Finally, a cause we can all support: Topless Women March in Portland

QOTD

"I'm really upset by the men… all the men that are here, just like watching it like it's a parade."
- topless march organizer

The march was legal in Portland, ME because they only have laws against exposed genitals, not, um, torsos.

This is a fer-pay WSJ story, but a good one: What's the Next Global Warming
The author chronicles the cracks in global warming across the globe:

• French best seller "L'imposture climatique" rip global warming
  
• Leftie German magazine "Der Spiegel" had a 15 page feature on "scientists who want to be politicians"
• Leading British environmentalist James Lovelock says the planet "will save itself, as it always as done"
• US poll has global warming as the 6th ranked out of the top 10 environmental worries
• In a different article, CA voters will challenge the state's goofy cap-n-trade regulations in the election this Fall.
  

Global warming as religion... the author compares Al Gore's carbon credits scheme ("It's how Al Gore justifies his utility bills") to a Catholic penance.
Good news all.

And finally some real SCIENCE!
Give a bunch of college kids some beers, and their test scores are fine the next morning.

Test-Takers Shrug Off the Effects of Alcohol

I could-a told you that.
he he... yow, bill

Labels: fun, globalwarming, qotd

Windmills in Palm Springs, CA

LA Spars over Green Energy

LA's push to "green" energy has two effects:

• LA power bills are up over 10% to pay for "green" energy options like the windmills
  
• LA residents are treated to the eyesore you see above

Environmentalists, I presume, are all gung-ho on this windmill thing. But how can you look at the photo above and not call that an eyesore? I don't get it.

Baseball is back. Ahhhhhh. Red Sock beat the Yankee 9-7 in Sunday's season opener. Papelbon with the save.
QOTD

“It’s good to get a win opening night. It’s good for the city. It’s good for the fans. It’s good for the players. It’s good for everyone. … But it’s still just one game.”
- K Youkilis, Red Sock

And fantasy baseball is back. Double ahhhhhh.
Speaking of, the Naperville Watchmen will rely on the fine closer corp ever constructed: Papelbon, Mariano, and K-Rod.

Papelbon!

...

...


The finest closer corps... on paper. Now we play the games.
papelbon... yow, bill

Labels: globalwarming, politics, sports

Party #1 - The Dude
Pretty funny... Jeff Dowd has a website: www.jeffdowd.com
Jeff Dowd is "The Dude" in real life.
It looks like he's making some dinero on the whole deal. Why not?

Movie: "The Big Lebowski"
Review: 5 bill-stars (out of 5)... the best!

Could be a top 10 Bill-movie.
I can't come up with a funnier movie off the top of my head.


Party #2 - Trekkie
Excellent.
http://video.yahoo.com/network/100063489?v=7086116&l=100063517

The "Tholian Web" episode was on last night... 40+ years and still the BEST!

QOTD

"Bones, Spock. Since you are playing this tape, we will assume that I am dead and the tactical situation is critical and both of you are locked in mortal combat.

It means, Spock, that you have control of the ship and are probably making the most difficult decisions of your career. I can offer only one small piece of advice for whatever it's worth: use every scrap of logic and knowledge you have to save the ship, but temper your judgment with intuitive insight. I believe you have those qualities, but if you can't find them in yourself, seek out McCoy. Ask his advice, and, if you find it sound, take it.

Bones, you've heard what I just told Spock. Help him if you can, but remember he is the captain, his decisions must be followed, without question. You might find that he is capable of human insight and human error. They are most difficult to defend, but you will find that he is deserving of the same loyalty and confidence each of you have given me.

Take care."
- Capt Kirk's, taped message for Spock & McCoy in the event of his death, imdb source

Party #3 - Ripping Al a new one
Great article... props to Steven F Hayward for the writing and to the Morning News for the link:


"In Denial" is pretty long. But worthy.
The interesting part is not just the rebuttal of the science, but also the outright (and justified) attack on the selling of science and its politicization by Al Gore and his ilk.
warm this... yow, bill

Speaking of Star Trek... this is the girl who played Uhura in the new Star Trek movie. Jeez. And Yow!

Labels: 5stars, fun, globalwarming, movies, qotd

EARTHQUAKE!
Magnitude 4.3 earthquake rattles Illinois

Definitely felt it at The Castle.
Cool.

Oh, and a pol/global warming quickie...

• $2B in stimulus money
• 6,000 jobs
• That's more than $300K/job
  
• And they're temporary
• And... (drum roll)... the jobs aren't even in the United States

Good one:
Wind Energy Stimulus Money Not Creating US Jobs; Most of $2 Billion Going Overseas

That's Obamanomics (?!?) for you.
Ok, maybe we'll just stick to ObamaCare. He he.

And windmill farms are a blight...
earthquake... yow, bill

Labels: fun, globalwarming, politics

1. The Global Warming Terrorist
A classic.
Global warming believer, Osama Bin Laden chimes in on cap & trade...

QOTD

"... bin Laden warned of the dangers of climate change and says that the way to stop it is to bring "the wheels of the American economy" to a halt."
- OBL, Bin Laden blasts US on climate change

Applying the Obama doctrine that we're provoking these poor guys, I hope I'm not out of place suggesting that OBL's motivation here may not be pure. It's possible that he's just jealous of Gore and Obama and is gunning for a Nobel Peace prize of his own.

2. The Nuke-ular President
And our leftie dream President chimes in on nuke-ular power:


QOTD2

"I see an evolving attitude on energy by the president... up until now, the administration has been pursuing a national windmill policy instead of a national energy policy, which is the military equivalent of going to war in sailboats."
- Sen Lamar Alexander, source

It'd be "the best" to see nuclear power actually gain traction under President Obama. Hey, I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'.

BTW, Wikipedia says this about power output:

• Your average nuke plant puts out 500-2000 MW (mega-watts)
• Your average wind turbine generates 1.5 MW
  

So, you pick... one nuke or 1,000 windmills littering the landscape.

