NC Media Watch

Fussing and moaning about the Tea Party & Local Media

Russ Steele

A local Nevada County blogger that holds himself to the highest journalistic standards is fussing and moaning about the Union and KNCO holding a candidate forum with the Tea Party, pointing to the League of Women Voters as the ultimate in nonpartisan organization. Details here and here. Read the comments they are priceless. Really, the LWV is nonpartisan, then what the  "...." is this parroting of the progressive agenda on the LWV web site? Nonpartisan, you decide.

Climate change?
Global climate change is one of the most serious threats to the environment, health and economy of our nation. Recent scientific studies show that global warming is already causing environmental changes that will have significant global economic and social impacts.

The League believes that now is the time to act on global climate change.  We can reduce global warming pollution by using existing technologies to make power plants and factories more efficient, make cars go farther on a gallon of gasoline, and shift to cleaner technologies.  Cities, states and individuals are already adopting many of these solutions, which also reduce our dependence on oil, reduce air pollution, and protect pristine places from oil drilling and mining. State and local initiatives are proving that answers exist.

To reinforce and expand on those efforts, the League urges federal action that reduces global warming pollutants on a national and global scale.

This does not seem to be the neural "nonpartisanship." being demanded in the referenced articles. The LWV seem to have lost their way. And in the process mislead our stalwart journalist with the high standards. Oh, my.

Over the E-mail Transom: 75 Reasons to be skeptical of "global warming"

Russ Steele

Josh Fulton, another freelance writer, sent me an e-mail pointing to his blog with 75 reasons for being skeptical of global warming with links to the sources. Here is a sample of his links:

* Carbon dioxide contributes to only 4.2 - 8.4% of the greenhouse gas effect
* Only approximately 4% of carbon dioxide is man-made
* Water vapor accounts for 90 - 95% of the green house gas effect
* 99.99% of water vapor is natural, meaning that no amount of deindustrialization could get rid of it
* There have been many times when the temperature has been higher than it is now including the Medieval Warming Period, the Holocene, the Jurassic, and the Eemian
* Increases in carbon dioxide follow increases in temperature by about 800 years, not precede them
* Phil Jones of the Hadley CRU, and key figure in the "climategate" scandal, admits that there has been no "statistically significant" global warming since 1995
* 2008 and 2009 were the coolest two years of the decade
* During the Ordovician period carbon dioxide concentrations were twelve times what they are now, and the temperature was lower
* Solar activity is highly correlated with temperature change:

Go to his blog here and click on the listed item,  the embedded link takes you to Josh's sources.  While I do not agree with everyone of the sources, there is a lot to think about on his list of links.

Getting to the core of APPLE Center's sustainability

Russ Steele

Michelle Rindels has a glowing report on the APPLE Center for Sustainable Living in her article: APPLE Center's eco-friendly ways are catching on.

A jazz singer crooned softly over the loud speaker and bounced off brightly painted, energy-efficient walls Sunday afternoon at Nevada City's APPLE Center for Sustainable Living.

Five months after the center opened and dedicated itself to teaching locals how to make their lifestyles more environmentally friendly, volunteers are lining up to get on board. A Sunday training session drew almost 20 people to the cozy center on Commercial Street.

“It's really growing everywhere,” said APPLE Center Executive Director Mali Dyck of the nationwide push toward sustainability. “But Nevada City is really poised to be a leader.”

Sustainability is the concept of meeting a community's current needs while not depleting the resources that future generations will need, and the center teaches it with hands-on exhibits open to the public.

However, no mention of APPLE struggle for sustainability. According to their business plan they planned to come sustainable in 2011; off the public grant dole by developing a worm farms and selling the casings to local farmers, greenhouse, nurseries and back yard gardeners.

While APPLE's goal is sustainability for the community, no word on the process toward their own sustainability, their worm farm should be coming on line. The business plan calls for paying livable wages to the staff, by selling 1,300 cubic yards of castings per year, at $100.00 per cubic yard.  It takes those worms a while to produce 1,300 cubic yards of castings.  What is the progress?  What about all those jobs promised in the grant request to the Butte County Private Industry Council? 

Michelle Rindels may have missed the most significant part to the story, the APPLE Center's struggle to become sustainable.  Let's hope the next APPLE story in the Union gets to the core of APPLE's sustainability. 
 

