142 responses to “Sandbox – 1jan15”

1. 

   George Rebane

   06 January 2015

   Administrivia – The comment stream of every Sandbox invites the introduction of diverse topics without limitation. Some such topics may indeed develop into discussion/debate threads, and others may just be flashes in the pan. No matter, as long as all understand that there are no “off thread” comments in the Sandbox.

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2. 

   Bill the Tozer

   06 January 2015

   Tanks, Dr. Rebanes, tanks a rocket. Figured them was the outlined rules of engagement, but sometimes my parotid schizophrenia flares up and Wicked Wanda harps on me that I done a bad thing. I wish that woman would go bother all the other folks in my head and leave me alone in peace. No worries, dear readers, all the specialists say we are all better now, but I do wonder about Wicked Wanda.

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3. 

   Joe Koyote

   06 January 2015

   ” there exists no scientific consensus on either the existence, causes, or control of anthropogenic global warming. ”
   — Only to the climate duh-niers is there no consensus. Climate change is the greatest threat (in modern times) to our future that has ever existed, yet some people, for what can only be described as political reasons (regulation and oversight is socialistic and bad, greedy corporations are honest and good and the free market will do what’s right), choose to side with the polluters and the multinational corporations whose future profits depend upon lying to the public. All any thinking
   reader needs to do is add fracking, GMOs, and any number of other questionable ideas backed by crackpot industry supported “science” to get a clear picture of the situation. Oh yeah, tobacco is non-addictive and harmless. Just ask the tobacco industry and all of the “science” they produced over the years knowing all the while they were lying through their teeth. The first rule of public relations damage control is to obfuscate the issues in order to delay change as long as possible. In this case that means lie while raking in as much profit as possible while possible and the health and welfare of the public be damned. Wouldn’t it better to err on the side of caution rather than throw caution to the wind and be totally wrong? The repercussions are simply not worth the risk. Have a nice day!

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4. 

   Todd Juvinall

   06 January 2015

   JoeK is a lemming. Where is the cliff?

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5. 

   George Rebane

   06 January 2015

   re JoeK 947am – Interesting how liberals attempt to own the words. To them ‘consensus’ can be used to describe any cohort that shares their beliefs, no matter the existence of other cohorts sharing other beliefs. The lack of a scientific consensus on AGW was lamented in the last IPCC report that was also covered in these pages.
   http://rebaneruminations.typepad.com/rebanes_ruminations/2014/03/global-warming-the-latest-official-update.html
   Of course the lamestream took their marching orders from the climateer politicians and reported none of this, which gives rise to the blindness of local liberal cadres populated by people like Mr Koyote. All of this continues to corroborate one of RR’s fundamental tenets that we are polarized beyond reason, and therefore beyond the tipping point.

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6. 

   fish

   06 January 2015

   Posted by: Joe Koyote | 06 January 2015 at 09:47 AM
   Our first moment of existential angst in 2015! Thanks for sharing Joe.

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7. 

   Gregory

   06 January 2015

   “Only to the climate duh-niers is there no consensus.”
   THat includes half of the professional membership (those with real degrees in meteorology and related sciences) of the American Meteorological Society who don’t believe more than half of the 20th century warming was due to man (all causes, not just CO2). They were actually polled by the AMS.
   JoKe won’t understand he’s the one motivated by politics until the meme has finished collapsing under the weight of an indefinite “pause”, or even a pronounced cooling.

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8. 

   fish

   06 January 2015

   Ah…..what a shame…..looks like “Cryin John Boehner” R-Ohio gets to keep his job!
   See….this is why I don’t vote!

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9. 

   Walt

   06 January 2015

   OH Yaaaa. AGW gets another kick in the ass. Look what’s going on in Hawaii.
   It’s supposed to be WARM ( if not WARMER because of AGW)
   Yup,, only kooks can believe that getting colder is because things are warming up.
   http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/287573441.html
   “The unusually cold weather over the last two days continued to break records in Hawaii, including a record for this date that goes back over 122 years in Honolulu.”

