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Biochar

Biochar: A better start to rain forest restoration

An indigenous farming technique that’s been around for thousands of years provides the basis for restoring rain forests stripped clear of trees by gold mining and other threats.

A carbon-based soil amendment called biochar is a cheap and effective way to support tree seedling survival during reforestation efforts in the Amazon rain forest, according to new research from Wake Forest University’s Center for Amazonian Scientific Innovation (CINCIA).

Restoring and recovering rain forests has become increasingly important for combatting climate change, since these wide swaths of trees can absorb billions of tons of carbon dioxide each year. The problem is particularly acute in areas mined for alluvial gold deposits, which devastate not only rain forest trees but also soils. High costs can be a huge barrier to replanting, fertilizing and nurturing trees to replace those lost in the rain forest.

The scientists found that using biochar combined with fertilizer significantly improved height and diameter growth of tree seedlings while also increasing the number of leaves the seedlings developed. The experiment, based in a Peruvian Amazon region called Madre de Dios, the heart of illegal gold mining trade in that country, used two tropical tree species: the fast-growing Guazuma crinita and Terminalia amazonia, a late successional tree often used as timber.
     — Alicia Roberts
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Some problems with the climate change panic

Let's start with the baseline.

Earth is approximately four and a half billion years old. The approximate span of human history is about ten thousand years. Recorded history is only about six thousand years or so.

That makes human history .0002% or so of the life of the planet.

Let's be generous and say that humans have been producing significant carbon emissions for about three hundred years. That's about three percent of human history and an amazingly minute speck of planetary history.

So no more "ten year deadlines," especially since the deadline is always ten years out.

Before we start examining what humans are pumping into the atmosphere, we need to measure what is happening to our temperature. It turns out that we can see that temperatures changes on Mars match some of the temperature changes on Earth. That means that Mars and Earth have to share the same modifier in at least some instances. The obvious candidate is the Sun.

The Earth's climate has shifted radically before, even before there were humans. We don't entirely understand what caused those shifts, which means we can't eliminate those reasons from our projections.

While increased carbon dioxide has been linked to temperature increases, we don't know if the temperature increases caused the carbon dioxide or if the carbon dioxide cause the temperature change. We do know that the carbon dioxide cascade effect used in some climate models has never been observed or proven in a laboratory. There is no "magic threshold" between acceptable carbon dioxide and unacceptable carbon dioxide. Based on what has been observed, if there is a causal relationship between carbon dioxide and temperature increase, it is probably linear and not logarithmic.

We do know that in the past there has been higher carbon dioxide without any long term effects except increased plant growth.

We don't know what causes climate change.

This is not an "all or nothing" situation. We can care for the World without placing control in the hands of politics and technocrats. We can reduce our waste. We can use water wisely. We can build to work with the Earth and climate instead of imposing our control.

It's our choice.

From what we've seen, we dare not trust government to care for the planet.

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“What's the Deal with the Green New Deal?”

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Climate change challenge

I'm tired of being lectured to. So here's my challenge.

I pick any thirteen cities in the United States. You pick any month in one caledar year. You predict the exact temperature of each and every day from five separate locations within the city. But each location must be used only once, and can be no closer than seven blocks from any other location. That means somewhere between 140 and 155 temperature sites per city. Any given day is going to have 65 separate temperature readings for the country.

We're not even getting into the impact of climate change here. We're just seeing if human knowledge of climate is accurate enough to predict actual temperature. Not a range, but an actual temperature. Let's simplify and say that if any three readings on a given day match, that is the "official" reading for that city.

Because if you can't do that, and if the readings in a city vary, and if the readings across a country vary, there is no way you can say that an increased "average" temperature is the result of human activity. Especially if your predictions are in hundredths of a degree.

More importantly, change in one location doesn't mean change in another location.

This is a really reduced model. Let's expand a bit and use every month and every city. Same restrictions. Each location must be used only once per month, and can be no closer than seven blocks from any other location.

We're not adjusting for "climate change" yet, we're just trying to see how accurate the baseline is. Until you can show you can predict existing behavior, you can't model what is actually happening. And if you can't model the actual, there is no way you can model the theoretical.

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Changing the economy

Ocasio-Cortez’s Chief of Staff: Green New Deal About Changing Economy

Saikat Chakrabarti, chief of staff for New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D.), said that the Green New Deal was not about the climate, but rather about tearing down the economy and building a new one, according to a report from The Washington Post.

"The interesting thing about the Green New Deal is it wasn't originally a climate thing at all," Chakrabarti said, according to the Post. "Do you guys think of it as a climate thing? Because we really think of it as a how-do-you-change-the-entire-economy thing."

Chakrabarti made the comments during a meeting with Sam Ricketts, the climate director for presidential candidate Jay Inslee.
     — Graham Piro
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“Is the "Green New Deal" Realistic?”

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Renewable drawback

Physics of energy generation makes Polis’ 100 percent renewables goal unlikely

Electric grids are complex networks and interconnections that rely on a steady supply of electricity, but that also must maintain extremely close control of the frequency of the alternating current.

America operates on 60 cycles per second, or 60 Hz. That grid frequency can vary only about 2 Hz in either direction, says Griffey. “These are small variations, but if it drops below that you start kicking off loads,” he said. “Bad things happen and your system crashes.”

The grid is so sensitive to these variations that power producers must provide both reserve capacity to deal with sudden load increases and “grid inertia” to keep the frequency stable.

“You have to have inertia on the system that helps buffer load changes, and inertia is provided by turbines that spin. Renewables don’t have inertia,” said Griffey.

Without the electrical inertia available from fuel-powered, constantly-spinning generators, the entire grid can crash unexpectedly if the wind stops blowing while the sun isn’t shining.

This means that renewables like wind and solar will always require backup generators to provide both inertia and reliable power to take up unexpected loads.

And how much backup is required increases with the amount of renewables in the system.

“The more intermittent capacity you have, or the more unreliable capacity you have, you actually have to increase that reserve margin to carry more backup,” Griffey said.

“In the case of an all-wind system you’re going to be carrying 90 percent, give or take, to back it up because [windmills] only provide 5 to 15% of equivalent capacity,” said Griffey.

By equivalent capacity Griffey means that the advertised theoretical capacity of a wind farm of say 30 megawatts, called the “nameplate capacity,” only ever actually produces a fraction of that amount, called the “efficiency factor.”

Other sources place the efficiency factor of wind generators between 25% and 40%.
     — Scott Weiser
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“Thorium - The Future of Energy?”

Cross posted at www.teknopagan.com/files/Thorium190619.html

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Not part of the climate crisis crowd

I'm a pagan who is not part of the climate crisis crowd. Two of the biggest reasons are the climate changes on Mars during roughly the same period and the fact that the models haven't been accurate yet (and had an 18 year gap). Long story short, we don't know enough about the climate to even say what the baseline is, much less fiddling with the thermostat.
— NeoWayland
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Here's what you haven't been told about ethanol

Since ethanol is heavily subsidized in the United States, the price at the pump does not reflect the actual cost to produce. Extra costs are buried in taxes and the Federal general fund. These costs include collecting the tax, administering the tax, administrating the production and distribution of ethanol, and actual subsidies. It's nearly impossible to accurately calculate these costs, much less contain them.

Even with substantial subsidies, the technology doesn't exist to make ethanol economically from anything except food crops. Theoretically, almost any plant material can be used. Practically we haven't reached that point yet.

Government mandates and artificial demands for ethanol raise global food costs. The more crops required for ethanol, the bigger demand on food crops. The more ethanol that is required by law, the less food the poor can afford.

Mixing ethanol with gasoline makes fuel with less energy. More fuel must be used to move the same distance. There is ever growing political pressure to increase the ethanol and decrease the gasoline in the mix, which means even more fuel is needed.

Ethanol does not burn "cleaner" than gasoline. Ethanol does produce fewer greenhouse gases, but science hasn't yet found significant evidence that human-caused greenhouse gases significantly change the climate.

Ethanol is much more chemically reactive. Special (expensive) measures must be taken to transport and store ethanol. It doesn't "keep" as well as gasoline.

Farming crops to produce a gallon of ethanol takes more than a gallon of gasoline, especially considering the soil additives needed.
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Save the people

We are trying to save the people of the planet from the people ‘saving the planet.'

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❝There is no climate crisis…❞

The whole climate crisis is not only fake news, it’s fake science. There is no climate crisis, there’s weather and climate all around the world, and in fact carbon dioxide is the main building block of all life.
— Patrick Moore, co-founder of Greenpeace. Yes, he really was a co-founder of Greenpeace

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Science doesn't work by consensus

Science doesn't work by consensus. Science works by explaining existing phenomena AND accurately predicting what happens next. Scientists are people too and they can see where the money and power are coming from. Very few want to speak against that. Sometimes the ones who have disputed the consensus have been attacked and discredited without the argument ever being addressed.
— NeoWayland
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Dispute

For the Official Record, I didn't dispute that climate change is occurring. I disputed the measured changes were significant, if they were unusual, and if they were human caused. There's also the questions if the changes are bad, if humans can stop or reverse it, and if we should mess with a climate system that we have yet to understand.

