Guest post by Robert Zimmerman
If anyone had any doubt that the global warming movement is undergoing a serious collapse, this so-called news article from Spiegel Online, entitled “Naked bodies and a new Messiah: Green groups are trying to sex up climate change,” probably lays that doubt to rest. Key quote:
Environmentalists and scientists are concerned about the massive drop in public interest in the topic over the last year. Now they are looking for new strategies to turn the tide. They’re searching for so-called “mind bombs” — highly emotional images that reduce a complex problem down to one core message.
Sadly, the article never asks the fundamental question: What do “mind bombs” have to do with facts, data, and proving your theories are correct in the real world?
The answer of course is obvious: Nothing.
Every tactic outlined in the article above is either a superficial public relations stunt or an effort to spin facts so emotionally that the general public will be mesmerized into doing whatever the global warming activists want.
The article’s author, Axel Bojanowski, describes in very enthusiastic terms a variety of tactics the environmental movement is considering in order to influence the public debate. These include:
- An emotional appeal, such as using dramatic pictures (a dying polar bear, a drowned city) to change minds.
- Sex.
- The search for a new Messiah to replace Al Gore.
- A new scientific language. To quote:
“The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change also wants a more careful use of language. The international body sent scientists a code of conduct concerning their interactions with journalists. Scientists should avoid using words such as “risk” and “uncertainty” in interviews, the letter read, to prevent misunderstandings — and to keep from doing the climate protection movement any further damage.” [emphasis mine]
- And finally, a new kind of journalism, where journalists become a sort of propaganda wing of the environmental movement:
Climate activists have begun directing millions in funding into training programs for environmental journalists, with the goal of encouraging what’s known as “advocacy journalism.” This type of reporting is “pretty much dead in Europe,” says Markus Lehmkuhl, a media expert at Berlin’s Free University. British science journalist Alexander Kirby warns that journalists who remain neutral on the issue could endanger the cause of climate protection, but many of his colleagues refuse to take sides.
In the case of this particular story, Bojanowski seems particularly eager to be a propagandist. For example, I find it very revealing how he describes the horrific 10:10 environmental video, where young children were blown to bloody shreds for refusing to join an environmental campaign.
One commercial in a campaign by the British-based environmental organization 10:10 showed a teacher blowing up two students who were skeptical about cutting their carbon emissions, with fountains of blood spraying the others in the class. Other 10:10 videos have the same fate befalling recalcitrant office workers and footballers. But the campaign proved a dud — it sparked massive protests and was quickly withdrawn.
It is very clear Bojanowski never saw the 10:10 video, as everything he describes took place in one commercial, not several as he implies. To understand how badly he describes this “public service” ad, it is worth watching it again:
All in all, I’m not sure what disgusts me most: the desire of environmentalists to propagandize us, irrelevant of the facts, or the unwillingness of a professional journalist to do his job and ask some basic skeptical questions. Either way, the inability of these ideologues to deal with facts and openly debate the issues face-to-face provides us a clear signal of the coming collapse of their movement.
cross-posted at behindtheblack.com
Pass me the button!!!
The interesting fact derived from that graph is.. Europe…..predominately left wing governments, predominantly European Union (Fabian) and from a UK perspective “Common Purpose”.
And in most cases they are European Union countries that have strict firearm controls. (however, the silly sods in charge, don’t realise that a lot of us have buried our survival rifles)
Wow, is this article really by Bob Dylan?
The last gasps of a cult… its embarrassing to watch.
We have a saying in the law:
If you don’t have the law, you argue the facts; if you don’t have the facts, you argue the law; if you have neither the facts nor the law, then you argue the Constitution.
As I was looking the quote up, (and I am not making this up) I saw that ALGORE has paraphrased it to:
When you have the facts on your side, argue the facts. When you have the law on your side, argue the law. When you have neither, holler.
I suspect we could now change the last line to, When you have neither and the hollering isn’t working, appeal to the emotions of the listener.
Why is ‘sex’ only second on the list?
GK Chesterton, the British writer, looked at the science/social movement of his day and deconstructed it rather wel.
We can read what he wrote today in “Eugenics and Other Evils”
http://www.amazon.com/Eugenics-Other-Evils-G-Chesterton/dp/1587420066
It is literally possible to substitute ‘AGW’ for ‘eugenics’ in nearly everyplace the word is used in the book and it will make the same points about climate science he did about the perversion of biology called ‘eugenics’.
And the movement was huge- the leading governments, intellectuals, foundations, progressive groups, etc. whose successors now support AGW supported eugnics.
Just looking at this graph from the perspective of a stock chart analyst, it is much too soon to declare this trend as ended. It looks much more like a consolidation in a strong bull market.
If that is so, expect to see the coverage reach new highs during the next hot spell, perhaps in the summer of 2013, after the next US Presidential Election, when the re elected President Obama moves to mark his place in history.
Even if the world were to warm significantly due to AGW, there would be more naked bodies, which I see as a good thing.
I can, if not excuse, at least understand the behavior of the environmentalist. They do not try to pretend that they are out to convert everyone to their mindset – they do not care if it is right or wrong – only that they believe it.
But Journalists? They cannot claim the same fanaticism. Their JOB is to report the truth – regardless of the ugliness of it. Yet they continue to shirk their job in order to promote their hobbies. That is shameful, incompetent, wreckless and irresponsible.
They should be tried for malfeasance and sentenced to civil penalties to correct their malfeasance. perhaps if fining idiots for incompetence became more wide spread – the idiots would keep their stupidity to themselves.
p.s. I do not advocate any government action against journalist as that would be just making a bad situation worse. However lawyers (especially ambulance chasers) love to sue for malpractice – perhaps it is time to apply that principal to journalists as well.
Sexing up a campaign of global warming in January in the northern hemisphere –doesn’t it give you goose bumps?
noticed that GW coverage got an up-tic because of all the snow.
Robert, you don’t say if it all all good coverage….
