What will Gore do?

The bitter winter afflicting much of the Northern Hemisphere is only the start of a global trend towards cooler weather that is likely to last for 20 or 30 years, say some of the world’s most eminent climate scientists.

Their predictions – based on an analysis of natural cycles in water temperatures in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans – challenge some of the global warming orthodoxy’s most deeply cherished beliefs, such as the claim that the North Pole will be free of ice in

summer by 2013.

According to the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre in Colorado, Arctic summer sea ice has increased by 409,000 square miles, or 26 per cent, since 2007 – and even the most committed global warming activists do not dispute this…

…Among the most prominent of the scientists is Professor Mojib Latif, a leading member of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which has been pushing the issue of man-made global warming on to the international political agenda since it was formed 22 years ago.

Prof Latif, who leads a research team at the renowned Leibniz Institute at Germany’s Kiel University, has developed new methods for measuring ocean temperatures 3,000ft beneath the surface, where the cooling and warming cycles start.

He and his colleagues predicted the new cooling trend in a paper published in 2008 and warned of it again at an IPCC conference in Geneva last September.

Last night he told The Mail on Sunday: ‘A significant share of the warming we saw from 1980 to 2000 and at earlier periods in the 20th Century was due to these cycles – perhaps as much as 50 per cent.

‘They have now gone into reverse, so winters like this one will become much more likely. Summers will also probably be cooler, and all this may well last two decades or longer.

I know, I know – the guy simply must be a shill for Big Oil…and we can be sure that Big Climate will shortly start ripping in to this guy.

At any rate – anthropogenic global warming is a hoax. Its a rather transparent hoax, at that. Anyone who continue to believe in it is either a fool, or trying to sell you something.

(Ed. Note: Given Reid’s recent, asinine remarks, figured more people might want to see this…and there’s more coming in the next few days)

Mark has a new video about Harry Reid and public service…

The DCCC linked to this on Twitter:

# Last year, the Senate met for 191 days, and the House met for 159 days. Total time in session was 1,420 and 1,247 hours, respectively.

# More than 9,071 measures were introduced, of which 1,444 passed.

# Looking strictly at non-military nominations, 89% (or 3,222) nominations were confirmed; 4% (126) remain unconfirmed; and 0.4% (15) were withdrawn. Overall, the Senate received 24,951 nominations and confirmed 23,051.

Ok, Americans, are any of you happy that 1,444 measures passed? Has anyone got a handle on what even 10% of them dealt with? How about those 3,222 nominations – for what? When were the hearings held? The votes? All we’ve heard about for the past year is Spendulus and Health Care…it seems they were busy behind the scenes, doesn’t it?

But when government is the whole point of your existence, then this is what you’re proud of. They’re not proud of a new farm started up. A new family formed. A new church built. Nope – they’re proud that they passed 1,444 measures! They probably hope to increase that number in 2010.

We need a Congress which will do the right thing, not be proud of just grinding out the government as if there’s no tomorrow.

How many of you want to take Barack Obama’s “forgiveness” of Harry Reid for his past offensive comments as legitimate forgiveness? Perhaps we ought to look at how he and other Democrats have treated other controversial comment made by a Republican. The Trent Lott incident comes to mind.

Back in 2002, Obama said of Trent Lott:

“The Republican Party itself has to drive out Trent Lott. If they have to stand for something, they have to stand up and say this is not the person we want representing our party.”

How about Harry Reid?

“As a Democrat, Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada will not have a vote when Republicans determine Lott’s fate next month. ‘As closely as I’ve worked with him, I don’t know how in the world I could condone, support or understand his statements,’ said Reid, the Senate Democratic whip. ‘I think what he said is not good for America; it’s repugnant what he said.’ ‘If Republicans think it’s best for Democrats to keep him there, maybe they’ll get rid of him,’ Reid said.” (Tony Batt and Jane Ann Morriso, “Ensign Continues To Back Lott As Majority Leader,” Las Vegas Review-Journal, 12/17/02)

And when Lott resigned his leadership position, Reid said,

“Sen. Harry Reid said Republican Senate leader Trent Lott’s decision to relinquish his post Friday came as no surprise. ‘He had no alternative,’ the Nevada Democrat and Senate minority leader said. ‘Senator Lott dug himself a hole and he didn’t dig it all in one setting. He dug it over the years. And he couldn’t figure out a way to get out of it.'” (“Nevada Lawmakers Not Surprised By Lott Resignation,” The Associated Press, 12/20/02)

How about other Democrats? Here’s a sample I received in my inbox this morning.

