Breaking news: Republicans shut down Senate
I wrote May 23 that Senate Republicans were threatening to do something if Senate Democrats didn’t fulfill promises to confirm more judges.
When I emailed a source asking what that was, the source responded, “As [Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell] told the Senators, ‘You will recognize it when you see it.'”
Well, this afternoon we’re seeing it….
After releasing a statement this morning (reprinted in full below) McConnell used a parliamentary tactic to, in essence, shut down the Senate.
Senate rules require that when an amendment is introduced the clerk begin to read the text. The senator introducing the measure then requests consent that the reading be dispensed with. There is rarely an objection.
Today, however, McConnell objected and is forcing reading of the Boxer substitute to the Lieberman-Warner Climate Change Bill.
And that would be 491 pages long.
A Wall Street Journal editorial yesterday closed with:
A new Rasmussen study shows that the type of Supreme Court Justices a presidential candidate would appoint outranks even the war as a priority among GOP voters. Democrats are hoping to gain as many as nine Senate seats this fall, which means Republicans had better find a way to show voters that they matter – and soon.
They just did. Hope they stick to their guns.
Mitch McConnell
U.S. Senate Republican Leader
For Immediate Release, Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Contacts:
Don Stewart 202-224-2979, Robert Steurer 202-224-8288,
Courtney Norris 202-224-8285, Jennifer Morris 202-224-6871
McConnell Responds to Democrats’ Refusal to Honor Commitments on Judicial Nominations
‘The Democratic Majority has refused to honor its commitments. It apparently believes that commitments do not matter in the United States Senate, and that actions do not have consequences’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following statement today regarding the Democratic Majority’s refusal to honor commitments on judicial nominations:
“The Democratic Majority has repeatedly failed to treat the judicial nominees fairly.
“At the beginning of this Congress, the Majority said it would meet or exceed the average of 17 circuit court nominees that have been confirmed in prior Congresses; yet it has only confirmed eight circuit court judges thus far. More disturbing, the Chairman of the Committee recently threatened to shut down the confirmation process completely, an action that would break yet another historical precedent.
“The Majority said it would treat Republican senate delegations fairly; yet for months, the Democratic Majority has only worked on circuit court nominees from states with a Democratic senator.
“The Majority said it would do its ‘utmost,’ said it would do ‘everything’ possible, said it would do ‘everything within its power’ to confirm three more circuit court nominees by the Memorial Day recess; yet it only confirmed one nominee. Moreover, it appears the Majority did not seriously attempt to honor its commitment. Indeed, since that deadline passed almost two weeks ago, the Democratic Majority has still failed to confirm more circuit court nominees.
“The Democratic Majority has refused to honor its commitments. It apparently believes that commitments do not matter in the United States Senate, and that actions do not have consequences.
“The actions of our Democratic colleagues today are short-sighted. It is important that judicial emergencies are filled with qualified judges, and we will use the various tools at our disposal to ensure that those nominees and the Republican Conference are treated fairly, and that the Majority takes its commitments seriously.”
###
Okey dokey. By holding up proceedings having absolutely nothing to do with appointing judges, constituents are supposed to believe their concerns are being addressed? How stupid do you really think people are?
06/04/08
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Joshua McNeil, (202) 785-8683 or joshua_mcneil@lcv.org
Senators McConnell, Cornyn, Allard and Inhofe: the Exxon Delegation Stalls the United States Senate
WASHINGTON, DC
Thank you, Sally, for bringing us all back to reality in one comment.
Apparently it’s not just the Senate Democrats that think there are no consequences. Sally and Edyt do as well.
The Senate Republicans are stalling the bill, the same way Dems are stalling the confirmations. All’s fair in love and war, there’s nothing wrong with this. Confirm the judges and I’m sure Senator McConnell will remove his objection.
Gee, if it were the roles were reversed and the Republicans were stalling the confirmations you guys would be screaming to high heaven. (Okay, maybe not “heaven” since you don’t believe, but you get my point.)
You know, imho the Senate and the House could both shut down for eternity and we’d still get things done. Save a lot of money in the meanwhile.
Kristen, +1
“The bitter irony of wasting hours reading the bill aloud is that this bill addresses the urgent need for action on global warming and for viable alternatives to skyrocketing gas prices.”
That is 100% BS. I guarantee that that bill won’t do ANYTHING to address high gas prices. I don’t have to read it. I know that’s a lie.
“Doing Big Oil’s bidding does nothing to address global warming or America’s energy crisis.”
Big Oil is the answer, and they need to be allowed to develop the oil deposits that this country has.
The commie/pinko/leftist envirowackos offer nothing but continued reliance on terrorist supporting nations for our oil.
