One of the dirty secrets in the climate change community is that the IPCC consensus is widely seen as the lower bound of likely warming because the models do not incorporate the slower and much more powerful positive feedbacks such as increased methane release from permafrost and bogs. In the years since it was released, every study that has looked at the issue has concluded … [Read more...] about What If Everything You Knew About Projected Global Warming Was Wrong?
Need A Laugh? Check Out The Latest CPI Numbers
I used to go to comedy clubs when I needed a laugh. Now I just wait for official numbers from the government to be released, and the wonderfully funny interpretation of these numbers by economists and happy talkers in the financial press, and what I'm hearing after today's CPI (Consumer Price Index) release is an even bigger hoot than usual. The CPI rose 0.5 percent in … [Read more...] about Need A Laugh? Check Out The Latest CPI Numbers
Two Spaces After A Period Is Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!
If you haven't already found reason enough to condemn Julian Assange, Farhad Manjoo offers up another: Here's a fellow who's been using computers since at least the mid-1980s, a guy whose globetrotting tech-wizardry has come to symbolize all that's revolutionary about the digital age. Yet when he sits down to type, Julian Assange reverts to an antiquated habit that would not … [Read more...] about Two Spaces After A Period Is Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!
Health Care Repeal Vote Is Sheer Gimmickry
Next week House leaders plan an up and down vote to kill the health reform act which is a Republican version of political buffoonery. It is a case of the inmates running the asylum, a gimmick the last Democratic House proved to absurd limits. The last figure I saw reported by the Hill news outfit said 293 bills were stalled on Feb. 10 in the Senate. My guess is the final … [Read more...] about Health Care Repeal Vote Is Sheer Gimmickry
Opening Our Eyes
This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved. … [Read more...] about Opening Our Eyes
Air Raid (REPOSTED): Why Conservative Talk Radio Succeeds More Than Liberal Talk
EDITOR's NOTE: This post was mistakenly deleted so it is being reposted. Air Raid by Peter Funt During a recent radio interview I was asked why it is that conservative broadcasters are so much more successful than their progressive, or liberal, counterparts. The question was particularly intriguing considering its source: the host of a progressive radio show in … [Read more...] about Air Raid (REPOSTED): Why Conservative Talk Radio Succeeds More Than Liberal Talk
Post Inadvertently Deleted
We will repost the Guest Voice post Air Raid which was inadvertently deleted. … [Read more...] about Post Inadvertently Deleted
Aftermath of a Healing Moment
Michelle Obama sat silently, a First Lady holding hands with an astronaut, two middle-aged people in the grip of grief and hope, as the President made his speech. Now she adds words of her own in an open letter to parents, citing "questions my daughters have asked...the same ones that many of your children will have" and urging them to talk about the goodness of the victims, … [Read more...] about Aftermath of a Healing Moment
David Brooks’ Best Column Ever
No, that headline is really not in keeping with the humble spirit of the column, but Brooks' words struck a chord this morning, and I probably overreacted ... as I'm sometimes inclined to do. His central concept is a rather simple one: the degree of our civility is directly related to the degree we recognize just how flawed and imperfect we each are. That struck a … [Read more...] about David Brooks’ Best Column Ever
Arizona on My Mind (Guest Voice)
The tragedy in Arizona this weekend has generated an ocean of comment on both sides of the border. In The New York Times, Paul Krugman wrote: Where's that toxic rhetoric coming from? Let's not make a false pretense of balance: it's coming overwhelmingly from the right. It's hard to imagine a Democratic member of Congress urging constituents to be "armed and dangerous" … [Read more...] about Arizona on My Mind (Guest Voice)
Live Up to Her
This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved. … [Read more...] about Live Up to Her
Sarah Palin Is No Longer ‘Reloading’: Die Zeit, Germany
It may be the greatest challenge in Sarah Palin's political career: how to respond to accusations that her words contributed to the Tucson massacre? According to columnist Christoph von Marschall of Germany's Die Zeit, while most agree she bears no direct responsibility for the attack on Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, Palin's entire future hangs in the balance. For Die … [Read more...] about Sarah Palin Is No Longer ‘Reloading’: Die Zeit, Germany
Change is Never Easy
Tom Whipple of the Falls Church News is one of the best at discussing the social implications of peak oil. He makes the following observation: Buried in the millions of words that were written about the shootings in Arizona last week was a recent poll showing that only 13 percent of the American people think favorably of the U.S. Congress. The implication, of course, is … [Read more...] about Change is Never Easy
Who By Fire
I meant to post this yesterday, but it's certainly still relevant, sad to say: … [Read more...] about Who By Fire
Tea Party ‘Endangers Health’ of American Democracy: El Pais, Spain
Is the Tea Party inherently dangerous? According to this editorial from Spain's El Pais, if Republicans fail to squeeze them out of their ranks quickly, 'there will be more reason than before to fear its fanatical influence.' The El Pais editorial says in part: No one in America has dared draw a direct link between the massacre in Tucson and the political degradation that … [Read more...] about Tea Party ‘Endangers Health’ of American Democracy: El Pais, Spain
The Congressional Sausage Grinder
I spent over a decade working closely with elected officials -- the descriptive term preferred, over politician, among those I know -- and I wholeheartedly agree with Ezra Klein: I've met a lot of members of Congress, and I do think most of them are good, or at least are trying to be. Serving in Congress is actually a sort of crummy life: You live in a small apartment, you … [Read more...] about The Congressional Sausage Grinder
Sarah Palin Booked to Take Tough Questions From a Journalist
Whoops...sorry, wrong about that: She won't be talking to a journalist and wont be taking tough questions. she'll do a major p.r. piece interview with -- yes, you guessed it -- Fox News' Sean Hannity that will run through several commercial breaks. (It's not quite posting on Facebook with no real challenging questions, but it comes close). … [Read more...] about Sarah Palin Booked to Take Tough Questions From a Journalist
In Memory of Little Christina
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So Much For A New Era
Who cares about the content of Barack Obama's speech last night? Why, the scramble is on to show that he was lying about Gabby Giffords opening her eyes. AHA! GOTCHA!!!! Wait! Maybe not. (SIGH) … [Read more...] about So Much For A New Era
The Massacre in Tucson: Will America Ever Learn? (Estadao, Brazil)
What is it about America and guns? It's a question people in other countries ask every time there is an outbreak of violence at a school, at a bowling alley or in this case, at a supermarket. This editorial from Brazil's Estadao tries to put two and two together for Brazilian readers, and ponders America's violent political history. The Estadao editorial says in … [Read more...] about The Massacre in Tucson: Will America Ever Learn? (Estadao, Brazil)