Evan Brown’s Links of Interest

A study of the 528 scientific papers concerning climate change published between 2004 and 2007 reveals that only seven percent have explicitly endorsed the view that man is primarily responsible for the warming of the earth. Only one out of all those papers even makes reference to climate change resulting in catastrophic conditions. Forty-five percent imply that there might be a connection between mankind’s actions and global warming; the rest make no judgment one way or the other.

Am I expected to believe that this should be called a consensus?

Link: Fox News

I don’t typically use this link blog to point to articles on my main weblog (this is actually the first time), but I re-read this post from a year ago, and it is still so relevant that I thought I would bring it to the attention of readers who missed it when I first published it.

Link: Evan Brown

Should anyone be surprised that politicians would use the anniversary of an American tragedy to help their election campaign? Probably not.

Does that make it any less distasteful? Not at all.

Link: USA Today

I knew it would take place eventually: Alberto Gonzales has resigned as United States Attorney General.

He had to do it; the angry mob (a.k.a. Washington Democrats) would never lay down their torches and pitchforks otherwise.

Maybe now, Congress can finally put to rest the controversy surrounding the dismissal of seven U.S. Attorneys last year (which was entirely legal) and get back to focusing on real issues of importance like, say, illegal immigration and the war in Iraq.

Link: Politico

It was bound to happen sooner or later: some keen hacker has figured out a way to unlock Apple’s insanely popular iPhone, which will allow the device to work on cellular networks other than the one run by AT&T.

Link: Engadget

Congratulations should go to the Texas Rangers for achieving an amazing feat in the sport of baseball — thirty runs by one team in a single game. The Rangers performed this remarkable accomplishment in a game against the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday.

This was only the ninth time in history that a Major League team had scored
at least thirty runs in a game. The last time was 110 years ago in 1897 when the
Chicago Colts set the record with a 36–7 win.

Link: SportingNews.com

Actress Lindsay Lohan pleaded no contest today to charges that she used a controlled substance and drove under the influence on two separate occasions. For her crime, Lindsay will be placed on probation for three years and will also be required to attend alcohol and drug education programs (personally, I think the young lady has had more than enough hands-on education with those substances).

Even better, Lindsay could possibly serve a day or two in jail. That doesn’t seem nearly long enough in my opinion, but maybe it will still do her some good.

Link: LA Times

Americans typically don’t read very many books. At least, that’s the consensus of an Associated Press–Ipsos poll released yesterday which revealed that over a quarter of the 1,003 Americans polled admitted to not reading a single book in the past year.

Included in the AP story is a quote from Richard Bustos of Dallas, who admitted that he was one of the twenty-seven percent who has not read any books within the last year, replied, “I just get sleepy when I read.” The thirty-four-year-old Texan, who works as a project manager for a telecommunications company, says that he would rather spend time in his backyard pool. Terrific.

I don’t want to pass judgment on these lazy non-readers. I realize that not everyone has a passion for reading like I do. But even if people don’t enjoy reading a lot, they still need to do it regularly. Reading is important; its many benefits include stimulating the mind and increasing a person’s comprehension.

Many people seem to think that once they finish high school or college, they no longer need to learn anything, and they can spend all their free time in the swimming pool. But education ought to be a life-long goal. It may not be enjoyable for everyone, but it is vital in order to be a well-rounded, knowledgeable individual who understands what is going on in the world. And while movies, television, the Internet, seminars, magazines, pamphlets, and the like all have some degree of educational value, nothing beats good, old-fashioned “book-learning.”

Link: Columbus Dispatch

Dean is one big, bad storm. It is already one of the most intense hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic Basin. Dean passed over Jamaica and the Cayman Islands on Sunday, doing considerable damage despite an indirect hit, and is now headed for the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico.

Let’s pray for the safety of those in the path of this horrendous storm.

Link: Fox News

The Disney Channel original movie High School Musical 2 broke records on Friday night as 17.24 million people tuned in to watch the sequel to last year’s hit. The movie’s large viewership during its first airing made it the most-watched telecast on basic cable ever. It surpassed the previous record holder, the New York Giants–Dallas Cowboys game on 2006 October 23 on ESPN’s Monday Night Football, which averaged sixteen million viewers.

I must admit that I was one of those millions who watched Musical 2. My wife and I and our five-year-old son all sat down together Friday night and had a great time watching the singing and dancing. Was it corny? A little bit, yeah. But it was also good, clean wholesome television — something that is becoming increasingly rare these days.

Link: Washington Post

I suppose it is about time that I stop being surprised by the duplicity of the mainstream media. Still, every once in a while there is a news item which is so lacking in truth that I cannot help but be amazed at the audacity of the publisher. Such is the case with a recent Time article which bears a headline stating, “Study Finds Abortion Pill Safe.”

Really? Has mifepristone (the abortion pill referenced in the piece) truly been safe for the more than 500,000 pre-born American children who have been killed by the drug and the “millions more worldwide” (according to the article) who have also died at the hands of abortion pill-popping mothers?

Putting aside the fact that an honest person or organization would never describe an abortion as being “safe” (someone should tell that to the Democratic Party), NewsBusters points to the National Right For Life which reveals that “well-documented side effects” of the abortion pill include “prolonged (up to 44 days) and severe bleeding, nausea, vomiting, pain, and even death.” That doesn’t sound very safe to me.

Link: Time

Tony Snow is going to leave his position as White House Press Secretary before the end of his boss’s term in office. Snow took over the job from Scott McClellan in May of last year, so he really has not been in the White House for very long.

In a radio interview with Hugh Hewitt, Snow said that he was leaving for financial reasons. He took a significant pay cut when he left Fox News to become the President’s spokesman.

I am not really sure how I feel about this news. I had kind of expected that Tony Snow would quit his White House job prematurely, but I thought it would be because of deteriorating health due to his colon cancer. Instead, he is resigning because he is not making enough money. He told Hugh Hewitt, “When my money runs out, then I’ve got to go.”

Of course, it is purely Tony Snow’s decision, and I don’t fault him for ending his short run as Press Secretary. It can be an extremely difficult and stressful position, and I imagine that it cannot be good for one’s health, cancer or not. I realize that Snow made a lot more money with a lot less stress when he was at Fox News, and that extra income definitely helped out with medical expenses.

But honestly, the man is not working for pennies in the White House. As Press Secretary, Snow is making over three and a half times the median income in the United States. Personally, I think I could live very well with what he is earning, and I bet most Americans would agree with me.

Link: Reuters