Right Mind

My neighbor's car

These pictures are just too good not to share.

Here’s a picture of my neighbor’s car. Yes, it’s buried under there somewhere.

PCEI's "Night of Global Warming Information" is Canceled Due To the Blizzard

The following ran in today’s Daily News:

Talk warming - The Palouse Clearwater Environmental Institute will sponsor a night of global warming information, discussion, and entertainment at 6 p.m. at Mikey's Gryos on Main Street in Moscow. The "Focus the Nation" event will include a forum on how things such as the media, denial, and technology can sometimes be obstacles to combating climate change. Kenton Bird, Fritz Fiedler and Heather Truelove will be on the panel. THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELED DUE TO THE WEATHER.

I went by Mikey’s Gyros at 4:30 this afternoon (before I saw the Daily News). I wanted to poke my head in and see if the “Climate Awareness Event” was still on.

The place is locked up tighter than a drum. I also tried to call on the phone, but no one picked up (not even the answering machine).

Strike up another global warming awareness event to a blizzard.

Here are some pictures of where that Global Warming Event was supposed to take place in one hour.

Rant: Let's Talk About Snow Removal in Moscow

I have to tell you that I’m really fed-up with Moscow’s snow removal.

And I lay this complaint fully at the feet of Mayor Chaney and the former city council.

I make the drive between Colfax and Moscow fairly frequently. The roads in Colfax are always well ploughed, and you can travel easily and safely. The roads in Pullman are always well ploughed, and you can get around easily and safely there. And the Moscow-Pullman highway up to the Idaho boarder is well ploughed, and you can get around easily and safely.

But as soon as you hit the Moscow city limit — wham! It’s treacherous.

The city council raised our property taxes 3% last year — in spite of the fact that other towns in Idaho were cutting taxes. It’s clear (again) that our money is going for things other than basic city services.

One of the few things that our City Council has the responsibility and jurisdiction to handle is removing snow. They’ve got their fingers in tons of other things, and spend our money every which way.

But anyone who travels back-and-forth between Pullman will immediately realize that Moscow’s mayor is pathetic at doing what she should be doing: taking care of snow removal.

Cervical Cancer Jab In Death Scare

Lew Rockwell on Patriotism

"Patriotism, the natural love of our home city or region, was immediately seized for propagandistic purposes, and transformed into love for the government. But since government is the enemy of towns, cities, regions, and all of society, "patriotism" today is an illegitimate concept. When you hear it used as McCain uses it, hold on to your wallet, assume you're bugged, and don't register for the draft."

—Lew Rockwell on Patriotism

Obama Ranked Most Liberal Senator in 2007

From The Politico:

National Journal rates Obama the single "most liberal" member of the Senate last year, spotlighting some policy differences, as well as writing a GOP attack ad if he's the nominee, but perhaps also a helpful note in consolidating support on the left now.

The rating is a detailed, rigorous look across candidates' Senate records, and while Obama and Clinton are perceived as having similar Senate records, this suggests that Obama's record on the smaller, little-noticed votes has put him firmly to Clinton's left.

There are some details of their ratings here (.pdf), which include a couple of interesting differences.

Arizona school choice upheld

World Magazine has an article that  Arizona school choice upheld.

Advocates of Arizona school choice continue to fight in a decade-long controversy surrounding the state’s scholarship-tax-credit laws. Last week, the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld laws that aid almost 25,000 children in Arizona private schools through the tax-deductible donations of private and corporate donors.

Since 1997, taxpayers have received tax credit - up to $1,000 per married couple and $500 per individual - for making donations to School-Tuition-Organizations (STOs). These non-profit groups grant tuition funds to individual students, retaining only ten percent for administrative costs.

Last year, Arizona’s 56 STOs received some $51 million in tax-donations and distributed $ 41 million in scholarships to 357 private schools. Because many STOs are religiously affiliated, critics cite these same statistics as proof that the tax-credit program is an unconstitutional establishment of religion.

