Author Archive

Loyalty Oaths

The climate debate is so politicized that rational dialogue is virtually impossible between warring sides. A complicating factor is that there are also hostile camps within the same factions. The climate blogosphere, in particular, is like the island in Lost, where the plane-wrecked survivors had to constantly determine who was on which side. (I loved…Continue Reading…

What Do Greens and Mothers Have in Common?

It drives my mother crazy that I won’t take a multi-vitamin. The woman raised me on a steady diet of Ring Dings and Yoo-hoos and now she knows what’s best for my health. I get the mantra every time she visits: “You’re run-down, you don’t get enough sleep, you need to take a multi-vitamin.” “Yeah,…Continue Reading…

Conspiracy World

Bill Keller, the top NYT editor, goes exploring: Humans live along a continuum from doubt to faith. Wander far enough in the direction of faith and you reach the land of Nostradamus and of the Rapture (recently postponed). Wander too far in the other direction, past cynicism, through misanthropy, and you get to more or…Continue Reading…

Blog Issues

As some of you may have noticed, the site was down for a few hours. I apologize for the inconvenience. There were some server problems. This blog is due for a makeover and that includes finding a more reliable web host service.

Climate Capo Whackfest

So Mitt Romney is the latest high profile Republican to believe that global warming is real. With apologies to Buffalo Springfield, There’s something happening here. What it is ain’t exactly clear. Indeed. As New York Magazine notes: Denying that human activity is making the Earth warmer, despite the opinion of people who spend their lives studying these…Continue Reading…

When Fearmongering is Harmful

Question: What do earthquakes in Washington D.C. have to do with brain cancer and cell phones? You can find the answer in this excellent interview with a scientist at BoingBoing. Meanwhile, over at Stoat’s thread on this cell phone/brain cancer issue, here’s a great observation that has not yet been made in any of the discussions,…Continue Reading…

Science Needs a Truth Squad

The Washington Post has a regular column called “The Fact Checker,” by Glenn Kessler, a longtime Post reporter. It’s a relatively new feature. Earlier this year, Kessler described the column’s origins and purpose: My colleague Michael Dobbs started the column during the 2008 [Presidential] campaign and now, in 2011, The Washington Post is reviving it as…Continue Reading…

There's a Man with an Ear Piece

He’s talking loudly into the air, at a table near me in Starbucks. Maybe he’s worried about getting brain cancer. He should be worried about getting cold clocked. He’s perturbed at all the little kids gathered two tables over from him. He just said into the air: I apologize for the background noise. Really. He…Continue Reading…

The Key to (Really) Grasping Climate Change

Your humble host is attending the World Science Festival today (it’s running all week). I’ll be a bystander to some of the events, hoping that all the brilliant minds gathered together will stimulate my feeble brain. Probably not. But it should be fun. I noticed at their blog that boingboing’s Maggie Koerth-Baker has a real…Continue Reading…

Climate Thugs With Glass Chins

Like most bullies, partisan bloggers that use intimidation tactics don’t like it when they get called out. The latest instance is Marc Morano, who, in response to a post I put up this morning, has already countered at Climate Depot: Warmist Kloor: ‘The Morano Gauntlet’: ‘GOP contenders for Pres. will be forced to run the Morano gauntlet…Continue Reading…