As we enjoy the warmest winter on record thus far, keeping energy bills ALMOST tolerable, we should take time to thank Bushco for its many contributions to global warming.
However, this global warming thing could have an adverse effect on our ac bills this summer in Phoenix. 87 today, and 113 days with no rain. First forest fire is here already, and is 0% contained. NOT normal, folks.
SKROLATROLE
Posted by TIKI AL at February 9, 2006 01:33 AMI agree, Al. Here in So Cal, we've had a big fire burning for a week, are three inches behind our regular insufficient rainfall, and the Santa Ana winds are keeping the humidity down in the single digits for the sixth day in a row. While it's not unusual for the winds to last a few days, it is unusual to last this long.
They are resorting to using 'dirty' (reclaimed waste) water to fight the fires out here, probably to keep the reservoirs from emptying too quickly. Wouldn't do to have people dying of thirst after last years' hurricanes drowned so many, now would it?
The best proof we need that Bu$hCo knows that global warming is real is the muzzling of the NASA scientists by a guy who couldn't pass basic library science - even though he was an alleged journalism major and supposedly able to read.
If the truth will set you free, it's no wonder Bu$hCo members are so good at lying!
Posted by pessimist at February 9, 2006 02:39 AM"As we enjoy the warmest winter on record thus far, keeping energy bills ALMOST tolerable, we should take time to thank Bushco for its many contributions to global warming."
I see - so the President who is an idiot, can't complete a full sentence, is a puppet to Karl Rove, is in a bubble isolated from the rest of the world can not only affect global warming but can steer Hurricanes to hit New Orleans.
No wonder you guys are more afraid of him than Al-Qaeda.
Posted by David at February 9, 2006 04:07 AMLooks like Bushco isn't done with the destruction of Social Security just yet.
Yes, well anyone who votes for that budget will be voting to privatize ss. It will be a killer in the election.
Posted by Ga6thDem at February 9, 2006 05:20 AMnd nw tht vwy vwy bd mn Mr. Bsh hs stlwn ll th Wntr lympcs' snw.
[Editor: ignore=off]I see - so the President who is an idiot, can't complete a full sentence, is a puppet to Karl Rove, is in a bubble isolated from the rest of the world can not only affect global warming but can steer Hurricanes to hit New Orleans.
Well you were 5 for 5 until you got all tinfoil hat and mentioned steering hurricanes. Unless you meant Bush was trying to set up a brawl between some U. of Miami athletes and some students at Tulane? But I haven't heard about that anywhere else. So we'll call it 5 for 6. Not bad!
Posted by snark at February 9, 2006 06:01 AMAnd now that vewy vewy bad man Mr. Bush has stolwen all the Winter Olympics' snow.
That would be because it makes more sense for an entrepenurial company to provide snow that is finer, cheaper to produce, greater in quantity and better tasting to boot than worry about the vargarities and chaotic delivery systems that nature has seen to provide us with. After all, you shouldn't have to worry about wether some low-level governmental bureaucrat has predicted a couple of inches of fresh powder the night before your big ski party.
Posted by idiosynchronic at February 9, 2006 06:51 AMI see - so the President who is an idiot,
Holy shit! How can you say something like this? The NSA will be by here later and start looking at your activity and what you bought at Amazon. They always thought you were a terrorist, now they have proof! God damned terrorist! "Terrorist over here, Mr. NSA man!"
And now that vewy vewy bad man Mr. Bush has stolwen all the Winter Olympics' snow.
Some people are so stupid it's difficult to know what to say to them. "Fucking moron" seems about right. I ascertain you've never let science stand in your way. But it's gotta be tough when your the only kid on the block that thinks the Earth is the center of the universe. So, how many angels can dance on the head of a pin?
Posted by phidipides at February 9, 2006 06:55 AMWater, water please, can anybody spare a rain drop! What AL said about the fires is true, it's going to get a lot worse before it get's better.
Send it our way, where we are heading into 4 straight months without rainfall!
I wouldn't mind it so much but this IS our rainy season!
TIKI AL, The birds using your pool as a bath...I'm keeping my chlorine levels up!
Posted by bbtb at February 9, 2006 07:09 AMWhat olympics? We got olympics coming?
Posted by iamcoyote at February 9, 2006 07:25 AMI had the same thought, coyote.
But I don't turn on the TV for anything but Battlestar Galactica these days.
