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I LOVE the once a month classes the older ladies at church have started in order to teach the younger ladies some homemaking skills. The last class was on Homemade Bisquick Mix, and this week we learned how to make strawberry jam.
Here are the things you will need to make your own strawberry jam:
- 4 Cups smashed up strawberries
- 6 Cups sugar
- 1 package Sure Jell
- jars and lids
- jar funnel
- 3 large pots
- jar grabbers or tongs
1. Smash up the strawberries. You can use a food processor for this part or a manual chopper. If you have a lot of tension in your life lately, I highly recommend the manual chopper. Trust me.
2. Put the new or sterilized jars into one pot, and the lid inserts into another, both with a couple of inches of water and set to boil.
3. Add the strawberries and Sure Jell to a different pot and bring to a hard boil.
4. Add sugar and bring to a rolling boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
5. Remove jam pot from heat and use the jar grabbers to get one jar ready to be filled and one lid insert ready to top it.
6. Use the jar funnel and pour or ladle the jam into a jar. Fill it so no empty space will be visible when the lid is screwed on. (About 1/4 inch from the top)
7. Wipe the rim of the jar with a damp paper towel.
8. Screw the lid ring on and tighten.
9. Place jars back in pot and add enough water to cover tops. Boil for 15 minutes.
10.Remove and allow to cool. You will know the jars have sealed properly when you hear them "pop".
10. Label the jars and share them with friends!


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Australian Rugby
Genia puts pen to paper on new deal
ESPN Staff
November 23, 2012
Wallabies scrum-half Will Genia is currently sidelined with a knee injury © Getty Images
The Wallabies have received a timely boost ahead of next year's showdown with the British & Irish Lions with the news that highly-rated scrum-half Will Genia has signed a new three-year deal with the Australian Rugby Union (ARU).
Widely regarded as the best scrum-half in the world, Genia had been linked with a lucrative move to Japan but the 24-year-old has now ended speculation regarding his playing future by committing his future to the Reds and Australia until at least the end of 2015.
"I'm certainly happy that everything is now locked away and I very happy with where it has all landed," said Genia, who is currently battling back from a knee ligament injury suffered during this year's Rugby Championship. "This is definitely where I want to be, playing for Queensland and Australia.
"My focus now is on getting the knee right, getting fit and getting back out on the field for the Reds and the Wallabies. Next year is a big year, there are big things happening in Queensland and of course it will be a huge year for the Wallabies. The Lions Tour is a once in a career opportunity and it is certainly one of the reasons behind wanting to stay in Australia."
With Genia's services now secured, the focus will return to his international and Super Rugby team-mate Quade Cooper whose playing future remains in doubt following reports that the fly-half rejected the ARU's latest contract offer. Cooper also re-signed with the Reds during the Super Rugby season but that deal, like Genia's, is dependent on a satisfactory Wallabies contract.
Genia remains hopeful that Cooper will commit his future to Australia with the playmaker set to appear at a press conference on Monday to clarify his position.
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Communication error please reload the page.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
The New International Edition of Suzuki Piano School, Volume 2 includes French, German and Spanish translations, new Romantic and 20th-century pieces, as well as a newly recorded CD performed by internationally renowned recording artist Seizo Azuma. Now the book and CD can be purchased together or separately. The contents have changed slightly with minimal reordering of the music. The Mozart Minuet and Bach Musette from the earlier edition were eliminated and replaced with two new 20th-century pieces by Bartok (noted below) and the Bach Minuet in G minor (from J.S Bach's Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach) has been moved to Volume 3. Other improvements include a cleaner appearance, with less editing and spacious new engravings, as well as more detailed titles that include the keys, sources, composer dates, and catalog numbers. Titles include: Ecossaise (J.N. Hummel); A Short Story (H. Lichner); The Happy Farmer, from Album for the Young, Op. 68, No. 10 (R. Schumann); Minuet in G Major, BWV 822 (J.S. Bach); Minuet in G Major, from J.S. Bach's Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach (Anonymous); Minuet in G Minor, BWV 822 (J.S. Bach); Cradle Song, Op. 13, No. 2 (C.M. von Weber); Arietta (W.A. Mozart); Hungarian Folk Song, from For Children, Sz. 42( Bela Bartok); Melody, from Album for the Young, Op. 68, No. 1(R. Schumann); Minuet in G Major, from J.S. Bach's Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach (C. Petzold); Sonatina in G Major, Anh. 5 (Moderato, Romance) (L. van Beethoven) and Children at Play, from For Children, Sz. 42 (Bela Bartok).
Suzuki Piano School
(Volume 2)Dr. Shinichi Suzuki - Summy Birchard Co.
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text:
Sawatch Range > Missouri Mountain > Climber's Log
Missouri Mountain Climber's Log
[ Sign the Climber's Log ]
|Route Climbed: West Ridge from Cloyses Lake Date Climbed: September 26, 2004
|A beautiful fall day. Summited with Amanda & Bill. We saw about 4 people on the summit while we were on our way up. Other than that, we had the mountain to ourselves. Incredibly beautiful scenery all the way up, which kept getting better the higher we got.
|Posted Sep 27, 2004 6:24 pm
|Ed F
|Route Climbed: West Ridge from Cloyses Lake Date Climbed: August 29, 2004
|Beautiful Colorado blue sky day. Easy climb in perfect solitude.
|Posted Aug 29, 2004 9:13 pm
|Larry V
|Route Climbed: northwest ridge, from Missouri Gulch Date Climbed: July 1996
|Nice weather this day. Climbed Belford afterwards. Aaron also climbed Oxford same day.
|Posted Aug 25, 2004 11:26 pm
|Route Climbed: Cloyses Lake Date Climbed: August 14, 2004
|Very nice climb - we had wonderful weather. Did this mountain in combination with Iowa and Emerald. There were lots of people on this mountain.
|Posted Aug 16, 2004 9:42 am
|Route Climbed: Missouri Gulch Date Climbed: July 27, 2004
|A real grind up to the basin. The trail through the basin is a pleasant hike followed by another grind up to the NW ridge. There is no marker where the Elkhead Pass trail splits to the right up the ridge, just turn right. The final approach is a fun down and up around some rock formations. Fantastic views from the top of the surrounding 14ers.
|Posted Aug 2, 2004 2:55 pm
|Route Climbed: Standard Date Climbed: September, 1994
|Very distinctive ridge-top to this nice mountain. Definitely my favorite of the Missouri/Belford/Oxford trio. Wind was beginning to whip around on top, and later that night it snowed, with the wind really cranking the next day on Belford and Oxford. Climbed with Aaron Johnson and Mark Anderson--Mark had to return home, and so couldn't hang around for Belford and Oxford the next day.
|Posted Jul 27, 2004 11:17 pm
|Route Climbed: NW Ridge - North Face "C" Couloir Descent Date Climbed: July 15, 2004
|Very fun climb. We tried for Oxford and Belford also but got turned back by weather.
|Posted Jul 17, 2004 7:10 pm
|Route Climbed: North Face Couloirs Date Climbed: June 20, 2004
|Nice day, but the snow was very soft from a week of rain and warmer weather. Deep postholing until we reached about 13,100' in the couloir then it firmed up a bit, where it was somewhat shaded. Higer up, around 13,600, the postholing resumed where the snow was melting down to the rocks. Overall great hike, nice area, beautiful scenery.
|Posted Jun 21, 2004 12:52 am
|Route Climbed: N ridge Date Climbed: june 98
|made my own route, leaving elk head early. nice ridge walk,and the most interesting of the 3 14ers from this basin.
|Posted May 21, 2004 9:10 pm
|Route Climbed: Northwest Ridge Date Climbed: June 2003
|After being very tempted to head right up the face and avoid the longer NW Ridge route, we thought better of it (seeing as nobody had ice axes or crampons to negotiate the couloirs with) and headed up the surprisingly fun and scenic ridge to the summit. The intial steep grunt into Missouri Basin will test your legs, so don't think these peaks are cake-walks.
|Posted May 12, 2004 6:17 pm
|Route Climbed: Missouri Gulch Date Climbed: June/03
|Fun climb. Chased off summit by weather.
|Posted Apr 14, 2004 6:48 pm
|Route Climbed: West Ridge Date Climbed: July 2001
|Steep, but better since the CFI trail work. Thanks guys!
|Posted Jan 10, 2004 7:19 pm
|Route Climbed: Northwest Ridge Date Climbed: July, 2003
|The first 14er of the year is always the hardest.
|Posted Dec 3, 2003 6:41 pm
|Route Climbed: West Ridge Date Climbed: August 24, 2003
|We climbed Iowa and Emerald, too, from the Rockdale TH. Great day! A TR is available here.
|Posted Aug 25, 2003 11:25 pm
|Route Climbed: nothwest ridge Date Climbed: august 8 2003
|only myself and one other person on this trail today
|Posted Aug 10, 2003 4:53 pm
|Route Climbed: Missouri Gulch TH Date Climbed: July 22, 2003
|Belford, Oxford, Missouri, Emerald and Iowa. 5 peaks, 16.5 miles, 8180 feet.
|Posted Jul 30, 2003 7:09 pm
|Route Climbed: NW Ridge from Missouri Gulch TH Date Climbed: July 21, 2003
|A fun climb for my first 14er of the season. I did this one with my cousin... it was his first 14er attempt ever and a good break in climb for him to introduce him to Colorado 14ers. The grassy slope up was steep, but a good challenge a day after coming from sea level. The ridge to the summit was a blast. Descent was down the scree slope from the big cairn on the summit ridge. A good climb on a fun mountain. I really liked this one!
|Posted Jul 29, 2003 6:37 pm
|Route Climbed: Northwest Ridge Date Climbed: 1996
|Missouri Mountain is by far the best of the Belford Group. The summit view is very good, much better than many 14ers in the area. The view of the Pine Creek Drainage is magical. Also, the view of Emerald Peak is inspiring enough to make you go and climb it, which I did in 2002. If I were to climb Missouri again would for sure go for the West Ridge Route from the Rockdale TH. I hiked most of this route to climb Iowa Peak and there is a special grassy basin nestled under Missouri's huge west face. It's an intimate location that I will never forget.
|Posted May 27, 2003 7:30 pm
|Route Climbed: 5 September, 1999 Date Climbed: NW Ridge from Elkhead Basin
|Starting from the Vicksburg trailhead, got to the top in 3 hrs, 3 min (I hate it when it's just a few minutes past the hour mark!!!). Had already done Oxford and Belford previously (ominous-looking clouds were moving in that first time, so I decided not to try for Missouri), so decided to rest on my laurels and call it a day.
|Posted Apr 24, 2003 7:09 pm
|Route Climbed: Missouri Gulch Date Climbed: 13 April 2003
|This mountain becomes rather hard to do later in the day as the sum melts the snow into slush. There is also no trail to the summit other then the one I broke. Getting to treeline is also somewhat of a problem, 100 yds from treeline the snow gets waist deep, skies are the way to go here and snowshoes dont help at all.
|Posted Apr 16, 2003 3:20 pm


