"2013 called 4th-hottest year on record" by Seth Borenstein | AP Science Writer, January 22, 2014
WASHINGTON — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA said nine of the 10 warmest years on record have happened in the 21st century. The hottest year was 2010, according to NOAA.
The reports were released as a big snowstorm was hitting the East Coast.
Related:
"Another band of arctic air began creeping into northern United States on Monday, bringing a wave of frigid temperatures that could linger for most of the week across the upper Midwest and New England. Temperatures plunged below zero in North Dakota and northern Minnesota on Monday morning. The cold front was expected to sweep south into Iowa and as far east as Maine by Tuesday night, and remain through Thursday."
We are right in the middle of it now, and it almost kept me from getting a Globe today.
‘‘There are times such as today when we can have snow even in a globally warmed world,’’ said Gavin Schmidt, deputy director of NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies. ‘‘But the long-term trends are not going to disappear.’’
Related:
source
So who are you going to believe?
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Nope, not them.
Also see: Associated Press caught 'restructuring' old EPA news to mislead readers; mainstream media blindly plays along
Sunday Morning Deja Vu
Seems like a pattern!
Related: IPCC Fart Poot
Looks like NOAA and NASA have the same digestive problem.
And look who is to blame for it all:
"Chinese factories affecting US air quality, study finds" by William Wan | Washington Post, January 22, 2014
BEIJING — Bad air from China is blowing across the Pacific Ocean and contributing to smog in the United States, according to new scientific research.
And much of that air pollution is being caused by the manufacturing of goods inside China for export to the United States and Europe.
Turns out the "global warming problem" was created by the very same economic globalists that have outsourced and off shored jobs -- and now the same people want to impose a carbon tax to "fix the problem."
‘‘We’ve outsourced our manufacturing and much of our pollution, but some of it is blowing back across the Pacific to haunt us,’’ said University of California at Irvine scientist Steve Davis, a coauthor of the study. ‘‘Given the complaints about how Chinese pollution is corrupting other countries’ air, this paper shows that there may be plenty of blame to go around.’’
The job losses are haunting us a lot more.
The paper was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday and, according to its researchers, is the first to quantify how much of the pollution reaching the west coast of the United States is caused by production in China.
Less manufacturing in the United States in recent years has led to better air in its eastern regions. But harmful pollutants wafting in from China have harmed the West, according to the study.
Along with the harmful products.
Los Angeles gets at least one more day each year that exceeds federal ozone standards because of nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide emitted by Chinese factories. And up to a quarter of sulfate pollution on the West Coast can be tied to Chinese exports, the report says.
Right, the Chinese are now responsible for LA smog!
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Related:
"Chinese naval vessels including an island landing ship began drills in the South China Sea, where China, Vietnam, and several other nations are locked in territorial disputes. Two destroyers and China’s largest amphibious landing craft started the exercises after sailing from the naval base on the southern island province of Hainan, the official Xinhua News Agency said."
My jewspaper really trying to drum up hatred towards China and start a war, huh? Then the AmeriKan government won't have to pay off all those treasury bonds China holds.
And the continuing troubles at Fukushima?
"Japanese fishermen have finished killing about 40 dolphins targeted for their meat as part of a larger group trapped recently, a video released Tuesday by Sea Shepherd Conservation Society shows in what activists say was the biggest roundup they have witnessed in the last four annual hunts. The annual hunt in the village of Taiji received high-profile criticism when the US ambassador to Japan, Caroline Kennedy, tweeted last weekend that she was deeply concerned about the practice."
Surprised the dolphins are alive and normal with the radiated cooling water being dumped into the ocean to the tune of 300 tons a day, and that is even before I questioned the authenticity of the video. Could be from any year. Sorry, but that is the situation I find myself in with my monied mouthpiece and propaganda pre$$ these days.
And see what else is Caroline Kennedy is doing in Japan? Can't say I am not disappointed.
Turning to Europe:
"European Union proposes easing of climate rules" by Stephen Castle | New York Times, January 23, 2014
LONDON — Now even Europe seems to be hitting its environmentalist limits.
High energy costs, declining industrial competitiveness, and a recognition that the economy is unlikely to rebound strongly anytime soon are leading policymakers to begin easing up in their drive for more aggressive climate regulation….
That and the record cold.
Europe pressed ahead on other fronts….
Connie Hedegaard, European commissioner for climate action, said, “If all other big economies followed our example, the world would be a better place.”
You mean the looting and wars based on lies would end?
But the proposals were seen by environmental groups as a substantial backtrack and evidence that economic factors were starting to influence the climate debate in ways they had not previously in Europe.
That and the RECORD COLD that is not being reported by the propaganda pre$$.
The reason economics is becoming such a concern is because Europeans have had it with banker-imposed austerity through their puppet leaders.
