I liked his show when he was on the air, but IÂ’m pleased to see Jon Matthews is going to jail like he deserves.

Former radio talk show host Jon Matthews was ordered to spend three years in prison after a Fort Bend County judge this morning revoked his probation.

Matthews, 61, left the courtroom of state District Judge Brady Elliott after agreeing to a three-year sentence on a charge of indecency with a child.

The state claimed Matthews violated several terms of the probation he received two and half years ago after he pleaded guilty to exposing himself to an 11-year-old girl. Matthews did not dispute the claims made in court this morning.

Matthews, a fixture on Houston's radio scene for almost two decades, was jailed in August after prosecutors filed a motion to revoke the probation and asked that he be sent to prison. He was later released on bail.

Court records show Matthews violated several probation conditions the court set in 2004 when he entered his plea on the charge that stemmed from the October 2003 incident.

The violations included testing positive for alcohol, being terminated from a sex offenders counseling program and engaging in sexual fantasy activity over the Internet, court records said.

The man is a sick freak who needs to be out of circulation for far longer, but weÂ’ll take what we can get. Still, it is a sad end to a sordid story.

Posted by: Greg at 11:55 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Proving once again that some folks really donÂ’t believe in freedom, the food fascists are at it again, attacking fast-food restaurants and urging government regulations and legal bans on certain restaurants and entrees.

It starts with criticism of the food choices offered based upon the preferences of diners.

Chain restaurants in the United States are promoting dangerous "X-treme Eating", a US watchdog has said.

They are serving up "ever-more harmful new creations," says the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

It says that some individual dishes can exceed 2,000 calories, more than the recommended daily intake for women.

As more than one in five US adults are obese, it says restaurants should list nutritional information on their menus to make consumers more aware.

The next step, as we have seen in the past from CSPI, is to call for regulation and legislation to take away choices from people.

One such food fascist is calling for bans on one chain restaurant.

The Prince of Wales told a nutritionist in Abu Dhabi Tuesday that the “key” to people eating healthily was to ban McDonald’s fast food restaurants.
Prince Charles was attending the launch of a public health awareness campaign aimed at fighting diabetes in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

He visited the Imperial College London Diabetes Centre and watched as a group of children chose from a selection of “good” and “bad” snacks for their school packed lunches.

Talking to Nadine Tayara, a nutritionist from the centre who had put the children through their paces, he asked her: “Have you got anywhere with McDonald’s? Have you tried getting it banned? That’s the key.”

Well, that is enough to keep me saying “God save the Queen” until her moron son has passed into the next world. Charles, surrounded by wealth, luxury and privilege, so he thinks it is his place to dictate to everyone else what and where they eat. Even though I agree with him on the relative merits of a fast-food diet, I simply reject the notion that it is the place of government to choose for us what and where we can eat.

But if Prince Up-Chuck is going to get involved in our diets, consider this comparison.

One is marketed by McDonalds. One is marketed by Prince Charles.

Which one is worse for you – but which one does he want banned?

Posted by: Greg at 11:53 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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Coming out in favor of mandatory HPV vaccines for little girls without their consent or that of their parents, it strikes me that the New York Times has breached a serious feminist line. After all, don't we always hear "our bodies, our choice" and "keep your rosaries off of my ovaries" from the pro-abort activists and their supporters in the media? Why the sudden turn to government intervention in the cervical health?

Debate over a new vaccine to prevent cervical cancer and genital warts has reached a high pitch. State legislatures are debating whether to mandate the vaccine or insist that its use be kept voluntary. The manufacturer stopped a vigorous lobbying campaign lest it provoke more opposition than support. And some health professionals who had been championing the vaccine flinched at making it mandatory, at least for now.

Even so, state legislatures should require that all young girls be given this vaccine, which protects against a virus that causes some 10,000 new cases of cervical cancer in the United States each year — and 3,700 cancer deaths.

The NY Times then goes on to dismiss every single argument against he vaccine in the most condescending of terms -- typical of the paper's editorial board, which believes it knows better than the commoners on every subject -- and urges a full-steam-ahead approach to mandatory vaccination with Gardasil, despite teh questions that remain about the drug and the financial pressure it will put on the states that mandate it.

But then again, since when has the New York Times ever cared about the implications of the policies it supports? And since it will save the lives of over 1,000,000 children annually, will the paper come out in favor of a ban on abortion?

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Attempting to run down passengers with your cab will get you a disciplinary hearing before the licensing board.

A disciplinary hearing is set for tomorrow for the Nashville taxi driver who is accused of trying to run over two students after a heated discussion over religion last week.

The hearing for driver Ibrahim Sheikh Ahmed, 37, is on the agenda of the 1:30 p.m. meeting Tuesday of the Metro Transportation Licensing Commission.

Ahmed was arrested Feb. 18 on charges of criminal homicide after police said he hit Ohio student Jeremie Invus with his United Cab Co. van. Ahmed is in the Metro Jail awaiting trial.

Another student, Andrew Nelson of Dayton, Ohio, dodged the van as it sped toward them.

According to a police report, the three men had a conversation about religion while in the taxi that "became heated." Shortly after the men paid Ahmed, he chased them in his van across the parking lot and over a curb, police said.

Of course, the Tennessean and the local cops let loose with a big lie later in the article.

Metro police spokeswoman Kris Mumford said one of the students is Catholic and the other is Lutheran. Mumford said that Ahmed's religion was not known.

You see, Ahmed's religion IS known, and has been reported elsewhere. And yes, you are correct if you jump to the conclusion that he is a member of the Religion of Peace.

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Well, this certainly gives us some insight into how our early ancestors began making and using tools.

Chimpanzees living in the West African savannah have been observed fashioning deadly spears from sticks and using the tools to hunt small mammals -- the first routine production of deadly weapons ever observed in animals other than humans.

The multistep spearmaking practice, documented by researchers in Senegal who spent years gaining the chimpanzees' trust, adds credence to the idea that human forebears fashioned similar tools millions of years ago.

The landmark observation also supports the long-debated proposition that females -- the main makers and users of spears among the Senegalese chimps -- tend to be the innovators and creative problem solvers in primate culture.

Using their hands and teeth, the chimpanzees were repeatedly seen tearing the side branches off long, straight sticks, peeling back the bark and sharpening one end. Then, grasping the weapons in a "power grip," they jabbed them into tree-branch hollows where bush babies -- small, monkeylike mammals -- sleep during the day.