Who will be first in line?

Russ Steele

Ellen and I are on a short trip. As we approached an intersection in a small coastal town, the stop light turned red. While waiting for the light to change, we notice a group of about ten people waving signs demanding reform of our current medial system. They were all supporting Obamacare's single payer system, and damming the insurance companies with their signs. 

They all looked like well aged hippies, graying hair, dressed in the latest hand me downs from the thrift store.

Then it occurred to us, they were all first in line candidates for Obamacare's the end of life counseling. What were they thinking? 

OMG: KQED Climate Watch has another lead the dumb survey

Russ Steele

Well, I took the survey and found out I am a dismissive. Who would have thought!

People in the Dismissive group believe that global warming is not happening, and if it is, it is caused by natural changes in the environment. Most believe there is a lot of scientific disagreement about the issue, while others believe that there is agreement among scientists that global warming is not happening. Most of the Dismissive are not worried about global warming at all and say it is not an important issue to them personally. They overwhelmingly say that global warming will never harm people in the United States or around the world.

Right! I am a dismissive. By the IPCC's admission global warming is an agenda driven hoax, created by fraudulent acts of US and UK climate scientists.

 We need to injection some rational thinking into this lame brained effort to distort reality.  Go here and then scroll down to this phrase and click on the link:  "A Matter of Degree,"

*Climate Watch partnered with Yale and George Mason researchers to create our climate survey, "A Matter of Degree," which is featured on Facebook and on the Climate Watch website.

Let me know where you fit in the scheme of things?

Cure is the Same as the Disease: How Convenient!

Michael Ramirez sums up much of our recent economic history with admirable concision; click to enlarge:

H/T to Powerline Blog

Winco Foods, Sam’s Club, or Costco in Auburn?

Russ Steele

The Auburn Journal has a story about some new retail development along SR-49 in Auburn. The developer Jim Conkey is looking to attract a Winco Foods, Sam’s Club or Costco to his planned 155,000-square-foot retail center near Luther Road and Canal Street, off of SR-49, in Auburn.  According to the story, Costco is the most active prospective tenant.

The development of a Costco in Auburn will create a huge challenge for businesses in Grass Valley and Nevada City. 

Our children and grandchildren live in Roseville and we often take the opportunity to visit the Roseville Costco.  Would a Costco in Auburn change our shopping habits? We will have to see, if one is build in Auburn.  Stay Tuned.

Tea Party TV is now online - Stay Informed

Russ Steele

Pajamas Media has announces a new weekly series called Tea Party TV. This weekly program will cover all facets of the Tea Party grassroots movement:

    •    What tea party groups are forming, who is working together and who isn’t.
    •    How the tea party groups are working with the GOP, Independents, Libertarians.
    •    Who the emerging leaders are and what they stand for.
    •    What issues and challenges the tea parties are tackling.
    •    What media outlets are covering the tea parties and which aren’t.
    •    What the polls are telling us about the impact of the tea parties. View Tea Party Polls here.
   

The best way to stay informed about the tea party movement, watch Tea Party TV on line.  

Nevada County Health Ranking -- 14 of 56.

Russ Steele

Details of the 2010 Snapshot here.  Nevada County ranks 14th, neighboring Placer County was 9th and Sierra County not rated.  Biggest downer was Nevada County's Ozone Pollution.

The Top Twenty

Going Green Update: EPA's endangerment finding challenged

Russ Steele

The Shop Floor had the details via the New York Times:

Industry groups, conservative think tanks, lawmakers and three states filed 16 court challenges to U.S. EPA's "endangerment" finding for greenhouse gases before yesterday's deadline, setting the stage for a legal battle over federal climate policies.

Filing petitions yesterday were the Ohio Coal Association, the Utility Air Regulatory Group, the Portland Cement Association, the state of Texas and the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Another was filed by a coalition that includes the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), the American Petroleum Institute, the Corn Refiners Association, the National Association of Home Builders, the National Oilseed Processors Association, the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association, and the Western States Petroleum Association.

I wish them all success.  We need to bring the EPA back to reality.  The UN IPCC reports on which the EPA based their findings are fraudulent.