Today is Solstice, the shortest day in the Northern Hemisphere - according to the solar ephemeris for our location, the length of our day will be approximately nine hours and fifty-four minutes.

The graphic below is taken from a very interesting website, Archaeoastronomy.com. On their website, you can learn about Equinoxes, Solstices and Cross Quarters which are moments shared planet-wide, defined by the earth’s tilt and the sun’s position on The Ecliptic along 45° arcs.

This neat graphic is put into motion on Archaeoastronomy.com.

We went to Cruise America to watch a motorhome orientation video. It was very interesting to learn about the features and operation of our temporary home-on-wheels. While it was interesting, it also made us all the more anxious to get started on our vacation. Soon, we will be enjoying scenery and sunsets similar to this one taken at Lake Havasu, Arizona, last summer. Click for bigger image.

I watched an interview on a news program today that featured a ‘climate expert’ explaining away the recent winter storms as being a consequence of global warming. This ‘expert’ contended that the severity of winter storms actually increases because of anthropogenic climate contributions.

The ‘expert’ blithely ignores actual science - for instance, the current lull in sunspots and solar activity. For the past two years, sunspots have been few and far between. He also ignores the fact that polar ice caps are not decreasing, Florida’s land mass is not decreasing due to a rise in sea level and global ocean temperatures have decreased over the past several years (since 1998).

James Taranto posted the following piece in the “Best of the Web Today” on the topic of selective science validation:

Science’s Ordinary Magisterium

“Scientists have found two large leaks in Earth’s magnetosphere, the region around our planet that shields us from severe solar storms,” Space.com reports:

The leaks are defying many of scientists’ previous ideas on how the interaction between Earth’s magnetosphere and solar wind occurs: The leaks are in an unexpected location, let in solar particles in faster than expected and the whole interaction works in a manner that is completely the opposite of what scientists had thought.

Laymen may be confused by the notion of a scientific discovery “that is completely the opposite of what scientists had thought.” After all, we keep reading that all scientists agree about global warming and no one may question it. Is science infallible or isn’t it?

The answer is: It depends. Scientific teachings that are part of the “ordinary magisterium,” such as those involving the interaction between Earth’s magnetosphere and solar wind, are not infallible. But global warming is what scientists call an ex cathedra* doctrine.

* In Catholic theology, the Latin phrase ex cathedra, literally meaning “from the chair”, refers to a teaching by the pope that is considered to be made with the intention of invoking infallibility. This is a concept that always has and always been unknown to true science - everything that is ‘known’ can be modified when ‘new knowledge’ is discovered.

Greenbats choose to cover their ears and say “la-la-la-la-la - I’m not listening,” when actual facts contradict their tunnel-vision views on climate. Very scientific, indeed.

I checked the National Parks System webcams today and was not disappointed with the scene I saw at Grand Canyon, Yavapai Point. Later this month, Damsel will be capturing scenic photos like this (we hope) when we’re in Northern Arizona.

Just a note about the winter storm that just passed through the southwest - snow in Malibu, California? Four inches in Las Vegas, Nevada? Sunspots at a minimum? Must be that pesky Glow Ball Worming.

Maybe some of the alarmists should find out more about the Sun.

Today was the last workday of the year for me. I finished up an important milestone at work which gives me the opportunity to take some authorized time off to relax and celebrate the Christmas Season.

For part of that celebration, Damsel and I will be taking a cruise - no, not like on a vessel, but in a motor home headed away from the teeming masses. We plan to stop at some famous and some little-known places along the way. We got a pretty good deal from Cruise America - almost a 2-for-1 deal on the cruiser.

Damsel will have her suite of camera gear as she plans to capture some dazzling scenery shots and some wonderful artsy compositions. We’ll have internet access with us so check back here for some of her pictures in near-real-time.

One of our stops along our route will likely be near the little-known landmark “Tea Kettle Junction,” seen in the photo.

Photo found at Panamint Charlie’s interesting website. Click for big.

I can’t exactly send this card in an envelope, but it goes out to two people that helped me when I was having troubles with my Para Ordinance Warthog .45 ACP compact pistol.

First of all, to Michael Bane, who took an interest in my problems and referred me to someone who could help solve them.

Merry Christmas, Michael!

Secondly, to Kerby Smith, of Para’s Communications and Public Relations, who got the gun into the shop and saw to it that it got the attention it needed. Kerby also sent me an instructional Todd Jarrett video showing techniques to be used when shooting short-barreled .45s. Kerby also gave me some advice on cleaning and lubrication.

