Photo courtesy of flickr, tarsandsaction.org stream Link
Excerpt from Bloomberg:
James Hansen, head of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, was arrested outside the White House as he joined protesters in urging President Barack Obama to reject TransCanada Corp. (TRP)’s $7 billion pipeline. Before he was taken into custody today, Hansen took a megaphone and implored Obama to act “for the sake of your children and grandchildren.”
In the following video, Dr. Hansen is plain spoken, coherent, and obviously quite convincing. His manner of delivery and calmness is actually something that Al Gore could learn from. Also, why isn’t Al Gore showing solidarity with these protestors?
“If Obama chooses the dirty needle it will confirm that the president was just green-washing all along,” Hansen, 70, who took a vacation day from his job at the New York based institute to participate in the protest, said in an e-mailed statement.
I wonder if NASA has a three strikes policy, this is arrest #3 from Dr. Hansen.
Dr. Hansen NEVER got arrested for protesting. That is a big fat lie being told to everyone. There is no way you can get arrested for protesting, we have rights in this country and by golly if he had just protested he would never have gotten arrested. In fact, in Washington DC the police are rather used to protests and tend to be very leniant. They will tell someone that they are trespessing or otherwise breaking a law.
So no, Dr. Hansen has never been arrested for protesting. He has been arrested everytime for some other crime he commited while protesting. The media of course plays this out along with trolls like RGates who like to make a political point. The truth is that these people simply were arrested for breaking a different law. So relax, in AmeriKA you have rights and of course you do have the right to be stupid, but you will probably be arrested if you do not listen to the nice police officer just doing his/her job and trying to enforce LEGAL laws.
And conflict of interest…thy name is Dr. Hansen. I take it from no response from the peanut gallery (Rgates) that he agrees that this is a conflict of interest to have a man writing a book on one interpretation of the science and being in charge of the data at the same time. One can say he is rewarded by fiddling with said data since it would promote sales of his book.
Kind of like my example with the FDA. Someone talking about how smoking is really good for you and being in charge of the FDA would probably be yelled about by certain people who claim to be “90% certain AGW is happening.” But its not conflict of interest when Dr. Hansen is there. OF course not, we are 90% sure that Dr. Hansen is conflicted and since this is not 100%, we must allow him to have privacy in his dealings with data. Shh, don’t stress the poor man who breaks laws on purpose to get arrested for 15 minutes of fame every few monthes.
JPeden/Smokey,
As you see, intellectually scratch an AGW by CO2 centered acolyte of the IPCC and, voila, there appears to be some significant correlation with him/her showing the intellectual bloodlines of an anti-capitalist/anti-corporationist.
We have more than correlation, read their WUWT comments . . . .
John
R Gates, Jefferson would not condone federal income tax, abortion, trampling of states rights, etc. Also Jefferson would believe that “Natural Born Citizen” would mean someone born in the U.S. of which at the time of birth, both parents would be citizens.
So I guess you must have those same views as Jefferson?
Canada has “oil sands” not “tar sands” there is a difference, and it matters. If the “top NASA scientist” does not know the difference, he should.
Gates says:
“In your twisted world view…” &etc.
Not really, Gates. Since I have a world view based on common sense [along with minoring in Econ], I don’t try to blame only one particular group for the country’s problems like you do. You give all the left-leaning gangs a free pass in your attack on evil corporations. [Of course, you’re probably not entirely Leftist… just 75%. ~ : ^)
FYI, the corporations you love to hate tend to be oligopolies, which are tremendously competitive with each other. Think Toyota vs Honda. That intense competition results in very low prices and high quality for buyers. Corporations also tend to employ lots of people at good wages and benefits, and America’s corporations pay some of the world’s highest tax rates. Yet your hatred of these wealth producing, job creating entities is made clear, and your attempts to blame “the rule of corporations” gives a free pass to the societal parasites that feed off these actual wealth producers. I note that the president, you, and James Hansen all blame companies in the private sector – when it is government that is at the root of the current economic problems.