Osama global warming and Obama nuclear power... too funny.
nuke me... yow, bill

Labels: globalwarming, politics, qotd

1. Movie Verdict
Movie: "The Verdict"
Review: 5 bill-stars (out of 5)... outstanding!

Why 5 bill-stars for this tiny, tiny movie?
Paul Newman, Jack Warden, Charlotte Rampling, James Mason... directed by Sidney Lumet.
Magic.

QOTD

"I know how you feel. You don't believe me, but I do know.

I'm going to tell you something that I learned when I was your age. I'd prepared a case and old man White said to me, "How did you do?" And, uh, I said, "Did my best." And he said, "You're not paid to do your best. You're paid to win."

And that's what pays for this office... pays for the pro bono work that we do for the poor... pays for the type of law that you want to practice... pays for my whiskey... pays for your clothes... pays for the leisure time we have to sit back and discuss philosophy as we're doing tonight. We're paid to win the case.

You finished your marriage. You wanted to come back and practice the law. You wanted to come back to the world. Welcome back."
- "The Verdict", (evil) James Mason on paying Charlotte Rampling to back-stab Paul Newman

I can't find (and snarf) a good picture of Charlotte Rampling from "The Verdict". Dang it.
I did find a fun article on some dude's fave scene in "The Verdict": The Paul Newman Scene I Can't Get Out of My Head



2. Global Warming Verdict
Ah, crazy 2 byte characters: Bjørn Lomborg.
øøøøøøøøøøøøøøøøøøøøøøøøøøøøøøøøøøøøøøøøøøøøøø

I heart Bjørn Lomborg.
He's a common sense voice on global warming and in today's WSJ points out the obvious: even if you believe in global warming, the answer isn't carbon taxes or caps or whatever... it's innovation!

Lomborg calls for a sort of international research effort. None is needed, of course. As long as big money lies at the end of the rainbow, companies and countries will vie for the prize to the best of their abilities.

Funny one... I saw an op-ed by Joe Biden in today's WSJ titled, "The President's Nuclear Vision", and had a quick flash on President Obama (finally) calling on nuclear power as a part of our energy solution. Dop. No, it was some crap about nuclear weapons. Sigh. Other than the vapid "green jobs" mantra, the Obama administration continues the tradition of not having an energy policy in the US. Dop.



3. Socialism Verdict
Is America in the process of telling socialism's most buxom salesman to pack her bags and hit the fucking bricks? Golly, wouldn't it be great. Almost too much to hope for. But aren't we leaning that way? Just a little?

The President Obama buzz/cult of personality seems to be waning a bit. Not his personal popularity. That will not be impacted by anything. Look at Bill Clinton. But President Obama's agenda is ebbing: health care, can & trade, massive government spending and intervention.

And where are the repubs during this void? I mean, Obamacare has been knocked on its ass... where's the repub retort?!? Competition across state lines. Tax credits for people who can't afford it? Malpractice reform?

Or, where is the Newt Gingrich for 2010's redo of the 1994 elections?
Where is the dang Contract With America for 2010?

I heart America and her defining tradition of freedom and rugged individualism. I believe!
peace... yow, bill

QOTD2

"Your Honor, with all due respect, if you're going to try my case for me, I wish you wouldn't lose it."
- Paul Newman, "The Verdict"

Labels: 5stars, globalwarming, healthcare, movies, politics, qotd

I found both of these in Forbes. Great magazine.

QOTD

"Let's face it, we're not changing the world. We're building a product that helps people buy more crap - and watch porn."
- William Watkins, CEO of disk drive maker Seagate, source

And here's a great story that extrapolates the nonsense we find in global warming with socialized medicine.

QOTD2 is the last paragraph from this article.

QOTD2

"Potomac climate medicine will be scientific when every last data point and every last line of code are posted on the Web. When the data and code come out into the open, as they inevitably will, better scientists will quickly demonstrate how very modest changes in the smoothing, fudging and twiddling can jerk the predictions up or down, or turn them upside down."
- Peter Huber, Forbes dude on global warming science

Cha.
upside down... yow, bill

PS - Early, wonderful, 40-something weekend, baby... woot!

Labels: globalwarming, healthcare, qotd

1. Solar Calculation
You know that global warming bugs me.
It also bugs me that real information is so hard to get.
Forget about $$$ and practicality and logistics for a second... if we had perfect solar panels with perfect batteries and all, how big a solar panel would we need for your average house?

It looks like the average household uses roughly 1,000 kWh/month; that's "one thousand kilo-watt hours per month". Give each month 30 days and we get about 30 kWh/day consumed. [source]

It looks like the power of the sun in Chicago is roughly 4 kWh/m2/day; that's "Four kilo-watt hours per meter squared per day. [source]

Let's divide, shall we: 30 kWh consumed / 4kWh/m2 = 7.5 m2 or "Seven and a half meters squared". So, a perfect solar panel would have to be 7.5 meters squared to power the average house. But solar panels are only about 20% efficient (source), so you'd need a panel 5x that size to do the job: 35 meters-squared.

That's pretty big. 6 meters x 6 meters.
But let's say efficiency doubles over the next 10 years, and let's say we only want/need to cover half our energy via these panels. That reduces our panel area by 4x to 9 meters-squared, or a 3x3 meter panel. Reasonable.

I'm tired and rambling... the point is solar is close to making sense. Closer than silly windmills. And of course, nuc-ular is better than solar. All this fossil fuel and global warming nonsense is addressed with a modicum on invention, which we are well on way.

Cap and trade and such... taxes and control, not about energy or warming or whatever.

2. Investing
Great QOTD regarding the US and Asia from the Mad Hedge Fund guy... similar to a previous post, but still worthy:

QOTD

"As much as we despise ourselves and wallow in our failures, Asians see us as a bright, shining example for the world. After all, it was our open trade policies and innovation that lifted them out of poverty and destitution. Walk the streets of China, as I have done for nearly four decades, and you feel this."
- Mad Hedge Fund Trader guy, source

And how is your day today?
Well, Eddie Lampert, CEO and majority owner of Sears Holdings, is up about a cool billion $$$ today. A Billion Dollar Day for Eddie
He he.

