On Ashley Judd, $1 trillion coins and other matters of import
I see where Kentucky-born movie star Ashley Judd continues to talk about running for the U.S. Senate against Mitch McConnell. McConnell may be in a bit of political trouble, and as Al Franken has demonstrated, it is quite possible for a Hollywood celebrity to perform credibly in the Senate. But Minnesota ain’t Kentucky, and in this case, Judd has as much chance of becoming a U.S. senator as McConnell has of being a Hollywood leading man.
———————————-
Cyclist Lance Armstrong is scheduled to appear next week on Oprah, where he may finally, publicly confess to years of performance-enhancing drug use on the way to seven Tour de France titles, all of which have been stripped from him.
The American people will supposedly forgive almost anything after a public confession, and Oprah has become our culture’s official Mother Confessor. But all the tears from all the crocodiles on the planet won’t wash away the stain on Armstrong’s reputation.
Set aside, for the moment, his use of performance-enhancing drugs and his supposedly heart-felt, offended claims of innocence. By multiple, multiple accounts, Armstrong conducted himself like a first-class, egotistical jerk throughout this entire scandal. He fooled the naive and gullible into vouching for his honesty, he strong-armed teammates into joining him in drug use, he intimidated others into silence and he conducted a decade-long campaign to ruin anybody who threatened to reveal him as he truly is, which is a self-centered, arrogant bully.
So please, Lance, spare us the dramatics and groveling. Live strong, dude.
————————————–
Speaking of cheating, arrogant, self-centered bullies, neither Barry Bonds nor Roger Clemens got enough votes this week to be elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame. I don’t have much sympathy for those guys, and if they never get in the hall, that would be fine with me.
But let’s at least be honest with ourselves. Everybody in baseball — casual fans, baseball writers, managers, agents, the players’ union, broadcasters, team owners and MLB executives such as Bud Selig included — all knew what was going on in the steroid era, and we pretended otherwise. When punch-and-judy second basemen suddenly turn into 50-homer sluggers, and when baseball records that have lasted for decades get obliterated by multiple players, it ain’t natural and we all knew it at the time. But it was selling tickets and raising TV ratings and it was FUN! Even chicks dig the long ball, right?
The baseball establishment now seems to believe that by casting all the blame on prominent scapegoats such as Clemens and Bonds, it can expunge itself of its own guilt for that era, and it cannot and should not.
I think Bud Selig should schedule a session with Oprah.
————————————–
Finally, in the stupid-government-tricks department, there’s the $1 trillion platinum coin. According to proponents of the idea, some of them pretty prominent (see here and here and here, among others), an odd provision in federal law would allow the U.S. Treasury Department to create a coin, made out of platinum, in a $1 trillion denomination. Federal assets would suddenly increase by $1 trillion, meaning the U.S. government would no longer be running up against its congressionally imposed debt ceiling.
Voila! Problem solved!
Look, the entire debt-ceiling debate is inherently silly. I get that. Congress has voted to spend trillions and borrow trillions, and it’s totally ridiculous to pretend that it can now refuse to pay that money back, which is what it would do by refusing to raise the debt ceiling. Given all that, solving a silly, make-believe problem with a silly, make-believe coin apparently has some appeal to otherwise serious people.
But this is clown-car politics beneath the dignity of the United States of America. It also would dynamite what little credibility the governing process in this country might still retain, and it’s a mark of our decline that such a concept would even be broached.
– Jay Bookman
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816 comments Add your comment
Thulsa Doom
January 10th, 2013
7:19 pm
“United States 9,146
Its the guns stupid.”
Rwanda- 1996- Up to 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus slaughtered mostly with machetes and hoes.
Its the machetes and hoes stupid.
DownInAlbany
January 10th, 2013
7:20 pm
Albany, what are you talking about?
JamVet
January 10th, 2013
6:36 pm
…possessing a gun turns a coward into a badass who thinks he can take on the world.
No doubt.
Speaking of cowards, other than the insane, utterly realistic admonition to put armed guns in every school in the nation, what ideas did the Wayne LaPierre come up with?