Friends of the Earth described the proposals as “totally inadequate” and “off the radar of what climate science tells us to do in Europe to avoid climate catastrophe.”
PFFFFFFFFFFTTT!
**********************
The energy and climate debate playing out across Europe reflects similar trade-offs being made around the world on mending economic problems today or addressing the environmental problems of tomorrow.
I say worry about today. Tomorrow will take care of itself.
The political and policy response to climate change has failed to keep pace with increasingly dire warnings from scientists about the cascading effects of increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide and other global warming pollutants in the atmosphere.
Wow, a flat-out fart-misting lie from the NYT!
See: Fart-Misting Fudge-Packers
Yup, the carbon dioxide has been spewing into the atmosphere in record levels and temperatures are static if not dropping. Nothing like fudging the figures, huh?!
What progress has been made comes largely from cost efficiencies adopted by businesses and consumers primarily for financial reasons: the switch from coal to cheaper natural gas for electricity generation in the United States, for example, and the cumulative effect of years of increasing efficiency in buildings, vehicles, appliances, and manufacturing around the globe.
Related: The Push For Pipelines
Yeah, the cheap natural gas is all of $udden $urging in price!
In Britain, despite public protests, the government is pressing ahead on proposals for fracking, which has helped the United States drive down its energy costs.
Except it hasn't.
You might want to derail that in favor of a clean water supply on an ISLAND!
Germany’s plans to shift away from nuclear power by 2022 and encourage development of alternative sources are running into complications, including higher energy costs for industry and consumers.
All predicted because clean doesn't deliver the same bang per buck as traditional power sources.
Of course, Fukushima has shown the world nuclear is the wrong way to go.
José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, defended the new proposals as a hard-fought compromise and proof that it “is possible to make a marriage between industry and climate action.”
See: Banks Will Save the World From Global Warming
And they will help Al Gore get rich by literally creating money out of thin air.
He said the measures showed that Europe is still playing a global leadership role in reducing carbon emissions.
That drew a tart response from Friends of the Earth, which accused the commission of putting the immediate interests of industry ahead of Europe’s broader welfare.
I'm $ure they are Friends of $omeone.
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More agenda-pu$hing $tink from the Boston Globe:
"Leading investors leaving mark in city philanthropy; Fund grass-roots works as well as traditional Boston institutions" by Beth Healy | Globe Staff, January 22, 2014
Renowned investment manager Jeremy Grantham leans against a giant, 1,200-year-old Buddha in his office overlooking Boston Harbor and ticks off some of his biggest concerns. There’s the problem of food shortages and lack of fertilizer. There’s the worry of bugs attacking so many of our trees. And the broader toll of climate change on human life.
Grantham has made a fortune for his clients, and now he’s pouring a good deal of his own wealth into environmental charities. With more than $500 million in two Grantham family foundations, he is among a handful of successful Boston investors emerging as the city’s major new philanthropists.
These investors, well-known in their business, are not household names. They rarely talk about their work or charitable giving in public. But Grantham, and hedge fund managers Jonathon Jacobson and Seth Klarman, each now oversees family foundations that exceed $350 million, according to public tax records reviewed by The Boston Globe. Longtime Boston investment executive Jeffrey Vinik, once chief of the Fidelity Magellan fund and later head of his own hedge fund, now lives in Tampa but still directs a portion of his family’s $212 million foundation giving here.
Together, these four newly emerging philanthropists control more than $1.4 billion of charitable funds that will have an impact on the city’s civic, social, and cultural future, and their own select interests, which include poverty, children’s education, health care, and Israel….
What was that last one again?
Related: Donor-advised funds: Where charity goes to wait; $45 billion of American philanthropic money has been given—but not received.
It's all for TAX BREAK PURPOSES! That is the "genero$ity" in action!
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Related:
New charity raises awareness, as well as money
Charitable Po$t
Records were set; however, the wealthiest philanthropists did not give as much in 2013 as they gave before the Great Recession, even as a "strong stock market and better business climate have continued to concentrate American wealth in the top 1 percent of earners."
What a bunch of mi$erly bastards!
"A punishing snowstorm, forecast to drop up to 14 inches of snow on Southeastern Massachusetts and up to 10 inches on Boston, prompted school closings and postponement of Governor Deval Patrick’s final State of the Commonwealth address Tuesday. It was the first time in recent memory that the high-profile speech has been pushed back due to weather, veteran Beacon Hill lawmakers said. Speaking during an afternoon press conference, Patrick said the forecast for the storm had worsened and that state employees were being sent home early. He urged private employers to follow suit."
Well, there was no snow here and I view it as divine Karma since the agenda-pushing fart-misters get hit instead.
I'm glad his speech was canceled, though!