text:
Hi Ovid!
I just returned from work when I saw your message and I can understand it and relate to it. There may be one of the so-called "anti-patterns" [wikipedia.org] about this, but since there are quite a few of them, I'm not sure if it will be easy to find. I'm not much of a pattern/anti-pattern freak myself (as I like to think of good solutions to problems when they are needed, and not waste precious memory remembering tons of patterns), but there are people who are more into this kind of thing. I can try asking so
Well, I talked with my "patterns" guy. He said that one may find what you're describing in the "Big Ball of Mud" [laputan.org] article that describes how a software project goes on to having a lot of bad code, possibly in terminal state. (Note that I have yet to read it)
As for my "lazy refactoring" or "just-in-time refactoring" - he called that "continuous refactoring", or at least thought it was a good name for it, and said refactoring should be done at small, atomic steps. You can consult Joel on Software's Rub-a- [laputan.org]
You've nailed it. Originally I didn't think about that because I had the incorrect impression that a big ball of mud primarily referred to a reasonable system which decayed with age. From reading the first bit, I see that the BBOM also refers to what I described. I think I need to reread that article again. Thanks, Shlomi!
You're welcome.


text:
Police said Elena Adams was arrested Thursday and charged with conspiracy and criminal solicitation. They say the 57-year-old met with an undercover officer inside a car in the Sheepshead Bay neighborhood of Brooklyn to discuss the murder-for-hire plot.
Police said Adams told the officer her husband should be struck by a hit-and-run driver on Sunday as he crossed a street after lunch. They say Adams gave the investigator a picture of her husband, the stamp collection and jewelry.
Adams was arrested at the scene. She's in custody and unavailable for comment. A home phone number listed in her name is out of order, and there's no available information about an attorney for her.


text:
AP Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told NBC News' Lester Holt that Iran can't be trusted and a nuclear deal with the country poses a serious threat to both Israel and the United States. The agreement between the two countries would give Tehran relief from harsh economic sanctions implemented by the U.S. in exchange for putting limits on its nuclear program. Netanyahu said Wednesday that there is a "real disagreement" between him and Obama. "They're going to get hundreds of billions of dollars to fuel their terror and military machine," Netanyahu said of Iran. Get More at NBC News
AP Donald Trump's presidential campaign inadvertently tweeted an image of what appeared to be Nazi German soldiers set against a U.S. flag Tuesday. The photo showed the White House and a $100 bill with the slogan: "We need real leadership. We need results. Let's put the U.S. back in business." The four soldiers in the stock photo are thought to be reenactors wearing the SS Nazi infantry uniforms. Trump's campaign said, "A young intern created and posted the image and did not see the very faded figures within the flag of the stock photo. The intern apologized and immediately deleted the tweet." Get More at NBC News
Two adults and two children were found fatally shot Wednesday morning in a South Carolina home, while a third child was taken to the hospital, Orangeburg County officials said. A suspect in the quadruple homicide remained on the loose Wednesday afternoon after a car was taken from the scene in the rural town of Holly Hill and then later found abandoned, Orangeburg County Sheriff Leroy Ravenell said at a news conference. "We believe this incident is an isolated incident, so we don't believe we have anyone ... still committing crimes," Ravenell said. The coroner's office identified one of the adult victims as Krystal Hutto, 28, and the two juveniles as Tamara Perry, 14, and Shameka Sanders, 17. Local authorities said they were searching for a green 1990s Mercedes that may have been stolen from the scene, reported NBC affiliate WCBD. Get More at NBC News
AP The nuclear deal with Iran was met with a wariness in the Arab world, where concerns are widespread that the easing of its international isolation could tip the already bloody contest for power in the region toward Shiite-led Tehran, The Associated Press reported. Arab countries have deep fears of Iran gaining a nuclear weapon, and some have been skeptical that a deal will prevent that from happening. But equally high for key Sunni-dominated Gulf allies of the United States is the worry that a deal gives Iran the means — through an economic windfall — and an implicit green light to push influence in the region. "Deal or no deal, tension in the region is not going to go away," said Abdulkhaleq Abdullah, a professor of political science at United Arab Emirates University. Get More at NBC News
AP The 94-year-old former guard known as the "accountant of Auschwitz" was convicted Wednesday on 300,000 counts of accessory to murder, NBC News reported. Oskar Groening was sentenced to 4 years in jail by the state court in the northern German city of Lueneburg. The charges relate to the period between May and June 1944 — when some 425,000 Hungarian Jews were brought to Auschwitz. At least 300,000 were immediately sent to the gas chambers. While Groening had spoken openly in interviews about his time as an SS guard at Hitler's infamous death camp in occupied Poland, he insisted he only witnessed atrocities and did not commit any crimes. Get More at NBC News
AP Two people are dead and at least six others remain missing Tuesday in Johnson County, Kentucky, where flash floods destroyed about 150 homes and damaged several hundred others, state and local authorities said. A man drowned in floodwaters in Flatgap after he got out of his car Monday night, and an elderly woman was discovered Tuesday afternoon in debris near Volga, Kentucky State Police said. The severe weather, which is expected to move east to the Tennessee Valley and the East Coast Wednesday, is the product of unstable air interacting with an unseasonably strong and active jet stream, said Danielle Banks, a meteorologist for The Weather Channel. Get More at NBC News
AP Iran and six world powers, including the U.S., unveiled a historic deal aimed at ensuring Iran does not develop nuclear weapons in exchange for the easing of economic sanctions. NBC News gathered what you need to know. Will Iran keep a nuclear program? What happens to Iran's existing stockpile of nuclear materials? Who makes sure Iran sticks to the deal? Get More at NBC News
As the search continued for a crashed plane in Washington state, authorities marveled at the wherewithal of a teenager who walked away from the wreckage. Autumn Veatch, 16, wasn't seriously injured in the small plane crash, even joking from her hospital bed about how it was a good thing her dad made her watch the television show "Survivor." Her step-grandparents were also in the plane, which crashed as it came out of a cloud bank, but Veatch was unable to save them and instead left for help, according to the Okanogan County Sheriff. "It's a miracle, no question about it," a search-and-rescue official said. Get More at NBC News
The New Horizons mission to visit Pluto is "a triumph of engineering and the laws of physics," famed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson told NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt on Tuesday, the day the NASA probe flew past Pluto. The mission team is waiting for a signal from the probe to confirm it completed its journey past the dwarf planet, but it has already sent back to Earth the most detailed images of Pluto ever recorded. New Horizons took a 3 billion-mile journey that Tyson compared to "threading a needle from New York to Los Angeles." Get More at NBC News
Greg Allen/Invision/AP/File Republican presidential candidates slammed the historic nuclear deal between Iran and world powers on Tuesday, calling the agreement backed by President Barack Obama a dangerous threat to the security of the U.S. and Israel. "You know the Iranians are going to cheat," Donald Trump said in an interview with NBC News. "They're great negotiators and you know they're going to cheat." Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said the agreement "will be remembered as one of America's worst diplomatic failures." Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said in a statement, "The nuclear agreement announced by the Obama administration today is a dangerous, deeply flawed, and short sighted deal." And Carly Fiorina suggested in an interview with CBS News the agreement would make an arms race in the region more likely. Get More at NBC News
AP Secretary of State John Kerry shot back at opponents of the nuclear deal with Iran, saying Israel will be safer as a result of the agreement. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed Tuesday's historic agreement as a "bad mistake of historic proportions" that will give Iran a "sure path to nuclear weapons." In an interview with NBC News, Kerry insisted that was not the case, saying the deal was the best option and has long-lasting implications. "What the critics of this plan never offer... is a realistic alternative," Kerry said. "It's wrong for people to think this doesn't have long-term accountability." Kerry added that "Israel is safer" as a result of Tuesday's accord. "This is under attack by people who really don't know the terms of the agreement," he said. Get More at NBC News
AP After drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman tunneled his way out of a maximum security prison in Mexico, tweets have been sent out from the alleged "official" Twitter account under the name @ElChap0Guzman, lambasting the Mexican president and threatening Donald Trump. The El Chapo twitter account -- which has 300,000 followers -- includes tweets addressed to Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto in which the cartel leader tells the president not to call him a "delinquent" because he provides more jobs than the Mexican government. Guzman also tweeted to Donald Trump warning him to put an end to his recent remarks on this prison break. The Twitter account has been active since 2012 and is alleged to be managed by one of his sons. Get More at NBC News
AP Israeli officials came out swinging against a nuclear deal with Iran Tuesday even before any official announcement was made, NBC News reported. "Iran is going to receive a sure path to nuclear weapons," said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "Iran will get a jackpot, a cash bonanza of hundreds of billions of dollars, which will enable it to continue to pursue its aggression and terror in the region and in the world. This is a bad mistake of historic proportions." Netanyahu added that "As Iran continued to receive more and more concessions at the negotiating table, Iranian President [Hassan] Rouhani led a march of hatred in the streets of Tehran in which the masses cried, 'Death to America! Death to Israel!'" He was referring to huge marches held in Iran to celebrate Al-Quds day, a holiday in support of Palestinians. Get More at NBC News


text: We all know of Naruto and Yamato collaboration jutsu of Wind and Water, Naruto should be able to do a collaboration jutsu with Kakashi and Sasuke fire, wind and fire, Now I am thinking that He may experiment with some of Konoha 11 and come up with new or enhance jutsus. For example Naruto's fulton rasen shuriken but the destruction and large creater can be a waste of energy like an atomic boom. I was thinking with Hinata control of chakra what that if in a collaboration jutsu She can channel Narutos force into a small thigh beam like a laser like at one spot on an enemy and ones it hits expand from their to consume the target. What do you think? and how about others like Neji and Shikamaru?


