NC Media Watch

Let me respectfully disagree - it is our problem.

Russ Steele

Mike McDaniel has taken the lead in discussing unfunded public employees unfunded liabilities and has an excellent post at CABPRO Report on the Solution to Public Employee Pension Plan Crisis. He points to Sacramento for solutions, re-enforcing the position that it is Sacramento's problem, and the solutions will have to come from State and Federal officials.

Since Mike is the expert I will have to agree. However is this really just Sacramento's problem? I think it is our problem. As taxpayers we are on the hook for those unfunded liabilities according to an article in the Wall Street Journal: More Pain for State's Taxpayers, Cities

Other local officials said Calpers's losses would ultimately have to be covered by the taxpayer. "I think the taxpayers are going to be footing the bill for years because of less-than-stellar decisions on investments," said Brett Barbre, a director with the Municipal Water District of Orange County, whose employees' pensions are with Calpers. "This is going to affect every city, county and special district that is in Calpers. They will have to cover all of the losses, as well as the ancillary issues that are being uncovered."

It is our problem because we let our local elected official raise benefits with out understanding the long term consequences when CalPERS was was flush with cash and charging low rates.  I am not sure that most citizen were even aware to the actions and would not have understood the complexity of the CalPERs system it they had take then the time to investigate. I took several sessions with George Foster, who was on the Nevada City Finance Committee, before I understood the long term consequences of just bumping up the benefits a half a precent and the process of spiking retirement benefits. 

It is our problem because we are going to be responsible for changing the politics in Sacramento. The current political class in Sacramento is under the control of the government employee unions, and are not going to make changes that impact their re-election revenue sources. Until the citizens of California retake control of our government, nothing is going to change, we will continue to be responsible for the uncovered losses. 

This is an economic crisis that is going to payout on our watch, and it time to start paying attention. Mike has some excellent input on the SESF Blog here, here and here. George Rebane will be discussing the issue in his Union column next Saturday. 

Exit question: What were those "less-than-stellar decisions on investments?" Could a lot of it be  those Green Investments that that CalPERs made in 2008? As I recall the green energy indexes crashed much faster that the other stock market indexes during our current economic crisis, and the green indexes are still struggling to recover. (www.nexindex.com)

Measure twice and cut once is good advice

Russ Steele

Measure twice and cut one is often the advice given to those new to do-it-yourself crafts.  This is perhaps good advice for those build knowledge when using search engines. Google is the most popular search engine and is used world wide by millions as their primary Internet search tool.

For years Google has been my primary starting point on the web. But, now I am beginning to wonder if this was just measuring once.  It maybe time to be measuring twice, checking Google's performance with another search engine, such as Microsoft's Bing. 

Over the years I have tried to avoid Microsoft products, but have been testing Bing. What caused me to change my mind? One has been Google's lurch leftward and articles like this one at NewBusters by Noel Sheppard: Al Gore Advised Google About 'Search Quality'

We really do not know what was done to modify Google's search algorithms. They might be manipulated to favor liberal news outlets over conservative points of view, or make sure that global warming hysteria were on the top page, sending opposing views to bottom of the search page.

. . . Gore raised some concerns about "search quality," and then sat in Google's office for three hours watching ten "search-quality researchers and specialists in charge of this part of the business" work on solving problems he shared with the company's owners.

NewBusters writes:

How does this all relate to Gore giving Google search quality tips a few years ago? Who knows, but as NewsBusters has been reporting almost since its inception, Google has regularly demonstrated a liberal leaning as well as anti-conservative proclivities:
    •    Is Google Becoming Big Brother?
    •    YouTube, Google, and the Liberal Bias Virus
    •    Is Google Purging Conservative News Sites?
    •    Is Google's Earth Day Logo Advancing Global Warming Alarmism?
    •    Google CEO: Internet Key to 2008 Presidential Campaign
With this in mind, NewsBusters would be very interested in exactly what concerns Gore shared with Google a few years ago, and what the company's experts did in response.