I suspect there will be a lot more study of this behavior over the course the next few decades, including whether this was independently developed behavior or whether the chimps were in some way contaminated by human interaction.

Personally, though, I won't worry much until they start observing monkeys making firearms.

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Bravo to the prince, third in line to the British throne, for insisting that he go to Iraq with his unit.

Prince Harry's regiment will be deployed to Iraq, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Clarence House have confirmed in a joint statement.

His Blues and Royals regiment will serve in Iraq for six months as part of the latest deployments.

The prince will be the first senior royal to serve on the front line since Prince Andrew in the Falklands in 1982.

While in Iraq, the prince will carry out "a normal troop commander's role", the statement said.

This will involve "leading a troop of 12 men in four Scimitar armoured reconnaissance vehicles, each with a crew of three" from the regiment's "A squadron", the statement added.

"The decision to deploy him has been a military one, made by Chief of General Staff, Gen Sir Richard Dannatt, in conjunction with Cornet Wales' commanding officer," it said.

"The Royal household has been consulted throughout."

I admire this manÂ’s determination to do the right thing.

And on an entirely different level IÂ’m also amused by it, given Prince HarryÂ’s role in John BirminghamÂ’s Axis of Time novels.

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I somehow expect that it will never happen -- and have wondered when we would start seeing these rumblings.

Winning approval for a proposed merger of the nation's two satellite radio companies turns on whether regulators buy their argument that iPods, Internet radio and other new technologies have expanded so dramatically that a monopoly would not harm consumers' choices or purses.

It may be a difficult argument to win, but XM Satellite Holdings and Sirius Satellite Radio's officers say it's worth the gamble and have assembled an expensive and experienced team of lobbyists to aid them in the fight. Alone, the companies have suffered heavy losses and spent heavily on recruiting personalities such as Howard Stern and Oprah Winfrey and on marketing to compete against each other.

* * *

All those new devices, however, are not directly analogous to satellite radio, and Karmazin's plea is a tough sell, said Chad Bartley, an analyst for Pacific Crest Securities. XM and Sirius provide "the only paid-radio service out there," he said, and regulators may be loath to turn them into a monopoly. He rated the chances for merger approval at "less than 50-50."

"The regulatory process will be quite onerous," said William Kidd, an analyst for Wedbush Morgan, an investment firm in Los Angeles. Regulators will be reluctant to create a single satellite radio company, particularly because they have recruited a total of 14 million paying customers in five years as separate companies, he said.

My guess is that the merge doesn't happen now -- and only happens if one (or both) of the companies files for bankruptcy in a few years.

Posted by: Greg at 10:33 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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And I mean both the story and the reporting of it.

SAN JACINTO, Calif. A sport utility vehicle fatally struck a 68-year-old San Jacinto man in a motorized wheelchair as he crossed a street, according to the coroner's office.

The accident occurred about 4:45 p.m. Saturday on San Jacinto Avenue just north of Midway Street. He was declared dead at Hemet Valley Medical Center about 6:30 p.m., according to the coroner's office.

The man's name was withheld pending notification of next of kin. Hemet sheriff's station deputies were handling the investigation.

There is, of course, and obvious question to be asked -- was the SUV operating independently, or was there a driver behind the wheel? What did the driver look like? What did the SUV look like? Did anyone get the plates? Frankly, this reporting is simply awful -- and hardly does justice to the investigation of this poor man's death.

Posted by: Greg at 06:10 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Which explains how this fellow's absence could be missed by his neighbors for a year or more.

The partially mummified body of a man dead for more than a year has been found in a chair in front of his television, which was still on, authorities said.

Vincenzo Ricardo, 70, apparently died of natural causes, said Dr. Stuart Dawson, Suffolk County's deputy chief medical examiner.

Police found Ricardo's body this week when they investigated a report of burst pipes.

The home's dry air had preserved his features, morgue assistant Jeff Bacchus said.

"You could see his face. He still had hair on his head," Bacchus said.

Ricardo's wife died years ago, and he lived alone, Dawson said.

"He hasn't been heard from in over a year. That's the part that baffles me," he said. "Nobody sounded the alarm."

Neighbors said they had thought Ricardo was in a hospital or nursing home.

"We never thought to check on him," said neighbor Diane Devon.

Do you know your neighbors? Would you miss them -- or would they miss you -- if you suddenly went missing like this?

Posted by: Greg at 07:11 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Now this development could be quite interesting, both from an economic standpoint and a legal point of view. If Chrysler becomes a part of GM, what does this do to the US automotive market a a whole?

Shares of DaimlerChrysler climbed yesterday after media reports that General Motors was in talks to buy the German firm's Chrysler division.

Chrysler officials in Germany played down the reports, saying the primary focus now for Chrysler was a restructuring aimed at returning it to profitability. And U.S. industry executives struggled yesterday to assess how GM would benefit from an alliance with Chrysler. GM is in the process of shrinking its operations in an attempt to increase its profit.

Buying all of Chrysler would position GM to remain the world's largest manufacturer of automobiles, a title that Toyota is poised to snatch away in the next few years. But what does this mean in terms of anti-trust issues? I recall that as Chrysler was failing in the late 1970s, there were concerns that GM's market share would force the company's break-up as a monopoly under American law. Would this purchase risk the same sort of legal issue? Or has the automotive industry changed over the last quarter century to such a degree that there is no longer such a legal threat?

Posted by: Greg at 06:30 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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After all, that is what this law would have amounted to -- because it is usually the speech that offends that really needs Constitutional protection.

It's still going to be legal in Arizona for trucks to have splash guards with racist terms and silhouettes of naked women.

The House on Thursday rejected a Democratic amendment that would have banned splash guards with "images that are obscene or hateful."

The amendment's sponsor, Rep. Ed Ableser of Tempe, said he'd seen a splash guard that used the word "pickaninny" — a derogatory term for black children — and said his proposal was intended "to make sure those individuals that have hateful motives don't express or push those images upon others in our communities."

On the other hand, coat religious image in urine or feces, and Democrats like Ableser will not only defend them, but also support NEA grants for them.

For what it is worth, I share Ableser's disgust with the messages appearing on mud-flaps -- but I am more disgusted by his attempt to engage in censorship of speech.

And I'd like to comment on one other DemocratICK legislator as well.

Rep. Theresa Ulmer, D-Yuma, supported the amendment and said it fit with lawmakers' other efforts to crack down on pornography and sexual predators.

