harmonicminer

Satisfying his natural curiosity about how his excellent book, Liberal Fascism, is doing in Britain, Jonah Goldberg discovered that his book is only number TWO in the “political science and ideology” category.

Number ONE is  The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx.

Hmmm

This would be the crypto-commies re-invigorating themselves before taking on the Islamic invasion of Britain?

Or maybe it’s the Islamic invaders buying the book, so they can know their enemy.  Their former enemy, anyway.

Or it’s the usual dutiful American foreign exchange students taking a political science class from some aging former denizen of Yorkshire at some once-great institution like Oxford or Cambridge (now living on their reputations, mostly), who thinks what Marx thought actually matters anymore, and whose American students are too stupid not to just look up the short version on Wikipedia.

Or it’s all the Russian expats, yearning for the good old days when you could torture someone in the Lubyanka (makes Abu Ghraib look like a meeting of the Women’s Missionary Society…  and you probably don’t even know what it is/was…..  and didn’t when the Soviets were still around, either) without having to look over your shoulder for a western reporter.  (Those days are coming back, though…  good ideas always do, right?  Like plutonium seasoning in your food.)

I think the most likely explanation is far more prosaic.   Britain has taken on the EU’s ridiculous global warming fear-fantasy, and, demonstrating that intemperate public policy is usually invented in the north temperate zone, British bureaucratic wanna-be-apparatchiks are making firewood harder and harder to get.  All that nasty CO2, you know.

And really, really bad ideas burn very brightly, for a short period of time.

I wonder what the carbon offset is for an idea that killed at least 100 million people, conservatively estimated.

I also wonder when my copy of “The Audacity of Hope” is going to get here from half.com.  It’s cold around here.

We need a stimulus package from congress.

We don’t have one. Instead, we have giant, steaming piece of pork, with payoffs for all the constituent groups that elect Democrats, including trial lawyers, unions (especially teachers unions and public employee unions, but plenty for others, too), eco-panic enviro-pagans, entitlements galore, payoffs to state governments that will allow them to continue to spend more than they take in (with no expectation that a condition of this bailout is that they’ll start spending less NOW), ACORN and related “community activist” groups, and assorted public works projects (but most of which don’t start even spending money to do anything until 2010 to 2012, which means that the “stimulus” effect of them, if any, won’t be felt until we’re likely to already be out of the recession).

The best assessment of the “stimulus” I’ve heard is that it’s about 10% actual stimulus, and the rest pork, this from Jack Welch, one of the most successful CEOs in American history.

90% of this bill is simple payola, not to mention shinola.

Cheer up… you may not have to pay that much for it, but your kids will.

And this is only the beginning.

So: for those of you who complained that Republicans spent too much money when they had Congress, and had too much pork in their budgets, and so didn’t vote for them this time, I can only say….

I told you so.

I’ll have LOTs and LOTs of opportunities to say that again, as the next years unfold.

Kim Jong Il Announces Plan To Bring Moon To North Korea

OK, OK, it’s hysterically funny.

But not much funnier than thinking we can change the climate significantly by driving our cars….  or not driving them.

Coming next:  Obama administration announces plan to slow Earth’s rotation, adding another hour to each day for family time and civic volunteerism.

H/T: Jonah Goldberg

You probably saw this report, that some climate damage is already irreversible.

Many damaging effects of climate change are already basically irreversible, researchers declared Monday, warning that even if carbon emissions can somehow be halted temperatures around the globe will remain high until at least the year 3000.

Now, let’s get real here.  The year 3000?!?!?!  Holy Ozone, Batman.

This is so risible that it should be a fake newscast at The Onion.   Do these guys know NOTHING about the large temperature variations of the last 2000 years, when it’s been both warmer and colder than now?  Do they really think they can account for the very large natural variations in predicting the tiny input humans have had into the climate?

This news report masquerading as news is actually a Public Relations Release of the IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change), surely the most politically motivated and thoroughly bent UN endeavor since the UN Oil for Food Program.  Of course, the AP continues its “see no skeptics, hear no skeptics, speak no skepticism” approach to reporting on the matter.  It’s so common that its hardly noticeable anymore…

But this really is extreme.  These clowns (who else would make 1000 year predictions on climate, except that it will probably be different, who know exactly how?) are really funny, except when they’re dangerous.

See yesterday’s post, and ponder the pontifications of perfidious politicians pretending to do objective science.

If you have the patience, here are some real scientists actually debating the point:

Yesterday Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, announced that birth control (read as “abortion”) funding would be a part of the Obama economic stimulus package.

