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Gustavo De La Paz/Zuma Press
Regular news consumers are familiar with the endless media effort to tie adverse events to businesspeople and right-of-center politicians. This column’s most celebrated alumnus entertained readers by satirically blaming all manner of random misfortunes on either climate change or George W. Bush. More recently this column noted how various outlets got carried away last month trying to claim that the intensity of Florida hurricane activity is man-made.
One outlet in particular, the Washington Post, doesn’t seem especially eager to learn from its mistakes.
“Study finds climate change is bringing more intense rains to U.S.,” proclaims a disturbing recent headline in the Post. Matthew Cappucci reports:
When it rains, it pours.
A paper published Tuesday in the journal Geophysical Research Letters finds that it’s raining harder in most of the United States. The study, written by researchers at Northwestern University, tied the results to climate change and to warmer air’s ability to hold more water.
Record rain is hitting drought-stricken areas. That’s not good news.
The findings echo the fundamental laws of physics and thermodynamics, as well as the evidence from decades of research, and highlight the real-time effect that humans are having on the weather and climate.
The story goes on, paragraph after paragraph, describing the scientific paper that purportedly affirms a link between people’s activities and a rainier planet. All of this was just too much for Roger Pielke Jr., an environmental studies professor at the University of Colorado. In his popular Substack feature, “The Honest Broker,” Mr. Pielke helpfully points out “what the new paper actually says”:
Although we examine precipitation trends during a time of increasing greenhouse gas concentrations, and find similarities with greenhouse gas-forced model projections, our analysis is insufficient to directly attribute observed changes to ongoing anthropogenic climate change.
Other than that, the story was accurate? The professor observes:
You won’t find a clearer case of misinformation in the major media.
Well, hold on. Maybe you can.
Mr. Pielke then goes on to flag a comical CNN attempt to dismiss narrative-busting data on hurricanes. So perhaps CNN is not so eager to reform, either. Clearly, we are left with no choice but to blame George W. Bush.
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Annals of American Education
The Journal’s Nicole Ault and Megan Keller reported recently on the influence of destructive critical race theory in a Pennsylvania school system. Sadly it appears that such pernicious influence is nationwide. In City Journal, Zach Goldberg and Eric Kaufmann write:
… we commissioned a study on a nationally representative sample of 1,505 18- to 20-year-old Americans—a demographic that has yet to graduate from, or only recently graduated from, high school…
We began by asking our 18- to 20-year-old respondents (82.4 percent of whom reported attending public schools) whether they had ever been taught in class or heard about from an adult at school each of six concepts—four of which are central to critical race theory…
… 62 percent reported either being taught in class or hearing from an adult in school that “America is a systemically racist country,” 69 percent reported being taught or hearing that “white people have white privilege,” 57 percent reported being taught or hearing that “white people have unconscious biases that negatively affect non-white people,” and 67 percent reported being taught or hearing that “America is built on stolen land.” …Fifty-three percent report they were either taught in class or heard from an adult at school that “America is a patriarchal society,” and 51 percent report being taught or hearing that “gender is an identity choice” regardless of biological sex.
The boom in school choice in a number of states could not come at a better time. In areas still awaiting reform, all we can hope is that when the kids are in school they’re listening even less than they do at home.
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Opposing Michigan Governor’s ‘Instinct Toward Authoritarianism’
Speaking of states that need more parental control over education, the Detroit News has endorsed Republican Tudor Dixon for governor of Michigan. A big reason the paper is backing Ms. Dixon is incumbent Democrat
Gretchen Whitmer’s
Covid response. The newspaper’s editorial states:
Whitmer issued a string of orders that were often arbitrary and capricious… Despite pushback, she didn’t stop and reassess, or welcome input from state lawmakers. She stubbornly stuck to her COVID policies regarding nursing homes despite industry warnings of their risk.
When the state Supreme Court ruled her orders unconstitutional, the governor exploited loopholes to avoid engaging with the Legislature.
Whitmer set aside basic civil liberties; her orders at times closed houses of worship, banned personal travel and even regulated gatherings in private homes… the governor suspended portions of the Freedom of Information Act… While she demanded unquestioning compliance with her orders, she often violated them herself.
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Annals of Socialized Medicine
Laura Donnelly and Phoebe Southworth report a heartbreaking story in the U.K.’s Telegraph:
Up to 45 babies could have been saved at an NHS trust that treated women in labour with “callousness” and “cruelty”, a damning independent review has found…
More than 200 cases were investigated in the review ordered by ministers last year; in almost half of cases the outcome could have been different, with the right care…
“An overriding theme, raised us with time and time again, is the failure of the trust’s staff to take notice of women when they raised concerns, when they questioned their care, and when they challenged the decisions that were made about their care,” the report said.
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In Other News
Des Moines Safer than Previously Reported
CBS
television affiliate KCCI reports some reassuring news:
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources now says the “possible mountain lion” in Des Moines was really someone’s house cat…
When DNR experts first saw the video, they believed there was enough possibility that it was a mountain lion, they wanted to warn the public.
What would we do without experts?
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The Return of an ‘Ageless’ Ace
James Wagner reports for the
New York Times
:
The path to the World Series for the Yankees goes not only through the Houston Astros but specifically their ace, Justin Verlander…
Verlander, 39, may go down as one of the best starting pitchers ever. After returning from Tommy John surgery that cost him nearly two entire seasons, he went 18-4 with a 1.75 E.R.A. over 175 innings during the regular season.
Mr. Wagner adds that on Wednesday night “the Yankees held their own but couldn’t quite topple him. He allowed one run and struck out 11 over six innings, paving the way for the Astros’ bats to explode in a 4-2 win.”
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James Freeman is the co-author of “The Cost: Trump, China and American Revival.”
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