Rebane's Ruminations
July 2014
S M T W T F S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031  

ARCHIVES


OUR LINKS


YubaNet
White House Blog
Watts Up With That?
The Union
Sierra Thread
RL “Bob” Crabb
Barry Pruett Blog

George Rebane

A couple of sad additions to the Liberal Mind department.  People who follow news and public affairs hear at least ten times a day another liberal or lamestream statement declaring with complete assurance that anyone who, at their cost, is unwilling to deliver abortion inducing prophylactics to a woman is in fact 1) imposing their religion on the woman and/or 2) interfering with the woman’s control of her own body.  While the stark reality is that the same agent makes no effort to deny the woman her opportunity to get identical prophylactics from any of a number of alternative and readily available sources.  (Revival of the Sandra Fluke war on women?)

And then in a similar vein we hear liberals and the lamestream continue accusing Bush2 of being responsible for hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, while Obama had/has nothing to do with the massive influx of illegal alien children crossing our southern border.  One was a horrific act of God/nature that struck a decades long Democrat mismanaged metropolis (more here), the other the result of an ongoing and purposive administration policy.

And then consider this email from VA’s Janet Murphy that recently went across the desks of VA managers nationwide.  It reads in part –

Please immediately stand down on any further communications with stakeholders, delegation members, and others regarding the access audit, wait lists, and accelerating care initiatives.  There will be a network director call this afternoon to discuss the way forward with communication regarding these topics and medical center/health care system directors will be briefed from/by their respective VISNS (various regional districts of the VA).

Upon this email’s disclosure, the newly appointed VA acting secretary, Sloan Gibson, immediately went on the air to tell the country that this “stand down” message was not really a directive to co-ordinate the continuing decades long cover up of how the VA published its fraudulent healthcare performance statistics, but simply a desire to give some clarifying guidance to the directors of the various VA districts, who obviously have no idea what has been going on under their management.

What is it with these people??  Are they evil, are they stupid, do they consider that the rest of the country is stupid?  How in hell is anyone of goodwill with an intact system of logic supposed to reach common ground with people who think and reason like that?  It is simply mindboggling to even contemplate finding a starting point.  The only redemptive part of such accusations and reports is that they sure make clear why we are a terminally polarized nation.

Ending on a happier note, this evening watching the news of the illegal influx of ‘Central American’ children (the Border Patrol believes a huge fraction are actually Mexican with no ability to resolve the matter), we heard that President Obama’s solution to the problem is to do nothing more with or at the border, but ask Congress for almost $3B for housing and processing the kids so that they can properly disappear into our countryside more quickly.  We were told that this amount comes to about $80,000 a kid.

Upon hearing this, my sweetie and no slouch of a woman, immediately announced she had the better solution to this national crisis – send each kid back to his declared country of origin with $5,000 cash in his pocket.  This would not only give rise to untold joyous reunions, but also bring the cost down to about $6K per head with the additional money going for short term housing/feeding, name tags, and airfare home.  The policy would be implemented with the concurrent directive that the Border Patrol (and National Guard if necessary) would again close the affected borders as required by federal law, else the kids will quickly be sent back for another $5K.  This response will immediately drive the price charged by the scumbag smugglers for future transport through the roof, and save over 90% of the currently requested amount.

[update]  In this morning’s (9jul14) WSJ is a short column ‘Confessions of a Computer Modeler’ by Robert Caprara.  Mr Caprara holds a masters in environmental engineering and has developed large scale models for the EPA and other government agencies and corporations.  RR readers will be familiar with his message on such modeling, especially as he describes their use in the ‘science’ and politics of climate change.  He hits all the high points and cites examples of how such models are constantly used to produce results desired by the ‘customers’ who pay for their creation and exercise.

What should impress some of the DIO religionists is the ease with which a large scale model can produce a smorgasbord of results from which the tastiest ones can be selected and then paraded as objective science to the ideological scoundrels and, of course, the sheeple – it’s a 24/7 global enterprise.  This is not the place to review the details of what has been presented in these pages, Caprara’s piece gives a good thumbnail summary.  However, I will point out that even the models he discusses are much simpler than those ‘general circulation models’ used to predict catastrophic temperature and sea level rises (explicated in these pages).  Such GCMs contain many more opportunities for bamboozlement because they are cobbled together from tens of submodels by scattered ‘experts’ in such domains as atmospheric water vapor, high altitude ozone dispersal, spectral aborption by subtropical vegetation, thermodynamics of shallow water energy exchange, South Pacific circulation, …, you get the idea.

What really causes laughter and tears is how the double dummies, from Obama to the local leftwing loonies, hold themselves in high esteem as caring people in the know, people who need to educate the rest of us and vacuum our wallets to pay for ‘green’ projects and policies that have no impact on their stated objectives while causing immeasurable damage to everything such diktats touch.  DIO??  Sorry about that, it’s the well-rehearsed 'Debate Is Over!'

