The following is an excerpt from OpinionJournal.com’s “Best of the Web” written by the editor, James Taranto. 

Everything Seemingly Is Spinning Out of Control

  • “Eels Disappearing From London’s River Thames”–headline, Associated Press, Jan. 21
  • “Trial Over Deaths of Three Goldfish Collapses After Police Evidence Blunder Costs Taxpayer Thousands”–headline, Daily Mail (London), Jan. 22

Bottom Stories of the Day
“Boise State Wrestling Team Flying Under the Radar”–headline, Idaho Statesman, Jan. 22

Don’t Insult Those Stupid Jerks
With last year’s revelations of scientific corruption on behalf of global warmism, the journal Nature argues that climate science needs better PR:

Climate science, like any active field of research, has some major gaps in understanding. Yet the political stakes have grown so high in this field, and the public discourse has become so heated, that climate researchers find it hard to talk openly about those gaps. The small coterie of individuals who deny humanity’s influence on climate will try to use any perceived flaw in the evidence to discredit the entire picture. So how can researchers honestly describe the uncertainty in their work without it being misconstrued?

Here’s one bit of advice the journal offers in the same editorial:

Scientists should be careful not to disparage those on the other side of a debate: a respectful tone makes it easier for people to change their minds if they share something in common with that other side.

So, for instance, it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to disparage those on the other side of the debate by calling them a “small coterie of individuals who deny humanity’s influence on climate.”

For more “Best of the Web” click here and look for the “Best of the Web Today” link in the middle column below “Today’s Columnists.