Total Lunar Eclipse

Once in a blue moon?

This will be a red moon.

February 20th, starting at 5:43pm (Pacific Standard Time, if you had to guess...) as the moon rises--look East--an umbral shadow will start to cover the Moon.

Total eclipse starts at 7:01pm. By 9:09 the whole show will be over.

Man Made Global Warming Update

One of the trumpeteers of MMGW is Washington "scientist" Philip Mote. I wrote previously about this guy here. The best part is, you can watch this guy put it out there in this video interview. His science is mostly anecdotal...or really, not sciency at all.

But somewhere the memo was passed out that we need a narrative for the volk. Stories about Global Warming will help sell the idea. No dissent will be allowed, as exhibited by "science" guy Mote on March 12th, 2007, when he stripped Mark Albright of his title as the State of Washington's Associate State Climatologist.

The problem Mote had with Albright? Albright was calling "natty-natty-boo-boo" on Mote's snowpack projections. And today we find out from FEMA--your federal emergency management agency--that mountain snow packs are at record levels.

Of course all this proves that Mark Albright was right and Philip Mote was wrong. And it was wrong to impact Albright's career with his unseemly demotion. But Philip Mote remains the darling of the Left because he continues to march to the narrative thread.

Good science, right?

Weather guys used to tell you things like "remember your rubbers" and "take an umbrella". Then proto-scientists like AlGoreManBearPig came along, and now the Geek Squad is sexy. Trim a few corners and voila! you're gonna get laid, baby.

Common sense would require us to dismiss talk of MMGW. In the face of fact, that this is a record-breaking cold winter all over the world, an intelligent man would step back and ask, "Are we really seeing a global warming trend?"

The answer is, of course, no, of course not. But for the Left the fact that man remains on Earth, stomping her beauty with his ugly little feet, is enough to call for an end of civilization. No more development. No more energy. No more. No more.

It's time to stop this self-feeding frenzy. And as we wait for this frenzy to burn out, we'll be mis-allocating billions of dollars to fix an unfixable.

If it ain't broke...

UPDATE: You don't think this is serious? Oregon State Treasurer Randall Edwards is in New York today, committing Oregon financial resources to this hoax.

From his office's press release, not yet up on his site:

"Oregon State Treasurer Randall Edwards says the financial might of state treasurers is an untapped resource that should be used to influence climate change. “Oregon’s participation in this summit is symbolic of how states are taking the lead to address global warming when the federal government is unwilling,” said Edwards. “Expanding market opportunities and revealing investor risk is the natural role of a state treasurer, and we’re moving to apply those principles to climate change,” he added.

"Edwards spoke at the summit touting Oregon’s national leadership on climate change and energy policy. “Governor Kulongoski and the legislature have put Oregon in the lead on tackling climate change and reducing our dependency on foreign oil with renewable energy. This summit is an opportunity to tell our story and to collaborate with other financial leaders to address this pressing challenge.'”

The guy's in New York attending a UN sponsored "Investor Summit on Climate Risk". Now is it time to start asking the adults to take over?

UPDATE: "GM Vice Chairman Calls Global Warming A "Total Crock of S**t". Lol.

Hillary: The Worst Commercial In History

When I first saw the link...ah, shucks, I clicked on it. I watched it. Then went back to Llama Butchers 'cause this had to be a spoof.

Then I went to hillaryclinton.com. Clicked on the YouTube link at the bottom of the page.

This is the worst political commercial in the history of politics. And yes, apparently the Senator Clinton for President campaign paid for it. And the Senator must have approved it.

What was she thinking?

Will This Have The Impact It Should?

This is pretty big stuff.

And challenges a lot of the underlying assumptions that have been put forward about salmon during the past forty years, but especially important when you look at fishery rules put in place during the last twenty years. From the Native Fish Society:

"Naturally spawning hatchery salmon and steelhead constitute a mortality factor on wild fish according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW).

"In a document titled Recovery Strategies to Close the Conservation Gap, Methods and Assumptions from ODFW states that

"…relative population survival rates (recruits produced per spawner) were found to decrease at a rate equal to or greater than the proportion of hatchery fish in the natural spawning population. In other words, a spawning population with 20% hatchery strays had the net survival rate (recruits per spawner) that was 20% less than a population comprised entirely of wild fish (0% hatchery strays). Likewise, a population with 40% hatchery strays had a population survival rate that was 40% lower than a population comprised entirely of wild fish."

