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Open thread 9/27
- By Phillip Brownlee
- Posted Sept. 27, 2007 at 1:04 a.m.
- Filed under Open thread
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139 Comments
“You actually reading all that Kansas, or just hitting highlight, edit, copy, and paste???”
Posted by Chas.
Kansas does not seem to read, and/or think about what he posts.
In “Part 3″,http://blogs.kansas.com/weblog/2007/09/open-thread-926.html#comment-84209796
Kansas copy/pastes a (right-wing) column about a 1996 lawsuit re a levee project 100 MILES (and farther) north of New Orleans, on the Mississippi RIVER.
The lawsuit was resolved a year later — but the Corps lacked the funds to move ahead with the project.
‘BLAMING ENVIRONMENTALISTS FOR KATRINA: WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW!’http://www.sierraclub.org/pressroom/releases/pr2005-09-13a.asp
In “Part 5″, Kansas copy/pasted a page that falsely blamed that 1996 lawsuit for the New Orleans Katrina flooding.http://blogs.kansas.com/weblog/2007/09/open-thread-926.html#comment-84210900
[1]“You did know, didn’t you, that in 1996 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was going to raise and strengthen the very levees that failed in New Orleans.
…[2]Why haven’t we heard more about this Sierra Club lawsuit in the mainstream media?”
1) Kansas seems UNABLE to understand that it was the Lake Ponchartrain levees/floodwalls that failed, NOT the Mississippi RIVER project, that NEVER happened, due to lack of funding.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_levee_failures_in_Greater_New_Orleans
2) Kansas seems UNABLE to understand the media did NOT report the 1996 Mississippi RIVER lawsuit, because it had NOTHING to do with the LAKE Ponchartrain levees/floodwalls failures.
I have explained that to Kansas multiple times,http://blogs.kansas.com/weblog/2007/05/dont_count_on_f.html#comment-70787152
http://blogs.kansas.com/weblog/2007/05/open_thread_28.html#comment-71041282
http://blogs.kansas.com/weblog/2007/06/sicko-offers-gl.html#comment-74561946
Kansas replied with: “Look in the Congressional Record cosmos, not the Sierra Club. And look at Justice Department reports.”
So basically, Kansas falsely believes that a project that NEVER happened, 100+ miles north of New Orleans, caused the flooding of New Orleans.
BTW: Kansas has claimed that he represents “Kansas values”.
The WE Blog editors, and all Kansans, might want to ask themselves if Kansas’ claim is accurate.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A federal judge issued a stern rebuke of a key White House anti terror law, striking down as unconstitutional two pillars of the USA Patriot Act.
U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken ruled Wednesday that using the act to authorize secret searches and wiretapping to gather criminal evidence – instead of intelligence gathering – violates the constitutional protection against unreasonable searches and seizures.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6952839,00.html
The beginning of a return to sanity.
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Offering a grammar lesson guaranteed to make any English teacher cringe, President George W. Bush told a group of New York school kids on Wednesday: “Childrens do learn.”http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2623880720070926
The leader of the free world is a moron.
Cosmos posted some real good data for us to work on this past week in saving the planet from global warming:
“A vast majority in many countries now believes human activity is causing global warming and that major steps are needed quickly to halt its devastating advance..”
“human activity, including industry and transportation, is a significant cause of climate change”.
“it is necessary to take major steps starting very soon.”
So he tells us that world leaders must reduce emissions, that MAJOR STEPS are needed VERY SOON (emphasis added in case you missed it). Notice in the quote above that transportation is one of those areas where humans are causing global warming.
So why is Cosmos still driving a gasoline powered vehicle that people in the non-polluting, “envy of the world” , unindustrialized nations would never dream of owning in their lifetime?
I have only been able to think of a few reasons:
1. Cosmos really does not believe that humans are causing global warming.2. Cosmos does not consider himself to be human.3. Cosmos feels that because he tells so many people about global warming that the net drop in emissions from their actions is so great that his emissions don’t need to drop in a major way.4. Cosmos does not think that his emissions are harmful (but those caused by other humans are).5. Cosmos does not think that “major steps are needed very soon” means that he himself needs to make those major steps.6. Cosmos does not really know what “major steps” he is proposing (green energy buildings are great but again NOT major steps).7. Cosmos believes that Bush is the cause of global warming and that there is nothing he can do to make up for all the harm Bush has single handedly done to the environment in the last 8 years.8. Cosmos has little concern for lowering greenhouse gases to a level that will satisfy the planet’s ability to absorb, but is mainly interested in preaching an ideology.9. Cosmos firmly believes that carbon emissions are causing global warming but is simply unable to extricate himself from the developed industrialized world in which he lives. So he decides to live in denial about his own contributions to global warming in spite of the need for “major steps to be taken very soon”10. Cosmos is just stuck in the environmentalist dogma that sees alarmism as “doing something” for the environment. This group is unable to provide real solutions to what they label as a critical problem because they are unable to make the MAJOR changes that they themselves call for so vociferously. Thus the “problem” continues unabated.
The Earth’s sea level is expected to rise 1′ by 2100. This is from the Climate Change study commissioned by the UN.
Since 1900, the Earth’s sea level rose 1′.
Gore says 20′. Well! Maybe by year 3100.
Pollution is a problem. Yes! It’s caused by humans. Global Warming, isn’t much of a problem and will actually save more lives than it will destroy.
Yes! We do need to invest in alternative and clean energy. It’s just a smart thing to do. Do it for Global Warming sakes? No! Do it for reducing pollution and diversifying energy sources.
The author should have added the caveat, Unless you’re lower than a Newt!Some cancers spur divorce risk: study By Michael Kahn
Thu Sep 27, 4:22 AM ET
BARCELONA (Reuters) – The risk of divorce increases if one partner suffers from testicular or cervical cancer, but other types have no effect on whether a couple stays together, Norwegian researchers said on Thursday.
ADVERTISEMENTWith most forms of cancer, the healthy spouse was likely to support his or her partner through the illness, according to the study presented at the European Cancer Conference in Barcelona.
The research compared divorce rates of 215,000 cancer survivors with those among couples free of cancer over a 17-year period.
However, testicular and cervical cancer seemed to lead to a higher chance of marriages breaking up, the study found.
Women with cervical cancer had nearly a 70 percent greater risk of divorce at the age of 20, a level that fell to 19 percent at 60. For testicular cancer, the divorce risk was 34 percent at 20 and 16 percent at 60, it said.
The reason could be because both diseases affect intimacy and result in decreased sexual activity, said Astri Syse of the Norwegian Cancer Registry, who led the study.
The virus that caused cervical cancer was often transmitted by sexual contact and could raise suspicions of infidelity. Age was another possible factor, because both cancers tended to hit people when they were younger and had not yet forged strong bonds, Syse said.
“Sexual problems or a weakening of the emotional rewards from the union are particularly devastating early in a relationship and … an increased care load is most difficult to accept at an age when illness is most unexpected,” she said.
The study found divorce was least likely when the cancer had spread or for types of cancer that had a poor prognosis.
This could be because leaving a sick spouse was seen as socially unacceptable or because an expected death would obviate the need for a divorce, Syse said.
I see our local county Government has again raised the amount to be spent on the Arena. And again without addressing the parking problem.
But they are working on the parking and they are going to put money into it if is necessary. I guess parking is going to take care of itself.
Joe W RE:”Global Warming, isn’t much of a problem and will actually save more lives than it will destroy. ”
How does this work?? Lower heating bills can save lives??
I agree that pollution is a problem. I do not agree that “major steps” need to be taken to stop carbon emissions.
The problem with the greenhouse gas/GW theory is that the oceans are warming more than the air. This makes sense since water has a thermal capacity 1000 times that of air. The cause effect relationship is clear that we have warmer air because we have warmer oceans. Why are the oceans getting warmer? I don’t pretend to know. But its not being heated by the air.
The oceans began heating up in the 50’s.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/287/5461/2225
In other words, things were heating up long before 1990. 1990 is the year that the Kyoto protocol has labeled as the baseline for getting carbon emissions back to in order to stop GW.
HUD! They have to! It’s not the cost that went up. It’s the budget! Every penny collected under the Arena tax has to be used on the Arena or the Pavilions at the Coliseum.
Joe don’t you think it would be a good idea to collect the money first?
Listen!
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14285997
Of course! That’s what we are doing. What do you think I said?
I would rather pay for infrastructure projects through a sales tax, because it’s cheaper and paid for in a short time period.
Using bonds is a bad idea. The City’s proposal to spend $290 million to face lift Century II, using bonds, will cost us double to triple that by the time it’s paid off.
Using bonds to pay for the renovation of the Kansas Coliseum would have cost us more to build a brand new one in downtown Wichita using a sales tax, regardless if the core construction cost went up.
I love it when people say their house only cost $100,000. No! It will cost $250,000 once you get done paying for it.
The downtown arena will be bought and paid for with the arena tax, which is to end in a few months. They will have more money in the kitty for maintenance reserve fund and parking.
People bitch that the core cost went up $60 million. How about the cost going up $100 million, but going to the wallets of rich investors that buy municipal bonds, with nothing to show for it for the tax payers.
