reddit Gallery CCXIII

Another excursion into the world of reddit Pictures. See: reddit Pics for sources.  Do yourself a favor and click on pictures to enlarge them.  Enjoy!

Lost

Elegance

Gobi Desert Oasis

Arctic Fox Family

Late-Life Crisis

Critics

Nancy Pelosi, “My critics are sexist.” See: Breitbart Article

Barack Obama, “My critics are racist.” See: Townhall Article  

Harry Reid, “My critics are insightful.”

Garbage

Now comes another junk science story. Lightning strikes will, according to this Berkeley chicken little, increase in the U.S. by 50% by 2100. Yikes! We will all have to move to Mars. To see this inane conclusion based upon fallacious science please read: Enews Story. I wonder how much taxpayer money this California professor got paid for this bit of nothing?

What was that old computer adage ... garbage in, garbage out?

I Love CO2

                                    
                                                                                                                    CO2   


For some stupid reason I have always assumed that CO2 levels did not vary by any substantial amount across the globe (although I had understood that they were slightly higher in the Southern Hemisphere). But recently I have discovered that CO2 levels are fairly constant at the poles and at the equator ... see: Breitbart Article. (Read it, it is fascinating.) But this article also states that in the bracketed areas ... mainly in our boreal forests ... CO2 levels fluctuate by as much as 16 parts per million (ppms) throughout the year ... which I can infer to be + or - 4% off of the worldwide current norm of 396 ppms ... see: Carbonify Site. This, to me, is a surprisingly large seasonal swing ... greater than the secular trend over the last seven years.

This article also states that the reason for this unexpected regional variance is that our boreal forests are luxuriating in the increased levels of carbon dioxide that, in turn, are partially the result of our current burning of fossil fuels. It is like we are setting a banquet for the trees and plants there and that they are repaying us with the product of their more verdant growth ... more oxygen.

And the reason why the CO2 levels hardly vary at the poles is due to lack of vegetation there ... while, at the equator, vegetation is fairly constant and not subject to seasonal variation. But this leads us to another enigma ... how come the ice cover at the poles varies so dramatically across the decades ( I don't mean seasonally which is easily explainable) when CO2 levels don't. (In fact the ice cover at both poles is now back expanding.) Perhaps there are many other things at work here ... that 97% of the world's climatologists and Al Gore are not yet willing to acknowledge?

Kumbaya

Where are the smores?

Net Neutrality

President Obama has now stated that net neutrality will be the Internet policy of his administration, but this position is understandably creating waves … see: Breitbart Story. I have discerned that “net neutrality,” like much in the current government, is a term meant to mislead. It is far from being neutral … just like the “Affordable Care Act” is far from being affordable. I do understand that, as a conservative, I should be opposed to this attempt to control this unfettered industry … see: Huffington Post Story. But I do somehow, deep down, feel a need to establish a few reasonable rules of the road ... as there clearly have been some abuses.

But I am also chary about letting a deceitful administration, such as Obama’s, take the reins to create such rules. These control freaks have proven time and time again that they cannot be trusted not to play favorites and self-deal in such situations. I can imagine a favored Google or Microsoft getting even more customer unfriendly in such an environment.

Much of the current smaller Internet industry players are vehemently opposed to net neutrality because they rightfully fear that newer regulations and price controls will stifle innovative opportunities. Established big players see net neutrality as an opportunity to leverage their lofty positions and are therefore mostly in favor of it. But unfortunately the uncertainty of what is to happen has also frozen many companies from making expensive gambles. AT&T has indicated its unwillingness to expand its fiber-optic network until such time as the issue of net neutrality is resolved … see: CNBC Article.

But, in the end, I suppose that the thing that colors my opinion the most on this issue is how slowly the telephone industry evolved as an utility under full government regulation. Using this as a model, I can imagine that, had net neutrality been adopted twenty years ago, we still might all be saddled with dial-up Internet service.

Therefore, I think I must be counted as being in the opposition ... at least for the nonce.

Afterward: Here are more repercussions over Obama's taking sides in this net neutrality dust up: Etrade Story.

After Afterward: To see Ted Cruz's position on net neutrality read: Business Insider Story.

