At Long Last, Have You No Shame

As I mentioned yesterday, a study was released by a United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change today which stated that global warming was indeed occuring and that it was "very likely" due to human actions...which in scientific terms translates to a "90% probability", which when you consider that many of the countries involved would like to continue polluting and not acknowledge global warming means that the evidence must be so overwhelming that even they can't prevent such strong assertions.

Never to be outdone, corporate evildoers are already on the offensive to prevent anything from being done about this. A think tank, funded by Exxon Mobil (true friends of the environment) have offered $10,000 plus travel and other expenses to any scientist who will critique or debunk this report. Now, obviously, peer review and analysis is part of the scientific process, and obviously people should always be checking each other's work to make sure it's accurate, but in this case, the conclusion is already decided. They aren't looking for the truth, they are looking for a specific answer and are willing to pay anyone who can give them that answer. Far from being scientific exploration, this is a P.R. move to debunk the notion of global warming in the minds of the public.

I honestly don't know how anyone can actually think that this was a good idea. Even if you want to keep polluting and this report spells trouble for you, they have to know how shady this is, and exactly how shady it will look when it gets out, which of course it does. It amounts to them saying "Yes, we know our products are to blame, but we want to keep selling them at all costs". What type of scientist would agree to what is essentially academic prostitution?

Although, a sign that our society is not completely without merit; in Detroit, Michigan, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that a man's use of the word "goddamn" during a town meeting is not criminal. Why would that even come up? Well, because during this town meeting, when this man uttered such a foul, terrifying word (please note sarcasm), he was arrested on the spot. Yes, arrested, but luckily our courts are still sane enough to recognize a violation of First and Fourth Amendment rights when they see it. An interesting question: I wonder if this man would have been arrested if he had merely said "damn" instead of "goddamn"? I don't understand how you can say "damn" on television or the radio and it's perfectly acceptable, but if you add "god" in front of it, it becomes equal to saying "f*ck" or "sh*t". Only in a puritanical and backwords culture could that happen.