Steve,
Manmade global warming is also a crock.
I can’t believe what I’m reading. Republicans actually have a pair?
Why don’t they do us a bigger favor and shut down the congress as well?
my younger bro is a meteorologist and he’s told me that the profession does not support global warming and are upset that this has been foisted upon the world.
There’s no scientific basis for the claims made by Al Gore.
Its funny. When conservatives don’t get their way they stomp out of the room or start name-calling. Steve’s remark is an example par-excellance of this type of behavior.
Its funny. When conservatives don’t get their way they stomp out of the room or start name-calling. Steve’s remark is an example par-excellance of this type of behavior.
We would like the global warming proceedings to be delayed until Obama becomes president, so that the Liberals receive the well deserved blame for the ensuing economic depression.
In addition, it will be good fun watching Liberals being put to physical labor on government sponsored projects such as those undertaken during the presidency of FDR.
http://www.oism.org/pproject/s33p36.htm
This is a link to the petition project with well over 30 thousand scientists signing objection to the Al Gore Global Warming Hoax.
There is No “Scientific Consensus” .
Where’s the objections to the Liberals running the Congress like this for the most of the last 60 years? Don’t like the taste of your own medicine.
John McCain will win!
The US Constitution will be amended to define marriage as between a man and a woman.
A pro-life amendment will be added to the US Constitution.
Presidnt McCain will appoint three conservative, pro-life Supreme Court Justices and Roe v. Wade will be overturned by 2012.
I speak this in the name of Jesus, and amen and amen.
Amen to that, His Man!
So now that they don’t have the numbers to simply rubber stamp their cronies right on through, they have to result to throwing fits and tantrums? I think the Grand Old Fogies have perhaps stayed up too late past their bedtimes.
Posted by: JKeller at June 4, 2008 10:10 PM
It was the Dems that said they would confirm the judges? WHO WOULD HAVE GUESSED they lied? What a surprise.
KB – you are exactly correct.
31,072 American scientists, including 9,021 with PhDs, have vehemently stated that Global warming is caused by humans releasing carbon dioxide, methane or greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
http://www.petitionproject.org/
Charles and KB
You should both google “global warming hoax”.
I got close to a million hits.
The notion that man can control the climate is as laughable as suggesting we can control volcanoes and earthquakes.
“The US Constitution will be amended to define marriage as between a man and a woman.”
This is good, why?
I hate to start a debate and then run (but I have to) but just understand that many Americans are very comfortable with the idea of gay marriage.
“…many Americans are very comfortable with the idea of gay marriage…”
Hal, you are incorrect..in CA alone (a liberal state I might add), the majority of the people defined marriage as union between a man and a woman..only the judges with agenda changed that…
“comfortable”?..I say disgusted.
RSD, they’re coming around. It’s working fine in Canada and Massachusetts, and once it begins in California most people will realize we can live with it. I don’t see anyone who is “disgusted.” What’s disgusting about it?
Hal,
Weren’t many Americans okay with slavery, too?
Hal,
NOT working fine in Canada. Socety highjacked by activist judges in CANADA. Check all recent stories about free-speech issues where people dissenting from ‘activist’ measures are punished by pseudo-judicial agencies.
Many Americans are okay with a lot of things. I agree that doesn’t mean necessarily that those things are desireable. (George Bush got elected by getting the votes of many Americans, for example)
But since there is no reason to oppose gay marriage other than the fact that it makes some people uncomfortable, I thought the fact that many Americans are fine with the whole idea to be relevent.
Perhaps not.
Gay marriage is fine in Canada and some other places too. It took a while for the hoopla over interracial marriage to die down too, but it’s not that big a deal anymore.
You should both google “global warming hoax”. I got close to a million hits.
Mary, “flat earth” will get you over five million. Hal or Ray noted that as a good example of how your Google findings don’t address the true issue here – that we are having faster temperature increase than recorded in the past.
Sure, it’s “warmed up some” before, but not like it’s doing now, and there’s less and less serious objections to the idea that a good bit of it is due to human influence on earth all the time.
FWIW I don’t think it matters all that much how many people accept it, for now, anyway. Carbon dioxide, etc., are going to keep increasing in the atmosphere and so will the effects. China, India, Brazil, Russia, etc., have so many people really only now getting automobiles, etc., beginning to consume more like North America, Japan, and western Europe.
These middle classes aren’t going to take “no” for an answer, and thus you’ve got almost half the world increasing their consumption and their output of greenhouse gases and the like, bigtime. How much, then, does it really matter what the US does?
Doug, you said: “Sure, it’s “warmed up some” before, but not like it’s doing now, and there’s less and less serious objections to the idea that a good bit of it is due to human influence on earth all the time.”
