Solar Vortex Strikes West Coast

Victoria last night was 10C and Penticton at midnight was 6C.   West Coast bears up under onslaught of  warm weather and prepares for refugees from ROC.

If you'd like more perspective on the Polar Vortex stories of recent days, view this dynamic image showing a circum-polar system of which Canada's polar vortex is but one lobe. Link via Wattsupwiththat.  The original is an animation.

News from Outer Space: January 2014

The age of the universe has been pinned down to 1% accuracy ("baryon acoustic oscillations") says this article at the Daily Mail.  Last year's report of 13.82 billion years with a 2% accuracy is from Planck telescope data which is a slight adjustment for 2010's 13.75 billion years measurement.  When I was a kid, the guesses ranged from 10 to 20 billion years.  The universe, measured from the Big Bang, has only been around three times longer than our planet.  For fun, ask Google Voice or SIRI how old the universe is.


Unexplained hyper velocity stars have been discovered.  Earlier ones at 900 km/sec were spit-out lone survivors of a binary star that was being swallowed by a black hole at the centre of our galaxy.  Their path ignored the arms of our galaxy, fleeing the centre. The new ones are just as fast but no one knows what they are moving away from.

The 3D ghost of a dark matter filament has been detected.  The dark matter is still invisible but careful modelling of gravity-induced light warping in massive galaxy cluster MACS J0717.5+3745 using Hubble data reveals the filament.  There's even a rotating 3D model to watch, The model dates from 2012 .      Calling it "dark matter"is an inference.  Calling it a patterned light warp is observation.




A fireball from outside our solar system struck earth. Although rare they are seen from time to time.  There is a large rock in captivity that came from beyond the most remote comets and asteroids of our solar system.   Related: Last year a survey of meteorite samples came up with one that was probably dislodged from Mercury before landing here.

From Mercury

The fireball map attached for January 11th shows a possible extra-solar track running from 8 o'clock to 2 o'clock.  I can't find the one identified a couple weeks ago on the NASA fireball survey. From Spaceweather.com.

For general interest, a popular site lists 10 mystery objects in outer space.

The sun's magnetic field completed its flip at the midpoint of twenty-two-year sunspot cycle 24 on December 29th.  Nice little write-up at The Independent.

A major solar flare hit earth.  The probability of seeing Northern lights near the 49th parallel and south is posted daily in the left side bar at spaceweather.com.

December 2013 News from outer space here.

Phony US Unemployment Stats Revealed in Two Line Chart. Canadian Puzzle: How do you apply this?

Political stats attract lies like a cow-pie brings flies. Published EI stats (and CPI stats) are always misleading. Their aim is to persuade, not inform. The US chart shows the published unemployment rate has been declining but the whole time the percent of people out of work has stayed flat and high. Canadian numbers say the same on a smaller scale.  The unemployment rate has gone down but fewer able people are working. We are less discouraged since only half as many people have dropped out percentage-wise.

US numbers from thefederalist.com with hat tip to Instapundit.

A reminder, stats are slippery.  The partisans who put a spin on a story know what they don't want you to think about but probably don't understand the economy either.  The participation rate is seasonal.  The size of the potential work-force changes with births, immigration, death and retirement and even rules about pensions.  When couples prosper, dropping out can be win-win for  wife and husband.  It's regional and varies from rural to urban areas too.  Robots may be a better deal than talented willing workers. And so on.  When I see a simple number, I want to see how to drill down for detail.

Canadian participation is seasonal.

Canadian participation quarterly.

Canadian unemployment with both a seasonal and a regional tweak.

Underlying data for US chart above.

For detailed interpreting of employment stats, see Mish Shedlock at Globaleconomicanalysis.

"A couple of centuries ago, every kid was breastfed and ate organic food. Most of ‘em died".

The title is from Instapundit's link to a repentant anti-vaccine lady.  As she herself says, "I had the healthiest childhood imaginable. And yet I was sick all the time".    Despite her tale of pure green lefty locavore living,  common sense prevails.  Her daughter is vaccinated.

Amy Parker

"I want the anti-vaxxers to see that knowingly exposing your child to illness is cruel. ...
If you think your child’s immune system is strong enough to fight off vaccine-preventable diseases, then it’s strong enough to fight off the tiny amounts of dead or weakened pathogens present in any of the vaccines.
And from before:
I understand, to a point, where the anti-vaccine parents are coming from. Back in the ’90s, when I was a concerned, 19-year-old mother, frightened by the world I was bringing my child into, I was studying homeopathy, herbalism, and aromatherapy; I believed in angels, witchcraft, clairvoyants, crop circles, aliens at Nazca, giant ginger mariners spreading their knowledge to the Aztecs, the Incas, and the Egyptians, and that I was somehow personally blessed by the Holy Spirit with healing abilities".   (Link at Slate).

