Climategate... "Quick, we must destroy the Climate Data!"
For those following the "Climategate" story, I have some questions...
- I wonder why scientists (who claim to have made such a great discovery) would destroy their data?
- Where did the raw data come from in the first place? In order to prove that the planet is warming, you need past data. With a theory based on past data, how can you completely destroy the data? Did these guys just look at a bunch of old Farmers Almanacs and then burn them?
- I wonder how (without redefining the word) anything can be considered scientific without supporting data. Without source data you have no science.
By the standards of Phil Jones and Michael Mann, All I have to do is simply make something up and claim that the supporting data was destroyed. Oh, and nobody can question my "findings"... Because the data has been destroyed... I'm not sure why though, because I need it... Hmm...
I have an idea. Consider this; if the greenhouse effect works as described here, wouldn't temperatures be higher at night as a result? If the atmosphere is absorbing energy and radiating heat, wouldn't it continue to radiate heat at night was well as in the day? It can't just be hotter during the day, and not at night, if that were the case where did the heat energy go? If it's hotter during the day it should be hotter at night if there are gasses absorbing heat energy and releasing it over time. Right?
The Man Made Global Warming "believers" state that the mean global temperature shows an increase. The problem with the mean temperature is that there has been no mention of what particular "mean" was used to calculate the supposed increase. Here are a few of the means I have read about: Arithmetic, Geometric, Harmonic, Generalized, Power, f-mean, Weighted arithmetic, Truncated, Interquartile and Fréchet means...
If there were increased daytime temperatures they would offset lower nighttime temperatures. I would like to see nighttime temperature data. How come this has never been pointed out?
For all those people who think that the sun has little to do with fluctuations in global temperature, just think about nighttime... Look at the temperature swing there!
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It's Raining Polar Bears!
Wow, I think this is probably the most idiotic thing I've seen this year. Kids pay close attention now...
That's right people, if you fly on planes you will cause polar bears to die. What a crock. All of this comes during the midst of this story.
Washington Post -- Hackers broke into the electronic files of one of the world's foremost climate research centers this week and posted an array of e-mails in which prominent scientists engaged in a blunt discussion of global warming research and disparaged climate-change skeptics.
University officials confirmed the data breach, which involves more than 1,000 e-mails and 3,000 documents, but said they could not say how many of the stolen items were authentic.
In one e-mail from 1999, the center's director, Phil Jones, alludes to one of Mann's articles in the journal Nature and writes, "I've just completed Mike's Nature trick of adding in the real temps to each series for the last 20 years (i.e., from 1981 onwards) and from 1961 for Keith's to hide the decline."
Mann said the "trick" Jones referred to was placing a chart of proxy temperature records, which ended in 1980, next to a line showing the temperature record collected by instruments from that time onward. "It's hardly anything you would call a trick," Mann said, adding that both charts were differentiated and clearly marked.
But Myron Ebell, director of energy and global warming policy for the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said this and other exchanges show researchers have colluded to establish the scientific consensus that humans are causing climate change.
"It is clear that some of the 'world's leading climate scientists,' as they are always described, are more dedicated to promoting the alarmist political agenda than in scientific research," said Ebell, whose group is funded in part by energy companies. "Some of the e-mails that I have read are blatant displays of personal pettiness, unethical conniving, and twisting the science to support their political position."
In one e-mail, Ben Santer, a scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, offered to beat up skeptic Pat Michaels, a senior fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute, out of sympathy for Jones.
Neither Jones nor Santer could be reached for comment.
Here is some info about Phil Jones, and Michael E. Mann.
At this point it is not known if "hackers" got a hold of the emails, or if there was a whistle blower. In either case it is clear that Jones and Mann are worried about these emails, and rightly so.
Remember to keep your eye on the outcome of this. You will find that the media will most likely attack whoever outed the emails. It is doubtful (to me) that anyone --including Jones, and Mann-- will dispute what was in the emails. What would they say? "Oh we were faking, faking the temperatures...Yeah that was it..."
Remember Cap and Trade. Tax people now, as "encouragment" to switch to some more expensive alternative energy source. Since when have taxes been used to encourage anything? Hmm...
I've got it! Taxes are going to save the planet!
How long can the hoax of "man-made" Climate Change, Global Warming or even Global Cooling last?
