We’ve been commemorating sixtieth anniversaries of World War II for a few years now, starting back in September 1999, with the anniversary of the invasion of Poland. I’m watching President Bush give a speech right now in Coronado, almost six decades after the formal surrender of the Japanese government to the Allies in Tokyo harbor (the anniversary will actually be on Friday, September 2nd).
Everything You Know Is Wrong
Well, OK, maybe not everything. But perhaps a third of it:
…a third of medical research articles published in major scientific journals and then cited over a thousand times in the literature are later contradicted or have major questions raised over them.
Remember this the next time you hear about a “scientific study,” particularly about politically charged issues, such as global warming. As Iain points out, this is an important point:
We acknowledge that most studies published should be viewed as hypothesis-generating, rather than conclusive.
Move Over, Shirley Maclaine
And in other news (and more trivial news, in the context of the unfolding catastrophe in Louisiana) Tom Cruise seems to have gone completely nuts, claiming tht he’s led past lives (this one apparently sucks in comparison). And he’s just asking for a libel suit from Brooke Shields:
…at his news conference, a Scientology-themed event with selected reporters from his fan club’s newsletter, he claimed that Brooke was the lover of the founder of modern psychiatry, Sigmund Freud, in a previous life.
He said: “I could tell you stories about Brooke.
“She was the mistress of Sigmund Freud, you know. Is it any wonder she promotes his discredited theories? She’s so confused.”
[Update on Wednesday morning]
There seems to be a consensus in comments that this story is a hoax. And it’s a good one, because it’s not all that unbelievable, based on his past behavior.
Not So Lucky After All
It’s starting to look as though some of the worst predictions for New Orleans are coming to pass, even though they missed the worst of the winds. The north levee has been breached, and the city is filling with water from Ponchartrain. More could die if they can’t evacuate the city from the rising waters. In addition, many homes in the city are on fire, with no way to put them out, other than perhaps helicopter or aircraft water drops. It reminds me of San Francisco in the 1906 quake, and it’s going to get apocalyptic pretty quickly.
Speak No Evil
Keith Cowing says that NASA continues to dig itself deeper into its hole of irrelevancy to our future in space.
[Update at 9:15 AM PDT]
As Keith correctly notes in comments, those are my words, not his. I should have written that he provides evidence of that (in my opinion), not that he says it.
“Necessary” and “Unnecessary” Wars
Some interesting discussion (and fodder for potential new “Routers” pieces) over at Winds of Change.
“Necessary” and “Unnecessary” Wars
Some interesting discussion (and fodder for potential new “Routers” pieces) over at Winds of Change.
“Necessary” and “Unnecessary” Wars
Some interesting discussion (and fodder for potential new “Routers” pieces) over at Winds of Change.
A Conspicuous Absence
Stephen Hayes provides more reason to think that we need a commission to investigate the 9/11 Commission:
Why would the 9/11 Commission fail to mention Abdul Rahman Yasin, who admitted his role in the first World Trade Center attack, which killed 6 people, injured more than 1,000, and blew a hole seven stories deep in the North Tower? It’s an odd omission, especially since the commission named no fewer than five of his accomplices.
Why would the 9/11 Commission neglect Ahmed Hikmat Shakir, a man who was photographed assisting a 9/11 hijacker and attended perhaps the most important 9/11 planning meeting?
And why would the 9/11 Commission fail to mention the overlap between the two successful plots to attack the World Trade Center?
The answer is simple: The Iraqi link didn’t fit the commission’s narrative….
…From the evidence now available, it seems clear that Saddam Hussein did not direct the 9/11 attacks. Few people have ever claimed he did. But some four years after the attacks of September 11, 2001, and one year after the 9/11 Commission released its final report, there is much we do not know. The determination of these officials to write out of the history any Iraqi involvement in terrorism against America has contributed mightily to public misperceptions about the former Iraqi regime and the war on terror.
While we’re at it, it would be nice to complete the investigation of the OK City bombing, and find who else was involved besides McVeigh and Nichols.
More On Michoud
Thomas James has a lot more discussion of the ET manufacturing facilities that were in the path of Katrina. There was also a story at Space Daily about it.