For these reasons I dispute the climate change crisis.
— NeoWayland
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NeoNote — Deliberately created panic

What we do know is that there are loud politicos who want to take freedom, power, and money from people "for the greater good."

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NeoNote — Green New Deal

I think that for the politicos it was never about saving humans or the planet, it was always the justification for shifting massive amounts of power and cash without accountability.

Ocasio-Cortez is an idiot and a very noisy distraction.

What is going to hit next is The Compromise®. There will be some very well respected and high profile Democrats who will publicly proclaim that of course the Green New Deal goes too far. But maybe we should consider some of the proposals. Carefully. After all, people are scared.

And if the "reasonable" Democrats don't get The Compromise®, they can always throw their weight behind Ocasio-Cortez.

I suspect that "no planes" means no air travel unless it's Absolutely Necessary. With the Democrats deciding what is and is not necessary. Look for that in all the new proposals. That will be part of The Compromise® and how it will be sold to the public.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

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Wednesday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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❝Climate Change: What Do Scientists Say?❞

“The Nature of Sex”

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Monday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Friday roundup clearence

It’s Negative 24 Degrees and the Wind Isn’t Blowing. This is Why We Need Fossil Fuels and Nuclear Power, Not Renewables



South Bend Mayor and Possible Presidential Candidate Pete Buttigieg Decries "Endless War"

A voice of sanity.


Bill Nye’s Latest Climate Warning: The Us Will Have To Grow Its Food In Canada

Another attempt to panic you. Seriously, why does anyone listen to this man when he has been wrong so many times?


Florida Gov. DeSantis signs executive order scrapping Common Core

One advantage of fifty states is so we can experiment and find alternatives that might work better. The Constitution does not grant power over education to the Federal government.


The 16th Amendment: How the U.S. Federal Income Tax Became D.C.'s Favorite Political Weapon

Pretty accurate analysis.


Whatever Mueller Finds, Gag-Orders and No-Knock Raids Should Appall EVERYONE.

Why is this accepted?


What the Press Missed About Vanguard Founder's Fortune

“John Bogle's life is a reminder that in capitalism you can make a fortune by saving your customers money.”

Venezuela Finds Out The Hard Way That Only Bitcoin Is Unconfiscatable

The implications are staggering. You'd better believe that this is getting a lot of attention.


VA announces new rules giving veterans access to private providers

A good step. So why wasn't this done years ago?


Primetime CNN, MSNBC Ignore Virginia Dems Supporting Late, Post-Term Abortions

So why isn't this a major story?


PRESIDENT PELOSI? House Speaker holds public bill signings — to compete with Trump?



Noncitizens registered to vote in Pennsylvania and Texas show vote fraud is real



Dems Are Shocked, Shocked To Learn That 'Medicare For All' Outlaws Private Insurance



No-Knock Warrant for Deadly Drug Raid Describes Heroin and a Gun Cops Didn't Find



Yoho’s ‘Zero-for-Zero’ Sugar Plan To Curb Foreign Subsidies Returns



Water From the Air and Power From Trash

“Technology extracts at least 2,000 liters of water per day from the atmosphere at a cost of less than 2 cents per liter.”

Politico: Liberals Developing New Phraseology to Hype 'Climate Change'

When people don't buy what you are selling, change the label.


Europe 'coming apart before our eyes', say 30 top intellectuals

Elites don't like it when the populace make their own choice.


South Carolina Police Hauled in $17 Million Through Civil Asset Forfeiture Over Three Years



France’s Red Scarves: Ready-Made Counter-Protest and New Media Darlings



Howard Schultz Shoots Down Liz Warren Attack With Passionate Defense of the American Dream



An American Nightmare

“Why were there more FBI agents sent to arrest Stone than Navy SEALs sent to kill Osama bin Laden? Why jackboots in the morning in America? Here is the back story.”

Don't Expect The EU To Cave On May's Brexit Deal Until The Very Last Minute



Chaos has reportedly erupted inside Facebook as employees find themselves unable to open the company's apps on their iPhones



After 4 Cops Shot in Houston, Police Promise to Go After and ‘Track’ Those Who Criticize Police



‘I’m Not Going to Enforce That’: Sheriffs Disobey New Anti-Gun Laws—Refuse to Disarm Citizens



When 'Former' Spies Run Wild, Bad Things Happen



84% of 18-24 year olds don’t know how to change a light bulb… but they think they can run the economy?

Then there is the obvious question, why does the economy have to be "run?"


Entrepreneurship Lifts Cambodia from the Clutches of Extreme Poverty in a Single Generation

“So long as there is peace and political stability in Cambodia, the future is looking bright for this growing economy.”

NANCY? Pelosi botches words, suffers face spasms, confuses Dems, GOP while vowing no border wall funding



Roger Stone faces a gag order. He has a plan to resist it.



The Unseen Costs of Humanitarian Intervention



Rep. Ilhan Omar calls for sharp tax increases on the wealthy: 'We've had it as high as 90 percent'

Amazing how no one talks about cutting spending.


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Forgot to measure the animals

NAU researchers combine satellite data and modeling to predict climate change

The discussion reveals that the grazing, predation and movement (among other activities) performed by animals of all types have important effects on the ecological nutrient movement and should therefore be included in ecosystem studies.

“Such zoogeochemical effects are not measured by current remote sensing, nor are they included in carbon cycle models. … This currently limits our ability to accurately calculate carbon budgets and predict future climate change,” the team wrote.

The discussion also suggests that the integration of animal spatial ecology, ecosystem modeling and remote sensing are needed to improve carbon cycle research. This methodology can also be used to predict how animals will react to changing climates and provide methods to preserve biodiversity.
     — Kaitlin Olson
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Holiday week roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Thursday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Cloned giants

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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NeoNote — Pagans and climate change

Critics have also noted that much of the science doesn't hold up and that the ten year deadlines keep getting moved.



Pardon, but that is not true. It's a very small minority of critics have publicly claimed the science doesn't hold up. As for the "vast majority of the world's scientists," that's not true either.

This is one area where what little science there is has been buried under layers and layers of politics. It has become heresy to criticize the "conclusions." And the reactions to those who do ask questions are exactly like those historical reactions to those who questioned Islam or Christianity in a less enlightened age. We should be asking why it is necessary to crush dissent. We should also be asking if (notoriously unreliable) politicos are really on the side of Earth and Nature, or if they have their own agenda.

Then we get to the science which really isn't science. It's computer models built on a unproven assumptions, including a carbon dioxide cascade effect that has never been observed either in the laboratory or in the field. The models also minimize other known strong climate influences such as solar variations and atmospheric water, probably because those can't be blamed on human activity. But no, the science is settled and Must Not Be Questioned.

Those of us who follow Earth-centered paths want to believe that we are uniquely qualified to help. Part and parcel of that is the belief that we are uniquely qualified to hurt as well. While there are ecological problems that are human caused like pollution and water table damage and overharvesting the seas and rainforests, Nature adapts. If all humans disappeared tomorrow morning at 7:13 AM Eastern Standard Time, life would go on.

We need to find actual changes that make the World a little better. That doesn't include handing over massive funding and political power to politicos and technocrats who have no understanding of Nature and haven't the slightest idea how to solve the "problem."



As a rule, I don't think either/or solutions apply. It's not save the planet OR consume everything.

Are there solutions? Yes, and a lot of them are beyond our reach for now. When we get nanotech going (and we will), I expect one of the first large scale applications will be vat-grown exotic hardwoods that are virtually indistinguishable from the "real thing" other than cost and availability. Vat-grown stone will follow. Already vat-grown meat shows promise.
And that is just short to medium term.

We can make it better without the need for noble sacrifice.

We also need to address capitalistic solutions that may work. The American bison population is growing because some herds are privately owned and managed. There's evidence that works with African elephants as well. People take care of what they own.



"Eppur si muove."

This is public science we are talking about. Public science means telling the politicos what they want to hear. In living memory, public science has flip flopped on things like forest management, eugenics, recommended diet, humans have only five senses, and the role of sodium in human biology. When discussing public science, we should always ask "who profits?"

I focus on the political of climate science because unlike almost any other field of science, dissent is not allowed. It's not merely a matter of dismissing results, it's discrediting the researchers who don't toe the line.

For most of the 20th Century, we humans have treated Science as the new god. We forget we know much less than we think we know. We forget that science is a process and not an absolute. I just keep remembering a commercial I heard on an old-time radio recording. "Eight out of ten doctors recommend Lucky Strikes for their patients who smoke."

I'd probably ignore the whole mess except governments are demanding tremendous power to Act Now despite having no real solutions. And of course, it's too urgent for debate or to submit to public vote.



I am not anti-science.

I really don't want to turn this into a long debate on climate science or government power.

What I'd like is for people to ask more questions. Why the goalposts for action keep moving. Just what is supposed to be done and how much of an effect it should have. What will be done if the predictions fail to predict.

While Why neopagans of all people are treating this as an Absolute Revelation when we know that the World does things we don't expect.

Why we can't start with simple things like planting more trees.

I think asking these questions is important.



It's the political aspect that worries me. I won't kid you, the extreme climate change crowd are a major inspiration for what I call the True Believer™.

