Culture Briefs

Fleeing U.N.

“So every day another embarrassing revelation exposes climate change experts as confused bumble-heads. The latest? Apparently the [United Nations] panel on climate change based recent conclusions regarding vanishing ice from mountain tops on anecdotes found in a ‘mountaineering’ magazine.

“Now, this would be hilarious, if it wasnt for the fact that quadrillions of dollars are at stake. … Im not going to use this latest revelation to hammer these ‘experts,’ even though theyd do that to a ‘skeptic’ like me, if they had the chance. I just want to nail two key points:

“• This news shows exactly why climate change researchers must release data and reveal methods. If they have nothing to hide, then their works credibility will only increase. The fact that theyre trying to avoid that makes me think they’re basing their data on articles from Cosmo. …

“• There are few real experts on climate change — only pawns used to justify policies that will inevitably sodomize our economy.”

— Greg Gutfeld, writing on “Daily Gut: When Climate Change Experts Are Not Experts,” Feb. 2 at Big Hollywood

Fleeing Canada

“Last August, in the middle of a season of politician-roasting town halls over the government overhaul of the American health-care system, the Detroit Free Press reported that our neighbors to the north had begun contracting with American hospitals to handle overflow from their oft-praised single-payer system.

“The effort by Canada attempted to legitimize a natural flow of people with means across the border to seek the immediate care that Canadas fully-public system could not provide. That story didnt get too much traction in either the U.S. or Canada, mainly due to the efforts of politicians in both countries insisting that central control of the health-care sector is necessary for reform.

“However, that may change now that a prominent politician in Canada has followed the same path as many of his fellow citizens in order to save his own life: ‘Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams is set to undergo heart surgery this week in the United States.’ …

“If an American governor had to go outside the U.S. to seek the kind of immediate care he needed, that would be considered scandalous. In fact, if an American governor had to leave his or her own state to seek expert care, Id expect it to be a fairly controversial move, unless it was treatment for a rather exotic malady that perhaps only a Mayo clinic could handle. … The motto among the statists seems to be: State-controlled access for thee, instant access for me.”

— Ed Morrissey, writing on “Canadian province premier bails on single-payer system for surgery,” Feb. 2 at Hot Air

Fleeing North Korea

“Drawing the line between information and propaganda can be difficult. In the case of Mads Bruggers documentary ‘The Red Chapel,’ its nearly impossible. The Danish filmmaker and two friends posed as a pro-socialist comedy troupe called the Red Chapel to gain entrance into North Korea. Under the guise of cultural exchange, Brugger filmed his two-week stay in the country, and the result is a rare glimpse into a closed society that is part satire and part political screed. The film is thoroughly fascinating, and just won the World Cinema grand jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival this weekend.

“Because his footage was sent to censors every night, Brugger reserved his commentary for subtitles and voiceover in the film, which gives the humor of ‘Red Chapel’ a level of Sacha Baron Cohens style satire. But unlike a project like ‘Borat,’ Bruggers film has an overt political message. He explained in an interview: ‘People dont know that [North Korea] is Nazi Germany times ten. Its pure evil.’

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