Well, the family planning services reduce cost. They reduce cost. The states are in terrible fiscal budget crises now and part of what we do for children's health, education and some of those elements are to help the states meet their financial needs. One of those - one of the initiatives you mentioned, the contraception, will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government.

So, according to Pelosi, the birth rate should be controlled for financial reasons.  Too many new babies could overwhelm our already stretched state budgets.

Well, I spent some time thinking about her comments and I think I may be able to go one better. Perhaps a lottery system could be put into place.  Those individuals (we don’t really say “families” any more) wishing to have a baby would have to register with the State of California Birth Lottery.  In fact, as another cost-saving measure we can have the California State Lottery run the birth lottery as well.  A scratcher could be included with each pregnancy test sold.  Scratch off to reveal 3 matching pictures of Pelosi and win the right to have a baby.

Of course there is also the Big Spin – but with the Birth Lottery we can call it the Big Insemination.  There will even be three “Twins” slots. But don’t let the ball land in a N.O.W. slot or you’ll have to get an abortion, paid for by the California Birth Lottery, of course!

Think of how easy it will be to control the state population – simply alter the odds of winning by changing the rules as needed.  And think of how much more lottery money will come in as those young couples purchase tickets by the thousands hoping for one of the lucky few birth licenses available.

Of course this is just the beginning.  If Pelosi thinks economic stimulus should include birth control, how much longer do you suppose we’ll have to wait before we see on-line Euthanasia Poker.  After all, if we’re doing this to reduce the financial burden for states then by all means let’s help keep those Medical and Medicare budgets in line by simply killing old people, terminal patients, and the mentally ill.  Most of the health care money is spent ion those types of patients and the action should result in considerable savings.  Remember – It’s about money, not life.

Yesiree, Euthanasia Poker should come shortly after nationalized health care.  When the government starts paying for health care then you know they’ll have to start making decisions about who should get care and who shouldn’t.  After all, the states are in a “terrible fiscal budget crisis now”.  One can’t expect EVERYONE to get the care they need – it’s just not realistic!  So brush up on your Texas Hold Em, if you don’t have a pair of jacks or better you might just be forced to “fold” and proceed directly to the Soylent Green line.

Do you think this sounds far fetched?  Me too. Except after hearing Pelosi yesterday you must admit it’s not out of the question.  NOTHING is out of the question these days.

For some time we’ve been pointing out all the brilliant scientists who say anthropogenic global warming is mostly a myth, and/or that the earth may not be warming at all, at least not appreciably. It’s looking more and more like global COOLING may be the real problem, and it isn’t caused by humans either:

It’s time to pray for global warming

If you’re wondering why North America is starting to resemble nuclear winter, then you missed the news.

At December’s U.N. Global Warming conference in Poznan, Poland, 650 of the world’s top climatologists stood up and said man-made global warming is a media generated myth without basis. Said climatologist Dr. David Gee, Chairman of the International Geological Congress, “For how many years must the planet cool before we begin to understand that the planet is not warming?”

I asked myself, why would such obviously smart guy say such a ridiculous thing? But it turns out he’s right.

The earth’s temperature peaked in 1998. It’s been falling ever since; it dropped dramatically in 2007 and got worse in 2008, when temperatures touched 1980 levels.

Meanwhile, the University of Illinois’ Arctic Climate Research Center released conclusive satellite photos showing that Arctic ice is back to 1979 levels. What’s more, measurements of Antarctic ice now show that its accumulation is up 5 percent since 1980.

In other words, during what was supposed to be massive global warming, the biggest chunks of ice on earth grew larger. Just as an aside, do you remember when the hole in the ozone layer was going to melt Antarctica? But don’t worry, we’re safe now, that was the nineties.

Dr. Kunihiko, Chancellor of Japan’s Institute of Science and Technology said this: “CO2 emissions make absolutely no difference one way or the other … every scientist knows this, but it doesn’t pay to say so.” Now why would a learned man say such a crazy thing?

This is where the looney left gets lost. Their mantra is atmospheric CO2 levels are escalating and this is unquestionably causing earth’s temperature rise. But ask yourself — if global temperatures are experiencing the biggest sustained drop in decades, while CO2 levels continue to rise — how can it be true?

Ironically, in spite of being shown false, we must now pray for it. Because a massive study, just released by the Russian Government, contains overwhelming evidence that earth is on the verge of another Ice Age.

Oy vey, we’re going to have a huge new initiative in the Obama administration to fight global warming.

Talk about generals always wanting to fight the last war…. even if it never really happened.

In the meantime, don’t hold your breath waiting for mea culpas from all the gullible folk who signed on, big time, to the global warming panic-mongers.