I think the science could work itself out, but partial conclusions and unproven techniques have been placed front and center of an agenda that has very little to do with saving the planet.



The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.
— H. L. Mencken



*shrugs*

Like I said, if it wasn't for the politician's rush to do something now, and incidentally completely remake every social structure and institution, I'd be content to sit this one out.

I've done more than a little research on this subject over the years. I've written about it quite a bit. I'm notorious in some circles for being the pagan that doesn't embrace the climate change panic.

But more and more I see this as political. It's not the scientists who are making the noise. It's not the scientists who are calling for massive financial and social changes. And it's not the scientists who want to punish "climate deniers."



I've no problem with bottom up changes providing better alternatives.

I've every problem with unquestioned top down solutions imposed by force.

I firmly believe that there are two phrases which have done more to shape humanity and human history than anything else.

The first is Let me help.

The second is I can do better than that!



Can you name another topic where "science" is defined by consensus rather than it's ability to predict?



Science isn't neutral. Science is a process. As a process, it shouldn't be treated as a conclusion.

The Brontosaurus was, wasn't, and then was again. Our perspective changed, our acceptance changed, but those old bones didn't.

No one is measuring the value of plate tectonics by how many people agree with it. Validity is measured by how well the theory explains observed phenomena and predicts what will happen.

Yet when it comes to climate change, there is always an overwhelming percentage of consent consensus cited, as if this measures validity.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

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Tuesday roundup

Monument Valley closed due to ‘cult activity'

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Sunday bonus roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Friday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Thursday oversized roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Tuesday roundup

The Amazon Deal Shows Why We Must End Corporate Welfare



Top Ecuadorian Diplomat Destroys Guardian's Claim That Manafort Visited Assange



Migrant caravan hits tourism



Will Dems Protest Clintons, Too?



Macron Looks to Tax Measures to Curb



Truth Is What We Hide, Self-Serving Cover Stories Are What We Sell



Will Paris Riots Scuttle Climate Accord?



Revealed: Marriott's 500 Million Hack Came After A String Of Security Breaches



Paris protests reveal fracture between France’s haves and have-nots



Miseducated or Stupid?



I quit Instagram and Facebook and it made me a lot happier — and that's a big problem for social media companies



Is the FBI Raiding Whistleblowers' Homes to Protect Robert Mueller?



I deleted my Twitter account. It's a breeding ground for thoughtlessness and contempt.


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Bonus Sunday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Wednesday mini-roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Monday mini-roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Friday mini-roundup

Minneapolis' Healthy Foods Mandate Screws Over Ethnic Grocers

“The city's Staple Food Ordinance mandates that stores carry products customers don't want.”

Buried? Feds to release major climate report day after Thanksgiving



Mises Predicted the "Red Meat Tax"



Why A Revote Is Necessary After Brenda Snipes Resigns Amid Florida’s Midterm Insanity



Even California Cannot Defy Nature Forever



QE Created Dangerous Financial Dependence, Italy Hooked, Withdrawal Next, ECB Warns



Information Attacks against Democracies



Roberts, Trump spar in extraordinary scrap over judges


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Thusday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Supersized Monday roundup

In Democratic circles, anti-Semitism is becoming normal



The ACLU Condemns DeVos's Title IX Reforms, Says These Due Process Safeguards 'Inappropriately Favor the Accused'

“So much for civil liberties.”

Household debt hit a record high of $13.5 trillion last quarter



A Warm-Up For 2020: Arizona’s Maricopa County Just Stole The Senate Election

I'm not sure about the allegations, but I'm watching closely.

GOP Audits Elections Office In County That Swung To Democrats



Hanging On: Republican Congresswoman Mia Love Is Now Favored To Prevail In Tight Re-Election Bid



Stacey Abrams Acknowledges Loss In Georgia Governor's Race



Is an ‘Internet of Ears’ the next big thing for smart homes?



SAF, NRA File Federal Lawsuit Challenging Initiative 1639



Kansas City Health Department pours bleach on food meant for homeless people



Debra Messing Joins Alyssa Milano, Condemns Anti-Semitic Women's March Leaders



Gridlocked, in Fair Weather and Foul

“New Yorkers demand that the mayor clear the roads—but only in snowstorms.”

Bubble Trouble: Seattle-Bellevue Metro Housing Market Goes South



Democrats’ Way Back: Is the Resistance rooted in reality?



Identity Politics and American anti-Semitism



Brenda Snipes submits resignation as Broward elections supervisor



Hell Hath No Fury Like a Liberal Scorned: The Media Turns on Facebook and Google



Trump backs sentencing reform bill he says will give ex-inmates 'a second chance at life'



The Institutionalization of Social Justice



There's a Good Reason Many Women Make Less Than Men



Loggers support Trump's claim that wildfires caused by 'poor forest management'



Global warming alarmists pissed off by Canadian gov’t report that nukes their narrative about polar bears



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Friday roundup

Batkid saved San Francisco five years ago, and his cancer's been in remission ever since

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Thursday - November 15, 2018

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Oversized Wednesday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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NeoNote — Using the law to compel belief

There's also climate change. Some treat it very much as a religious issue, right down to attacking dissenters as heretics. Using the law to compel belief is wrong.

After all, if it is Divine Will, how can mere humans dare question it? Which gives non serviam some very interesting implications. By some interpretations, the absolute demands of monotheism may be less about the Divine and more about the political power of princes, potentates, and priests.

It's easy to laugh at those crazy monotheists until you see some demands of the RadFems, the trans activists, the environmental groups, the redistributionists, and anti-hate speech types. Always, Always, ALWAYS there is a Grand Cause that demands total submission and absolutely no denial "for the greater good."

Anytime you see "thou shalt not dissent," it should be a flashing red strobe and a triple siren.



Kosher certification for restaurants is one private alternative for food safety that has worked. One author, L. Neil Smith, suggested in one of his novels that insurance companies would do a better job with driver's licenses because they are liable if something happens. Obviously these are not the only possibilities. But with government, we end up with only one Official Solution® allowed.

Personally I prefer the free market and competition. And by free market, I mean no government to pick winners or losers, and no government to give advantages over others. Just voluntary exchanges between consenting adults. Many companies especially international ones owe their competitive advantages to special privileges from governments and/or government regulation and control.

The only times I think government should intervene is to protect life, liberty, and property. Beyond that, the only role I see for government is enforcing contracts and agreements, but even that could be done privately.

But that is just me.

I do believe that Meddling in Other's Lives For Their Own Good is one of the great evils unleashed on humanity.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

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Wednesday roundup

It's going to be tight.

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Friday roundup

Changing the Rules

Controlling the internet

Why Is Social Media So Toxic?



Have we really wiped out half of all animals?



If Dems win the House, ‘climate committee’ will return – seeking energy taxes



Napolitano Teaches Basic Civics to Desperate ‘Fox & Friends’ Hosts

It wouldn't be the first time Trump said something outrageous to set the discussion

We Need a #MeToo Movement for Political Consent



How Trump Is Winning The Midterm Elections



Pakistan acquits Christian woman on death row



Surveillance Cameras Can Identify Anyone by “Talking to Their Cellphones”



Everything you need to know about economics you can learn in the pet food aisle



'Stalked within your own home': Woman says abusive ex used smart home technology against her



If You Liked 'Axis of Evil,' You're Gonna Love 'Troika of Tyranny'



Foxconn: Failure & Fraud


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Wednesday roundup

Civility 101: James Cromwell Says ‘There Will Be Blood’ if Dems Lose Midterms

If this is true, why hold elections?

State-Backed Digital Currency Offers Nothing for Canadians



Is This Worse Than '68?



Moving The Goalposts: IPCC Secretly Redefines what ‘Climate’ means



Bolsonaro is not a fascist



Dad at McDonald's with kids shoots and kills masked gunman who opened fire



Why Halloween Is America’s Most Neighborhood-Nurturing Holiday



Hillary Clinton Drops Super Racist Comment During Event

Can you imagine any Republican getting away with this?

The Misguided Rabbis of Twitter

“Calls to excommunicate pro-Trump Jews are not simply wrong. They’re poison.”

Election predictions

Why polls probably aren't working

Feds Order Google To Hand Over A Load Of Innocent Americans' Locations

Not guilty, just in the wrong place at the wrong time. So much for the "right" of privacy.

New Research Confirms We Got Cholesterol All Wrong

“The U.S. government has pushed a lot of bad nutrition advice over the years. Maybe it should stop advising us on what to eat.”

Warmists and Skeptics Should Agree That This is The Real Scandal in Climate Science


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Tuesday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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“Nobel Laureate in Physics; "Global Warming is Pseudoscience"”

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Oversized Monday roundup

Report: 3,000 SNAP Retailers Used Social Security Numbers of Dead People During Obama Administration



China Targets Control Over Internet of Things for Spying, Business



Once Again, NBC Sits On Story Related to Sexual Misconduct Until After It Matters



Corporate Speech Police Are Not the Answer to Online Hate



'#WalkAway' movement renouncing liberalism marches through nation's capital



One of the Best Arguments Against Blocking Speech on Social Media....

“...is so we become aware of who might be dangerous.”