The scam has always been run by public relations firms like Fenton Communications. Fenton of course has strong connections with Maurice Strong. The left wing Strong is apparently in hiding because he was meant to front an inquiry over the food for arms UN scandal. To give Strong credit, he has always been an advocate of global governance and as the UN admitted before Cancun, AGW has been always about transferring wealth from richer countries. They say it is to the poorer countries but how many UN programs end up in offshore accounts?
Still, AGW has probably unintentionally advanced the consciousness of science and the understanding of climate and computer forecasting science.
Believe me, I’d like nothing better than “Warmers” to be the next butt of jokes….
But let’s be realistic. What would the chart of newspaper articles look like on the subject of “Gravity” or “Evolution” or “Atomic Energy”. When the number of newspaper articles declines it is not a sign that the subject has fallen into disrepute. It can also be not news because it is “accepted science.”
More fear and more drama backfires. The disaster is not the weather as much as the hoax.
On the good side, here’s an excellent anti-warmist satire from a lady impersonating Camilla……..
http://www.youtube.com/user/jactress#p/u/36/VY08ZZS-Tzs
She has some other parodies of Charles the Halfwit supporting rain forest preservation and so forth. All good stuff.
Seems like a pathetic version of Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash.
Why do I feel so angry when I read this kind of stuff? Doesn’t anybody else feel like getting hold of some of these trolls and lynching them? I know we have to keep to rules of engagement and decorum and all that – but sometimes the BS really gets my blood boiling – I dunno how folk can stay so cool in the face of such complete and utter crass stupidity.
The climate alarmists could use more sex by repackaging the whole CC movement under “Global Porning”
It should be noted that the EU itself is pumping millions of “research money” (money allocated under their 7th European Research Five year plan; oops, framework) into institutes founded with the express purpose of educating journalists, the public and whoever else they can find. Example for such an institute:
http://www.climate-service-center.de/
(Hamburg; Germany, founded 2009)
English version:
http://www.climate-service-center.de/index.html.en
These people don’t seem to do science but concentrate on AGW and Biodiversity scaremongering, like in this German interview with their boss (10th Dec; slightly before Cancun)
http://www.geo.de/GEO/natur/oekologie/66514.html
Very much like what H.L. Mencken described. These are pure propaganda institutions.
“They’re searching for so-called “mind bombs” — highly emotional images that reduce a complex problem down to one core message.”
That’s been their problem from the beginning. Overstating, exaggerating, embellishing, instead of sticking to the facts and truth. When their big bad wolf fairy tales didn’t come true people started to see them for what they are.
Have you ever thought about the possibility that this kind of spin, the emotional and symbolic staging of anthropogenic climatechange are only necessary because there are so many people (especially in the US) falling for the lies of climate-change deniers? With a rational discourse and full enlightenment of the public, these kind of PR-techniques would’t be required at all. The public would instead see the scientific consens and act on it.
My Mom would have said to me,”Son the crazy and stupid people in the world always show themselves for what they are. When you know who they are, avoid them at all costs.”
I don’t care if it was one commercial or several. It was so horrifying that it would be easy to mistake it for more than one commercial. I don’t want to see that horrifying commercial a second time and if I had to remember it, it would be easy to forget that all that horror was in one ad.
Finally! Talk of a ‘new messiah’ to replace an old greedy ‘gore’!
We shouldn’t be surprised that these goons pull such psycho-strings (I was even hesitant to take the ‘bait’ by checking out this article JUST by the ‘title’ of it on my email list…but, ’cause it’s Anthony…I knew it would be interesting.) The ‘goons’ are in fact, just activists, hired by more activists that are paid $$$ and ‘air time’ to spew their propaganda and THEY are manipulated by even higher-up-the-food-chains (such as the late Jacques C. , you know… I’d’ve turned OFF my folk’s T.V. set even at the tender age of 10 years old, had I known what this propagation of garbage was to produce in all of us!)
Do you guys remember……. (now I even can’t!) You know…….that Jim guy? The kid who was constantly thrown outta the old white haired guy’s boat when they cruised us up the Amazon for the first time??? Shows like that SOLD us on ‘eco-stuff’… I even did ‘Outward Bound’ and subjected myself to (radical lesbos that hated their Sex) and all that…..JUST to spend 3 days ‘alone’ on the top of a mountain on ‘Solo’…
To THINK that we are now being harangued and harassed by the prodigy of these countless ‘Jims’ is mind blowing, indeed.
I’m just glad though, that it’s now showing that it’s ‘run its course’ as we mature… BUT, JUST REMEMBER TO STAY VIGILANT, okay…? ‘Cause OUR kids are being fed this crap and watching the gross (as compared to what it USED TO BE) DISCOVERY INDOCTRINATION CHANNEL where our sons & daughters learn to be ‘master chefs’ with stuff that scurries under rocks, etc…
I think it’ll all boil down to just remembering to be NO ONES ‘useful idiot’. We
are to pause and THINK before ‘reacting’ or we become like the ‘Cravens’ of the world. (Sad to say…that potential lays within EACH OF US.)
C.L. Thorpe
Sex?
Maybe Pachauri can write a new sleazy novel about some old warmist meeting young green girl?
What is it with the South Americans and Africans lack of interest in climate change? Perhaps something was lost in translation, such as credibility, or maybe their BS detectors are more up to speed.
Alternatively it “can also be not news because it is” because people are suffering from fear fatigue and the press knows this. It could also be down to the rather nippy winters the NH has been having lately. It could be because of growing scepticism among the public.
Mind bomb = New Age version of the Big Lie.
“Send money or the polar bear gets it!”
re: ” This type of reporting is “pretty much dead in Europe,” says Markus Lehmkuhl, a media expert at Berlin’s Free University.”
Uh… this speaks volumes. Does this “media expert” not read der Spiegel, or La Monde, or the Guardian? Does he not listen to BBC or other nationalized radio/tv outlets? We have been getting NOTHING BUT global warming advocacy from the EU media for decades. Ditto for other hot-button topics, but the AGW advocacy thing is particularly egregious in the European media.
