Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (1009578)	4/4/2017 12:37:22 PM
From: Brumar89	1 Recommendation Recommended By TideGlider Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1576613

The same people are still running the corrupt climate agencies. You're right, I have predicted that they'll declare EVERY year to be the hottest ever on record and they'll change the record to make it so. Look, we're just in early April and they're already calling 2017 a hot record. Someday, they'll start saying that on January 2.

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (1009578)

4/4/2017 1:26:24 PM

From: Brumar89

2 Recommendations

Recommended By
POKERSAM
TideGlider

Respond to of 1576613

Growing Skepticism: Already 150 New (2017) Scientific Papers Support A Skeptical Position On Climate Alarm By Kenneth Richard on 3. April 2017

650 Climate ‘Skeptic’ PapersPublished In Last 15 Months

During the first 3 months of 2017, over 150 papers have already been published in scientific journals that cast doubt on the position that anthropogenic CO2 emissions function as the climate’s fundamental control knob.

The 2017 publication rate is slightly ahead of last year’s pace.

Because in 2016 alone, there were 500 peer-reviewed scientific papers published in scholarly journals ( Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) challenging the “consensus” claim that weather and climate changes are significantly determined by changes in atmospheric CO2 concentrations.

These 150 new papers (as well as the 500 papers from 2016) support the position that there are significant limitations and uncertainties inherent in climate modeling, and that natural factors (the Sun, multi-decadal oceanic oscillations [NAO, AMO/PDO, ENSO], cloud and aerosol albedo variations, etc.) have both in the past and present exerted a significant or dominant influence on weather and climate changes. Papers questioning (and undermining) the “consensus” view on paleoclimate (Medieval) warmth, sea level rise, extreme weather events, etc., are also included in this collection.

The list of 150 scientific papers with links and summaries and graphs has been divided into 3 parts on 2 pages. Click on any link below to access to the 2017 “Skeptic Papers”.

Part 1. Natural Mechanisms Of Weather, Climate Change Solar Influence On Climate (37)
Natural Oscillation (ENSO, NAO, AMO, PDO) Climate Influence (20)
Modern Climate In Phase With Natural Variability (8)
Cloud/Aerosol Climate Influence (3)
Volcanic/Tectonic Climate Influence (1) Part 2. Unsettled Science, Failed Climate Modeling (same page)Climate Model Unreliability/Biases/Errors and the Pause (12)
Failing Renewable Energy, Climate Policies (2)
Warming Beneficial, Does Not Harm Humans, Wildlife (3)
No Trends In Extreme, Unstable Weather In Recent Decades (3)
Natural CO2 Sources Out-Emit Humans (2)
Fires, Anthropogenic Climate Change Disconnect (1)
Miscellaneous (5) Part 3. Natural Climate Change Observation, ReconstructionLack Of Anthropogenic/CO2 Signal In Sea Level Rise (9)
No Net Warming During 20th (21st) Century (10)
A Warmer Past: Non-Hockey Stick Reconstructions (22)
Abrupt, Degrees-Per-Decade Natural Global Warming (D-O Events) (1)
A Model-Defying Cryosphere, Polar Ice (10)
- See more at: notrickszone.com

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (1009578)	4/4/2017 1:39:04 PM
From: Brumar89	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1576613

Renaissance For Coal In Asia APRIL 3, 2017 By Paul Homewood It looks as if the obituaries for coal may have been a bit premature, as this slew of stories emphasises: In the dusty scrub of the Thar desert, Pakistan has begun to dig up one of the world’s largest deposits of low-grade, brown, dirty coal to fuel new power stations that could revolutionize the country’s economy. The project is one of the most expensive among an array of ambitious energy developments that China is helping the country to build as part of a $55 billion economic partnership. Pakistan relies on coal for just 0.1 percent of its power, according to the Pakistan Business Council. The Thar projects and others could see that jump to 24 percent by 2020, according to Tahir Abbas, analyst at Karachi-based brokerage Arif Habib Ltd. Pakistan’s coal reserves would give the nation a cheap domestic alternative to expensive oil and gas imports. sltrib.com Just a few short years ago, few would have dared to predict that coal could have a future in the energy policies of emerging and developed countries alike. Yet the fossil fuel is undergoing an unexpected renaissance in Asia, buoyed by technical breakthroughs and looming questions about squaring development with energy security. For Japan, coal has emerged as the best alternative to replacing its 54 nuclear reactors, which are deeply unpopular with the population and seen as symbols of devastation after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster six years ago. Mindful of the public mood, the government of Shinzo Abe has completely given up on the country’s dream of nuclear self-sufficiency, and pulled the plug in December on the $8.5 billion experimental reactor project at Monju. On February 1, the government pledged to decommission all reactors and replace them with 45 new coal-fired power plants equipped with the latest clean coal technology. In this, Tokyo seeks to achieve two overreaching goals: preserve its energy security and stay on course to fulfill the obligations set forth by the 2016 Paris Climate Agreement. But why did Abe go with coal and not renewables or, say, natural gas? After Fukushima, Japan initially ramped up its imports of liquefied natural gas, but realized that LNG would be prohibitively expensive in the long-term. Cost-conscious, the government has instead opted for high-efficiency low-emissions (HELE) coal plants and plans to market its clean coal technologies abroad in addition to implementing them at home. Coal power already **made up 31 percent of Japan’s energy mix in 2015 but under the current plan, the fossil fuel will become the country’s primary power source by 2019.** thediplomat.com An Important shift is now underway in global coal trade. With a completely new export route opening up for U.S. producers over the last few weeks. To South Korea. Platts reported yesterday that coal buyers in Korea have seen a surge of bookings for U.S. thermal coal. With sources telling the news service that 1.5 million tonnes of total U.S. supply have now been arranged for delivery between July and September. This isn’t just a one-off transaction either. With all five of Korea’s utilities having reportedly booked U.S. exports for Q3. That big shift for Korea’s coal buyers is happening largely due to changing regulatory rules. With a new tax regime on coal imports into Korea scheduled to take effect as of April 1. The new tax rules favor imports of lower-calorie coal — with the 5,000 kcal/kg mark being an important financial threshold for buyers. Under the revised tax scheme, coal shipments less than 5,000 kcal/kg will be assessed import duty of 27,000 won per tonne ($24.30/t). By contrast, shipments between 5,000 and 5,500 kcal/kg will be taxed at 30,000 won/t ($27/t), while coal above 5,500 kcal/kg will see a rate of 33,000 won/t ($29.70/t). All of which means that Korean buyers want coal below 5,000 kcal. But not too much so, as really low-value supply won’t be as functional in power generation. U.S. coal fits that bill perfectly. With American producers putting out a 4,850 kcal/kg product that attracts the lowest tax rate but still provides a lot of energy per tonne. That ideal market position looks set to create a mini-boom for U.S. exports into Korea. With the 1.5 million tonnes booked so far this year already representing a 43 percent increase on U.S.-sourced shipments for all of 2016 — when Korean buyers brought in just 1.05 million tonnes for the entire year. That could give a lift to some U.S. miners. Particularly those in Wyoming and Montana, which have ready access to Pacific Coast export terminals such as Canada’s Westshore facility. Watch for more import deals being struck, and for figures on rising Korean demand for American product. Here’s to a window opening. oilprice.com notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (1009578)	4/4/2017 3:12:20 PM
From: Brumar89	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1576613

