Month: October 2006

Geophysicist David Deming (an associate professor of arts and sciences at the University of Oklahoma) says that global warming advocates want to get rid of the Medieval Warm Period: Around 1996, I became aware of how corrupt and ideologically driven current climate research can be. A major researcher working on climate change confided in me…

On the subject of impending Republican defeat, Glenn Reynolds has a good Pre-Mortem roundup, which became quite lengthy, was linked by Pajamas Media, and has been followed by another (post-pre-mortem?) roundup in which Glenn asks whether he’s a shill for Democrats (or something even worse, an “InstaLaphamite”). There are a lot of opinions, but nearly…

Not too many people seem to realize it, but Bill Clinton has pulled off a hell of a coup in these past couple of weeks. First there was the staged tantrum with Chris Wallace, only to be followed by more than ample emotional justification by the Foley scandal (now an emotional outlet for years of…

Not often do I see my darker and more paranoid speculations confirmed in the MSM, but today is an exception. First, I’ll repeat my darker speculations from last Tuesday: ….(Others would argue that George Bush himself is sick of the very people he’s deliberately manipulated to believe he’s one of; I heard Howard Dean say…

Reviewing the polls at Real Clear Politics, Powerline’s John Hinderaker predicts a “rout of astonishing proportions” for Republicans. Reflecting on the above, Glenn Reynolds adds: The GOP richly deserves to lose its majority in Congress. I just wish the Democrats deserved to win one. Yes, the GOP deserves to lose, whether the Democrats deserve to…

Via Justin, I found a story about something I’ve previously discussed hypothetically — gay alimony: Oakland attorney Frederick Hertz, author of Living Together: A Legal Guide for Unmarried Couples, says he’s fielded many calls from people upset and surprised that they have to go to court to break up. Same-sex couples are often caught off…

This is an interesting statement by Bill Clinton: LAS VEGAS (AP) – The nation has been “jammed into an ideological corner” by conservative Republicans and is primed for a power shift in the November elections, former President Bill Clinton said Thursday. “This is an election unlike any other I have ever participated in,” Clinton told…

“We live in a country where they are trying to tell you what to do all the time.” That’s one New Jerseyan’s response to a bill which would ban trans fats in restaurants: Trans fats, which increase the level of bad cholesterol in the body, are found in partially hydrogenated oils – shortening and margarine…

I don’t like blog blocking, especially selective blog blocking, and I am disturbed to see evidence (via Glenn Reynolds) that the Interior Department might be doing both. Here’s Baron Bodissey’s list of the blocked and not blocked: Blocked Blogs: Captain’s Quarters Cox and Forkum Gates of Vienna Little Green Footballs Michael J. Totten Michelle Malkin…

While most of the world focuses on the megatonnage of his nukes, Manolo has noticed another serious Kim Jong Il excess: the extreme height of his high heels. Yet while this was being ignored by most threat analysts, a lot of attention was being paid to the high heels worn by Michael Jackson. (Yesterday, Drudge…

There’s a lot of talk lately about hypocrisy in Washington. Will someone tell me why the Harry Reid scandal (examined here by Ed Morrissey) does not involve hypocrisy? Is it because hypocrisy only involves sex? Glenn Reynolds (who linked the above) had an earlier observation which caught my attention: With Republicans, it’s sex. With Democrats,…

Radar Online is wondering how a secret that wasn’t a secret at all managed to remain a secret until shortly before the election: The real wonder of the Mark Foley scandal may be how it stayed under wraps for so long. As the story continued to pick up momentum yesterday, Capitol Hill journalists came out…

Ann Althouse reflects on an unauthorized ad, and what she says speaks volumes about the national manipulation malaise: I like the way satire makes different people pay attention to politics — not just your dreary politicos — and I like the way it sharpens minds — unlike the somber sonorously narrated traditional ads with their…

Clinton’s “tantrum” at Chris Wallace is making more and more sense. As a display of method acting, the man’s ability to manipulate his emotions equals anything I’ve seen from Hollywood. But I do think it was acting. The goal was a display of righteous moral indignation. And now we know why. The Republican “moral facade”…

Love your enemies, for they tell you your faults. So said Benjamin Franklin. Franklin’s political maxim becomes even more true when your enemies are your friends, as is often the case in politics. It certainly is for me, and earlier tonight a good friend found himself quite unable to conceal his happiness over something I…

Unless they don’t see you at all (an unlikely event unless you’ve been still for a long time and catch them sunning or something), photographing wild snakes is pretty difficult. But today I startled a garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis) in my yard, moving way too fast for pictures, but not so fast that I couldn’t…

Unless this USA Today article and the poll are a pack of lies, there’s blood in the water: WASHINGTON — A Capitol Hill sex scandal has reinforced public doubts about Republican leadership and pushed Democrats to a huge lead in the race for control of Congress four weeks before Election Day, the latest USA TODAY/Gallup…

While the expression “coming out” is associated with homosexuality, it’s a lot more associated with speech than with activity. I’ve long thought that the real “homophobia” does not involve fear of homosexuality so much as it involves people being uncomfortable talking about it. In the old days, this discomfort was because of the taboo nature…

Is President Bush going wobbly on the gun issue? If so, is that being kept secret? According an activist quoted in today’s Inquirer, Bush is now saying “we” have to “do something” about guns: “It took the Amish to get killed for the president of the United States to say we had to do something…

I’m back from New York, and not quite in the mood for essay writing, so instead here are a few photos from the trip. A view of the old Plaza Hotel, taken last night: And the Waldorf Astoria, this morning: Reflections on a typical skyscraper: Central Park Zoo visitor with baggage: Yesterday morning I wrote…