Rick Santelli On The “Stimulus Bill”

Just a guess, but I don’t think he cares for it…

America Unplugged! Obama's Cruel Tax on the Poor

America Unplugged! Obama's Cruel Tax on the Poor
Obama's "ideological" energy plan would cripple US economy

by Orson Scott Card

A reprint of an article which originally appeared in the Rhino Times of Greensboro, NC.

October 30, 2008

Obama isn't cutting taxes for the poor, because they don't pay any.

Instead, he's planning to make it so expensive to generate electricity that only the rich can afford to use their appliances whenever they want.

Why? It's all in the name of Obama's true belief in global warming. He says it himself – he'll take coal off the table as an "ideological matter." Even if technology allows us to use coal in a clean way, he's opposed to pursuing it.

He wants to put a huge penalty on companies that emit carbon – which means that starting up new coal-powered electrical plants will be prohibitively expensive. In Obama's own words, "It will bankrupt them."

"Cap and trade" plans have already been tried, and they don't work – they cost too much and people find ways to get around them. But Obama promises us that he'll take that failed idea and be "as aggressive, if not more aggressive, than anybody else's" plan.

In other words, if it doesn't work, let's do more of it!

This is Obama the New Puritan. We've found his real religion: Political and environmental correctness.

It's more important to him to eliminate coal than to find practical solutions. Why? Because coal is "bad." Our groupthinking "intellectual" elite thinks they are post-religious – but they believe in sin and hate the sinners.

(Real intellectuals are skeptical and look for evidence before they embrace an idea; global warming, like the rest of the dogmas of the extreme left, are believed without proof, by faith alone.)

For the New Puritans, global warming is the vengeful god that must be placated. Our economy is the sacrifice to that deity. In the name of global warming, we must destroy our quality of life – and, like sales tax, it will hurt the poorest people first and most.

Unfortunately, human-caused global warming exists only in the way Zeus exists – in the imagination of believers who ignore obvious natural explanations. So this sacrifice of America's most bountiful and reliable energy source (until we can get solar and wind and nuclear up and running) is to a god that only seems real to people who are not serious about staying connected to reality.

Right now it is vital that we convert all our land transportation to electricity so we can wean ourselves from oil (and save that fuel for air transport). It will take far longer to convert away from coal as a source of that electricity – so what we need right now, as a temporary measure, is to build more generating capacity.

Obama would freeze us where we are. Literally.

Our electrical system would be rationed, or as intermittent as in Saddam's Iraq or today's Nigeria – oil-rich countries that did such a poor job of providing electricity to their citizens that it might go away for weeks, and when it comes back on, it's only for a few hours a day.

The poor would be hardest hit. When that electric bill is bigger than your house payment, something's got to go. What do you turn off? The fridge? The stove? Using the microwave is out of the question. Hair dryers? Gone. And you can forget watching DVDs or television.

It's Obama's first album: America Unplugged.

But the harm to the poor wouldn't stop with their inability to afford to use the appliances that the rest of America gets to use. With energy costs soaring to assuage Obama's god, people will have less money to spend. The cost of manufacturing everything would soar.

Let's see – higher prices, less income. Do you see vast unemployment following?

Not only will the poor be worse off, there'll be a whole lot more of them.

Why didn't the San Francisco Chronicle tell us about this back in January, when Obama laid out this plan?

Because it wasn't good for the rest of the country to know what Obama really plans to do. If we knew the truth, we might not vote for the "anointed ruler."

So why did this tape emerge now? Maybe some reporter or editor got an attack of honesty. Or maybe they woke up when they saw Obama declare war on the press – punishing newspapers and TV stations that were not sufficiently loyal to the anointed ruler.

Think of it: Not only can we have Nigeria's electrical power system, we can have Egypt's and Russia's "free" press! All courtesy of Obama!

For a long time we really haven't been able to find out who Obama is. But now, as the anointed ruler makes his triumphal parade to Mount Olympus, his arrogance is showing.

We caught a glimpse when he sneered at religion, saying that we turn to it only out of bitterness – rather than, say, faith, or charity, or love of virtue, or spirituality.

Obama thinks like a New Puritan – the people who punish anyone who speaks an incorrect thought. You've seen how they borked Joe the Plumber and, for that matter, Sarah Palin, accusing them of terrible things – none of which were even bad!

Obama thinks that coal is the devil. But when you ban coal as a source of additional electricity, you cripple our ability to transition to the technologies we must have to keep our great, world-fueling economy going.

But Obama, when you bring the whole global economic system crashing down, what do you think we'll use to heat our houses – or caves – then?

Coal and trees. Lots and lots of carbon.

Obama and his elitist friends think they're smart, but they don't live on planet Earth, they live in a playhouse where they can make huge messes with their stupid policies and then pretend that the mess is someone else's fault while they hope for some invisible mommy to come and clean it up.