Defensible Space

““Megafires” are now a staple of life in the Pacific Northwest, but how we talk about them illustrates the tension at the heart of the western myth itself.”

Deficits Do Matter: Debt Payments Will Consume Trillions of Dollars in Coming Years



U.S.-bound migrants enter Guatemala, others clash at border

Another 3000 strong caravan

Is Orwell’s Big Brother Here? Bezos & Amazon Team up With Defense, CIA & ICE



Murder in Pittsburgh and the Targeting of Alternative Social Media



Voters in Oregon Have the Opportunity to Create 10 “Gun Sanctuary” Counties



New Hampshire Privacy Amendment on the Ballot



Google’s smart city dream is turning into a privacy nightmare



Mexico offers caravan migrants benefits to stay; thousands refuse



Virtue-signaling and derangement in the wake of a massacre


Comments

Tuesday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry


An exclusive look at Cory Booker’s plan to fight wealth inequality: give poor kids money

Where does the money come from? Who decides who gets money and who does not? How is this not buying votes?

A Law Intended to Protect Crime Victims Is Being Used to Shield the Identities of Police Officers

Unaccountable authority will be abused.

Dear Resistance, listen to my lived totalitarian experience – you have no effing idea what you’re talking about



Politico Report Says Russiagaters Should Prepare To Kiss My Ass



Methods and Tricks Used to Create and Perpetuate the Human-caused Global Warming Deception



Divided Democrats struggle to answer Trump's claims on migrant caravan



Watching a Country Make a Fool of Itself



Saudi dissidents fear 'long arm' of state after Khashoggi murder



A Texas Police Officer Is Charged After Mishandling 130 Sex Crime Cases



Georgia Mayor Has Plan To Round Up Town's Sex Offenders on Halloween



California company that hires protesters is accused of extortion



Previously Deported Illegal Aliens Join Caravan: ‘It’s Time for Me to Go Back’



Judge bars New Hampshire proof of residency requirement for new voters


Comments

Bonus Saturday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry


The truth about electric cars



When a DNA Test Reveals Your Daughter Is Not Your Biological Child



Will U.S. Success In Cutting Greenhouse Gases Kill The Paris Climate Deal?



Honduras's paid caravan 'refugees' exposed as frauds by Venezuela's real refugees



Emails Show Obama FDIC Struggled With Legal Basis For Operation Choke Point



Texas Democrats Caught Mailing Pre-Filled Voter Registrations To Non-Citizens



Elizabeth Warren's Other Cherokee Scandal: Her Fight Against Tribal Sovereignty



Khashoggi misinformation highlights a growing number of fake fact-checkers



Migrant caravan clashes with Mexican police, waits on bridge at Guatemalan-Mexican border



Black Trump Supporters Declare Their Independence From The Democratic Party


Comments

Friday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Comments

Tuesday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry


Elizabeth Warren’s DNA Test Is ‘Useless,’ ‘Inappropriate And Wrong’ Cherokee Nation Official Says



U.S. Has 3.5 Million More Registered Voters Than Live Adults — A Red Flag For Electoral Fraud



Saudis said ready to concede writer was slain in botched interrogation



A White Woman Falsely Accused a Black 9-Year-Old Boy of Groping Her

“Surveillance footage disproves her allegations—and reminds everyone not to automatically believe victims.”

How An Amateur Rap Crew Stole Surveillance Tech That Tracks Almost Every American



The Next Generation Of Democratic Leaders Wants To Move Up, But The Baby Boomers Are In The Way

I don't usually cite BuzzFeed, but this one is dead on.

Washington Post: “Double or Triple” Fuel Prices to Solve the Climate Crisis



‘60 Minutes’ Was Outmatched by Trump (Column)



The FBI Doesn’t Want Users To Know Who Hacked Facebook



On Eve of Harvard Bias Trial, Dueling Rallies Show Rifts Among Asian-Americans



More Entrepreneurship Would Help Progressive Causes, But Progressives Do Not Understand It At All



Facebook Slams Independent Voices With Latest Political Purge



Understanding "Brazil’s Donald Trump"


Comments

Wind & Sun

The down side to wind power

As the world begins its large-scale transition toward low-carbon energy sources, it is vital that the pros and cons of each type are well understood and the environmental impacts of renewable energy, small as they may be in comparison to coal and gas, are considered.

In two papers — published today in the journals Environmental Research Letters and Joule — Harvard University researchers find that the transition to wind or solar power in the U.S. would require five to 20 times more land than previously thought, and, if such large-scale wind farms were built, would warm average surface temperatures over the continental U.S. by 0.24 degrees Celsius.
     — Leah Burrows

Remember, the wind doesn't always blow and the sun doesn't always shine. This means that wind power and solar power are at best supplemental power sources. There has to be something else to provide baseline power.

Given that, we also need to acknowledge the costs of power sources.
Comments

Carbon neutrality

Carbon neutrality is a fallacy cooked up so that developing nations would not have to face the same "standards" as industrialized nations and to create a parasite market based on a fictional commodity.
     — NeoWayland
Comments

Cloaks itself in science

Just because it cloaks itself in science doesn't make it science. There is very little that is provable or scientific about human caused climate change.
     — NeoWayland
Comments

Geniune Tree Hugging Pagan

I'm telling you as a Genuine Tree Hugging Pagan that anthropogenic climate change is a scam designed to seize money and political power.
     — NeoWayland
Comments

NeoNote — global climate change

*sigh*

Pardon, but global climate change is a scam designed to take political power and money away from people. The figures are not accurate, the goalposts keep getting moved, and the solutions always seem to boil down to "give us money and don't ask questions."

I've done the research. Short of reducing the number of people or removing access to energy, there is not a lot that can be done. At present, there are exactly two off-the-shelf technologies that can meet power needs without adding to the "carbon footprint." Those are hydroelectric and nuclear plants. There are a limited number of rivers that can be dammed up to produce power. There are very few alternatives to high-pressure fission plants. Nobody wants either close to their homes.

Despite what you've been told, most "green" technologies are anything but. Ethanol can't be produced economically without subsidies. It's much more chemically unstable, making it harder to store, transport, and use in engines. Electric cars don't mass as much, making them more dangerous in an accident. Manufacturing and maintaining electric car batteries has a bigger impact on the environment. Solar and wind require parallel systems to meet peak demand. The cost of solar is prohibitive. Wind power attracts and kills birds. It may also contribute to local warming.

This is a big mess, and it's not going to be fixed by a top down legal solution.

Given the games that have been played over the years, we don't know what contributes to global climate change. We don't even know if there is human caused climate change. Climate changes, it happened before humans were here, and it will continue long after our descendant's descendants have turned to dust.

Meanwhile, we're still pumping water into swimming pools and golf courses. We still have waste plastics and trash piling up. We're destroying the rainforests and wiping out species.

But that doesn't matter because we're going to fix global warming. Eventually.



Pardon, but I didn't say that nuclear or dams are an acceptable solution. I said that they were the only existing off-the-shelf solutions that could meet demand and not add to the "carbon footprint."

As far as the predictions being short of reality, well, no. Back in the 1970s, the fear was about global cooling. In 1990, the IPCC predicted that temperatures would rise by 1ºC by 2025. As of the end of 2017, the actual change has been between .3ºC and .5ºC, depending on which database you use. Wildfires were supposed to increase, they declined. Snow was supposed to become a rare event, it stayed about the same. The Arctic Ocean was supposed to become ice free, but there's been no measurable decline. The sea level was supposed to rise four feet by now, it's been three or four inches. In 2005, there were supposed to be 50 million "climate refugees" by 2015.

This is the problem. Someone will proclaim disaster, but they are never held accountable for previous predictions. The goalposts keep moving.



What I'd like to see is the ecological issues separated from the climate change claims. There is a tremendous amount of power and money at stake without any accountability.

That is what I meant by a scam. People want to help. Pagans and Earth-centered faiths especially want to help the planet. Somebody is profiting without actually "saving the planet." If it were anything else, we'd call them out. But because it's climate change, we accept the outrageousness.



I agree with you about the dams. They aren't a good solution. They are one of the very few proven technologies that can deliver the energy.

Pardon, I wasn't clear. Electric vehicles devote most of their mass to batteries. There have been some impact studies that do not show electrics in a good light.

I don't advocate reducing the population. But it is one of the solutions that is "on the table." Oddly enough, it's focused mainly on highly industrialized nations.



Pardon, but it is not about "deepening our understanding."

Somebody predicted something, it did not happen, and rather than owning their mistake, they predict more disaster just around the corner.

We don't know what makes climate work. I wouldn't trust anyone who claims to know what the temperature "should be."

I do know that we don't have big enough baselines. They talk about "the worst weather in a century." But the planet is more than four and a half billion years old. That's about .0000022% more or less.



If I told you that your favorite relative was coming in a red car, wouldn't you notice more red cars?

If the news was telling you that there were more storms, wouldn't you notice more storms?

You should ask IF there are actually more natural disasters or if someone wants more viewers/readers.

I'm not disputing that there are ecological problems. In my first post on this thread I mentioned water and waste disposal. What I am disputing is if global climate change is human caused or even a problem.

