Saturday, August 01, 2009

And another thing ...

Try to determine if you are eligible for a "car allowance rebate" at the government site:

http://www.cars.gov/

What a pain.

Now try a car company's website, any of them, find it yourself.

Wasn't that easy.

Despite Obama's visceral hatred of for-profit businesses, here is proof again that the profit motive works.

Government workers and community organizers do not give a shit about those they are supposed to serve. They are only in it for themselves.

Cash for Clunkers - The real agenda

What is really behind the Cash for Clunkers program?

Stimulation of new auto sales? Come on, do you really believe that Democrats would do anything to stimulate consumer spending? Especially on heavy industrial products. Nope, that is just a byproduct.

Elimination of gas-guzzlers? Considering that my 11 year old minivan is eligible even though it still averages 22 mpg, that isn't it.

Reduction in the supply of the inexpensive vehicles typically purchased by the young and the poor? BINGO! The reduced availability of these vehicles will drive up their cost and price them outside the means of the poor. Consequently enslaving the poor and the young to ride on government run mass transportation.

You really didn't expect Obama to tell us the real reason behind this program, did you?

Friday, July 24, 2009

The truth finally emerges

Al Sharpton without the sharp wit.

Jesse Jackson without the jackassedness.

Jerimiah Wright without the wrath.

Barack Obama, Race Baiter.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Say No to Obama's HMO


Recent polling revealed that Americans are better satisfied with their medical coverage today than they were in 1993 when HillaryCare was being pushed.

For me personally, the change was getting away from my dreaded HMO - remember Family Health Plan? HMO's were hated for their overzealous efforts to control costs. These cost savings are the key benefit being touted for the Obama Health Plan.

The Obama Health Plan is simply a big step backwards to the days of HMO's. Only with all the charm of a trip to the DMV combined with an IRS audit.

It is not insurance that the government will be offering.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Blakk Rasta sings about the Chocolate Jesus



Complete with a preview of your lifestyle under Cap & Trade.

H/T - Don Surber. And more.

By special request



I had a request in this previous post to make "a chart of weekly rice prices, oil prices, corn prices, ethanol prices(or any internationally traded commodity)" because I would "find they all had a major peak in 2008 summer."

Shown above are ethanol, corn, pork bellies, and gold - all internationally traded commodities. I'm still looking for that common peak in the summer of 2008.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

New poll - vote for WI's best brat

As a lead-in to my Bratwurst Taste-Off on Labor Day weekend, I have put up a poll to capture people's favorites. Conspicuously absent are the biggies - Johnsonville, Klement's and Usinger's. I left these off to avoid voting based on name popularity and mass production. The sausage makers that I listed were identified by friends. Vote for one of them or name your own favorite.

The Labor Day weekend taste-off will identify Wisconsin's best brat in a blind tasting.

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Lee Holloway gets it

Gov. Jim Doyle's veto of a sales tax increase for Milwaukee County will seriously harm local transit and goes against a personal pledge the governor made, Milwaukee County Board Chairman Lee Holloway said Tuesday.

"It's just terrible," Holloway said. "I'm very critical of (Doyle). I thought he was a friend of Milwaukee County."

Holloway also pledged to fight the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee rail line in response to the veto.

Transit funding will likely suffer major cuts next year because of a shortfall in other funding sources, which will force further cuts in service, Holloway said.

A large portion of the city's population relies on public transportation, which means Doyle's veto will hurt the poor, the elderly and others, Holloway said.

Holloway understands that the KRM line is not for Milwaukee's poor and elderly. They rely on buses.

The billion dollar rail line to Kenosha is for a more upscale clientele. Summerfest attendees would be a target demographic. The rest of the year, the trains will run empty.

HT - RDW

Sunday, June 28, 2009

But there's more!

Ed McMahon, Farah Fawcett, and we'll even throw in Michael Jackson.

But there's more! Act right now and Billy Mays gets it, too.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Michael Jackson - Question & Tribute

One thing that has not been addressed in all the Michael Jackson death coverage: Were they able to save the gerbil?

What a great artist, without Michael Jackson, this would never have been possible.

Small world - as seen on Instapundit

That's my old office in the West TVA Tower. When I worked there, Knoxville featured roll-up the sidewalks at sundown.



HT - IP

Gaia don't need no cap & trade

In honor of today's cap & trade vote, I direct you to this recent paper posted at Watts Up With That? presenting Willis Eschenbach's Thermostat Hypothesis for global temperature control. Eschenbach's hypothesis is that tropical clouds and thunderstorms actively regulate the temperature of the earth. This keeps the earth at a equilibrium temperature.