The Kellogg expansion is another sales tax entity. Although very slow in construction. Borrowing for that would have bankrupt the city.
Funny, the editors chose not to make this a thread.
“HANOVER, N.H. – The leading Democratic White House hopefuls conceded Wednesday night they cannot guarantee to pull all U.S. combat troops from Iraq by the end of the next presidential term in 2013.”
Arena budget raised to $205.5 million!
http://kansas.com/news/story/185980.html
Who didnt see this comming?
The deception contiunes!
ARENA THEN AND NOW
This chart shows the changes Sedgwick County has made to the budget for the downtown arena, beginning with the original budget presented to voters in 2004 and ending with the budget approved Wednesday by the County Commission.
Expense Aug. 2004 Dec. 2006 Sept. 2007Arena construction $77,000,000 $135,264,088 $139,973,101Parking $24,400,000 $0 $0Site acquisition $20,000,000 $15,801,346 $16,979,742Architectural services/furnishings $11,229,000 $18,879,774 $16,641,456Contingency funds $7,700,000 $4,397,321 $3,539,124On-site construction $7,460,000 $0 $0Infrastructure $4,000,000 $2,987,621 $3,569,800Project management $0 $1,264,735 $2,922,018Coliseum pavilions $9,128,000 $7,818,694 $6,028,687Operating/maintenance reserve $23,611,000 $14,610,420 $15,846,072Project total $184,528,000 $201,024,000 $205,500,000
Source: Sedgwick County government
Well that looks like crap, here is the link:
http://kansas.com/290/story/185973.html
Yeah fleettwood, I read that too and the MSM is extremely quiet on this issue. What’s particularly funny is that the same candidates that say we might be able to pull out by 2013 where the same ones helping their fellow Democrats in the 2006 campaign on the issues of immediate withdrawal.
Give the Dems a few days and they will change their minds on just about anything, then won’t admit they ever said it.
Re: Judge strikes down warrantless wiretaps–
The beginning of a return to sanity.
Posted by: XXX
That’s what I thought too, XXX.
But then I realized, this is the Bush administration. They don’t pay attention to judges or laws.
They just effing do what they want.
And when Congress subpoenas them, they just tell them to go to hell.
“HANOVER, N.H. – The leading Democratic White House hopefuls conceded Wednesday night they cannot guarantee to pull all U.S. combat troops from Iraq by the end of the next presidential term in 2013.”"
I heard that differently most said they would have all combat troops out of Iraq — one or two said by end of 09. Most all recognized a need for a soome sort of presence in the region for a long time – but not necessarily in Iraq.
The old guy from Alaska was his usual unintelligible self.
Couldn’t watch it all — politicians who have failed us over the last 3 decades — patting themselves on the back as if they actually did something is gut wrenching —- same thing with republicans
Did anyone else see Jon Stewarts interview with the president of Bolivia on Tuesday — he was a peasant farmer that got elected — what an interesting person. Pretty articulate it seemed (at least through the translator) I wonder why he didn’t meet with Bush?
Speaking of Howdy Doody, I think he missed a huge opportunity to scold the United Nations for not helping a lot in the war on terrorism, Look right at Ahmed..jad and read him the appropriate riot act … — he said Americans are outraged over the situation in Burma — I guess there’s probably maybe 50 that are “outraged” so I guess that qualifies the term, he certainly wasn’t even talking about the majority of Americans …
Where’s the Real Betrayal?Patrick Brady
Every American who serves, or has ever served, must be both elated and alarmed over the events surrounding the recent testimony of General David Petraeus before our Congress. The one defining feature of all military relationships is the answer to the question: Would I want this person with me in combat? And there is much about leadership in the answer.
The confrontation between a professional soldier and our Congress and the liberal media answered that question for any objective veteran. Indeed, every American should be proud of General Petraeus, not only for his personal qualities but as a reflection of the quality of every person who serves. But we should be alarmed at the quality of character and leadership in our congress. The contrast is alarming. I found few among the moral and mental midgets who questioned General Petraeus, and called him a traitor, with whom I would willingly share a foxhole. Who would you trust with the security of your children, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid – or General Petraeus?
The tragedy is that they are our leaders, many clueless to the meaning of that word. These are people who are offended by the term “stay the course,” a keystone of leadership. They confuse timetables and benchmarks with a strategy. They do not know the difference between strategy and tactics. The strategy in Iraq will never change – an ally, not a terrorist sanctuary, in the war on terror – but tactics do change, i.e. a surge. There is no such thing as an error free war, tactics adjust for errors. Sadly, few in congress have served in uniform and it shows; yet they all believe they are qualified to be generals and competent to micromanage war. These congresspersons are of the same ilk as those who that said democracy could not succeed in Japan or Korea or Germany. It did but it took time and leadership; far longer than the time they will allow Iraq.
Our military is probably the superior operating system in our society tested and proven over many years and many wars. They do not know defeat unless it is forced on them by politicians. Every thing any politician, any president, does or can do in the world arena is done under the protective umbrella of our military. Without the military these people have no muscle and would be wimps on the international stage. A major imperative of military excellence is respect for the chain of command. Yet, astonishingly, we hear congresspersons demanding that General Petraeus ignore his chain of command and testify on his own without the knowledge or approval of the chain of command. I wonder what politicians would allow a member of their staff to run amok, substituting individual policy for that of the boss? This is unprecedented insanity another example of leadership infantilism.
But beyond leadership ignorance, these people fear it. Recall, the Congress voted for this war and has funded it. But that was at a time when the Republicans were responsible for its execution. Times have changed and it is possible that the Democrats may soon be responsible for the war. Clearly, it terrorizes some that they may have to take the lead in the war on terror. The era of criticizing will be over and the era of execution, the dread of phobic leaders, will begin. The consequences of failure are monumental. But, hopefully for them, they could avoid leadership responsibility if we abandon Iraq before January of 2009! Watch for the rhetoric to change if a change in leadership is realized. Too many who worship power, loathe the responsibility that it should bring.
Congressional ignorance of leadership, tactics and strategy is matched only by their hypocrisy. Again, Congress sponsored the war in Iraq. Having proclaimed that the surge was not working, even before it got started, and being floored by Petraeus’ facts to the contrary, they got off the canvass and attacked the Iraqi government for corruption and inefficiencies. The fact that in the most anticipated testimony in years, after lengthy pontifications by Congresspersons, loud and clear, the microphone of General Petraeus failed, says a lot. This is the government that allowed the personal tragedy and legal travesty of twelve million illegal aliens havened in America. We boast of being a nation of laws. That is becoming a joke. We have politicians who defend illegal aliens and cities designated as sanctuaries for law breakers. One could go on and on about their inefficiency and corruption not to mention the danger they pose to America — they demonstrate no concept of security and attack every meaningful effort to attain it. Their hypocrisy in criticizing a fledgling government in Iraq, an infant in the world of free people, considering the mess they are making of the senior Republic on this planet, is spectacular. How could any one of them call the Iraqi government corrupt after the scandals of our government? The Iraqi politicians are the most courageous politicians on earth as are Iraqi voters. Elected office and a blue finger can be a death warrant in Baghdad. How many American politicians, and voters, would serve and vote under such conditions?
MILITARY.COM
That’s what I thought too, XXX.
But then I realized, this is the Bush administration. They don’t pay attention to judges or laws.
They just effing do what they want.
And when Congress subpoenas them, they just tell them to go to hell.
Posted by: CapnAmerica | September 27, 2007 at 09:30
Capn, I can’t argue that. However, for every evil deed, there’s a reckoning. It may take a while, but eventually BushCo and especially the syncopants who have enabled him will pay the price for what they’ve done. After you Democrats take control of the White House in 08, I expect to see a lot of formerly whitheld information suitable for investigation.
After you Democrats take control of the White House in 08, I expect to see a lot of formerly whitheld information suitable for investigation.
Posted by: XXX | September 27, 2007 at 11:35 AM
That’s all we have now, endless investigations.
We can look forward to a Democratic majority in DC and the future of the USA entails more endless investigations in 2009. But nothing else will be accomplished.
Did they pass the Federal Budget yet? Due this month, ya know.
Not exactly one budget:
Congress annually considers 12 or more appropriations measures, which provide funding for numerous activities, for example, national defense, education, homeland security, and crime. These measures also fund general government operations such as the administration of federal agencies. Congress has developed certain rules and practices for the consideration of appropriations measures, referred to as the congressional appropriations process.
Generally, the congressional appropriations process includes the annual appropriations cycle;
spending ceilings for appropriations associated with the annual budget resolution; andprohibitions against certain language in appropriations measures that violate separation of the authorization and appropriation functions into separate measures.
There are three types of appropriations measures. Regular appropriations bills provide most of the funding that is provided in all appropriations measures for a fiscal year, and must be enacted by October 1 of each year. If regular bills are not enacted by the deadline, Congress adopts continuing resolutions to continue funding generally until regular bills are enacted. Supplemental bills are considered later and provide additional appropriations.
Appropriations measures are under the jurisdiction of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. These committees control only about one-third of total federal spending provided for a fiscal year. The House and Senate authorizing committees control the rest.
As of the 5 August recess the House succeeded in passing all twelve of the appropriations bills, the Senate was only able to complete one, the Homeland Security Appropriations Act.
