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NASA and NOAA have both confirmed now that April 2010 is the hottest April on record and January-April 2010 is the hottest January-April on record.

NASA just reported that this April was the hottest April on record. This followed the hottest March on record and the hottest January-February-March on record. So, is the hottest January-February-March-April on record a surprise? Only if you think climate change or global warming is a farce. Of course, how to explain this record-breaking first quarter of the year would be the big question in that case (especially since we are in the “deepest solar minimum in nearly a century“).

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According to All Things Digital, that $10-a-month Hulu Plus subscription service won’t quite make it out the doors in time for the rumored May 24th launch-date. Considering Hulu still hasn’t confirmed that a subscription service is on the cards, it’s not entirely surprising we won’t be seeing anything next Monday. [All Things D] More »










Hulu – HuluPlus – Business – Subscription business model – All Things Digital

Via Prison Planet.com » Prison Planet

Sovereign Independent
May 18, 2010

Among the 78 research projects to receive $100,000 grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation earlier this week as part of the Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative, is an effort by researchers at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, to develop a non-invasive, reversible form of birth control for men — using ultrasound. Based on preliminary trials in rats, researchers James Tsuruta and Paul Dayton hope to develop a technique that would render men temporarily infertile for up to six months after one or two ultrasound exposures.

Via Prison Planet.com » Commentary

Dr. Tim Ball
Canada Free Press
May 18, 2010

The Kerry – Lieberman American Power Act (APA) is a disastrous, unnecessary solution for a non-existent problem. Worse, it’s a problem that exists only in a grossly inadequate computer model whose projections have never been correct. It is predicated on the false assumption that an increase in CO2 causes a temperature increase. Every record of any duration for any period in Earth’s history shows temperature increases before CO2 increases.  The false assumption is the basis of all global warming and climate change used in the corrupted research and models of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It is impossible to imagine such an unjustified basis for any action, except to undermine the US economy for political gain.

It will make the US economy uncompetitive, dramatically increase the cost of living and give more power to the government. This is already proven in the failure of countries that have pursued similar alternative energies and green economies.

The name of the Act is in the deceptive tradition of climate-based energy policy. It was carbon credits, then carbon tax, cap and trade, and now the APA but they are all the same and completely unnecessary.  Carbon credits were designed as a global equalization of wealth. Developed nations had to pay for the sin of making their money by using fossil fuels and producing the planet destroying global warming. Cap and Trade appeared virtuous by capping the planet-destroying CO2 while creating trade and business opportunity. It is actually the same old tax grab with more government control. The APA invokes patriotism and implies energy independence, especially from oil. The spill in the Gulf is unfortunate but has reinforced the push. As Rahm Emmanuel, White House Chief of Staff said, “Never let a serious crisis go to waste.”

The IPCC Provide Corrupt Scientific Basis

It provides the leverage to achieve the stated Obama administration goal of energy independence and a shift to alternative energy. However, it is much more than that because as Richard Lindzen said “Controlling carbon is a bureaucrats dream. If you control carbon you control life.”

The IPCC Reports and especially the Summary for Policymakers (SPM) are used to demonize CO2. Ironically, they provide evidence of how inadequate they are for taking such dramatic, drastic and unnecessary political action.

In the Reports what is initially included and then excluded tells the story. For example, a graph (Figure 1) showing the Medieval Warm Period (MWP) was included in the 1990 IPCC Report. It was a problem for Michael Mann and the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) so it disappeared in later reports and then was replaced in the 2001 Report by the corrupted ‘hockey stick’ graph, as they rewrote history.

Figure 1: Temperatures of Europe for last 1000 years.
Source: IPCC 1990 (Fig; 7c) Report

Figure 2 shows a table from the 2001 Report. It identifies estimates of some factors causing changes in radiative forcing because of human activities. Why do they then include “solar irradiance” as the only “natural” forcing. The column “LOSU” on the right side is critical and amusing. It stands for “Level of Scientific Understanding” so by their own measure only two are considered high and that is very debatable. Four of nine variables are low yet they are only the ones they chose. Even more bizarre they claimed solar irradiance explained at least 50% of temperature change up to 50 years ago, they were 90% certain that since then it was all attributable to human increases in CO2. 

Figure 2: 2001 IPCC Radiative Forcing Table
Source:

Figure 3 shows the same table in the 2007 Report and mysteriously the LOSU column, estimated forcing values and spatial scale disappear. 

