OPINION

When Birds Attack If you’ve never seen Hitchcock’s The Birds, you’ve probably seen a few chilling out-takes. People running. Birds swooping. People screaming. Glass shattering. Could the scenario be even scarier? Well, yes: if, say, it were illegal for the victims to defend themselves. This is not a movie remake. That’s what the beleaguered citizens of Bartow are currently facing. This is a small town outside of Orlando — a quiet community says the Orlando Sentinel. Well, except for the screaming. Migrating turkey vultures have turned into quite a nuisance there. They rip shingles off roofs. They chew rubber from car windows. First pecking a little. Then a lot. And the people? Screams. Of frustration. They’re not allowed to do much about this. They may blow a shrill whistle to try to scare off the vultures, or tactically position stuffed toys that resemble dead vultures. But the beleaguered residents may not kill or even capture the birds. The birds are protected by the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Apparently we’ve signed an agreement with the birds which makes it a criminal offense for anybody to ruffle their feathers. Too bad such well-meaning edicts don’t also make it illegal for birds to harass innocent villagers....
Refuting Al Gore’s Gospel: The Climate Debate Continues I have been harshly criticized for suggesting the debate over conflicting theories of “global warming” has yet to be concluded. It is fascinating that a diverse collection of academic and scientific “experts” collect the same empirical data and conclude two diametrically opposed results. It is an absurd reality that one side in the debate arbitrarily would presume to declare victory to silence a dissenting view. It defies reason the presumptive opinion could get away with such hubris…yet they have. The latest underreported bad news for disciples of the gospel according to Al Gore is that reports by the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) are “flawed and cannot be supported.” The Washington Times reports that a panel of statisticians, chaired by Edward J. Wegman of George Mason University, found significant problems with the methods of analysis used by the researchers and with the IPCC's peer review process. "IPCC reports have predicted average world temperatures will increase dramatically, leading to the spread of tropical diseases, severe drought, the rapid melting of the world's glaciers and ice caps, and rising sea levels." However, according to The Times, "several assessments of the IPCC's work have shown the techniques and methods used to derive its climate predictions are fundamentally flawed." In other words, garbage in = garbage out....
ABC Ignores Taxes Behind High California Gas Prices High gas prices are hurting a lot of people, but the impact is most painful for Californians. ABC’s March 16 “World News” featured a segment about the California economy and pointed out that California is experiencing the highest gas prices in the country. “The Golden State’s economy has sailed into the perfect economic storm,” ABC correspondent Mike Von Fremd said. “The economic slowdown is forcing California to lay off 20,000 teachers, counselors and librarians. Home foreclosure rates in southern California are up more than 80 percent over last year. And making things worse: the highest gasoline prices in the continental U.S., averaging $3.63 a gallon statewide, more than $4 for premium in Silicon Valley.” But there’s a wrinkle in the “World News” story that Von Fremd failed to mention. Gas prices are higher in California due to regulations and taxes, according to the Energy Information Administration. “The State of California operates its own reformulated gasoline program with more stringent requirements than Federally-mandated clean gasolines,” the EIA’s Web site says. “In addition to the higher cost of cleaner fuel, there is a combined State and local sales and use tax of 7.25 percent on top of an 18.4 cent-per-gallon Federal excise tax and an 18.0 cent-per-gallon State excise tax. Refinery margins have also been higher due in large part to price volatility in the region.” Journalists often fail to point out California’s 45.5-cent-per-gallon tax on fuel, the highest state gasoline tax in the nation, according to the American Petroleum Institute....