So Hotdog, the Deadline for Congress to do their job is 10/1?
Maybe Congress will ‘work’ thru this weekend, Sunday being 9/30.
We have such a competent hard-working majority now in Congress, I’m sure they can be counted on to do their jobs and hit the objectives they established for 2007.
Not like that incompetent Iraqi Congress at all.
If they don’t hit the deadline, it must be George Bush’s fault, somehow.
As of 26 September:
The October 1 start of FY 2008 looms, but congress will not finalize any of the 12 appropriations bills this week. Instead, a continuing resolution (CR; temporary appropriations bill) extending funding at 2007 funding levels through November 16 will be necessary.The Senate has drafted all 12 of its appropriations bills, but has approved only 4 of them.
What? Congress went on a month-long VACATION without passing the Federal Budget!
How could they!?!
They ARE as bad as the Iraqi Congress!
If Iraqis wanted Democracy, they would have demand it like the Burmese. Does their country have any oil?
9 killed in 2nd day of Myanmar crackdown 8 minutes ago
YANGON, Myanmar – Security forces fired automatic weapons into thousands of pro-democracy protesters for a second day Thursday, and the military government said nine people were killed and 11 wounded.
ADVERTISEMENTTens of thousands defied the ruling military junta’s crackdown with a 10th straight day of demonstrations in Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon. Security forces also raided several monasteries overnight, beating monks and arresting more than 100, according to a monk at one monastery.
The protests are the stiffest challenge to the generals in two decades, a crisis that began Aug. 19 with protests over a fuel price hike, then expanded dramatically when monks started leading the marches. The crackdown has drawn increasing international pressure on the isolated regime.
Thousands of protesters ran through the streets of Yangon on Thursday after warning shots were fired into the crowds. Bloody sandals were left lying in the road.
“Give us freedom, give us freedom!” some shouted at the soldiers.
Ye Htut, a government spokesman, said riot police clashed with anti-government protesters in Yangon on Thursday, killing nine people and injuring 11. Thirty-one government troops were also injured, he said.
The government said one person was killed Wednesday, although media and dissident reports said up to eight died in the first day of the crackdown.
Among those killed Thursday was Kenji Nagai, a journalist for Japanese video news agency APF News. Nagai, 50, had been covering the protests in Yangon since Tuesday, APF representative Toru Yamaji said in Japan.
In Washington, Japan’s new foreign minister, Masahiko Komura, said his country holds Myanmar “strictly” accountable for Nagai’s death. He said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told him in a private meeting that the international community cannot allow peaceful protesters to be killed and injured.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said Tokyo will lodge a protest with Myanmar’s military junta. “We strongly protest the Myanmar government and demand an investigation (into the death). We demand (Myanmar) take appropriate steps to ensure the safety of the Japanese citizens in that country,” Machimura was quoted by the Kyodo News Agency as saying.
Witnesses said an estimated 70,000 people gathered in the streets, but there were only a handful of monks in the crowd, compared with previous days when thousands marched.
Witnesses and a Western diplomat told the AP that dozens of men were arrested and severely beaten after soldiers fired into one crowd of protesters. Troops in at least four locations fired into crowds after several thousand protesters ignored an order from security forces to disband, witnesses and diplomats said.
Some reports said the dead included Buddhist monks, who are widely revered in Myanmar, and the emergence of such martyrs could stoke public anger against the regime and escalate the violence.
Before dawn Thursday, security forces raided several monasteries considered hotbeds of the pro-democracy movement in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.
A monk at Ngwe Kyar Yan monastery pointed to bloodstains on the concrete floor and said a number of monks were beaten and at least 100 were taken away in vehicles. Shots were fired in the air and tear gas was used to disperse a crowd of 1,500 supporters during the chaotic raid, he said.
“Soldiers slammed the monastery gate with the car, breaking the lock and forcing it into the monastery,” said the monk, who did not give his name for fear of reprisal. “They smashed the doors down, broke windows and furniture. When monks resisted, they shot at the monks and used tear gas and beat up the monks and dragged them into trucks.”
Empty bullet shells, broken doors, furniture and glass were strewn on the ground.
A female lay disciple said a number of monks also were arrested at the Moe Gaung monastery, which was being guarded by soldiers. Both monasteries are located in Yangon’s northern suburbs.
In Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city, about 430 miles north of Yangon, five army trucks with soldiers and three fire trucks were seen driving into the Mahamuni Pagoda, where hundreds of monks were locked inside by security forces.
Another 60 soldiers blocked the road to the pagoda from the center of the city.
Also Thursday, security forces arrested Myint Thein, spokesman for opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s political party, family members said.
An Asian diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity citing protocol told AP that Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, remained at her Yangon residence, where she has been held under house arrest for much of the past 18 years.
The diplomat said the junta had deployed more security forces around her house and on the road leading to it, with more than 100 soldiers inside the compound.
Myanmar’s state-run newspaper blamed “saboteurs inside and outside the nation” for causing the protests in Yangon, and said the demonstrations were much smaller than the media were reporting.
The crackdown has prompted condemnations from officials in the U.S. and Europe and statements of concern from regional powerhouse China, Myanmar’s chief diplomatic ally.
China has come under increasing pressure to use its regional influence to urge Myanmar’s ruling junta to show restraint in dealing with the protests.
On Wednesday, China refused to condemn Myanmar and ruled out imposing sanctions against the country, but for the first time agreed to a Security Council statement expressing concern at the violent crackdown and urging the country’s military rulers to allow in a U.N. envoy.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in Beijing on Thursday that “China hopes that all parties in Myanmar exercise restraint and properly handle the current issue so as to ensure the situation there does not escalate and get complicated.”
The United States called on Myanmar’s military leaders to open a dialogue with the protesters and urged China to do what it can to prevent further bloodshed.
“We all need to agree on the fact that the Burmese government has got to stop thinking that this can be solved by police and military, and start thinking about the need for genuine reconciliation with the broad spectrum of political activists in the country,” said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill in Beijing.
Hill was expected to discuss the violence in Myanmar with Chinese officials on the sidelines of North Korean nuclear disarmament talks this week in Beijing.
European Union diplomats agreed to consider imposing more economic sanctions on Myanmar. Sanctions were first imposed in 1996 and include a ban on travel to Europe for top government officials, an assets freeze and a ban on arms sales to Myanmar.
___
Max, remember, the democrats who ran for congress last year called for change BECAUSE the republican controlled congress had failed to act (and I agree they failed miserably). For example Nancy Boyda, openly critized congress for their failure to act on time. Well maybe I should withhold judgement on her because she is in the house. But she still approved HUGE spending of pork (excuse me EARMARKS).
Nevertheless, it’s business as usual in Washington and democrats have proven themselves no more effective or efficient than republicans.
No offense “The Phantom”, but I only have a half hour lunch break. I already read the NEWS on those websites.
I was hoping to read some opinion here.
It seems people all over the world thirst for democracy. Thank God the republicans still support spreading it. Ronald Reagan where are you?
Exactly Hotdog1. So the Dems should now be held accoutable as the Repubs were in 2006.
The Dems can now get down from their high horse (they’ve ridden it now for 9 months)and start cleaning their own house before throwing stones at the other side.
Vote out all incumbents from both parties in 2008!
I was hoping to read some opinion here.
Posted by: Pat Herron
Pat, I think the post you are referring to by Phantom is a tactic used to fill the blog page. Is is used to discourage or end any running threads the poster is opposed to.
Just a guess on my part. But I don’t see why anyone would cut and paste the news into the weblog.
Remember how the Republican majority in Congress caught H*ll from the press for passing budgets, getting vetoed by Clinton, over and over in the 90’s?
Budgets were not passed on time, government was shut down, and Clinton came out smelling like a rose (in the liberal press anyway).
If the Press was objective, wouldn’t the Press be ganging up on Congress already for not having the budgets passed?
I haven’t seen one major news story on this. I’ve had to hunt down little news blurbs here and there, but nothing even on Fox that I saw.
What? Congress went on a month-long VACATION without passing the Federal Budget!
How could they!?!
They ARE as bad as the Iraqi Congress!Posted by: Max | September 27, 2007 at 12:02 PM
LOL
Uh, if there aren’t any Iraqi soldiers here dyin’ for our constitution and our federal government — and there ain’t — then no, they are not as bad as the “Iraqi” “congress.” (which is really the “conglomeration of Mesopotamian-area tribes. formerly known as Iraq under the rule of Saddam Hussein, trying to replace the brutal iron will of Saddam with jawboning and platitudes designed to curry favor with certain tribes while not cutting off funding from Cheney’s office in DC, USA”)
Damn boy, Augustus Stupidus has lowered standards so low that yer thinkin’ cap ain’t attached right. Hell, it may be missing.
LOL
Hotdog1, think you are correct on the Phantom phenomenon.
He posts these long news articles whenever he wants to try to cover-up opinions that damage his Liberal Socialist Democrats.
The Democrat Congress being so incompetent as to not pass budgets on time is inexecusable, especially since they do find time to grill Generals, and hold hearing after hearing while going on endless witch hunts trying to attack the Republicans.
When’s the next Democrat Investigation? Before or After the budgets are passed?
