Mover Mike

# Will win
* Should win

Best Picture-Correct
"Babel"
"The Departed" #
"Letters from Iwo Jima"
"Little Miss Sunshine"
"The Queen"

Best Actor in a Leading Role-Correct
Leonardo DiCaprio for "Blood Diamond"
Ryan Gosling for "Half Nelson"
Peter O'Toole for "Venus"
Will Smith for "The Pursuit Of Happyness"
Forest Whitaker for "The Last King Of Scotland" #

Best Actress in a Leading Role-Correct
Penélope Cruz for "Volver"
Judi Dench for "Notes On A Scandal"
Helen Mirren for "The Queen" #
Meryl Streep for "The Devil Wears Prada"
Kate Winslet for " Little Children"

Best Director-Correct
Clint Eastwood for "Letters From Iwo Jima"
Stephen Frears for "The Queen"
Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu for "Babel"
Paul Greengrass for "United 93"
Martin Scorsese for "The Departed" #

Best Supporting Actor-Wrong
Alan Arkin for "Little Miss Sunshine"-Winner
Jackie Earle Haley for "Little Children"
Djimon Hounsou for "Blood Diamond"
Eddie Murphy for "Dreamgirls" #
Mark Wahlberg for "The Departed"

Best Supporting Actress-Correct
Adriana Barraza for "Babel"
Cate Blanchett for "Notes On A Scandal"
Abigail Breslin for "Little Miss Sunshine"
Jennifer Hudson for "Dreamgirls" #
Rinko Kikuchi for "Babel"

Best Foreign Film-The "Should Win" Did Win
"After the Wedding " (Denmark)
"Days of Glory" (Algeria)
"The Lives Of Others" (Germany)*-Winner
"Pan's Labyrinth" (Mexico) #
"Water" (Canada)

Best Screenplay - Adapted-Wrong
Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines,
Peter Baynham and Dan Mazer for "Borat"
Alfonso Cuarón & Timothy J. Sexton for "Children of Men"#
William Monahan for "The Departed"-Winner
Todd Field & Tom Perrotta for "Little Children"
Patrick Marber for "Notes On A Scandal"

Best Screenplay - Original-Wrong
Guillermo Arriaga for "Babel"
Iris Yamashita for "Letters from Iwo Jima"
Michael Arndt for "Little Miss Sunshine"-Winner
Guillermo Del Toro for "Pan's Labyrinth" #
Peter Morgan for "The Queen"

Academy Awards Oscars Predictions Mover Mike

Update:

According to Al Gore, unless we do something serious, 630,000 cubic miles of ice on Greenland will melt and by 2100, sea levels will rise over 20 feet. Michaels writes:

According to satellite data published in Science in November 2005, Greenland was losing about 25 cubic miles of ice per year. Dividing that by 630,000 yields the annual percentage of ice loss, which, when multiplied by 100, shows that Greenland was shedding ice at 0.4 percent per century.(emphasis added)

Science published another paper showing that the recent acceleration of Greenland’s ice loss from its huge glaciers has suddenly reversed.

The Kyoto Protocol, if fulfilled by every signatory, would reduce global warming by 0.07 degrees Celsius per half-century. That’s too small to measure, because the earth’s temperature varies by more than that from year to year.

But it’s well-known that even if we turned every kernel of American corn into ethanol, it would displace only 12 percent of our annual gasoline consumption. The effect on global warming, like Kyoto, would be too small to measure, though the U.S. would become the first nation in history to burn up its food supply to please a political mob.

An Inconvenient Truth Al Gore Patrick J. Michaels Greenland Ethanol Corn Mover Mike

Peaceful farmer Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson) is driven to lead the Colonial Militia during the American Revolution when a sadistic British officer murders his son.

The sad truth is, we refuse to recognize evil because we don’t want the responsibility and the risk involved in fighting evil. To see a great evil makes one responsible for doing something. The moral choice is clear. If you see a baby crawling towards a cliff, you have a responsibility to pull the baby from danger.

His people suffered decades under a regime of arbitrary arrest, torture and murder.