3. New Year's Eve Book
Book: "Noah's Compass" by Ann Tyler
Review: 4 bill-stars (out of 5)... really good

Such a great treat for me... I found Ann Tyler's new book on New Year's Eve.
Smile.

Ann Tyler is one of my favorite authors, and "Noah's Compass" is pretty typical. Her stories focus on regular people going through pretty much regular stuff... no plot twists with Mitch Rapp or anything. He he.

This was a very enjoyable read: 4- bill-stars.
Ms. Tyler's writing style is so smooth... it just kind of ambled along. No biggie.

I thought Ann Tyler's "hook", Noah's compass, was kind of smarmy. Noah didn't need a compass "because the whole world was underwater"... get it? Meh.
Anyway, here's my favorite QOTD from the book:

QOTD

"Epictetus says that everything has two handles, one by which it can be borne and one by which it cannot. If your brother sins against you, he says, don't take hold of it by the wrong he did you but by the fact that he's your brother. That's how it can be borne."
- Ann Tyler, "Noah's Compass"

Sort of a fancier way of saying, "keep your positivity."
Pick the positive, constructive handle of a thing.
I like it.
positivity... yow, bill

Labels: 4stars, books, globalwarming, investing, qotd

For 2010, only one Bill-resolution... improve my meditation quality and quantity.


Three Big Stories
Three big stories this year for my money:

1. Rebound of the stock market and economy
2. Passing of the crappy health care bill... could be the worst piece of legislation in my adult lifetime
   
3. With the ClimateGate emails and guys like Bjorn Lomborg, we saw the first significant (I fucking hope) chinks in the global warming armor that been allowed to see the light of day by the main-stream media
   

We shall see what 2010 holds for all 3 of these stories.

Here's another global warming article... we don't know what fraction of man-made CO2 goes into the atmosphere. This guy suggests this ratio/fraction has remained stable.

Desiderata
I got this poem or tome or whatever called "Desiderata" in a Christmas card this year (from Aunt Phyllis). I like it. Preachy and blah blah, but it's worth a read. Here's an online version:


My fave QOTD from that is...

QOTD

"Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass."
- from Desiderata

Happy New Year!
yow, bill

PS - Marisa all 40-something crinkly and hot hot hot:

Labels: fun, globalwarming, qotd

1. Historic Collapse

QOTD setup... Bull lead by 35 points, 79-44 with 8 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, at home, to Sacramento, a crappy 2-11 team on the road. Go.

QOTD

"I'll tell you what. If the Bulls lose this game, I'm walking to New York."
- Chuck Swirsky, Bull radio guy last night... the Bull play the Knick tonight

QOTD wrapup... Bull lose 102-98, boxscore.
ESPN says it's the second biggest comeback in NBA history.
I heart Swirsky and Bill Wennington, the Bull radio team.
I do not heart Vinny or D-Rose.

2. Pet Slaughter
I'm a little scratchy this morning... fighting the eck... so pardon my French.

Just one more more tiny, itty-bitty discrepancy for our fucking liar global warming friends.

Labels: globalwarming, qotd, sports

An instant holiday classic... just a minute and a half of goodness... the Al Gore global warming poem.


And here's the poem:

One thin September soon
A floating continent disappears
In midnight sun

Vapors rise as
Fever settles on an acid sea
Neptune's bones dissolve

Snow glides from the mountain
Ice fathers floods for a season
A hard rain comes quickly

Then dirt is parched
Kindling is placed in the forest
For the lightning's celebration

Unknown creatures
Take their leave, unmourned
Horsemen ready their stirrups

Passion seeks heroes and friends
The bell of the city
On the hill is rung

The shepherd cries
The hour of choosing has arrived
Here are your tools

QOTD

"Wow.
I'm so glad you read that.
I was, really, I'm very happy... I'm happy to hear it in your voice."
- CBS talking head fawning over Gore reading his poem

Dammit, that's funny.
smile... yow, bill

PS - And could socialized medicine be collapsing?!?!? Here's a Howard Dean rant... again... he he... get it? Dang, Santa, I hope you're out there. He he... I mean, ho ho.

Labels: globalwarming, healthcare, politics, qotd

Boffo WSJ this weekend!

1. Warren Buffet peers into the abyss
A great summary article of the 2008 meltdown from Warren Buffet's perspective.


QOTD1

"I bought my first stock in 1942, and this roller coaster surpassed anything that I've seen"
- Warren Buffet on 2008's crash of the financial system

I'll admit. I don't understand how Buffet is looking into the abyss in 2008, and then just a year later, nearly every economic indicator is (green-) shooting positive. This blog post is a great summary of that, BTW, with lot of tasty charts:


BTW, I know this will change at some point, but look how fucked up Berkshire Hathaway's web site it: www.berkshirehathaway.com. He he he. Reminds me of williamt.com a decade ago or so.

2. Health care radical improver
I heart this guy. Jonathon Bush, CEO of athenahealth. They're a hi-tech company bringing 21st century software products to health care practitioners.

I haven't read a better article summarizing the real answer to improving health care in the US: creativity, innovation, freedom, choice, competition. What a great article!


QOTD2

"If we feel like rich people should pay more for not-rich people's health insurance, that's fine. But just give them the money. It's [Obamacare] totally inefficient wealth redistribution because they can't get creative with it. They're not allowed by law to get creative with it."
- Jonathon Bush, CEO of athenahealth

Imagine applying the creativity and competition we see in the cell phone market, but to health care. Now, that's a solution! That's power!

3. Naked (and nonsensical) Copenhagen
To the pols and the media, global warming means tax hikes and greater governmental/centralized control of our economy. Here's an article by a guy, Richard Muller from Berkeley (oh my!), who believes in global warming (I think) and uses common sense to argue against nonsense like cap-and-trade or other carbon tax schemes in the US:


QOTD3

"But the bottom line is that 80% cuts in U.S. emissions will have only a tiny benefit. The bulk of our effort is best directed at helping the emerging economies conserve energy and move rapidly toward efficient solar, wind and nuclear power. Developing cheap carbon capture and sequestration is also a priority. Above all, we need to recognize that make-the-West-bear-the-burden Copenhagen proposals are meaningless."
- Richard Muller, Berkeley physics prof

Believe in global warming or not, the plan to raise taxes and increase the role of government here in the US to combat global warming is a canard.

