Category Archives: Media Criticism

The Great IPCC Meltdown

continues:

When the glacier story broke, IPCC apologists returned over and over again to a saving grace. The bogus glacier report appeared in the body of the IPCC document, but not in the much more carefully vetted Synthesis Report, in which the IPCC’s senior leadership made its specific recommendations to world leaders. So it didn’t matter that much, the apologists told us, and we can still trust the rigorously checked and reviewed Synthesis Report.

But that’s where the African rain crisis prediction is found — in the supposedly sacrosanct Synthesis Report.

So: the Synthesis Report contains a major scare prediction — 50% shortfall in North African food production just ten years from now — and there is no serious, peer-reviewed evidence that the prediction is true.

But there’s more. Much, much more.

You wonder at what point, if any, the warm-monger worshippers will realize that they’ve been scammed?

And as Mark Steyn notes (again), it’s not just a science scandal, it’s a scandal of gross journalism malpractice.

[Update a few minutes later]

Time to follow the money.

A Brave Journalist

Tom Maguire explains why I delinked Andrew Sullivan years ago:

His big finish:

I want to apologize to my readers for dropping this ball. And congratulate the National Enquirer for following the facts where they eventually led.

There’s courage in that. Pulitzer-level courage.

Oh, there was Pulitzer-level courage in sticking with the “Trig spawned by space aliens” angle too. National Enquirer level courage.

For myself, I am stuck on the simpler theory that Andrew wants to bash what he sees as homophobic Republicans, not seemingly sympathetic Dems.

That plus (perhaps — dare I say it?) AIDS-induced dementia? In which case one can only pity. But still not link.

And actually, in Sullivan’s case, it’s more like Weekly World News courage.

Don’t Let It Happen In Vegas

Let alone stay there…

Let’s ignore the fact that there is nothing in the Constitution about the president as “financial-advisor-in-chief.” His moronic and repeated bashing of Vegas is not only digging a deeper hole for his water-carrier in the Senate, but almost guaranteeing that he himself won’t be winning Nevada in 2012.

I need to write a longer post on this, but the notion that this man or his advisors are political genii is pretty laughable at this point. The only reason he won is that a) the Dems weren’t that thrilled about Hillary, b) he has charisma for people susceptible to such emotional nonsense, c) McCain was a lousy candidate and ran a lousy campaign and d) the media was totally in the tank for him and refused to run anything negative and e) almost any Dem was going to win in 2008.

His luck has run out.

Commercial Spaceflight Federation Telecon

Clark Lindsey took notes. I liked this:

/– How to deal with safety questions on Capitol Hill?
Bigelow: As a client, safety of the lifters is extremely important. We are going to expect well used and understood systems.
Anderson: NASA had astronauts flying on Ares I on its second flight. The commercial rockets will have flown many times before they every carry crews.
Musk: Southwest might have half the ticket price of a competitor yet no one thinks they are doing that by cutting on safety. Southwest’s safety record is one of the best.

Of all the lies, damned lies and statistics in this ongoing debate, the subject of safety has been the most meretricious.

Good stuff, all.

Clark also has as round up of all of the rapid-fire shoddy reporting on today’s announcements.

Don’t Look For This In The MSM

…but in light of both recent and ancient history, should anyone be surprised by this?

Since Nancy Pelosi took over as Speaker in 2006, she’s rung up millions in military travel expenses to commute between San Francisco and Washington.

Worse still, she also appears to have requisitioned entire flights for the personal use of her children and grandchildren. That is, unaccompanied by any member of Congress, her kids, in-laws and grandchildren are utilizing entire military passenger jets for their routine travel needs.

Going through airport security and sitting in cattlecars is for the little people. Besides, she was doing it for the children. And the grandchildren.

I don’t want her to resign over this, though. I want her to remain the leader of the Democrats for years and years.

Civilization

Nice catch by Aram Bakshian, Jr.:

We are reminded by Mr. Young that one of Mr. Edwards’s early boosters was the late Ted Kennedy, who “saw almost unlimited potential in this young, energetic, well-spoken, good-looking Southerner.” In a conversation with Mr. Young, Mr. Kennedy waxed sentimental about Washington in the early 1960s: “It used to be civilized. The media was on our side. We’d get our work done by one o’clock and by two we were at the White House chasing women. We got the job done, and the reporters focused on the issues. . . . It was civilized.” We now know that Mr. Edwards’s idea of civilization was much the same as Kennedy’s.

No other comment necessary, I think. Ah, for the good old days when the “media was on their side.”

Oh, wait! Maybe he meant the good old days in 2008.