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Children who attend programs at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Capistrano Valley got early holiday gifts Saturday when the Dana Point Community Cycling Foundation, sponsor of the annual Dana Point Grand Prix of Cycling, gave away 50 bicycles and donated $10,000 to the San Juan Capistrano-based club.
The bikes were rewards for club members who earned points for their studies during the school year. Kids also were able to select gifts for themselves and family members.
There were Xbox video games, DVDs, Nerf guns and hundreds of other items to choose from, with a total value of $50,000 to $60,000, said Mike Chambers, president of the club's board of directors.
The value of the 50 bikes and 50 helmets was more than $16,000.
Most of the money and gift items were donated. The club also allocated money from its annual budget to pay for the event.
Tali Gonzales, 9, said she picked out one of the bikes for her dad.
"He loves riding a bike to the beach and he never got to ride one as a kid," she said.
Whitney Molina, 17, picked a bike for her older brother.
"Normally we go bike riding and I thought it was time to get him a new one," she said. "He has an old one that doesn't really work."
– Photographer Wayne Mah contributed to this report.


text:
Ryan W. McMaken
Lew Rockwell Blog
March 7, 2013
People who follow me on Twitter know that I criticize Rand Paul. I do this not because I think he should be a clone of his father, and that he's somehow "betrayed" Ron Paul's followers. On the contrary, as I've noted before, I think Rand has always been quite up front about his non-libertarian views. I don't think he's attempted to deceive anyone on this.
My primary motivation in criticizing Rand is to illustrate the reality of his positions to many of his followers who seem to think that the libertarian movement should view Rand Paul as the next Ron Paul. They should not, regardless of the last name of the Senator from Kentucky, because Rand Paul is not, in my view, enough of a consistent defender of liberty. Nor is he enough of a known commodity to warrant all of the uncritical and blind support I see coming out of the so-called, and oxymoronically named, "libertarian conservatives."
However, I have to give credit where it's due, and Rand Paul's filibuster today is good for at least two reasons.
First of all, it's good because it's a filibuster. The claim that the US Senate is "the world's greatest deliberative body" has long been laughable. The Senate mostly rubber-stamps the edicts of the president when he's in the same party as the Senate majority. Even when the majority is in a different party than the president, rarely is anything more than token resistence offered to the president's appointments and treaties. This is made obvious by the fact that filibusters are so incredibly rare as are any actual rejections of the president's nominees. The Senate was created as a check on both the foreign and domestic policy of the president, yet, we see virtually no such thing ever out of the Senate.
The fact that Senator Paul is willing to stop the government in its tracks for a few hours with a filibuster is a credit to him and probably stems from a decent understanding of what the Senate is supposed to do. Not only is the filibuster a good thing because it can obstruct the will of both senators and presidents, but it is also good because it serves to empower minority rights over the majority. This speech by the late Senator Robert Byrd, delivered back when it was the GOP that was trying to kill the filibuster, explains how the filibuster stands as a bulwark against the tyranny of the majority and outlines many of the filibuster's virtues.
Secondly, this particular filibuster is good because it has been specifically used to oppose and discredit one of the worst abuses of the presidency in many years. And that's saying a lot, since the history of the presidency is primarily a history of usurpation. If presidents can claim the right to kill anyone they want at any time, as the current president has indeed done, then we have entered the final phase of complete lawlessness. I think Rand Paul is sincere in his opposition to this, and the fact that he is laboring nearly alone in his efforts to discredit this practice illustrates just how utterly useless and immoral the US Senate actually is. (I should note by the way, that I do not think the opposition to drone killings offered today by Sens. Rubio and Cruz is sincere.)
Moreover, Paul's filibuster is simply an embarrassment to the regime which counts on -and gets!- nearly unanimous and bipartisan support of all its most horrible abuses from TARP to NDAA.
I'm glad that Rand Paul has finally found the issue that he is willing to go to the mat over. For all his inconsistencies and caving to the neocons on Iran and other issues, he's still apparently one of only a tiny handful of politicians in Washington who is willing to say much at all about the final destruction of the Bill of Rights. While Paul may be conventional on many issues, his peculiarity and commitment on this issue is laudable. And, the fact that he stands nearly alone should frighten anyone who is still uninformed enough to think there is a functioning system of checks and balances in Washington. Paul's stand should also serve as a source of everlasting shame to the so-called Progressives who obviously care not one iota for human rights, democracy or decent government at all, as long as one of their own is the current elected dictator.