Figure 3: 2007 IPCC Radiative forcing table.
Source:

A few years ago Environmental Scientists at Rutgers University listed processes that must be included in any computer model. They include, a) Wind, b) Radiation, c) Clouds, d) Precipitation, e) Air-sea exchanges of moisture, energy, and momentum, f) Air-land exchanges of moisture, energy and momentum, g) Soil moisture, h) Ground water, i) Chemistry of greenhouse gases, j) Aerosols, k) Ocean temperature, salinity, currents, l) Sea ice, m) Snow, n) Glaciers, o) Vegetation p) and Ocean biota. We have virtually no measures and only crude estimates of most of these variables. The models are inadequate scientifically in a multitude of ways. Consider the following comment about underlying mathematical issues.

“A number of recent papers analyzing the nature of climate models have yielded a stunning result little known outside of mathematical circles—climate models like the ones relied on by the IPCC contain “irreducible imprecision.” According to one researcher, all interesting solutions for atmospheric and oceanic simulation (AOS) models are chaotic, hence almost certainly structurally unstable. Furthermore, this instability is an intrinsic mathematical property of the models which can not be eliminated. Analysis suggests that models should only be used to study processes and phenomena, not for precise comparisons with nature.”

Three reasons for Kerry – Lieberman; a massive tax grab, crippling of the US economy, and offer of salvation through total government control

So the science is wrong and the computer models don’t work. Even if all human produced CO2 was eliminated tomorrow we would not be able to detect the difference in the amount in the atmosphere. The total humans produce is within the error of the estimate of at least three natural sources. For example, with the recent recession human production has decreased with no effect on global measurements. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) treats CO2 as a pollutant based on an ignorant ruling by the US Supreme Court. Kerry – Lieberman proposes to improve the environment by reducing CO2 when an increase is beneficial to the planet’s plants. Too bad the plants don’t get a vote.

There is no scientific justification for claims CO2 is causing global warming. It is a non-existent problem. Reducing the amount is harmful not helpful to the economy or plants and not necessary. It will cripple industry with draconian rules and taxation to make the entire economy expensive and uncompetitive. Alternate energies will not provide adequate power replacement and increase costs through the subsidies necessary to make them even remotely viable. Green jobs will cost regular jobs as Spain and other jurisdictions have discovered. Energy independence is easily achieved with conventional sources and a transition to nuclear power and coal for home and industry, natural gas for vehicle power and the oil industry for petrochemical needs. There are only three reasons for Kerry – Lieberman; a massive tax grab, crippling of the US economy, and offer of salvation through total government control.

We’re about to get yet another 3D-enabled piece of hardware, and this time, it’s a projector. Sanyo’s PDG-DWL2500J, announced today in Japan (press release in English), is not only “3D ready”, but it also boasts the world’s shortest projection distance (just 32cm to project images that are 80 inches in size) for projectors weighing less than 9kg.

Sanyo says the maximum image size achievable for projections with this model is 110 inches (in WXGA resolution), up 30 inches from the previous model. With this new projector, which can be used both vertically and horizontally, the company also managed to cut the size of the hardware by about 50% (it now measures 321x 170×385mm).

Sanyo predicts the 3D function in particular will be used by museums, “amusement arcades”, movie theaters, advertisers, or for business presentations that require high show value (viewers will need to wear active shutter glasses to see the 3D images).

Buyers also get a 10W mono speaker, an HDMI interface, WLAN, 2000:1 contrast ratio, and 2,500 lumens brightness.

The PDG-DWL2500J will go on sale in Japan in July with an open price model. Sanyo hasn’t said yet when the projector will hit international markets.

Via Prison Planet.com » Prison Planet

Detroit Free Press
May 18, 2010

The stunning burst of light and noise from a flash-bang grenade was meant to distract and disorient whoever was inside the east-side Detroit duplex as officers sought to capture a murder suspect, police said.

But in the wake of the fatal shooting of 7-year-old Aiyana Jones during the raid, Michigan State Police are investigating what led to her death, while city police are reviewing whether the tactics were appropriate.

National experts say flash-bang grenades are useful tools in high-risk situations. But veteran Detroit cops told the Free Press on Monday that the devices are rarely used.

“In my entire career, we’ve only used these in barricaded-gunmen situations as a diversionary tactic,” said one Detroit cop, who has been on hundreds of high-risk arrests and raids.