Say Pendant, was it the US Congress or Iraqi Congress that authorized the Iraqi war AND continues to fund it to this day?
Different Congress, Max.
Not enough votes in this one to end the funding.
Give us until 2008, though.
LOL
Oh, the “Iraqi” congress.
Was it this body or the US Congress that’ll sink Bush’s ideology and thus the GOP in 2008?
LOL
Time will tell Pendent.
Based on Clinton, Obama, and Edwards all 3 saying US troops would be in Iraq until at least 2013, your Dems are not looking any better then the Repubs.
One very basic critical function of Congress though is to pass the US Budget every year.
How’s that coming along now that the Democrats are in control?
If I recall correctly after the Nov. 2006 election the Republican decided not to pass nine of the appropriation bills for 2007 and passed them to the 110 congress.
So the Democratic controlled congress was behind from the beginning.
50 cent tax on Gasoline to stop Global warming: Just one small ignorant step out of the major steps that need to happen very soon (according to any alarmist luddite environmentalist). And is this tax going to reduce driving enought to mitigate carbon emissions to level low enough to stop Global warming?
A vote for people like Dingell is a vote for needless economic hardship in the name of global warming.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,298271,00.html
..It seems people all over the world thirst for democracy. Thank God the republicans still support spreading it. Ronald Reagan where are you?<<<<<
American way–and these countries should be kissing our feet and thanking us for bringing the democracy to them at the point of an AK47.
KC, how do you think the US was created? Not AK47’s, not available yet, but the firearm is the weapon of war. Do you think freedom is free?
Max–one difference, WE fought for our own democracy. People want democracy in their countries, let them fight for it.
“The problem with the greenhouse gas/GW theory is that the oceans are warming more than the air.”
Posted by rfl.
FALSE. Since 1979, land has been warming at about TWICE the rate of oceans.
Graphs of observed temperatures, climate models with only natural forcings, and models with natural AND anthropogenic forcings.http://environment.newscientist.com/data/images/ns/cms/dn11649/dn11649-1_688.jpg
rfl: “The cause effect relationship is clear that we have warmer air because we have warmer oceans.”
FALSE. We temporarily have cooler land temperatures, because the oceans thermal inertia is delaying warming.
Also,’Detection of Anthropogenic Climate Change in the World’s Oceans’http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/292/5515/270
“This suggests that the observed ocean heat-content changes are consistent with those expected from anthropogenic forcing, which broadens the basis for claims that an anthropogenic signal has been detected in the global climate system.”
So the Democratic controlled congress was behind from the beginning.
Posted by: kscitydude
Listen to you! Making EXCUSES for your dysfunctional democrat congress!!!! Denial, blame, victim.
Chicken Little is present. It’s important this opinion be broadcast daily.
The sky is falling.
“Max–one difference, WE fought for our own democracy.”
Only a third wanted independence.Another third liked it as it was and the last third didn’t care.
The problem with the greenhouse gas/GW theory is that the oceans are warming more than the air.”
Posted by rfl.
FALSE. Since 1979, land has been warming at about TWICE the rate of oceans.
posted by Cosmos
If the atmosphere was indeed heating up higher in relation to the oceans then there would be less precipitation because the atmosphere would hold more moisture. the higher the air temp the higher the its ability to retain moisture and the less likely to rain and snow. Therefore, we can look back and see if precipation levels have fallen. They have not.
http://www.nov55.com/gbwm.html#warm
Stop alarming us or do something about it yourself. I don’t even have to pretend to know why global warming is happening. I do not have to make up phony claims to get people to stop using fossil fuels. There are plenty of real economic and quality of life reasons to do so.
I can point to the fact that if you really believed what you say you do, you would follow your own admonition and start following yourself the “major steps need to be taken very soon” mantra. You can not and you will not. Earlier today, I proposed some possible reasons why you continue to support the carbon emitting lifestyle. Only you know which one is right for you.
See Post by: rfl | September 27, 2007 at 07:38 AM
I am not going to debate the little figures that you are so quick to throw out. The bigger picture here is that if greenhouse gases really caused the heating up of the air and oceans that started back in the 70’s, the emissions that caused such a phenomena started decades or centuries before. You stated as such by mentioning the huge thermal inertia of the oceans that are now melting the sea ice. In order to roll back the clock on those emissions (the last 50 to 100 years). We have to go back much further than the puny 1990 Kyoto reccomendations. We would have to go back to 1920 emissions levels. In order to do this, MAJOR STEPS really do need to be taken. Cosmos, have YOU made these MAJOR STEPS?
Bush Lied (bad thing)
to oust a tyrant (good thing)
which caused a hard fought conflict that has hurt America’s image (bad thing)
Environmentalists lie about carbon emissions (bad thing)
to get people to stop using fossil fuels (good thing)
by taxing fossil fuels causing the middle class to suffer needlessly (bad thing)
The point here is toStop lying even if you think you have a good reason to do so.
rfl,
Why don’t you rely on credible, scientific sources?
‘Increase In Atmospheric Moisture Tied To Human Activities’http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070918090803.htm
“The water vapor feedback mechanism works in the following way: as the atmosphere warms due to human-caused increases in carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and chlorofluorocarbons, water vapor increases, trapping more heat in the atmosphere, which in turn causes a further increase in water vapor.”
See the section, “Benjamin Santer answers questions”
‘Water vapour: feedback or forcing?’http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2005/04/water-vapour-feedback-or-forcing/
Fascinating, as always,cosmo.
Cosmos,The cliff notes please. Posting links of sources without any summary of its contents as if it proves everything serves little purpose especially since the only sources you deem credible are the ones that match your idealogy.
Taken any MAJOR STEPS to stop global warming yet cosmos?
“rfl,
Why don’t you rely on credible, scientific sources?”
Specifically, rfl is relying on this source.
http://moonflake.wordpress.com/2006/11/10/midweek-cuckoogary-novak/
Lest you think I made a mistake.
http://nov55.com/abt.html
‘Nuff said.
The water vapor quote you provided (thanks for that summary by the way) does not address theprecipitation answer I gave previously.
Fascinating, as always,cosmo.
Posted by: fleettwood | September 27, 2007 at 02:08 PM
Oh this is so titillating I want to just jump for joy. Like watching cement dry.
Shortly, Kansas will reply with his links, then cosmos will call him a troll or nic-stealer.
Then everyone jumps in on Kansas.
Then we challenge WEBLOG editor to track nic’s.
Then something interesting and refreshing might actually get posted.
Then we call people: Stupid Republicans.
Then those people call the others: Stupid Democrats.
Then we all pass gas, which increases the global warming.
And we come back and do it all over tomorrow.
Eventually, I will get to sell some Palm Trees!
ksagnostic,
Made any MAJOR STEPS to stop global warming?
Just curious.
“by taxing fossil fuels causing the middle class to suffer needlessly (bad thing)”
Posted by rfl
rfl should read my posted suggestions, instead of posting rants against me.
Feebates, “carrots”, federal loans for retooling costs, etc are MORE effective than gasoline taxes.
Page 174 (PDF pg 198) ofhttp://www.oilendgame.com/ReadTheBook.html
“High gasoline taxes also have serious defects beyond their obvious political challenges.They are:• the weakest possible signal to buy an efficient vehicle….
• insufficient (if it were sufficient, the many foreign countries with $4–5/gallon gasoline prices would be driving State of the Art vehicles by now, but they aren’t — in fact transportation is the fastest-growing CO2 source in Europe);
• nonessential and hence not worth arguing about, because there are even better ways to encourage people to choose efficient vehicles.”
Oh, oh, I think jesse and al might have to get conyers to hold another investigation! Alas, all myths, frauds and hoaxes eventually come to an end! hehehehe
Tutankhamun was not black: Egypt antiquities chief2 days ago
CAIRO (AFP) — Egyptian antiquities supremo Zahi Hawass insisted Tuesday that Tutankhamun was not black despite calls by US black activists to recognise the boy king’s dark skin colour.
“Tutankhamun was not black, and the portrayal of ancient Egyptian civilisation as black has no element of truth to it,” Hawass told reporters.
“Egyptians are not Arabs and are not Africans despite the fact that Egypt is in Africa,” he said, quoted by the official MENA news agency.
Hawass said he was responding to several demonstrations in Philadelphia after a lecture he gave there on September 6 where he defended his theory.
Protestors also claimed images of King Tut were altered to show him with lighter skin at the “Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs” exhibit which leaves Philadelphia for London on September 30.
The exhibition sparked an uproar when it kicked off in Los Angeles in June 2005 when black activists demanded that a bust of the boy king be removed because the statue portrays him as white.
The face of the legendary pharaoh, who died around 3,300 years ago at the age of just 19, was reconstructed in 2005 through images collected through CAT scans of his mummy.
The boy king’s intact tomb caused an international sensation when it was discovered by Briton Howard Carter in 1922 near Luxor in southern Egypt.http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iB6u3XEMp9IrJfl-kH6FHNgZCg_A
“[gasoline tax]is nonessential and hence not worth arguing about, because there are even better ways to encourage people to choose efficient vehicles.”
I agree but…..
But why is congressman Dingell proposing such a thing!!
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,298271,00.html
That is what I am fighting.
How about telling peole the fact that we are running out of oil.
