Definitely not rocket science

Definitely not rocket science:

If you are a skeptic about runaway, anthropogenic global warming, then you are a "denier" and worse than the Nazis.

The problem is that the voices of doom... those holier than thou... just can't seem to get it right.

This year there was an 85% probability that we were going to be belted with many more big hurricanes than normal... didn't happen.

This year we were supposed to have the hottest year on record... didn't happen. In fact, South American had one of its longest, coldest winters on record and Antarctic ice expanded significantly.

For which the Climate Skeptic disses:
If all your forecasts are coming out in the bottom 1% of the forecast range, then it is safe to assume that one is not forecasting very well. Which reminds me of Michael Mann, who said with famous confidence that there was a 95-99% probability that 1998 was the hottest year in the last 1000, which is an absurd claim. (Mann now denies having said this, but he is actually on film saying it, about 25 seconds into the linked clip: ).

And another H/T from the Climate Skeptic:

The Hidden Message

The cost to abate CO2 production as much as climate catastrophists wish will be staggering. One of the ways the catastrophists and their supporters in the media work to cover up this fact is to publish numerous cute articles about families recycling and such. The hidden message is that this is all that it would take from us to make an impact on CO2.

This Sunday article in the Arizona Republic is a great example (last Sunday, the Republic had an article just mentioning, without letting us make our arguments, that skeptics like me exist in Phoenix. However, even this violates the orthodoxy so the Republic has had pro-catastrophist and green front page articles every day since as pennance.). In today's article, the Republic looks at a number of families and gives advice on how they could be greener...

Read the rest here. And the Arizona feature is here.

Distancing?

Distancing . . .

Dishonest political tampering with the science on global warming

- December 05, 2007

Christopher Monckton, Denpasar, Bali

As a contributor to the IPCC's 2007 report, I share the Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore. Yet I and many of my peers in the British House of Lords - through our hereditary element the most independent-minded of lawmakers - profoundly disagree on fundamental scientific grounds with both the IPCC and my co-laureate's alarmist movie An Inconvenient Truth, which won this year's Oscar for Best Sci-Fi Comedy Horror.

Two detailed investigations by Committees of the House confirm that the IPCC has deliberately, persistently and prodigiously exaggerated not only the effect of greenhouse gases on temperature but also the environmental consequences of warmer weather.

My contribution to the 2007 report illustrates the scientific problem. The report's first table of figures - inserted by the IPCC's bureaucrats after the scientists had finalized the draft, and without their consent - listed four contributions to sea-level rise. The bureaucrats had multiplied the effect of melting ice from the Greenland and West Antarctic Ice Sheets by 10.

The result of this dishonest political tampering with the science was that the sum of the four items in the offending table was more than twice the IPCC's published total. Until I wrote to point out the error, no one had noticed. The IPCC, on receiving my letter, quietly corrected, moved and relabeled the erroneous table, posting the new version on the internet and earning me my Nobel prize. 

Read complete.

I missed this

Because of other pressing matters, I missed this conference in late November in Manila: Second International Congress on Love, Sex and Life -- Love, Laughter and Life Ever After.


Here's a bit of the summary from Mercatornet's Carolyn Moynihan:

Did you hear about the New York education professor, the Singapore IT aficionado, the Spanish doctor and the Philippine economist who met up in Manila last week? They, and 700 others who arrived at the same destination, were all in pursuit of what an American author has ingeniously dubbed "the thrill of the chaste".

And thrilling it was to spend two jam-packed days listening to the wit and wisdom of experts and amateurs alike on the theme of the Second International Congress on Love, Sex and Life -- that is, chastity as "Love, Laughter and Life Ever After". Corny? Only for the cynic who has forgotten what the gift of human sexuality is all about.

It is not, as the congress reminded us, about "having a relationship" while protecting yourself from a deadly disease. Not, as a Spanish advertisement pretends, a great "therapy" so long as you use a condom. And not, as the mass media constantly portray it and as some young people have come to believe, a way of having "fun".

Read all here.

Oops!

Bloomberg.com says:

Hot Air Emitted by Climate Summit Equals 20,000 Cars (Update1)
By Alex Morales and Kim Chipman

Dec. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Government officials and activists flying to Bali, Indonesia, for the United Nations meeting on climate change will cause as much pollution as 20,000 cars in a year.

The delegates each will produce an average 4.07 metric tons of carbon dioxide, or CO2, to reach the resort island 950 kilometers (600 miles) from Jakarta, according to estimates e- mailed to Bloomberg by the UN agency holding the conference.


And more secrets coming out?

IPCC Falsifies Sea Level Data
Posted by ReasonMcLucus at 07:39 on 05 Dec 2007

The IPCC falsified data showing a sea level rise from 1992-2002 according to Dr. Nils-Axel Morner, former head of the Paleogeophysics and Geodynamics department at Stockholm University in Sweden. In an interview by George Murphy, Morner cites various examples of falsification of evidence claiming sea level rises.

"Then, in 2003, the same data set, which in their [IPCC's] publications, in their website, was a straight line - suddenly it changed, and showed a very strong line of uplift, 2.3 mm per year, the same as from the tide gauge. And that didn't look so nice. It looked as though they had recorded something; but they hadn't recorded anything. It was the original one which they had suddenly twisted up, because they entered a 'correction factor,' which they took from the tide gauge" in an area of Hong Kong that had been subsiding, or sinking.

Angel from Heaven

Girl, 7, Shot 6 Times While Protecting Mother

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

A Detroit girl who jumped in front of a hail of bullets to protect her mother from an enraged gunman Saturday night is being hailed as an “angel from heaven.”

Alexis Goggins, 7, was hit protecting her mother Selietha Parker, 30, after Parker's ex-boyfriend Calvin Tillie, 29, forced the pair and family friend Aisha Ford to drive to Six Mile Road under threat of death, the Detroit News reported.

Click here to read the full report from the Detroit News.

Tillie, who was armed with a handgun, shot Parker in the side of the head and in the arm after Ford stopped for gas, but before he could fire a third shot, Goggins jumped over the seat between her mother and Tillie, begging him to stop, the Detroit News reported. Without hesitation, Tillie reportedly pumped six shots into the child.