We have the best instant sound-bites for changing opinions rapidly in a shallow minded public. The graph posted a few weeks ago showing reported annual temperatures versus number of stations needs very little added explanation to blow AGW “to hell.”
And we need to do that because Obama and so many others are still wrecking economies and starving the world’s poor in service of their lies. CO2 still grows plants = food to eat, and still benefits growing bird embryos according to the three whole studies I have seen on non-burrowing terrestrial vertebrates in different CO2 levels.
As near as I can tell with severely inadequate data, more CO2 increases human longevity (at relevant levels). Its your life people. Make the truth known.
It can also be not news because it is “accepted science.”
Those newspaper articles are not about science. They are about politics. Specifically how to enforce Kyoto and its successors.
The fall off is therefore extremely serious for the co2-AGW believers, as it shows that it is losing political traction.
The number of scientific articles continues as before, precisely because the science is massively in dispute.
Der Spiegel takes a long time to get these things out beyond German borders it seems. Much of this is old news already.
http://notrickszone.com/2010/12/10/i-have-a-nightmare-activists-search-for-a-climate-martin-luther-king/
“ the desire of environmentalists to propagandize us, irrelevant of the facts, or the unwillingness of a professional journalist to do his job and ask some basic skeptical questions.”
It’s NOT about facts. It’s about the:
Money, money, money
Must be funny
In the rich man’s world
Why isolate the “blame” on environmentalists and professional(?) journalist? What about all the other money grubbing people that just want more and more and more:
Money, money, money
Always sunny
In the rich man’s world
The “so-called” scientists, the politicians, the global big business people, the attorneys, etc. It’s all about:
All the things I could do
If I had a little money
It’s a rich man’s world.
They figured it out a long time ago and “use” the poor saps that are eviro nuts and mindless news people in protecting their turf – income. Does anybody here actually think any of these people stop for even a micro second to consider the “facts” or unintended consequences or what if any “good” they are actually doing – if doing so meant the end of their funding?
Cut off their source of money and watch what happens…. suddenly, magically, there will be no global warming problem.
I saw a Global Warming class being advertized and decided to take part. I was encouraged by the fact that the write up described how a vigorous debate was going on and that the presentation wanted to talk about the science. After the presentation there was going to be a chance to have a vigorous conversation and hash over the information presented.
I suspected that it was likely the science presented would probably not be what I’d describe as classical science and guessed the overall slant would be contrary to my views. But what the Hey ? If you can’t process information and use it to argue your point of view in a polite informed manner then what’s the point in having a point ?
And you never know I might learn something new and meet some interesting people. So I gave it a whirl.
The upshot ? Course cancelled due to lack of interest. Conclusion ? Stick a fork in ’em, they’re done.
I would have liked the chance to make my point though…… maybe next time ?
etudiant says:
January 4, 2011 at 1:29 pm
I’d love to know what you’re buying in the market – it sounds like a dead sure short to me!
Love your chart savvy. /sarc
“— and to keep from doing the climate protection movement any further damage.” “
Interesting that they are blaming the scientists for damaging the movement. Obviously nothing to do with loss of credibility…
And finally, a new kind of journalism, where journalists become a sort of propaganda wing of the environmental movement:
In Australia this is already a done deal. Note the high representation of Oceania in the top graph and then think about the actual population levels…
“Climate activists have begun directing millions in funding into training programs for environmental journalists, with the goal of encouraging what’s known as “advocacy journalism.” “
They get millions – where’s my big oil cheque???
I agree with Stephen Racey
Lack of coverage does not imply issue is dead. It just means it is not controversial.
In Australia and worldwide, climate change pseudo-mitigations are being legislated, regulated and subsidised without coverage – it is just being done as a fact of life now.
Climate Change now permeates our governments, law and business like a disseminated cancer – there are hundred of references to Climate change in law – planning and environmental, whole schools in universities are virtually taken over by it, businesses routinely incorporate carbon reduction – e.g. Qantas just announced a big biofuel project and on and on.
Our Australian has only one tame scientist and “The Committee is starting from the position that a carbon price is a necessary economic reform…”. See Jo Nova’s thoughts on . No one cares any more what the science says – the caravan has moved on towards the green utopia on the horison.
What we need to do is communicate to the public that: Climate fear mongering is a new form of organised white collar crime robbing the entire society. Apart from the fraudulent scientific basis and ‘unfit for purpose’ mitigations in the whole industry, there are numerous examples of outright criminal activity in carbon trading in Europe costing billions, accreditation frauds, carbon credit frauds in forestry etc.
The general public don’t care about science integrity, truth or principles or even waste of tax money! They care about their personal welfare. We need to convince them of the fact that they are being robbed blind every day by the climate scam:
“Climate Scam policies are robbing YOU every day”
“Climate Scam industry is robbing YOU every day”
“How much did the Climate Scam rob YOU today?”
“What do “mind bombs” have to do with facts, data, and proving your theories are correct in the real world?”
It’s not about facts. It’s about emotions and feelings and the ends justifying the means. The environmental movement has wanted to limit population, limit energy use, limit land use, and send us all back to the stone age for a long time. Climate change is just the latest means to achieve those ends. They don’t care if Global Warming is a fact, just that it is a useful tool to get what they want.
It would be an environmentalist dream to have a button that would not only reduce the population but get rid of their detractors at the same time. That’s why these little eco-fascists were taken by surprise to discover that normal people were offended by seeing their ultimate fantasy taking shape in video form. I say let them continue to produce highly emotional images (mind bombs) to convince the public of their position. It might serve to wake people up to how far these control freaks will really go to get what they want.
The alarmists keep engaging and fooling the public by reporting that prolonged droughts are due to man-made warming, prolonged rains and winter are also due to man-made warming.
