There seems to be some sort of stupidity contest underway on the conservative blogs, triggered by this (old news) report from the London Times Online about rising temperatures on Mars:
Mars is being hit by rapid climate change and it is happening so fast that the red planet could lose its southern ice cap, writes Jonathan Leake.
Scientists from Nasa say that Mars has warmed by about 0.5C since the 1970s. This is similar to the warming experienced on Earth over approximately the same period.
Since there is no known life on Mars it suggests rapid changes in planetary climates could be natural phenomena.
The mechanism at work on Mars appears, however, to be different from that on Earth. One of the researchers, Lori Fenton, believes variations in radiation and temperature across the surface of the Red Planet are generating strong winds.
In a paper published in the journal Nature, she suggests that such winds can stir up giant dust storms, trapping heat and raising the planet’s temperature.
Yeah, the “could be natural phenomena” line was dumb. But not nearly as dumb as the reaction among conservative commentators.
April 30th, 2007
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General, Science, News & Current Events, Climate Change |
13 comments
The “Tax Foundation” wankers have issued their annual announcement, naming today “Tax Freedom Day” - the day that represents that percentage of the calendar working year corresponding to the national average percentage of personal income paid out in local, state, and federal taxes combined. Obviously, your pay isn’t sent directly to the government until that day - payroll taxes are taken out in increments throughout the year - but they like to characterize this as the day you can finally “pay for things other than government”. Naturally, they think paying for government is a bad thing: their press release is full of references to how large that expense is, and is headlined “America Celebrates Tax Freeedom Day®” (yes, with a trademark symbol, no less).
So, tomorrow represents the day the Tax Foundation, and their ilk, can begin celebrating “Abandon the Public Schools Day®”, “Libraries Are For Pussies Day®”, “I Believe What Drug Companies Tell Me Day®”, “Who Needs Pasteurized Milk, Anyway? Day®”, and “Pre-Natal Care = Communism: You Can’t Coddle ‘Em Forever Day®”. Thank god we can finally stop acting as a civilized community, hoard our resources solely for our personal indulgence, retreat to our gated communities and watch the weak fall by the wayside. When the sun dawns tomorrow on “National I Got Mine, Jack, Screw You Day®”, a new age of freedom will have begun.
April 30th, 2007
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General, Politics, Economics, Culture, Libertarian Problem Solving, Media, News & Current Events |
8 comments
