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  1. Re:Response on Climategate and the Need For Greater Scientific Openness · · Score: 1

    Not necessarily. I do, however, expect that global warming should be 'proven' to rather rigorous standards. Cap-and-Trade would cause a severe and horrible depression, possibly worse than the Great Depression. If AGW is correct and carbon dioxide really is an agent of horrible climate change, it might be worth causing trillions of dollars of harm to the economy of my country, with elderly poor people freezing to death in cold winters, destitute people becoming homeless, and all the rest of it... because the alternative would be even worse. If AGW is not correct, then Cap-and-Trade is worse than the alternative, and it must be stopped. It is vital that we make a correct decision here.

    I think that you've hit on the elephant in the room. In order to make the changes necessary to stop CO2 driven climate change (assuming for the moment that it's all accurate) would realistically require war with China and India. It's one thing to say that "we all agree that CO2 is driving climate change and we need to stop it" but that doesn't solve anything. Cap and trade doesn't stop it, Kyoto doesn't stop it, nothing short of reducing CO2 emissions to a tiny fraction of their current amount will stop it and there's no way that doesn't mean massive poverty and war. Anything else is wishful thinking.

    So, what do we do? I can change all of the light bulbs in my house to LED, install a solar system, and start bicycling to work and even if everyone in the world does this we're still set up for climate catastrophe (if the IPCC is correct.)

    What I've been looking for is solutions that are in-line with out confidence in the data. I'm confident that CO2 is causing climate change. I'm not confident that CO2 will cause as much climate change that the IPCC claims. Therefore I'm willing to spend a commensurate amount of money relative to my confidence level. Investment in new and existing non-CO2 technologies has my thumbs-up. Not much else at this point.

  2. Re:Response on Climategate and the Need For Greater Scientific Openness · · Score: 1

    However long term climate trends are EASY to predict!

    Actually, it's easier but I wouldn't say that it is easy. Climate models work by forecasting the weather in 20-30 minute increments for 100 years many, many times and then averaging them together. While that will give you something with smaller error bars than any one climate forecast, it's still something that is subject to any bias in the models.

    It's the same problem that affects financial computer models because the algorithms are non-linear and chaotic. Any single missing or incorrectly estimated assumption will drive a cumulative error that destroys the entire output.

  3. Re:Response on Climategate and the Need For Greater Scientific Openness · · Score: 1

    except that they didn't originate that data, they collected the data from other sources.

    It's not just the data that is missing, but also the algorithms that were used to create the "value-added" data. That's missing.

  4. Re:Impressive on Climategate and the Need For Greater Scientific Openness · · Score: 1

    That's why it's called a theory, not a fact or axiom.

    Actually, theory is one of those pesky words in English with more than one meaning. In science theory is almost the same as axiom (law is just a theory that nobody bothers thinking about anymore.) In common-speak theory has the same meaning as hypothesis.

    It's confusing, I know, but the *theory* of evolution has a meaning that is very close to the *law* of evolution.

  5. Re:Impressive on Climategate and the Need For Greater Scientific Openness · · Score: 1

    Tell that to William Tyndale who was executed for translating the bible to English. Unless a person could read Latin, having permission to own a bible was pretty meaningless.

  6. Re:Impressive on Climategate and the Need For Greater Scientific Openness · · Score: 1

    And seeing the Rapture crowd, "God hates fags" -mob, Young Earth Creationists, and other assorted lunatics, I wonder if CC actually had a point there.

    Seeing the CC's opinion on child rape, I'm pretty sure that their opinion on it isn't very helpful either.

  7. Re:Impressive on Climategate and the Need For Greater Scientific Openness · · Score: 1

    What they didn't like was the bible being translated into any other languages that the common man could read. Point still stands.

  8. Re:Impressive on Climategate and the Need For Greater Scientific Openness · · Score: 1

    What your side can never tell us, however, is how exactly making money off a solution to Global Climate Change somehow impugns the science?

    You completely missed the point. The point is that there is big money on both sides, so claims from either side that "your side is corrupted by money and my side isn't" is straight up bullshit.

  9. Re:Impressive on Climategate and the Need For Greater Scientific Openness · · Score: 1

    So if Anthony Watts is an honest amature then why did he try and use the DCMA to suppress this devestating contra-evidence to his propoganda? (meat of the debunking at 5:00-6:00)

    He didn't.

