Republican Votes Swung The Global Warming Bill That Nobody Read

The Waxman-Markey global warming bill passed through the US Congress Friday night 219-212 -- a margin of seven votes. Fully forty-four Democrats opposed the bill. But eight Republicans voted for it. If those Republicans had voted against the bill it would have been defeated by a margin of one vote.

Citizens who worry about massive political action based on disputed science might want to know who those Republicans were who voted for "the biggest tax in American history" and how did the Democrats get to them.

And wrap your head around this: Although this bill is now passed, there exists no complete copy. Americans cannot just print one off or even buy one. The thousand-plus page bill and its 300-pages of amendments are not combined in a single file making the bill sheer drudgery to read. So nobody has. And it's already passed the congress.

Perhaps the US Senators will now read the bill before they vote. For if they do not they will set a frightful precedent: Legislation that has not yet been written can be passed into law.

America, America wherefore art thou?

Read the comments too.

"An Immense Static"

Rex Murphy comments on the media frenzy surrounding the death of Michael Jackson while delivering a caveat to Barack Obama about the wages of celebrity.

What Logos Really Mean

From kottke.org:

"Deep in the conservative bowels of corporations and brand identity firms, they've got cute little nicknames for logos. The GE logo is The Meatball, the AT&T logo is The Death Star, and the Warner logo is Two and a Half Hot Dogs."

Back in the old days the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's logo was known as The Pizza. When animated for TV it was the "Exploding Pizza":

Ants In Your Peonies?

We were looking at the giant peony flower under our front window today and observed the buds to be teeming with ants. Ants are attracted to the sugary moisture exuded by the plant. An old gardeners tale suggests that ants are essential for peonies to bloom (they are not). I expect the ants also keep other nuisance insects like aphids away.

All of this led to a general discussion about how ants really own the world, not us. Be sure to check out the photo gallery too.

Starship Google: Shields Up!

From CNET:

Google has confirmed that the surge of Michael Jackson-related searches on Google News Thursday was first interpreted as an attack on its service.

Powerful New Lithium Battery Concept

Slashdot reports:

"A company called PolyPlus has developed lithium metal-air batteries that have 10 times the energy density of regular lithium-ion batteries."

You have to wonder though--where will all that lithium come from? And how will we dispose of the depleted batteries? Especially the big ones from worn out cars.

So, Global Warming Got You Boggled?

At TED Blog, have a look at this tricky illusion of a different kind. If you can bear it!

Warmists' Slim Victory No Reason To Celebrate

The 1200-page Waxman-Markey cap and trade global warming bill squeaked through the US Congress by seven votes this evening, 219-212.

While Democrats are hailing this as a huge victory, the future of the bill is by no means certain, especially with the narrow margin of the win and the new and better climate science that is emerging.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier today:

"...the Senate isn’t anywhere close to passing a climate-change bill—and has scuttled attempts to speed up the process. The top Republican on the Senate environment committee, noted global warming skeptic James Inhofe, has said flatly that the Senate version of the bill won’t pass. “It’s just not going to happen,” the Oklahoma Republican said recently."

As an interested outsider, I hope they are right.

And this from yesterday:

"The house of cards that is the science behind "climate change" is collapsing at exactly the same time it is being imposed by the Obama administration and Congress as an ideological "truth." America is facing the perfect storm of an imploding scientific theory that will be enforced by the rule of law.

Macleans: "Why Barack Obama Is Bad For Canada"

In this week's Macleans Magazine: The new President’s ambitions could have a devastating effect on our economy.

"...it turns out that Obama has a knack for making people feel good when perhaps they ought to be watching their back. “Then the realities begin to take root when you look at what is taking place here in Washington,” says Tom Corcoran, a former Republican congressman from Illinois.

The reality is that Obama is leading an aggressive effort to remake American energy policy with potentially severe consequences for the oil sands, and by extension, the Canadian economy."

Settled Science Unsettled Is Unsettling Scientists III

Could the Australians blow apart the great global warming scare? Via SDA, this is from Australian Senator Steve Fielding:

"Until recently I, like most Australians, simply accepted without question the notion that global warming was a result of increased carbon emissions. However, after speaking to a cross-section of noted scientists, including Ian Plimer, a professor at the University of Adelaide and author of Heaven and Earth, I quickly began to understand that the science on this issue was by no means conclusive…. As a federal senator, I would be derelict in my duty to the Australian people if I did not even consider whether or not the scientific assumptions underpinning this debate were in fact correct."