Nice work WSJ. Excellent.
sunday morning, sunday music... yow, bill

Labels: globalwarming, healthcare, politics, qotd

1. Nucular
Nice, brief summary of some improvements in nuc-u-lar power that are going on, courtesy my fave "Mad Hedge Fund Trader":


Hey, what the heck do I know.
I just can't understand wallpapering Indiana with wind turbines, when you could get 10x the buck for none of the blight with a couple of nukes.
This is another piece of evidence against the global warming crowd... if carbon emissions were really the planet's doom, then they'd be calling for nukes to replace coal and natgas plants for electricity. But no.

2. God's ETF
There's a new line of ETFs that invest in a particular way, depending on your religions. They're called: www.faithshares.com. They have ETF's for Catholics, Methodists, and generic Christians. Kinda weird, but whatever. I think God would more likely have his 401K in a tech fund.

The commonality between all these specialty funds, like religion or socially-conscious or whatever... higher fees. Amen!

3. Old dog, new chair
Well, I just ordered this new-fangled chair: Balance Ball Chair
Thank you, JC, for the recommendation.

It was only $65... so try something new.
I am sitting in this crappy office chair a lot.
old dog... yow, bill

Labels: fun, globalwarming

This is too delicious to pass up this morning.
It is big "news" when a US senator takes a commercial flight to the bogus global warming conference in Copenhagen.


And one of Tiger's girls protests...

QOTD

"I resent being put in the same category as the other women."
- Holly Sampson, porn star and Tiger girl

Ms. Sampson (right) wishes to rise above the fray because she only had sex with Tiger at his bachelor party.

OK.
Better than parody or sarcasm is when people expose their true character in their own words/actions. I will say, I still have the buxom Ms. Sampson higher on the character scale than Sen. Kerry. But that's an easy call.

I do, however, wonder... who has a greater impact on global warming? The senator or the porn star? Perhaps many, many research $$$ can find the answer to this important question.
he he... yow, bill

Labels: globalwarming, politics, qotd, sports

1. Follow the money
I had a physical reaction (stomach turning) to this story and QOTD.


QOTD

"... between 2000 and 2006, Mr. Jones was the recipient (or co-recipient) of some $19 million worth of grants"
- Mr. Jones is director of the Climate Research Institute (CRU), and a lead actor in the Climategate email scandal

$19 million of research $$$ to this fraud.
Barf.

I salute the late Michael Crichton. He called this one in spades in his book "State of Fear". Politicians and scientists require panic, a state of fear, to extract their tolls from society's worker bees. Today's panic du jour is global warming. Tomorrow's?

2. Shopgirl: book and movie
Book: "Shopgirl" by Steve Martin
Review: 3 bill-stars (out of 5)... just OK

Movie: "Shopgirl"
Review: 3 bill-stars (out of 5)... better than just OK

I got the book because the movie was surprisingly good to me... the power of low expectations. Steve Martin's movie career peaked with "The Jerk", then the excellent "Planes, Trains and Automobiles", and hit bottom with a remake of "The Pink Panther", which I believe the army forced Gitmo terrorists to watch as one of their advanced interrogation techniques.

The book was just OK... not as good as the movie. It's a tiny novella. The narration became more and more over the top as the book crept on. It was weird because I was interested in the characters (because of the movie?), but the book's descriptions became less interesting as the pages turned.

3. Investing decade
Tough investing decade, eh.

QOTD2

"The S&P 500 is down 24.5% so far this decade... but only three of the ten S&P 500 sectors have underperformed the index as a whole in the 2000s -- Telecom, Technology, and Financials."
- excellent Bespoke investing blog, source

Here's the accompanying chart for this QOTD:


I think this theme could very well apply to the coming decade as well... focusing investment in the hot sector(s) or country or asset class, rather than owning the market in general.
In attempting to implement this notion, I heart my ETF's.
buy low... yow, bill

Labels: 3stars, books, globalwarming, investing, movies, myphoto, qotd

Argh, my head.
Mr. Spock over here doesn't like direct contradiction.
He he.

1. First and most important
Why are there still crazy, fucked-up places in the world without water or basic sanitation?
All these foundations and charities and organizations, and we can't build a well somewhere?
Well, we are on the verge of diverting trillions of $ away from helping people and to global warming.

QOTD

"Getting basic sanitation and safe drinking water to the three billion people around the world who do not have it now would cost nearly $4 billion a year. By contrast, cuts in global carbon emissions that aim to limit global temperature increases to less than two degrees Celsius over the next century would cost $40 trillion a year by 2100."
- Bjorn Lomborg, source

I heart Lomborg: Global Warming as Seen from Bangladesh

2. Tough Economic Times
What a bear market for the last 9 years. Argh.

QOTD2
"U.S. companies' IPO activity has so badly lagged behind the pace of stock delistings in the past decade that the number of publicly traded businesses has dropped 39% over the past 11 years"
- WSJ today, source

The number of publicly listed companies peaked in 1997 at 8,823. Now, it's at 5,401. Eee-yikes: Great Depression of Listings

I wonder if President Obama's tax cuts and vast increase of fed spending will help this in the future. Yikes, again.

3. Tough Economic Times?
Things are tough and yet people scoop up the new (expensive) shit like it's going out of style.

QOTD3

"Demand is so strong for the Nook that Barnes & Noble has begun telling new customers not to expect delivery of the soon-to-be-released e-reader until the second week of December."
- The Nook is B&N's flavor of the Kindle, source

10% unemployment and people a lining up for B&N's latest POS gadget.
I can't figure it out.

4. My head
Two really big head-squeezers:

1. Health care - The House passes a health care bill that is the worst legislation I can recall in my lifetime. Gibberish. Cross our fingers on the Senate. Dop. Save your money people... or suffer bureaucratic fools deciding your medical treatment.
2. Muslims terrorists - On this Muslim loser who killed 13 people at the military base... I read a fucking toxic article with quotes about how shithead didn't feel warm and fuzzy because he's a Muslim. I am unaware of 13 Muslims killed in the US because they were Muslim.
   

