Thursday morning catch-up

Usual story, too many open tabs in Firefox and not enough time, oh and this time so many that Firefox keeps crashing:

1) Peter Ferrara for Fox News explains how the US budget can be balanced, after all Republicans did it the last time the Democrats broke the economy. There are of course major parallels with the UK when Margaret Thatcher needed to undo the socialist policies of the previous Labour government. Policies that the left in the UK regularly deride and spew hatred at but were necessary and rescued the UK from bankruptcy; sound familiar? The problem now is that David Cameron is no Margaret Thatcher and has already shown himself to be a coward and no Conservative.


2) This Daily Mail article sings the benefits of nudism; not much to disagree with there.


3) The Metro, a London free paper, shows a worrying lack of mathematical knowledge, let alone understanding of global warming. Under the headline 'Melting Arctic ice 'to flood London in 100 years' if global warming continues' The Metro reports that 'London could be flooded within 100 years as melting Arctic ice causes sea levels to rise by up to 900cm (3ft), a new study shows.' One slight problem is that there are around 30cm to a foot, not 300cm. So either this is 90cm (3ft) or 900cm (30ft); maybe they meant 900mm, maybe the journalist doesn't check facts. Whatever the reason if the journalist cannot report a simple pair of related numbers correctly, what hope do we have that the rest of the reporting in that article is any more than writing what the press briefing said? For some real analysis I suggest reading The Daily Bayonet.


4) The BBC reported
that

'The US Army psychiatrist accused in a deadly shooting rampage at a Texas base will face a court martial and possible death penalty, a general has ruled.

Maj Nidal Malik Hasan is accused of killing 13 people and wounding 32 more in November 2009 at Fort Hood.'

You will not be surprised to learn that the BBC manage not to report Major Hasan's blood-curdling cries as he attacked the soldiers but prefers to say this:

'He has been described as a devout Muslim and a poor-performing military officer who alarmed his superiors with his eccentric behaviour.'

5) VDare wonders at the pairings of the last 20 dancers on America's 'So You Think You Can Dance' - he thinks he may have spotted a patten...