Song Of The Day #232

Ranch Radio is featuring some traditional bluegrass today. We'll have two songs performed by Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs and The Smokey Mountain Boys: Old Salty Dog Blues recorded in 1952 and the 1953 instrumental Dear Old Dixie.

Both tunes are available on the 4 disc box set Flatt & Scruggs 1948-1959.

Bin Laden: Global warming is US' fault

In a message that would make Al Gore proud, the man behind the Sept. 11 attacks called for the world to boycott American products and the US dollar -- blaming this country for global warming, according to an audiotape released today. In the tape, the terror lord rants of the dangers of climate change and said the only way to stop it is to bring "the wheels of the American economy" to a grinding halt. He called for "drastic solutions" to global warming -- "not solutions that partially reduce the effect of climate change," according to the taped message. The message was played today by the Qatar-based Arab satellite TV channel Al Jazeera...read more

Bin Laden's comments will make Al Gore proud. Hey, that must be it - Bin Laden wants a Nobel Peace Prize.

The Death of Global Warming

The global warming movement as we have known it is dead. Its health had been in steady decline during the last year as the once robust hopes for a strong and legally binding treaty to be agreed upon at the Copenhagen Summit faded away. By the time that summit opened, campaigners were reduced to hoping for a ‘politically binding’ agreement to be agreed that would set the stage for the rapid adoption of the legally binding treaty. After the failure of the summit to agree to even that much, the movement went into a rapid decline. The movement died from two causes: bad science and bad politics. After years in which global warming activists had lectured everyone about the overwhelming nature of the scientific evidence, it turned out that the most prestigious agencies in the global warming movement were breaking laws, hiding data, and making inflated, bogus claims resting on, in some cases, no scientific basis at all...read more

Alaska Atty Gen outlines endangered species fight

Alaska Attorney General Dan Sullivan has outlined plans for ramping up the state's fight against expanded use of endangered species laws. Sullivan told the House Finance Committee in Juneau on Tuesday that he will approach other states to tell them about Alaska's plan, which includes a request for $1 million next year to pay for a full-time attorney to focus on the Endangered Species Act and for more contract help from specialized lawyers. Sullivan said he's drafting letters to attorneys general in every state, outlining the Alaska Department of Law's efforts to gain a greater say in federal wildlife protection. Last week, Gov. Sean Parnell said in his State of the State address that the federal government has intruded into areas of state legal responsibility. Sullivan said the state also would look to share more analysis and biological data with the federal government and, when species make it onto the list, find a larger role for Alaska in shaping recovery plans...read more

U.S. Navy Sued Over Anti-Sub Training Range Where Rare Whales Calve

ver its decision to build an Undersea Warfare Training Range next to the only known calving ground for the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale. Only about 350 whales of this species remain today. The range is set for a location 50 nautical miles offshore of Jacksonville, on Florida's northeast coast. The Navy plans to place undersea cables and sensor nodes in a 500 square-nautical-mile area of the ocean to create the range for anti-submarine warfare training. The range would begin operating in 2014. The Navy plans to conduct 470 annual exercises on the training range with up to three vessels and two aircraft deploying exercise torpedoes, parachutes and sonobuoys, and sonar and other noise pollution...read more

Enviros plan lawsuit claiming pesticides are harming endangered species

A conservation group says it plans to sue the federal government, claiming hundreds of protected animal species have been impacted because it has not evaluated or regulated nearly 400 pesticides. The Center for Biological Diversity sent the Environmental Protection Agency a letter of intent to sue on Thursday. It says the agency violated the Endangered Species Act by not consulting with wildlife regulators about the pesticides' impacts. The organization says as many as 887 species may be harmed, including the Florida panther, coho salmon and California condor...read more

Enviro group: US must respond to coral concerns

A U.S. conservation group announced Wednesday it would sue the federal government to force a decision on whether to protect 83 coral species it says are threatened by global warming and more acidic waters. The Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity has sent notification of its intention to sue the National Marine Fisheries Service because the U.S. agency missed a deadline for an endangered species listing decision for dozens of coral species. A 60-day notification letter is required before a suit can be field. Miyoko Sakashita, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said the corals, found in Florida, Hawaii and island territories in the Caribbean and Pacific, face a growing threat of extinction from rising ocean temperatures...read more

For environmental crimes, a public mea culpa

The Rockmore Co. has a confession: “Our company has discharged human waste directly into Massachusetts coastal waters.’’ That statement is part of an abject apology that will soon appear in newspaper ads if a federal judge approves a plea deal between the US government and Rockmore, which is accused of illegally dumping waste for years in Salem Harbor and in the Charles River off the Esplanade from its sightseeing cruise ship and its floating restaurant. The agreement would mark at least the fourth time in recent years that federal prosecutors in Massachusetts have required environmental scofflaws to buy large and costly advertisements atoning for their crimes as part of their sentences. Many legal scholars say the apologies foster contrition and save the government the high costs of more traditional punishments, such as incarceration. But some defense lawyers and scholars say the ads represent a throwback to the stocks and pillories of Colonial times and are designed less to educate the public and more to humiliate wrongdoers. “It’s the scarlet letter,’’ said Stellio Sinnis, a federal public defender...read more