The invisible mommy so far has been the American people and the resilient economy that we create (along with the few remaining moral standards that have not yet been crushed).
But we can't clean up after Obama's plan if we're too broke to turn on the lights.

Copyright © 2008 by Orson Scott Card

Don't wait for permission – reprint, forward or link to this now.

Green Comet Lulin Approaches Earth

Quanzhi Ye, a 19 year-old meteorology student at Sun Yat-sen University, China, discovered a new comet on an image taken at Lulin Observatory, after which the comet is named.

Comet Lulin (C/2227 N3) makes its closest approach to Earth, (0.41 AU, about 14.5 times the distance between the Earth and the Moon), on 24 February 2009. Current estimates set the maximum brightness at 4th or 5th magnitude, which means dark country skies will be required to see it. The hyperbolic orbit of Comet Lulin suggests this could be the comet's first visit to the inner solar system, hence, its first exposure to intense sunlight: Magnitude estimates may therefore be off—perhaps considerably.

Comet Lulin Image by Mike Broussard, Maurice, Louisiana, USA, 4 February 2009 Equipment used included a TV-85 refractor, Hutech Canon XS, IDAS-LPS filter and an Atlas EQ-G w/EQMOD. Exposure was 15x180 sec @ ISO 1600.

Lulin's green color comes from the gases that make up its Jupiter-sized atmosphere. Jets spewing from the comet's nucleus contain cyanogen (CN: a poisonous gas found in many comets) and diatomic carbon (C₂). Both substances glow green when illuminated by sunlight in the near-vacuum of space.

The comet rises a few hours before the sun and may be found about 1/3rd of the way up the southern sky before dawn.

Feb. 6th: Comet Lulin glides by Zubenelgenubi, (zuBEN-el-JA-newbee), a double star at the fulcrum of Libra's scales. You can see Zubenelgenubi with your unaided eye (it is about as bright as stars in the Big Dipper); binoculars pointed at the binary star reveal Comet Lulin in beautiful proximity. [NASA sky map]

Feb. 16th: Comet Lulin passes Spica in the constellation Virgo. Spica is a star of first magnitude and a guidepost even city astronomers cannot miss. A finderscope pointed at Spica will capture Comet Lulin in the field of view, centering the optics within a nudge of both objects. [NASA sky map]

Feb. 24th: Closest approach! On this special morning, Lulin will lie just a few degrees from Saturn in the constellation Leo. Saturn is obvious to the unaided eye, and Lulin could be as well. [NASA sky map]

Orbital Elements:

Epoch 2009 Jan. 9.0 TT = JDT 2454840.5
T 2009 Jan. 10.66551 TT                                 MPC
q   1.2125523            (2000.0)            P               Q
z  +0.0000043      Peri.  136.85390     -0.92916054     -0.36953038
+/-0.0000079      Node   338.53392     -0.34642777     +0.86057082
e   0.9999948      Incl.  178.37278     -0.12902902     +0.35052129

Guilt On Accusation - Draconian Internet Copyright Law To Be Enacted

The New Zealand Parliament Wins Our 'Useless Git of the Week' Award

Three Strikes and You Are Terminated

Will It Happen In The US?

Update! See follow-up articles:
Draconian New Zealand Copyright Law Foundering? March 13, 2009
Draconian Internet Copyright Law Dead, Or Is It? March 23, 2009

A new draconian law in New Zealand allows the American and New Zealand film and music industries to pressure Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to terminate any individual or business users solely on their say so. If an ISP resists, they may be sued for not complying with the new law--as has happened in Australia.

Under a new provision in the New Zealand Copyright Act (Section 92A), which comes into force on 28 February, internet users’ accounts can be terminated as a result of unproven accusations of piracy. Section 92A states that if a copyright owner thinks that an internet user is guilty of repeatedly breaching copyright, then the user’s ISP will be forced the terminate their internet connections and websites.

In an internet version of the Salem Witch Hunts, the concept of “innocent until proven guilty” will be thrown out the window. Termination of Internet access will occur without any evidence, without a fair trial, without any right of appeal, and with no punishment for anyone making erroneous or malicious accusations of copyright infringement.

A "copyright holder" can get you kicked off an ISP without having to provide any evidence of an actual infringement. Having to [provide evidence] is apparently "impractical" and "ridiculous" in the words of RIANZ [Recording Industry Association of New Zealand] chief executive Campbell Smith. What happens when the "you" above is a public library, or a school? Or if the "copyright holder" makes a mistake or a malicious accusation?

--ComputerWorld Magazine (New Zealand)

Making mistakes can be an easy thing to do. 25% of computers are infected with viruses that download and distribute material without the owners knowledge, interaction or consent. What happens to computer users whose wireless internet connection is compromised? What if that user is a school or hospital?

