Big day today folks. The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists will move the hands on their famous “doomsday clock”.
Here’s my guess. Climate scientist Steven Schneider will be speaking. We know what he is all about. The Copenhagen Climate Conference failed in December and there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth. My prediction is that these alarmists will move the clock closer to midnight, citing the Copenhagen “failure” as pushing mankind closer to the brink of “climate disaster” or some such phrase.
Plus, we’ll get to watch them turn the hands of the clock live via webfeed. Such stunning visuals. Yawn. I’ll save you the suspense. In 2007 it was set to five minutes to midnight, to reflect the failure to solve problems posed by nuclear weapons. Today I’m guessing they’ll mention Copenhagen’s failure and list climate change as the next global threat and set it to 4 minutes to midnight. Or…maybe 3, if Steven Schneider scares them enough. UPDATE: my guess was wrong: they moved it back to 6 minutes see here
From the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists press release:
Hands of the “Doomsday Clock” to be moved in New York City and seen live on web for first time ever
8 January 2010
… News Advisory for January 14, 2010 …
Factors In Change to Include Nuclear Proliferation, Weapon Stockpile Shifts, and Climate Change; Bulletin of Atomic Scientists Will Open Event to World With Real-Time Streaming Web Broadcast.
NEW YORK CITY///NEWS ADVISORY///January 14, 2010///The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS) will move the minute hand of its famous “Doomsday Clock” at 10 a.m. EST/1500 GMT on January 14, 2010 in New York City. For the first time ever, the event will be opened up to the general public via a live Web feed at http://www.TurnBackTheClock.org.
The last time the Doomsday Clock minute hand moved was in January 2007, when the Clock’s minute hand was pushed forward by two minutes from seven to five minutes before midnight.
The precise time to be shown on the updated Doomsday Clock will not be announced until the live news conference in New York City takes place on January 14, 2010. Factors influencing the latest Doomsday Clock change include international negotiations on nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation, expansion of civilian nuclear power, the possibilities of nuclear terrorism, and climate change.
News event speakers will include:
- Lawrence Krauss, co-chair, BAS Board of Sponsors, foundation professor, School of Earth and Space Exploration and Physics departments, associate director, Beyond Center, co-director, Cosmology Initiative, and director, New Origins Initiative, Arizona State University.
- Stephen Schneider, member, BAS Science and Security Board, professor of environmental biology and global change, Stanford University, a co-director, Center for Environment Science and Policy of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, and senior fellow, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment.
- Jayantha Dhanapala, member, BAS Board of Sponsors, president, Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, and chair, 1995 UN Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Conference;
- Pervez Hoodbhoy, member, BAS Board of Sponsors, professor of high energy physics, and head, Physics Department, Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan; and
- Kennette Benedict, executive director, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
Founded in 1945 by University of Chicago scientists who had helped develop the first atomic weapons in the Manhattan Project, The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists subsequently created the Doomsday Clock in 1947 as way to convey both the imagery of apocalypse (midnight) and the contemporary idiom of nuclear explosion (countdown to zero). The decision to move the minute hand of the Doomsday Clock is made by the Bulletin’s Board of Directors in consultation with its Board of Sponsors, which includes 19 Nobel Laureates. The Clock has become a universally recognized indicator of the world’s vulnerability to catastrophe from nuclear weapons, climate change, and emerging technologies in the life sciences.
TO PARTICIPATE IN PERSON: Attend the live news event on January 14, 2010 at 10 a.m. EST, at the New York Academy of Sciences Building, at 7 World Trade Center, 250 Greenwich St, 40th floor, New York City. The event will be limited to credentialed members of the news media. For security reasons, all attendees must RSVP in advance by contacting Patrick Mitchell, (703) 276-3266, or pmitchell@hastingsgroup.com.
CAN’T PARTICIPATE IN PERSON?: Reporters outside of New York City who are unable to attend the live news event in person can watch and listen to the news conference via a live Webcast by registering by 945 a.m. EST on January 14, 2010 at http://www.TurnBackTheClock.org/media. A streaming audio replay of the news event will be available on the Web at http://www.thebulletin.org as of 6 p.m. EST/2300 GMT on January 14, 2010.