There’s a nefarious side of me that suggests if promoting AGW might get this declining, single, middle-aged man at least a modicum of sex, as the above post suggests to employ as a vehicle to promote AGW hysteria, then I just might do it. But then, dastardly conscience gets in the way. Instead, I have made it a mission in my life to attempt to brighten the lives of others. The other day I had a delightful young waitress. I discovered she had a daughter & I asked her if her daughter was as pretty as her mother was. This wonderful mom said, “Prettier”. When I left I told her that she had brightened my day. She didn’t thank me but instead said, “You have brightened mine.” Why does taxpayer money have to go to people who wish to darken our days? Who employ fear rather then persuasion? People who denigrate the wondrous creation (OF NATURE) of a sentient living organism upon this planet? Ultimately they must be fought with logic.
All in all, I’m not sure what disgusts me most: the desire of environmentalists to propagandize us, irrelevant of the facts, or the unwillingness of a professional journalist to do his job and ask some basic skeptical questions. Either way, the inability of these ideologues to deal with facts and openly debate the issues face-to-face provides us a clear signal of the coming collapse of their movement.
I read this as reflecting a deeper cultural issue; as a society “western civilization” has come to a point of diminished capability for critical and integrative thinking. This is reversible, and I am not positing some previous golden age of “rationality”. But we are sloppy and as a culture we need to vigourously lift our game. Sites such as this one is part of the process of fostering critical and integrative thinking.
In Oz we have a radio program entitled “The Science Show”. A recent embarrassment was an interview concerning a recent paper about the imminent demise of penguins in Antarctica. I guess that since the polar bear campaign was successful, then penguins are seen as a good emotive target too.
Could this possibly be “the worst paper ever written”?
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/scienceshow/stories/2010/3065125.htm
Click on “Show Transcript” & “View Comments”
NoAstronomer says:
January 4, 2011 at 1:18 pm
Why is ‘sex’ only second on the list?
Their primary purpose is the acquisition and maintenance of power over other humans…
Frankly – I think that trying to use sex as a manipulation technique is poor strategy. It’s simply too easy to get to hold much real value.
“Scientists should avoid using words such as “risk” and “uncertainty” in interviews…”
To be replaced by “doubleminus bad”?
This is despite every single news item on TV having a backdrop of floods, calving icebergs, deserts, etc?
Yup. Could not agree more.
Could that be because the ‘problems’ are so hard to prove?
This does not gel with the “Critical debate” idea before, however!
Regarding the Climategate report it links to, there are a couple of interesting quotes:
Now this ‘memo’ appears to have been reported by ABC, but I cannot find it. It is very widely copied, with two or three exact phrasings, all over the net. It appears to be the root of the ‘Big Oil’ conspiracy theory as far as I can see.
I would be very interested in finding out what the “…” (dropped in some reports) is hiding, however. It seems as though it could be important.
This has also been very widely reported in the exact same form, but I cannot find the original.
Myron Mesecke says:
January 4, 2011 at 1:58 pm
“They’re searching for so-called “mind bombs” — highly emotional images that reduce a complex problem down to one core message.”
That’s been their problem from the beginning. Overstating, exaggerating, embellishing, instead of sticking to the facts and truth. When their big bad wolf fairy tales didn’t come true people started to see them for what they are.
I agree with Myron – this is simply perpetuating bad strategy. They are on the wrong side of the physical facts and that does not bode well for the longevity of their movement. Reality bites.
Anoneumouse says:
The interesting fact derived from that graph is.. Europe…..predominately left wing governments, predominantly European Union (Fabian) and from a UK perspective “Common Purpose”.
——————-
To be pedantic:
Europe has a population more than twice that of the US so, especially given the numerous different countries and languages, it’s not surprising if there are more newspaper articles in Europe on pretty much any subject of global interest than in the US.
To paint CAGW issue as purely a left wing issue is simplistic at best. For example in the UK all the parties with a prayer of gaining any sort of power are completely warmist, including the Conservatives. Only 3 MPs out of a total of more than 600 voted against economically suicidal legislation on AGW. There was virtually no debate.
As they say, “But it’s not over ’til it’s over”. Keep kicking the crap out of the [snip] beast.
BTW, any chance of fixing one of the “Annotations added” viz. “Inonvenient….”?
Hey, Kev-in-UK
I totally agree that our ‘blood gets boiling’ over these issues and we’ve gotta see the
‘laugh’ in it to stay sane… It’s like when I get in the ute to go off to the beach to just unwind a bit…let my hair down, as it were… and, I involuntarily hit the radio button and hear the IDIOTIC ‘ABC’ streaming ‘warmist B.S.’ into coastal ears that I do a reflexive
‘gag’ and then opt for my CD and another ‘California Girls’ rant by the Beach Boys…
Stay sane, my Friend. Me thinks we’re all gonna need each other in 2011… and speaking of that…High 5’s to both MamaPajamas and that LadyLifeGrows…in addition to Mark Twang’s usual adroit use of language skills. YOU INSPIRE ME, Guys.
Cynthia Lauren Thorpe
Love the ‘dead cat bounce analogy’ …. You can hide a lot of stuff, but even the average folks understand when their asses are covered with ice and snow, they are freezing in the dark, there is something seriously wrong with the global warming hoax.
err haven’t you heard, it’s climate change. Yeah I bet that helped the cause, change the words, the first sign the ship is sunk, just waiting for impact with the bottom.
And then it moves to what it really is, a wealth redistribution scam, as Lord Monckton so clearly pointed out.
“Wow, is this article really by Bob Dylan?”
Drat, beat me too it!
jmac.
I don’t know about sexing it up, but I prefer not to be screwed by the likes of Al Gore.
I prefer sex bombs over mind bombs, just in case Mr. Bojangles is listening. What GreenPeas needs is a co-op agreement with Playboy. “I had to take my clothes off because it’s too warm on this planet,” she said. Etc. They’d catch more flies with honey than exploding children…
Pete says:
January 4, 2011 at 1:58 pm
Have you ever thought about the possibility that this kind of spin, the emotional and symbolic staging of anthropogenic climatechange are only necessary because there are so many people (especially in the US) falling for the lies of climate-change deniers? With a rational discourse and full enlightenment of the public, these kind of PR-techniques would’t be required at all. The public would instead see the scientific consens and act on it.