Already, New Zealand Internet Service Provider giant TelstraClear's head of corporate services, Matthew Bolland, has stated that from 1 November 2008, TelstraClear is taking down websites upon a single accusation of copyright breach. "We don't check or verify," Bolland said "We take it down." ISPs like TelstraClear do not and cannot identify copyright infringement which is why this law forces them to take such actions.

Too bad if the IP has been spoofed, or the accusation is unfounded or even malicious--there is no right for contesting the claim. Too bad too, if the IP is being used by a school, library, university, hospital, business or even a government office!

Justin Graham of the New Zealand law firm Chapman Tripp confirms that the act fails to differentiate between individual accounts (home users) and internet accounts with multiple users such as businesses.

Rick Shera, a partner in law firm Lowndes Jordan, says ISPs have to decide whether material infringes copyright after receiving a complaint. If ISPs choose to leave the material up they have no protection from liability for secondary copyright infringement. The risk of not removing material is, therefore, greater than the risk of taking that material down, Shera says.

Effectively, a single person's bad behavior can bring down an institution, all because certain elements of the recording, videogame and movie industries can't solve their own piracy problems.

"Businesses support the need to protect intellectual property, and we are sympathetic to the significant problems the music, movie and gaming industries face. However, balance is the key. Protecting one person's interests at the expense of others is completely inappropriate," Telecommunications Carriers Forum chief executive Ralph Chivers said.

More sadly, it's symptomatic of a technologically uneducated group of political decision makers being taken for a ride by lobbyists putting their interests ahead of the nation.

--National Business Review (New Zealand)

"What it does is it forces internet service providers to cut off the internet of anyone who's accused of infringing copyright, not found guilty, just accused," said Bronwyn Holloway-Smith of New Zealand’s Creative Freedom Coalition.

Until August, Elliott Smith had over 100 videos on YouTube. Then, he made the mistake of uploading Olympics footage without permission and within 12 hours his account was suddenly deleted.

"I emailed YouTube and they didn't get back to me. So I ended up just setting up a new account. It's probably easier than going back but I didn't have any of my old videos or anything saved to my hard drive so it's a bit of a hassle," said Smith.

The new law forces New Zealand ISPs into the untenable position of being the police, judge, jury and executioners for the entertainment industry. “Three-strike” laws--as proposals to force ISPs to terminate internet users merely accused of illegally downloading copyright material have been called--are being pushed globally by “Big Content” representatives of the entertainment industries. Australia and France recently caved-in and agreed to enact such laws, though the Parliaments of the European Union and the UK have rejected them.

In protest, the Creative Freedom Coalition and others have organized an “internet blackout” February 16-23, during which they encourage internet users to: “Join thousands of New Zealanders already against this law by blacking out your Facebook photo, your websites, your Myspace pages, your Twitter account, in protest against this unjust new law that may come into effect on February 28.”

How long before it happens where you live?

Obama Insults Great Britain

Obama has sent Sir Winston Churchill packing, offending British diplomats.

A bronze bust of former Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill--once voted the greatest Briton in history--which was loaned to George W. Bush from the Government's art collection after the September 11 attacks, has now been ignominiously returned to the British Embassy in Washington DC.

The bronze by Sir Jacob Epstein, was loaned to George Bush by Tony Blair in 2001 from the UK Government Art Collection for the duration of his presidency. When the President was elected for his second and final term, the loan was extended until January 2009.

Britain wants President Obama to put the bust back in the Oval Office, where it stood for the past eight years as a symbol of an enduring special relationship with America. A spokesman for the British Embassy in Washington said, “The bust of Sir Winston Churchill by Sir Jacob Epstein was uniquely lent to a foreign head of state, President George W. Bush, from the Government Art Collection in the wake of 9/11 as a signal of the strong transatlantic relationship. We have made it clear that we would be pleased to extend the loan should Mr. Obama so wish.” Obama said, "Thanks, but no thanks."

UK Newspapers reported the incident with chagrin, including the Telegraph who made their feelings on the matter clear by placing—on the same webpage—a video of Obama clumsily banging his head on a helicopter doorway:

Microsoft Sued Over Vista-To-XP Downgrade Fee

Woman paid extra for XP, blames 'anticompetitive' licensing for Vista

A California woman has sued Microsoft Corp. over the $59.25 fee she was charged to "downgrade" Windows Vista on a new laptop to the older Windows XP.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in a Seattle federal court, is Microsoft's latest legal problem related to Windows Vista, which has faced scrutiny for nearly two years in the better-known "Vista Capable" case.

Los Angeles resident Emma Alvarado charged Microsoft with multiple violations of Washington state's unfair business practices and consumer protection laws over its policy of barring computer makers from continuing to offer XP on new PCs after Vista's early-2007 launch. Alvarado is seeking compensatory damages and wants the case declared a class-action suit.

Read more about this at Computerworld

Palm Throws 22 Million Customers Under The Bus

It's official, Palm Inc. Dumps PalmOS.

