August 21, 2006
Electrician Jargon
Last night Karen and I went out to eat with friends of ours, George and Rebecca. George is a native of Alabama and retired from the Navy where he was an electrician with the Seabees. After he retired from the Navy he went to work for a couple different outfits here in town as an electrician until he retired from that too.
George drove his F-150 and I sat up front with him and Karen sat in back with Rebecca. As George drove along through the cotton fields to the Greenbrier BBQ Grill he was telling me about different places around town where he'd been an electrician and began to tell me about a Wirehouse he helped build out by the airport.
Trying to show I was paying attention to his story and not just politely nodding my head as he spoke I asked, "George, just what is a Wirehouse?"
He looked at me straight faced, blinked and replied, "Well Dave, ...it's a place where you store things."
It wasn't until I heard Karen in the back seat giggling that I realized my mistake...
D.B.
Feeling the weather: Aches & Pains Index
This index forecasts the potential for weather-related aches and pains, especially in people with chronic health conditions (such as migraines or arthritis) that might make them sensitive to changes in weather conditions. "10" represents the highest risk of weather-related aches and pains. "1" represents the lowest risk.
The Aches & Pains Index is calculated using barometric pressure, absolute humidity, chance of precipitation, temperature and wind. Areas of quiet, dry weather during warmer times of the year are generally associated with lower levels of aches and pains. Approaching areas of low pressure or strong frontal systems, both leading to stormy weather, may cause higher levels of aches and pains. See www.weather.com/activities/health/achesandpains
Temperature Record of the Week: Danville, IL
To bolster our claim that "There Has Been No Net Global Warming for the Past 70 Years," each week we highlight the temperature record of one of the 1221 U.S. Historical Climatology Network (USHCN) stations from 1930-2000.
This issue's temperature record of the week is from Danville, IL. During the period of most significant greenhouse gas buildup over the past century, i.e., 1930 and onward, Danville's mean annual temperature has cooled by 1.02 degrees Fahrenheit. Not much global warming here!http://www.co2science.org/scripts/CO2ScienceB2C/data/ushcn/stationoftheweek.jsp
2006 Tropical Storm Season Now Below Normal
(only 3 named storms compared to 9 on this date last year)
21 August 2006 -...After the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, the 2006 season is now below normal.
As of yesterday (20 August) three tropical storms will have formed in the Atlantic in an "average" year, which is the same number that have formed this year so far. Because of multi-year averaging, that means that today (August 21) slightly more than three storms would have formed, making this year (statistically speaking) just below normal.
In the hurricane category, this year is decidedly below normal, with no hurricanes so far, while by this date 1.5 hurricanes have formed in the average of years 1944 though 2005.
Reason for the Season?: Cooler Sea Surface Temperatures Part of the reason for the slow season is that tropical western Atlantic sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are running about normal, if not slightly below normal.
In contrast, at the same time last year SSTs in the same region were running well above normal.
The cooler SSTs in the Atlantic are not an isolated anomaly. In a research paper being published next month in Geophysical Research Letters, scientists will show that between 2003 and 2005, globally averaged temperatures in the upper ocean cooled rather dramatically, effectively erasing 20% of the warming that occurred over the previous 48 years.
Global Warming? The slow hurricane season and the cooling sea surface temperatures might be somewhat surprising to the public. Media reports over the last year have suggested that, since global warming will only get worse, and last year's hurricane activity was supposedly due to global warming, this season might well be as bad as last season. But it appears that Mother Nature might have other plans.
With only 3 named storms compared to 9 on this date last year, it is nearly impossible at this late date to have a season anywhere near as busy as last season, which totaled 27 by the end of the year. The most recent prediction from the National Weather Service (see first graphic, above) is for there to be 12 to 15 named storms by December -- only half of last year's total. It now looks like that prediction might be too generous.... http://www.weatherstreet.com/hurricane/2006/hurricane-atlantic-2006-below-normal-season.htm
(one way to get favorable press on "Vista" the next version of Windows... hahahaha)
BILL GATES 'CHARITY' FOUNDATION FINANCES NEWSPAPER PURCHASES
The BILL & MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION declares its noble mission is to bring "innovations in health and learning to the global community."
But the world's largest philanthropic organization also is among the organizations that collectively loaned nearly $400 million to MEDIANEWS GROUP INC. -- for the acquisition of newspapers in California and Minnesota!
"I thought this foundation was all about starving kids, not starving newspapers," mocked one Seattle insider.
MORE
The GATES FOUNDATION loaned an unspecified amount to MEDIANEWS, along with GENERAL ELECTRIC.
