Iran Postures

Iran still has the hostages. I haven’t blogged about it because I think we all know what any sane person’s reaction will be: “Iran’s nuts.”

Yes, they’ve captured soldiers. Yes, they claim illegal intrusion. Yes, Blair is shaking with anger.

Of course Iran will do all of this. This is the SOP of the Iranian propaganda machine. Hezbollah did something similar with Israel, and Israel launched an offensives which turned into a PR nightmare. So they’re goading the UK and the US into doing something similar.

I think Tony’s been unfairly treated. You just don’t bomb Tehran, especially in this politically delicate climate. So he’s using the Instrument of Global Moral Authority, the UN Security Council, to get what he wants done.

Unfortunately, the Russians and Chinese won’t authorize military action against Iran because they’ve landed lucrative contracts with the Iranians. So Blair’s putting diplomatic pressure on the Iranians.

Condi’s already feeling the heat from freezing some Iranian assets. (I’m still amazed at how quickly North Korea caved when the US froze their monetary assets.) And after two weeks, we’ll see the hostages released when it’s obvious the UK and US won’t invade.

But I’d authorize any naval vessels, if they come under fire from Iranian ships in international waters, to sink them. (Unless you’re Rosie and you think the Birts and the Indian merchant vessel were in Iranian waters.) No more pussy-footing around. If Iran wants to kidnap people in international waters then parade them around on camera, they’re going to have to face the possibility of instant reprisal.

Al Gore: Big on Feelings, Light on Evidence

Al Gore was over in Norway giving his favorite speech. There are “highlights” here (h/t HotAir via Sugerio). It runs about 4 minutes. Note each time AlGore says “I feel” or “I believe”. Climatology = The Force with Al. “A real climatologist can feel the weather flowing through him.”

Seems he may be on the short list for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Who needs thermodynamics when you’ve got feelings?

The Culture of Corruption– alive & kicking

The latest Democrat to (not) get a ton of press exposure about ethical conflicts is California’s own senator Dianne Feinstein.

SEN. Dianne Feinstein has resigned from the Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee. As previously and extensively reviewed in these pages, Feinstein was chairperson and ranking member of MILCON for six years, during which time she had a conflict of interest due to her husband Richard C. Blum’s ownership of two major defense contractors, who were awarded billions of dollars for military construction projects approved by Feinstein.

As MILCON leader, Feinstein relished the details of military construction, even micromanaging one project at the level of its sewer design. She regularly took junkets to military bases around the world to inspect construction projects, some of which were contracted to her husband’s companies, Perini Corp. and URS Corp.

Perhaps she resigned from MILCON because she could not take the heat generated by Metro’s expose of her ethics (which was partially funded by the Investigative Fund of the Nation Institute). Or was her work on the subcommittee finished because Blum divested ownership of his military construction and advanced weapons manufacturing firms in late 2005?

The MILCON subcommittee is not only in charge of supervising military construction, it also oversees “quality of life” issues for veterans, which includes building housing for military families and operating hospitals and clinics for wounded soldiers. Perhaps Feinstein is trying to disassociate herself from MILCON’s incredible failure to provide decent medical care for wounded soldiers.

Of course, this won’t hurt her. She’ll get reelected over and over again because Californians can’t bring themselves to vote for anyone who’s a Republican for Senator.

They kept Barbara Boxer, didn’t they? She’s up for reelection in 2010, and has already declared she’s running again. Joy!

h/t: HotAir.

Others: The Jawa Report, Michelle Malkin

PuffingTons Host: Russel Shaw Shocked by Sen. Dole!

It’s true. Russel finds it objectionable that there’s nothing by Sen. Elizabeth Dole on her press release site expressing sympathy for Elizabeth Edwards.

He says:

First, a bit of background. Elected to the U.S. Senate from North Carolina in 2002, Elizabeth Dole served alongside then-Senator John Edwards for two years.

Although they were from different political parties, it is a certainty that Mrs. Dole met Mrs. Edwards several times during that interval.

Here in the U.S., we have a custom that when a prominent office-holder and/or family passes on or experiences a health-related crisis, even the members of his/her opposite party from the same state wish them well.

Heck, right-wing extremist governor Mike Rounds of South Dakota has offered prayers up for Tim Johnson, the state’s Democratic Senator. Were Sen. Johnson to leave the Senate, Rounds would be in the position to make an appointment to give the Republicans the balance of power in the Senate.

But still, Mike Rounds is on the record appealing for divine assistance to not make that circumstance happen.