Posted by idiosynchronic at February 9, 2006 07:40 AMIs BG on video yet? There's just too much buzz around it for me not to be curious.
Posted by iamcoyote at February 9, 2006 07:46 AMVideo?
What's that?
Posted by snark at February 9, 2006 07:57 AMIt's an old-fashioned term for dvd, you young whippersnapper!
Posted by iamcoyote at February 9, 2006 08:14 AMSeason 1 and the first half of season 2 are on DVD. I'd loan you my copy of season 1, but you're too far away.
You'll like it - you'll probably have a bigger crush on Starbuck than I think Athenae does at First-Draft.
Posted by idiosynchronic at February 9, 2006 08:15 AMIdio, I don't know how clean that water will be they are using for snow making. Usually it's chlorinated reclaimed waste water.
Kinda takes the good taste away...right?
I dunno, idio, it'll be hard to compete with Malcolm Reynolds...we'll have to see. I'm stopping at Blockbuster this afternoon! If I like it, I'll just buy the damn thing myself.
bbtb, yummy, I'm hankering for a lemon snowcone right now! ACK!
Posted by iamcoyote at February 9, 2006 08:24 AMSouth Carolina is also having the warmest winter on record, most of this winter temperatures have been about 10-15 degrees above normal. Within the last week, we've had a reversion to average temperatures amd it feels downright cold.
Bush is determined to kill the Republican party by touching that third rail called Social Security. He and Rove have such thick ideological blinders on that they don't connect their loss of re-election momentium last year to his 60 day campaign. His backers on Wall Street don't realize that anything has changed scince Katrina exposed this administration for the selfish incompetents that they are.
It looks like we mat have to fight for the internet this year and Social Security. Well, last year was a good fight, count mee in.
Posted by rlp at February 9, 2006 08:25 AMBTW, anyone hear about Dear Leader saving us from the mad AQ shoe bomber plot?
Danger! Danger! Code Yellow, I repeat, Code Yellow!
Usually it's chlorinated reclaimed waste water.
If it's good enough for the neo-cons children, it's good enough for snow. I just use the stuff in a cooler full of beer. Besides, does anyone ever get out of the lodge bar? It's cold out there! "A Bloody Mary with extra worcestershire and tabasco, please."
Posted by phidipides at February 9, 2006 08:27 AMIt's not likely that the southwestern US will continue to be habitable under the new climate we have created for ourselves. Sorry.
I've been on the global warming bandwagon for over 15 years. Our last chance was electing Al Gore. Which we did, and which could possibly have saved us.
The beautiful earth destroyed because of a confusing butterfly ballot in West Palm Beach, Florida. Shit. Pretty fucking depressing.
Posted by euzoius at February 9, 2006 08:36 AMp-dippy, there's stuff outside the lodge?
Posted by iamcoyote at February 9, 2006 08:41 AMDoes the mighty Colorada River even make it all the way to the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez for those south of the border) anymore?
Posted by snark at February 9, 2006 08:43 AMThere is such a thing as a reformed troll!
Posted by bbtb at February 9, 2006 08:47 AMp-dippy, there's stuff outside the lodge?
Whew! At first I read this as a statement. Talk about cognitive dissonance! I actually started to wonder if there was stuff outside of the lodge. You can imagine my terror at the thought. A real Twilight Zone moment.
Posted by phidipides at February 9, 2006 08:49 AMsnark, Damns for recreation, So. Cal. taps, agriculture, even Mexican usage and all the states clamoring for it's reamining rights but still the mighty Colorado makes it. Albeit barely.
Posted by bbtb at February 9, 2006 08:57 AMWhoa, philipides, if I'd known you were trippin' I would have been less surreal!
Posted by iamcoyote at February 9, 2006 09:12 AMcoyote, phidipides is in rare form, go read his comment at 7:46 PM at the end of yesterday's open thread. One classic piece!
Posted by bbtb at February 9, 2006 09:16 AMYeah, bbtb, now if only I could spell his name right. Me talk pretty one day.
Posted by iamcoyote at February 9, 2006 09:30 AMThere is such a thing as a reformed troll!
Have you read Derych's/adviorjim's other work? Definately worth reading.
Posted by idiosynchronic at February 9, 2006 09:41 AMBattlestar Galactica is great. It's the hot sci-fi drama. Over the past few months, I've Netflixed the miniseries, season 1, season 2, and I've been faithfully recording season 3 on my DVR as the season goes.