Some Body Cells Form Intranets - Touching Each Other at Great Distance

Ordinary cells, not just nerve cells, link up with each other over great distances and trade information. Tiny filaments reach out fifty to a hundred cells distant and exchange protein signals.  The filaments called cytonemes are so delicate they went unseen for decades.  People, unaware of these communication bridges, assumed chemicals leached out of cells and drifted around until they bumped into receptors.  The truth is some cells target each other at a distance (like friends on Facebook).

Kornberg

Research reported by Thomas B. Kornberg, PhD, a professor of biochemistry with the UCSF Cardiovascular Research Institute, January 2, 2014 in Science. Story summarized at Science Daily News.

Live-cell fluorescence image of acytoneme emanating from a small clone of cells that express a membrane-tethered form of Green Fluorescence Protein. This cytoneme extends toward cells in the Drosophila wing imaginal disc that express Decapentaplegic, a morphogen signaling protein. (Wikipedia)

SIngle Payer: Democrats will double down, not back down, in 2014.

In 2014, the Elect on the Left are going to double down for "MORE" not "Less" as the train wreck of Affordable Care insurance hits Americans.  Instead of learning from error and saying "Sorry", expect SINGLE PAYER to be the brass balls mantra.   Republicans and Libertarians who look forward in 2014 to delivering a come-uppance at the ballot box underestimate the voters' readiness to fall for the line, "We shouldn't have compromised". Like others who make excuse that true Communism or true Christianity has never been tried, the radical left in ascendancy will claim True Health Care for the Poor and Sick has never been tried.  Gentle Reader, prepare for that sinking chill in your stomach as you read stories you thought no one would have the brass balls to write -- that the Affordable Health Care act didn't go far enough... that all the teething problems of the ACA are caused by recalcitrant Republicans who held up progress.

ACA aka Oobleck

Dr Seuss created the character of King Didymus who called for Oobleck and when it came and proved a disaster, reluctantly said "Sorry" and spared his people.  You should hope Sebelius or Obama have such a heart.

The reality is closer to the oblivious biker in Hunter Thompson's "Hell's Angels" who almost died swallowing a tsunami of unknown drugs. Two weeks later, instead of learning wisdom from his folly, he said:  "The incident had taught him a valuablelesson: he no longer had to worry about what kind of pills he ate, because his body could handle anything he put into it".    That will be the struggle in 2014, to refute the voices in the Democrat party who double down instead of back down.

A little Icing on the Warmist Cake.

I see four under-reported facts about the climate propaganda ship stuck in Antarctic ice. (The Russian vessel, Akademic Shokalskiy)

One:  Plunging temperatures didn't lock up the ship.  It was wind that blew breaking-up shore ice into position combined with delays for sightseeing.   Both the ice and the weather were in the forecast. (Wattsupwiththat).  In depth coverage including a diary at the link.
Two: Almost all mainstream stories about the rescue leave out WHY the ship was there, to document the extent of ice melt.   Reporters won't let got of their climate talking points. (Proverbs 26:11  As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools return to their folly).
Three:  They weren't in danger. Only the paying passengers were given a helicopter ride off the vessel.  The Russian crew stayed behind to wait for the ice to shift in a couple weeks.
Four:  The US Navy is NOT part of this story.  A Chinese vessel was closest followed by an Australian icebreaker that did the helicopter lift from the Russian boat.  The Jade Rabbit lunar rover arrived on the moon's surface just three weeks ago.  There's a pattern here.

UPDATE: US Coast Guard will send Polar Star Icebreaker in response to Australia's request. Jan 4th

Hue Long, China

Aurora Australis, Australia

Toronto losing notoriety: De Blasio bumps Ford from news cycle.

New York's new mayor, when asked what he was wearing to keep warm, offered to strip, "Do you want me to go further?", while a couple dozen reporters looked at each other in disbelief. That's his fourth day in office.  Plus outlawing carriage rides in Central Park, "for the horses".Despite Rob Ford's noble effort to stay on top of the news cycle, four days into a four year term, it looks like New York's mayor will be at the top of the outrage cycle for some time. The tone of the inauguration was mostly "graceless and smug" says the NYT.  "Plantation", "inequality", and ACORN-love got the high five.   Bill is "an unrepentant supporter of ACORN and Occupy Wall Street".  ACORN accepts credit for getting him in office.  "We're baaack" as Bertha Lewis said.