Lopsided

President Obama’s current trip to China has resulted in a number of lopsided agreements with the Dragon of the East. First he has unilaterally extended visas for Chinese nationals from one year to five years (student) and ten years (business and tourist) for which it appears there was no quid pro quo … see: CNBC Story.  Using some twisted logic, our fearless leader claims that this will increase employment in the U.S. If this is to be the case, it probably won’t be for current citizens.

Second, our green president has agreed to limit American greenhouse emissions (read CO2) by 25-28% below 2005 levels by 2025 … while China’s "sacrifice" is that the can increase their equivalent emissions until 2030 at which point they will be capped  … see: Washington Post Story. (But to try to be fair, China has also agreed to increase its share of green power generation to 20% of its total generation capacity by 2030 … basically an unattainable goal ... see the above link).

Also announced were cuts on tariffs for technology products (mostly out of China? … see: CBS News Story) and the installation of “warning measures to reduce the chance of accidental military conflict.“

Apparently, President Obama got no concessions on the much bigger dragons in the room … China’s continued undervaluation of its currency, the yuan; China’s exceeding lax enforcement of international intellectual property laws; China’s cyber-security incursions into the United States; and China’s increased subjugation of Hong Kong’s political process.

Veteran's Day

(picture from reddit)

No amount of remembrance can fully honor and thank those millions ...

Bile Green

Can Dartmouth sink any lower? For a rarity at the college on the hill, a conservative was invited to speak to the undergraduates. Apparently the college Republicans had invited Rick Perry, outgoing governor of Texas, to speak at an open event and he drew a number of anal-sex questions from the audience ... some of which were printed on a flyer that was passed out by a sophomoric sophomore, Ben Packer. A typical example was, "Do you [Rick Perry] dislike bootysex because the peeny goes in where the poopy comes out?"

Another green weenie in the audience, senior Emily Sellers, asked the governor if he might engage in anal sex for a large campaign contribution. Wow … such disrespect from seemingly liberal artists! And freshman, Timothy Messen, snidely queried if Rick Perry thought that homosexuals were equivalent to alcoholics. Obviously not everyone in the audience was so crass, but to read more of the details of this sour event see: Breitbart Story.

Because of a recent similarly scatological story coming out of Harvard ... see: UK Daily Mail Story, and an overwhelming vote of the Dartmouth faculty to abolish fraternities and sororities, I was commenting to my wife that college professors must live in a parallel universe ... and she agreed. They must have dispatched pedagogical space ships to bring some of their more naively insipid students along with them.

Obviously, the Dartmouth administration cannot and should not punish these miscreant students like it once attempted to stifle campus conservatives for "vexatious" speech. But it surely would be appropriate to embarrass them (and a few of the more notorious faculty members) in some public way.

Afterward: Here is a link to a related article: Powerline Piece.

Walter Mitty

Sometimes I like to slip into my Walter Mitty persona and imagine myself to be someone important … like a U.S. Senator sitting on the Judiciary Committee interviewing Loretta Lynch for her new position as Attorney General. My questioning might go something like this:

Me: Ms. Lynch, your predecessor, Eric Holder is your personal friend and confident and, I understand, he has sought your advice on many of his more controversial legal positions. Now I consider Mr. Holder to be the worst Attorney General since John Mitchell and he was the first Attorney General ever held in contempt of Congress. Because of this nexus, I would like to have you give us what you advised Mr. Holder on a number of his more contentious poses:

Me: Do you agree that we should be holding a trial for that enemy combatant, Abu Hamza al-Masn, in New York City, when, according to administrative precedent he should have been sent to Guantanamo?

Ms. Lynch: those noises that Charlie Brown’s teacher makes when talking to him.

Me: Would you have prosecuted those New Black Panthers for their intimidation activities at the Philadelphia polling places in 2008?

Ms. Lynch: a convoluted legal argument full of “whereas”s, “whatfor”s, and stare decisis

Me: Do you agree with the Attorney General that we are a nation of cowards for not discussing race relations more?

Ms. Lynch: yada, yada, yada

Me: Do you concur that Mr. Holder should have been held in contempt of Congress for withholding critical documents in the “Fast and Furious” scandal?

Ms. Lynch: Now you are asking me to violate the confidentiality between a client and his lawyer.

Me: Is President Obama within Constitutional bounds if he chooses to use an executive action to give green cards to millions of illegal immigrants?

Ms. Lynch: Senator Mitty, I think your questioning time has expired …

Pukata … pukata …

Afterward: For some more question topics see: ABC News Story.