Electric cars have always had the battery problem. Add to that generating the electricity in the first place. Both have a huge environmental and economic impact.

Solar and wind are cheap, but converting them into something we can use is not. I live in Arizona, one of the sun shiniest states in the union. But that won't produce electricity at night or during a storm. The sun doesn't always shine and the wind doesn't always blow.

Don't underestimate the power of profit and the free market. It's why we have things like grocery stores and comfortable shoes. Not to mention dirt cheap ballpoint pins, cheap computers, clean water, and affordable eyeglasses. See, the thing about the free market is that you have to offer as good as your competition or you lose business. If the competition makes it better or cheaper, you have to match them just to stay afloat.

And that brings us back to solar. In a world where practically anything can be sold at a profit at WalMart, don't you think that if cheap, durable, efficient solar cells could be made they would be?

I'm not asking for predictions to be one hundred percent accurate. But I do think the accuracy should be better than chance. Especially if the people doing the predictions want scads of money and tremendous political power to fix the "problem."



You're using solar supplementally. That's good.

Let me make it clear that I do not oppose solar. I just do not think it's practical or affordable as a primary source on a mass scale as it has been sold. I'm a big fan of decentralization. I also think that much of our architecture doesn't support the wise use of energy.

I'm not sure that solar is practical as a primary electrical supply, even on a small scale. Aside from AC, there are things like freezers, refrigerators, hot water heaters, washers, and dryers. These appliances are designed for a constant flow of power.

Ideally I think there should be earth houses or something along the lines of the works of the late Malcolm Wells.



The weather isn't the same every year. My high desert is having a very dry year on top of several others. Lake Powell and Lake Mead are at very low although not record low levels. It's enough to trigger the restrictions on the water treaties though, which means that Arizona and Nevada won't be getting their full allotment from the Colorado.

There was one year when I was a kid that there was snow every two or three days. Not a lot of snow, but very unusual for a desert and unheard of.

Even a human lifetime is not enough to establish a baseline. What is weather in a century when the planet is billions of years old? The planet has had several ice ages, which means there were warm periods too.

I want to stress that I am not dismissing environmental issues like clean water. When I first saw the PBS series based on Cadillac Desert I was horrified. That made me take a hard look at what was happening with water in the Southwest.

No, my issue is with anthropogenic climate change. From what I can tell, there are alarmists but no evidence. And a lot of failed predictions.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

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Friday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Comments

Thursday roundup

People tend to repeat behavior that has been successful or will bring them an emotional high.

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NeoNote — Absolutism

The problem with making the personal political is that you drag everyone around you into politics, whether they want to be or not.

The environment is a hugely complex topic. Where do we start? Water rights? Ethanol eradication? GMO seeds? Climate change? I'm willing to bet that no one here is going to agree on all of those.

Likewise the "religious right." Obviously we need to take a stand against people like Roy Moore. It took me twenty-plus years to get on speaking terms some of my relatives younger than me, I'd rather not throw that away. Not all of the religious right is a monolithic block, any more than all pagans. Individual relationships work better than shunning everyone with the wrong label.



Pardon, but I've found environmental issues particularly troubling, to the point where I'd rather discuss ecology rather than environmentalism. There are some in the climate change crowd who are just as absolutist as any hard core evangelical Christian. As another example, when I call for the eradication of ethanol because it is subsidized, requires food crops, consumes more than a gallon of gas to produce one gallon of ethanol, and is harder to store and transport than gasoline, I'm attacked because I am "in the pocket of big oil."

Perhaps it's that absolutist quality that is the real problem. There's more than one answer and one answer doesn't fit all. I'd say there is more than one problem too, but most don't want to deal with that.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

Comments

NeoNote — Government should not be trusted

When government is "responsible" for something, regular people stop paying attention.

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Thursday supersized roundup

Survey Says: Politicized Sports, Entertainment Driving Viewers Away

But some progressives have been saying it doesn't make a make a significant difference

Digitalships and Double-Standards



Document drop: Another fatal FBI fumble in Florida

What happens when diversity is more important than public safety

The Schooling of David Hogg

Public spectacle doesn't mean you'll get respect. See also Dear David Hogg, You’re a Lying, Opportunistic, Insufferable Little Toe Rag


California judge holds climate change ‘tutorial’ ahead of landmark case against oil companies

This alone should be enough to show the judge's bias

NOAA Data Tampering Approaching 2.5 Degrees

Completely rewriting climate history

EU reveals a digital tax plan that could penalize Google, Amazon and Facebook

The important thing is NOT that the EU is going after these companies. The important thing is that "traditional businesses" pay 23.2% in taxes.

Why Trump Is Right to Reject the Paris Climate Agreement

It was never about reducing CO2. It was about the United States paying through the nose.

The Problem With Social Justice Today -- Dividing Rather than Unifying

Labels, pronouns, and power over speech.

Trump is right: The special counsel should never have been appointed

I still think the Obama and Clinton Russian connections should be investigated.

Congress Is Still Ignoring Its Spending Problem as Deadline Looms for $1.3 Trillion Spending Bill

“Four out of five voters agree that Washington has a spending problem, but a new omnibus spending bill will add yet more to the national debt.”

Freedom-Loving Parents, Rejoice: Utah Approves Free-Range Kids Bill

Let kids be kids

The sad hysteria of the Southern Poverty Law Center

Targeting conservative people and groups

Elizabeth Warren’s Unaccountable Federal Agency Backfires on Her: New at Reason

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is unconstitutional. All government agencies should answer to Congress.

More California Cities Seek to Defy ‘Sanctuary State’ as Revolt Spreads

This could make the succession movement very interesting

France: Toward Total Submission to Islam, Destruction of Free Speech

All other things being equal, the side that can't stand dissent is usually wrong.

Syrup Smugglers Take on the Maple Mafia

The free market is economic activity between consenting adults. Funny how governments don't like that, "for your own good" of course.

CalPERS retirees are suddenly worried about their pensions. What happened?

Government took too much power and mismanaged the assets

Fired FBI official authorized criminal probe of Sessions, sources say

I'm not even sure this is legal against a sitting Attorney General

FOSTA Passes Senate, Making Prostitution Ads a Federal Crime Against Objections from DOJ and Trafficking Victims

Another headline grab for politicos

Comments

Wednesday supersized roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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“The “Overheated” Costs of Climate Change”

“Oren Cass joins John Stossel to discuss the Paris Climate Agreement and how climate “catastrophists” are harming the debate over ways to adapt to changing global climate. The epithet “climate denier” has been used for years by activists to tastelessly smear critics of the Left’s preferred environmental policies. Cass argues that climate activists have drawn drastic policy implications unwarranted by current climate science.”

Read More...
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Monday supersized roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Tuesday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Friday roundup


‘Barbarism’: Texas judge ordered electric shocks to silence man on trial. Conviction thrown out.

Freedom of speech also means freedom not to speak

CIA Still Arguing Its Official Leaks To Journalists Shouldn't Be Subject To FOIA Requests

Codswallop. It's just because they don't want citizens taking a close look at their propaganda

Sanctuary Showdown: The Feds Sue California

Article I Section 8 gives Congress control of immigration. This is not a "states rights" thing, the Tenth Amendment does not apply

Geek Squad's Relationship with FBI Is Cozier Than We Thought

I wonder if Best Buy's customers knew that the FBI was peeking into their computers

Gun crackdowns have already led to too many federal abuses

Government WILL abuse power. The only long term answer is reducing the power that government has.

The Deleterious Effects of Our Tabloid Discourse

It's screwing with our thinking, says the guy typing blurbs for headlines

South Africa Is Prioritizing White Land Confiscation Over Critical Water Supply Needs

So who will be blamed for the drought?

The Ever-Changing ‘Russia Narrative’ Is False Public Manipulation

Taxpayer funded no less

Which Democrat is obstructing confirmation on Trump’s openly-gay nominee for Ambassador to Germany?

So now it's not enough that he is gay and very qualified? So much for looking out for minorities

CNN, MSNBC Journalists Give Trump Glowing Praise for North Korea Move as Obama Flacks Lose It

These were the same journalists who a few months ago were saying that Trump was a clown who was endangering the world.

The Robot Replacement for Fast Food Workers Has Finally Arrived

If it costs less than a salary would and is more reliable, this is the wave of the future

Medicare’s New Day

“The program’s privately managed plans provide quality care while controlling costs—and winning political support.”

These communities sued Big Oil over climate change; then the backlash began

One lawsuit begats others. Irony abounds.

Comments

Thursday roundup

Florida Shooting Survivor Says Media Is Exploiting Shooting to Push an Agenda

Brandon Minoff is a voice of reason. No, not the only one. And no, his opinion isn't necessarily the last word. But ask yourself, why aren't we hearing more from students like him? See also Parkland School is turning into America’s Grenfell Tower

Witnessing the Collapse of the Global Elite

It was always about promises they couldn't keep.

Unrestrained Judgment

Obama put a policy in effect by decree, and the judge claims that Trump can't repeal it by decree

School shooting survivor knocks down 'crisis actor' claim

David Hogg says he is not a crisis actor. See also Houston-area school district threatens to suspend students who protest after Florida shooting

The End of (Artificial) Stability

“The central banks'/states' power to maintain a permanent bull market in stocks and bonds is eroding.”