I think you may be attempting to show this correlation as causation, which is a logical fallacy known as
Doug,
Read what these experts are saying. The earth’s climate is influenced by the earth/sun rotation, the earth axis, and the sun. Factors completely out of our control.
Volcanoes have been continuously spewing toxins into the atmosphere since creation.
CO2 has been emitted into the atmosphere since creation. It happens every time you exhale.
Our ancestors didn’t live so pristinely with their wood and coal burning for centuries.
There was a warming trend in the 13th century I believe, sometime around then. Grapes were being grown in England. The people loved it. It was followed by a mini ice age. The climate does what it darn well pleases and we are arrogant beyond belief to think we can influence it.
Flat earth? This is the first I’ve heard of any debate over the shape of the earth.
KB and Charles point out that 31,000 scientists have called this whole thing a hoax. There is no concensus on this issue.
By the way, the polar bear population is increasing! Rather peculiar for animals doomed by the earth’s “warming”.
Come to Wisconsin for a winter!! With windchills down to 50 below at times. Global warming…HA!
Don’t want to debate just like to add my 4 cents now and then. :)
HI DOUG!
Thanks for the 4-cent science lesson, Carla. Of course, sweetie, global warming means the whole planet is heating up so everyone will experience tropical weather, even in Antarctica!!
Yup.
So sweetie,
That hardly explains why we freeze here for 5 months a year.
You don’t like me much do you, Edyt??
Nah, sometimes you say the most ridiculously unsubstantiated things.
Every time I hear someone complaining about cold weather and that damn global warming which was supposed to fix things for everyone who experiences winter, I just roll my eyes because some people obviously have not had enough science classes.
Hell, even if you open a newspaper every once in awhile, you’ll be able to get a rudimentary understanding of global warming. Alas, that is too much work for some…
You know what Edyt? I don’t have to substantiate everything I say. I have a sense of humor. I think Global Warming is a crock. So?
Lighten up, Francis.
Not complaining. If I hated Wisconsin winters I wouldn’t live here. They are a piece of cake compared to North Dakota.
And you ALWAYS have to slide in something so flippin snarky. Always. I read today that you are not yet 30. Which might have something to do with it.
G’night.
Age has nothing to do with it. I plan to be snarky ’til the day I die! :D
Thank you, Sally, for bringing us all back to reality in one comment.
Posted by: Edyt at June 4, 2008 4:24 PM
………………………
Notice that not one single PL has addressed the fact that so called conservatives are waging a hippy sit in at tax payers expense to make a supposed point over something they are not being paid to make a point over.
Jill has tried to spin derelection of duty into patriotism. And the PL swallow the hook.
Sally is reallyn upset about what the Senate is doing, they MUST be doing something right.
It’s okay, Carla. Edyt obviously just doesn’t like nice people.
Hey Bethany!!
Where ya been?
Update on Senate shutdown over Dem broken promises on judges
I’ve written for a long time about Senate Democrats obstructing confirmation of President Bush’s circuit court nominees. In fact, one would have to go back to 1848 to match their pace. During the last 2 years of Clinton’s reign, 15…
Mary: Read what these experts are saying. The earth’s climate is influenced by the earth/sun rotation, the earth axis, and the sun. Factors completely out of our control.
Sure, Mary, but that’s not to say that people aren’t severely influencing things too.
……
Volcanoes have been continuously spewing toxins into the atmosphere since creation. CO2 has been emitted into the atmosphere since creation. It happens every time you exhale.
Same song, second verse.
……
Our ancestors didn’t live so pristinely with their wood and coal burning for centuries.
Sure, but the emissions now are levels of magnitude greater.
……
There was a warming trend in the 13th century I believe, sometime around then. Grapes were being grown in England. The people loved it. It was followed by a mini ice age. The climate does what it darn well pleases and we are arrogant beyond belief to think we can influence it.
No, we are affecting it, and while temps have gone up and down in the past, the current changes are unprecedented.
……
Flat earth? This is the first I’ve heard of any debate over the shape of the earth.
You’re not old enough to remember heh heh heh. The point being that the number of Google hits isn’t germane.
……
KB and Charles point out that 31,000 scientists have called this whole thing a hoax. There is no concensus on this issue.
There is a growing consensus on the side of “Yes, we are affecting the environment and the climate bigtime.” As I said, however, I don’t think human behavior on the planet will change all that much for a while, and when it does there really won’t even be much argument about whether we’re affecting things.
……
By the way, the polar bear population is increasing! Rather peculiar for animals doomed by the earth’s “warming”.
Where’d you hear that?