The paper is a long read, and the fascinating discussion in the comments is even longer. These are my thoughts on Eschenbach's hypothesis.
Thermodynamics on a global scale will prevent global warming from occurring. In additional to reflective cloud formation, the physical properties of water establish a setpoint temperature that when reached causes active heat engines to form. We call the active heat engines "thunderstorms," and they eject heat from the earth into space. The setpoint is approximately 305K (90 degrees Fahrenheit), and corresponds nicely with the maximum temperature found at sea level in our equatorial oceans.

Water's physical properties do not change, even with increasing atmospheric CO2, hence Gaia's setpoint cannot change with increasing human CO2 emissions.

The graphic below from Eschenbach's paper shows how equatorial clouds form through the day. More than half of the solar heating of the earth occurs in this equatorial zone. The warming sun causes cumulus clouds to form during the morning until sometime between 10:00 and 11:30 they reflect a large percent of the incoming solar energy. The clouds remain fairly constant and moderate temperature for most of the day until they reach a critical point where thunderstorms will form.

The cumulonimbus, or thunderstorm, clouds bypass any insulating greenhouse gases and pull heat directly from the earth's tropical surface into the troposphere. Here, the heat is ejected into space.

The heat reflected by the cumulus clouds and ejected by the cumulonimbus clouds is orders of magnitude greater than Al Gore's worst nightmare for greenhouse gas warming of the earth. Therefore, the earth will self regulate its temperature, and anthropogenic global warming is impossible.

A very intelligent design, indeed.


These are Eschenbach's Conclusions and Musings from his paper.
1. The sun puts out more than enough energy to totally roast the earth. It is kept from doing so by the clouds reflecting about a third of the sun’s energy back to space. As near as we can tell, this system of cloud formation to limit temperature rises has never failed.

2. This reflective shield of clouds forms in the tropics in response to increasing temperature.

3. As tropical temperatures continue to rise, the reflective shield is assisted by the formation of independent heat engines called thunderstorms. These cool the surface in a host of ways, move heat aloft, and convert heat to work.

4. Like cumulus clouds, thunderstorms also form in response to increasing temperature.

5. Because they are temperature driven, as tropical temperatures rise, tropical thunderstorms and cumulus production increase. These combine to regulate and limit the temperature rise. When tropical temperatures are cool, tropical skies clear and the earth rapidly warms. But when the tropics heat up, cumulus and cumulonimbus put a limit on the warming. This system keeps the earth within a fairly narrow band of temperatures.

6. The earth’s temperature regulation system is based on the unchanging physics of wind, water, and cloud.

7. This is a reasonable explanation for how the temperature of the earth has stayed so stable (or more recently, bi-stable as glacial and interglacial) for hundreds of millions of years.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Sanford - Flynn - McBride

You'd think someone with his track record would steer clear of these stories.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Let's make a deal

I'll trade you Jim Doyle for Mark Sanford any day. Hell, I'll even throw in Herb Kohl.

Frankly, I am more embarrassed to have those hacks as my elected officials than I could ever be with Sanford. Even if his rendezvous in Argentina involved a goat and a gay porn star.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Say cheese!

Today's Quiz:

Who is being being booked for first-degree intentional homicide and who is sitting next to Carla Sarkozy?



They must teach that look at Community Organizer school.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Today's mass transit moment



That okay, I'll drive instead.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

The pool of pus starts to ooze

By now I'm used to corruption and waste in any large American city, it is part of the political culture. I learned this week that Sacramento is no exception. I even learned to accept the scale of the corruption, a half million to a basketball hero in this case.

But as the details emerge it is clear that the Corruptocrat in Chief and the First Lady of Corruption intend to work on a much bigger scale. They have plans to rob the nation of hundreds of billions or even trillions of dollars for themselves and their political cronies.

Someone pop this zit, before it is too late.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

John Galt, M.D.

I found out today that a second one of the doctors I sometimes see is leaving my clinic.

It is probably just a coincidence that each physician is moving to a lower tax state.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Prosciutto di Baraboo



Following up on this post from last October, I have finally cut into the salted, air dried ham that was hanging over my sump pump for almost eight months.

When unwrapping and cutting into the meat I was pleased that there was no funky odor. Nothing, not even a meaty smell.



The ham shows the excellent marbling of this Berkshire pork. The meat is salty, but less so away from the outside surface. Excellent flavor and texture, maybe the best Prosciutto I've ever eaten.