Commenting on these two is pointless. If you can't follow along with... ah, forget it.

The biggest contradiction of all, I reckon, is the contrast between all-good personal life (what a great weekend!) and the all-fucked-up-all-the-time public existence you hear about. I can't figger that one out at all.
peace... yow, bill

Labels: globalwarming, myphoto, politics, qotd

Jeez, Marisa. Yow!

Short, simple, logical global warming article. Freaked Out Over SuperFreakonomics

QOTD

"... it may well be that global warming is best tackled with a variety of cheap fixes, if not by pumping SO2 into the stratosphere then perhaps by seeding more clouds over the ocean. Alternatively, as "SuperFreakonomics" suggests, we might be better off doing nothing until the state of technology can catch up to the scope of the problem."
- SuperFreakonomics article above

Wash. Rinse. Repeat. No distractions (sorry Marisa) from the two big issues of the day:

1. Global warming - The cure to global warming is a massive tax hike?!? WTF.
2. Health care - Add people to Medicare/Medicaid. To save money?!? WTF 2.
   

Logic and problem-solving are not a part of the solutions proposed by the Obama administration. It's a political land-grab, pure and simple.
marisa... yow, bill

Labels: fun, globalwarming, qotd

What a wonderful present... this morning's WSJ.
Smart. Common sense. Non-partisan. Easy to understand. Simple to explain.
Enough already... mandatory reading:


QOTD

"... embrace the cheaper, smarter path of innovation"
- Bjorn Lomborg

Is it still possible to give President Obama's POS "Cap and Trade" tax hike bill the burlap sack treatment?
Hope so.
peace... yow, bill

Labels: globalwarming, myphoto, qotd

Australia voted down a carbon tax scheme thingie. Two links:

• The AP story: Australian Senate votes down emission trading scheme
  
• And the (cranky) greenie perspective: Climate skeptics and believers unite
  

Senator Penny Wong. Australia's climate change minister. I'll bet she's fun at parties.
This Miss Australia contestant (re. not Penny Wong) is hard at work on the global warming problem:

Defeat for global warming in Australia... socialized health care on the ropes here at home... what the F? I don't know, but I'm smiling.
peace... yow, bill

PS - OK, there's Penny Wong (wikipedia). Seems like a nice enough lady. Couldn't find a bikini shot of her though.
Try harder, Penny!
He he.

PPS - Late addition... silly stats from the WSJ bad-mouthing (get ready for it) Ichiro Suzuki. Are Ichiro's Stats All Smoke and Mirrors?

First, the good/interesting stats:

• Ichiro doesn't have a monster OBP because he doesn't walk much.
• 81% of Ichiro's hits are singles. I gotta admit... I'm not sure I even believe that one. Hold on a sec... yup, it looks right: sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/6615
  
• Nearly 25% of his singles never leave the infield. Again, hard to believe, but OK.
  

So then they hit us with a funky new stat... "batting wins". Ichiro only produces 2 extra wins for the Mariner with his 200+ hits and .333 lifetime batting average. The stat is self-indicting as Albert Pujols is credited with 6 batting wins. Whatever.

I like Ichiro more than some of the other "singles hitters" like Rod Carew because he does more... SB, fielding, etc. Plus, nobody in baseball is more fun to watch.

WSJ be danged... 5 years after Ichiro retires, you can ink him into the HOF. Easy.

Labels: globalwarming, politics

Just relax and enjoy...

QOTD

"Hey, people deserve to know what's in this pile of shit."
- Congress-dude Boehner on the cap & trade bill, source

Pile of shit... that's a nice, relaxing smile.
Hope hope hope... cap & trade mega mega tax increase will die in the Senate.
Hope hope hope... that people will vote people out based on this shit... piles of it.
ahhhhh... yow, bill

PS - Shit, there goes my relaxation. Do I file this QOTD under liar or idiot?

QOTD2

"I know light bulbs might not seem sexy, but this simple action holds enormous promise because 7 percent of all energy consumed in America is used to light our homes and our businesses."
- President Obama on the feds mandating the kind of light bulb you use, source

PPS - I can't end on that one.

QOTD3

"Give me your hand
cause it takes that fire to understand"
- Sister Hazel, "Killing Me Too"

Labels: globalwarming, politics, qotd

Two-fer QOTD

"[It's] a feeble gesture, like bailing the Titanic with a teaspoon."
- McKay, on current global warming efforts like stupid light bulbs and unplugging cell phone chargers

"[It] would be like putting an inefficient [computer] on everyone's desk in 1965."
- Bjorn Lomborg, on premature switching to current "alternative" energy sources

WSJ source on these: Climate Fight Heads for New Round

Here's a thousand words (below), also form that article. US and Europe emissions are flat. The emerging countries are the area of growth in both economies and carbon emissions. In 10 years, the US and Europe will be tiny tiny on this graph.


Light bulbs and 40 mpg cars and paying for clunkers and other "teaspoon on the Titanic" measures have virtually no impact on global carbon emissions. They are two things: 1) further, unnecessary control by the feds over individual lives, and 2) more busy work for the nabobs.

Let's assume global warming is man made. I do not. In either case, a fairly simple solution would include:

1. Spend a little - Spend a small percentage of fed research $$$ on alternative energy. Lomborg quotes 0.05% of GDP. It sounds small, but he makes sense. This stuff isn't a
   
2. Use what we got - Allow greater investment in known, proven clean technologies like nuc-ular, clean coal, and yes drilling for more oil. Slowing economic growth slows research $$$ and activity.
3. Do nothing - People adjust their consumption according to its cost. As energy costs go up, consumption goes down, ala gas prices last year. There is no need for fed mandates on everything from light bulbs to lawnmowers. If you're itching to do something, then just provide incentives rewarding energy-saving behavior like better building codes and higher MPG cars.
   