Forbes' "Top 10 Most Miserable Cities"

Introducing the Forbes Misery Measure.

It’s based on:

• a city's unemployment rate,
• personal tax rate,
• commute time,
• weather,
• crime, and
• toxic waste proximity.

The top ten "most miserable" cities:

1. Detroit, MI
2. Stockton, CA
3. Flint, MI
4. New York City
5. Philadelphia, PA
6. Chicago, IL
7. Los Angeles, CA
8. Modesto, CA
9. Charlotte, NC
10. Providence, RI

Logos School Closes because of Snow

It’s worth noting that Logos School closed today because of the snow.

Logos hasn’t had a snow day in 12 years.

The other day on KQQQ, the announcers were reading the school closings. One asked “is Logos closed?” The other replied “Logos never closes!”

Well, here they are today — closed indeed.

Global Warming in Moscow

Here are two pictures looking north from my front deck up the street.

The street still hasn’t been ploughed since it started snowing yesterday.

There’s at least 9” of snow on the street — closer to 12”.

My front-wheel drive car with snow tires got stuck (and it never gets stuck anywhere).

Time to put the chains on.

Thanks goodness for global warming.

G.K. Chesterton's Case Against Wal-Mart

Ralph Nader Flirts with Presidential Bid: With Harsh Words for Current Field, Nader Says Candidacy as Urgent as Ever

Well, that’s one way to ensure that McCain gets elected to the White House.

It would be really interesting if both Nader and Paul ran as independents. That would make for quite a fun 2008 election!

From ABC News:

Ralph Nader has formed a presidential exploratory committee, and said in an interview Wednesday that he will launch another presidential bid if he's convinced he can raise enough money to appear on the vast majority of state ballots this fall.

Nader, who ran as an independent candidate in each of the past three presidential elections, told ABCNews.com that he will run in 2008 if he is convinced over the next month that he would be able to raise $10 million over the course of the campaign — and attract enough lawyers willing to work free of charge to get his name on state ballots.

Nader said he established an exploratory committee and launched a Web site after Dennis Kucinich, a liberal Ohio congressman, announced his decision to withdraw from the presidential race last week.

He was set to announce that he had formed an exploratory committee Wednesday, even before former Sen. John Edwards made it known that he'd be ending his candidacy. But with Edwards — who has made economic populism and ending poverty cornerstones of his campaign — leaving the Democratic field, Nader said, he feels his candidacy is more urgent than ever.

Bill Clinton: "We Just Have to Slow Down Our Economy" to Fight Global Warming

I wish he’d come out to Moscow and help shovel some global warming.

From ABC News:

Former President Bill Clinton was in Denver, Colorado, stumping for his wife yesterday.

In a long, and interesting speech, he characterized what the U.S. and other industrialized nations need to do to combat global warming this way: "We just have to slow down our economy and cut back our greenhouse gas emissions 'cause we have to save the planet for our grandchildren."

At a time that the nation is worried about a recession is that really the characterization his wife would want him making? "Slow down our economy"?

I don't really think there's much debate that, at least initially, a full commitment to reduce greenhouse gases would slow down the economy….So was this a moment of candor?

He went on to say that his the U.S. -- and those countries that have committed to reducing greenhouse gases -- could ultimately increase jobs and raise wages with a good energy plan.

Watch the video here.

Snowpack highest in decade

More signs of global warming on the Palouse.

As reported in today’s edition of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

The snowpack on the Palouse is the highest it's been in years, and it's about to get worse.

Meteorologist John Livingston with the National Weather Service in Spokane said a winter storm warning has been issued for a storm that could bring 4-8 more inches of snow.

The storm should start today between 8 p.m. and midnight and continue through Thursday, Livingston said. There also will be 15-20 mph winds with some gusts up to 30 mph.

Another storm is expected Saturday, but it's unclear how much snow it will bring, he said. It will likely be less severe than Thursday's storm.

