ClimateGate: Roundup....

India's Environment and Forests minister isn't an Al Gore fan...

The IPCC is getting an independent review.  Well, that's what they're saying, anyway...

Willis Eschenbach has a nice analysis of problems with temperature data from the Himalayas...

No They Didn't!

LOX (liquid oxygen), a high-pressure Dewar tank rescued from a scrap yard, and two not-particularly-well-informed fellows.  What could possibly go wrong?  Amazingly, nobody was killed...

The Remotest Tree...

There once was a tree that had no neighbor within 120 miles...

Decriminalizing Drugs...

What he said.

People who know me are often surprised that I support legalizing drugs.  Judge Jim Gray does a better job of articulating my position that I could do myself.

FWIW, I've been to the Netherlands.  It's obvious that what many fear would happen here (us turning into a nation of drooling stoners) has not happened there...

Marine vs. Taliban...

There's no way this injured Marine was going to give the Taliban any satisfaction...

The World's Largest Gold Coin...

Almost 500 pounds of it!  And you can have your very own for roughly $5 million (depending on the current price of gold, naturally)...

Federal Tax “Revenues”...

I bridle every time I see that term: “tax revenues” – implying that the government somehow earned the money they're stealing from me!

The graph at right shows what's happened with tax withholding over the past ten years.  It's no surprise that during the recession the tax withholdings go down, but the amount of the downturn may be.  Coupled with record expenditures, this can only mean one thing: massive new federal debt.

Makes me glad I don't have any children; I don't have to worry about my progeny inheriting a planet-sized debt load...

Battle Buddy...

One of our favorite blogresses, Cassandra at Villainous Company, has lost her battle buddy: her 13 year old Dachshund.  To anyone who has loved a dog, her last lines will resonate:

There is nothing worse than a cold, wet nose on your shins. Except, perhaps, wishing you could feel that icy cold nose just one more time.

Go read the whole thing.  Bring Kleenex...