If you’re lucky you too can make money on the internet:
The owner of the domain names Romney-Perry2012.com and Perry-Romney2012.com has put a price on the rights to the websites: $50,000 each.
The auction is a clear sign that the presidential race is heating up, as the cottage industry of presidential domain names gears up for profit.
Funny world.
Even though hurricanes often hit those places in the country where people are concerned about “guns and Bibles” I knew that the media would be quick to jump on Irene as an indication that we are experiencing Global Warming. The fact that t hit the North East only assured that this mem would come all the sooner.
The scale of Hurricane Irene, which could cause more extensive damage along the Eastern Seaboard than any storm in decades, is reviving an old question: are hurricanes getting worse because of human-induced climate change?
…
“On a longer time scale, I think — but not all of my colleagues agree — that the evidence for a connection between Atlantic hurricanes and global climate change is fairly compelling,” said Kerry Emanuel, an expert on the issue at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
So says the New York Times. Or, rather, so the New York Times says that Mr. Emanuel says.
Any more?
Among those who disagree is Thomas R. Knutson, a federal researcher at the government’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in Princeton, N.J. The rising trend of recent decades occurred over too short a period to be sure it was not a consequence of natural variability, he said, and statistics from earlier years are not reliable enough to draw firm conclusions about any long-term trend in hurricane intensities.
“Everyone sort of agrees on this short-term trend, but then the agreement starts to break down when you go back longer-term,” Mr. Knutson said. He argues, essentially, that Dr. Emanuel’s conclusion is premature, though he adds that evidence for a human impact on hurricanes could eventually be established.
While scientists from both camps tend to think hurricanes are likely to intensify, they do not have great confidence in their ability to project the magnitude of that increase.
One climate-change projection, prepared by Mr. Knutson’s group, is that the annual number of the most intense storms will double over the course of the 21st century. But what proportion of those would actually hit land is another murky issue. Scientists say climate change could alter steering currents or other traits of the atmosphere that influence hurricane behavior.
So. There ya have it.
We agree that global warming is real, that it increases storms and their intensity, but….BUT we disagree on where those storms may go. Why do we disagree? Well, because, naturally, we disagree because of global warming.
Oh how I wish I majored in English and wanted to write novels:
Gore enrolled in Harvard College in 1965, initially planning to major in English and write novels, but later deciding to major in government. On his second day on campus, he began campaigning for the freshman student government council, and was elected its president.
Although he was an avid reader who fell in love with scientific and mathematical theories,he did not do well in science classes in college, and avoided taking math. His grades during his first two years put him in the lower one-fifth of the class. During his sophomore year, he reportedly spent much of his time watching television, shooting pool, and occasionally smoking marijuana.
Ahhh…the joys of Harvard education!
So, what do scientist say? Ya know, scientist who actually study science and stuff? Oh, AND study climate science?
Tropical cyclone accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) has exhibited strikingly large global interannual variability during the past 40-years. In the pentad since 2006, Northern Hemisphere and global tropical cyclone ACE has decreased dramatically to the lowest levels since the late 1970s. Additionally, the frequency of tropical cyclones has reached a historical low.
So. There ya go. The short term trend is showing s decrease in ACE; or storm strength. The Times reports an increase, as if it’s fact, and then Al Gore announces anyone disagreeing with that statement is a racist.
Sounds about right.
Make up a fact, report it in the Times and then let a raging Leftist report that anyone who disagrees must be racist. Then, don’t report it.
By the way, for further evidence that tropical storm activity is just CRAZY increasing, see this chart:
Scary isn’t it? The way that storms are increasing isn’t it?
–shiver–
Posted in Environment, Global Warming, Politics: National
Ahh, the Inter-loops, such a grand way to identify the hypocrisy of people.
Like here, where we are discussing the Left’s claim that the conservatives are racists. How wonderfully ironic that the inventor of said Inter-loops is caught up in the story.
Here we have a Google search of:
al gore climate talk racism
And the results:
See? When Al Gore equates climate change skeptics to racism we get 3.3 million hits.