Livingston said there is about 18-30 inches of snowpack in Latah County lowlands, including the 8 inches that fell during the weekend.

He said it is the most snow on the ground since the winter of 1996-1997.

More Capitalism = More Beautiful Women

At least according to Slate Magazine:

Though this is a fairly frivolous question (OK, extremely frivolous), I am convinced it has an interesting answer. To put it bluntly, in the Soviet Union there was no market for female beauty. No fashion magazines featured beautiful women, since there weren't any fashion magazines. No TV series depended upon beautiful women for high ratings, since there weren't any ratings. There weren't many men rich enough to seek out beautiful women and marry them, and foreign men couldn't get the right sort of visa. There were a few film stars, of course, but some of the most famous—I'm thinking of Lyubov Orlova, alleged to be Stalin's favorite actress—were wholesome and cheerful rather than sultry and stunning. Unusual beauty, like unusual genius, was considered highly suspicious in the Soviet Union and its satellite people's republics.

This doesn't mean there weren't any beautiful women, of course, just that they didn't have the clothes or cosmetics to enhance their looks, and, far more important, they couldn't use their faces to launch international careers. Instead of gracing London drawing rooms, they stayed in Minsk, Omsk, or Alma Ata. Instead of couture, they wore cheap polyester. They could become assembly-line forewomen, Communist Party bosses, even local femmes fatales, but not Vogue cover girls. They didn't even dream of becoming Vogue cover girls, since very few had ever seen an edition of Vogue.

Report: school choice programs increase graduation rates, improve student test scores, and improve parental satisfaction.

School Choice Wisconsin just released a report providing yet more evidence that school choice programs increase graduation rates, improve student test scores, and improve parental satisfaction.

Doesn’t choice always do that?

This is right on the heels of a state survey from the Friedman Foundation that demonstrates that parents would rather choose a different school for their children, and that the public supports school choice policies.

And which group is blocking school choice initiatives? The teachers unions. They have a vested interest in the status quo.

Until parents with their kids in government schools are so fed up that they won’t take it any more, it looks like we’ll live with the status quo.

Crapo, Sali get perfect marks from Family Research Council

FRC Congressional Scorecard

From Bryan Fischer, Executive Director of the Idaho Values Alliance:

The Family Research Council yesterday published its annual Vote Scorecard, based on the voting records of lawmakers during the 2007 session of Congress.

Two members of Idaho's delegation, Sen. Mike Crapo and Rep. Bill Sali, graded out at 100% for their consistent pro-family votes last year.

In the Senate, votes on seven issues were tracked, including embryonic stem cell research, abortion, hate crimes, and judicial confirmations. Idahoans can be grateful that Sen. Crapo cast pro-family votes on these important issues without exception. Sen. Larry Craig graded out at 71%, which was a C-minus when I was in school.

In the House, votes were tabulated on sixteen different pieces of legislation, which included bills dealing with human cloning, embryonic stem cell research, hate crimes, gay marriage, and sexual orientation, as well as abstinence funding, abortion funding, and funding for Planned Parenthood. Concerned citizens in Idaho can be grateful that Rep. Bill Sali cast pro-family votes every single time on these important issues. Rep. Mike Simpson gets a B-minus for grading out at 81%.

Please take a moment to call the offices of both Sen. Crapo and Rep. Sali at 202-224-3121 to thank them for their consistent pro-family votes.

Treasure Valley Close Schools for the First Time in 15 Years

As my wife says: just think what we’d be putting up with if it weren’t for global warming!

From today's Spokesman Review.

The last time any Treasure Valley schools were closed because of snow was in 1993. Five school districts in Ada and Canyon counties closed after 3 inches of snow fell that January.

Snowfall Tuesday varied throughout the Treasure Valley, ranging from 6 inches in Ontario to 4 inches in Nampa to an inch at the Boise Airport, according to Jeanne Allen, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boise.

