Quote of the day - Ann Coulter

If we accept for purposes of argument their claim that the only way the human race can survive is with clean energy that doesn't emit carbon dioxide, environmentalists waited until they had safely destroyed the nuclear power industry to tell us that. This proves they never intended for us to survive.

Ann Coulter - 2-28-07

Quote of the day - Joe Sobran - Islam

At the risk of committing hate speech, I must
confess that Islam seems to me no more than a crude
syncretism, mixing undigested bits of Judaism and
Christianity without adding spiritual insight of its own.

I'll pass over Mohammed's violence and polygamy,
except to note that Islam bears the marks of its (and
his) locality. It seems the product of struggles among
the desert tribes of his time, with only a superficial
universalism. And of course its perspective is wholly
masculine, promising virginal houris to believers when
they reach Paradise. (I'm not clear what joys await
female believers.)

Quote of the day - Hamilton Jordan

The Clintons are not a couple but a business partnership, not based on love or even greed but on shared ambitions. Everywhere they go, they leave a trail of disappointed, disillusioned friends and staff members to clean up after them. The Clintons' only loyalty is to their own ambitions.

Hamilton Jordan [Chief of Staff to Jimmy Carter] - February 20, 2001

Winter of 1987

Twenty years ago this weekend, the Philadelphia area was hit with up to two feet of snow. This anniversary comes as we greet another winter storm in the Winter of 2007.

This Winter (2007) has been a thumb in the eye of those who insist that the sky is falling and the Earth is warming, as airports have closed, highways have shut down, cold temperature records have been broken, buildings have collapsed, rivers have frozen and general misery has lingered for weeks.

Of course, neither the Winter of 1987 nor the Winter of 2007 should be confused with the Winters of 1994 or 1996.

Quote of the day - Mark Steyn - NFL bans Border Patrol ads

[T]he Border Patrol's mission -- "prevent the entry of terrorists and their weapons into the United States" -- is so offensive that the NFL banned them from advertising in the Super Bowl program. "The ad that the department submitted was specific to Border Patrol, and it mentioned terrorism,'' NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told the Washington Times. ''We were not comfortable with that.''

Mark Steyn - 2-25-07

Quote of the day - C.S. Lewis

The real Oxford is a close corporation of jolly, untidy, lazy, good-for-nothing humorous old men, who have been electing their own successors ever since the world began and who intend to go on with it. They'll squeeze under the Revolution or leap over it when the time comes, don't you worry.

C. S. Lewis

Quote of the day - Milton Friedman

Nobody spends somebody else's money as carefully as he spends his own. Nobody uses somebody else's resources as carefully as he uses his own. So if you want efficiency and effectiveness, if you want knowledge to be properly utilized, you have to do it through the means of private property.

Milton Friedman

Quote of the day - Thomas Sowell

Increasing numbers of people seem to think that it is "name-calling" if you refer to someone as a liberal. There are no inherently negative connotations to the word "liberal." If it has acquired negative overtones, that is because of what liberals have done and the consequences that have followed.

Thomas Sowell

Quote of the day - Ayn Rand

To say "I love you" one must first be able to say the "I."

Ayn Rand

Quote of the day - Mark Steyn

The week's news from Iraq: According to the state television network, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, was wounded in a clash with security forces just north of Baghdad. A senior deputy was killed.

Meanwhile, the punk cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has decided that discretion is the better part of mullahs and has temporarily relocated to Iran. That's right: The biggest troublemaker in Iraq is no longer in Iraq. It may be that his Persian vacation is only to marry a cousin or two and consult with the A-list ayatollahs, but the Mookster has always had highly sensitive antennae when it comes to his own physical security -- he likes being the guy who urges martyrdom on others rather than being just another schmuck who takes one for the team. So the fact that urgent business requires him to be out of town for the Big Surge is revealing at the very least of how American objectives in Iraq are not at the mercy of forces beyond their control; U.S. military and political muscle can shape conditions on the ground -- if they can demonstrate they're serious about doing so.


Mark Steyn - 2-18-07

Quote of the day - Mark Steyn

To the Slow-Bleed Democrats, it's the Republicans' war. To an increasing number of what my radio pal Hugh Hewitt calls the White-Flag Republicans, it's Bush's war. To everyone else on the planet, it's America's war. And it will be America's defeat.

