News Stories

[Ithekro]

Considering how little accurate global climate recording has been done relative to the age of the planet, we cannot discount that this might be natural as well.

[AnimeFan188]

"The U.S. government seized 10 domains connected to broadcasting professional
sports Wednesday as part of a widespread crackdown on internet piracy.

The court-ordered seizures, as part of the government’s Operation in Our Sites,
are aimed at web sites that sell counterfeited goods, as well as sites that
facilitate illegal music, film and broadcasting-rights piracy. The move comes days
before one of the world’s biggest sporting events, the Super Bowl this Sunday."

See:

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/201...sports-piracy/

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by Ithekro

Considering how little accurate global climate recording has been done relative to the age of the planet, we cannot discount that this might be natural as well.

All that one can say for certain is that the weather has been trending more violent/extreme/unpredictable. Weather is a nonlinear system... small perturbations can have dramatic results. It also means there's really no such thing as the "usual weather", there are simply behavioral regions of relative stability. Cross a tipping point and it will violent shift to a new region of stability... which may or may not be pleasant. Earth has been in pole-to-pole deep tropics and mile-deep snow at various periods.

Whether we are the cause or not, we certainly need to be doing what we can to mitigate the impacts. And its pretty clear we're not (ranging from better planning on where to build houses, assessing growth impact on ecosystems, building-to-get-along-with-nature rather than defying it, you name it). Humans often can't even agree on whether a sidewalk would be a good thing for the school children because someone doesn't want to help pay for it. I figure we're totally fscked on a planetary scale

[Decagon]

@GundamFan0083
I'm going to argue in favor of AGW-tied global climate change, but as a disclaimer Al Gore is the reason I haven't watched Futurama or the Simpsons in years. He's also why I laugh whenever I hear "Nobel Peace Prize".

Earlier records of atmospheric greenhouse gases (GHGs) can be historically tracked through ice core samples drilled in the Antarctic. IIRC, the top end of samples reaches 800.000 yrs, and looking at the trapped gasses and the state of isotopes inside allow factors like temperature variation to be tracked and correlated to global conditions. These records are viable because the snow that's fallen and compressed to ice trapped air samples as well as various particulate matter drifting around at the time. From these samples we have been able to get a tangible record of historic CO2 levels along with other GHGs, and comparing this to recent history we know we've been letting out more gas than would be present during the natural cycle.

If you want me to write something up explaining how this ties in to anthropogenic sources of GHGs, I'll do that. I think what opponents of AGW tend to forget is water vapor's properties in atmospheric heat transport and its role as positive feedback GHG, and the role of oceans as a huge reservoir for the extra energy that AGW induced global warming is supposedly building up. If you want me to write up something on water vapor and ocean temperatures/currents, and bring up associations with more energetic weather patterns I'll see what I can throw together.

There is no smoking gun of course, but we have many observable changes in atmospheric GHG composition that can be tied to anthropogenic activities, and we have ice core samples to let us reasonably believe why this is out of sync with a "natural" timeline with much less anthropogenic intensive inputs.

[GundamFan0083]

Originally Posted by monir

Help me out here... is your argument based on the fact we are having a record breaking snowy year and cold weather negates any insinuation at global warming? Should I also ignore three separate sources published earlier in the year which shows an overall rise to the global temperature (1.12 F according to NOAA, one of the three sources) indicating we had the warmest year alongside of year 2005 since record keeping began?

Global Warming is not equal to US's having an unusually snowy year. Concept of Global Warming is tiny bit different. South Park video is entertaining though..

No, what I'm saying is that the current change in climate is caused by mostly natural phenomena rather than what Al Gore is after.

The three sources you're referring to are probably East Anglia, NOAA, and I assume GISS?

After the final analysis of the hottest years of the last decade came in, the temperature difference between 2005 and 2010 was only .018 degrees F (.01C).
http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/news/20110113/
While that may sound important, it's not as fantastic as it seems.

Considering how Michael Mann's "Hockey Stick" has been proven to be erroneous, it's clear that the Medieval Warming period had temps which matched the current temperatures.
http://www.worldclimatereport.com/in...1998-2005-rip/
That's relevent because the NOAA information you linked to only deals with the last 130 years (approx.), not the last 1000.
It's also reporting on the average of the mean temps of air, sea, and land from around the world.
Even GISS admits it has flaws.
Does that completely discredit AGW?
No, I don't think it does.
What it does do is bring AGW into proper perspective rather than making it into the ManBearPig of Al Gore.
AGW may very well be a contributing factor in the current climate changes going on, but not the only (or even major) factor.

As GISS director James Hansen said:

Invariably, a great deal of attention centers on each year's ranking, but it is critical to focus on the decade-long trends that matter more, the GISS scientists emphasize. On that time scale, the three records are unequivocal: the last decade has been the warmest on record. "It's not particularly important whether 2010, 2005, or 1998 was the hottest year on record," said Hansen. "It is the underlying trend that is important."

And I agree with Hansen for the most part.