If you want to live 40 miles away from your work and fail to support infrastructure (ie increased railroads, urban food producing areas, etc…) improvements to alleviate the need for cheap oil than be my guest (I am not talking to you cosmos but making a point).that mentality will put a major pinch in your pocket book becuase energy will get more expensive purely from the economics. Additional environmentlist fear mongering need not add to it.
“ksagnostic,
Made any MAJOR STEPS to stop global warming?
Just curious.”
Irrelevant. My taking “major steps” towards “stopping” global warming is irrelevant to the merit of arguments regarding whether global warming is caused by anthropogenic causes (and by the way, several points of the list you submitted to cosmos were pseudo-luddite strawmen). However, posting links from an obvious flake as the source for authoritative arguments says a lot about your (lack of) ability to assess arguments and information.
“However, posting links from an obvious flake as the source for authoritative arguments says a lot about your (lack of) ability to assess arguments and information.”
At least on this issue.
AMAZING! They weren’t arrested or shot. What happened to the ‘war on Christianity.?
http://www.kansas.com/news/local/story/185981.html
Believers gather ‘at the pole’BY CHRISTINA M. WOODSThe Wichita Eagle
Liz Sebastian, 17, is not afraid to pray at school. “It’s important because it shows you’re not in denial,” said Sebastian, a senior at North High School who brought her relatives Stephanie and Chrystian Sebastian with her Wednesday to pray around North’s flagpole. “You’re not a closet Christian.”
She was among about 40 students who gathered at 7 a.m. on North’s front lawn singing and praying at the annual “See You at the Pole,” a national prayer observance where students gather at school for praise and worship.
ksagnostic, thank you for the moonflake link.
“That is what I am fighting.”
Posted by rfl
What rfl is doing is spreading unscientific garbage from Gary Novak.
http://moonflake.wordpress.com/2006/11/10/midweek-cuckoogary-novak/
rfl: “… will put a major pinch in your pocket book becuase energy will get more expensive purely from the economics.”
Higher energy costs will be offset by higher energy efficiency.
Increased demand for renewables, such as solar panels, will lower costs due to economy of scale, and R&D finding new technologies.
Senate advances SCHIP legislation.
Defying a veto threat from President Bush, the Senate just defeated a cloture motion on the expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), by a vote of 69-30.
During the debate, Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS), one of the 18 Republican senators to vote for the compromise legislation, excoriated the White House for holding the bill “hostage.” Roberts noted that Bush has nothing to offer himself:I have yet to see a plan from the administration that can actually pass the Congress. In fact, I have yet to see an actual plan from the administration. I have yet to see bullet points from the administration. I have yet to see any plan that can be articulated in some fashion to sell to the American public, or to the members of this body. We don’t even have an acronym!
UPDATE: The National Review blog complains Roberts is “making matters much worse for conservatives right now” by “excoriating President Bush.”
Thank you Senator Roberts.
OPkay Cosmos, I will only use your credible spin sources:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070918090803.htm
“The atmosphere’s water vapor content has increased by about 0.41 kilograms per square meter (kg/m²) per decade since 1988, and natural variability in climate just can’t explain this moisture change. The most plausible explanation is that it’s due to the human-caused increase in greenhouse gases.”
Did you catch that last sentence?Here’s the translation,
What the scientist is saying is:We have no idea why the atmosphere and oceans are heating up so in order to support the good thing of reducing emissions, we will place blame on emissions themselves.
Again, ending emissions is a good thing. Blaming them for GW as a means to justify making MAJOR STEPS is not justifiable.
Made and MAJOR STEPS to stop GW yet?
anybody who disagrees with Cosmos even if he uses science to provide a different perspective is considered to offer only scientific garbage.
Sounds like we’ve figured out the result before the experiment is completed. Selective science instead of engaging varying viewpoints from people who see things differently. Censoring scientists who do not agree with you is an insult to science. Face it Cosmos, you have a opinion. Plenty of scientists disagree with you. My advice is to back up your opinion with MAJOR STEPS. Do it now!
I sent Senator Roberts a sincere thank you via email. I encourage others who agree with his vote to do the same. I’m always quick to let him know when I disagree with him so it was such a pleasure to send him that thank you!
rfl,
“Moisture change” versus “atmosphere and oceans are heating up” are two separate issues.
rfl: “Plenty of scientists disagree with you.”
Not any active, credible climate scientists.
Cosmos,
Moisture change is a product of warmer oceans. They are related.
lindainks55–I called his Wichita office and told them to pass on my thanks to Senator Roberts for his vote after I posted the news.
BTW:It didn’t take long for the cons to start jumping on Roberts.
Anybody who disagrees with the mob will always be considered “obvious flake”.
If Novak is an obvious flake, you should be able to tell us how his theories regarding GW is so inarguably flakish.What part of Novak’s claims about GW is so obviously flakish?
there you go, discredit a scientific theory by name calling instead of showing how the theory is scientificaly impropable or incorrect. Sounds like mobish censorship to me.
Hmmm.. Copernicus, Galileo anyone?
Let the science have it out and not wishful thinking regarding the source of global warming.
Then I’m even happier we let him know he has constituents who approve of his support of SCHIP. I’m not giving up hope that more of the House will see their way to an override of bush’s veto. At least the Senate sent a strong message!
rfl: “Did you catch that last sentence?”Here’s the translation,
“What the scientist is saying is:
“We have NO idea why the atmosphere and oceans are heating up so IN ORDER TO SUPPORT the good thing of reducing emissions, we will PLACE BLAME on emissions themselves.”
No, the sentence said:
“The most plausible explanation is that it’s due to the human-caused increase in greenhouse gases.”
That’s typical scientific language. Conclusions are stated with an acknowledgement that there are several explanations. The previous sentence, which you posted, indicated the author’s contention that natural variations are inadequate to explain the reported results. There was nothing in the sentence you posted, or the sentence that you posted before it, to indicate that the authors believed that all explanations are equal or that the conclusion that they provided was selected just to encourage people to reduce emissions. Those are meanings you ADDED IN YOUR TRANSLATION. The sentence provided no basis for you to add the meanings that you did.
As another poster here likes to say:
“We thank you for playing, please try again.”
rfl – warmer air has a greater capacity to hold water vapor. that is why it is holding more.
ksagnostic,
“Conclusions are stated with an acknowledgement that there are several explanations”
Indeed, which is why MAJOR STEPS to stop greenhouse emissions is not justified. But if Cosmos wants to take MAJOR STEPS, then I encourage him to do so.
rfl,
If Novak has credible theories, then he can write a paper, and submit it a credible journal.
If you believe him, I suggest you compare his web site to http://ipcc-wg1.ucar.edu/wg1/wg1-report.html
And science ALREADY has “had it out” re global warming.http://www.aip.org/history/climate/timeline.htm
Scientists are by profession skeptical.
rfl: “ksagnostic,
‘Conclusions are stated with an acknowledgement that there are several explanations’
Indeed, which is why MAJOR STEPS to stop greenhouse emissions is not justified. But if Cosmos wants to take MAJOR STEPS, then I encourage him to do so.”
You again seem to have difficulty with adding more meaning to a sentence than is there. An acknowledgement that there are several explanations is not the same thing as saying that all explanations are equal, or even close to equal.
If peer reviewed evidence from multiple sources and multiple climate researchers from a variety of countries and political backgrounds point to anthropogenic global warming, then one explanation is better supported than other explanations. If global warming causes problems, and can be demonstrate to cause major problems, then major steps are justified, regardless of whether such steps are consistent with policy maker’s political biases.
“If Novak has credible theories, then he can write a paper, and submit it a credible journal”
Translation:
If Novak has MOBISH theories, then he can write a paper and submit it to a MOBISH journal.
I don’t pretend to know if the mob is right or if Novak and his rennigade bunch is right. All I know is, there are legimate conflicting scientific opinions on this and you won’t admit it. You have not even addressed my point that the thermal inertia of the planet requires much of the damage to have started 50 years (or more) before 1979 in order to cause the temperature changes you have shown to have taken place.
Also, if what you are saying is right Cosmos, your own sermons require you to start making MAJOR STEPS. I hope it works out for you living in a shack next to your work place with a garden in the parking lot median. Then you will live like the average citizen of India where carbon emissions are of the level that the USA is criticized for not being at.
So now Rush doesn’t support the troops or at least the ones who are coming out against the war in Iraq.
Is this a “Betray Us” moment for Rush?
“On his radio show yesterday, Rush Limbaugh declared that soldiers who support American withdrawal from Iraq are “phony soldiers.” While discussing and disparaging war critics, a caller to Limbaugh’s show, who claimed to be an active-duty soldier, said that anti-war activists “never talk to real soldiers” to support their position, to which Limbaugh responded “phony soldiers“:
CALLER 2: No, it’s not, and what’s really funny is, they never talk to real soldiers. They like to pull these soldiers that come up out of the blue and talk to the media.
LIMBAUGH: The phony soldiers.
CALLER 2: The phony soldiers. If you talk to a real soldier, they are proud to serve. They want to be over in Iraq. They understand their sacrifice, and they’re willing to sacrifice for their country.”____________________________________Jon Soltz, the Chairman of VoteVets.org responds to Rush comment.
