Blogging hiatus

I’m off to Maine through Monday, to tend to a (very) sick son. Back here for a few days, then I’ll be returning to Maine. Depending on internet access and preoccupation, I’ll probably post a bit during the next two weeks, but maybe not. Check in, from time to time – who knows?

How did I get on the Democrat’s mailing list?

Just arrived in my mail box

I am Mrs. Aisha EI Umar, the wife of Mr. El Ibrahim Umar, I am a citizen of Bahrain. My husband worked with Shell in Malaysia for thirty years before he died in the year 2006. We were married for ten years without a child. I have a last wish I would like to discuss with you, if you are interested, please reply immediately.

Where have we seen this before?

Obama says goodbye to Carney.

 

 

 

 

 

Michael Corleone says goodbye to Fredo

Obama will shut down our electrical generation capacity, and it won’t do a thing to stop global warming

 

Oh my God, it’s getting hotter as I speak!
(Actual photo of Obama play acting while addressing Georgetown students on climate change)

Not a thing – China and India will more than take up the slack.

Trimming carbon emissions from U.S. power plants by 25 percent in coming decades, as Obama is said to be proposing, would be more than overwhelmed by increases in China and India where coal-fired power plants are springing up and new cars are rolling out of showrooms.

“It’s not a magic bullet,” Alden Meyer, director of strategy and policy at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said in an interview.

And while making electricity creates 40 percent of the greenhouse gases in the U.S., cutting it as Obama proposes will not come close to meeting the global reduction scientists say is necessary to reverse warming. For one thing, the amount of the U.S. cuts would be replaced more than three times over by projected increases in China alone.

Were U.S. emissions cut to zero, “global emissions would continue to increase,” Robert Stavins, director of Harvard University’s Environmental Economics Program, said in an e-mail. “So, the direct impacts of the new power plant rules on atmospheric greenhouse-gas concentrations will be small.”

In fact, both critics of the effort, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and environmentalists pressing for quicker action make a similar argument: Whatever the Obama administration does at home will be dwarfed by worldwide trends.

Burning fossil fuels in the U.S. released 5.3 million metric tons of greenhouse gases in 2012. China emitted 9.0 million tons and by 2020 is forecast by the U.S. Energy Department to reach 11.5 million metric tons, while the U.S. stays flat. India, Indonesia and other developing nations are expected to grow, as well.

Why would Obama and his ilk reduce us to beggary when the result is nil?

Persuading developing countries to forgo the benefits of cheap coal power and economic growth won’t be easy [indeed, no third world country shows any evidence that it will remain in poverty and starvation to satisfy the whims of western world environmentalists – Ed].

But the power plant rules — along with other Obama initiatives, such as convincing automakers to improve fuel efficiency — give the U.S. something to show in Paris next year where a conference is planned to negotiate a global agreement on carbon pollution.

And it’s all about the show.

 

And now, the bare truth emerges

 

 

Politically correct, but scientifically (and grammatically) incorrect. Guess which wins.

“Scientists” admit they invented polar bear population figures to satisfy popular (and Al Gore’s) demand.

“It is also important to note that even though we have scientifically valid estimates for a majority of the subpopulations, some are dated,” PBSG (Polar Bear Strategy Group) continues. “Furthermore, there are no abundance estimates for the Arctic Basin, East Greenland, and the Russian subpopulations.”

“Consequently, there is either no, or only rudimentary, knowledge to support guesses about the possible abundance of polar bears in approximately half the areas they occupy,” says PBSG. “Thus, the range given for total global population should be viewed with great caution as it cannot be used to assess population trend over the long term.”

Polar bear populations became the centerpiece of the effort to fight global warming due to claims that melting polar ice caps would cause the bears to become endangered in the near future. Years ago, some scientists predicted the Arctic would be virtually ice free by now. Polar bears became the first species listed under the Endangered Species Act because they could potentially be harmed by global warming. But some recent studies have found that some polar bear subpopulations have actually flourished in recent years. “So, the global estimates were… ‘simply a qualified guess given to satisfy public demand’ and according to this statement, were never meant to be considered scientific estimates, despite what they were called, the scientific group that issued them, and how they were used,” Crockford said.

Skeptics have known of this fraud, and written about it for years; somehow, it never made its way into the mainstream media.