It seem to me it would be wise to use more than one search engine when doing any research on politically sensitive issues like climate change, Obamacare, or gun rights.  I now have a second browser with Bing as the opening home page. This makes cross checking much easier. 

First it was the Hockey Stick, now the Son of Hockey Stick is dead

Russ Steele

I have been trying to figure out how to summarize the most recent work of Steve McIntrye at Climate Audit, showing how scientists have cherry picking data to produce  climate change hockey stick graphics, then hid this data to cover up their deceit.  Then these fake graphics are used in UN IPCC reports to justify CO2 reduction. These IPCC Reports are then used by Congress and California Legislature to justify cap-and-trade tax schemes, or worse yet take control of your property as reported at Rebane's Ruminations this morning.  While cogitating on the issue Jo Nova has done the heavy lifting in: Cherry Picking of Historic Proportions.

Anthony Watts has more at Watts Up With That here and here.

I have posted a touch of reality at Dalton Minimum Returns. Historical data indicates we are in for some long term cooling. In the past long solar cycles, like we are experiencing now, have produced cooler temperatures.

Humans reacting to global warming and defining moments

Russ Steele

I was surprised last week when the Rasmussen Report revealed that only 34% of likely voters in the United States blame humans for causing global warming. On the very week the EPA declares CO2 a "dangerous pollutant", there was a land mark shift in attitudes.  This was a huge turn around from April of 2008 when 47% of likely voters thought global warming was caused by humans. As a social scientist I was curious, what caused this rapid turn around? 

Last Sunday the New York Times Magazine published an article in it's Green Issue by Jon Gertner: Why Isn’t the Brain Green? This article examined the work of Columbia University's Center for Research on Environmental Decisions (CRED). With a $6 million grant from the National Science Foundation, CRED is studying how perceptions of risk and uncertainty shape our responses to climate change, and other weather phenomena. However, this study starts with the assumptions that humans are responsible for global warming and that the only solution to the warming is to change human behavior. CRED's quest is how?

Gertner writes:

CRED’s researchers consider global warming a singular opportunity to study how we react to long-term trade-offs, in the form of sacrifices we might make now in exchange for uncertain climate benefits far off in the future. And the research also has the potential to improve environmental messages, policies and technologies so that they are more in tune with the quirky workings of our minds.

The article sheds light on something that is evident in may of the global warming posts in the comment section of this blog, and on other local blogs subscribing to anthropogenic global warming. These poster's tell us how they "feel" about climate change, and climate change solutions dominate their views, more solar, more wind, more magic. They reject analytical reviews of the real world data, preferring instead to express how they "feel" about global warming. In other words, their emotional reactions to the issue trumps their analytical reasoning.

Are reporters a dying breed? (Updated)

Russ Steele

Steve Boriss is the Associate Director of the Center for the Application of Information Technology (CAIT) at Washington University in St. Louis, teaches a class called “The Future of News,” and he thinks that reporters are a dying breed, and that’s a good thing.

Boriss writes:

One of journalists’ recurring put-downs of bloggers is that they are simply recycling someone else’s news — that there will always be a need for reporters to produce it. Yet, America had a reporterless past and will likely have a reporterless future. And, news will be better for it.

Here is the money paragraphs in his article at Pajama Media.

Now, the Internet is eliminating the reporter as middleman by connecting audiences directly with the real sources of news — politicians’ offices, PR firms, whistleblowers, think tanks, courts, police departments, and everyone else with a news ax to grind. These entities have always been capable of writing their own stories in a usable form, but have previously needed reporters to get their stories distributed. Nor will we miss investigative reporters, who had always been dangerously untrained in the skills needed to do their job properly (e.g. forensics, law) and often unfairly destroyed the reputations of innocents. Society has many alternative, more responsible ways to right wrongs, and the blogosphere can easily fill this void.

