A Perspective on Climate Change and Atmosphere
— Dave in Texas

and oceans.

This will likely lead to carbon tax credits on submarines. Which will hit the Chicoms in the britches cause ours are all nukes.

via Slublog, and JoeBastardi, who rocks "scientific" fables with unpleasant facts.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 07:26 AM | Comments (159)
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Saturday Morning Open Thread
— andy

Mornin', morons.

Having grown up in Georgia, The Masters always makes me homesick, so I'll be watching that today. Fred Couples is tied for the lead going into today's round, and the last time he won the thing, I still lived there.

Fredstalgia! Catch it.

We may just have to liveblog the final round. That would be teh kickaszzzzzzz

Ok, bad idea.

It's shaping up to be a nice, relaxing Passover/Easter weekend here, and I wish you all the same.

If you want to learn some stuff this morning, a good one of those TED talks is below the fold (h/t @JimPethokoukis).
more...

Posted by: andy at 03:00 AM | Comments (371)
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Overnight Open Thread
— CDR M

So I saw in the news today that the Justice Department Is Probing Widespread Stimulus Fraud. Really? Stimulus fraud and the DoJ is looking into it? No way! Based on the article, they are only seeing the tip of the iceberg. They're focused on a teeny tiny bit of a mere $48B of the stimulus that went to existing highway and transportation projects. I'm sure most of these funds went to all those stupid signs.

Here's one that they should take a look at. Company That Received $1.96 Billion in Stimulus, Gets $1.3 Million Grant For Employees Laid Off Because of Stimulus.

A Colorado-based consulting, engineering and construction firm, named CH2M Hill, was awarded nearly $2 billion from the stimulus to perform cleanup work at the Hanford nuclear site.
The company used those funds to hire roughly 1,300 employees.
They then inflated the hiring numbers by using a Department of Energy metric known as "lives touched", which allowed them to boast that the stimulus helped somehow helped or 'touched' three-and-a-half times as many people as they had actually employed.
When the stimulus funds ran out, so did the ability to support the jobs created or lives touched. Roughly 1,500 employees were laid off.

And lets not forget about the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund - Education Fund part of stimulus (around $100B total). Just go to Stimulus Watch and click on the tab most expensive. You'll see Education Fund grants as among the most expensive and all they really did was prop up existing school budgets. Now that most of those funds are gone and the additional $10B authorized by Congress (Education Jobs Fund to pay K-12 salaries) in August, 2010 will expire on 30 September, 2012, states will have to beg for more, raise revenue or make some cuts. more...

Posted by: CDR M at 06:00 PM | Comments (606)
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Somewhere Out There, There Is A Liberal So Priggishly Sanctimonious That Even Sanctimonious Liberal Prig Jonathan Chait Sneers With Gusto, "My God, What A Priggishly Sanctimonious Liberal!"
— Ace

By the way, I hate stealth self-flattery.

This connects up with the headline. Give me a second, I want to explain what I mean.

Liberals do this all the time but many people who aren't liberal (or anything at all, politically) do it.

It is generally considered poor form to lay laurels upon your own head. You're not supposed to say things like "I'm an incredibly conscientious, ethical person" outside of a job interview.

Just as you're not supposed to say "Good Lord, I'm so friggin' beautiful I can't stand it sometimes!" you're also not supposed to drop a bunch of self-testimonials to your immense inner beauty.

You know what? Beauty outs, doesn't it? So does virtue.

If you have any virtues, those around you will eventually realize you do without being told you have them.

Besides, who the hell listens to anyone's self-assessment? Dolts, chiefly. Anyone telling me "I'm super-duper-trustworthy!!!" is, frankly, the first guy I'm keeping a weather eye out for.

Thanks for giving me a heads up on the way you're going to fail me!

So the stealth form of self-flattery is not to announce "I'm incredibly empathetic, compassionate, and altruistic!" -- that would be gauche -- is instead to strongly, strongly imply those things by giving me a running tally of All The World's Woes You're So Terribly Concerned About.

The statement "I'm really worried about violence in the Sudan" is not about the violence in the Sudan. The subject is "I." The sentences exists not to communicate anything about the Sudan, but something about the speaker -- the speaker really wants you to know she's the sort of Enlightened, Compassionate person given over to unsolicited one-sentence Statements of Principle regarding violence in the Sudan.

Against it, it turns out.

I've sometimes heard this in such self-flatteries as I'll do anything to defend my friends and family, I don't care what happens to me! (bragging about a high ethic of personal loyalty) and so forth.

It's harmless, I guess people like to brag about themselves. Bragging about something both intangible and hypothetical carries little risk of contradiction or exposure. ("Oh, I doubt very much you'd do anything for your family! I doubt that very seriously indeed, buddy!")

Fine. We're all human. We like hearing nice things about ourselves. Even if we're the ones saying them.