"I personally am tired of explaining to my 11-year-old son why they (women) are depicted on mud flaps, but not all women are 36Ds. He's very confused by that," Ulmer said. "But seriously, this is about family values — what are we going to send out as a message to our children."

I'll agree with you, Re. Ulmer, that racism and sexism are not family values -- but neither is government censorship of speech in violation of the US Constitution.

Posted by: Greg at 11:16 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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This story seems pretty damning at first glance.

Controversy over a possible missed U.S. opportunity for rapprochement with Iran grew on Wednesday as former aide accused Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice of misleading Congress on the issue.

Flynt Leverett, who worked on the National Security Council when it was headed by Rice, said a proposal vetted by Tehran's most senior leaders was sent to the United States in May 2003 and was akin to the 1972 U.S. opening to China.

Speaking at a conference on Capitol Hill, Leverett said he was confident it was seen by Rice and then-Secretary of State Colin Powell but ``the administration rejected the overture.''

Rice's spokesman denied she misled Congress and reiterated that she did not see the proposal.

And the evidence backing Leverett isÂ…? Well, non-existent, from what we can see in this article. Indeed, this is an accusation from someone who was NOT working for the NSC during the period he claims to know what Rice was or was not reading or being briefed on. Even the NY Times is forced to admit as much.

He said he had left the National Security Council, which advises the president on security issues, in March 2003 before the Iranian proposal was received. He returned to the CIA where he previously worked and soon after left government. Hence, he was not in a position to make this case directly to Rice, he said.

So what has he been doing since leaving government? IÂ’m not 100% sure, but Ed Lasky at American Thinker points out this little detail that the Times certainly knew but left out of its article.

Might the New York Times have been able to fill in the time line and report that he is a partisan Democrat who went to work for the John Kerry campaign and that Kerry's defeat left to his future job prospects in a Kerry Administration in tatters. Instead the Times just reports that he "left government".

Gee, that detail puts LeverettÂ’s claim in a rather different light, doesnÂ’t it? He is a partisan Democrat who is looking for a high position in a DemocratICK campaign and a possible DemocratICK administration. Not only that, but he has been pushing for more US contact with the Islamist regime in Teheran, essentially the Iranian position on US-Iranian relations, since KerryÂ’s defeat. But the Times hides that information, because it would make Leverett significantly less credible.

Like I said the other day, the new motto for the NY Times is “We only print the news that fits.”

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But only because the leaker of court documents decided to accept a plea agreement. The testimony of the reporters therefore became unnecessary.

Two reporters from The San Francisco Chronicle who wrote a best-selling book about steroid use in baseball will avoid jail time after a defense lawyer agreed Wednesday to plead guilty to leaking them secret federal court documents, prosecutors said.

The lawyer, Troy L. Ellerman, will plead guilty to two counts of contempt, as well as one count each of obstruction of justice and filing false statements in a federal court, according to a statement from the United States AttorneyÂ’s Office in Los Angeles.

As part of the plea, the Justice Department will withdraw subpoenas issued to the reporters Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada, who had been held in contempt by a federal judge since September for refusing to say who their sources were for a series of Chronicle articles and their 2006 book, “Game of Shadows.”

“The government believes that Ellerman’s guilty pleas alleviate the need for the reporters to testify,” the statement read.

I'm glad this case was resolved without some court expanding the absurd notion of a "reporter's privilege". Like every American, reporters are subject to the laws of this country and must produce evidnce in court. They are not an aristocracy above the laws of the United States, nor should they be. And especially in a case in which the actual crime was the disclosure of information to the reporters, they should be required to appear and testify just like the rest of us.

Posted by: Greg at 11:15 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Seems there are groups in India who object to Valentines Day. Just goes to show the absurdity of some folks.

But it also shows a difference between the extremists in the countryÂ’s two main religious groups.

First, the Hindus.

One Hindu group, the Shiv Sena, said its volunteers would photograph couples caught in "compromising positions".

Overt signs of affection, such as kissing and holding hands, are frowned upon in much of traditional Indian society.

Shiv Sena has warned that its activists will stake out public parks, cinemas and shopping malls in a number of cities, and photographs of couples courting will be handed over to their parents.

Mahaveer Parikh, a spokesman for another hardline group, Bajrang Dal, told the BBC from Jaipur: "We will protest with all our might. We will do anything it takes to stop young couples in a behaviour that is against Indian culture.

Silly, but benign – and odd, coming from the folks who gave us the Kama Sutra.

And then there are the Muslims.

A Muslim women's group in revolt-hit Indian Kashmir burned greeting cards and beat young couples to stop people celebrating Valentine's Day, witnesses said on Wednesday.

The separatist Dukhtaran-e-Millat (Daughters of the Nation) raided restaurants and showered blows on some couples and then burned cards during a rally in the summer capital's centre, said an AFP reporter.

The group, along with an Islamic association called the Forum Against Social Evils, regularly wage morality campaigns against movies and other emblems of popular Western culture they deem un-Islamic.

"We will not allow Western culture to take root in Muslim-majority Kashmir," chanted several dozen marchers led by Dukhtaran-e-Millat chief Aasiya Andrabi.

Sad, isn’t it, that followers of the “Religion of Peace” become so violent when confronted with signs of love.

Posted by: Greg at 12:29 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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This may be one of the more outrageous attempts to go after the deep pockets of government – and one of the more absurd claims of a violation of the First Amendment.

Bob DeMotte was called an “ass” last year by a member of Spokane’s Citizen’s Review Commission after he complained about how police handled a neighborhood fracas involving an off-duty Spokane police lieutenant and two of her children.

Now he’s fighting back.

DeMotte, a retired author and Spokane resident, last week filed a $1 million claim for damages with the city. His rebuff before the review commission last October and the insult by commission member Marie Yates constitutes a “chilling effect on First Amendment free speech, defamation of character, and tort of outrage,” according to his claim.

“Robert DeMotte was a citizen of the city of Spokane exercising his First Amendment right of free speech at the invitation of Chief (Anne) Kirkpatrick,” said his lawyer, former Spokane County Prosecutor James R. Sweetser, in a statement accompanying the claim.

The commission’s decision to meet behind closed doors in executive session – over the objection of The Spokesman-Review – and Yates’ insult after members announced their decision to take no action “has a chilling effect on all Spokane citizens’ First Amendment Rights, constitutes defamation of character, and is outrageous,” Sweetser’s statement says.