After Afterward: More thoughts on this from the Powerline blog: Powerline Opinion.

Son of Solyndra

If you thought that the Solyndra rat hole was the ultimate in gross government waste …  think again. Apparently, Obama and his gang of crony capitalists have even outdone this previous $527 million dollar squandering of taxpayer money with their newest bird rotisserie in the Mojave Desert, the Ivanpah Project. Actually this time it is a $540 million government grant request that is to help pay down a $1.6 billion government loan guarantee to build this ill-planned, ill-engineered, and ill-financed environmental monstrosity … see my previous blogs on this subject: The Price of Progress and The Birds, This entire solar project cost $2.2 billion with roughly $600 million coming from Google,  NRG Energy and the sale of energy futures … for more of these sordid details, see: Powerline Blog Story.

After the multiple planning, engineering, environmental and financing screw-ups that the Powerline blog deftly outlines and with another behemoth bankruptcy looming on the horizon, there is one matter that still sticks in my craw. If you remember the Solyndra fiasco, it was full of private self-dealing and poor government oversight. And, as I recall, the private investors stepped ahead of our government’s loan guarantees in the bankruptcy proceedings … which is not the way it is supposed to happen … see: Washington Post Story. This new Ivanpah grant request from our feds has that same smell of self dealing as Solyndra. Will any of this money go the project's owners, Google and NRG Energy, or will it be used solely to reduce our government’s loan guarantee (equivalent to taking from one government pocket and putting it in another)? Knowing how the current bunch of slimy Solons in Washington operate, my odds-on bet is on the former option.

But before I go, guess who was up to his oily neck in the Solyndra scandal? Why it was our new Ebola czar, Ron Klain ... see: PJ Media Story. Nothing really surprises me from this Chicago mob any more ...

Afterward: See also: Solyndra Times Three.

Mission Creep

President Obama has just announced an expansion of our troops fighting ISIS by another 1,500 "trainers and advisers." This brings the total of U.S. troops there to over 3,100 ... all supposedly in Iraq ... see: BBC Story. It sounds to this observer that our air war there is losing and our fearless leader now fears being embarrassed (again). So he is continuing to act recklessly cautious. Joe Scarborough on MSNBC in the AM frequently quotes Napoleon when commenting on President Obama's perpetual cold feet, "If you want to take Vienna, take Vienna!" Otherwise, don't even try.

Again Obama can't decide what he wants to do ... and, if he does know, he hasn't explained it very well to the American people. He has sworn never to put "boots on the ground" again in Iraq ... but he is clearly being driven by circumstances into a Vietnam-like mission creep. There is no doubt in my mind that there will be other deployments of troops there ... until such time as we are back to the level of soldiers that we should have left there in the first place ... actually probably more if we ever want to recapture the cities and towns that ISIS has overrun.

And, if and when we are all in, Obama has two large disadvantages ... one, he has quietly purged the Army of many of our more talented senior military commanders who knew how to win in such situations. A lot of what remains is a band of political lickspittles who, by their hesitancy and inexperience, are likely to cause quite a few more causalities than might be expected. And two, of course, this will also put tremendous pressure on our army which is being daily downsized by our Nobel Peace Prize winner. He might even have to redeploy some of his Ebola fighters from Sierra Leone for heaven's sake.

These problems are also compounded by Obama's disdain for and hesitancy to listen to his generals. I'm afraid that Obama's new Iraq war, like his Afghanistan fiasco, might not end very well.

Afterthought: It has just occurred to me that the title "mission creep" could also apply to Obama.

reddit Gallery CCXII

Another excursion into the world of reddit Pictures. See: reddit Pics for sources.  Do yourself a favor and click on pictures to enlarge them.  Enjoy!

Feeding Time

Mangalitsa Pig

Damn Boulder

Swimming Duck

Solar System to Scale

Hell Hath No Fury …

like how liberals feel toward black conservatives. Here are but a few of this genre. For a more complete list see: Ranker's List of Black Conservatives.