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10. 

    Gregory

    06 January 2015

    Walt, that’s what’s called “the weather”. It’s “climate news” in the short term only when the weather is unusually hot, or when you have many years of it.
    In the case of “the pause”, 18 years is too short to register as climate as long as the temps (as measured by satellite or radiosonde) don’t rise.

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11. 

    George Rebane

    06 January 2015

    Gregory 1107am – Your hope for JoeK’s epiphany (after the AGW meme’s collapse) shows that you have the milk of human kindness flowing through your veins. I wish I could share in your optimism.
    BTW, does anyone know when weather officially turns into climate, and vice versa. And is there a hysteresis in that loop? 😉

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12. 

    fish

    06 January 2015

    See…..this can only be considered good news for both the Truckee region and California as a whole….
    “Clear Capital moves HQ to Reno, bringing 400 jobs”
    http://www.rgj.com/story/money/business/2015/01/06/clear-capital-moves-to-reno/21344181/

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13. 

    Bill the Tozer

    06 January 2015

    “Oh I know, I know!” shouts out little Johnnie with his armed raised in uncontrolable eagerness to respond to Dr.Rebane’s 11:55am question.
    The answer is weather officially becomes climate when the good Mr. Hansen says so. Wasn’t he the one that made his name predicting the impending ICE AGE coupled with dire consequences and fear mongering the 70’s? Or was some other expert? They all look alike to me.
    BTW, how many years to an Age?. Like the Bronze Age, ICe Age, Stone Age, the Age of Aquarius. How many months to an era? Suppose we will all know when the Fat Lady sings.
    Little Johnnie now bounces to another topic with renewed enthusiasm.
    http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2015-01-06/obamacare-insurer-preferredone-exits-minnesota-marketplace?campaign_id=yhoo

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14. 

    Todd Juvinall

    06 January 2015

    I am actually a Boehner fan. I met him a couple of years ago. Sure he tears up when he is in that special place but overall, he is herding cats and not doing to bed. LOL!

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15. 

    Todd Juvinall

    06 January 2015

    bad

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16. 

    Don Bessee

    06 January 2015

    The union has reported that the pot heads attorney Jeff Lake was busted last night at his home in San Diego (where he lived before and during his run for judge here). He threw a party for 200+- with teenage girls running around in their undies and of course an open bar! Can’t help but wonder if Terry L was invited? 🙂 Seems like karma is catching up to some people. At least in this case they won’t be able to claim our Sheriff set this up.

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17. 

    Walt

    06 January 2015

    Well now.. Even the “experts” can’t explain why things just haven’t gone “their way’.
    ” THE ICE CAPS ARE MELTING!!”….. Shit….. NO they didn’t DAMN that record sea ice.
    ” THE GLACIERS WILL BE GONE IN JUST A FEW YEARS!!!!” Son of a bit…. they are still here… As I recall,, snow was to be a thing of the past in D.C. and kids in the near future would only read about it in history books. Last Winter the whole Eastern part
    of the U.S. looked like the arctic.
    If this marble was actually WARMING,,, the fist place to be WARMER would be the tropics.
    Well,, it NOT…
    Now plug those leaks Gregory…
    The AGW gang tried to blame our Ca. dry spell on AGW. Seems NOAA said otherwise.

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18. 

    Walt

    06 January 2015

    OK,, something wild caught on tape.
    This should be of great interest to George. I sure would like a man of science opinion
    on this.
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2898667/Is-UFO-crashing-ejecting-miniature-spacecraft-meteorite-breaking-apart-Mysterious-glowing-orb-filmed-flying-fireball-California.html
    Whatever is was, it was spinning, looking at the smoke trail. Now how something can “break off and continue “at speed” is wild to say the least.

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19. 