We will continue to have news middlemen, but those that survive must create real value for their audiences. Editors can create value by aggregating, analyzing, adding opinions, and gathering like-minded audiences for advertisers. Bloggers do the same. But, reporters are repeaters. They, not bloggers, are unnecessary recyclers of news.

Are reporters a dying breed?  Are they just another middle man that needs to be eliminated to improve efficiency and accuracy?   What do you think?

Digging through the news for an expert opinion

Russ Steele

Here is a tip for readers using Google for their news sources and research data base. Some times a search can bring up more sources that one can wade through, especially when you are looking for an expert opinion. Google recently announced that you can view all the comments that Google News is offering from expert sources. For example type in source:google_news “global warming” you only get expert opinion. All two of them.  This tip is from ReseachBuzz.

A thoughtful essay on role of experts

Russ Steele

Evan Jones has a thoughtful essay on the role of experts in society at Watts Up with That this morning. Well worth your time to read and ponder. 

An interesting thought experiment that demonstrates a real problem

Russ Steele

You just never know what you can find surfing the Internet. This from the Lifeboat Foundation's blog:

How would you allocate a hypothetical $100 million budget for a Lifeboat Foundation study of the top 10 existential risks… risks that are both global and terminal?
$?? Biological viruses…
$?? Environmental global warming…
$?? Extraterrestrial invasion…
$?? Governments abusive power…
$?? Nanotechnology gray goo…
$?? Nuclear holocaust…
$?? Simulation Shut Down if we live in one…
$?? Space Threats asteroids…
$?? Superintelligent AI un-friendly…
$?? Other
$100 million total

You have read all the other responses here to appreciate this one comment.

This thread conclusively demonstrates the pervasiveness of what must be the biggest threat to humanity… lack of critical thinking skills. Some of the “logic” on display here:

- we would not be invaded by extraterrestrials because we are probably descended from them via spores.
- we should focus on threats we would have little time to respond to, like asteroids… followed by global warming.

How about we do something about the increasing rate of creation of morons, by a media and academia intent on scaring us into accepting world socialism?  [emphasis added]

I have to agree, one of the greatest dangers we face is the lack of critical thinking skills and the dumbing down of our youth.  My friend George Rebane often discusses this problem at Rebane's Ruminations.

Value of heretical thinking

Russ Steele

I have been called a heretic for challenging the global warming modelers by suggesting the sun has more influence on our climate than increasing levels of CO2. Here are some thoughts on the value of some heretical thinking by Freeman Dyson at the Edge, The Third Culture 

HERETICAL THOUGHTS ABOUT SCIENCE AND SOCIETY
By Freeman Dyson

My first heresy says that all the fuss about global warming is grossly exaggerated. Here I am opposing the holy brotherhood of climate model experts and the crowd of deluded citizens who believe the numbers predicted by the computer models. Of course, they say, I have no degree in meteorology and I am therefore not qualified to speak. But I have studied the climate models and I know what they can do. The models solve the equations of fluid dynamics, and they do a very good job of describing the fluid motions of the atmosphere and the oceans. They do a very poor job of describing the clouds, the dust, the chemistry and the biology of fields and farms and forests. They do not begin to describe the real world that we live in. The real world is muddy and messy and full of things that we do not yet understand. It is much easier for a scientist to sit in an air-conditioned building and run computer models, than to put on winter clothes and measure what is really happening outside in the swamps and the clouds. That is why the climate model experts end up believing their own models.

Be sure and read the third heresy if you are under 30, the second if you are a CO2 warmer.

Something worth thinking about

“The future is here. It's just not widely distributed yet.” William Gibson

George Rebane has posted Numeracy Nugget #8, The Singularity and Its Early Effects, on the Sierra Environmental Studies Foundation web page at http://sesfoundation.org.  If you do not read it now, some day you will be complaining “no one ever told me it was coming.”