ClimateGate: Roundup...

NASA's temperature data was less reliable (according to NASA itself) than the data CRU had – so NASA used some of CRU's data.  The significance of this is that (contrary to claims by all involved) the datasets used by the IPCC were not independent and cross-verifying.  Just one more nail in that “settled science” trope...

A nice analysis of urban heat island effect, using Fort Collins and Boulder...

What might be better than tree rings as a proxy for pre-1900s temperatures?  Clams.  Seriously!

Interesting new Gallup poll results on how Americans feel about AGW...

Harold Ambler ponders scientists access to the press, especially skeptical scientists (noting especially the impact of ClimateGate on the ability of scientists skeptical of AGW to get the notice of the press)...

Jamul Casino Update...

The latest Lakes Entertainment filing (which includes the full fiscal 2009 report) is in, and the bottom line is that they still seem to be pessimistic about the chances of the project ever completing. Just as all the other reports for at least the last two years, this report contains nothing to indicate that Lakes believes the Jamul Indian Casino project is ever likely to complete.

Something to be thankful for...

Truly Barking Mad...

The title is a quote from Peggy Noonan's latest column, in which she explores one of my favorite ponders: the apparent fact that to desire national office in the U.S., one must have a certain kind of mental illness.  I've often noted that the people I'd truly like to see in office have absolutely no interest in running, and vice versa.  Ms. Noonan's conclusion shows she's on the same wavelength:

The shallowness, the lack of seriousness of modern presidential candidates is almost unbelievable. It is also a mystery: How could this be? If today a candidate told me he was not crazy, I will go with it, for it would be news.

Read the whole thing.

P.S.  Ms. Noonan appears to be back from whatever intellectual journey she's been on for the past 18 months or so, as she kinda-sorta supported Obama.  Welcome back, Peggy.  We hope you stick around a while; we've missed your scribblings...

Nanny Statism...

Jeremy Clarkson (a Brit writing at the London Times) is a bit peeved about creeping nanny-statism (an arena in which the U.K. is far ahead of the U.S.):

What good did all the airport legislation achieve? None. It simply means that you and I now must get to the airport six years before the plane is due to leave and arrive at the other end with yellow teeth, smelly armpits and no nail file. Did it prevent a chap from getting on board with exploding underpants? No, it did not.

His two-word punchline is perfect, and something the nanny-staters seem to reject.  Read the whole thing.

Doomsday Seed Vault...

The so-called “doomsday seed vault” project (intended to provide a way to replant the world in the event that some catastrophe wipes out a large amount of plant life) has been underway for years.  It's open now, and at the links are a couple of fascinating looks at it...

Progressives and the Rule of Law...

Neo-NeoCon and commenter Wolla Dalbo, in an insightful exchange about progressives and the rule of law.  And a bonus: one of my favorite passages by Dostoevsky, and some famous quotes by Lenin (the Founding Father of progressivism) that too few Americans know, like this one:

It is true that liberty is precious; so precious that it must be carefully rationed.

ClimateGate: Roundup....

India's Environment and Forests minister isn't an Al Gore fan...

The IPCC is getting an independent review.  Well, that's what they're saying, anyway...

Willis Eschenbach has a nice analysis of problems with temperature data from the Himalayas...

No They Didn't!

LOX (liquid oxygen), a high-pressure Dewar tank rescued from a scrap yard, and two not-particularly-well-informed fellows.  What could possibly go wrong?  Amazingly, nobody was killed...

The Remotest Tree...

There once was a tree that had no neighbor within 120 miles...

Decriminalizing Drugs...

What he said.

People who know me are often surprised that I support legalizing drugs.  Judge Jim Gray does a better job of articulating my position that I could do myself.

FWIW, I've been to the Netherlands.  It's obvious that what many fear would happen here (us turning into a nation of drooling stoners) has not happened there...

Marine vs. Taliban...

There's no way this injured Marine was going to give the Taliban any satisfaction...

The World's Largest Gold Coin...

Almost 500 pounds of it!  And you can have your very own for roughly $5 million (depending on the current price of gold, naturally)...

Federal Tax “Revenues”...

I bridle every time I see that term: “tax revenues” – implying that the government somehow earned the money they're stealing from me!

The graph at right shows what's happened with tax withholding over the past ten years.  It's no surprise that during the recession the tax withholdings go down, but the amount of the downturn may be.  Coupled with record expenditures, this can only mean one thing: massive new federal debt.

Makes me glad I don't have any children; I don't have to worry about my progeny inheriting a planet-sized debt load...

Battle Buddy...

One of our favorite blogresses, Cassandra at Villainous Company, has lost her battle buddy: her 13 year old Dachshund.  To anyone who has loved a dog, her last lines will resonate:

There is nothing worse than a cold, wet nose on your shins. Except, perhaps, wishing you could feel that icy cold nose just one more time.

Go read the whole thing.  Bring Kleenex...

Norwegian Icebreaker Heads Up the Mississippi River!

As you may have seen on the news, it's been very cold in Iowa, so cold in fact that we have borrowed a Norwegian Icebreaker from Minnesota to unclog the Mississippi starting over near Davenport and working its way north. Here is the first picture of it as it begins the hard work required to break up the ice.

ClimateGate: Roundup...

Marthinus van Schalkwyk has been nominated (by the South African government, presumably) to head the UNFCC in the wake of Yvo de Boer's resignation following the fiasco in Copenhagen.  I'd never heard of the guy before, but BigGovernment is reporting that he's a thoroughly disreputable and disgusting example of homo bureaucratis.  Lovely...

Watts Up With That? has posted a nicely-done study of electronic temperature measurement biases (including a link to the PDF of the original paper).  There are lots of interesting details for anyone into the engineering, but the conclusion is easy for anyone to understand: there are systematic errors in the three most common electronic temperature measurement systems, most of which tend to produce warmer-than-actual readings.

Also thanks to Watts Up With That?, I discovered the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) web site – chock full of darned interesting data.  For starters, here's their March 3, 2010 newsletter observing that Antarctic sea ice extent is higher than normal, Al Gore notwithstanding.  The capper for me was this animation tool, which lets you do some very interesting see-it-with-your-own-two-eyes kinds of observation.  For example, I set it up to animate the Arctic sea ice extent from 1990 to present, showing me just January.  The first surprise was how much the seat ice extent bounces around from year-to-year.  The second surprise is that the noise level far exceeds any observable signal – the kind of thing that makes any engineer or scientist suspicious about any claim of observed trends...

What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Scott Adams, a free-weight rack that arrived disassembled, a visit to Home Depot, and a Shop-Vac.  What could possibly go wrong?

ClimateGate: Roundup...

Two informative posts at Watts Up With That?, one on the non-linearity of CO2's effects vs. concentration, and the other on yet another IPCC goof.

Totten in Romania...

The always-excellent Michael Totten recently visited Romania, and his resulting piece lives up to his high standards.  Hit his tip jar, won't you?  We need to keep him and Yon going...

Privatize the Post Office...

I've been saying this for years...