I also said it was the Northern Hemisphere that is experiencing one of the coldest winters on record, and it is.
http://www.skepticalscience.com/Dece...old-spells.htm

I said nothing about the Southern Hemisphere.


I said Anthropogenic Global Warming (Al Gore's version of it) is a farce, NOT global warming itself.

The Heliogenic model of Global Warming (the sun causing Global warming) is far more likely a major (if not the major) factor considering the amount of energy it is capable of giving off towards the Earth.
http://www.john-daly.com/solar/solar.htm

NASA's Goddard Institute has only just recently started exploring the effects of the Sun on our climate.
From 2003: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/...rradiance.html

Over the last 100 years the Sun has caused considerable change in the temps of our little planet.
http://www.gcrio.org/CONSEQUENCES/wi...unclimate.html

On top of this is the effects of the Earth's procession or global wobble.

http://global-warming.accuweather.co...ate_cha_1.html

Then there's the proven effect of Vulcanism:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/ar...anoes-affect-w

The combinations of these three natural causes of global climate change are considerable and take a collectively large chunk out of what is perceived to be man-made or anthropogenic global warming.

Whether or not hydro-carbons from industrialization have exacerbated this phenomena to the extent the IPCC claims is not easily discernable due to whole issue getting politicized.
Too much of the climate data over the last thirty years has yielded to political interests (yes the so called "Climategate" did expose some of this) and thus much of it must be considered corrupted by individuals willing to do so for political and financial gain, Al Gore being chief among these.

The IPCC itself admits to considerably large mistakes they've made in their own claims about the effects of man on global climate.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8467480.stm

Therefore, only a reactionary would be willing to focus their energies on a claim put forward by individuals (scientists or not) who have been proven to be at least in error, whether honestly or not is debatable.

That is why I think it best to focus not on the bogeyman of AGW, but rather on the problem that is clearly undeniable...period, no science necessary.
When China has rivers that litterally turn red and foamy due to pollution, you know there's a problem.

That was my point BTW.
We don't need ManBearPig to get people to recognize there's a problem with pollution and a need to move to cleaner, cheaper, sources of fuel (like Hydrogen for example).
Many major car manufacturers already have working concept vehicles that use hydrogen gas.

Call me an anti-corporate bastard all you want, but methinks that the Oil Cartels are hedging their bets and playing both sides of the AGW debate.
An international Cap and Trade commodities market could make for one heck of a nice addition to the DOW Jones industrial and thus a lot of coroprate investors very happy.

James Hansen (in an op-ed for the NYT) apparently agrees with me.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/opinion/07hansen.html

[Evil Rick]

Top Gear BBC gets into polemic after Mexico's ambassador in London has complained to the BBC over "offensive and xenophobic" comments made about his country on Top Gear.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12338053

This is the polemic video

AFter the incident, James May one of the Top Gear anfitrions answered this trough his tweeter:

Can't believe all these mexicans tweeting. Apart from speedy Gonzales they've given nothing to the world apart from shit food and body odour

http://twitter.com/realjamesmay

[GundamFan0083]

Originally Posted by Evil Rick

Top Gear BBC gets into polemic after Mexico's ambassador in London has complained to the BBC over "offensive and xenophobic" comments made about his country on Top Gear.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12338053

This is the polemic video

AFter the incident, James May one of the Top Gear anfitrions answered this trough his tweeter:



http://twitter.com/realjamesmay

...holy hell.
I mean...damn.

[SaintessHeart]

Do Illegal Copies of Movies Reduce the Revenue of Legal Products? The case of TV animation in Japan

Whether or not illegal copies circulating on the internet reduce the sales of legal products has been a hot issue in the entertainment industries. Though much empirical research has been conducted on the music industry, research on the movie industry has been very limited. This paper examines the effects of the movie sharing site Youtube and file sharing program Winny on DVD sales and rentals of Japanese TV animation programs. Estimated equations of 105 anime episodes show that (1) Youtube viewing does not negatively affect DVD rentals, and it appears to help raise DVD sales; and (2) although Winny file sharing negatively affects DVD rentals, it does not affect DVD sales. Youtube’s effect of boosting DVD sales can be seen after the TV’s broadcasting of the series has concluded, which suggests that not just a few people learned about the program via a Youtube viewing. In other words YouTube can be interpreted as a promotion tool for DVD sales.

Screw the diminishing marginal rate of substitution! I knew there is something wrong with the Econs lectures I have been taking!

[ganbaru]

Iran could make nuclear weapon in 1-2 years: IISS
http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNew...7122TL20110203

...''The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said in a report that evidence showed "beyond reasonable doubt" that Iran was seeking the capability to produce nuclear weapons should its leaders decide to go down that route.

However, allegations that Iran had carried out prohibited chemical or biological weapons activities "cannot be determined from the available public information and may have been exaggerated," the IISS said in a 128-page report on "Iran's nuclear, chemical and biological capabilities." ''...

