Michael Yon “Arrested”

Is there nothing that Obama can’t do?

Got arrested at the Seattle airport for refusing to say how much money I make. (The uniformed ones say I was not “arrested”, but they definitely handcuffed me.) Their videos and audios should show that I was polite, but simply refused questions that had nothing to do with national security. Port authority police eventually came — they were professionals — and rescued me from the border bullies. . . . When they handcuffed me, I said that no country has ever treated me so badly. Not China. Not Vietnam. Not Afghanistan. Definitely not Singapore or India or Nepal or Germany, not Brunei, not Indonesia, or Malaysia, or Kuwait or Qatar or United Arab Emirates. No county has treated me with the disrespect that can be expected from our border bullies.

So much for hope. But change! That’s another matter.

Y2Kyoto: You Don’t Need No Stinking Natural Gas

(bumped)
Now is the time at SDA when we juxtapose!
Times, Jan 3, 2010 – “The UK has 259 onshore wind farms, of which 108 are in England, 91 in Scotland, 33 in Wales and 27 in Northern Ireland. Planning permission has been granted for a further 222 and there are plans for another 270 after that.”
Express, Jan.5, 2010 – “SHIVERING Britain faces the prospect of gas supply shortages as the worst cold spell in 30 years keeps a stranglehold on the country.”
(Of course, we coulda warned ’em that the wind don’t blow when it’s cold, but what would a bunch of prairie hicks know about the reliability of wind power, anyway?)
Update: More…
neg.jpg
First shipment of unsold Al Gore books leaves dock in British relief effort… developing …..

The Libranos

Hard hit by the voter imposed ban on paper bags;

Six MPs who ran for the Liberal leadership in 2006 — including eventual winner Stéphane Dion — have missed the year-end deadline to repay loans made to their campaigns, the party says.
Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand in 2008 granted the candidates 18-month extensions to pay off debts, but the party admits tough economic times and the recurring possibility of another election meant they couldn’t meet the date.
Dion and MPs Gerard Kennedy, Martha Hall-Findlay, Maurizio Bevilacqua, Joe Volpe and Hedy Fry were all given extensions that expired on New Year’s Eve.

2009 Weblog Awards

Victims of their own success;

We really tried to solve the resource problems with new ideas (such as cloud computing) this year, but ultimately we were not able to make things work to our satisfaction. I’m very proud of the voting platform we built for The Weblog Awards over the years, and the quality voting experience we’ve been able to deliver. The one thing I will not do is compromise that voting experience.
Rather than run a competition that had a high possibility of technically failing, the more prudent choice seemed to be regroup and consider our alternatives for hosting these awards going forward.
Thank you to those who have supported The Weblog Awards over the years, we appreciate your support, and our sorry we couldn’t make things work this year.

Meanwhile, waves of relief wash over Moronland…
(Thanks everyone).

The Humane Society Gravy Train

But it’s tofu-based, cruelty free gravy!

[The Humane Society of the United States] collected over $86 million in contributions, and spent more than $24 million on fundraising, including $4 million on professional fundraisers. Think about it: 28 cents of every dollar contributed to HSUS goes back out the door to raise more money. HSUS even paid a single “lockbox” company more than $4.2 million to count and process its cash hauls. We won’t comment on that company’s curious “ALF” initials (for Arizona Lockbox & Fulfillment).
And with all this cash flying around, it’s no surprise that 41 HSUS employees made at least $100,000 last year. All told, HSUS paid out over $30.9 million in salaries, wages, and other employee compensation.

Meanwhile…

HSUS gave only a little more than $450,000—that’s just half of one percent of its total budget—in grants to organizations providing hands-on care to dogs and cats. That’s less than 11 percent of what it paid “ALF” (see above) just to count its money.

Continue reading →

Climategate: East Anglia Is Still Lying

SDA gets results! Homeland Security Newswire;

New information reveals that the now-famous break-in of the computers at the University of East Anglia— which revealed that in a few instances leading climatologists seemingly massaged data to show more global warming and discussed excluding contradictory research— in fact, may not have been the act of an intruder. A detailed analysis of the East Anglia’s files by Canadian network engineer discloses that the emails and documents were likely leaked by an internal source, spotlighting a perennial but often neglected threat — old-fashioned espionage or whistle-blowing.

These files were compiled internally, not by “hackers” – that much is certain. (How they were released to the wild is different question.) That East Anglia has still to acknowledge the provenance of the documents is a compelling reminder that nothing they say about the contents should be taken at face value.

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