2008: Beginning of End of AGW?

Christopher Booker argues that 2008 will emerge as the year that the hysteria over man-made global warming began to wane.  He points to three lines of evidence to support his thesis:

• Contrary to what the computer models predicted, temperatures worldwide were significantly cooler, cancelling much of the temperature rises from the 20th century.
• The unimpeachable “consensus of scientists” collapsed, as more and more reputable scientists spoke out against the politically correct position.
• The global economic collapse has exposed the truly frightening cost of trying to implement a campaign to reduce global warming — a cost that governments can no longer afford (if they ever could).

The anti-global warming campaign has never been anything other than a vehicle to allow environmentalists and leftist politicians to impose their radical schemes on an unsuspecting public.

Why Schools Are Not Producing Scholars

John Tierney relates the story of an elementary school teacher in West Virginia who led her students in a campaign to prevent school officials from shutting down a garbage recycling program. The program was so uneconomical it made no sense to keep it going. But the teacher was determined to preserve her students’ status as eco-nuts.

As Tierney asks,

If we want our children to be scientifically literate and get good jobs in the future, why are we spending precious hours in school teaching them to be garbage collectors?

Distractions

The blog has been very quiet the last week or so, for two good reasons. First, of course, was the Thanksgiving holiday, with loads of kids and grandkids around to keep me occupied. Then about the time they were preparing to leave, I came down with a bad respiratory infection that put me in bed most of the time. Like any self-respecting male, I chose to tough it out, but by Friday I gave up and went the doctor. I’m on meds now, and feeling better.

The one thing I look forward to more than anything as I recuperate is sleep – long, pleasant, uninterrupted sleep. It’s been so long since I’ve had that.