So I’m a “Phony Soldier,” Rush?Posted September 27, 2007 | 03:07 PM (EST)
“Rush Limbaugh, on his show said that those troops who come home and want to get America out of the middle of the religious civil war in Iraq are “phony soldiers.” I’d love for you, Rush, to have me on your show and tell that to me to my face.
First, in what universe is a guy who never served even close to being qualified to judge those who have worn the uniform? Rush Limbaugh has never worn a uniform in his life — not even one at Mickey D’s — and somehow he’s got the moral standing to pass judgment on the men and women who risked their lives for this nation, and his right to blather smears on the airwaves?
Second, maybe Rush doesn’t much care, but the majority of troops on the ground in Iraq, and those who have returned, do not back the President’s failed policy. If you go to our “Did You Get the Memo” page at VoteVets.org, there’s a good collection of stories, polls, and surveys, which all show American’s troops believe we are on the wrong track, not the right one, in Iraq.
Does Rush believe, then, that the majority of the US Armed Forces are “phony?”
Third, the polls and stories don’t even take into account the former brass who commanded in Iraq, who are incredibly critical of the Bush administration, and it’s steadfast refusal to listen to those commanders on the ground who have sent up warning after warning. Major Generals John Batiste and Paul Eaton left the military and joined VoteVets.org for that very reason.
Does Rush believe that highly decorated Major Generals are “phony soldiers?”
Finally, as Media Matters notes, just recently, members of the 82nd Airborne in Iraq wrote a New York Times op-ed, very critical of the course in Iraq, and suggesting it was time to figure out the exit strategy. Two of them just died. Will Rush call up their grieving parents and tell them that they should stop crying, because they were just “phony soldiers?”
Get the point here, Rush?
You weren’t just flat out wrong, you offended a majority of those of us who actually had the courage to go to Iraq and serve, while you sat back in your nice studio, coming up with crap like this.
My challenge to you, then, is to have me on the show and say all of this again, right to the face of someone who served in Iraq. I’ll come on any day, any time. Not only will I once again explain why your comments were so wrong, but I will completely school you on why your refusal to seek a way out of Iraq is only aiding al Qaeda and crippling American security.
Ball’s in your court.
Report: Security on U.S.-Canada border fails terror test
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/09/27/border.security/?iref=mpstoryview
Soltz gets it. The comedian doesn’t.
ksagnostic,
If [anthropogenic] global warming causes problems, and can be demonstrate to cause major problems, then major steps are justified, regardless of whether such steps are consistent with policy maker’s political biases.
I agree. Remember “If”.
Changes to efficiency of power systems and lower fuel consumption in general are going to be a trend for the future for good reason.
Lets take care of world hunger and poverty before making knee jerk reactions because nothing more than “plausible explanations”.
“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”. . . Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.. . .
The former principal of Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, IA invited pro-life Dr. Alveda King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to address students there, but the new principal, Kathie Danielson (phone 515-242-7272, email kathie.danielson@dmps.k12.ia.us. ), canceled the event. Some parents had complained about Dr. King’s pro-life views, objections centering either on the discouragement of abortion in the black community or the highlighting of a 3-times-higher abortion rate in the black community as evidence of targeting by Planned Parenthood abortion mills in order to achieve a black population reduction.Even the pro-abortion ACLU said that Danielson’s suppression of viewpoints was a disservice to students. Senator Sam Brownback and Iowa Right to Life also denounced Danielson.24% of Roosevelt High School students are black, compared with a 5% state average.(Mr. Alan Foote (email alan.foote@dmps.k12.ia.us ) is the faculty sponsor of the student sodomy club at Roosevelt High, eliminating arguments that Iowa students should not be exposed to controversy.)- – -
A 22-year old woman died on September 13, 2007, from hemorrhaging caused by a botched abortion obtained at Women Health Center in Hyannis, MA. The abortionist quack responsible for the death is reportedly Rapin Osathanondh, who made headlines in 2001 for threatening to murder five hospital nurses in a fit of rage over misplaced paperwork.- – -
Verizon Wireless has reversed its policy of not allowing abortion as a topic of mass text distribution, and will allow NARAL Pro-Choice America to use its mobile network for a sign-up text messaging program.Boycott Verizon Wireless.
Except for a million plus viewers, olbermann would be kicking ass.
“MSNBC PULLS 1,449,000 VIEWERS FOR NH DEBATE… BUT… FOXNEWS HANNITY/COLMES HIGHER VIEWERSHIP WITH 1,453,000 DURING 9 PM ET HOUR… O’REILLY TOP OF CABLE NEWS NIGHT WITH 2,132,000… ‘COOPER’ CNN’S HIGH WITH 905,000… MSNBC’S OLBERMANN 842,000…”
“You have not even addressed my point that the thermal inertia of the planet …”
Posted by rfl.
I DID address it. Land warms faster than oceans, and I gave you IPCC’s graph showing it.http://environment.newscientist.com/data/images/ns/cms/dn11649/dn11649-1_688.jpg
The warming started before 1979, and the Northern latitudes (with more land) is warming fastest.
“I don’t pretend to know if the mob is right or if Novak and his rennigade bunch is right. All I know is, there are legimate conflicting scientific opinions on this and you won’t admit it.”
Translation: rfl does NOT know “if Novak and his rennigade bunch is right”, BUT rfl KNOWS that their science is “legitimate”.
That’s some very confused logic(sic).
Max–one difference, WE fought for our own democracy. People want democracy in their countries, let them fight for it.
Posted by: ???????????? | September 27, 2007 at 01:06 PM
The French helped some, if you remember. The French Navy helped surround the British in the final battle of the war at Yorktown.
Also, WE didn’t do anything. The people in the 1700’s fought the Revolution.
Today, I doubt if most Americans would do much more then wimper and cry, in the same circumstances.
“Mr. Alan Foote (email …) is the faculty sponsor of the student sodomy club at Roosevelt High.”
Ok, but do they have a student cunilingus club? Some extracuricular activities are more important than others, you know.
“But most of the time, I found Kansas to be very honest and articulate.”
Posted by: Max | September 26, 2007 at 09:35 PM onpe 925
Max, can you explain why Kansas insists that a (not done due to lack of funds) levee project 100 MILES north of New Orleans, caused design and construction flaws in levees and floodwalls IN New Orleans?Is that “very honest”?
See top of this thread.
Max–one difference, WE fought for our own democracy. People want democracy in their countries, let them fight for it.Posted by: ???????????? | September 27, 2007 at 01:06 PM
……The French helped some, if you remember. The French Navy helped surround the British in the final battle of the war at Yorktown. Posted by: Max
Okay, the colonists fought for independence from England and France did help. But France didn’t start the colonists down the road to independence, the colonists did.
I can’t speak for Kansas or anyone else Cosmos.
And I did not get into reading all of those posts you two had going back and forth on GW or New Orleans.
I did read a very good article on the New Orleans situation a few months ago. I’ll see if I can find a link and post it later.
There have been numerous other articles and studies written after the floods of 93, that detail many problems with the levee system along the entire length of the Mississippi. In our attempt to control this river, the result has been less frequent flooding, but when it does flood, the floods are more severe.
And then the factors impacting New Orleans during Katrina are very complex indeed.
If I had to guess, I would say that you and Kansas disagree on some these complex factors, and it would be interesting to read a meaningful dialogue between the two of you to sort through all of the details – without attacking each other.
This blog is fun when you can actually learn something from reading it.
I’m no legal expert, but enjoy reading GMC and Vaughn go thru some discussions and they can and do often disagree, yet they remain civil to each other. Nice models for the rest of us.
The enormity of the problems surrounding New Orleans and the Corps of Engineers fiasco in southern LA dates back to at least the 1960’s. Billions of dollars have been wasted in that area on flood control and there’s been little accountability for all of the billions that have been spent.
This problem spans all levels of Government, from Feds, to State, to local over 40+ years, and shows how ineffective and corrupt Big Government is.
Though of course, many want to blame Bush for everything.
The people need to blame all of Government. And then the people, especially in LA, need to look in the mirror and blame themselves for not holding their Government accountable to the people.
I can’t speak for Kansas or anyone else Cosmos.
And I did not get into reading all of those posts you two had going back and forth on GW or New Orleans.
I did read a very good article on the New Orleans situation a few months ago. I’ll see if I can find a link and post it later.
There have been numerous other articles and studies written after the floods of 93, that detail many problems with the levee system along the entire length of the Mississippi. In our attempt to control this river, the result has been less frequent flooding, but when it does flood, the floods are more severe.
And then the factors impacting New Orleans during Katrina are very complex indeed.
If I had to guess, I would say that you and Kansas disagree on some these complex factors, and it would be interesting to read a meaningful dialogue between the two of you to sort through all of the details – without attacking each other.
This blog is fun when you can actually learn something from reading it.
I’m no legal expert, but enjoy reading GMC and Vaughn go thru some discussions and they can and do often disagree, yet they remain civil to each other. Nice models for the rest of us.
The enormity of the problems surrounding New Orleans and the Corps of Engineers fiasco in southern LA dates back to at least the 1960’s. Billions of dollars have been wasted in that area on flood control and there’s been little accountability for all of the billions that have been spent.