Obama budget would eliminate funding for Yucca Mountain

President Barack Obama will propose eliminating funding for the Yucca Mountain Project in a new budget he will submit to Congress today, said Nevada lawmakers who were notified over the weekend. Also, White House officials said they will take steps "in the near future" to withdraw a pending license application to build the long-planned nuclear waste repository, which could be a decisive move in ending the government's 23-year focus on developing the Nevada site for radioactive waste storage and disposal. With the formation Friday of a commission to study nuclear waste management, officials said the budget will underscore Obama's "commitment to pursuing a responsible, long-term strategy" for handling waste generated by nuclear utilities and government defense agencies...read more

I'm sure its just a happenstance that this should aid Harry Reid's re-election campaign.

Green Math Is Bad Math

...The entire renovation costs $133 million. The plants are only one component, but the G.S.A. admits that the renovation is being undertaken for the purpose of making the building "green." Done as a project of the Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings, the renovation is Oregon's largest federal stimulus project. The Obama administration proudly boasts that the effort will dramatically reduce the building's energy use, thereby saving federal taxpayers $280,000 a year in energy costs. Nowhere in the article did The New York Times bother to do the math. So I did. (It wasn't hard, I did it on my Blackberry while setting out for a winter hike.) To recoup its investment in this renovation, the government will have to keep the building running for the next 475 years. To provide a little perspective, the taxpayers are going to shell out $133 million -- more than half the cost of the nearby Rose Garden Arena, where the Portland Trailblazers play -- so the government can annually save the taxpayers $68,000 less than the combined yearly salaries of Oregon's two U.S. senators. This is what passes for a good "green" investment in Washington these days...read more

Los Angeles might require rainwater capture

A proposed law would require new homes, larger developments and some redevelopments in Los Angeles to capture and reuse runoff generated in rainstorms. The ordinance approved in January by the Department of Public Works would require such projects to capture, reuse or infiltrate 100% of runoff generated in a 3/4 -inch rainstorm or to pay a storm water pollution mitigation fee that would help fund off-site, low-impact public developments. The fairly new approach to managing storm water and urban runoff is designed to mitigate the negative effects of urbanization by controlling runoff at its source with small, cost-effective natural systems instead of treatment facilities. Reducing runoff improves water quality and recharges groundwater. Under the ordinance, builders would be required to use rainwater storage tanks, permeable pavement, infiltration swales or curb bump-outs to manage the water where it falls. Builders unable to manage 100% of a project's runoff on site would be required to pay a penalty of $13 a gallon of runoff not handled there -- a requirement the Building Industry Assn. has been fighting...read more

Long debate stalls NM natural resources bill

Opponents are lining up against a New Mexico bill that would allow the state natural resources trustee to pursue damages from polluters who have compromised groundwater or other natural resources. From ranchers to rural electric cooperatives and the oil and gas industry, critics said the legislation's language goes too far and would essentially transfer power from the Legislature to the trustee, an unelected position without public oversight. They also complain that numerous existing state and federal laws already protect air quality, water, wildlife and other natural resources. "This is just another level of regulation in the state of New Mexico, which is already a difficult place to do business," said Sonia Phillips, a lobbyist who represents Xcel Energy Inc. Dozens of people gathered in the House chamber Monday as a legislative committee considered the bill. The committee was forced to recess after more than two hours, promising to continue the debate Wednesday...read more

U.S. Agrees to Timetable for UN Gun Ban

The United Nations and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are moving forward with their plan to confiscate your guns. The United States joined 152 other countries in support of the Arms Trade Treaty Resolution, which establishes the dates for the 2012 UN conference intended to attack American sovereignty by stripping Americans of the right to keep and bear arms. Working groups of anti-gun countries will begin scripting language for the conference this year, creating a blueprint for other countries when they meet at the full conference. The stakes couldn’t be higher. Former United Nation’s ambassador John Bolton has cautioned gun owners about the Arms Trade Treaty and says the UN “is trying to act as though this is really just a treaty about international arms trade between nation states, but there’s no doubt that the real agenda here is domestic firearms control.” Establishing the dates for the Arms Trade Treaty Conference is just the first step toward their plans for total gun confiscation...read more

Video: What does the "budget freeze" actually mean?

Song Of The Day #231

Ranch Radio sends this tune out to all you snoopy government types. Listen carefully to Zeke Clements perform It's My Life.

The song is on his 19 track CD Early Star of the Grand Old Opry.