Doug, you said: “Sure, it’s “warmed up some” before, but not like it’s doing now, and there’s less and less serious objections to the idea that a good bit of it is due to human influence on earth all the time.”
I think you may be attempting to show this correlation as causation, which is a logical fallacy known as
Come to Wisconsin for a winter!! With windchills down to 50 below at times. Global warming…HA!
Carla, you just keep makin’ your cheese and don’t worry about it. ; )
Funny how people just think CHEESE and THE PACK when they hear WI. I am not a big fan of either.
Shhh….you won’t tell anyone will you, Doug?
Carla, I’ve been having a long week! My husband and I have been fixing broken pipes in the bathroom, and I am ripping out carpet today so I can put in new linoleum in the hallway. Also, doing a little bit of spring cleaning. That’s where I’ve been!
Hope you’ve been doing well!
Doug, 10:06: God job on the bold, italic smiley face! ; )
Bethany,
I read your plumbing story on your blog. Way to go, I’m impressed.
I would have cried! I love the retro look of linoleum. Does it wear well?
The kind we get is very thick and is actually a “no glue” kind…it has a 10 year warranty on it! :)
Here is a picture of what it looked like when we put it in my sewing room:
Looks like pergo, doesn’t it?
Bethany, your sewing room is unbelievably organized. I like the faux clouds. Are those linoleum squares or planks? Looks nice!
It’s one big sheet of linoleum! :D That’s the best part about it. And it took me forever to get the sewing room cleaned out enough where I could put linoleum in it. I took 2 truckloads of stuff to the Orphanage (they have a yard sale every year) when I was working on getting it ready for the new flooring. Of course, that wasn’t ALL from that room…it was from the livingroom too, and the kids rooms– but TWO truckloads. So believe me, I am anything but organized. Although I’ve always wanted to be! :D haha
Doug, 10:00am
People influence the earth axis, the earth/sun rotation and the energy emitted from the sun?
Now THAT’s arrogance! :)
Same song second verse? How has the earth withstood the onslaught of all these toxic volcanic emissions for millions of years, not to mention all the CO2 emissions every living creature expels? Can you just imagine the methane the dinosaurs sent blasting into the atmosphere?
How do you know current changes are unprecedented? Obviously there were more severe fluctuations in the 13th century and mankind didn’t do diddly to cause them.
Flat earth. OK, I was barely old enough to remember that debate. Anyway, are there approximately 31,000 scientists arguing that the earth being round is a hoax? Check it out Doug, these are credentialled scientists and climatologists. There is absolutely NO concensus of opinion on global warming.
I read about the bears either in Newsweek or Time magazine.
I ♥ Mary!
Bethany,
Thank you! I’m very fond of you as well.
How do you know current changes are unprecedented? Obviously there were more severe fluctuations in the 13th century and mankind didn’t do diddly to cause them.
Mary, there are climatological records in ice, etc., going back hundreds of thousands of years. As I said, while there have been temperature fluctuations in the past, the current rate of increase is what is unprecedented.
I’m gonna have to check on the polar bears.
On the scientists – an increasing portion of them see the evidence for human effect on the weather, more all the time. The debate is not increasing, but rather lessening in the face of mounting evidence.
Polar bears fighting for survival in the face of a rapid decline of polar ice have made the Arctic a poster child for the negative effects of climate change. But new research shows that species living in the tropics likely face the greatest peril in a warmer world.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505211835.htm
Doug,
Where in the article does it say anything about a decline in the polar bear population? Your article stated the following:
Arctic species by contrast might experience temperatures ranging from subzero to a comparitively mild 60 degrees fahrenheit.
The typically live in temperatures well below their thermal unit and most will continue to do so even with climate change.
In your article they discuss mainly bugs, BUGS! You know those disgusting things that have been here for millions of years, have adapted time and again to every environment, defy man’s every effort to eliminate and have been responsible for how many million human deaths.
Yes Doug there are climatological records of ice, etc. but not surface temperature or daily or yearly temperatures. The scientists in your article measured temperature fluctuations from 1950 to 2000. Why didn’t they go back hundreds of years if they have that data?
Doug, again there is no concensus. I consider 31,000 scientists and climatologist opposing this horse puckey called manmade global warming, as well as the huge number you can google under “global warming hoax” as indication that debate is continuing at full throttle.
By the way Doug, this will be used as an excuse for everything from raising your taxes to limiting you to one sheet of toilet paper.
That great thinker, Sheryl Crowe, who goes on tour in a diesel bus spewing pollution wherever she travels, has already suggested limiting us to one sheet or toilet paper. I have no idea who will have the unenviable job of toilet paper police.
Another thing Doug, don’t be a sucker for that “carbon credits” claptrap either.
