Twitter roundup

From my Twitter feed (4/15-4/20) Brendan Nyhan Apr 20, 2011 at 2:25 PM
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	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan Really, First Read? "[M]ost amazing thing" 1 year after BP spill is lack of solution to US energy problems http://j.mp/hVMnDh Shocking!
	First Read - First Thoughts: Crisis control Obama’s presidency -- so far -- has been largely defined by moving from one crisis to the next… One thing that HASN’T happened one year since the BP spill: tackling a solution to America’s energ...
	Apr 20, 2011 at 2:13 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan Estimated ideal point distributions for 112th Congress - House Tea Party caucus mean very close to GOP mean http://j.mp/g47bgm
	Scaling the 112th Congress with Optimal Classification | voteview Nearly four months into the 112th Congress, we scale legislators in both chambers using Optimal Classification (OC) in R. OC performs quite well in modeling the 109,780 roll call voting choices ...
	Apr 20, 2011 at 1:55 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan We need editors to take responsibility for factual misinformation in op-eds -- @mattyglesias on Fred Hiatt http://j.mp/fhQmVW
	Yglesias » Climate Denialism Promoter Fred Hiatt Hits American Conservatives For Embrace of Climate Denialism The earth’s climate is shifting. Most generally, the planet is getting warmer. And while many factors contribute to the earth’s climate, the key factor in the warming trend is human industrial a...
	Apr 20, 2011 at 1:45 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan RT @sethmnookin: The invoking of MacNeil & PBS Newshour to support the autism-vaccine canard has officially begun http://ht.ly/4DtiL
	The first of many statements yoking Robert MacNeil to the vaccine-autism canard → 12:02 pm // No Comments Exhibit A in why Robert MacNeil’s “Autism Now” series has been reckless and irresponsible is a press release issued by Alison MacNeil and SafeMinds* titled, “Daughter o...
	Apr 19, 2011 at 5:38 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan New NBER paper: "Stock returns of highly exposed firms reacted to coup authorizations classified as top-secret." http://j.mp/gf2o22
	Coups, Corporations, and Classified Information NBER Program(s):   AP   DAE   POL We estimate the impact of coups and top-secret coup authorizations on asset prices of partially nationalized multinational companies that stood to benefit from ...
	Apr 19, 2011 at 2:19 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan RT @burtmonroe: 3 reasonable explanations MT @researchrants: post re: poll 46% MS GOP want ban on interracial marriage http://bit.ly/wtZ8c
	Bad Research; No Biscuit. | Rants on the state of the research industry. A couple of thought’s on PPP’s bombshell last week about interracial marriage in Mississippi, which, if you missed it, said that 46% of “usual Republican Primary voters” there say interracial ma...
	Apr 19, 2011 at 1:49 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan Amusing rebuttal to the "he doesn't want it" narrative. RT @benpolitico: Fred Thompson: My belly was aflame http://is.gd/jCxNUZ
	The Dark-Horse Effect - National Review Online he media are beginning to get restless. They are ready for the campaign games to begin, but the contestants are not lining up in the starting gate. So, with space and airwaves to fill, we are no...
	Apr 19, 2011 at 1:32 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan 1/3 of Vanity Fair issues since '03 have had an article about/written by a Kennedy or mentioning a Kennedy 7+ times http://j.mp/ebnfpw
	Vanity Fair’s Absurd Preoccupation With The Kennedys | The New Republic The New Republic covers politics, culture, and the arts with a focus on the White House, foreign policy, Congress, Capitol Hill, Wikileaks, the lame duck session, literature, and more.
	Apr 19, 2011 at 11:31 AM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan RT @sethmnookin: Newshour's autism series: An embarrassing, reckless, and irresponsible coda to Robert MacNeil’s career http://bit.ly/hwaCLl
	An embarrassing, reckless, and irresponsible coda to Robert MacNeil’s career → 10:09 pm // 6 Comments PBS’s is currently in the middle of a multi-part special on autism. The series brings Robert MacNeil back to the show for the first time in 16 years. If it turns out to ...
	Apr 19, 2011 at 10:31 AM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan RT @soodoku Gawker: Candidate's Name Misspelled as 'Rich Whitey' on Black-District Ballots http://t.co/aMJYUyM
	Gawker — Today's gossip is tomorrow's news Enter your username and password. or Login via Facebook | Twitter You password contains non US-ASCII characters. We recommend you reset your password due to a flaw in handling non US-ASCII chara...
