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Politics

Weatherize This!

Matt Welch | 7.6.2010 10:42 AM

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If there's any consolation to the do-NOT-go-outdoors heatwave currently frying up the loudest part of the country, surely it must be that Smokin' Joe Biden's Recovery Through Retrofit program is busy during these energy-intensive days weatherizing jobs out of thin air, right?

Not quite:

An Obama administration program to promote energy efficiency in homes appears to have met insurmountable resistance from financial regulators who are worried about its effect on residential mortgages, federal and local officials said Saturday.

Link via the Twitter feed of Mickey Kaus.

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NEXT: Protecting BP From Your Eyes

Matt Welch is an editor at large at Reason.

PoliticsPolicyEnergy & EnvironmentBarack ObamaUnemploymentEnvironmentalism
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  1. R C Dean   15 years ago

    Watching the blubbering and whimpering on the news from Our Media Capital, I can't help but think "What a bunch of pussies."

    Their "catastrohic heatwave" is pretty much typical summer weather in DFW, and I'm sure most of the Southeast.

    1. Media Capital Pussy   15 years ago

      most of the Southeast

      So that's where most of our cooling dollars go!

    2. MP   15 years ago

      OMG it's 100 degrees in July! GW! WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!

    3. Up East   15 years ago

      We're basting in our own narcissism.

      1. Chad   15 years ago

        You arrogant fools are all going to get a nasty wakeup call when the climate falls apart.

        1. R C Dean   15 years ago

          I doubt the climate in the highlands of Panama will be much affected, Chad.

          OMG, the average temperature might rocket all the way from 72 to 74 degrees!!! In the worst case scenario!! Sometime after I'm dead.

          Yawn.

        2. -   15 years ago

          D-

        3. Aresen   15 years ago

          You know, I hope you're right.

          ASSUMING that the outlier predictions for AGW propounded are correct, the average temperature will go up 2 degrees C by 2100, by which time I will have likely been dead for some time.

          If someone can find a way to wake me up then, it will be great.

        4. brotherben   15 years ago

          If we are actually influencing the climate, it took us about 150 years to get to this point. I really doubt that the 6 billion plus humans can dramatically alter their behaviours fast enough to turn it around. Even if we could, the economic effects would destroy humankind faster than the climate will. I would rather continue full steam ahead and find out just how adaptable man is. For now, Mother Nature is our bitch.

          1. Pro Libertate   15 years ago

            It's almost 7 billion now.

        5. Brett L   15 years ago

          Well, your beloved average global temps are still... average. The SE was 10-15 degrees below average for the weekend. We're not exactly preparing for the next ice age here in FL just because it was closer to 80 than 95 all weekend.

          1. Chad   15 years ago

            Keep snarking, you fools. I'm right, and you know it.

            1. -   15 years ago

              F-

    4. hmm   15 years ago

      I was thinking the same thing as I went for a run three weeks ago at 11 am in 94 degree 90% humidity weather.

      1. Chinny Chin Chin   15 years ago

        Was a bear chasing you?

        1. hmm   15 years ago

          No. I don't run through the gay neighborhood when it's hot. Too many hills.

    5. aeronathan   15 years ago

      I'll trade them any day. Here in Alabama, a summer day that's less than 90 is abnormal and 100 is really common. It worse when you factor in the terrible humidity thats common. Just try cutting the grass when the heat index is 110. You come in looking like someone hit you with a hose.

      We had a whole week like that recently. The dew point was nearly 80 degrees. The sun was still up when the dew fell. Absolutely insane....

      1. hmm   15 years ago

        Shower in May. Dry off sometime in October.

        The humidity is the worst part.

    6. Aresen   15 years ago

      R C Dean|7.6.10 @ 10:49AM|#
      Watching the blubbering and whimpering on the news from Our Media Capital, I can't help but think "What a bunch of pussies."

      Their "catastrohic heatwave" is pretty much typical summer weather in DFW, and I'm sure most of the Southeast.

      The "Media Capital" considers a three-alarm fire in Manhattan "national news". A nuke going off in Tulsa OK, is a "filler item."

    7. James Ard   15 years ago

      Actually the southeast doesn't get quite as hot as the Plains States. The humidity in the SE can be a bitch but we rarely top 100. 110s aren't uncommon in Kansas.

      1. brotherben   15 years ago

        I think the breezy conditions on the plains make it a bit more tolerable. It is often hot humid and calm here in south Alabama.

        1. James Ard   15 years ago

          With generations of ancestors from Ozark and Baton Rouge, I barely notice the heat.

          1. brotherben   15 years ago

            I live in Ozark. Born on Fort Rucker. Lotsa family in Southern Mississippi.

    8. Timon19   15 years ago

      In the spirit of one-upmanship:

      Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Weather

      Updated: Jul 6, 2010, 8pm Local Time

      95? F
      Feels Like: 109? F
      Dew Point: 77? F

      1. Bronwyn   15 years ago

        Yeah, that's what I grew up with on the East Coast of KSA. 115 in the shade, with 80% humidity.