As foretold in my 10 January entry, Palm has ruthlessly abandoned all of their current customers. According to Palm's investor website there are "22 million users of Palm Powered devices."

Palm president Ed Hoolligan Colligan told investors that PalmOS is being officially retired, and that the company's Centro platform will be the last to use the software.

"There will be no more PalmOS products," he said. "We will transition to webOS as our core operating system, in addition to supporting Microsoft Windows products in the enterprise segment of the market."

Absolutely, shameful, scandalous corporate effrontery.

Just What Are Those "little, tiny–yes, porky–amendments" Schumer Speaks Of?

Congress Wins Our 'Useless Git Of The Week' Award!

Well, among many, many others:

• $1 billion for Amtrak, the federal railroad that hasn't turned a profit in 40 years
• $2 billion for child-care subsidies
• $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts, (building giant shuttlecocks and bronzing old sneakers will help the economy how?)
  
• $400 million for global-warming research, (100% pork)
  
• $2.4 billion for carbon-capture demonstration projects, (100% pork)
  
• $650 million on top of the billions already doled out to pay for digital TV conversion coupons, (perish the thought that the public can't watch Wheel of Fortune)
  
• $54 billion will go to federal programs that the Office of Management and Budget or the Government Accountability Office have already criticized as "ineffective" or unable to pass basic financial audits, (like congress?)
• $2 billion for FutureGen, a proposed low-emissions coal-fired power plant in Mattoon, Ill. Sen. Tom Coburn (D., Okla.) has complained that the FutureGen funding amounts to a large earmark, (pork)

States emerge as one of the biggest losers, after changes agreed to as part of the Nelson-Collins compromise. The new version of the Senate bill would drop proposed funding for a state fiscal stabilization fund from $79 billion to $39 billion. Many states, such as California, are struggling to balance their budgets.

Without a major infusion of funds, state governments worry that they may have to lower the level of services they provide -- which could affect staffing at schools, prisons and other essential services -- or even raise payroll taxes.

"If states don't get some sort of reprieve, or some sort of assistance, then they don't have any options and they have to increase payroll taxes, and it's not a choice that states like to make," said Michelle Blackston, a spokeswoman for the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The Wall Street Journal estimates only $90 billion out of $825 billion, or about 12 cents of every $1, is for something that can plausibly be considered a growth stimulus.

The WSJ goes on to say, "Most of the rest of this project spending will go to such things as renewable energy funding ($8 billion) or mass transit ($6 billion) that have a low or negative return on investment. Most urban transit systems are so badly managed that their fares cover less than half of their costs. However, the people who operate these systems belong to public-employee unions that are campaign contributors to...guess which party?...Here's another lu-lu: Congress wants to spend $600 million more for the federal government to buy new cars. Uncle Sam already spends $3 billion a year on its fleet of 600,000 vehicles. Congress also wants to spend $7 billion for modernizing federal buildings and facilities. The Smithsonian is targeted to receive $150 million; we love the Smithsonian, too, but this is a job creator?"

The WSJ article ends with a most lucid appraisal of Obama's "stimulus" plan: "This is supposed to be a new era of bipartisanship, but this bill was written based on the wish list of every living -- or dead -- Democratic interest group. As Speaker Nancy Pelosi put it, 'We won the election. We wrote the bill.' So they did. Republicans should let them take all of the credit."

Even before the last touches were put to the bill, the emerging deal infuriated some Democrats who said that President Obama and Congressional leaders had been, "too quick to give up on Democratic priorities" ($700+ billion in pork apparently isn't enough for some politicians).

“No matter how lavishly overpaid, civil servants everywhere are convinced they are horribly underpaid-but all public employees have larceny in their hearts or they wouldn’t be feeding at the public trough”
-Robert A. Heinlein

Senator Charles Schumer Says You Want Pork!

"And let me say this to all of the 'chattering class' that so much focuses on those little, tiny–yes, porky–amendments...the American people really don’t care."

"But though there is no difference in this respect between the best demagogue and the worst, both of them having to present their cases equally in terms of melodrama, there is all the difference in the world between the statesman who is humbugging the people into allowing him to do the will of God, in whatever disguise it may come to him, and one who is humbugging them into furthering his personal ambition and the commercial interests of the plutocrats who own the newspapers and support him on reciprocal terms."
-George Bernard Shaw

Well known for being a conceited, arrogant rat, Schumer believes the American people don’t care if he and his scheming cronies fellow lawmakers stuff--to the hilt--Obama’s already outrageous “economic stimulus” bill with waste!

Tell him otherwise!

