Bombs at the box office.
I am overwhelmed with schadenfreude.
Site Problems
Over the weekend, I installed a WordPress plugin to allow a wide range of social media sharing. Apparently it was causing a lot of problems, so I deactivated it yesterday. In case anyone was wondering.
The Golden Era Of Antibiotics
May be coming to an end:
My generation is only the second to live its entire lifespan in the age of antibiotic miracles. My grandparents were born into a world where the son of the President of the United States could die from an infected blister he got while playing tennis without socks. It was a world where almost everyone over the age of 60 who got pneumonia died (hence it’s moniker: “the old man’s friend”.) Where surgery was a deadly risk and deaths from childbirth were all too common.
Most of the lurid abortion statistics that you hear about hundreds or thousands of women dying every year from illegal abortions come from that era too; while the number of deaths was undoubtedly elevated by unsanitary conditions at back-alley abortionists, even abortions in hospitals would have been extraordinarily risky, because the risk of infection could never entirely be eliminated. Most of the decline in deaths from abortions actually came before the Roe decision, and the timing makes it clear that this was mostly due to antibiotics, with a small assist from better blood banking. All of which is to point out that in a world without antibiotics, you’d have to think real hard before undertaking any sort of elective invasive procedure.
For my parents’ generation, it was normal to lose cohorts while growing up — for mine, it was unusual. It wasn’t just antibiotics, of course — it was also vaccines. Mine was the first generation to not have to worry about polio. But for antibiotics at least, those days may be coming to an end, and we may have to look at other (perhaps nanotechnological) solutions to killing bad bugs. Or return to the bad old days. This is a rare area, in fact, where I think that government spending should be increased.
Section 5 Is A Racial Entitlement
Eric Holder’s Deaprtment of (In)Justice agrees with Justice Scalia.
Climaquiddick 3.0
The password has been released:
If someone is still wondering why anyone would take these risks, or sees only a breach of privacy here, a few words…
The first glimpses I got behind the scenes did little to garner my trust in the state of climate science — on the contrary. I found myself in front of a choice that just might have a global impact.
Briefly put, when I had to balance the interests of my own safety, privacy\career of a few scientists, and the well-being of billions of people living in the coming several decades, the first two weren’t the decisive concern.
It was me or nobody, now or never. Combination of several rather improbable prerequisites just wouldn’t occur again for anyone else in the foreseeable future. The circus was about to arrive in Copenhagen. Later on it could be too late.
Most would agree that climate science has already directed where humanity puts its capability, innovation, mental and material “might”. The scale will grow ever grander in the coming decades if things go according to script. We’re dealing with $trillions and potentially drastic influence on practically everyone.
Wealth of the surrounding society tends to draw the major brushstrokes of a newborn’s future life. It makes a huge difference whether humanity uses its assets to achieve progress, or whether it strives to stop and reverse it, essentially sacrificing the less fortunate to the climate gods.
We can’t pour trillions in this massive hole-digging-and-filling-up endeavor and pretend it’s not away from something and someone else.
If the economy of a region, a country, a city, etc. deteriorates, what happens among the poorest? Does that usually improve their prospects? No, they will take the hardest hit. No amount of magical climate thinking can turn this one upside-down.
It’s easy for many of us in the western world to accept a tiny green inconvenience and then wallow in that righteous feeling, surrounded by our “clean” technology and energy that is only slightly more expensive if adequately subsidized.
Those millions and billions already struggling with malnutrition, sickness, violence, illiteracy, etc. don’t have that luxury. The price of “climate protection” with its cumulative and collateral effects is bound to destroy and debilitate in great numbers, for decades and generations.
Conversely, a “game-changer” could have a beneficial effect encompassing a similar scope.
If I had a chance to accomplish even a fraction of that, I’d have to try. I couldn’t morally afford inaction. Even if I risked everything, would never get personal compensation, and could probably never talk about it with anyone.
Anthony has already found a couple amusing bashes of Mann by his colleagues:
No justification for regional reconstructions rather than what Mann et al did (I don’t think we can say we didn’t do Mann et al because we think it is crap!)
But we do, don’t we?
I hope that history will view this person as a world saver.
A Moondance
…from low earth orbit.
Fossil Fuels
Gaia loves them:
In the end, Japan’s work in this field is good news. This is still a very new technology, and it is likely to become significantly safer the more we learn and study it. More R&D needs to go into the technology supporting offshore drilling for methane hydrates before we can seriously consider doing this, but the potential is certainly there.
The energy revolution just keeps getting better.
But it makes Baby JeebusAlgore cry.
More Piers Morgan Thoughts
A screed from Lileks (scroll down):
Not “encourage.” Not “exalt.” Not “inspire by example.” MAKE. It’s always MAKE with these people. If you can’t make people do things, how are you going to get anything done? That Volga Canal isn’t going to dig itself, you know.
Piers should go back to Old Blighty, which will be more politically accommodating to his incipient fascism these days.
Mark Kelly Should Stop Lying
“Yes, I planned all along to spend a thousand dollars on a gun that I was going to give away just to prove that an ex-astronaut with a sterling record could buy one.”
He bought the gun for exactly the same reason that everyone else buys one — it’s a great gun. Plus, he was probably concerned that he might not be able to do so in the future, if his campaign to take away the rights of the rest of us to do so is successful. And if his story is true, then he violated a federal gun law by signing a false statement when he purchased it.
Once he was caught, he had two choices. He could tell the truth, and be right with the law, or he could come up with this ridiculously implausible fairy tale, and be in violation of the law. So it’s apparently so important to him not to undermine his campaign to deprive us of our civil rights that he had to lie about it, and make himself a federal criminal (though of course, he won’t be prosecuted, because laws are for the little people).
Disgusting. He’s becoming this era’s Sarah Brady. And of course, accordingly, the media won’t give him the skepticism, even mockery, that he so richly deserves.
“Let’s Get Yellow Stars For The Jews, Too”
You know, we’re always being told by the Left that blacks can’t be racist, because only people with power can be racist. Well, it sure seems to me like these folks have plenty of power. And to note a continuing theme, sending kids to a public school is more and more becoming parental malpractice.