Pete- I thought of this four years ago and since then have learned that the “consens” is an illusion, that the “science” of the warmists (of whom I was once one) is mostly balderdash, and that within less than two years almost everyone on the planet will probably realize that we are entering a prolonged period of global cooling brought on by natural dynamics which totally overpower whatever contribution to the recent warming may have been contributed by the deadly magical Co2 molecule.
Capisce?
Best regards,
Psi
The media propaganda campaign won’t stop.
Sir Crispin Tickell is on the Thomson-Reuters board of directors.
http://www.trust.org/learn-more-about-us/trustees/
Here’s more on him:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jamesdelingpole/100069775/the-man-who-invented-global-warming/
“The search for a new Messiah to replace Al Gore.”
That would certainly be helpful to their cause ;o)
Yeah I was thinking I recognised the very same article being discussed earlier at notrickszone. Well sexing this up would be great, imagine a scientist explaining AGW with a coouple of scanty dressed hooter girls handing out his err “peer-reviewed journal”. Yeahhh thatll make the average layman pucker up. But I do understand that in reality the only thing that will be getting the newsex appeal is more baseless data.
I suppose the most unappealing part of the article was the orwellian similarity of dumbing down language in order to save face simply because it could harm your cause. Shocking really for anyone to say or even suggest it particularly to an academic community.
Now…HERE’S where ‘skeptics’ can get rid of any recent ‘climate chills’/ills!
…Jus’ reading ‘Truths’ like the one PSI just brought forth…
and I’m ‘warmer’ already.
Making zucchini bread in a farm kitchen an’ enjoyin’ a cool & breezy Southeast day…
C.L. Thorpe
So, Pete: “How are your carbon offset stocks doing?”
Real reality check.
Wayne
“Pete says:
January 4, 2011 at 1:58 pm
Have you ever thought about the possibility that this kind of spin, the emotional and symbolic staging of anthropogenic climatechange are only necessary because there are so many people (especially in the US) falling for the lies of climate-change deniers? With a rational discourse and full enlightenment of the public, these kind of PR-techniques would’t be required at all. The public would instead see the scientific consensUS and act on it.”
The ABC is still in denial about climate change. Last year was the wettest on record in Australia, so David Jones from the National Climate Centre blamed La Nina and of course global warming.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/01/05/3106683.htm
But it’s comforting to know that Oz is getting cooler and the trend goes back eight years. Eventually the penny will drop, along with the temperatures.
“Climate activists have begun directing millions in funding into training programs for environmental journalists“.
It’s not just the activists. Before COP15 the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spent ~ $170.000 to teach third world journalists about climate change journalism.
Well, maybe it’s the activists.
“All in all, I’m not sure what disgusts me most: the desire of environmentalists to propagandize us, irrelevant of the facts, or the unwillingness of a professional journalist to do his job and ask some basic skeptical questions. Either way, the inability of these ideologues to deal with facts and openly debate the issues face-to-face provides us a clear signal of the coming collapse of their movement.”
I can never remember if the correct term for something like this is “irony” or not.
On using Sex
“Is that a hockeystick in your pocket or are you just happy to see me.”
Cynthia Lauren Thorpe says:
January 4, 2011 at 1:59 pm
Finally! Talk of a ‘new messiah’ to replace an old greedy ‘gore’!
I think it’ll all boil down to just remembering to be NO ONES ‘useful idiot’. We
are to pause and THINK before ‘reacting’ or we become like the ‘Cravens’ of the world. (Sad to say…that potential lays within EACH OF US.)
Very well put! I think this one makes “Comment of the day status”!
“Climate change is sexy”
Hahaha you know they’re desperate when they resort to this rubbish, if anything most people will just ogle at the picture(s) and won’t take in any ‘message’ anyway.
Good luck to them. The more desperate and shrill the propaganda, the more people will see through it and be turned off.
Cynthia Lauren Thorpe says:
January 4, 2011 at 1:59 pm
I’m just glad though, that it’s now showing that it’s ‘run its course’ as we mature… BUT, JUST REMEMBER TO STAY VIGILANT, okay…? ‘Cause OUR kids are being fed this crap and watching the gross (as compared to what it USED TO BE) DISCOVERY INDOCTRINATION CHANNEL where our sons & daughters learn to be ‘master chefs’ with stuff that scurries under rocks, etc…
——–
Glad to say that my kids don’t get this kind of exposure for the simple reason that about 10 years ago we graduated from rabbit ears to an outdoor tower antenna! I don’t believe in supporting the cable or satellite companies i.e. pay to watch commercials on commercial television – plus, TV is an enormous waste of time. We still get about 25 channels here in Toronto, and so were able to follow Lost and Frasier and Seinfeld and a few other shows over the years.
But we don’t get the specialty channels. I know what you mean about indoctrination. But the ‘nature at the mercy of human exploitation’ meme – with every species ever spotlighted on PBS nature shows turning out to be on the verge of extinction – just turned me off that kind of show altogether. A shame, as I loved nature programs as a child.
I saw a gentleman described as a expert in “the evolution of the human body” on TV last night. (To save embarasement, I will not mention his name or institution).
He was describing how the average human brain had actually reduced in size over the last twenty thousand years.
The (pretend) interviewer asked the obvious question – why did that happen?
The expert replied – increased use of computers, iPads etc mean that now days we need to carry much less information around in our heads.
So smaller brains are all that we need today.
The (pretend) interviewer was obviously impressed with this quite impressive example of scientific analysis. He just smiled and nodded encouragingly.
And I thought that only climated scientists were perhaps not from the very toppest of the top draw of intillectual giants.
Silly me.
but I do now see the significance of smaller brains.