Do we sense the danger? No. We are busy clinging to a high lifestyle. We want to enjoy the good things. We spend money we do not have. We borrow and encourage an entitlement mentality in our young people. We’ve lost our thrift. We no longer believe in duty. And now we haven’t the time or the energy to recognize enemies (foreign and domestic). For those who think the U.S. is playing the “great” international game, I have news. The U.S. isn’t playing at all. The U.S. doesn’t have a coherent strategy and doesn’t possess institutions capable of coming up with one. We are fighting a war “against terror” while the big enemies with the big battalions set us up for the kill. America is not as powerful as people generally think. Military power is often misunderstood because of its complexity. You see, even if Russia and China are weaker than the United States (and that is debatable), their ruthlessness grants them a kind of power that we cannot master. It is the power that every dictator builds upon.

We tolerate fools in this country who would wad our Constitution, destroy our currency, spend us into the poor house, make us beholden to foreigners, export the production of critical systems to China, count Putin as our friend and attempt to force our one friend in the Middle East, Israel, into stupid "land for peace" schemes. We worry more about the hoax of global warming and the death of Anna Nicole-Smith than about the evil that gloats at our ineptitude.

There are voices today, just as there were in 1936. There are environmental fascists, socialists, minority racists and America-haters. Do we remember what such voices signify? Promising freedom they will deliver the exact opposite.

The Patriot J. R. Nyquist Iraq Iran Putin Mover Mike

...a continental-scale seismic observatory designed to provide a foundation for integrated studies of continental lithosphere and deep Earth structure over a wide range of scales. USArray will provide new insight and new data to address fundamental questions in earthquake physics, volcanic processes, core-mantle interactions, active deformation and tectonics, continental structure and evolution, geodynamics, and crustal fluids (magmatic, hydrothermal, and meteoric).

This array gives us a lower threshold of quake detection then we previously had, which means it is quite possible these type of earthquakes have been occurring for quite some time right under our noses.

We are definitely watching this area with much interest and once we learn more we will post it to our site.

Maupin, Oregon Earthscope Mover Mike

Maupin, Oregon, geologically, has been more active recently and I have been searching for clues as to why. One possible reason: the subduction zone built the Cascades and may be responsible for the Maupin quakes. It also could be related to the activity in the Three Sisters or Newberry Crater.

In addition, to the north of maupin, at Tygh Valley is an anticline that has been active.

In structural geology, an anticline is a fold that is convex up or to the youngest beds.

Update:

MAP 2.0 2007/02/23 14:43:46 45.126 -120.933 17.0 13 km ( 8 mi) ESE of Maupin, OR

Update:

I loved Stephanie. She was sexy, great hair and great voice.

Amy--?

Leslie--cute

I loved Sabrina--I immediately thought of Barbara Streisand. What a voice and what emotion.

Antonelli--nervous, bad enunciation, cute, looks like my daughter, but will be lucky to make it past Thursday.

I loved Jordin--!!

Nicole--great voice, funky, weird body movements and weird song.

Haley--Great voice, but Miss America-ish.

I loved Melinda--"She blew it out the box, baby!"

Elena--seems to need better breath control.

I loved Gina

I loved LaKisha--my word, this lady has a big future!

American Idol Mover Mike

Boy I have it exactly opposite. These three I have as MOST likely to be voted off on Thursday.

American Idol DialIdol.com Mover Mike

House Republicans Oregon Cigarette Tax Healthy Kids Plan Dennis Richardson Mover Mike

Jennifer Aniston has sued to keep her breasts from being seen by the public. If you Google "Jennifer Aniston" there are 1,310,000 entries, and they are spelling her name right. I have labored to find for you the topless photo of our Miss Jen so you won't have to. After all Vince Vaughn got to see them and so should we. They look pretty good and real and she is 40!. It doesn't appear that she has an all-over tan. I still think Brad made a BIG mistake!

Jennifer Aniston Topless Mover Mike

Update:

I think Stevie Wonder has to be the toughest guy to sing so I gave props to Sanjaya. The judges thought the performance sucked, but I enjoyed it. There were two Chrises. I heard the curly haired one sing. Ralph the dog had to go outside for the other Chris. I liked the one I heard. Besides those two, I liked Brandon, Paul, Nick, Blake. A.J., Phil and Jared. The judges gave Sundance a hard time, as it seemed they did to all twelve. Phil was the last one to sing and got kudos from Randy as the best of the night, but he looks like he's going through chemo.