Senator Mary Landrieu:

“U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., said she doubts a censure motion would ever reach the Senate floor, but would vote for such a measure if it did. ‘I think the remarks could not have been more hurtful and more direct and more out of place,’ Landrieu said. But the Senate doesn’t ordinarily censure members for distasteful speech, she said, reserving that rebuke for ‘actions.’ Landrieu said it’s up to Senate Republicans to decide whether Lott should give up his leadership job. ‘I can tell you if a Democratic leader said such a thing, they would not be allowed to keep their position,’ Landrieu said.” (“Bush Condemns Remark, Accepts Lott’s Apology,” The Advocate [Baton Rouge, Louisiana], 12/13/02)

Then-Senator Joe Biden:

“‘What he said was insensitive as hell; it’s very offensive,’ said Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., who read about the furor after returning Tuesday from a trip to the Middle East. ‘Race is serious stuff. It’s not something you kid about.'” (Erin Kelly, “Del. Lawmakers, Civil Rights Leaders Condemn Lott’s Comments,” Gannett News Service, 12/13/02)

Senator Evan Bayh

“Democrats, who had spent much of the last two weeks criticizing Lott’s statement, praised his decision to resign and pledged to work with the next Senate Republican leader. ‘There is a standard for all of us in public life that must be met, and his ability to lead was severely damaged. The American people expect and deserve leaders who share their values,’ Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana said in a statement. ‘As we move forward, I hope we can use this unfortunate incident as a springboard to continue the civil rights progress that we have made over the last forty years.'” (Craig Linder, “Ceding To Controversy, Lott Says He Will Not Be Majority Leader In Next Congress,” States News Service, 12/20/09)

Senator Barbara Boxer:

“More typical were comments from Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who stopped short of calling for Lott to leave. ‘His apology does not take away the sting of his divisive words, nor the pain inflicted on millions of African Americans under segregation,’ she said.” (Edward Epstein, “Bush Calls Lott’s Remark ‘Wrong,'” The San Francisco Chronicle, 12/13/02)

Senator Maria Cantwell:

“Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said Lott’s remarks at a birthday party for 100-year-old Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., ‘were disturbing and hurtful. Our country needs unity, not division. He (Lott) must show through his actions that he understands the importance of his apology.'” (Gregg Herrington, “State’s Two Democratic Senators And Gop Chairman Take Lott To Task For Remarks,” The Columbian [Vancouver, WA], 12/14/02)

Then-Senator Hillary Clinton:

“One Democrat, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, said the GOP must decide whether Lott ‘represents the views of the majority of Republicans in the Senate and in our country.'” (Ron Kampeas, “Some Republicans Say Lott’s Apology Should End Controversy,” The Associated Press, 12/14/02)

Senator Dick Durbin:

“‘We need political leaders who are healers, not dividers,’ Durbin said. ‘I hope that Senator Lott’s apology will translate into action and that he will advance policies that bring us together as a nation rather than pull us apart.'” (Dori Meinert, “Fitzgerald, Simon Support Lott In Racial Controversy,” Copley News Service, 12/13/02)

Senator Russ Feingold:

“Sen. Russ Feingold Thursday called on Sen. Trent Lott to resign as GOP leader over comments Lott made last week about Strom Thurmond’s pro-segregationist 1948 presidential campaign. ‘Given the tragic history of race relations in this country, and the role the 1948 campaign played in it, his statement was especially hurtful,’ Feingold, D-Wis., said in a statement.” (“Feingold Calls On Lott To Resign As GOP Leader,” The Associated Press, 12/12/02)

Senator Dianne Feinstein:

“‘When connected to past comments and votes, this statement casts a dark shadow over Sen. Lott’s ability to be a credible party leader,’ Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said in a written statement. Feinstein, the state’s senior senator, said she condemns any statement that holds segregation as anything but morally repugnant.” (Chris H. Sieroty, “California Lawmakers, Analysts Scold Lott,” Inland Valley Daily Bulletin [Ontario, CA], 12/28/02)

Senator Tom Harkin:

“Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa issued a blistering condemnation Thursday night of controversial remarks by Republican Sen. Trent Lott, saying it is ‘shocking’ that the White House has not urged Lott to step down as the incoming majority leader. ‘Or is this a not-too-subtle message to closet bigots and Southern white supremacists that their true political home is the GOP?’ Harkin asked in a prepared statement. . . . Said Harkin: ‘Senator Lott may utter apologies and explanations, but where is his outright condemnation of exactly what Strom Thurmond stood for -segregation and white supremacy?’ Harkin added that ‘it’s in unguarded moments like these we see past the polished veneer.'” (Jane Norman, “Harkin Shocked GOP Is Willing To Keep Lott As Majority Leader,” Des Moines Register, 12/13/02)