Dodgy Geezer (05:07:43) :
It doesn’t seem to be a very accurate clock.
Italy has shrunk to a stub. Africa seems to have grown a new peninsular off Tunis, and the Straits of Gibraltar have also widened extensively.
It is hard to see, but I suspect that this is one of those maps with no Great Britain? And it is interesting to see Scandinavia not much longer than it is wide….
They redecorated the face to bring it in line with the cover of Uncle Al’s New Book — the one depicting the world after that 20-meter rise in sea level that’s gonna happen in five — uhhhhh — ten — errrrr — twenty — ahhhhh — thirty years, yanno…
@Sandy…
You asked: “Who, precisely, is funding this event?”
That’s a good question. As far as I can tell there are no definitive answers, yet there are many intriguing clues. Below I’ve outlined the results of my investigation. All significant claims and/or data points are followed by a number [in brackets] which corresponds to a specific link at the bottom of this commentary. Anyone reading this is encouraged to verify the veracity of all claims, particularly [10].
We can begin by looking up the “whois” data on the official “turnbacktheclock.org” domain that is slated to host today’s doomsday event. The records show that the domain was registered by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists on October 29, 2009. The registrar is hardly surprising but the date of registration is interesting because it tells us that this idea was hatched at least as early as a few months ago.
Next we examine the turnbacktheclock.org web site itself. It’s a standard brochureware placeholder site with no real content. It primarily functions to take us to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists web site. So we examine the web site at thebulletin.org and discover the following advisory: “Please direct all Doomsday Clock related media inquiries to Patrick Mitchell at (703) 276-3266 or pmitchell@hastingsgroup.com“[1].
The good news is that investigations of this nature become much less complex when we are suddenly faced with a seemingly arbitrary and out-of-place contact person. This invariably points to a high powered PR firm. Let’s see where it takes us…
The hastingsgroup.com web site is suspiciously blank and only displays the title “The Hastings Group – Re-launching soon!”[2]. According to the Web Archive, the hastingsgroup.com domain has displayed a blank web page and some variation of this message for at least the past 12 years[3]. However, a Google search for *any* page in the hastingsgroup.com domain reveals that there are at least 35 pages on the site that Google has indexed[4]. The most interesting page contains the following information: “EXXONMOBIL SHAREHOLDER RESOLUTIONS NEWS CONFERENCE FEATURING ROCKEFELLER FAMILY MEMBERS” with a link to a streaming broadcast hosted on the hastingsgroup.com. In addition, the following media contact is provided: “For further information, contact Patrick Mitchell at (703) 276-3266 or pmitchell@hastingsgroup.com“[5]. So we now know the name of our PR contact–Patrick Mitchell–and we also know that his PR firm handles a rather diverse portfolio of clients ranging from doomsday clocks to ExxonMobile shareholders.
Most of the other indexed pages are incomplete and many contain the following bizarre boiler plate text: “If the inverting-core acceptor deflects the complex chronotron-feedback analysis, try to provoke a coil-composition reflex and several quantum biosphere resonances, this will create a restricted isovolumic cochrane graviton-prediction, which ought to in fact dampen the polarizing maintenance-filament formulas…”[6].
