Here’s my new favorite. This isn’t the subject, it’s the “From”: “Pubs may generate their own and submit for approval!”
Category Archives: Weird
On The Mannsuits
Want to split a gut? Read this insane comment over at Judy Curry’s place:
Mann’s strategic rational for the parallel lawsuit is evident, and is based upon the observation CEI and NR published startlingly similar, startlingly abusive, startling ill-judged editorials.
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Mann’s Objective Publicly expose the command-and-control structure of climate-change denialism.
Mann’s Strategy Call witnesses to testify, under oath, regarding the parallel origins of their libelous assertions.
Mann’s Tactics Offer each of CEI and NR a plea-bargain, providing each “peaches” upon the other, regarding denialist marching-orders and astro-turfing operations.
Mann’s Guidance The Code of Omertà is robust at the institutional level of climate-change denialism, yet notoriously flimsy at the individual level. To exploit this weak point, Mann’s legal team will therefore focus legal pressure upon the individuals under whose name the libels were published. In particular, what services has CEI’s staff of 40 provided to denialist bloggers, and to sister institutions such as Heartland?
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Predictions (1) CEI and NR will do all they can to ensure that individuals named in Mann’s suit do not testify under oath … or if they do, that their testimonies are well-rehearsed and carefully coordinated. (2) Conversely, Mann’s team will do all they can to exert pressure upon individual witnesses, in particular by calling multiple witnesses to the stand, and by deposing CEI and NR employees in separate discovery processes.
Question What portion of climate-change denialist prose, nominally originating from private citizens, in fact originates from CEI professional operatives?
I can’t really comment, other than to wonder if Mann himself believes lunacy like this?
A Novel Approach To Spam
Lately, I’ve been getting emails with no subject, no “from” and no content. Nothing but a return path, which I wouldn’t see if I didn’t display full headers. It’s just an empty email. I just got about half a dozen of them at once, each from a different return path.
Any theories about this?
Sports Fanatacism
This is ridiculous on multiple levels (and yes, I’d say the same thing even if it didn’t involve my alma mater).
Two Hats
Could Paul Ryan be president of the Senate, while remaining chairman of the House Budget Committee?
Well, if anyone could handle the workload, it would be him. Of course, it would partially depend on how much power he would try to take as president of the Senate, which has devolved to a pretty meaningless position in modern times. No reason that couldn’t change, though, depending on how amenable Mitch McConnell would be.
[Update a few minutes later]
Sorry, added missing link.
The Glass Half Empty
Explained, by xkcd. This experiment is much safer than the high-speed baseball pitch, but still, don’t try it at home.
Sperm Whales
Sleep vertically. An interesting picture.
The Colorado Shooting Spree
Explained: it was caused by Canadian PM Harper cutting climate-change funding.
Of course! It’s so obvious now. Why didn’t I think of that?
The Hippy MIT Geek
…who saved Apollow 13?
Geoff Landis is skeptical. So am I. It’s hard to believe that this wouldn’t have been the first thought to almost everyone in Mission Control.
[Via Geek Press]
Loot
I find it interesting that many of the spam emails I get offering me quick loans (usually on the order of a thousand or fifteen hundred or so) use the word “loot” in the subject line to describe the funds (e.g., “We’ve got the loot the get back in your bankroll!”). I wonder if this is a deliberate connotation of theft, or just a poor understanding of the historical meaning of the word on the part of the spammer?