	Apr 19, 2011 at 12:04 AM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan RT @phlu Physicians the most trusted source of child vaccine info (but 1 in 4 believe celebrities) http://bit.ly/guWKpk
	amednews: Physicians the most trusted source of child vaccine information :: April 18, 2011 ... American Medical News Although most parents believe the vaccine information they receive from their children's doctors, nearly one in four has some trust in what celebrities say about immunization safety, a study in ...
	Apr 18, 2011 at 4:16 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan NYT story on alleged cell phone/cancer link is a great intro to the difficulties of observational data analysis http://j.mp/ekhuE1
	Do Cellphones Cause Brain Cancer? Yes, no, maybe — the answer seems to change with every new study. Finding the definitive solution turns out to be a science in itself.
	Apr 18, 2011 at 4:08 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan NYT: 41% approval "political clouds" for Obama http://j.mp/h4rqeL True, but RR/BC approval very similar at this point http://j.mp/hsyKdq
	Obama to Sell Deficit Plan in Campaign-Style Trip The trip is Mr. Obama’s first since the unofficial start of his re-election campaign in Chicago.
	Presidential Approval Ratings -- Barack Obama Barack Obama Presidential Job Approval Barack Obama's Daily Job Approval Trend Barack Obama's Job Approval Average by Subgroup Barack Obama's Most Recent Weekly Approval Rating Average (several ...
	Apr 18, 2011 at 3:33 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan Advocates of Ryan budget might want to read this study: "motivated reasoning affects overestimates of support" by public http://j.mp/ehS3YU
	Motivated reasoning and public opinion perception ↵Address correspondence to Lilach Nir, Department of Political Science, Mount Scopus, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 91905 Jerusalem, Israel; e-mail: . Theorists posit that a —unlike a mass...
	Apr 18, 2011 at 1:43 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan Very useful @monkeycageblog on the partisan trust gap http://j.mp/dQutLa and on partisans' phony dislike of partisanship http://j.mp/gRHJX2
	The Partisan Trust Gap Thefollowingisaguestpostby
	Partisans Say They Hate Partisanship (But Really They Don't) bq.Doespartisanconflictdamagec itizens'perceptionsofCongress? Ifso,whyhaspolarizationincreas edinCongresssincethe1970s?Toad dressthesequestions,weunpackth e
	Apr 18, 2011 at 11:32 AM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan Pawlenty spokesman: "We don’t know [the] cause of climate change." Yikes. http://j.mp/hssrAj (via @jayrosen_nyu)
	On climate change, the GOP is lost in never-never land he Republican self-deception that draws the most attention is the refusal to believe that Barack Obama is American-born. Editor of The Post’s editorial page, Hiatt also writes a biweekly column ...
	Apr 18, 2011 at 11:30 AM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan How not to write a caption: "A demonstration...against legislation favored by groups opposed to illegal immigration" http://j.mp/gghbfd
	The Anti-Immigration Crusader - NYTimes.com John Tanton, who helped start all three major national groups fighting to reduce immigration, has been called “the most influential unknown man in America.”
	Apr 17, 2011 at 2:15 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan MT @cjoh Here's what was happening in presidential polls in 4/07 http://t.co/sbz8YSS // Headline: "CBS Poll: Giuliani, Clinton Pad Leads"
	CBS Poll: Giuliani, Clinton Pad Leads - CBS News Colo. crowds to push for pot legalization Montana AG to investigate Greg Mortenson charity First lady's close call points to controller error CIA reveals WWI invisible ink recipe Calif. woman sh...
	Apr 16, 2011 at 6:49 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan Democrats eager to praise on HCR. MT @cconaboy: Check out Boston Globe coverage of #Romney portrait: http://bit.ly/17WHCx (via @CitizenCohn)
	Romney returns to the State House for a cameo role - The Boston Globe Former governor Mitt Romney pulled a blue sheet off an easel last night, revealing a gubernatorial portrait that depicts him wearing a business suit, a slight smile, and what is a first for a St...
	Apr 16, 2011 at 5:29 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan 15th G. Collins mention of Romney's dog on car roof: http://j.mp/dNzkmB More evidence for columnist term limits: http://j.mp/i3RHxp
	Mitt! Mitt! Mitt! How about a refresher on all the books written by Mitt Romney? Fortunately, there are only two.
	Wanted: Term limits for columnists - Brendan Nyhan When will Gail Collins come up with some new material? Her end-of-year quiz includes her 12th Bristol Palin reference since October 2008, her 13th reference to Mitt Romney putting his dog on the...
	Apr 16, 2011 at 1:54 PM