He'll probably help reduce the number of Democrats in the Senate and the White House by being a high-profile failure with hard left branding.  Front Page Mazagine summarizes:

"When they put de Blasio in Gracie Mansion, New Yorkers opted for socialist chaos and decline — and that’s exactly what they’re going to get".

Remember when Mayor Bloomberg was the Nanny State guy who banned Big Gulps?  Those were the good days.  The people have spoken.

A notorious Rob Ford will do more for Toronto than a Wilhelm-De-Blasio on his best behaviour could ever do for New York.

Peace on Earth - Increasing.

Strategy Page does, what the newspapers don't,  the annual round up of all wars on earth and finds again that they are decreasing.  The short version:

The Great Nuclear Truce continues.  Most current wars are basically uprisings against police states or feudal societies...   Many small wars are led by radicals preaching failed dogmas (Islamic conservatism, Maoism and other forms of radical socialism), that still resonate among people who don't know about the dismal track records of these creeds. Iran has replaced some of the lost Soviet terrorist support effort. That keeps Hezbollah, Hamas, and a few smaller groups going, and that's it. Terrorists in general miss the Soviets, who really knew how to treat bad boys right.

Deaths in Mexico justify calling that a war.The intro is followed with a nation by nation summary.

China: Enemy of our Enemy. UPDATE

China was with "the gooks" for the Korean War. The news you haven't read is that North Korea has threatened to turn its nukes towards China.  And China is cutting the ingrates loose.  Their number one trading contact with North Korea was Kim Jong Un's uncle.  Jang Song Thaek, the #2 man in Korea, along with five aides, was fed alive to dogs on December 12th in front of Kim and 300 nervously watching officials.  The gloves have come off, first with an article in China's official organ in Hong Kong revealing the atrocity and a follow-up calling for an end to coddling North Korea.  Also, on December 13th, China got in touch with Russia's foreign minister and sent an ambassador express to Moscow.  These are North Korea's two alien neighbours.  China is giving up on influencing the Kim John Un regime.

From The Straits Times article (h/t barrelstrength):

When the son, Kim Jong Il, took over the helm, he did not hide the fact that his nuclear weapons could be used against China.Dr Xue Litai, a research fellow at Stanford University's Centre for International Security and Cooperation at the time, disclosed that he received further confirmation from an American source who accompanied former US president Bill Clinton in his visit to Pyongyang in 2009. According to the source, a North Korean senior official told Mr Clinton that their nuclear weapons could not reach the US but could be "pointed West" in the direction of the Chinese mainland.

UPDATE: Maybe no atrocity after all. Just a simple tyrannical execution.  Rest of the story stands.

How does Obama find time to golf?

The American president follows at least a dozen  hour-long TV shows and is working his way through all of Breaking Bad.  How does he find time to golf?  The Newsbuster story lists Mad Men, House of Cards, Homeland, Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, Downton Abbey, The Wire, Real Housewives, Glee, Modern Family, Parks and Recreation and SportsCenter.  Did I mention he follows basketball?

I'm not a busy guy but couldn't find the time to do it.

Jarrett seems to be minding the store but as CEO's say, when they visit the White House, they talk to people they wouldn't hire.

Obama isn't a couch potato

but...

Body map of emotions in color. What do love and pride look like?

Fourteen emotions are mapped in color onto the body.   Each has a distinct pattern showing parts that feel good and parts that feel bad.  Not unexpectedly, Love and Happiness are similar except in the groin but would you predict that Surprise and Shame are almost a match?

The sample size is 700 and the measurements are from self-description, not physical measurement, so there is a heavy subjective factor.  But it rings true.  This confirms to me the idea that dogs can smell our emotions since hormones and temperatures in different parts of the body are changing.

Published on 31 December, 2013 in the scientific journal Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences, reported at Science Daily News.

150 years ago today Republicans freed the slaves and rejoiced.

The Emancipation Proclamation came into effect today, one hundred and fifty years ago.  Democrats were outraged, calling it "an outrage of all constitutional law, all human justice, all Christian feeling" and “a proposal for the butchery of women and children.” How did this get turned around to make Republicans the bad guys?  Report at Gateway Pundit.

The proclamation was a wartime executive order from Abraham Lincoln, didn't apply to the five non-rebel slave owner states, didn't make slavery illegal in itself and applied to Confederate held lands, not to Yankee lands!  It did however confirm the freedom of ex-slaves , offered them a chance to join the army, and became a framework for the actual outlawing of slavery three years later.

Amended:  151 years ago.

Grey Lady has Chinese Suitor. "There's nothing that can't be bought for the right price".

