The most massive international environmental study in half a century, and where was this venture kicked off? MIT? Stanford? Berkley? Why, no. Try Paris. Located in the cantankerous blob on Dick Cheney's map labeled "Old Europe."
The fact that American scientists (and scientifically minded people) are spending so much as a nanosecond guarding the gates of the city from the creationist barbarians is nothing short of a crime, for which the "teach the [artificial] controversy" likes of Dubya should be prosecuted. If only to recompense the taxpayers whose money was wasted on that twaddle.
But when I think of the money being funneled into belief tanks like the AEI (http://money.cnn.com/2007/02/02/news/companies/exxon_science/index.htm) to deny the obvious, I want to see the management of the paymaster companies like Exxon jailed tried for crimes against humanity. Preferably at Nuremberg. Just to make the point. But these b@$+@rds will die in their beds. Just like the scum that denied that leaded gasoline was doing anything bad to people or to the environment.
In the name of fairness, I read (in their entirety) a couple editorials that attempted to deflect criticism of the AEI and Exxon. But what did I find? The usual "tu quoque" tactics, with some ad hominem on the side. When you have to refer the the AEI's tax status as "proof" that it doesn't engage in "lobbying", puh-LEEZE. They aren't publishing their soi-dissant "research" for the ivory tower crowd, jack.
But the most damning item came from the text of the AEI's own proposal:
"As with any large-scale 'consensus' process, the IPCC is susceptible to self-selection bias in its personnel, resistant to reasonable criticism and dissent, and prone to summary conclusions that are poorly supported by the analytical work of the complete Working Group reports."It's times like this that I envy the quick wit (and utter fearlessness in the face of monumental presumptuousness) of our modern satirists. In light of my own deficiencies, may I merely point out that a right-wing belief tank accusing anyone else of bias and self-selection is like being called "ugly" by a wildebeest? That alone should be pretty obvious to anyone who still has the gumption to think for her/himself. I'd like to think that the gits who penned that can still see a reflection in their respective mirrors, but I somehow doubt it.
Rant over. Back to the main point, which is that the Parisian launch of this project may well be the start of a trend. If so, we 'mericans should be very worried. I have no doubt that many, many American scientists will distinguish themselves in this venture. But the fact that the metaphorical champagne bottle wasn't smashed on the project here in the States is ominous. It's not just that it demonstrates how politicized American science has become (when it runs afoul of the current regime or the oil interests and Jesus-Jihadists that propped them up for so many years). More disturbingly, it likely betokens how deeply the credibility of American science has been wounded by the commissars of the Right.
