Climategate - Bring On The Popcorn

I haven't read enough, yet, to fully understand Climategate. But, I know I'm going to enjoy watching as the scandal enfolds. This morning I've been shirking my household responsibilities to revel in it.

Here are a couple comments from an Althouse column this morning on how newpaper commenters are bringing the editorialists up to speed on the scandal:

From Traditionalguy:
The story of how easy it was to yell Warming in a crowded theater while dressed up as Scientists, and watch the lemmings self destruct, needs to be told over and over everywhere. The Authority that Science and especially medical science has accumulated is being rented out to the Gang in power at the UN and in the gang in power in DC. We want that authority back now, and we will not allow it to be rented out or stolen again. That is the news story that needs to be told.

The Commenter John posts a recurring theme:
Has anyone else noticed the palpable sadness among the more honest global warming advocates? You would think that the possibility of AGW not being true would make any reasonable person happy. Hurrah, it is wrong. We don't need to radically change our lifestyles and energy use. Not so with the advocates. They seem geniunly distrubed at the prospect of people being able to go on with life how it is currently lived.They really are just modern day killjoy puritans who have replaced God with the State and Gia.

Good point. Shouldn't everyone be happy that we aren't destroying the world?

But, of course, as commenter hawkeydjb states, the goal has always been control over human behavior:
There may or may not be solid scientific evidence for (or against) anthropogenic warming, but it's a meaningless debate. The fight against global warming is a means to an end: greater control over human behavior. It wouldn't matter a bit if the whole concept of global warming were discredited, the end will remain and another means will be sought

The guys at Hillbuzz are always looking at how every situation will impact the 2010 and 2012 elections. They feel this is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate to the not-politically-interested how the mainstream media manipulates the news for their own agendas. If that attitude can be enforced, the general public will be more likely to admit they made a mistake in voting for Obama, because they can blame the MSM.

Ahh, this is going to be fun. Bring on the popcorn, indeed.

The Wilding of Sarah Palin

Wow, I just read a great article at American Thinker called The Wilding of Sarah Palin. The author is a former liberal who recently was awakened to how misogynistic the Democratic Party is.

But the biggest shock of all has been realizing that the Democratic Party is hardly an oasis for women. Now that it has been infiltrated by the hard Left, it's a dangerous place for women, children, and other living things

As a reformed liberal myself, with a sociology type degree from a liberal university, I was very familiar with many of the thought processes she's gone through. Great read.

Theme Songs

Back in the day, Tracey Ullman played a psychiatrist on the Ally McBeal show. Her big thing was that everyone needed a theme song. For whatever reason, I was reminded of that tonight and I decided I needed a theme song.

At least for today, I think mine would be There She Goes, by The La's.

Dave's would be Telstar, by The Ventures.

I was trying to find a clip of Tracey Ullman in that Ally McBeal role, but I didn't find one. Just for fun, here's her They Don't Know.

Is That A Fact, Sarah?

I am now holding, in my formerly-fingerpaint-stained-hand, a copy of Going Rogue by Sarah Palin. After hearing that the AP hired 11 fact checkers to dig up dirt on this book (that would be 11 more than they hired for Obama's or Gore's books), Dave asked, "I wonder if the AP is going to send Palin the bill?"

It's hard typing while holding a book.

Monk Predictions

The end is near. Just a few more weeks until the last episode of Monk airs. We don't have cable, but we've been able to watch the new shows online within a day or two of their original air date (either through imdb or hulu.com). (Update - It's actually 8 days after the air date) The final episodes are: "Mr. Monk Is The Best Man;" "Mr. Monk And The Badge" (much excitement in our house when they read that); "Mr. Monk And The Ending, Part 1"; "Mr. Monk And The Ending, Part 2".

For the past few months, we've been trying to figure out how the last episode of Monk will play out. Every once in awhile, someone will make a random statement or question ("Does anyone know if Mitch's body was ever recovered?"). Normal people wouldn't understand what we're talking about, but we do.

There are times we've thought that the only happy ending would be if Monk would die. That would be the only way he can find peace and be with Trudy. I think that might be too risky for the producers.

Here are my predictions:

Randy and his new girlfriend will get engaged
Stottlemeyer will marry his girlfriend (we'll probably find that out within a few days)
Natalie will end up with Mitch's friend from the submarine (unless Mitch's body never was recovered and he returns)
Julie and Benji will get together (that one's for Madeline)

Monk is going to unwrap the Christmas present from Trudy (or it will accidentally get unwrapped). There will be a clue in that present which will lead him to her killer. He will confront the killer and be on the verge of death. He will have a vision of Trudy. She'll thank him for finding her killer and tell him he needs to move on. He'll wake up surrounded by his friends. And he'll be happy.

Or, we'll see a vision of Trudy greeting him with her arms outstretched. And he'll die, with a smile on his face, surrounded by friends.

Added: A few kind of wild possibilities ran threw my head. I thought I'd post them here because, really, what do I have to lose?

1. Monk has always regretted that he and Trudy never had a baby. Maybe he'll fall in love, perhaps someone from a previous episode. At the end they'll flash forward to him walking in the park with a child.

2. Michael Douglas will make a guest appearance in the role of Steve Keller from The Streets of San Francisco. I couldn't think of any other San Francisco based TV cops, but maybe there are others out there.

Spoilers in the comments.

Reduced Services For All

I just spent an hour composing a letter to Senators Kohl and Feingold regarding their health care vote. Here's what I wrote:

I understand I am probably wasting my time writing this, but I must implore you to not vote for this partisan health care overhaul. There are ways to help the uninsured without dumping one more burden on the backs of the rest of your constituents.

