Get a Truck with a V8 and Cut Off The Catalytic Converters!

From just the front page at Watts Up With That right now, we find the following science news stories which help explain why people can’t seem to be convinced we are causing global warming anymore:

Europe is cleaning up its air . . . leading to global warming! There is some consternation that the climate models don’t predict this.  The climate models which not only get the present wrong, they get it wrong in amusingly-wrong ways.  You see, the models don’t model everything, including this newly-discovered, bigger-than-mankind source of CO2: the dirt.  Not to worry, however, as the USAmerican government is still hot on the case, scaring you into believing the earth is drastically, suddenly! warming . . . until you consider their own data, in which case not so fast.  But the real reason for the tongue-in-cheek title of this post is that the recent study you didn’t hear reported the other day is confirmed by EPA documents: man-made sources are causing all of 3% of the recent increases in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.  The rest is from the planet herself.

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So, what to do?  If you are a socialist-at-heart “environmentalist” the answer is obvious: try to prevent people seeking their own individual success by taxing it ever more heavily, under the guise of preventing their contribution to that 3.75% of CO2 heating us up with the anthropogenic climate change/global warming.  Just wave your hand at the rest of that stuff the Deniers try to pass off as science and go full-green-speed ahead!

Most. Transparent. Ever.

“This is the most transparent administration ever” -President B.H. Obama

“You are suspicious and will be prohibited from domestic and international travel, based only on suspicion of an anonymous government agent. You will not be told if, or why, you are on our lists. You can appeal it but we won’t tell you if you prevail. And we’ll be scanning everything in your pocket, including your library card and the business card you got from a paint salesman – and god help you if he’s on the list.” – the Obama administration

Adventures in Used Car Ownership

My wife’s Suburban was low on coolant.  Low as in, below the cold full line on the overflow tank when the coolant was hot.  And it drips a out the tailpipe even after the truck is warmed up.

I noticed this today right before a day trip out of town.  I filled the reservoir to the hot full line and tossed the bottle of coolant and a bottle of Bar’s stop leak in the truck and off we went.  After it cooled down at our destination, it was down past the cold full line again. 😦 After inspecting the engine bay and even pulling the shroud between the condenser and radiator and finding no obvious leaks, I topped it off again and we went back home.

The choices were:

1. Cracked cylinder (new engine time)
2. Cracked cylinder head
3. Broken head gasket
4. Leaking radiator*
5. Leaking water pump
6. Leaking heater core
7. Leaking hose
8. Any or All the above
9. Neglect and it was just low

She took off to a friend’s house and another hour of driving.  The friend’s husband had a look and said the thing was still full, and she got back too late to fool with it any more tonight.  Prayers and fingers crossed, but it appears to be #9 for the time being.  We’ll see!

YES! Finally!

My private war with the pigeons near my home is a long-running affair with many casualties on their side and many more poops on my car.  A few days ago, I scored a minor victory.

A particularly fat sh*t-bird was standing in the middle of the road.  It saw me coming and stupidly stood, watching.  You want to play Chicken with me, bird?  Let’s play!  After double-checking that there was no other traffic on the road with me in either direction, I pointed the Hot Rod straight at the stupid bird and accelerated.  The bird finally got a clue it was being overrun by a great white horror, and launched but too late and too slowly.  I could tell it was trying really hard, and it hurt my feelings a little by just *barely* coming up over my driver’s side front corner.  I thought I had missed again.*  As it turns out, it was too far over MTOW** to achieve sufficient RoC** and I got some rather important-looking souvenirs for my efforts:

I sincerely hope the flying rat was grounded long enough for one of the local cats to do some wet work for me.
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*Yes, again.  I do this.  You would too, if you had cleaned as much pigeon poo off your car as I have.
**Maximum Take Off Weight, Rate of Climb

So I Nearly Killed A Man . . .

I was in the front office at work and Front Office Girl #1 called out across the hall to Front Office Dude, “FOD, did you steal all my blue pens?”

I informed FOG1 that FOD wasn’t in his office, and he promptly appeared in the hall at the far end.  I informed him he was being accused of something.

He asked what, and FOG1 repeated her question.  He denied it and they had a brief conversation on the topic.  During this time, I was using the Heavy Duty Swingline Stapler to repair a manual needed by those of us who do Real Work, and I finished up and drifted into FOD’s office.

So what’s up? he says.  I informed him their heavy duty stapler was working, because (I said) I know you were very concerned about it.  He mentioned that FOG2 also sometimes accused him of stealing her pens.

