Debunkers.org Blog

The Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, a German think tank, issued a report on its analysis of German subsidization of “green jobs”. The PDF is here for your enjoyment.

Not a pretty tale, for it finds that subsidization of “green jobs” in alternative energy is simply a failure.

Although Germany’s promotion of renewable energies is commonly portrayed in the media as setting a “shining example in providing a harvest for the world” (The Guardian 2007), we would instead regard the country’s experience as a cautionary tale of massively expensive environmental and energy policy that is devoid of economic and environmental benefits.

Evidently Western society collapsed recently, and someone forgot to tell me.  In Switzerland, a researcher was required to demonstrate that his experiment would not “trample” upon a plant’s dignity.  Wall Street Journal report

Dr. Keller recently sought government permission to do a field trial of genetically modified wheat that has been bred to resist a fungus. He first had to debate the finer points of plant dignity with university ethicists. Then, in a written application to the government, he tried to explain why the planned trial wouldn’t “disturb the vital functions or lifestyle” of the plants. He eventually got the green light.

The rule, based on a constitutional amendment, came into being after the Swiss Parliament asked a panel of philosophers, lawyers, geneticists and theologians to establish the meaning of flora’s dignity.

“We couldn’t start laughing and tell the government we’re not going to do anything about it,” says Markus Schefer, a member of the ethics panel and a professor of law at the University of Basel. “The constitution requires it.”

It is unfortunate that they did not laugh at this ridiculous lunacy.  Because failing to laugh at it, is what makes it take on more life and spread.

Building 7 was the lower building that burned all day of September 11 and collapsed in the late afternoon. Its been the subject of some of the whackier of the whacky conspiracy nut thinking about the World Trade Center attacks of 9/11.

The NIST has been studying the engineering of the WTC building collapses, had earlier released studies on the main towers and today released a study about the collapse of Building 7. So I was reading this story about the study by the NIST off of Yahoo news. The news story is actually from an Associated Press writer. Now the Associated Press has been going down hill in quality at an increasing rate lately, and this story certainly is nothing for AP to be proud of. In this case, the AP story just does a horribly bad job of rewriting the NIST press release.

This story quotes a line from a Truther that is devoid of any real assertions:

Critics like Mike Berger of the group 9/11 Truth said he wasn’t buying the government’s explanation.

“Their explanation simply isn’t sufficient. We’re being lied to,” he said, arguing that there is other evidence suggesting explosives were used on the building.

So we can’t really get a complete sense of just how whacky they are. The AP story later cites to the top level NIST webpage without any deep link to show you the actual report, and in parallel cites the Truther website as if they were parallel references.

You can find the better written and more interesting NIST press release here. Compare the two to see just how useless the AP writer was. And you can find the whole NIST report here on the NIST website ( it is really a draft report and NIST welcomes comments … from people who don’t send AP press releases from their mother’s basement ). There are supplemental reports available on this page that are fascinating.

Oh, by the way, I think that the NIST just might know what a controlled demolition really looks like, after all, Mark Loizeaux’s name appears on the report among the list of contractors.

Seems I’m not the only skeptic about Ivins

I want to emphasize that I’m not in any conspiracy nut stuff here, I’d be happy if it was Ivins and we had a resolution. It is just that its the FBI that’s accusing him …

Story at this link

[ Bruce ]Ivins committed suicide this week before he could be charged with murder for mailing the toxin-laced letters, which spread nationwide alarm just weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in New York and Washington. Authorities said the letters, filled with anthrax powder, may have been a warped plot for Ivins to test his vaccine on victims.

I’ve very puzzled what to think of this story.   Although the news coverage is surprising thin today - in my opinion - this should be a huge story.  The anthrax attacks so soon after 9/11 terrified this nation, almost shut down mail service in several major cities.

Remember that Steven Hatfield, pursued for years by the FBI, recently settled for  almost $6million from the Department of Justice.

So while I want this episode to be over, and I want the suspect for these attacks to be identified - so that I don’t have to panic if I open a letter with talcum powder spilling out - we have the FBI’s word that they were about to indict this man for the attacks.

And frankly, given their track record, there ought to be a special, extra-strong, extra-spicy, extra-crispy new and improved “presumption of innocence” when the FBI accuses someone of a high profile crime.

So why is the word suspect in quotes?  Ask Richard Jewell.  Ask Steven Hatfield.