But... keep it to a sentence if you're going to indulge in it. Don't babble full paragraphs about your infinite virtue, please. I'll give you one stealth-brag, and then I must insist you shut the fuck up. Respectfully.

You want to talk about something awesome? Then talk about Archer or Justified, not yourself.

So, anyway, now we're at my point.

Ryan Gosling, who is the World's Greatest Actor because he has a six-pack and a smile, pulled a woman out of the way from being struck by a car a few days ago.

Oh Dear Lord, the Girly Gossip Blogs swooned. A handsome man performed a commonplace action at no risk or effort to himself. Panty-drop!

The woman who was saved immediately Tweeted about it. I didn't read the tweet but I assume it went something like:

"OMGOMGOMG!!! A handsome movie star just touched me!!! Touched me out of the way of oncoming traffic! ZOMG, my chatch is thumping like a bass solo by Flea!"

So, you know, she tweeted this, and Ryan Gosling got some more adulation from women and gay men whom he would never, ever even consider sleeping with, even as a goof.

But that was a couple of days ago. And now she's angry that Gosling saved her from a broken hip.

Well that's not quite it -- she's angry that she's been cast as the "Damsel in Distress" in this andronormative (is that a word? Why not?), phallohegemonic (ditto) Morality Play, and she doesn't like it one bit.

Not one bit. See, she's a capable woman who shouldn't be reduced to some borderline retard wandering into traffic, even if, in fact, she is a borderline retard wandering into traffic.

People who seek to make Ryan Gosling the star of this story, just because he's the one that took a positive action, rather the one whose incompetence at walking caused the need for action, are just wrong-headed.

Penny Laurie matters, darnit! Penny Laurie's the star!

That's her name. Now you know it.

Anyway, if she said only "Oh who gives a shit that a guy did something that virtually anyone would do? We wouldn't pay attention if he wasn't rich, famous, and handsome!," that would be fine.

But no, she's got to self-flatter herself, and at some length.

Penny has actually taken to Gawker to scold the world for caring about the fact that Gosling saved her from likely death:

Americans are very strange. They can and do hyperventilate about the most everyday happenings as if they are the most important thing in the world, and then they act completely normal when public conversations are had about war on Iran and war on women's bodies and when Rick Santorum is considered a serious presidential candidate. The real heroes I've met in America are risking everything to make sure that the United States doesn't slide further into bigotry, inequality and violence whilst everyone is distracted by the everyday doings of celebrities.

In other words, the real heroes are people like Laurie Penny, who only wandered into the street because she “was thinking about an article I'm writing about birth control and the importance of reproductive freedom to women's rights, and I didn't remember to look the right way.” Penny is consumed with Real Issues. So consumed she cannot look before walking into the street.

She blathers on:

What's more, I really do object to being framed as the ditzy damsel in distress in this story. I do not mean any disrespect to Ryan Gosling, who is an excellent actor and, by all accounts, a personable and decent chap. I thought he was marvelous in The Ides of March, and will feel weird about objectifying him in future now that I have encountered him briefly as an actual human.

Yeah he was marvelous. He smiled and had sound abdominal muscles.

Now, earlier in the article, this woman quite honestly -- and even winningly -- admits she's a ditz who is always walking into traffic because she's thinking about something else or distracted by "something interesting in the sky" (no, she says that; that's a quote) and so is frequently saved by the heroics of less-abdominally toned men. And I suppose women.

So that's who she is. She needs, uh, some guidance in crossing the street.

But she reverses that here because she's a Feminist and has no need of help (even thought three paragraphs ago she talked about needing lots of help in navigating a street, or as I call it, a Block Border Crossing).

Now, as I said, I would agree with her if she just said, "Come on, let's not get celebrity-crazy; most people would be ethical enough to risk nothing to save a human being from death or serious bodily injury."

But she can't just say that.

She has to make herself the star via the Stealth Brag.

Damnit, she's consumed by this War on Women business! And also, this other War-type War business!

She's somebody!

I care, therefore I am!

You almost got your silly ass broken by a Buick, and I'm the one that needs to focus on the important things in life?

You know what the important things in life really are?

Well, when you're crossing a New York City intersection, the important things in life are velocity, mass, and vector.

Save the Caring Sessions for the five hours you'll be spending in Starbucks, nursing the same half-caf latte, cogitatin' 'n such.

Otherwise, head on a swivel, Penny.

More: the funny thing is that early in this she's self-deprecating, and it's charming.

Hey, if you're a ditz who wanders into traffic, just say "I'm a ditz who wanders into traffic. It's embarrassing, but it's what I do."

She does say that early on.

But she can't help trying to make herself the star by telling us all about how goshdarn caring she is.

NO ONE CARES. WE ARE NOT PAYING ATTENTION TO YOU BECAUSE OF YOUR POLITICAL BELIEFS, WHICH ARE PAPER-THIN AND MUNDANE AS DOGSHIT.

Your claim to fame is not your deep political thinking.