And buy a good warm coat.

Submission in the Netherlands by Bruce Bawer, City Journal 22 January 2009

“The Freedom Party (PVV),” read yesterday’s press release, “is shocked by the Amsterdam Court of Appeal’s decision to prosecute Geert Wilders for his statements and opinions. Geert Wilders considers this ruling an all-out assault on freedom of speech.”

The appalling decision to try Wilders, the Freedom Party’s head and the Dutch Parliament’s only internationally famous member, for “incitement to hatred and discrimination” against Islam is indeed an assault on free speech. But no one who has followed events in the Netherlands over the last decade can have been terribly surprised by it. Far from coming out of the blue, this is the predictable next step in a long, shameful process of accommodating Islam—and of increasingly aggressive attempts to silence Islam’s critics—on the part of the Dutch establishment.

Islam in Europe is determined to win culturally by simply suppressing any criticism, either legally, or with terror, as in murdering film makers and authors who tell the truth about it.

Keep your eye out for world-wide condemnation of Geert Wilders’ prosecution. Or not.

Hmmmm

BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Europe’s lost mist ‘boosts heat’

The number of foggy, misty and hazy days is diminishing across the continent, say scientists who have analysed the meteorological data.

The researchers found this clearing of the air in the past 30 years may have amplified the warming of Europe.

They report their findings in the journal Nature Geoscience.

You may have seen this already, but it’s short, and worth revisiting. If it’s new to you, enjoy.

There aren’t that many people less diplomatic than me, but one of them may be Doug Giles:

In less than a week after Obama’s swearing in, our nuevo POTUS unfurled his radically liberal abortion and family plans together with his juicy pro-homosexual agenda.

Good job, all evangelicals who voted for Obama, as these aforementioned ditties—from a biblical perspective—are about as sanctified as the Antichrist French kissing a crack whore in Bret Michaels’ hot tub.

Yep, I wanna give a special shout out to all the “major” ministers who fawned and swooned over Barack and swayed their congregations to vote for him in spite of his anti-scriptural stances on life, marriage and sexuality.

One wonders if any apologies will be forthcoming in 2-4 years, when it is evident to absolutely everyone that Obama is utterly hostile to the notions of traditional family legal protections and the right-to-life.  But to the Left, Christian or otherwise, having good intentions means never having to say you’re sorry.

Keep your eyes on MoralAccountability and here, too, as we follow developments.  And keep praying for Obama to have a Damascus Road experience, where he suddenly realizes that fetuses are people, too.

Abortion and the Obama Presidency

Pro-lifers in the United States were generally disappointed and discouraged by the results of the 2008 national elections. Barack Obama—as measured by his own record and campaign promises, the most pro-abortion presidential candidate the United States has ever seen—was elected with 52.6 percent of the popular vote. It appears inevitable that the modest but significant political gains made by the pro-life movement since 2000 will be eroded or undone when the president-elect takes office. In some areas the short-term damage may be even more extensive than veteran pro-lifers anticipate.

To step back for some perspective, when Roe v. Wade, the infamous Supreme Court decision striking down state anti-abortion laws nationwide, turned 25 years old in 1998, the pro-life movement was at a low point. Just five years under then-President Bill Clinton had wiped out what little political progress there had been during the Reagan and Bush (I) administrations.

In 1998, to mark that grim 25th anniversary, an anthology of essays entitled Back to the Drawing Board was published, in which around two dozen American pro-life leaders reviewed the political, legal, educational, and social gains and losses since 1973 and recommended courses of future pro-life action. The volume demonstrated that politics is only one area of a much broader social movement, and that practical efforts to help women in need and to educate the American public are as important as political measures.

Now, 10 years later, the prospects at the level of the federal government are again bleak, but this time pro-life leaders are not waiting until the second term of a pro-abortion president to take stock.

Much more at the link above.

I have written earlier about the failure to deal with evidence that characterizes those who fancy themselves “pro-life” or “pro-family” yet still voted for Obama in what can only be characterized as a spasm of wishful thinking.  Here is a new website offered by people hoping to bring some clarity to the discussion about what it is appropriate for Christians to support in the political sphere.  Along the way, they hope to  reopen dialog with Catholics and Evangelicals who voted for Obama, with the intent of moving past good intentions, and continuing to seek true alliance with Christians who want to resist immoral public policy. (much more at the link)

The Moral Accountability Project trusts that those self-identified pro-life and pro-marriage Catholics and Evangelicals who helped to put Barack Obama into a position to accomplish his goals were sincere in their admiration for him. We are willing to believe that they genuinely hope that he will go back on his pledges to attack pro-life laws and repeal pro-marriage policies. Still, actions have consequences, and the actions of these intellectuals and activists will have consequences that are all too easy to predict. With each assault of the Obama administration on laws and policies upholding the sanctity of human life and the dignity of marriage, we will ask all Catholics and Evangelicals, including those who supported Obama, to join us in resisting these assaults. That is what we will do at www.moralaccountability.com.