Frankly, I think Marie Yates got it exactly right – Bob DeMotte is an ass. A million-dollar suit against the city for a comment made by an 83-year-old after a meeting, in a hallway, is evidence enough of that. Even public officials have the right to express personal opinions after a meeting is over.

And Bob – I dare you to sue me, for it will AGAIN prove you to be the First Amendment hypocrite that you have shown yourself to be by filing this one.

OPEN TRACKBACKING AT Outside the Beltway, Perri Nelson's Website, third world county, Faultline USA, stikNstein... has no mercy, Big Dog's Weblog, basil's blog, Blue Star Chronicles, The Pink Flamingo, Stuck On Stupid, Cao's Blog, The Amboy Times, The Bullwinkle Blog, Gulf Coast Hurricane Tracker, Dumb Ox Daily News, Conservative Cat, Random Dream, Right Voices, and Gone Hollywood, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Posted by: Greg at 12:27 PM | Comments (18) | Add Comment
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This may be one of the more outrageous attempts to go after the deep pockets of government – and one of the more absurd claims of a violation of the First Amendment.

Bob DeMotte was called an “ass” last year by a member of Spokane’s Citizen’s Review Commission after he complained about how police handled a neighborhood fracas involving an off-duty Spokane police lieutenant and two of her children.

Now heÂ’s fighting back.

DeMotte, a retired author and Spokane resident, last week filed a $1 million claim for damages with the city. His rebuff before the review commission last October and the insult by commission member Marie Yates constitutes a “chilling effect on First Amendment free speech, defamation of character, and tort of outrage,” according to his claim.

“Robert DeMotte was a citizen of the city of Spokane exercising his First Amendment right of free speech at the invitation of Chief (Anne) Kirkpatrick,” said his lawyer, former Spokane County Prosecutor James R. Sweetser, in a statement accompanying the claim.

The commission’s decision to meet behind closed doors in executive session – over the objection of The Spokesman-Review – and Yates’ insult after members announced their decision to take no action “has a chilling effect on all Spokane citizens’ First Amendment Rights, constitutes defamation of character, and is outrageous,” Sweetser’s statement says.

Frankly, I think Marie Yates got it exactly right – Bob DeMotte is an ass. A million-dollar suit against the city for a comment made by an 83-year-old after a meeting, in a hallway, is evidence enough of that. Even public officials have the right to express personal opinions after a meeting is over.

And Bob – I dare you to sue me, for it will AGAIN prove you to be the First Amendment hypocrite that you have shown yourself to be by filing this one.

OPEN TRACKBACKING AT Outside the Beltway, Perri Nelson's Website, third world county, Faultline USA, stikNstein... has no mercy, Big Dog's Weblog, basil's blog, Blue Star Chronicles, The Pink Flamingo, Stuck On Stupid, Cao's Blog, The Amboy Times, The Bullwinkle Blog, Gulf Coast Hurricane Tracker, Dumb Ox Daily News, Conservative Cat, Random Dream, Right Voices, and Gone Hollywood, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Posted by: Greg at 12:27 PM | Comments (19) | Add Comment
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But we dare not question their patriotism, do we?

A group of Senate Democrats introduced legislation yesterday that would restore habeas corpus rights to all detainees in U.S. custody and would narrowly define what it means to be an "enemy combatant" against the United States, a measure designed to challenge laws ushered in by the Republican-controlled Congress last year.

The bill, titled the "Restoring the Constitution Act of 2007," strikes at the core of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 by giving detainees access to U.S. courts. It was introduced by Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (Conn.), a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The bill would also prevent the executive branch from making blanket determinations about who is an enemy combatant and would restrict the president's authority to interpret when certain human rights standards apply to detainees. The legislation would limit the label "enemy combatant" to a person "who directly participates in hostilities in a zone of active combat against the United States" or who took part in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Interestingly enough, these DemocratICK members of the legislative branch are not actually seeking to overturn executive branch action -- they are seeking to repeal a law tha they passed. But it takes a while to explain that in this article about an effort to give terrorists greater legal rights than the soldiers who fight them.

Posted by: Greg at 11:28 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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And I donÂ’t just mean the ding-bat who was killed in this incident, but also the official spokesman quoted in the article.

An animal lover was mauled to death by cheetahs after entering their cage at a zoo in northern Belgium, authorities and zoo officials said Monday.

Karen Aerts, 37, of Antwerp, was found dead in the cage, Olmense Zoo spokesman Jan Libot said. Police said they ruled out any foul play.

Authorities believe Aerts, a regular visitor to the zoo, hid in the park late Sunday until it closed and managed to find the keys to the cheetah cage.

"Karen loved animals. Unfortunately the cheetahs betrayed her trust," Libot said.

“The cheetahs betrayed her trust.”

Betrayed her trust?

They are freakin’ wild animals, aggressive carnivores that survive by hunting slower, dumber prey – like Ms. Aerts.

In-freakinÂ’-credible!

H/T Taranto

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It seems those glaciers just don’t melt at a set rate, and that projections based upon a rapid-melt year are therefore unnecessarily alarmist – and not indicative of a trend.

A U.S. study suggests two of Greenland's largest glaciers are melting at variable rates and not at an increasing trend.

The study, led by Ian Howat, a researcher with the University of Colorado's National Snow and Ice Data Center and the University of Washington's Applied Physics Laboratory, shows the glaciers shrank dramatically and dumped twice as much ice into the sea during a period of less than a year between 2004 and 2005.

But then, fewer than two years later, they returned to near their previous rates of discharge.

Howat says such variability during such a short time underlines the problem in assuming glacial melting and sea level rise will necessarily occur at a steady upward trajectory.

"Our main point is that the behavior of these glaciers can change a lot from year to year, so we can't assume to know the future behavior from short records of recent changes," he said. "Future warming may lead to rapid pulses of retreat and increased discharge rather than a long, steady drawdown."

The research is online in the journal Science Express.

And then there is this little tidbit from India about glaciers in the Himalayas.

Believe it or not. There are only about a dozen scientists working on 9,575 glaciers in India under the aegis of the Geological Society of India. Is the available data enough to believe that the glaciers are retreating due to global warming?

Some experts have questioned the alarmists theory on global warming leading to shrinkage of Himalayan glaciers. VK Raina, a leading glaciologist and former ADG of GSI is one among them.