The first grader is in stable condition at Children’s Hospital in Detroit with gunshot wounds to the eye, left temple, chin, cheek, chest and right arm, the Detroit News reported. Parker was admitted to the hospital, but later released.

Tillie was arrested at the scene. He had dated Parker for six months, the Detroit News reported.

Out of Bali

Why not?

UN Rejects Press Credentials for Representatives of US Newspaper
Writers for Environment & Climate News excluded from participation in Bali climate change conference Written By: Tom Swiss
Published In: News Releases
Publication Date: November 30, 2007
Publisher: The Heartland Institute


(CHICAGO, Illinois - December 3, 2007) -- As the first goals of the Kyoto Protocol are about to expire, the United Nations is preparing a "Conference of the Parties," the highest decision-making authority. The meeting will take place in Bali, Indonesia from December 3 to December 5.

But the event lost any claim of impartiality when organizers rejected attempts by representatives of Environment & Climate News to receive press accreditation for the conference...

Read more.


Where is consensus?

Countries split over stance on emission goals
Marian Wilkinson, Environment Editor in Bali
December 5, 2007

CONCERNS are growing at the UN climate conference in Bali that Japan and Canada could throw their weight behind the US to resist a new climate change agreement that includes binding emissions targets for developed countries.

Read more.


Associated Press notices:

Climate change meeting adds to emissions
By ROBIN McDOWELL, Associated Press Writer Tue Dec 4, 2:04 PM ET

BALI, Indonesia - Never before have so many people converged to try to save the planet from global warming, with more than 10,000 jetting into this Indonesian resort island, from government ministers to Nobel laureates to drought-stricken farmers.

But critics say they are contributing to the very problem they aim to solve.

"Nobody denies this is an important event, but huge numbers of people are going, and their emissions are probably going to be greater than a small African country," said Chris Goodall, author of the book "How to Live a Low-Carbon Life."

Read the rest.

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Climate change pow-wow

Keep in mind the UN meeting on climate change in Bali that runs up to the 14th. Initial estimates say that "some 15,000 politicians, officials, quangocrats and assorted busybodies are descending on Bali for a jamboree that will produce more than 100,000 tons of CO2 emissions. The purpose of their trip? To discuss how to reduce CO2 emissions."

Will they listen to their own kind?

Concerning the Current Consensus on Climate Change
Volume 10, Number 47: 21 November 2007

In a Policy Forum article inspired by the most recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Oppenheimer et al. (2007) write in the 14 September issue of Science that "with the general credibility of the science of climate change established, it is now equally important that policy-makers understand the more extreme possibilities that consensus may exclude or downplay." Why is that? Because, as they continue, "setting aside or minimizing the importance of key structural uncertainties in underlying processes is a frequent outcome of the drive for consensus."

In light of this illuminating admission, we note that the setting aside of key uncertainties in the climate modeling enterprise could well lead to more extreme possibilities at both ends of the climate prognostication spectrum, such that not only may earth's surface air temperature rise somewhat more than is predicted by the current IPCC consensus, it could equally as easily rise somewhat less than that august group has opined. And for the IPCC's current full range prediction of 21st century warming (1.1-6.4°C), somewhat less warming could well turn out to be indistinguishable from no warming at all.

Read the rest here.

Did you hear about the ship that sunk in the Antarctica? Thought maybe all of Antarctica has melted, huh? In any case, apparently shipowner was a friend of Al (who, fortunately was not aboard).

You’d never read this in the mainstream media: The owner of MS Explorer that sank, leaving a huge carbon footprint at the bottom of the Antarctic Ocean Friday is an acolyte of teensy-weensy carbon footprint crusader Al Gore.

G.A.P. Adventures CEO and Explorer owner, Bruce Poon Tip and Gore have similar ideals, “filling their schedules with speaking engagements on environmental change to educate global audiences.” And that’s straight off of www.gapadventures.com. In fact, as recently as last April, both Poon Tip and Gore gave presentations at the Green Living Show in Toronto.

The rest here.

25 years

Today is the 25th anniversary of the Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei's becoming a personal prelature. Tanti Auguri!

The most important person

Awww and a half. It isn't Mother's Day, but hey, any day is Mother's Day! So to all the Mothers out there:

The most important person on earth...

“The most important person on earth is a mother. She cannot claim the honor of having built Notre Dame Cathedral. She need not. She has built something more magnificent than any cathedral- a dwelling for an immortal soul, the tiny perfection of her baby’s body…Mothers are closer to God the Creator than any other creature. God joins forces with mothers in performing this act of creation…What on God’s good earth is more glorious than this: to be a mother?”

-Joseph Cardinal Mindzenty


H/T: Elizabeth Andrew

Spin as you like

Remember this AP poll that was headlined in the news as Poll: Most OK birth control for schools? There is a typical AP spin on this poll as Sweetness and Light puts it.

Says S&L: What a typical piece of carefully crafted mendacity from the Associated Press.

The entire article and the poll itself were obviously geared towards producing the headline and lede that the AP wanted to foist on the great unwashed.

Read all.

Walk out

Despite my beef re her "eating" pictures, I admire our Cebu governor. A news article lead says this:

CEBU Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia walked out of a beauty pageant on the eve of the fiesta celebration of Boljoon town last Friday. Garcia was invited to watch the contest after she attended a procession of the town's patron saint, Nostra Señora de Patrocinio de Maria (Virgin Mary). She was to receive a plaque of appreciation at the program. The province had given P3 million in assistance to help renovate Boljoon church, the fourth oldest church in the country. She was told that the beauty pageant would showcase "old, traditional Filipino costumes" but ...

Read all here.

Conned

Code Pink DC came out with a faux press release re Blackwater. Fooled a lot. Fact checkers on holiday leave.
Here's FrontPage Magazine's inside story.

H/T: MM.

Sweet

Justine Henin won the Sony Ericsson Championships against Masha in Madrid, the last tournament of the year. The win was number 10 for Justine, the only time a player has won in double digits in a season since Martina Hingis in 1997. There are other records Justine set with this win. The sweetest thing about this win: this limited Masha to only one win in the season.

I'll take your share

Since I was not a participant to the IPCC, I can't.

Mr. John Christy, director of the Earth System Science Center at the University of Alabama in Huntsville and a participant in the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, does not want his share.

