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Sunday, September 14, 2008

  • What is the appeal of Sarah Palin? Some thoughts...

    The Appeal of Sarah Palin to Men

    Just my view…

         To begin with I postulate the following: In any given national election in our country the struggle is basically between the Republicans and the Democrats.  Very roughly speaking, the Democrats will hold sway over about a third of the voting public and the Republicans will hold sway over about a third of the voting public.  The battle is always over that middle third that I will refer to as the “non-aligned” group.  Whatever way that non-aligned group can be swayed is what will decide the election outcome.

         It is an interesting fact that the selection of Sarah Palin as John McCain’s running mate has jump-started the Republican’s bid for the Presidency of the United States.  Senator John McCain had been all but written off, but now in several recent polls the Republican ticket has pulled up to and in some areas, ahead of their opponents.  Why is it?  That is the question that many political pundits and experts across the country, especially those in the Obama camp, are trying desperately to figure out.

         Many ideas have been postulated, some good, some not so good and some that are down-right idiotic.  I personally believe that the main appeal is that she appears to be the real McCoy; a genuine conservative.  Most common sense folks in the non-aligned camp are attracted to that kind of a candidate.  Witness the unparallel success of President Reagan in the 80s.  Most of the so-called experts wrote him off as a reckless cowboy that could not win against Jimmy Carter, but, as history records, that was very much incorrect.  He won not just with the Republican voters, but also the non-aligned and moderate Democrat voters in two national elections.

         But there is something more to this Sarah Palin appeal I believe than that main point already made above.  Something that is below the surface, yet very effective.  I have noticed that there have been several articles of late, national and local, that have chronicled that this obscure Governor of Alaska has an increasing attraction to not just the average woman voter, but also to the average man as well.  This is really mystifying the Democrat Party to such an extent that they don’t really know what to do except to flail away at her, which only serves to illustrate to everyone that they don’t have a clue about what to do, and so they just continue their personal attacks and mudslinging at her and it appears to be causing a backlash against the Democrat candidates.  The Democrats, and their many old-media friends, have tried to pigeonholed the average non-Democrat male voter in this country as a bigoted, chauvinist and sexist person who would never vote for a woman.  I think this is one of the main reasons the Democrats rigged their primary so that Mrs. Hillary Clinton would loose to Barack Hussein Obama.  They felt that they could not win nationally with a woman like her.  Yes, I think Hillary was ripped off by their system of ‘super-delegates.’  It is perhaps one of the most non-democratic primary systems we have ever seen and quite ironic, considering the name of their party.  But I digress.

     Mary Ann Summers (Dawn Wells)1b

         Here is my point.  I think, and don’t just dismiss this out of hand, that Governor Palin is to this current political field what Mary Ann Summers was to Gilligan’s Island.  Now, hear me out on this.  You may or may not have heard of the “contest” between ‘Ginger Grant’ and ‘Mary Ann Summers’ for the attention of men fans.  Apparently it was never any real contest.  Yes, Ginger was the glamor queen with all the sexy evening wear outfits, the sultry voice, the sophistication, the hints of naughtiness, willing at times to bend and break the rules, and all the right movements.  BUT she could not hold a candle to Mary Ann who was the sweet, quaint, sensible, wanting to do the right thing, ordinary looking yet cute, girl-next-door.  Apparently the fan mail, according to John Denver who would have known, was 3-to-1 in Mary Ann's favor!  This surprised most of the "experts" in the field of Human Behavior.  I must confess that, yes, I like her better as well.  There have been, believe it or not, several studies and essays regarding this phenomenon, some even trying to explain it by delving into the psycho-sexual realm, but I don’t think it is at all that complicated.  Most men want, in their heart of hearts and in the long run, that sensible woman who they can always count on through thick and thin.  The person who uses common sense and to whom they can relate too on many levels, not just the physical.  I think this is why most men pick Mary Ann and why more and more men seem to be turning to and listening attentively to Governor Sarah Palin.  Of course, there is the viewpoint of, "What is the alternative?  Biden?!?!  YUCK!"

