Romney takes Michigan

The results are in. With 81% of the precincts reporting:

Mitt Romney – 39%
John McCain – 30%
Mike Huckabee – 16%
Ron Paul – 6%
Fred Thompson – 4%
Rudy Giuliani – 3%

You know what’s nutty? Paul has been 4th or 5th in every vote so far, and yet for some reason he’s not being given a platform as a major candidate. You’d think by now he’d be at least considered as high-profile as Rudy or Thompson given that he keeps beating at least one of them every time a primary or a caucus rolls around.

Hillary took it on the Democratic side, but keep in mind she had no competition. She took 57%, “uncommitted” took 38%, and Kucinich got 4%. That stings a bit.

Is anyone else watching the debate on MSNBC?

This might be the most painful thing I’ve ever seen. Each of them is basically saying the same thing. I believe I’m the best candidate, I stand for change, I’ve got what it takes, the voters need to decide and I have respect for my opponents. Fantastic.

There’s no actual debating going on here, they aren’t talking about what positions they have to fix the country or get us out of Iraq, how they’d fix the economy or what they’d do with health care or Social Security. Instead, we’re seeing people do something peculiar: the candidates appear to be trying to simply convince people that they’re the best, without explaining how this is.

Yes, we all want change. Hooray, you’re dedicated to “this great country and all that it stands for”. I’m pleased to know that you value the people of this nation and think everyone deserves a good life. That’s all fluff. Tell me exactly, point by point, you plan on doing to fix this country.

Actually, I have a better idea. Tell me why what YOU say is better than what someone ELSE says. Give me something to work with, convince me that you’re the best by laying the criteria out. Don’t have a contest to see who can sound the most patriotic and compassionate. Obviously you love America and care a lot, otherwise you wouldn’t sink this money and effort into running.

And for the love of all that’s holy, don’t say “the American people now have to decide”. You’re running a damn campaign, try to influence my decision. Tell me why your idea for health care is better than Obama’s, say why you’ve got a better plan for Iraq than Hillary, lay out why you can do more for national security than Edwards.

This namby-pamby non-debating is driving me crazy, and doesn’t exactly leave one enthused about any of the candidates.

Study: less Arctic ice surviving the summer melt

On the topic of global warming, I found this study just this morning. Someone in the comments on my other article on climate change argued that you can’t prove the ice caps are melting. Now there’s already a bunch of studies that show that they are, but here’s another one.

Using satellite-derived estimates of sea ice age and thickness, a team led by James Maslanik of the University of Colorado-Boulder constructed a thickness record for 1982 to the present. The researchers discovered 58 percent of multiyear ice consists of relatively young and thin 2- to 3-year-old ice, compared with 35 percent during the mid-1980s, with a nearly complete loss of the oldest, thickest ice.

The scientists said the decline helps expose more open water, which increases the absorption rate of solar energy. That not only helps explain recent large ice loss trends but also increase the potential of the current younger, thinner Arctic ice cover to rapidly melt.

I hope it goes without saying that I am not happy, per se, to be right about this. I’ve said for the longest time I’d rather swallow my pride and go to sleep knowing there’s no danger of climactic disaster on the horizon, but that just ain’t the case.