A poll published today says that 2 of 3 Virginians are in favor of armed police officers in schools.
That’s what I was talking about.
Paul
January 10th, 2013
7:21 pm
Erwin’s cat 7:13
Even recognizing that, I have good memories of the valedictorian in the HS class ahead of mine – her father was a janitor at the high school yet he could still buy his own house (this was in southern Cal). I dated a girl whose dad was a meatcutter at the grocery store – he also bought his own house – and I can remember when he bought a nice, full-size new car.
I agree – people who work at fast-food places shouldn’t expect a whole lot, but still, I think some who do the non-college jobs deserve better than what they’re getting now. Seems we may be taking a generation of hard-working people and creating a system where they are several rungs lower than what comparable people in a previous generation experienced, relative to other workers.
That Black Guy
January 10th, 2013
7:22 pm
Fred ™
January 10th, 2013
6:24 pm
But dismissing the Bushmaster as a “.22″ is more than a little misleading
Understatement of the Century. And anyone who would try to do so is either the dumbest person on the face of the earth or the biggest liar. Either way, they should be shunned.
________________________________
Please don’t shun me Fred, what ever will I do?
J/K
I sort of mis represented what I meant when I called it a “.22″.
mea culpa
Thulsa Doom
January 10th, 2013
7:22 pm
JamVet,
At least you can’t razz me on football. Hee hee. At least not right now anyway. Nyuk nyuk nyuk!
Doggone/GA
January 10th, 2013
7:23 pm
“do you think an hourly should make the same as a eng that can design a bridge that won’t fall down”
There’s this though…how long will that bridge last without the lower wage maintenance crews that keep it from rusting into scrap metal? You can bet your last dollar the engineer who designed it isn’t out there slapping paint on it.
barking frog
January 10th, 2013
7:23 pm
Thulsa Doom
Its the machetes and hoes stupid
……………………………………………….
Not much for machetes but a good hoe is useful
Keep Up the Good Fight!
January 10th, 2013
7:24 pm
DIA… well actually if you want to be complete about the VA poll in a purple state: In the wake of the Newtown, Conn., elementary school shootings, a poll of Virginia voters finds strong support for armed police officers in schools, but also indicates overwhelming backing for conducting background checks on buys at gun shows and a desire to limit weapons purchases to one a month.
The Quinnipiac University poll indicates support of 66 percent to 29 percent for an armed officer in every school, while 60-36 percent believe gun purchases should be limited to one per month. Last year, the GOP-controlled General Assembly voted to repeal the state’s longstanding ban on purchasing more than one handgun a month.
The greatest disconnect between legislative action and public opinion, however, is on the issue of background checks. According to the poll, Virginians overwhelmingly favor, 92-7, conducting background checks on people who buy guns at gun shows.
http://www.timesdispatch.com/news/state-regional/government-politics/va-poll-finds-support-for-armed-school-officers-gun-show/article_9c70f024-5b17-11e2-b812-001a4bcf6878.html
The other half of your brain.
January 10th, 2013
7:26 pm
Jay
January 10th, 2013
5:43 pm
“Are you saying that airbags, anti-lock brakes, crumple zones, and other automobile safety advances have ZERO affect in the decline of traffic deaths?
I doubt that’s what he’s saying. All those advances — advances mandated by government regulation over the complaints of manufacturers, by the way — have of course had an effect.
As might mandatory gun locks, palm-print readers and bans on large-capacity magazines, among other steps.
Jay, As I have stated here a few times, they will just carry 6 five round magazines. It’s not rocket scientist dude.
That Black Guy
January 10th, 2013
7:28 pm
Soothsayer
January 10th, 2013
6:45 pm
So, Kyle’s shuts down and Andy (Fish Sandwich) and Little Davy Crybaby (Criberius) show up at the same time. Perfect!
__________________________
“Dave’s not here, man!”
DownInAlbany
January 10th, 2013
7:29 pm
Keep Up the Good Fight!