Now, let's close our eyes and pretend for a second. Rather than calling for some bullshit "green" plan that taxes the bejesus out of everyone and shifts control to the feds,what if President Obama called for a national "man on the moon" goal to find viable alternative technologies by 2020... a solution built on growth, leadership and technology.

Yeah, yeah, yeah... I know.
green schmeen... yow, bill

PS - The best online dating service is www.plentyoffish.com. POF is just one guy... though I read that he just hired his first programmer. POF has 22% market share of online dating services. It's one of the best metaphors for life/business in the 21st century. One smart, dedicated guy (Marcus Frind) is able to project his goodness in a way that touches millions. And of course, he gets to pocket millions himself. This is how real problems are solved: entrepreneurs. Here's the POF guy's blog, which is really interesting.

Labels: globalwarming, qotd

Google "global warming bikini":



He he.
I suppose in our post-apocalyptic future world, women will have to wear bikinis during snowball fights. It all makes sense to me now.

I couch-beached after 9:00 last night... tired.
Surfed into this treat for a few minutes - ABC: Earth 2100
It was hysterical. Not "very funny" hysterical... but "uncontrollably emotional" hysterical.
This is hysterical evangelism, pure and simple. Emotion used to trampel reason. It was a baptist revival warding off Satan... Hitler ranting about Germany being attacked by Jews... a KKK rally about...

Too far? Think I'm full of crap? Well, me too, but not on this.
Enjoy.
QOTD

"Civilization in ruins!"
"Experts predict food shortages, displacement and chaos in the year 2050."
"New disease has potential to kill thousands or millions in a single strike."
"Water rationing as a result of inaction on global warming."
"A future without water."
"What could happen if war breaks out in New York City."
"Imagine future in flames, with refugee camps and "mass destruction."
"Imagine lethal virus sweeping Earth; carriers marked with a red brand."
"Experts say over the next hundred years the "perfect storm" of population growth, resource depletion and climate change could converge with catastrophic results."

- Quotes directly form the Earth 2100 web site (big and in red because it's all so very, very scary)

Guys, the nonsense in the actual show... just the 10 minutes I could stomach... was even more extreme than these quotes. All this crap is blared behind a graphical novel style cartoon of a girl wandering an Earth 2100 wasteland.

It was pathetic. A sham. Propaganda of the lowest form.
Here's a pretty good review, with some insane clips form the show: www.businessandmedia.org/articles/2009/20090603093737.aspx

We're going to spend trillions on this. Trillions with a "T". (Does that matter any more?)
Jeez, how far would "just" a couple hundred billion go toward food, health care, and education for poor people in Africa or Asia. Or worse, how will this nonsense impact the growth of global economies?

So bottom line: Some scientists buy global warming, some don't. There's lot of statistics on either side. The bottom line is that only the global warming side is using propaganda.

Common sense tells you what that means about global warming.
really nice outside today... yow, bill

PS - Kevin Gregg's blown save last night was worse than global warming. He he.

Labels: globalwarming, qotd

Phew.
That was close.
Looks like we'll just miss global environmental armageddon by:

1. Painting our roofs white
2. Making roads a paler color
3. Paint cars in cool or light colors
   

Glad we figured this shit out in time: US wants to paint the world white to save energy
OK, "we" didn't figure it out... Energy guy (and scary nobel lauriate) Steven Chu figured it out.
Again. Phew.

QOTD

"We are on a path that scares me."
- S Chu, US Energy something or other

Me too, bub.

Hey, I want to contribute! The feds should mandate that all bikinis be white. No, wait. We'll tax all non-white bikinis. Hmm... is that politically incorrect? Jeez, this is tougher than I thought. No wonder Steven Chu is so dang smart.
white bikinis plural... yow, bill

Labels: globalwarming, politics, qotd

What do you want first, silly or not so silly. I thought so.

Silly... QOTD

“... climate change is an unambiguous security threat. At the extreme it threatens our very existence. But well before that point, it could well incite new wars of an old kind over basic resources – like food, water and arable land.”
- Hillary Clinton at her Sec of State confirmation

And not so silly... QOTD2

"The rating (for the U.S.) was affirmed despite our judgment that fiscal risk has noticeably increased as we expect that the fiscal deterioration will be temporary."
- S&P comment on the United States' AAA credit quality rating

Temporary fiscal deterioration. Gulp.
We see treasuries down-graded from AAA by S&P... then I'll start paying attention to the "sky is falling" blogs and such. Gulp gulp.
chicken little... yow, bill

PS - "Chicken Little" is a surprisingly good movie. Review: 4 bill-stars (out of 5). Plus, they cast Joan Cusack as the ugly duckling, and she's quite good, actually. I want to be at that meeting though: "Joan, we want you to be the ugly duckling in our movie." And Joan Cusack's back straightens, "What the hell did you just say to me!" He he.

Labels: 4stars, globalwarming, investing, movies, politics, qotd

3 fun topics today, a beautiful Sunday morning.

Fun Topic #1 OBAMA
Topps, home of the planet's best baseball cards, humbly presents... President Obama trading cards:




My favorite Obama card is #13 depicting Pres-Elect Obama getting a discount on his new mcMansion from Tony Rezko. He he!

Things are already better with Pres-Elect Obama, I must admit.
I'm watching less TV and channel-surfing less. I used to surf those talking-head channels in the 50's. Now, surfing the talking heads is like radioactive or something... the Obama-mania in the media seems pervasive as we reach a new level of ninnification.

I saw that ole beard-a-bees Bill Richardson dropped out as Commerce Secretary or something... click, click, click, there's Lynn Sweet from the Sun Times on CNN or something telling me that this is actually a good thing. Oh, my bad Lynn... how could I miss more Obama goodness! To paraphrase reporter Sweet, this gives Pres-Elect Obama a chance to really appease his more activist (re. wackos) supporters by naming someone loopier and farther left than Gov Richardson.

Well, that's certainly clever. It does somehow bypass any critique of how Pres-Elect Obama and his team of Super Friends managed to miss that Richardson was being investigated by the feds for some governor shenanigans. Dop. And it reinforces the notion of making cabinet choices just to appease constituency groups, rather than on merit.