In 2009 the New York Times took a quarter billion loan from Mexican investor, Carlos Slim Helu, and made promises. Now "Low Carbon" Chen Guangbiao claims he plans to buy The Grey Lady in a hostile takeover. The story is at China Digital Times.  If he can't get the package, he'll go for a major stake and sees golden renmimbi in re-opening the Chinese Market to the NYT.   “There’s nothing that can’t be bought for the right price,” Chen told Reuters.  

Quickie DNA tests not ready for prime time.

Kira Peikoff of the NYT paid for three different quickie DNA tests to see what diseases she was at risk for.  What she learned is that the tests are poorly calibrated and can contradict each other.  She's faulting the interpretation, not the testing.

23andMe

Only a few genetic markers are sampled (equivalent to "reading the first letter of every second page" in a book) and different ones are relied on for estimating the same disease. There are only a couple dozen rather rare diseases that can be predicted well. The data base used for estimating is still very small and even if you could afford a whole genome analysis, the technician wouldn't really know what to compare it with. This situation may improve dramatically in the near future.  Meanwhile, as the doctor Kira spoke with afterwards advises, “If you want to spend money wisely to protect your health and you have a few hundred dollars, buy a scale, stand on it, and act accordingly.”

Affordable technology

The Maple Leaf at Half Mast

Flag designer, J.R. Mattheson, passed away at 96.  Kathy Shaidle writes, "Canada's Maple Leaf is one of the most readily recognizable flags on earth".   

Despite the classy design, I still feel bitter about 1964 and Pearson's flag initiative.  The borders should be blue.   Blue for the oceans in our national motto.  Blue for the Fleur-de-Lis.  Blue for the old red-white-and-blue Union Jack.  That was the first time I noticed lefty politics overtaking common sense.  Red then meant communism, revolution, and blood. It displaced the blues of our history, and the blue of a dominion that runs from sea even unto sea.

(A testimonial to John Mattheson here.)

How to start a small business in California

h/t smalldeadanimals
linking to original-republican.com

New Putin Editorial - Fake but Accurate

Breitbart sucked in its readers with a new Op-Ed editorial from Vladimir Putin.  Unlike the September NYT Op-Ed,  this one's a fake.  But accurate.  Russian satire sounds better than American truth.

Christians are much better off in pro-Russia Syria than in post-American Iraq.

All these years, the Americans have been lecturing us Russians about “human rights” in Chechnya. So it served them right when two Chechyans killed and wounded all those people in Boston; we had tried to warn them about the Tsarnaevs, but of course, the Americans thought they knew best. Here’s what’s best: America and Israel ought to join with Russia to squelch these Islamists.

There’s a deeper point that I wish to make, concerning the fate of nations, and of civilizations. And that point is: You need conservatism, including religion and patriotism, in order to govern. This point is not optional; it’s a necessity.

Privacy is toast

Today's clever devices are one app away from making you a voyeur.  A few more tweaks, a few databases unlocked and you will walk along a street knowing who lives in the houses and their daughter's birthday, their voting habits and credit card spending. As you meet people, their faces will be decoded and matched to names, the car they drive, their credit rating and criminal record and their favourite purchases at Amazon and The Bay.

This information is there already. Some of it like licence plate registration, VISA spending and criminal records are behind firewalls. Much of it, thanks to Google, is in front of firewalls.  Are you ready?  There have been massive thefts of identify information ( 40 million cards at Target stores this week) and climate emails (Climategate database now on line) and NSA surveillance data  ( Snowden, selectively released).    At some point, a lot of this is going to jump into the public domain and be swept up by your smarphone.

Really, who is ready for this?

True personal privacy is a trade-off.  Some will opt to live in a dynamic web in public view and some will have traditional privacy in the backwaters of life.

And this just in:  http://pjmedia.com/blog/data-brokers-gathering-dossiers-on-millions-of-americans-by-income-disease-and-more/

Homo Sapiens is a comic misnomer

"Sapiens" , the Wise One, is a comic misnomer for man.  A glance around Canada and the globe this Christmas season will confirm it.  We used common sense to name other species of hominid but are blindly self-congratulatory choosing our own name.  If there had been an adult around, they might have picked a more distinctive name like The Ape with the Big Dink.  (As Instapundit puts it, attracting chicks can explain why the Sapiens phallus is about double the size of the nearest ape competitor,)  A more modest name that recognizes we have some skills has already been used. Homo Habilis.   Habilis=skilful, suitably nimble

If you wish to pursue the Big Dink topic.  Wikipedia: Penis Size

Source page.