Ron Paul The “Rebel”

So, Ron Paul was on MTP (WTF?) yesterday. Duncan Hunter doesn’t get any bigtime talk-show exposure before the Iowa caucus, but the man with the blimp gets some MTP time.

Of course, the Ronulans go nuts. But why? “Well, Paul doesn’t vote for earmarks! He’s a libertarian!”

But how does Paul explain all of those earmarks he secured for his district? Because he knows the bill will get passed, and he makes sure he gets his pork just like everyone else. It’s a clever tactic– make sure you’re looking like you’re tough on spending by voting no, but he injects all of his pork into the budget “just in case”. If he was serious about controlling spending, he wouldn’t include the earmarks at all. But he knows how the system works, and he knows that regardless if he votes no, everyone else is going to vote yes, and he gets his funding as well.

So I’m calling him out on it just to prove he’s not the atypical Washington politician everyone thinks he is. He’s a porker like the rest of them. He gets his special interest funding for his district. So don’t think that Ron Paul is the solution to fiscal responsibility. He’s been playing the system all this time to make you think he’s fiscally responsible, when he’s just gaming the system to make himself look good.

Merry Christmas

It’s that time of year again. I’m going to take a break from serious blogging to decompress from the school year, bask in global warming, and rejuvenate. Hope everybody has a safe Christmas and New Year, and if you live south of the Mason Dixon line, please don’t drive if there’s snow on the roads.

What does this poll tell you?

That the “unelectable” Hunter is the most widely palatable to all voters/conservatives.

Universally, the GOP is missing the boat.  Hunter is the best candidate.

SO VOTE FOR HIM.

I can’t understand why we’ve elected so many losers lately– and it’s because the GOP is too busy nominating losers.  Big tent syndrome.  Come on folks!

The Energy Bully — Time’s 2007 Man of the Year

Vladimir Putin.

I wouldn’t really challenge Time on this. Of all the people in the world, we should really be scrutinizing Putin and his policies, especially his plans for local domination through manipulation of natural resources.

While Petraeus would also have been a good choice (and Al Gore would have been horrible, and Rowling a certainly-deserved surprise), Putin’s impact is certainly more global. Time named Hitler Man of the Year in 1938. Here’s what they said about him:

But the figure of Adolf Hitler strode over a cringing Europe with all the swagger of a conqueror. Not the mere fact that the Führer brought 10,500,000 more people (7,000,000 Austrians, 3,500,000 Sudetens) under his absolute rule made him the Man of 1938. Japan during the same time added tens of millions of Chinese to her empire. More significant was the fact Hitler became in 1938 the greatest threatening force that the democratic, freedom-loving world faces today.

His shadow fell far beyond Germany’s frontiers. Small, neighboring States (Denmark, Norway, Czecho-Slovakia, Lithuania, the Balkans, Luxembourg, The Netherlands) feared to offend him. In France Nazi pressure was in part responsible for some of the post-Munich anti-democratic decrees. Fascism had intervened openly in Spain, had fostered a revolt in Brazil, was covertly aiding revolutionary movements in Rumania, Hungary, Poland, Lithuania. In Finland a foreign minister had to resign under Nazi pressure. Throughout eastern Europe after Munich the trend was toward less freedom, more dictatorship. In the U. S. alone did democracy feel itself strong enough at year’s end to give Hitler his come-uppance (see p. 5).

The Fascintern, with Hitler in the driver’s seat, with Mussolini, Franco and the Japanese military cabal riding behind, emerged in 1938 as an international, revolutionary movement. Rant as he might against the machinations of international Communism and international Jewry, or rave as he would that he was just a Pan-German trying to get all the Germans back in one nation, Führer Hitler had himself become the world’s No. 1 International Revolutionist—so much so that if the oft-predicted struggle between Fascism and Communism now takes place it will be only because two revolutionist dictators. Hitler and Stalin, are too big to let each other live in the same world.

Now, I don’t want to Godwin this thread before it starts, but it’s important to highlight those doing great good (Petraeus) and those doing great evil (Putin).

Make no mistake. Putin is organizing Russia into an energy empire, and it seeks to reconsolidate all the states that broke off from it under the weakness of one Mikhail Gorbechev and faltered under Boris Yeltsin. And as for opposition? It gets beaten, arrested, and/or killed. Even the celebrities.

But one thing I will say fearlessly to Putin. I was Man of the Year first. In your face, n00b.

Ahead Warp Factor 2 Mr. Sulu

Physicists published a paper on warp drive.  I kid you not.