Condoms to Save the Environment

Endangered Animal-Themed Prophylactics Distributed Free

No mammal population has ever grown to as great a size or consumed as many resources as human beings do today, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) announced on January 27, 2010. More than 6,700,000,000 of our species now occupy Earth, according to the most recent government census information—and with our vehicles, buildings, technology, and emissions, an enormous strain is being placed on the other animals with which we share this planet, including endangered species. And with 80 million new humans being brought into the world each year, the C.B.D. is doing everything in its power to raise awareness of the need for population control—including distributing endangered-species-themed condoms for free!

Kierán Suckling, the executive director of the CBD, is calling for local volunteers to assist in the distribution of these animal-themed prophylactics. Since they first put out the call two weeks ago, she said, “more than 900 people have volunteered to help distribute condoms in their hometowns—an incredible response. I'm so impressed by our supporters' readiness to step up to tackle threats to endangered species.” The last day of signup for new volunteers is Monday, February 1, and the group has voiced a need for 300 additional signups before that time.

Homo sapiens’ overpopulation is becoming a cause for concern not only because of our own crowded cities, but because of the devastating effects it can have on our Earth’s wildlife. Human beings limit populations of various species all the time; the CBD is encouraging us to take an inward look and help to correct our own problem. The animal-themed condoms are designed to make an individual think about the consequences of a pregnancy, but also to begin a conversation about the environmental effects that our overpopulation is having on endangered species.

Looks like the CBD has come up with their own anti-stimulus, cap and no trade program.

UN climate change panel based claims on student dissertation and magazine article

The United Nations' expert panel on climate change based claims about ice disappearing from the world's mountain tops on a student's dissertation and an article in a mountaineering magazine. The revelation will cause fresh embarrassment for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which had to issue a humiliating apology earlier this month over inaccurate statements about global warming. The IPCC's remit is to provide an authoritative assessment of scientific evidence on climate change. In its most recent report, it stated that observed reductions in mountain ice in the Andes, Alps and Africa was being caused by global warming, citing two papers as the source of the information. However, it can be revealed that one of the sources quoted was a feature article published in a popular magazine for climbers which was based on anecdotal evidence from mountaineers about the changes they were witnessing on the mountainsides around them. The other was a dissertation written by a geography student, studying for the equivalent of a master's degree, at the University of Berne in Switzerland that quoted interviews with mountain guides in the Alps. The revelations, uncovered by The Sunday Telegraph, have raised fresh questions about the quality of the information contained in the report, which was published in 2007. It comes after officials for the panel were forced earlier this month to retract inaccurate claims in the IPCC's report about the melting of Himalayan glaciers...read more

Climate chief was told of false glacier claims before Copenhagen

The chairman of the leading climate change watchdog was informed that claims about melting Himalayan glaciers were false before the Copenhagen summit, The Times has learnt. Rajendra Pachauri was told that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessment that the glaciers would disappear by 2035 was wrong, but he waited two months to correct it. He failed to act despite learning that the claim had been refuted by several leading glaciologists. The IPCC’s report underpinned the proposals at Copenhagen for drastic cuts in global emissions. Dr Pachauri, who played a leading role at the summit, corrected the error last week after coming under media pressure. He told The Times on January 22 that he had only known about the error for a few days...read more

Slowdown in Warming Linked to Water Vapor

Climatologists have puzzled over why global average temperatures have stayed roughly flat in the past decade, despite a long-term warming trend. New research suggests that lower levels of water vapor in the stratosphere may partly explain the anomaly. The study, appearing in the journal Science, points out that the concentration of water vapor in the stratosphere has dropped about 10% in the past decade, triggered by unexplained cooler temperatures at certain high altitudes above the tropics. The study concludes that in the last decade the decline in water vapor slowed the rate of rising temperatures by about 25%, thus partly negating the heat-trapping effect of increasing greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane. The recent fluctuation—the flattening of temperatures since the year 2000—isn't merely of academic interest. Those skeptical of man-made global warming say the temperature anomaly supports their case. Others say it is merely a blip, and that warming remains the long-term trend...read more

Overpaying for Green Power

“How can California encourage investors to generate renewable electricity? How about a guarantee that if they generate the power, they'll be paid at a good price?” suggests Ray Pingle of the Sierra Club. Fair enough. But the price proposed by the Sierra Club and some members of Congress is three to five times more than the current average price of electricity. Green power advocates in the United States have started pushing for a European-style subsidy scheme in which homeowners or businesses that install solar panels or windmills can sell their excess power back to the grid at inflated prices. Utilities are required by the state to pay above-market rates for this environmentally-friendly power. These so-called feed-in tariffs were first devised in Germany in the early 1990s and have been adopted by nearly 20 other countries since then as a way to boost the installation of renewable energy production...read more