Perspective

James Fallows of The Atlantic Monthly has a nice blog pointing out how misperceptions can be created by distance. He explains how China -- where he is currently stationed -- can be a rising superpower while peasants still work in the field using medieval technology:

To spell it out: countries can support powerful and threatening military establishments even if their overall economy is faltering (the old Soviet Union). They can create problems for the world even if they are extremely poor (North Korea). Sometimes economic dislocation itself can make aggression more likely (post-Weimar rise of the Nazis). Often the attempt to escape poverty can cause environmental disaster.

Oh, and the pictures he provides are nice. Never been there, but through the magic of the Internet, now I can say I've "seen" what he is talking about.

Seeing is Believing

For the credulous in the crowd, here is a mini-BBC documentary on that amazing new scientific "discovery"... penguins can fly! Just look for yourself. Videos can't lie. This is an amazing new capability that hitherto was believed impossible -- in the same category as bumblebees being able to fly -- but thanks to modern technology (YouTube to be specific) you too can experience this new scientific wonder first-hand:

Bush: The Sequel

Here is a fun piece by Daniel DiRito with a tongue-in-cheek look at the next phase of Bush's "Ownership Society" and what it holds for us. You really have to watch the video to get the full Hollywood effect and the down-and-dirty insight into what George Bush is now bringing to Americans for their pleasure and delectation.

How Smart are Americans?

Here's a test done by ABC -- that's Australian Broadcasting Corporation, not the American Broadcasting System -- done by Julian Morrow:




Here's a test done by CBC -- the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation -- called "Talking to Americans" done by Rick Mercer:

Pictures Don't Lie

They may not lie, but they can sure paint a misleading picture! Take this example from BMO Nesbitt Burns:

Chart 2 looks like a runaway train! Debt will soon overwhelm us... head for the hills, save the women & children, batten down the hatches... oh wait, Chart 3 says that the actual cost of carrying that debt is in line with the pattern over the last 28 years. OK, up a bit over the last 5 years but below what it was in the early 1990s. So maybe we don't need to stockpile beef jerky and water, grab a gun, and head for the hills. Maybe Chart 2 isn't the end of the world after all.

Press Interviews 'Expert' on Global Warming

I love it when the press takes their time to interview experts to get an accurate, up-to-date, and informed viewpoint on a topic of concern. Take "global warming expert" Ted Turner who as a hobby dabbles in cable TV and other billionaire hobbies. The press has turned to him to get the latest scientific view on why global warming will turn us all into cannibals. Yes, you heard it right! Run for the hills, instead of being turned into zombies, latest "informed opinion" is convinced that global warming will turn us into cannibals!

Brrr! More Global Warming!

From BBC, a report that Global Warming is still going strong despite facts about recent cooling. This reminds me of how wonderfully amenable we are to denying facts when a theory pleases us. I'm willing to admit that greenhouse gases create a "greenhouse effect" but could it be that there is a stampede of fear caused by scientists seeking grant money? I'm a curmudgeon and I find Freeman Dyson's comments on global warming very interesting: "My first heresy says that all the fuss about global warming is grossly exaggerated. Here I am opposing the holy brotherhood of climate model experts and the crowd of deluded citizens who believe the numbers predicted by the computer models. Of course, they say, I have no degree in meteorology and I am therefore not qualified to speak. But I have studied the climate models and I know what they can do. The models solve the equations of fluid dynamics, and they do a very good job of describing the fluid motions of the atmosphere and the oceans. They do a very poor job of describing the clouds, the dust, the chemistry and the biology of fields and farms and forests. They do not begin to describe the real world that we live in. The real world is muddy and messy and full of things that we do not yet understand. It is much easier for a scientist to sit in an air-conditioned building and run computer models, than to put on winter clothes and measure what is really happening outside in the swamps and the clouds. That is why the climate model experts end up believing their own models."