He opens his WSJ piece: I've had a lot of fun recently with my tiny (and unofficial) slice of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). But, though I was one of thousands of IPCC participants, I don't think I will add "0.0001 Nobel Laureate" to my resume.

The other half of the prize was awarded to former Vice President Al Gore, whose carbon footprint would stomp my neighborhood flat. But that's another story.

Read all here.

Wilson writes about Dual Training

WHAT do companies such as TMX, Lear, Fairchild, Cebu Mitsumi, Western Wats, Olympus, Asahi Optical, Teradyne, Celestica, General Milling, Globe Telecom, Dash Engineering, Tsuneishi Technical Engineering, Lexmark, Primary Structures and Aboitiz have in common? They are the leading corporations in Cebu, and they are all Dual Training System Partners of the Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (Cite).

So starts Wilson Ng's column yesterday: Dual Training. Wilson heads Ng Khai, our DTS partner for many years. Thanks for writing about the Dual Training System at CITE.

Read all here.

What's happening SJ?

Some weeks ago, a friend told me he was sorry that my university Alma Mater lost a very important basketball game against that arch-enemy learning institution along Taft Avenue in Manila. I told him I stopped cheering for that team a long time ago, since the last school I attended was UP for my masters -- true UP has not fared well in so many editions of the UAAP basketball tournament -- so I consider myself a UPian.

I will always say Thank You for what my "alma mater" has taught me when I was there. But as I told a friend some years ago, I wasn't really in my element in that campus. Since a high school teacher recommended that I go there, I won a scholarship, and my best friends decided to skip UP if I did, I set myself up to try out the bianco-azzuri.

Not that it is bad in itself, but the "openness" that has been embedded in the minds of students there made me uncomfortable. Still does. Suffice it to say that the "openness" could be very dangerous many times. And to read about certain events (links later in the blog) happening in similar institutions like my alma mater (hint: run by the "same" people) makes me believe my previous statement even more.

Read at your own risk: here, here, here, here, here, and here. (h/t: Cardinal Newman Society)

Greenpeace vs. Apple

Even as I do not subscribe to many, if not all, of the rantings of Greenpeace, this study done by Greenpeace is another example of Al Gore's hypocrisy. Y'see, even as Apple has a safe environment campaign and a Steve Jobs apology last May, it still made use of hazardous substances in it's new iPhone.

So where does Gore fit in all this? And why hypocrisy? Clean your own backyard, man.

Update (22Dec2007): There could be some abuse in Greenpeace's use of data (see, I told you I do not subscribe to many, if not all, their rantings. Most media accounts failed to note that Greenpeace didn’t actually measure how much of these chemicals were in Apple’s products, and how much actually leached out.

Polomolok, My Polomolok

Did you know that in 2006, Polomolok topped all municipalities in Region XII in terms of percentage allocation of expenditures on social services? In a whiff of small-town love, I thought I'd share this bit of news. I guess all this is also due to the local government's social concern. If I am not mistaken, the mayor's kids attended my alma mater, Dole Philippines School.

The link is here. You can read the pdf file of the report.

Thanks Fr.ancis for the tip.

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Un-Bee-Lee-Vuh-Bull.

Al Gore and IPCC win Nobel Peace Prize.
Nuff said.

11 points against

The The New Party's Stewart Dimmock's legal case against the UK's efforts to distribute "The Inconvenient Truth" is moving forward. The judge has found 11 inaccuracies and therefore will order new guidelines for the film's exhibition in UK schools.

In their website, The New Party says:

Inaccuracies in Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth

The decision by the government to distribute Al Gore's film An Inconvenient Truth has been the subject of a legal action by New Party member Stewart Dimmock. Although a full ruling has yet to be given, the Court found that the film was misleading in 11 respects and that the Guidance Notes drafted by the Education Secretary’s advisors served only to exacerbate the political propaganda in the film.

In order for the film to be shown, the Government must first amend their Guidance Notes to Teachers to make clear that 1.) The Film is a political work and promotes only one side of the argument. 2.) If teachers present the Film without making this plain they may be in breach of section 406 of the Education Act 1996 and guilty of political indoctrination. 3.) Eleven inaccuracies have to be specifically drawn to the attention of school children.

The inaccuracies are:

• The film claims that melting snows on Mount Kilimanjaro evidence global warming. The Government’s expert was forced to concede that this is not correct.
• The film suggests that evidence from ice cores proves that rising CO2 causes temperature increases over 650,000 years. The Court found that the film was misleading: over that period the rises in CO2 lagged behind the temperature rises by 800-2000 years.
• The film uses emotive images of Hurricane Katrina and suggests that this has been caused by global warming. The Government’s expert had to accept that it was “not possible” to attribute one-off events to global warming.
• The film shows the drying up of Lake Chad and claims that this was caused by global warming. The Government’s expert had to accept that this was not the case.
• The film claims that a study showed that polar bears had drowned due to disappearing arctic ice. It turned out that Mr Gore had misread the study: in fact four polar bears drowned and this was because of a particularly violent storm.
• The film threatens that global warming could stop the Gulf Stream throwing Europe into an ice age: the Claimant’s evidence was that this was a scientific impossibility.
• The film blames global warming for species losses including coral reef bleaching. The Government could not find any evidence to support this claim.
• The film suggests that the Greenland ice covering could melt causing sea levels to rise dangerously. The evidence is that Greenland will not melt for millennia.
• The film suggests that the Antarctic ice covering is melting, the evidence was that it is in fact increasing.
• The film suggests that sea levels could rise by 7m causing the displacement of millions of people. In fact the evidence is that sea levels are expected to rise by about 40cm over the next hundred years and that there is no such threat of massive migration.
• The film claims that rising sea levels has caused the evacuation of certain Pacific islands to New Zealand. The Government are unable to substantiate this and the Court observed that this appears to be a false claim.

Rhett's birthday today

Rhett Pelaez would have celebrated another birthday today. I believe he is celebrating in Heaven. This year nothing as extraordinary as last year happened, but we still remember Rhett fondly. This year's blog will have pictures.

Rhett with some members of CITE's Board of Trustees and Management Staff (1st: 5th from left; 2nd: 2nd from right).