[Evil Rick]

Originally Posted by Evil Rick

Top Gear BBC gets into polemic after Mexico's ambassador in London has complained to the BBC over "offensive and xenophobic" comments made about his country on Top Gear.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12338053

This is the polemic video

AFter the incident, James May one of the Top Gear anfitrions answered this trough his tweeter:



http://twitter.com/realjamesmay

BBC deleted all videos related with this matter at the web.

However 3 sports mexican comentators showed the polemic video at their show and answered back to the Top Gear comentators, subtitled video so everyone can understand it.

[GundamFan0083]

I don't understand a word of Mexican Evil Rick, but I'll second your request for a translation.

I too would like to know what those Mexican gentleman are saying in reply to that awful BBC program's comments.

[Evil Rick]

Originally Posted by GundamFan0083

I don't understand a word of Mexican Evil Rick, but I'll second your request for a translation.

I too would like to know what those Mexican gentleman are saying in reply to that awful BBC program's comments.

The vidoe has english subtitles, you probably turned off the video notes.

[GundamFan0083]

Originally Posted by Evil Rick

The vidoe has subtitles, go to the Youtube menu at the bottome right corner of the vid and activate them.

Dag nabbit, you kids and yer new fangled contraptions.

Thanks Evil Rick, you gotta inform grandpa (me) of these things every now and then.

I'll check it out on Youtube.

In other news...

Oysters disappearing worldwide

http://www.thechronicle.com.au/story...ing-worldwide/

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Do Illegal Copies of Movies Reduce the Revenue of Legal Products? The case of TV animation in Japan



Screw the diminishing marginal rate of substitution! I knew there is something wrong with the Econs lectures I have been taking!

How strange a result (not).... I'm a poster child for this effect as I now spend an average of a thousand bucks a year on anime/manga/figures whereas before I found fansubs - I spent zero... nada.

And in the O, Canada Internet department (via /.):

"The Prime Minister of Canada and the Minister of Industry are set to reverse a ruling by the CRTC (Canadian Radio and Television Commission) allowing big Cable and Telecom companies to charge based on bandwidth usage. The ruling applied to both retail customers and smaller ISPs buying bandwidth wholesale from the major companies. The head of the CRTC has been called to testify before cabinet on why they want to allow the big internet providers to do this. In this case the elected government agrees with the very large number of angry Canadians that this was bad for competition. Most Canadians see this as a bureaucracy aided cash grab with very suspect timing since companies like Netflix are starting to move into the Canadian market (big cable companies lowered caps and increased usage fees a week before Netflix started Canadian operations). The CRTC has a fair number of ex-industry executives on the board."

[Jinto]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

Iran could make nuclear weapon in 1-2 years: IISS
http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNew...7122TL20110203

[was quoted]
''The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said in a report that evidence showed "beyond reasonable doubt" that Iran was seeking the capability to produce nuclear weapons should its leaders decide to go down that route.
...[/was quoted]

This is like saying...

Evidence showed "beyond reasonable doubt" that Person X was buying a gun should its brain decide to shoot someone.

Or...

Evidence showed "beyond reasonable doubt" that smoking enough marijuana will make you high. A requirement if you want to take the IISS serious.
Or...

The international institute for chitchat (eggcorn) said in a report that evidence showed "beyond reasonable doubt" that who is bare-footed certainly wears no shoes.

[solomon]

Terrestrial (US) ABC News got a big scoop, apparently cut into the daily soap opera today (they almost never do this anymore).

Veteran Reporter Christiane Amanpour got to the presidential palace to interview Mubarak and the VP.

Big stuff.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/...ry?id=12833673

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Vexx

How strange a result (not).... I'm a poster child for this effect as I now spend an average of a thousand bucks a year on anime/manga/figures whereas before I found fansubs - I spent zero... nada.

And in the O, Canada Internet department (via /.):

The interesting thing is that it actually follows the Law of Supply but screws the DMRS.....fansubs have made anime more widespread as people are now able to watch them without relying on dub releases or translated imports. In order to get better quality, people buy the DVDs for keepsake of the anime they like.

I got a gut feeling it is Ishihara's cronies in big OLD Anime that are at work (older distribution companies).....they couldn't produce good enough figurines and products and thus blame the fansubbers for their demise. They are losing their edge to the more creative marketing competition.

[flying ^]

before even the dust settles...

http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/pos..._egypt_is_lost



------------------------------------------------------------



http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columni...aspx?id=206121

According to a Pew opinion survey of Egyptians from June 2010

59% said they back Islamists.
Only 27% said they back modernizers.

Half of Egyptians support Hamas.
30% support Hizbullah and 20% support al Qaida.

Moreover, 95% of them would welcome Islamic influence over their politics.

When this preference is translated into actual government policy, it is clear that the Islam they support is the al Qaida Salafist version.

82% of Egyptians support executing adulterers by stoning.
77% support whipping and cutting the hands off thieves.
84% support executing any Muslim who changes his religion.

true "democratic" will of the people

[ganbaru]

Government-backed candidate dropped from Haiti presidential runoff
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle1892650/

[flying ^]

Planned Parenthood under attack!

Undercover videos prompt some in Congress to demand nation's largest abortion provider lose federal funding

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011...ed-parenthood/