text:
Richard Littlemore | December 13, 2007
By Richard Littlemore • Thursday, December 13, 2007 - 15:00
With characteristic shamelessness, the mendacious Dr. S. Fred Singer and two of his three co-authors are flagrantly misrepresenting a new article that they have published in the International Journal of Climatology.
The article, A Comparison of Tropical Temperature Trends with Model Predictions, appears to be a legitimate paper that identifies an interesting statistical variation in a very narrow set of climate data. The folks at RealClimate.org have picked the paper apart pretty successfully, demonstrating some fundamental flaws (the authors ignored new information when old datasets suited their purpose better), but the Journal of Climatology is a reputable publication and, in accepting this paper, it accords a certain degree of credibility to the authors' findings.
That, however, does not forgive the misleading public relations campaign that Singer has now launched on the strength of this publication. In a press release trumpeting the new paper, Singer announces: "Climate warming is naturally caused and shows no human influence: Carbon dioxide (CO2) is not a pollutant."
He quotes leading author David Douglass saying; "The inescapable conclusion is that the human contribution is not significant and that observed increases in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases make only a negligible contribution to climate warming."
And he quotes the once-respected John Christy saying: "Satellite observations suggest that GH models ignore negative feedbacks, produced by clouds and by water vapor, that diminish the warming effects of carbon dioxide."
These conclusions are neither "inescapable" nor are they represented anywhere within the newly published paper. In fact, if you look on Singer's website, he doesn't even provide a link to the actual journal article - not even a title that would make it easier to search the article out. Neither will you find the article linked on any of the climate-change denying websites (like this ) that have picked up the story.
No, Fred Singer makes no effort to get you to read actual science. He offers only his unfounded interpretation.
Somebody (probably the graduate student Benjamin Pearson) deserves some credit for identifying a statistical anomaly of scientific interest. But using this study to dismiss the notion of climate change is like concluding, on the strength of a second-quarter interception, that your favorite team had lost a football game - even when you could see the final victorious result posted on the scoreboard.
This is spin, plan and simple. I'd welcome all comers to read the links and judge otherwise.
John Holliday replied on Permalink
Deniers Journal of Climatology Article
Richard, the study is published online in the Journal of Climatology, but it may be easier to download the .pdf
As you've pointed out, RealClimate.org has chosen to debunk the Douglass et al study. "A Comparison of Tropical Temperature Trends With Model Predictions" http://uahnews.uah.edu/newsread.php?newsID=994
It's a rebuttal I was eager to see, yet I'm seriously disappointed. I replied on RealClimate.org with this comment earlier…
"Gavin, did you write this? I find it intriguing that, as others have noted, there's no byline for this analysis. Any reasonable person would expect that if you're the author, you would stand behind this review. I hope you'll take the opportunity to correct this oversight. While I'm an avid reader of this blog, and inclined to support you, it certainly undermines your credibility.
"Several statements you've made here suggest either a stunning lack of familiarity with the actual mathematics of climate science or a willingness to knowingly misrepresent the data. http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2007/12/tropical-troposphere-trends#comment-75916
"I'm even further mystified by your acknowledgement that you had to manipulate the data set to prove Douglass et al wrong. http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2007/12/tropical-troposphere-trends#comment-75862
"Outside of the scientific review process there is no way to evaluate the merit of this post or its challenge to the study published in the Journal of Climatology. You've already written about the flaws in peer review, but to be accepted by science an idea has to survive rigorous scrutiny by the professional scientific community. The results need to be verified independently. Without this process, there is really no way to evaluate a scientific theory. Oddly, you have declined to submit your ideas to the court of scientific inquiry. Instead, you've taken this challenge right to the public where there is little chance for criticism except perhaps on Internet forums. It makes the rest of us who cite any of this work look bad.
"To help us regain a small shred of relevance to the AGW debate, may I politely suggest you submit your criticism for peer review, preferably to the International Journal of Climatology, and allow it to withstand scrutiny there?"
Sadly, it's unlikely that comment will make it past moderation.
I'm sure everyone reading this blog agrees: Anthropogenic Global Warming is a serious issue. It deserves sober, objective scientific study. Before any of us go about citing RealClimate.org on this one, please be aware: There's a reason Gavin doesn't take credit for his work. If you follow carefully, it just doesn't make sense.
A lot of people go to sites like RealClimate.org for objective, verifiable science. Unfortunately, after reading some of the careless work they've recently published as "scientific studies" I'm left with more questions than answers.
To begin with, that
To begin with, that Realclimate post was made by "group". Now to my unscientific eyes, that would suggest that several people at Realclimate worked on that post, not just Gavin.
I don't see your rather snotty post there yet, John. It looks to me like there is no real substance in your comments; you are trying to sound scientific without actually talking about the science.
John Holliday replied on Permalink
Deniers Journal of Climatology Article
You're right, VJ. Given that the sober, objective moderators at RealClimate.org are disinclined to approve any comments with sticky questions, the odds of my post being published on their blog are thin.
Since you've admitted having "unscientific eyes" let me address your concerns in plain, easy to understand English. First, a scientist would attach his name to his work, not hide behind "group." If there was more than one author to this piece, it should have read "Schmidt and Mann" as others have. In the scientific community, anonymous hatchet jobs are generally not accepted practice.
There are two specific errors in the RealClimate.org article which others have already caught:
Comment #32
"I took a look at Figure 9.1 in the latest IPCC of zonal mean atmospheric temperature change from 1890 to 1999 (similated by the PCM model). That figure shows a significant difference in the magnitude of the trend at 10 km over the tropics between solar forcing and greenhouse gas forcing. This is at odds with your first two graphics. Are you saying that the IPCC graphic is wrong?"
Oops. Gavin is caught flat-footed, with no response. He had to modify the data to make his rebuttal work.
Comment #35
John R Christy responds to RealClimate.org
"To quote from realclimate. org 'The sharp eyed among you will notice that the satellite estimates (even UAH) - which are basically weighted means of the vertical temperature profiles - are also apparently inconsistent with the selected radiosonde estimates (you can't get a weighted mean trend larger than any of the individual level trends!).' This was written by someone of significant inexperience. The weighting functions include the surface, and the sondes align almost exactly with UAH data … the weights are proportional, depending most on 850-400 but use all from the surface to the stratosphere. The quote is simply false."
Gavin's reply to that is essentially meaningless.
May I also respectfully point out to your unscientific eyes, VJ, a scientist submits his work to a community of experts for analysis and review. A denier makes his case to the unprepared and unwitting public, avoiding scientific scrutiny altogether. By taking their case to the public which is ill equipped to evaluate what they say, the "group" at RealClimate.org is making no case at all. The only explanation for their actions is that they want to affect public policy, not further the science.
To put it quite plainly, they have become the deniers we've been railing against. In their haste to discredit Douglass, Christy, Pearson and Singer, the "group" both misrepresented the study and manipulated the data set. That's potentially embarrassing to anyone who chooses to cite their work. If Gavin and the "group" care to stand by their findings, they should submit the paper for peer review or send it to the Journal of Climatology where the study was published.
Anything less is merely an attempt to change public opinion, not further scientific thought. I am deeply disappointed, because I'm really getting the feeling that I've been had.
For Comment #32, Gavin
For Comment #32, Gavin already gave the answer in #29.
For #35, Christy's quote didn't mean much to me either. But why don't you go and post there about the specific things bothering you?
…Given that the sober, objective moderators at RealClimate.org are disinclined to approve any comments with sticky questions, the odds of my post being published on their blog are thin….
On the contrary, they seem quite open to discussion and to correcting errors that have been pointed out.
…a scientist submits his work to a community of experts for analysis and review. A denier makes his case to the unprepared and unwitting public, avoiding scientific scrutiny altogether…
Is that why you yourself are posting here instead of over there? Are you hoping to find an unwitting public here?
…If Gavin and the "group" care to stand by their findings, they should submit the paper for peer review or send it to the Journal of Climatology where the study was published…
Who knows, perhaps they will send a letter to that journal.
…Anything less is merely an attempt to change public opinion, not further scientific thought. I am deeply disappointed, because I'm really getting the feeling that I've been had.
I take it you are not used to reading science blogs, or you could not reasonably expect a blog to be a peer-reviewed journal. Science blogs are places for people to talk about science they are interested in, whether academically trained scientists or interested amateurs. There they can talk, teach and learn from each other. They perform a valuable service in that they do communicate with the public something of what is going on in scientific circles.
In fact, I think that is what you object to, John Holliday, that they are doing their job quite well, which is why you seem to prefer to come here and smear them.
John Holliday replied on Permalink
Climate Scientists vs. Deniers
You say: "Science blogs are places for people to talk about science they are interested in, whether academically trained scientists or interested amateurs. There they can talk, teach and learn from each other. They perform a valuable service in that they do communicate with the public something of what is going on in scientific circles."
I say: That "something" being communicated should be truthful and verifiable, or else of what value is it? Frankly, if your interest is science, this should concern you. If your interest is merely swaying public opinion, then you're right. Publish any pseudo-scientific gobbledy-gook you want. At least a few naive readers may stumble across this article and be convinced. I believe that's the difference between scientists and deniers, right? Scientists submit their findings for peer review and to be published in professional journals. Deniers post their emotional appeals and impugn the scientific community to influence the unwitting. Which group do you choose, VJ?
The pattern of warming that's predicted by greenhouse models does not match the observations of actual warming in the atmosphere. There is a disconnect between greenhouse models and the real world. It's reasonable to conclude that the greenhouse effect, while real, is not as important in producing climate change as the IPCC models calculate. That's the conclusion of a peer-reviewed study published in the International Journal of Climatology. RealClimate.org claims there were errors in the methodology, but on review their findings challenging the study are based on deliberate misinterpretations of the paper and manipulation of the data.
In the interest of science, where this blog links to RealClimate.org, you should include the caveat: "Contrary to the accepted scientific process, the opinions and statements here have not been submitted for peer review and may contain serious factual errors."
Otherwise you look like a denier. That's just my 2 cents.
John Holliday replied on Permalink
RAOBCORE -- I don't have a position on which is best
Nice catch, Andre
From Gavin's work:
"It turns out that the radiosonde data used in this paper (version 1.2 of the RAOBCORE data) does not have the full set of adjustments. Subsequent to that dataset being put together (Haimberger, 2007), two newer versions have been developed (v1.3 and v1.4) which do a better, but still not perfect, job"
but then he says
"Nor does it show that RAOBCORE v1.4 is necessarily better than v1.2."
and in the response to #42 comment
"With respect to RAOBCORE, I don't have a position on which analysis is best"
What does Gavin say now? "I do not have enough knowledge on radiosonde analyses to be able to render a judgment."
That's odd, considering you did render a judgement in your work, Gavin. The unscientific eyes might have gotten the impression Douglass purposefully used faulty data. Want some syrup for that waffle?
Ian Forrester replied on Permalink
I read your comment on Realclimate
VJ, I too think that John Holliday is more interested in smearing RC than trying to understand the paper under discussion.
I look forward to their reply.
Ian Forrester
John Holliday replied on Permalink
Methodology and Objectivity
My original comment, submitted to RealClimate.org at 10:00 this morning, should have appeared as #25.
I understand that the AGW faithful might consider questioning the methodology and objectivity of RealClimate.org a smear. You're entitled to your opinion. I look at it this way: If they can't withstand criticism from a believer, they won't withstand scrutiny from the skeptics.
Apparently, the "group" didn't feel like addressing posts that did not agree with them. Here are the specific problems: First, the very same quote John Christy pointed out suggests whoever wrote the paper is unfamiliar with the mathematics of climate science. Second, the matter of data manipulation is evident from the comments and Gavin's responses. Third, if the group is so confident their analysis will stand peer review, why didn't the members who wrote it at least attach their names?
If Schmidt, Mann et al are convinced of the strength of their findings, their rebuttal posted on RealClimate.org should appear in the January 08 Journal of Climatology. Just between friends, as it's currently written, I don't think that's gonna happen.
Richard Littlemore replied on Permalink
Nice Diversion John Holliday
This whole comment string is dedicated to obsessing over the details of RealClimate's counterpoint to the Douglass, Christy, Pearson, Singer paper. And in pursuing that obsession, you have dragged the conversation away from the main point, which is that having stumbled upon a statistical anomaly that is apparently worthy of publication, Singer, et al, are representing it in the popular press and the blogosphere as categorical proof that AGW is somehow not happening.
You can parse Singer's paper and the RealClimate response till Greenland is wholly and entirely green (an event not far enough in the future), the fact remains that Singer and his denier buddies are still defrauding the public.
John Holliday replied on Permalink
Fleecing the Sheeple
Thanks for the reply, Richard. Not to get off topic, but you bring up Greenland Is Melting! Here's an interesting, related article on MSN –
"SAN FRANCISCO - Global warming may not be the only thing melting Greenland. Scientists have found at least one natural magma hotspot under the Arctic island that could be pitching in.
In recent years, Greenland's ice has been melting more and flowing faster into the sea — a record amount of ice melted from the frozen mass this summer, according to recently released data — and Earth's rising temperatures are suspected to be the main culprit.
But clues to a new natural contribution to the melt arose when scientists discovered a thin spot in the Earth's crust under the northeast corner of the Greenland Ice Sheet where heat from Earth's insides could seep through, scientists will report here this week at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union."
As for diversion, I'm disappointed Richard. The study doesn't conclude that AGW isn't happening at all. It merely points to an unreliablity in models based on the CO2 greenhouse theory. We've always maintained that AGW included other factors besides CO2, right? Factors like concrete and urban sprawl? Other greenhouse gases we're spewing into the atmosphere, like wator vapor?
Instead of twisting into a pretzel to discredit Douglass, Christy, Pearson and Singer, why not step back and look at the big picture… By getting better models with better data, we can better identify the human-caused factors.
Disinformation About Global Warming http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=115&topic_id=125284&mesg_id=125464
Steve Herr replied on Permalink
Greenland Melting
Mr. Holliday, interesting diversion regarding the Greenland magma as a possible cause of ice melting.
However, if you read the article, they say the magma hot spot is in the northeast part of Greenland.
Whereas if you read this summary of the NASA GRACE survey of ice mass, you'll find that the majority of the melting is in the southeast and southern tip of Greenland.
Don't get me wrong, obviously magma can melt ice. But it pretty much has to be virtually at the surface, since rock and soil act as an insulators.
You've seen pictures of snow on the ground around Yellowstone's thermal pools, haven't you? Yellowstone is a magma hotspot too.
Likewise the Long Valley caldera. AFAIK, it hasn't affected skiing at Mammoth Mountain nearby.
Sounds like a diversion to me.
John Holliday replied on Permalink
It's Melting! It's Melting!
I didn't bring up, Greenland, Richard did. You've made a good point. Thanks for the NASA link. ;)
Pay attention, John
You wrote "The study doesn't conclude that AGW isn't happening at all." That's exactly what Richard was pointing out. Singer has used the report to support claims he's been making that ARE NOT SUPPORTED BY THE STUDY.
John Holliday replied on Permalink
RealClimate.org - Disinformation Disguised As Science
Fair enough, reading the title to Singer's press release, "Climate warming is naturally caused and shows no human influence - Carbon dioxide (CO2) is not a pollutant," one might get that impression.
I would submit by only focusing on the title of the press release, Richard has built a straw man – characterizing the study and Singer's statements as being something different than they actually are. Ultimately he only weakens our position, and if you go about citing him, you'll look foolish.
1) If the anthropogenic global warming theory was entirely dependent on CO2 emissions and 2) if you only read the title of Singer's press release, your statement that he's misrepresenting the studies findings would be true.
However, in the body of the press release, Singer is quoted as saying, "Our research demonstrates that the ongoing rise of atmospheric CO2 has only a minor influence on climate change. We must conclude, therefore, that attempts to control CO2 emissions are ineffective and pointless. – but very costly."
Attempts to control CO2 are ineffective. Well, we already knew that the theoretical climate effect of reduced CO2 emissions was so small as to be immeasurable against background noise. What's more important is, can we use this study by Douglass and Christy to develop a model that better explains how exactly we are impacting the climate? What does Singer say about attempts to control other GHG emissions, or other human activies?
Most worrisome for me, this still doesn't explain the sloppy methodology used by the group at RealClimate.org in their hurried attempt to discredit Singer. It's relevant here because Richard goes to great lengths to point out how Gavin has "picked apart" the study. In fact, RealClimate.org his sole source for a rebuttal.
It ontinues to intrigue me that Gavin chose to take his criticisms to the Internet, where most of us are ill-prepared to evaluate his findings, rather than the commonly accepted practice of submitting them to the journal. If he's confident he's right and Singer's wrong, he should let his work withstand the scrutiny of his peers.
It stinks of politics. Sloppy methodology and anonymous postings on the Internet. That's exactly the tactic we accuse the deniers of using in their disinformation campaign. Can you help me understand why it's acceptable for RealClimate.org to use the same underhanded approach the deniers do?
Wow. You just recycled much
Wow. You just recycled much of your earlier posts. I didn't buy them either. You are continuing to mostly use smear tactics disguised under overblown rhetoric.
…Well, we already knew that the theoretical climate effect of reduced CO2 emissions was so small as to be immeasurable against background noise…
Who knows that? I don't know that. What peer-reviewed studies do you have to back up this statement?
And you ask:
…What does Singer say about attempts to control other GHG emissions, or other human activies?…
Are you asking? Haven't you read what Singer has to say about these attempts?
You may be intrigued, but you are not all that interesting.
John Holliday replied on Permalink
30 Kyotos needed to reduce warming to acceptable levels
You say, "What peer reviewed studies do you have to back up this statement?"
I say, James Hansen "Global Warming in the 21st Century"
See also:
Wigley, T. M. L. (1998) Geophys. Res. Lett. 25, 2285-2288
Sorry, no link available, but I'll keep looking
Malakoff, D. (1997) Science 278, 2048
Ian Forrester replied on Permalink
Plagarism or sock puppetry?
John Holliday which one of you is the plagiarist, you or brucew4yne? Or are you sock puppets for another well known denier?
Perhaps the reason Realclimate did not publish your comments is that they are aware of these facts. Did you know that these crimes, plagiarism and sock puppetry are considered two of the major crimes an academic can commit? So if you want things to be discussed in a scientifically and honest manner, perhaps you should resort to honesty yourself and you may be allowed to make valid comments. However, if you persist in your dishonorable ways you will be shut out. That is the reason we put locks on our doors, to keep dishonest people out, are blogs not allowed the same consideration?
Ian Forrester
John Holliday replied on Permalink
Fallacious Arguments
Lacking anything of substance to rebut my argument, our dauntless blogger resorts to the oldest and weakest strategy of all… Attack the man.
Talk about diversion. ;)
Ian Forrester replied on Permalink
Then why have you not responded to my questions?
Just because you call my arguments "fallacious" does not make them so. If they are not true then prove it. Otherwise we will assume that I was right in my assertions.
Shoddy work is shoddy work and I will call anyone out on it at every chance I get.
If you were as well acquainted with science as you are trying to portray you would know that the first quality to be considered in a scientist is his honesty. So far you have garnered a failing grade in that department.
You are a typical denier troll.
Ian Forrester
John Holliday replied on Permalink
Sloppy Work Is No Substitute for Legitimate Scientific Study
Ad hominem is fallacious on its face, Ian. Your "questions" are merely accusations. You can't plagiarize yourself, and I have never claimed to be a scientist.
If Gavin Schmidt and Michael Mann at RealClimate.org are so confident in their findings that Douglass, Christy Pearson, and Singer are wrong, they should submit their work to the International Journal of Climatology. They haven't and they won't. Not as written at least. John R Christy and a number of commenters have already pointed out several fatal flaws in their methodology and the product they've anonymously published is false.
May I ask one question? Is ideology blinding you to the possibility that the current climate models are unreliable?
Ian Forrester replied on Permalink
It is not an ad hominem if it is factually correct
First of all please explain what you mean by "Ad hominem is fallacious on its face". I'm not an English major so I am not up on current usage of big words. However, it seems to be meaningless to me.
Secondly, you cannot deny that there are two duplicate copies of your postings appearing in different places with two different authorships. This is either plagiarism or you are guilty of using a sock puppet. These are facts; they are undeniable aren't they? So how can my comments be considered an ad hominem attack? Please read up on the correct usage of "ad hominem". The truth can never be called an hominem attack.
Now, if you are not involved in academia you may not be aware that both of these crimes, plagiarism and use of sock puppets are considered to be very serious offences. If you want to play with the big boys then may I suggest you learn their rules then you won't be guilty of any crime.
Being guilty of improper English usage is completely different and can be solved by taking the requisite remedial classes.
Ian Forrester
John Holliday replied on Permalink
Logic 101
Apologies, Ian. I wasn't trying to talk over your head.
I like wikipedia because it's written in plain, easy to understand English. I hope you find the article helpful. Anyone who has taken freshman philosophy can tell you: "Ad hominem arguments are always invalid in syllogistic logic," or expressed another way "Ad hominem is fallacious on its face."
Your accusations can be called ad hominem because you're not addressing the facts I present. You're only parroting "troll" and "sockpuppet." It's certainly a very easy way to dismiss anyone who doesn't share your ideology, but I don't think you really understand the terms. The name John Holliday is not available on every forum or blog I frequent. It's also not a crime nor dishonest to use an anonymous persona for posting online. I've made no attempt to use multiple personas on the same blog or forum, nor use multiple logins to praise or defend myself. Repeating the same message in multiple venues is as dishonest and criminal as passing out leaflets or running a commercial on more than one channel. Thus the link to DU.
If you'd like to speak to the specific points I've raised about the sloppy methodology and false conclusions of the rebuttal at RealClimate.org, I'd be happy to read those.
Ian Forrester replied on Permalink
Then you admit that you are the same as brucew4yne?
Perhaps you should have made a note to that effect when you posted so that "sloppy scientists" like me wouldn't make erroneus assumptions.
By the way, I would give up on that brucew4yne handle, it seems as if there is some one addicted to porn and who also runs a porn site already using it. That could prove embarrassing for you.
Incidentally, I still think you are a denier troll. Who is the "we" you keep referring to in your posts?
Ian Forrester
wikipedia is not
wikipedia is not peer-reviewed, John, so you mustn't use it for arguing on the internet.
Why don't you submit your longwinded smears against RealClimate to the Journal of Climatology and see if they pass peer review? The Journal would point out that you have not in fact raised specific points or written anything of substance.
John Holliday replied on Permalink
Do we need peer review for the English language?
VJ, that is absolutely hilarious.
In this instance, I was not citing the wiki for anything related to AGW, only for a definition of the common English term "ad hominem." You're really grasping for straws here.
May I also point out, RC's own William Connolly is the primary source for all information on Global Warming there. He known, documented pattern of editing and reverting any updates to the site that might challenge his particular interpretation of AGW theory. I wouldn't consider using Wikipedia to rebut RealClimate, since any pages in the wiki related to climate change are controlled by RC. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:William_M._Connolley
I'm intrigued by your
I'm intrigued by your obsession with RealClimate. You really have a grudge against them. It makes me wonder which discredited denialist you really are.
Ian Forrester replied on Permalink
You still haven't explained "fallacious on its face"
That is the phrase I could not follow. Thinking that since you are so much more aware of logic and philosophy than I am, I assumed that you were quoting some well-known philosopher who was so prestigious that mere mortals like me would be unable to understand what he was saying.
Unfortunately, when I Googled the phrase "Ad hominem is fallacious on its face" I only got on hit. Sadly, no prestigious philosopher only some one called brucew4yne. Remember him John? I think there may have been two of them (or not) so which one were you quoting? Maybe I should dig a little deeper, I'm sure there is much more to uncover.
Ian Forrester
John Holliday replied on Permalink
Independent Thought vs. Mindless Parroting
Ian, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, however some should probably keep theirs to themselves to avoid looking completely foolish.
I understand independent thought is not particularly valued among the sheeple, but believe it or not, some of us don't need to quote dead white men to explain common logic. If you can't understand English or basic logical principles, that's your problem. May I respectfully suggest, that since that's apparently the case – Leave the evaluation of peer reviewed scientific studies to others, preferably those with at least an 8th grade education.
A Google search of "Ad hominem is fallacious on its face" returns some 31,600 reults, all expressing the same thing:
"tu quoque arguments are used in a logically fallacious way"
"This is a fallacy because the truth of an assertion doesn't depend on the virtues of the person asserting it."
"Ad hominem is an informal fallacy."
"argumentum ad hominem ("argument against the person") – A common fallacy…"
"If you do so during the argument instead of addressing the arguments of your opponent then yes, this is the ad hominem fallacy in all its glory. …"
Begone, Troll.
Weasel words, John. Google
Weasel words, John. Google the phrase without quotation marks and you get over 31,000 hits about ad hominems; but use quotation marks and you get two results, this thread and the one with brucew4yne's comment. Don't you know how to use Google properly?
To clarify
Ian googled the expression "Ad hominem is fallacious on its face" in quotation marks, limiting the search to that specific turn of phrase. I tried it just now and he's right. Only brucew4yne pops up using that precise combination.
Personally I don't care who you are. This thread is getting sillier with each exchange. Drop it, why don't you, and do something useful with your time? Baiting Ian is not doing your own rep any good.
Ian Forrester replied on Permalink
Learn how to use Google
It turns up two hits now, the original one plus a link to the Desmogblog thread.
The use of quote marks allows you to actually search for the sentence or phrase, not just the individual words. My, I though someone who was so up on Logic and Philosophy would know that! Then again you probably spend too much time on your pornography sites to actually read anything of significance.
I fully understand the term "ad hominem" and in many cases it is fully justified. It certainly is in your case.
You are a worthless troll. Get lost before I really spill the beans on you.
Ian Forrester
Dr Slop replied on Permalink
Realclimate shadow postings
Appears to be a forum of
Appears to be an old forum conversation with some people who are bitter they can't get attention at RealClimate.
Hank Roberts replied on Permalink
Chuckle -- never mind old
Chuckle – never mind old and bitter, the reliance on citation to CO2science is sufficient to warn one off.
Russell Seitz replied on Permalink
Since the statistical minutia have pushed the argument about how and why the models have difficulty in emulating the equatorial troposphere to the limit of intelligibility for all save systems programmers and sonde jockeys, I am perversely grateful to Halliday for exporting his contribution to the noise here from RC– with so little non-specialist sigmnal, it's been hard enough to follow as is.
Speaking of distractions, Fred's PR performance has been so egregious that few reacll the most salient fact about the National Press Club Press Conference announced by SEPP's Press Release.
It never happened.
Somebody should ask Douglass et al. why they all waved off– not an ounce of syrup was poured this morning, and the media waffle of the day was the gigajoule gateau Greenpeace gave Al to sustain his performance in Bali.
John Holliday replied on Permalink
Debate Pushed to the Limit of Intelligibility
Good point, Russell.
John Holliday replied on Permalink
Does Gavin Schmidt Have The Cajones To Publish His Sloppy Work?
"Gavin, will you be publishing the content of this post in the form of a rebuttal? And would such a rebuttal be subject to the same level of peer review as the original article? I encourage you to do so…" http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2007/12/tropical-troposphere-trends#comment-76619
So are you plagiarising
So are you plagiarising Richard Sycamore or is he another sock puppet of yours, brucew4yne aka John Holliday? If you were a real scientist, you would know how to make a proper citation.
Hank Roberts replied on Permalink
He, or they, have moved on,
He, or they, have moved on, same postings now being made elsewhere, for example http://forums.myspace.com/t/3625153.aspx?fuseaction=forums.viewthread&PageIndex=6&SortOrder=0
John Holliday replied on Permalink
Good thread. Thanks for the
Good thread. Thanks for the link, Hank. Fred Moolten… The erstwhile musician turned amateur climate scientist.
If you enjoy the babbling of a late-stage Alzheimers victim droning on about mankinds' imminent destruction and why men have nipples, be sure to hit those MySpace forums.
"He who joyfully marches in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would suffice." – Albert Einstein
Zog replied on Permalink
Verbatim quote from
Verbatim quote from Forrester: "Grunt, snort, snuffle"
This was a very interesting thread until the Neanderthal lurched out of his cave. A more respectable blog would have banned him long ago.
No "anomaly"
Wow, lots of spin!
Back to the original topic:
"Somebody (probably the graduate student Benjamin Pearson) deserves some credit for identifying a statistical anomaly of scientific interest."
Actually, there's no statistical anomaly at all.
As I pointed out on another thread (http://tinyurl.com/yntbat), Douglass et al. did something silly with the ensemble of climate models – apply computations that assume that they're raw observations, and treat them as "independent" models(*) – see Section 2.3.
As a result of this bogus "method", they obtain a "value" of the combined model standard deviation (sigma_[SE]) which is much lower than the true value. This is what's causing the observed temperatures to fall outside the model "confidence bounds".
The RealClimate critique makes a similar point.
* * *
(*) which, in layman's terms, means complete poppycock
Frank Bi, http://tinyurl.com/2f63xd
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Murdered Wis. officer to be honored in memorial
The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund agreed to add Jennifer Sebena to the memorial in Washington, D.C
By Dinesh Ramde
Associated Press
MILWAUKEE — A nonprofit group voted Wednesday to add the name of a Milwaukee-area police officer to a national memorial honoring officers killed in the line of duty.
Responding to pressure from Wisconsin's governor and others, the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund agreed to add Wauwatosa police Officer Jennifer Sebena to the memorial in Washington, D.C. The 30-year-old officer was shot in the head multiple times on Christmas Eve as she conducted a routine solo patrol.
The group had previously excluded Sebena because her husband is a suspect in the shooting, meaning her death could be classified as a case of domestic violence.
Gov. Scott Walker, the Wisconsin Professional Police Association and more than 16,000 signatures on an online petition helped persuade the group to reverse its decision in a unanimous vote Wednesday, said WPPA spokesman Jim Palmer, who cast one of the 15 votes.
The Associated Press left messages with the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund seeking comment Wednesday.
Sebena's husband, 30-year-old Benjamin G. Sebena, is charged with first-degree intentional homicide in her death. He has pleaded not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect, and his trial is scheduled to start in three months.
The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund is a private nonprofit group that maintains a memorial in honor of law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty. The names of more than 19,000 officers are carved on a pair of 300-foot-long curving marble walls, according to the group's website.
Copyright 2013 Associated Press
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Relationships are screwed up in 'Dying City,' '5 Women,' 'Cyrano'
ARNOLD WAYNE JONES | Life+Style Editor
All of the female characters in Alan Ball's comedy Five Women Wearing the Same Dress fit cozily into "types:" Cynical young rebel Meredith (Catherine DuBord); perky, Bible-quoting Frances (Heather Sims); saucy beauty queen Trisha (Emily Scott Banks); emotionally volatile Georgeanne (Barrett Nash); blowsy lesbian Mindy (Catherine Wall). You can practically hear a pitch meeting where he tried to get a network to option it as a sitcom.
But there's nothing wrong with situational comedy, especially when it's presented with such frothy fun. The danger is when the jokes and set-ups never move beyond what's expected. Familiarity truly can breed contempt.
That doesn't happen here, though it could. When Meredith enters — cig drooping from her lips, her sunglasses and leather biker jacket barely hiding a bridesmaid dress that looks like a hideous explosion of Pepto-Bismol, taffeta and bows — it seems like a shorthand to establish her character as "the bad girl." But DuBord goes further, as Ball's script allows her, finding depth between all the one-liners.
She and the other four ladies are all attendants at her sister's wedding, though none of them seem to like the bride very much. They reconnect with each other, bonding over their hatred for the sickening frosting-colored gowns, the sleazy guests … and sometimes each others' prejudices. (Frances is appalled that the groom has a lesbian sister "and everyone knows it!? They look just like real women!")
The cast is superb, with the standouts a sassy, beautiful Banks (whose authoritative entrance pegs her instantly as the character to watch) and Wall (who delivers the punchy lines with brio). Ball is clearly out-magnoling Steel Magnolias, with dishy dialogue as well as zingers about the Christian right and thoughtful observations about AIDS and child abuse, but he never lets those aspects weigh down its confectionary tone. If there's only one June wedding you attend this year, make it this one.
Dying City isn't the most upbeat title for a play that itself is sometimes swallowed by sadness, but Second Thought's regional premiere of this play about a gay man (Rhett Henckel) who visits the widow (Grace Heid) of his twin brother (also Henckel) a year after his apparent suicide in Iraq has much to recommend it, notably its two actors.
As the gay brother, Henckel is marvelously superficial playing an actor who's a bit too full of himself and whose attempts to connect with his sister-in-law fall infuriatingly short. Heid is less accessible emotionally (she spends too much time with her arms crossed across her slender frame), but she modulates the scene between past and present beautifully.
The play itself is a reverie on Truth and Perception and War and Human Understanding — big themes that are difficult to resolve, or even give sufficient cursory treatment, but if writer Christopher Shinn bites off more than he can chew, he gets props for trying to do something meaningful and contemporary without banging his (or our) head into a wall.
For 40 years, Dallas' Shakespeare in the Park has been just that: The Bard, and just the Bard, outdoors.
But Bill only wrote 38 plays (and far fewer good ones), so to mix it up this season, Shakespeare Dallas has thrown in Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac. It is a somewhat puzzling addition. Rostand wrote it about 300 years after Shakespeare; although written in verse (in French), the translation of this production removes most of the poetry.
And then there's this little problem: It's not actually that good of a play. Cyrano's poetry is purple; the death scene is needlessly prolonged; the characters largely unlikable.
This production clocks in at more than three hours — a long time to sit in the punishing winds and Texas heat of Samuell-Grand Amphitheater. Its famous central conceit — that the big-nosed poet and warrior Cyrano (Chris Hury) writes all the love notes to his beloved Roxane (Lydia Mackay) on behalf of the doltish young hottie Christian (Austin Tindle) — isn't even introduced into more than an hour in. Until then we spend a lot of time with peripheral characters; after then, we begin to realize what a high-maintenance and superficial bitch Roxane really is. (When Christian doesn't woo her with good poems, she turns on him like a snake.)
I cannot imagine that the director, Raphael Perry, has ever instructed any actor to "tone it down:" There's a stentorian, commedia dell'arte flamboyance to the performances he leads, and it's rarely needed, even in the gustiness of outdoors that often carried the miked voices of the actor into the trees. (At times, the winds blew so hard on the extensively caped cast I thought it might morph into a stage version of Batman; I started looking to see if Julie Taymor was around.) Even the costumes are freakishly overdone, some shoes bedecked with such garish pompoms that it appears the actors are continually kicking Teletubbies.
Nonetheless, the balcony scene (perhaps that's the Shakespeare connection) is superbly wrought by the central actors, and despite its length (and the overall "eh" reaction I had when it was over) there is a calming, civilized wave that befalls as you sit amid nature, eating cheese and pinot grigio out of a picnic basket while a play rages on before you. It ain't the Winspear. But neither is it a walk in the park.
Five Women Wearing the Same Dress. Through July 2. ContemporaryTheatreofDallas.com. Dying City. Through July 2. SecondThought Theatre.com. Cyrano de Bergerac (in repertory with As You Like It). Through July 23. Shakespeare Dallas.org.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition June 24, 2011.