Senator John Kerry:

“Sen. John F. Kerry yesterday demanded that Senate GOP Leader Trent Lott resign his powerful leadership post for making racially charged comments praising Sen. Strom Thurmond’s segregationist 1948 presidential campaign. ‘I simply do not believe the country can today afford to have someone who has made these statements again and again be the leader of the United States Senate,’ said Kerry (D-Mass.), wading into a national controversy as he prepares his 2004 White House bid.” (Andrew Miga, “Kerry: Lott Must Resign,” Boston Herald, 12/12/02)

Senator Blanche Lincoln:

“‘The sentiments expressed by Senator Lott’s words last week have no place in today’s America,’ Sen. Blanche Lincoln, a Democrat, said in a statement. ‘If he truly believes a Strom Thurmond presidency would have been good for the country, then he is out of touch with the U.S. Senate and certainly with a great majority of Americans. ‘Senator Lott owes the nation a thorough explanation of his words recorded in 1980 and again last week. Racism and bigotry once divided America and we cannot tolerate words that might send us back there.'” (Paul Barton, “Lott’s Remarks Draw Arkansas Reproach,” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 12/12/02)

Senator Barbara Mikulski:

“Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski of Maryland said Lott’s comments ‘demonstrate a glaring insensitivity to the pain African-Americans suffered as a result of segregation and discrimination.'” (Julie Hirschfeld Davis, “Lott Repeats Apologies, Rejects Calls To Resign As Senate Leader,” The Baltimore Sun, 12/14/02)

Senator Patty Murray:

“Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said the comments by Lott, R-Miss., ‘were offensive, hurtful and wrong. Worst of all, they do not appear to be isolated remarks. At a time when our country should stand as one, (the comments) serve only to divide. Americans deserve leaders who will stand up for the civil rights of all citizens.'” (Gregg Herrington, “State’s Two Democratic Senators And Gop Chairman Take Lott To Task For Remarks,” The Columbian [Vancouver, WA], 12/14/02)

Senator Debbie Stabenow

“Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Democrat, described Lott’s comments as ‘outrageous’ and ‘completely inexcusable.’ ‘Those kinds of comments have no place in our society and should be repudiated by every American,’ Stabenow said in a statement. ‘At this point, the Republican caucus in the U.S. Senate needs to think long and hard about the kind of values they want their leadership to represent.'” (Katherine Hutt Scott, “Mich. Delegation Members From Both Parties Criticize Lott Remarks,” Gannett News Service, 12/14/02)

You get the idea. Democrats must oust Harry Reid now if they want any credibility on racial issues.

GOP Chairman Michael Steele says it perfectly:

“There is this standard where Democrats feel that they can say these things and they can apologize when it comes from the mouths of their own. But if it comes from anyone else, it is racism,” Steele told “Fox News Sunday.”

Even Al Sharpton is defending Harry Reid. One has to wonder what kind of donation he’s getting in exchange for his support of Reid. As my friend Ali Akbar put it, “The only color Al Sharpton has chosen to value in this situation is GREEN.”

UPDATE: Will Martha Coakley, the Democrat hoping to replace Ted Kennedy, condemn Harry Reid?

The news:

An exodus of discouraged workers from the job market kept the U.S. unemployment rate from climbing above 10 percent in December, economists said.

Had the labor force not decreased by 661,000 last month, the jobless rate would have been 10.4 percent, according to economists including David Rosenberg at Gluskin Sheff & Associates in Toronto and Harm Bandholz at UniCredit Research in New York.

“The actual unemployment rate is higher than shown by the official numbers,” Bandholz said yesterday after a Labor Department report released in Washington showed the economy unexpectedly lost 85,000 jobs in December while the jobless rate was unchanged.

About 1.7 million Americans opted out of the workforce from July through December, representing a 1.1 percent drop that marks the biggest six-month decrease since 1961, the Labor Department report showed. The share of the population in the labor force last month fell to the lowest level in 24 years.

The economy is not getting better. To be sure, a lot of fiat money is being shoved through the economy and this, in turn, allows the government to calculate that GDP has grown, but the net amount of economic activity has been reduced and continues to decline. It will continue to do so until we stop borrowing, stop printing money and start encouraging wealth creation by making, mining and growing things.