Email him at: schumer.senate.gov/new_website/contact.cfm

or contact him through:

Schumer, Charles E. - (D - NY) Class III 313 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510 (202) 224-6542 Fax:202-228-3027	District Office- Albany: Leo O’Brien Building, Room 420 Albany, NY 12207 Phone: 518-431-4070 Fax: 518-431-4076
District Office- Binghamton: 15 Henry Street, Room B6 Binghamton, NY 13901 Phone: 607-772-6792 Fax: 607-772-8124	District Office- Buffalo: 111 West Huron Street, Room 620 Buffalo, NY 14202 Phone: 716-846-4111 Fax: 716-846-4113
District Office- Hudson Valley: Post Office Box A Red Hook, NY 12571 Phone: 914-285-9741 Fax: 845-758-1043	District Office- Long Island: 145 Pine Lawn Road, Room 300 Melville, NY 11747 Phone: 631-753-0978 Fax: 631-753-0997
District Office- New York City: 757 Third Avenue, Suite 17-02 New York, NY 10017 Phone: 212-486-4430 TTYD Number: 212-486-7803 Fax: 212-486-7693	District Office- Rochester: 100 State Street, Room 3040 Rochester, NY 14614 Phone: 585-263-5866 Fax: 585-263-3173
District Office- Syracuse: 100 South Clinton Street, Room 841 Syracuse, NY 13261-7318 Phone: 315-423-5471 Fax: 315-423-5185

USS Port Royal No Longer Aground

Guided Missle Cruiser USS Port Royal aground at Oahu

One of the United States Navy's most advanced vessels ran aground 5 February 2009.

The 9,600 ton Ticonderoga-class Aegis guided missile cruiser USS Port Royal (CG-73) became stranded on a rock-and-sand shoal late last Thursday. At the time she was offloading sailors, contractors and shipyard personnel to a smaller vessel to be transferred ashore. Port Royal had just come out of a dry dock after undergoing maintenance and was undergoing its first after-maintenance sea trials.

The cruiser, with a draft of 33 feet, was hard aground on a shoal with a depth of no more than 22 feet. 200 tons of fuel and water were offloaded in addition to 15 tons of sailors to lighten the vessel. Despite that and the advantage of Full-Moon high tides, three attempts to tow the vessel off the sandbar were unsuccessful on the 6th, 7th, and 8th of February.

An additional 500 tons of water and 100 tons of anchors were offloaded and the warship was finally re-floated about 2 a.m. on the morning of 9 February.

So, how the heck did one of the Navy's most advanced warships--ostensibly sporting the most sophisticated navigational system in the known universe--run aground a stone's throw from it's home port? (If any of you seaworthy types can shed some light on this please leave a comment, because Uncle Sam isn't talking).

The ships' Commanding Officer, Captain John Carroll--skipper of the Port Royal since October 2008--has been relieved of his duties pending an investigation.

There has been much speculation as to the cause of the grounding and naturally eyes have been cast on the ship's Captain. He seems a worthy officer and I include his bio here (because no one else has bothered) from Port Royal's website:

Captain John Carroll

Captain John Carroll was born and raised in Marshfield, Massachusetts. He graduated from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in May 1984 and was commissioned through Officer Candidate School in October 1984.

After completing nuclear power training and surface warfare basic training, he reported to Reactor Department in USS Enterprise (CVN 65) in Alameda, California. During this tour, he deployed to the Arabian Gulf and participated in Operation PRAYING MANTIS. Following this, Captain Carroll reported as the ASW Officer to USS Luce (DDG 38) homeported in Mayport, Florida, deploying on counter-drug operations in the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

From March 1991 to September 1993, he attended Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California , earning Masters of Science and Engineer Degrees in Mechanical Engineering.

Following Department Head School, Captain Carroll again reported to USS Enterprise (CVN 65) in Norfolk, Virginia as Reactor Controls Assistant, part of the crew taking CVN 65 out of the shipyard following her complex nuclear refueling overhaul. From June 1996 to February 1998, Captain Carroll served as Combat Systems Officer on USS Ford (FFG 54) out of Everett, Washington, participating in a battle group deployment to the Arabian Gulf.

Captain Carroll reported to USS Thach (FFG 43) in May 1998 in Yokosuka, Japan, as Executive Officer. During this tour, he deployed again to the Arabian Gulf conducting maritime intercept operations as part of a Maritime Expeditionary Force Group. After returning to Yokosuka , he oversaw one of the first forward deployed crew/hull swaps, becoming XO of USS Gary (FFG 51).

In October 1999, Captain Carroll reported to the staff of Commander, Naval Air Forces, U.S. Pacific Fleet as Deputy Force Nuclear Propulsion Officer and Officer-in-Charge of the Pacific Surface Nuclear Propulsion Mobile Training Team.

Captain Carroll took command of USS Rodney M. Davis (FFG 60), homeported in Everett, Washington, in May 2002. He deployed to the Arabian Gulf as part of NIMITZ Strike Group supporting Operations IRAQI FREEDOM and ENDURING FREEDOM. During his tour, ending in March 2004, Rodney M. Davis was the winner of the Battle Efficiency Award, the Golden Anchor and the CNO Safety Award.

