Guess what? Those lazy-a jobless victims are Romney voters.

Chris Cillizza at the Washington Post points to two fascinating maps from Patchwork Nation.

One shows counties that voted for Obama (the darker the purple the more Obama votes). Note the lack of Obama votes in the south.

And the other shows median household income (the darker the green the higher the income).  Note the extent of poverty in the south.

What you see in the maps is that the poorest parts of the country are mostly in the deep red Republican south.

So guess who doesn't pay taxes while they mooch off the government (to use Romney's sentiment)?  Yup.

Cillizza concludes:

Simply put: Romney’s assessment of an electorate motivated entirely by their relative economic status badly misses the impact that other issues — social ones in particular — have on the electorate. Assuming that anyone who doesn’t pay income taxes must, by necessity, be an Obama voter is a major strategic oversight by Romney that, if not corrected, will cost him the election.

Read the rest of this post...

Temps to increase 11°F by 2100; "That’s basically Miami Beach in Boston"

UPDATE: A complete list of climate series pieces is available here:
The Climate series: a reference post.
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While I'm working on the climate catastrophe "solutions" posts, I want to offer this. Many believe that we can "tech our way out" of global warming. That somehow technology is the answer.

And just as soon as we (people of earth) decide to actually make a change, voilà — our smarts will give us the equivalent of google glasses. Call it, "google instant carbon scrubber." Aren't Our Betters wonderful? They'll show up with a pony, just when we need one.

Seriously, counting on Daddy (Mr. Koch and his well-meaning friends) to save us is why we're in this mess.

In fact, relying on Daddy is the route to catastrophe — extinction. According to the director of the IEA (International Energy Agency), no pony for us (my emphases and paragraphing):

No magic bullet will solve all of today's energy challenges, IEA Director says

During an interview with the makers of Switch, a documentary which explores what role energy will play in the future, Ambassador Richard H. Jones warned that if energy policies do not adapt, enough carbon dioxide will be being emitted to reach 1,000 parts per million in the atmosphere.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC, which we've quoted extensively] that equates to 6º Celsius [11°F] increase in temperature by the end of this century. “That’s basically Miami Beach in Boston,” he said.

The IEA’s Deputy Executive Director stressed that there is no single solution that will combat climate change and address all of today’s other energy challenges.

“There is no one magic bullet. There is no one technology you need, because the world is different in different places. In some places solar is great because the sun shines all the time … In some places it’s really windy all the time, and that’s great for wind [power]. In other places the wind is too variable or the winds aren’t strong enough. You’ve got to do a real cradle to grave analysis,” he said.

So to recap (again):

• If we STOP NOW, we still get 1.5°C (3°F) global warming. Half has already occurred; half is in the pipeline. (Had enough? More on the way.)
  
  
• Elite consensus says warming above 2°C (3½°F) is a problem we can't afford (James Hansen: "a prescription for long-term disaster").
  
  
• At 3°C (5½°F) there's a mass extinction scenario for 20–50% of species living today.
  
  
• We're on track for up to 7°C (12½°F). That's what delay — serving the rich — will get us. My prediction — life on earth retreats to the sea.

One more county heard from — 1000 ppm CO2 in the air; 6°C warming by 2100.

Here's what 1000 ppm looks like in 2100. This is weeks per year above 100°F.

Translate that to months, starting in the south and moving through the growing regions of the Midwest:

• Phoenix — 5 months per year above 100°F.
• California central valley — 4–5 months per year.
• All of the south, including Texas except near the Atlantic — 3–5 months per year.
• Nebraska — 3 months per year.
• South Dakota — 2 months per year.
• North Dakota & Minnesota — 1 month per year above 100°F.

How do you grow anything in that heat? If we don't stop putting carbon into the air, this is our future and that of our grandchildren.

Quoting Mr. Jones:

No magic bullet.

We have to take this on ourselves. More soon.

GP

To follow or send links: @Gaius_Publius Read the rest of this post...

Louisiana using pro-Klan books in public schools

And GOP Gov. Bobby Jindal is helping to facilitate the entire thing.  (I'm guessing someone just got dropped of the VP short list.)

Deanna Pan at MoJo quotes from a few of the books Louisiana is now using to educate children.

1. Dinosaurs and humans lived side by side:

"Bible-believing Christians cannot accept any evolutionary interpretation. Dinosaurs and humans were definitely on the earth at the same time and may have even lived side by side within the past few thousand years."—Life Science, 3rd ed., Bob Jones University Press, 2007

2. Fire-breathing dragons may actually have existed (the Bible includes numerous references to dragons, thus the need to prove that they're real):

"[Is] it possible that a fire-breathing animal really existed? Today some scientists are saying yes. They have found large chambers in certain dinosaur skulls…The large skull chambers could have contained special chemical-producing glands. When the animal forced the chemicals out of its mouth or nose, these substances may have combined and produced fire and smoke."—Life Science, 3rd ed., Bob Jones University Press, 2007

3. Majority of slaves in the old south were treated well: "

A few slave holders were undeniably cruel. Examples of slaves beaten to death were not common, neither were they unknown. The majority of slave holders treated their slaves well."—United States History for Christian Schools, 2nd ed., Bob Jones University Press, 1991

4. The Ku Klux Klan was a force for good:

"[The Ku Klux] Klan in some areas of the country tried to be a means of reform, fighting the decline in morality and using the symbol of the cross. Klan targets were bootleggers, wife-beaters, and immoral movies. In some communities it achieved a certain respectability as it worked with politicians."—United States History for Christian Schools, 3rd ed., Bob Jones University Press, 2001

"Klan targets were bootleggers, wife-beaters, and immoral movies." Hmm... aren't we missing someone?

This is why I keep harping about the South's lingering racism and bigotry.  It's a real problem, and it's affecting real people's lives, still.  Especially when southern bigots run for national office and try to impose their hate on the rest of us.

The Klan was a force for good?  Seriously, Jindal? Read the rest of this post...

GOP Rep. compares Obama contraceptive rule to socialism and communism

While the radio show he said it on compared the new rule to Nazism.

Just ignore the fact that communism and Nazism were deadly enemies, because that's a bit over these guys' heads.

Oh, and he's a Republican and from North Carolina.  In case there were any doubt.

The congressman's solution is to pass a law letting churches endorse political candidates, using their tax-free status to do so.

We're number one! Read the rest of this post...