sábado, 28 de novembro de 2009

O mito do aquecimento global

By Paul Hudson
Climate correspondent, BBC News
Average temperatures have not increased for over a decade.This headline may come as a bit of a surprise, so too might that fact that the warmest year recorded globally was not in 2008 or 2007, but in 1998. But it is true. For the last 11 years we have not observed any increase in global temperatures.
And our climate models did not forecast it, even though man-made carbon dioxide, the gas thought to be responsible for warming our planet, has continued to rise.
So what on Earth is going on?
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Ciências corruptas

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/christopherbooker/6679082/Climate-change-this-is-the-worst-scientific-scandal-of-our-generation.html

http://www.examiner.com/x-28973-Essex-County-Conservative-Examiner~y2009m11d25-New-Zealand-climate-agency-accused-of-data-manipulation

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/Global-warming-industry-becomes-too-big-to-fail-8581165-72824992.html

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=513542

http://www.infowars.com/climategate-spells-end-to-the-false-science-of-climate-change/

Tempos de descontento

Why is there discontent? Too many stupid and dysfunctional rules and regulations. Too many taxes. Too many subsidies. Too many obstacles to getting ahead. Too many intrusions. Too much interference. Too many injustices. Too many forced inequities. Too many people getting fat on the work of others. Too many people taking unfair advantage. Too little headway against problems. Too much control by others. Too much compulsion. Too much government. Too much bureaucratization. Too much compulsory centralization. Do this, do that. Don’t do this, don’t do that. --
Michael S. Rozeff

sexta-feira, 27 de novembro de 2009

Previsões de medo sem valor

"... Once I looked at Chernobyl, I began to recall other fears in my life that had never come true. The population bomb, for one. Paul Ehrlich predicted mass starvation in the 1960s. Sixty million Americans starving to death. Didn't happen. Other scientists warned of mass species extinctions by the year 2000. Ehrlich himself predicted that half of all species would become extinct by 2000. Didn't happen. The Club of Rome told us we would run out of raw materials ranging from oil to copper by the 1990s. That didn't happen, either.
It's no surprise that predictions frequently don't come true. But such big ones! And so many! All my life I worried about the decay of the environment, the tragic loss of species, the collapse of ecosystems. I feared poisoning by pesticides, alar on apples, falling sperm counts from endocrine disrupters, cancer from power lines, cancer from saccharine, cancer from cell phones, cancer from computer screens, cancer from food coloring, hair spray, electric razors, electric blankets, coffee, chlorinated water...it never seemed to end.
Only once, when on the same day I read that beer was a preservative of heart muscle and also a carcinogen did I begin to sense the bind I was in..."
Michael Crichton

terça-feira, 24 de novembro de 2009

Darwin

"... This year marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin, and Nov. 24 marks the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species, the landmark work in which Darwin laid forth his theory of natural selection. While celebrations have emphasized the British naturalist's giant role in the advancement of human progress, British political journalist Dennis Sewell is not convinced. In a new book, The Political Gene: How Darwin's Ideas Changed Politics, he highlights how often - and how easily - Darwin's big idea has been harnessed for sinister political ends. According to Sewell, evolution is scientifically undeniable, but its contribution to human well-being is unclear..."
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terça-feira, 17 de novembro de 2009

Tecnica, ética e economia

ORLANDO, Fla. – For the first time, a miniature heart pump shows the potential to become a widely used, permanent treatment for many older people with severe heart failure. But can we afford it?
In a study of 200 patients, the new device increased by four times the number who survived at least two years compared with an older pump that had drawbacks limiting its use, doctors reported Tuesday.
However, the HeartMate II costs $80,000 plus $45,000 or so for the surgery and the hospital stay necessary to implant it.
"It will allow older people who are not heart transplant patients to stay alive but at a higher cost. It's all about who's going to pay," said Cleveland Clinic heart chief Dr. Steven Nissen, who had no role in the research...
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Index mundial de corrupção


Ranking 2009

Empreendedorismo e a criação da riqueza

MAKING POOR NATIONS RICH: Entrepreneurship and the Process of Economic Development
Edited by Benjamin Powell

LESSONS FROM THE POOR: Triumph of the Entrepreneurial Spirit
Edited by Alvaro Vargas Llosa