The Long View 2008-03-04: Jesuit Subversion; Cold Snap; Daylight Saving; Northern Mystery

John J. Reilly was always a fan of Fortean phenomena. The Salish Sea human feet certain fall in that bucket.

Jesuit Subversion; Cold Snap; Daylight Saving; Northern Mystery

We have already noted the Turkish project to subject the hadith to the "higher criticism," thereby, it is alleged, sparking an Islamic Reformation. Damian Thompson, however, has exposed the Jesuitical puppet masters behind the enterprise:

A ranting Islamist website called Ummah Pulse is carrying an article about a Jesuit attempt to "get behind the lines" of Islam in order to water down its theology. And the odd thing is that, for once, I can understand its paranoia.

A German Jesuit priest-scholar called Felix Koerner is helping state-funded Turkish Muslims create an "authentic" variety of Islam that can be reconciled with the modern world. A bit strange, don’t you think?

Here's some information on Fr. Koerner.

I am reminded of nothing so much as a Poul Anderson story about a Jesuit paleontologist who was involved in a successful SETI project. The project had in fact established a two-way radio-telescope link with an alien civilization, at first to great public interest. Interest flagged, however, when it became apparent that the alien civilization was ruled by a theocracy that was interested in the link only as a way to broadcast its sacred scriptures. Frustrated by the refusal of the aliens to talk about paleontology, the wily Jesuit sent a message to the aliens that everyone on Earth was converted to the new doctrine, but we had a few questions about the interpretation of the scriptures we had been receiving. The Jesuit then did a close textual analysis of the alien's scriptures in a way that tied their theology up in knots. The aliens were silent for several years. Then they reported that the theocracy had been overthrown and they would like to talk about science now.

Actually, I think a more likely outcome is that a substantial number of people would have been converted to the aliens' religion, almost without regard to its content. That, however, is another story.

* * *

Climate Change Skeptics recently held a jamboree in New York to celebrate this year's global cold-snap, to such effect that the New York Times saw fit to take note of their impertinence:

The world has seen some extraordinary winter conditions in both hemispheres over the past year: snow in Johannesburg last June and in Baghdad in January, Arctic sea ice returning with a vengeance after a record retreat last summer, paralyzing blizzards in China, and a sharp drop in the globe’s average temperature.

It is no wonder that some scientists, opinion writers, political operatives and other people who challenge warnings about dangerous human-caused global warming have jumped on this as a teachable moment...“The current downturn is not very unusual,” said Carl Mears, a scientist at Remote Sensing Systems, a private research group in Santa Rosa, Calif., that has been using satellite data to track global temperature and whose findings have been held out as reliable by a variety of climate experts. He pointed to similar drops in 1988, 1991-92, and 1998, but with a long-term warming trend clear nonetheless.

This is perfectly true: a year means nothing. However, we must remember that the statistical "signature" of anthropogenic global warming is still written in very small script, with less than two decades of confirmation. If the cold snap continues for another four years, the whole issue will have to be re-addressed.

* * *

This headline appeared yesterday on the website of CBS News: Bush Resigns Because Of Plagiarism. I imagine they have fixed it by now. These things happen all the time. The good thing about the Web is that now it is easy to cover them up.

Still, The Onion needs to run with this.

* * *

But here is a real fraud exposed:

It's official: Daylight Saving Time is a bust. Designed (and recently extended) as a measure to save energy in a period of inflated electricity prices, an in-depth University of California study has now shown that DST doesn't save anyone any money at all. ...Why? Shouldn't they be, well, saving daylight -- and burning fewer light bulbs? ...They are, said the study. But while lighting bills were reduced, air-conditioning units had to run more often, because people were home on hot afternoons when they'd otherwise be still at the office. Heaters had to be run on cool mornings, too, when people got up and it was still dark outside.

There is supposed to be a traffic-safety advantage to Daylight Saving, though I wonder whether that is still the case. Retailers are supposed to like it, too, because the system makes it easier to shop after business hours. In fact, of course, all this nonsense started during World War I as an austerity measure. No one has quite been able to turn it off since.

* * *

Some mysteries demand an explanation:

OTTAWA (AFP) - A severed human foot has been found in Canada's westernmost Gulf Islands, marking the third such discovery in six months stumped police said Saturday, noting all three are right feet, size 12, male and shod in sneakers.

And some do not.

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