In April, MEDIANEWS agreed to buy four newspapers, including the SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS and CONTRA COSTA TIMES, from MCCLATCHY CO. for $1 billion. MEDIANEWS also bought California's MONTEREY COUNTY HERALD and the ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS in Minnesota. It also own the DENVER POST.
The move into funding media acquisitions was unusual for the BILL & MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION, whose donations usually go to health and anti-poverty purposes.
In June, financier Warren Buffett announced he would donate an estimated $31 billion to the GATES FOUNDATION, bringing its total endowment to more than $60 billion -- which could easily save every newspaper in America!
Gates, GE in on MediaNews deal
The financing package that MediaNews Group Inc. obtained to help in its purchase of the Times, San Jose Mercury News, and other papers includes perhaps the best-known name in Corporate America: Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates.
MediaNews obtained a financing package from a syndicate of lenders that enables the newspaper company to borrow up to $597 million to help finance its acquisitions, according to a MediaNews filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The syndicate of lenders includes the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, General Electric Capital Corp. and several financial and other organizations."
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/15250397.htm
Media Slant Favors 'Older Brother Effect' Study Over Conflicting Research
Psychologist: Mainstream Press Embraced One Homosexuality Investigation, Ignored the Other
August 18, 2006 (AgapePress) - Grove City College's associate professor of psychology and Fellow for Psychology and Public Policy says media bias became evident this year when one study of sibling relationships and how they may be linked to homosexuality was trumpeted while another study with conflicting results was ignored.
A study by Canadian psychologist Anthony Bogaert of Brock University in Ontario has been all over the news in the last several months, according to Grove City College's Dr. Warren P. Throckmorton. He believes the reason for the ubiquity of these reports is that Bogaert, whose findings were recently published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, apparently claims to have found evidence that homosexuality may be biologically determined.
But while news of Bogaert's study has been reported, analyzed, and discussed in the media around the globe, Throckmorton says another study that was written up in 2001 has been largely ignored. The investigation to which he refers was conducted by researchers Peter Bearman and Hannah Bruckner and focused on opposite-sex twins and adolescent same-sex attractions…
… As for the biased media, Throckmorton says his main concern in all this is that, with the way the mainstream outlets report so much about genetic disposition to various things, personal responsibility and accountability could get lost in the shuffle. The danger there, he says, is that people may become predisposed to blame a lot of their problems on genetics rather than owning up to their own free-will choices…
More at: http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/8/182006b.asp
The UN: Just like you-know-what on a boar hog...
Don't Forget Sudan
8/21/2006 Jan Egeland, head of United Nations humanitarian operations, describes the region as "going from real bad to catastrophic" and "headed toward total chaos."
The top U.N. aid official says the level of violence faced by humanitarian workers is "unprecedented."
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan refers to the situation as "one of the worst nightmares in recent history," "the world's worst humanitarian crisis," and "little short of hell on earth."
No, they're not talking about the crisis in the Middle East, where the United Nations has just announced plans to dispatch a 15,000-strong international force to enforce a cease-fire in southern Lebanon. These are the latest reactions of U. N. officials to the unfolding genocide in Darfur.
Sadly, the alacrity with which the U.N. has taken action in the Middle East stands in stark contrast to its dithering in Darfur, where for three years the world body has used strong language to talk about a solution but done very little of substance to quell the violence.
In May, the U.N. did help broker the Darfur Peace Treaty, requiring the Sudanese government to disarm its genocidal militias and allow U.N. troops in to restore peace. Unfortunately, not only has the Darfur treaty deal failed to bring peace, it has actually triggered an increase in violence against civilians...
...At a time when much of the world's diplomatic efforts are focused on the crisis in the Middle East, there is a real danger of forgetting that genocide persists in Darfur. Nicholas Kristof recently reported that the war in Lebanon has received more airtime in the media each week than the Darfur crisis has gotten in total since it commenced in 2003. There are also fewer calls for U.N. intervention in Darfur. According to LexisNexis, the media have mentioned "U.N. peacekeepers" and "Lebanon" in the same news article over one thousand times in the last month, while "Darfur" and "U.N. peacekeepers" have been mentioned together just 144 times.
It took the U.N. just four weeks to negotiate a "cessation of hostilities" in Lebanon. As the genocide in Darfur enters its fourth year, it's past time the world body enforced the peace agreement that would end the bloodshed in the most hostile place on earth.
http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=10240
David Bennett <><
http://www.freewill-predestination.com
http://www.knology.net/~lonesomedove
Last night Karen and I went out to eat with friends of ours, George and Rebecca. George is a native of Alabama and retired from the Navy where he was an electrician with the Seabees. After he retired from the Navy he went to work for a couple different outfits here in town as an electrician until he retired from that too.