Thanks Lynn... for the anti-analysis.

Fun Topic #2 MOVIE
Movie: "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (on Imax!)
Review: 1 bill-star

This movie was gawd-awful, even on the Imax.
If you get a chance to watch the original on cable or something... it's a keeper at 4 bill-stars.

I figgered this movie would be like the remake of "War of the Worlds" (3 bill-stars)... dumb, but lots of cool stuff blowing up.
Nope.
This movie was dumb with hardly any stuff blowing up.

Two redeeming features:

1. The robot was pretty cool for the first few minutes.
2. It was great to see Will Smith's uber-attractive 10 year-old kid be completely free of talent and stiff as a board in his part.

Fun topic #3 NINNIES
This is an instant classic: The environmental impact of Google searches

These geniuses advise we be more judicious in our usage of google and other internet facilities.
I (non-genius) advise... all these guys, I mean, scientists have web sites, books, lectures, appearances, tenure, grant money, etc... all fueled by publicity.

The irony is crystal clear. Even if there was global warming, the answer is not conservation, using less, taxing the bejesus out of people and going low-tech. The answer is growth and using technology to solve the problem. More ninnies... more!

I'm hoping to make this a 3-fer weekend with another movie today. We shall see.
More coffee!
peace... yow, bill

PS - BTW, more 2009 excellence to note... the Imax theater. I'll never forget seeing "Dark Knight" that first time on Imax... it's just a stupefying overload of the senses. Awesome! The preview of "The Watchmen" was better than the movie we saw. I'm not big on all the plot-less and character-free "graphic novels" turned into bad movies these days, but I might give "The Watchmen" on Imax a roll.

Labels: 1star, 3stars, 4stars, globalwarming, politics

Mumble along with me... "I heart Shaq, bro."



And here's some wonderful end of the year global warming nonsense:

This is a nice connective QOTD... smushed between some global warming nonsense (and asserted wisdom, see QOTD below) and my book review.

QOTD

"Wisdom, itself, is often an abstraction associated not with fact or reality but with the man who asserts it and the manner of its assertion."
- John Kenneth Galbraith, "The Great Crash 1929"

Book: "The Great Crash 1929" by John Kenneth Galbraith
Review: 5 bill-stars (out of 5)

Of course, my review is influenced by these dark times. Sue me.

The book is an economic history treatment of the 1929 market crash and, to a lesser degree, the ensuing Great Depression. And yes, there are haunting similarities to today's situation complete with over-leverage, speculation, fraud on a massive scale, stupid regulation and government intervention, etc. It was absolutely striking to read something about 1929, written in 1955, and have nearly all the same shit apply today 50+ years later.

The book is very well-written with many quotes and references and stories from the day. It was very entertaining. The author's style if very readable and replete with perspicacity. (He he... I learned a "big word" in his book)

One of the ruinous creations in the 1920's were investment trusts. Investment trusts were a little like our mutual funds or ETF's except that they were publicly held stocks themselves. Well, the trick was that the investment trust would buy its own stock, on margin. Investment trusts would also buy the stock of other investment trusts. So, you had this whole virtual corporate structure on top of real corporate America for the sole purpose of market speculation. When the bubble was popped these investment trusts kept borrowing and buying their own stock... all the way down to zero.

We've had a stock market crash in 2008, no doubt. Will this lead to a depression (one definition I've seen: 4 consecutive quarters of negative GDP with a cumulative decline of at least a 10%) here in 2009? I don't think so. Pause. But we sure did repeat a lot of mistakes when it came to the market crash, so who knows.

Here's a last cheery QOTD for 2008:

"The singular feature of the great crash of 1929 was that the worst continued to worsen. What looked one day like the end proved on the next day to have been only the beginning. Nothing could have been more ingeniously designed to maximize the suffering, and also to insure that as few as possible escaped the common misfortune."
- JKG, "The Great Crash 1929"

Cha!
Anyway, an outstanding book and great read!
happy new year... yow, bill

Labels: books, globalwarming, qotd

QOTD

"Everyone has an agenda. Except me."
- Michael Crichton

Michael Crichton died last week... here's his de facto/bland/generic obit in the WSJ: He Brought Science to Life. The WSJ can make any dead guy boring.

Crichton was success personified... author of a zillion books, "Jurassic Park", "ER", blah blah. My favorite Crichton books were "Andromeda Strain", "Disclosure", "Rising Sun", "Next", and "State of Fear". He had obviously figured out what would sell... rinse and repeat. I also read his autobiography "Travels"... a worthy read, but nothing astounding.

In "State of Fear", he focused on the woeful state of science these days. The state of fear or crisis is necessary these days (always?) for scientific research to be funded. Related, he also was passionate about exposing global warming: Aliens Cause Global Warming. I love that... aliens. He he.

QOTD2

"Environmentalism seems to be the religion of choice for urban atheists."
- Michael Crichton

I read Crichton
yow, bill

Labels: globalwarming, obit, qotd

That weird little dude up there wrote this about global warming in today's WSJ:


Man, read it.
You can read the emotional, overwrought other side as well: The Other A New Dawn

It's odd.
If that weird little dude can just convince a few people, start swaying public opinion toward the correct, scientific solution, and just get people to ask a few questions... then millions and millions and millions of people live.
If not, they don't.

Just read it, man.
There are too many "Quote of the Days" in there for me to choose.
qotd o plenty... yow, bill

Labels: globalwarming

QOTD
"It's nice to have a lot of money, but you know, you don't want to keep it around forever. I prefer buying things. Otherwise, it's a little like saving sex for your old age."
- Warren Buffet on his $5B investment in Goldman

Buffet is right and wrong: Buffett Buys Goldman Stake in `Economic Pearl Harbor'

He's right that he should buy. He's a zillionaire and he can absorb a $5B loss if it comes to that. He can also absorb 5 years of underperformance on the investment if it comes to that as well. Plus, it was a total sweetheart deal for him as Goldman wanted Buffet's name on their shingle.