I don't think it should be legal for a white guy to shave his head. No matter how close he shaves, his head still looks like a limb that's been in a cast for six months. And you can see all the brown spots, the weird little bumps, and the stubble lying just below the skin. Face it, black guys look good with shaved heads. It shines. It's sleek! Their heads look good with beads of sweat. I expect a black man with a shaved head to be good at sports, good with women and able to sing Stevie Wonder.

American Idol Mover Mike

Panicked residents fled shaking buildings on islands in the Maluku Sea and the powerful earthquake briefly triggered a tsunami warning.

Update:

Snow Oswego, NY Mover Mike

Update:

He does have some photos of Oswego's storm at http://lakeshoreimages.com/snowstorm.html

Net Foreign Acquisition of Long-Term Securities

See that last month of $2.5 Billion. That's the net inflow of capital. We use that inflow to finance our trade deficit. The last four months have looked like this:

We more than covered the Trade deficit in Sept. and Oct., but fell slightly short in Nov. and really missed the boat in Dec. 2006. The WSJ says, ...foreign investors, too, may be starting to lose their appetite for U.S. securities.

Steve Roach of Morgan Stanley in TIC Tock wrote:

Talk of portfolio diversification intensified, ultimately culminating in China’s recent announcement that it would allocate around $200 billion of its more than $1 trillion in reserves toward the start-up of a Singapore-GIC-style multi-asset fund. With most reserve managers having massive overweights in dollar-denominated assets, such diversification strategies can only complicate America’s external financing needs.

TIC Report Trade Deficit Steve Roach John Mauldin Mover Mike

Update:

By Heidi Thiess of Euphoric Reality

Mexico.

That's who.

Yes, you read that right. The latest information has uncovered the undue political pressure that Mexico put on our government, and how the White House easily caved. They didn't even ask questions it seems. Here's what happened:

Update:

...what would inflation look like, if the pause from May to September in Copper, Aluminum, Lead and Zinc, was a prelude to following Nickel higher?

From Yahoo today, Base metals pause but nickel in spotlight

The metals has risen by around 15 percent this year and by more than 60 percent since January 2006 on jitters about scarce supplies and strong demand from stainless steel mills. Around two-thirds of nickel output is used for stainless steel.

1. Tin was higher at $13,250/13,350 a tonne from $13,000 on Thursday, when it hit a new record high of $13,200.
2. Aluminium slipped to $2,797/2,802 a tonne from $2,815 on Thursday, but is challenging the highs set in May, 2006.

   

3. Copper was steady at $5,840/5,855 a tonne after hitting a five-week high of $5,935 on Thursday. Copper is still a long way from its highs.

   

4. Zinc slid to $3,390/3,405 a tonne from $3,430 on Thursday and lead was little changed at $1,755/1,765 from $1,750. Zinc found support at last years lows near $2,800 a tonne.

   

IMO, the inflation numbers will get worse, looking at the base metals and factoring in the pressure on grain prices from the use of corn for ethanol. In addition, gasoline prices are expected to be back at $3.00 per gallon come May.

Copper Aluminum Lead Zinc Base Metals Corn Ethanol Mover Mike

She taped the pictures, one on each door, to the inside of the pantry. I see them every morning when I get the coffee beans and the grinder for the morning coffee. This morning I was struck by the items in the pantry and the haughty look on Prince Charles' face. I took one of the 3 by 5 cards that we keep on the 'fridge and wrote:

You put that in your mouth? What kind of people are you?

Stewed Tomatos!? I love things that are stewed. In fact, I'm stewed!

drafting legislation to require the Pentagon to meet certain standards for training and equipping the troops, as well fixing the time that military units must be given at home between deployments. "That stops the surge (in troops) for all intents and purposes, because ......they cannot sustain the deployment," said Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, who said he would attach the conditions to legislation providing nearly $100 billion for the military.

Republicans quickly fired back. Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, the GOP leader, issued a statement saying the plan would "pull the rug out from under American troops in the combat zone by cutting off their reinforcements and forcing them to face the enemy without our full support."

Democrats Republicans Iraq Mover Mike

...that our global gold forecast remain unchanged at an average of $700/oz for this year and $750/oz for 2008/09. “We would not be surprised to see a test of the old highs of $850/oz at some point..."