Officials Identify More Rotherham Victims, Number Up to 1,510

This is why nations must insist that the rule of law applies to everyone. No exceptions.

JOURNALISM! CNN harasses Trump supporter at her home over what she shared on Facebook

Thou shalt not dissent

Donald Trump's Listening Session With Mass Shooting Survivors Was Really Powerful

If this is acknowledged at all, within 24 hours someone will find a reason to dismiss it.

Broward Deputies to Carry Rifles on School Grounds: Sheriff

After the fact and it's only temporary

Cleaning Up Air Pollution May Strengthen Global Warming

Unintended consequences. Maybe.

Parkland shooter always in trouble, never expelled. Could school system have done more?

Not just the school system. 39 visits by police.

South Africa's Brand New President Wants To Confiscate Land From White Farmers

That didn't work so well in Zimbabwe. Bottom line, when government confiscates and redistributes, expect disaster

Dr. Gina Loudon: Do You Trust Federal Bureaucrats to Decide if You’re Sane Enough to Keep Your Second Amendment Rights?

The state is not a moral entity

Comments

Supersized Wednesday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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“The Truth About Climate Change”

Comments

“Can Climate Models Predict Climate Change?”

Comments

NeoNotes — More on climate change

Ah, "anthropogenic global warming/cooling/drastic weather." In a word, unproven.

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Will we be allowed

If we can't question the science, then will we be allowed to question the new regulations, taxes, and fees?
     — NeoWayland, from crux № 12 — climate change
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Tuesday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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from crux № 12 — climate change

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Friday roundup

California, Poverty Capital

Not all is golden

Real Federalists Need to Step Up to Fight Jeff Sessions' War on Weed

I still want to know where the Federal government gets the power to outlaw cannabis

She was 91 and dying of dementia. City Hall fined her $39K. Now it says her family must pay.

“In Coachella, Officials Buried A Great-Grandmother In Debt By Mailing Fines To The Wrong House, Then Took Her To Court After She Was Dead.”

Wells Fargo Glitch Leaves Customers With Empty Bank Accounts

I'd say it's time to change banks

Worst-case global warming scenarios not credible: study

Seems like the science isn't settled

Catherine Deneuve, #MeToo, and the Fracturing Within Feminism

This is more important than it looks. The RadFems DO NOT speak for all women. This also confirms a trend I've been watching for five years or so

Fear and Mass Surveillance: Our Constitutionally Toxic Political Cocktail

The politicos want you scared and not asking questions

House Report Concluded Pakistanis Made ‘Unauthorized Access’ To Congressional Servers

So why isn't this make more headlines?

I Propose the 48 Hour Trump / MSM News Rule

Why does this make too much sense?

These Hospitals Are Sick of High Drug Prices. So They're Starting Their Own Nonprofit Drug Company

Competition works

Mexican Cities Are Escaping Corruption and the Cartels through Secession

Now that is an interesting idea.

Massive flu outbreak? Here’s the real story the media won’t touch. The lies, the hoax, the scandal.

“That would mean the flu vaccine has been ineffective for decades.”

Bill Introduced to Stop Civil Forfeiture Funding of DEA Marijuana Eradication Program

“DEA's use of proceeds acquired through civil asset forfeiture to expand marijuana enforcement makes the already unacceptable practice even worse.”

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Wednesday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Tuesday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Monday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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The stack returns

Older headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Denying global warming

I'm notorious in online pagan groups for denying global warming and saying that environmentalism is a failed cause that should be replaced with ecology.

I'm rather proud of that.
     — NeoWayland
Comments

Ecology vs. environmentalism

Ecology studies how living systems interact and interconnect with each other. Environmentalism is about teaching and compelling behavior. These words are not synonyms. As both a pagan and a libertarian, I can not support environmentalism.
     — NeoWayland
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Thorium is the future

Never slaves & never Nazis

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Tuesday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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A billion trees

In ‘Momentous Milestone’, Pakistan Plants One Billion Trees Ahead of Schedule

Pakistan’s northwestern province, Khyber Pakhtunkhaw (KPK), has planted an unprecedented 1 billion trees in just more than two years and surpassed an international commitment of restoring 350,000 hectares of forests and degraded land.

The massive effort aims to turn the tide on land degradation and loss in the mountainous, formerly forested KPK, which lies in the Hindu Kush mountain range.

Imran Khan, head of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party governing the province, launched the reforestation campaign, dubbed “Billion Tree Tsunami,” in 2015.

The cricket-star-turned politician revealed to VOA that the goal of adding 1 billion trees by planting and natural regeneration has been achieved this month, well ahead of the original deadline of December 2017.

He says his party plans to organize a special event in Islamabad in late August to celebrate the successful completion of the project, and experts as well as foreign diplomats will be invited.

“We will show them by coordinates, on Google map you can go and see where these trees have been planted, 1 billion trees, this is now the model for the rest of Pakistan,” Khan said.
     — Ayaz Gul
Comments

Monday roundup

Molina Healthcare Exits Obamacare Exchanges in Two States, Experiences $230 Million Loss

Remember, the exchanges were never meant to last. And this is another mess that Obama chose to have his successor fix.


Coast Guard Chief Will Disregard Trump’s Ban on Transgenders in Military

He can't, not legally. If the code changes and Trump gives the order, it's a court martial offense.


FBI monitored social media on Election Day for 'fake news' about Hillary Clinton: Report

So who gave the order? And did this really happen?


Venezuela says crushes anti-government attack on military base



BOM scandal: “smart cards” filter out coldest temperatures. Full audit needed ASAP!

Australia's Bureau of Meteorology apparently gooses the numbers before they become Official™.


Immigration Brings Out the Social Engineers

“If we Americans value freedom, we will dismiss the social engineers, open the borders, and liberate ourselves.”


Republican Shadow Campaign for 2020 Takes Shape as Trump Doubts Grow

I don't think it will happen, but you can practically feel the NY Times drool


Dunkirk: A contrary view about a movie everyone else loves

Something I never considered but well worth thinking about.


U.S. job growth surges in July

I'm not sure the growth is stable, but yes, the numbers did surge. And yes, Obama would have killed for those numbers.


1.8 million California acres were set aside for frogs.

Environmentalism is a crusade, ecology is a science studying interconnections and tradeoffs.

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Wednesday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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A trillion dollar industry

“Commentary: Can the NOAA, NASA, EPA, Met Office, and British academia all be wrong about climate change?”

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Thursday roundup 20Jul2017

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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from crux № 11 — Ultimate truth

I've seen the arguments in enough other contexts to distrust anyone who claims rationality prevents any opposing view. Even more so when they dismiss any other possibility unheard because they have the Ultimate Truth That Must Not Be Questioned.
     — NeoWayland
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NeoNotes — government requires

There's a very real question why there should be any government grants, but I will leave that for another time.

Assume for a moment that you ran a bookstore. Should you be required by law to carry the Bible even though you were not Christian and did not believe Christianity was a valid faith? What if someone complained because you didn't have it?

Should a vegan restaurant be required to sell pulled pork BBQ?

Should a health food store be required to sell pipe tobacco?



Except we know that government does mandate that some products and services be sold or provided.

Let's take another example or two, shall we?

Imagine you are a lawyer or accountant. You know a specific businessman is crooked and can't be trusted. Should you be required to provided services?

Imagine you are an employer. Should you be required to verify the immigration status of each of your employees?

Most importantly, why should prior marginalization get a higher priority when it comes to the rule of law? Doesn't that lead to abuse of it's own when the formerly victimized class games the system?



Ah, so you are going to stick to "class of people." That's the problem. People aren't their labels. Or at least they shouldn't be.

Someone doesn't have higher moral authority because their group has been marginalized in the past.

And just in case you hadn't noticed, "American identity politics" is all about oppressing everyone else. All of which is predicated on the guilt of the former oppressor.



Black Lives Matter. All too ready to go after "white" cops, but doesn't want to address the problem of "black on black" crime. Nor does it want to address the major underlying problem, single parent families. Something that was encouraged by government, effectively relegating inner city families to poverty. Nor do they accept any criticism of their movement.

Much of third and fourth wave feminism. Apparently feminism is no longer about equality, it's about forcing men to sit down and shut up. And if a man complains, he's accused of rape.

The recent kerfuffle over the "redesigned" rainbow flag that put black and brown stripes at the top so that "people of color" had "representation." Literally "my victimhood is more important than your victimhood."

Identity politics is built on a carefully maintained hierarchy of victimhood. You're not allowed to speak unless you rank high enough with your victimhood or have demonstrated sufficient "compassion," usually by drawing attention to the "problem." But never actually solving anything.

And you are not allowed to question the victimhood.



Stop.

Step back. You are excusing their behavior.

Look at what has been done, not at the justifications.

Look at what is allowed within the groups.

Your enabling is just one example of what has locked people into their victimhood.



What you've given is excuses why people can't be held accountable.

Black Lives Matter is pushing a narrative that all police interactions with minorities but especially with "blacks" are racist. That's not true. And as I said, they overlook "black" on "black" crime that does not fit with the narrative.

