[71] News from Absurdistan - You Can Put Lipstick on a Pig, But in the End, It Is Still a Pig

Liberty depends on the most sincere efforts to approach truth, for if truth is not held in esteem, any nonsense can take its place. And the power hungry love to put the chains of nonsense on us, to scare us into submission.

Serious science can be so entertaining. Click on the post's header for the original article and the pfd download of this most readable conspectus. From the Heartland Institute (an incredibly rich source of enlightening studies):The Twenty Three (and Growing) Smoking Guns of Global Warming, Publication Date: November 19, 2007

Abstract: This essay is about looking at the science and findings of the climate scientists from a scientific perspective, not as a meteorologist or climatologist. This essay applies unbiased eyes to the science of global warming and simply asks, 1) do the findings and data support the conclusion and 2) does the conclusion pass the stink test?

As an analyst and optometrist, I read a lot of drug research and financial reports, had lunch with many sales reps, and it was my job to filter out which drug was the best or which mutual fund justified their hype. I soon learned that you can put lipstick on a pig, but in the end, it is still a pig.

If the conclusions aren’t supported by sound research and statistics, you are most like going to get burned in the end, and waste or lose a lot of money, or worse, someone could get hurt. I also learned that products that had claims and conclusions supported by solid statistics and studies were the best ones to choose.

So before you read this essay, I ask you to forget everything you have learned about global warming. Imagine that you are a science teacher and a student just handed you a research project. Your job is to review the study with unbiased eyes, and grade the project based upon how sound the science is supporting the conclusion.