The analysts urged Barrick to “aggressively reduce the hedgebook. …Aggressive de-hedging could benefit Barrick in several ways: 1) Likely driving the gold price higher in the short term, with fabrication demand preventing full retracement; 2) Removing a longstanding barrier to ownership for thematic investors; and 3) Signaling to others that ‘the last bears have thrown in the towel.’”

Barrick ABX Citigroup Gold Mover Mike

Tomorrow we learn who's in the top 24. The producers have kept the very good singers under wraps. I have no expectations for this group and no expectations that there is anyone who will knock my socks off. That's good television. I'm sure the excitement will slowly build until we all have our favorites.

Ashlyn Carr Anerican Idol Mover Mike

MAP 2.8 2007/02/13 18:39:32 45.128 -120.943 21.1 12 km ( 8 mi) ESE of Maupin, OR

MAP 1.9 2007/02/13 17:48:20 45.503 -122.668 32.7 3 km ( 2 mi) SW of Portland, OR
# 3 km (2 miles) SW (223°) from Portland, OR
# 7 km (4 miles) ENE (74°) from Raleigh Hills, OR
# 7 km (4 miles) NNW (332°) from Milwaukie, OR

Update:

MAP 1.6 2007/02/14 00:00:12 44.038 -121.355 0.2 4 km ( 3 mi) WSW of Bend, OR

Fitzgerald’s Disaster: Wilson Outed Plame

The Trade Deficit for December, 2006 came in at $61.18 Billion and brings the annual 2006 trade shortfall up 6.5% to an all-time high of $763.59 billion.

Trade Deficit USD Gold Mover Mike

Laidlaw, the school bus company that is the contractor for the Portland Public Schools received a $2.8 Billion buy-out offer from First Group, of Scotland, whose U.S. subsidiary First Student carries students to school in the tri-county area.

Based in Naperville, Ill., Laidlaw Education Services is the largest private contractor of student transportation services in North America.

As the industry leader, Laidlaw is responsible for transporting more than 2 million students to and from school every day with the largest, most modern school bus fleet on the road.

First Student, Inc. is responsible for safely transporting nearly two million students to and from school every day.

Mover Mike is an official card carrying member of the ATU.

Laidlaw First Student PPS Mover Mike

We are still closely watching the Border Patrol case, especially after last week's explosive news that the DHS had lied to Congressmen who were looking into the case. Close on the heels of that shocking revelation, we noted that US Attorney Johnny Sutton, the prosecutor in this case, has lied openly and repeatedly about this case to the media. In an effort to counter Sutton's lies, here is one of his favorite public statements about Border Patrol agents Ramos and Compean deconstructed:

"These guys did very serious crimes and once anybody who knows all the facts of this case — the fact that they shot at an unarmed guy 15 times, lied about it, covered it up, destroyed the evidence ... it's hard for me to imagine a prosecutor would look the other way," he said.

A spokesman said it was the strongest earthquake to hit Andalusia for ten years.

Hat tip to Ricky.org

American Idol American Idol Mover Mike

Why do banks charge a fee on “insufficient funds” when they know there is not enough money?

Why doesn’t glue stick to the bottle?

Why do they use sterilized needles for death by lethal injection?

Why does Superman stop bullets with his chest, but ducks when you throw a revolver at him?

I'm Ellen Goodman 90% positive that The Voice has asked all the Why questions, but just in case, do you have anymore?

I thought of one that is not covered. Why when there are just the two of us who live in our home, does my wife ask, "Who nicked the table?" Or "Who drank all of the Orange Juice?"

Update:

Update:

Building a Strong Military
I serve with one purpose in mind; ensuring that America’s military is second to none.

Supporting U.S. Military Men and Women
“America’s most important national security asset is the U.S. soldier.

Fielding a National Missile Defense

Targeting Terrorists
“Our success in protecting America from terrorists is completely dependant upon our ability to obtain and utilize reliable intelligence data.

Honoring the Sanctity of Life
Pro-Life

Protecting our Children from Predators
Predators should be prevented any opportunity from making contact with our children and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and parents should be given all resources available to keep their kids safe.

Defending the Institution of Marriage

Preserving America’s Religious Heritage
It is a disservice when liberal, activist groups and judges like the American Civil Liberties Union and California’s 9th Circuit of Appeals wage a relentless battle to remove any mention of God from public life in America and these efforts need to be challenged.