Mark Steyn - 2-18-07

Grizzly Mama; Homeschooling; Aesop's Fables

I have just discovered an interesting blog named Grizzly Mama. Monica R., the blog owner, writes often on homeschooling and education issues. One can find a great many homeschooling resources at this site.

She also features an Aesop fable every Friday.

Quote of the day - Mark Steyn

So "the Murtha plan" is to deny the president the possibility of victory while making sure Democrats don't have to share the blame for the defeat.

Mark Steyn - 2-18-07

Quote of the day - C.S. Lewis

The real problem is not why some pious, humble, believing people suffer, but why some do not.

C. S. Lewis

Quote of the day - Joe Sobran

We live in the Age of Nonjudgmentalism, eloquently attested in Clinton's approval ratings. I expect to see an ominous bumper sticker any day now: "I'm nonjudgmental and I vote!"
Can it be an accident that back when people were more judgmental, they didn't shoot each other quite so often? It may seem paradoxical, but it's quite natural. Simple, even. When you have commonly accepted moral standards, you don't usually need to resort to force. But when moral rebuke no longer exerts its restraining influence, there is a human temptation to blow the offending party away, as it were.

Joe Sobran

Sulejman Talovic - Muslim shooter in Salt Lake City

Yesterday, the top story after the bitter weather was the Salt Lake City shooter and the heroic officer who stopped him. When the MSM/DNC thought it had another random shooting and an opportunity to promote gun control, the story received a lot of attention. But now that the shooter is revealed to be a muslim, the story does not exist, despite the multiple deaths. Normally a mass shooting will serve as red meat to reporters who like little more than a chance to talk about "gun" violence and the need to "do something." But when the shooter belongs to the Religion of Peace, the gun control opportunity takes a back seat.

This story and the sudden silence reveals something about MSM/DNC priorities. The MSM/DNC prefers to enable terror more than it wants to disarm Americans.

Valentine's Day storm - Winter of 2007

Our survival as an industrialized nation may depend on our ability to resist the calls to shut down our industries by the "global warming" advocates. Much depends on our ability to remember the horrible weather from this Winter, including the Valentine's Day blizzard.

Airports have endured (and continue to endure) delays. Passengers have been trapped on runways for hours. Amtrak has cancelled service in many areas. Many people are without power throughout the Northeast. Temperatures are in the single digits with windchills below zero. Traffic has come to a standstill. Buildings have collapsed. Ten miles of Interstate 78 are closed in PA. **** update - the initial reports underestimated the traffic tie-up. Fifty miles of I-78 were closed, trapping drivers for up to a day. Parts of I-80 and I-81 were closed as of late Friday 2-16*** end update

Gas station collapse in Cleveland


building collapse in York, PA



















My own experience yesterday was somewhat uncommon because I was one of the few people on the road in southern Pennsylvania. Parking lots were inaccessible. Sidewalks were nonexistent, as pedestrians risked accidents walking in the middle of the icy roads.

Buying gasoline was difficult because the pumps were operating slowly. I and other drivers had to pry open frozen gas caps. There were as many snow plows on the road as ordinary vehicles. The plows used the gas station as a turnaround point to get back on the road as I waited with frozen fingers in the bitter wind for the pump to eke out a few gallons.

Driving at night in a snow and ice storm is unique. The snow forms a haze around lighted signs along the roadside. Everything else is dark. When the occassional vehicle approaches from the other direction, one never knows if the vehicle will spin out of control or misjudge the lanes in the absence of visible markings on the road.

My defroster was essential last night, but with frozen fingers, the temptation to redirect the heat toward myself was very powerful.

This story is mundane and easily forgettable, but that is why we must commit such stories to writing now before we are confronted with the left's falling-sky-global-warming scenario as soon as the temperatures start to rise. Write down your own stories of shoveling snow, driving, missing work, etc. Re-read them this Summer.

Quote of the day - Milton Friedman

Inflation is the one form of taxation that can be imposed without legislation.