January 10th, 2013
7:24 pm
DIA… well actually if you want to be complete about the VA poll in a purple state:
No argument here. The comment I was responding to was about police officers. And, just for the record, I think that background checks should be mandatory. I’ve gone through several before…being a foster parent (many years ago), purchasing fire arms and getting my carry permit.
Thulsa Doom
January 10th, 2013
7:30 pm
barking frog,
I used to sharpen my machete and trim the hedges in the yard with it. Took a lot longer but it was fun and a sharp machete can hack its way through anything. When we would hike through the jungle to get to the base of a volcano to climb in it Central America your most trusty fried was a well sharpened machete.
Hoes I don’t care for. Hos are a different story.
moonbat betty
January 10th, 2013
7:30 pm
“I’m willing to compromise on the gun control stuff and let the cons have 100-round magazines for both musket balls and claw hammers.”
Well, those 28 oz. framing hammers should be banned….
Keep them under 8 oz. since there ain’t no building going on anyway.
td
January 10th, 2013
7:32 pm
getalife
January 10th, 2013
4:56 pm
cnn is running the trillion dollar story.
It is not as crazy as a debt debacle II by the gop to get another downgrade and market drop they said.
The crediting agencies have not said that the downgrade of our rating would be from a debt ceiling not being raised or a government shutdown, they said it would be raised due to not cutting spending.
barking frog
January 10th, 2013
7:33 pm
Thulsa Doom
Hoes I don’t care for. Hos are a different story.
…………………………………………………………….
so are HoHo’s but they may be history…
moonbat betty
January 10th, 2013
7:36 pm
“Hoes I don’t care for. Hos are a different story.”
Bros before Hoes!
Erwin's cat
January 10th, 2013
7:36 pm
as for the DUI argument…Jay and Cheesy grits
Total population of traffic fatalities
MADD founded 1980 22.4 deaths per 100k people
2010 10.65 deaths per 100k people
dropped in half…. DUI deaths trend just like the broader population…could it be tha MADD and DUI laws have done essentially NOTHING to improve safety…ZERO ZIP NADA…but it has made a lot of money for a lot of people……
Using the DUI argument for gun control is just an emotional argument…certainly not a factual one
Erwin's cat
January 10th, 2013
7:36 pm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_motor_vehicle_deaths_in_U.S._by_year
td
January 10th, 2013
7:38 pm
One Democrat after another from Red states are coming out and are already backing down on half of Biden’s gun control measures. The new Democratic Senator from ND basically says she will not back banning semi automatic weapons.
moonbat betty
January 10th, 2013
7:39 pm
“Using the DUI argument for gun control is just an emotional argument…certainly not a factual one”
Apples to Oranges. To be polite about it…
Keep Up the Good Fight!
January 10th, 2013
7:43 pm
Taft High School does have a uniform deputy sheriff monitoring campus “before, during and after school but he was not there Thursday because he had been snowed in.
Well that did a lot of good at stopping it. The con plan failed. Maybe we need to give the teachers knives.
td
January 10th, 2013
7:45 pm
““I think you need to put everything on the table, but what I hear from the administration — and if the Washington Post is to be believed — that’s way, way in extreme of what I think is necessary or even should be talked about. And it’s not going to pass,” Heitkamp said on ABC News’s “This Week With George Stephanopoulos.” Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D) of North Dakota
““Let’s start addressing the problem. And to me, one of the issues that I think comes — screams out of this is the issue of mental health and the care for the mentally ill in our country, especially the dangerously mentally ill. And so we need to have a broad discussion before we start talking about gun control,” Heitkamp said.”
Erwin's cat
January 10th, 2013
7:47 pm
Well that did a lot of good at stopping it.
defeating our own arguments are we
he wasn’t there….there wasn’t a gun there to stop him
Thulsa Doom
January 10th, 2013
7:47 pm
barking frog,
Last I heard Flowers bakery was considering buying Hostess. Flowers is an unusual company. Their HQ is a building that looked like a giant old house down in the middle of nowhere in Thomasville, GA. It doesn’t feel like a typical corporate campus. Going down there is a pain in the ass. The CEO I dealt with liked to meet his vendors early, way early as in 6:30 or 7 am. And so you had to drive down their the night before and hotel it for a night. Maybe things have changed since I’ve been down there but there wasn’t much at all in that town. Bo-Ring.