    George Rebane

    06 January 2015

    Walt 319pm – most likely the part that split off and appeared to have been left behind was expelled by internal gases generated by the meteor’s (small asteroid?)impact with earth’s atmosphere. Such objects are often made of various materials including ice that when vaporized can blow off a small chunk. In this case the chunk was blown off mostly to the rear thereby reducing greatly its entry speed. That it appeared to stop glowing attests both to its resulting low speed and/or its small mass as it quickly slowed and burned up or quit burning. Bottom line – too many other plausible ‘natural’ explanations to start looking for UFO escape pods.

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20. 

    Walt

    06 January 2015

    After several reviews of the tape, the small object seemed to gain speed.
    It sure didn’t slow down as one would expect. But with the camera going one way, and the object another, that might give the appearance of defying the laws of gravity.
    It is unusual to say the least.

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21. 

    Bill the Tozer

    06 January 2015

    Just happened to catch it live against all odds. Got home from work, went out upon the back deck, and there she blew. Chances were over a thousand to one to see it in its flaming glory considering I walked out to the west facing deck just at the exact moment after being gone for 11 or so hours.
    I figured it was just another Oppps moment by the little green men with big eyes. Practice makes perfect. Or, maybe humanoid caused Global Warming really screwed with the Marsians approach. Was weird seeing the flare spin off on the northern side. Like, bummer dude.

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22. 

    Bill the Tozer

    06 January 2015

    Did think it was going too slow to be a comet, shooting star or a space rock. Too fast to be a plane. Ah, another unsolved mystery. I like the mothership breaking up and dumping mini pods theory. Leaves much more to tickle the imagination with than cold hard scientific explanations.

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23. 

    Walt

    06 January 2015

    Tell me your not peeing on my back at say it’s raining Bill!!… YOU witnessed this ?
    DO give details.. What happened to the “splinter”? Did it fade into nothing?,, Slow down??
    That “thing” looked pretty big in the vid.
    I am also surprised the “vapor trail” dissipated rapidly.
    If you saw it, that blows the hoax theorists right out of the water.

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24. 

    Paul Emery

    06 January 2015

    Gosh guys it seems it was just yesterday that many of you were blaming Obama for high gas prices. Are you ready to applaud him now that prices have come down?

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25. 

    Larry Wirth

    06 January 2015

    Paul, hardly! Obama has done everything possible to avoid that exact outcome- no Keystone, no offshore drilling, no drilling on Fed lands, etc. And you think he deserves “credit”? L

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26. 

    Larry Wirth

    06 January 2015

    With apologies to the originator. JoKe, who ya gonna believe, the Earth or your own lied to eyes?

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27. 

    Paul Emery

    06 January 2015

    So Larry it was Obama’s fault when prices went up but not his credit when they go down. That cracks me up.

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28. 

    Bill the Tozer

    07 January 2015

    Paul, it’s the evil oil companies’ fault when prices go up and politicians want to take credit when prices go down. Nothing new under the sun.
    Walt, yep, I saw it. Never seen such a wide trail in my life and probably never will again. Huge wide wide trail of solid bright white. Then the thing kinda off fishtailed and a hunk of it flared off. Then it went black and the hunk (little light) just sort of curved back and dropped out of sightt. Was not way up overhead in the sky either, looking to the left (southerly) facing the Sutter Buttes. Figured it would be all over then news. My daughter and her friend had stopped by and her friend was amazed by its size. I was amazed by the widest trail I have ever seen and its slower speed. We went inside and that was it.

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29. 

    George Rebane

    07 January 2015

    PaulE 1007pm – Yes, we did blame him for high gas prices. They had plunged to about $1.70 when he took office. After Obama took office they quickly rose to the $3.50-4.00 level and stayed there through most of his years in office. This was clearly due to the horrible policies he put in place to impede economic recovery, which included preventing any increased production on federal lands. It was private enterprise in both technology (fracking) and expanded drilling on private lands that has reduced the price of gasoline and natural gas. All of this was done to the clear opposition of Obama and his socialist cohorts, and this opposition continues to this day (e.g. opposition to Keystone XL). Yes, prices went back up in 2009 because of Obama (they should have stayed down during the recession), and have now come down in spite of Obama.

