Football Thread
— DrewM

Get your picks in if you haven't already.

This weeks cheerleader...in honor of their OT win over the Patriots and global warming, I give you a heavily clad (for a cheerleader at least) member of the NY Jets "Flight Crew"

Posted by: DrewM at 08:43 AM | Comments (28)
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Global Climate Change Fraud Continues
— DrewM

Statistics are apparently not the strong suit of Gaia worshipers.

After announcing that the October '08 was the warmest October evah! it turns out James Hansen* and his band of merry climate scaremongers at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) made a 'mistake'...they simply used the same data from September '08 two months in a row.

The error was so glaring that when it was reported on the two blogs - run by the US meteorologist Anthony Watts and Steve McIntyre, the Canadian computer analyst who won fame for his expert debunking of the notorious "hockey stick" graph - GISS began hastily revising its figures. This only made the confusion worse because, to compensate for the lowered temperatures in Russia, GISS claimed to have discovered a new "hotspot" in the Arctic - in a month when satellite images were showing Arctic sea-ice recovering so fast from its summer melt that three weeks ago it was 30 per cent more extensive than at the same time last year.

A GISS spokesman lamely explained that the reason for the error in the Russian figures was that they were obtained from another body, and that GISS did not have resources to exercise proper quality control over the data it was supplied with. This is an astonishing admission: the figures published by Dr Hansen's institute are not only one of the four data sets that the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) relies on to promote its case for global warming, but they are the most widely quoted, since they consistently show higher temperatures than the others.

It seems a 10 degree increase in the average temperature is close enough for government work, even in the face of record cold temperature and snow fall reports.

Gaia can be a harsh mistress. Sometimes she demands you suspend disbelief and risk your credibility (or what's left of it).

And they would have gotten away with it too if it hadn't been for those meddling bloggers! If only these damn bloggers would understand the science is settled, we could get on with the important business of increasing government control of our lives saving the planet.

*Thanks to robtr for the correction of Hansen's name. There's nothing worse than taking someone to task for making a basic error while making one yourself. On the upside, I'm an idiot co-moron, not the man considered one of the foremost experts on 'global warming'.

Posted by: DrewM at 08:25 AM | Comments (48)
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A New Week, A New Post: This Week's Moron Events [someone]
— Open Blog

The comments in the previous edition got a bit long. (If you missed it, check out last night's meetup report thread.)

A note on event locations:
Ace floated the idea of posting locations. Commenters seemed to think this was a bad idea, and I agree. However, we do have a problem with last-minute people not being able to get info from the organizers as the event gets close. If you're in charge: For Ewok's sake, man, check your emails on the last day! Repeatedly. But if you can't, and maybe even if you can, you can email me (and/or possibly Ace) with your event's location ahead of time so last-minute folks have somebody else to try to contact.

As for the rest, you know the drill. If you haven't contacted your nearby coordinator moron, do so. If you're coordinating something for this week and it's not listed, leave the date, time, and city (NOT exact location -- that should be by email) in the comments with a contact email. The list so far follows.

THURSDAY (11/20)

Boston, MA -- 7pm
email Andy

Minneapolis, MN -- 7pm
email spurringirl or Buzzsaw

SATURDAY (11/22)

Chicago, IL -- 5pm
email conservativeinthecity

New Haven, CT (currently full) -- time unknown
email lauraw

SUNDAY (11/23)

Indianapolis, IN -- 3pm
email Joanna

Passphrase [ace]: A reader suggested that people find each other by asking, "Does this bar serve Val-U-Rite Vodka?" Seems less hazardous than asking, "Are you a friggin' moron?" more...

Posted by: Open Blog at 01:54 PM | Comments (52)
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Come to Seattle, Get Nekkid in the Parks (genghis)
— Open Blog

From the same Seattle Parks Department that banned (or tried to) beach bonfires earlier this year, due to their effect on global warming, we get this new edict proclaiming that theyÂ’re dropping their plans to ban nudity in Seattle public parks, according to an article from The Seattle Times.

“Nudists relax.

Seattle Parks and Recreation will drop its pursuit of a proposal that would make public nudity in parks subject to prosecution for criminal trespass.

And, in a nod to tolerance, Seattle's parks commissioners asked parks officials to explore the possibility of a clothing-optional beach in the city.”

Well itÂ’s about damn time. But how did this come about you ask?

“A crowd "asserting the right to be naked outside" appeared at the meeting of the volunteer advisory board, said Dewey Potter, parks spokeswoman.

"This is how we learn and find out what people want," she said.”

No word yet from the opposition group “People Who Don’t Want to See Flabby, Pasty Aging Baby Boomers Naked in Parks or Anywhere Else for that Matter” (PWDWSFPABBNPAEM). Political analysts attribute the lack of the opposition group’s success in upholding the ban due to the fact that they didn’t have a catchy acronym for their name. Also, what kind of parents name their daughter Dewey? Cruel ones, I guess.