The Era of the 1-Hour Laptop Battery is Over!

I remember attending a seminar about batteries and charges, and even the most efficient metal hydride batteries could only give finite power.

Well, it took some thinking that was outside of the box to get around it.  Or should I say, inside of the cell?

Stanford researchers have found a way to use silicon nanowires to reinvent the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that power laptops, iPods, video cameras, cell phones, and countless other devices.

The new version, developed through research led by Yi Cui, assistant professor of materials science and engineering, produces 10 times the amount of electricity of existing lithium-ion, known as Li-ion, batteries. A laptop that now runs on battery for two hours could operate for 20 hours, a boon to ocean-hopping business travelers.

Freakin’ awesome.

The Coveted Autopsy GOP Endorsement for President

I throwing my support behind Duncan Hunter for President.

Hunter’s been solid on every issue.  Immigration.  Tax reform.  Reducing government spending.  Abortion.  Foreign policy.  The war in Iraq.  He’s got all the right messages in all the right places.

The only reason he’s not getting traction is because of name recognition.  The only people who know him are people in the political know and those from San Diego.  He’s had a presence in every GOP debate, but his questions have been loaded and few, and most of the time we heard from Mitt, Rudy, McCain, Huck, or Fred!.  Hunter was the one who was sandbagged by Anderson Cooper and the Gay General Hillary plant.  He’s been asked about China quite a bit, but nothing else of real significance, which is a shame.  He has so much to say but nobody gives him a platform.

Instead we’re treated to the parade of mediocrity which is the current GOP field.  McCain’s the Maverick who gave us such winning legislation as Campaign Finance Reform.   Rudy the pro-choice philanderer.  Mitt the flip-flopper mormon.  Huckabee the liberal Christian in GOP clothing.  And Fred, someone who’s been sleepwalking through the election process.

So, even though Hunter doesn’t have the name recognition, I say, give him the name recognition by NOMINATING HIM FOR THE PRESIDENCY.  The GOP voters are worried about putting up a no-name against Hillary, or Barak.  Well, Hunter’s the perfect foil.  He’s not an empty suit (Obama), and he’s not a closet socialist (Hillary).

So, get off your duff, stop vacillating between barely-palatable top-tier candidates, and throw your primary support behind the only experienced, solid conservative in the lot- Duncan Hunter.

I can’t wait for the Wisconsin primary.

Don’t Talk to Me About Global Warming– I’m Freezing My Buns Off

Seems that the world is in the grips of record low temperatures, both in the northern and southern hemispheres.

It’s interesting given a UK report that the world is warmer than it’s ever been. Truth is, the “rapid warming” of the planet has somewhat tapered off, and we’re not experiencing warming or cooling. Is it possible we reached the peak of a warm period and we’re slowly declining back to cooler temperatures?

Not according to computer models. Here’s the problem with computer models– they’re designed by people and they need to include variables from thousands of different sources to provide a projection. Rather than program something that will account for all the different variables, they make assumptions and, one of the biggest assumptions they make, is that external thermal input (aka, the sun) will remain constant throughout the lifespan of the simulation. That’s a huge assumption given that the sun provides nearly all of the radiative energy for the surface of our planet.

Let me put it in analogy format. It’s June 15th, and I want to create a computer model that can tell me what days in the summer I’ll be able to go to the beach and get tan. I’ll start the temperature increases from March 22 (first day of Spring) and plot temperature in the area from March 22 to June 15th and estimate temperatures through August 30th based upon the temperature increases through that period. I’ll also need variables on work days, people at the beach, supply of suntan oil, how often my friends will go to the beach, the daily temperature, solar output, the cloud cover, and chance of precipitation.

Now, the first four variables are easy to program. When we get to the second, we’ll use historical extrapolation from June 15th through March 22, and plot daily average temperatures from the temperature increase plot (according to that projection, it should be a balmy 115 F on August 30th!). Now, solar output has been relatively constant, on average, for 4.5 billion years, so we’ll make the assumption that the solar output is invariable. Additionally, cloud cover is hopelessly hard to predict, so we’ll assume it’s minor and toss it out. And precipitation? We’ll guess it rains 4 times every 30 days, adn plot accordingly.

There. Now I have my model of the future of this year in sunbathing. Will it work out? As everything we’ve done relies on averaging, the general map of sunbathing may be generally accurate. However, there are many assumptions that prove faulty.

