You may recall I cancelled my Sunday fun feature because of the ongoing awful fire situation in California. There are times for levity and times for politics but this certainly isn't one of either. Unfortunately, others have a different sense of propriety. Instead of focusing on the lives lost, the billions and billions of property loss, and -- maybe -- how we mitigate these disasters in the future, we get these.... I did some checking and 96% of fire fighters are male. 

Yesterday's Wall Street Journa l   had an article about our hapless and increasingly dangerous federal government taking 17 years to approve a wind energy project under a "fast-track" program.  But, I want to bring some of the article's important fine print to your attention. It says, "the permit allows the developer, Pattern Energy, to build the country's largest wind energy project across three counties in rural New Mexico and deliver that electricity to large markets in Arizona and California." Wait, what?! Forget killing eagles and rare birds, forget killing endangered whales (via off-shore wind), forget rising rates and making the grid less stable by the year: the people who have to look at and hear these monsters won't get any benefit from them?! And, who is going to pay for them? In Kansas, ratepayers are being required to fund an expensive transmission line like the one above that will send wind electricity generated in the Sunflower State to...

This blog has, on numerous occasions, discussed the corruption in climate science. Dr. Roger Pielke, Jr. has an insightful piece about how the corruption just keeps growing.  There is little science in global warming these days. 

I wonder how much energy was expended in hauling furniture to the middle of nowhere for someone named Jennifer Granholm to speak to no one? I'm also curious, from where did the power come to run the microphone, speakers and teleprompters? 

The latest climate junket , err, important meeting is occurring in Egypt.  Daily Mail JoNova.com Note they are dining on beef and other foods that you and I are not supposed to eat in order to 'save the planet.' As Glenn Reynolds so aptly says, I'll believe global warming is a crisis when the people telling me it's a crisis start acting like it's a crisis. 

Former president Obama's birthday bash is both lavish and over-the-top according to the Daily Mail  which has full report with photos like the one below.  Compare the scale of the party tents versus his mansion in the background Of course, "climate envoy" John Kerry flew in one of his three  family-owned private jets. The catastrophic global warming gospel is about power and control. Please keep that in mind when you go to the voting booth in the future.

As "Rocket Boy" Homer Hickham added, "or else." These "loyalty oaths" from scientific societies are disquieting, to put it mildly. Science in the United States has become far too politicized. I resigned from the American Meteorological Society after 51 years of membership because of its political activities.  President Eisenhower warned us of this in his farewell address: Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite. Science only works when there is skepticism. I'll pass on these oaths. 

I'm shocked in a good way: Michigan Democrat Rashida Tlaib has called for not  increasing national security powers in the wake of the January 6 riot at the Capitol. Her statement is here . What this means is that she has listened and she gets it: Conservatives and many Republicans fear an implosion of the Bill of Rights. Further restrictions will make our divisions worse. Even better, she wrote a letter to her colleagues that was signed by other members of The Squad .  After September 11, the bipartisan Patriot Act was one of the worst laws Congress has ever passed. It has led to widespread spying on the public by the federal government in blatant violation of the Fourth Amendment and should be repealed.  So, congratulations Rep. Tlaib. Let's hope we can arrest the downward spiral in our politics and find solutions that will bring America to even greater heights.  Addition: Tulsi Gabbard agrees . 

...to believe a 'warning' is needed by viewers of the greatest comedy of all time, Blazzing Saddles. Mongo is likely weeping over HBO's decision to add one. As a person who proudly lives two miles south of Rock Ridge, I agree with these statements on Twitter: Below, Daisy has the right idea.  However, there is a short list of people who probably do need a disclaimer. So, I'll let the great Hedley Lamarr present the list to you. Hat tip: Daily Mail

I'm so old, I remember when NASA was a respected federal agency. Now, it worries about political correctness. The Babylon Bee  responds perfectly.  Upper = existing name. Lower = politically correct name.  Enjoy!!

