I couldn’t help being struck this morning by the juxtaposition of these two stories. Navy SEALs who captured a most-wanted terrorist are being court-martialed for allegedly giving him a bloody lip in the process. Isn’t assault what the military is, you know, for? Saudi Arabia has sentenced a TV host to death for witchcraft. He was visiting from Lebanon and sometimes makes predictions on his … Continue reading Cultural Differences
That’s how Charlie Martin puts it. He reviews an East Anglia programmer’s notes in detail (in HARRY_READ_ME.txt) as he tries to make sense of the climate models. The upshot: He finds complete confusion, and can’t replicate the research team’s results! I think there’s a good reason the CRU didn’t want to give their data to people trying to replicate their work. It’s in such a … Continue reading “Waterboarding the Data”
Robert Tracinski and Iain Murray have excellent pieces today on Climategate, the emails from East Anglia University that give us a look behind the curtain at the “scientific” background underlying global warming hysteria. Tracinski, after giving an excellent summary of the issues, says, This is an enormous case of organized scientific fraud, but it is not just scientific fraud. It is also a criminal act. … Continue reading Climategate and Global Warming
Right, and hold the inconvenient facts, the objectivity of peer review, and the respect for scientific method. The astounding revelation of thousands of emails among global warming scientists casts a shocking light on the use of science as politics. War, von Clausewitz said, is politics by other means. Apparently, the same can be true of science. Or perhaps we should say “science.” Finding “tricks” for … Continue reading “Hide the Decline”
I have refrained from saying anything about the attack at Fort Hood until the facts became clear. It is remarkable how much we have learned about the activities and beliefs of Major Hasan, and how clearly they indicate that his act was an act of terrorism. It is even more remarkable how unwilling the Army, the media, and the President are to embrace that conclusion. … Continue reading Terror in Texas
Hugh Fitzgerald over at Jihad Watch is amazed at the cluelessness of the people in charge of Middle East policy in Washington: I’m amazed — aren’t you? — that more than eight years after the 9/11/2001 attacks we still have people in Washington who do not have a grasp of Islam, do not understand what Islam has to do with the Arab war on Israel, … Continue reading Amazement
Another brilliant post from Richard Fernandez, with an outstanding bit in the comments about the importance of religion and the dangers of materialism: Like Voltaire and perhaps Pascal, I think it is always in a man’s personal interest to claim he is something more than an animal or the equivalent of a barrel of chemicals. There are enough forces out there trying to enslave and … Continue reading The Power of Faith
There’s increasing puzzlement about Obama’s foreign policy. A variety of voices are wondering what vision lies behind a series of seemingly inexplicable actions. It’s beginning to dawn on people that, as Glenn Reynolds puts it, a replay of the Carter administration is the best case scenario. For example: I have suggested, in connection with President Obama’s dealings with Russia, that to call him a fool … Continue reading Comrade Obama
William Voegeli compares California’s left-wing, high-tax/high-benefits model with Texas’s right-wing, moderate-tax/moderate-benefits model. People are leaving high-tax states for low-tax states: One way to assess how Americans feel about the different tax and benefit packages the states offer is by examining internal U.S. migration patterns. Between April 1, 2000, and June 30, 2007, an average of 3,247 more people moved out of California than into it … Continue reading Texas over California
The View from Alexandria 