He's wrong in that, even if Congress pens this $700B bailout deal, that doesn't mean the world is right as rain. What if the bill passes, huzzah, and then that doesn't solve the credit crunch? Or the dollar tanks? Or whatever?

All this and now global warming rears its ugly head once more: Solar wind weakest since beginning of space age. Now, I'm not sure about the science on how American SUV's cause a decrease in solar winds, but I'm sure I can find a nobel laureate out there the explain it.


That said, I am already pre-bumming... the anticipation of bumming. The termperatures this weekend are low in the 50's and high in the 80's. I'm crossing my tired fingers (and legs) that the weather is cooler for the marathon in Milwaukee next weekend. I'd love a brisk 40-something start at 8:00 am with a cushy breeze off the lake and high 50's by 11:30 when I cross the finish line. Pinch me!

If the forecast is ridiculous in 10 days, I'll find a better run. I hope not though.
cross this... yow, bill

Labels: globalwarming, marathon, politics, qotd

QOTD

"We at the Almanac are among those who believe that sunspot cycles and their effects on oceans correlate with climate changes. Studying these and other factor suggests that cold, not warm, climate may be our future."
- Joseph D'Aleo, climatologist and meteorologist at the Old Farmer's Alamanc, Sep 2008

The Old Farmer's Almanac came out with a longer-term prediction of global cooling over the coming years: Old Farmers Almanac: Global cooling may be underway
huzzah... yow, bill

Labels: globalwarming, qotd

QOTD

"We did alright for a couple-a goofballs."
- SpongeBob

Interesting story (and beautiful picture) about the absence of sunspots last month:


Peace.
buy low, sell high... yow, bill

Labels: globalwarming, qotd

Two funny headlines today.

QOTD1

"SEN. JOHN EDWARDS CAUGHT WITH MISTRESS AND LOVE CHILD!"
- National Enquirer July 2008 headline

Whatever happened to the National Enquirer?
Funny story though:

And why is it "Enquirer" and not "Inquirer"?

QOTD2

"Al Gore Can Have His Meat and Eat It Too"
- July 2008 headline from some blog or something somewhere

The story is here:

The chick in the story asked Al Gore, basically, why he's not against meat since cows have a large carbon footprint. [I guess I should menti0n at this point that no, this isn't sarcasm or satire on my part in any way. I realize that may be difficult to believe, but try.] There are two, equally funny, responses to the question:

1. Al Gore - I don't care how much CO2 cows spew, I'm eating meat.
2. The chick who asked the question ends up being a global warming girl - She says that all we have to do is move all the farms closer to people (so we don't have to drive the meat, get it?) and also run farms more naturally. I suspect under her plan that Gore would get his meat, but others with slightly (cough) lower income levels may convert to tofu.
   

The other great line in the story... 5 years till the polar ice caps melt. Huzzah!
yow, bill

PS - A whiff of sanity as the American Physical Society (some group of physicists or something) almost questions the science of global warming in a technical paper by one of its members: www.aps.org/units/fps/newsletters/200807/monckton.cfm. I say "almost" because someone had a fit and posted on the APS web site that they like the article. Whatever.

Labels: globalwarming, politics, qotd

QOTD

"I believe in excellence. It is a basic need of every human soul. All of us can be excellent because, fortunately, we are exceedingly diverse in our ambitions and talents."
- Edward Teller

Edward Teller has an interesting take on global warming; it looks like this is from 1998.


So, Teller says, pretend we have global warming. Then you shoot particles in the sky (ala a volcano) to deflect 1% of the sunlight reaching the planet and problem solved.

Well, that's not so hare-brained (hair-brained? what's dumber... rabbits or hair?) an idea. And what costs more... slowing and taxing to death all human activity or blasting some reflective particles into the atmosphere? Shit, even I can do that math.

It's so telling (Teller telling... ugh) that even Mr. Skeptic over here (um, me) is so brainwashed that the concept of a technical solution is completely in the background and not even considered.

Teller's signature appears on the front page at the Global Warming Petition Project web site. Excellent.
yow, bill

Labels: globalwarming, qotd

Yo yo yo,

Bio-tech startup Pacific Biosciences of California got $100M in financing... so says The Journal:


So what?
Well, the company claims that by 2010, it will have a process that sequences your DNA in 15 minutes. They don't mention the cost. You go to the doctor, get your DNA sequenced, and then analyzed for the kitchen sink. For what diseases are you pre-disposed? What medications are best for your biology? Eventually.

And please please please, know that this is the tip of the iceberg. If we're sequencing DNA in 2010, then what will we be doing in 2020? Think about it.

Must of this is foretold by my main man Ray Kurzweil. His book "The Singularity is Near" is 5 bill-star reading. Oh, here you go...

Book: "The Singularity is Near"
Review: 5 bill-stars
His web site: www.singularity.com ... click on "Resources" for some great nerd news.

This is the best and most fun tech books about the future that I have read. Period.

QOTD (paragraph breaks and emphasis are mine)

"None of the global warming discussions mention the word “nanotechnology.” Yet nanotechnology will eliminate the need for fossil fuels within 20 years. If we captured 1% of 1% of the sunlight (1 part in 10,000) we could meet 100% of our energy needs without ANY fossil fuels.

We can’t do that today because the solar panels are too heavy, expensive, and inefficient. But there are new nanoengineered designs that are much more effective. Within five to six years, this technology will make a significant contribution. Within 20 years, it can provide all of our energy needs. The discussions talk about current trends continuing for the next century as if nothing is going to change.

I think global warming is real but it has been modest thus far - 1 degree f. in 100 years. It would be concern if that continued or accelerated for a long period of time, but that’s not going to happen. And it’s not just environmental concern that will drive this, the $2 trillion we spend on energy is providing plenty of economic incentive. I don’t see any disasters occurring in the next 10 years from this. However, I AM concerned about other environment issues.

There are other reasons to want to move quickly away from fossil fuels including environmental pollution at every step and the geopolitical instability it causes."
- Ray Kurzweil, June 2006

Dang, that's money.
nano this... yow, bill

Labels: 5stars, books, globalwarming, technology