Keeping American Industry and Jobs in the U.S.
“American workers are the most productive and innovative labor force in the world. Unfortunately, they are asked to compete in an unfair environment against other workers who make only a fraction of a living wage and are employed by companies that face few, if any, responsibilities to the environment or the long-term prospects of their employees. Our domestic manufacturers are forced to compete against foreign companies that benefit from their country’s currency and regulatory regimes. Ominously, China is cheating on trade and using billions of American trade dollars to build ships, planes and missiles at an alarming rate while, at the same time, taking millions of American jobs. I will reverse this “one-way street” with a new policy of fair trade for the American worker. He needs to tell us how. Financially, we have little leverage with the Chinese.

Protecting America’s Small Businesses
I support creating National Association Health Plans that allow small business to band together and purchase health insurance at group rates. In addition, I believe we must revamp our nation’s medical liability laws to help control skyrocketing costs and increase affordability for small business owners and their employees, cutting down on abusive and frivolous bankruptcy filings and lawsuits, and reforming OSHA regulations that seek to inhibit the small business community rather than build on its ingenuity and potential.

Reducing the Tax Burden
Reform our tax laws with the goal of making them simpler, fair and more growth oriented. This includes providing overall tax relief for working families, creating incentives for higher education and deductions for teachers that purchase their own supplies, extending reduced tax rates on capital gains and dividend income, reforming the Alternative Minimum Tax, permanent repealing the Estate Tax and the Marriage Penalty, and continuing to implement Research and Development tax credits. By replacing our current convoluted and fraud-ridden system with more simplified tax requirements, I am confident we will be able to meet the dual goals of providing core government services and returning much-needed income back to our families and small businesses.

I would like Hunter to read Rep. Ron Paul's website for more ideas.

Rudy Giuliani Republican John McCain Rep. Ron Paul Gold Rep. Duncan Hunter Mover Mike

SEA LEVELS: Projects rises of 7-23 inches by the end of the century. An additional 3.9-7.8 inches are possible if recent, surprising melting of polar ice sheets continues.

The World Climate Report is a concise, hard-hitting and scientifically correct response to the global change reports which gain attention in the literature and popular press. As the nation’s leading publication in this realm, World Climate Report is exhaustively researched, impeccably referenced, and always timely. This popular web log points out the weaknesses and outright fallacies in the science that is being touted as “proof” of disastrous warming.

Its clear

...from the actual data that (a) sea level is generally rising, (b) the rate of rise decelerated during the 20th century, (c) the rate of sea level rise over the past two decades has been both positive and negative, (d) the rate of sea level rise has been quite small over the last few years, and (e) stations can witness an increase or decrease of sea level quite independently of one another.

Last summer, Dr. Wingham and three colleagues published an article in the journal of the Royal Society that casts further doubt on the notion that global warming is adversely affecting Antarctica. By studying satellite data from 1992 to 2003 that surveyed 85% of the East Antarctic ice sheet and 51% of the West Antarctic ice sheet (72% of the ice sheet covering the entire land mass), they discovered that the Antarctic ice sheet is growing at the rate of 5 millimetres per year (plus or minus 1 mm per year). That makes Antarctica a sink, not a source, of ocean water. According to their best estimates, Antarctica will "lower [authors' italics] global sea levels by 0.08 mm" per year.

IPCC Global Warming World Climate Report S.J. Holgate Lawrence Solomon rising sea levels melting of polar ice sheets Mover Mike

Update:

Susan Schmidt Bies submitted her resignation this morning as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

The GATA Dispatch has some thoughts that have a ring of validity:

Bies has been a centrist on monetary policy and has never dissented in her six years on the Fed Board.

With markets viewing an increasing possibility of rate hikes in coming months that could slow the U.S. economy in the 2008 presidential election year, Bush's nominees for the posts could have significant influence over Fed policy.

"I think the dollar will do what it wants to do . . . If the current account deficit doesn’t change, then at some point something is going to have to give. It seems to me that it’s very likely there’s going to have to be an adjustment of the dollar.

Keep in mind that the FED is a cabal of banks worried more about their bottom lines than the country. Bies sin, according to GATA Dispatch

is she played a leading role on bank regulatory issues and was heavily involved with efforts to implement a new global bank capital accord known Basel II, which will start a three-year phase-in period in 2009 among the largest U.S. banks.

