Honored Arrogance

One of the most notoriously wrong of the Eco-Doomsayers from the 1960s and 70s was Paul Ehrlich, whose book The Population Bomb was a sensational best seller.  I use the word "notorious" advisedly and deliberately.  The book opened with a dramatic prediction of doom:

The battle to feed all of humanity is over. In the 1970s hundreds of millions of people will starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now. At this late date nothing can prevent a substantial increase in the world death rate...

We all know what actually happened: food calories per capita have increased dramatically and death from starvation has plummeted.  Rather than hundreds of millions of people dropping in their tracks from malnourishment, the world population has approximately doubled since Ehrlich wrote his Magnum Opus.

We see that if you hold Approved Views® that it doesn't matter how spectacularly wrong you are.  Indeed, Ehrlich has become wealthy and honored, and is still publishing.  His latest predictions are now out, in no less prestigious a publication as The Proceedings of the Royal Society*:

But today, for the first time, humanity's global civilization—the worldwide, increasingly interconnected, highly technological society in which we all are to one degree or another, embedded—is threatened with collapse by an array of environmental problems. Humankind finds itself engaged in what Prince Charles described as ‘an act of suicide on a grand scale’ [4], facing what the UK's Chief Scientific Advisor John Beddington called a ‘perfect storm’ of environmental problems [5]. The most serious of these problems show signs of rapidly escalating severity, especially climate disruption.

I guess that I should point out here that his article is not just in one of the World's most important scientific journals, but that it is peer-reviewed.  It is not known whether the reviewers saw fit to question the scientific credentials of HRH Prince Charles.  One presumes not.

The article itself is a tedious repackaging of his old, busted predictions of mass famine.  Perhaps this time he will finally be right, although the way that the article is larded with "might result in" and "could lead to" suggests that Mr. Ehrlich has learned to camouflage  his more falsifiable predictions.

But this line in the article actually leaves me speechless:

The needed pressure, however, might be generated by a popular movement based in academia and civil society to help guide humanity towards developing a new multiple intelligence [135], ‘foresight intelligence’ to provide the long-term analysis and planning that markets cannot supply.

So humanity currently lacks this "foresight intelligence" and needs the likes of Ehrlich to develop it?  The same Paul Ehrlich who once said that a large portion of the human race would starve to death before 1980?  That we should look to him for foresight?

[blink] [blink]

And the Royal Society saw fit to honor this arrogant idiot by publishing it in their house organ,  publishing it after it was peer-reviewed by the scientific community?

[blink] [blink]

This is the point where everyone who ever uttered the words "Republican War On Science" can shut up and sit down in the back of the room; grown ups are talking.  And the Royal Society might consider changing their motto.  Sic transit Gloria Mundi might be appropriate.

IN Egypt's sandy silence, all alone,
Stands a gigantic Leg, which far off throws
The only shadow that the Desert knows:—
"I am great OZYMANDIAS," saith the stone,
"The King of Kings; this mighty City shows
"The wonders of my hand."— The City's gone,—
Nought but the Leg remaining to disclose
The site of this forgotten Babylon.

We wonder,—and some Hunter may express
Wonder like ours, when thro' the wilderness
Where London stood, holding the Wolf in chace,
He meets some fragment huge, and stops to guess
What powerful but unrecorded race
Once dwelt in that annihilated place.

– Horace Smith

Hat tip: William M. Briggs, who fairly demolishes the article.

* The Royal Society is presumed to be the oldest scientific organization still operating today, having received its charter from King Charles II in 1660.  It's motto - Nullis in verbo, or "take nobody's word for it" - would have been good advice for the peer reviewers.

Kamelot - Ashes to Ashes

Silverthorn, Kamelot's new album is out featuring their new lead singer.  Perhaps surprisingly, the new singer (Tommy Karevik) sounds a lot like the old singer (Roy Kahn) - perhaps because Karevik is a Swede and Kahn is Norwegian.  Maybe there's a common lutefisk connection, or something.

There is a common songwriting thread - the same core of the band still writes the songs.  And so there's a commonality that Kamelot fans should like.



I've only listened to some of the album (in the car with #2 Son), but it sounds like the most classically operatic of the Kamelot oeuvre*. Certainly this song opens that way.  If you like Rock Opera - real Rock Opera - then this should be something that you'll like.

* I only use the term because I don't think I've used the word in the 6500 posts here.  So there.

Prediction is hard, especially about the future

Peer-reviewed Scientist, March 2000:

However, the warming is so far manifesting itself more in winters which are less cold than in much hotter summers. According to Dr David Viner, a senior research scientist at the climatic research unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia,within a few years winter snowfall will become "a very rare and exciting event".

"Children just aren't going to know what snow is," he said.

Non peer-reviewed non-scientist, January 2013:

Snow and icy conditions are continuing across the UK for the fourth day in a row. Click on the images below to find out more about some of the areas that have seen most disruption.