Analysts consistently agree that this legislation will cost much more money than it saves.
But, that’s just the financial damage.

Your constituents understand that the current changes in ‘recommendations’ for mammograms and pap smears will become ‘regulations’ in short time once the government is in charge. I understand that my mother would not have discovered her breast cancer during a routine mammogram when she was 76 if the ‘recommended’ cut off age of 74 for routine mammograms had been in place.

I understand, as do your other constituents, that mammograms and pap smears are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to a reduction in health care services. No one is going to be mocking the existence of ‘death panels’ when reduced services for all, and rationing, become a reality. Everyone will know someone who suffered and/or died because of the effects of this health bill.

Don’t stop the bleeding of some by making everyone else hemorrhage

Regardless of any other work you have done in your career, if you vote for this bill, your legacy will be of reducing the quality of health care for everyone in America.

Do YOU understand that?

A Democrat's (Sincere) Thank You To President Bush

Over the summer, I posted quite a bit about the Palin/Letterman feud, and my letter writing campaign to the late night misogynist's advertisers. During that time period, I received inspiration and advice from the Hillbuzz website. It's a fascinating site. These are true Hillary and Bill supporters, but they're extremely disillusioned with Obama and his henchmen, and by extension, the Democratic Party.

When Sarah Palin was nominated for Vice President, they recognized the same sexist tactics being used against McCain/Palin that were used against Hillary in the primaries. They found themselves actively supporting the McCain campaign against Obama. In the process, they've discovered common ground with Republicans, perhaps moreso than with Democrats.

While these men classify themselves as moderates, they are definitely social liberals. It's enlightening reading their pieces urging Republicans to become less complacent and more cut-throat, like the Democrats.

I found myself getting a little choked up this morning reading the post I'm sure they never envisioned themselves writing even a few years ago, Thank You for President George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush. It's definitely worth the read.

Arguing Class

I've discussed in an earlier post why I feel it's important to teach my kids to be good writers. In our society, bad ideas can win the battle of public opinion, if they are well communicated. This also applies to oral communication.

The other day, I discovered that Henry supposedly has the same personality type as Barack Obama. One of the characteristics of this personality type is that they are good arguers. That definitely fits Henry. We had a discussion about this, and decided we were going to start debate class at home. Or, as Henry likes to call it, Arguing Class.

We've had a few sessions so far, and they've gone very well. It's a good fit for our particular home situation. Madeline has strong reasoning skills and is able to come up with insightful arguments. She could stand to gain some confidence in stating these positions.

Henry, on the other hand, has no qualms about stating his opinions, and he does so dramatically. He could use some help in learning to discern the most effective arguments, however.

So far, we've done Resolved: Christmas Is The Best Holiday; Resolved: Scooby Is Better Than PJ; Batman vs. Jonas Brothers and Resolved: Monk Should Die In The Final Episode Of The Series (because that is the only way he'll find true happiness and peace).

One person will take a side in the argument, and the other will take the opposing viewpoint. The affirmative person will list their position points, perhaps with some help from me, and I'll write them on the board. Then, the negative person will counter each of the arguments. As we continue to do with this, we'll learn how to have these arguments more closely resemble debates.

As you can imagine, a few of these have gotten rather emotional, especially the Monk one. I was unprepared, however, for how heated today's session got. Resolved: Steve Is Better Than Joe (Think Blue's Clues). Madeline was Affirmative, Henry was Negative.

Here's how it played out:

Affirmative: Many children thought Steve died when he left.
Negative: Their parents should have been more involved and explained what was going on.

Affirmative: Joe doesn't know how things work
Negative: You can't know before you learn, plus, Steve could never figure out clues.

Affirmative: Steve is closer to everyone's heart.
Negative: You can't get close to someone's heart if you don't know them.

Affirmative: Joe wears dumb shirts
Negative: That's a subjective opinion

Affirmative: They changed the theme song with Joe
Negative: Another subjective opinion about which song is better

Affirmative: Joe doesn't play the guitar
Negative: Maybe he doesn't want to

Affirmative: Joe has a freaky duck
Negative: You can't blame someone for their interests

Affirmative: It was wrong to fire Steve because he's balding
Negative: Hey, he's getting old

Affirmative: Joe is eye candy (inside family joke)
Negative: Joe is eye candy

We're having fun with this, but I can tell we won't be able to do a different topic every day.

The Packers And Dad Time

I had a breakthrough the other day in my understanding of my relationship with the Packers vs. my kids' lack of interest in, bordering on resentment of, the Packers.

When I was a kid, my dad worked 6 days a week at a paper mill. Plus, we had a full scale dairy farm. He and the boys mostly ran that. His paper mill vacations were spent baling hay. Sunday afternoons was one of the few times I had to spend with my dad. I learned to love football because he did.

(I also learned to love the Brewers, but, since I don't have access to any of their broadcasts now, that interest has dwindled. I mastered sheephead during the off seasons.)

For my kids, it's the opposite. Dave is available to them most evenings and weekends, as well in the summers. They aren't that motivated to learn about football, because they don't feel the need to spend those 3 hours with him each week.

Some Clever Number Puzzles

Henry, who is 8, came up with some number puzzles. I wanted to share them with you.

1. What two digit number is its first digit away from 100?
2. What three digit number is its first two digits away from 100?
3. What number in the hundreds is its first two digits away from 200?
4. What number in the two hundreds is its first and last digit away from 300?
5. What two digit number is its second digit away from 100?