TaxPayer
January 10th, 2013
7:48 pm
We should just equip our soldiers with cars and hammers instead of guns given the way the cons describe the effectiveness of each of these “weapons”.
Paul
January 10th, 2013
7:49 pm
TaxPayer
I’m gonna steal that. It’s good.
Pleasant evening, all -
TaxPayer
January 10th, 2013
7:52 pm
I see Erwin’s gettin all emotional with his nonskewed arguments. Too bad he doesn’t include some nonskewed data that has been proven to be more than a correlation or even just a correlation… certainly not causation, using his own words, that is.
barking frog
January 10th, 2013
7:55 pm
Taxpayer
The troops have hammers and hummers and some have swimming pools
but I think you will have to take their guns from their cold dead hands.
TaxPayer
January 10th, 2013
7:55 pm
there wasn’t a gun there to stop him
But they surely have a woodworking shop with hammers and parking lots with cars. Those weapons trump a little old gun any day. Just make sure you get a drunk to operate either one and point him or her toward the lone gunmen (you know those drunks never see just one of anything).
TaxPayer
January 10th, 2013
7:58 pm
Oh well. I may as well go watch some Jon Stewart on Hulu since swamp thang isn’t around to provide some more of that delightful early evenin’ entertainment.
Living With Open Eyes
January 10th, 2013
7:59 pm
Erwin’s cat
I do reaize college requires drive and effort and that graduates should make a higher salary-just not five times what manual skilled crafts make. Twice at the most.If engineers had to perform the labor for the projects they design they would be just drawings and figures on the computer because most of them believe that they are too good to get dirty or sweaty except in an air conditioned gym.Also much skilled labor requires years of experience-you can’t teach experience in school.Why do you think smart people deserve to be exponentially better off than average people?
Keep Up the Good Fight!
January 10th, 2013
7:59 pm
Sure EC, so under the NRA plan, we need more than 1 principle at a school trained or more than one guard…. we need several so that there is always a “gun” present.
Then you have to be sure they are in the right place. Better add a few more. The training and humans are free, don’t you know.
Don’t forget that the madman may have a bullet proof vest and body armor…be sure the gun protectors do to. Those are free., right?
But take action to just reduce the opportunity to get these weapons, Can’t be done because well cars and other implements could be used.
Erwin's cat
January 10th, 2013
7:59 pm
Paul – I think some who do the non-college jobs deserve better than what they’re getting now
I couldn’t agree more….but i think a butcher, plumber, and other skilled trades are doing okay, but could be better…it’s a buyers market unfortunately
Erwin's cat
January 10th, 2013
8:01 pm
Keep…I didn’t say I agreed with it, but the irony in your statement was irresistible
Keep Up the Good Fight!
January 10th, 2013
8:02 pm
TaxPayer, well there may have been phalanx of cars in the parking lot. How did that kid get by them without getting killed.
Erwin's cat
January 10th, 2013
8:03 pm
Eyes wide open – it’s not 5x
USC-69
January 10th, 2013
8:03 pm
Mitch McConnell is the most inept and boring senator currently in congress. Ashley Judd may be a successful movie star but she is also bright, alert, able to speak in complete sentences, and understands the plight of other people. I say go for it Ashley – the people of Kentucky deserve some glamour in their representatives and Mitch Mcconnell is a mumbling embarrassment. Bookman’s distain suggests an underlying bias against the entertainment industry and (?) attractive, smart women. Come on Jay, it’s the 21st century. Things are going to be different – no more Senator FogHorn.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
January 10th, 2013
8:04 pm
Well EC, I disagree. I think it proves how silly the gun in every school plan is…. it fails because of weather, bathroom breaks, illness…….
barking frog
January 10th, 2013
8:05 pm
Keep Up
How safe will the schools be if the assault weapons ban is passed again ?