Nice.
But when you narrow your search to just one of the main stream media outlets:
You get 3!
Nice.
Again.
How wonderful to graduate with a degree in journalism.
Long before Barack Obama become President, the Republican party has been accused of being racist. I guess it’s because conservatives advocate policies that don’t transfer wealth from one group of people to another that’s the cause of this shrill shriek. In a similar vein, the Left could argue that conservative parents who think it’s a good idea to do your homework could be called “kidists”. Clearly those parents hate their kids.
However, since Barack Obama IS the President, the case against conservatives being labelled as racists has increased. It seems that not one single critique of the President or his policies can be leveled without the hammer of race being raised to combat that critique.
The most recent example of this phenomenon is when Rick Perry referred to the debt as a “black-cloud”. Ed Schultz jumped on the occasion and labeled the man a racist for his racist comments. Normally I would say that Ed is just an entertainer trying to make a living and using what he can to do so. However, this isn’t an isolated case, this is systemic, this is premeditated and this is a strategy.
Only look back to Obama’s 2008 campaign when he mentioned that:
“…you know, he doesn’t look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills.”
He knew it then, he knows it now. He signaled it then and the folks have followed.
The problem is, fewer and fewer people are buying it:
ONE of the most dispiriting aspects of going through university as a humanities major in the mid 1990s was the insistence on viewing everything—or at least every work of literature—through the prisms of race, class and gender. It turned the pleasurable act of reading into a tawdry little detective game, in which students were expected to ferret out every conceivable shred of “evidence”, plausible or not, for bias on the part of the author, the publisher, society, etc. Offer precocious undergraduates the chance to rail against society’s (read: their parents’) hidden biases and they will surely take it, but these readings were for the most part boring, wrong and trivial.
All of which is by way of saying that I have a great deal of sympathy for Reihan Salam’s argument against reductionism. He begins by giving Ed Schultz a well-deserved raspberry for imputing racist sentiment to Rick Perry’s reference to debt as “a black cloud” (boneheaded as Mr Schultz’s comment may be, it is hard to wholly deplore something that led to such a great Daily Show sketch). “Many on the left are convinced that Perry must in his heart of hearts be a racist,” Mr Salam writes, “and indeed that conservatism itself is rooted in racist sentiments.” Does one even need to say that this is wrong—that conservatism is not, in fact, rooted in racist sentiment? That opposition to a Democratic president, even one who happens to be black, is not inherently racist?
There was a reason, even as a liberal 18 year-old, that I mocked CLA’ers. CLA is short hand slang for “College of Liberal Arts” at the University of Minnesota. We attended the Minnesota Institute for Technology. Rightly so, we reasoned that many of those gaining a degree at the “other school” were really gaining what some people called a degree.
But fun at the expense of silly degree programs aside, the idea that conservatives must be racist because we don’t agree with the prevailing thought mentality of the average Leftist is as silly as those degrees. The idea that I have to have my ideas and intentions vetted for validity by the likes of those who build programs that don’t help the people they’re meant to help is absurd.
Sadly, absurd sells.
With all the news this weekend focusing on Irene, it’s important to note that Obama and his administration continue to operate in the back-ground.
For example, there are reports that the “War on Terror” is moving along swimmingly:
Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) — Al Qaeda’s second-in-command, Atiya Abdul Rahman, has been killed in Pakistan, a U.S. official said Saturday.
The official would not discuss the circumstances behind his death, but did say Rahman is a key loss for al Qaeda.
“There’s no question this is a major blow to al Qaeda. Atiya was at the top of al Qaeda’s trusted core,” the official said. “He ran daily operations for the group since Shaykh Sa’id al-Masri was killed last year, and has been (Osama bin Laden successor Ayman al-Zawahiri’s) second-in-command since bin Laden’s death in May.”
Excellent news during a day filled with storm damage!
