Individual Liberty — Individual Responsibility 

Don't Bother Looking in the New York Times

Remember the hype last year about global warming leading to  increased numbers and intensity of tropical cyclones? Especially after Katrina?

So last year, the tropical cyclone season was active in the Atlantic, two papers were published suggesting tropical cyclone activity was related to global warming, and the two papers were turned into front page news all over the world. This year’s tropical cyclone season has been quiet in the Atlantic, and the Ren et al. paper is published showing many tropical cyclone indicators are decreasing significantly over a substantial area of the western Pacific.

Sorry Ren et al, your “reverse spin” on tropical cyclone trends is simply not newsworthy!

Source: World Climate Report » Reverse Spin on Tropical Cyclones

More Hooey from global warming alarmists.

A former economist pretends to  be able to predict mass extinctions in 100 years or so...

Stern estimates that reducing greenhouse gas emissions now would cost about 1 percent of global GDP a year, while dealing with the effects of a significant increase in worldwide temperature would cost 5 percent to 20 percent of global GDP. He said about 200 million people would be forced to move if the temperature rises by 3 degrees centigrade (5.4 degrees F) and that 40 percent of the species on Earth might become extinct.

Source: United Press International - NewsTrack - Report: Immediate action on climate change

Somehow I don't think the math adds up. First of all, the widely agreed upon temperature savings (amount of global warming avoided) for complete implementation of the Kyoto protocol by 2050 is only 0.07 degrees centigrade. That number is considerably smaller than the margin of error in calculating global temperature. So if you consider the worst case rate of global warming and the best case rate of temperature savings, that 1% (other analysts come closer to 1.5%) of GDP annually for 20 years will not really do much at all to keep those 200 million people from having to move, or saving that 40% of species.

Speaking at the Tenant Farmers Association’s 25th anniversary conference this week, the University of London’s Emeritus Philip Stott said media-hype and the lack of a robust energy policy over the past 30 years had been major problems.

“We are walking into danger if we think we can stop climate change – we can’t, but we can mess up the British economy. Energy security for Britain is a very serious issue and we need a realistic policy that will slow down climate change. But let’s not be conned that we can stop it.”

Source: Climate change cannot be stopped

More Hooey from global warming alarmists. Better start warming up those cells in Nuremberg!

Initiative 91 ahead of the game

Seattle's proposed limit on tax spending for professional sports teams would probably be the only law like it in the nation, industry insiders say.

They also say Initiative 91 is more of a trendsetter than an aberration.

Source: Initiative 91 ahead of the game

I think it's about time! I like professional sports as much as the next guy, but the people in Washington State have gotten screwed by the politicians in Washington State over professional sports too many times for my comfort.

Now if we could get a state-wide initiative started to prohibit the counties and the legislature from declaring an emergency funding need when the people reject funding for professional sports stadiums, I could get behind that!

Post Viewing implemented and Movable Type API complete!

So, now that I'm back at this stuff, here's a potential list of features I will be implementing.

• Filter by date.
• Filter by category.
• Keyword support.
• Comments.
• Trackbacks. done!
• Online posting.
• Member weblogs.
• RSS feeds for weblogs. done!
• RSS feeds for comment threads.
• Blogrolling.
• Custom themes.

This is fun.

Final: Chiefs 35, Seahawks 28

Wallace was competent, completing 15-of-30 passes for 198 yards, including touchdown passes of 8 yards to D.J. Hackett and Jerramy Stevens in the first half, then a huge 49-yard touchdown strike to Darrell Jackson midway through the fourth quarter. But he also had two interceptions – the second in the final two minutes. The pass was deflected at the line of scrimmage by Tamba Hali and intercepted by defensive end Jared Allen, who took off with the ball. However, Seahawks receiver Deion Branch ran him down and took the ball back the officials ruled upon the challenge from Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren. That was his first forced fumble and recovery in his career, but the drive stalled just as they passed midfield..

Source: Seattle Seahawks - News : Final: Chiefs 35, Seahawks 28

All in all, the game was better than I expected. If the Seahawks had managed to pull it out in the last drive the game likely would have gone into overtime. I was impressed. Our second string almost beat their first string.

The game was hard to watch though. Fox must have had some problems with their satellite feed. It was like watching the game on a webcam. One of our friends was literally nauseous because of it. It made it really hard to tell occasionally what was really happening on the field. One time, it looked like a Kansas City interception, but it turned out the ball was dropped. The frames that were dropped in transmission were the ones where the ball slipped out of his hands, hit the ground and bounced back up. It looked on television like a good catch, until they showed the replay.

So the Seahawks fall to 4-3 and the Chiefs move to 4-3. Not altogether unexpected, but still disappointing.

Time for the Seahawks!

After last week though, I'm not sure it's such a good idea. I can't believe how many injuries the team has had this year. We were really starting to kick butt and lost Shawn Alexander. Now we've lost Matt Hasselbeck too.

I guess we'll get to see how the second string can play against the rest of the NFL. It didn't look to promising last week, or during the pre-season though.

On a side note, it looks like I'm posting on Pacific time, but my web hosting is on Eastern time. I'll have to add some time-zone adjustments to the blogware I've written.

Update

I've fixed the posting time bug.

Sound Politics: Tardy Truth from the Press

In a long overdue turn of events, a major Washington state newspaper, the Tacoma News Tribune, has actually condemned Maria Cantwell's recent TV ads. Of note, this comes from a paper that endorsed Cantwell nearly two weeks ago. They say now, "Cantwell continues to hammer McGavick with mean-spirited and disengenuous [sic] television ads."

Source: Sound Politics: Tardy Truth from the Press

Must-Have Browser Upgrades - washingtonpost.com

Don't be alarmed. If you're still using Internet Explorer 6, much less any older version, you need this upgrade. You've been stuck with a browser that lends you too little help in staying on top of the Web, and out of trouble on it.

Source: Must-Have Browser Upgrades - washingtonpost.com