Milton Friedman

Winter of 2007 - winter storm receives priority coverage over Anna Nicole Smith

Matt Lauer's teleprompter this morning used the term "winter smackdown" to describe the storm that has blanketed an area from the midwest to Virginia to Maine. Some areas are expected to receive several feet of snow, while other areas are enduring ice and sleet. Air traffic is disrupted ("hundreds and hundreds of flight delays"). Vehicle deaths ("hundreds of accidents")have occurred. Schools, businesses and government offices are closed throughout much of the country. Power outages are creating havoc. Temperatures throughout the country remain well below normal.

Indianapolis Star photo -idle airplanes at Indianapolis Airport - 2-13-07

This is not news to any of you, as you have either looked out your own window or have seen the news coverage. I repeat the story here because the global warming meme will eventually resume. We have heard little of the hysteria-mongering for almost two weeks, but the hysteria will be back when the sun returns. We will need to review the events of the Winter of 2007 when that happens. Memory is the greatest enemy of leftist propaganda.

See the coverage in Philadelphia, Virginia, Buffalo and Indianapolis.

Previous - frozen rivers, death toll.

Quote of the day - Thomas Sowell - Global Warming

Back in the 1970s, the environmental hysteria was about the dangers of a new ice age. This hysteria was spread by many of the same individuals and groups who are promoting today's hysteria about global warming.

Thomas Sowell - 2-13-07

Winter of 2007 - another irony - Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality

On Saturday, SNL invented an ironic situation for laughs regarding global warming and the events of this winter.

Today, Congress one-upped SNL by cancelling a "global warming" conference due to the winter storm that now is pounding the east coast.

The following notice and weather report appears tonight on Drudge:

HOUSE HEARING ON 'WARMING OF THE PLANET' CANCELED AFTER SNOW/ICE STORM

HEARING NOTICE
Tue Feb 13 2007 19:31:25 ET

The Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality hearing scheduled for Wednesday, February 14, 2007, at 10:00 a.m. in room 2123 Rayburn House Office Building has been postponed due to inclement weather. The hearing is entitled “Climate Change: Are Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Human Activities Contributing to a Warming of the Planet?”

The hearing will be rescheduled to a date and time to be announced later.

DC WEATHER REPORT:

Wednesday: Freezing rain in the morning...then a chance of snow in the afternoon. Ice accumulation of less than one quarter of an inch. Highs in the mid 30s. Northwest winds around 20 mph. Chance of precipitation 80 percent.

Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy. Lows around 18. Northwest winds around 20 mph.

I think Will Rogers once commented that his little jokes never hurt anybody, but everytime Congress makes a joke its the law.

By the way, where is the Constitutional authority for a Congressional "Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality?"

Winter of 2007 - Susquehanna River freezes over

I have written previously that the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh was "frozen over" last week, with commercial traffic stopped for the first time in a decade.

Here are pictures of another river that has frozen over as a result of the bitter temperatures this month. The white area in the photos below is not an empty snow covered field, nor is it whitewater rapids. The white area is the frozen Susquehanna River near Harrisburg, PA.

Susquehanna River - Sunday - February 11, 2007


2-11-07

Western half of the river - the eastern half is on the other side of the island near the middle of the photo


All of these photos were taken on February 11, 2007.


another photo of the Western half -



The broken bridge in the middle of the photo was destroyed by floating ice chunks during the Winter of 1996 - not to be confused with the Winter of 1994.

another photo of the broken Walnut Street bridge taken the same day - 2-11-07


It would be nice to have a catalogue of all of the rivers that froze over during the past ten days. But the MSM/DNC does not keep track of such things, as that would not support their story of "global warming."

The Susquehanna freezes over more often than the Allegheny, so it is not an earth shattering event. But in this era of "global warming" I am shocked that it freezes at all.

Quote of the day - Ann Coulter - [Joe McCarthy]

"McCarthy was a popularizer, a brawler. Republican elitists abhor demagogic appeals to working-class Democrats. Fighting like a Democrat is a breach of etiquette worse than using the wrong fork. McCarthy is sniffed at for not playing by Marquis of Queensbury Rules -- rules of engagement demanded only of Republicans. Well without McCarthy, Republicans might be congratulating themselves on their excellent behavior from the gulag right now." -- Ann Coulter, P. 70 Treason

Quote of the day - Mark Steyn

So, faced with a degree rise in temperature, we could destroy the planet's economy, technology, communications and prosperity. And ruin the lives of millions of people.

Or we could do what man does best: adapt.

