NC Media Watch

Hey Jeff, Mac Users not stuck with IE

Russ Steele

Jeff Pelline writes Megan's Law Web Site data limited for some, November 30, 2006

The Megan's Law Web site was meant to provide everybody with access to registered sex offenders, but certain Apple Computer users get more limited access to the data.

ooo

When you use Internet Explorer or Netscape and go to www.meganslaw.ca.gov, you can search for sex offenders under seven categories: name, address, city, Zip code, county, parks and schools. But with Apple's Safari browser, you only get access to name, address and schools - not the other four categories.

ooo

This editor tried to download Internet Explorer for the Apple Computer at his office. He clicked on the link from Megan's Web site and eventually was directed to a message on Microsoft's Web site that read: "As of January 31st, 2006, Internet Explorer for the Mac is no longer available for download from Microsoft."

The world has spoken, and even MS recognized that no one wants the buggy insecure Internet Explorer. Apple and PC users should use more secure Firefox when sites demand IE.  The first time I used Safari it worked just fine.  But, confirming operations the second time, it failed as Jeff described. Hummmm.    If you are an Apple user you should have the Firefox browser when Safari falls short. Foxfire is free. I use Firefox to post on blogs, as Firefox has a more robust built in editor and a spell checker.  I have also found Opera and Camino browsers for Mac OS-X to be fast and reliable. Camino also worked on the Megan's Law site.  Mac users have more options than those stuck with Microsoft.

I am now a true believer

Russ Steele

We had a movie night with some friends and viewed  An Inconvenient Truth. Al Gore’s global warming flick.  As I promised Anna at NCFocus, I would review the film once it was released on NetFlix. It was released on the 21st,  and friends George and Jo Ann called suggesting we have dinner and a movie date at their house.   I can honestly say I am now a true believer.  I am now firmly convinced that Al’s movie is full of insupportable junk science. In reality it is all about Al!  His junk science is just a sideshow.  What a joke. As my wife said, "Al Gore should be embarrassed."

Hard to fix, what we do not understand

Russ Steele

At local Air Quality workshops we hear a lot of complaints from asthma suffers, but there is little evidence as to what causes asthma according to this article in the New York Times by Dense Grady.

An Epidemic No One Understands, Published: November 28, 2006

When our first son developed asthma as a 3-year-old, my husband and I felt pretty much blindsided. We were only a little less shocked when the same thing happened to our second son, at the same age.

The disease turned out to be tenacious, and for years both boys needed inhalers or a nebulizer machine several times a day to prevent asthma attacks that could keep them up half the night, coughing and wheezing.

More of the article here.

Our number two daughter was born in Merced CA  shortly after we arrived at Castle AFB. With in days of her birth, she could hardly breath. We did every thing we could to help her fight the Valley Crud, that is  what the base hospital doctors call it.  When she was 18 months old, we moved to Texas. She had asthma when we left California, but by the time we got to Texas it was gone.  Go figure.  We moved back to California in 1980.  In 1988 I was diagnosed with adult asthma.  Our number three daughter in Roseville also suffers from adult asthma, and it has returned in our number two who once again is living in the valley.   

It is hard to fix some thing we do not under stand.  Nevada County Breathers pointing the finger at the increased levels of ozone in Nevada County, but it may not be the problem.  Your comments  on the cause of asthma and potential solutions  are welcome.

Jeff, the military/industrial complex has saved your....

Russ Steele

I am not sure what Jeff Kane message is, perhaps promoting collective guilt?  Some moral relativism? I have been on both sides of the military / industrial complex.  All so Jeff Kane can write his letters to the editor without retribution, no bullet to his brain, no rifle butt up the side of his head, or no islamic blade at his adams apple. 

Jeff Kane on War figures,  November 27, 2006

Proportion of British citizens, according to a November press poll, who believe the president of the United States is more dangerous than the president of North Korea: 69 percent.
 

So What? 

Why is it, when crap happens, the world wants the US to come to their rescue, or stop the carnage.   Yes, we are the worlds police. Why, because we value freedom for all and we can. Consider this from Victor Davis Hanson

Western exhaustion, guilt, and appeasement are nothing new. Much of the British aristocracy saw not much wrong with Hitler, even after the invasion of Poland. It was Churchill alone who put an end to their peace feelers to fellow travelers in Germany, still creeping out when his new British government chopped them off after the fall of France.

Union returns to old fashioned investigative journalism

Russ

For years I have been writing letters to The Union Editor, most were not published, requesting reporters dig deeper into local issues.  Now it looks like The Union is taking up the challenge.  I have a modest list of subjects that need to be looked into, which I will share in a future post. Right now I am looking for the elusive global warming the Governor is using to justify new carbon taxes.  I wonder if the Union will take up a search for this elusive anthropogenic warming in the Sierra. I am collecting documents to help you decide, and I am more than willing to share them with The Union.

