, bats and even Eagles.

Show them an oil soaked duck and they cry big tears. Show them piles of dead birds and bats and even a few eagles, and they yawn and extend the killing permits for 30 years.

Environmental thinking reminds me of liberal thinking on military action. If we can likely be successful and it is good for our national interests, then it is a BAD idea. If the action is neutral to negative for American interests and our prospects for success are small, then the liberal is all set to dive in!

When we used to be a rich world power, this may have been OK. Now that we are a declining debtor nation, it is less humorous!

'via Blog this'

Friday, December 06, 2013

Never Met, Lived With, Just Did Some Weed

Obama lived with Kenyan uncle prior to law school, White House says – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs:

It's only a minor detail ... previously they "never met". Now BO lived with him 3 weeks and saw him "occasionally". Nobody cares.

The lack of curiosity about BO is pretty amazing for the MSM considering how wonderful they find him to be! They certainly were VERY interested in any possible (or even manufactured) element of W's past that was less than "Presidential".

Here is an article from Huffpo that talks about his "Choom Gang" of pot smokers, how he would jump in, grab the joint at say "intercepted" so he got more than others (why does that sound like him?), etc.

Here is a nice picture that was apparently published in Time at one point that Snopes "doesn't care" on http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?t=61245 Apparently it IS Barry, but it may or may not be weed. Again, it is not what one would consider "flattering", so we never see it.

Finally we have this "don't care" http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/05/17/The-Vetting-Barack-Obama-Literary-Agent-1991-Born-in-Kenya-Raised-Indonesia-Hawaii 

While "Birthers" have been booed down almost as hard as Global Warming "Deniers", it is pretty well known that Barry used whatever means he could to "operate" from Hawaii to Occidental to Columbia ... if being a "foreign student" got some $$$ it seems pretty clear he was "from Indonesia" ... or Kenya. Whatever worked to get the aid, scholarship, stipend, book deal, etc.

Was he born in Hawaii? Sure, he probably was ... but he also had 5 or so Social Security cards under "Barry Soetoro", "Barack Soetoro", "Barry Obama", etc

It seems that he used being "Kenyan" in his biography as a way to generate more interest ... or the book company did. But whatever.

The point is, it isn't an issue! The MSM has immensely enjoyed bringing up Reagan's divorce, less than flattering movies,  the fact some of his children were estranged from him. W's supposedly checkered National Guard stint, his DWI, and other supposedly damning aspects of his past were also common fare.

I'm just observing that it is MUCH different with BO.

'via Blog this'

Thursday, December 05, 2013

Duck Dynasty vs Elites

Duck Dynasty baffles New York:

It really doesn't "baffle" NY, NY ****HATES*** DD!!

The fantasy would never happen. The DD guys would roll their eyes, go off to some other enjoyable pursuit, and wait for the PETA dweebs to get tired and bored. Certain to happen VERY soon.

BTW, were it to actually happen, Ellen would be road kill just like the other fools.

We are SUPPOSED to live in a "pluralistic society" ... you screw whatever sex (and no doubt soon "species" and "age") that you like, and we all leave one another alone. "Civilized"

Let's not be beholden to any tired old religious morals! (uh, "civilization" for a few thousand years was equal to religion, but never mind)

Oh wait! ANIMALS! Now THEY have RIGHTS .. that certainly exceed any unborn human babies so-called rights, and really any supposed "rights" that "non-native" humans think they have! (If you are "native",  kill at will)

In the perpetual "liberal" (fascist) view of "rights for me, none for thee", whatever gay pride marcher in naked regalia has pretty much UNLIMITED "rights", but the DD guy in cammo with a shotgun is supposed to kowtow to your random Hollywood Elite.

Ah, the fantasy universe that can only be reified by the VERY strong arm of the state.

'via Blog this'

Canonization of the Mob Experts

Gaseous Anomalies, Or What Would We Do Without Expert Forecasts? | Power Line:

We were confidently told in the 70's that the "energy crisis" was ABSOLUTELY caused by the FACT that the planet was running out of oil. It was more certain than global warming is today.

