schachterrific!

According to the English edition of Pravda, the Earth is on the brink of a new Ice Age. According to compiled data, we are living at the end of a 12,000 year warming period, and the Earth will now begin to cool down and return to Ice Age conditions for the next 100,000 years.

The theory of ‘anthropogenic (man-made) global warming’, or AGW took a swift kick in the butt this past year as temperatures around the globa fell, bringing us one of the colder winters in a while:

The central piece of evidence that is cited in support of the AGW theory is the famous ‘hockey stick’ graph which was presented by Al Gore in his 2006 film “An Inconvenient Truth.” The ‘hockey stick’ graph shows an acute upward spike in global temperatures which began during the 1970s and continued through the winter of 2006/07. However, this warming trend was interrupted when the winter of 2007/8 delivered the deepest snow cover to the Northern Hemisphere since 1966 and the coldest temperatures since 2001. It now appears that the current Northern Hemisphere winter of 2008/09 will probably equal or surpass the winter of 2007/08 for both snow depth and cold temperatures.

The main flaw in the AGW theory is that its proponents focus on evidence from only the past one thousand years at most, while ignoring the evidence from the past million years — evidence which is essential for a true understanding of climatology. The data from paleoclimatology provides us with an alternative and more credible explanation for the recent global temperature spike, based on the natural cycle of Ice Age maximums and interglacials.

Read the 3-page article here. Sorry, Al.

Take it or leave it.

It’s interesting to note how some mainstream media organization subtly attempt to spin the news, and instead of factually reporting events, choose to leave out parts of the story, or use a carefully nuanced adjective or adverb to subliminally overlay the story with threads of directed meaning.

Case in point: This morning’s Gaza Conflict news from Reuters and the AP.

Here is the Reuters head and first paragraph:

Israel rebuffs U.N. resolution and pursues Gaza war

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) – Israel rejected a U.N. resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza on Friday and, as jets and tanks again pounded the Palestinian enclave, announced no decision on whether to step up its two-week-old war on Hamas guerrillas.

And here is the same story from the Associated Press:

Israel, Hamas defy UN call for cease-fire

By Matti Friedman and Ibrahim Barzak

JERUSALEM – Israeli jets and helicopters bombarded Gaza Friday and Hamas responded with a barrage of rockets on two cities as both sides defied a U.N. call for an immediate cease-fire.

Interesting difference. But, to me, the best part is in the Reuters paragraph. “Israel… announced no decision….” Isn’t that really non-news? When the speed of news becomes insanely frenetic, suddenly, at this moment, having not made a decision is suddenly newsworthy? And if they decide in an hour? Two? A day? Well, then it becomes news.

Spare me the hype.

French public television channel 2 admitted yesterday that they had mistakenly aired photos of of terrorists blowing themselves up in 2005 at the Jabaliya Refugee Camp while claiming it was destruction caused by the Israeli Defense Forces in the current Gaza conflict:

A news editor at France 2 told Le Figaro Tuesday that they had “made a mistake” by airing those pictures, which he said depict events from 2005.

The media monster needs to be fed. The clock is ticking. There is no time to fact-check. There is no time to verify. Feed the monster. Feed the monster. Another example of misinformation (dis-information?) that gets out into the mediaverse, makes its impression, and cannot be called back.

People you need to take a step back and really use your brains instead of digesting any piece of crap fed to you by a stressed out media.

My opinion, take it or leave it.

I just found out today that talented mystery (and comedy!) writer Donald Westlake has passed away. I met Donald Westlake for my one and only time in 1973 just prior to my graduation from Harpur College at the State University of NY at Binghamton (these days called Binghamton University). Mr. Westlake was the invited guest speaker at my graduation. At the time I was working part-time for the College’s Dept. of Educational Communication, so i was given the opportunity to interview Mr. Westlake prior to the ceremony. I imagine the videotape (reel-to-reel 2 inch tape!) is long lost in some murky backroom, but it remains, to me, a memorable moment in my life. He gave a great commencement speech, made even more entertaining by his pointing out that he was kicked out of Harpur for poor grades, and now (1973) was back to receive an honorary degree.

I discovered Mr. Westlake’s passing while reading This Is True! the weekly newsletter from Randy Cassingham. It’s been around since 1994 and still provides great insight into the world’s best and worst inhabitants. Mr. Cassingham has a weekly section entitled ‘Honorary Unsubscribe’, essentially an obituary of important people who in many cases got lost in the daily news shuffle. Here is Donald Westlake’s ‘Unsubscribe’:

THIS WEEK’S HONORARY UNSUBSCRIBE goes to Donald E. Westlake. In 1960, Westlake’s first novel, “The Mercenaries”, was published. That started a productive period of writing for Westlake — so productive that he used at least 10 pen names in addition to his own name, since people had a hard time believing one person could be so prolific. “Richard Stark” was the only one he kept over time. Writing mostly mystery novels, Westlake was as good as he was abundant: he is one of only two mystery writers to receive Edgar Awards in three different categories: Best Novel (“God Save the Mark”, 1968), Best Short Story (“Too Many Crooks”, 1990), and Best Motion Picture Screenplay (“The Grifters”, 1991). He was also named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America in 1993, and was nominated for an Academy Award for “Grifters”. In all, he wrote more than 100 books and several other screenplays, using a manual typewriter because he didn’t want to be bothered by the hum of an electric. He wrote seven days a week right up to the end: his last novel will be published in April. Westlake died December 31 from a heart attack while on his way to a New Year’s Eve dinner in Mexico. He was 75.

Thank you for the many years of reading enjoyment. Rest in Peace.

Hat tip to my bud, Phil Millman

All my friends already know pretty much where I stand on this. Yet i recently found an article that pretty much says it for me. The John M. Olin Institute for Strategic Studies at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs of Harvard University runs a blog called Middle East Strategy at Harvard (MESH). In a recent article entitled “On the Ground in Gaza”, Barry Rubin pretty much covers it:

…many in the West think Israel has some kind of choice in this matter, that diplomacy was an option, that Hamas could be reasoned with. Those people have clearly never heard a Hamas leader speak or read anything on the group’s Arabic-language websites. In a real sense, Hamas is more extreme than Osama bin Laden, who periodically offers his enemy the chance to repent. Hamas’s goal is genocidal.

This has nothing to do with being dovish or hawkish, left or right. For those who are the biggest peaceniks—and this is true in Israel—know that Hamas must be defeated if Israel is ever to make peace with the PA. Even the PA knows it, and that’s what they say in private, no matter what they say in public.

Take it or leave it.

Stop frame animation is probably one of the most time consuming, yet unrestricted types of animation out there. You don’t really need a computer, and there are no imaginary computer graphics (as nice as they may be). You can do it with a camera, or even paper and a pencil. It’s essentially the artist and an idea. Above is a great short film by Guillaume Reymond of the GameOver Project, called Human Tetris.

Take it or leave it.