This probably isn’t ‘the place’ to share that my husband ‘oft’ times’ doesn’t really
understand me…….
I get outta bed to make him ‘brekkie’… run around outside looking after the sheep…
come back in to play with my Auggie Doggie while making ‘dinner’… and RUN like
HELL to my computer to find out what new piece of ‘wit’ one of you has placed on
this web site.
I laugh…..mumble stuff about hockey sticks in guy’s pockets…fume at the ABC…
and sputter while reading more and more posts… But, perhaps…it’s these NEW
CLIMATEGATE/AGW coffee mugs that Ian’s perplexed with… I mean, he’s a ‘farmer’
and all….. and those of us in the U.S.A. know how we tend to make fun of ‘farmers’, right…?
Only…THIS time, we’re ‘spot on’ WRONG, guys. Farmers ARE WILDLY INTELLIGENT! I fill Ian’s ‘Anthony Mug’ with black coffee and I’m beginning to explain about the guy ‘grilling’ the data… and Ian says: “Oh! LOOK! It’s a ‘Stevens’ Machine! (AND I’M GOIN’ ‘WHAT’??? IT’S A WHAT???) Oh Yeah. My Aussie Sweetheart says… They use these things to monitor temperatures…
It’s at these ‘times of honesty’ that I learn to pause and smile. Humility is indeed a crucial – an integral component of the ‘character building process’. Now…where’s that mug’o mine…?
Ian Thorpe’s Wife
(he’s ‘the Original’ Ian Thorpe, though… having normal-sized feet and only sometimes swimming in our cattle troughs when it’s REALLY hot, mind you…)
skeptically warm ‘hockey stick’ smiles to you all and…Oophs!…Here we go… the cattle are callin’ once again…
Fundamentally, the problem is that the climate is not dramatically changing. And you can see it just from casual observation.
Hey, what’s wrong with option 2, sex. Free sex for everyone who BELIEVES!
Hey, babes are sexy; climate change just is, well, not.
I can’t imagine anyone telling Einstein that he should avoid certain words that might do damage to the reputation of E=MC2 the only thing that can do damage to scientific theories is if they are factually incorrect.
hunter says:
January 4, 2011 at 1:27 pm
GK Chesterton, the British writer, looked at the science/social movement of his day and deconstructed it rather wel.
We can read what he wrote today in “Eugenics and Other Evils”
http://www.amazon.com/Eugenics-Other-Evils-G-Chesterton/dp/1587420066
It is literally possible to substitute ‘AGW’ for ‘eugenics’ in nearly everyplace the word is used in the book and it will make the same points about climate science he did about the perversion of biology called ‘eugenics’.
And the movement was huge- the leading governments, intellectuals, foundations, progressive groups, etc. whose successors now support AGW supported eugnics.
A very apt analogy! If you look at the history of Arhenius, the patron saint of the greenhouse effect, you will find that in his later years he was a leading exponent of eugenics with a clear six degrees of Kevin Bacon linkage to those folks who gave the theory its most evil application. It is doubly ironic, because the crowd which is so eager to trumpet his work is willing to dismiss out of hand the work of responsible present day researchers because they have pointed out the squalid nature of the science of ETS or other irrelevant peccadilloes.
K
I’ve GOTTA get offa this computer…
1. Vigilantfish. So true. Me, too! I loved ‘Wild Kingdom’ with Marlin Perkins (See? I’ve had my coffee in my NEW WUWT mug, so I can remember his name!) Ian and I laugh and laugh about Marlin (sp?) who kept throwin’ ‘Jim’ – go in there, Jim! ‘Go get’em’ Jim! that he’d always say as ‘Jim’ jumped/was thrown offa the boat and into some swamp they were ‘trolling’ on… I loved those films. Lived for ’em ’cause Cleveland, Ohio didn’t have much else goin’ for it in the mid-60’s…
2. AusieDan… mebbe my remembering ‘Marlin Perkins name’ was due to my brain shrinkage…??? Mebbe…the smaller it is…the ‘less’ I’ll have to go looking for things I’ve forgotten in those squiggly nooks an’ crannies??? Ohhh… Now I’m thinking of that googley eyed guy in Young Frankenstein… I gotta ‘get a grip’ so, let’s just end this so I’ll KEEP my job as a farmer’s wife….and say SOMETHING about Science, shall we?
I LOVE ALBERT EINSTEIN. (safe, ’cause he’s gone now) He was HUMBLE and he was self-effacing when in public (TAKE THE CUE, you WARMISTS!) and he did MOST of his ‘Best Work’ while he slept. Dreams ARE important. And, that man, gosh, we need MORE OF THOSE MEN AROUND HERE.
She’s sounding a challenge, Gentlemen (and ‘women’!) Let’s set the bar and FOR ONCE THIS soon to be WACKY YEAR… GO ‘UP’ FOR A CHANGE… RAISE THE BAR ‘UP’ ‘UP’ ‘UP’!
I’m talkin’ to ‘nose-bleed status’ of what SHOULD BE regular humans with (okay, SMALL) brains!!! ‘Cause GOSH, we only USE HOW MUCH??? WHAT;S THAT PERCENTAGE??? .07??? or some odd s**t like that…
Let’s learn how to RAISE THE BAR rather than continue to operate as they/these/those indoctrinated folks do by descending into pig slop. HAVE WE NO PRIDE/PRICE(?) GENTLEMEN??? I ask you. I BEG YOU. Please wherever you are in this wild wonderful globe. Let’s all ‘become Jim’ and let’s get outta the BOATS and show others how to do this stuff called LIFE.
Where’s Monckton when ya need ’em…??? Hope he found some bananas for that hotel…
Inquiringly, and soon to be ‘swimmingly’…
C.L. Thorpe
“…The search for a new Messiah to replace Al Gore…”
Behold, the Messiah of Climate Opportunism:
http://www.energytribune.com/live_images/ET021609_main.jpg
Messiah Complex: A mental condition wherein person believes himself to be the saviour of a group, a time period, or in an extreme case, the world.