         I believe it is an absolute masterstroke by the Republicans, or perhaps they just lucked into this.  Either way, the Democrats will probably just continue to flail away helplessly, and not even know what hit them in November.  Of course, they could dump that loser Senator Biden as their VP and get someone else.  Hillary?  Nah, I doubt it.  Perhaps Dawn Wells, after her six month probation is over with, would be interested and available?

         ---From the ever fertile mind of...

     Zee Marketspice Meister!

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

  • ANOTHER Scientist says Global Warming is Over...

    Global Warming’s Kaput; 2008 Coolest in 5 Years

    By Phil Brennan, News Max, September 8, 2008

    http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/global_cooling/2008/09/08/128749.html?utm_medium=RSS

    Winter Blunderland 05

    The global warming theory is going into the freezer, some climate experts say.

    The first half of this year was the coolest in at least five years, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). And the global warming that has taken place during the past 30 years is over, says geologist Don J. Easterbrook, a professor emeritus at Western Washington University.

    Easterbrook, who has written eight books and 150 journal publications, predicts that temperatures will cool between 2065 and 2100 and that global temperatures at the end of the century will be less than 1 degree cooler than now. This is in contrast to other theories saying that temperatures will warm by as much as 10 degrees by 2100.

    In March, Easterbrook said he was putting his “reputation on the line” by predicting global cooling.

    “The average of the four main temperature measuring methods is slightly cooler since 2002 [except for a brief el Niño interruption] and record breaking cooling this winter. The argument that this is too short a time period to be meaningful would be valid were it not for the fact that this cooling exactly fits the pattern of timing of warm/cool cycles over the past 400 years,” Easterbrook wrote on March 1.

    Added to his assertion was the WMO revelation that the first half of 2008 was the coolest for at least five years and that the rest of the year almost will certainly be cooler than recent years, although temperatures remain above the historical average.

    The global mean temperature to the end of July was 0.28 degrees Celsius above the 1961-1990 average, Britain’s Met Office Hadley Centre for climate change research said Wednesday. That would make the first half of 2008 the coolest since 2000. Chillier weather this year is partly because of a global weather pattern called La Nina that follows a periodic warming effect called El Nino.

    "We can expect with high probability this year will be cooler than the previous five years," said Omar Baddour, responsible for climate data and monitoring at the WMO. "Definitely the La Nina should have had an effect, how much we cannot say. Up to July 2008, this year has been cooler than the previous five years at least. It still looks like it's warmer than average."

    Also snowing on the global warming enthusiasts is the highly respected “Farmer's Almanac,” which predicts that the coming winter will be “catastrophic” because of bitter cold weather.

    People worried about the high cost of keeping warm this winter will draw little comfort from the prediction of below-average temperatures for most of the U.S., says the 192-year-old publication, famed for its accuracy of 80 percent to 85 percent.

    "Numbs the word," the almanac’s 2009 edition says, adding that at least two-thirds of the country can expect colder-than-average temperatures, with only the far West and Southeast in line for near-normal readings.

    "This is going to be catastrophic for millions of people," the almanac's editor, Peter Geiger, told The Associated Press, noting that the frigid forecast combined with high prices for heating fuel is sure to compound problems households will face in keeping warm.

    The almanac predicts above-normal snowfall for the Great Lakes and Midwest, especially during January and February, and above-normal precipitation for the Southwest in December and for the Southeast in January and February, the almanac states. Also, the Northeast and the mid-Atlantic regions can expect an unusually wet or snowy February.

    Ivy League geologist Robert Giegengack, a professor of Earth and environmental science at the University of Pennsylvania, told phillymag.com that the history over the last 1 billion years on the planet reveals "only about 5 percent of that time has been characterized by conditions on Earth that were so cold that the poles could support masses of permanent ice."

    Giegengack also noted that, "for most of Earth's history, the globe has been warmer than it has been for the last 200 years. It has rarely been cooler."

    Further ammunition for global warming skeptics came from south of the border, where a Mexican scientist warns that Earth will enter a “little ice age” for up to 80 years because of a decrease in solar activity.

    Victor Manuel Velasco Herrera, a researcher at the Institute of Geophysics at Mexico’s National Autonomous University, predicts that the ice period will begin in about 10 years.

