Titanic Deck Chairs

A Bossy and Power-hungry Lot

2010-02-08T10:09:00.002-05:00

James Lakely at Breitbart's BigGovernment writes up some of the proceedings at recent environmental conference (Keith Lockitch presented as one of a small minority of "deniers"). In such a conference, it seems that views in contrast to the accepted wisdom were not well received: The 13th Annual Energy & Environment Conference, held in Phoenix Feb. 1-3, isn’t the sort of place where global

Squeezing Gas from a Stone

2010-02-04T11:01:00.003-05:00

Via Mark Perry at CARPE DIEM, By marrying and perfecting two processes into a technology called horizontal fracking, engineering has virtually created, from nothing, new natural gas resources, previously regarded as inaccessibly locked in useless shale deposits. Suddenly, the mammoth shale formations in Texas, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, North Dakota, and elsewhere have the potential to produce

When hypocrisy isn't

2010-02-03T08:52:00.004-05:00

Head over to Myrhaf's blog to find out why calling the seemingly hypocritical actions of our powerful "public servants" are nothing of the sort. Do you think Nancy Pelosi's use of millions of dollars of Air Force flights and lavish bar tabs at taxpayer expense is hypocrisy? Myrhaf says of our elected Platonists:Instead of calling it hypocrisy, I think it would be better to point out that our

Quiz Answer: Bad Science Is as Bad Science Does

2010-02-02T08:14:00.004-05:00

It seems that yesterday's quiz may have been a bit too easy, as both Jason and Rational Jenn nailed it immediately: in the mid- to late-70's, the government, lead by George McGovern and backed by Ted Kennedy among others, issued a document called Dietary Guidelines that recommended that the entire country adopt a low fat, low cholesterol, high carb diet. After a short, loaded debate, the full

QUIZ: Name the Destructive Mix of Science and Politics

2010-02-01T15:06:00.004-05:00

I'm reading a book right now that details the disastrous mix of bad science backed by a political agenda (and government funds) in a particular scientific realm. Dear readers, see if you can guess the general area of scientific research described by the following quote. I'll post the answer tomorrow.[The release of a document/policy/recommendation/program] was the first time that any government

Scott Brown: Any Port in a Storm

2010-01-19T09:15:00.005-05:00

To any readers from Massachusetts who haven't yet voted, I urge you to head to the polls and cast a vote for Scott Brown. Why? One reason: all indications are that he will vote against Obamacare, and thus will be the crucial 41st vote that can stop the mudslide into socialism--for now. But that is enough.Readers may recall that I abstained from voting for president. That was because there was

Objectivist Roundup #131

2010-01-14T10:14:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the January 14, 2010 edition of the Objectivist Roundup, your weekly dose of intellectual fuel and ammunition.This roundup features posts by blog authors who are students and advocates of Objectivism, the philosophy of Ayn Rand. She called it a "philosophy for living on earth" and further described it:My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own

Kirch on the Looming Doctor Shortage

2010-01-05T16:15:00.003-05:00

Dr. Darrell Kirch, CEO of the Association of American Medical Colleges, writes in today's Wall St. Journal that Our nation currently faces a shortage of physicians expected to worsen as the number of people over age 65 (who use more than twice the health care of younger adults) doubles. Even with significant changes to the health-care delivery system and improved prevention, the United States

TOR Best of 2009

2009-12-31T18:50:00.000-05:00

Best of 2009: The Objectivist Roundup

Kleist and Kant: The Destructive Nature of Anti-Reason Philosophy

2009-12-24T09:20:00.010-05:00

A popular and gripping characterization in literature is that of the bright flame that tragically dies out too soon. The promise of youth—creativity, passion, innovation—is painfully, brutally crushed, and the path such destruction takes through the ideas, actions, and influences of the character make for dramatic fiction.The sketch Ian Brunskill provides of the Enlightenment-era author Heinrich

On Snow Blowers

2009-12-21T09:10:00.004-05:00

The Boston area was slammed on Sunday with the snowstorm that has shut down Washington D.C. Of course, it didn't shut down much in Boston, as we're old pros at handling a foot of snow, and this storm dropped nice, light, dry snow that was pretty easy to remove.Still, such a storm would still have caused much of my Sunday to be dedicated to clearing our rather large driveway and all the stairs

On Surprise Parties

2009-12-17T16:30:00.006-05:00

I've never been big on birthday celebrations, especially for me, and most of all I hate surprise parties. When I was in high school, my girlfriend and friends and parents organized one for me, and it went over very poorly. I think my gf knew it would, and really didn't want to trick me into showing up. But she did it anyway, cringing and waiting for the inevitable explosion. I barely recall

Climate Science Forecasts: Opinion In, Policy Out

2009-12-14T13:22:00.008-05:00

To those inclined to rational skepticism about the claims made by proponents of anthropogenic global warming, the recent revelations of Climategate greatly serve to validate what they have suspected all along: the models, forecasts, and predictions of AGW are heavily biased towards the opinions of the scientists. A simple layman's review of prominent computer models and forecasts shows they

Objectivist Roundup #126

2009-12-10T09:58:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the December 10, 2009 edition of the Objectivist Roundup, your weekly dose of intellectual fuel and ammunition.This roundup features posts by blog authors who are students and advocates of Objectivism, the philosophy of Ayn Rand. She called it a "philosophy for living on earth" and further described it:My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own

A Modern Take on Original Sin

2009-12-01T08:18:00.004-05:00

Dick Lindzen is slaying dragons again, this time in the Wall St. Journal.The notion that complex climate "catastrophes" are simply a matter of the response of a single number, GATA (globally averaged temperature anomaly), to a single forcing, CO2 (or solar forcing for that matter), represents a gigantic step backward in the science of climate. Many disasters associated with warming are simply

Our Piltdown Man

2009-11-30T13:28:00.002-05:00

I'm taking a break from tending my fully functional cold fusion reactor -- email me privately and I'll send you plans to build your own (only $29.95!) -- to link to a very good article by Robert Tracinski. Others have done a good job of examining the Climategate scandal, but Tracinski's article goes further and deeper than most by tying many threads together and then clearly stating the

Hand Waving

2009-11-23T14:45:00.003-05:00

I unfortunately don't have time to get into detail about the recent hacking of global warming alarmists' emails and subsequent posting of them for all the world to see. Luckily, Peter Cresswell at Not PC has collected a number of links worth checking out.He also has this to say:That’s really the crux of it right there. The world is not warming. They don’t know why. And it doesn’t fit any of

Chimney Update

2009-11-22T14:43:00.004-05:00

To satisfy those who were waiting with bated breath to find out how the chimney project worked out, I'm happy to report that it's done and it seems to be water tight.It's not gorgeous, but the chimney was pretty rough to start with. All in all, I'd say it was a successful project, though the next Nor'easter that comes through will be the real test.

Objectivist Roundup #123

2009-11-19T15:28:00.003-05:00

Welcome to the November 19, 2009 edition of the Objectivist Roundup, your weekly dose of intellectual fuel and ammunition.This roundup features posts by blog authors who are students and advocates of Objectivism, the philosophy of Ayn Rand. She called it a "philosophy for living on earth" and further described it:My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own

Leaky Roof - The Tale of an Unexpected Project

2009-11-18T11:15:00.012-05:00

Nothing rockets a project to the top of the home repair priority list like a leaky roof.A recent severe rainstorm showed that the quick-fix tar patch I applied to the chimney/roof junction two years ago during a similar rainstorm had finally given out. Luckily the chimney is in the unfinished part of the third floor (attic) so nothing was damaged. Rather than patch it again I checked the