When Talking Points Collide! Howard Dean Sez Republicans "Don't Believe In Science"

Using this week's record snowfall as a backdrop, a few Republican Congressmen took the time to poke fun at the Patron Saint of Global Warming Climate Change, Al Gore.

Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) tweeted "It’s going to keep snowing in DC until Al Gore cries 'uncle' " on Tuesday and Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) and his family built an igloo Wednesday and invited Al Gore to make himself at home in the structure.

Howard Dean, who's greatest success to date has been convincing the rest of the nation that the far left batshit insane moveon.org left was 'mainstream', was quick to retaliate in an ABC interview.

“One of the most disturbing things about the Republican Party over the last couple of decades is that just they don’t believe in science any more. And that is not an approach that is likely to generate any kind of creative thinking,” Dean said.
“People who use snowstorms as an example of why global warming doesn’t exist don’t understand the science and they don’t care.”

This same tired and hackneyed talking point has also been an item in the laundry list of certain husky, pony-tailed bloggers during their melodramatic flounce from the right (of which they were never a part of) and who have taken to preaching the gospel of Global Warming Climate Change while attempting to re-write history over the last six or seven years. It's almost as deliciously ironic as the Pro Life 'Anti Choice' label doled out by the left in this country.

Yet curiously, this assertion by Dean runs in direct contradiction to a relatively common talking point Democrats and others that I distinctly remember surfacing in the 2004 and 2008 elections regarding Republicans and the right in general. You see, apparently those of us to the right of...say.....Nicaragua's Danny Ortega ...are mindless, bloodthirsty warmongers, ready to pick a fight with such paragons of transparent, flawless democracy like Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, Saddam Hussein, Robert Mugabe, Bashar al-Assad, Kim Il Jong, the Taliban or tHugo Chavez, despite the objections of such selfless and completely unbiased institutions like the United Nations.

This apparently means that as mindless, reactionary hawks, the American Right and Republicans are perpetually beholden to that dreaded military-industrial complex in order to have a properly functioning military.

Off the top of my head, I can think of items such as satellite-based communications and surveillance, night-vision optics, laser-guided munitions, unmanned drones, reactive armor or wireless communications required to make the attack dogs of the vast rightwing conspiracy United States Military function more effectively.

So how exactly would the process of developing these systems for use by the military come about? Santeria? Voodoo? Strategic sprinkling of Holy Water? A note tucked into the Wailing Wall? Or wait.....maybe it's science! And of course, after enough years of development, this technology makes its way to the civilian sector, into the marketplace and onto your dashboard ready to give you directions to the nearest grocery store or call ahead to your weekly GOP/Dominionist flat-earth meetings to let them know you're running late.

Or maybe Howie's worried about increasing skepticism about Global Warming Climate Change since, even as an apparent work of fiction, it seemed to be a bestseller for the Democrats and the 'mainstream' votes from moveon.org and Code Pink his party has been courting.

Republicans- and most Americans- would be wise not to believe in a 'science' that cherry-picked it's findings in order to draw a conclusion that was predetermined. Most free people throughout the world would never dream of allowing unaccountable governmental or international bureaucrats dictating to them through fiat what sort of food they should eat, what type of light bulb they must buy and what sort of vehicle they are required to drive. The second that happens, they cease to be a free people. But if these same scientists, politicians and bureaucrats come off as altruistic, well-meaning officials who have told us they're here to save the earth for future generations....well, how could one argue that without looking like some sort of callous ogre? Add in a hysterical, almost apocalyptic urgency and these officials are clearly the proverbial Paul Reveres making the frantic run to warn us all of our own self-inflicted Armageddon. And if you disagree with them, question their findings or wonder out loud if that F-350 you use to haul heavy equipment and firewood around are really melting the Himalayan glaciers, then you are not only anti-science, you are a denier and a puppet who's strings are being pulled by ExxonMobil and other nefarious corporations.

If this is the sort of 'science' Mr. Dean insists my tiny little right-wing pea brain is supposed to be against, so be it.

Hearts & Crafts; Happy Valentine's Day from Not Another New England Sports Blog!

Ah yes....Valentine's Day, when thoughts turn from our mundane winter daily routine to murdered Prohabition-era Irish gangsters.

Whatever your plans are for today....whether it's spending time with your sweetie, curling up with a good book or even working, we here at NANESB! would like to wish all of you a happy Valentine's Day.

And don't forget that Mardi Gras is right around the corner!

Today's Train of Thought- High Plains Snow Drifter, Febuary 13 2010

If you stop and think about it, the folks in most parts of the Midwest have to be shaking their heads in bewilderment at the near-hysteria the most recent bout of snowfall was met with in the Mid-Atlantic region. Storms moving in and dumping 3+ feet of snow and causing whiteout conditions are nothing new, and they usually take it in stride.