I just checked out the press release section of Sen. Dole’s site. Not a prayerful word, nor even a word of courtesy expressing support for the Edwards family- prominent North Carolinians in the prayers of so many both inside and outside North Carolina.

Perhaps this is an oversight. I say this because Elizabeth Dole has not failed to demonstrate compassion. From 1991 to 1999, she head the American Red Cross- an organization synonymous with compassion. And her husband, Bob Dole, has had significant health issues for most of his adult life.

C’mon, Elizabeth Dole. How’s about at least a statement about your fellow Carolinians, the Edwards family?

Here’s my response:

There’s no press release from Hillary, Kerry, or Kennedy on their press-release pages on wishing Elizabeth Edwards well, either.

Bastards!

And if you check Hillary, Obama, Richardson, Kucinich, Dean– none have anything to say on Tony Snow. Only Edwards has said something in support of Snow.

I find it telling that the right side of the blogosphere has been vocal in its compassion for Elizabeth Edwards, yet you can’t find a nice word to say about Tony Snow on the HuffPo by the bloggers, but plenty of gushing pieces lauding Elizabeth Edwards.

Do you guys really hate conservatives that much that you can’t throw a short blog up wishing Tony Snow well?

Class all the way.

To be fair, Hillary did issue a statement, not a press release in support of Edwards. And let’s be honest– did anyone from the press contact Sen. Dole to ask for her reaction? Probably not, and if they did, they didn’t publish it.

General Dating Rule #1

And I mean, #1. Supremo. For men and women, but especially women.

Never, ever pose for naked photos/webcasts/videos. EVER! Nothing good ever comes from it. And if someone is pressuring you into taking nude photos, get away from them. Don’t think, “Well, I really love him, and he’ll really love me if I strip to a thong and pose topless on his roommate’s bed.”

I’m going to blow that up into a big poster and put it on the walls of my daughters’ room.

Flying in the Face of the Flying Imams

Congress has laid the smackdown on the Flying Imams. Certainly seems like they’re on their way to glorious defeat.

I’ll grant them this much– it was a clever plan. Expose the John Does, expose the whistleblowers, make it that much more difficult for Muslims to be “profiled” as terrorists. Fortunately some people are standing up for our right to report enemy activity within our borders.

Michelle Malkin has a manifesto we should all be reading:

Dear Muslim Terrorist Plotter/Planner/Funder/Enabler/Apologist,

You do not know me. But I am on the lookout for you. You are my enemy. And I am yours.

I am John Doe.

I am traveling on your plane. I am riding on your train. I am at your bus stop. I am on your street. I am in your subway car. I am on your lift.

I am your neighbor. I am your customer. I am your classmate. I am your boss.

I am John Doe.

I will never forget the example of the passengers of American Airlines Flight 93 who refused to sit back on 9/11 and let themselves be murdered in the name of Islam without a fight.

I will never forget the passengers and crew members who tackled al Qaeda shoe-bomber Richard Reid on American Airlines Flight 63 before he had a chance to blow up the plane over the Atlantic Ocean.

I will never forget the alertness of actor James Woods, who notified a stewardess that several Arab men sitting in his first-class cabin on an August 2001 flight were behaving strangely. The men turned out to be 9/11 hijackers on a test run.

I will act when homeland security officials ask me to “report suspicious activity.”

I will embrace my local police department’s admonition: “If you see something, say something.”

I am John Doe.

I will protest your Jew-hating, America-bashing “scholars.”

I will petition against your hate-mongering mosque leaders.

I will raise my voice against your subjugation of women and religious minorities.

I will challenge your attempts to indoctrinate my children in our schools.

I will combat your violent propaganda on the Internet.

I am John Doe.

I will support law enforcement initiatives to spy on your operatives, cut off your funding, and disrupt your murderous conspiracies.

I will oppose all attempts to undermine our borders and immigration laws.

I will resist the imposition of sharia principles and sharia law in my taxi cab, my restaurant, my community pool, the halls of Congress, our national monuments, the radio and television airwaves, and all public spaces.

I will not be censored in the name of tolerance.

I will not be cowed by your Beltway lobbying groups in moderate clothing. I will not cringe when you shriek about “profiling” or “Islamophobia.”

I will put my family’s safety above sensitivity. I will put my country above multiculturalism.

I will not submit to your will. I will not be intimidated.

I am John Doe.

Iran Manufactures Evidence

And now they’re going to parade the sailors on TV for all to see.

So, let’s go through the checklist:

1) Seizure of Western forces in international waters? Check. (Verified by GPS data from the HMS Cornwall and the stopped merchant vessel.)