Jeff Pelline: Documents can help you decide, November 25, 2006

Our newspaper has been posting some documents at www.theunion.com for about a year, typically court documents and meeting agendas. Now we’re going to publish more documents online. It’s always a good idea to let readers judge the facts for themselves.

While waiting for The Union, here are some non-Sierra global warming documents that might help you understand the issues. Let's see if these documents can helped you decide if global warming is a real danger, other than to your pocket book.

Apocalypse canceled, by Viceroy Monckton, Sunday Telegraph, 5 November, 2006

Al Gore’s Letter to the Telegraph, responding to Monckton. Telegraph on  11 November, 2006

Gore Gored, A Science-based response to Al Gore’s Global Warming Commentary in London’s, Sunday Telegraph, 19 November 2006

The last document is a line by line debunking of Al Gore’s letter, and his claim: At stake is nothing less than the survival of human civilization.

Keeping the Breather’s facts straight

Russ Steele

Jeff Kane writes on the Nevada County Breathers:

“. . . we continue degrading our air, water and other necessities despite all professed desire otherwise. Today pollution is so demonstrably tolerable that it’s worth asking what on earth we could be thinking that would allow us to vandalize the only home we have.”

Wish I could understand the rest of what Jeff wrote, may be he can give us a version we can all understand.  My read: Jeff is making excuses for the Breather's not taking any action that demands a commitment. I hope he can straight that out in a future post.

Contrast  Jeff’s comments on our degarding environment with this report in Reason in on the 35th Earth Day, 2005

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that since 1976, when national measuring began, levels of ozone in the air have dropped 31 percent, sulfur dioxides are down 72 percent, nitrogen dioxide was cut by 42 percent, carbon dioxide plunged 76 percent, and particulates (smoke and dust) fell by 31 percent. Air quality in the 10 largest metropolitan areas (four of the five most improved are in California) has improved an average of 53 percent since 1980.

The long-term trend in toxics being released into the environment is also positive, dropping by 55 percent since 1988. Despite ongoing suburbanization, between 1990 and 2000, U.S. forests expanded by more than 10 million acres.

While we still have a ways to go on water quality,  we are continuing to make progress.  Two cycle engines have been removed from our lakes and small sewer plants are being upgraded at great cost to citizens.

One of the greatest problems with water and air  quality is California's rapidly expanding population. We can limit this population growth, yet those demanding something be done about a cleaner environment do little to stem the tide of illegal immigration.  Illegals and their offspring are the largest contributors to California’s expanding population, and subsequent pressure on our environment.   Those demanding action on the environment can not have it both ways! 

Big cold on the way

Russ Steele

It snowed in Florida this week.  Now we are all about to get some snow in the foothills.  There is a big break of arctic air on the way South.  The last time we had this kind of our break was in 1976/1977. 

Click for larger image of 850 mb chart valid for 2 December 2006.

Gingerbread houses

Russ Steele

Anika and Aidan, two of our grand children are here today, and we have been very very busy.  It is a sleep over at grandma and grandpa’s house. 

This gingerbread house was one of the projects supervised by grandma, while grandpa kept order on the construction site. Building gingerbread houses has become a Thanksgiving tradition in the family. Nolan and Laurel, the other set of grand kids are coming on Sunday to build their gingerbread house.  More pictures to follow.

Over the holiday I will be doing limited posting. To all Media Watch readers, I hope you are having a great Thanksgiving!   

Global warming update of the week

Russ Steele

Do not be surprised the Arctic was warmer in the 1930s and 1940s the than it is now.  Here are some measurements, not models that cannot be verified.

“However, of greater importance is the fact that the researchers found the warmest year on record to be 1941, while the 1930s and 1940s are the warmest decades on record. This represents very bad news for climate change alarmists, since the warmest period was NOT the last quarter of the 20th century. In fact, the last two decades of the 20th century (1981-1990 and 1991-2000) were colder across the study area than any of the previous six decades, dating back to the 1900s and 1910s (Table 1). When examining the instrumental records of the stations it is apparent that no net warming has occurred since the warm period of the 1930s and 1940s (Figure 1).”

You can see Figure 1 here.

Prop 83 threat to property values?

Russ Steele

Martin Light has some comments at Light on Nevada County on the Prop 83 which limits were sexual predators can live,  and it’s impact on rural communities. I am wondering about the impact the migration of sex offenders to rural areas will have on property values. If we were to draw 2,000 foot circles around our foothill schools and playgrounds, would the value of property inside the circles go up, while those outside the circle would go down?  Those outside the circle are acceptable housing zones for sexual competitors,  who have been forced from cities into rural communities were playgounds and schools are not so close to each other.

Those living outside the circles beware, your new neighbor may be a sexual predator.

Once again the law or intended consequences takes control!