It's victimhood I don't like, especially when perpetuated by bad government policy and "community outreach" that exploits the victims by keeping them victims.



And the courts were wrong.

Not because interracial marriages were wrong (they aren't). But because government can't be trusted to make individual moral decisions for you.

If you didn't choose your morality and if you do not commit to your morality, is it really yours?

Or did it just get sacrificed for the greater good?



Remember, most of the complaints against the current President are because he is doing the wrong moral things. Or at least, according to some people. Such as pulling out of the Paris accord.

Frankly there are people I want to discriminate against. There are evangelical Christians I want nothing to do with. There are radical feminists that I also don't want anything to do with. My list also includes some of the climate alarmists, the man-boy love crowd, anyone associated with a child beauty pageant, the extra-devout followers of Silver Ravenwolf, pretty much any organized political party, and a few dozen others.

Should government protect those people from my discrimination?



Actually we don't know that pulling out of the Paris accord is dangerous for the planet.

Here's what we do know. The "debate" about climate change has been heavily weighed on one side. A recent study has some of the most prominent climate alarmists admitting that the predictions didn't match the reality. President Obama committed the US, but the G20 and Obama didn't call it a treaty so it wouldn't have to go to the US Senate for approval. These aren't exactly moral actions.

Commerce is based on voluntary economic transactions between consenting adults. There's no “public service” about it. A company improves it's product or service (and lowers the price) because it wants to keep business from the competition. The "moral good" is based on pure greed. Nothing government demands from a business won't impose greater costs on the customer. Government relies on force. When government acts against people, it distorts the economy and morality.

It's not about public service, and commerce shouldn't answer to corrupt politicos.



The data was fudged. The people who fudged it knew it. The people who sought to make it a political issue beyond the control of any single government knew it.

If it's not about "saving the planet," then you have to ask what it is about. Especially when there is an everchanging deadline and No One Is Allowed To Question the failed predictions.

The entire movement is built on computer models, not science. I can't emphasize that enough. Models, not science. If the models have bad assumptions and/or if the data has been changed, the models aren't accurate.

But, "the science is settled." So you aren't allowed to dissent. You wouldn't accept that from a Creationist, why accept it from people who benefit financially and politically from forcing their agenda?



That wasn't what I said.

The models haven't been accurate in more than a dozen years. Even before that, the models had to be "goosed" to show a link between the past and the present.

I've said before that I can create a spreadsheet that makes me a millionaire in a week. That doesn't mean that the spreadsheet is accurate. And it sure doesn't mean I should wave cash around.

If the model isn't accurate, if we know it's not accurate, and if the people pushing the model hardest know that it's not accurate, don't you think it's time to ask why we should use the model?



No, that is what you have been told that the model is.

I strongly urge you to take a closer look. And I would remind you that there is no science in history that has ever been considered holy writ and beyond criticism.

For example, if I wanted to know the average global temperature right now this very minute, I'd have to accept that most land based measuring stations are in developed areas, many in highly urban areas that influence the readings. Satillite measurements are better, but don't go back further than about sixty years. And most of the ocean is a mystery below a mile deep.

So what exactly is the global average temperature?



I'm not shy about it. I don't approve of their life choices. I especially don't approve when *insert group name here* demands that it is not enough for to acknowledge their words and actions, it must be celebrated as the only accepted truth.

I don't want them on the ballot. I don't want to do business with them. I don't want them in my town.

And I think they are corrupting society.

Again, should government protect them from my discrimination?



I may not be a pure libertarian when it comes to the Zero Aggression Principle, but I don't usually initiate force. It's sloppy and takes too much energy.

“How many NAMBLA neighbors do you have, anyway?”

One.

Once.



I've been a corporate VP and I've run my own business.

Can you point to the spot in the Constitution where it defines the powers of the Federal government to control who I can and can't do business with? How about the spot where it defines that I must do business with everyone who wants to do business with me? Because under the Tenth Amendment, there isn't one.

If government isn't defending my ability to choose as long as I accept the consequences, then government has failed.

Even if my neighbors don't approve of my choice.

Especially if my neighbors don't approve of my choice.

If I am not free to discriminate as I choose, then government is discriminating against me. And that is what we see now. Some choices are more equal than others.



Not really.

That clause is the most abused in the Constitution, largely because it does not place significant restrictions on the Federal government. By some interpretations, the government can do what it wants when it wants and despite what people want. When you consider that everything from FDA approval to requiring transgender bathrooms is shoved through that loophole, it's a wonder that there is anything left of the rest of the Constitution.

Even in your flawed interpretation, public accommodation only applies in certain cases. Some are more victimized than others, remember?



Volumes have also been written against it. For generations in fact, right back to to the Anti-Federalist Papers

And then there is always the practical common sense approach. Here's the clause straight from Article 1 Section 8.

“To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;”

I can tell you know many Diné, Hopi, Havasupai, and White Mountain Apache who think that "Great White Father speaks with forked tongue." Just look at what the Interior Department did when it came to mineral rights.

You've tried to tell me what the consensus says, but you haven't disputed my conclusions. The commerce clause has been used to expand Federal power far beyond the scope of the rest of the Constitution. The only other comparable Federal power grab in American history has been the USA PATRIOT Act and the open-ended declaration of hostilities that happened after 9-11.



Or we could just stop handing out government grants and do something radically different like lower taxes, reduce government spending, and let people decide what to do with their own money.



Church playgrounds aren't national religious issues unless government is funding them.

The First Amendment is very clear: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”

Neither help nor hinder. It's the only way to win this particular battle. Otherwise you have things like a Faith Based Initiative (for certain faiths approved by law) and school prayer.



I think we do. And it's right there in the First Amendment.

Don't.

If there is one thing worse than a politico wrapping themselves in the flag, it's a politico standing on religion wrapping themselves in a flag.
NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.
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Thursday roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Details, details…

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Climate - truth will come out

“July 4, 2017 : Coldest July Temperature Ever Recorded In The Northern Hemisphere”

“Study Finds Temperature Adjustments Account For ‘Nearly All Of The Warming’ In Climate Data”

“Groups see climate science review as chance to undercut regulation”

“Since 2014, 400 Scientific Papers Affirm A Strong Sun-Climate Link”

“New Insights on the Physical Nature of the Atmospheric Greenhouse Effect Deduced from an Empirical Planetary Temperature Model”

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Global Warming NOT

Which raises the question why should care be publicly funded?

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“Unsustainable Whiteness”

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Headline roundup

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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NeoNotes — Subjective morality

For length reasons, this entry appears on it's own page.

“The law should be limited to punishing direct, measurable harm.”

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Filed for future reference

Ice Age Britain: River Thames will freeze over on 'this date' – and could kill millions

Experts told Daily Star Online planet Earth is on course for a “Little Age Ice” within the next three years thanks to a cocktail of climate change and low solar activity.

Research shows a natural cooling cycle that occurs every 230 years began in 2014 and will send temperatures plummeting even further by 2019.

Scientists are also expecting a “huge reduction” in solar activity for 33 years between 2020 and 2053 that will cause thermometers to crash.

Both cycles suggest Earth is entering a global cooling cycle that could have devastating consequences for global economy, human life and society as we know it.
     — Joshua Nevett
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NeoNotes — Conversation - updated

“Climate is changing Because it's HUMANITY'S FAULT and WE'RE SCREWING UP THE PLANET!!!!!"

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Columnist criticized for climate dissent

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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Demanding

Claiming total certainty about the science traduces the spirit of science and creates openings for doubt whenever a climate claim proves wrong. Demanding abrupt and expensive changes in public policy raises fair questions about ideological intentions. Censoriously asserting one’s moral superiority and treating skeptics as imbeciles and deplorables wins few converts.
     — Bret Stephens, Climate of Complete Certainty
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Certainty

Climate of Complete Certainty

Well, not entirely. As Andrew Revkin wrote last year about his storied career as an environmental reporter at The Times, “I saw a widening gap between what scientists had been learning about global warming and what advocates were claiming as they pushed ever harder to pass climate legislation.” The science was generally scrupulous. The boosters who claimed its authority weren’t.

Anyone who has read the 2014 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change knows that, while the modest (0.85 degrees Celsius, or about 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit) warming of the Northern Hemisphere since 1880 is indisputable, as is the human influence on that warming, much else that passes as accepted fact is really a matter of probabilities. That’s especially true of the sophisticated but fallible models and simulations by which scientists attempt to peer into the climate future. To say this isn’t to deny science. It’s to acknowledge it honestly.

By now I can almost hear the heads exploding. They shouldn’t, because there’s another lesson here — this one for anyone who wants to advance the cause of good climate policy. As Revkin wisely noted, hyperbole about climate “not only didn’t fit the science at the time but could even be counterproductive if the hope was to engage a distracted public.”

Let me put it another way. Claiming total certainty about the science traduces the spirit of science and creates openings for doubt whenever a climate claim proves wrong. Demanding abrupt and expensive changes in public policy raises fair questions about ideological intentions. Censoriously asserting one’s moral superiority and treating skeptics as imbeciles and deplorables wins few converts.
     — Bret Stephens
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Not about the science

And this would be a bad thing how?