Posted in , ,

7 responses to “Scattershots – 9jul14 (updated)”

  1. Russ Steele Avatar

    This 2005 study of GCM modeling practices, apply titled Seductive Simulations? Uncertainty Distribution Around Climate Models, by Myanna Lahsen, was the final nail in the coffin of AGW for me. It convinced me that general circulation models had no scientific merit in the global warming argument. Models were interesting but proved nothing.
    ABSTRACT This paper discusses the distribution of certainty around General
    Circulation Models (GCMs) – computer models used to project possible global climatic
    changes due to human emissions of greenhouse gases. It examines the trope of
    distance underpinning Donald MacKenzie’s concept of ‘certainty trough’, and calls for
    a more multi-dimensional and dynamic conceptualization of how uncertainty is
    distributed around technology. The certainty trough describes the level of certainty
    attached to particular techno-scientific constructions as distance increases from the site
    of knowledge production, and proposes that producers of a given technology andc its
    products are the best judges of their accuracy. Processes and dynamics associated with
    GCM modeling challenge the simplicity of the certainty trough diagram, mainly
    because of difficulties with distinguishing between knowledge producers and users,
    and because GCMs involve multiple sites of production. This case study also challenges
    the assumption that knowledge producers always are the best judges of the accuracy of their models.
    Drawing on participant observation and interviews with climate
    modelers and the atmospheric scientists with whom they interact, the study discusses
    how modelers, and to some extent knowledge producers in general, are sometimes
    less able than some users to identify shortcomings of their models.
    My favorite quote from the study is this one: “In climate modeling, nearly everybody cheats a little.”
    Here is a link to the full study: http://sciencepolicy.colorado.edu/admin/publication_files/resource-1891-2005.49.pdf

    Like

  2. Todd Juvinall Avatar

    Until we somehow convince Congress to dry up the money for these hoaxes we will never see the end of them. For some reason our leaders can’t seem to want to turn off the spigot. One only needs to look at the Department of Agriculture (among all who do the same thing) for the subsets in their budgets for “grants”. Billions of dollars for anything you can imagine. Davy Crockett is turning in his grave.

    Like

  3. Walt Avatar

    the great thing about computers, is that you can make them spit out any “answer” you want. ” garbage in,, garbage out”.
    That plan works even better when someone already as a preconceived outcome in mind.
    Just wait for “scam and tax” to take effect here in Ca. Our fuel is about to get a LOT pricier thanks to LIBS “cap and trade” The LIBS won the day on that vote,, so give them what they want.. I say give it to them good and hard, and often.
    Count on construction costs to go way up. Heavy equipment goes through plenty in a day.( even more with the “new and improved Ca. specials… But they burn cleaner,, yet less efficient.)

    Like

  4. George Rebane Avatar

    re RussS 259pm – Interesting citation of Myanna Lahsen’s paper. I think that I also cited it in some reports I wrote about central California’s ozone controversy – ‘TN0709-1: Foothill Furor – Seeking Basis for Public Policy on Ozone Pollution’
    http://sesfoundation.org/reports-2/tn0709-1_4oct07-1/
    Googling about climate change, I found my name listed as one of over 31,000 scientists who have declared themselves to be skeptics. Are all of us unqualified to professionally comment on the matter?
    http://thenorthwestherald.blogspot.com/2009/12/31486-scientists-say-wait-minute.html

    Like

  5. Russ Steele Avatar

    Walt04:13PM
    The Low Caron Fuel Standard is projected to raise fuel prices between 10 to 40 cents per gallon. Some scare mongers, say it could be as much as $1.00 a gallon or more. We will find out 1 Jan 2015. This is in addition to the Cap and Trade cost increases. Bottom line California will have higher fuel prices than neighboring states, who will soon be recruiting CA business.

    Like

  6. Walt Avatar

    So much for that “settled” science, if over 31,000 “don’t buy it”.
    Your in good company Doc.
    Russ. Sounds like some LIBS in SAC finally figured out the price of gas will go up. They whined to CARB to suspend the “law”… Uh,,, not happen’n.

    Like

  7. Russ Steele Avatar

    Liberal Media Fail to Report Soros Funding Linked to New EPA Regulations
    By Sean Long
    The liberal media love to hate the Koch Brothers but are far less enthusiastic about connecting George Soros’ billions to liberal policies.
    On July 6, Coral Davenport of The New York Times revealed that the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) new regulations on power plant emissions were largely inspired by the work of environmental activists at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The broadcast networks have not mentioned the NRDC connection to the new regulations, and even the Times ignored that liberal mega-donor Soros has bankrolled the NRDC.
    The Times called the EPA regulations “a remarkable victory for the National Resources Defense Council” for developing the “novel” framework that the EPA would adopt, but they also failed to mention the more than $1.7 million in Soros-funding the group received since 2004 ($1,771,893).
    On June 1, the EPA unveiled drastic limits on carbon emissions, mandating steep emission cuts within 16 years. While emission limits weren’t a new idea, the EPA plan “sets different limits for each state and allows states the flexibility to meet the standards by picking from a menu of policy options,” according to Davenport.
    Davenport traced this innovation back to a specific 110-page proposal, written by two lawyers, David Doniger and David Hawkins, and energy policy expert, Daniel Lashof. All three individuals work with the NRDC, though Lashof only advises the organization since he joined left-wing billionaire donor Tom Steyer’s Next Gen Climate America in March. In February, Steyer pledged $100 million to pressure politicians on climate issues.
    Few media outlets covered the Times’ revelations about NRDC’s involvement. None of the broadcast news programs brought it up. In fact, ABC, CBS and NBC news programs have ignored the EPA regulations since June 2.
    . . .

    EPA Regs bought and paid for by George Soros. Go figure!

    Like

Leave a comment