Mark Steyn - 2-11-07

Winter of 1994, February 11th, 1994; February 11th, 1983

I have previously written about temperature records set during January 1994. On February 11, 1994, the northeast, still reeling from the destructive weather that occurred in January, was blanketed by a heavy snowfall:

the northeast was in the middle of its second heavy snowfall in 3 days. 18 inches of snow fell at Newark, New Jersey, after receiving a foot just a few days earlier. Snowfall was very heavy over southeastern Massachusetts, with 18 inches at New Bedford and Hyannis.

Here is one person's observations on that storm:

The forecast for FEB 8th was for light snow to begin around 8AM and be light throughout the day.with 1-2 inches by the evening rush hour.Heavier snow overnight would accumulate 4-6 inches before changing to rain.

I went to work and sure enough at 8AM it started to snow. I knew something was wrong as I drove to my next client at 9AM.......snow was falling heavy now. I cancelled my appointments for the day and let my boss knew by voicemail.where she said "its not snowing here in Suffolk County.you just dont feel like working"

I went home.and the snow rates kept increasing. By 10AM the snow was coming down at 3" per hour and there was lightning and thunder...the temps dropped from the upper 20s to 12.By 1PM.I measured 1 foot at my house.The snow was lighter by now.and even was mixing with sleet.
My boss called later that night and said that her windshield wipers had broken from the ice buildup and it took her 8 hours to get from Western Suffolk to Western Nassau (about 20 miles) A second wave of precip enveoped the area.it was sleet where we got 3 inches of the stuff.it was powdery.

it sleeted and snowed on the 9th another inch.and the forecast for the 11th was for sun with a storm well south of us.

Then the forecasting fun began

on the 10th it was sunny.the forecast for the 11th was now cloudy.but no snow

then it was for a dusting

then an inch

then 1-3 inches

2-4 inches

3-6 inches

4-8 inches

then it was realized that we were going to see another foot.

Friday FEB 11th 1994 the snow started around 4AM.and by 8AM it was coming down at 3" per hour.We ended up with another 13 inches here.

I suppose that Ellen Goodman would call this person a "holocaust denier."

As I recall, one day later, a large warehouse collapsed in Dorney Park (near Allentown, PA) from the accumulated snow and ice of the Winter of 1994. The resulting damage was measured in the millions of dollars. [This collapse was one of many collapses that winter.] [Because the collapse occurred at night, no one was hurt.]

Something worse happened on February 11th, 1983:

the "Megalopolitan blockbuster snowstorm" dumped one to three feet of snow from Virginia to southern New England. New all-time 24 hour snowfall records were set at Philadelphia, Harrisburg, and Allentown, Pennsylvania and at Hartford, Connecticut. Allentown and Hartford both recorded 5 inches of snow in one hour. Glen Gary, West Virginia reported a total of 35 inches of snow. Winds gusted to 72 mph at Chatham, Massachusetts.

When exactly was global warming supposed to have started?

Winter of 2007 - a retrospective

The bitter temperatures seem to be subsiding. To put it mildly, we [in the Eastern U.S. and Canada] have seen nine days of below normal temperatures. Six of those days have been more than bitter, with temperatures below zero and will chills ranging from 20 to 50 degrees below zero. Records have been set, pipes have burst, electricity usage has increased, the Allegheny River has frozen over, people have died.

I have written about the MSM/DNC technique of relying on images, emotions and feelings instead of facts. I have tried to respond by focusing on the pain and bitterness of this Winter so that we will remember the cold weather long after the bitterness has eased.

I present here some additional mental impressions and images from this month. Last week, I had occassion to drive for some distance along Pennsylvania highways shortly after a brief snowfall. The temperature was so cold that the snow could not melt, even in the bright sunlight. The frozen snow clung to the highway in places where salt crews had not yet arrived. Road crews had to use much more salt than usual. The highway appeared to be bleached in the wake of the salt crews. The excessive salt not only removed the snow, but bleached the pavement. The frozen snow had the consistency of sand. The bright sun, bleached highway, sandy grains of snow and desolate nearby fields gave the appearance of a desert or some strange arctic salt mine. By the time I had driven thirty miles, the salt had turned the front of my normally black car white. The sound of high winds whistling past my car windows reminded me that this was not a desert, but a bitter winter day during which I and the rest of the world would rather be comfortable inside.

