Hoo Are You?

Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo. The Disneyfication of Britain is complete. They are now trying to rescue plastic owls. No, really, they are.

Perhaps it was the startled look on its face. Or maybe the fact it was frozen with fear.
But when an RSPCA officer was called out to investigate an owl that had been perched on a telegraph pole for days, she was so concerned she called the fire brigade.
It was only as a crew were about to deploy their aerial platform ladder to pluck the poor bird to safety that residents realised what was happening and rushed over to tell them it was a plastic decoy.

The residents of the neighborhood are having a pretty good laugh at the expense of the RSPCA and the local fire brigade. The really stupid part of this story? This gem:

Spokeswoman Klare Kennett said: ‘It is not the first time we have been called to rescue an animal that isn’t real but we’d rather be safe than sorry.’

A number of years ago, I was called to take some pictures of a snowy owl that had taken up residence for a time at a plant I was working at. Obviously, I had to take the pictures during the day. So I went out with my longest telephoto lens on my Nikon 35mm camera and tried to get a good shot of this bird who had perched on a light pole. I tried from a number of different places around the site, But just could not get one that I thought would be good enough. I finally went outside the fenced area and up a hill and got a good vantage point. Those shots came out. (The others were, as I had suspected they would be, not very good.) This whole process probably took the better part of an hour and a half, maybe a bit more.

And that owl never once moved. Nary a twitch. Remember, I was shooting in daylight.

I’m pretty sure that owl was asleep.

The Anti-Democracy Democrats

It appears that Harry Reid prefers an appointed Senator from Illinois rather than an elected one. Gee, one wonders why. Not.

Reid adds that his preference for an appointment by Blagojevich’s successor rather than a special election is driven by his belief that it is “imperative” that a new senator from Illinois be seated as soon as possible. An appointment by Quinn, a Democrat, also avoids the possibility that Democrats could lose the seat in a shortened special election campaign.

Every member of the Senate Democratic caucus has signed Reid’s letter. This one has Harry spooked. He’s trying to head off that election, knowing how badly the rampant Democratic corruption in Illinois politics is playing in Illinois and the country as a whole. The only thing Blagojevich has left at this point is the ability to stymie Reid and stay in office.

What doesn’t help Reid here is that Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn appears to be a) angling for the Governor’s office and b) is reportedly not liked by many in his own party. He’s a self-styled populist, according to this report.

Right now anyone appointed to the Senate out of Illinois will be suspect, regardless of who does the appointment. That is part of the fallout of this kind of flagrant corruption. It is much better right now to allow the people to decide the matter. Which appears to be what the Democrats, led by Reid, are afraid of right now.

Funny how the “every vote should count” Democrats are so very against democracy, isn’t it?

Meet Candidate #5

The muck in Chicago may be very, very deep, indeed. It appears that Candidate #5 is none other than Jesse Jackson, Jr. This is what the Feds filed in the complaint against Rod Blagojevich regarding Candidate #5:

a. On December 4, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH spoke to Advisor B and
informed Advisor B that he was giving Senate Candidate 5 greater consideration for the
Senate seat because, among other reasons, if ROD BLAGOJEVICH ran for re-election
Senate Candidate 5 would “raise[] money” for ROD BLAGOJEVICH, although ROD
BLAGOJEVICH said he might “get some (money) up front, maybe” from Senate Candidate
5 to insure Senate Candidate 5 kept his promise about raising money for ROD
BLAGOJEVICH. (In a recorded conversation on October 31, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH
described an earlier approach by an associate of Senate Candidate Five as follows: “We were
approached ‘pay to play.’ That, you know, he’d raise me 500 grand. An emissary came.
Then the other guy would raise a million, if I made him (Senate Candidate 5) a Senator.”)

Now Jackson denies any “pay for play” deals. But it sure sounds like someone was making offers on his behalf, doesn’t it? Here’s the ABC News story with Jackson’s denials:

Jackson Jr.’s attorney James Montgomery confirmed that the Chicago congressman is “Senate Candidate #5″ but said “Jackson has never authorized anyone to seek the Governor’s support in return of money, fundraising or other things of value.”

Jackson said “I don’t know” when asked if he was Candidate #5 earlier this morning, but said he was told “I am not a target of this investigation.”

At a press conference this afternoon, Jackson Jr. did not comment on “Senate Candidate #5″ but said he has done nothing wrong.

“I reject and denounce pay-to-play politics and have no involvement whatsoever in any wrongdoing,” said Jackson Jr. He added that he never sent a message nor an emissary to Blagojevich to make an offer or plead his case. “I thought mistakenly that the process was fair,” he said.

There are an awful lot of strings to pull in this case. If the Feds unravel the entire twisted mess, it appears likely that more than a few names will be tarnished. Or people jailed.

Warning! Global Warming(tm) Will Cause The Same Weather!

It’s official: Everything is a sign of Anthropogenic Global Warming. Study designed to measure ice storm severity

An electric utility official and a state meteorologist have developed a system to measure the severity of an ice storm that may help people better prepare.

Hmm…makes sense. It could prove to be quite a useful tool. Tell me more, please.

Sid Sperry, an official with the Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives, and Steve Piltz, the meteorologist in charge at the Tulsa National Weather Service forecast office, created the “Sperry-Piltz Utility Ice Damage Index.”

Snazzy name, but why not the “Piltz-Sperry Index”? If you say that quickly it sort of sounds like Pillsbury, and name recognition is everything.

Sorry. Please continue telling me about the index and how it works.

Researchers at the Oklahoma Climatological Survey office in Norman found evidence of warming at the surface by studying statewide average winter December through February temperatures since 1896. Another report indicated warming at the surface and lower portions in the atmosphere across most of the nation and in particular the northern hemisphere.

Huh? Warming? Who said anything about warming? I thought you were going to tell me about your new Ice Damage Index.

Maybe that will be in the next paragraph.

The hypothesis that a warming climate could lead to more frequent ice storms meshes with ideas of conditions needed to form freezing rain.

Hmm…still no information on that Index. Instead, we are told warming temperatures will lead to more ice storms. In Oklahoma.

Hmmm….seems to me there are plenty of ice storms in Oklahoma already, and have been for some time. Seems that real warming should result in more ice storms in, oh, I don’t know, South Dakota or Alberta.

Got anything about that Index?

Although there’s no solid proof of a connection between the two, research suggests the possibility that significant ice storms will continue to affect Oklahoma.

Ah, so now we are asked to believe this “never been seen before by human beings” situation will result in the continuation of existing weather patterns. And, hey!, who needs “solid proof” anyway?

Damn you Global Warming! Damn you all to hell!

Damage potential is categorized in five levels by ice thickness, wind speed and direction, and temperatures for the storm period.

“By being able to predict three or four days in advance not only the likely path and footprint of an ice storm, but also accurately estimating the total amount of ice that could potentially accumulate on power lines, and knowing well ahead of time the forecast wind speeds and temperatures, we can better prepare our electric line crews for the potential damage that they may be dealing with,” Sperry said.

He said they can know well ahead of time where to send additional repair crews, where ice accumulations will be the most severe, and predict with a high degree of accuracy the amount of damage to a utility system.

The Sperry-Piltz Index returns! Hallelujah! And, you know what? That actually sounds like a useful tool. Which begs the question as to why we had to put up with all of that Global Warming nonsense in the story. It is almost as if any story about the weather is viewed as a “teaching moment” for all of us among the great unwashed.

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