"Patrick prepares lengthy end-of-term agenda; To state priorities in address tonight" by Jim O’Sullivan | Globe Staff, January 21, 2014
His final State of the Commonwealth….
Yay! Goodbye and good riddance!
He steps to the podium juggling a number of controversies, and battling the inevitable perception that he is a lame duck. His annual address, and his budget proposal scheduled for release the following day, gives him an opportunity to reenergize his agenda.
I don't perceive it that way. If he is in office he has power.
Aides say the final year’s docket will include changes to unemployment insurance and the state’s minimum wage….
Where been for eight years?
Related: Goldstein is Going
Oh.
Governor Deval Patrick said last week that his budget will contain targeted revenue increases he has proposed before, including a bottle bill and the elimination of current tax exemptions on candy and soda, though lawmakers have little appetite for tax increases.
At a Friday press conference, he said his speech would touch on what he called his “strong record” and unfinished business….
He has been a failure.
Patrick would be lacking the funds to pursue many of the spending initiatives he would like, although he said Friday he wants to build on previous early education expansions and implement reforms for convicts’ reentry into society after prison.
“He’s in a difficult position,” said House majority leader Ronald Mariano, a Quincy Democrat. “He’s got a year to go. The last year has not been the most harmonious. But, of course, it’s an election year for us, too, so there’s an incentive for us to work with him as he leaves [to] help the Commonwealth and put a stamp on his legacy.”
DCF and surging homelessness did that.
NEXT DAY UPDATE:
"The blame can be laid on the bitter cold, which is upending and rearranging life across the region."
Also see: Winter storms: Hold the hype, but be cautious
Patrick won't have to worry about a home.
There have been waves of speculation in the State House and political circles about Patrick’s next step; advisers say that he hopes to land a job in the private sector after he leaves office.
As if that will be a problem and there is not some position waiting for him somewhere.
Meanwhile, he continues to keep up an active travel schedule outside the state — going to Alabama to help christen a naval vessel and to Chicago to speak at a Martin Luther King celebration — even as his administration faced a number of governing woes.
Thanks for contributing to the global warming problem, asshole!
Also see: New Aircraft Carrier a Piece of Crap
He christens and aircraft carrier then goes to an MLK event?
What's wrong with that picture?
Earlier this month, under pressure from the Legislature, Patrick ordered a review of the Department of Children and Families, after a 5-year-old boy in Fitchburg went missing, prompting a legislative oversight hearing this coming Thursday.
Related:
"The family of an 18-year-old Auburn man accused of shaking his 11-month-old cousin, causing skull and spine fractures, said Tuesday that they did not believe he was capable of the act and that state child welfare authorities last year deemed him safe to live with his family. Christian M. McFadden appeared dazed and disheveled as he was ordered held for psychiatric testing Tuesday in Worcester District Court after being found not competent to assist in his own defense. He is charged with assault and battery on a child, causing injury. Relatives said the young man has multiple special needs and has the mind of a child. They said the state Department of Children and Families had allowed him to be reunited with his family after a stay at a residential treatment facility about a year ago, adding that DCF staff had visited the home since then…. The child welfare agency has been under scrutiny for a number of high-profile cases…. On Tuesday, a portrait emerged of another family in turmoil."
More: Auburn teenager charged in abuse of baby
Also see: Rehabilitating Roche
This won't help:
"State social workers in Leominster say they are forced to strip-search children who are receiving social services when allegations or a history of physical abuse is at issue. Social worker Joseph Manna, who works in the Leominster office of the Department of Children and Families and also is a vice president of the union representing caseworkers, said some social workers have quit because of the strip-search policy. Cayenne Isaksen, a spokeswoman for DCF, said in a statement that workers view a child’s body to document physical abuse if it is evident. She was not more specific. Manna said the policy of ‘‘viewing bodies’’ in the Leominster office requires social workers to view children who are not investigated for physical abuse. He said state law does not permit such searches."
At least some state perverts will get their jollies.
UPDATE: Lawmaker slams state family agency in Fitchburg case
The list of other troubles is significant. Last month, the state’s jobless rate rose above the national average for the first time in more than six years.
In November, a state drug lab analyst pleaded guilty to evidence tampering.
See: Dookhan a Democrat
Last May, the state auditor found that millions of dollars in welfare benefits had been paid out to fraudulent applicants. The state’s online health insurance exchange has launched with significant problems.
Because it had to integrate with Obummercare!
And, after Lieutenant Governor Timothy P. Murray departed the administration last year, Patrick suffers the weekly indignity of presiding over the Governor’s Council. Corralling the oft-bickering, low-profile body is a task traditionally delegated to lieutenant governors.
See: Murray Makes His Move
Did you $ee why?