Is this the image of a warming world, in which we need to shut down our industries and destroy the livelihoods of millions of people? The answer is obvious. I hope it will remain obvious in four months when the MSM/DNC tries to tell us that none of this ever happened.

Quote of the day - Amy Poehler

"This week, in an ironic twist, while making a speech on global warming, Al Gore froze to death."

Amy Poehler - SNL - 2-10-07 [the joke was followed by a round of applause from the audience]

Anna Nicole Smith, Lew Burdette, Joshua Perper, Al Qaeda, Abu Ayyub al-Masri and MSM/DNC white noise

Did you know that Lew Burdette died this week? Do you know who Lew Burdette is? Lew Burdette was the MVP of the 1957 world series. He pitched 24 straight scoreless innings over the Yankees (the team with Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, etc.) in that series. He won three complete game victories. He was a teammate of Hank Aaron.








Yet his death was relegated to a brief mention in the sports pages or on Fox Sports Radio. There were no features or interviews with Hank Aaron or endless updates on his death with absolutely no new information. Can this be explained by the fact that he did not look like this - ?




I think there is more to it than mere looks. Anna Nicole Smith was famous for no good reason. She was the subject of an inheritance lawsuit, she appeared on reality television, she was the center of tragedy in recent months, she was involved in a paternity suit, etc. But these events are not that uncommon anymore. In a world where the vice-President's daughter can have a baby with another woman and be greeted with yawns, Anna Nicole's life was quite mundane. Yet I believe that is the reason for her fame. The media specializes in creating celebrity out of nothing.

What does Paris Hilton actually do? or Sean "Puffy" "P. Diddy" Combs? They do nothing as far as I can tell. They are famous merely because they are famous. They receive attention merely because they have already received attention. Their fame has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. They are the celebrity version of political polls.

When Princess Diana died, television commentators stumbled all over themselves around the clock for the next few days trying to think of something she actually did to merit all of the attention. For ten seconds they would list her work against land mines and in favor of AIDS victims. After that they had very little to say. Today, the commentators have stopped even trying to find some justification for the fame. Instead of trying to summarize why Anna Nicole Smith justifies all of the endless coverage, the MSM/DNC speculates as to which drugs may have been in her hotel room when she died. [The commentators have also tried to contrive a Marylin Monroe analogy, but that analogy is pitiful, as Monroe acted in many, many first run movies with A-list co-stars. Monroe's fame was based on her acting.]

A modern Rip Van Winkle, waking up after sleeping since the mid-1970's, upon hearing the news coverage of the past few days in which the MSM/DNC continuously used the deceased's middle name, might conclude that Anna Nicole Smith had assassinated the President or committed some other horrific crime like other three-named villains of the past.

The Anna Nicole Smith coverage is nothing but White Noise. See p. 171 of Hugh Hewitt's book "Blog" and #21 in the bias categories list for a fuller discussion of how the MSM/DNC uses "White Noise" to drown out important topics.

As an example of how successful this White Noise strategy has been, do you know who Abu Ayyub al-Masri is? Did you know that he is the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq and that U.S. and Iraqi forces have killed or captured numerous of his aides in the past few days. If you receive your news primarily from the MSM/DNC, you most likely are unaware of this fact. The
MSM/DNC does not want you to know that U.S. forces in Iraq are eliminating much of the group responsible for 9-11. Any story that reveals our success against Al-Qaeda in Iraq would undermine MSM/DNC efforts to generate public support for a U.S. retreat in the face of the enemy that destroyed part of New York City.

Here is another example of how MSM/DNC shallowness results in missed stories. In watching some of the coverage of the Anna Nicole Smith death, I was surprised to see Joshua Perper on television holding a press conference. I recall Perper's term as coroner in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, which term ended when he was replaced by Dr. Sanford Edberg. The two men got into a shoving match in front of TV cameras in 1980 as Edberg sought to assume his office. The sight of two coroners physically shoving each other for control of the coroner's office was, to say the least, interesting. It would make an interesting sidelight during the endless, monotonous Smith coverage for the MSM/DNC to resurrect and display that film. Yet the MSM/DNC misses that opportunity because the concept of "memory" is hostile to the mission of the MSM/DNC. MSM/DNC propaganda depends on the public forgetting what happened yesterday or last year or 27 years ago. Even though Dr. Perper's history in Pittsburgh has no real bearing on the Smith case, the MSM/DNC cannot break out of its anti-memory default mode even for the purpose of finding some historical film that would entertain its audience during this nonstop gabfest.