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A few years ago, I read a miraculous story about a stray dog that had saved the life of an abandoned baby in Kenya. The event occurred in May 2005 and it left such an indelible impression on me that I decided to not only include the story in The Smart Mother's Guide to a Better Pregnancy, but a year later, I blogged about it. I was intrigued that a mother abandoned her baby but a dog miraculously saved it. Three years later, the story has resurfaced as a result of a picture that was published on Pinterest and the interest regarding the outcome of both the baby and the dog was humbling. Many readers asked what happened to the dog and someone was kind enough to send a link that answered the question.
For those not familiar with the story, a dog found an abandoned baby in Kenya on top of a garbage heap near a race track wrapped up in an old pair of shorts. The dog had given birth to her puppies and was looking for food. The dog picked up the baby, carried it across a busy street and returned the baby to its compound along with its puppies. Some children who live near the compound heard the baby cry, saw her along with the dog and then told their parents who called the police. Unfortunately, baby abandonment was quite common because of extreme poverty.
The baby girl was 2 days old and they weren't sure if she was going to make it. She spent 3 weeks in the NICU and was adopted quickly because of her miraculous rescue made by the dog. The biological mother was never found.
The heroic dog's puppies died but she had a happy ending. She was given the name Mkombozi which means Savior in Swahili and adopted by the Kenyan SPCA. She now occupies a space (including her bed) in their office, functions as the "canine ambassador" and is very good with children who visit from school on field trips.
As I've stated before, pregnancy is a time of miracles. Somewhere in Kenya, there's a 7-year old girl living and breathing because of the humanity of a dog. Perhaps we should all take out our notebooks and take lessons.
For more information on Mkombozi, please click on this link:


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© 2008 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Hamilton set for first Derby in Majors
Rangers slugger was runner-up in Minors contest in 2000
By T.R. Sullivan / MLB.com
ARLINGTON -- Josh Hamilton has done this once before as a professional. The South Atlantic League had a Home Run Derby as part of its 2000 All-Star Game, and Hamilton entered. "I lost by one," Hamilton said. "I hit two and the other guy hit three. The wind was blowing straight in. Actually, it was blowing straight in from right field. I was hitting left-handed and he was hitting right-handed."
Hamilton remembers one other thing from that night seven years ago in Charleston, S.C."I remember stepping up to the plate, everybody watching me and my hand shaking like a leaf," Hamilton said. That was in Class A. His next Home Run Derby will be played at a much higher level and on a bigger stage. Hamilton is one of eight entrants for the State Farm Home Run Derby to be held on Monday night at 7 CT at Yankee Stadium. The other entrants include Lance Berkman, Chase Utley, Dan Uggla and Ryan Braun of the National League, and Grady Sizemore, Evan Longoria and Justin Morneau of the American League. The Derby can be seen live on MLB.com by MLB.TV and All-Star package subscribers, and on ESPN.
"Lance Berkman should be the favorite because of his experience," Hamilton said.Hamilton is not without experience. This will be his fourth Home Run Derby. His first two were in Little League. "I won," Hamilton said. "Well, I won one of them. I can't remember if I won the other." Win or lose, he should remember this one played out in Yankee Stadium, site of many historic home runs, from Babe Ruth's 60th in 1927, to Roger Maris' 61st in 1961, to the three that Reggie Jackson hit out in the sixth and deciding game of the 1977 World Series. Now comes the Home Run Derby that will put Hamilton squarely in the spotlight. He was at Yankee Stadium earlier this month and didn't hit a home run in a three-game series against the Yankees. But he did hit one spectacular blast in batting practice that reached the covered grandstand in straightaway center field. The ball rolled all the way up to the top of the section and bounced off the famous back wall of the 85-year-old ballpark. "You really don't know how you're going to feel until your name is announced," Hamilton said. "It's going to be exciting and nerve-racking until you get that first one -- if you get that first one. But it always looked like fun watching it on television." Hamilton will have his family and friends there watching him and he will bring along a special guest. Clay Council, a 71-year-old volunteer high school coach from Raleigh, N.C., will be at Yankee Stadium to pitch to Hamilton. Council has been throwing batting practice to Raleigh-area kids for more than 30 years and Hamilton is among them. Hamilton promised Council many years ago that if he was ever invited to the Home Run Derby, he would ask Council to pitch to him. Council may be 71, but Hamilton was sure to make good on his promise. "I hit with him in the offseason and he threw me 200 balls a day," Hamilton said. "He's good to go."
T.R. Sullivan is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