Since a break over Christmas, when the governor said he spent two weeks with his infant grandson, Patrick has maintained a steady public profile.
He rolled out a $50 million plan to address climate change and, through an executive order, announced a school safety task force geared toward helping districts prevent and respond to school shootings.
PFFFFFT!
Last year’s State of the Commonwealth speech touched off the ongoing cold war with legislative leaders, who felt blindsided when Patrick sprung a $1.9 billion tax increase plan on them to fund transportation and education priorities. The Legislature sent back a starkly smaller, $500 million tax package and devoted the monies to transportation.
Some lawmakers said the avenues of communication with the administration have revealed little insight into Patrick’s final-year plan.
“I have no advance notice whatsoever of what the governor’s going to say in his State of the Commonwealth address,’’ said Representative Jay R. Kaufman, a Lexington Democrat and House chairman of the Revenue Committee, during an interview Friday. “If last year’s any indication, there could be some surprises.”
Who cares what hot air he spews this time?
This year, he confronts a familiar challenge: persuading a Legislature that has been previously reluctant to accept his proposals….
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Related: Patrick’s $36.4b budget boosts DCF funding
More trouble for Patrick:
"Thousands exhausting heating aid as temperatures plunge" by Erin Ailworth | Globe Staff, January 23, 2014
With temperatures falling into the single digits, some 50,000 low-income heating oil customers in Massachusetts have exhausted fuel assistance for the winter, leaving many in danger of losing heat even as millions in additional funding for the benefits remain tied up in Washington.
Related:
"The deal buoyed Wall Street investors. Guggenheim Partners, a financial services firm, concluded that as a result overall Pentagon spending will remain relatively the same for the next several years before it begins to grow once again, at about 2.5 percent per year."
No heating aid money in there, huh? Couldn't fund unemployment or food stamps, either, but Wall Street and the Pentagon got phat!
The release of an estimated $13.5 million in federal fuel assistance due the state is still awaiting approval from the Obama administration. Meanwhile, advocates for the poor are pressing the state to provide additional money to help meet the growing need….
The amount of money appropriated by Congress for fuel assistance has declined to $3.4 billion this winter from $5.1 billion in 2010.
This fucking government sucks ass!
While the assistance applies to all types of fuel, oil customers are most at risk because when their oil tanks run dry there is no heat, unlike gas customers, whose utility service cannot be shut off during the winter under state law.
In Massachusetts, oil heat customers go through about four tanks of oil a winter. At one time, fuel assistance could cover about two of those tanks, said John Drew, president of Action for Boston Community Development, an antipoverty group serving Boston, Brookline, and Newton.
But with heating oil prices above $4 a gallon this year, fuel assistance generally covers less than a tank, Drew said.
As a result, Drew and other advocates are pressing Governor Deval Patrick and his administration to make $20 million in state funds available for heating assistance.
Related: Governor Deval Patrick has found about $20 million
Yeah, he gave it to late-night T service so Bostonians can party until morning!
The Legislature allocated that amount for heating aid last year, when officials worried that federal assistance would be delayed by the US government’s shutdown in October.
When the federal funds came through, the state appropriation was no longer available….
Oh, so THAT is where and how he FOUND $20 million!
Aaron Gornstein, state undersecretary for housing and community development, said the governor recognizes the pressing need for more aid. “It has been a cold winter so far, so we know that it is an important issue that affects people every day,” Gornstein said….
No denying it!
In Washington, Senator Edward J. Markey, a Malden Democrat, said he is urging the Obama administration to release the rest of the federal money to Massachusetts “as quickly as possible.” Obama administration officials could not be reached for comment.
Why haven't they already?
“When bitter cold is bearing down on needy families,” Markey said in a statement, “there is no time to waste to get them these life-saving benefits from the federal government.”
Oh, yes, this lying, looting, life-saving government!
Good God, Ed! What is wrong with your party's president?
But Mark Wolfe, executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association, a professional group in Washington, said those funds are still insufficient to meet the needs as fuel prices rise and temperatures drop.
That is the government I know and love!
“At the end of the day, even the extra money the state is getting is not going to be enough,” Wolfe said. “Families are running out.”
In Dorchester, Valerie Perry, a mother of three, said she is hoping for the best….
As my bastion of corporate liberalism and banker's mouthpiece puts a frozen face on things.
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UPDATE: Markey, Warren call on Obama to release heating funds
Related: Many Logan flights canceled before snow
Time to let some sun in:
"But even as the largest plants are helping utilities meet state requirements for renewable energy, the appetite for them may be waning….
So is my patience for this unbearably smelly agenda-pu$hing $hit.
But there is still a long way to go….
Two but cheeks can only mean pfffffffft!
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Also see: Solar Stimuloot Went to Goldman Sachs
So what el$e is new?
