Better dead than Red!

Charles Krauthammer's column on environmentalism and climate change in the Post today is a good chuckle. I'm going to give it more space and attention than it really deserves, because it is so ludicrous, yet infuriating.

First of all, either Krauthammer doesn't really understand how "science" works, or he's pretending not to. I'll choose the latter since he's not a dumb guy. He writes,

Predictions of catastrophe depend on models. Models depend on assumptions about complex planetary systems -- from ocean currents to cloud formation -- that no one fully understands. Which is why the models are inherently flawed and forever changing.

Ummmm...that's how "models" work. The space shuttle flies based on models of the physical universe. We go to war based on models of the geopolitical universe. The Fed's decision to reduce interest rates again? Yup, that was based on a model too! Until someone can literally see the future, we're going to be basing policy on models. Ideally, models with strong scientific consensus behind them, like those predicting continued global warming from carbon dioxide emissions.

Secondly--communism? I guess that's why China has such strong environmental protections. Listen, equating "liberal" social change efforts with communism isn't going to work for much longer, guys. There are people in college right now who weren't even born by the time the Berlin Wall came down. You won. You defeated communism. Congratulations. Let it go.

Finally, it sure takes a power-hungry person to assume that the purpose of any group advocating some sort of social or economic paradigm shift is doing so in order to gain or consolidate political power for themselves. To put it bluntly, just because you're a selfish, greedy jerk doesn't mean everyone else is too, and assuming such only points to your own motivations.

As Krauthammer writes,

There's no greater social power than the power to ration...The Church of the Environment promulgates secondary dogmas as well. One of these is a strict nuclear taboo. Rather convenient, is it not? Take this major coal-substituting fix off the table, and we will be rationing all the more. Guess who does the rationing.

Ooooo, I know I know! Chairman Al Gore! I know that if it weren't for my desperate thirst to control the world by rationing energy, I would be 100% behind building nuclear plants everywhere they will fit.

We fought the hills of Vermont and won/lived

A very belated Vermont City Marathon report.

Sunday, May 25, 2008
Burlington, VT
Runners: 7,000+
Spectators: 25,000!
Conditions: Clear and sunny, around 60 at start, rising to 76 degrees by noon

This is not a PR course, and even less so on a hot day. It is, however, gorgeous, and the crowd support was phenomenal. Little kids handing out snacks, a Darth Vader impersonator, a professional 20-piece drum circle, several full plugged-in bands, a cardboard standup of Hillary Clinton reading "never give up"...you name it. We ran past the Ethan Allen homestead, through the UVM and Champlain College campuses, down Church Street, and on a lovely bike path by Lake Champlain. I did not spot Champ the lake monster but I was not looking very closely.

My original 3:40 goal was inappropriate for the course and conditions. I ran a 1:49 first half comfortably, but as the temperature rose, I decided to just chill out and enjoy the view, finishing in 3:55, 78th percentile in my age group. I was pretty pleased under the circumstances.

Ben ran a blistering 1:07 first ten miles and 1:29 for the half, but in the end the conditions caught up with him as well.




All in all, a lovely, well-organized race with fabulous spectators. We'll be sure to run this one again.

The Clinton/RFK flap: just one more reason I want this election to be over

This has just gotten silly. I'm not even a Clinton supporter, per se, and it was immediately clear to me that her mention of the June assassination of Bobby Kennedy was meant simply to illustrate her point that Democratic nomination races have, historically, continued into the summer.

The assassination was not mentioned as "a reason to stay in the race," as Eugene Robinson misleadingly writes in his column this morning, or a suggestion that either Democratic contender might be assassinated for heaven's sake. This was Clinton picking her brain for a good example of a long nomination fight and failing to screen the results. Even Obama says so.

I hope Senator Clinton has learned her lesson about choosing historical examples a little more carefully, and props to Bobby Kennedy, Jr. for his classy response to the hubbub.

McCain veep selection process sounds like an episode of The Bachelor

Or maybe The 5th Wheel...

Senator John McCain of Arizona is set to meet with at least three potential running mates at a gathering at his ranch this weekend in Arizona...

...Mr. McCain is heading home on Friday for three days without a public schedule. His campaign described this as a social weekend that would include 10 couples, and -- as has been its policy -- declined to discuss any aspect of the vice-presidential search. (NYT)

Some easy listening on the subprime lending crisis

This is one of the few times when I wish I were still a freshman in Econ 101. You can be sure that econ professors the nation over are using the mortgage crisis as a teaching tool and helping their students understand this complicated and interesting (and tragic) situation.

Here are a couple of pieces I have read/heard recently that do a good job at breaking it down for the rest of us.

This American Life, 5/9/08: "The Giant Pool of Money."

New York Times Magazine, 4/27/08: "Triple-A Failure."

Washington City Paper, 10/12/07: "Subprime and Punishment."

Two cats on a treadmill

Why not.

Your one-stop source for obstruction of justice

When the corrupt head of a federal agency wants to remove computer evidence of his misdeeds, who does he call?


Yeah, that's right. The criminal masterminds in the blue collared shirts. Are these the ones that drive special little PT Cruisers, or is that the Geek Squad? I can't remember.

Anyway, the agency in question here is the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, which is supposed to protect federal government employee whistleblowers from reprisal and enforce certain restrictions on political activity by government employees.

Current OSC head Scott Bloch, however, has apparently been running the place in true Bush-appointee style, inappropriately allowing politics to interfere with the agency's mission. After years of government investigation, that's earned his shop a big FBI raid and numerous grand-jury subpoenas (WP).

I think we've all heard this story before in various forms, but I was just a little tickled to learn that Bloch called in the Geeks to scrub some of his hard drives during a previous investigation. You'd think there'd be a record of that job somewhere, wouldn't you? Genius.

Biofuel?

For Americans, it's hard to wake up in the morning without making a contribution to global warming. Almost anything you can imagine doing has a carbon footprint, from eating a muffin to buying the paper; Sun Microsystems has embarked on a project to calculate the carbon footprint of a single e-mail. (Business Green) (Which makes this blogger wonder: what is the carbon footprint of my very soul?)

Now it turns out there's one more American pastime for the carbon-conscious to worry about: liposuction.

Anything relating to the disposal of liposuction fat makes me think of that one scene in Fight Club, so I don't really like to think about it at all. But according to the City Paper, a couple of local cosmetic surgeons crunched the numbers and discovered that the incineration of liposuct-ed fat produces the carbon equivalent of driving 2 million miles each year. Now they're buying carbon offsets for their business.

And in case you were wondering, yeah, in theory, you could turn it into transportation fuel.