  10. Re:Telstra??? Who? on Australia To Build Fiber-To-the-Premises Network · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "replace an inefficient public owned monopoly with an inefficient privately owned monopoly"

    That's the problem, when the "privatisation" isn't truly private, so you still have a government protected (usually through strict regulation) monopoly. You end up with the worst of both worlds: private profits and public risks.

  11. Re:Of course they have 'the right'... on Anonymous Blogger Outed By Politician · · Score: 3, Informative

    Merchant account contracts include provisions on keeping card numbers secret. So, no.

  12. Re:A matter of definitions on Stimulus Bill Contains Net Neutrality Provision · · Score: 0

    In addition, I shudder to think of the cost burden this will eventually have on the small ISPs. Large ISPs will use this tool to knock them out.

    "What? You don't have the last 3 years of audit data to show you've been 100% neutral? Too expensive you say? Well, too bad, I guess this nice lawsuit will show you what for."

    More good going, guys.

  13. Re:Eh.. on Stimulus Bill Contains Net Neutrality Provision · · Score: 0

    But, but, I want to live in the middle of nowhere (have my cake) *and* have high speed Internet (eat it too).

    Everyone's choice to live somewhere is a trade off. Why should I be forced to pay for someone else's choice of trade off? I don't expect your mother to pay for my flights to visit my family because I chose to live so far away.

  14. Re:Substitute? Sounds good on More Climate Scientists Now Support Geoengineering · · Score: 0

    "Because that money doesn't disappear from the economy, it circulates? And more money circulated means a stronger economy?"

    That's known as the "broken window fallacy."

    Wealth doesn't work that way.

  15. Re:Bad idea for some drugs on Time To Discuss Drug Prohibition? · · Score: 0

    I don't understand this. If there was a perfect distribution of antibiotics, that is, the exact number of people took them who needed them, wouldn't we have the same thing anyway? All of the bacteria that weren't resistant would be killed off and resistant forms would take their place?

    You either have people dying from bacteria that antibiotics would have killed or people dying from bacteria that antibiotics can't touch.

  16. Re:Minimal Pricing = Legal Monopoly? on Battle Over Minimum Pricing Heating Up · · Score: 0

    When selling is legislated, the first thing up for sale is the legislators.

  17. Re:where are mod points where you need them on Barack Obama Wins US Presidency · · Score: 0

    "pay for the government to stay out of their business."

    That denotes the government didn't stay out of everyone else's business. Hardly an example of "no government interference."

  18. Re:I'll Tell You What It Means on Barack Obama Wins US Presidency · · Score: 0

    I've thought about this, but it would never work. Each congress would just vote on an omnibus bill at the beginning of their session extending everything that was sunset.

    For example, the constitution has a sunset provision for a standing army, and every couple of years it's automatically voted for extension. That's all that would happen.

  19. Re:Hell no. on Should IT Unionize? · · Score: 0

    Unions claim to protect their members from employers, but this simply isn't true. Unions protect their members from non-member competition. Once seen in that light it's easy to see the problem with unions.

  20. Re:No on Judge Rules Man Cannot Be Forced To Decrypt HD · · Score: 0

    Sadly, what you speak of is an ideal that is hanging on by a thread. It won't be long before this viewpoint of justice will be thought of as anachronistic, if not complete fantasy.

  21. Re:good thing, bad thing on Judge Rules Man Cannot Be Forced To Decrypt HD · · Score: 1, Funny

    First they came for the creepy Mexican pedophiles...

    Just doesn't have the same ring.

  22. Re:Monopoly on Verizon Denies DSL Because of Subscriber's Name · · Score: 0

    So, the question is, why is Verizon a monopoly? It was granted by the government. All monopolies are directly or indirectly caused by government intervention into the market.

    The only government solution to monopolies is to have the government simply step aside.

  23. Re:doesn't work? on Microsoft Urges Windows Users To Shun Safari · · Score: 0

    Yes, they're all lame tools.

  24. Re:And on the plus side. of plus-size.. on Fat People Cause Global Warming, Higher Food Prices · · Score: 1

    Sounds like the problem is the stupid tax, not the stupid smoker.

  25. Re:And on the plus side. of plus-size.. on Fat People Cause Global Warming, Higher Food Prices · · Score: 1

    I guess this means we need to shut down a bunch of industries, since they have higher than average rates of injury and death. Police, loggers, crab fishers, test pilots... the list goes on. Those people don't have the right to keep doing such dangerous things. Don't they know?