Merry Christmas, Kerby!

As you can see from the video, I’m enjoying shooting my Warthog instead of agonizing over the next misfeed or stovepipe. Thank you guys for all the help!

Several years ago, when we decided to get back into guns and shooting, our firearms choices were based on simplicity and reliability. We both had prior experience with guns and shooting, but enough time had passed, that we wanted to resume at an entry level.

My entry choice for a handgun was a .357 revolver - a short-barreled Smith and Wesson model 686. The advantages of this type of gun is that it’s compact, easy to point and shoot and uses either .38 special or .357 magnum ammunition. The .38 loads produce less recoil than the .357 loads.

I thought that a small semi-automatic pistol would be a good choice. I chose a Smith and Wesson model 908S nine millimeter semi automatic pistol. Advantages of this type of gun include compact size, light weight, easy to use and the ability to quickly reload the 8-round magazine with a standby magazine.

I have been really happy with these two original choices. The two went with me to the range today.

Lately, we have been getting ‘Bear’ our G-Shep/Lab mix dog accustomed to riding along with us from time to time. We’re hoping that she will get used to it so when we take our winter cruise in the motor home, she will be mellow and not hyper.

Today, she rode along with me while we were on an errand, and her mood was somewhere between hyper and mellow. She had never been in my Sebring convertible prior to today; she was very good with it and seemed to enjoy it a lot.

Click the thumbnail for a larger image.

This week, Former Vice President Al Gore made the trip to Washington to make a pitch to President Elect Obama and Vice President Elect Biden on the path forward for dealing with climate change. At the same time Gore was doing this, new information regarding anthropogenic (man made) contribution to climate change was coming forth from the scientific community and the US Senate.

The United States Senate Minority Report holds that over 650 scientists (a growing number) now disagree with the claims of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and former Vice President Al Gore. The 231 page report is filled with information discrediting the IPCC’s report. Here are some of the highlights:

• 650 prominent international scientists have now changed their opinions
• over 250 have changed their opinions since the report of 2007
• only 52 UN scientists authored the media-hyped IPCC report and declared it a ‘consensus’

Things that may have contributed to their changing opinions include:

• global temperatures failing to warm
• studies predicting a continued lack of warming
• a failed attempt to revive the discredited ‘Hockey Stick’
• inconvenient developments and studies regarding CO2; the Sun; Clouds; Antarctica; the Arctic; Greenland; Mount Kilimanjaro; Hurricanes; Extreme Storms; Floods; Ocean Acidification; Polar Bears; lack of atmospheric dust; the failure of oceans to warm and rise as predicted

You can view this information on the US Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Minority Page.

Despite the evidence that the so-called ‘consensus’ is breaking down, you can rely on the incoming administration and the majorities in both houses of congress to ignore the facts and proceed with their untenable climate and environmental agenda for the country.

Be sure to visit our Climate and Global Warming information and resources page for lots of backup information on the real cause of climate change.

Also please read our user-interactive article on Correlating Sunspots to Global Climate. There is plenty of visual information and many comments both pro and con to our viewpoint. Check it out.

Egregiously stolen from The Patriot Post:

Upstanding governor: “I’m going to keep [Obama’s] Senate option for me a real possibility, you know, and therefore I can drive a hard bargain. You hear what I’m saying? And if I don’t get what I want and I’m not satisfied with it, then I’ll just take the Senate seat myself. …[The seat] is a f***ing valuable thing — you just don’t give it away for nothing.” — Illinois Democrat Gov. Rod Blagojevich in secretly taped phone conversations about filling Obama’s Senate seat

Bad idea: “I should say if anybody wants to tape my conversations, go right ahead, feel free to do it. I appreciate anybody who wants to tape me openly and notoriously, and those who feel like they want to sneakily and wear taping devices, I would remind them that it kind of smells like Nixon and Watergate.” — Rod Blagojevich before his arrest

Deny everything: “I had no contact with the governor or his office and so we were not, I was not aware of what was happening.” — Barack Obama, friend and ally of Gov. Blagojevich

Somebody’s lying: “I know he’s talked to the governor and there are a whole range of names many of which have surfaced, and I think he has a fondness for a lot of them.” — Obama adviser David Axelrod on 23 November (Axelrod now says he was “mistaken” when he said that)