This is really unfortunate. Based, in part, on communications I had with a Kansas physician and a reporter last night, it appears Kansas Governor Laura Kelly wanted to do this, did it, and will spend the next few days searching for a justification. Ready, fire, aim. I gave our governor the benefit of the doubt through March and most of April. Mistakes were inevitable when facing a new foe. Now, this strikes me as a blend of authoritarianism and virtue signaling . Here's why: The typical justification for these measures is, "A vaccine is a few months away. We can be inconvenienced for a short period of time." I hope so, but the problem is that we don't know if there will ever be a vaccine that is both safe and effective. There isn't a vaccine for the common cold. There isn't a vaccine for HIV. It took  more than a decade  to create a vaccine for measles. There is no long-lasting influenza vaccine. There is no vaccine for SARS after seventeen years. Aga...

Conservatives cannot continue to hide as our nation and its ideals continue to be under attack.  A perusal of headlines the last two weeks include some of the most terrifying in the history of our nation: Armed radicals taking over portions of major cities. Some politicians – who swore to “protect and defend the Constitution” - tacitly cheering on the radicals.  There are credible reports of rapes and beatings in those areas. Democratic politicians are telling us to " burn it to the ground ." Clearly illegal and unconstitutional orders from politicians and public health officials pertaining to coronavirus.   Police that, too often, believe they are above the law. They don’t seem to have internalized their mission is, “to serve and protect." The FBI is even worse: not only is the Bureau corrupt, they've done nothing to fight the lawlessness in Seattle, Portland, and the District of Columbia.   The direct attack on the ability of the church to celebrate ...

I want my medical advice to be free of politics  and political correctness.  I don't care whether Dr. Fauci wants to "make it a symbol" or not. I don't care whether he thinks it shows "respect" or not. More and more, I question Dr. Fauci's priorities . A physician prescribing or recommending a mask or other medical advice should be based  solely  on whether it will prove a patient with a health benefit or whether it will provide a public health benefit to others. "Gestures," "respect." and "symbols" have nothing to do with it. San Francisco's absurd new order mandating masks whenever anyone is within 30 feet -- even outdoors  -- is nothing but authoritarianism. In  The Home of the Brave and the Land of the Fre e,  this should not stand.

Staggering Statistics Pertaining to the COVID-19 Tragedy in Our Nation For every death in the USA due to COVID-19, 385 jobs have been lost. Many forever; as there are many businesses that have gone bankrupt or may not otherwise be able to reopen .  For every case  of COVID-19, 24 jobs have been lost. In most age groups, the recovery rate after contracting COVID-19 is 99%. More on this, below.  After 48 hours of utter, utter nonsense regarding COVID-19's transmissibility outdoors, the genuine situation with regard to wearing masks at all times (including outdoors) emerges. It is a token of one's 'caring.'  Put another way, wearing a mask = MAGA hat or AIDS Ribbon . It is merely a symbol of one's beliefs and has nothing to do with science or disease presentation. As Luke puts it below: Clown show? You bet! The mainstream media continues this hypocrisy in examples like this afternoon where the MSNBC reporter (outdoors) complains people are no...

As I wrote yesterday, wearing a mask outdoors in an unconstrained area is pure theatre . Others are calling it "virtue signaling." I believe outdoor mask wearing is scientific nonsense and is terrible for our social cohesion. Hours after posting, yesterday, the item at the above link, this encounter surfaced from yesterday in New York City's Central Park. Please watch and then I'll comment. Forget the terrible fact this NYC resident behaves like a bigot. Her wearing the mask is pure theatre: She approaches him (no one worried about a disease gets closer to someone who may be a carrier) then removes it to speak on the phone even though it is easy to speak on the phone while wearing the mask. In fact, removing the mask seems to make things more difficult (dialing the phone and controlling the illegally unleashed dog). No reasonable person who is genuinely worried about catching the disease would remove the mask or walk toward another, passive, person. He is not t...

The purpose of this post is to counteract some of the silliness illustrated by the mainstream media today.  If you are on a moving bicycle, you have zero chance of giving someone else COVID-19 and you have zero chance of contracting it that way. I'd worry more about a cyclist getting enough oxygen or the mask slipping and distracting the driver while in traffic or at another critical time. I'd make a similar comment after viewing the photos of former Vice President Biden's wreath laying with his wife, Jill, at a Delaware military memorial today. I intentionally chose the photo above as it is the closest he came to others -- the people who were driving his SUV. Unless the news coverage is somehow defective (I checked several news media web sites, including the Wall Street Journal ), Mr. and Mrs. Biden were not around others at any point in the ceremony. Per the Wall Street Journal, NPR, The Guardian,  and others, the masks were intended to draw a "contr...