Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine makes the case that

"free market" policies have come to dominate the world-- through the exploitation of disaster-shocked people and countries.

These disasters include Pinochet's coup in Chile in 1973, the Falklands War in 1982, the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989, the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Asian Financial crisis in 1997 and Hurricane Mitch in 1998.

Today, the financial markets are in turmoil, the housing market is in freefall, the labor market is in trouble.  Over the next year, a lot of us will lose years of savings, much of the equity in our houses, or our jobs.

A lot of us are going to be shocked.

History teaches that this is when the free-marketers will strike.

Remember, they may only have one year to take whatever they can.

Many people-- especially conservatives-- warned about this.  They pointed out that models are prone to many errors, and the scientific consensus is not always right.

Other people chose to rely on the scientific consensus.  Honesty compels me to admit that I was in this group.  We didn't think think the consensus was the last word, but we did believe it was the best window to the future a non-specialist could look through.

So this part really hurts me to write.  But I have to.

The data testing key parts of the global warming consensus are now available.

The consensus of climate experts were wrong.  Absolutely, verifiably wrong.  The computer models were wrong.  They simply do not match reality.

Diary rescue by Migeru

I'm going to tell you about a quick and easy-to-implement program that will reduce both oil use and city traffic, bring large benefits to public health, and get people where they need to go faster than before.

But I'm not going to tell you that it will have zero cost.

Instead, I'm going to tell you it will cost less than nothing.  It won't add any new items to city budgets.  It may result in additional sources of revenue while reducing some city budget items.

The program is to introduce very cheap bicycle rentals located at kiosks around the city.  It will have the blessing of local government, but be run by a for-profit company.  After signing up online, you'll unlock bikes with your credit card, ride to your destination, and lock them back up again.

The program has been implemented on a large scale in Lyon and Paris, and on a somewhat smaller scale in Vienna, Brussels and Cordoba.  The results are excellent so far, and similar programs are being considered by London and Seoul.

A few American cities are beginning to experiment with this.. but it is time for us to get serious.