Recon 0311 2533
January 10th, 2013
8:09 pm
Obama, Biden, the left wing Democrats in Congress along with their sheep are absolute jackasses who put protecting the public and most importantly our children behind their asinine anti-gun political agenda. The NRA is right to walk away from Biden’s phony commission.
getalife
January 10th, 2013
8:10 pm
“Gov. Jerry Brown commits to major Medi-Cal expansion
In order to help implement Obama’s healthcare overhaul in California, Brown earmarks $350 million in his state spending plan to help enroll more Californians in Medi-Cal.” LA Times.
This man knows how to govern and balance the budget.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
January 10th, 2013
8:11 pm
frog, safer than they are if assault style weapons continue to be sold and, in conjunction with other actions, increasingly safer.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
January 10th, 2013
8:13 pm
speaking of grumpy old Ftroopers
Recon 0311 2533
January 10th, 2013
8:13 pm
This man knows how to govern and balance the budget.
Yeah sure…are you the least bit familiar with California’s economic condition?
Erwin's cat
January 10th, 2013
8:13 pm
TaxPayer – using his own words, that is
no worries…we’re not used to you using your own words anyway
Cherokee
January 10th, 2013
8:16 pm
Well. Now that that’s settled….
getalife
January 10th, 2013
8:17 pm
del,
You might to google that.
F. Sinkwich
January 10th, 2013
8:18 pm
“This man knows how to govern and balance the budget.”
Yep, spend, then tax, then spend, then tax some more.
Genius.
No wonder so many businesses are moving out of CA.
Wilbur
January 10th, 2013
8:18 pm
Mr. Obama voted against raising the debt limit when he was a US Senator. So much for the argument that opposing the debt ceiling raise is somehow beyond the pale.
It’s quite simple. The Congress wants to limit the size of the government and the democrats hate that idea. They are for endless government, endless taxes and endless deficits.
I pray that the republicans are sucessful and we can actually limit the size the government and the deficits.
However, I doubt they will. The republic is lost.
zeke
January 10th, 2013
8:20 pm
Franken,credible? You are definitely smoking some strong stuff!!! And Ashley Judd is a democrat liberal! That is why she could/would not be credible!!!!
getalife
January 10th, 2013
8:20 pm
California will have a surplus:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/california-politics/2013/01/california-budget-jerry-brown-surplus.html
Gotcha.
Erwin's cat
January 10th, 2013
8:21 pm
Eyes wide – Why do you think smart people deserve to be exponentially better off than average people?
ummm 5x is not exponential….and it’s not 5x for the butcher, the baker, or the candlestick maker…
some people get paid for what they do….some for what they know, and some get paid for both….why does a guy who can run a 4.4-40 get paid like a CEO?
Recon 0311 2533
January 10th, 2013
8:21 pm
You stay off this blog a little bit and come back to the same old stupidity. You wonder if these sorry assed losers will ever grow up but then you’re sadly reminded that they have grown up but only with arrested mental development.
getalife
January 10th, 2013
8:22 pm
“The republic is lost.”
Only in the crazy mind of a self defeatist con.
getalife
January 10th, 2013
8:23 pm
del,
You got owned.
Take it like a man.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
January 10th, 2013
8:25 pm
You wonder if these sorry assed losers will ever grow up
No we really don’t wonder about you while your gone, but we realize you’ll never grow up.
F. Sinkwich
January 10th, 2013
8:28 pm
“Gotcha”
Please re-read my post, this time focusing on comprehension.
Oh well, lost cause.
Never mind…
getalife
January 10th, 2013
8:33 pm
filky,
California has a competent Governor like our President.
You lose again.
Jm
January 10th, 2013
8:34 pm
“Look, the entire debt-ceiling debate is inherently silly. I get that. Congress has voted to spend trillions and borrow trillions, and it’s totally ridiculous to pretend that it can now refuse to pay that money back, which is what it would do by refusing to raise the debt ceiling.”
False
If we were just raising the ceiling to pay the interest alone, that would be a couple hundred billion, not over a trillion.