Good news, season 4 begins filming in a couple weeks where they'll have to decide what to do with Boomer's half-cylon baby.
Now, there's a more important issue than anything discussed here at TLC!
And by the way, if you go to the Sci Fi or AOL Battlestar Galactica websites, you can download screensavers and wallpaper, etc. Nothing says "I'm the biggest GEEK on the planet!" better than having hot cylon robot chicks on your desktop.
Booyah!
Posted by muckdog at February 9, 2006 09:47 AMThanks alot, mucky, now I'm having second thoughts about the show. It's that hard to trust your judgement. Still, since I like my my death and destruction on the screen rather than real life, and you prefer death and destruction all over, maybe it might work out, huh?
Posted by iamcoyote at February 9, 2006 10:21 AMBooyah!=Scary cheer!
Posted by bbtb at February 9, 2006 10:34 AMbbtb, where'd that come from, do you know? For some reason I keep thinking of that hugely crappy Al Pacino movie where he was blind..."Scent of a Woman" I think it was. God, what a piece of crap that was. Sad, 'cos I love Pacino.
Posted by iamcoyote at February 9, 2006 10:43 AMOn another topic - the Iraq Election was December 15. Has anyone heard whether or not the *outcome* of that election has ever seen the light of day? Who won what? Investigations of vote fraud have concluded weeks ago. Is the Bush Administration still trying to weasel their chump Allawi into power.....or rig it for the Sunnis? What gives?
Posted by T2 at February 9, 2006 10:48 AMI've also Netflixed the cancelled Sci Fi show Firefly. Made it through disc 1. A little slower than Battlestar Galactica, but somewhat entertaining. I'll try to get through all of season 1 (which was the only season) and then watch the movie Serenity. (A sequel to the series).
I guess we're in a lull of political and economic news this week. The bulk of earnings season is over, and as always there are differing views of how things are going. The next big thing on the horizon is the March meeting of the Fed with new Chairman Helicopter Ben. Everyone seems to be expecting more rate hikes, possibly up to 5% eventually. I think they should stop. But they don't consult me...
I think the political scene is slowing down ahead of this year's election cycle. Folks are digging their trenches and preparing for battle. I don't know how fruitful it will be. 95% of House races in 2004 were decided by more than 55% in 2004, due to gerrymandering. I think a ton of money will be spent, but very little will change in the House or Senate.
Posted by muckdog at February 9, 2006 11:02 AMRecently here in AZ, Diebold was named the voting machine of (forced) choice.
Well, it got taken to a step further with an 'election reform; manual count' bill SB 1557, to make sure no hijinks were in the mix. Now a female republican state senator wants to send it for modification before the Judiciary Committee!
Imagine that, let's fix a bill that is ensuring fair elections with a paper trail.
snark,
It's true, the Colorado River does not empty into the Cortez/California gulf area anymore during the dry spells that are getting longer and longer. What's even more telling is that the same thing is true about the Rio Grande.
Posted by rlp at February 9, 2006 11:33 AMNot much going on? I guess I'd consider Libby flipping Cheney to be....oh....kinda interesting.
Posted by ann at February 9, 2006 11:34 AMVery little change? I think the biggest change could be in the Senate where the GOP has at least 5 vulernable seats to defend. Pa looks like a goner already. Santorum should be packing his bags but of course he won't.
Bush won't be campaigning for any of the candidates unless you have someone in danger in a very, very, red district.
Posted by Ga6thDem at February 9, 2006 11:38 AMbbtb is right, the state of the Colorado is more a reflection on excessive water diversions, detention in reservoirs and insufficient instream flow requirements than it is on climate change. Quality is a worse problem thank quantity, though: we have to desalinate water at the border with Mexico because the water quality is so poor.
The other place the Colorado went/goes is the Salton Sea, the object of much preservation-plan-hoopla in southern California.
On the lighter side, in case you haven't heard this one already:
This year, both Groundhog Day and the State of the Union address occur on the same day. As Air America Radio pointed out, "It is an ironic juxtaposition of events: one involves a meaningless ritual in which we look to a creature of little intelligence for prognostication while the other involves a groundhog."
Posted by Kaleefornian at February 9, 2006 11:59 AMHere's an article I picked up at google on the Colorado River Delta, nice picture also.
