If It's Summertime...

...why, it must mean that ZOMG IT'S TEH HOT AND ZOMG GLOBAL WARMENING!

This US summer is 'what global warming looks like'

WASHINGTON — If you want a glimpse of some of the worst of global warming, scientists suggest taking a look at U.S. weather in recent weeks. Horrendous wildfires. Oppressive heat waves. Devastating droughts. Flooding from giant deluges. And a powerful freak wind storm called a derecho.

These are the kinds of extremes climate scientists have predicted will come with climate change, although it's far too early to say that is the cause. Nor will they say global warming is the reason 3,215 daily high temperature records were set in the month of June.

WEESA GONNA DIE!!!

Yes, there were no wildfires, or heat waves, or droughts before man invented machines. Life was idyllic, perfect, without a single bad weather-related issue. Pompeii? Never heard of it. Until the Industrial Revolution, temperatures were even, never rose sharply, and patterns were predictable and stable. It is 100% man's fault that we've had recent fluctuations - remember, 25 years is the scope of this study, and in a geologic sense that's barely an eyeblink.

This is the kind of junk science smart guys like Borepatch like to deride:

• But since at least 1988...

• So far this year...

• Since Jan. 1...

They're talking about events that have happened so recently as to be instantaneous in relation to the scale on which weather events occur. Changes in temperature - global, geologic shifts - don't happen overnight, or a in year, or over a century. Yet these "scientists" are extrapolating a year's worth of local weather variations to condemn humanity to death by global warming.They even agree that weather in Europe has been stable - so they're issuing blanket statements about this global crisis based on localized weather patterns.

So, by their own logic, since it has been colder than usual here in New England, obviously we are free from global warming, right?

That is all.

Hard To Believe...

˙˙˙ɥsd ǝɹoɯ uǝʌǝ 'sǝʎ

Skidmark sends in this story that had me shaking my head all weekend long:

D'Arcy and Monk apologise for gun photos

Nick D'Arcy and Kenrick Monk have apologised for their "fantastic" bit of fun, but still have to explain themselves to keep their spots in Australia's Olympic team.

D'Arcy and Monk returned to Australia on Friday and quickly apologised for posing for photos in the US while holding powerful firearms.

Here's the grainy picture they posted on Facebook:

(pic from this story)

Sweet baby Jesus, are you kidding me? These two look like nothing more than poseur dorks, caught mugging for the camera and looking all the world like a couple of grade A wanna-bes. And they had to fly home to Australia to apologize for their actions? Read up on the antics of these two:

D'Arcy was kicked off the 2008 Olympic team after assaulting former swimmer Simon Cowley in a bar, leaving him with multiple facial injuries.

...

Last year, Monk avoided charges after telling police he was the victim of a hit and run accident but later confessed he broke his elbow when he fell off his skateboard.

So, one got drunk and beat someone up, the other committed out-and-out fraud. And yet them appearing with perfectly legal items in another country is putting the Australian swim team in a bad light? Seriously?  In a nation founded by convicts, this is what sends them into an absolute frothing tizzy? The same country that gave us Mad Max and AC/DC is now soiling their bloomers over pictures of athletes in other countries?

Look, there is precisely ZERO chance that these numbskulls could get any of those weapons back to Australia. Zero. They were having a bit of completely harmless fun, posing with items that are more difficult to get in Oz than in the US - but not banned. There is no difference between the above shot and them getting pictures taken at Home Depot holding chainsaws - in neither case are the tools functional, they'd never get them home, and it was just a silly moment.

Then again, Oz was settled by the English, and look at "Great" Britain these days...

That is all.

If You Didn't See The PSH Coming...

...then you haven't been paying attention, well, ever. I'm sure everyone's seen the SuperSoaker Surprise, right?

Naturally, this is causing no end of PSH... The Big Guy sends in this story which can't lead anywhere good:

Modified water guns pose danger

SALISBURY -- Just in time for summer, police throughout Delmarva have received a safety briefing on water guns. 

The childhood toy, designed with bright colors to ensure police don't mistake it for a real gun, has become a threat after several reports have surfaced of individuals turning water guns into homemade shotguns.

The scourge of "modified water guns" is an n of 4 - there's the guy in MN who dropped a 20 gauge shotgun into a Super Soaker and was carrying it around, this case, which was a "zip gun" and two others in FL and MD with no other information given. That's four cases of squirt guns being modified, with one case where there was more danger to the holder of the gun (fire a zip gun with a 12 gauge round? No thanks!) - and no information on whether the other two incidents were real guns or "zip guns".

So we have one real gun, one "zip gun" and two unknowns, and this is the cause of safety briefings and mass hysteria? Really? Have there been any other modified squirt guns, or is this just the latest "flashing your headlights at a car without lights on is a gang initiation thing that will get you killed" urban legend? Are these real incidents, or just copycat crimes? While I understand the point of the safety briefings - my understanding is that they're of the "hey, some PDs have reported seeing stuff like this, keep your eyes open" - it's gotta be a slow news day if this is a real story.

Or, as always, the media's just pushing the gun control wagon as always...

That is all.

Give Us This Day, Our Daily PSH...

Police add assault rifles across the state

The odds that a local police officer in Massachusetts has access to a military-grade assault rifle, whether in the trunk of a cruiser or at a police station, are far stronger than authorities have previously revealed.

Some 82 cities and towns across the Commonwealth have introduced a total of 1,057 such rifles to their arsenals over the last decade, state public safety officials confirmed yesterday, many of them acquired in recent years in response to the fear of terrorist attacks.

ZOMG! They have teh eeeevil ASSAULT RIFLES!!!1111 Whatever shall we do?!?!?

I honestly don't know what to make of this. They're talking about this like it's something new; like we haven't seen police agencies undergoing further and further militarization for like, oh, the past twenty or thirty years. Like police with semi-automatic rifles is something new...

I particularly loved this part:

"The very fact community police are being equipped with semi-automatic weapons without a public discussion of the possible political and social implications is unfortunately a major step backwards in terms of Massachusetts' national reputation for promoting progressive law enforcement strategy," said the Rev. Eugene Rivers, pastor of the Azusa Christian Community and co-founder of the Boston Ten-Point Coalition.

Police are being equipped with semi-automatic weapons? Who knew? I mean, it's not like the Glock hasn't been a standard issue police sidearm for like 25 years now. It's not like agencies didn't have access to semi-automatic weapons for decades upon decades. The out-and-out fear-mongering is quite strong in this piece, even for the Globe.

I *am* concerned, however, with the overall tone of this piece. It's like they're no longer content with going after civilian ownership of semi-automatic rifles and have set their sights higher, on all non-military ownership. It absolutely boggles my mind why on earth any responsible news agency would lobby for such a plan, having covered other areas of the world where only the government owns the rifles. It's not like we don't have ample precedent for disaster when the people are totally disarmed...

But then again, who ever said the Globe was responsible journalism?

That is all.

And Speaking of Overreacting...

Mass. Senate approves pandemic flu prep bill

The Massachusetts Senate has unanimously passed a pandemic flu preparation bill that has languished in the Legislature before the recent swine flu outbreak.

The 36-0 vote today sends the measure to the House. Both branches have taken it up in past years, but have not been able to agree on the details.

No need to panic, you say? This is nothing other than prudent planning in the face of what could be a serious health crisis, you say? Well, bull, I say:

The new Senate version would allow the public health commissioner — in a public health emergency — to close or evacuate buildings, enter private property for investigations, and quarantine individuals.

If that doesn't send a chill down your spine, I don't want to know you.

That is all.