Current revenues cover interest, so we can pay our debts without a debt ceiling increase
Erwin's cat
January 10th, 2013
8:35 pm
reminded that they have grown up but only with arrested mental development
arrested development…that’s it…..i’ve been trying to remember the name of that series for weeks now…really!
Jm
January 10th, 2013
8:37 pm
CA taxes about to go up
More rich people will leave
moonbat betty
January 10th, 2013
8:38 pm
E-cat
or this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZX1wJe-Kqvk
Erwin's cat
January 10th, 2013
8:39 pm
fwiw…as far as Armstrong goes…i’m not gonna pile on…he out cheated the other cheaters…i’ve never seen a sport try so hard to discredit and destroy itself like this before
getalife
January 10th, 2013
8:39 pm
jm,
I count on you for being dead wrong like romney would win so keep up the great work con.
moonbat betty
January 10th, 2013
8:39 pm
California?
Really.
And how did the Terminator get that job anyway?
lol
Corey
January 10th, 2013
8:39 pm
@JamVet
January 10th, 2013
12:37 pm
And don’t forget while POTUS, arms to Iran for hostages(Iran-Contra) and funneled money to the Contras a clear violation of US law; our embassy bombed in Lebanon and no retaliation; over 200 dead Marines in Beruit and nothing done about it other than cutting and running; invaded a tiny Caribbean Island called Grenada, and barred the media from covering it directly by keeping the media at bay, to erase the shame of Viet Nam; involvement in a secret war in Central America; denied selling arms to Iran, later admitting it, but saying he couldn’t remember.
getalife
January 10th, 2013
8:41 pm
“And how did the Terminator get that job anyway?”
The guy before him got recalled.
ahnold went back to acting because he can’t govern.
getalife
January 10th, 2013
8:43 pm
No scandals with President Obama.
Erwin's cat
January 10th, 2013
8:46 pm
betty – i actually have that CD…or at least one of theirs…the first sorta mainstream one
moonbat betty
January 10th, 2013
8:47 pm
“No scandals with President Obama.”
they need to have “smoking gate”
You know he had a couple too many sips of fine russian vodka at some point and slipped a cig.
Recon 0311 2533
January 10th, 2013
8:47 pm
“Current revenues cover interest, so we can pay our debts without a debt ceiling increase”
Jm, the dumbos don’t understand that because they’re programmed to make utterances like “default” or we refuse to pay bills we’ve incurred from the past. Basic economics is beyond their comprehension.
Jm
January 10th, 2013
8:48 pm
getalife
January 10th, 2013
8:43 pm
No scandals with President Obama.
LinkReport this comment
Other than his whole presidency being an embarrassment
barking frog
January 10th, 2013
8:48 pm
Internet went out. I hope engineers can be convinced that it is
silly to make a reset button that you use a toothpick to operate.
moonbat betty
January 10th, 2013
8:50 pm
lol
“Other than his whole presidency being an embarrassment”
Well, and that too.
But who’s counting?
getalife
January 10th, 2013
8:50 pm
“Other than his whole presidency being an embarrassment”
Only to self defeatist cons like you .
Recon 0311 2533
January 10th, 2013
8:50 pm
“No scandals with President Obama”
Good grief, he’s been a scandal for the last four years and it will get even worse in the next four years. Fasten your seat belt.
Cherokee
January 10th, 2013
8:51 pm
“Current revenues cover interest, so we can pay our debts without a debt ceiling increase”
Sure.
So what?
Someone isn’t going to get paid. Legal obligations aren’t going to be met. My dad may not get his social security check. Soldiers may not get their medical care or their paycheck.
Surely Republicans aren’t stupid enough to think that shutting down the government – yet again – will be good for them or the country.
getalife
January 10th, 2013
8:52 pm
Make no mistake, you cons are being marginalized and your party is divided and conquered.
It is time for you cons to bow down but not to slobber all over the wealthy.
barking frog
January 10th, 2013
8:52 pm
Keep Up 8:11
I agree that without assault weapons the kids would be safer but
what other actions would you want ?
