Is Anthropogenic Global Warming Possible And How Can We Make It Happen?

"The planet has a fever." Which planet? Mars? My planet is not so fortunate.

I am paying more for heat than ever. The pyramids do not seem all that impressive in light of all the snow I moved recently with my snow shovel. Yes, I do have a plow guy. But guess what? He is so swamped with work that he can't keep up with it. Why would that be?

Where are all those self-absorbed yuppies with their SUV's when we need them? Yes, the Obamas are doing their part, taking two jets on vacay but where are those Hollywood green warriors when we need them? Harrison For owns six jets but how many does he fly? If he could just warm the planet by one degree, my heating costs would plummet.


And if we could just get Babs to do more shopping in he Winnebago (using store toilets is de classe) maybe we could warm this frigid stone of a planet.

If Al Gore is listening, please crank up the lights in your kilowatt castle. We're freezing up here.

It works like a Swiss watch

I think this image of Covered California's performance log speaks for itself.

Just another wrongful death in a mindless war on drugs-80 year old man shot dead

Just another wrongful death in a mindless war on drugs. Gradually the public is beginning to realize that the threat of illegal drugs is nothing compared illegal enforcement of drug laws. An 80 year old man is shot to death in his bed and no drugs were found.

Chicago; The good news is it's sustainable, the bad news is it's broke

Did you ever notice that the most poorly run and cash strapped cities all have an office of sustainability? As far as urban financial stability is concerned , the twenty-first deserves more than the thirteenth century to be called the Age Of Faith.

The Sustainable Chicago action plan offers concrete initiatives, metrics, and strategies aimed at advancing Chicago’s goal of becoming the most sustainable city in the country. From improving citywide energy efficiency and promoting diversified transit options, to launching citywide recycling, the roadmap is robust and comprehensive, touching upon the full spectrum of life for Chicagoans, whether at home, at work, on our streets or in our parks.

In a post earlier this week I noted that the city of the Big Shoulders had to float a bond issue just to pay off its legal bills arising from police misconduct. Not to worry the city has a 7 point sustainability plan that will do everything but pay the bills. Chicago has tripled its debt from 2002 to 2012, has a per capita indebtedness of $20,000, and is facing a $590 million payment for retirement obligations due next year that will force cuts in almost every public service from garbage collection to police and fire protection that it cannot possibly pay without a state bailout. It doesn't help sustainability much that the state of Illinois has the lowest credit ranking of all states. The $590 million that was supposed to be paid into retirement plans was spent instead on capital improvements and operating expenses such as the goddam office of sustainability.

And having answered so I turn once more to those who
     sneer at this my city, and I give them back the sneer
     and say to them:
Come and show me another city with lifted head singing
     so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning.

“The legislature and the City Council and the mayor need to come to fiscal reality and recognize this is not sustainable,” said Laurence Msall, president of the Civic Federation, a nonprofit research group based in Chicago. “They’ve created a bigger problem down the road, and now we are down that road. And there is very little road left.”
Among the 25 most populous cities in the US Chicago ranks first-in debt. Its per capita debt is nearly twice that of bankrupt Puerto Rico. Moody’s Investors Service has cut its rating to A3, six notches below the top AAA but yet all the city hears from its leadership is inane prattle about concrete initiatives, metrics, and strategies. Chicago is not Detroit yet but unless it is willing to make sacrifices there is no other outcome. It has placed itself in a death spiral. If it cuts city services the most affluent will leave leaving fewer tax dollars that will force more cuts and more out migration of the affluent. Presently Chicago has diverse economy, a stable population and a considerable tax base but all that will go if it cannot elect competent leadership. The voters always get what they deserve.

What about the middle class?

Richard Fisher President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. In his published remarks before the Dallas and Fort Worth chapters of Financial Executives International this chart caught my eye.
As Democrats scramble to create a salient political issue to divert attention from the disaster that is Obamacare they have focused upon raising the minimum wage and have contrived to sell it as sound economic policy and a giant step toward a more egalitarian society. Luckily for Obama and the Democrats Fed officials don't indulge in public political polemics.