Captain Carroll reported to the USS George Washington (CVN 73) in November 2004 where he served as the Reactor Officer until May 2007, completing two drydocking availabilities and preparing the ship for its transfer to Yokosuka, Japan.

Captain Carroll recently graduated from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. In October 2008, he assumed command of USS Port Royal (CG 73). His individual awards include the Meritorious Service Medal (four awards), the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (two awards), and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (two awards).

US Senator: James Hansen’s Former NASA Supervisor Declares Himself a "Human-Caused Global-Warming" Skeptic

 Note: This is a repost from the "U.S. Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works" Webpage which nobody reads. Interesting information to add to the mix.

Says Hansen ‘Embarrassed NASA’ & ‘Was Never Muzzled’

Gore Faces More Scientific Blowback

Also See: Gore’s Inconvenient Astronaut: NASA Moonwalker Defies Gore's Claim That Skeptics Are Akin To Those Who Believe Moon Landing was 'Staged'

[ See: Senator Inhofe’s YouTube Clip on Hansen’s former supervisor ]

Washington DC: NASA warming scientist James Hansen, one of former Vice President Al Gore’s closest allies in the promotion of man-made global warming fears, is being publicly rebuked by his former supervisor at NASA.

Retired senior NASA atmospheric scientist Dr. John S. Theon, the former supervisor of James Hansen, NASA’s vocal man-made global warming fears soothsayer, has now publicly declared himself a skeptic and declared that Hansen “embarrassed NASA” with his alarming climate claims and said Hansen was “was never muzzled.” Theon joins the rapidly growing ranks of international scientists abandoning the promotion of anthropogenic global warming fears.
[See: U.S. Senate Minority Report Update: More Than 650 International Scientists Dissent Over Man-Made Global Warming Claims & See Prominent Scientist Fired By Gore Says Warming Alarm ‘Mistaken’]

“I appreciate the opportunity to add my name to those who disagree that global warming is man-made,” Theon wrote to the Minority Office at the Environment and Public Works Committee on January 15, 2009. “I was, in effect, Hansen's supervisor because I had to justify his funding, allocate his resources, and evaluate his results. I did not have the authority to give him his annual performance evaluation,” Theon, the former Chief of the Climate Processes Research Program at NASA Headquarters and former Chief of the Atmospheric Dynamics & Radiation Branch explained.
[Note: Here are the results of a Google Scholar search on Theon. - Theon's complete written correspondence to EPW reprinted at the end of this report. ]

“Hansen was never muzzled even though he violated NASA's official agency position on climate forecasting (i.e., we did not know enough to forecast climate change or mankind's effect on it). Hansen thus embarrassed NASA by coming out with his claims of global warming in 1988 in his testimony before Congress,” Theon wrote.
[Note: NASA scientist James Hansen who runs NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) has created worldwide media frenzy with his dire climate warnings, his call for trials against those who dissent against man-made global warming fear, and his claims that he was allegedly muzzled by the Bush administration despite doing 1,400 on-the-job media interviews - See: Don’t Panic Over Predictions of Climate Doom - Get the Facts on James Hansen & UK Guardian: NASA scientist calls for putting oil firm chiefs on trial for 'high crimes against humanity' for spreading doubt about man-made global warming – June 23, 2008 & NYT's Revkin chides Hansen for promoting sea level claims that are at upper boundary of what is 'even physically possible']

Theon declared “climate models are useless.” “My own belief concerning anthropogenic climate change is that the models do not realistically simulate the climate system because there are many very important sub-grid scale processes that the models either replicate poorly or completely omit,” Theon explained. “Furthermore, some scientists have manipulated the observed data to justify their model results. In doing so, they neither explain what they have modified in the observations, nor explain how they did it. They have resisted making their work transparent so that it can be replicated independently by other scientists. This is clearly contrary to how science should be done. Thus there is no rational justification for using climate model forecasts to determine public policy,” he added.

“As Chief of several of NASA Headquarters’ programs (1982-94), an SES position, I was responsible for all weather and climate research in the entire agency, including the research work by James Hansen, Roy Spencer, Joanne Simpson, and several hundred other scientists at NASA field centers, in academia, and in the private sector who worked on climate research,” Theon wrote of his career. “This required a thorough understanding of the state of the science. I have kept up with climate science since retiring by reading books and journal articles,” Theon added. (LINK) Theon also co-authored the book Advances in Remote Sensing Retrieval Methods.

Hansen 'is a political activist who spreads fear'

Award-winning NASA Astronaut and Physicist Walter Cunningham of NASA’s Apollo 7 also recently chastised Hansen. “Hansen is a political activist who spreads fear even when NASA’s own data contradict him,” Cunningham wrote in an essay in the July/August 2008 issue of Launch Magazine. “NASA should be at the forefront in the collection of scientific evidence and debunking the current hysteria over human-caused, or Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW). Unfortunately, it is becoming just another agency caught up in the politics of global warming, or worse, politicized science,” Cunningham wrote.