Erwin's cat
January 10th, 2013
8:52 pm
Internet went out. I hope engineers can be convinced that it is
silly to make a reset button that you use a toothpick to operate.
marketing once wanted me to make a product where an LED lit up when the power was out
JamVet
January 10th, 2013
8:53 pm
Corey,
Reagan was a pathetic old liar who taught the fake cons how to play stupid to perfection.
The republic is lost.
And rather than witness the bitter end, you cons should probably all do the republic a huge favor and do yourselves in…
I would suggest AK-47s…
DownInAlbany
January 10th, 2013
8:53 pm
“2012 [wasn't] necessarily warmer than it was back in the 1930s … NOAA has made so many adjustments to the data it’s ridiculous,” Roy Spencer, a climatologist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, told FoxNews.com.
A brutal combination of a widespread drought and a mostly absent winter pushed the average annual U.S. temperatures up last year, to 55.32 degrees Fahrenheit according to the government. That’s a full degree warmer than the old record set in 1998 — and breaking such records by a full degree is unprecedented, scientists say.
But NOAA has adjusted the historical climate data many times, skeptics point out, most recently last October. The result, says popular climate blogger Steve Goddard: The U.S. now appears to have warmed slightly more than it did before the adjustment.
“The adjusted data is meaningless garbage. It bears no resemblance to the thermometer data it starts out as,” Goddard told FoxNews.com. He’s not the only one to question NOAA’s efforts.
“Every time NOAA makes adjustments, they make recent years [relatively] warmer. I am very suspicious, especially for how warm they have made 2012,” Spencer said.
The newly adjusted data set is known as “version 2.5,” while the less adjusted data is called “version 2.0.”
NOAA defended its adjustments to FoxNews.com.
Government climate scientist Peter Thorne, speaking in his personal capacity, said that there was consensus for the adjustments.
“These have been shown through at least three papers that have appeared in the past 12 months to be an improvement,” he said.
NOAA spokesman Scott Smullen agreed.
“These kinds of improvements get us even closer to the true climate signal, and help our nation even more accurately understand its climate history,” he said.
One problem in weather monitoring occurs when there is a “break point” — an instance where a thermometer is moved, or something producing heat is built near the thermometer, making temperature readings before and after the move no longer comparable.
“Version 2.5 improved the efficiency of the algorithm…. more of the previously undetected break points are now accounted for,” Smullen explained.
He added that the report also recalculated “the baseline temperatures [that] were first computed nearly 20 years ago in an era with less available data and less computer power.”
Spencer says that the data do need to be adjusted — but not the way NOAA did it. For instance, Spencer says that urban weather stations have reported higher temperatures partly because, as a city grows, it becomes a bit hotter. But instead of adjusting directly for that, he says that to make the urban and rural weather readings match, NOAA “warmed the rural stations’ [temperature readings] to match the urban stations” — which would make it seem as if all areas were getting a bit warmer.
Aaron Huertas, a spokesman for the Union of Concerned Scientists, argued that the debate over the adjustments misses the bigger picture.
“Since we broke the [temperature] record by a full degree Fahrenheit this year, the adjustments are relatively minor in comparison,”
“I think climate contrarians are doing what Johnny Cochran did for O.J. Simpson — finding anything to object to, even if it obscures the big picture. It’s like they keep finding new ways to say the ‘glove doesn’t fit’ while ignoring the DNA evidence.”
Climate change skeptics such as blogger and meteorologist Anthony Watts are unconvinced.
“Is history malleable? Can temperature data of the past be molded to fit a purpose? It certainly seems to be the case here, where the temperature for July 1936 reported … changes with the moment,” Watts told FoxNews.com.
“In the business and trading world, people go to jail for such manipulations of data.”
What do you think, given Jay’s blog earlier this week? Interesting, to say the least.