Below, Rhett with some visitors he brought to CITE.

Teen driver, victim?

The Inquirer story Teen killed as actress’ SUV slams into motorcycle says that "'Definitely, Kristine Hermosa’s driver has legal accountabilities as the victim died in the accident,' Posadas told the Philippine Daily Inquirer, parent company of the INQUIRER.net." Fine. Reckless driving that also results to death is appalling. It is only fit to hold the van driver accountable. But never was it asked, "What the hell was a 16-year old doing driving a motorcycle with a companion backriding?"

Either way that kid was "illegal" -- driving without a license or driving with a spurious license. If he had a license, who issued the license? C'mon, if he weren't driving, because he shouldn't have, he wouldn't have met his death. And what of his parents who allowed him to drive (or did they?). Should they be charged as well.

I am sorry for the death and the injuries. But not as much.

Be Afraid. Be very Afraid. or NOT.

AP ran a piece by SETH BORENSTEIN in September.

Rising Seas Likely to Flood U.S. History

Ultimately, rising seas will likely swamp the first American settlement in Jamestown, Va., as well as the Florida launch pad that sent the first American into orbit, many climate scientists are predicting.

In about a century, some of the places that make America what it is may be slowly erased. Global warming -- through a combination of melting glaciers, disappearing ice sheets and warmer waters expanding -- is expected to cause oceans to rise by one meter, or about 39 inches. It will...

As always he is again terrifying us with his GWA. Thing is, he has his science wrong. And AP is fitting another mold -- Alarmist Press?

Thanks to discussglobalwarming.com, we see who is really in denial.

Update: The AP archive for Seth's story sells for USD 1.50. Forget about "buying" the story. You can go to breitbart for the story, free.

Who's next?

Who's next to follow? A judge in the UK will rule that schools showing "The Inconvenient Truth" will need "to warn pupils that there are other opinions on global warming and they should not necessarily accept the views of the film."

Here's a report of the actions of the good judge.

BTW, there is still the USD 125,000.00 up for grabs. About 60 days have gone by and no takers yet. Tsk, Tsk.

And we still demand debate.

Global warming primer and then some

The National Center for Policy Analysis "has published a new primer to explore some of the main scientific, economic and political issues surrounding the topic of global warming in an easy to understand graphic format. The primer can be downloaded or viewed online here."

You can read more about global warming here.

Or you can read a couple more...

Michael R. Fox, Ph.D. writes "Junkscience in Global Warming Theory?: Let's Count the Ways"

He ends with this: The low quality of the debate displayed by the warmers is notable and extraordinary, suggesting that personal and political agendas are at play, instead of science. This is a destructive way to make national science and energy policy.

Now, wouldn't you read the rest?.

Václav Klaus writes "Global Warming Hysteria or Freedom and Prosperity?"

He says: The threat I have in mind is the irrationality with which the world has accepted the climate change (or global warming) as a real danger to the future of mankind and the irrationality of suggested and partly already implemented measures because they will fatally endanger our freedom and prosperity, the two goals we consider – I do believe – our priorities.

Read on.

When 2 is better than 3!

Sometimes two is better than three. Franz said it. I didn't watch the game, but exchanged that opportunity to be in the beach with friends at Dominic and Alma's. Besides, AdMU doesn't do too well against the team from that place in Taft when I watch the game, even on TV. My friends know this, and some of them asked me not to watch (although some, who did not know my "record", also sent invites for me to watch with them). I know this all sounds ridiculous, but anything to help the team.

In any case, this is all good for our humility. And we say, win or lose, it's the school we choose. Thing is, 5 consecutive years saying this can be frustrating.

'Hope the Reds win. In basketball.

re Crossing ethical lines

re: Crossing ethical lines.

Hello Ma'am,
It is all true. I think these ABS-CBN TV Patrol CV "newsmen" finally caught on with the rest of the world, huh? Why, even Reuters, BBC, AP, etc. have used fauxtography. To sell their news, to push an agenda, maybe?
See here, or here, or here.
Or you can google "fauxtography" and see more than 300T links.
Un.believe.able.

Peter
--


Update: In 03X07 Sunstar Cebu story: TELEVISION network ABS-CBN fired three of its five employees who squabbled with Senior Insp. Jose Liddawa after a traffic accident at dawn last Sept. 17...

Some MSM should follow ABS-CBN's lead.

What do human rights mean if they do not include the most vulnerable humans of all, the unborn?

Pam Field from Sydney writes of her "farewell" from Amnesty International.

She says: The recent decision by Amnesty International to include in its mission a demand for access to abortion has meant the sad and bitter end of a wonderful relationship with the human rights organisation for many of its members.

For myself, the break is akin to a painful divorce. I am – or was – the convenor of an Amnesty group. Over the years my group and I met regularly, writing hundreds of letters on behalf of victims of human rights abuses and raising thousands of dollars through our fund-raising efforts.

Read the rest at MercatorNet.

What was he thinking?

Turns out, what would have been meant to prove a point against another, became in fact a point to prove otherwise (26Sept2007)

What was this brain-leak thinking? Perhaps he was planted to actually shame those who believed they had the smoking gun?

P.S. If you must try an on-line translator, do it, but with care. Nothing beats a native speaker.

Whodunit?

Carbon dioxide did not end the last Ice Age. Surely, CO2 played a role, but definitely it wasn't alone. It was a conspiracy. H/T: junkscience.com

Carbon dioxide did not end the last Ice Age

Deep-sea temperatures rose 1,300 years before atmospheric CO2, ruling out the greenhouse gas as driver of meltdown, says study in Science.

Lowell Stott, professor of earth sciences, University of Southern California Click here for more information.

Carbon dioxide did not cause the end of the last ice age, a new study in Science suggests, contrary to past inferences from ice core records.

�There has been this continual reference to the correspondence between CO2 and climate change as reflected in ice core records as justification for the role of CO2 in climate change,� said USC geologist Lowell Stott, lead author of the study, slated for advance online publication Sept. 27 in Science Express.

�You can no longer argue that CO2 alone caused the end of the ice ages.�

Read the whole report.

Lakbayan

Cool. Try it.

My Lakbayan grade is B!

How much of the Philippines have you visited? Find out at Lakbayan!