You know those disgusting things that have been here for millions of years, have adapted time and again to every environment, defy man’s every effort to eliminate and have been responsible for how many million human deaths.
Hi Mary. I just wanted to say that a lot of bugs actually help our species and others because they are like instant food for a lot of creatures and some eat dead creatures which helps the decomposition process, and some bugs, like spiders, kill off bugs we consider pests, like mosquitoes.
There are also bugs that work to help flowers and other plants grow, like bees and other nectar eaters. Without their methods, a lot of flowers would not spread their seeds.
However, I’m not a total bug lover. We seem to have a bunch of house centipedes, which creep me out a lot.
They look like this:
Supposedly they eat cockroaches and other household pets, but every time I see one of them scuttle across the wall, I get the heebie-jeebies.
Correction: Household pests.
They’d all be dead if they ate my pets!
Edyt,
I’ve seen some I’m sure could eat household pets!
What a disgusting insect. I think they’re all repulsive but I do respect the role they have in nature. Maggots are used medically and nothing is more efficient. They saved the lives of many injured civil war soldiers.
Pecan pie always makes me think of dead Junebugs. PTUI! The wasps really love my house, I’ve had a few grab the newspaper and chase me with it. Vicious little buggers.
I’ve always loved ladybugs but now they’ve been overwhelmed by Japanese beetles that look just like them. The things stink and bite.
I still have a memory as a child screaming to my mother because a spider was on my sleeve. To this day I remember it looking like a tarantula, in my child’s mind that’s what it looked like and funny I still remember it as such.
At worst it was probably a daddy longlegs since tarantulas weren’t usually seen in the American midwest.
Ewww, I remember my first encounter with a Junebug was just about the most horrifying experience in my whole 8 years of life. I was down in Florida and they were evvvverywhere. And if they weren’t actual bugs, they were creepy exoskeletal remains still clinging to trees.
Maggots also give me the shivers. In my old house, every few weeks our trashcans would be brimming over with them. I remember reading a book about pirates eating stale bread with maggots, and my childhood dreams of someday becoming a pirate were swiftly snuffed out. No maggots in my toast, please.
Spiders are actually the bugs I enjoy being around. One of my more “new-age” friends talks to her spiders. She tells them they’re only allowed to stay in the bathroom, but if they come in her bedroom she’ll kill them. I guess it works. I still think talking to spiders is a bit ludicrous.
Just had to chime in on the bugs-
Mary: Pecan pie always makes me think of dead Junebugs. PTUI!
No way! I love pecan pie!
Edyt: I think your Florida June bugs may have been “Palmetto Bugs” – they look like big ‘ol flying beetles or cockroaches, take your pick.
They are nasty, especially flying inside the house!
Hi Edyt 1:13am
I suppose as long as the spiders don’t answer you back there isn’t a problem! :)
Hi Janet 3:22am
I can’t even look at pecan pie!
Years ago we had next door neighbors who we liked very much but who never quite equated cleanliness with Godliness.
Anyway one summer my house was overurn with every imaginable ant there is. You could actually see the things march in formation in the morning. My neighbors, not a problem at all. I thought the ants would be attracted to their house if anything. Maybe the house was too much of a disaster even for them!
I’m waiting for the annual march of the ants through my house now that summer approaches.
Terro syrup is the best for getting rid of them.
Where in the article does it say anything about a decline in the polar bear population?
Mary, the “fighting for survival” part, and indeed the bears are having a heck of a time as the ice grows smaller. Basically, the bears depend on sea ice for hunting, and the warming climate means less ice and a shorter duration for it in many given areas, and the number of polar bears is declining. If you’ve seen something to the contrary, what is it?
……
Your article stated the following:
Arctic species by contrast might experience temperatures ranging from subzero to a comparitively mild 60 degrees fahrenheit. The typically live in temperatures well below their thermal unit and most will continue to do so even with climate change.
In your article they discuss mainly bugs, BUGS! You know those disgusting things that have been here for millions of years, have adapted time and again to every environment, defy man’s every effort to eliminate and have been responsible for how many million human deaths.
I realize it’s not about bears, there, but it does make sense to me that creatures in what are already “hot” zones could be affected by rising temperatures.
……
Yes Doug there are climatological records of ice, etc. but not surface temperature or daily or yearly temperatures. The scientists in your article measured temperature fluctuations from 1950 to 2000. Why didn’t they go back hundreds of years if they have that data?
They have plenty of information going way back. It’s not only ice, it’s tree rings, it’s layers of silt and sediment on ancient lake beds and ocean bottoms, etc. Not hard to find – you have the awesome resources of the internet just beyond your fingertips.