Here is a final analogy and a prediction. The MSM/DNC cannot continue to operate forever in this manner. Eventually, it will be successful in destroying western civilization (in which case the MSM/DNC will die also) or it will continue to lose power and market share to the new media and will eventually cease to exist. But if the MSM/DNC were to continue in power indefinitely despite its silliness and its strategy to distract attention from the vital issues affecting America's survival, our children will experience the following:

In 50 years or so, Peyton Manning will pass away. Like Lew Burdette, Manning's death will receive little coverage (despite his accomplishments in our own era).

In 30 years, a woman will be born - it does not matter who she is. By a combination of luck, looks, scandal and publicity stunts, she will eventually become famous despite having no actual career or accomplishments. Her exploits as a 20+ year old will eclipse the news coverage that Peyton Manning's death receives.
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Visit counter added on March 26, 2007

Quote of the day - Ayn Rand

Upper classes are a nation's past; the middle class is its future.

Ayn Rand

Quote of the day - C.S. Lewis

The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of 60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.

C. S. Lewis

Winter of 2007 - death toll

Matt Lauer's teleprompter (as well as other sources) reported this morning that the death toll from the arctic weather the past few days has risen to 16. I am not sure if that includes Canada or just the Eastern and Midwestern United States.

Chicago endured its sixth day in a row of below zero temperatures today. According to Al Roker, that hasn't happened since 2000.

I have also heard numerous stories of frozen and burst pipes damaging residential and commercial buildings this week.

In the case of both the death toll and the building damage, the Winter of 1994 exceeded the numbers we now endure. But the numbers and the comparison show that this weather is far from a fluke even though we supposedly live in an era of "global warming."

For the first time in a decade, commercial traffic on the Allegheny River has been shut down.

more ice on the Allegheny h/t Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

ice related crash in Alabama last week H/T Fox News










I continue to drone on about this arctic weather because one day it will end and Spring will arrive. When that happens, we will forget the pain and inconvenience that are so real to us now. The MSM/DNC will rush in to fill the void with more fear mongering about "global warming." We have to steel ourselves for that onslaught before it begins.

Previous - Allegheny River freezes - chill map - February 4, 2007

Quote of the day - Joe Sobran

A culture without religion is hardly a culture at all, and to call it one is like calling nudism a "dress code." The function of today's schools is to strip our children of their culture.

Joe Sobran

Winter of 2007 - bitter temps continue - Matt Lauer's teleprompter admits the obvious - Allegheny River freezes over - PP&L sets new record

This morning the Today show finally acknowledged the Winter of 2007 in a big way. The bitter weather was the top story. Meredith Viera's teleprompter used the word "unrelenting" to describe the cold. The correspondents' reports focused on Wisconsin, Chicago and Pittsburgh (among other places).

The reports noted that the Allegheny River had frozen over in what was described as an unusual event.

H/T Wtae TV
















Other correspondents noted the bitter temperatures throughout the Midwest and Northeast.

The Today show segment never mentioned last week's fawning coverage of the UN "global warming" conference. In fact, the MSM/DNC has been somewhat muted on global warming for the past few days. The MSM/DNC relies on imagery, feelings, and emotions to make its points. The entire discussion of global warming is based on fear and feelings - not facts. The MSM/DNC can capture the hearts of the ladies who watch "The View" with its global warming stories so long as the temperatures are mild or hot. But that same tactic won't work if the nation is gripped by bitter cold. The pain of the cold air will override the fear emanating from the television. In fact, any attempt to promote the global warming agenda will create such an emotional disconnect in the hearts of the MSM/DNC faithful that the global warming meme will lose all credibility for the future. Global warming is like a bubble that will burst if its peddlers try to discuss it while the patsys are suffering from bitter cold. So the MSM/DNC carefully shelves this global warming snake oil until the bitter cold spell passes. The only problem is, the cold spell is taking its time in passing.

PP&L reported yesterday an alltime record for electricity usage for a single hour. The previous record was set during a recent summer. In other words, this cold spell has exceeded the electricity usage of any heat wave.