Created by Eugene Villar.

Unicef, anti-life, anti-family?

Some years ago, I was in one talk of a fundraising forum/workshop, where the speaker (who is one of my idols in fundraising) said as an example of fundraising ethics that Unicef refuses to accept donations from companies and organizations that have a history of activities unsafe for children. I remember that donations from Oreo, 3M, and Tanduay were refused. Tanduay, quite understandably, noh?

But Oreo and 3M?

As it turns out, Oreo's mother company is Nabisco, that merged with RJ Reynolds. RJR Nabisco became the #2 tobacco company and the #1 cookie and cracker maker in the US before beginning a slow and complex restructuring in 1999. Much later, the cookie and biscuit operations (Nabisco) merged with Kraft Foods under tobacco giant Philip Morris, and RJ Reynolds shifted its focus back to tobacco exclusively.

We all know how smoking has affected children (and adults), and sweets, well, that too (that was before studies showed that Oreo contained high amount of transfat -- Kraft later changed their formula for Oreo -- and that's another story).

And 3M?

Apparently 3M produces the adhesive/glue that keep some parts of landmines and other explosives together. We all know how many children (and adults) have died of or were maimed by landmines.

I say that Unicef's fundraising ethics have been used as part of my organization's ethical fundraising practices.

So, why do I say now that Unicef is anti-life, anti-family, if they do not accept funding from companies like those mentioned? I guess that was before. In fact, long before. (Or they have fallen victims of corporate funding requirements dictating where money is used. Or while they still follow their ethical practices, Unicef herself might actually be doing projects that are anti-life, anti-family.)

Whatever their reasons, I was shocked to read this. Read the pdf. You be the judge.

Oh, I got to this when I read in another blog that some pro-life groups made noise when they knew that "American Idol" included two pro-abortion groups among the charities that will benefit from its "Idol Gives Back" project. Guess who is in the list? The other is the usual suspect.

Blogged with Flock

What a comeback!

Joni Mitchell comes back after a 9-year hiatus. And what a comeback!

She's lucky she isn't talking badly about Allah or Islam, otherwise, she'll have an intifada running after her. What if she disses on Islam the way she does the Church?

Their reaction to footballs, cartoons, cartoons, cartoons, Salman, Salman, Gwen, Gwen, Rudy, Korean Christians, Donuts, and what they can do to one, to this one, to him, to them.

You think maybe we should get back to the Crusades. Nah. Heh.

Basta. Nuff said.

Global warming is real

No doubt about it!







See more.

Carbon offsets, anyone?

Might not be that easy, huh?

On GW consensus yet again

Dr. Tim Ball and Tom Harris add to the doubts of anthropogenic global warming because of new NASA climate pronouncements. But the hypocrisy and dishonesty continue . . .

Imagine basing a country’s energy and economic policy on an incomplete, unproven theory — a theory based entirely on computer models in which one minor variable is considered the sole driver for the entire global climate system.

This is precisely what former Vice President Al Gore, Senate Environment Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer and others want their nation to do.

Read on.

Update: Noel Sheppard, economist, questions Hansen also. He isn't talking as a climatologist, but his point makes perfect sense.

UpdateBlogged with Flock

PC

There is a proposed legislation in the US that would lump together childbirth and abortion together. The bill "would permit a uniform, neutral term to be used to describe all forms of medically-assisted reproductive choice." The two procedures will fall under the term "fetal relocation".

Read guest blogger Henrietta Tavish on Dawn Patrol September 18.
Let's see how fast RP catches on.

Blogged with Flock

Global warming test

Take the real Global Warming Test. Go check this out.

And if you have the time, see what the Science and Public Policy Institute have to say. Must read.

And another one wants debate:

Blogged with Flock

Grandpa Sim

The 13th of September was my paternal grandfather's birthday. My second name Simeon is taken from his name. I am the only Simeon Millan left in this world. Y'see, my Dad's eldest brother was Simeon Jr., a lawyer, who was appointed to the bench, but had to stop his training because he was diagnosed with liver cancer. He also passed away about 2 years ago. I do not have any cousins who are named Simeon.


About two years ago I was on a two-week work program in Singapore, and yesterday I looked over some photos I had of that trip. I saw this picture (me behind the wheel(s) of a yellow Ferrari). What struck me this time around was that the license plate of the ferrari giallo shows SFM1999Y. These are the initials of my grandpa's name: Simeon Feri Millan

Cool!

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Where is the consensus?

Yet again, consensus on global warming continues to be disputed. Thanks to ST for the link.
Here's the link.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12  /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --
A new analysis of peer-reviewed literature reveals
that more than 500 scientists have published
evidence refuting at least one element of current
man-made global warming scares. More than 300 of
the scientists found evidence that 1) a natural
moderate 1,500-year climate cycle has produced more
than a dozen global warmings similar to ours since
the last Ice Age and/or that 2) our Modern Warming
is linked strongly to variations in the sun's
irradiance. "This data and the list of scientists
make a mockery of recent claims that a scientific
consensus blames humans as the primary cause of
global temperature increases since 1850,"
said Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Dennis Avery.

Read the link? Go on, but don't tell me I didn't warn you.

When Leticia Velasquez guest-blogged 'Special motherhood is a call to sanctity'at Dawn Eden's blog, I missed clicking on one link.  Today, I did.  Touched.  Want to be touched?  At.your.own.risk. 

Movie to see this fall.

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Erap and Masha fall

Didn't want to add anything to the obvious:  Erap guilty of plunder.  But wanted to say something about Erap and Masha in the same post.  Here goes.

Erap, guilty of plunder.
Masha is down to #4.

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"Educating communities at war"

My writer-friend Nono Montalvan wrote in the Philippine Daily Inquirer of September 3 "Educating communities at war"

"MANILA, Philippines - They narrated their stories to me as passionately as they felt about their work. If in war there are combatants, the men facing me were combatants too, but of the more profound variety, for they were certainly waging a battle for the hearts and minds of young school children. They were principals and school superintendents coming from the new province of Sharif Kabungsuwan. There were both Muslims and Christians in the group but as they told me, religious affiliations didn’t matter to them at all for they were all focused on their role in the communities they serve. That had become an understatement by the time they had told me their story..."

