Synogenes.com

You might have missed the hoards of media pundits falling over themselves in indecent haste to correct the appalling hackfest unleashed on the climate scientists earlier this year. Phil Jones, the climatologist in East Anglia, was accused of impropriety and dishonesty in his handling of climate data and the Penn State climate scientist Michael Mann was accused of falsifying and suppressing data.

But the whole business was investigated and they were cleared, completely and unconditionally cleared. There was no conspiracy, no fiddling the data, no suppression of the facts, and the statements made by the scientists were supported by peer-reviewed research.

Recently the Times retracted its version of events but did you hear the media celebration that the UK climate scientists were completely exonerated? Of course not. The problem with such apologies after the fact is of course that the damage is already done. The volume of the accusations far exceeds the whisper of apology and by the time it is made, everyone has got used to the idea that climate data was fixed.

The sad fact is that once people have been told something, especially by someone trusted, then regardless of how much later contrary evidence is produced including retractions, a substantial number of people will continue to believe what they have been told. Propagandists have long known this and exploit it regularly. In this case climate science has been the victim.

You can read the Times statement here.

The Vatican has announced losses for the third year with income of around €250m and expenditure at €254m. Donations from the faithful in churches were up 9% to $82m.

What this shows is that even though the church has been involved in the most disgraceful actions over the exposure of child abusers in its organisation, including refusing to release name to an investigation, the faithful still rally around and give it money.

With an income of a quarter of a billion Euros, it's obviously a very big international business but given that it's major iconic product is falling apart at the seams, that it's social influence attracts odium rather than passive acceptance, and that its political past is mired in right-wing dictatorships and repressive regimes, it's no wonder that it is beginning to lose money.

With ethical positions that beggar belief from the refusal to allow condoms in the campaign against AIDS, through to it's appalling treatment of women, to its persecution of gays, it's a wonder any catholics remain who try to justify the church position.

On a social level, parents must be very worried about the protection their children receive at the hands of catholic education. Even though the actual risks of crimes being committed is low, the fear is produced by the church's unwillingness to address the issue openly and forcefully.

Hopefully this is a sign that people are waking up to the irrelevance of religion, to the distorted social reality it engenders, to the prejudice and moral bankruptcy of religious institutions.

But then maybe we'll see a rebranding exercise. Isn't that what businesses do when they find themselves up against the wall? Change the logo? Change the name?

It might come as no surprise that a major international insurance giant gets involved in fraud, after all there are massive profits to be made by manipulating the markets.

But AIG was being sued in a class action lawsuit alleging that they were involved in price manipulation, anti-competitive practices, and accounting fraud between 1999 and 2005. They were being sued by three Ohio pension funds but they've now settled the claim avoiding a court case.

They've agreed to pay out almost three quarters of a billion dollars - a billion is one followed by nine zeros. That astronomical sum would be a scandalous admission of the kind of morality followed by the major industrialists, but the real scandal is that AIG is also the insurance giant that was propped up by US government loans.

The US insurance giant was bailed out by the US government to the tune of $182.3 billion (those nine zeros again) so that the US now owns 80% of the company.

So the really clever bit is that 80% of the cost of paying for the fraudulent activity is stumped up by the US government who gets the revenue from the US public. State sponsored fraud settlements! That's a new innovation for corporate capitalism. As long as you come clean, after the state has bailed you out, you get to keep the proceeds of the fraud, keep your reputation intact, keep control of your assets, and have someone else pay the fine.

Sounds like a real result for the fat cats!