 

John McCain: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Stimulus Package Nitwitery

There are three ways government can get the money for a stimulus package. It can tax, borrow or inflate the currency by printing money. If government taxes to hand out money, one person is stimulated at the expense of another who pays the tax, who is unstimulated and has less money to spend. If government borrows the money, it's the same story. This time the unstimulated person is the lender who has less money to spend. If government prints money, creditors, and then everyone else, are unstimulated.

—Economist Walter Williams, tax stimulus math.

HT: Carpe Diem

Jerusalem blanketed with heavy snow

More signs of global warming.

From The Jerusalem Post:

A heavy snowfall blanketed Jerusalem and the surrounding areas Tuesday night and was continuing to fall Wednesday. As expected, the Jerusalem Municipality decided to cancel school in the capital for the day due to the slippery streets. University classes were also canceled, as well as kindergartens and preschools. There were also no classes in Gush Etzion, Ofra, Kochav Ya'acov, Tel Zion, Ma'ale Levona, Eli, Shilo and Beit El.

Major thoroughfares in the city were opened for traffic, but the city still requested that drivers not to risk the slippery streets with private vehicles. 100 snow plows were deployed around the city to clear the roads, especially those leading to hospitals and emergency facilities.

…

The inclement weather swept across not only Jerusalem, as the Golan Heights saw an accumulation of dozens of centimeters of snow.

The Jerusalem Municipality prepared overnight Tuesday as snow began blanketing the capital, with Mayor Uri Lupoliansky overseeing the deployment of street clearing tractors.

Higher elevations throughout the country are likely to be covered with snow over the next two days, according to Israel Meteorological Service forecaster Uri Batz. About 10 cm. of snow are expected to accumulate in Jerusalem by the end of Wednesday and another 10 by late Thursday. Friday's forecast predicts very cold and windy weather, but no additional snow.

Batz said the Carmel Hills, near Haifa, would probably get a light layer of snow, something that hasn't happened since 2000. Even Eilat residents will likely be able to enjoy the sight of snow on the tops of the Edom Mountains across the Jordanian border. The snow could take as long as a week to disappear, he said.

The forecaster said that with strong winds, the temperature in the capital could plummet to as low as -9º C, causing any water on the roads and sidewalks to freeze.

Wafa Sultan Gives New Meaning to the Word "Bad"

A truly amazing video.

Check out the Time Magazine article.

You can read about Wafa Sultan over at Wikipedia.

Take the time to watch. Notice how the cleric interacts with Wafa.

Rudy Giuliani's Defective Campaign Aborted Early

From Scott Ott over at Scrapple Face:

(2008-01-30) — Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani plans to abort his presidential campaign today after a preliminary test in Florida showed significant defects.

The former Republican front runner said his decision was “personal”, and asked reporters to respect his “Constitutional right to privacy.”

“It was completely my choice to end it early in the primary cycle, the first trimester of 2008&Prime said Mr. Giuliani, “because at this point it’s a just cluster of cells with potential, and not yet recognizably organized.”

The former candidate said he’ll leave it to others to dissect his aborted effort and “to try to harvest something of value, at least for research purposes.”

Survey shows Nevadans dissatisfied with current system of public schools, want more private school choice and charter schools

From the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice:

The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice today announced the results of a statewide survey on Nevadans’ attitudes toward the state’s education system.

The complete report is available at www.friedmanfoundation.org.

Poll results indicate widespread dissatisfaction with Nevada’s public education system and clear majority support for broad reform measures that would give parents more choice and control over their children’s education.  Among the key findings: 

• A majority of Nevadans are not satisfied with their current system of public schools – 53 percent of all Nevadans and almost 60 percent of 36-55 year-olds rate Nevada’s public schools as poor or fair.
• A majority of Nevadans indicated they either strongly favor or somewhat favor programs that would give parents more choices in the education system, including special needs scholarships (56 percent), charter schools (55 percent) and school vouchers (54 percent).
• Nearly one out of two Nevadans (48 percent) indicated they would prefer to send their own child to a private school when given the choice from a list of five types of schools.  Only 11 percent said they would choose a regular public school, while 23 percent chose a charter school and 15 percent said they would home school their children.

