Plants do so much better with more CO2 that greenhouse operators often increase the CO2 concentrations by factors of three or four to get better growth.

But environmental zealots worldwide want to restrict CO2 production. The only possible conclusion: Global Warming zealots hate plants!

…plants and animals evolved when CO2 concentrations were about 10 times larger than they are today.

That’s in the Wall Street Journal. Hat tip Charlie Sykes.

UPDATE - Much, much more at Right Wing News.

Using home-stitched parachute and equipment found on Craigslist, two 17-year-olds send Lego-naut 80,000ft into the air

Two weeks ago, Mathew Ho and Asad Muhammad, both 17, attached the plastic figurine replete with maple leaf flag to a helium balloon, which they sent 80,000 feet into the air.

The pair managed to capture the entire journey into the blackness of space, including the descent, which lasted 97 minutes, using four cameras, at an entire cost of just £254.

Spending four months of Saturdays on the project, the teenagers launched the professionally made weather balloon from a football pitch. It then soared to more than double the height of a commercial jet’s cruising altitude – some 24km into the upper atmosphere from where the Earth’s curvature can be seen.

Having attached a GPS receiver to the styrofoam box carrying the cameras and Lego-naut, the two managed to recover the bundle attached to a hand-stitched parachute from a field 122km from the launch site.

See for yourself:

What, they spent all their money on cameras and couldn’t afford a Lego helmet? Air tank? Something?

Hat tip The Linkiest.

And two:

In a blow to GoDaddy’s annual marketing plan, none of their ads were banned from the Superbowl this year. But I’m sure they’ll do better next time.

I’m available for consultation. Very reasonable rates.

By the way: all the commercials are available here. Do yourselves a favor and watch the internet-only version of “the contract.”

In another blow to organized labor in the traditionally union heavy Midwest, Indiana is poised to become the first right-to-work state in more than a decade after Republican lawmakers cleared the way on Wednesday to ban unions from collecting mandatory fees from workers.

…

Indiana would mark the first win in 10 years for national right-to-work advocates who have pushed unsuccessfully for the measure in other states following a Republican sweep of statehouses in 2010. But few right-work states boast Indiana’s union clout, borne of a long manufacturing legacy…

Indiana’s Senate still has to pass it, but that appears to be a shoo-in. Then the Governor has to sign it, and there’s every indication he will.

This, of course, goes far beyond what Governor Walker did in Wisconsin. But that’s okay, unions – you just keep your eyes on us!

Previously:

• Uh-oh: Democrats are wondering if the recall election might have been a tactical error after all

On the other hand, though, look at it this way: over a thousand days without a federal budget. Are you worse off because of it?

Would you be any better off if they had passed a budget? If they’d passed three of them?

Do I even need to answer that?

So the question is: should we be trying to embarrass the Senate over this “thousand days” thing? Or should we be treating it more like a pilot program? So, okay, we tried the no-budget thing, and that’s worked, so this time let’s see if we can go a thousand days without the Senate proposing anything.

Anything at all.

And if that works, then we envelop the House in our little league of lackadaisicality. And then we could just have the Senate stay home for three years. Three years straight.

See, those “1000 Days” buttons weren’t a complaint. They were a celebration!

Is that an actual window behind him? Looks like a spaceship’s bridge. I keep expecting the Tardis to appear on the street there behind him.

My favorite part:

“You suppose that the value of a thing consists of the labor it took to make it. That’s the mistake that Karl Marx made. No. You could put as much labor as you like into the thing. Guess what it’s worth if nobody wants it? The answer is: a big fat zero.”

That’s Dr Madsen Pirie, by the way. President of the Adam Smith Institute. He’s doing a whole series of these short videos on economics. I think I might keep posting them as they go up.

Let the “Dr. Madsen Pirie” tag be created!

UPDATE - Wiggy recognized the window!

It’s an animated gif on his blog. Dunno why it’s not working here.

UPDATE - now I know why it won’t work here, but it’s just as well. It’s Mike’s photo, so click over there to see it work.

Mike writes:

Looks like they’re going for two floors every two weeks. Not too shabby.

Pretty cool.

Aardman Animation to Change Scene Featuring Leper Boat in ‘The Pirates! Band of Misfits’

Outcry by leprosy charities at movie trailer leads to changes by Bristol-based animation powerhouse.

In the trailer the Grant-voiced Pirate Captain lands on a ship demanding gold, but is told by a crew member: “Afraid we don’t have any gold old man, this is a leper boat. See.” After issuing the explanation, the sailor’s arm drops off.

Leprosy groups expressed concern that the scene could increase the stigma and discrimination felt by people suffering from leprosy.

Aardman has said it will change the scene in the wake of the objections.

Well, that’s probably best. You don’t want to face off against those guys. They’ll break their foot off in your ass. Elbow drop, right to the groin.

Amputees, though: them we’ll still make fun of.

Here’s the trailer, by the way, with the blatant leperism still in it:

Wow, that’s just hands down insensitive. Really makes your toes curl.

Oh, fine. I’ll stop.

Dems fear union cash drain in Wisconsin

Organized labor’s plans to spend heavily to recall Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) has sparked angst on the left that the effort will come at the expense of Democrats in other states…

Labor officials are also looking at investing resources in Indiana, a red-leaning state, to battle controversial right-to-work legislation backed by Gov. Mitch Daniels (R).

But the Wisconsin fight will consume far more resources. This is a stomach-churning prospect for Democrats and their allies because the labor expenditures could come just months before the general election, when money will be needed for more important battlegrounds such as Ohio and Florida.

“Some were asking us whether we could wait until after the election, but we can’t. This is too big a deal,” said one labor official.

The labor official told The Hil [sic] that Democrats have questioned the timing of a massive spending campaign in Wisconsin.

Sure, it could have waited until after the 2012 election. But the Walker-haters weren’t about to do that, and maybe with good reason. To have a chance at ousting Walker, they need their anger to be as fresh as possible.

And anger spoils quickly.

Couple quick thoughts about this:

• Conservative groups (and other liberal groups) will also be spending money on the recall election.

Fundraising on both sides will be massive, both for the recall election and the regular 2012 election.

So why doesn’t the story include any angst about that money? The non-union money?

For one thing, the union money can’t be replenished. Contributions to political campaigns can’t be, either, but money to third-party groups – both Left and Right – can.

• No matter what liberals try to tell you, liberal groups have just as much money on their side as conservative groups, if not more.

We’ve established that, for every Koch brother out there, there’s at least one George Soros. Which brings me to:

• There’s always more money out there. If you need more, go get more.

But Democrats are still worried, and why? Could it be that they can’t compete without the union money squeezed – willingly or unwillingly – out of middle-class union members?

Yeah, that’s believable. Without the captive audience, so to speak – the indentured servants, paying what amounts to a job tax collected on behalf of the Democratic Party – they lose an advantage they’ve had for decades.

Which is, of course, why they’re trying to recall Walker in the first place. Because he did away with the automatic union dues.

Hat tip Boots and Sabers.

Newt pledges moon base by second term