Settled Science Unsettled Is Unsettling Scientists I is here.
Settled Science Unsettled Is Unsettling Scientists II is here.

Carbongate: Suppressed EPA Report Released

From Watts Up With That: Carbongate.

"The Competitive Enterprise Institute is today making public an internal study on climate science which was suppressed by the Environmental Protection Agency. Internal EPA email messages, released by CEI earlier in the week, indicate that the report was kept under wraps and its author silenced because of pressure to support the Administration’s agenda of regulating carbon dioxide.

The report finds that EPA, by adopting the United Nations’ 2007 “Fourth Assessment” report, is relying on outdated research and is ignoring major new developments. Those developments include a continued decline in global temperatures, a new consensus that future hurricanes will not be more frequent or intense, and new findings that water vapor will moderate, rather than exacerbate, temperature.

New data also indicate that ocean cycles are probably the most important single factor in explaining temperature fluctuations, though solar cycles may play a role as well, and that reliable satellite data undercut the likelihood of endangerment from greenhouse gases. All of this demonstrates EPA should independently analyze the science, rather than just adopt the conclusions of outside organizations."

Read it all. The censored report is here.

Will America Punish Itself?

Will the Waxman-Markey global warming bill pass in the US Congress today? Many fine minds hope not. But the Democrats are determined to force the bill through. Yesterday The Wall Street Journal said "the Democrats would have to destroy the discipline of economics" to pass the bill and called it "the biggest tax in American history."

But are there enough votes to defeat the bill? That depends on whether representatives vote for politics over science. From today's Wall Street Journal:

"Among the many reasons President Barack Obama and the Democratic majority are so intent on quickly jamming a cap-and-trade system through Congress is because the global warming tide is again shifting.

It turns out Al Gore and the United Nations (with an assist from the media), did a little too vociferous a job smearing anyone who disagreed with them as "deniers." The backlash has brought the scientific debate roaring back to life."

But will the reality of climate science over climate politics sink in before it's too late? Is the US preparing to severely punish itself for its lifestyle just when the alarmism over the failed hypothesis of anthropogenic global warming is collapsing under the weight of scientific truth?

Whatever the outcome of Waxman-Markey, two things are certain: The bill will have virtually zero effect on global temperatures and time is on the side of the "deniers". I believe history will not treat Al Gore and other Democrats of this era kindly.

Rebuilding A Wonder Of The World

From Cairo's Al-Ahram:

"After it had ceased to be a beacon of light indicating the harbour to homecoming sailors, [the great lighthouse at Pharos] remained in universal memory as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Now there is talk of recreating this epitome of a landmark."

World's Oldest Handcrafted Musical Instrument

Via Instapundit:

"Scientists say they've found what they consider to be the earliest handcrafted musical instrument in a cave in southwest Germany, less than a yard away from the oldest-known carving of a human. The flute fragments as well as the ivory figurine of a "prehistoric Venus" date back more than 35,000 years."

US Cap And Trade Climate Bill Gets Closer

From the Wall Street Journal:

"Americans should know that those Members who vote for this climate bill are voting for what is likely to be the biggest tax in American history."

Citizentube Covers Iran

Citizentube is YouTube's political blog. Right now it features dozens of YouTube videos from Iran in one place. Citizentube's Blogger Profile is here.

Michael Jackson Has Died

He was just 50. More at The National Post.

Farrah Fawcett Has Died

She was 62. More from ABC News.

Very Strange Indeed

For Steve Dittmann, 55, unemployment has been surreal:

"It's like there's two worlds out there: People who are still working, who are still living the same lives they always had, and I feel like I'm on the other side of a Plexiglass wall looking in," said Dittmann, who lives in Kansas. "I know I'm not unique. It's like you can't get back into that world. It's very strange."

Age discrimination is very real especially if you are used to making a professional salary. I think we have to give up looking for regular jobs--that seems increasingly futile--and employ ourselves. That way our age, experience and wisdom become assets and not the liabilities they apparently are in the world of regular jobs.

And, by the way, if you would like to hire me, see "Do You Have A Job For Me?" at right...

The Global Warming House Of Cards

"The house of cards that is the science behind "climate change" is collapsing at exactly the same time it is being imposed by the Obama administration and Congress as an ideological "truth." America is facing the perfect storm of an imploding scientific theory that will be enforced by the rule of law.

Make no mistake: the big bad wolf of truth is about to blow the straw house of global warming to bits. "