As IF Times

link The Years of Shame – NYTimes.com.

Some may be aware of the writings, or more correctly the rantings of Paul Krugmann.  By profession, he is an economist, yet somehow his unhinged opinions on politics is where he derives most of his notoriety these days.   In the most recent missive published in the New York Times, the true depth of his insanity is on full display for the world to see.

Even as the U.S. rightly commemorates the September 11 bombings from ten years ago, Krugmann fires some vile shots at Messrs. Bush and Giuliani for the heinous crime of happening to be in charge when the terrorist acts took place.   He calls them false heroes who capitalized on the incident to aggrandize themselves.  As I’ve said numerous times, everyone is entitled to their opinions, no matter how out of touch with reality they may be.  The greatest benefit of living in a free society is that any and every idiot is allowed a voice.   Only by comparing these opinions with actual facts can  people determine whether or not to listen to these idiots. 

Years ago, a golfer savant named Moe Norman was recognized for his genius in doing one thing; striking a golf ball.  Other than this very narrow area of human achievement, he was essentially unable to communicate with people.  As long as you didn’t expect anything sage from his unintelligible utterances, you could admire his innate skill.  Apart from his ball striking ability, you couldn’t depend on his opinion on whether or not the sun came out much less on a topic of any kind.  Certainly, no one would seek his opinion on the state of fiscal balances in the economy.

Krugmann seems to fall into this same category.  Although a past winner of a Nobel prize in economics, it’s worth noting that Al Gore and Barack Obama are also Nobel winners, so this in itself is not a validation of other-worldy brilliance.  Unlike Mr. Norman, Krugmann has the soapbox of The New York Times to express his nonsense and that’s where it gets evil.  There are those people out there that still think the Times is a legitimate news organization.  Over the past 30 years and increasingly in the past 10, the opinions espoused in that circular are more conspicuously out of sync with reality.  It’s as if they lived in their own delusional bizarro world where reality is an inconvenient nuisance.  To them, gravity is the product of some capitalist monopoly.

There will always be a market for this kind of ‘journalism’, but increasingly, that niche market of leftist drivel is shrinking as subscription levels prove.  According to their own statistics, the Times circulation has fallen to just about 830,000 in 2010,  a decline of 5% from a year ago which was also in decline from the year previous.   When they publish the opinions such as Krugmann’s it serves to marginalize them more and more from sane people.  Even Moe Norman would wince.

link http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/205126/20110828/global-warming-climate-change-fears-concern-decline-developed-nations-rise-developing-nations-poll-s.htm

This is what happens when you spend too much time watching the adventures of Snookie and The Situation; you lose track of the  things that are really important to other citizens of the world.  According to this article, the consciousness of global warming remains high on the minds of people in less developed countries despite a slight decline over the past few years.  Apparently in places like Japan, New Zealand, South Africa and Singapore, citizens collectively fret about their carbon footprints on their daily commutes to their workplaces.  It remains the hot topic of cocktail conversations and that awareness is woven into every aspect of daily life.

Just the other day, while sitting in a bar, my friend pointed to an attractive gal across the room and mused, ” I wonder what her views are on sustainability of our fragile ecosystem”.  No doubt this scenario plays out hundreds of thousands of times every day in the world as people push aside their more pedestrian worries of mortgages, the quest for perfect abs and the best chai latte.  To be sure, this only happens in the enlightened enclaves of the world, or those that get CNN.  In other parts of the far flung planet, there are countless millions still living in ignorance of the impending catastrophe that’s looming just over the horizon.  They are still blissfully unaware of this and continue to pursue nonsensical things such as looking for food and staying alive.

This is perhaps a bit unfair, since many have been practising ‘earth friendly’ lifestyles long before Al Gore brought earth awareness to our collective consciousness.  In the Amazonian rain-forest for example, the residents there have eschewed modern frivolities such as True Religion Jeans or Columbia goretex sportswear, instead relying on the tried and true, environmentally friendly, loincloth.  Rather than waste money on things such as guns and bullets, their hunting and warfare is conducted using the eco-friendly blow tube.  This is much more sensible since any conflicts between tribes is considerably less bloody, less noisy and with almost no cases of misfiring weapons.

In China, to avoid the profligate use of resources observed in the west, it is common to see generations of families thoughtfully living in one simple house of only a few hundred square feet to reduce their carbon footprint.   Eschewing the family SUV, there is instead the family bicycle.  This is somewhat inconvenient when dropping the kids off at school, but they get used to it.  Their consumer habits are much more eco friendly as well.  For example, instead of owning iPads which consume electricity, they prefer to just go down to the community bulletin board where they can keep up on the Kardashians.   It’s not all perfect of course.  While their diet consists mainly of grains and vegetables, they do eat the occasional bear.  When chastised about this, the Chinese respond, ” If we aren’t supposed to eat them, why are they so delicious?”  Oh well, enlightenment will come eventually.