[Note: Theon joins many current and former NASA scientists in dissenting from man-made climate fears. A small sampling includes: Aerospace engineer and physicist Dr. Michael Griffin, the former top administrator of NASA, Atmospheric Scientist Dr. Joanne Simpson, the first woman in the world to receive a PhD in meteorology and is formerly of NASA, Geophysicist Dr. Phil Chapman, an astronautical engineer and former NASA astronaut, Award-Winning NASA Astronaut/Geologist and Moonwalker Jack Schmitt, Chemist and Nuclear Engineer Robert DeFayette was formerly with NASA’s Plum Brook Reactor, Hungarian Ferenc Miskolczi, an atmospheric physicist with 30 years of experience and a former researcher with NASA's Ames Research Center, Climatologist Dr. John Christy, Climatologist Dr. Roy W. Spencer, Atmospheric Scientist Ross Hays of NASA's Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility]

Gore faces a much different scientific climate in 2009 than the one he faced in 2006 when his film An Inconvenient Truth was released. According to satellite data, the Earth has cooled since Gore’s film was released, Antarctic sea ice extent has grown to record levels, sea level rise has slowed, ocean temperatures have failed to warm, and more and more scientists have publicly declared their dissent from man-made climate fears as peer-reviewed studies continue to man-made counter warming fears. [See: Peer-Reviewed Study challenges 'notion that human emissions are responsible for global warming' & New Peer-Reviewed Scientific Studies Chill Global Warming Fears ]


“Vice President Gore's and the other promoters of man-made climate fears' endless claims that the 'debate is over' appear to be ignoring scientific reality,” Senator James Inhofe, Ranking Member of the Environment & Public Works Committee.

A U.S. Senate Minority Report released in December 2008 details over 650 international scientists who are dissenting from man-made global warming fears promoted by the UN. Many of the scientists profiled are former UN IPCC scientists and former believers in man-made climate change that have reversed their views in recent years. The report continues to grow almost daily. We have just received a request from an Italian scientist, and a Czech scientist to join the 650 dissenting scientists report. A chemist from the U.S. Naval Academy is about to be added, and more Japanese scientists are dissenting. Finally, many more meteorologists will be added and another former UN IPCC scientist is about to be included. These scientists are openly rebelling against the climate orthodoxy promoted by Gore and the UN IPCC.

The prestigious International Geological Congress, dubbed the geologists' equivalent of the Olympic Games, was held in Norway in August 2008 and prominently featured the voices of scientists skeptical of man-made global warming fears. Reports from the conference found that Skeptical scientists overwhelmed the meeting, with '2/3 of presenters and question-askers hostile to, even dismissive of, the UN IPCC' ( See full reports here & here ]

In addition, a 2008 canvass of more than 51,000 Canadian scientists revealed 68% disagree that global warming science is “settled.” A November 25, 2008, article in Politico noted that a “growing accumulation” of science is challenging warming fears, and added that the “science behind global warming may still be too shaky to warrant cap-and-trade legislation.” More evidence that the global warming fear machine is breaking down. Russian scientists “rejected the very idea that carbon dioxide may be responsible for global warming”. An American Physical Society editor conceded that a “considerable presence” of scientific skeptics exists. An International team of scientists countered the UN IPCC, declaring: “Nature, Not Human Activity, Rules the Climate”. India Issued a report challenging global warming fears. International Scientists demanded the UN IPCC “be called to account and cease its deceptive practices.”

The scientists and peer-reviewed studies countering climate claims are the key reason that the U.S. public has grown ever more skeptical of man-made climate doom predictions. [See: Global warming ranks dead last, 20 out of 20 in new Pew survey. Pew Survey & Survey finds majority of U.S. Voters - '51% — now believe that humans are not the predominant cause of climate change' - January 20, 2009 - Rasmussen Reports ]

The chorus of skeptical scientific voices grow louder in 2008 as a steady stream of peer-reviewed studies, analyses, real world data and inconvenient developments challenged the UN’s and former Vice President Al Gore's claims that the "science is settled" and there is a "consensus."

On a range of issues, 2008 proved to be challenging for the promoters of man-made climate fears. Promoters of anthropogenic warming fears endured the following: Global temperatures failing to warm; Peer-reviewed studies predicting a continued lack of warming; a failed attempt to revive the discredited “Hockey Stick”; inconvenient developments and studies regarding rising CO2; the Spotless Sun; Clouds; Antarctica; the Arctic; Greenland’s ice; Mount Kilimanjaro; Global sea ice; Causes of Hurricanes; Extreme Storms; Extinctions; Floods; Droughts; Ocean Acidification; Polar Bears; Extreme weather deaths; Frogs; lack of atmospheric dust; Malaria; the failure of oceans to warm and rise as predicted.