……
Doug, again there is no concensus. I consider 31,000 scientists and climatologist opposing this horse puckey called manmade global warming, as well as the huge number you can google under “global warming hoax” as indication that debate is continuing at full throttle.
Lessening argument all the time, global warming due at least in part to human activity = more and more acceptance all the time. Not even really worth arguing, IMO.
Here’s a pretty calm take on the carbon dioxide deal:
http://brneurosci.org/co2.html
……
By the way Doug, this will be used as an excuse for everything from raising your taxes to limiting you to one sheet of toilet paper. That great thinker, Sheryl Crowe, who goes on tour in a diesel bus spewing pollution wherever she travels, has already suggested limiting us to one sheet or toilet paper. I have no idea who will have the unenviable job of toilet paper police.
Heh – I hear ya. The “one sheet of toilet paper” comment is a classic. I figure it’s usually like, “Just use one sheet of toilet paper BUT YOU DAMN WELL BETTER KEEP BUYING MY MUSIC!!”
……
Another thing Doug, don’t be a sucker for that “carbon credits” claptrap either.
Who Knows? I think it’s a “politically correct” type thing, and that it’s coming….
As I said before, the big picture isn’t going to change much for a long time. More “greenhouse gases” in the air, more energy production, etc., more consumption by the people on earth, for better or worse.
Better to protect oneself from the effects, be it environmental, financial, political, etc., if any, rather than just argue about it.
NOTICE:
I realize that on other blogs posting as anonymous is allowed, even encouraged. But here on Jill’s we are all about conversation. Something that is very difficult when 5 or 6 people are posting under the same moniker.
Jill and I have discussed this, and we have decided that from now on anyone posted as anonymous will be removed.
We are trying to make commenting easier for everyone.
You do not need to put your email in to post. So call yourself Buford, Amos, Clyde or Florence and we still won’t know who you are in the real world. But we WILL know who we are speaking with here on Jill’s site.
Thanks for understanding…
MK
(with Jill’s approval)
Doug,
Surviving in the arctic is brutal under the best of conditions.
If they’re “fighting for survival” why aren’t their numbers declining instead of increasing?
How did we go from polar bears to tropical bugs?
These creatures have likely adapted to changing climates since creation and will continue to do so. There’s hardly any shortage of bugs on this planet and I don’t anticipate one. I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it. Remember the spotted owls who could live in only old growth forests? They were found nesting in K-mart signs.
Thank you for the geological info. By the way opposing info concerning “manmade” global warming is at your fingertips as well. But please tell me why the scientists in your article went back to 1950 only, why didn’t they show us earth temperature flucuations dating back to the ice age?
Also keep in mind Doug, these are the same great thinkers who were predicting an oncoming ice age in the 1970’s.
No Doug the argument is NOT lessening. Please tell me how this planet has survived the expulsion of CO2 into its atmosphere, along with volcanic eruptions and their tons upon tons of pollutants, since creation.
Concerning “carbon credits” I wonder how that will be fairly taxed. Do exercise centers and exercise video producers pay more for “carbon credits” since exercising causes an increase in CO2 expulsion? I suppose we should have a jogging tax too. I can’t believe how people sucker for this or think they’re “saving” the planet.
How to protect ourselves from the effects. What effects? Its the fact people are arrogant enough to actually think they control the climate(like ancient people who thought their rituals ended the eclipse) and the political effects of taxation and control that these Chicken Littles will give us that scares me more than anything.
Mary, things like banning seal-hunting has meant more food for some bears in some places, but overall:
Two-thirds of the world’s polar bears will be killed off by 2050
Doug,
Predicting the demise of the polar bear in 2050 because of global warming. Maybe these people could give some tips on weather prediction to some of our local forecasters who can’t tell us accurately half the time what the weather will be for the next day.
Species have been dying off since creation. The climate has changed time and again, with no help from humans, and species either adapted, migrated, or died off. The dinosaurs exited this earth with no help from man. I’ve heard it theorized the woolly mammoth may have been hunted to extinction by early man. We also discover new species of plants, insects, sea life, and animals we never knew existed.
What the ice can tell is about major climatic change, which has occured time and again, with no help from the human race. How can this be? Maybe, just maybe, its because the climate is something we have absolutely no control over and does what it will in spite of us, not because of us?
“The human contribution to CO2 in our atmosphere is minimal in comparison to other natural means including volcanoes, and that produced by animals, bacteria, dying vegetation and the oceans. The human “carbon footprint” is vastly outweighed by all of these factors.”
British Documentary, “The Great Global Warming Swindle” which brought together a plethora of scientists, professors, climatologists, and weather experts to expose the myth about climate change that have been promulgated in order the hoodwink the world into accepting the theory of man-made global warming.