text: I just wondered if anyone else out there has had any experience shipping a motorcycle across country. I recently bought an old airhead with sidecar off ebay and am trying to get it shipped. At this point I am not sure I picked the right shipper. Any info, insight or related stories are welcome. Thanks!


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Posada loses track of outs against Halos
Catcher started walking off field prematurely in sixth inning
By Anthony DiComo / MLB.com
Right, Jorge Posada?
It seems as if Posada forgot that last part in the sixth inning of a 10-1 thrashing of the Angels in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series on Tuesday. After Angels outfielder Torii Hunter walked to lead off the inning and Vladimir Guerrero singled him to second, Juan Rivera all but killed the rally by hitting into a 6-3 double play.
Posada, believing there were three outs in the inning, began jogging toward the visiting dugout. As Derek Jeter and CC Sabathia waved for Posada to return, Hunter took two quick steps toward home plate -- progress he was forced to halt when Alex Rodriguez dashed home to cover the plate and keep Hunter safely at bay.
At the time, the Yankees found little amusing about the play, considering they were leading the Angels by merely four runs. But afterward, Posada smirked when asked about the play.
"That happens," Posada said.
Rather than console Posada, Sabathia simply retired the next hitter to prevent the Angels from scoring. And Posada provided plenty of his own consolation, walking twice, doubling and scoring to aid a 13-hit Yankees attack.
Perhaps, also, Posada could find some sympathy across the clubhouse. Back on Sept. 13, thinking there were three outs, left fielder Johnny Damon tossed a ball into the stands at Yankee Stadium. Sabathia, who was also on the mound that day and who had recorded merely two outs in the inning, was charged with an earned run when Orioles infielder Justin Turner jogged home to score.
"It's one of those embarrassing things you hope never happens again," Damon said that afternoon, hardly envisioning a similar blunder would occur five weeks later on one of baseball's biggest stages. "It's happened a few too many times to me."
Blunders of this type aren't exactly new to Posada, either. In a game on Sept. 1, Posada twice lost track of at-bats at Camden Yards, standing at home plate after being issued ball four and later walking back to the dugout after looking at strike two.
The Yankees could laugh much more heartily at those mental errors, however, knowing that they could not affect the game.
"Derek is always the funny one," Posada said that day. "He said, 'The worst [thing] would have been if you hit a home run and walked down to third base instead of first base.' It's just one of those things." Then, Posada added a bit of foreshadowing.
"I don't think it'll be the last one that ever happens to me," he said.
Anthony DiComo is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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Drake, a veteran of 36 years with NS, joined the company as an assistant track supervisor and served in a variety of engineering positions.
"Tim Drake and his team, quite simply, have set the standard for safe, reliable rail infrastructure in this country," said CEO Wick Moorman. "Terry and Mike bring a range of valuable experience to their positions and will help lead the way as our shippers and receivers come to rely even more on the railroad industry as the backbone of the economy."
Wheeler and Evans report to Mark D. Manion, executive vice president operations. Their appointments are effective Nov. 1.


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Why Fido may not see his toys
Q: When people go out to buy their dog a toy, what mistake do they commonly make?
A: They purchase popular toy colors like red or safety orange (the bright orange red of traffic cones or safety vests) that are difficult for dogs to see, says psychologist Stanley Coren in "Do Dogs Dream? Nearly Everything Your Dog Wants You to Know."
Tests show dogs have trouble seeing red, which can appear to them as dark brownish gray or even black.
Not that dogs are color-blind, as many people believe, but they are "color-challenged."
We humans have three different kinds of light-catching cones affording us our full range of color vision; dogs have only two.
University of California, Santa Barbara, researcher Jay Neitz tested dogs by showing them a set of three light panels -- two of the same color, the third different. Only if the canines picked out the lone color did they get a treat. Thus Neitz confirmed that dogs do see colors but many fewer than normal humans do.
Instead of seeing a rainbow of colors, "dogs see the world as basically yellow, blue and gray."
So, Coren says, that bright red toy so visible to you may not be what your dog sees.
"If your own pet version of Lassie runs right past the toy you tossed, she may not be stubborn or stupid. It may be your fault for choosing a toy with a color that is hard to discriminate from the green grass of your lawn."
Q: "Not only has the horse been outgunned by the car, but it faces the further indignity of not being able to keep up with itself," says one "Discover" magazine writer. What might he be driving at here?
A: First, let's talk horsepower. In 1760 outside London, King George III housed about 30 horses, or only about one-fifth the horsepower of the typical 150- horsepower-engine in today's compact car, says "Discover" magazine's Corey S. Powell in "20 Things You Didn't Know About Cars."
"By the formal definition of horsepower, which is the power needed to lift 33,000 pounds by 1 foot in 1 minute, a real horse musters only 0.7 horsepower."
Wow! It really can't keep up with itself.
And some other surprising car facts: In a mishap that didn't live up to the victim's name, H. H. Bliss of New York City became the first documented U.S. auto fatality, on Sept. 13, 1899, after exiting a trolley car.
Fortunately, the average fatality rate per mile of driving has dropped by 80 percent over the past 50 years, largely due to seat belt use.
Q: From a Parma, Ohio reader: "Why is Greenland considered an island while Australia is a continent?"
A: Greenland's surface area is roughly 836,000 square miles, while Australia at 2,941,000 square miles is 3.5 times larger, answers Dr. Matthew Edney, director of the History of Cartography Project. Moreover, Greenland is part of the North American tectonic plate, whereas Australia has its own plate, plus distinctive flora and fauna.
The real question, poses Edney, is why so many people think Greenland is of sufficient size that it should be considered a continent. The answer is that most world maps since the late 19th century have been made on the Mercator projection, but when used to map large areas on a single sheet, "it distorts areas exponentially."
On the basic form used for the world map, the equator is the central axis of projection, where the scale is correct; moving away from the equator, distortion increases so rapidly that the poles cannot be shown.
Therefore, Australia, near the equator, is shown relatively close to its proper scale, but Greenland, near the North Pole, appears greatly enlarged.
If you'd like to leave a comment (or a tip or a question) about this story with the editors, please email us. We also welcome letters to the editor for publication; you can do that by filling out our letters form and submitting it to the newsroom.