The only available executive bio on the hastingsgroup.com site is for a Senior Partner called Scott Edward Stapf: “As a founder of The Hastings Group, Stapf has helped more than 100 clients define and then realize their Web and non-Web communications needs since 1990. Stapf is an advocate of the aggressive use of cutting-edge Web applications…as means by which to significantly advance the membership services, public relations and other communications objectives of nonprofit and for-profit organizations. Stapf is a former journalist and also served as the director of communications for two national trade associations.”[7]
A quick Google search on Stapf reveals that he was once an aggressive lobbyist for Big Tobacco companies. A 1986 Washington Post article stated that he “rarely misses a chance to compare the current assault on smoking with Prohibition, and he has a Tobacco Institute researcher combing the National Archives for old footage of prudish, Bible-thumping Prohibitionists (‘real loonies’, says the researcher).”[8] However, Stapf appears to have mellowed out in recent years. For example, another Google hit is a 2007 article from “Executive Travel Magazine” where Stapf shares certain “precious moments [that] he steals for himself” at high-end Washington, DC beauty salons. The article argues that beauty spas are no longer “froufrou” but are in-fact becoming more manly and “testosterone-charged” by offering certain “no-froufrou” services such as “hand treatments for computer/BlackBerry overuse.”[9]
Wow… okay. Let’s recap:
So far we’ve learned that the doomsday clock is presently being spun and promoted by a PR/lobbying firm that was founded by a high powered lobbyist named Scott Stapf. During the 1980s, Mr. Stapf was an aggressive pro-smoking lobbyist working on behalf of Big Tobacco firms where he (among other things) accused the American Lung Association of “academic goon squad tactics”. His current PR/lobbying firm, The Hastings Group, represents and promotes the interests of valued ExxonMobile shareholders as well as those of the Rockefeller family and other valued clientele. In his spare time, Mr. Stapf enjoys hanging out at five-star beauty salons where he likes to get “a massage, full facial, manicure, pedicure and [a] seven towel shave” in order to enhance his masculinity in a non-froufrou manner.
As Spock would say: “Fascinating! But where’s the money?”
Another Google hit reveals that Mr. Stapf’s name and firm (The Hastings Group) is suspiciously mentioned in a slick 2007 doomsday clock marketing brochure (A MUST SEE —> [10]) that is presently archived on a web site called agoodmanonline.com[10]. This site is owned by Andy Goodman whose bio states that: “In 2007, Al Gore selected Andy to train one thousand volunteers who are currently helping the former Vice President engage more Americans in the fight against global warming. In 2008, Andy co-founded The Goodman Center to offer online versions of his workshops and additional communications and marketing classes to nonprofits, foundations, government agencies and educational institutions across the U.S. and worldwide.” Another high level staffer at the organization is Terrence McNally, a Harvard graduate with extensive ties to left wing media outlets and personalities. Other staffers include Colin Rowan and Lori Matsumoto who together have connections with the Environmental Defense Fund, Al Gore, and Silicon Valley tech firms[11].
I suspect that The Goodman Center is simply a front group for larger left-wing activist organizations, Gore cronies, and left-leaning foundations who use the group to funnel money into things like the doomsday clock campaign. However, that’s just speculation. There is a wealth of information out there for anyone who is interested and wants to explore these connections further. At this point I’m tired and need a manicure.
1. http://www.thebulletin.org/content/about-us/purpose
2. http://www.hastingsgroup.com/
3. http://tinyurl.com/yayqrps
4. http://tinyurl.com/yg7dbbr
5. http://www.hastingsgroup.com/rockefellerfamily/
6. http://www.hastingsgroup.com/pr/index.cfm
7. http://tinyurl.com/yfaag3v
8. http://tinyurl.com/yas3tfx
9. http://tinyurl.com/yemtaaw
10. http://www.agoodmanonline.com/pdf/free_range_2007_04.pdf
11. http://www.agoodmanonline.com/about/index.html
There is something extremely distasteful about this childish expression of meaningless claptrap.
Consider Haiti, where, in the immediate aftermath of an apocalyptic earthquake, a young woman could be heard crying out in terror – “it’s the end of the world – the end of the world”, as the dust cloud rose over stricken Port Au Prince and the aftershocks exacerbated the real and present roll call of death.
And in a move that makes one proud to be British, Gordon Brown, whose well documented £1.5 billion largesse at Copenhagen, gifted to save the world from CO2, has sent on our behalf the princely sum of £6 million in aid to the people of Haiti.
Left wing compassion? Well, what do you think!
Isn’t it about time for Steven Schneider to switch back to Ice Age scare again?