Profitting from climate change? Lots of scam artists out there peddling “carbon credits”, and there will be more!
Also hold on to your wallet, the “solution” to this non-existent problem is to tax us.
Predicting the demise of the polar bear in 2050 because of global warming. Maybe these people could give some tips on weather prediction to some of our local forecasters who can’t tell us accurately half the time what the weather will be for the next day.
Mary, I think you saw something about more polar bears in some limited area, or at some other time. Worldwide, the numbers really are going down.
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Species have been dying off since creation. The climate has changed time and again, with no help from humans, and species either adapted, migrated, or died off. The dinosaurs exited this earth with no help from man. I’ve heard it theorized the woolly mammoth may have been hunted to extinction by early man. We also discover new species of plants, insects, sea life, and animals we never knew existed.
Yes, the dinosaurs died out. People have increased nature
Doug,
Whatever the “whole story” may be the fact is nature drawfs us, and always has, in the production of CO2.
The earth is how many millions years old, even that’s debated, how has it survived the onslaught, not of man but nature?
Did you know that from the 1940’s to the 1980s the world experienced and major cooling trend despite industrialization and increased CO2? This generated a “global cooling” scare and people were urged to take action.
Doug the climate is so complex and so beyond our comprehension and controlled by factors beyond our control, the sun, earth axis, and earth/sun rotation. Relax. We can’t do diddly squat about it any more than we can stop earthquakes or volcanic eruptions.
The earth is how many millions years old, even that’s debated, how has it survived the onslaught, not of man but nature?
Mary, with respect to carbon dioxide, because production and the ability to absorb it were in balance. Yes, human activity is not the largest producer of CO2, but it is the one that has thrown things out of balance, and it’s the only one we have any real control over.
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Did you know that from the 1940’s to the 1980s the world experienced and major cooling trend despite industrialization and increased CO2? This generated a “global cooling” scare and people were urged to take action.
Sure, scientists have been wrong before, but the evidence continues to mount for human-effected global warming, and the rate of temperature increase is greater than ever before.
“Major cooling trend” is an exaggeration. It’s the kind of obfuscatory baloney put out by those wishing to hide the truth, here. It was actually only a few years in the 1940’s that got colder, and even that was part of a much larger overall uptrend in temperatures since the early 1900’s, even the 1800’s, and really – since the “little ice age” of the 1600’s and 1700’s.
It’s not that we “can’t” do anything about the excess CO2 that the earth cannot absorb, it’s that we won’t, not to the extent we need to.
Doug,
That graft only goes back to the 1800s. Any records prior to that? How can we know this is the greatest increase ever? Being the earth is millions of years old that is miniscule.
Doug “major cooling trend” is an understatement. We were warned of an impending ice age in the mid 70’s. Yes the “cooling trend” was from the 1940s to the 1980s.
Just examples of how the climate continues to fluctuate as it has many times in the earth’s multi million year history and will continue to do so.
Doug, you still haven’t told me how the earth has survived the onslaught of the forces of nature since creation.
Oy…
Mary, if you’ll look, you can see the upwards trend resumed about 1950. From the high point around 1941 or 1942, there are only really 5 (?) down years.
There was another blip downward just recently, almost as large, in 1999-2001 (?) and they are all just fluctuations in the overall uptrend.
We’re having the fastest rise in temperatures since the beginning of what we have records for. I know that ice gives good readings back 800,000 years or so, and there may be fossilized tree rings, etc., going back much further, but even if it’s just the past 800,000 years, it’s a big deal for us to have demonstrable results since the Industrial Revolution began.
Anyway, uptrend in force since the past, as I noted in the prior post, and accelerating as human activity puts greenhouse gases into the air.
There’s no agreement on “creation” and “the earth surviving” is not what we’re talking about. We’re talking about really messing with a lot of people via higher water levels, altered climate, etc.
Mary, have to laugh – just saw this one on TV.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhmpsUMdTH8
If concern over our effect on the climate can bring Al Sharpton and Pat Robertson together…..
Doug,
Exactly, what we have records for. That’s the key phrase here. We have no idea if this has occured before or what the effects were.
I use the term “creation” to indicate the beginning of the earth, whenever and however that was. I will not get into any debates on that.
Nature’s forces over whatever number of years the earth has existed have failed to put the earth out of commission. Do you think humans and their hot air is going to make a difference? We’re so insignificant in the grand scheme of things (earth axis, sun/earth rotation, the sun’s energy, and the forces of nature such as volcanoes) that its laughable.
Google that site Doug and you’ll find scientists arguing no increase in termperature, earth is cooling, etc.