Comments

[Rob]

Citing Matt Yglesias, Brendan tweets, "We need editors to take responsibility for factual misinformation in op-eds." Accord, PowerLine, which has been on a campaign to correct the New York Times's repeated, flagrant misstatements of facts in editorials and op-ed pieces about the Koch brothers.

[MartyB]

Re: @mattyglesias on Fred Hiatt and
Pawlenty spokesman: "We don’t know [the] cause of climate change." Yikes

I really don't understand yours and esp. Yglesias dogmatism on the causes of climate change.

I am open to the possibility that the biggest culprit is human action and even strongly suspect this is that case - after all, we don't understand the unintended consequences of all the technological advances of the past 100 years.

But I am surprised any thinking person wouldn't be skeptical of the current politicized state of science, with researchers incentivized to report "crises" in order to get more government funding and recognition.

The obvious manipulation of science apparent in the leaked emails several years ago should not have been a surprise to anyone.

Besides there are respected scientists that see other more powerful natural suspects for climate change, so I see no reason to just "accept" the supposed consensus. Always remember that many other "consensus" opinions have later been proven false.

Yglesias criticism of Hiatt is particularly ridiculous, as his "crime" is only letting George Will publish his "skeptical" opinion. Will could be wrong, and will look ridiculous if one day proven so, so why should Hiatt try to censor him?

[MartyB]

Yglesias dogmatism here is even deeper than I noticed on first read -

"why did Hiatt publish the op-ed in question if he knew it to be inaccurate?"

No-one can "know" climate change skepticism to be inaccurate. They can only have a differing opinion.

Here Yglesias sounds way too much like a religious zealot who thinks he "knows" as a fact his view of God is the right one, so no one s/b be able to express any other opinion.

Quite startling...

[David in Cal]

As more facts suggest a degree of skepticism on AGW, some warmists respond by acknowledging the problems. E.g., physics professor Judith Curry continues to believe in AGW. However, she has enough scientific expertise to admit that there has been scientific misconduct involved in hockey stick models. Professor Curry has sufficient integrity to acknowledge that UN predictions of 50 million climate refugees have proved incorrect.

OTOH Yglesias simply doubles down on his previous position. He ignores the problems and instead suggests preventing the publication of dissenting ideas.

Yglesias seems not to know what the word "fact" means. It's a fact that the globe has warmed since 200 years ago. However, it's not a fact that "the planet is getting warmer", if by that Yglesias means that the warming will continue indefinitely into the future. None of us can predict the future with certainty.

Yglesias says the science of global warming is "quite clear." Clear to whom? Certainly not to Yglesias. He's not qualified to review and interpret the science of warmists and their critics. AFAIK he has never attempted to do so. Quite a few highly qualified scientists do question the science of global warming, so it can't be that clear.

[David in Cal]

Another type of comment that annoys me is Fred Hiatt's:

But if you asked 1,000 scientists, 998 of them would say that climate change is real and that human activity — the burning of oil, gas and coal — is a significant contributor.

First of all, that's the wrong question. The right question is whether something like Kyoto or like Cap and Trade is needed to prevent disaster and is sufficient to prevent disaster. AFAIK most scientists would not agree. The skeptics don't think these programs are needed. And, honest warmists will acknowledge that if the disaster models are correct things like Kyoto or Cap and Trade are utterly inadequate to save us.

Second, instead of guessing at the level of scientific support, how about taking an actual survey? I doubt the 98% figure, because 31,487 American scientists have signed a petition stating that there is no convincing scientific evidence that man's activity will cause catastrophic heating of the earth's atmosphere. No doubt many non-signing scientists agree with them.

Even if the petition signers were the only scientists to question AGW, there would have to be 1,569,350 scientists who are certain that AGW is real and disastrous in order for their number to comprise 98% of all scientists. I've seen no data identifying this many scientists on the warmist side.

[David in Cal]

My apologies. Hiatt said 998 out of 1000, not 98 out of 100. To offset just the 31,487 petition signers, there would have to be 15,743,500 scientists who are warmers in order to reach that ratio.

[David in Cal]

I was disappointed to read that Newshour gave credibility to the false and damaging theory that vaccines cause autism. Newshour usually does a more responsible job.

[Rob]

On Diane Rehm's radio program this morning, MacNeil acknowledged there's no epidemiological evidence that vaccines cause autism. He said, however, that his daughter believes they do. He did not explain why he failed in the program to point out the lack of evidence for his daughter's belief and failed to challenge her to support her belief.

MacNeil's comment was in response to an emailed question from a listener. Diane Rehm lacked the knowledge or inclination to raise the issue herself.

[David in Cal]

Brendan faults a Pawlenty spokesman for saying. "We don’t know [the] cause of climate change."

However, science is by no means settled on the causes of climate change. E.g., a study to by published in Science Magazine reports that researchers at Columbia University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science found that , "[the ozone hole, which is located over the South Pole,] has caused a great deal of the climate change that’s been observed.”

Yet, “The ozone hole is not even mentioned in the summary for policymakers issued with the last IPCC report,” noted Lorenzo M. Polvani, Professor of Applied Mathematics and of Earth & Environmental Sciences, Senior Research Scientist at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, and co-author of the paper.

[David in Cal]

The British Press Commission has in effect ruled that AGW is not a fact, by rejecting a complaint made by the University of East Anglia

"that three blog posts by James Delingpole were inaccurate and misleading and contained distorted information in breach of Clause 1 (Accuracy) of the Editors’ Code.”

The BPC ruling said that global warming was a "controversial topic."