Climate & Climate Politics
- Wind turbines contribute to global warming? Media outlets say they do | MNN – Mother Nature Network
- Fox Faux Physics Fail. “Global Warming is not happening, and Wind Turbines are Causing it”. « Climate Denial Crock of the Week
Politics
- Martin Lewis: The President Bragging About His Wartime Success in an Election Ad?
- Rich Guy Says We Should Be Grateful For His Wealth – NYTimes.com
- The Wonder of TV Debates
Whenever Paul Krugman goes on television, you can see his discomfort coming off him. Or at least that’s what I see; since I’ve never met him in person, I don’t know how much his television manner differs from his ordinary manner. But he always looks as though inside he’s shaking his head, saying to himself, “This is such bullshit. I can’t wait to get out of here.” And it’s hard to blame him. The other day, Krugman did a debate on Bloomberg TV with noted economic crank Congressman Ron Paul, and came away utterly disgusted:
Think about it: you approach what is, in the end, a somewhat technical subject in a format in which no data can be presented, in which there’s no opportunity to check facts (everything Paul said about growth after World War II was wrong, but who will ever call him on it?). So people react based on their prejudices. If Ron Paul got on TV and said “Gah gah goo goo debasement! theft!” — which is a rough summary of what he actually did say — his supporters would say that he won the debate hands down; I don’t think my supporters are quite the same, but opinions may differ. Tales of historical debates in which one side supposedly won big — like the Huxley-Wilberforce debate on evolution — are, in general, after-the-fact storytelling; the reality is that that kind of smackdown, like Perry Mason-type confessions in court, almost never happens.
So why did I do it? Because I’m trying to publicize my book, which does have lots of data and facts — but those data and facts don’t matter unless I get enough people to read it.
Props to Professor Krugman for being frank. […read the rest of the article…]
- Economy Face Off: Ron Paul vs Paul Krugman: Video – Bloomberg—
- The Immoral Minority: Jon Stewart outs the Republican hypocrisy over President Obama’s Bin Laden ad.
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Economics
Critical Thinking
Health Care
- ‘Doctors want to cure’ patients, not tell them they’re dying – The Washington Post
- Terminal breast cancer leads woman to pick palliative care, not aggressive therapy – The Washington Post