The accord, which requires banks to apply sophisticated risk management models to determine the amount of capital they hold against potential losses, came under criticism from U.S. lawmakers after test simulations showed big capital reductions for many banks.

She also influenced bank regulators' efforts to tighten mortgage underwriting standards as a five-year housing boom ran out of steam.

Susan Schmidt Bies Federal Reserve USD Derivatives GATA Mover Mike

I would like to say we're at a point where global warming is impossible to deny. Let's just say that global warming deniers are now on a par with Holocaust deniers, though one denies the past and the other denies the present and future.

The certainty of the human role is now somewhere over 90 percent. Which is about as certain as scientists ever get.

Well, to be called a denier and make the comparison between the Holocaust and Global Warming is an affront to my intelligence. Goodman can just kiss my ass and I'm 100% certain where it is, but I don't believe she can find hers with 90% certainty!

Ellen Goodman Boston Globe Global Warming Mover Mike

Update:

Dr. Edward Wegman, professor at the Center for Computational Statistics at George Mason University, chair of the National Academy of Sciences' Committee on Applied and Theoretical Statistics, and board member of the American Statistical Association was called on by Congress to assess statistical validity of work by Michael Mann, who gave us that famous "hockey stick." Dr. Edward Wegman believed there were statistical mistakes made and when they were corrected, the hockey stick of rising temperatures disapppeared. Wegman summed up his testimony with this comment:

"I am baffled by the claim that the incorrect method doesn't matter because the answer is correct anyway. Method Wrong + Answer Correct = Bad Science." With bad science, only true believers can assert that they nevertheless obtained the right answer.

Dr. Edward Wegman

http://dingo.care2.com/cards/flash/5409/galaxy.swf

MAP 1.0 2007/02/07 06:27:14 45.113 -120.931 10.9 14 km ( 9 mi) ESE of Maupin, OR

Update:

Golden Star Resources (GSS) is FINALLY living up to its enormous potential:

Yesterday's earnings report/operations outlook was by far the best one they have released in the 5 years I have been following the Company. It appears that their sulfide extraction system is going to be successful. If that is the case, GSS has 10 million proved ounces of extractable gold, not counting their new exploration projects. Using $650 gold, and using a conservative cash cost of extraction of $350/oz., the gives GSS an implied asset value of $3 billion. You can draw your own future valuations based on your expectations of the future gold price. GSS's current market cap is $737 million - that implies that GSS is undervalued by a factor of 4 times, using todays price of gold. Assuming yesterday's earnings report is reliable, GSS is now my favorite mid-tier mining stock...Dave in Denver

Golden Star Resources GSS Gold Mover Mike

The Administration’s proposals for the new Farm Bill include $210 million to support an estimated $2.1 billion in loan guarantees for cellulosic ethanol projects in rural areas, and another $500 million to fund a "Bioenergy and Biobased Product Research Initiative".

The subsidy that counts is the volumetric ethanol excise tax credit (VEETC), which pays companies $0.51 (a) gallon for every gallon of pure ethyl alcohol they blend with gasoline for sale as a fuel. Companies that blend “agribiodiesel” get $1.00 per gallon. (emphasis added)

Also not counted in our $118 billion figure are state-level incentives, many of which are in the neighborhood of $0.20 per gallon, and some of which range as high as $0.50 per gallon.

House Bill 2210 is big and complex, delving into state land-use laws, petroleum markets, tax law and agriculture policy. The end result, however, could be a shift away from food production at some farms to take advantage of growing government and consumer interest in alternative fuels.

A new tax credit for farmers who grow crops for biofuel and for those who refine the raw product into fuel. The amount of credit is yet to be determined and will be discussed when the bill goes before the House Revenue Committee.

BTW, I haven't had a chance to read the article, but Speaking Truth To Power has a lengthy article, THE DIRTY TRUTH ABOUT BIOFUELS -- Another Carolyn Baker.Org Exclusive By Dale Allen Pfeiffer

Ronald Steenblik GSI biofuel Corn Ethanol Mover Mike

Mike is awesome and has some discussion going on about (George) Taylor.

I see a strong correlation between sunspot activity and temperature, but a negative corelation with CO2! SOS thinks that we are in a period between glacial periods called the Holocene.