Justice Clarence Thomas

Representative Mia Love

Senator Tim Scott

Doctor Ben Carson

Lieutenant Colonel Alan West

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

Regent Ward Connerly

Professor Walter E. Williams

Governor Bobby Jindal

Representative J.C. Watts

Professor Thomas Sowell

CEO Herman Cain

Ambassador Alan Keyes

RNC Chairman Michael Steele

Billets Doux

I have opined in the past that President Obama’s sympathies mostly lie with the Shiite sect of Islam. Now we discover that Obama has once again covertly courted this sect. Apparently our President has written at least four secret personal missives to Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei about thawing our relations with Iran and about the United States cooperating with Iran in the battle against the ISIS insurgents … see: Wall Street Journal Article. These are billets doux if you will.

As we are told in the above reference, Obama did not inform Israel and other Mideast allies about the contents of at least this latest letter, nor did he consult with Congress … but clearly these contacts with Iran are primarily attempts to sweeten the ongoing nuclear talks with Iran which are heading for a November 24^th deadline … see: Foot Dragging and Kicking the Can. Humiliatingly enough, it also appears that the Ayatollah has not responded or even acknowledged any of these White House epistles.

I can understand that our government might need to have back-channel communications with Iran … but four personal presidential valentines? And what if these highest level attempts at a secret deal bare fruit? President Obama has proven himself such a  poor negotiator and so supremely untrustworthy to boot, that I sincerely doubt that any agreement he could reach with Iran would be acceptable to Congress and/or the American people. His efforts are therefore Pyrrhic at best and subversive at worst.

Five Factoids

Here are five factoids that came to my attention this AM that might be of interest:

1) One of the primary reasons that Scott Brown lost his bid for the Senate in New Hampshire was his anti-gun (Second Amendment) stance ... i.e., he alienated much of the conservative base up there.

2) Kaci Hickox, the nurse who would not adhere to her Ebola quarantine at her home in Maine, is not certified as a nurse in Maine! If she is so recognized elsewhere is not clear. Why has this not been reported?

3) Howie Carr, a popular talk-show host here in Boston, was in a car accident yesterday near his studio. He was taken to the hospital but released last night.

4) 357 people are under active observation for Ebola just in New York City ... a factoid only released after Tuesday's midterm elections ... see: NBC New York Story.

5) Voters in Berkeley, California passed a resolution on Tuesday that imposes a one cent per ounce tax on soft drinks. A six-pack of 12 oz. Pepsi's will now cost $0.72 more in this berg.

Delusional

Republicans should not get too excited about their near-sweep in the mid-term elections on Tuesday for, as President Obama pointed out in his news conference today, two-thirds of the nation didn't bother to go to the polls. The implication here is that, if everyone had voted, then Obama and his policies would again be vindicated.

Let me see ... when our dear leader prevails in elections, he is the hero (remember his "I won" taunt to the Republicans in one of his early-on show confabs)? But when Democrats are shellacked in an election where his policies are front and center, he still is not defeated because those who didn't vote would obviously have supported him.

Unlike Charles Krauthammer, I am not a trained psychiatrist, but I still get the eerie feeling that our leader of the free world might be slipping into a state of mind that can be best described as delusional. N'est pas?

Out Foxed

Here is a piece of news that cannot go unnoticed -- the Fox News network led all television networks in the ratings war for yesterday's election night coverage. And this is not just limited to the cable channels ... it also includes all the major network channels too! See: LA Times Story.

This is a very, very big deal ...

Afterward: Many years ago I heard (I think) the then-anchor,Tony Snow, who has since died, predict that Fox News would be number one in news broadcasting. This election night win is a big step in that direction. RIP Tony.

Yum, Yum!

Because of Michelle Obama's strange prandial promise to black voters if  they would unthinkingly vote for Democrats ... see:Fried Chicken ... there occurred some economic consequences, Due to yesterday's Democrat rout at the polls, Yum! Brands, which owns KFC (the old Kentucky Fried Chicken), fell 10% on the New York Stock Exchange today (just kidding).

Turd in the Punch Bowl

Paul Mirengoff of the Powerline blog has pointed out how the Libertarian candidate in Virginia, Robert Sarvis, is personally responsible for getting Democrat Terry McAuliffe elected governor last year and possibly causing Democrat Mark Warner to be re-elected senator from that state yesterday … see: Oh Those Libertarians. In each case the number of votes that Sarvis received would have been more than sufficient to tip the election results back to the Republicans ... Ken Cuccinelli and Ed Gillespie respectively..

Is this Libertarian dude on the Democrat’s payroll?