Meanwhile, parts of Pennsylvania endured their third straight day of school delays caused by the cold weather.

We are enjoying a weather-induced reprieve from the global warming hysteria as long as the cold spell lasts. I was hoping for the temperatures to warm up, but I can enjoy the cold a little longer if it means that the Today show teleprompters must shut up about global warming for a few more days.

Quote of the day - Thomas Sowell

There is nothing so good that politicians can't make it bad and nothing so bad that politicians can't make it worse. Compassion is good but politicians have turned compassion into the welfare state. Crime is bad but politicians have made it worse by going easy on criminals.

Thomas Sowell

Bitter Winter of 2007 continues

As I sit in front of my TV just before dawn, I hear weather reports from around Pennsylvania and the Northeast. Most cities endure temperatures in the single digits or even below zero. Schools delay their opening for the second day in a row. There is no snow - the cold temperatures are solely to blame for the school delays. The temperatures are not as bad as they were during the Winter of 1994, but they are severe and they have endured without letup for days.

The time is long overdue for more of us to ignore the MSM/DNC orthodoxy regarding global warming.

Even Hawaii is enduring colder than normal temperatures.

In order to overcome this brainwashing, we have to remember this cold snap long after this winter is over. Especially this summer when the weather is hot and the MSM/DNC is pushing the global warming refrain without letup. Try an exercise. Stand outside as long as it takes for your fingers to feel the pain of the bitter cold. As your fingers endure the discomfort, remind yourself of the MSM/DNC story regarding global warming. This exercise may help steel you for the onslaught that will continue long after this winter is over.

Quote of the day - Milton Friedman

Many people want the government to protect the consumer. A much more urgent problem is to protect the consumer from the government.

Milton Friedman

Global warming and the ice age of 2007 - Twilight Zone

This week's frigid weather throughout most of North America comes on the heels of the UN conference on global warming, at which the UN bureacrats repeated the official story that (1) the Earth is getting warmer and (2) that western countries must surrender their basic industries.

The global warming faithful display no shame or remorse no matter how much bitter weather the world must endure.

The sequence of events the past few days remind me of the Twilight Zone episode (Midnight Sun) in which the Earth was careening toward the sun, causing temperatures to rise, water to dry up and the people of the Earth to panic and resort to violence. By the end of the episode we find out that it was all a dream and that the Earth was not, in fact, careening toward the sun. In fact, the Earth was careening out of orbit away from the sun. The world was growing colder instead of hotter. The main character was delirious from the crisis and had dreamed up an imaginary warming scenario, much like the scenario that the UN dreamed up last week.

dreaming of unbearable heat - this is either the Twilight Zone character or a UN bureacrat



We all listened dutifully on Friday as Matt Lauer's teleprompter repeated the UN's global warming story. We woke up the next day to discover that a near ice age had descended on the United States and Canada. Wind chills are predicted to remain below zero. Schools are contemplating closing or delaying their opening as the week begins. Numerous schools have shut down throughout the Plains, Midwest and Northeast. Amtrak has curtailed passenger service in certain places.

Rochester Democrat and Chronicle






Not only is the week significant for its extreme cold, this week and this winter will become a target for the MSM/DNC 's memory hole, as the MSM/DNC strives to make us forget the bitter cold that we experience so that we can get on with the business of solving "global warming."

I believe that much of life will begin to seem even more like a Twilight Zone episode, as the MSM/DNC attempts to make us forget significant events and believe things that contradict our own senses. The surreal world of the MSM/DNC lacks only the voice of Rod Serling narrating our nightmares and telling us that some strange fantasy is about to begin.

see previous - Winter of 1994

update - Alicia and the thickening icebergs.

Quote of the day - Ann Coulter

When contemplating college liberals, you really regret once again that John Walker is not getting the death penalty. We need to execute people like John Walker in order to physically intimidate liberals, by making them realize that they can be killed, too. Otherwise, they will turn out to be outright traitors.

Ann Coulter

Where is global warming when we need it?

chill map 2-4-07

update - check out Lucianne's thread.

Quotes of the day - Mark Steyn - "global warming"

Alas, the science isn't so solid. In the '70s, it was predicting a new ice age. Then it switched to global warming. Now it prefers "climate change." If it's hot, that's a sign of "climate change." If it's cold, that's a sign of "climate change." If it's 53 with sunny periods and light showers, you need to grab an overnight bag and get outta there right now because "climate change" is accelerating out of control.