In the '90s and early 2Ks we were even more confidently told that there were no oil reserves in the US that could POSSIBLY allow us to be energy independent.

Today we KNOW that the "experts" and the "Settled Wisdom" was completely wrong on both counts.

We are headed to sub-zero temps here in Rochester tonight and tomorrow night ... something that has not been an early December phenomenon for the past decade or so, but was certainly more common 30 - 40 years ago. We will no doubt hear that this is "weather" as opposed to "climate" ... something that I would whole heartedly agree with. I'd also say that anything less than 100 years is ALSO "weather".

My view from my lifetime, the reasonably accurate records since late 1800's, reasonably accurate documentation of things like the "little ice age" and "medieval warming period" in the last couple thousand years, plus the 450K years of records in the Vostok ice cores is that the "settled science" of human caused global warming is in the process of discovering the chilly effects of reality as "peak oil" already has.

"Progressivism" is highly dependent on the theory that "experts" can lead mankind to heaven on earth by "educating / conditioning / training / modifying" the "common man",  or "proletariat".

There are really only 3 major problems with this:

  1. The "experts" are often wrong. 
  2. The "experts" are no "better / intelligent / moral / etc" than the "common man" ... they just think they are. In fact, they are SURE of it!
  3. Once corrupted by power, the mere mortal "experts" will go to ALL lengths to "prove" that they are "correct / superior / moral / etc". The "all" includes sanctions against those who would dare question their position up to and including death. Millions have been the victims of this in the USSR, Nazi Germany, China, Cambodia, North Korea and other egregious examples in the last 100 years or so. 
Right now our own 2nd place progressive Poobah, Slow Joe Biden, is arguing with the Chinese Poobahs over wether the Chinese should or should not expel some US journalists for pointing out that the Chinese Poobahs are "corrupt". 

Joe and BO prefer to keep a lapdog media, audit some tea party folks, keep close surveillance on everyone's communications, and just call their opposition names (so far). The BO admin meeting with the Chinese is like the Godfather mob getting together with the the Sopranos mob to discuss methods! 

One thing is certain, both sets of "experts" will be RIGHT! (or in this case, LEFT!) 


'via Blog this'

Tuesday, December 03, 2013

Civilly Hoping for Scott Walker Death

Lib Editor Apologizes For 'Insensitive And Inappropriate Joke' Moments After Hollywood Actor's Death | Independent Journal Review:

Liberals are always so nice and conservatives so mean. How can we even blame them for wishing that conservatives would just DIE. We deserve it after all.

Perhaps they will eventually train us to be civil. It helps that they tend to not provide much general publicity of their actual feelings about nasty folks like Christians and Conservatives!

'via Blog this'

Sunday, December 01, 2013

The Self Made Billionaire Next Door : Menard

Meet The Best Hardware Store In the Nation, And The Midwestern Billionaire Who Built It: John Menard Jr. - Forbes:

Growing up in N WI in the '60s, the Menard's Shed was pretty ubiquitous. As I got to Eau Claire for college in the early 70's, the store/distribution center was growing like topsy on the NW side of town where I would drive in for school.

When I hit Rochester in '78, we had a good sized one well out of town to the SE on 14, today there are two ... a big one on the S side, a decent sized on across 52 from where I live, and a mega new one going up N of me on the W side of 52, which will replace the one on the E.

How do people become Billionaires? Lots of ways ... new innovative products that are transformed into monster businesses by guys like Gates and Jobs. Buying and owning quality businesses like Buffet. Being entertaining and savvy like Oprah.

Or in the case of Menard, or Walton, just taking a plain old retail niche and doing it a better way and growing their business.

Is this still the land that can be done in? The fact that Menard's is PRIVATE may indicate something of the modern requirements to operate with less government supervision to make it big.

But it at least COULD be done. Let's hope it still can.