Maybe he's just a clever Cuban boy riding gringo right-wing obsessions right into a position of power over them. After all, that's how Fidel snuck in.

Just because those Cubans are rabidly anti-communist doesn't mean they aren't simultaneously extremely liberal. Although some of our more reactionary friends may have convinced themselves otherwise, the presence of one doesn't necessarily exclude the other. Remember, like most civilized countries, Cuba had government-subsidized medicine and public education through the college level long before Castro took power.

As for the potential unreliability of the temp measurements, that has not escaped me, I mention it in my post to Rob, above. Its why I prefer to rely on the satellite data. It is not only more precise and accurate, it is much more persuasive. A 40% reduction in summer ice in 30 years is difficult to dismiss with a hand wave and a little sarcasm.

Deliberate scientific fraud? What you do not properly adddress is motivation. Although scientists may be just as likely to cook the data to ensure their funding as businessmen are motivated to lie through their teeth to protect their investments, the scientists have neither the organization, the funding, the experience, the coordination or the past history to pull it off as slickly and successfully as the American Petroleum Institute and their friends in the Republican Party. Scientists may be tempted to lie, but they're neither as good or as practiced at it as corporate executives are.

Now, about those 2016 election forecasts...don't be shy, don't make me drag up some of your October and November posts.