“Policymakers and opinion leaders in Nevada should heed these results,” said Robert C. Enlow, Executive Director and COO of the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice. “Nevadans are obviously tired of the status quo, and they want more choices and more educational freedom.”

 

The scientifically representative survey of 1,000 likely Nevada voters was conducted Dec. 14-16, 2007 by Strategic Vision, LLC, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent.

 

Survey co-sponsors include local organizations such as Nevada Policy Research Institute, the Nevada Business Journal, the Nevada Manufacturers Association and the Center for Charter School Development. National co-sponsors include Agudath Israel, the Black Alliance for Educational Options and the Center for Education Reform .

Global Warming is 300-Year-Old News

This from the 18 Jan 2000 edition of the WSJ.

Bottom line: the trend isn’t recent, and it isn’t man-made.  

Click to enlarge. Very enlightening article.

HT Patty M.

RINOPLASTY

Day By Day© by Chris Muir.

Bird Flu Update: Bangladesh bird flu situation alarming, says science adviser

For those of you tracking the bird flu, here’s an update from the AFP:

DHAKA (AFP) — The spread of bird flu among poultry has become "alarming" in Bangladesh as three more districts reported outbreaks at the weekend, leaving almost half the nation affected, an official said Sunday.

More than 10,000 birds were slaughtered in north and south Bangladesh late Saturday as part of a continued massive cull to contain the deadly H5N1 virus, the senior government science adviser, who declined to be named, said.

"On Saturday alone we had culls at 18 farms. And this morning we have already 10 more farms affected with the disease," he said.

Since Bangladesh's first bird flu outbreak in February last year, the disease has been detected in 29 out of the country's 64 districts, prompting authorities to slaughter at least 360,000 birds.

The officials said the situation in the impoverished country of 144 million was so wide in scope that even wild crows had been apparently infected.

"It is an alarming situation. Hundreds of crows are dying every day across the country due to the bird flu. The government should make it an emergency health issue," the adviser said.

"Farmers in some villages are throwing away dead chickens in canals and ponds, spreading the disease without knowing it," he added.

Poetic Irony: Van Full Of Illegal Aliens Rear Ends Homeland Security SUV

From KTAR:

Normally, a non-injury rear-end collision wouldn't warrant a news story. But in an ironic twist, this crash involved a van full of illegal immigrants which slammed into an SUV owned by the Department of Homeland Security.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety said the Chrysler van was heading west Tuesday morning when it was involved in a three-vehicle chain-reaction crash near the Elliot Road off-ramp. Harold Sanders with DPS said, "the 11 illegal immigrants inside the van were turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement."

One of Two Idaho Nuclear Plant Proposals Scuttled

From Northwest Public Radio:

A company controlled by billionaire investor Warren Buffet has abandoned plans to build a nuclear power plant near the Idaho-Oregon border. The move eliminates one of two commercial nuclear plants proposed in southwest Idaho.

…

Iowa-based MidAmerican Nuclear Energy Company confirms it’s pulling the plug on a proposed nuke plant near Payette. Company spokesman Alan Urlis says the renewed popularity of nuclear energy raised prices for plant technology to an unacceptable level.

Ron Paul headed for Spokane

I wish I could make this.

But global warming will prevent my driving up and back on Thursday.

From Spin Control:

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul is expected in Spokane Thursday evening for a speech at the downtown Double Tree Hotel.

Local organizers of the Paul campaign said the candidate -- who arguably has the most visible support in Spokane if yard signs are any indicator -- will be here after a stop in Seattle.

The visit is timed to help build support for the Feb. 9 GOP precinct caucuses and the Feb. 19 primary.

The event is free, with doors opening at 5 p.m. for the rally and speech.