    Predictions of a gradual increase in temperatures called global warming are erroneous, Velasco Herrera told a conference at the Centre for Applied Sciences and Technological Development regarding predictions of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

    The IPCC models and forecasts are wrong because they are based only on “mathematical models and presented results at scenarios that do not include, for example, solar activity," he said.

    The phenomenon of climate change should include other kinds of factors, both internal, such as volcanoes and human activity, and external, such as solar activity, he said.

    "In this century, glaciers are growing," as seen on the Perito Moreno mountain in the Andes; on Mount Logan, the highest mountain in Canada; and on Franz-Josef Glacier, New Zealand, Velasco Herrera said.

    Satellite data indicate that a period of global cooling may have begun in 2005, he said.

     

Saturday, September 06, 2008

  • "It's gonna be cold, it's gonna be grey, and it's gonna last you for the rest of your life."

    A "Little Ice Age" in our Future?
    Polar Bear on Ice
    Another Scientist Predicts Global Cooling
    By Michael Asher, Daily Tech, Science, August 20, 2008

    http://www.dailytech.com/Another+Scientist+Predicts+Global+Cooling/article12711.htm

    Previous DailyTech stories have detailed recent cooling experienced by the planet, and highlighted some of the scientists currently predicting extended global cooling.  Even the UN IPCC has stated that world temperatures may continue to decline, if only briefly.

    Now, an expert in geophysics at the National Autonomous University of Mexico has added his voice to the fray. Victor Manuel Velasco Herrera, a researcher at UNAM's Institute of Geophysics, has predicted an imminent period of cooling intense enough to be called a small ice age.

    Speaking to a crowd at a conference at the Center for Applied Sciences and Technological Development, Herrera says the sun can both cool and warm the planet. Variations in solar activity, he says, are causing changes in the Earth's climate.

    "So that in two years or so, there will be a small ice age that lasts from 60 to 80 years", he said. "The most immediate result will be drought."  Herrera says satellite temperature data indicates this cooling may have already begun.

    Recent increases in glacier mass in the Andes, Patagonia, and Canada were given as further evidence of an upcoming cold spell.

    Herrera also described the predictions of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as "erroneous". According to Herrera, their forecasts “are incorrect because are only based on mathematical models which do not include [factors such as] solar activity".

    Herrera pointed to the so-called "Little Ice Age" which peaked in the 17th century, as a previous cooling event caused by solar fluctuations.

    Herrera made his remarks at UNAM, located in Mexico City, is the oldest university on the North American continent.

    ----------------------------------------------

    Sea Ice Increasing in Both Arctic & Antarctic Areas

    ---

    Arctic Sees Massive Gain in Ice Coverage

    By Michael Asher, Daily Tech, Science Section, September 3, 2008

    http://www.dailytech.com/Arctic+Sees+Massive+Gain+in+Ice+Coverage/article12851.htm

    Increase twice the size of Germany: "colder weather" to blame.

    Data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) has indicated a dramatic increase in sea ice extent in the Arctic regions. The growth over the past year covers an area of 700,000 square kilometers: an amount twice the size the nation of Germany.

    With the Arctic melting season over for 2008, ice cover will continue to increase until melting begins anew next spring.

    The data is for August 2008 and indicates a total sea ice area of six million square kilometers. Ice extent for the same month in 2007 covered 5.3 million square kilometers, a historic low. Earlier this year, media accounts were rife with predictions that this year would again see a new record. Instead, the Arctic has seen a gain of about thirteen percent.

    William Chapman, a researcher with the Arctic Climate Research Center at the University of Illinois, tells DailyTech that this year the Arctic was "definitely colder" than 2007. Chapman also says part of the reason for the large ice loss in 2007 was strong winds from Siberia, which affect both ice formation and drift, forcing ice into warmer waters where it melts.

    Earlier predictions were also wrong because researchers thought thinner ice would melt faster in subsequent years. Instead, according to the NSIDC, the new ice had less snow coverage to insulate it from the bitterly cold air, resulting in a faster rate of ice growth.

    Most concern has focused on the Arctic regions, rather than Antarctica. Recent research has indicated Antarctica is on a long-term cooling trend, for reasons which remain unclear.

    Earlier this year, concerns over global warming led the US to officially list the polar bear a threatened species, over objections from experts who claimed the animal's numbers were increasing.

     


Tuesday, February 13, 2007

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