How to Fake a Heat Wave

.

I am totally disgusted at the way the media is exaggerating the heat wave that is currently hitting the US. It is politically motivated lying.

And most people seem to be totally deceived by it.

In reality, this heat wave is nothing unusual. People I have mentioned this to recently are surprised to learn that very few areas are having high temperatures over 100 degrees F. Most towns in the heat wave area are running in the low to mid 90's. But you would never learn that from the media.

For example, take a look at this prediction chart for tomorrow 22 July 2011 from The Weather Channel, that was displayed on the Drudge Report today:

It certainly looks horrible, doesn't it?  113 in Baltimore, 115 in Washington DC, 109 in Boston.  Must be the end of the world.  Global Warming!  Time to panic and pass some serious taxes on oil and coal!  We need to call on the Community Organizer to organize the community!

But wait a second.  This is not a temperature map.  It says "Heat Index" in the title.  What is that?  Well, it is a mathematical calculation that uses the temperature and the humidity to define an "apparent" temperature -- a "what it feels like" temperature.

In other words, it is fake.  If you think that the word "fake" is too strong, please note that the heat index in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia on July 8, 2003 was 172 degrees F, which makes any of the heat indexes on the map above look very small indeed.

Here is the real temperature prediction map for the same date, tomorrow 22 July 2011, from Intellicast:

click image for larger version

Portions of the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts will be over 100 degrees F, as will an area in western Kansas and a good chunk of Virginia.  The remaining areas of this "unprecedented heat wave" will be pretty much in the mid-90s.  Hmmm...  Looks like a normal late July pattern to me.  I have personally experienced temperatures over 100 in all the areas predicted to be over 100.

(An aside: Even this map is biased.  How can they justify using a hot orange color for July high temperatures in the 60's and 70's?)

I am really tired of all the lying being used to propagate the religion of Global Warming.  Even the Global Warming "scientists" say that we have only warmed a degree and a half since 1990.  That means that 95 degree heat waves would average 96.5 (but in reality natural variation would mask it).  And that 1.5 degree increase is based on biased urban measurements (taken near parking lots and air conditioner heat exhausts for example) and "adjusted" data.  Uncontaminated raw measurements from rural areas show no warming at all.

But a normal summer heat wave is a great opportunity to garner political power. The process is as follows: Only mention the heat index, not the temperature.  Talk about rolling blackouts (but don't mention that they are caused by the fact we haven't been allowed to build new power plants for quite some time).  Talk about deaths caused by heat (even though deaths caused by cold always outnumber them two to one).  And harness the media to convert a normal summer scorcher into an "unprecedented deadly heat wave" that is caused by "human climate disruption".  Quote some scientists saying that events like this will soon become the "new normal"  unless we give the government the power to force us to stop using energy.  Follow up with statements that Global Warming is "much worse than we had thought".

Sigh.  People are so gullible.

.

The Problem with the US Economy is Obama

.

Steve Wynn, the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Wynn Resorts Ltd. tore into President Obama on Monday 18 July 2011 during the company quarterly conference call. What he said explains why the US economy is languishing and why companies are holding on to so much cash and not doing anything with it.

Note that Wynn owns hotels and casinos in Las Vegas and Macau China. The Macau property is currently responsible for more than 2/3 of its revenues and profits. Wynn's quarterly numbers, announced during the conference call, beat estimates by a wide margin.  I bought a chunk of their stock late last week in anticipation of this, based on my son's research on Macau.   Jim Cramer of CNBC calls Wynn Resorts the "best of breed" in the hospitality and gaming market.

Here is what Steve Wynn had to say:

Well, here's our problem.  There are a host of opportunities for expansion in Las Vegas, a host of opportunities to create tens of thousands of jobs in Las Vegas.  I know that I could do 10,000 more myself, and according to the Chamber of Commerce and the Visitors Convention Bureau, if we hired 10,000 employees, it would create another 20,000 additional jobs for a grand total of 30,000.  I believe in Las Vegas.  I think its best days are ahead of it. But I'm afraid to do anything in the current political environment in the United States....

....And I'm saying it bluntly, that this administration is the greatest wet blanket to business, and progress, and job creation in my lifetime. And I can prove it, and I could spend the next 3 hours giving you examples of all of us in this marketplace that are frightened to death about all the new regulations, our healthcare costs escalation, regulations coming from left and right.

A President that seems--that keeps--using that word "redistribution". Well, my customers and the companies that provide the vitality for the hospitality and restaurant industry, in the United States of America, they are frightened of this administration. And it makes you slow down and not invest your money. Everybody complains about how much money is on the side in America. You bet. And until we change the tempo and the conversation from Washington, it's not going to change. And those of us who have business opportunities and the capital to do it are going to sit in fear of the President.

And a lot of people don't want to say that.  They'll say, "Oh God, don't be attacking Obama." Well, this is Obama's deal, and it's Obama that's responsible for this fear in America.  The guy keeps making speeches about "redistribution", and maybe we oughta do something to businesses that don't invest or are holding too much money. We haven't heard that kind of talk except from pure socialists.

Everybody's afraid of the government, and there's no need to soft peddle it.  It's the truth. It is the truth. And that's true of Democratic businessman and Republican businessman, and I am a Democratic businessman and I support Harry Reid.  I support Democrats and Republicans.

And I'm telling you that the business community in this country is frightened to death of the weird political philosophy of the President of the United States.

And until he's gone, everybody's going to be sitting on their thumbs.

.

Satellite Image of Fort Calhoun

.

 Credit to Digital Globe - Click image for larger version

.