That's not to say things always go smoothly. In February 2009, Canadian Pacific was having problems with persistent snowdrifts on the North Dakota stretch of its Twin Cities-Portal, ND mainline so much so that it had to reroute some of their snowfighting equipment off of their own line and use lengthy detour over the Dakota, Missouri Valley and Western via the former SOO Line Max branch and DMVW's line to Bismark, ND. Here, railpictures.net contributor Craig Williams caught a Jordan Spreader and snowplow bracketing a quartet of SOO Line, Canadian Pacific and Dakota Missouri Valley & Western locomotives. The Jordan Spreader and grey & orange GP40-2LW belong to the DMVW, while the trailing three GP38-2s (two in the old SOO line red and white and one in Canadian Pacific's 'dual flags' paint scheme) and snowplow are destined for the Canadian Pacific interchange. The colorful consist stands in stark contrast to the white landscape as the consist approaches Max, ND on February 5th, 2009.

Sports Chowdah Recap for Feb 11-12; Georgian Luger Dies in Crash, Delays Help Vonn? B's Make it 3 Straight, The Truck is Ft. Meyers Bound

(Ivan Sekretarev/AP)

WINTER OLYMPICS: Even before the opening ceremonies, the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympiad was already marred by tragedy when 21 year old luger Nodar Kumaritashvili from the Republic of Georgia lost control of his sled at speeds approaching 90 MPH during the qualifying round of the men's luge before going over the track wall before crashing into an unpadded steel pole near the finish line. Rescue workers came to Kumaritashvili's aid within seconds and administered CPR before he was airlifted to a trauma center in Whistler, BC where he was pronounced dead.

The potential hazards of the Whistler course had been discussed in the months leading up to the Olympics. Several countries- including Team USA- were upset on restrictions placed over access to the track. Members of the Canadian team were the only ones who had access to the track prior to the Olympics.

USA Women's Alpine skier Lindsey Vonn, already nursing a bruised shin that put her participation in doubt, caught a break from mother nature after rainy weather postponed practice for the women's event Thursday and Friday. This gives Vonn a few extra days to recoup before hitting the slopes.

The opening ceremonies didn't quite go as planned at Vancouver's BC palace when a hydraulic arm that was supposed to raise a section of the cauldron that was supposed to be simultaneously lit by hockey great Wayne Gretzky, NBA All-Star Steve Nash, skier Nancy Greene and speed-skater Catorina LeMay Doan. Despite through rehearsals, the section Doan was supposed to light never rose, so the Saskatchewan native saluted the crowd with the torch while awaiting further instruction.

NHL: The Boston Bruins winning streak has been extended to three games in a row after holding off the Tampa Bay Lighning to win 5-4 Thursday night. Michael Ryder and Milan Lucic had two goals each and Tukka Rask stopped 31 of 35 shots faced, although he was spotted a 5-0 lead courtesy of Ryder, Lucic and Miroslav Satan. The Bruins will travel across the peninsula to take on the Florida Panthers Saturday night.

Elsewhere in the NHL: Ilya Kovalchuk made his first goal with the New Jersey Devils count, snapping a 2-2 deadlock in the 3rd period during the Devil's 5-2 win over the Nashville Predators Friday night. New Jersey traded three players and a #1 draft pick to obtain Kovalchuck from the Atlanta Thrashers last week.

(David L Ryan/Boston Globe)

MLB: TRUCK DAY IS HERE! As I'm typing this, most of the Red Sox spring-training equipment should be making its way down I-95 on it's way to Ft. Meyers [No Lisa Kelly, but the cargo is in good hands nonetheless- NANESB!]. Pitchers and catcher's report Feb. 19th.

It's All Downhill From Here

(juliamancuso.com)

US Women's Alpine skier Julia Mancuso announced that she's starting her own line of lingerie under the name 'Kiss My Tiara' and plans on giving away 1000 pairs of thongs and short shorts to friends, family and competitors during the Vancouver Winter Games. Mancuso won the gold in the women's Giant Slalom at the 2006 Olympics in Turin and bronze for the same event in the 2005 Alpine World Ski Championships in Bromio, Italy.

Mancuso, an enthusiastic surfer as well as skier, is no stranger to being photographed in very little. The gold medalist endorsed Lange ski boots and became the company's first 'Lange Girl Athlete's' back in 2006. Earlier versions of the 'Lange Girls' were professional models clad in the company's ski boots (and not much else) instead of professional athletes.

Elsewhere, Mancuso's more conservatively dressed teammate Lindsey Vonn drew criticism from some netizens for her appearance on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

From womentalksports.com:

When females are featured on the cover of SI, they are more likely than not to be in sexualized poses and not in action-and the most recent Vonn cover is no exception.

Which apparently goes to prove that there's a subset of people out there who will attempt to manufacture outrage over just about anything. Umm....I'm not Alpine Ski expert, but I would have to assume that position and skintight outfit play a rather large role in increasing a skiers downhill speed. Good Lord- it's not like Vonn is posing on a bearskin rug with a wide array of scented lotions and S&M toys lined up prominently in the foreground. If they're truly concerned about exploitative imagery and sexualized poses, I wonder how come they didn't bother working themselves into such a lather over Mancuso's work with Lange. I mean....cripes, it's not as though there's this hue and cry from the general public saying 'If only somebody could save us from the omnipresent hazard of magazine covers featuring photos of attractive female athletes!'. If they could work up the energy to shift their offended little eyeballs a few inches down and to the right, they could see that SI is already calling her 'America's Best Woman Skier Ever'. Come to think of it, I wish the same purveyors of sanctimonious hissy fits could work up the same outrage when the Taliban launches mortars on a girl's school in Afghanistan or something.