We and many others are fortunate not to come face to face with war. Although I was very close to a firefight only twice, I have seen the ravages of war as I grew up in southern and central Mindanao. The memories are not so easily shooed away, like flies pestering a sweaty horse.

Read the rest here and see how you can, in your own little way, make life easier for them.

Two friends win in the same weekend

Tiger Woods wins the BMW Championship by 2, while his friend Roger Federer wins the US Open for the 4th straight time (12 Grand Slams overall).

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Oh Justine!

Not even close!
Justine wins 6-1, 6-3 over Svetlana in the finals of the US Open. She did not drop a set at all in this year's edition. She improves 15-2 against Kuznetsova.

Finals, here I come!

Justine in the finals

Justine's going to be in the finals at the US Open after winning in straight sets over Venus Williams (7-6, 6-4), the only woman to have beaten the Williams sisters in the same tournament since Martina Hingis did the feat in the Australian Open in 2001. More importanly though is that Justine will try to win her 7th Grand Slam against 4th seed Svetzlana Kuznetsova.

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Flock

Trying this Flock software. Seems easy to use.

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Rainwater

A US environmental agency says: World's dams are 'contributing to global warming'

Kid you not. Here's the lead on Jessica Marszalek's story of Sept. 4:

THE world's dams are contributing millions of tonnes of harmful greenhouse gases and spurring on global warming, according to a US environmental agency. International Rivers Network executive director Patrick McCully today told Brisbane's Riversymposium rotting vegetation and fish found in dams produced surprising amounts of methane - 25 times stronger than carbon dioxide.

The rest is here.

That won't be as bad if we abide by Sheryl Crow's (yes, The Sheryl Crow) advice early this year:
Use one square of your toilet paper every trip to the loo.

When did I ever kid you? See. Still not believe? Here.

I don't know how her adopted son will be like?

Of course, in the end she says it was a joke and that at least it allowed people to start talking about global warming. heh!
For what it's worth. At.your.own.risk.

The myth of dangerous anthropogenic climate change

I quote the last paragraph of the abstract of RM Carter in his The Myth of Dangerous Human-Caused Climate Change. RM Carter is a Professor at the Marine Geophysical Laboratory (Node C) of James Cook University, Queensland.

"The issue now is no longer climate change as such, the reality of which will always be with us. Rather, the issues are, first, the failure of the free press to inform the public about the true facts of human-caused climate change and of the dangers posed by natural climate change. And, second, the vested interests held by many of the groups of warming alarmists. These interests include not only the obvious commercial ones, but also the many scientists and science managers who have discounted or remained silent about the huge uncertainties of the human-caused global warming hypothesis because it suited them to do so. Public opinion will soon demand an explanation as to why experienced editors and hardened investigative journalists, worldwide, have melted before the blowtorch of self-induced guilt, political correctness and special interest expediency that marks the sophisms of global warming alarmists."

You can read the pdf of the study here.

The Great Global Warming Swindle, huh?

11th Hour to cause Chapter 11 for Leo? Maybe not.

Leo's Eco Movie Bombs
By Roger Friedman in FoxNews

It's a good thing Leonardo DiCaprio made so much money from "Titanic" a decade ago.

His environmental documentary, "The 11th Hour," has been a total bust at the box office. After 18 days in release, the film has grossed only $417,913 from ticket sales. The 90-minute snore-fest is playing on 111 screens this week, but that number is likely to be reduced this Friday. The film will be sent to DVD heaven after that.

By comparison, Al Gore and Davis Guggenheim's similar but far more engaging "An Inconvenient Truth" had already made $3.5 million by its 18th day of release.

I hesitated to say before "11th Hour" actually opened how mind-numbingly dull it was for fear that I would ruin it for those interested in the subject of global warming. But at Cannes, when the film by Nadia Conners and Leila Conners Petersen was shown to journalists, nearly the entire room fell asleep.

A Russian filmmaker told us afterward that she was the only person in the room who was awake at one point.

I can believe it. "The 11th Hour" is grindingly boring. Basically, a series of scientists, one after another, warn the audience that the world is coming to an end. These talking heads are interspersed with stock footage of melting glaciers. The film has the effect of Ambien — with no hangover post-nap.

And this certainly is not meant to belittle the idea of global warming on my part. Last week, we met an Australian civil engineer whose specialty is the environment. He told us he had just flown over Mount Kilimanjaro and was quite surprised by what he had seen.

"There's very little snow," this scientist told us. "I was shocked. Something is very wrong and we're not doing anything about it."

Unfortunately, "The 11th Hour" is not going to win over any converts to the cause. It's also not going to earn what it cost to make. Luckily, DiCaprio is rich, rich, rich thanks to "Titanic" and a slew of other hits like "The Aviator," "The Departed" and "Catch Me If You Can." He won't feel a thing.

My guess is that this was his last foray into the documentary world.

Three's a treat

Justine wins for the third consecutive time in a Grand Slam quarterfinals against Serena Williams. She beat Serena 7-6, 6-1 at the US Open.

Justine could go up against Venus Williams in a semifinal match if Venus wins her quarters assignment.

How's that, GWA?

The Global Warming Alarmists will have a new car in their sights (the gas-guzzler Hummer has been a fave): the 2008 Honda Accord. Why? It's going DIESEL. Don't forget to click on the rest of the story. Oh well, here's the link.

Cousin Taipan writes

My cousin Taipan writes about the so-called Marshal Plan for Mindanao. There is?

All bark, no bite
By Taipan Millan
One Small Voice

THERE WAS plenty of talk about a so-called Marshall Plan for Mindanao. The idea was copied, albeit in much smaller terms that there is mention of the word Mini, from the huge US effort to rebuild Europe after the Second World War.

The concept is that a plan shall be drawn to implement in Mindanao a set of programs and projects focusing on infrastructure, education, and other major concerns.

The scheme is that this plan shall be funded by countries like the US and those in Europe, Southeast Asia, and other rich nations. It shall be massive in scale so as to immensely fast track rehabilitation and substantially jumpstart development.

Coming from no less than the Speaker of the House, with an accompanying commitment of allocating a counterpart fund, this is indeed music to the ears.

