Long On The Facts

Off Limits
With the recent comments on rape from a Colorado congressman - this time a Democrat - we have another topic that the Legitimate Media can no longer define as the exclusive domain of Republicans and use as a battering ram against them. Here is a partial list:

• Stupid comments on rape
• How many vacation days the president takes
• How much golf the president plays
• Detention of foreign jihadists
• How many press conferences the president has
• Unemployment
• The bad economy

Mr. Science
We just finished reading "The Universe Within" by Neil Shubin whose earlier book, "Your Inner Fish", we have also read and enjoyed. A dean at the University of Chicago, Shubin writes science in a manner that makes it entirely accessible and enjoyable for the layman. "The Universe Within" takes the reader on a broad tour of paleontology, biology, evolution, genetics and cosmology. In recounting the history of Earth, Shubin spends a lot of time talking about one of the prime shapers of the planet: climate. We have no idea where Shubin comes down on the issue of climate change as it is currently being argued. He wisely does not discuss it at all. His focus is the long view of how climate shaped the world that we know today. It has long been the opinion of RedStateVT that a better understanding of the historical patterns of climate can both help to educate people and to call into question the validity of the point-in-time focus of McKibben, Gore and the current crowd of climate alarmists. Here are some excerpts worth considering:

For most of its history, Antarctica was a paradise of life. Then, starting 40 million years ago, the entire continent went into the freezer and with it Antarctica witnessed the greatest and most completion extinction of any continent in the history of the planet. (pg. 144)

Volcanoes typically release huge amounts of water vapor, carbon dioxide, and other gases; by some estimates they send over 120 million tons of carbon dioxide into the air each year. (pg. 147)

In times on the order of thousands of years, Earth's orbit will wobble and change, thereby influencing the amount of sunlight that warms the planet. (pg. 164)

Climate at the end of the last glacial period, about 12,500 years ago exemplifies one of the riffs. At this time, when by all accounts things should have continued to warm, there was a dramatic shift to a sharp cold spell that happened in the blink of an eye in geological terms - over decades. The record from pollen, oxygen atoms and other markers implies a climate that changed 15 degrees in as little as a decade. (pg. 174)

Palms trees in the Antarctic, massive carbon dioxide emissions from volcanoes, a wobbly Earth, and a 15 degree temperature change in ten years....all before man showed up! There is a little "science" for the climate chaos crowd who claim to have science on their side. 


Fighting The Good Fight
It has been an unnerving time for Senator Robert Menendez, a usually self-assured and even brash politician who prides himself on his long, hard climb through the brutal machine-style politics of New Jersey. (NYT, 2/20/2013)

The New York Times pens a thirty-one paragraph article on Democrat Menendez, the subject of possible ethics violations. We learn that the Senator is "shaken and angry." Not to worry though because he has "survival skills" learned from his "working class" upbringing. A fellow Democrat talks of Menendez's "internal strength." We learn that earlier in his career he ferreted out corruption in New Jersey. Also, he has the ability to "outlast his enemies." Other Dems call him a "diligent worker" and "adept at fighting." Twenty-six paragraphs in we finally get a few details about the nasty things that Menendez might have done. (Minor things like selling his influence...) The article closes with dark hints at the source of the accusations against Menendez: Cuban Communists!

To show our support for this righteous public servant in his fight against the commie scourge, RedStateVT will break with our long-standing policy and accept contributions for Menendez's legal defense fund.