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Science Fraud – One Point To Ponder

If it takes twelve years to debunk science that is absolutely completely bogus, pure rubbish, then how long will it take to recognize  sloppy,  statistically inappropriate  science that never-the-less has a valid premise, is solid, but is   not “settled”?

More Climategate Fall-Out…. More Little Deaths For The “Hockey Stick”.

The head of the Royal Statistical Society Professor David Hand adds weight to Steve McIntyre’s long held assertion that the infamous Hockey Stick is statistically flawed!

Now, let’s see how long it takes for the ad-homs to fly from Real Climate.

Stupid Politician Of The Month.

Mike Huckabee, who is against gay marriage, said this:

“I don’t have to prove that marriage is a man and a woman in a relationship for life,” he said. “They have to prove that two men can have an equally definable relationship called marriage, and somehow that that can mean the same thing.”

Disregarding the fact of divorce, it’s proved that “marriage is a man and a woman in a relationship for life”, because, well, they have the ability to do so. Isn’t it convenient that in the former governor’s world, gays can never “prove” the same because they are barred from the opportunity of ever getting married.

Mike Huckabee, you’re an idiot!!!

Health Care Reform Oopsies!

I have the biggest smile on my face right now.

The heath care reform bill Congress was so demanding that everybody like, and that would guarantee better health care,… er, I mean mean cheaper health care… er, more health coverage for all, turns out, may have a nasty unintended side effect; those same Congressmen and Senators, and their staffs, may lose their own Cadillac health plans. Now before someone accuses me of using Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh as a source, this comes from non other than the New York Times!

In a new report, the Congressional Research Service says the law may have significant unintended consequences for the “personal health insurance coverage” of senators, representatives and their staff members.

For example, it says, the law may “remove members of Congress and Congressional staff” from their current coverage, in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, before any alternatives are available.

The law apparently bars members of Congress from the federal employees health program, on the assumption that lawmakers should join many of their constituents in getting coverage through new state-based markets known as insurance exchanges.

But the research service found that this provision was written in an imprecise, confusing way, so it is not clear when it takes effect.

The new exchanges do not have to be in operation until 2014. But because of a possible “drafting error,” the report says, Congress did not specify an effective date for the section excluding lawmakers from the existing program.

Here is my favorite quote:

The confusion raises the inevitable question: If they did not know exactly what they were doing to themselves, did lawmakers who wrote and passed the bill fully grasp the details of how it would influence the lives of other Americans?

Some Random Squeeze

Caption This

Wow, I didn’t realize Dennis Quaid’s career had fallen so… low.

More Global Warming Hysteria

A headline from MSNBC:

100 places to remember before they disappear
Newsweek gallery: Global warming could drastically change many places around the globe, from Sudan to the Alps to Chicago.

Here’s the screen save.

Finally, Chicago will be wiped off the map and we won’t have to deal with the crappy politicians any more!

Meme Of The Week (century, really) – Republicans / Conservatives Are Racist.

I found this opinion piece published by the New York Times quite amusing. It concerns the move by Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell to declare April Confederate History Month.

Before I write anything else, let me tell you my thoughts when I first heard about this…

OK, sorry, that wasn’t my first thoughts, here they are.

Meh, I don’t have a problem with it. As a history geek, here’s how I look at it. If you’re going to have a “_________ History Month” for everything else, then I suppose they are entitled to one for that too. On the other hand, the Libertarian in me says do away with all the “_________ H.M.’s”, it’s overdone, useless, and obnoxious, and just let a month be a month. That is just me retreating into my fantasy world. Let’s deal with what we have.

I posted that on a friends Facebook page when he lamented the action of the Virginia Governor.

With history, I’m a firm believer in studying and getting to know the past from as many angles as possible. It’s the only way to truly understand, as much as we can from the distance of place and time, all of the different things that contributed to the events we call history. Read more »

A New History Lesson – Post Madison / Pre Civil War

Since reading the wonderful Ron Chernow’s wonderful book, “Hamilton” (a must read), and a history of the panic of 1907 that makes some of the ideas of returning to the gold standard look stunningly foolish, I’ve taken a bit of a sabbatical from history.

Well, I’ve returned to the fold.

After seeing the mediocre rehash of Clash of the Titans, Greg and I went to the local Borders to browse and maybe find a new read. There are not a lot of interesting books out that I’m aware of, but I happened upon a book that peaked my interest immediately. It’s called “What Hath God Wrought“. It examines the period between 1815 and 1848. You might be thinking “Besides Andrew Jackson, what is there of any great interest in this period”? Well, for me, that is the point. You see, as much as I love reading about the popular figures in American history – Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Hamilton etc., I do find an appeal for the forgotten figures and pieces of our history. I’ve not read any of the book yet, but just from the reviews it seems that one of the figures that may be getting his due in the book is John Quincy Adams, son of John Adams. I’ve read in several books that,under the tutelage of his famous father, and as a long serving diplomat, he was perhaps the best prepared of Presidents up to that time, maybe of any President.

As I’ve said, I’ve not read any of the book, but I will no doubt enjoy this thing, and savor the impending analysis of the new things I’m going to learn, and reflect on any lessons it might contain that is pertinent to the world we live in today.

I’m Doing This Today….

Plus, going to see a movie… Oh, and play me some drums.