Posted 10:47 AM by Jason
Blame Global Warming

I normally don't watch any of the CSI variants, but I couldn't tear myself away from CSI: Miami last night.  I never knew that there were grizzlies in Florida!  

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Posted 10:38 AM by Jason
Symposium, cont.

Simon at Stubborn Facts has a nice recap of the Student Symposium panels from last Saturday.

I would challenge him to a duel for compromising the secrecy of our fair society, but Grand Master Prof. Steven Calabresi made it fairly clear through the weekend that he does not approve of dueling, even if it is consensual.  

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Posted 12:02 AM by Jason
The Preeminent Ideological Proving Ground for Ultra-Conservatives.

I returned today, tired but in one piece, from the Federalist Society Symposium at Northwestern University.  A most excellent time was had by all.  I can't go into much detail, what with the Society being a super secret cabal and all, but I can say this: Judge William Pryor was a great choice for a keynote speaker, especially given the "Law & Morality" focus of the weekend.

Some in the audience seemed a bit sore over his role in the whole Roy Moore affair, but Pryor responded to their questions deftly and persuasively, and the emphasis on respect for the rule of law in his speech was quite inspiring (NERD ALERT!).  He specifically borrowed a few lines from A Man for All Seasons in making his point:

William Roper: So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!
Sir Thomas More: Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?
William Roper: Yes, I'd cut down every law in England to do that!
Sir Thomas More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's! And if you cut them down, and you're just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!

Robert Bork had an interesting article on More (not Moore) in First Things back in 1999.

On a lighter note:  Lino Graglia, you are a madman. I want to party with you, cowboy.  

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Posted 12:01 PM by magnu231
Le Pen is Back

Continuing my trend of only focusing on straw men, French Nazi Le Pen has been speaking out lately. He doesn't think 9/11 was that big a deal, and notes that more people than that have died in Iraq. This isn't that newsworthy, I just thought it was worth noting that Le Pen is still around and kicking. Any country that allows somebody like this buffoon to get as large a share of the vote as he usually does has major problems.

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Posted 11:00 AM by Jason
Undermine our consensus? HOW DARE YOU?

Thomas Sowell on think tanks, global warming, and the foolishness of four U.S. Senators.

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Posted 12:11 PM by magnu231
Humor and HR?

In case you ever wondered about the potential litigation concerning the Office on NBC, i.e. what would actually occur if such events happened in real life, here's a blog entirely devoted to the question. If there are any budding employment lawyers who also happen to be into humorous tv shows (a contingency I consider remote), this is the site for you.

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Posted 10:34 PM by Jason
More Hot Air.

Al Gore thinks that President Bush is paying scientists to dispute global warming.  Apparently he missed this, this, this (ok, fine, that one is just hydrogen cars), this, and most of all this.    

My point is that the man is not a "climate change denier."  

Now, he may not "get" everything, but at least he got this part right:

"The truth of the matter is, if this country wants to get rid of its greenhouse gases, we've got to have the nuclear power industry be vibrant and viable," he said.  (from the second "this")  

Also worth reading: An NRO editorial on the IPCC report, and it isn't what you think.  

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Posted 2:01 PM by Jason
Consensus?

Tim Ball, a Canadian climatologist, takes on the notion that there is a scientific consensus regarding climate change in this article.  Ball devotes much of the space to arguing that this consensus is not real, but also laments the state of the academy that produced it.  

Of course, consensus (as he acknowledges) is not essential or even terribly important in scientific matters (such things are not decided by juries, after all, they either are or are not), but the fact that 1000 or so scientists agree on something would seem to have some significance beyond the media's love of reporting on it.  This, however, returns us to the question of how the consensus was built, and thus the state of the academy that Ball discusses.  I'm not adding anything new here, just setting up the piece, which happens to mention Richard Lindzen.  Lindzen is one of the best known global warming skeptics in the U.S.  Have you heard of him?  No?  Well, there you go.  

I believe this is where I paste a teaser, so I will use his intro (say what you will, the guy doesn't need any self-esteem boosting, and in this day and age we know that self-esteem is important):

Global Warming, as we think we know it, doesn't exist. And I am not the only one trying to make people open up their eyes and see the truth. But few listen, despite the fact that I was the first Canadian Ph.D. in Climatology and I have an extensive background in climatology, especially the reconstruction of past climates and the impact of climate change on human history and the human condition. Few listen, even though I have a Ph.D, (Doctor of Science) from the University of London, England and was a climatology professor at the University of Winnipeg. For some reason (actually for many), the World is not listening. Here is why.

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Posted 4:49 PM by magnu231
Economics

I thought this post was interesting, from the excellent blog samizdata. It's about British politics, history, and the failings of the conservative movement there, so I know it's going to be of great interest to everybody. But if anybody wants to read an interesting post on the EEC, and how some Brits are using it to try to acquiesce even more to the EU, check it out.

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