This is weak.  NPR recently ran a story entitled “For Some Ohioans, Even Meat Is Out Of Reach.”  It was about some woman who has never had a job who can’t afford to buy meat and (I’m not kidding) ice cream anymore because of the economy.  This picture of the woman and her daughter accompanies the article:

Now NPR has changed the headline on the online article to read “Struggling In Ohio As The Economy Tightens.” But the Nunez women are still fat.

Seriously, is this what it has come to?  We are supposed to feel bad when morbidly obese people can’t buy ice cream?

I was looking at Google’s maps of the Researh Park in Huntsville a couple of days ago and noticed that their satellite imagery is extremely dated.  It’s probably at least three years old.  What’s missing in the following picture:

Bridge Street is missing!  Not only is Bridge Street missing, but so are the contractor buildings along Voyager Way.  Google did add the nifty, although privacy invading, street view feature in Huntsville recently, though.  The street view from Research Park Boulevard does show Bridge Street:

The Huntsville Times also reported today that Google currently has trouble giving directions to Bridge Street, sending people to neighborhoods of singel family homes in northwest Huntsville.

Google’s stock price fell neary 3% today.  Clearly word of their oversight is getting around.

From Down Under:

I DEVOTED six years to carbon accounting, building models for the Australian Greenhouse Office. I am the rocket scientist who wrote the carbon accounting model (FullCAM) that measures Australia’s compliance with the Kyoto Protocol, in the land use change and forestry sector.

…

When I started that job in 1999 the evidence that carbon emissions caused global warming seemed pretty good: CO2 is a greenhouse gas, the old ice core data, no other suspects.

The evidence was not conclusive, but why wait until we were certain when it appeared we needed to act quickly? Soon government and the scientific community were working together and lots of science research jobs were created. We scientists had political support, the ear of government, big budgets, and we felt fairly important and useful (well, I did anyway). It was great. We were working to save the planet.

But since 1999 new evidence has seriously weakened the case that carbon emissions are the main cause of global warming, and by 2007 the evidence was pretty conclusive that carbon played only a minor role and was not the main cause of the recent global warming. As Lord Keynes famously said, “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?”

I recently was fortunate enough to see a presentation by Dr. John Christy of UAH about the subject of man made climate change.  The venue in which I saw Dr. Christy was mostly very technical, full of scientists and engineers.  It was a good audience for him because we could understand the numbers he presented and no one blinked when he talked about a nonlinear dynamic model.  I found one of Christy’s presentations on YouTube.  Yes, it’s long, but it is worth the time investment.  The sound is a bit low, so turn up your speakers.

Bud Cramer has responded to last week’s story about his extravagant spending habits of late.

Retiring U.S. Rep. Bud Cramer of Alabama says his recent campaign expenses on meals and travel were for political and district-related functions that the Federal Election Commission considers legitimate.

…

He said he also frequently hosts meals with civic and business groups to discuss issues in his district.

Among Cramer’s expenses was a $953 dinner at Ruth’s Chris - “one of several Ruth’s Chris outings.”

I’ll be in DC twice in the next month or so.  If any of Cramer’s staff happens to read this blog then consider this my request for a dinner at Ruth’s Chris at the congressman’s expense.  I promise that we can discuss issues in the district with others in my business group.

From AL.com:

Retiring Rep. Bud Cramer of Huntsville hinted Thursday that he might become a lobbyist after he leaves office in January.

In an interview with The Associated Press, the conservative Democrat said he has developed valuable relationships over his nearly 20 years in Washington and could take advantage of them to advocate for Alabama’s interests.

This is interesting.  During the Republican primary Cheryl Baswell Guthrie made a big deal about Wayne Parker being a lobbyist - even though none of his lobbying efforts were objectionable.  It didn’t help her gain any ground, but that won’t necessarily stop Parker Griffith from using the same tactic in the general election.  But with Cramer hinting he might become a lobbyist after leaving office its going to be awkward for Griffith to make such an argument.  He is basing his campaign on how great Cramer is and how he wants to walk in Bud’s shoes.  Griffith won’t be able to sling mud at Parker over lobbying without dirtying Cramer as well.

Alabama’s august senior senator has appropriated $4 million for a parking deck in Tuscaloosa.  Clearly parking in T-town is a federal concern.  One can’t post a link to his taxpayer funded gift to UAT without noting his ties to the community.

Not that it would matter, but Shelby should read this op-ed in the Wall Street Journal.

The Club for Growth recently conducted a nationwide poll on government spending, and the results were exactly the opposite of what most politicians have been saying for years. Voters are fed up with Washington’s out-of-control spending. Politicians aren’t representing the will of the people when they bring home the bacon. They are really representing the will of their special-interest cronies. And it’s not just conservative voters who feel that way. Voters across the board have finally found something they can agree on even if their elected officials can’t: It’s time to cut the fat, even if that means fewer projects for their own districts.

Conducted in late June, the poll surveyed 800 voters and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.46%. Likely voters were asked the following question: “All things being equal, for whom would you be more likely to vote for the U.S. Congress: 1) A candidate who wants to cut overall federal spending, even if that includes cutting some money that would come to your district or 2) A candidate who wants to increase overall spending on federal programs, as long as more federal spending and projects come to your district?”

…

Voters across America don’t see their elected officials “listening” and “providing.” Instead they see spending that is wasteful, prone to corruption, arbitrary and inefficient. They see Republican congressmen like Duke Cunningham and Bob Ney hauled off to jail for earmark-related corruption. They see Congress lavishing their hard-earned tax dollars on such projects as the “Bridge to Nowhere” in Alaska, the Mule and Packers Museum in California, and the Lobster Institute in Maine. Even worthy-sounding earmarks like a local science lab are viewed with suspicion. After all, these projects are not subject to competitive review and bidding, and they are designed to benefit the few at the expense of the many.

There is certainly no shortage of dour stories about the negative impact of high gas prices on, well, everything.  That is the media’s forte, though, finding the worst in any situation.  But there are a few headlines poking through that show some positive side effects of high fuel prices.

• $4 gas helping revitalize small towns - People are shopping locally instead of driving to larger cities.
• Traffic deaths fall as gas prices rise - 9% drop in motor vehicle deaths during first five months of the year.
• For Some Ohioans, Even Meat Is Out Of Reach - This is supposed to be a sob story, but more costly food is just what the doctor ordered for the, uhhh, rotund ladies in the accompanying picture.

Someone sent me an email with this great Bob Hope clip.

ABC must be trying to boost the ratings of 20/20.  Here are the titles of the most recent segments:

• The Real Lives of Polygamists
• When Sex Is Not as Private as You Expect
• Why We Cheat: Is Evolution to Blame?
• Sex Sells, but at What Cost?

Sounds more like the Friday night lineup on Cinemax.

The “Not as Private as You Expect” piece included a segment about Huntsville’s own Sherri Williams, who runs Pleasures, the “One-Stop Romance Shop.”  She was discussing Alabama’s ban on sex toys and how she exploits a loophole.

From the Golden Gate City:

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A measure that aims to keep prostitutes from facing criminal charges has qualified for the November ballot in San Francisco.

The measure, which qualified Friday, would bar authorities from spending money to investigate or prosecute prostitutes for engaging in prostitution.

The prostitution advocacy group pushing this change is called the “Erotic Service Providers Union.”  I guess that is about as delicately as you could word it.