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Friday roundup

“DaddyOFive Faking It? + Berkeley Lies!”

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NeoNotes — Green doesn't work

Solar and wind power are not practical. The sun doesn't always shine and the wind doesn't always blow.

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NeoNotes — “Adding CO2 to the atmosphere is bad” - updated

We know that most climate models use a “carbon cascade effect" that has never been measublurb or even observed.

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NeoNotes — Best intentions - updated

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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All other things being equal, the side that can't stand dissent is wrong

“Democrats Ask Teachers To Destroy Books Written By ‘Climate Deniers’”

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Professor says studies don't use science

J Scott Armstrong: Fewer Than 1 Percent Of Papers in Scientific Journals Follow Scientific Method

According to Armstrong, very little of the forecasting in climate change debate adheres to these criteria. “For example, for disclosure, we were working on polar bear [population] forecasts, and we were asked to review the government’s polar bear forecast. We asked, ‘could you send us the data’ and they said ‘No’… So we had to do it without knowing what the data were.”

According to Armstrong, forecasts from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) violate all eight criteria.

“Why is this all happening? Nobody asks them!” said Armstrong, who says that people who submit papers to journals are not required to follow the scientific method. “You send something to a journal and they don’t tell you what you have to do. They don’t say ‘here’s what science is, here’s how to do it.'”

Digging deeper into their motivations, Armstrong pointed to the wealth of incentives for publishing papers with politically convenient rather than scientific conclusions.

“They’re rewarded for doing non-scientific research. One of my favourite examples is testing statistical significance – that’s invalid. It’s been over 100 years we’ve been fighting the fight against that. Even its inventor thought it wasn’t going to amount to anything. You can be rewarded then, for following an invalid [method].”

“They cheat. If you don’t get statistically significant results, then you throw out variables, add variables, [and] eventually you get what you want.”

“My big thing is advocacy. People are asked to come up with certain answers, and in our whole field that’s been a general movement ever since I’ve been here, and it just gets worse every year. And the reason is funded research.”
     — Allum Bokhari

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Still plenty of ice

“Scott and Shackleton logbooks prove Antarctic sea ice is not shrinking… ”

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NeoNotes — An obvious solution

“The Real War on Science”

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Maybe too windy

“Wind Farms Cause Sleep Loss, Stress and Anxiety, Government Review Finds”

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NeoNotes — Shame game

I suspect that sexual orientation is not as hard wiblurb as some believe, but that is still individual choice.

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Utah tries grabbing tribal land and pilfering tribal funds

Freedom loving YouTube channel

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Public blasphemy

Large companies shift power and responsibility away from local operations

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Environmentalism vs. the Navajo

The climate change movement is destroying the environmental movement

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NeoNotes — Environmentalism loses it's wind

He's one of those people you should have read about in school

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NeoNotes — Earth Day

No reason except political expediency

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Climate Pre-Crime

Why should they feel shame?

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NeoNotes — About the guilt

First, not all feminists. And not all lesbians.

Now with that out of the way, these particular females (I will not dignify them as ladies) do have a big problem.

It's all about the guilt. If the guys don't feel guilt, there is no way these females will get their way. I for one am tired of it. I've been lectured to about the need for keeping silent when the RadFems are speaking. I've been lectured for pointing out that environmentalism makes no sense while ecology does. I've been lectured for saying #AllLivesMatter. And I have been lectured to when I refused to change my lifestyle because it is not acceptable to feminism.

KYFHO.

I make the same stand against them that I make against some of the conservative Christians. My life is my own. My choices are my own. My responsibility is my own.


Unfortunately, that's not enough for some conservative Christians.

They want to meddle. For the greater good, of course.

And that means taking lives and responsibility away from other people.


If you bother to read my comments, you'll find I don't try to hide what I am saying. After all, I am a pagan libertarian posting openly on a conservative mostly Christian board.

If you had asked me about the "culture wars," I'd tell you that war is the wrong way to think about it. War is backed by force. If you can't convince someone that your way is right without resorting to force, you're doing it wrong.

What you believe isn't important to me. Your freedom to choose what to believe, that is vital. That is what I will defend. class="ghoster">

NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.


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NeoNotes — Not the pagan community

I'm not speaking for the pagan community. Much of the justification for "establishing" a Greater Pagan Community® is so that certain individuals can get the adoration and deference they believe they deserve.

I believe in ecology but I'm against environmentalism.

I believe individual freedom and personal responsibility works ever so much better than collectivism.

I think that what Christians call the Golden Rule is one of the most important roots of civilization. But I prefer another version, "Be excellent to each other. And party on, dudes!"

Now is that enough of a test, or do I have to give the Super Secret Handshake™ too? class="ghoster">

NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

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Prince Charles Wrong on Syria

I realize the man is trying desperately to make his mark.

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Moore stuff

The green movement and the climate change crowd can’t stand dissent

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George Takei brooks no dissent - updated

They attack the person and avoid discussing the ideas.

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Core detail

Nope.

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Global warming destroyed the environmental movement

And it was all based on a lie.

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Power

Thorium is much, much, much more abundant than uranium.

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Drought conditions does not mean climate change

There are deserts here that have been deserts for ten thousand years.

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We finally hear Moore

You should read it all, it’s very good.

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Dirty Water

Nothing to do with morality and everything to do with vote pandering

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Don't trust public science - updated

Fudging the numbers again

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Pocketing climate change

It only takes a simple program and a scientific calculator to show the holes in the climate change models

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Reply to a Bookworm Rant

Bookworm is looking for scapegoats

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Greener than thou

Power to control

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Expanding civilizations, religions, and faith

This is a page from the original version of Pagan Vigil. There are some formatting differences.Originally published at www.paganvigil.com/C49491493/E20100609140240

Expanding civilizations, religions, and faith

Except for a few central issues, I really try not to tread on people's beliefs. I don't have time for one thing.

But every once in a while, something comes up that is just too silly.

David Warren
was writing about the Gulf oil mess and rules and regulations. He made some great points about the limits of government ability. But then he tossed in this tidbit.

I like to dwell on the wisdom of our ancestors. It took us millennia to emerge from the primitive notion that a malignant agency must lie behind every unfortunate experience. Indeed, the Catholic Church spent centuries fighting folk pagan beliefs in things like evil fairies, and the whole notion the Devil can compel any person to act against his will -- only to watch an explosion of witch-hunting and related popular hysterias at the time of the Reformation.

In so many ways, the trend of post-Christian society today is back to pagan superstitions: to the belief that malice lies behind every misfortune, and to the related idea that various, essentially pagan charms can be used to ward off that to which all flesh is heir. The belief that, for instance, laws can be passed, that change the entire order of nature, is among the most irrational of these.



Not to put too fine a point on it, but the "triumph" of Christianity actually cost European civilization science, wealth, and much of what made life good.

This has nothing to do with the merits of Paganism or the faults of Christianity.

That's important. Read it again.

And yes, I know that paganism wasn't Paganism as we recognize it today. That's not the point. Nor is it important which had better beliefs or more superstitions.

It's one of my working theories. Cultures and civilizations expand when they have trade, immigration, and tolerance. Without trade, immigration, and tolerance, cultures contract and become more insular.

It's a generally accepted flexibility of thought that makes trade, immigration, and tolerance possible. The more trade, immigration, and tolerance there is, the more vibrant and
interesting the culture becomes. You never know what will cross pollinate or what will take root where.

Thanks to Constantine, Christianity went from several competing groups to one ruled by a Church and an Emperor. Dissent was ruthlessly suppressed. Variations from the cultural norms were destroyed. This isn't inherent in Christianity, but it was inherent in the Christian belief system that the Council of Nicea propagated.

Believe me, there are forms of paganism that are just as intolerant. And oddly enough, those also retreated into themselves.

How we treat the Other may well be
the defining characteristic of a great human civilization.

And then we get
Stephen Hawking. Yes, that Stephen Hawking.

There is a fundamental difference between religion, which is based on authority, [and] science, which is based on observation and reason. Science will win because it works.

Two tiny little problems there. Religion does work for many people, but not necessarily because of authority. Faith works for many more, and not necessarily because of authority.

And the other problem. Well, it's hardly worth mentioning, but
science is the bastard child of magick.

Oops! I revealed an untold truth!!

Religion, faith, and the desire to control or at least predict the universe led to science. In many ways, they still intertwine.

Just something for you to think about on this Wednesday.


Posted: Wed - June 9, 2010 at 02:02 PM  Morality & Modern Life

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The future gets greener for Al Gore

Cashing in on people's fear

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Celebrity Psudeoscience - Updated

Sacrificing rationality to sound vaguely important

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Alternately destroying the environment

The accusation becomes more important than the crime.

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Not a bright idea

Killing off 90 percent of humans

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Sometimes reason wins

Will getting rid of incandescent bulbs really save that much energy?

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What happens when green means taking food out of mouths?

The costs that the global warming alarmists don't want you to know about

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Tradeoffs

Were the genocidal remarks misinterpreted?

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Common sense global warming FAQ

Just the FAQs about my Vigil

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Another from the global warming front

The EPA says that cap-and-trade helped make it possible

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Global Warming

Because of the G8 summit, here are a few of my thoughts on global warming

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