No, it’s a younger Robert Zimmerman, who runs an interesting science website called Beyond the Black,
http://behindtheblack.com/
and turns up fairly regularly (usually between 11:30 PM and midnight Eastern Time) on John Bachelor’s most excellent radio program (available online from WABC radio in NYC, and from other stations around the nation), where he and John frequently discuss the latest revelations from WUWT. Yes, climate realism is on the radio!
/Mr Lynn
Looks like a time for some pre-emption. I think the deniers need to come up with our own mind bombs for the general public. I am sure the talented leaders here could come up with some great ones. Have a whole page dedicated to them.
Um excuse me, but where are the naked hippie chicks?
Pete says:
January 4, 2011 at 1:58 pm
Have you ever thought about the possibility that this kind of spin, the emotional and symbolic staging of anthropogenic climate change are only necessary because there are so many people (especially in the US) falling for the lies of climate-change deniers?
Pete, We keep hearing this term “climate-change deniers”. But who or what is a climate-change denier? I don’t think there are many (if any) on this forum who deny that the climate is changing, so what is your definition of a climate-change denier?
Chill, JKS. shhh…an’ try to ‘Chill Out’ and put your fantasy on ‘pause’ a moment, kiddo.
Those ‘naked hippie chicks’ have been ‘laundered’ and are either dead from O.D.-ing or are in the U.S. Govt. now or are heading up NGOs – and are ‘now’ sportin’ nifty navy blue suits, with their ‘fairly butch’ lookin’ hair cuts. They’re also ALL in their late 60’s to mid-70’s (temp.-wise, too) and there’s not enough Boxtox GLOBALLY to get them lookin’ anywhere like ‘fine’ ever again. Sorry to burst your ‘Bubble’…but, burst – they must. And, even THAT’S been happenin’ on a global scale a heck of a lot lately, Right? Now…their granddaughters…? Nope. Prayerfully, they’re smarter than their neolithic neanderthal nannas…
But, ‘kudos’ for darin’ to dream – anyway
For over 50 years I have been a denier of anthropogenic global cooling.
For over 30 years I have been a denier of anthropogenic global warming.
In all that time I have never been a denier of climate change as I have been paying attention to the weather / climate change from year to year for well over 60 years.
The only reason the deniers of anthropogenic climate change are winning is the Ecos are losing the argument on the science. Good Science (GS) wins over (BS) Bad Science.
The only sure thing is climate changes. pg
ANH says:
January 4, 2011 at 1:16 pm
Wow, is this article really by Bob Dylan?
The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind
but
When Quinn the esquimeaux gets here,
Everybody will jump for joy
NoAstronomer says:
“Why is ‘sex’ only second on the list?”
You ask that of a group who have can’t keep it up and try to “hide the decline”?
Mike D. says:
“I prefer sex bombs over mind bombs, just in case Mr. Bojangles is listening. What GreenPeas needs is a co-op agreement with Playboy. “I had to take my clothes off because it’s too warm on this planet,” she said. Etc. They’d catch more flies with honey than exploding children…”
Now that really is global warmist logic!
She takes her clothes off because it is warm … therefore every red blooded male is eager for more warming so that more women are compelled to take off their clothes!
How does that sell the anti-warming rubbish?
You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.
They lie! It isn’t “a massive drop in public INTEREST”; it is a massive drop in public AGREEMENT!
John Q. Public no longer believes in their ruse of “global warming” or “climate change disruption” or whatever they want to call it. They’re toast, and they HATE it!
So just as they distorted the truth about the CO2-Climate connection, they are now distorting how the public views their dastardly scheeming to bend public attention back to their objective through the worst propaganda campaign I can remember since before the USSR crumbled.
An emotional appeal […]
Scientists should avoid using words such as “risk” and “uncertainty” in interviews
And finally, a new kind of journalism, where journalists become a sort of propaganda wing of the environmental movement
I’m really struggling here to see what exactly has changed.
Apart from the search for a “new Messiah” and “sexing up” CO2 it all sounds pretty much like business as usual. Strange given how well business as usual has worked out for them.
It seems that the University of East Anglia is ahead of the game on this one
http://www.flickr.com/photos/andyrkett/5226324393/
… climate protection movement
That’s new. Even sounds sexy. A bit.
Der Spiegal is a garbage magazine with garbage reporters. Germans who read it are obviously of low intelligence. Perhaps they are products of the German public education system.
PETA already tried a “sex it up” campaign. It was an overwhelming success. At least half of the respondents agreed those hot young models and actresses looked better naked than covered up by thick furs.
Sadly for the (C)AGW crowd, their “centerfolds” are the likes of James Hansen and Michael Mann. Ouch.
RE: Climate activists have begun directing millions in funding into training programs for environmental journalists, with the goal of encouraging what’s known as “advocacy journalism.”
This by far is the most troubling trend, when a reporter becomes an advocate to a cause, they are no longer a “reporter”, but a minister of propaganda to the cause. Sadly, more and more “reporters” are moving in that direction.
JKS says:
January 4, 2011 at 10:03 pm
absolutely! where are they?, with their free love whilst hugging a tree and all that, jeez man!
Mind you, I am sure my other half would be less inclined to let me do my ‘thang’ online wrt this blog if she thought I might possibly be enjoying it or being distracted!
and
Richard says:
January 5, 2011 at 12:00 am
Blimey mate – when Quinn the Eskimo gets here I’ll KNOW it’s time to move south! LOL!
I didn’t see this answered yet (sorry if I missed it)…
Cynthia Lauren Thorpe says:
January 4, 2011 at 1:59 pm
…Do you guys remember……. (now I even can’t!) You know…….that Jim guy? The kid who was constantly thrown outta the old white haired guy’s boat when they cruised us up the Amazon for the first time?…
For the record, I think that was Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. (Marlin? Perkins was the white-haired guy if I remember correctly)
‘Sean says:
January 4, 2011 at 1:35 pm
Sexing up a campaign of global warming in January in the northern hemisphere –doesn’t it give you goose bumps?’
