Many Pointilist Paintings To Truth

I think Jim Manzi nails it.

Russ: Yeah, I think we have a lot of romance about randomized control trials like this, because they remind us of science.

Infidel Links, 12-5-12

Typhoon Bopha: Philippines death toll worsens (The Guardian)

Lee Raises Hackles with Debate Act (DailyNK)

Lee Jung Hee, the left wing presidential candidate for the United Progressive Party, has incited controversy in conservative quarters by referring to the South Korean government as “the government of the south side” during last night’s televised presidential debate, which she appeared on as third candidate alongside Moon Jae In and Park Geun Hye.

Ordinarily, the only place where South Korea is referred to in such terms is in the North Korean state media, causing some conservative commentators to brand her a ‘spokeswoman’ for the North. This characterization was lent further weight when she referred to North Korea’s upcoming long-range rocket launch as that of a ‘working satellite’ and called the Cheonan sinking an “incident” rather than an “attack” or a “sinking.”

Christians and Climate Change

Sometimes the wisest approach is the simplest.

Sarah Posner and Katharine Hayhoe take a less confrontational route for secularists and Christians to take on the politics of climate change. What I like about Hayhoe’s tack is, that it starts from the premise, that a Christian could start from a perfectly valid theological perspective and reach compromise with a non-Christian for non-theological reasons.