Posted by bbtb at February 9, 2006 12:27 PMDid NASA Bush appointee, George Deutsch resign yesterday because he lied about graduating from Texas A&M, suppressed global warming information, could'nt take the blog truth-pressure, maintained the Vatican's 16th century view of the universe, or all of the above?
How come Keith Olberman was the only one to mention it yesterday?
SKROLATROLE
Posted by TIKI AL at February 9, 2006 12:41 PMTIKI AL, I think all of the above. Huffington Post had something on it yesterday.
Seems like Olberman is our last bastion of hope.
And to think I didn't like him at sportscenter.
Being that I was home and had the SPAN on, I was able to catch Band of Brothers & VetPac at their DC Event yesterday.
I cried.
They are standing up for the Constitution and for America and for the true defense of our Nation.
I believe that between the two groups there are 55 Congressional seats that they are running for. All Dems.
It was a great event.
Posted by Anjha at February 9, 2006 01:25 PMTIKI AL - look for Bush to tab Deutsch if another Supreme Court position opens up. From Bush's perspective, Deutsch is probably the "best candidate" out there, i.e. a liar and boot-licker.
Posted by T2 at February 9, 2006 02:12 PMWhen I heard this morning about the administration's misguided ABC plan to prevent HIV and AIDS, I was reminded of another reason I think Reagan was a fucker: he let AIDS get out of hand since it was a "gay disease." And now the bird flu is in Africa, which partially thanks to Bush, is the continent least able to handle it. And when it gets here? Well, we'll have detention centers and marshall law to take care of us. Those Republicans will be the death of us, through war or disease.
Posted by Sharon at February 9, 2006 02:12 PMSharon, The book and movie, "...and the band played on", really exposes Raygun's attention to AIDS.
Posted by bbtb at February 9, 2006 02:49 PMbbtb, that was with Mathew Modine, wasn't it? I didn't realize there was a book. I'll have to get it though I did rent the movie a while ago.
And Mandy Patinkin's singing "...and the band played on" makes me wanna cry.
Posted by Sharon at February 9, 2006 03:56 PM…anyone hear about Dear Leader saving us from the mad AQ shoe bomber plot? Posted by iamcoyoteaThis is hilarious. Bush gets the name of the building wrong: He said that in early 2002 the United States and its allies disrupted a plot to use bombs hidden in shoes to breach the cockpit door of an airplane and fly it into the tallest building in Los Angeles. But he got the name of the building wrong, saying the "intended target was Liberty Tower." He meant Library Tower, now the US Bank Tower...
Bush goes on:
President George W. Bush disclosed new details on Thursday of a thwarted al Qaeda plot to use shoe bombs to hijack a plane and fly it into a Los Angeles building, as he sought to justify his tactics in fighting terrorism.
So what do you think: Would a shoe bomb blow off the highjacker's feet so he couldn't run into the cockpit, or would a shoe bomb blow a hole in the fuselage which would cause the highjacker to be sucked out of the plane?
Of course, coming up with this ridiculous story now, just in time to justify wiretapping means the whole thing is bogus. The major of LA wasn't notified, the CIA knows nothing about it.
Isn't there a tall story competition somewhere that Bush could enter? He sounds like he could be a winner.
DeLay gets a seat on the House Appropriation Committee. He takes Cunningham's old spot who was ousted for taking money. This Committee oversees the expenditures for the Department of Justice.
Some sad irony in all this!!
Will it ever end?
I must laugh now, it's all so comical!!
Would a shoe bomb blow off the highjacker's feet so he couldn't run into the cockpit, or would a shoe bomb blow a hole in the fuselage which would cause the highjacker to be sucked out of the plane?
Of course, coming up with this ridiculous story now, just in time to justify wiretapping means the whole thing is bogus. The major of LA wasn't notified, the CIA knows nothing about it.
Isn't there a tall story competition somewhere that Bush could enter? He sounds like he could be a winner.
The story offers absolutely nothing to justify illegal wiretapping - the plot wasn't foiled by eavesdropping! This guy was caught in an Asian country (hm...where?) tortured and came up with this tall tale (if BushCo didn't come up with it on their own.) The US had nothing to do with the capture!
If you were going to hijack a plane, you wouldn't bomb the cockpit. And this was after the shoe bomber had already been arrested and everyone's shoes were suspect. This isn't an al-Qaeda plot, that's for sure.
Posted by ann at February 9, 2006 07:42 PM