Check these links for more on Climate Change/Global Warming...
How's that Man Made Global Warming / Climate Change Doing These Days?
Man Made Global Warming, Cap and Trade. Things that make you go Hmm...
"Cap and Trade" your life away...
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And Now We Have the Senate Version of the Health Care Reform Legislation Takeover Scheme A.K.A. "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act"
A link to the Senate legislation can be found here.
I'm only going to delve into two parts of this ridiculous legislation. The Senate version of the plan includes new rules for HSAs (Health Savings Accounts).
1 SEC. 9003. DISTRIBUTIONS FOR MEDICINE QUALIFIED
2 ONLY IF FOR PRESCRIBED DRUG OR INSU-
3 LIN.
4 (a) HSAS.—Subparagraph (A) of section 223(d)(2)b>of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by add-
6 ing at the end the following: ‘‘Such term shall include an
7 amount paid for medicine or a drug only if such medicine
8 or drug is a prescribed drug (determined without regard
9 to whether such drug is available without a prescription)
10 or is insulin.’’.Internal Revenue Code
Section 223. (d)(2)(2) Qualified medical expenses
(A) In generalThe term “qualified medical expenses” means, with respect to an account beneficiary, amounts paid by such beneficiary for medical care (as defined in section 213 (d) such individual, the spouse of such individual, and any dependent (as defined in section 152, determined without regard to subsections (b)(1), (b)(2), and (d)(1)(B) thereof) of such individual, but only to the extent such amounts are not compensated for by insurance or otherwise.
Internal Revenue Code
Section 213 (d)(d) Definitions
For purposes of this section—
(1) The term “medical care” means amounts paid—(A) for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease, or for the purpose of affecting any structure or function of the body,
(B) for transportation primarily for and essential to medical care referred to in subparagraph (A),
(C) for qualified long-term care services (as defined in section 7702B (c)), or
(D) for insurance (including amounts paid as premiums under part B of title XVIII of the Social Security Act, relating to supplementary medical insurance for the aged) covering medical care referred to in subparagraphs (A) and (B) or for any qualified long-term care insurance contract (as defined in section 7702B (b)).
In the case of a qualified long-term care insurance contract (as defined in section 7702B (b)), only eligible long-term care premiums (as defined in paragraph (10)) shall be taken into account under subparagraph (D).
To sum it up, you can only use your HSA account (tax free) to purchase prescription drugs. So, that means no more Aspirin, Midol or Pepto Bismol with a tax benefit. You know, this goes hand in hand with the proposed 2.5% excise tax on medical devices in the House Plan. The legal description of "medical device" means a 2.5% excise tax on just about anything that's not food and in any way medically related. Hmm...
They also go after FSAs (Flexible Spending Accounts).
page. 1999
1 SEC. 9005. LIMITATION ON HEALTH FLEXIBLE SPENDING
2 ARRANGEMENTS UNDER CAFETERIA PLANS.
3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 125 of the Internal Rev-
4 enue Code of 1986 is amended—
5 (1) by redesignating subsections (i) and (j) as
6 subsections (j) and (k), respectively, and
7 (2) by inserting after subsection (h) the fol-
8 lowing new subsection:
9 ‘‘(i) LIMITATION ON HEALTH FLEXIBLE SPENDING
10 ARRANGEMENTS.—For purposes of this section, if a ben-
11 efit is provided under a cafeteria plan through employer
12 contributions to a health flexible spending arrangement,
13 such benefit shall not be treated as a qualified benefit un-
14 less the cafeteria plan provides that an employee may not
15 elect for any taxable year to have salary reduction con-
16 tributions in excess of $2,500 made to such arrange-
17 ment.’’.
18 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
19 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after
20 December 31, 2010.
Wow the change just doesn't stop! Under this plan, you can only put up to 2,500 dollars into an FSA while still having your money maintain a tax exempt status. Currently there is no IRS limit on medical FSAs. FSAs come in handy when planning for a medical procedure, say knee surgery or hip surgery. A pre-funded medical FSA would essentially be a tax free interest free loan. So, the government has to put an end to that!
I had a conversation about this just the other day. I mentioned that the FSAs and HSAs would be some of the first things to go. At the very least the tax advantages of both FSAs and HSAs will have to be limited to encourage people not to use them anymore. After all HSAs and FSAs promote individual responsibility. You can't support individual responsibility when your policy removes it...