But with all this sound and fury, I do find myself in the somewhat rare position of looking forward to the Women's Alpine skiing events.

Just a reminder that the Olympic opening ceremonies are Tomorrow [along with Truck Day in Boston!- NANESB!]

[Hat tip to The Lonely Conservative on the Vonn piece]

Patrick Kennedy (D- RI) To Announce He Won't Seek Re-Election; Jersey Barriers in Rhode Island Hardest Hit

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Patrick Kennedy, son of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, will not seek re-election in November. A taped message with the announcement from the representative will air on Rhode Island TV stations this upcoming weekend.

Although a member of the House Appropriations Committee, Kennedy's political career was relatively uneventful- save for nearly running over a U.S. Capitol Police officer before crashing his vehicle into a traffic barrier in 2006. Although he appeared intoxicated at the time, a sobriety test was never administered.

Patrick Kennedy's retirement will leave the US Congress without a member of the Kennedy clan for the first time since 1946.

Bill Clinton Hospitalized In NY To Undergo Heart Procedure

Former President Bill Clinton was hospitalized Thursday to undergo a procedure where two stents were implanted after he had been complaining of minor but persistent chest pains.

According to Clinton Lawyer Douglas Band, the 63 year old former commander in chief was 'in good spirits' and is expected to be released sometime Friday from New York Presbyterian Hospital where he underwent the procedure.

I have to say, one of the most notable accomplishments in Barack Obama's first year as President was to make this particular coal-black hearted, bitter, clinging right-winger nostalgic for the Clinton years. I mean.....if the man had what turned out to be a bad policy proposal he was in favor of, he'd pursue it for awhile before either he or his advisors realized it would be a good idea to leave well enough alone instead of repeatedly trying to cram it down our throats while his spokesmen in the media would tell the American voting public that it really was a great idea and were were just too simplistic or reactionary to appreciate it. Granted in the later years of his administration he had a Republican-controlled Congress to deal with.....

We here at Not Another New England Sports Blog! would like to extend our best wishes for a speedy recovery for Mr. Clinton.

BREAKING: Pennsylvania Rodent Outperforms Al Gore, RFK Jr. In Climate Prediction Accuracy

Punxsatawney Phil sez: "Bundle up, SUCKAS!"

A little over a week ago, Punxsutawney Phil had predicted six more weeks of winter. Although somewhat ambiguous in his forecasting, the Western Pennsylvania resident probably didn't appreciate how right he had it when barely a week later, a series of winter storms moved in and dumped nearly 3 feet of snow in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and elsewhere in the Mid-Atlantic. Highways, railroads and airports in the region ground to a halt and the federal government shut down [altho' with this Congress and administration, that isn't necessarily such a bad thing- NANESB!]. A few days later, the reigon was hit by a second storm that dumped an additional foot of snow before moving on to New York and New England.

Spreading ManBearPig Awareness

Phil's intuitive forecast has called into question the longer-term predictions of climate experts Al Gore and Robert Kennedy Junior. Some scientists have questioned the more alarmist predictions the former Vice President made in his film An Inconvenient Truth while the total cumulative snowfall in the Washington DC area from this week alone has exceeded anything that Robert F Kennedy Jr. has seen in his lifetime.

So in these trying and turbulent times of record cold and snowfall throughout the nation, who should you trust? A Keystone State Rodent or various well-compensated 'experts' with private jets and multiple spacious homes who never miss an opportunity to remind us that commuting 20 miles to our $12 an hour jobs in a Nissan Sentra is eventually going to bring about Armageddon?

I'm going to have to say go with the groundhog. It's already been a pretty rough week for the 'experts'.

Former Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson Dead At Age 76

A former US Representative best known for his wild partying and covertly funneling weapons and money to the Afghan Mujahidein fighting the Soviets in the 1980s passed away in Lufkin, TX today. Charlie Wilson, sometimes known as 'Good Time Charlie' was 76 years old and served in the 2nd Congressional District from 1972 to 1996. Wilson was also a graduate of the US Naval Academy at Annapolis and served in the Navy from 1956 to 1960.

The Democrat Congressman's tenure was revisited on the silver screen in 'Charlie Wilson's War', a 2007 film with Tom Hanks portraying the playboy Texas politician working with a Houston socialite and CIA officer to train and arm the Afghan Mujahideen.

Besides arranging the funding and organizing for a proxy war against the Soviets, Wilson also had a VA Clinic in Lufkin named in his honor.

Today's Train of Thought- Green Mountains Turn To White; Febuary 10, 2010

Today's Train of thought brings us to a craggy rock cut in Cavendish, VT not even a year ago as Green Mountain Railway GP40-2 #304 struggles up the grade between Bellows Falls and Rutland with train 264 bringing cars picked up from New England Central and Pan Am Railways. Railpictures.net contributor Andrew Blaszczyk braved the elements on a cool Febuary 2009 day to make this quinessential New England Winter railroading scene possible.