As long as Obama’s policies are in place, this will continue to get worse.

Quite stunning:

Public Policy Polling reported today that the Massachusetts Senate race is now a toss up.

Buoyed by a huge advantage with independents and relative disinterest from Democratic voters in the state, Republican Scott Brown leads Martha Coakley 48-47.

And word is that a Boston Herald poll to be released tomorrow also shows it a 1 point race. Obama won the State by 26 percentage points in 2008 – if Brown cuts it to 13 or less, then he’s done a fantastic job. If he cuts it to 6 or less, he’ll scare the bejabbers out of Democrats, everywhere. If he wins, it’ll shake up American politics in an amazing way – don’t think in terms of what happened in the past or what talking heads are saying. Just go forward in 2010 figuring that no one knows what the heck is going to happen and just do whatever you think best.

Gonna be a fun year, I think.

We’ve lots of grand mountains here in Nevada, and now we want to name one for the greatest President of the 20th century:

Citizen Outreach Foundation announced on Friday the launch of an effort to name a significant landmark after the late President Ronald Reagan before what would have been his 100th birthday on February 6, 2011. There are over 3,000 named tributes to President Reagan worldwide, yet no such commemoration exists yet in the Silver State.

Karri Bragg, Executive Vice President of Citizen Outreach Foundation, will head up the new project. She’s the former Executive Director of the national Ronald Reagan Legacy Project sponsored by Americans for Tax Reform in Washington, D.C.

“Commemorating President Reagan in our state is key to ensuring that future generations of Nevadans will recognize and appreciate the great ideas, principles, and strong leadership that he provided in an uncertain time,” Bragg said. “This landmark will help assure that our children and grandchildren are able to do more than just skim over Reagan’s name in history class.”

The project’s first choice is to name a mountain peak – “Mount Reagan” – after the nation’s 40th president somewhere in Nevada, Bragg said. To that end, the application process with the U.S. Board on Geographic Names has already been started. According to the USBGN, no other request for naming a mountain peak after President Reagan has been made.

It is hoped that it will be complete by Reagan’s 100th birthday next year – and all of us Republicans here in Nevada (including those we’re feuding with) have joined together in this grand effort.

Geesh:

The top Democrat in the U.S. Senate apologized on Saturday for comments he made about Barack Obama’s race during the 2008 presidential bid and are quoted in a yet-to-be-released book about the campaign.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada described in private then-Sen. Barack Obama as “light skinned” and “with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.” Obama is the nation’s first African-American president.

“I deeply regret using such a poor choice of words. I sincerely apologize for offending any and all Americans, especially African-Americans for my improper comments,” Reid said in a statement released after the excerpts were first reported on the Web site of The Atlantic.

This comes from Democrat group-think – we’re all just whatever group we belong to. High time the Democrats started treating people as individuals, don’t you think? It’d at least spare us from having a Senate Majority leader who makes us cringe whenever he opens his mouth.

• Weekly Recap (2010-01-02) http://bit.ly/8bRN79 #
• Health Care to Play a Role in Massachusetts Senate Contest? http://bit.ly/5xomPQ #
• Where Have All the Lefties Gone? http://bit.ly/6h85WE #
• Obama Housing Policies Have Made Things Worse http://bit.ly/6tAa5Z #
• Americans Abandoning the Democrat Party http://bit.ly/5GMWnc #
• Democrats Shoot the Messenger http://bit.ly/5egr2M #
• Phrase of the Day? http://bit.ly/5r2BEN #
• Majority Opposed to Abortion Funding in ObamaCare http://bit.ly/4OkBDn #
• On the Issues of War, Economy and Transgendered Appointments, Which is Obama “Johnny-on-the-Spot” With? http://bit.ly/4x9g5s #
• They Say Our Economy Improved in 2009 http://bit.ly/4wsryl #
• MA-SEN: Here’s Your Polling Data http://bit.ly/74DV9J #
• Congressional Democrats Want to Combine ObamaCare With Comprehensive Immigration Reform? http://bit.ly/58JKBa #
• Public Service http://bit.ly/61BxoN #
• Brit Hume, Tiger Woods, Buddhism and Christianity http://bit.ly/4VPnm4 #
• Another Democrat Quits http://bit.ly/7WIzzt #
• Pelosi Lied http://bit.ly/52CLUj #
• Phrase of the Day http://bit.ly/8k5I4j #
• Sarah Palin Condemns Obama’s “Law Professor” Approach to Terrorism http://bit.ly/4ohhyd #
• Obama Sending More Terrorists Back To Fight Us? http://bit.ly/4WNPdx #
• Barack Obama, You Lie http://bit.ly/8wMN9X #
• Sen. Blanch Lincoln (D-AR) In Electoral Trouble http://bit.ly/6zOYWO #
• Sarah Palin’s TEA Party http://bit.ly/6zCTiO #
• Obama Wears Thin http://bit.ly/7JZF3e #
• Is Coakley Having Money Trouble in Massachusetts? http://bit.ly/66m9rL #
• Is the Government Fudging the Unemployment Numbers? http://bit.ly/7jBJwO #
• Senate GOP Holds Democrats Accountable http://bit.ly/8xbKnF #
• Unemployment Gets Worse http://bit.ly/8UlqrI #
• Democrats Getting Desperate About Massachusetts http://bit.ly/7xeyZN #
• Jack Cafferty Blows a Gasket About Obama’s “Cameras” Lie http://bit.ly/6YfNoU #
• Global Warming Update http://bit.ly/7DzaZZ #
• Why is There a TEA Party Movement? http://bit.ly/7IAc1k #