Already had goosebumps.
I’m cold, and fed up of it…
sandyinderby says:
January 5, 2011 at 5:34 am
It seems that the University of East Anglia is ahead of the game on this one
http://www.flickr.com/photos/andyrkett/5226324393/
According to the link, UEA have a ‘pole dancing society’ – I always knew it was great university.
JKS says:
January 4, 2011 at 10:03 pm
Um excuse me, but where are the naked hippie chicks?
Saw 4 naked UEA girls somewhere, but you’ll have to google it, I can’t find the link.
Ah, the thrill of the chase…
Cynthia Lauren, ‘Those ‘naked hippie chicks’ have been ‘laundered’ and are either dead from O.D.-ing or are in the U.S. Govt. now or are heading up NGOs – and are ‘now’ sportin’ nifty navy blue suits, with their ‘fairly butch’ lookin’ hair cuts.’
That’s cruel hard talk. I thought you had more fun in you…
Thanks Cynthia for that splash of icy cold, brackish glacial runoff estuary water to my lap. My “local warming” has reversed and the hockey stick is non-existent. Battle-scarred politicians and emperors without their clothes on may sell tabloids, but definitely not centerfolds.
………Ooooohhhhhhhhh, GUYS! It’s early (and COLD, p.s.!) out here on the beaches of the Southeast…..and I’m currently tryin’ to wake up…sippin’ my coffee from my new WUWT mug…and I am ALMOST ‘heartbroken’ that that that I… HAHAHA… …did you REALLY ‘SAY THAT’ – JKS???!!! Hahaha…!!! I’m freakin’ right now… …ICY COLD (and brackish, even…GROSS!) and and….where’d that hockey stick…???
Ohhh…I’m WELL outta my league, now!!! I can’t EVEN get my words (my BELOVED words, may I add…)…hahaha… I right now, can’t… ’cause I’m also reading the ‘well placed’ comment of Steve’s that’s right above yours… ooohhhh…. hahaha… Gentlemen…!
I’m sorry. I’m SO SORRY… hahaha… I’m gonna haveta say I’m sorry sooo sorry about my ‘Bubble Popping’……
Wait. I gotta… I have to…
I’m taking my ‘leave’ a moment. ‘Sirs’. ‘Cause I’ve been ‘out worded’ by a verbal ‘double barrel shotgun’ of wit (AND HOW ON EARTH did you two get your comments ONE AFTER THE OTHER???!!! …’cause I DON’T BELIEVE IN COINCIDENCE, Gentlemen…! Awwwhhh… I’ve gotta re-coup…hey…Got any of that glacier water left??? hahaha… OH NO! GLENN BECK JUST CAME ON, TOO!!! I gotta go walk!!!
lemme go grab a smoke and come right back in to ‘officially’ apologise to you both… gotta get some ‘fresh air’ while I keep giggling and gafawing…
THE WONDERFUL & ‘TIMELY’ BREAK THAT ‘REFRESHENS’ (why isn’t that a word?) THAT WE CAN ‘ONLY’ DO ON OUR COMPUTERS, IS NOW TAKING PLACE (and not taking any time of yours, ’cause YOU can ‘keep on reading’! This TIME DELAY is amazing and quite necessary with guys/cads/fun & brilliant jokesters like you…) off I go to find a Winfield Red and inhale deeply…
An’…Quinn the Eskimo, too… ahhh… I gotta go take a walk around the veranda… (where Chevy Chase definitely DOESN’T get kissed on…)
I promise to have SOME kind of ‘great comeback’ after you two, AFTER Beck’s program is over… Oh! and ‘thanks’ to ‘Former PE’ for joggin’ my memory! I loved Perkins and seeing that TIMEX commercial where the ‘watch’ was strapped to the Evenrude (sp?) boat motor and ‘kept on tickin’…!
Be Back Momentarily! …now, where ARE those smokes…
Thorpie
It’s time ’cause there’s a two minute commercial on the satellite now.
1. Yesterday, when JKS spoke of the ‘hippie chicks’, all I could see was them as they are today. Those that have truly ‘come into their own’. Janet Reno, then…et al. And, I should’ve been thinking about Monckton’s ‘shapely sighs’ which ‘transport’ ALL truly human Scientists. Therefore, Steve Fox, I’m sorry. Please forgive my lapse in thought. Please keep smiling.
2. JKS… ‘Where do I begin…?’ (hummed to the ‘Love Song’ theme)
Simply, your words were bold and brilliant. Minds like yours make for fun friends, indeed. I suggest a warm bath tonight.
Hey. The Show’s back on! (and it’s the only T.V. I watch, so I gotta go.)
Big Non-warmist Smiles to you both! I have considered myself ‘told’ and will humbly
acquiesce to such and to YOU.
Warm FUN Smiles to You.
Cynthia Lauren
I know, I know. ‘Get a LIFE, Thorpe!’ (But, she hangs out with SHEEP, Gentlemen!)
Billy Liar’s ‘pole dancing’ comment just came in… and in light of other comments…
Doesn’t this bring ‘that stuff’ (like, in either the South or North ‘poles’ or, okay… hockey sticks?) into a WHOLE NEW LIGHT? …I mean…can they do that…and be… mebbe… gasp! ‘bi-polar'(?) (thank you, Linguists) in ice rinks, too??? hahaha… I since I’ve read they are no longer skating on thin ice? .
Jus’ tryin’ to be helpful to you REAL Scientists. as always…
Endearingly -even-
A Sister Skeptic
Haven’t seen the phrase “dead cat bounce” since I stopped trading stocks 10 years ago. Good turn of phrase. Davey likes it!
“Climate activists have begun directing millions in funding into training programs for environmental journalists, with the goal of encouraging what’s known as ‘advocacy journalism.’”
Follow the money. This is agitprop disguised as journalism, and it is bought, paid for, and brought to you by George Soros.