Heathrow Airport reduced its schedule on Monday by about 10% - cutting about 130 flights - in anticipation of low visibility. Heathrow cancelled 300 flights on Sunday and weather conditions also led to more than 40 cancellations at London City Airport.

But remember, always trust Peer-Reviewed Science®!  It's Peer-Reviewed, so it can't be wrong!

Therapy for New York Times Op-Ed writers

So it seems that someone wrote a chin-tugging NYT Op-Ed saying that since she was clinically depressed and a suicide risk, they government should take away her (and your) second amendment rights:

Do more to help us protect ourselves because what’s most likely to wake me in the early hours isn’t a man’s body slamming at my door but depression, that raven, tapping, rapping, banging for relief. I have a better chance of surviving if I never have the option of being able to pull the trigger.

Actually, there's someone who can help her.



This article by the Times is the most grotesquely manipulative thing I've seen since, well, since the gun grabbers used the blood of a bunch of kindergarten kids to propose a bunch of stupid, useless laws that wouldn't have protected those kids.  The NYT's cynicism is simply staggering, and only exceeded by the moral degeneracy of their continually using the weak and vulnerable as props to flog their ridiculous dogma.

Lying. It's what they do.

I refer to the Media, of course.  The Czar of Muscovy brings down the Axe of Love in a post about the Media's shamefully blown coverage of the Sandy Hook atrocity:

One cannot possibly accept that the media are ignorant on this issue. While that is a probability on most issue, one month has passed in which media types were given every conceivable explanation for the distance between AR-15s and other rifle platforms, why AKs are not ARs, why a .223 is not a monster bullet, the difference between semi-automatic and fully automatic, and so on.

The smallest amount of fact-checking would have cleared this up in no time.

Instead, you have active suppression of evidence followed by an informed distortion of the record.

How bad is the situation?  So bad that the best case scenario for the Media - the one that most preserves the scraps of their tattered reputation - is that the entire MSM is institutionally incompetent to report on anything relating to guns.  That's the best explanation, and the others are, well, precisely as your Autocrat describes.

And so to my snark from yesterday, about the Gun Control crowd whining that the evil NRA is using fear to whip up support.  The two are inextricably joined.  Gun owners (and more importantly gun sympathizing non-owners) see the lies that are not the accidental rarity, but rather are the core argument of the anti-gun crowd.  They see the blatant misrepresentation by the media.  They hear the calls for confiscation.  What is their natural reaction?

Panic gun buying.  Joining the NRA.  Deciding that this is the time to make the stand.

And so all the complaints that Diane Feinstein's and Andrew Cuomo's calls for confiscation were "taken out of context" fall on deaf ears - after all, if the Media is seen to always exaggerate to the benefit of the Gun Control agenda, this is just more of the same, right?

And the same goes to pro-gun Democrats.  And while there are a lot of them, they are in terrible danger of not getting credit for it.  After all, a bunch of their fellow Party members lie through their teeth - aided and abetted by the Media - and so why shouldn't we wonder if they're lying, too?

And so there are two clear lessons from this debate: The Media has destroyed their credibility with the entirety of the American public: everyone (both pro-gun and anti-gun) read their statements as code words and both sides assume that the Media secretly is firmly on the side of gun control - and therefore slants its coverage to push that agenda.  Both sides discount the actual content of the reporting, correctly only perceiving the agenda.  This means that the Media has absolutely no ability to shift opinion in favor of further gun control.  Since everyone thinks that they're rooting for their "home team", there's no possibility of being seen as a neutral broker.  In fact, the only impact they could have would be to report the facts correctly which would likely have a massive swing of popular opinion in favor of gun rights.

The second lesson is that the Media is now damaging the Democratic party.  The majority of the population simply doesn't believe them on this topic, and when the Media reports that Senator Manchin (D-WV) "supports gun rights" they read this as code reporting - even if it may be true.  Given that gun rights is a topic that energizes voters like few other topics - especially voters who are not political junkies - this is very, very damaging to Democratic candidates in competitive districts.

There's a quite good chance that the damage has already been inflicted on the Democratic Party's 2014 hopes.  The message has been sent, and it has been received.  The Media can only make this perception worse with their coded support of gun control.  What remains to be seen is whether the NRA will take this as an opportunity to explain to "pro-gun" Democrats that they're simply not believable any more, and as long as (say) Nancy Pelosi is still their leader in the House that even those politicians who were once considered pro-gun are presumed to be at the beck and call of their anti-gun political party.

Because until there is a cost to the Democrats for pushing this anti-freedom agenda, they'll keep pushing it.  Sure, they'll claim that the "support the Second Amendment" and the Media will dutifully report that.  And everyone will watch this and think "They're lying.  It's what they do."