Thus, almost immediately after the grand pronouncement, the Mindanao block of the House threw its full support to the idea, echoing the possibility that this might just be what will finally make Mindanao the "Land OF Fulfillment" instead of the plain, old "Land of Promise."

But after issuing these very hopeful statements, nothing has been heard of any plan, Marshall or otherwise. This is of course not to say that nothing has come out of the idea. We may one day be surprised by a sudden barrage and bombardment of money for anything and everything. We wish.

But this early, there are observations that we must hope are false because they are threatening to make Mindanao the "Land of Unfulfilled Promises."

First, there is no such existing plan at all, and no individual or group has been seriously tasked or sincerely assigned to come up with such plan.

Second, there are currently no donors or sponsors who have signified support for such a plan that currently does not exist, and no official call or formal solicitation has been made to raise said funds.

Third, aside from the initial motherhood statements, the Speaker of the House has neither repeated nor reiterated the idea even at least to mention the source of the counterpart funds that he has committed.

And aside from the general avowal of support, the Mindanao block of the House has not followed up or followed through with the idea, even at least to mention that they will pour in their pork barrel or a part of it for this effort.

Fourth, given that this idea was hatched in the first place in relation to the never-ending armed conflict, it is not even clear if the use of the word Mindanao covers the whole island or just those areas where there is or was war, or if it refers to the fight against separatists, secessionists, insurgents or terrorists.

Fifth, considering that corollary to this idea is the grant of a general amnesty for all combatants and enemies of the state, it is not even sure if both parties are amenable to this arrangement of one party admitting to the commission of a crime and the other party forgiving without punishment.

There are countless of other observations that can be identified but the above are enough to cast a doubt as to the ultimate realization of this so-called Marshall Plan for Mindanao.

This is not being negative and pessimistic. This is being truthful and realistic.

Hopefully, something will come out of this idea other than just raising our hopes and just lifting our expectations. Hopefully, this will not end up like all the countless other plans that have been let loose? All bark, no bite.

Comments are most welcome. Please send them to attytaipanmillan@gmail.com.

What's wrong with this picture?

What's wrong with AFP?

Tuesday August 14, 2007: An elderly Iraqi woman shows two bullets which she says hit her house following an early coalition forces raid in the predominantly Shiite Baghdad suburb of Sadr City. At least 175 people were slaughtered on Tuesday and more than 200 wounded when four suicide truck bombs targeted people from an ancient religious sect in northern Iraq, officials said.(AFP/Wissam al-Okaili)

Everyone (except AFP?) knows that bullets fired don't look like this. Unless one throws these bullets. But why do that?

Update: AFP now knows as it changed the accompanying caption to this image.

But this is a Yahoo! News cache image.

Newsweek: uhm, sorry

Newsweek contributing editor Robert J. Samuelson sort of apologizes for their global warming deniers story. Good for them.

Independence Art Reef

The Independence Art Reef centerpiece artwork made by my cousin Kublai was finally deployed. Here's the story.
My previous post here.

Lucky 13?

Tiger Woods in a few hours will start his final round of the 2007 PGA Championship, leading the field at -7, 3 shots ahead of Ames. Tiger's 12-0 whenever he led after 54 holes. Would it be a lucky 13 for him? It will probably end up the way statistics play up. Another stat at play here: he is 7-0 over his final round partner. Question to ask is: who is going to be runner-up?

Update: It's Woody Austin. Tiger as always finished ahead at -8. His 13th major, 13-0 whenever he led after three days. 31 years old when he won his 13th (better than all-time fave Jack Nicklaus who won 13 at 35).

Aba, galante siya!

Why am I not surprised?
MM quotes:

Responding to a refusal by city leaders to declare the city a sanctuary for illegal immigrants, more than a dozen people gathered outside City Hall on Monday night to denounce recent immigration raids, accusing federal officials of “terrorizing” immigrant communities and breaking up families.

A coalition of local immigrant rights groups, including the Orange County Alliance for Immigrants Rights and the Front Against the Raids, announced a planned program to create a hot line that will notify people where and when immigration raids will take place. The program would also coordinate a support system for the families of deportee targets.

“We want to have a more organized effort to counter these attacks,” said Jaime Conteras, a 20-year-old Filipino immigrant who now lives in Santa Ana. “We cannot let people trample on our rights.”

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When do you stop to help?

On the way to work this morning, just before 8am, I saw a man, may just be a kid really, dying from what appeared to be a gunshot wound in the left side of his head. Traffic slowed, but moving. Many people were looking, too shocked perhaps, or knowing that he was going to die of his wound. I usually sit behind the driver in the company car, and as we passed by that kid (must have been buying something from that sari-sari store when he was shot), I shifted towards the right side of the car to see a better view, thinking that the kid was already dead. He wasn't. But only near death. We did not stop any more. Should we have stopped? Get him to the hospital?

I've seen dead people, from accidents, etc. I was in the bedside of a boy many years ago in the regional hospital ER (our former company driver hit him earlier in the day), operating the ambo bag. He was dying too. When the chief resident arrived, he declared him dead. Today was quite different. I did not see that kid die, but I knew he wasn't going to make it. A murder victim isn't quite the same as a victim of a car accident.

I heard that police aren't ruling out "fraternity-related".

The science is settled

Kid you not. The science surrounding global warming is settled. Two German scientists prove it.


Global Warming at Odds With Science

Phil Brennan, NewsMax.com
Monday, Aug. 6, 2007

Reprint Information

Hillary, Obama Take Heat From Rivals Giuliani: I’ll Beat a Clinton/Obama Ticket Gore: Polluters Manipulate Climate Info Schwarzenegger to Appeal Video Game Ruling Zogby; Americans Worried About Chinese Goods

Global warming fanatics insist that "the science is settled" regarding this contentious issue and they're right — two German scientist have settled it once and for all by proving conclusively that there is no such thing as a "greenhouse effect" in global climate.

They've also proven that there can be no way of accurately measuring average global temperature in the way it is now done. CO2 cannot play the role attributed to it by the supporters of the global warming theory, and the very idea violates the laws of thermodynamics.

Another author adds his name to the growing list of people who want a debate on global warming with Al Gore. Dennis Avery.

And more on the celebs' do as I say, not what I do.