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30. 

    Walt

    07 January 2015

    Since Paul wants to pat “O” on the back,, then maybe Paul can explain just “what*”
    he did (in detail) for prices to fall. In the mean time the Lefty lawmakers are itching to stick it to us in new fuel taxes since as they put it,,” They are used to paying the high prices”.
    What DID the politicians do Paul?? As I and others see it, private enterprise and private land deals, and anywhere where Fed government had no control. Hat’s off to pro oil states
    and fracking. Yes, “fracking” has led to the extra oil.
    Funny how “O” and Co. still like to screw us by making sure we get oil from OPEC instead of Canada. ( XL pipeline) Look at the money (oh,, and carbon footprint) that saved in shipping alone. Yup,, the supertanker lobby must have their hands busy in the pockets of “O” and Co.

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31. 

    Todd Juvinall

    07 January 2015

    Walt, excellent questions for Paul Emery. Paul Emery, please tell us the laws, regulations and efforts by Obama that have led to the drop in oil and gasoline prices. We are all ears.

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32. 

    Ben Emery

    07 January 2015

    The Obama administration is the most friendly to fossil fuel industry in US history. But you guys like to ignore the fact that Obama is the President you wished George W Bush had been. Stock Market up, Fossil Fuel extraction up, DHS spending up, Pentagon spending up, Defense spending up, Drone warfare up, Spying on Americans and Allies up, Cyber warfare up, Tax loop holes for wealthy still in place, Deregulation of the financial sector still in place, and so on.
    Outside not approving the Keystone Pipeline Obama administration has approved everything under the sun that has come through his administration. The fact that “We”(tax payer dollars) are paying the multi-billion per year industry a record high subsides is allowing the prices at the pumps to drop and the people haven’t connected the dots that they are paying in other ways. My guess the drop in gas prices has to do with the chance of new gas tax hike.
    As Gas Prices Drop, Gas Taxes Will Likely Rise
    http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2015/01/05/Gas-Prices-Drop-Gas-Taxes-Will-Likely-Rise
    Give them(Energy Industry) backdoor money in return to drop prices so this gas tax can get passes while at the same time stall renewable energy industry that is starting to make great strides in being competitive without the same subsides coming in.
    Our government, corporate news, and private sector are in a well choreographed dance to secure profits for big industry.
    Five Years Ago, Obama Promised to Phase Out Government Subsidies for Oil and Gas Exploration. Instead, They’ve Doubled.
    http://www.newrepublic.com/article/120239/us-subsidies-fossil-fuel-exploration-double-under-obamas-watch
    How Obama Became the Oil President
    He once talked of plans to reduce oil consumption—now the US drills more than ever. What happened?
    http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/09/how-obama-became-oil-president-gas-fracking-drill
    Report: Fossil Fuel Production Subsidies Exceed $21 Billion Annually in United States
    http://priceofoil.org/2014/07/09/report-fossil-fuel-production-subsidies-exceed-21-billion-annually-united-states/

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33. 

    Todd Juvinall

    07 January 2015

    Ben Emmery, your first paragraph above proves you are totally in LALA land.

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34. 

    George Rebane

    07 January 2015

    re BenE’s 927am – Exhibit A of a dialogue with progressives; it’s as if my 816am, Walt’s 837am, and ToddJ’s 845am comments were never posted.

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35. 

    Ben Emery

    07 January 2015

    George,
    I only read Walt and Todd last remarks before commenting. Now reading them my comment still stands and I don’t see where it isn’t valid. It must be my progressive goggles not seeing what you are talking about.
    If it was Obama’s fault somehow for gas prices shouldn’t it be the responsibility of Obama for the dropping the same prices?
    I cannot stand the Obama administration but believe the partisanship rings loud and clear at RR with his administration with my first paragraph, which are all true.
    Please show me how that list isn’t true.