Sunday afternoon

First we took the dogs to the Dog Park, where Wolfgang got to play with his girlfriend Maisy (a 10 month old Rhodesian Ridgeback).  Puppy love FTW.

Wolfgang and Maisy in October

Then it was off to Tractor Supply Co for puppy food.  And an extra $60 of stuff that we somehow couldn't manage without.  I am listening to Ivan the Terrier who lets me know that our supply of squeaky doggie toys is replenished.

Then to the supermarket for game provisions.  Bacon wrapped bratwursts on pretzel rolls with sweet potato fries and carrot and celery sticks with guacamole dipping sauce.  #1 Son exclaimed "This is the best dinner ever!"

And then watching the Falcons blow the game.  Oh well, can't have everything.

But not a lot of blogging, I guess.  Tomorrow we'll be a bit back to a less lazy schedule.

Irony is under appreciated

Epic cluelessness is epic:

Supporters of strict gun laws, meanwhile, bristle at the fear-mongering they say is driving the gun rush.

"It's an unfortunate phenomenon that fear is being used as a way of marketing their products," said Heather Martens, the director of Protect Minnesota: Working to End Gun Violence.

I mean it's simply beyond the pale to try to push your preferred policy options by using fear and emotion.  Certainly Ms. Martens' group would never stoop to that.  Oh, wait.

Their tears of frustration at their lack of success are Nectar of the Gods.  Drink up.

Johann Schein and the birth of the Baroque

Ever wonder why Baroque was invented?  It may be that it was dinner music; that's why Johann Schein composed it.  He lived in Weimar in the sixteenth century, at the very beginning of the Baroque age, at the inflection point where music was beginning to be composed for more than just religious ceremonies.

He made his living from religious music as Kapellmeister the at Weimar, writing works like this:



But he was perhaps the first non-Italian composer to write in the new style.  This is his most famous work, and is unmistakeably Baroque.

Seems legit

Things I did not know

Today is Robert E. Lee day, a holiday in Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi.  I guess that this is a day for reflection that a series of successes can lead to a feeling that you can accomplish anything.  Great talent and a string of successes are no guarantee of future success, and that a dash of humility is a great tonic to the soul - and can help us resist the urge to order General Pickett to charge the Yankees on yon ridge, across that empty field.

St. James Infirmary

Satchmo plays it.

Quote of the day - Gun Control edition

Offered without comment, because it needs absolutely none:

As an idiot leftist friend kindly pointed out to me, it's just not the same thing!  [Drunk Driving] doesn't just walk into a school and start killing people! [1]

Ah-yep.  That there's the mindset, in a nutshell.  What I want is perfectly reasonable, what you want makes you a monster.  Because shut up, peon.

Then pass me the bottle, will ya?

You are going to RTWT, aren't you?  I knew you were.  It's worth it.

Blake Shelton - Kiss My Country Ass

There's a Cold Civil War in this country, between those who would rule and those who don't want to be ruled.  We've just seen this play out with gun control - those who would rule have proposed stupid, ineffective measures aimed at those who they would rule.

New gun control measures are dead on arrival in the Congress, and so the President has promised a bunch of meaningless, stupid Executive Orders.  With the exception of New York and maybe a couple of other deep blue states, that's been a futile effort. Gun control has lost.  Here's who the "intellectual Elite" has lost to:



Kiss My Country Ass (Songwriters: )

Tearin' down a dirt road
Rebel flag flyin'
Coon dog in the back
Truck bed loaded down with beer
And a cold one in my lap
Earnhart sticker behind my head
And my woman by my side
Tail-pipe's poppin'
the radio's rockin' "Country Boy Can Survive"
If you got a problem with that, ha ha!
You can kiss my country ass

Well, I love Turkey calls, overalls, Wrangler jeans
Smoke nothin' but Marlboro reds
Tattoos up & down my arms,
And deer heads over my bed.
My Granddaddy fought in World War Two,
My Daddy went to Vietnam.
And I ain't scared to grab my gun,
And fight for my homeland.
If you don't love the American flag,
You can kiss my country ass.

If you're a down home, backwoods redneck,
Hey come on, stand up and raise your glass.
But if you ain't down with my outlaw crowd,
You can kiss my country ass.

Well, there's a whole lotta high-class people out there
That's lookin' down on me
Cause the country club where I belong
Is the Honky Tonk till three in the mornin'
Don't wear no fancy clothes
No ties or three piece suits.
You can find me in my camouflage cap
My t-shirt and cowboy boots
If that don't fit your social class
You can kiss my country ass

If you're a down home, backwoods redneck
Hey, come on, stand up and raise your glass
But if you ain't down with my outlaw crowd
You can kiss my country ass

Well I'm a front-porch sittin',
Guitar pickin', moonshine sippin',
Backer juice spittin' country boy from the woods
And I love fried chicken & blue gill fishin'
And outlaw women, an' I wouldn't change if I could. NO!
I ain't tryin' to start no fight, but I'll finish one every time
So you just mind your own damn business
Stay the hell outta mine.
If you got a problem with that
You can kiss my country ass

I said if you got a problem with any of that
You can kiss my natural born, Redneck to the bone
Ever-lovin' country ass.