I called out to FOG1 across the hall, “What, just because we’re men, we’re stealers?  Just because we steal your hearts doesn’t mean we steal your pens!”

FOD was drinking his coffee and it went down wrong instead of going all over his desk, keyboard, and monitors.  He recovered alright but it was touch and go there for a few seconds.

Women accusing men of stealing things other than hearts: DEADLY DANGEROUS!!!

In support of Michelle Obama

I am willing to go out on a limb for the First Lady here.  I will state unequivocally that I believe she is a female (woman) and not a male (man).

Yes, seriously.

Unbeknownst to the more sane portions of the global population, apparently there is a whole kook fringe that believes she is an he, and there is the corollary subculture that her husband (the President) is t3h GAYz.  I will further stick my neck out and say that I believe the President is a male and heterosexual (or at least bi*).  Going further, I am willing to take their word that their two alleged daughters are, in fact, their flesh and blood.

This is quite a step too far for some people.  Check this out, then look at the related videos in the sidebar. Stand by for some pretty lousy logic.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvuulZPbfBg

What the [deleted] is THIS?

This was on the tire of Monster Truck this morning. Raise your hand if you recognize it!

Power Your Bankruptcy

Once upon a time, there was a promising upstart company.  They invented a gee-whiz computer thing and it was looking competitive in some applications to take on the industry giants, and it was good.  They got a deal worked out with a huge IT company you would know if I named them, and they bet the farm on the deal going through.  It looked good.  The plankowners could be rich, the investors could be rich(er), and the technology would take the computer world by storm, and it was good.

Then the huge IT company didn’t follow through on the deal, and it was bad.  The company folded more-or-less instantly.  My company went in and bought all their nearly-new crap to resell.

You know what though?  I have little sympathy.  They had let their eyes get off the ball.  They had their name silkscreened on all their gee-whiz computer products, which is not so bad, really.  They also had at least six different types of shirts, including some very nice Nike golf shirts, t-shirts, dress shirts, and double-sided perforated athletic shirts that could be reversed to have two company teams with different colors but the same shirt.  They had koozies with printing on both sides AND the bottom.  They had glass glasses printed-on.  They had a little 4″ high toy foam rocket with two color printing on it, and printed on three sides.*  They had all sorts of expensive little swag things, and two different kinds of swag bags with their name on it to hold the swag.  They also had this:

This mug had the company name on it in black, and in blue (two colors means the price goes up, by the way) it had their slogan: Power Your Tomorrow.  The other  side also had two color printing on it – which increases cost again.  This went through our dishwasher one time.

This reminds me of the pencils I snagged from our bank that closed in the financial meltdown, printed with the words “Learning for Life” or some such, to emphasize how they could teach you financial responsibility.  It reminds me of the $2 Million lobby that was in another company that closed that we gutted when we bought their stuff as well.

If you have the Next Big Thing in development at your company, and you are operating on borrowed millions of dollars, here’s a protip:  Don’t go nuts printing your company name, logo, slogan, motto, etc. on tchotchkes.  Don’t get a two million dollar lobby built.  Just build your stuff until you pay off all the capital investors, build your company and get rich, and THEN you can feel free to make coffee mugs printed in two colors on two sides and little toy foam rockets.

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*No, seriously.

The Symbol for Sodium is Na

. . . and a person of a certain age knows the song it sings.

Click here.  Depending on how book-smart you are and how dry is your sense of humor, this is from zero to several quite good jokes.  From a denier.

Tin Foil Hats Optional

Presented for your consideration: alleged evidence that the leftist agenda is set by the super-rich and played off as for-the-downtrodden-masses.  It’s no good summarizing just click here.

It is worth noting that this is a shining example of the political left doing what they accuse the right of doing.  As the saying goes, “A thief in every face a thief sees”, they accuse the conservatives of doing what they, the left, do as a matter of course.  Conspiracy to set the agenda and make it look like grass roots?  Check.  Huge rich donors supporting leaders of the radical cause?  Check.  Richass rich people not giving their zillions to the poor while claiming to want to help the poor?  Check.  Et cet era.  Hat tip: Instapundit, again.

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Here’s a hint for consumption of whatpasses as news these days: if it sounds like it’s wrong, it might be because a shadowy organization of leftists want the press to present it as truth.  Nobody you know believes it but it is presented as the majority opinion because They want it to be presented that way.  You are not the wacko.  They are.