Cherokee
January 10th, 2013
8:55 pm
Oh well, now that Fox has spoken I guess it’s settled….
td
January 10th, 2013
8:55 pm
“MSNBC host and commentator Melissa Harris Perry surprisingly defended the lack of diversity in President Obama’s second term cabinet in an appearance on the network this morning. Harris Perry says just because someone is of one gender and not the other or has a certain skin color doesn’t mean they are representative of that specific group. Harris Perry cites Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as an example, who she says doesn’t represent “the vast majority” of African-Americans.”
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2013/01/10/melissa_harris_perry_on_cabinet_diversity_clarence_thomas_doesnt_represent_blacks.html
So if are not a progressive black, white or woman then you do not count. And you libs say conservatives are the ones not tolerant. LMFAO
getalife
January 10th, 2013
8:56 pm
fox is a joke.
Try reading proof not critics con.
Recon 0311 2533
January 10th, 2013
8:57 pm
“Surely Republicans aren’t stupid enough to think that shutting down the government – yet again – will be good for them or the country.”
Bat crap…it will mean that programs get cut, federal government workers get cut and the federal government gets cut to the size our revenues will support. That day of reckoning will soon be forced upon us anyway, so best to bite the bullet and do it now.
getalife
January 10th, 2013
8:57 pm
thomas is corporate owned con.
barking frog
January 10th, 2013
8:58 pm
Erwin’s cat
This modem has a battery backup so reset won’t work by
unplugging but battery lights do work when unplugged. the
reset is in a tiny hole by the power cord inset about 1/2 inch.
Cherokee
January 10th, 2013
8:58 pm
Yeah ’cause it worked so well for you last time, recon….
getalife
January 10th, 2013
8:59 pm
Shutting down government is surrendering our war..
Raising the white flag.
Not men enough to pay their bills.
Welchers, pure and simple.
Erwin's cat
January 10th, 2013
9:02 pm
I would suggest AK-47s
Jam….did ya see my post where a guy made and AK out of a shovel?…i think the receiver from the blade…impressive cobbler nonetheless
Cherokee
January 10th, 2013
9:02 pm
“Welchers, pure and simple”
Amazing isn’t it, that such manly men, always trumpeting their choice to make it on their own, without any help from anyone else, are so in favor of welching on their obligations to their fellow Americans.
You would almost think they were – gasp – welfare queens…
DownInAlbany
January 10th, 2013
9:03 pm
getalife
January 10th, 2013
8:52 pm
Make no mistake, you cons are being marginalized and your party is divided and conquered.
Yeah, and the libs are totally united, huh?
Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) on Thursday called it “embarrassing as hell” that President Barack Obama is facing charges that his White House lacks diversity.
DownInAlbany
January 10th, 2013
9:05 pm
So, just because it’s reported on Fox, it’s totally discredited? Regardless of who they quote? I see
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
January 10th, 2013
9:06 pm
Well, it’s about time to turn in. Got a bunch of hauling and lugging to do tomorrow and unless some nut cuts loose on a bunch of innocent souls we’ll have FNM later. And I’ll leave you by getting a head start on FNM. Turn it up and enjoy it, and good night everybody.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LIpuMbLX-Q
getalife
January 10th, 2013
9:06 pm
“President Barack Obama is facing charges that his White House lacks diversity.”
Yes, the women are leaving.
So?
Recon 0311 2533
January 10th, 2013
9:07 pm
The greatest danger to our country is not climate change, lack of diversity, guns, wealthy Americans or even radical Islam. It’s the national debt and it amazes me that this incompetent administration along with the bone headed left ignores this fact.
DebbieDoRight - A Do Right Woman
January 10th, 2013
9:07 pm
scout — get real, if the repubs wanted programs cut, then they just should’ve went over the cliff. There would’ve been mandatory cuts then. Your made up synopsis is …….i don’t know……crazy?
================
So if are not a progressive black, white or woman then you do not count. And you libs say conservatives are the ones not tolerant. LMFAO
td — You forgot your meds again! Please take them, you’re scaring the other
craziespatients.Erwin's cat
January 10th, 2013
9:07 pm
frog…i get it, but blame sales and marketing not the eng’s…we make what they tell us to
getalife
January 10th, 2013
9:07 pm
albany,
Look up the definition of credibility
fox has none..