We always laugh at the dudes we see in the so-called “Smart Car.” Imagine a head-on with a Hummer or something else substantial.
Environment
This Evening’s Sunset
. . . was very colorful. This was the view looking west from our house a little while ago. Click on the image to enlarge.
Coldest January?
From WUWT:
Looking at Dr. Roy Spencer’s daily UAH plotter, comparing to last year at this time, globally we are nearly a full degree Fahrenheit cooler.
Blobs of Plasma Fall on the Sun
We have seen many coronal mass ejections from the sun in the past but this is the first video I have seen (that I can remember) where blobs of plasma seem to rain from a prominence. An amateur astronomer captured this video in Ocean Beach, CA.
Speaking of amateurs, NASA is soliciting reports from amateur radio operators to listen for NanoSail-D’s beacon signal at 437.270 MHz to verify that NanoSail-D is operating.
Video via SpaceWeather.com (repackaged in Flash®).
Climate Quote of the Day
Regardless of what you think of global warming, the point is that politicians are ignoring inevitable, short-term threats — a flood in California, a hurricane hitting NYC, an earthquake in the Midwest, multiple genocidal dictators in Africa, etc. — while spending an inordinate amount of resources and dialogue on the long-term implications of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Greg wrote this at the bottom of a Planet Gore post about how the Australians may have failed to protect against their recent flooding disasters as a consequence of Aussie Greenbats predicting drought and ignoring the flood potential. The crazy bastards built desalinization plants rather than dams!
Why I Won’t Buy Another GM Product
First, there is the matter of General Motors taking the government bailout. And now, there is a candid admission by GM’s North American President, Mark Reuss that they really don’t care what their customers think.
From Henry Payne via Planet Gore:
The Government Auto Show
With four inches of snow blanketing Detroit outside Cobo Convention Center and flakes falling on 49 of 50 U.S. states (Florida excepted), GM announced at the Detroit Auto Show this week that it is developing an all-electric vehicle fleet to combat . . . global warming.
Americans are flocking to snow-covered dealer lots to trade in their compact sedans for four-wheel drive SUVs, but The General also rolled out a new Chevy subcompact and the first Buick compact.
GM’s North American president, Mark Reuss, made it clear what’s driving product development. “Forget about gas prices. The regulatory environment through 2016 is going to dictate what we do,” he said. “You got to plan your portfolio to be there from a CO2 greenhouse gas standpoint.”
In a rare candid moment, a major auto executive admitted that what motivates today’s auto production is not the consumer — it’s the government.
For complete auto show coverage, go to The Michigan View.com.
Emphasis added.
Polar Bears vs. Polar Cams
From Planet Gore:
Here’s an amusing video of some polar bears toying with camouflaged video cameras, and by toying I mean trying to eat. What’s interesting is, at the end, the announcer claims that the curiosity that led the bears to toy with the cameras will help the species survive. Which is what we’ve been saying all along — there’s no need to weep for the poor, defenseless polar bear. Enjoy.
UPDATE: APPARENTLY, BBC HAS BLOCKED THE POLAR
BEAR VIDEO. I HAVE REMOVED THE LINK TO YOU TUBE.