Obama's State of the Union Address--Not Entirely True?

When President Obama said this during his State of the Union Address, Justice Alito appeared to disagree:

Last week, the Supreme Court reversed a century of law to open the floodgates for special interests – including foreign corporations – to spend without limit in our elections. Well I don’t think American elections should be bankrolled by America’s most powerful interests, or worse, by foreign entities. They should be decided by the American people, and that’s why I’m urging Democrats and Republicans to pass a bill that helps to right this wrong.

I believe Obama's claim that the Supreme Court "reversed a century of law" was not true, and I think Alito said so.

"Climategate" has an impact

Despite what silly people like Al Gore (who hasn't read any of the leaked information) say, the disclosure of emails and other files from the Climatic Research Unit that is now often called "Climategate" has an impact.

People who insist that they are scientists and that we should all trust what they say about man-made global warming can insist all they want (as they have and will), but their work deserves close scrutiny to find out how much of the warming is "man-made" in the sense that they made it by adjusting little things like the instrumental records from thermometers.

If more articles like this one in the UK Daily Mail were published in the lame-stream media, the impact would grow even greater. That is, apparently, why so many in the "news" media are reluctant to publish such things.

Climatic Research Unit Leak

Bingo! We have a winner.

There is a high likelihood that Charlie Martin has guessed the principal reason for refusing to release the University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit's data and methods:

I think there’s a good reason the CRU didn’t want to give their data to people trying to replicate their work.

It’s in such a mess that they can’t replicate their own results.

Of course, some of the data CRU started with has probably been tossed away and replaced by data they've massaged over the years to get the result they expect from their efforts to estimate the global average temperature. But that is just another facet of the same problem--even they cannot replicate their work.

And the CRU temperature estimates are a major part of the whole "global warming" hypothesis. Most of the work done by others assumes the CRU temperatures are valid and reliable.

What if they aren't?

How can anyone know?

Cherry Picking in Siberia

Who knew there were cherry trees in Siberia?

Over at Climate Audit, the cherry-picking global warmists may have been exposed.

If first appearances turn out to be correct, it will be obvious why the warmists fought so long to hide the data they claimed was the basis of some of their "hockey stick" temperature graphs.

Wanted: Impractical People

The word "visionary" is used quite a bit in this neck of the woods--maybe overused.

From the context, it appears that the people using it believe that being visionary is a good thing.

For example, the Kitsap County commissioners are looking for volunteers to serve on a budget advisory committee:

PORT ORCHARD, WA—The County Commissioners are looking for visionary citizens with some knowledge and interest in finances to serve on the Citizens Budget Advisory Committee.

Here is the definition in Webster's New World College Dictionary, 4th edition:

Visionary, adjective, (1) of, or having the nature of, or seen in a vision; (2)(a) existing only in the mind; not real; imaginary [visionary achievements]; (2)(b) not capable of being put into effect; not realistic; impractical [a visionary scheme]; (3) seeing or disposed to see visions; (4) characterized by impractical ideas or schemes. Noun, (1) a person who sees visions; prophet or seer; (2) a person whose ideas, plans, etc. are impractical, too idealistic, or fantastic; dreamer; (3) a person of strong and creative imaginative power and, often, the ability to inspire others.

Only at the last, when visionary is used as a noun, is there a definition that could be understood as a compliment--the ability to inspire others.

I doubt that the county is seeking impractical dreamers for its advisory committee, so apparently we are observing the evolution of a word in the English language. Eventually, people may not even recall when it wasn't a complimentary term.

In the meantime, it's a little amusing to see an appeal for advisors who are impractical dreamers.

States to taxpayers: "IOU a tax refund"

When the government gets "first dibs" on your earnings through income tax withholding, guess what happens if the state decides it needs your money more than you do?

That's right: you get stiffed.

ATLANTA (AP) - Colin Daymude was out of work last year after his business failed and eagerly filed his taxes in mid-January, figuring he'd get his refund sooner. He was wrong.

It took the 44-year-old entrepreneur more than six months to get his $1,300 check—money that he needed to pay living expenses while he worked a few side gigs.

Tax day—April 15—has long since come and gone, but sharp budget cuts and falling revenues have forced many states to delay income tax returns [sic; "refunds" is the word] for months—and left taxpayers longing for their money.

It's happening in Georgia, Alabama, Kansas, Missouri, Maryland, California, etc.

Here in the state of Washington, people who advocate enactment of a state income tax claim that it would provide more "stable" revenue than our existing tax structure. Is this one of the "features" of an income tax that "stabilizes" revenue?

Of course, an income tax would make Washington's tax structure even more "volatile," but you have to admit that being able to delay refunds to people who overpaid their taxes through the withholding system would give the state more money to spend for a while.

They're called "taxpayers," not "revenue sources"

Is there a government official, employee, or lobbyist/union rep for employees who doesn't wish for "stable revenue sources"?

Note this statement reported by Reuters from a lobbyist in California:

"It's been a sort of perfect storm, of a very deep recession hitting us and exposing the weakness of depending on revenue sources sensitive to economic cycles," labor lobbyist Barry Broad said.

California has every form of taxation known to man, I believe.

Yet, this (almost certainly government emloyees' union) "lobbyist" laments "the weakness of depending on revenue sources sensitive to economic cycles."

There is no perpetual motion machine, and there is no "revenue source" that isn't "sensitive to economic cycles."

Those "revenue sources" are called "taxpayers," and their available income varies in direct relation to the economy in which they earn that income.

Government employees could, I suppose, demand "stable revenue" no matter what the taxpayers' incomes are doing at the moment; but that probably isn't a viable option over the long term. Pitchforks, torches, tar and feathers, and split fence rails for the celebratory ride out of town may be out of the question; but our votes surely could be influenced by such a demand.