science

Fossil life found in meteor fragment

You have probably seen the photos of alleged fossil microorganisms in meteorites, but these are unconvincing.  Look hard enough, and you will find faces in rocks.  Lots of people have found supposed fossil microorganisms that turned out to be random shapes in rocks. More impressive are asymmetric amino acids.  The meteorite Ivuna Cl1 contained 372 parts per billion of l glutamic acid, but only 8 parts per billion of d …

economics

Untitled

I see it regularly claimed that financial crisis reflected de-regulation. I was mighty puzzled.  Deregulation?  Has not Basel been a spectacular landslide of regulation, with massive apocalyptic government takeover of the financial system, with government deciding who shall be winners and who shall be losers, with government allocating lending to favored groups and away from disfavored groups? Eventually I discovered that this “deregulation” was the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Bill, also known as …

economics

Bryan Caplan’s challenge

if Egypt gets democracy, will suffer war and economic disaster, both of which will be blamed on Jews. Democracy with universal franchise does not work. It works worse with Muslims. No Muslim should be allowed to vote anywhere, especially in countries with substantial numbers of Muslims

culture

The decline of civilization reflected in fantasy novels

Black gate observes the replacement of heroes by anti heroes, and the replacement of morality by anti morality: Thus we can be confident that the murderous, blaspheming anti-hero who rapes and tortures children will never utter a racist thought, be disgusted by homosexuality, or express skepticism about any religious stand-in for Judaism or Islam. … Abercrombie and others cannot rightly be accused of amorality nor can they correctly be portrayed …

economics

$1,200 billion increase cut by $60 billion

From the fact that the deficit is $1,600 billion, and that the “right” triumphantly announces that it has cut spending by 60 billion, which “cut” will somehow fail to prevent the deficit from growing rapidly, I predict collapse in a decade or two – armed conflict between elements of the government, or between the government and the people, or, very likely, both. I have been making a similar prediction, for the same decade, since 1994, and events seem to be proceeding on schedule.

crypto

Lara Logan and the media rules

Caroline Glick analyzes the coverage: Identity politics revolve around the narrative of victimization. For adherents to identity politics, the victim is not a person, but a member of a privileged victim group. That is, the status of victimhood is not determined by facts, but by membership in an identity group. Stories about victims are not dictated by facts. Victim stories are tailored to fit the victim. Facts, values and individual …

culture

No friends to the right

No enemies to the left, no friends to the right Left wing journalist Nir Rosen ridicules Lara Logan’s rape.  Seems that because Nir Rosen is even further left than she is, the stupid slut deserved to get raped. “Lara Logan had to outdo Anderson. Where was her buddy McCrystal.” That she is supposedly a buddy of the insufficiently left wing McCrystal is a suggestion that she is insufficiently left wing.

culture

Democracy in action

Lara Logan, CBS chief foreign correspondent was beaten and gang raped by a mob of 200 enthusiastic pro democracy protestors chanting “Jew, Jew” There is an effort to blame Mubarak for this, but if the goons of a US ally had done this, if the goons of a man who accepted peace with the west had done this, the mainstream media would be covering this with headlines the size of …

politics

Democracy in Tunisia

The promised democracy in Egypt is an infection from an outbreak of democracy in Tunisia. Yet strangely, Tunisia has fallen off the headlines.  How is democracy working out in Tunisia, you might ask? Wonder no longer! Thousands of Tunisians have also arrived by boat to the Italian island of Lampedusa prompted Italy to declare a humanitarian state of emergency and ask the European Union for 100 million euros in aid …