Concerning Robertson and Sharpton. Gag me. I have no respect for Sharpton and not much more for Robertson. Hopefully some big shark who’s fleeing the overheated oceans resulting from man’s hot air will come in on a wave and bite them both in the butt.
Do you think humans and their hot air is going to make a difference?
Mary, it’s not “hot air” really, but we are making a difference, i.e. the world has gone from zero excess carbon dioxide to a very significant amount, due to human activity.
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Concerning Robertson and Sharpton. Gag me. I have no respect for Sharpton and not much more for Robertson. Hopefully some big shark who’s fleeing the overheated oceans resulting from man’s hot air will come in on a wave and bite them both in the butt.
Heh – yeah, they’re both idiots.
Doug,
Nature was producing CO2 long before we were on this planet and is drawfing us now. That includes all our scaled, furry and feathered friends by the way who were on this planet long before us, blowing CO2 into the atmosphere and who continue to along with us humans. We humans are but a blip in time when it comes to earth’s history.
Come on Doug, if the earth was going to be overwhelmed by CO2, it would have happened long before now!
Nature was producing CO2 long before we were on this planet and is drawfing us now. That includes all our scaled, furry and feathered friends by the way who were on this planet long before us, blowing CO2 into the atmosphere and who continue to along with us humans. We humans are but a blip in time when it comes to earth’s history.
So what? The point is that CO2 absorbtion and production was in balance, and now our production has thrown it greatly out of balance.
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Come on Doug, if the earth was going to be overwhelmed by CO2, it would have happened long before now!
There have been big changes in the past, yeah, some of which would have been mighty inhospitable to humankind.
For us to willingly deny that we’re leading up to such a thing via our own actions is crazy, regardless of what has gone before.
The fact is that we know things are changing and that we’re having an effect.
How bad it eventually gets is a question, without doubt.
IMO “we” have to learn the hard way, regardless of how long it takes to manifest itself to the point where you and almost all the millions of people who don’t yet believe it begin to see it.
Doug,
In balance? Nature has been dumping CO2 into the atmosphere for how many millions of years. Volcanoes produce balance? How many tons of toxins and CO2 have they been expelling into the atmosphere since creation? How about the animals that lived here long before we did and continue to? They certainly blasted plenty of CO2 and methane skyward.
Doug the earth has endured much for millions of years. Its still here and going strong despite erupting volcanoes, asteroids, methane expelling dinosaurs, climatic changes,(that amazingly occured with no human involvement) and a non-stop expulsion of CO2 from every living creature for millions of years. Stop worrying about it for heaven’s sake. Long after the human race has departed the planet the earth will still be here, thumbing its nose at us.
Mary, I’m not really “worried” about it, and yeah – even if we manage to kill ourselves off, I do think the earth will keep on keeping on.
In the meantime, yes, we have thrown things out of balance and are seeing the effects.
Volcanoes really aren’t squat, by the way, as far as year-over-year emissions. They give off about 1.1% as much as do the activities of people.
Doug,
Humans are drawfed volcanic eruptions and other forces of nature, which have gone on millions of years and do now. The forces of the sun, earth axis, and sun/earth rotation are completely out of our hands.
I understand that scientists have expressed some concern about sunspot inactivity and if this means we will be getting colder.
Things are out of balance? No Doug, the forces of nature are out of our control and always have been and will be.
I remember reading how some ancient people or tribes thought they were ending the eclipse, which must have been very frightening to them, by making noise and “scaring” away the moon and “saving” the sun.
We think we can control the climate and “save” the planet by using certain lightbulbs.
Some things never change.
Humans are drawfed volcanic eruptions and other forces of nature, which have gone on millions of years and do now. The forces of the sun, earth axis, and sun/earth rotation are completely out of our hands.
Mary, nobody told you we control the sun, the earth’s rotation, etc. The fact remains that human activity dwarfs volcanic eruptions as far as carbon dioxide emissions.
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I understand that scientists have expressed some concern about sunspot inactivity and if this means we will be getting colder.
Then buy a winter coat now, while they’re cheap.
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Things are out of balance? No Doug, the forces of nature are out of our control and always have been and will be.
Nobody said we “control nature.” We have thrown the carbon dioxide concentration of the air out of balance, though. Due to us, it’s been increasing rapidly.
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I remember reading how some ancient people or tribes thought they were ending the eclipse, which must have been very frightening to them, by making noise and “scaring” away the moon and “saving” the sun. We think we can control the climate and “save” the planet by using certain lightbulbs. Some things never change.
Ancient people came up with the ideas of gods due to their fear, uncertainty, and lack of knowledge. It’s not that we can “control the climate,” it’s that we are affecting it.