Summer time, and the living’s easy

Exhausted after a day rummaging in garbage cans and dumpsters, Smokey takes a nap

 

Like in Ukraine?

 

Paper Tiger

Chuck Hagel warns China that “we will stand by our security obligations to Japan”. And, of course, begs them to engage in “dialogue” with their neighbors.

Hagel’s speech comes just days after his boss’s own up at West Point, where he promised the warriors of our future that he’ll withdraw the U.S. from world affairs.

 “In the course of your service, you will work as a team with diplomats and development experts. You will get to know allies and train partners.’

‘You will embody what it means for America to lead.’

Feel better now?

If Joe Biden weren’t next in line, I’d suggest we make Barry’s day and make Michelle live up to her promise

So long, farewell
Auf Weidersehen, goodbye

Barry O: “I just want to take a walk in D.C. by myself” and “Michelle will never run for public office.”

So, early retirement; like, right now?

The Gaza Flotilla Farce, four years after

Just about this day four years ago, the world was abuzz with universal condemnation of Israel for intercepting the “Peace Flotilla” attempting to break the (partial – sea only) blockade of Gaza. The world has long since moved on to other propaganda stunts, but this video is still the best summation:

“We Con The World”

Correlation is not causation

 

(I was looking for something else, but I do like this image)

WSJ: Deadlines for offers stir more action

Want to get people moving? Set a due date. In real estate, deadlines bring results—and high returns.

So far this year, 58% of home listings with published offer deadlines sold above list price, according to an analysis of 37 major metropolitan markets in the U.S. by real-estate brokerage Redfin. Listings with offer deadlines also averaged 31 days on the market, compared with 61 days for listings without published deadlines.

Published offer deadlines—where real-estate agents cite a specific due date for offers in the listing and marketing materials—are rare. Less than 4% of U.S. listings include a deadline, according to the Redfin data, and most of those are written in private agent-to-agent comments instead of public listing descriptions.

In my experience, an offer deadline pops up only when multiple offers have already been made, so of course a house sells quickly – there are buyers for it. That interest causes the deadline, not the other way around.

And imagine if, in advertising your new home, you put in such a deadline and no one bites; won’t you look silly trying to sell a house in July that you set a deadline offer on  of May? Even if you were to delete the phony deadline, rest assured that someone – perhaps an insufferable bloggist – will resurrect it and use it to embarrass you. Even worse than embarrassment, though, an expired deadline shouts to the world that no one wants your house. Bad message.

I thought that’s what emergency evacuation doors were for

 

Where does a 90-kb pit bull s(h)it? Anywhere it wants to

Flight diverted, emergency declared after large dog craps in the aisles

God is great

Muslim terrorists are enjoying a wonderful party until the suicide vest they’re playing with puts an early end to the festivities. Boo hoo.

Fudrucker has himself a listing

60 Oneida Drive

Over at Lockwood & Mead, it seems that Francis has found a property to list, 6 acres of waterfront at 60 Oneida Drive, asking $25 million. This may prove an overly aggressive price. Back in 2010 or so this same property was initially listed for $21 million before eventually selling in late 2012 for $11 million. Still, waterfront land has increased in value lately, and the seller seems to have obtained a dock permit, so ….

UPDATE: Frankie explains the new price:

The full listing has been officially subdivided, peace has been achieved with the neighbors and the association, a dock permit has come by, and a mostly approved plan for a brand new house is also in place. See the exciting website at 6o Oneida.com

And another contract

 

26 Broad Road

26 Broad Road, near Belle Haven and asking $6.595 million, has a buyer. The owners paid $6.450 million for the place in 2007, a price that astonished some of us, then redid it in 2008 and placed it back up for sale in February, 2010 for an even more improbable figure, $9.250.  It sits on an acre of land, so it has that going for it.

Contracts reported

 

a  300 Taconic Rd

300 Taconic Road, asking $1.925 million (no pictures, thanks to the Greenwich Association of Realtors monopolists). The owner paid $2.4 million for it in 2000 and poured a lot of money into improvements/renovations. I thought this was a pretty nifty deal, but it took a couple of years for a buyer to show up who agreed with me. Not my sale, but I admire the buyer’s perspicacity.