Full article here

Ferrari World Abu Dhabi – Yas Island

What better way to say Good Morning to millions of auto enthusiasts by showing them a virtual tour of Ferrari World Abu Dhabi on Yas Island – a place they will probably never visit unless they are die hard Ferrari fans or if they just happened to be in the Middle East (particularly Abu Dhabi or Dubai).

Ready to open its doors later this year, Ferrari World Abu Dhabi will be the world’s largest indoor theme park. It will feature 20 rides and attractions, including the world’s fastest roller-coaster and a Ferrari driving school.

Check out the video after the jump.

Ferrari World Abu Dhabi – Yas Island:

– By: Kap Shah

The Times story continues to send shock waves through the political world. Here’s a sampling of reaction from Connecticut:

Via Prison Planet.com » Commentary

Ron Paul
Campaign For Liberty
May 18, 2010

The spotlight remains on the Greek sovereign debt crisis as the riots continue. The terms of the Greek bailout from the IMF and Eurozone countries remain contentious with citizens on all sides. Europeans hate having their governments throw public money away as much as Americans do. The Greeks are not happy about having their taxes raised while their pensions and salaries are cut. Meanwhile, it is rumored by the Financial Times, AFP and others that Greece may spend more than it saves from austerity measures on arms deals with Germany, France and the US as a potential condition of receiving bailout funds. If true, it is certainly not unprecedented for the global military industrial complex to benefit from deals made by their friends in the central banking community. After all, war is the health of the state. The last thing big government proponents want is for peace to break out in the world.

This free flow of fiat money from around the globe to Greece will not really save Greece as much as it will grant a temporary reprieve to central bankers from the consequences of their mistakes. Sadly, this will come at the expense of the Greek people and taxpayers in Europe and America. Taxpayers are of no consequence to either European or American central bankers. Even the mere desire for complete information on what they are up to in our name is rebuffed, as we saw last week in the Senate with the failure of Senator Vitter’s amendment containing my language to fully audit the fed. The hubris of powerful and secretive central bankers seems to know no bounds.

If someone incurred debts against you as an individual, without your knowledge or consent, you would call it identity theft. You would call your bank for a full accounting of the debts incurred in your name, and after some verification, those debts would be declared invalid and you would not be held responsible for them. Furthermore, if the culprit was found, they would be prosecuted and sent to jail.

Not so with governments and central banks. Governments that are supposed to be of the people and for the people routinely incur debts against the people. Some governments even borrow money to oppress their citizens, and then expect them to pay for their own oppression with interest. With a fiat monetary system, the sky is the limit for how much debt a government can place on the backs of the people.

We have reached the point in the United States where the debt our government has accumulated against us is mathematically impossible to pay off. Harder times, likely due to a wave of hyperinflation, will eventually find its way to our streets and I am fearful of how Americans will react. My hope is that we will come together peacefully and help each other, and that enough of us will be aware that the blame rests securely on the shoulders of the Federal Reserve and the special interests. They should not be looked to for salvation. They should not be given more power. Rather, they should be stripped of the powers that allowed them to create this mess in the first place.

Resistance to public transparency regarding public debts should be denounced in the strongest of terms, and the central bankers that incurred them should be seen as no better than common identity thieves.

Word on the Curb has it that Jonathan Rhys Meyers used a racial slur against an airline employee during that drunken tirade that got him banned from United Airlines last weekend.

The star of the Showtime series The Tudors reportedly used the “N” word when he was reprimanded for drunk and disorderly conduct at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City early Saturday.

An airline employee has confirmed to RadarOnline.com that the 32-year-old star used the word “n****r” when he was told he couldn’t board the morning flight to Los Angeles. Other airline workers claim the actor was “pounding drinks” in the first class lounge and was becoming increasingly drunk and rowdy — even though it was only 7 AM. He then tried to board his flight but was refused entry due to his “out of control behavior.”

Officials were unable to elaborate any further on the report because of passenger privacy laws, but it is believed that Meyer has received a lifetime ban from traveling with United Airlines following the alcohol-soaked outburst.

The actor has been in trouble twice before with airport staff for similar issues. In 2007, the repeat rehabber was arrested at a Dublin airport and charged public drunkeness and disturbing the peace. Both charges were later dismissed. Two years later, in June 2009, he was arrested after allegedly attacking staffers at a bar in Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport.