Can anyone explain how taxing individuals more will decrease the cost of health care, or help more to people have access to health care? If the cost of health care goes up, health care becomes less accessible right?
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"I Will Cut Taxes for 95 Percent of Americans!" By Raising Them. Uhh Umm Uhh Yeah...
Here is a link to the health care bill passed by the house H.R.3962.EH.
Affordable Health Care for America Act (Engrossed as Agreed to or Passed by House)[H.R.3962.EH]
In this legislation there is an excise tax on "Medical Devices." Check out page 346.
page 346.
18 SEC. 552. EXCISE TAX ON MEDICAL DEVICES.
19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 31 of the Internal Rev-
20 enue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the
21 following new subchapter:
22 ‘‘Subchapter D—Medical Devicespage 347.
1 ‘‘SEC. 4061. MEDICAL DEVICES.
2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is hereby imposed on the
3 first taxable sale of any medical device a tax equal to 2.5
4 percent of the price for which so sold.page 348.
9 ‘‘(c) OTHER DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES.—
10 For purposes of this section—
11 ‘‘(1) MEDICAL DEVICE.—The term ‘medical de-
12 vice’ means any device (as defined in section 201(h)
13 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act) in-
14 tended for humans.
Hmm just what is a medical device? Let's check "The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act."
SEC. 201. [21 U.S.C. 321]
CHAPTER II—DEFINITIONS 1(h) The term "device" (except when used in paragraph (n) of this section and in sections 301(i), 403(f), 502(c), and 602(c)) means an instrument, apparatus, implement, machine, contrivance, implant, in vitro reagent, or other similar or related article, including any component, part, or accessory, which is--
(1) recognized in the official National Formulary, or the United States Pharmacopeia, or any supplement to them,
(2) intended for use in the diagnosis of disease or other conditions, or in the cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease, in man or other animals, or
(3) intended to affect the structure or any function of the body of man or other animals, and which does not achieve its primary intended purposes through chemical action within or on the body of man or other animals and which is not dependent upon being metabolized for the achievement of its primary intended purposes.
WOW, that tax covers just about everything doesn't it. When you hear the term "medical device," you think of hospital equipment right? This excise tax covers everything from toothbrushes, to tampons!
It should be apparent to most by now, if the Obama administration says anything, expect the exact opposite.
Remember the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) report? The house version of the health care bill is not going to achieve any of it's "said" purposes. The legislation will not make health care cheaper, and it will not expand insurance coverage to everyone. That being the case, why pass it? Why try and sell the American people legislation which is based on a false premise? Why push that legislation through at the last minute, before the American people (or members of the House) could read it? I thought this was supposed to be good for America. If that were the case what's the rush? Most of the benefits wouldn't be available until five years from the date the bill becomes law.
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Kids from the World Wildlife Fund are Creepy
Rush Limbaugh has created his own video to counter the creepy kids from the World Wildlife Fund. This stuff is great!
Please Obama, save us! What a crock! All of the points raised by the kids in the WWF video involve the U.S. paying for everything --here and abroad. One kid raises the question, "...so why would the United States stand in everybody eles's way?" How exactly are we standing in the way of any other country? Most of the countries mentioned in the WWF video are countries who complain about U.S. foreign policy; they want the U.S. out of their business. But if we are going to give them money, and build "green" systems for them, they are --all of a sudden-- going to be receptive to our policies?
The people behind the WWF are rubes. These are the kind of people who would fall for a phishing scam. Sure you have rich relatives in Russia. They are just waiting to give you money, just send them your bank account number, oh and don't for get the routing number.
I wonder what these kids are going to think in ten or fifteen years, when there has been no climate disaster?
Remember the same kind of warnings were given in the 1970s.
I must also mention that China, who leads the world in power sector carbon emissions, is not "required" to do anything per the Kyoto Protocol. China entered the agreement as a developing nation. China has absolutely no commitment to reducing carbon emissions. If you ask my they're smart. Because China is listed as a developing nation, they can get money from the World Monetary Fund to upgrade their power infrastructure.
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Kong Quan's Comment on the Entry into Force of the Kyoto Protocol Take a peek...
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