Settled science...isn't. That's the whole point of it being called "science."

No matter what side of the climate change debate you choose to believe, Charles Krauthammer has a recent piece that should give you some pause.  Now the mantra of manmade climate change believers is that AGW is somehow "settled science."  

Boy I'm glad they weren't around when the eugenics folks were popular.

But the worst part is that people who are upset with Krauthammer's revelation of this disturbing trend are themselves resorting to the politics of the mob rather than bringing science to the fore.  That's the center of his piece - when we call people out for having different scientific opinions we've got trouble.

There is no such thing as "settled science."  Science, by its very nature, is never settled.  What we have in "global warming" are some weather facts and trends being used to redistribute wealth on a global scale.  And those who opposed global transfers of wealth are being described as "flat-earthers" by politicians.   

Bigotry is bigotry, and trying to scream down one's opponent is the same every time it's used.

Astronomy for Dummies

Some of my students have asked me to comment outside of class about amateur astronomy lately, so I thought I'd share some of my favorite sites.  It's getting ready to undergo some changes (ads, mainly, we think) but I recommend it as one of the best places to go to learn about astronomy for amateurs.

www.cloudynights.com

Remember that scope you got for Christmas when you were a kid?  If it's Japanese, even a cheap one, it's probably better than what you can buy these days, and someone might find it collectible.  Cloudy Night's site sponsor, Astronomics, is one of the best/biggest shops in the country.  They come highly recommended.

Another of my favorite sites is

www.handsonoptics.com

Gary and his wife Sherry are friends from a few years back and I'll recommend them every time.  They have a good "used" list, too, and if they don't have something they can usually find it for you.

Finally, if you want to participate in a site that's growing (and not very crowded) I can recommend this one.  I sure wish there were more readers/posters for this.

www.telescopejunkies.com

Heavy Hitters: I bet you thought you knew who the largest political contributors were; you were wrong...

OpenSecrets.org has a list of the largest political contributors of the past few decades, and I bet it's different from what people would expect.  You can find it here.  Or cut-and-paste

https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php

I know you were thinking that there would be a bunch of evil conservatives at the top, right?  Nope.  Instead there's a bunch of unions and "consumer interest" groups, whatever that means. 

This article about George Soros' political activities is pretty informative too.  At least it doesn't come from some Right Wing hater site.

Buzzfeed outlaws negative book reviews

In a move that's sure to astound the dozens people who read Buzzfeed for its book reviews, the site has announced that it will no longer publish negative reviews.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/30/opinion/banning-the-negative-book-review.html?_r=0

This reminds me of the endorsements on LinkedIn, and I'm sure it will have the same effect.  

Nice guys DO NOT finish last, but here are some good tips if you're worried about it

I'll never believe that you have to be mean or hurtful to get ahead in life.  But here are some good tips to keep from being a doormat, too.  Not a perfect list, for sure, but still worth a read.

For example:  Working to please the boss.  That's important, but most of the time the boss only has a limited understanding of what they want, especially in a professional situation.  If the boss has any leadership talent she will hire people who know their field best and therefore create the best output possible, and she will give them a good bit of autonomy.  The boss doesn't need to know every aspect of your job to be a good boss... So work to a professional standard to please yourself.

THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE JUST STARTING OUT AND DON'T KNOW ANYTHING YET - and YOU know who YOU are...

Ignore what I just said: please your boss.  Otherwise, you'll never get to the "professional autonomy" phase of existence.  Understand?

Scientists kill world's oldest living creature in order to figure outhow old it was; see Heisenberg, Werner

It's been discovered that the world's oldest living creature was older than originally thought, but it also comes out that to measure its age it had to be killed - Heisenberg was a genius!

That sounds a little like "we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it".

Update:

We find out today that they DIDN'T kill it to find out how old it was-they killed it as part of a global warming study.

Oh, that makes it OK I guess...

Just saw this piece from 2009 where Freeman Dyson disagrees with the climate change models.  
Wow, I never thought I'd see THAT happen! 

http://e360.yale.edu/feature/freeman_dyson_takes_on_the_climate_establishment/2151/

WebMD was paid to promote the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare)

The popular Web site WebMD has been 'outted' for taking Federal government money to promote the ACA. 

Saul Alinsky would be proud, as would P.T. Barnum.