This is who the Intellectual "Elite" have lost to in this gun control debate.  Congress won't touch this third-rail issue with a ten foot insulated pole, no matter what our "betters" tell them - and us.  What they've found is that this is a battle that matters to a majority of Americans, a majority that will remember, and vote against Congresscritters that side with the "Elite" in this Cold Civil War:

I ain't tryin' to start no fight, but I'll finish one every time
So you just mind your own damn business
Stay the hell outta mine.

Or I'll remember the next time I go into the ballot box.  Unlike the obscure "Fiscal Cliff", this is up close and personal to a whole bunch of people.  And it's being pushed not from a desire to protect children (or we'd see proposals aimed at constructive engagement) but rather using dead children to further a ridiculous dogma aimed at putting much of the law abiding American citizenry in it's place.

Under its "Betters".

No thanks.  I have a counter-proposal: how about Congress votes on all this Gun Control "goodness"?  Then both the People and the "Intellectual Elite" will know where they stand in this Cold Civil War.  If they don't like where that stand is, they can both try to correct Congress in the next election.

Congress won't touch real Gun Control because they want to win re-election.  The "Elite" doesn't like this idea, of course, because it means that the great "ignorant" unwashed masses are rejecting the "Elite's" guidance.  Too bad.  If they don't like it, they can kiss my Country Ass.

Silvan Zingg - Pinetop's Boogie Woogie

Music is an international language, even in Switzerland.



Maybe especially is Switzerland.  This still makes me want to kick up my heels.

Failure To Fire is a hoot

You do read it every day, don't you?

You know, I've never been called a "dumbass" by the FBI.  Sounds like something to add to my bucket list.

Offered without comment, on the Human Condition

The Kingdom of the Father is spread upon the Earth and Men do not see it.

- The Gospel of Thomas

The People's Soviet of Portland, Oregon

Offered for your consideration, Exhibit A in the People v. Portland:

The Antiplanner noted last February that the city’s transportation bureau elected to give up on street paving and repair so that it could fund streetcars. The latest news is that the city isn’t even property maintaining its buildings, including the internationally famous (for being ugly) Portland building. The city has just over half the money it needs to keep this and other city buildings maintained.


Another recent news story revealed that Oregon has the fourth-worst high-school graduation rate in the nation. Just two out of three high school students earn a diploma in four years. Oregon’s record is brought down by Portland schools, where the graduation rate is just 59 percent, which is “well behind those of districts with similar levels of student poverty.”

But Borepatch, I hear you ask.  Why call it a 'People's Soviet'?  Well, we've seen this sort of thing before.  Exhibit B tells the tale:

When comparing their multi-national country to the United States, Russians tend to pride themselves in a lesser amount of freak accidents and unnecessary deaths, such as shootings in colleges, hostage takings in shopping malls, and armed robberies. However, the sentiment is very different these days. Just in the past month, the world has witnessed two major accidents in Russia - a plane landing half a mile short of the landing strip and killing nearly everyone on board, and a ship sinking--not in the open ocean--but in a river, killing more than half of its passengers. The incidents, overlooked by the Western media, in the last two weeks include more helicopters and planes falling out of the skies, and the debates around Russia's new ballistic missile Bulava, that flies correctly only half of the times--a disturbing success rate if armed with a nuclear warhead. What is happening to Russia?

At the core of the problem is one fact: today, nothing in Russia is Russian, and whatever can be called such, is Soviet--in most cases over 50 years old, in some cases approaching the centennial age mark. The infrastructure has been raped, the profits from its abuse have landed in $750-million oligarchs' European mansions and rescued British soccer clubs.

Infrastructure crumbles around the ordinary citizen as the Oligarchy invests in prestige projects.  The fact that the Oligarchy in Russia is more capitalist than the one in Portland means precisely squat to the crumbling infrastructure or the ordinary citizen.

And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

- Shelly, Ozymandias 

Magazines for New York gun owners

Get your magazines here.

A public service announcement

Why can't any of the contestants to American Idol* actually sing?  They all "interpret" the song, which means that they won't sing and hold a note.  Maybe none of them can stay on pitch.

Sing, people.  And get off of my lawn.

* The Missus likes watching this, which means that I like watching it.  Or so I'm told.

Secret Squirrel Blog

Intel News is a blog with all the news from the Intelligence Community.  Boy, that was a weird sentence to type.

If this is the kind of thing that you like, then you should check it out.  For example, they let us know that Jonathan Pollard's file has been declassified.