Theon’s complete written correspondence to EPW reprinted below:

-----Original Message-----
From: Jtheon [mailto:jtheon@XXXXXXX]
Sent: Thursday, January 15, 2009 10:05 PM
To: Morano, Marc (EPW)

Subject: Climate models are useless

Marc, First, I sent several e-mails to you with an error in the address and they have been returned to me. So I'm resending them in one combined e-mail.

Yes, one could say that I was, in effect, Hansen’s supervisor because I had to justify his funding, allocate his resources, and evaluate his results. I did not have the authority to give him his annual performance evaluation. He was never muzzled even though he violated NASA’s official agency position on climate forecasting (i.e., we did not know enough to forecast climate change or mankind's effect on it). He thus embarrassed NASA by coming out with his claims of global warming in 1988 in his testimony before Congress.

My own belief concerning anthropogenic climate change is that the models do not realistically simulate the climate system because there are many very important sub-grid scale processes that the models either replicate poorly or completely omit. Furthermore, some scientists have manipulated the observed data to justify their model results. In doing so, they neither explain what they have modified in the observations, nor explain how they did it. They have resisted making their work transparent so that it can be replicated independently by other scientists. This is clearly contrary to how science should be done. Thus there is no rational justification for using climate model forecasts to determine public policy.

With best wishes, John

# #

From: Jtheon [mailto:jtheon@XXXXXX]
Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2009 12:50 PM
To: Morano, Marc (EPW)

Subject: Re: Nice seeing you

Marc, Indeed, it was a pleasure to see you again. I appreciate the opportunity to add my name to those who disagree that Global Warming is man made. A brief bio follows. Use as much or as little of it as you wish.

John S. Theon Education: B.S. Aero. Engr. (1953-57); Aerodynamicist, Douglas Aircraft Co. (1957-58); As USAF Reserve Officer (1958-60),B.S. Meteorology (1959); Served as Weather Officer 1959-60; M.S, Meteorology (1960-62); NASA Research Scientist, Goddard Space Flight Ctr. (1962-74); Head Meteorology Branch, GSFC (1974-76); Asst. Chief, Lab. for Atmos. Sciences, GSFC (1977-78); Program Scientist, NASA Global Weather Research Program, NASA Hq. (1978-82); Chief, Atmospheric Dynamics & Radiation Branch NASA Hq., (1982-91); Ph.D., Engr. Science & Mech.: course of study and dissertation in atmos. science (1983-85); Chief, Atmospheric Dynamics, Radiation, & Hydrology Branch, NASA Hq. (1991-93); Chief, Climate Processes Research Program, NASA Hq. (1993-94); Senior Scientist, Mission to Planet Earth Office, NASA Hq. (1994-95); Science Consultant, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (1995-99); Science Consultant Orbital Sciences Corp. (1996-97) and NASA Jet Propulsion Lab., (1997-99).

As Chief of several NASA Hq. Programs (1982-94), an SES position, I was responsible for all weather and climate research in the entire agency, including the research work by James Hansen, Roy Spencer, Joanne Simpson, and several hundred other scientists at NASA field centers, in academia, and in the private sector who worked on climate research. This required a thorough understanding of the state of the science. I have kept up with climate science since retiring by reading books and journal articles. I hope that this is helpful.

Best wishes, John
# # #

Note: This is a repost from the "U.S. Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works" Webpage which nobody reads. Interesting information to add to the mix.

2009: International Year of Astronomy, Bicentenary of Darwin’s Birth

The International Year of Astronomy 2009 is a global effort initiated by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and UNESCO to help the citizens of the world rediscover their place in the Universe through the day- and night-time sky, and thereby engage a personal sense of wonder and discovery.

Everyone should realize the impact of astronomy and other fundamental sciences on our daily lives, and understand how scientific knowledge can contribute to a more equitable and peaceful society. IYA2009 activities are taking place locally, nationally, regionally and internationally. National Nodes in each country are running activities throughout 2009 which will establish collaborations between professional and amateur astronomers, science centers and science communicators. 136 countries are already involved and well over 140 are expected to participate eventually.

To coordinate this huge global program and to provide an important resource for the participating countries, the IAU established a central Secretariat and an IYA2009 website (www.astronomy2009.org) as the principal IYA2009 resource for public, professionals and media alike

The International Year of Astronomy 2009 is endorsed by the International Council of Science (ICSU) and by the United Nations, (one of the rare times I will mention the UN in a convivial light).


2009 is also the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Darwin, the 150th anniversary of the publication of his seminal work, ‘On the Origin of Species’, and the 800th anniversary of the University of Cambridge which will be celebrating Darwin's life and achievements 5–10 July 2009.