Great summary of the budget "deal"

John writes yet another insightful, quick analysis of the budget "deal"

LeyBlog - State budget deal heralded?

Let the keg party begin

A 40-Year Wish List - WSJ.com

The entire time that Obama was campaigning, it felt as though I was back in high school watching the older kids promising a keg party if they won the election for student government president.  That was the full extent of their campaign.  Well, they did make some other, little-researched, promises that were either impossible to implement or would give terrible returns on investment when the student government charter was taken into account.  They weren't going to effect any real change, but people would sure have fun.  Administrators frowned upon this, but could do little.  The drinking age was 18, the parents condoned the parties, and the student body was greedy for a good time.

The keg-promiser always won.

Fast-forward a couple of decades:

Obama is the keg-promiser and the party is now beginning.

"I'm a Madoff"

Well, I'm not but I heard this term coined tody at a doctor's office.  I forget how it came up, but after I brought up the Madoff situation all the way in NY, my doctor said "Oh...I'm a Madoff."  His entire retirement account was gone.  He is not young.  At least he has a source of livelihood, but he will likely be working MUCH longer than previously planned.

There are others in Northern California who are not lock-step Dems!!!

Great coverage of the Palin Burlingame event by Joe Malchow.

I love this analysis:

And why not? The crowd of 25,000 she elicited yesterday is proof that Sarah Palin is attracting new voters. And today was further evidence of her effect: a ballroom flush with self-made men and women who, though accustomed to living the dreary life of a permanent political minority, now feel there's someone for them, too. They see Sarah Palin as a political Ghostbuster singularly able, by dint of her background, her charm, and her cool, to suss out the spectrous Barack Obama, holding him up for everyone to see. She should, soon.

What warming? On CA wildfires.

Warming West is ground zero for wildfires: 

The above article is full of over-generalizations and reports taken out of context.  I have lived in California, both Northern and Southern, since 1989.  From my own personal experience, it has been cooler here in the past several years than it was when I first got here.  I don't have any scientific logbooks, but I can make these observations:

-I barely run my A/C in the summer yet my heater (and pool freeze protection) have to run 24 hours most winters.

-We have to wear long sleeves in the middle of summer except for a few hours a day.

-My pool has been much cooler on average in the past 3 years or so than it was previously.

-We still suffer from heat waves, but the rest of the summer is MUCH cooler by comparison.

I don't know.  I think all of this reportage conceals the ulterior motives of the organizations behind these various studies.  For example, the US Forest Service leadership have wanted conduct controlled burns.  I would argue that they should do this since it has historically proven to be healthy for our forests.  If linking poor forest management with global warming would turn the tide of public opinion in favor of controlled burns, then have at it USFS.  That doesn't mean that I agree with the global warming link.  I think it's a stretch, quite frankly.

Many people, including some of my relatives, believe that we should be "acting now" to prevent more anthropogenic global warming.  How do they know that their "acting" will actually help and not hurt?  Maybe the scope of the recent fires was augmented by previous policies that involved putting out wildfires as quickly as possible as opposed to letting them burn?

We have people feeling so much guilt over all of this that they pay others to plant trees to make up for the CO2 they produce day to day.  Guess what?  This "action" could me more harmful than doing nothing!  Even in the above-mentioned article, there is one nugget pointing at the link between increased tree coverage and surface warming:

"The peak time of melting snow is already about 10 to 15 days earlier in different parts of the West. Scientists have projected a speed-up of 25 to 35 days earlier by the end of this century. A study just released by Purdue University found that at the end of the century, the snowmelt could come 70 days earlier. The effect of the lost snow, and increased heat from solar radiation absorbed in the exposed ground and vegetation, would raise temperatures more than have previously been expected."

There is even a study to show that trees produce methane gas, which contributes to global warming.  The trees also give up CO2 when the trees die and rot.

In fact, replacing grasslands with forests, particularly in the high latitudes, probably have a net warming effect on the planet.  

Here's another source.  I challenge you to find that study reported about, quoted, or even referenced in any mainstream media any time soon.  All of these guilty do-gooders might be doing a lot of harm.

The queen with her court

Our dog really enjoys getting dressed up and playing with the kids.  I have had lots of dogs for as long as I can remember.  This is our first poodle.  Our kids are thrilled that poodles really do like dress-up!

Feature: Get Things Done Over the Phone with Jott

This looks like a useful tool. I could lose my productivity by checking out all of these productivity tools!

Feature: Get Things Done Over the Phone with Jott