ClimateGate: Roundup...

NASA's temperature data was less reliable (according to NASA itself) than the data CRU had – so NASA used some of CRU's data.  The significance of this is that (contrary to claims by all involved) the datasets used by the IPCC were not independent and cross-verifying.  Just one more nail in that “settled science” trope...

A nice analysis of urban heat island effect, using Fort Collins and Boulder...

What might be better than tree rings as a proxy for pre-1900s temperatures?  Clams.  Seriously!

Interesting new Gallup poll results on how Americans feel about AGW...

Harold Ambler ponders scientists access to the press, especially skeptical scientists (noting especially the impact of ClimateGate on the ability of scientists skeptical of AGW to get the notice of the press)...

Jamul Casino Update...

The latest Lakes Entertainment filing (which includes the full fiscal 2009 report) is in, and the bottom line is that they still seem to be pessimistic about the chances of the project ever completing. Just as all the other reports for at least the last two years, this report contains nothing to indicate that Lakes believes the Jamul Indian Casino project is ever likely to complete.

Something to be thankful for...

Truly Barking Mad...

The title is a quote from Peggy Noonan's latest column, in which she explores one of my favorite ponders: the apparent fact that to desire national office in the U.S., one must have a certain kind of mental illness.  I've often noted that the people I'd truly like to see in office have absolutely no interest in running, and vice versa.  Ms. Noonan's conclusion shows she's on the same wavelength:

The shallowness, the lack of seriousness of modern presidential candidates is almost unbelievable. It is also a mystery: How could this be? If today a candidate told me he was not crazy, I will go with it, for it would be news.

Read the whole thing.

P.S.  Ms. Noonan appears to be back from whatever intellectual journey she's been on for the past 18 months or so, as she kinda-sorta supported Obama.  Welcome back, Peggy.  We hope you stick around a while; we've missed your scribblings...

Nanny Statism...

Jeremy Clarkson (a Brit writing at the London Times) is a bit peeved about creeping nanny-statism (an arena in which the U.K. is far ahead of the U.S.):

What good did all the airport legislation achieve? None. It simply means that you and I now must get to the airport six years before the plane is due to leave and arrive at the other end with yellow teeth, smelly armpits and no nail file. Did it prevent a chap from getting on board with exploding underpants? No, it did not.

His two-word punchline is perfect, and something the nanny-staters seem to reject.  Read the whole thing.

Doomsday Seed Vault...

The so-called “doomsday seed vault” project (intended to provide a way to replant the world in the event that some catastrophe wipes out a large amount of plant life) has been underway for years.  It's open now, and at the links are a couple of fascinating looks at it...

Progressives and the Rule of Law...

Neo-NeoCon and commenter Wolla Dalbo, in an insightful exchange about progressives and the rule of law.  And a bonus: one of my favorite passages by Dostoevsky, and some famous quotes by Lenin (the Founding Father of progressivism) that too few Americans know, like this one:

It is true that liberty is precious; so precious that it must be carefully rationed.