Further, on the science front, specifically geology, the Obama administration is equally busy:
Richmond, Aug 27 (Reuters) – Scientist studying the recent Virginia earthquake have identified a new geological structure that many feel explains the recent seismic activity in the region. The region had known boundaries, referred to as tectonic zones.
Researchers began studying historical sources for past earthquakes in the region and were surprised to find indications of such activity from an unlikely source; Native American relics. In fact, there are records dating back as far as the 1600’s that show significant activity in the region, known as Unega Gihli.
The Obama administration, eager to understand what Unega Gihli meant brought in linguistic experts to study the reference. As it turns out, Unega Gihli is Cherokee for “Bush’s Fault”.
All is well in the world of Team Obama!
Posted in Politics: International, Politics: National
Tagged Barack Obama, Earthquake, War on Terror
Sadly, most conversations regarding damage, preparedness and reaction to catastrophes take place during or AFTER an event takes place. Such is the nature of people, and is what separates us from even squirrels. Even they gather for the winter.
However, there are people, organizations who do look ahead and plan. They take the responsibility seriously and give great thought to the subject. These people study disasters and recoveries. In fact, the organizations they work in are aptly named; Disaster Recovery. We have one for my company, in fact, we have staff at my building.
As with anything, there are certain people more skilled at this than others. In fact, again, just like we would expect, there are groups of people, organizations, that are better at it than other groups of people. It should not surprise anyone that when it comes to government preparedness and the private sector’s planning, who’s side I’ll take.
Consider this: Via Carpe Diem
Forecasters don’t expect Hurricane Irene to make landfall until Saturday. But for nearly a week now, big-box retailers like Walmart and Home Depot have been getting ready.
They’ve deployed hundreds of trucks carrying everything from plywood to Pop-Tarts to stores in the storm’s path. It’s all possible because these retailers have turned hurricane preparation into a science.
…
At Home Depot’s Hurricane Command Center in Atlanta, for example, about 100 associates have been trying to anticipate how Irene will affect its East Coast stores from the Carolinas to New York.
At times like this, the Command Center looks much like NASA Mission Control during a shuttle launch, says Russ Householder, the company’s emergency-response captain.
“We’ve got all the key news agencies on the big screens up front,” he says. “We’re also monitoring our store sales so we can better be in tune to what’s happening in our stores, and we’re also connected live one-on-one with district managers in the impacted areas.”
…
Walmart is able to anticipate surges in demand during emergencies by using a huge historical database of sales from each store as well as sophisticated predictive techniques, Cooper says.
He says that with Irene on the way, that system is helping them allocate things like batteries, ready-to-eat foods and cleaning supplies to areas in the storm’s path.
Walmart also has the advantage of having a staff meteorologist, Cooper says.
…
Walmart’s preparedness system helped the company emerge as a hero after Katrina, says Steve Horwitz, an economist at St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y., who studied the company’s response.
“They know exactly what people want after a hurricane,” he says. “One of my favorite stories from Katrina is that the most popular food item after a major storm like this is strawberry Pop-Tarts.”
Wanna see what Wal-Mart’s preparation for moving supplies in, before Katrina, looked like?
Care to see the Government’s preparation for moving people OUT?
As 1,000’s of people needed to leave the city, a city that sits BELOW sea level, the government left a fleet of buses to simply flood.
Government simply can not DO like the private, for profit, sector operating in a free market.
Posted in Economics, Politics: National
Tagged Capitalism, Free Market, Home Depot, Irene, Katrina, Wal-Mart
The view down my driveway to the street. So far, just an afternoon of cleaning up twigs, leaves, pine cones and junk. We’ve been lucky.
The rest of the state has a bit more in terms of damage:
But Progress Energy is doing yeoman’s work:
The company has amassed an army of more than 1,000 line workers, tree crews and support staff from five states – more than three times the normal complement of workers in the region – and crews are ready to conduct damage assessment and begin large-scale repairs as soon as weather conditions permit. In some areas, tropical storm-force winds are expected to linger through Saturday evening, hampering repair efforts. To ensure their safety, crews cannot work in winds of 39 mph or higher.