New VA secretary “begs” for more power to fire delinquent federal workers [ I'll bet you retired before VA workers were able to watch porn on the job. ] POSTED AT 9:21 AM ON APRIL 4, 2017 BY JAZZ SHAW I’ll confess (since I’m already on the record anyway) that I had my share of doubts when President Trump decided to put David Shulkin in charge of the VA. It just seemed to me that a holdover from the Obama administration who had been in the thick of it during the entire VA scandal might not be the best “new broom” to sweep clean. But since that time he’s pleasantly surprised me. Almost as soon as he was announced, Ed Morrissey noticed that heads were already set to roll at the agency and the guy looked as if he was going to make some real changes. And now we learn that Shulkin went before Congress to deal with another nagging matter which has been effectively hamstringing any efforts at reform. He’s begging for the authority to more easily fire workers who get caught doing things like watching pornography while they are with patients. (Sadly that’s not a joke or an exaggeration.) The news broke over at Government Executive. The Veterans Affairs Department should be able to fire any employee caught watching pornography at work immediately, according to its recently sworn in secretary. The request comes after a Houston-based medical center employee was found, after a “through [sic] internal review,” to have viewed pornography while with a patient. The employee is currently on paid administrative leave, but has not yet been fired as VA is required by law to provide 30 days of notice to its workers before terminating them. VA Secretary David Shulkin said that law, which governs the entire federal workforce, must change. “This is an example of why we need accountability legislation as soon as possible,” Shulkin said. “It’s unacceptable that VA has to wait 30 days to act on a proposed removal.” So the guy who was viewing pornography sites wasn’t some office drone handling paperwork. He was actually a front line worker who had to deal with patients and was doing this while he was in with and presumably taking care of one of our veterans. Initially, thanks to the current rules which were pretty much written by the unions, they couldn’t even suspend him. He was moved out of patient care responsibilities and into an “administrative role” at the Texas facility. When they did finally manage to get him out the door he was put on leave with full pay and benefits and those same rules dictate that nothing could be done for at least 30 days after he was initially notified that they were considering terminating him. For those of you who work in the private sector out there, let me just ask you a question. If you were caught doing that, would you even be allowed to collect your things from your desk before you were unceremoniously dumped in the parking lot? So Shulkin wants the ability to fire this guy and others like him a bit faster. Good luck with that, sir. While we’re all pulling for you (aside from those in the aforementioned unions), I don’t know how well you will fare. This is a known problem which has been going on for years and absolutely nothing of substance has been done about it. Let’s keep in mind that Shulkin is in charge of the same VA where it was determined that a different worker couldn’t be fired even after having been convicted of driving the getaway car at a holdup. We’ve covered more of these stories than I can count, including workers at the VA who were selling drugs out of their desks at the office, stealing medication which was supposed to be given to patients and the list goes on. Each and every one wound up either keeping their job to this day or taking a ridiculously long time to flush out of the system. Maybe Shulkin can produce some results, but it would be a nearly miraculous feat. All of these laws were put in place at the behest of the unions and those negotiations take place with nobody representing the taxpayers at the table. They’ve been doing business this way for so long they undoubtedly feel that such preferential treatment is an entitlement at this point. But if they do manage to dump the porn watcher in question and he has to go look for work in the private sector I’d love to be a fly on the wall observing what happens. He’s in for a rude awakening. hotair.com