This problem spans all levels of Government, from Feds, to State, to local over 40+ years, and shows how ineffective and corrupt Big Government is.
Though of course, many want to blame Bush for everything.
The people need to blame all of Government. And then the people, especially in LA, need to look in the mirror and blame themselves for not holding their Government accountable to the people.
Sorry for the double post, and a long one at that.
Okay, the colonists fought for independence from England and France did help. But France didn’t start the colonists down the road to independence, the colonists did.
Posted by: ???????????? | September 27, 2007 at 05:00 PM
The US Colony was ruled by a King 3,000 miles and 3 months away.
Iraq, was ruled by a dictator who ruthlessly murdered his own citizens, did not allow freedom of speech, and was able to quash any rebellion by killing it as soon as it started.
China, SE Asia, Germany, France and all of Europe was not freed by itself either.
The US was largely responsible for freeing Western Europe in WWII. Eastern Europe was free after the Soviet Union lost the cold war, again these countries were under Communist rule which made it nearly impossible to free themselves.
I guess your point ???? is that these people don’t want to or deserve to be free. If they can’t do it on their own, then no one should help them.
You may be turning into a conservative now ????. If people can’t or won’t help themselves, if they can’t or won’t be self-reliant, then no one should help them.
???? I suggest you travel to Eastern Europe where I have been. Talk to the people there and find out what they went through under Communism.
18 years after the fall of Communism, they are free, but still struggling to recover from 50 years of tyrannical rule. First by the Nazi’s, then by the Communists. They are making progress, slowly.
Highlight – 18 years later, they are still struggling to recover.
Tell me they were not deserving of freedom because they didn’t win their own freedom.
Tell me they are not as good as anyone else.
This same ideological fight has been going on since the start.And it goes on today. We want the same things.
I’ll keep it simple.
John Adams-(Federalist)-Bad
Thomas Jefferson-(States Rights)-Good
cosmos doesn’t understand that when funding is lost because it is held up by lawsuits, that projects cannot be built and Congress will not re-allocate the funds the next year or for many years thereafter.
The Sierra Club and those of their ilk, are responsible for wasting billions of taxpayer dollars with their frivolous law suits.
Didn’t Germany declare war on us? Isn’t that why we were fighting in Europe?
December 7, 1941, Japan bombs Pearl Harbor
December 8, 1941, US and Britain declare war on Japan
December 11, 1941, Germany declares war on the US
That’s what I thought, we were in Europe fighting Germany,
“And then the factors impacting New Orleans during Katrina are very complex indeed.
If I had to guess, I would say that you and Kansas disagree on some these complex factors,…”
Posted by Max.
Max, there’s nothing complex. Kansas claims that a lawsuit in 1996, on a project 100 MILES north of New Orleans caused the failures of the New Orleans levees in 2005. He says the proof is in the Congressional Record and Justice Department reports.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says that design and construction flaws caused the failures of the New Orleans levees in 2005 — and says nothing about the irrelevant 1996 lawsuit.
Had to share
Great answer to a question from someone at CBS!!!
Katie Couric, while interviewing a Marine sniper, asked:
“What do you feel when you shoot a terrorist?”
Not wanting to waste words: The Marine shrugged and replied,
“A slight recoil”
Hug a soldier,
African American Environmentalist Association
A 1996 suit (Mississippi River Basin Alliance, et al. v. H. Martin Lancaster) filed by environmental groups at the U.S. District Court in New Orleans claimed the Corps had not looked at “the impact on bottomland hardwood wetlands.” The lawsuit stated, “Bottomland hardwood forests must be protected and restored if the Louisiana black bear is to survive as a species, and if we are to ensure continued support for source population of all birds breeding in the lower Mississippi River valley.” In addition to the Sierra Club, other parties to the suit were the group American Rivers, the Mississippi River Basin Alliance, and the Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi Wildlife Federations.
The lawsuit was settled in 1997 with the Corps agreeing to perform an additional two-year environmental impact study (EIS). A federal judge stopped plans for the hurricane barrier after finding that the EIS drafted by the Army Corps of Engineers was flawed. The corps eventually abandoned the project. A congressional task force also reported that the levees that failed in New Orleans would have been raised higher and strengthened in 1996 by the Army Corps of Engineers were it not for a lawsuit filed by environmentalists led by the Sierra Club.
http://aaenvironment.blogspot.com/2005_09_01_archive.html
Rep. Bob Livingston (R., La.), who told Fox News on Saturday that environmentalists were one of the major reasons levee projects were held up. http://www.nationalreview.com/script/printpage.p?ref=/comment/berlau200509080824.asp
This is what cosmos continues to call me a liar on. When in fact, the environmental wacko groups like the Sierra Club with their thousands of frivolous lawsuits were used to stifle funding and forced the Corp of Engineers to make further environmental studies before they could build anything else, including the levee maintenance projects. This was so ordered by the judge in the case.
cosmos keeps assailing me on this point, but he knows good and well, that restraining orders on the New Orlean projects levees were including in the Judge’s statement because the Judge determined that more environmental studies needed to be done.
So now cosmos can call the African American Environmental Association of Louisiana liars as well.
This is how cosmos deceives everyone. He extracts only a portion of what I write and then says I make a claim about such and such.
The truth is, that the injunction against the Corp of Engineer caused delay in all projects, because they had to stop what they were doing and do environmental studies.
Lake Ponchetrane where the levees were located were in part of that environmental study as it is part of the Mississippi River Basin Study. Further construction could not be done, because of the lawsuit.
So yes, the frivolous lawsuits by the Sierra Club and others caused the misery in New Orleans because of their hyped up fear of protecting skunks and possums in the swamp.
getting pretty old cosmos et all …… how about taking it to one of his blogs until GW becomes a blog topic here? —– whats especially annoying ie the long cut and pastes to skip over
Because ken, cosmos keeps on daily calling me a liar from something I posted three months ago. Even though they are not my words, but words from another Website and the opinion of other people in the Louisiana area that know the area best and are familiar with the lawsuit.
I bet there are at least 6 dozen posts made by cosmos calling me a liar about this New Orleans levee thing.
He won’t drop it and persists every time he gets a endangered bee up his ass.
A liberal is a person whose interests aren’t at stake at the moment.- Willis Player
Didn’t Germany declare war on us? Isn’t that why we were fighting in Europe?
Posted by: ???????????? | September 27, 2007 at 05:46 PM
Germany didn’t attack us.Italy didn’t attack us.
Why did so many Americans have to die there?
Why did so many Americans have to be wounded there?
Why was America there in WWI and WWII?
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says that design and construction flaws caused the failures of the New Orleans levees in 2005 — and says nothing about the irrelevant 1996 lawsuit.
Posted by: cosmos | September 27, 2007 at 05:53 PM
I would NOT put a lot of weight on anything the Army Corps of Engineers says.
Would you believe their opinion on the quality of their own work?
These Federal Projects are frought with corruption. While many of the Corps projects are very good, many others are questionable at best.
When I have time I’ll find that good article on this.
Need to watch the great debate first though.
Again, I encourage an examination of as much material as y’all can find on this before rushing to conclusions.
Looks like Kansas has done much research already.
I think there are many pieces though to this complicated puzzle.
Many working together on a blog might put it together without attacking each other?
By LAUREN FRAYER, Associated Press Writer
Thu Sep 27, 4:26 PM ET
BAQOUBA, Iraq – A U.S. effort to recruit former Sunni insurgents north of Baghdad — considered crucial to expanding the fight against extremists — is in danger of collapse because the government has been unable or unwilling to accept the volunteers into Iraqi security forces
Where’s that star I need to make a wish?
Were is that EINO, Cosmos at? I was just wondering if he was a paid subscriber to the Nature Journal.
Just wondering if he can post this article for us check out.
http://www.nature.com/news/2007/070924/full/449382a.html
Don’t usually like Time Magazine, but I found this article on New Orleans to be very informative and gave a nice summary of many of the facts surrounding the problems of New Orleans.
http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1649290,00.html
The most important thing to remember about the drowning of New Orleans is that it wasn’t a natural disaster. It was a man-made disaster, created by lousy engineering, misplaced priorities and pork-barrel politics.
Where’s that star I need to make a wish?
Posted by: Republican | September 27, 2007 at 08:28 PM
That’s not me.
I’m still not cosmos, either.
Kansas,
You are a LIAR.
You claimed that proof that the 1996 lawsuit on a project 100 MILES away caused the levee failures was, “in the Congressional Record”, and in “Justice Department reports”.
You have no credible proof of your false claim.
Failure of COMPLETED levees and floodwalls, that were poorly designed and constructed, caused the flooding.
Not to mention that the Corp took the wrong approach — wetland restoration would have reduced the surge.
Test.
cosmos, for about the 80th time – these are not my words, but the words of local environmentalists and scientists.
You also need to call a Congressman a liar too as well cosmos.
It’s getting old that you are calling me a liar for putting quotes on this blog.
You are one sorry low life cosmos.
People with different viewpoints and opinions don’t make them liars cosmos.
You need to do a lot of growing up as your stuck in the middle school mentality calling everyone liars.
It’s come to the point that you do it so much against me, that I now classify your obsession in calling me a liar as some one with a psychopathic problem.