In my view, because the Common Man has had enough – the builders of this world, the people who make it work, have had quite enough of corrupt elites ruling and ruining everything. Pretty much since the 18th century – and really stretching back a few centuries earlier – the story of the world has been the continuing effort of varied elites to lock up the Common Man and make him obey the dictates of the elite.

The reason the United States has stood as a bastion against this is because of the happy accident that the elites didn’t want to come here early on. America was founded by and developed by Joe and Jane Average and it was only in the early 20th century that elites started to latch themselves upon us. And while in the rest of the world the Common Man has been ground down and make the weak dependents of the elite, in the United States there is still sufficient number of people to say, “no” – and now these people are not just refusing the dictates, but are insisting that the elite abdicate and go away.

This essay by G.K. Chesterton is an excellent description of the Common Man and what he’s up against – a quote:

The thesis is this: that modern emancipation has really been a new persecution of the Common Man. If it has emancipated anybody, it has in rather special and narrow ways emancipated the Uncommon Man. It has given an eccentric sort of liberty to some of the hobbies of the wealthy, and occasionally to some of the more humane lunacies of the cultured. The only thing that it has forbidden is common sense, as it would have been understood by the common people. Thus, if we begin with the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, we find that a man really has become more free to found a sect. But the Common Man does not in the least want to found a sect. He is much more likely, for instance, to want to found a family. And it is exactly there that the modern emancipators are quite likely to begin to frustrate him; in the name of Malthusianism or Eugenics or Sterilisation or at a more advanced stage of progress, probably, Infanticide.

That was written quite a long time ago – and as we can see, here in 2010, we have “progressed” and now we do have infanticide, in the form of abortion. And if the elites get their way, we’ll eventually have infanticide in the form of killing babies outside the womb – all in the name of making the world a better place, it goes without saying.

If you take a look at it, what do our elites not want us common folk to have and do? Well, they don’t really want us owning our own homes – too large a carbon footprint. They’d like it much better if we didn’t have our cars – so wasteful that we live in the suburbs and work in the city. It is a certainty that they don’t want us starting a farm, opening up a factory or digging a mine. Its terribly inconvenient that we want to rule our own medical decisions. Our religion is a gigantic annoyance to them – all those demands for adherence to absolute standards of right and wrong. Goodness, can you imagine any elite agreeing that the parents should have complete control over their childrens’ education? The attitude of the elite has been best expressed, of late, in the reaction to the town hall protests of this past summer – they were outraged, and quite frightened, that the Common Man dared to question his masters.

So, what will they allow us to do? We can have all the sex we want. Provided we use birth control and have no prejudice against abortion.

But the world is not for the elite – it is for the Common Man. The meek shall inherit the earth. The last shall be first. At any rate, the facts speak clearly – we could do without everyone in the MSM and government, but couldn’t last very long without our farmers. Its not that one particular person is more valuable than another, but that what people do is more or less valuable. Farmers, craftsmen and miners are vastly more valuable than bureaucrats and academics. Mothers are more valuable than social workers. Soldiers more valuable than diplomats.

And here, in the Year of Our Lord 2010 (not, “CE” as the elites are attempting to make it – CE – Common Era…common to what?), the Common Man has had enough. Mad as heck and not going to take it, anymore.