Your claim to fame is that you wander into traffic like a dumb little baby.

Do not friggin' try to make this into a hero moment.

Human moment? Sure, you can make it a human moment.

Hero moment? No. We do not pass out Medals of Valor for nearly managing to cross a street on your own.

Oh one tip:

Frogger. Change your life, baby.

Posted by: Ace at 04:21 PM | Comments (299)
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Happy Good Friday & Passover!
— Ace

I can't do religious or solemn posts, but I can do cute.

So here's cute. more...

Posted by: Ace at 03:38 PM | Comments (133)
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NYT: NBC Fires Producer Responsible For Doctored Zimmerman "He's Black" Tape, But Refuses To Say Who
— Ace

Thick as thieves.

The person was fired on Thursday, according to two people with direct knowledge of the disciplinary action who declined to be identified discussing internal company matters. They also declined to name the fired producer. A spokeswoman for NBC News declined to comment.

If I have this right, this guy's actual deceptive editing is covered up and hidden, but James O'Keefe's not deceptive editing is fashionable chatter in the leftist media even to this day?

Gee, whatever could account for that differing treatment.

via @sarahbellumd and @evancoynemahoney

Posted by: Ace at 03:25 PM | Comments (124)
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Here's How Serious Obama & The Democrats' "Buffet Rule" Is
— Ace

Keep scrollin' down.

Keep goin'.

Keeeeeep goin'.

Via @politicalmath, from his collection of graphs and such.

Posted by: Ace at 01:27 PM | Comments (180)
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Van Jones: I'm Pretty Sure Trayvon Martin Was Killed Due To The Racial Hatred Promoted By the Koch Brothers
Van Jones, Eight Years Ago: Hey, Check Out My Album Promoting Cop-Killing and Racial Hatred!
— Ace

Do I have to draw you a map? Of course the Koch Brothers are directly responsible for Trayvon Martin's death.

2003: Target cops, and let's have a violent revolution!

Thanks to @morgenr, who's unearthing the album that Racial Healer Van Jones never seems to be questioned about when he's on TV (which is about seven hours a day).

Posted by: Ace at 12:53 PM | Comments (110)
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CNN: Zimmerman's Lawyers Say He Said "Punks;" Audio Expert Backs Him Up
— Ace

Actually, it's too bad he committed to this, as a report on CNN suggested the word was "cold" (as in "it's f'n' cold out" -- which it was on that night).

Still, you read it here first, thanks to Idea Catchers (with @rdbrewer4 posting it).

But an expert says the word is "punks." (I mean another expert-- our own expert weighed in, and nailed it.)

George Zimmerman told his lawyers that he whispered "punks," not a racial slur, in the moments before he shot Trayvon Martin, his attorneys told CNN on Thursday.

..

Zimmerman attorneys Hal Ulrig and Craig Sonner told CNN their client told them that he said, "F---ing punks."

Forensic audio expert Tom Owen, who analyzed 911 recordings, agreed the garbled word that raised controversy was "punks," not the racial slur some people said they heard

When Owen, chairman emeritus of the American Board of Recorded Evidence, used a computer application to remove cell phone interference, the word became clearer, he said. After discussions with linguists, he said he became convinced that Zimmerman said "punks."

Now, watch CNN dodge a correction, like every other media organization refusing to own up to its mistakes in this case:

CNN also enhanced the sound of the 911 call, and several members of CNN's editorial staff repeatedly reviewed the tape but could reach no consensus on whether Zimmerman used a slur.

They couldn't reach a consensus? That's funny, when I watched it, CNN's reporter and sound "expert" were both pretty damn sure he said "coons."

Now, that's what made it to the TV.

Is CNN now telling us that behind-the-scenes they could reach no "consensus," and yet permitted a defamatory report to run anyway?

Hey CNN -- that's not a good position to stake out for yourselves in a defamation lawsuit. If you ran this report, ginning up the "racial hatred" storyline while behind the scenes you doubted it, that is pretty much "malice" right there.

You are permitted to get away with mistakes if made with the good-faith belief you were right, even if you turn out to be wrong.

If you're saying you actually doubted this report was accurate, but ran it anyway?

That's a problem, CNN.

Maybe you should abandon this claim and just correct the record. Might be cheaper for you.

Posted by: Ace at 11:51 AM | Comments (201)
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Lisa Murkowski: "It Makes No Sense To Make This Attack on Women!"
— Ace

Of all the losses in 2010, I'm not sure any hurt as much as this one.

"It makes no sense to make this attack on women," she said at a local Chamber of Commerce luncheon, according to the Homer News. "If you don't feel this is an attack, you need to go home and talk to your wife and your daughters."

She also said that she would continue to support funding for Planned Parenthood, adding that the courts have affirmed a legal right to an abortion and she stands by that.

Pictured: Willem Dafoe

* Picture joke thanks to wooga.

Posted by: Ace at 11:33 AM | Comments (183)
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