Our project is offered in a constructive spirit, not one of vilification. Our goal is to help ensure that never again will good intentions conspire with shoddy reasoning and wishful thinking to compromise the rights of the weakest and most vulnerable members of our community and to undermine the institution of marriage. And so in a sincere spirit of friendship, we invite those Catholics and Evangelicals who joined with Planned Parenthood, the National Abortion Rights Action League, and similar organizations in supporting Obama to join us now in repelling the attacks that will be launched against life and marriage in this administration.

It’s time for some moments of clarity.  I join with MoralAccountability in keeping attention on the policies of the Obama administration as they affect life and marriage issues, and in calling for all Christians (and anyone else, for that matter) to assess his policies with wisdom and discernment.

But Obama has already kept an anti-life campaign promise.

Not to put too fine a point on it, escrow is HELL. Really. There are only TWO eternal states, Heaven and Hell, unless you count driving across Kansas. So anyway, since ESCROW NEVER ENDS, and since it sure as hell ain’t heaven, Escrow IS Hell.

This makes a certain sort of sense. A house is a black hole, sucking everything into its maw eternally, including money, time, and joy, not to mention paint, porcelain, copper and asbestos. Regarding the process of falling into a black hole:

From the viewpoint of a distant observer, an object falling into a black hole appears to slow down, approaching but never quite reaching the event horizon: and it appears to become redder and dimmer.

Consider: you may approach but never quite reach the end of escrow. As you attempt to approach, and indeed get closer and closer while never quite reaching it, you will note that your face gets redder and redder, while your putative escrow officer (actually spawn of Satan) becomes dimmer and dimmer, eventually becoming invisible and unreachable.

A house emits only a single thing, somewhat similar to Hawking radiation, known popularly as property taxes.  As with Hawking radiation, there is no effect on those involved in the escrow process itself, as the radiation of property taxes totally bypasses those entering the black hole (eternally entering it, did I mention that?) and is the only direct evidence of the black hole in the universe outside the event horizon.  Further, it appears that objects entering the black hole are destroyed in parts during the process, so that the Hawking radiation of property taxes simply re-emits energy stolen from the partially destroyed object trying to enter the black hole, otherwise known humorously as “the buyer.”  This is only one of many paradoxes surrounding real estate black holes, since “the buyer” is required to pay taxes on a property not yet owned, one of the few confirmed instances of time travel in Creation.  The energy of the emitted property taxes cannot be captured and put to any useful purpose, thus hastening the heat death of the Universe, which mathematical physicists assure us will happen before Escrow ever ends.

Similar observations regarding the Faustian bargain one strikes when entering any real estate related process have been made here regarding human sacrifice to the pyramid scheme of land subdivision.

One of the early Christian heresies, Depositism, was based on the theory that since nothing escapes escrow, if Jesus had gone into escrow instead of hell after dying on the cross then the Resurrection would never have happened, and Satan would have collected property taxes forever on real estate no one actually owned, otherwise known as the law of sin and death.  Unlike believers in other heresies, Depositists were not burned at the stake;  they were simply forced to enter escrow themselves.

Etymological analysis of the term “escrow” reveals that it is a degenerative form of the French term “excrowment,” which means exactly what you think it does (and was partly responsible for the tradition of French people sounding like they’re holding their noses), the term devolving in the British Isles after an early escrow officer, William the Conqueror, brought it across the Channel.

Post-modern approaches have denied that escrow even exists, since no one really owns anything anyway.  Others have said that Escrow is not Hell, but merely Purgatory.  However, since no one has ever been seen actually leaving Escrow, this seems a bit of wishful thinking, though the connection of purgation with excrowment seems clear enough.  Well…  maybe not THAT clear.

This is interesting:

PolitiFact | The Obameter: Tracking Barack Obama’s Campaign Promises

PolitiFact has compiled about 500 promises that Barack Obama made during the campaign and is tracking their progress on our Obameter. We rate their status as No Action, In the Works or Stalled. Once we find action is completed, we rate them Promise Kept, Compromise or Promise Broken.

Just click the link and you can keep track as time goes on. And, of course, you can always pray that he won’t keep some of his promises.