Satoru Iwata, Nintendo’s President, has been especially cagey about the final name for what’s known as the 3DS, but according to recent trademarks filed in Japan the 3DS model name could very well stick. More »










Nintendo – Video game – Games – Console Platforms – Nintendo DS

Apparently, it’s difficult for US soldiers in places like Iraq to get access to Hollywood movies legitimately, so it should come as little surprise that they might pick up bootleg DVDs to keep up with what they’re missing back at home. Rather than actually supplying content for the military, it appears the MPAA decided to send a letter asking for details about how US Central Command is stomping out this practice, and asking if it will ban soldiers from going into stores that sell bootleg DVDs. Thankfully, USCC said “no,” noting that it didn’t want to harm Iraqi entrepreneurs and had no jurisdiction over shops selling bootlegs… while also suggesting that “the provision of popular entertainment like first-run movies, concerts and other events will help to curtail the demand for pirated media.” In other words, stop worrying about piracy and maybe send over some movies for us to watch already.

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Via Prison Planet.com » Sci Tech

Anthony Watts
Watts Up With That?
May 18, 2010

I may just divert to Toronto from Chicago and pay this writer a visit so I can tell him to his face what an idiot he is, or have my two new Canadian friends, Guy and Stuart, do it for me. He deserves it. How do the publishers of this newspaper reconcile printing such blatant idiocy based on what the writer calls “weeks old” science? How does such a headline get published? At first I thought maybe it was just the copy editor at fault, making a dumb headline, but then I read this in the body of the story:

Over 4.5 billion people could die from Global Warming related causes by 2012, as planet Earth accelarates [sic] into a greed-driven horrific catastrophe.

6.7 billion people in the world today, and 4.5 billion will die in less than two years due to a temperature rise that will be less in magnitude than our regularly experienced variance? There’s a link at the end, feel free to sound off. We need to remind this newspaper of this in 2012 – Anthony

Over 4.5 Billion people could die from Global Warming-related causes by 2012

Hydrate hypothesis illuminates growing climate change alarm

Compiled by John Stokes

A recent scientific theory called the “hydrate hypothesis” says that historical global warming cycles have been caused by a feedback loop, where melting permafrost methane clathrates (also known as “hydrates”) spur local global warming, leading to further melting of clathrates and bacterial growth.

In other words, like western Siberia, the 400 billion tons of methane in permafrost hydrate will gradually melt, and the released methane will speed the melting. The effect of even a couple of billion tons of methane being emitted into the atmosphere each year would be catastrophic.

The “hydrate hypothesis” (if validated) spells the rapid onset of runaway catastrophic global warming. In fact, you should remember this moment when you learned about this feedback loop-it is an existencial turning point in your life.

By the way, the “hydrate hypothesis” is a weeks old scientific theory, and is only now being discussed by global warming scientists. I suggest you Google the term.

Now that most scientists agree human activity is causing the Earth to warm, the central debate has shifted to when we will pass the tipping point and be helpless to stop the runaway Global Warming.

There are enormous quantities of methane trapped in permafrost and under the oceans in ice-like structures called clathrates. The methane in Arctic permafrost clathrates is estimated at 400 billion tons.

Methane is more than 20 times as strong a greenhouse gas as CO2, and the atmosphere currently contains about 3.5 billion tons of the gas.

The highest temperature increase from global warming is occurring in the arctic regions-an area rich in these unstable clathrates. Simulations from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) show that over half the permafrost will thaw by 2050, and as much as 90 percent by 2100.

…

Western Siberia is heating up faster than anywhere else in the world, having experienced a rise of some 3C in the past 40 years. The west Siberian peat bog could hold some 70 billion tonnes of methane. Local atmospheric levels of methane on the Siberian shelf are now 25 times higher than global concentrations.

…

Runaway Global Warming promises to literally burn-up agricultural areas into dust worldwide by 2012, causing global famine, anarchy, diseases, and war on a global scale as military powers including the U.S., Russia, and China, fight for control of the Earth’s remaining resources.

Over 4.5 billion people could die from Global Warming related causes by 2012, as planet Earth accelarates into a greed-driven horrific catastrophe.