 

14 Carissa Lane

14 Carissa Lane, asking $2.195 million.

Yeah, well, that was back when it was Bush’s fault

Where’s Hillary on the VA scandal? So far, not a peep out of her, even though she was hot on the subject back in 2008

“As a President, President Bush has not done what we needed to do for our veterans,” Clinton said at an El Paso, Texas campaign event in February of 2008. “We haven’t funded the VA. We have so many coming home who are injured and not being taken care of. I think it is the highest obligation of the President, who is also our commander in chief, to take care of those who have served our nation.”

Clinton pledged as president she would take care of U.S. veterans.

“I pledge to you: I will take care of our veterans. I will make sure our youngest veterans get what they need. We will honor our oldest veterans from World War II and I want to pay special attention to the veterans of my generation who served and fought in Vietnam, to give them what they deserve to have.”

In fairness to the lady, she’s also keeping mum about her role in Benghazi.

The collapse of higher education

FWIW computerized weight-loss program

How desperate are universities to justify their existence and their fees? This desperate:

University students learn important “life lessons”, study says, like changing a lightbulb and cooking a soft-boiled egg.

Changing a lightbulb, feeding yourself for £20 a week and cooking a jacket potato are among the true life lessons students take from university, a study says.

It revealed that students are taking home more than just a degree, with learning how to stay up all night named as the most common skill learned.

Conjuring up last-minute fancy dress outfits and boiling the perfect egg are also lessons graduates are taking from their time studying away from home.

Parents, we are proud to announce the formation of the For What It’s Worth Life Institute where, for just $25,000.00, we will teach your child all these life skills in just six hours. You’ll save $200,000, and your child will have four extra years to devote to meaningful activities and get on with his or her life.

But wait, there’s more! As a one-time bonus, we will also teach them to change a flat.

Call today.

Resume inflation

 

Somaly Mam hits the jackpot

Somaly Mam kicked off board of Somaly Mam Foundation 

One of the world’s leading anti-sex slavery activists got bounced from her own foundation because her heartbreaking tale of being sold into child prostitution and years of abuse fell apart.

Somaly Mam had become the pretty, glamorous face of the anti-sex trafficking movement, courting celebrities and world political leaders. The Cambodian claimed she was an orphan, sold into sexual slavery and repeatedly raped and abused for years. She only worked up the courage to escape after seeing a friend killed in front of her.

But over the past several years, Mam’s life story has been slowly picked apart by childhood friends, culminating in this week’s stunning ouster.

[F]riends of Mam said she grew up with both parents, graduated from high school and led a happy, comfortable childhood.

Mam has always struggled to keep her story straight, according to a front-page exposé by Newsweek magazine this week. In her book, “The Road of Lost Innocence,” Mam said she was trafficked when she was “about 16 years old.”

The 40-something Mam — whose precise age has never been stated — always knew when cameras were rolling, according to a psychologist who did volunteer work for Mam’s Cambodian charity AFESIP.

“[With donors], she’s very polished and very on and very charming … exceedingly charming,” the whistle-blower told Newsweek. “And when people are not there, she can be tyrannical; she’s moody, she’s erratic, she’s entitled.”

There will always be charlatans who profit from imaginary, or, in this case, very real problems. Al Gore could not be reached for comment.

No (additional) comment

For the most part, I don’t see that a crime was committed

 

What difference, at this point, does it make?

Faith healer convicted of fraud 

A self-styled shaman who conned £1million from victims desperate for spiritual healing is facing a long jail sentence.

Juliette D’Souza, 59, persuaded 11 people to hand her £1million to cure terminal illnesses, ease disabilities and help women have babies.

So cynical was her scam, that she even persuaded a fertility treatment client to abort her six-week-old pregnancy so she could continue to siphon money from her.

Today a jury of seven men and five women unanimously found D’Souza guilty of 23 counts of obtaining property by deception and fraud after just one hour of deliberation.

D’Souza had told clients that shamans would hang their cash off a magical tree in the Amazonian rainforest in Suriname, Blackfriars Crown Court heard.

But instead she spent their money on flights, antiques, Louis Vuitton handbags and renting four luxury flats in Hampstead, north London, which she filled with rubbish.

The poor woman who was persuaded to abort her child has a case, certainly, but is there really any difference in result between Ms. D’Souza buying herself a fancy handbag or “hanging the cash in a magical tree”? Where’s the harm done here? The money’s gone either way, with identical effect: nil.