Administrative, Law

Intermittent Posting

31 Comments

I just flew into DC for the pre-trial hearing, and most of the week will be spent in trial prep, so if you don’t hear from me, that’s why. I’ll be meeting with Mark Steyn in the morning before the hearing.

31 thoughts on “Intermittent Posting”

  2. Good luck to you and Mark at trial. Let’s hope the judicial process doesn’t fall for the Hokey Schtick.

  3. I heard an interview with Michael Mann on a Sirius XM channel. It was interesting how they spun it. The fawning interviewer presented the twin straw men of “deniers” and “gloom and doomers” as if those were the only two kinds of people with an opinion about climate change. Mann pooh-poohed both before presenting his own (somewhat dialed down) gloom and doom message.

    It’s interesting how even with this easy access to media, the propaganda isn’t working out for their side. I guess people still don’t want to sacrifice their well being and progress for nebulous and somewhat fraudulent purposes.

      1. Amusingly, After WW-II Ferrari started out building farm tractors, and still does! Google Ferrari tractors. I want one and I don’t even have a farm.

          1. Wow! These are like nothing I’ve ever even imagined! Or anything I can imagine anyone could justify buying for any real use other than terraforming for Bill Gates.

            We just bought a Kubota (https://www.kubotausa.com/tractors) for our farm in Tennessee, and it’s awesome enough for me.

        2. Is it really a Ferrari if it doesn’t have a prancing pony. That big F on the front is as misleading as Mann’s data.

  7. Good luck with your trial sure we’re all looking forward to hearing good news about it from you. On a completely unrelated note should I go ahead and buy the 2023 Toyota RAV4 hybrid? Desperate for advice I hate making major financial decisions my current car 2008 Honda Accord is 15 years old 200K mileage more than beginning to show its age.

    1. I’ve been researching for my next vehicle. The RAV-4 hybrid engine noise is noticeably harsher than from the CRV hybrid based on my test drives (note I only drove the top trim on each). The plus for the RAV-4 is that Toyota has been making hybrids for over 20 years and probably has a better handle on reliability. Also note that if you want to consider a sedan, both the Accord hybrid and the Camry hybrid are better values than their respective SUVs.

      1. I know that some people turn white when anyone suggests a Korean car, but you should at least research the Kia Sportage and the Hyundai Tucscon, both available as hybrids. Edmunds has them listed as #1 and 2 in their hybrid SUV category (higher than RAV-4 and CRV). If you want something a tad smaller, the Kona is nice. I had one with 7-speed dual clutch auto transmission, AWD, and a turbo 4 cylinder. Not as sporty as my old manual transmission turbo Veloster, but you can’t have everything. Not sure if there’s a hybrid, but there might be. These Hyundais and Kias don’t have the theft issues that earlier low price cars had. Reliability tends to be good, maybe not Toyota good, but good. Service and warranty are the best there is.

    2. It’s worth looking at the current Honda hybrids. I just bought a 2023 Accord hybrid EX-L (EX-L seems to be the optimum price point for the Accord hybrids). It is a real pleasure to drive. This is my fourth Accord, so count me as a Honda fan. The new CR-V hybrid has essentially the same drive train, plus an AWD option.

      Honda’s hybrid drive train seems to have reached an acceptable level of maturity. Previous generation Accord hybrids have been going well past 100K miles.

      Do some research on availability and pricing on both Honda and Toyota. Both have long backlogs, and I’ve heard way too much about dealer markups well above MSRP, especially Toyota and especially on the Rav4. Local Honda dealer sold at MSRP with no ridiculous markup.

      Back on topic, good luck with the court case!

    3. Checked out Honda CRV, Toyota RAV4 and Mazda CX-5 3 and a half years ago after my wife stacked the 2000 Honda Accord at 3 mph resulting in write off.
      Bought the CX-5 with non turbo 2.5 L gas engine, 6 speed auto box (not the horrible CVT transmission or the silly little Honda 1.5L turbo which is the only engine option in Australia). Haven’t a bad word to say about the Mazda. Love the head up display and the ability to read speed limit signs and display speed and nav advice on the HUD. Excellent handling, good economy, comfortable seats and the Mazda guys have done an excellent job on the driver assist features.
      Drove the top line RAV4 and wasn’t impressed by the noise and harshness of the engine. Damn thing drove like a truck and the passenger side seat doesn’t have height adjust. The Mazda does and it is electric too.
      The Toyota styling department should be executed for what they produce lately. Ugliest cars around.

    4. I just sold a 2017 CR-V Touring. It was pure ICE. I averaged 36 mpg driving across Houston and I could get up to 38 mpg. Bring a Touring edition, it was fully loaded, thus extra strain on the engine.

      Before that, I had a 2011 Toyota RAV4, pure ICE that often got 34 mpg.

      Main question, why do you need Hybrid? I’ve looked at them and my current vehicle has a hybrid system, but mpg isn’t necessarily better. However, if you hate the auto start/stop, a good hybrid remedies this by giving you initial response from the battery until the engine is cranked. I would test that with whatever you choose.

      In terms of feature and price, I’d go with the CR-V. But I do a lot of city driving. If wanting a more rugged vehicle, then I would recommend the RAV4.

      I now drive a MB GLC300. I got 34 mpg this morning. Much quieter and I like the tech both interior and exterior. But wow, at least 50% more than the CR-V alternative. In my case, I really wanted to have a MB, especially before they start being ruined by the German love affair with green policy.

  9. Good luck, and try to make sure that Mark doesn’t get too excited. After 3 heart attacks and 5 or 6 stents (I’ve lost track), he’s pretty fragile. I saw him on the cruise and he looked like he had partially wasted away. It’s ultra creepy that the DC court is insisting on him showing up in person.

    1. A trial? What is it?

      Well it’s a legal procedure that takes place in a courtroom with attorneys representing two sides in a legal proceeding in front of a judge and sometimes a jury.

      But that’s not what’s important right now.

    1. Speaking of ClimateAudit. This shows up on the front page (around para. 15) as I linked to it today:

      …When you first hear the phrase “hide the decline,” it is easy to believe that the speaker is talking about hiding a real decline in instrumental temperatures. Instead what Jones is talking about is hiding the decline evident in tree proxies after approximately 1960. However, if you are going to attempt to have 1,000 year or 1,400 year temperature reconstructions, just a little bit of thought will make it clear that the tree ring proxies have to be dropped after 1960. On the other hand, there is a large question as to whether it is worthwhile to do 1000 year reconstructions when the proxies used are known to be unreliable in today’s world; how is it really possible to know that proxies were reliable 1000 years ago?

    2. pouncer, I don’t think a single paper with a single way of statistically looking at climate change will significantly change the debate. But on the other hand, would have been nice to see papers like this ten years ago. Think it might help return climatology to rational outlook on this matter.

      My take on this is that there’s a lot of crying wolf in climatology right now. We shouldn’t be squandered resources that are better used elsewhere on climate change now. But we should also keep in mind that just because there wasn’t a wolf this time doesn’t mean that there won’t ever be a wolf. I think humanity has a huge capacity for changing the natural world, even now, and it would be wise to monitor those changes.

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