ethics

Radical environmentalists put people last, and destroy habitats and wildlife to end fossil fuels.

Hardly a week goes by when government’s around the world don’t take some action that undermines their own purported climate goals (which is okay with me since I think reducing greenhouse gas emissions is worse than a fools errand), science as an institution and the pursuit of knowledge or human progress and prosperity (the latter to are unmitigated bads).

Restricting or ending fossil fuel use, not climate change, is the real recipe for disaster. It would set human civilization back centuries, ringing a true death knell for present and future generations. If the Pope wants to help the world’s poor, this is the message he should deliver.

A recently released report on the degree of confidence that Americans have in the country’s leading political and economic institutions showed that few of these institutions are held in high regard by the public.

Former Durham, NC district attorney Mike Nifong was disbarred for withholding evidence from the defense and lying to the court in the trumped-up Duke lacrosse team rape case. Ex-Boston crime lab technician Annie Dookhan was prosecuted for faking test results and contaminating drug samples, to get accused dealers convicted. In both cases, charges against their victims were dismissed or are under review.

Even as ObamaCare is trying to self destruct, its advocates suggest a détente in which “Republicans recognize the conservative nature of the law,” in the words of Austin Frakt in Bloomberg News. The Affordable Care Act (ACA), they point out, incorporates some ideas from a Heritage Foundation proposal and a law promoted by Mitt Romney. Those are not, however, conservative ideas, much less good ideas, and are not a “sound chassis” for anything.

The MSM seems to have noticed that its fawning, sycophantic coverage of the Obama administration has meant declining circulation and viewership. The turn is as remarkable as it is welcome.