Free Republic

Comment: 'Harder than ever for cynics to dismiss global warming' Mark Henderson, Science Editor of The Times The IPCC's 'uncharacteristically robust' conclusion means the debate on climate change is over Like all groups that decide policy by committee, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is naturally prone to conservatism. Every line in its Summary for Policymakers is fiercely contested, and must be approved by a consensus of more than 300 expert scientists before it is included in the final document. The panel’s uncharacteristically robust conclusion that global warming is "very likely" the result of human activity is therefore cause...

"Catholic intellectual?" Is that a contradiction in terms? Of course not. It is silly to say so, even though progressives like to float the idea every once in a while when they are having a hard time pushing through one of their favored reforms. The 20th century was, after all, the century of Chesterton, Belloc, Christopher Dawson, Ronald Knox and Jacques Maritain.In fact, it would be easier to make the case that Catholic intellectuals sometimes spend too much time being intellectuals, too much time with scholarly explorations of the Faith, and not enough with the child-like imagery on their Christmas...

When did we get so cynical? What has caused so many to doubt good things that they see, even when those good things are impossible to ignore? I speak of the recent -- and awesome -- elections in Iraq. For months there were those who stated with conviction, wrote with assertion, or claimed to have inside knowledge that those elections would never take place. They told us that Iraq was about to enter into a civil war. They told us that things were just "too dicey" to even think about Iraqis getting out to vote in an election. And, they...

The word from the White House is that President Bush will give NASA a new mission next week — reportedly instructing the space agency to send astronauts back to the moon and then to Mars. Although few specific details about the plan have trickled out so far, it seems that the president is going to give NASA what it needs most: a vision worthy of America. The plan is the culmination of the work of a national space-policy review begun by the administration in 2002. The job of the review board was made more urgent after the shuttle Columbia broke...

"Let's Hope the Prophets of Doom Stop Talking About Resignations" VATICAN CITY, JULY 2, 2002 (Zenit.org).- John Paul II won't let his physical problems stop him, Cardinal Ersilio Tonini, archbishop emeritus of Ravenna, Italy, said in an interview with the daily La Repubblica last Sunday. Q: Cardinal Ersilio Tonini, were you surprised by the Pope's homily yesterday? Cardinal Tonini: "I have never doubted his strength and will power. And yesterday he confirmed it once again. The Holy Father is strong, despite his health problems, he will never resign. Let's hope that the prophets of doom will be at peace and...