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GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — For President Barack Obama, the bus is back.
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — For President Barack Obama, the bus is back.
That's the sleek, million-dollar, Secret Service-approved bus that's been carrying Obama along North Carolina's winding mountain roads, giving the president a chance to take in the fall foliage and bask in some small-town Southern hospitality.
"Saw the mountains, saw some lakes, saw all the wonderful people in this part of the country," Obama said Monday during a speech in rural Millers Creek.
"Even the folks who don't vote for me are nice," he added.
At the heart of Obama's three-day bus trip through North Carolina and Virginia is a sales pitch for elements in the jobs bill he wants Congress to pass.
But the president is also selling himself, an incumbent candidate running for re-election, trying to re-energize voters whose enthusiasm may have waned. That's particularly important in North Carolina, a state Obama wrested from Republicans in 2008, but which could slip out of his grasp next November.
To try to recapture some of his electoral appeal, Obama turned to campaign staples: barbecue, babies and barrels of candy.
Obama spent more than four hours Monday driving through the Blue Ridge Mountains, which were bright with red and orange fall leaves. The president stopped off in Marion, population 8,075, for lunch at Countryside Barbeque. The president ordered at the counter — he got the barbecue platter and sweet tea — then spent more than half an hour shaking hands and having his picture taken with the lunchtime crowd.
The tech-savvy president even helped one woman figure out how to take a photo on her smartphone.
Obama had a close encounter with one baby boy: "I think you got some biscuit on me," the president said as he handed the child back to his mother.
And he made personal appeals for his economic policies, telling one table of local businessmen about his call for $50 billion more in new infrastructure spending. He said, "We're going to have to do it eventually, so why not do it now?"
Obama's unscheduled stops aren't wholly impromptu. White House staffers typically scope out areas in advance and Secret Service officers arrive well ahead of the president.
But they're about as spontaneous as it gets for the president, and afford him the freedom of personal, retail politics that's often missing in the highly scripted White House.
Obama's bus, as well as the staff and press vans that followed behind, passed crowds of people lined up on the sidewalks of small towns and residents sitting on lawn chairs in their front yards. A group of schoolchildren gathered outside their classrooms, waving small American flags. A man pulled his car over to the side of the road and saluted as the commander-in-chief sped by.
One woman held a sign reading "We believe. We voted. Now What?" That message underscored the challenge Obama faces as he seeks to rally his supporters ahead of next November's election.
Key to Obama's 2008 success in North Carolina was his campaign's ability to boost voter turnout among young people. And there were plenty of them in Boone, home to Appalachian State University, when Obama stopped Monday for a shopping trip at Mast General Store.
The store was filled with barrels of candy, which Obama started grabbing by the handful — to help the White House prepare for Halloween, he said.
"On Halloween, the first lady doesn't mind," Obama said of his health-conscious wife.
Day two of Obama's bus trip was to start at a community college near Greensboro and end in Hampton, Va. Hours of drive time was scheduled in between, giving Obama plenty more chances for unscheduled stops.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)


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Excellence builds through sustained funding. One of the best ways to achieve this is by endowing programs, chairs and scholarships to ensure that they have solid financial funding for years to come. Our endowments begin at $30,000, with naming opportunities, funded fully at its initiation or made as a pledge, payable over up to five years. Donors may contribute any amount to an existing endowed program or pool resources with other like-mined individuals or companies to create a new endowment.
An endowed gift keeps the principle intact while a portion of earned interest is applied annually to the program being funded and the balance is reinvested for continued growth. Planned gifts may also be used to create endowed funds.
Planned Giving
As you reflect on the successes of your lifetime – and factor in your education – you may be inclined to provide an opportunity that could benefit law students or advance an entire program at MSU College of Law. Such a gift can be achieved by designating MSU College of Law as a beneficiary in your will, estate plan, retirement account or other financial plans. In addition to benefiting the college and its students, such a gift can reduce income taxes, avoid capital gains and estate taxes, increase spendable income, and/or reduce the cost of estate settlement.
One example is a charitable gift annuity, in which the donor transfers stocks, cash, bonds, real estate, or IRAs to MSU College of Law. A predetermined and fixed amount is then paid annually to the donor until the time of his or her death when the gift and all future proceeds benefit MSU College of Law. Donors also receive a charitable tax deduction.
To facilitate a planned gift, please contact Office of Advancement 517/432-6840 or firstname.lastname@example.com. We can discuss with you and your advisors how a planned gift to MSU College of Law can also meet your financial goals. For sample text to be used in your planned gift, you are invited to share this information with your attorney or advisor. Also see: Law Planned Giving Society for donor recognition.


text: Hey Rhino, I am not making the side mounts for the Gas Packs and I took the one on my bike off. The DRZ's aluminum subframe twists and flexes way too much. Twelve lbs. hanging on one side is not a good idea in my opinion. The wider the rack is, the more leverage the Gas Pack's weight exerts on the rack and subframe. The DR might handle this a little better with it's steel subframe, but I still don't like the idea. What width are you thinking for a DR rack? The exhaust shield is certainly doable, as is a center mount plate for the RotopaX Pack Mount. I have been busy with other fabricating work and haven't had a chance to develop the DR rack yet. I need someone to bring me their unmodified stock original DR for me to design it. Of course whoever brings it will get a free rack.


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WASHINGTON (AP) — Some U.S. Republicans now say they're willing to discuss the politically treacherous issue of gun control, along with mental health issues and violent video games, while formerly pro-gun Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, says it's time to place gun control on the table in the wake of last week's Connecticut school shooting.
House Republicans discussed the gun issue at their regular closed-door meeting Tuesday, and at least some were willing to consider gun control as part of a solution to the kind of violence that killed 26 people, including 20 children 6 and 7 years old.
The shooting has rattled the usual national dialogue on guns in America, where public opinion had shifted against tougher gun control in recent years and the gun lobby is a powerful political force.
President Barack Obama has called for "meaningful action" and met with Cabinet members Monday on how to respond. He has long supported reinstating the assault weapons ban, which expired in 2004, but was quiet on the issue during his first term. Obama has said he believes the Constitution's Second Amendment guarantees an individual the right to bear arms.
The president was not expected to take any formal action on guns before the end of the year, given the all-consuming efforts to resolve tax and deficit-reduction talks and nominate new Cabinet secretaries.
Since the shootings, the powerful National Rifle Association lobby has been silent.
"Put guns on the table, also put video games on the table, put mental health on the table," Rep. Jack Kingston said after Tuesday's Republican meeting. But he added that nothing should be done immediately. "There is a time for mourning and a time to sort it out."
Reid said "a thoughtful debate about how to change laws" is coming soon. Republican Sen. Charles Grassley said Monday that the debate must include guns and mental health. And NRA member Sen. Joe Manchin, another Democrat, agreed it's time to begin an honest discussion about gun control and said he wasn't afraid of the political consequences.
It's too early to say what could emerge next year in Congress, but the comments are significant. Grassley is senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which probably would take the first action on any gun control legislation. Reid sets the Senate schedule. And Manchin defied the NRA while the politically powerful pro-gun group has remained silent since Friday's massacre.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Conference of Mayors wrote Obama and Congress calling for "stronger gun laws, a reversal of the culture of violence in this country, a commission to examine violence in the nation, and more adequate funding for the mental health system."
Specifically, the mayors asked for:
—A ban on assault weapons and other high-capacity magazines, like those reportedly used in the school shooting.
—Strengthening the national background check system for gun purchasers.
—Strengthening the penalties for straw purchases of guns, in which legal buyers acquire weapons for other people.
Reid told the Senate, "In the coming days and weeks, we will engage in a meaningful conversation and thoughtful debate about how to change laws and culture that allow violence to grow."
His comments mark a shift in his approach to the issue.
After a mass shooting in July at a Colorado theater left 12 people dead, Reid said the Senate's schedule was too busy to have a debate on gun control.
And after 32 people were killed in 2007 at Virginia Tech, Reid cautioned against a "rush to judgment" about new gun laws.
In 2010, top NRA official Wayne LaPierre called Reid "a true champion" of gun rights.
Other Republicans said mental health, not guns, was the problem.
"There are just evil people in the world. There's nothing you're going to do to prevent evil from occurring," Rep. Virginia Foxx said.
A Washington Post/ABC News poll conducted over the weekend showed 54 percent in the U.S. favor tougher laws, about the same as the 51 percent in favor earlier in the year. Seven in 10 are opposed to banning the sale of handguns to anyone except law enforcement officers, the highest percentage since 1999.
Associated Press writer Larry Margasak contributed.