George drove his F-150 and I sat up front with him and Karen sat in back with Rebecca. As George drove along through the cotton fields to the Greenbrier BBQ Grill he was telling me about different places around town where he'd been an electrician and began to tell me about a Wirehouse he helped build out by the airport.
Trying to show I was paying attention to his story and not just politely nodding my head as he spoke I asked, "George, just what is a Wirehouse?"
He looked at me straight faced, blinked and replied, "Well Dave, ...it's a place where you store things."
It wasn't until I heard Karen in the back seat giggling that I realized my mistake...
D.B.
Feeling the weather: Aches & Pains Index
This index forecasts the potential for weather-related aches and pains, especially in people with chronic health conditions (such as migraines or arthritis) that might make them sensitive to changes in weather conditions. "10" represents the highest risk of weather-related aches and pains. "1" represents the lowest risk.
The Aches & Pains Index is calculated using barometric pressure, absolute humidity, chance of precipitation, temperature and wind. Areas of quiet, dry weather during warmer times of the year are generally associated with lower levels of aches and pains. Approaching areas of low pressure or strong frontal systems, both leading to stormy weather, may cause higher levels of aches and pains. See www.weather.com/activities/health/achesandpains
Temperature Record of the Week: Danville, IL
To bolster our claim that "There Has Been No Net Global Warming for the Past 70 Years," each week we highlight the temperature record of one of the 1221 U.S. Historical Climatology Network (USHCN) stations from 1930-2000.
This issue's temperature record of the week is from Danville, IL. During the period of most significant greenhouse gas buildup over the past century, i.e., 1930 and onward, Danville's mean annual temperature has cooled by 1.02 degrees Fahrenheit. Not much global warming here!http://www.co2science.org/scripts/CO2ScienceB2C/data/ushcn/stationoftheweek.jsp
2006 Tropical Storm Season Now Below Normal
(only 3 named storms compared to 9 on this date last year)
21 August 2006 -...After the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, the 2006 season is now below normal.
As of yesterday (20 August) three tropical storms will have formed in the Atlantic in an "average" year, which is the same number that have formed this year so far. Because of multi-year averaging, that means that today (August 21) slightly more than three storms would have formed, making this year (statistically speaking) just below normal.
In the hurricane category, this year is decidedly below normal, with no hurricanes so far, while by this date 1.5 hurricanes have formed in the average of years 1944 though 2005.
Reason for the Season?: Cooler Sea Surface Temperatures Part of the reason for the slow season is that tropical western Atlantic sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are running about normal, if not slightly below normal.
In contrast, at the same time last year SSTs in the same region were running well above normal.
The cooler SSTs in the Atlantic are not an isolated anomaly. In a research paper being published next month in Geophysical Research Letters, scientists will show that between 2003 and 2005, globally averaged temperatures in the upper ocean cooled rather dramatically, effectively erasing 20% of the warming that occurred over the previous 48 years.
Global Warming? The slow hurricane season and the cooling sea surface temperatures might be somewhat surprising to the public. Media reports over the last year have suggested that, since global warming will only get worse, and last year's hurricane activity was supposedly due to global warming, this season might well be as bad as last season. But it appears that Mother Nature might have other plans.
With only 3 named storms compared to 9 on this date last year, it is nearly impossible at this late date to have a season anywhere near as busy as last season, which totaled 27 by the end of the year. The most recent prediction from the National Weather Service (see first graphic, above) is for there to be 12 to 15 named storms by December -- only half of last year's total. It now looks like that prediction might be too generous.... http://www.weatherstreet.com/hurricane/2006/hurricane-atlantic-2006-below-normal-season.htm
(one way to get favorable press on "Vista" the next version of Windows... hahahaha)
BILL GATES 'CHARITY' FOUNDATION FINANCES NEWSPAPER PURCHASES
The BILL & MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION declares its noble mission is to bring "innovations in health and learning to the global community."
But the world's largest philanthropic organization also is among the organizations that collectively loaned nearly $400 million to MEDIANEWS GROUP INC. -- for the acquisition of newspapers in California and Minnesota!
"I thought this foundation was all about starving kids, not starving newspapers," mocked one Seattle insider.
MORE
The GATES FOUNDATION loaned an unspecified amount to MEDIANEWS, along with GENERAL ELECTRIC.