Earlier I showed you the gaping hole in the heart of our prosperity: If you remove the job-creating machine of Texas from the U.S. economy, the nation has experienced job destruction that has occurred over the past 12 years in the middle-income quartiles. Let me show you that chart again:

I never refer to “classes”; I do not believe status in a democracy should be defined by the hidebound concept of “classes.” But no matter: The most vital organ of our nation’s economy—the middle-income worker—is being eviscerated.

Considering that data such as these that are generated by the Fed and are the basis on which monetary policy is formulated I would suggest that they are as accurate as they get. These data beg two questions. First, why not focus on the quartiles that have borne the brunt of the economic devastation? To answer that question, I think it accurate to say the easiest solutions would be anathema to the Democratic Party and to big government Republicans. Repealing the corporate income tax would do wonders for the two disadvantaged quartiles but that would leave less money to give to the lower quartile. Rolling back business and environmental regulations would result in smaller government and fewer public sector jobs and those jobs are filled for the most part by good Democrats. A flat tax would spur economic growth but then extracting campaign contributions from lobbyists would be more difficult as there would be fewer lobbyists advocating favored tax status for their clients. So the Democrats are left with futile remedies that do little good for anyone but themselves.
The second question is how grateful will the electorate be  when for the most part its misery has again been ignored? Sure there will still be a few mopes who still hope to land one of the millions of green jobs that were promised and a few dolts will be giddy about their free contacepative and the accompaning sense of empowerment but the electorate at large is going to be pretty unforgiving. It is prepared to fire until it gets it right.
Fisher concluded;

I don’t want to ruin your evening after such a pleasant dinner. But if you wish to know who is at fault for hollowing out the welfare of middle-income workers and the American economy, kindly do not look at me or my colleagues at the Fed. When you go home tonight look at yourself in the mirror. We at the Fed are providing more than enough monetary accommodation. You elect our fiscal and regulatory policymakers. It is time for them to do their job, to ally themselves with us to achieve a fully employed, prosperous America. Only you, as voters, have the power to insist that they craft policies that are needed to restore American prosperity. Please do so.

Institutionalized Corruption: The Urban Institute Does Dirty Work For IRS

This is big but not necessarily surprising. It is abuse of power in plain view. The IRS has skirted federal law against politically-motivated oversight by funding a private party to do their dirty work for them.

/http://www.wnd.com/2014/02/smoking-gun-in-irs-political-targeting/

Rand Paul will file his NSA lawsuit tomorrow

Rand Paul will file his NSA lawsuit at 11 AM on Wednesday morning at the U.S. District Court in D.C. His lead attorney is former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. Joining in the suit is FreedomWorks president Matt Kibbe. Named defendants will be National Intelligence Director James Clapper, FBI Director James Comey, and NSA Director Keith Alexander.

"The Bill of Rights protects all citizens from general warrants. I expect this case to go all the way to the Supreme Court and I predict the American people will win," Paul said in a statement.

Clearly this has much to do with a future run for the presidency but Paul is about selling his hybrid brand of libertarianism. With his anti drone filibuster and now this suit he is mapping a new course to the White House. He alone took his message to bankrupt Detroit. He has been received cordially by students at Howard University. He is both teacher and politician. His course is a level above that of most candidates. Most sell themselves as the embodiment of an ideal. Paul must first sell the ideal and then himself.
The below video is from Paul's speech at Howard. To see how well he answers tough questions from a skeptical audience fast forward to about the 21:50 mark where he concludes his speech and begins taking questions. Very few politicians can think on their feet this well!

Say yes and win a selfie with Obama

Yes, and wear your pajamas and you can get free hot chocolate. One is conditioned to expect amateurish promises such as a selfie with Obama as the top prize from Organizing for Action but the ads created with federal monies are just as ridiculous and banal. Contrast HHS funded advertising for Obamacare with AFLAC, Progressive, and GEICO. They are just so lame!

If the target demo is is 18 to 35 why trot out Richard Simmons, 65, Magic Johnson, 54 and Alonzo Mourning, 44 none of whom have flashy personalities? I am beginning to think Democrats now hate Obamacare more than Republicans.