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36. 

    George Rebane

    07 January 2015

    BenE 1011am – Thank you for responding. No, it is not necessarily true that if a certain something coming to pass is due to CauseA, then its ceasing to be is also due to CauseA. That is a naïve viewpoint which I tried to dispel re gasoline prices in my 816am. Bottom line – it is more often the case that if a given effect is due to CauseA, then its counter is due to CauseB. Example: A leg is broken by a skiing accident (CauseA) and is healed by medical attention (CauseB); having another skiing accident (CauseA) will not repair the broken bone.
    But in the now customary fruitless debates that circle presidential causality, it is the common wisdom to attribute to the president (CauseA) everything that happens during his term of office. As the song says, ‘It ain’t necessarily so’.

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37. 

    Walt

    07 January 2015

    “The Obama administration is the most friendly to fossil fuel industry in US history”
    Step back and away from the BONG! Not one more drop of LSD dude, You really have gone off the deep end.
    The FEDS have gone out of their way to stick it to oil and their producers, and the EPA isn’t done yet. Nor the regulation writers.
    Now go kindly with the burly young men in the clean white uniforms. Don’t struggle as they put you in that straight jacket. It’s off to Bellview Ben.. Send us a card (written in crayon) when the prescribed meds have done their work and have put you back on the road to sanity.

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38. 

    L

    07 January 2015

    Well done, Walt!

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39. 

    Gregory

    07 January 2015

    “It must be my progressive goggles not seeing what you are talking about.”
    Only secondarily. Primary causes are probably blithering idiocy and a pathological lack of rationality.

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40. 

    Scott Obermuller

    08 January 2015

    “Deregulation of the financial sector still in place”
    Yep – the financial industry is unregulated.
    Anyone want any more proof the left is unhinged?
    I bet those in the financial sector are just shaking their heads. It’s no different than saying there are no longer any traffic laws.
    I’m glad I keep up with the latest in insanity from our socialist brothers. Wait til that gal with high cheek bones is pres. Nirvana!

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41. 

    Walt

    09 January 2015

    And one for the AGW true believers.
    http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/01/08/record-breaking-cold-so-bad-even-penguins-forced-inside/
    Yup,, even colder than last Winter,, yet they still cry “global warming”…

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42. 

    Gregory

    10 January 2015

    My The Union letter responding to Christine Newsom’s complaining about Crabb’s cartoon was in today’s paper.
    For those who don’t pay up, here it is in its entirety as submitted. The title was as suggested, “Natural variations, not Irritable Climate Syndrome”:
    Stating the “drought, the weather extremes, the hyper-wildfires; they are all here, now, at home and need our immediate response”, Christina Newsom (1/5) takes the beleaguered R.L. Crabb to task for not including her hot button issue, Climate Change, in his ‘toon of 12/30/2014.
    Newsom needs to catch up with her progressive reading… in an unusual moment of clarity, Mother Jones magazine recently published a piece on the latest research from NOAA: “The preponderance of evidence is that the events of the last three winters were the product of natural variability… [the] pattern doesn’t match what models predict as an outcome of climate change” (“New Study: California’s Epic Drought Probably Wasn’t Caused by Climate Change”, Dec.8).
    “Extreme weather” and “hyper-wildfires”? The extremes we’ve been seeing are often on the cold side, including record worldwide sea ice extent. Massive wildfires are said mostly to be a result of a century of ill-advised small fire suppression. It appears, like all too many who are terrified of a theorized catastrophic warming event never seen in the 540 million year record of visible life on Earth, she only separates weather and climate when it fits her message.
    Greg Goodknight, BS Physics, MSEE
    Nevada City
    
    I think it all made it into the paper except for my degrees, though it did allow Dr. Newsom the MD label, which really is a valueless education for anything related to climate.

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