North Carolina counties with the largest numbers of outages as of 10 a.m. included New Hanover (58,000); Carteret (22,000); Onslow (19,000); Craven (16,000); Johnston (13,200); Wake (12,000); Lenoir (10,200); Pender (10,000); Columbus (9,000); Brunswick (8,300); Duplin (8,000); Sampson (7,000); Nash (6,600). Numerous other counties had scattered outages from the coast to the Triangle.
Keep those workers in your thoughts and prayers.
But, do we think we’ll suffer the fate of Japan?
NEW YORK, Aug 27 (Reuters) – Nuclear power plants along the U.S. East Coast are braced for the impact of Hurricane Irene which is churning north toward New York and New England after making landfall in North Carolina on Saturday.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said it sent additional staff to monitor conditions and storm preparation at the fourteen nuclear units from Maryland to New Hampshire in Irene’s path as well as a nuclear fuel production plant in North Carolina.
Plant employees are securing equipment and readying extra staff for the storm. Dominion Resources Inc will reduce power at its two-unit 2,111-megawatt Millstone plant in Connecticut ahead of the storm, a company spokesman said on Saturday. Progress Energy’s Brunswick nuclear plant, perched on the North Carolina coast, cut to 65 percent power late on Friday and does not expect to return to full power until after the storm has fully passed, a spokesman said on Saturday.
Dominion shut down its North Anna nuclear power station because of an earthquake on Tuesday. The two-unit, 1,950-megawatt North Anna nuclear plant will remain shut through the storm. The company’s two-unit, 1,598-MW Surry plant in Virginia was designed to withstand winds of 360 miles per hour and is expected to remain at full power throughout the storm, a spokesman said on Saturday.
It appears that our power plants are well tended to:
It’s not over, she’s slowed down, but it appears that it could have been a lot worse here in Carolina than it could have been.
God’s speed to those in her path as she moves North!
Some quick shots of Irene as she’s huntin’ North Carolina:
All shots by me. With my iPhone.
She’s coming. There’s been little doubt about that now for 2 days. Irene is coming and she is big.
As the storm hits and does her damage, residents in her path are going to find that they’re short critical supplies; water, ice, gasoline, propane to name a few. Part of the reason we’ll be short these key commodities is because people have bought more than they usually would have in advance of the storm. The second is because we’re just gonna use more of ’em.
Demand will impact supply.
And, just as the law of supply and demand would dictate, as those items begin to run out, the price will rise. In some cases doubling or even tripling. This does several things:
See, people vote politicians in, so politicians react in irrational ways to this problem:
RALEIGH, NC (NCDOJ) — North Carolina’s strong price gouging law is now in effect because a state of emergency has been declared due to Hurricane Irene, Attorney General Roy Cooper notified businesses and consumers today.
“We’re warning price gougers that you can’t use a crisis as an excuse to make an unfair profit off of consumers,” said Cooper.
Price gouging—or charging too much in times of crisis—is against North Carolina law when a disaster, an emergency or an abnormal market disruption for critical goods and services is declared or proclaimed by the Governor. The law also applies to all levels of the supply chain from the manufacturer to the distributor to the retailer.
What people WANT is for suppliers to supply goods at the normal price even as the cost of doing so goes up. IF the law above were written to say :
The people of North Carolina have decided that during times of crisis, we do not want to encourage exceptional efforts to deliver necessary and critical goods. We don’t want to pay any price for this effort and would rather, instead, save our money and do without.
THAT is what this law is doing.
And if you don’t think so, or if you think that we should allow prices to reflect demand, then I suggest YOU buy a U-Haul truck of water or a refer truck full of ice and drive to the coast and deliver that water and ice yourself.
Posted in Economics, Politics: North Carolina, Rocket Surgery
Tagged Irene, North Carolina, Price Gouging
She’s comin’!
The question is, where will she hit?
Now, close your eyes so tight your ears hurt. You can KINDA hear the word Irene……
THAT is a song that’ll take your mind off of hurricanes for sure!