We are reaching the end of the Holocene. It has already gone on 2,500 years longer than average. Solar irradiation is declining with the slow but steady pace of astral rhythms

SOS Forests goes on in another post about the IPCC. He quotes The Oregonian writing about the report:

About 85 percent of Oregon’s release of greenhouse gases is in the form of carbon dioxide.

… The major source of carbon dioxide emissions is the burning of fossil fuels.

Then they broke down the CO2 emissions into percentages: 42.5 power plants, 37.7 transportation, 11.9 industry, 4.6 residential, 3.3 commercial.

Note that forest fires are not mentioned, nor is biological decomposition. Individually the B & B Fire in 2003 released more greenhouse gases in two weeks than all human-generated GHG’s that year in Oregon. The Biscuit Fire of 2002 was five times bigger than the B & B. (emphasis added)

Nationally, 9,725,000 acres burned in wildfires last year, and an additional 2,845,000 burned in prescribed fires.

Come on people, can you smell the stupidity?

Michael E. Dubrasich Holocene greenhouse gases Mover Mike

200,000th Visitor Ashlyn Carr American Idol Mover Mike

Mercury News.com (registration required) has an interview with Jeff Probst, surviving host for 14 seasons and Probst talks about the twists for Survivor: Fiji. The real big twist:The real big one:

When the 19 contestants in Survivor: Fiji arrive on the island, they will be given the means to build the most elaborate camp in the history of the show. Then they'll find out that they will be split into two tribes, one of which gets to keep that camp and one of which must relocate with only a machete and a pot.

[...]

He also suggests that the tribe that gets the posh digs may not get to keep them: "You have to see it play out. Just because you won the shelter doesn't mean the other team won't take it."

There also will be changes with the immunity idol-Exile Island aspect of the game. This time, those sent off to Exile Island will find clues to where the idol is located -- back at their camps. That means there are two idols in play, and those looking for them will have to do so with the other survivors looking over their shoulders.

I know there are many of you out there who can't wait for Survivor to start, including my brother-in-law, Jae Equall. Hope I'm not giving away any secrets, Jae.

Survivor: Fiji Jeff Probst American Idol Mover Mike

THROUGH THE FIRST 6 DAYS OF FEBRUARY...NORTHERN MICHIGAN IS EXPERIENCING AMONG THE TOP 10 COLDEST STARTS TO FEBRUARY IN THE LAST 100 YEARS.

Sweden said Wednesday it would give its reindeer herders millions of euros (dollars) in emergency aid to help them feed their animals, which are starving because of thick ice that is preventing them from reaching the lichen they eat.

DOBBS: More outrage tonight over the prison beating of former Border Patrol agent Ignacio Ramos. Members of Congress are now demanding an investigation into that attack.

In addition, damaging new information tonight showing that the Department of Homeland Security lied to Congress, information contradicting the Bush administration's version of events and the stated reason for prosecuting those two Border Patrol agents.

Casey Wian has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Congressional Republicans are again demanding that President Bush intervene on behalf of former Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, now serving 11 and 12 years in prison for shooting and wounding a Mexican illegal alien drug smuggler. As we've reported, Ramos was beaten severely in prison over the weekend by men yelling insults in Spanish.

ROHRABACHER: If these men, after -- especially after this assault are murdered in prison, if one of them lose their lives, there's going to be some kind of impeachment talk in Capitol Hill.

WIAN: Supporters of the former agents delivered nearly 300,000 petitions to Congress Wednesday, demanding they be released. Eighty lawmakers, all Republicans, are sponsoring a bill that would pardon Ramos and Compean. So far, President Bush has refused to even consider the idea.

REP. WALTER JONES (R), NORTH CAROLINA: This decision is up to one person, the president of the United States. I don't know how many letters individually and collectively we have all sent and signed. And yet, the indifference by this White House is unacceptable.

Let's not wait too long with that sober look before you do what is right. And doing what is right is to return these men to their families and let the families understand that justice still prevails in America.

WIAN: At the same time, lawmakers released a long-awaited report on the case from the Homeland Security Department's Office of Inspector General. It fails to answer several key questions, including, why did the Justice Department prosecute the agents before the report was complete? And why did homeland security investigators tell several members of Congress they had evidence the agents were out to shoot Mexicans when Inspector General Richard Skinner admitted to lawmaker this week that was not true.