        Sucks the life right out of you.

        1. Timon19   15 years ago

          The Gulf is an unforgiving bitch.

          You actually grew up in KSA? Ugh.

    9. bk_amdg   15 years ago

      Seriously! Last summer in Houston we had almost 2 weeks off 100+ heat, and we still had football practice!

  2. the government   15 years ago

    the government has begun telling municipalities to think of other ways to use the millions in economic stimulus funds that had been set aside for the green initiative

    And make darn sure they have no unintended consequences.

  3. iamtheeviltwin   15 years ago

    "loudest part of the country"

    This made me laugh. So true...

  4. The Libertarian Guy   15 years ago

    If there were ever any doubt as to Biden's dumbshittery... this is it.

    1. Joe Biden   15 years ago

      You have to admit, though, I have me some nice choppers!

      1. Barack Obama   15 years ago

        Like you said to me a while back... they ARE a big fucking deal, Joe.

      2. -   15 years ago

        You know who else had nice choppers?

        1. Joe Biden   15 years ago

          George Washington?

        2. Timmy   15 years ago

          The Hells Angels.

        3. Farrah Fawcett   15 years ago

          Me!

        4. Ron Popeil   15 years ago

          I know!

        5. Joe M   15 years ago

          A bunch of alligators eating raw meat?

          1. George Hamilton   15 years ago

            Me AND my tan beat all you pallid, no-teeth-havin' bitches.

  5. bigbigslacker   15 years ago

    Yeah, but the amount of money the improvements will add to home value will far exceed their cost. So why should the lender worry?

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, oh, I kill me sometimes.

    1. the government   15 years ago

      the amount of money the improvements will add to home value will far exceed their cost

      You laugh. Why do you think we've driving up the cost of energy?

  6. MP   15 years ago

    I haven't seen nary a mention yet of the French clusterfuck of a few years ago that happened while their state run medical establishment was on summer vacation.

  7. Ska   15 years ago

    But why is the bald guy douching in front of an open window?

    1. Jim   15 years ago

      Maybe the fan will dry it out?

      1. Slut Bunwalla   15 years ago

        *barf*

  8. Fluffy   15 years ago

    I really find it difficult to believe that these dumbasses didn't know that putting these stupid loans in first lien position would completely fuck up what remained of the system of mortgage finance nationwide and worldwide [since so many of our bond purchasers are overseas].

    Any fucking one-paralegal voicemail attorney who has ever done a single real estate closing could have told these dopes that this wouldn't work.

    I have to assume that they simply DIDN'T ASK anyone with any real estate finance knowledge at all before they devised this program.

    This is what happens when you staff your administration with PIRG lawyers who don't know anything about anything.

    I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but I eternally am.

    1. R C Dean   15 years ago

      No kidding.

      My guess is that this program is forcing an awful lot of mortgage-backed bonds into technical default. I would be astonished if those bonds didn't have covenants requiring that they be backed only by first-lien mortgages.

      Oopsie!

    2. Aresen   15 years ago

      I really find it difficult to believe that these dumbasses didn't know that putting these stupid loans in first lien position would completely fuck up what remained of the system of mortgage finance nationwide and worldwide [since so many of our bond purchasers are overseas].

      Never underestimate the power of stupidity.

      1. Pro Libertate   15 years ago

        Against stupidity the very gods
        Themselves contend in vain.

        1. Aresen   15 years ago

          Even Pro D'ib?

          1. Pro Libertate   15 years ago

            The Kwittheshitz Hadenough's power to contend against fools is quite limited.

    3. PIRG Lawyers   15 years ago

      We care about you, so sit down and shut the fuck up.

      1. PIRG Lawyers   15 years ago

        ...and we're here to help.

  9. Jim   15 years ago

    I love how people in New York think the rest of the country cares how hot it is there.

    Couldn't care less out here in non-a/c Colorado (I don't have one because I care about the environment, not because I'm cheap).

    1. Environment   15 years ago

      But, do I give a damn about you?

      1. Jim   15 years ago

        Just because I shit in your closet after we broke up doesn't mean I don't care anymore.

    2. Environment   15 years ago

      You should understand though, Jehovah and I are in a thousands of years old race to be considered the worst God ever. We are neck and neck in that competition. Such is our cruelty, Baal bowed out years ago.

      1. Fluffy   15 years ago

        You really have to work to keep up with Jehovah. - Hannibal Lechter

  10. brotherben   15 years ago

    Next the gubmint will require all souffle kitchens to hire morbidly obese one-legged sous chefs. EOE and ADA and all that.

  11. libertytexan   15 years ago

    Further confirmation that yankees are a bunch of little sandy vaginas.

  12. Spoonman.   15 years ago

    Amusingly, it's nicer in Houston than in Philadelphia. So, score.