People with fear mongering want folks to drink the coolaid and jump on the band wagon. Anxiety disorders are easy to nurture.
The agenda for the greenie weenies is to provoke massive fear and hold out their hand for massive money and then they will save the planet.
Should we load them up and have Branson fly them to a planet far away for a pilot project?
What can we say? People are stupid. yawn…..
They make a mockery of science, and scientists.
coniston (03:17:52) :
Perhaps the clock is being moved because of the developments in Iran’s nuclear program.
************************************************
I thought the world’s only remaining Atomic Scientists were Iranian, or North Korean.
Are they forecasting the end of the “Hollywood Science”, based on belief and not on experimental testing?
Perhaps it should be renamed the “End of Freedom Clock”.
Several tens of thousands of years ago a huge volcanic eruption devasted SE Asia and may have reduce the human population to as little as 10,000 (world wide). Let’s don’t forget that. Does that also fall under climate change?
Who owns this clock? Salvador Dali, I presume?
Bulletin of Atomic Scientists:
Rag for the “Union of Concerned Scientists”.
A rabidly anti-nuclear power group, headed (at one time) by a Henry Kendahl.
Kendahl does have a Nobel Prize in Physics, for his work in “Quarks”. Perhaps the SINGLE MOST political NP in the sciences. Awarded by the Lefty Loonies in Norway to BOLSTER his “credibility” as the head of the UCS.
It should be noted, however, that in the ’80’s a survey of 1800 people randomly choosen from the “Who’s Who of American Men and Women of Science”, showed not only 90% support for Nuclear Power, but also had ONE affirmative response indicating actual membership in the UCS. It was done by “Opinion” magazine. They said that statistically the implication was that less than 300 of the 180,000 people listed in the “Who’s Who” would be members of the UCS.
UCS claims 40,000 “qualified” members. Since they have steadfastly refused to provide a list of their membership, and since I’ve had some friends who have sent in the yearly fee, identified themselves as BOTH with science credentials and WITHOUT and been “accepted” as members, their claims of any merit for the membership are NUL and VOID.
They are purely a Leftist propaganda group.
Max
It would be interesting to know all the involved people. As this clock move it is closely related to the general scaring plan, so dig and find….
Just a reminder –
When the clock hits midnight, a new day begins.
This whole spectacle is irrelevant and nobody I know could care less.
Daniel H (06:09:22) : From your link #10:
No less a personage than Albert Einstein helped found the Board of Sponsors
That explains a lot!. his “theory” included. Wow!
I thought it was called the “Atomic Doomsday Clock” for a reason. What does “Atomic” have to do with “Climate”? Are we now going to further change Global Warming into “Atomic-Climate Change” ?
Doomsday, shmoomsday….
Let me guess the time keeper is East Anglia University …
We’re having a doomsday clock changing party – with lots of fireworks ready to let off.
The excitement is too much!
Wait, wait!, stop the presses!, here it is the “Science-Gate”:
Daniel H (06:09:22) :
1. http://www.thebulletin.org/content/about-us/purpose
2. http://www.hastingsgroup.com/
3. http://tinyurl.com/yayqrps
4. http://tinyurl.com/yg7dbbr
5. http://www.hastingsgroup.com/rockefellerfamily/
6. http://www.hastingsgroup.com/pr/index.cfm
7. http://tinyurl.com/yfaag3v
8. http://tinyurl.com/yas3tfx
9. http://tinyurl.com/yemtaaw
10. http://www.agoodmanonline.com/pdf/free_range_2007_04.pdf
11. http://www.agoodmanonline.com/about/index.html
They haven’t told anyone, but the clock has been going backwards since the ’60’s.
http://tallbloke.wordpress.com/files/2010/01/beertime.jpg
If the world does not end 4 minutes or 5 minutes after the clock is set. The hypothesis that this clock means anything will have been falsified and no one should pay any attention to it. After all it has been wrong for 62 years already.
Another example of issue creep.
It’s a STOPPED clock. Shows the right time twice a day.
Five to midnight
Five to midday……..oops.
john