The Conduct Of Science

One can judge from experiment, or one can blindly accept authority. To the scientific mind, experimental proof is all important and theory is merely a convenience in description, to be junked when it no longer fits. To the academic mind, authority is everything and facts are junked when they do not fit theory laid down by authority.

- Lifeline, by Robert Heinlein




Longtime readers will recall my skepticism regarding the enthusiastic pursuit of the theory of a climate that is sensitive to human CO₂ emissions.  A big part of that skepticism is the observation that the data is being molded to fit the theories instead of molding the theories to fit the data.  That observation was effectively validated by the Climategate episode that released thousands of CRU documents along with the software they generated to "model" our climate.  The programmer's notes in the software alone should be enough to convince every man and woman of science that "science" - the pursuit of theories that explain the facts - was not being conducted by the influential staff of the CRU.

I suspect that they are not unique in their approach to studying our climate.

Giving Unique Gifts

Sci-fi author, John Scalzi, is using his blog to promote unique gifts for this Christmas season.  One need not limit themselves to our Happy Holidays when using this promotion, but that is what got it started.  he has used a day for promoting traditional authors, non-traditional authors, and now other handicrafts.

The last category has reminded me of Etsy; a website for selling hand made goods.  Think of it like Ebay or Amazon, but with a focus on hand crafted products.

Friends have been using and recommending Etsy to me for quite some time.  Perhaps you, my gentle and faithful reader, will find it of some value as well.

Someone Call Tom Selleck

I saw where this was leading in 1984.  Someone call Tom Selleck!

Actually, I'm a bit of a technology geek.  I find this stuff to be fascinating.

Now That Is Quidditch!

Oh Ginny!  And we thought we knew you well.  Now we wish we knew you better!

Potentially NSFW for certain environments.


Have to remember to add this strip to my daily read!

So Thick You Could Cut It With A Knife

Louis CK is not really my kind of comedian.  But the irony here is really thick.  Capitalism is the reason why we have all that technology!

I suppose the other option is that he is using some double reverse ironic ninjitsu.  Perhaps he is suggesting that if capitalism implodes and we have to go back to the barter system for a while, perhaps we will be better stewards when we bring capitalism back.

Reason To Pause

A long standing concern regarding Mr. Obama is his attitude towards governance.  He appears to have an attitude that is perfectly encapsulated by an address made by his lovely and gracious wife in 2008.  In that address, she said "Barack will require you to work."  Emphasis added.

It seems that the left has finally taken note of his autocratic nature.  He doesn't call.  He expects results, but he apparently doesn't bother to build the kinds of large tent relationships that enable those results to be achieved.

Psssttt....Can Someone Do Something To Fix This?

It might help.

It took Bob Bertsch 25 years to build his construction business and just a day for it all to go away.

...

"I am tired of carrying all the tax load," Bertsch said. "I renew 13 licenses here every year just so I can spend money in this city."

Bertsch makes no attempt to conceal his frustration with the costs government imposes on small businesses like his.

"Government is killing small business. We used to have 24 employees at our peak. Now, all of those people who used to work here are in unemployment lines," he said.

...

Bertsch told a friend at the auction he is selling out because government was taking more out of his business than he was.

Or we can keep giving handouts to big businesses with ties to the government.  The whole idea of keeping everyone's taxes low is apparently over rated.

 

Link to the source.