Category: Points of Information

Very brief descriptions, with appropriate links, of current or recent news items.

most of the weather stations in the US are so poorly sited that their temperature data is unreliable.

7:28 pm

“Most of the weather stations in the US are so poorly sited that their temperature data is unreliable.”

The article describes a new paper which analyzed the reliability of the weather stations in the U.S. and found that NOAA not only favored the data from the more untrustworthy stations — which also happened to have a warming bias — they then adjusted the overall data upward even more.

In other words, any temperature data from the last few decades cannot be trusted.

The full details can be found at Watts Up With That, but I haven’t given that as the main link because the page takes so long to load due to the many comments. You can also go here for additional information.

One comment

After using his truck without his permission in a botched sting operation, the U.S. government is now refusing to compensate the owner for the truck’s destruction.

8:38 am

We’re here to help you: After using his truck without his permission in a botched sting operation, the U.S. government is now refusing to compensate the owner for the damages.

Commandeered by one of his drivers, who was secretly working with federal agents, the truck had been hauling marijuana from the border as part of an undercover operation. And without Patty’s knowledge, the Drug Enforcement Administration was paying his driver, Lawrence Chapa, to use the truck to bust traffickers. … Chapa was shot dead in front of more than a dozen law enforcement officers – all of them taken by surprise by hijackers trying to steal the red Kenworth T600 truck and its load of pot. In the confusion of the attack in northwest Harris County, compounded by officers in the operation not all knowing each other, a Houston policeman shot and wounded a Harris County sheriff’s deputy.

But eight months later, Patty still can’t get recompense from the U.S. government’s decision to use his truck and employee without his permission.

2 comments

Doing everything but the job of President.

7:12 am

Doing everything but the job of President.

Though this data might illustrate how disinterested Obama is in actually doing the kind of job that recent Presidents have done, it also shows how truly irrelevant the Presidency really is. A President can make a positive difference, but in truth, society functions with or without him. It is just a shame that this President sees the job as merely a platform for campaigning.

8 comments

The Marines have put in an order for 12,000 M1911 pistols, the iconic 45 caliber pistol designed by John Browning more than a 100 years ago and used by the American military for most of the first half of the 20th century.

1:17 pm

Comeback: The Marines have put in an order for 12,000 M1911 pistols, the iconic 45 caliber pistol designed by John Browning more than a 100 years ago and used by the American military for most of the first half of the 20th century.

5 comments

New analysis of Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter images suggests that most of the American flags planted at the Apollo landing sites are still standing.

8:28 pm

New analysis of Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter images appears to prove that most of the American flags planted at the Apollo landing sites are still standing.

Sadly, the analysis also seems to prove what Buzz Aldrin reported, that the Apollo 11 American flag was blown over by the exhaust from the ascent stage when the astronauts took off.

I wonder if anyone from the United States will ever have a chance to pick it up?

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A New Hampshire businessman who appeared in a Romney ad has gone to the police to report the phone threats he has since received.

8:02 am

Leftwing civility: A New Hampshire businessman who appeared in a Romney ad criticizing Obama has asked the police to investigate the phone threats he has since received.

One [call] called him a “vile piece of (expletive),” among other things, and demanded he call Obama to apologize. The caller was identified by Gilchrist through his caller ID. The man called from area code 630, which is the Chicago area. He has posted anti-Republican and anti-conservative messages on Twitter in the past, including a 2009 posts that said, “GOP needs to be eliminated,” and, “I am prepared to kill people. Let the tea bagers fire the first shot and I will pile up the bodies of the traitors.” [emphasis mine]

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On the road

10:47 pm

Walk with the lamas

I must apologize for the light posting the past few days. I am on a trip with my wife Diane visiting friends in Colorado. (The picture on the right of me (on the left) having lunch in the woods with Diane (standing) and friends Joel and Marianne will give you a taste of some of the fun we are having. The lamas were the pets of our host, who took the picture.)

I will be back home Sunday, when posting should resume with vigor.

3 comments

The Democrats in the Senate have passed their tax plan.

4:16 pm

The Democrats in the Senate have passed their tax plan, extending the Bush tax rates for families making under $250,000 for one year while allowing the rates for families earning above $250,000 to expire.

The big Democratic claim has been that in order to balance the budget richer people have to pay more of their fair share. Okay, so now they’ve made their point by law. If I were the Republicans I’d accept it, since we all know that this tax increase on higher income taxpayers will do nothing to lower the deficit. We could raise the tax rate for anyone earning more than $250K to 100 percent and we would still have a gigantic yearly deficit.

What will the Democrats next claim when this tax increase fails? It won’t matter. The problem is spending, and the failure of this tax plan will further demonstrate that point. The federal government has to learn to live within its means.

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One of Kepler’s reaction wheels — used to orient the space telescope — has failed.

7:08 pm

Bad news: One of Kepler’s four reaction wheels — used to orient the space telescope — has failed.

Kepler only needs three wheels to function – one to control the probe’s motion along each axis – and the probe resumed its observations on 20 July. “Kepler is functioning very well on three reaction wheels,” says mission manager Roger Hunter of NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California. If the glitch can’t be fixed, though, Kepler will be left without a backup wheel. “This is reducing the odds of making the mission go as long as we can,” says Kepler chief scientist William Borucki of NASA Ames, who doubts that Kepler could point accurately enough to look for transiting planets if reduced to two reaction wheels. “It was a disappointing surprise to find this wheel stopped so early.”

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