REP. JOHN CULBERSON (R), TEXAS: I asked Inspector General Richard Skinner, "Where are those statement and are they true? These statements that were made by your investigators, sir, are they true?" And he said under oath, "I'm sorry, Congressman, we misled you. Those statements were not true."

WIAN: Culberson is now demanding the resignation of three Homeland Security Department investigators. The key question remains: Why did U.S. attorney Johnny Sutton choose to vigorously prosecutor two Border Patrol agents for actions resulting from their pursuit of a drug smuggler, yet grant immunity, medical care and a temporary border crossing card to an admitted illegal alien drug smuggler?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIAN: Sutton's ties to President Bush date back to at least to the mid-1990s, when he served as chief criminal adviser to then-Texas Governor Bush -- Lou.

DOBBS: And it's clear this prosecution originated in Washington, D.C. The inspector general's report, the idea that to hear Skinner, the IG, sit there and just blithely, we lied to you, Congress -- we've been reporting on this broadcast from the outset, and we were the first to do so, that this thing didn't make any sense from the very beginning.

Why in the world is the White House, why are the Democrats in Congress not responding on this issue?

WIAN: The Democrats in Congress are really silent on this issue, and it is, as you say, Lou, quite surprising. We talked to staff members of Duncan Hunter, who's the sponsor of that bill that would that pardon the agents. DOBBS: Right.

WIAN: They say they hope to have Democratic support for that bill soon. But in reality, he said -- the source that I spoke with said he thought maybe the Democrats are thinking this is a Republican issue and they don't want to sign on to it at this point. He thinks when enough public pressure is put on the Democrats, enough outrage from constituents -- and it's not just people who live in Republican districts who are outraged about this case -- that then they'll start seeing some Democrat sign on to this effort, and fairly soon -- Lou.

DOBBS: I mean, this is outrageous. They actually prosecuted this case before the investigation was completed.

WIAN: And it's one of the -- one of the unanswerable at this point questions about the timing of all this.

You know, as we've been reporting for several days, the fact that Johnny Sutton has said they couldn't go after the drug smuggler because they didn't have enough evidence to prosecute him for smuggling 750 pounds of marijuana into the United States, well, the OIG report clearly states -- it's out, it's public today -- it clearly states that a Border Patrol agent knew 16 days in advance of his decision to grant immunity to that drug smuggler, that in fact the smuggler admitted that he was on a drug-smuggling mission when he was shot.

DOBBS: And the further fact is, this drug smuggler, this illegal alien drug smuggler that became the darling of Johnny Sutton and his prosecutorial team in Texas, he, in point of fact, had been arrested subsequently for then $1 million in drugs for a second time and they held that away from the defense and from the jury.

WIAN: A lot of information was held from the defense and the jury. You know, we've talked about the trial transcripts we're still waiting to receive. And that's going to shed a lot more light on this case -- Lou.

DOBBS: Yes, it can. And, you know, one thing that I think a light that needs to be shined is on the U.S. Justice Department, the attorney general of that department, and the Department of Homeland Security, because this is just -- as Congressman Rohrabacher said, something smells here and it smells very badly.

Casey Wian, thank you for your outstanding reporting on this from the very beginning. We appreciate it. Thank you, sir.

WIAN: OK.

DOBBS: That brings us to the subject of our poll. Do you believe that DHS officials should be held accountable for lying to Congress about Border Patrol agents Compean and Ramos? Yes or no?

Please cast your vote at loudobbs.com. The results coming up here later. Coming right up, a blistering assessment of management and leadership failures at the Department of Homeland Security. That special report.

And then, are you fed up with Washington? A third political party appears to be in the making. We'll tell you about Unity '08.

The county's dream of having an herbicide-free, eco-friendly road-maintenance program has hit a giant pothole.

To the dismay of the Board of Supervisors (down near Santa Cruz) — which placed a moratorium on the use of herbicide by county workers in 2005 — the county's Public Works Department on Tuesday reported it doesn't have the money or the equipment to mow the blackberry, poison oak and scotch broom sprouting along the 600 miles of public road in the unincorporated county.

Mowing costs about $3,000 per mile; herbicide spraying runs about $140 a mile. Last year, county crews mowed along just 45 miles of road. That left overgrown weeds blocking drivers' vision, spreading into farmers' fields and shooting up through the blacktop.

Sen. Hillary R. Clinton herbicide Mover Mike