Not much to add except this little gem:

” The proposal grew out of concern about a World Naked Bike Ride event on July 12, one of three held in Seattle this year to draw attention to oil dependency.”

SORTA BUT NOT REALLY UPDATE: This is under the same city administration that is attempting to ban legally permitted handguns from city parks in direct violation of the state constitution according to the Washington State Attorney General. Story here.

So I guess it all boils down to what's acceptable to be "packin'" in a city park. Or maybe "unpackin."

WARNING: NSFW pics under the fold. Actually, not safe for anywhere pics under the fold.
more...

Posted by: Open Blog at 09:13 PM | Comments (89)
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Terrorists Die Of Lead Poisioning And The Credit Crisis, But Mostly Lead Poisioning [Vinnie]
— Open Blog

I think what this blog needs is some hap-hap-happy news.

KABUL, Afghanistan – A raid by coalition troops in eastern Afghanistan killed five al-Qaida associated militants and eight others were detained, including a militant leader, the U.S. military said in a statement Sunday.

No matter what happens going forward after January 19th, our military will always need our support in their endeavors.

See you next Open Blog, and hopefully the next Omaha Moronapalooza.

Posted by: Open Blog at 09:10 PM | Comments (10)
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Obama To Persue "Ambitious" Peace Plan In Israel Involving Divided Jeruseum [Nice Deb]
— Open Blog

TimesOnline reports:

Barack Obama is to pursue an ambitious peace plan in the Middle East involving the recognition of Israel by the Arab world in exchange for its withdrawal to pre-1967 borders, according to sources close to AmericaÂ’s president-elect.

Obama intends to throw his support behind a 2002 Saudi peace initiative endorsed by the Arab League and backed by Tzipi Livni, the Israeli foreign minister and leader of the ruling Kadima party.

The proposal gives Israel an effective veto on the return of Arab refugees expelled in 1948 while requiring it to restore the Golan Heights to Syria and allow the Palestinians to establish a state capital in east Jerusalem.

This, of course, completely contradicts the "poor phrasing" that he used in front of AIPAC earlier this year:

more...

Posted by: Open Blog at 07:58 PM | Comments (161)
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Saturday Night Horror Movie
— LauraW

I'd like to remind Lefties that Bush never recommended this, and if he had, you all would have gone fuckin' apeshit.

How well do you know your a-hole busybody neighbors? About as well as you want to know them.

I'll be shopping at Cabela's tomorrow.

Posted by: LauraW at 07:18 PM | Comments (114)
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Moron Meetup Stories [Vinnie]
— Open Blog

Last night, my wife and I met up with Omaha area morons Sgt. York, chemjeff, Dave in Nebraska and Rich the engine puller. We did have more interested who couldn't make it. Which necessitates, of course, the scheduling of another meetup.

I'm thinking this is going to be the trend as you share your stories in the comments, but we had good food, good booze, and good conversation.

Of course, no good Moronapalooza would be complete without a discussion about the "hobo that got away." Hobo hunters are still hunters, after all.

And the look on the bartender's face when I asked, "Do you have any Valu-Rite Vodka?" was priceless.

Feel free to share your stories in the comments, and if you have an OB login, feel free to update this post with your Hobo Hunt stories.

Sooper Sekrit Update:

"Do you have any Valu-Rite vodka?" will be the code to identify each other when we're carted away to the camps. Pass it on.

Excellent idea Shannon.

Posted by: Open Blog at 07:18 PM | Comments (75)
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Open Blog
— Ace

Still trying to overcome genuine sadness about the election.

I don't have a bad a case of it as, say, Moxie did, but still.

Posted by: Ace at 01:46 PM | Comments (258)
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The President on Panic
— Gabriel Malor

From President Bush's remarks at the end of the economic summit:

One of the things we did, we spent time talking about the actions that we have taken. The United States has taken some extraordinary measures. Those of you who have followed my career know that I’m a free market person — until you’re told that if you don’t take decisive measures then it’s conceivable that our country could go into a depression greater than the Great Depressions. So my administration has taken significant measures to deal with a credit crisis. And then we worked with Congress to deal with the credit crisis, as well.

WeÂ’re beginning to see some positive results. One of the things people around the table were interested in is, are you beginning to see the results of your actions? And our credit markets are beginning to thaw, having been severely frozen; businesses are beginning to get access to short-term credit. ItÂ’s going to take more time for the measures we have put in place to take hold. No question about that. As a matter of fact, we just started, for example, on the $700 billion fund to start getting money out to our banks. So itÂ’s going to take more time.

We must abandon the free market in order to save it.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 01:31 PM | Comments (107)
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