UN scientist admits: Unverified data used 'to put political pressure on world leaders'...
More UN Woes: India, China won't sign Copenhagen Accord...
Calls for UN climate chief to resign...
Sunday, January 24, 2010
GW update
Repubs getting cocky on Senate
Joe Biden, on whether his son Beau will run for his Senate seat:
“I know he doesn’t want to.”
That effectively puts the seat in the Republican column, since Beau Biden was just about the only candidate who could have stopped Republican Mike Castle from winning the seat.
So, here’s the list of Republican 2010 Senate pickup opportunities:
Likely pickups
Governor John Hoeven will replace Senator Byron Dorgan in North Dakota.
Mike Castle will win Joe Biden’s seat.
Harry Reid will be defeated by just about any Republican in Nevada.
Arlen Specter will be defeated by Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania.
Blanche Lincoln will be defeated by just about any Republican in Arkansas.
Michael Bennet will be crushed by Jane Norton in Colorado.
Possible pickups
Democrat Alexi Giannoulias and Republican Mark Kirk are tied in Illinois.
If Mike Pence gets into the race, he will retire Senator Evan Bayh in Indiana.
Barbara Boxer could be knocked out in California.
Longshots
Kirsten Gillibrand could lose to Pete King or George Pataki in New York.
Grown Up Underpants...from Paris
When you think about political dialogue, it's interesting how our lexicon has changed and how immature and 'babyish' it has become. Today, on several of the Sunday morning news shows, the words 'underpants' and 'bed-wetting' were freely and frequently used. Underpants, as in Christmas day bomber, and bed-wetting as in David Plouffe's recommendation to the Democratic party for "no bed-wetting." I say, as cute as babies are, it's time to grow up. We need adult supervision. Now.
Windy Record
(Some Guy) 
Mt. Washington 231 mph wind gust record officially blown away by Barrow Island at 253 mph.
WaPo on O’s criminal procedure for Terrorist
The Washington Post supported the Obama administration's treatment of Christmas day bomber Umar Abdulmuttalab as a criminal rather than as an enemy combatant. In an editorial published yesterday, It has nevertheless retracted its support. The Post writes that it "originally supported the administration's decision in the Abdulmutallab case, assuming that it had been made after due consideration. But the decision to try Mr. Abdulmutallab turns out to have resulted not from a deliberative process but as a knee-jerk default to a crime-and-punishment model."
Just gotta admire the humor here
Picture of the day
Mike Schelin rides a motocross bike with his dog Opee, an 8-year-old Blue Merle Australian Shepherd in Perris, Calif.
Marines are out of Iraq
January 24, 2010: The U.S. Marine Corps
has left Iraq. The U.S. Army will remain behind to wrap things up. This is another old custom, going back to World War II.
White House Ghost Photo
VARIOUS PEOPLE ARE ASKING ABOUT THE “GHOST” IN THE WINDOW BEHIND OBAMA in this pic from a Financial Times article.
I dunno. It looks like Jimmy Carter to me, but he’s not dead — except politically.
UPDATE: A reader suggests: “I was thinking it is more likely to be Herbert Hoover…”
ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader C.J. Burch writes: “Warren G. Harding isn’t beyond the realm of possibility. But I can guarantee you it isn’t Abraham Lincoln.”
More GW Fraud
Glacier scientist: I knew data hadn’t been verified. “The scientist behind the bogus claim in a Nobel Prize-winning UN report that Himalayan glaciers will have melted by 2035 last night admitted it was included purely to put political pressure on world leaders. Dr Murari Lal also said he was well aware the statement, in the 2007 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), did not rest on peer-reviewed scientific research.”
IPCC Head In GlacierGate Crime? “The London Times continues to follow the glaciergate story — and it keeps getting worse. The latest disclosure: Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the UN’s (formerly) prestigious Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (known as the IPCC), may have raised millions of dollars for his New Delhi institute on the basis of the totally bogus ‘glaciergate’ claim by the IPCC that the Himalayan glaciers would melt by 2035.”
New bin Laden audio tape surfaces
Is it just me, or should we be pressing Al Jazeera on how they source these tapes?
AP Photo
After seven months of silence, a new tape has been released that allegedly features Osama bin Laden claiming responsibility for the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound American Airlines flight on Christmas Day. “The United States will not dream of enjoying safety until we live it in reality in Palestine […] God willing our attacks will continue as long as you support the Israelis and may peace be on those who follow guidance,” says the man on the tape. The recording aired today on Al Jazeera and directly addressed the Detroit bombing attempt by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab: “The message intended to be sent to you was through the hero fighter Umar Farouk, may God release him, confirming an earlier message that the [September] 11th heroes delivered to you and it was repeated before and after [that event],” he says. Bin Laden, who is still thought to be hiding in the Pakistan-Afghanistan mountain region, has not released a tape since a September 25 message directed at “the European people.”
Vit D again
Vitamin D Supplementation Can Reduce Falls in Nursing Care Facilities
ScienceDaily (Jan. 24, 2010) — Giving people living in nursing facilities vitamin D can reduce the rate of falls, according to a new Cochrane Review. This finding comes from a study of many different interventions used in different situations. In hospitals, multifactorial interventions and supervised exercise programs also showed benefit.
Franz Kafka, we hardly knew ye
Alice Herz-Sommer, a 106-year-old Holocaust survivor and the last living person who knewFranz Kafka personally, reminisces about her friend in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz: “Kafkawas a slightly strange man…”
0Briefings on the world/solar system we live in
Green Energy "Oasis" to Bloom in the Desert?
A research center slated to be built in 2010 as part of the Sahara Forest Project is meant to serve as a proving ground for new technologies designed to bring green living to the desert, project managers say.
First Detailed Pictures: Antarctica's "Ghost Mountains"
Hidden under miles of ice, a mountain range in the middle of Antarctica is finally coming into view–thanks to radar data revealing a surprisingly spiky underworld.
Strange "Comet" May Be Asteroid Collision Debris
A newfound "comet" traveling in an unusual orbit may actually be fallout from the explosive collision of two asteroids, say astronomers who recently spotted the fuzzy, tailed object.
Apple to reveal 'tablet' on Jan 27?
If it's like other Apple products, it will be hard to ignore
All week the digital book site eBookNewser has been collecting Apple Tablet rumors--preparing for the Jan. 27 Apple (AAPL) announcement about their "latest creation." Here are some links that will haunt the dreams of most publishing folks this weekend...
One Apple insider thinks this picture closely resembles the actual Apple Tablet.
eBookNewser readers debated the coziness of three different reading devices: a tablet computer, the Kindle, and the good-old-fashioned book.
According to one report, HarperCollins, McGraw-Hill, and Hachette may all in partnership discussions with Apple about tablet content.
Braille library materials under threat in Canada
This would be a real travesty if it does not find a solution
The Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) issued a statement on January 20th that it can no longer feasibly afford to maintain and run Canada’s most extensive library of braille books and audio book materials. The library lends to people all across Canada via mail, and the operation costs $10 million per annum.
The CNIB has indicated that the service could be affected as early as April without assistance, and they’re asking the government to provide funding to keep the program alive.
Awesome ... and then some
When I was younger, John Wayne was a hero of mine. Excellent reminder here, from Dick Cavett, that Wayne was an "actor," NOT a cowboy... Perhaps you will be surprised by the exchange between them
Wait, people are different?
Rice Responsible for Asians' Alcohol Flush Reaction, Research Finds
ScienceDaily (Jan. 24, 2010) — The mutation responsible for the alcohol flush reaction, an unpleasant response to alcohol that is relatively common in people of Asian descent, may have occurred following the domestication of rice.
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