He feels that the research on Indian glaciers is negligible. Nothing but the remote sensing data forms the basis of these alarmists observations and not on the spot research.

Raina told the Hindustan Times that out of 9,575 glaciers in India, till date, research has been conducted only on about 50. Nearly 200 years data has shown that nothing abnormal has occurred in any of these glaciers.

Now if nothing abnormal is happening to the glaciers, could it be that maybe, just maybe, global warming is a crock of steaming excrement perpetrated by scientific light-weights for political purposes?

Posted by: Greg at 01:02 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Well, now the number of claimants to the paternity of Anna Nicole Smith’s baby has risen to five.

A fifth potential father has joined the messy paternity battle over Dannielynn, the baby girl of Anna Nicole Smith, Anna's bodyguard Alex Denk.
In a new US Tv interview, Denk claims he was the late model/actress' secret lover - and he fathered her daughter, who is the subject of a paternity fight between Smith's partner/attorney Howard K. Stern and ex-boyfriend Larry Birkhead.

In light of this paternity claim, I feel it is only appropriate for me to comment on the issue. I believe that I am the father of Anna Nicole’s baby girl, based upon a torrid evening here in Houston 14 months ago. Members of the media are free to contact me at any time, and should be sure to prominently mention my blog, Rhymes With Right (http://www.rhymeswithright.mu.nu) in all articles.

In the words of the immortal Kinky Friedman, “Why the hell not?”

Posted by: Greg at 12:51 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Well, now the number of claimants to the paternity of Anna Nicole SmithÂ’s baby has risen to five.

A fifth potential father has joined the messy paternity battle over Dannielynn, the baby girl of Anna Nicole Smith, Anna's bodyguard Alex Denk.
In a new US Tv interview, Denk claims he was the late model/actress' secret lover - and he fathered her daughter, who is the subject of a paternity fight between Smith's partner/attorney Howard K. Stern and ex-boyfriend Larry Birkhead.

In light of this paternity claim, I feel it is only appropriate for me to comment on the issue. I believe that I am the father of Anna NicoleÂ’s baby girl, based upon a torrid evening here in Houston 14 months ago. Members of the media are free to contact me at any time, and should be sure to prominently mention my blog, Rhymes With Right (http://www.rhymeswithright.mu.nu) in all articles.

In the words of the immortal Kinky Friedman, “Why the hell not?”

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I’m sure we’ll hear that accusation soon enough after a tornado hit the New Orleans area.

A powerful storm and likely a tornado hit the New Orleans area early Tuesday, damaging dozens of homes and business, ripping the roof off a hotel, and injuring at least three people.

The storm hit hardest around 3:30 a.m. in Westwego, just across the river from New Orleans.

It tore the roof off a hotel and tossed around FEMA trailers that had replaced homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Westwego Mayor Robert Billiot said dozens of homes and businesses were damaged. Several homes collapsed in other areas, officials said, and at least three people were taken to hospitals.

In New Orleans, the storm knocked down power lines and tree limbs and damaged roofs. About 20,000 people were without power in New Orleans, Westwego, and Metairie, a spokesman for Entergy Corp. said.
"There is just so much destruction," Billiot said.

Come on, Bush-haters, you know you can do it!

Posted by: Greg at 12:46 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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IÂ’m sure weÂ’ll hear that accusation soon enough after a tornado hit the New Orleans area.

A powerful storm and likely a tornado hit the New Orleans area early Tuesday, damaging dozens of homes and business, ripping the roof off a hotel, and injuring at least three people.

The storm hit hardest around 3:30 a.m. in Westwego, just across the river from New Orleans.

It tore the roof off a hotel and tossed around FEMA trailers that had replaced homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Westwego Mayor Robert Billiot said dozens of homes and businesses were damaged. Several homes collapsed in other areas, officials said, and at least three people were taken to hospitals.

In New Orleans, the storm knocked down power lines and tree limbs and damaged roofs. About 20,000 people were without power in New Orleans, Westwego, and Metairie, a spokesman for Entergy Corp. said.
"There is just so much destruction," Billiot said.

Come on, Bush-haters, you know you can do it!

Posted by: Greg at 12:46 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Senator Clinton wants to strip oil companies of some or all of their (not really so) excessive profits to funnel the money into alternative energy research. James Pethokoukis of USNews.com offers an observation that such logic could be applied to any business.

How about a windfall profits tax on Google? It's an idea that came to me after watching a video of Sen. Hillary Clinton, speaking at the Democratic National Committee's winter wing-ding, apparently call for the confiscation of oil company profits.

* * *

Why not confiscate a portion of Google's fat annual profits–the company's 2006 earnings were some $3 billion on revenue of $10.6 billion–and use it for some relevant national goal? The search-engine company is, after all, profiting from technological infrastructure it didn't even build, an "information superhighway" (to use a quaint term) that came out of a government defense project. It's time to pay Uncle Sam back. When Sen. Barack Obama officially announced his own presidential bid last weekend, he called for a new Internet initiative. "Let's lay down broadband lines through the heart of inner cities and rural towns all across America," Obama said.

He points out, of course, that these profits could then be used to create more bandwidth for the masses at little or no direct cost to them. And why not -- we all know that greedy dot-com entrepreneurs are simply ripping off the little guy to make their obscene profits, right? It isn't like they really provide any sort of actual service in return for the money they make, nor do they really need those profits to keep their business going in the future. These profits are a never-ending supply of cash for government to do good with -- or at least do something with.

Which, of course, leads us to the problem of such windfall profits taxes. They are nothing of the sort.

According to a report by the Congressional Research Service, as recently unearthed by the Tax Foundation, the windfall profits tax–a real bear to administer–had two nasty side effects: 1) It didn't raise as much money as forecast. Instead of raising $320 billion between 1980 and 1989, it raised only about $40 billion; 2) the CRS determined that the windfall profits tax had the effect of decreasing domestic production by 3 to 6 percent. So the United States had to import more oil than it otherwise would have.

Oops! They simply eliminate profits and exacerbate the "problem" they are intended to "correct".

So Senator Clinton, go back and take Economics 101 -- and Senator Obama, don't get any ideas as you read the column. As Adam Smith pointed out over two centuries ago -- government intervention in the economy tends only to harm the natural structure of the market, and harm all consumers in the long run.

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ThatÂ’s what they have in New York.

This village in upstate New York's snowbelt gets a lot of snowfall during the winter, but last week's total _ more than 11 feet, unofficially _ might be an all-time record.