2) Claim that it was an act of aggression by Western forces? Check.

3) Provide “confessions” of the sailors? Check.

4) Move them to your capital to forestall a rescue operation? Check.

5) Parade them on TV for humiliation value? Check.

Now all we need is Jimmy Carter to order a rescue operation.

Iran is doing everything in their power to get themselves attacked. I’m thinking it’s some prophecy about the 12th Imam. So far, it seem to be working. As for pushing for the appearance of a Mahdi? Eh, not looking so good.

I do believe the quote was “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” The same goes in Islam.

Saturn’s New Ring

It’s at the pole, and it’s fascinating. I’ve been staring at the video image for five minutes in wonder.

New Study: WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!

So says another “scientist” (computer modeler) who’s predicting that Global Warming will make the earth significantly different by 2100.

UP TO two-fifths of the Earth will have a hotter climate by the end of the century, according to a study that predicts the effects of global warming.

The changes — which will have a devastating effect on biodiversity in areas such as the Amazon and Indonesian rainforests — will wipe out numerous animals that are unable to move to stay within their preferred climate range. They will have to evolve rapidly or die out.

Lead author John Williams, of the University of Wisconsin, said: “How do you conserve the biological diversity of these entire systems if the physical environment is changing and potentially disappearing?”

Professor Williams’ team used emissions scenarios set out by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to predict changes in temperature and precipitation.

Ugh. This guy gets loads of funding to predict the destruction of the earth. I’ve got a novel pharmacaphore and what do I get? Diddly.

Not that I’m bitter. Hey, I’ve got a great idea. My molecule will reverse global warming in 2090! I’ve got a computer projection that says it. It must be true. Give me $300,000.

As for vetting– Williams assumes that increased CO2 will increase the global temperature and that the polar cold zones will vanish, and animals will have to move north. Unless they live in the tropics, he says.

And why is that important, you ask me? Why don’t the tropics change with increased CO2? Humidity!

Water is a much better greenhouse gas than CO2, so Williams attributes the equatorial variability to water and ignores it, even though 70% of the planet is covered in water and has similar humidity variations to equatorial zones!

Isn’t that important? Isn’t the fact that global warming by CO2 is only significant in arid climates something that knocks a big hole in anthropomorphic global warming?

Let me put it this way. If the relative humidity over the oceans is about 70%, then the heat trapping of CO2 is insignificant because at that point the energy trapped by water dwarfs that of carbon dioxide. We can make a broad assumption that coastal climates and islands have humidity that’s similar to that of the ocean. We can also assume that the most drastic changes in humidity occur during winter, when the cooler air carries less water and the heat-trapping ability of CO2 is relevant. So we’re looking at a 3-6 month period where the earth absorbs enough energy in the Northern Hemisphere (and in the Southern Hemipshere during a different time period) to warm the Earth substantially and irreversibly, all thanks to CO2 amounts which have steadily risen.

So these cold, arid regions are trapping heat and then transferring the heat to the other 75% of the planet. That’s a mind-boggling amount of energy to be transferring, especially from regions that are humid, given that the heat capacity of water is nearly 2.5 times that of carbon dioxide.

If you’re having trouble with the idea, imagine that you have an egg on skillet, but you’re using a laser to heat 20% of that egg, and your goal is to cook that egg. Eventually the egg will cook, but what happens to the area where you’ve focused the laser? Yes, it’s burnt. Crispy.

The same thing should be happening to dry, arid climates. Because there has to be so much energy transferral to make an impact on the global temperature in order to make the planet hotter, the areas that are heating should be heating to gross excess, and we’re not really seeing that. We see areas that are hotter, like the Siberian winter, but the energy shift from -50 F to -45 F, while large, when diffused over a planetary surface, is minimal, especially with secondary vectors of heat loss.

So, if we go back to the egg example, if we’re cooking an egg evenly, the heat has to applied to the whole surface, not just bits and parts. And only one thing can do that– the sun. So we’re looking at either solar variability, which has been denied repeatedly, even though the sun’s activity has been noticeable, and the effect of clouds in reflecting sunlight on a universal, average scale. Less clouds, more heat, and vice versa.

Tony Snow’s Cancer Relapse

Tony’s strong and has beaten cancer once before. Sounds like they caught this one very early, which is great news. Hopefully he’ll be back on the job soon, fielding questions and earning derision from the moonbat lefties. You beat it once before Tony. Here’s to beating it once again. My prayers are with you and your family.

And as a tribute to one of my all-time favorite conservative personalities, here’s a picture of him wearing Elvis sunglasses! (Original over at the American Princess blog.)