Derek V
Derek V's JournalSlate: The people who deny climate change are most likely to suffer from it
Yuma, Colorado, a farming town of 3,500 people near the Kansas border, celebrated last month as homegrown Republican Cory Gardner was elected to the U.S. Senate. Gardner, a high school football player and the son of a farm equipment dealer, defeated incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Udall to help the GOP gain control of the Senate in the second-most expensive congressional race of all time.
Gardner represented Colorado’s 4th Congressional District for four years, an expansive territory that covers the mostly flat and rural eastern third of the state. Farmers there mostly grow corn to feed cattle, and water comes from the quickly depleting Ogallala Aquifer.
Gardner ran for Senate as “a new kind of Republican.” That means he was bold enough to stand in front of a wind turbine and voice support for both renewable energy and natural gas. But Gardner, who leans toward the Tea Party, has also questioned whether people are causing climate change. His climate-skeptic position is ironic—and dangerous for his very constituents.
Climate models project that Gardner’s current House district—along with much of the food-producing Great Plains and Corn Belt—will experience the country’s most drastic temperature and precipitation changes in the coming years. Gardner’s home turf, one of the 10 largest congressional districts in terms of agricultural area, will likely face a temperature increase of more than 8 degrees Fahrenheit and a more than 9 percent drop-off in precipitation by 2100—among the most extreme projections for the country.
That’s according to analysis from a forthcoming peer-reviewed study in the journal Ecosphere by Brady Allred of the University of Montana and colleagues. Allred’s study looked at political representation, agricultural and natural-resources land cover, and projected climate disruptions across the nation’s 435 U.S. House districts. The researchers discovered that the districts with the most agriculture and natural resources are predominantly represented by Republicans who, like Gardner, generally deny the science of global warming. Those districts also likely face the most severe climate changes.
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Shroud of Freud, or something to that effect!
Tonight I watched my last episode of "The Colbert Report"
As I've stated here previously, I think Stephen's move to CBS is a bad one: for him, for the state of satire in this country and, indeed, for the country itself. I am very serious in saying this.
I won't be watching next week's final four episodes, as it would be too emotionally wrenching for me. Sounds kinda funny coming from an ex-Army guy, doesn't it? But, in my not-so-humble opinion, America is going to suffer a wound one week from tonight.
Watters into Whine
Jesse Watters of O'Reilly Factor Hijacks Bill de Blasio NYC Mayor Presser: Gets Booted Out
Backers: Romney more open to 2016 run
Source: Politico
By Ben White and Maggie Haberman
12/11/14 6:25 PM EST
Updated 12/11/14 11:24 PM EST
For most of the past year, Mitt Romney supporters have publicly said he should consider running again. And for most of the past year, Romney has seemed uninterested.
Until recently.
While some people close to Romney insist he hasn’t moved from saying he has no plans to run, the 2012 Republican nominee has sounded at least open to the idea in recent conversations, according to more than a dozen people who’ve spoken with him in the last month.
In his private musings, Romney has sounded less than upbeat about most of the potential candidates in the 2016 Republican field, according to the people who’ve spoken with him, all of whom asked for anonymity in order to speak freely.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/12/mitt-romney-2016-run-113518.html?hp=t4_r
One thing you gotta give Politico: They publish their fantasies openly!
Will the Senate Acquit Obama WHEN the Republicans Impeach Him?
In 2016, most of the Senators running for reelection will be GOPers, but that still leaves more than a dozen Democrats defending their seats as well, and based on the behavior of our incumbents during last month's midterms.....?!?
PS: This is not concern trolling: I really do wonder about this. 
Brazil's torture report brings President Dilma Rousseff to tears
Source: Thr Sydney Morning Herald
December 12, 2014 - 7:09AM
by Adam Taylor
Washington: As the United States deals with the backlash from a Senate report on CIA interrogation methods, half a continent away, another country was dealing with its own troubled history. And for one world leader, it was sadly personal.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff gave a speech on Thursday at a ceremony marking the release of a report by Brazil's National Truth Commission that examined the human rights abuses that occurred during Brazil's 1964-1985 military rule. The 2000-page report, a result of almost three years of investigation, offers a damning portrayal of the military's actions, including killings, torture, sexual violence and forced disappearances. It recommended that those responsible be punished - despite a 1979 amnesty law that has blocked prosecutions.
During Ms Rousseff's speech, she briefly broke down in tears and received a standing ovation from the crowd.
Ms Rousseff has firsthand experience of what the report describes. While she has been Brazil's president since 2011, she had been a Marxist guerrilla opposed to the government when she was a student in the 1960s. In 1970, when she was just 22, she was arrested and held in prison for almost three years. According to documents previously covered by the Brazilian press, she was tortured during this time. She was reportedly punched so hard that it caused her dental problems, electrocuted on her breasts and other places, and forced into the notorious "pau de arara", or parrot's perch.
Awful memories: Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff cries while delivering a speech during the ceremony presenting the final report of the National Truth Commission. Photo: AFP
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/brazils-torture-report-brings-president-dilma-rousseff-to-tears-20141211-125fzz.html
Another blow to American Exceptionalism!
Upon further review, my real question is: Why is everybody acting so shocked?
Come on, we all knew our government has been doing illegal and incredibly fucked-up shit for the last 12 years, under two Administrations. The only difference now is that we have visible proof. Really no different than coming come early and finding your wife or girlfriend getting her joints fucked loose by another guy: you really had known it all along, and now, the i's are all dotted and the t's are all crossed. Nothing more.
And this is last last thing I'll be saying on the subject.
Susan Patton (aka "Princeton Mom"): Drunk Rape Is Just A Learning Experience
The victim-blaming fun starts at the 1:27 mark. 
How did this fucking dingdong ever get near a printing press or TV camera???
Why are we blaming the CIA? Or Bush? Or Obama?
Or anybody other than those ultimately responsible? Do we even need to speculate?
We have Met the Enemy, as Pogo said.
good Night and sweet Mares. 
Rosetta's first results: Comets unlikely to have brought water to Earth
Source: Aljazeera
December 10, 2014 11:58AM ET
by Marisa Taylor
The European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission captivated the world by touching down a lander, Philae, on a comet for the first time on Nov. 13, after a 4 billion-mile, decade-long journey across the asteroid belt.
On Wednesday, researchers released the first results of a chemical analysis from the comet that may offer hints about one of science’s most baffling questions: How the universe gave our planet its most precious resource, water.
Since any water present on Earth in its earliest days would have evaporated due to the planet’s high temperatures, scientists have been debating for decades whether — and how — water might have been brought here from some other source, such as comets or asteroids.
“The question is, who brought this water? Was it comets, or was it something else?” said Kathrin Altwegg of the University of Bern in Switzerland. Altwegg is the principal investigator for the Rosetta Orbiter Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis (ROSINA), a sensor-laden instrument on Rosetta that is meant to determine the comet’s composition.
Read more: http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/12/10/rosetta-comet-water.html
Veddy interestink!
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Name: DerekGender: Male
Member since: Mon Nov 24, 2014, 03:20 AM
Number of posts: 532