The first and biggest is that solar output is constant. If you look at the sun, you’ll notice it’s a violent ball and erupting gas which bombards the solar system with particles, CME’s, and cosmic radiation. But for the models to work, they have to assume a constant sun, primarily because the sun’s activity is still largely a mystery to most people. We’re just now beginning to understand how the convection in the sun spawns the fusion process, and how hot and cold spots on the sun mess with the magnetic field. We know from observation there’s an 11-year activity cycle for the sun, and it’s tempting to say all the activity on the sun averages out over time. But each cycle is different. The current cycle we’re in is winding down, but the sun was incredibly active, hitting the Earth with a few whopper solar flares.

All of that solar activity could result in an increase in energy imparted to the planet, as well as a change in the solar wind, which, in turn, changes the overall impact of cosmic rays on cloud cover formation. Less cloud cover decreases solar reflectivity, which would increase the amount of energy striking the planet. That is another variable that’s assumed “constant”, mainly because clouds are so transient, they cannot truly be measured to give an “average”. Assigning any variable to cloud cover would be disingenuous as you’re making a total guess to cloud cover contributions, so the safe bet is to discard it.  Did you get that?  The safe bet is to totally toss a set of data that has a large contribution to the entire system!

So my model for sunbathing is relying on discarding one enormous set of information and ignoring the contribution of the biggest variable in the system!  So how well do you think my model is going to do simulating summer temperatures?  Sure, it’s going to be hot.  We know it’s going to be warm.  It’s summer, right?  And we know that it’s always hot in the summer.  Not a big guess about the temperatures.

As for climate modeling, people saying “it’s going to stay hot!” are the masters of the obvious.  The planet doesn’t change temperatures quickly.  It has built-in mechanisms to heat and cool slowly.  If the temperature is warm, odds are it will stay warm.  If the temperature is slowly increasing, it’s a safe bet to say it’s going  to still increase.  The key to the models is ignoring the one thing we know about planetary climate– it changes!  If the planet cools at all, even if it’s a 5-year dip followed by a rise– the climate models all fall apart!  Every model does not allow for a temperature correction!

So, if 2008-2012 show an overall decline in temperatures, the models will implode.  That’s the problem with predicting the future.  You may be wrong.

Just ask 400 scientists.

No Sooner is the “Lazy Thompson” Story Written…

…it’s debunked.  There’s a video of Thompson at the Fire Station– and he seems to be having a good time.

What the hell is Roger Simon thinking?  Of course there’s going to be cameras there, you dufus.  It’s the information age.  If you can’t write your story straight, it’s going to fly back in your face.

If I was still doing Aquanet Moments, Roger Simon would certainly qualify for one.  Ass.

Christmas is for Pandering and Empty Platitudes!

So much to talk about. Huckabee is rockin’ the polls. Mitt is still strong. Rudy is fading. Fred! has some of the best sound bites around, but then turns in an uninspired pit stop on the campaign trial. But he does pick up one of the most influential endorsements for GOP candidates in Iowa.

The biggest blown-out-of-proportion controversy has been Mike Huckabee’s “floating cross” ad. He’s in the foreground, talking about Christmas, and how he wants to keep Christ in Christmas and wants people to know Christmas is all about Jesus. But everyone’s flipping out about a cross-shaped bookcase in the background. It’s absurd. People are complaining about him having a “secret cross”, but at the same time he’s extolling Jesus. I would think the references to Jesus in Christmas would be far more offensive.

In the meantime, Rudy’s got a Christmas spot. I can’t wait until he unwraps his new mistress under the tree! Seriously, it’s a good spot. I really wouldn’t mind a President Rudy, but I don’t know if I could handle another4-8 years of Republican sex scandals.

And, it’s not GOP related, but Hillary’s got a new Christmas spot. Bryan at Hot Air has a perfect reaction to it. I wonder if any of those presents contain withheld documents?

John Edwards manages to depress everyone during the holiday season. He’s such a nice guy. He has 400 million dollars in the bank, but he identifies with the poor. What an ass.

And then there’s Barak Obama. Cocaine. What? How did that end up in there? Bob Kerry, I’m looking at you. Stay away from the keyboard!  What an a-hole.  Barak’s ad is nice, but it’s just like his policies– warm fuzzies and no substance.  I’m just waiting for him to build an M-5 unit impressed with his own engrams.

In the meantime, there’s someone who’s a solid candidate, getting little exposure, but hitting every issue like a solid conservative.   Everyone in the righty-o-sphere wants him as VP.  I want him as Prez.  Can we do that?  Please?  As a Christmas gift to me?