Before it began to wind down Sunday, persistent streams of squalls fueled by moisture from Lake Ontario during the last week consistently dumped lake-effect snow in this western New York region.

So does someone want to explain to me how this is a sign of massively higher temperatures.

As of right now the official total stands at 141 inches in the last 10 days -- 11 feet, 9 inches -- with more on the way Tuesday and Wednesday, predicted to drop another 8-20 inches.

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I think this about says it all about where the loyalties of the DemocratICK Party lie..

Senior U.S. defense officials say they have evidence linking some of the deadliest weapons being used against U.S. forces in Iraq to the highest levels of the Iranian government, but congressional Democrats are warning the administration to go slow in making its case.

"Every leader in the region and every observer, every expert here in our country, tells us that Iran does not want a complete and total implosion in Iraq," Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry said Sunday.

According to U.S. military officials, a significant increase in a number of explosively formed projectiles, or EFPs, found in Iraq have tracked back to Iran. EFPs, which can penetrate heavy armor used in tanks, have killed 170 American troops since 2004.

According to the officials in Baghdad, they recently confiscated a number of EFPS that were found before exploding. The C-4 explosive in them has been chemically traced to Iran, the "machining process" required to make the projectile is not available in Iraq and the triggering devices are also traceable to Iran, they said.

Given a choice between our troops and allies on the one hand and Iran on the other, who do they side with? Iran.

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It is, after all, a basic question of supply and demand. Make a commodity more expensive, and less will be purchased. And labor IS a commodity.

Look at what is happening in Arizona.

Oh, for the days when Arizona's high school students could roll pizza dough, sweep up sticky floors in theaters or scoop ice cream without worrying about ballot initiatives affecting their earning power.

That's certainly not the case under the state's new minimum-wage law that went into effect last month.

Some Valley employers, especially those in the food industry, say payroll budgets have risen so much that they're cutting hours, instituting hiring freezes and laying off employees.

And teens are among the first workers to go.

Companies maintain the new wage was raised to $6.75 per hour from $5.15 per hour to help the breadwinners in working-poor families. Teens typically have other means of support.

Mark Messner, owner of Pepi's Pizza in south Phoenix, estimates he has employed more than 2,000 high school students since 1990. But he plans to lay off three teenage workers and decrease hours worked by others. Of his 25-person workforce, roughly 75 percent are in high school.

"I've had to go to some of my kids and say, 'Look, my payroll just increased 13 percent,' " he said. " 'Sorry, I don't have any hours for you.' "

So tell me -- how have these workers been helped by the pay raise passed by Arizona voters? How will American workers nationwide be helped by a minimum wage increase that brings about the elimination of their jobs?

Posted by: Greg at 04:25 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Now I realize that those of us who question the theory that human beings are destroying the planet through emissions of greenhouse gases are scheduled to be tried for crimes against humanity by the climate-change alarmists, far-left, and the lapdog media, but science demands that questions be asked and data be examined -- lest it become religion instead.

Which leads, of course, to this theory, which adequately explains such issues as why the average temperature in Antarctica is dropping, and why the amount of sea-ice in that region is increasing?

The best measurements of global air temperatures come from American weather satellites, and they show wobbles but no overall change since 1999.

That levelling off is just what is expected by the chief rival hypothesis, which says that the sun drives climate changes more emphatically than greenhouse gases do. After becoming much more active during the 20th century, the sun now stands at a high but roughly level state of activity. Solar physicists warn of possible global cooling, should the sun revert to the lazier mood it was in during the Little Ice Age 300 years ago.

Climate history and related archeology give solid support to the solar hypothesis. The 20th-century episode, or Modern Warming, was just the latest in a long string of similar events produced by a hyperactive sun, of which the last was the Medieval Warming.

The Chinese population doubled then, while in Europe the Vikings and cathedral-builders prospered. Fascinating relics of earlier episodes come from the Swiss Alps, with the rediscovery in 2003 of a long-forgotten pass used intermittently whenever the world was warm.

What does the Intergovernmental Panel do with such emphatic evidence for an alternation of warm and cold periods, linked to solar activity and going on long before human industry was a possible factor? Less than nothing. The 2007 Summary for Policymakers boasts of cutting in half a very small contribution by the sun to climate change conceded in a 2001 report.

Disdain for the sun goes with a failure by the self-appointed greenhouse experts to keep up with inconvenient discoveries about how the solar variations control the climate. The sunÂ’s brightness may change too little to account for the big swings in the climate. But more than 10 years have passed since Henrik Svensmark in Copenhagen first pointed out a much more powerful mechanism.

He saw from compilations of weather satellite data that cloudiness varies according to how many atomic particles are coming in from exploded stars. More cosmic rays, more clouds. The sunÂ’s magnetic field bats away many of the cosmic rays, and its intensification during the 20th century meant fewer cosmic rays, fewer clouds, and a warmer world. On the other hand the Little Ice Age was chilly because the lazy sun let in more cosmic rays, leaving the world cloudier and gloomier.

What's more, this theory works in a laboratory setting, and is therefore testable in a way that the current global warming consensus is not. What's more, it includes what is, after all, the most common sense source of the earth's temperature -- the Sun. Now I realize that the big ball of gas is inconvenient to all the big bags of gas that bloviate about global climate change being the fault of mankind -- but the evidence needs to be much more carefully studied and considered, as it provides a simpler explanation for the constant climate variation that can be documented over the course of centuries, not just decades.

Maybe we should call that evidence an inconvenient truth.

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Somebody had to ask.

Over almost three decades, a small laboratory at Princeton University managed to embarrass university administrators, outrage Nobel laureates, entice the support of philanthropists and make headlines around the world with its efforts to prove that thoughts can alter the course of events.

But at the end of the month, the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research laboratory, or PEAR, will close, not because of controversy but because, its founder says, it is time.

The laboratory has conducted studies on extrasensory perception and telekinesis from its cramped quarters in the basement of the universityÂ’s engineering building since 1979. Its equipment is aging, its finances dwindling.

Interestingly enough, this research was privately funded. That argues in favor of the notion that scientific research can proceed just fine without infusions of government cash. Not only that, it also disproves the fraudulent notion -- foisted upon the American people by the advocates of fetal stem-cell research -- that research not funded by the government is banned.

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Not, of course, that the DemocratICK Party want to let the US military actually take action against the state sponsors of terrorism killing American troops and innocent Iraqi civilians. After all -- that might give George W. Bush (and, almost as bad in their eyes, the United States) a victory.