The silliest argument is the anecdotal one: "You only have to look outside your window to see that climate change is happening." Outside my window in northern New England last week, it was minus 20 Fahrenheit. Very cold. Must be the old climate change kicking in, right? After all, December was very mild. Which was itself a sign of climate change. A few years ago, the little old lady who served as my town's historian for many decades combed over the farmers' diaries from two centuries ago that various neighbors had donated to her: From the daily records of 15 Januarys, she concluded that three were what we'd now regard as classic New Hampshire winters, ideal for lumbering or winter sports; eight had January thaws, and four had no snow at all. This was in the pre-industrial 18th century.

Mark Steyn - "The Warm Mongers" 2-4-07

update - see previous - Winter of 1994

Quote of the day - Ayn Rand

There can be no such thing, in law or in morality, as actions prohibited to an individual, but permitted to a mob.

Ayn Rand

Defend Lewis Libby

I don't really know exactly what crime Lewis Libby is supposed to have committed (unless you count the crime of working for an administration that sits between the MSM/DNC and total domination of the federal government).

I know that even the MSM/DNC has stopped claiming that the administration was trying to "out" a spy.

Even the Washington Post has belatedly placed the blame for this mess squarely where it belongs - on Joe Wilson.

Ann Coulter's most recent column has hit the nail on the head by identifying the real reason for the Libby prosecution. The left's strategy is to use the courts to intimidate and destroy its opponents. The MSM/DNC is a totalitarian movement, like communism or fascism. The movement's goal is power. When the MSM/DNC advocates environmental or racial or gay or other issues, that advocacy and those issues are nothing but a means to power. Every issue that the MSM/DNC advocates results in MORE governmental power, not less.

So why is there a trial [in the Libby case]? Because there is no penalty for using the threat of imprisonment as a political weapon against conservatives. Ask Tom DeLay or Rush Limbaugh.

If Libby were a Democrat, we would know the sexual proclivities of everyone in Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's office, Judith Miller would be portrayed as a "stalker," Tim Russert's cat would be dead, and the public would know about every toupee at MSNBC.

Republicans don't have to kill cats to bestir themselves to defend their own from rank partisan persecution. But it never happens.

People who attack conservatives never have to worry about their own dirty laundry coming out. All they have to worry about is whether People magazine will use a good picture of them in its "Sexiest Man Alive" issue.

emphasis added

Prosecutions are nothing more than another political weapon used by the MSM/DNC to persecute conservatives and broaden MSM/DNC power.

Ann proposes one solution that is long overdue:

You want to protect the borders, cut taxes, fight Islamic fascists and put up Ten Commandments monuments? Get her name. Find out about Patrick Fitzgerald [the prosecutor] what we'd know if he were Ken Starr. If you won't defend your own champions, conservatives, then don't sit back and wonder why so few people want to be your champions.

Quote of the day - Mark Steyn [Little Mosque on the Prairie]

"Muslim is the new gay."

Mark Steyn, commenting on the new sitcom, "Little Mosque on the Prairie."


new on CBC

Repost of quote of the day - Plame/Wilson/Washington Post

In light of the ongoing Scooter Libby trial, I am reposting the "quote of the day" from September 1, 2006 [Washington Post]

Nevertheless, it now appears that the person most responsible for the end of Ms. Plame's CIA career is Mr. Wilson. Mr. Wilson chose to go public with an explosive charge, claiming -- falsely, as it turned out -- that he had debunked reports of Iraqi uranium-shopping in Niger and that his report had circulated to senior administration officials. He ought to have expected that both those officials and journalists such as Mr. Novak would ask why a retired ambassador would have been sent on such a mission and that the answer would point to his wife. He diverted responsibility from himself and his false charges by claiming that President Bush's closest aides had engaged in an illegal conspiracy. It's unfortunate that so many people took him seriously.

Washington Post - September 1, 2006

The point of the quote is that the entire basis for the prosecution and the original investigation is false. Remember this when you hear meaningless details about who said what to whom and when.

Quote of the day - Joe Sobran

Many people who despise the common herd lack even the modest virtues of the herd.

Joe Sobran