"This conclusion is based on research conducted by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists and published in peer reviewed science journals in 2003 by Mark Chilcote and Tom Nickelson.

"The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife presented this information to the Lower Columbia River Recovery Plan Stakeholders Advisory Committee members at their meeting in Portland, Oregon on February 8, 2008.

"Bill Bakke, the Director of the Native Fish Society said, "I had a conversation with Mark Chilcote at the stakeholders meeting about this statement, asking if hatchery fish can be considered a mortality factor on wild fish in the same way that harvest is a factor in native salmon decline. Mark Chilcote agreed. So if a wild salmonid population is harvested at a rate of 15% and the hatchery strays compose 20% of the natural spawning population, the cumulative mortality rate for that population is 35%."

"Stray hatchery fish spawning naturally in rivers with native, wild salmon and steelhead are now considered a factor in the mortality profile for wild populations. The hatchery fish contribute to the decline of wild salmon and steelhead along with dam related mortality, harvest, logging, agriculture, and urban development.

"Efforts by citizens to repair degraded habitats in our watersheds and the expected benefits of such work, are undermined by the number of hatchery fish in the natural spawning population. This means our recovery efforts are less effective," said Bill Bakke."

Merkley and Being A Dick

Mr. Merkley is running for office.

He is currently Speaker of the Oregon House. Which is currently in session, in violation of Oregon's Constitution. Which nobody really cares about as we transform into the next New Jersey. (Did you read about Brent Crosson? Fred Monem? Bernie Guisto? Neil Goldschmidt?)

I was struck by his press release of the 8th;

“The financial strength of a family is built on three pillars – a living wage job, a good education, and homeownership..."

and I agreed with him. This isn't a bad place to start. Wages. Education. Home. If I could legislate this outcome, I would. But I can't. The choices needed to make this come about come from the individual...not the State.

Sure, the state can make it harder. Pass a law to make things better and the wheels come off. Now, instead of the "normal" hurdles to achieving your dream, you've got to make sure you've punched the state ticket, too. Want affordable housing? Apply for assistance. Not the same thing. Sure, it may have the same effect...if your goal is to help people who don't deserve a home have a home. Far be it from me to suggest that what the state does best is legitimize the claims of the undeserving. That would be unkind.

Yet, I hadn't yet decided why I held in reserve my compliments for Mr. Merkley's words. And tonight I hit bingo. From the Speaker's Press Release of today's date:

"Oregon House Speaker Jeff Merkley (D-Portland) and Congresswoman Darlene Hooley (D-OR) today urged the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee to support a resolution aimed at helping active duty servicemembers(sic) and National Guardsmen and women ease the transition when they return home from overseas deployment."

And it hit me.

"Ease the transition". What a dick.

'Member Viet Nam? 'Member the transition facing our vets then? What is this transition they speak of? These guys are heroes. These guys put their lives and future on the line for us. Want to know what the transition must be to dicks like Merkley?

It's gotta be that they are baby-killers coming home to live in gentle Oregon...where they must accept that the current political belief is that they are fools and tools of the Bush Administration.

"Ease the transition". What patronizing crap. When was the last time we had a Heroes Parade in Oregon. Want to ease the transition. How about saying "thank you."

I will let others talk about "victimology and the Democrat Party". For me, I know that the nose they wish us to look down collectively doesn't include mine. These guys deserve a couple of beers and a slap on the back. And to hear the words "thank you" again and again. Don't force them to go through some pussy course about "getting over it", whatever "it" is.

Let them know that if they're a little bit sideways for awhile, it's okay. But, hey, you did this for me. Let me buy the next round.

"Merkley railed against the federal government’s attempt to deny mental health care to returning veterans. Federal attorneys filed a brief in federal court last week arguing that the Department of Veterans Affairs is under no obligation to provide specific types of health care to veterans, including mental health care. Merkley said it was unconscionable that a government that puts soldiers in harm’s way would then turn its back on them once they came home from battle."

Oh, yeah. He "railed". Felt it here.

The problem is, if he hadn't shown himself to be a dick, I probably would have voted for him. Senator Smith has no handle on Merkley's three pillars. Which I find admirable.

Merkley has a background. One I find with hope. Why he had to kill that hope with his weird pandering to the Viet Nam Vet archetype is disturbing. But, fits the profile of the up and coming Leftie.

Good luck, Mr. Speaker.