The most lethal weapon directed against American troops in Iraq is an explosive-packed cylinder that United States intelligence asserts is being supplied by Iran.

The assertion of an Iranian role in supplying the device to Shiite militias reflects broad agreement among American intelligence agencies, although officials acknowledge that the picture is not entirely complete.

In interviews, civilian and military officials from a broad range of government agencies provided specific details to support what until now has been a more generally worded claim, in a new National Intelligence Estimate, that Iran is providing “lethal support” to Shiite militants in Iraq.

The focus of American concern is known as an “explosively formed penetrator,” a particularly deadly type of roadside bomb being used by Shiite groups in attacks on American troops in Iraq. Attacks using the device have doubled in the past year, and have prompted increasing concern among military officers. In the last three months of 2006, attacks using the weapons accounted for a significant portion of Americans killed and wounded in Iraq, though less than a quarter of the total, military officials say.

Given the use of dead American soldiers as campaign props by the DemocratICK Party during the last election, could these weapons constitute an "in-kind" donation to the DNC by Iran?

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Spectacular blogger and former WatcherÂ’s Council member, Dr. Pat Santy, speaks about her area of professional expertise in this article from MSNBC.

Serious questions are being raised this week about how closely NASA monitors the mental health of its astronauts, particularly regarding personal situations that could detract from their ability to handle their stressful jobs. NASA Administrator Mike Griffin has ordered a full review of current procedures and an assessment of potential improvements to them.

Veteran NASA flight surgeon and professional psychiatrist Patricia Santy worked at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston from 1984 to 1991, eventually becoming flight surgeon, or flight doctor, at Mission Control Center. She also is a board-certified psychiatrist, and helped develop psychiatric standards used to assess astronaut applicants in that period. She literally wrote the book on the physiological analysis involved in choosing space flyers titled "Choosing the Right Stuff: The Psychological Selection of Astronauts and Cosmonauts." She is widely regarded as a leading authority on the psychology of human spaceflight.
Santy talked to MSNBC.com about NASA practices and her thoughts about potential improvements to the screening process.

HereÂ’s hoping that Pat is intimately involved in whatever changes are made by NASA coming out of this case.

Posted by: Greg at 11:21 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I guess that only anti-American dissent is good dissent -- dissent against PC orthodoxy is a crime against humanity.

I would like to say we're at a point where global warming is impossible to deny. Let's just say that global warming deniers are now on a par with Holocaust deniers, though one denies the past and the other denies the present and future.

I know of no one who denies that the planet’s temperature is rising. I do, on the other hand, know many folks who argue that human beings are not the cause of that warming – and based upon my study of history, view the current trend to be a part of the cyclical variation that has happened repeatedly throughout recorded history.

And if you don’t believe in such cycles, contemplate this – why is a certain glacier-covered landmass in the North Atlantic called GREENland?

Jonah Goldberg has this comment.

Posted by: Greg at 11:18 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I guess that only anti-American dissent is good dissent -- dissent against PC orthodoxy is a crime against humanity.

I would like to say we're at a point where global warming is impossible to deny. Let's just say that global warming deniers are now on a par with Holocaust deniers, though one denies the past and the other denies the present and future.

I know of no one who denies that the planet’s temperature is rising. I do, on the other hand, know many folks who argue that human beings are not the cause of that warming – and based upon my study of history, view the current trend to be a part of the cyclical variation that has happened repeatedly throughout recorded history.

And if you don’t believe in such cycles, contemplate this – why is a certain glacier-covered landmass in the North Atlantic called GREENland?

Jonah Goldberg has this comment.

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The titles of these books currently selling like hotcakes in China are stunning.

One promises "The Eight Most Valuable Business Secrets of the Jewish."

Another title teases readers with "The Legend of Jewish Wealth." A third provides a look at "Jewish People and Business: The Bible of How to Live Their Lives."

In the United States, where making broad generalizations about races, cultures or religions has become unacceptable in most circles, the titles of some of these books might make people cringe. Throughout history and around the world, even outwardly innocuous and broadly accepted characterizations of Jews have sometimes formed the basis for eventual campaigns of violent anti-Semitism.

One has to ask -- what other stereotypes and falsehoods regarding the Jews will be revived in th world's largest country, and what will be the impact of their rebirth?

Posted by: Greg at 11:12 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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One of the great things about living so close to Johnson Space Center is that anything about astronauts qualifies as "local news". I just wish this story wasn't.

Lisa Marie Nowak was accustomed to hard training, prolonged deprivation and a strong sense of mission. But this is not exactly what NASA had in mind when they made her an astronaut.

Equipped with a knife, pellet pistol, can of pepper spray, steel mallet and 4 feet of rubber tubing, Nowak arrived at Orlando International Airport early Monday morning, police said, to confront one challenge the space agency had never considered: a romantic rival.

Nowak, 43, remains in Orange County Jail without bail on a variety of charges arising from a confrontation with Colleen Shipman, an Air Force captain whom she allegedly assaulted in the parking garage during what police characterized as an attempted kidnapping.

She is scheduled to make an initial appearance this morning at the Orange County Jail Booking and Releasing Center, which is inside the main jail facility.

Nowak, a married mother of three, apparently had driven from Houston to meet Shipman, a younger competitor for the affections of another astronaut, Bill Oefelein. So intent was she not to be late that Nowak had donned adult diapers to avoid the customary rest stops, police said she told them.

The story has been a big deal here, because this is a new thing at NASA. We'll have to see how it all shakes out -- and how the space agency deals with the unprecedented situation of an astronaut facing a felony charge. But sadly, it looks like this could ruin the careers of two astronauts and one other military officer.

Posted by: Greg at 11:03 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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What else do you call this bizarre thesis about the connection between the war in Iraq and Super Bowl ads?

No commercial that appeared last night during Super Bowl XLI directly addressed Iraq, unlike a patriotic spot for Budweiser beer that ran during the game two years ago. But the ongoing war seemed to linger just below the surface of many of this yearÂ’s commercials.

More than a dozen spots celebrated violence in an exaggerated, cartoonlike vein that was intended to be humorous, but often came across as cruel or callous.

For instance, in a commercial for Bud Light beer, sold by Anheuser-Busch, one man beat the other at a game of rock, paper, scissors by throwing a rock at his opponentÂ’s head.