August 6, 1945

About 65 years ago to the day, the first Atomic Bomb was detonated over Hiroshima. I was fortunate to visit Hiroshima for a training program in 2001 with some others from ASEAN countries (countries mostly occupied by the Japanese in World War I). The city hosted dinner for us together with other ASEANers who were Hiroshima residents. I remember the Hiroshima pizza (Okonomiyaki, a pan-fried Japanese dish cooked with various ingredients similar to a pancake or pizza, which means “cook what you like, the way you like”); the Japanese girl who danced the Sakura; and the Japanese lady architect who was working for the city planning office who asked me a most intriguing question: Is it true that you in the Philippines hate the Japanese? Whoa. How do you answer that?

We did not get to eat much. Not because the food wasn't great, nor wasn't enough. We just had a lot of talking to do. The Pinoys later went out to get us a real meal: McDonalds. To go. Everyone else went out also because they too had not much to eat.


Hiroshima also has the Peace Memorial (Genbaku or A-Bomb Dome), which was the only structure left standing -- it was the Prefectural Industrial Promotional Hall then, later renamed Genbaku. Topmost photo.

The Genbaku is now part of a memorial complex that commemorates the bombing. The complex has a long building some distance from the Genbaku that shows artifacts of the bombing. Not a very happy place. Some of our colleagues, the women especially, did not finish viewing everything.

The before and after presentation:

Ultimate Global Warming Challenge

Here's a chance to win USD100,000.00. It's very easy (you have to pay 15 bucks though). Or not.

GW alarmists find ally in Newsweek

Newsweek added its voice among the GW alarmists in its The Truth About Denial.

The over-used deny-to-get-oil-money slant: Since the late 1980s, this well-coordinated, well-funded campaign by contrarian scientists, free-market think tanks and industry has created a paralyzing fog of doubt around climate change. Through advertisements, op-eds, lobbying and media attention, greenhouse doubters (they hate being called deniers) argued first that the world is not warming; measurements indicating otherwise are flawed, they said. Then they claimed that any warming is natural, not caused by human activities. Now they contend that the looming warming will be minuscule and harmless.

But not so fast. Read Noel Sheppard's to this Newsweek Disgrace.

Read Clive Crook's take on the IPCC. To. Feel. Better.

Global Warming and Catholics

Here's Dr. Jeff Mirus on Catholic Culture

Global Warming and Catholics
Posted Jul. 22, 2007 5:21 PM || by Dr. Jeff Mirus

By now it is a commonplace of counter-cultural reporting that concern about global warming is as much the latest secularist crisis of salvation as it is anything else. Should Catholics be concerned about it, one way or another?

While the scientific community is generally agreed that the globe is in a warming trend, scientists are sharply divided on whether human activity is a significant contributor to this trend. Many believe that the most consistent interpretation of the evidence is that we are simply experiencing the kind of cyclical change that has been going on for as along as we can read the records of the earth. There have long been well-documented mini-cycles as well as major cycles that take about 1500 years to complete. Moreover, it is highly likely that the cooling portions of these cycles have been far harder on humanity than the warming portions.

When you balance the conflicting evidence against the recurring pattern of alarmism which has been characteristic of secularists over the past fifty years or so, one has to wonder. I can still remember when the population bomb went off and the religion of tiny families was born, from which we have slipped into no families at all. And in the 1970’s “everybody” was convinced we were heading for a new ice age. The fear-mongering concerning global warming comes from the same crowd, a crowd with unfortunately wide representation in the media and, therefore, in politics. This crowd is currently busy attempting to eliminate all contrary evidence and opposing opinion from the mainstream media, academia and political life.

Catholics, of course, are as free to analyze the evidence as anyone else, and can reach their own conclusions. If we become convinced that contemporary human behavior should be changed to contribute to a solution to global warming, we will have the support of a long Catholic tradition of material detachment, responsible stewardship, and concern for the poor. And if we become convinced that the only real concern is the behavior of wealthy secularists who like to usurp the role of savior, then we will still have the support of a long tradition of material detachment, responsible stewardship, and concern for the poor.

Meanwhile, perhaps we can also take consolation from the fact that nobody is willing to pay for the astronomically expensive policies proposed by the demagogues. And surely we ought to recognize (and oppose) a preferential option for the rich in those proposals that would enable the very wealthy Al Gores of the world to buy “global warming credits”, in effect paying a fee to continue living as if they don’t really care about the planet. If we’re facing a crisis, let’s face it like Catholics. And if we’re not, let’s face that like Catholics too. Have I mentioned material detachment, responsible stewardship and concern for the poor?

Take the GREEN Pledge

This is the GREENer Pledge courtesy of Steven Milloy (JunkScience.com):

Taking the GREEN pledge!
I’m joining JunkScience.com making our world GREENer!
I will (check items that apply):

[ ] Increase personal use of ethanol derived from grape biomass and various grains and cereals
[ ] Use more solar energy by taking longer beach vacations
[ ] Only work Saturday and Sunday, making all other days weekend to reduce driving
[ ] Open canned sodas slower to reduce rate of CO2 emissions
[ ] Gain weight - fat people are composed of more carbon than skinny people, thus keeping more carbon out of the environment
[ ] Reduce CO2-emissions by doing as little exercise as possible
[ ] Reduce global methane emissions by eating more farm animals
[ ] Avoid spicy foods to reduce personal emissions
[ ] Campaign to sequester Congress and the U.N.
[ ] Recycle environmentalists into biofuels
[ ] Lobby Congress to fund flying carpet research to replace jet travel
[ ] Help promote greater fuel efficiency by lobbying Congress to repeal the Law of Gravity

Will YOU take the pledge?

WCKGD?

Kevin Garnett is now a Celtic. In a 1 for 7 deal, KG became a Celtic to join Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. Let's see what this big triumvirate can do. The Celtics' 16 championships is still the record to beat in the NBA, but they have not won one since 1986 (I remember that series, watched in the Philippines over the FEN feed from Clark -- those were the days, huh?) with that year's big triumvirate Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish. Foxnews says: The Celtics won their last championship, the third with the original Big Three of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish, in 1986. Two members of that club orchestrated Tuesday's blockbuster trade - Celtics executive director of basketball operations Danny Ainge and Timberwolves vice president of basketball operations Kevin McHale.