 

Ayotte; Boehner needs to get over his mistrust of Obama

Even Sarah Palin can't win them all but with Kelly Ayotte she picked a real loser of a mama grizzly. If they best that can be said for her is that she is no worse than John McCain, Lindsey Graham, or Jeff Flake hold you breath. True, her voting record is a bit more conservative than the aforementioned RINOs but she is a RINO in good standing. She exhibited her latest silliness on CBS's Face The Nation when she said that John Boehner had to get past the trust issue and vote for the Gang of Eight's immigration bill in short order. In this clip Lou Dobbs spells out several reasons not to trust Obama.

I Don't Need No Stinkin Foot Note But...

This happens more frequently than one might imagine. And some ideas are generic enough to repeat without credits. In fairness, I sometimes rephrase other people's ideas. We all do. But I like beating Mr. CNN to the analogy by four years.

http://townhall.com/columnists/erickerickson/2014/02/07/george-mcclellan-rides-again-n1790900?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl

http://obotomy.blogspot.com/2010/01/is-michael-steele-reincarnation-of.html

Marxism Is Here!

BUT WHAT ABOUT THEIR SUPERIOR HEALTH CARE?

Photo ID Required To Protest Against Photo ID's

Problem is, one of the important do's on the list of  Do's and Don’ts for Marchers, is for them to bring a “driver’s license, passport or other valid photo id” to the march, and make sure they have their photo ID handy “at all times.” 

Get the goods At Breitbart:

http://www.breitbart.com/InstaBlog/2014/02/08/Shock-NC-Moral-Marchers-Must-Have-Photo-IDs-To-Participate-In-Protest-Against-Photo-ID-Laws

PETA Wants Roadside Memorial for Chickens

May we suggest this design.

Sentimental yet understated

PETA has filed a request with the Georgia Department of Transportation that it be allowed to erect a 10 foot tall monument in memory of the dozens of chickens who lost their live in a truck accident. Sarah Segal of Atlanta writes,

"Although a relative of the deceased is usually required to fulfill requests for roadside memorials, I hope you will allow a concerned citizen such as me to suffice in this case. These chickens, who spent their entire short lives … on a factory farm before their agonizing deaths, have no known living relatives.”

PETA spokeswoman Shakira Croce added, “We hope the tombstone will offer food for thought in the ‘Poultry Capital of the World."

Low cal food for thought!

Chicago floats bond issue to pay off police misconduct lawsuits

Your city probably sucks if it has to float a bond issue to pay off police brutality lawsuits but under the competent leadership of Mayor Rahm Emanuel Chicago is doing just that. The city will market $900 million in bonds in part to reduce its short term borrowing costs but $100 million will go to settle lawsuits arising from police misconduct. To be fair to Emanuel much of the misconduct was perpetrated before his time by police Commander Jon Burge and his "Midnight Crew" who tortured suspects into confessing crimes they did not commit.
If you thought "stop and frisk" as practiced in New York was bad you're a wuss. In Chicago it's "stop and strip search" and this is something Emanuel cannot blame on his predecessors or George Bush. From the Chicago Sun Times:

All three claim they were searched by police May 23, 2013, after officers in an unmarked squad car drove at them the wrong way in the 9000 block of South Laflin Street, the suit says.
Police ordered them out of their vehicle and handcuffed Ford and Douglas, who had been driving, the suit claims. Officers opened both men’s waistbands and searched down their pants.
The suit alleges police then walked Douglas to a nearby house, handcuffed his wrist to bars on the home’s window, and pulled his pants to the ground while bending him over and searching his buttocks in the open air.
The plaintiffs claim police stopped when they saw neighbors looking, and then took all of them to an alley behind a church in the 9100 block of South Bishop Street, where they ordered Halley to remove her pants.
Halley claims she “pleaded” with a female officer not to, but that the officers made her remove her tampon and submit to a body cavity search in the alley.
A female officer searched her, while a group of male officers watched and “made jokes and comments about Ms. Halley’s body,” the suit claims.
The suit claims police found nothing illegal, but that the female officer reached toward her own sock and pulled out a small bag of heroin that she said she found in Halley’s waistband.
Halley and Douglas were both charged with delivery and a possession of a controlled substance, according to the suit.

Thank God for cheap cameras but not to worry. Chicago can always float another bond issue.