Seek help cosmos before you hurt someone.
Cosmos & Kansas, here’s the article I referred to earlier today, along with my analysis of it. Would appreciate your two bits on this:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1649290,00.html
One lesson from New Orleans is that a big Federal Bureaucracy is not effective at meeting the needs of the people. Some may blame Bush and the current administration for the mismanagement, but this problem extends back to 1965 and before, over several different administrations, Republican and Democratic.
• The Army Corps of Engineers was given a specific task to protect New Orleans in 1965, billions of dollars were spent, and the results were tragic.
• Attempts at controlling nature have failed, and even made matters worse. As a result of the flood control efforts, the shoreline of Louisiana are eroding so fast that New Orleans may be directly on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico in 10 years. The wetlands, ruined by flood control, extended the shoreline for miles beyond New Orleans, and served to protect New Orleans from storm surges and flooding. New Orleans is now sinking, because the Mississippi now no longer floods periodically, adding sediment during each flood.
• Billions more are being requested to continue this same failed path of controlling nature by building hundreds of miles of levies along the LA coast over the next 10-15 years. Big Government projects that failed, are being repeated again. Big Government is not the solution to all of our problems.
• All the billions spent in New Orleans, where did it go? Where’s the accountability? What controls are in place to ensure future dollars are not wasted? Are there no audits of Federal Spending, does no one audit projects to ensure funds are spent as authorized by Congress?
Solution:
• Maybe local control is better?
• Get the Fed government out of the flood control business. If LA wants to protect New Orleans, let them use their own money to do so. Maybe then they won’t waste it. If the citizens there see their taxes tripled to save New Orleans, maybe they’ll decide to take another approach or a smarter approach, or at least a more accountable approach.
• Or, if this solution doesn’t fly, build some accountability into Federal government spending – somehow!
• This solution goes for many Federal institutions. If the States have to pay their own way, more local control will allow the people to better manage how taxpayer dollars are spent. So, cut $200 or more billion per year in Fed spending, cut Fed taxes by $200 or more billion per year, and let the states figure it out. I bet there would be less pork that way!
• Both political parties in Washington DC have failed the American people. They’ve wasted billions of dollars with no visible accountability controls in place.
• We need a non-partisan push by the People, to hold our government accountable. This is best accomplished at the State and Local level.
This should be a non-partisan stab at the failures of both parties, the failures of big government, and reinforce the fact that smaller government is what’s needed in this country.
Confirm test. Time to assault 12 hours Mark.
Kansas,
Post some credible proof, instead of making false personal attacks at me.
Post a credible quote from Rep. Bob Livingston (R., La.) saying that the 1996 lawsuit, 100 MILES north of New Orleans caused the N.O. levee failures.
Kansas: “People with different viewpoints and opinions don’t make them liars cosmos.”
No… but people like you, who make false claims, and CANNOT back them up with credible facts ARE LIARS.
“Would appreciate your two bits on this:”
Posted by Max
I don’t see anything in there about a 1996 lawsuit causing the failures, like Kansas claims.
And re solution — take it (mostly) away from the Corps, and let the scientists fix it. Rebuild the wetlands, etc…
I see some truth to what both Cosmos and Kansas posted.
Kansas post regarding the diversion of flood control funds by LA and New Orleans is supported by other articles I have read. Where did the billions Federal money spent since 1965 go?
Cosmos post regarding two primary causes for New Orleans flooded are also supported by other articles. 1)The levies surrounding New Orleans were inadequate. 2)The MRGO canal shortcut to the gulf from New Orleans funneled more of the storm surge right to New Orleans. (This canal was lobbied for by both Republican and Democrat Congressmen, even though studies showed there would be little usage. And there has been little usage of this canal)
The entire Mississippi is funneled by levies resulting in flood waters flowing rapidly through this trough downstream.
While this solves most flooding problems each year, when severe floods occur, the excess water is no longer allowed to spread out over the river basin between the river bluffs. The result is an even higher river level that eventually causes a break in a levee that sends a severe and sudden flow of floodwater several feet higher then would have been encountered with a lower levee, or no levee.
Eg. Valmeyer, IL 1993
After levees were built on the Missouri and Mississippi, the record highest flood of 1993 occurred. Yet it’s estimated that the volume flow of water was less then 2 previous record floods that occurred prior to levees being built.
So with levees, less water volume can actually cause higher and more severe floods.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Flood_of_1993
Great Flood of 1993 – The 1993 flood was the highest of any of the three but had the lowest discharge at 541,000 ft³/s (15,300 m³/s). While the 1993 flood had devastating impacts elsewhere, Kansas City survived it relatively well because of levee improvements after the 1951 flood.
Valmeyer, IL flooded in 1993, actually helped save St.Louis and towns south, as the flooding Mississippi spread out over several square miles of bottom land, the river level in St.Louis dropped immediately.
Not having levees in the first place, or lower levees, may have caused some more widespread, but less severe flooding.
Instead of 16′ in Valmeyer, it may have been only 2 or 3′ of water. (as in similar floods in the 40’s and 50’s before the great Army Corps levees were built.)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/2307tfloo.html
“I see some truth to what both Cosmos and Kansas posted.
Kansas post regarding the diversion of flood control funds by LA and New Orleans is supported by other articles I have read.”
Posted by Max.
Please show me links to the articles that back up Kansas’ claim — the 1996 lawsuit on the river levees 100 MILES (and farther) north of New Orleans caused failure of the (completed before 2005) New Orleans levees.
It was a different project, and the protection of New Orleans did not involve the wetlands issue 100 miles north.
cosmos is obviously too belligerent to see that the Judges ruling on the case included all aspects of the Corp of Engineer Project, to include the Mississippi River basin, which includes Lake Ponchetrane where the levees are located.
The Judicial Ruling stated that the Corp of Engineers must redo all of their Environment Assessments, not just the one 100 miles away from New Orleans.
So get off it cosmos, who cares anymore, you are wasting space and showing your immaturity by constantly calling everyone a liar on this matter.
It’s official, a Judge ruled on it, get over it.
I don’t see anything in there about a 1996 lawsuit causing the failures, like Kansas claims.Posted by: cosmos | September 27, 2007 at 10:14 PM
cosmos, I never said this. You make this crap up and twist it around making it like they actually said it.
What I wrote is that the funding got set aside because of the Judges ruling to force the Corp of Engineers to do Environmental Studies before any work ANY WHERE on the Mississippi River could commence.
Get it?
So the lawsuits filed by the Sierra Club did have a direct affect on the levee failure in New Orleans, because the Corp of Engineers was prevented from doing their job because they had to do all these annoying Environmental Impact Studies before they could do any construction.
I’ve tried to be reasonable on this matter, but you insist on calling me a liar every day is getting old.
People are ALLOWED to post their opinions. HARASSMENT like you do is NOT ALLOWED.
You’ve been harassing me on this subject for three months now cosmos.
JUST
DROP
IT
Black 1, Initial trials completed. Confidence is high. Minus about 9 hours to operation.
lmao,
So obvious.
Confirm.
popup<—————-has been negligent:(
popup!<——–got catching up and a little creative booting to do.
Kansas,
Thank you for again proving that you are a LIAR.
You have NO link to a credible quote from Rep. Bob Livingston (R., La.).
You have No link to the “Judicial Ruling”.
And… you make another false personal attack on me.
btw: There are no environmental “wetlands” in the Industrial Canal of New Orleans, and other areas where the completed levees failed.
Okay cosmos, since you continue to call me a liar, we’re done forever.
You can post all you want and will get ignored.
Keep it up and I will report you for harassment though.
Black 1 and blue storm rising
you have compromised mission security by posting to the wrong board dumbos
terminate mission and terminate yourselves per standard orders for screwing up a mission and costing our agency tons of money covering your blown security breach
amateurs they send me amateurs no doubt graduates of our public school system
“cosmos, I never said this. You make this crap up and twist it around making it like they actually said it.”
Posted by Kansas.
Kansas posted these LIES, using J M Walker’s nic,
“As a result of the 1997 lawsuit, the Army Corp of Engineer lost the funding to do any improvements and could not from that moment on get sufficient funds to work on the levees in New Orleans in any meaningful manner.”
Posted by: J M Walker | May 26, 2007 at 10:29 PM
http://blogs.kansas.com/weblog/2007/05/open_thread_25.html#comment-70812508
Kansas: “Keep it up and I will report you for harassment though.”
Please do, and also provide Mr. Brownlee with credible links proving your FALSE claims,
http://blogs.kansas.com/weblog/2007/05/dont_count_on_f.html#comment-70787370
“Look in the Congressional Record cosmos, not the Sierra Club. And look at Justice Department reports.
You will find that the Army Corp of Engineers had to delay projects and subsequently lost the funding for those projects for those Fiscal years.
The truth hurts when told, the Sierra Club screwed the Levees in New Orleans.”
Okay cosmos, since you continue to call me a liar, we’re done forever.
You can post all you want and will get ignored.
Keep it up and I will report you for harassment though.
Posted by: Kansas | September 28, 2007 at 12:33 AM
Way to go cosmos! You shut the troll down.
Cosmos 1
Kansas 0
Kansas: Waaaaaaaa!
Crybaby!