…

Make comments about this article in The Canadian Blog.
[DON’T VISIT – AV PROGRAMS REPORT AS “ATTACK PAGE”]

Full story here

Contact page for The Canadian here

==========================================

UPDATE: To further illustrate just how bad this newspaper is, they have what appears to be a current date for the story right above the headline:

Yet when you look at the footer:

The automatic current date inserter gives the false impression of fresh news. It certainly fooled me and other readers. It appears this is an old article from 2007, still no less stupid, and to be proven false within 18 months. Readers that are visiting the blog page link provided by The Canadian are reporting AV software saying it to be an “attack site”. I’ve verified this, Visiting not recommended. Just make a date in your appointment calendar to drop a line to the editors (assuming this paper is still in existence in 2012) to remind them you and 4.5 billion other people aren’t dead. – A

Via Prison Planet.com » World News

Russia Today
Tuesday, May 18th, 2010

Israel has refused to permit Noam Chomsky, the linguist and icon of the American left, to enter the occupied West Bank from Jordan. Some argue that Chomsky, an 81-year-old professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, could pose a risk to Israel. Norman Finkelstein says that Israel has been exposed to the world during the Gaza conflict and now feels threatened.

Sure, Mobile Hotspot accidentally appeared for Sprint and AT&T users yesterday for a short time, but here’s what’s new today that you can actually download, install, and use:

• Trackspace Full is an OpenStreetMap-based exercise tracking app that’s more focused on routes and miles than calories burned.
• Speaking of OpenStreetMap, alittleWorld utilizes it too, allowing you to track your own movements and email out the GPX-formatted results.
• Photo Effects Plus ups the game over the lite version by adding photo cropping and photo resizing.

More new and updated apps after the break!

read more

Politics Daily has a wrap-up of the biggest Tuesday primary contests. (Illinois is out of this picture, holding the first-in-the nation 2010 primary last Feb. 2)

As we said it last week in this post, GM made it official today and announced that its OnStar telematics unit will now bring Google mobile navigation technology into your car.

The first drivers who will get this technology are Chevrolet Volt drivers who use smartphones featuring Google’s Android operating system. These people will connect their phones to pinpoint their vehicle’s location on Google Maps. This will act as a navigation system and guide the driver to the destination using turn-by-turn spoken directions.The application will work on the Motorola Droid, which is an Android phone, as well as on Blackberry Storm and the Apple iPhone and it will be available when the Chevrolet Volt will go on sale this fall! “While OnStar will never lose sight of our core focus on safety and security, this relationship is an example of how we’re evolving our leadership position in connected vehicle technology,” said Chris Preuss, OnStar president. “What we’re talking about today is only the beginning.”

Source: Car news, Car reviews, Spy shots

Charles Bartholomew “Chuck” Bass a character of Gossip Girls who is portrayed by Ed Westwick in the television series. Chuck is one of the main characters who serve as the antihero. Gossip Girl Season 4 is set to air on September 13, 2010. On tonight’s finale “Last Tango, Then Paris”, we see the departure of Jenny and Chuck getting shot as he tries to save Blair’s engagement ring from being stolen. The same ring he offered to Blair but was refused when she discovered that Chuck had slept with Jenny Humphrey Chuck was all set to propose to his girlfriend however he got shot and is left for dead on the ground. The accident of Bass had drawn some extreme reactions of fans watching all over the world. And so the big question is – Is Chuck Bass Dead?

The answer is no, the co-creators of the show, John Schwatz and Stephanie Savage, just revealed a few episodes of Gossip Girl Season 4. They said that it will be filmed in Paris and we’ll expect to see Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively), Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester) and Chuck Bass(Ed Westwick) in the wonderful city of love where there’ll be drama and living the great life.

No related posts.

Toyota has managed to cut the cost of making a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle by 90% in the past five years. “Our target is, we don’t lose money with introduction of the vehicle,” said Yoshihiko Masuda, Toyota’s managing director for advanced autos. In result the automaker plans to offer a $50,000 hydrogen-powered vehicle by 2015.

The hydrogen announcement from Toyota, which has had a nearly singular focus on hybrids, is the latest move in a high-stakes chess game regarding green auto technology.

Toyota  has cut hydrogen fuel cell costs by reducing platinum use to about one-third the previous level and finding cheaper ways to produce the thin film used in the fuel cells and the carbon-fiber hydrogen fuel tanks.

Some experts point to range and efficiency advantages that fuel cell cars have over gasoline or battery-powered vehicles. Nonetheless, high costs and lack of hydrogen refueling infrastructure remain major obstacles to affordable and practical fuel cell cars.

The battle for dominance regarding whiz-bang energy-efficient auto technology is getting more complicated everyday. At this point—at least while gasoline is still relatively cheap—it’s less about selling a lot of cars or profitability, and more about public perception.