    And not just in terms of hygiene.

    Also, as someone who grew up in Dallas, bitching about 100 degrees just seems silly.

    1. Spoonman.   15 years ago

      I worded that poorly. I'm 21, not really a child.

    2. Slut Bunwalla   15 years ago

      Those east coasters are a bunch of vaginas. I live in Oklahoma. Summer here means pretty much every day the temperature reaches at LEAST 92 F, and it's not at all surprising if it goes over 100; in August it is surprising if the temperature on a given day stays below 100. And this is every year, not in some special heat wave.

      1. Tomcat1066   15 years ago

        Georgia's on the east coast too, and mid 90's are nothing for this time of year. Funny enough, we had a relatively cool weekend, but the New Yorkers are bitching.

        All I can do is laugh 🙂

  13. ?   15 years ago

    Their "catastrohic heatwave" is pretty much typical summer weather in DFW, and I'm sure most of the Southeast.

    It's normal weather about 100 miles south of where the DOOMSDAY DOOMWAVE OF DOOM is. So it's slightly warmer there than usual. If it weren't the only thing on the news in the whole country, people there might even have noticed it.

    "Fuck, it's hot."
    "Kinda is, yeah."

    Humanity's last words? Probably!

  14. P Brooks   15 years ago

    This is what happens when you staff your administration with PIRG lawyers

    EEK!

  15. Fluffy   15 years ago

    100 degrees is quite hot for civilized men.

    Who cares how hot it is in the jungles and deserts of Texas, where the Texas bushmen live in their loincloths, worshipping their Coke bottles?

    Not this former New Yorker.

    1. R C Dean   15 years ago

      You forgot to adjust your monocle and pith helment.

      1. Fluffy   15 years ago

        I'm so civilized I have two monocles.

        And I connected them together with a little piece of metal that goes over my nose, thus demonstrating once again what civilized ingenuity can do!

        1. hmm   15 years ago

          Oh yeah? I have two pith helmets and one is OEM!

        2. Pro Libertate   15 years ago

          Bionicles.

          1. Thurston Howell III   15 years ago

            I say, Lovey, what is with all these dreadful poor people on this internet device? How simply droll they are!

    2. Night Elf Mohawk   15 years ago

      The Gods would drop a Dr Pepper bottle in Texas.

      Chrome seems to have done me wrong on the earlier post, but it could be a lack of caffeine, as well.

  16. P Brooks   15 years ago

    It was forty six when I got up; it's all the way up to fifty four, now.

    I might have to toss another bundle of T-bills on the fire.

  17. Night Elf Mohawk   15 years ago

    The Gods would drop a Dr Pepper bottle in Texas.

    1. Chipotle   15 years ago

      Yes, but in Texas, as in the South all soft drinks are "cokes." Much the same as many refer to all refrigerants as "Freon."

  18. Fluffy   15 years ago

    And in more "They shoulda known" news:

    http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US.....er/?hpt=T2

    Apparently the blimp Obama was sending to the Gulf to fight the oil spill has been delayed by weather.

    Did these people learn nothing from the Ron Paul campaign?

    Don't they know that blimps are the kiss of death? And that they are always late on account of weather?

    Was no teabagger on hand to share these lessons of history with our unflappable President?

    1. Brett L   15 years ago

      He's send a blimp to fight an oil spill, your argument is irrelevant.

    2. R C Dean   15 years ago

      He's sending a blimp to fight an oil spill, during hurricane season.

      What could possibly go wrong? For that matter, what could possibly go right?

      1. hmm   15 years ago

        I hear satellites have a much better + resistance to hurricane than blimps.

        1. Pro Libertate   15 years ago

          What about space hurricanes? Huh? Didn't think about those, did you?

          1. The Libertarian Guy   15 years ago

            The future of NASA's blimp budget doesn't look too good. Guess Uranus is shit out of luck with that space hurricane headed straight for it.

            1. hmm   15 years ago

              I hear the Muslim nations are going to rally and save the program with some sort of super blimp.

              1. Pro Libertate   15 years ago

                Well, DARPA has a spy blimp. Does that count?

                1. Ragin Cajun   15 years ago

                  What, did they hire Linda Tripp or something?

    3. brotherben   15 years ago

      Don't they know that blimps are the kiss of death?

      One sure was for Bill Clinton.

      1. hmm   15 years ago

        Wasn't that more the suck of death than the kiss?

        1. brotherben   15 years ago

          Either way, it involved a blimp and some spillage.

        2. brotherben   15 years ago

          Either way, it involved a blimp and some spillage.

          1. brotherben   15 years ago

            Dammit man. I get ta thinkin 'bout Monica and get all twitchy.

        3. brotherben   15 years ago

          Either way, it involved a blimp and some spillage.

  19. hmm   15 years ago

    Blimps Are Pimp

    Youtube, maybe NSFW (Weebls Stuff)

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