In another Bud Light spot, face-slapping replaced fist-bumping as the cool way for people to show affection for one another. In a FedEx commercial, set on the moon, an astronaut was wiped out by a meteor. In a spot for Snickers candy, sold by Mars, two co-workers sought to prove their masculinity by tearing off patches of chest hair.

There was also a bank robbery (E*Trade Financial), fierce battles among office workers trapped in a jungle (CareerBuilder), menacing hitchhikers (Bud Light again) and a clash between a monster and a superhero reminiscent of a horror movie (Garmin).

It was as if Madison Avenue were channeling Doc in “West Side Story,” the gentle owner of the candy store in the neighborhood that the two street gangs, the Jets and Sharks, fight over. “Why do you kids live like there’s a war on?” Doc asks plaintively. (Well, Doc, this time, there is.)

Let's see. We saw silliness, We saw sci-fi tributes, lthe Garmin ad -- straight out of the 1960s Japanese show Ultraman. And yes, we saw stupidity, in the form of the face-slapping ad. Like so many times in the past, the ads were juvenile and designed to stick in the mind using big-budget special effects.

I'm curious -- what do the folks at the al-Qaeda Ministry of Intelligence and Propaganda New York Times think of Tom and Jerry or Bugs Bunny?

Really -- when your anti-war, anti-Bush bias sneaks into an analysis of Super bowl ads, your have ceased being a credible news source -- although we've known that about the Grey Lady for years.

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I'm not sure how I feel about this one.

The Justice Department is completing rules to allow the collection of DNA from most people arrested or detained by federal authorities, a vast expansion of DNA gathering that will include hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants, by far the largest group affected.

The new forensic DNA sampling was authorized by Congress in a little-noticed amendment to a January 2006 renewal of the Violence Against Women Act, which provides protections and assistance for victims of sexual crimes. The amendment permits DNA collecting from anyone under criminal arrest by federal authorities, and also from illegal immigrants detained by federal agents.

Over the last year, the Justice Department has been conducting an internal review and consulting with other agencies to prepare regulations to carry out the law.

The goal, justice officials said, is to make the practice of DNA sampling as routine as fingerprinting for anyone detained by federal agents, including illegal immigrants. Until now, federal authorities have taken DNA samples only from convicted felons.

Now i'll concede, we leave DNA all over the place in a variety of ways, so there are crimes that will be solved this way. But still, as pointed out in the article, DNA is different from fingerprints.

Peter Neufeld, a lawyer who is a co-director of the Innocence Project, which has exonerated dozens of prison inmates using DNA evidence, said the government was overreaching by seeking to apply DNA sampling as universally as fingerprinting.

“Whereas fingerprints merely identify the person who left them,” Mr. Neufeld said, “DNA profiles have the potential to reveal our physical diseases and mental disorders. It becomes intrusive when the government begins to mine our most intimate matters.”

This raises some serious privacy issues. How will the use of this information be restricted? Who will have access to the database, and what penalties are out there for misuse or unauthorized disclosure of one's genetic information? And are we ready to take a step that puts the very essence of one's biological identity in the hands of government? I'm just not sure.

Posted by: Greg at 11:35 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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A lot of folks are whining and wailing about the unfathomably large profit made by Exxon for 2006.

Oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. on Thursday posted the largest annual profit by a U.S. company _ $39.5 billion _ even as earnings for the last quarter of 2006 declined 4 percent.

The 2006 profit topped Exxon Mobil's own previous record of $36.13 billion set in 2005.

Revenue at the world's largest publicly traded oil company rose to $377.64 billion for the year, surpassing the record $370.68 billion Exxon posted in 2005.
"Exxon Mobil continued to leverage its globally diverse resource base to bring additional crude oil and natural gas to market," Rex W. Tillerson, chairman of the Irvin, Texas-based company, said in a statement.

However, let’s look at some numbers really quick – numbers that make all the difference in the world.

As a percentage of total earnings, Exxon’s profit was 10.45 %. Is that really an unconscionably high profit?

And taken per share, the profit was $6.62. With shares trading at $74 dollars as of this morning, that means that each share had a profit of 8.9%. Again, does the level of profit really shock the conscience?

What I’m suggesting is that no, it does not. Indeed, those earnings are right around where many of us would like our retirement portfolios to be performing.

But most people don’t actually look at numbers like that. They hear “record profit” and assume that something unreasonable, unethical, or unsavory has been going on, not considering how that dollar figure relates to the size and level of capitalization of Exxon.

Watch for politicians and commentators to start demanding that “something be done” about oil company profits. Expect folks to start insisting that these companies be run as if they were not-for-profit enterprises, not business ventures with a primary responsibility to the shareholders AKA owners. After all, those complaining are people who fundamentally misunderstand the nature of business and the role of government.

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Posted by: Greg at 02:23 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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A lot of folks are whining and wailing about the unfathomably large profit made by Exxon for 2006.

Oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. on Thursday posted the largest annual profit by a U.S. company _ $39.5 billion _ even as earnings for the last quarter of 2006 declined 4 percent.

The 2006 profit topped Exxon Mobil's own previous record of $36.13 billion set in 2005.

Revenue at the world's largest publicly traded oil company rose to $377.64 billion for the year, surpassing the record $370.68 billion Exxon posted in 2005.
"Exxon Mobil continued to leverage its globally diverse resource base to bring additional crude oil and natural gas to market," Rex W. Tillerson, chairman of the Irvin, Texas-based company, said in a statement.

However, let’s look at some numbers really quick – numbers that make all the difference in the world.

As a percentage of total earnings, ExxonÂ’s profit was 10.45 %. Is that really an unconscionably high profit?

And taken per share, the profit was $6.62. With shares trading at $74 dollars as of this morning, that means that each share had a profit of 8.9%. Again, does the level of profit really shock the conscience?

What IÂ’m suggesting is that no, it does not. Indeed, those earnings are right around where many of us would like our retirement portfolios to be performing.

But most people don’t actually look at numbers like that. They hear “record profit” and assume that something unreasonable, unethical, or unsavory has been going on, not considering how that dollar figure relates to the size and level of capitalization of Exxon.

Watch for politicians and commentators to start demanding that “something be done” about oil company profits. Expect folks to start insisting that these companies be run as if they were not-for-profit enterprises, not business ventures with a primary responsibility to the shareholders AKA owners. After all, those complaining are people who fundamentally misunderstand the nature of business and the role of government.

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