In April, MEDIANEWS agreed to buy four newspapers, including the SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS and CONTRA COSTA TIMES, from MCCLATCHY CO. for $1 billion. MEDIANEWS also bought California's MONTEREY COUNTY HERALD and the ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS in Minnesota. It also own the DENVER POST.
The move into funding media acquisitions was unusual for the BILL & MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION, whose donations usually go to health and anti-poverty purposes.
In June, financier Warren Buffett announced he would donate an estimated $31 billion to the GATES FOUNDATION, bringing its total endowment to more than $60 billion -- which could easily save every newspaper in America!
Gates, GE in on MediaNews deal
The financing package that MediaNews Group Inc. obtained to help in its purchase of the Times, San Jose Mercury News, and other papers includes perhaps the best-known name in Corporate America: Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates.
MediaNews obtained a financing package from a syndicate of lenders that enables the newspaper company to borrow up to $597 million to help finance its acquisitions, according to a MediaNews filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The syndicate of lenders includes the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, General Electric Capital Corp. and several financial and other organizations."
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/15250397.htm
Media Slant Favors 'Older Brother Effect' Study Over Conflicting Research
Psychologist: Mainstream Press Embraced One Homosexuality Investigation, Ignored the Other
August 18, 2006 (AgapePress) - Grove City College's associate professor of psychology and Fellow for Psychology and Public Policy says media bias became evident this year when one study of sibling relationships and how they may be linked to homosexuality was trumpeted while another study with conflicting results was ignored.
A study by Canadian psychologist Anthony Bogaert of Brock University in Ontario has been all over the news in the last several months, according to Grove City College's Dr. Warren P. Throckmorton. He believes the reason for the ubiquity of these reports is that Bogaert, whose findings were recently published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, apparently claims to have found evidence that homosexuality may be biologically determined.
But while news of Bogaert's study has been reported, analyzed, and discussed in the media around the globe, Throckmorton says another study that was written up in 2001 has been largely ignored. The investigation to which he refers was conducted by researchers Peter Bearman and Hannah Bruckner and focused on opposite-sex twins and adolescent same-sex attractions…
… As for the biased media, Throckmorton says his main concern in all this is that, with the way the mainstream outlets report so much about genetic disposition to various things, personal responsibility and accountability could get lost in the shuffle. The danger there, he says, is that people may become predisposed to blame a lot of their problems on genetics rather than owning up to their own free-will choices…
More at: http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/8/182006b.asp
The UN: Just like you-know-what on a boar hog...
Don't Forget Sudan
8/21/2006 Jan Egeland, head of United Nations humanitarian operations, describes the region as "going from real bad to catastrophic" and "headed toward total chaos."
The top U.N. aid official says the level of violence faced by humanitarian workers is "unprecedented."
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan refers to the situation as "one of the worst nightmares in recent history," "the world's worst humanitarian crisis," and "little short of hell on earth."
No, they're not talking about the crisis in the Middle East, where the United Nations has just announced plans to dispatch a 15,000-strong international force to enforce a cease-fire in southern Lebanon. These are the latest reactions of U. N. officials to the unfolding genocide in Darfur.
Sadly, the alacrity with which the U.N. has taken action in the Middle East stands in stark contrast to its dithering in Darfur, where for three years the world body has used strong language to talk about a solution but done very little of substance to quell the violence.
In May, the U.N. did help broker the Darfur Peace Treaty, requiring the Sudanese government to disarm its genocidal militias and allow U.N. troops in to restore peace. Unfortunately, not only has the Darfur treaty deal failed to bring peace, it has actually triggered an increase in violence against civilians...
...At a time when much of the world's diplomatic efforts are focused on the crisis in the Middle East, there is a real danger of forgetting that genocide persists in Darfur. Nicholas Kristof recently reported that the war in Lebanon has received more airtime in the media each week than the Darfur crisis has gotten in total since it commenced in 2003. There are also fewer calls for U.N. intervention in Darfur. According to LexisNexis, the media have mentioned "U.N. peacekeepers" and "Lebanon" in the same news article over one thousand times in the last month, while "Darfur" and "U.N. peacekeepers" have been mentioned together just 144 times.
It took the U.N. just four weeks to negotiate a "cessation of hostilities" in Lebanon. As the genocide in Darfur enters its fourth year, it's past time the world body enforced the peace agreement that would end the bloodshed in the most hostile place on earth.
http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=10240
David Bennett <><
http://www.freewill-predestination.com
http://www.knology.net/~lonesomedove
posted by David Bennett | 3:59 PM
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