So, who actually has the twisted world view?
As much as I disagree with the guy, you can’t fault him to standing up for his beliefs. If anything it makes him better than the others.
Hmmmmn.
Will Hansen declare the near-3/4 million dollars that the Japanese (Pro-CAGW) government-funded “society” gave him this year on his income tax?
Has he declared the 1.2 million dollars he has been previously awarded in earlier years SPECIFICALLY FOR his CAGW promotions by various CAGW-government-funded agencies and eco-groups on his income taxes? So, of course, Hansen is “not benefiting personally” from his unbiased scientific propaganda, is he?
/sarcasm – that gaping hole between a liberal and the truth in any political statement
The reason I ask is that numerous (I believe the latest count is 15) senior members of the Obama administration – all democrats/socialists/bureaucrats now in power in Washington due to their pro-CAGW beliefs – have been found to be charged with income tax fraud and missed payments.
RACookPE1978,
That list includes Timothy Geithner, who was caught cheating on his income taxes. But like Hansen, he’s OK; Timmy gets a free pass because he’s now head of the I.R.S.
Donate $25 for two DVDs of the Cryptome collection of files from June 1996 to the present
8 March 2011
White House Security Zone Expands
[Federal Register: March 8, 2011 (Volume 76, Number 45)]
[Notices]
[Page 12753-12755]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr08mr11-97]
———————————————————————–
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[Account No. 3950-SZM]
President’s Park–Environmental Assessment for Proposed Permanent
Roadway Closures, Re-Design of Security Elements, and Preservation of
Historic Landscape
AGENCY: National Park Service, Department of the Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Assessment by the
National Park Service and the United States Secret Service, and notice
of scoping for re-designing the security elements and preserving the
landscape within President’s Park South, which includes a portion of E
Street, NW., in Washington, DC.
———————————————————————–
SUMMARY: The proposed actions are as follows: The United States Secret
Service deciding whether to permanently close (1) the section of E
Street, NW. between 15th and 17th Streets, NW., South Executive Avenue,
and the Ellipse roadways to unauthorized vehicular traffic, and (2)
State Place and West South Executive Avenue and adjacent sidewalks
(contiguous to First Division Monument) and Hamilton Place and
[[Page 12754]]
East South Executive Avenue and adjacent sidewalks (contiguous to
Sherman Park) to unauthorized vehicular and unauthorized pedestrian
traffic, and to install durable, more aesthetic security elements in
the area to replace the temporary, unsightly security elements
currently in place; and the National Park Service deciding on landscape
and infrastructure changes to the area that respond to the street
closures and re-design of security elements to ensure the iconic
historic nature of the landscape that is the White House and its
environs and an important destination for visitors.
DATES: Comments should be received within 45 days of this notice.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted electronically through the NPS’
Planning, Environment and Public Comment (PEPC) Web site at http://
parkplanning.nps.gov/PRPA (The NPS preferred method of receiving
comments), or by mail to: Office of the National Park Service Liaison
to the White House, 1100 Ohio Drive, SW., Room 344, Washington, DC
20242.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The NPS may be contacted at the Office
of the National Park Service Liaison to the White House, 1100 Ohio
Drive, SW., Washington, DC 20242, (202) 619-6344. To be added to a
mailing list about the proposed actions, contact the NPS at (202) 619-
6344.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the National
Environmental Policy Act, 42 U.S.C. 4321, (NEPA), and applicable
regulations and policies, the National Park Service (NPS) and the
United States Secret Service (USSS), as joint lead agencies, are
preparing an Environmental Assessment (EA). The EA will aid the USSS in
deciding whether to permanently close E Street, South Executive Avenue,
and the Ellipse roadways within President’s Park South to unauthorized
vehicular traffic, and State Place and West South Executive Avenue and
adjacent sidewalks (contiguous to First Division Monument) and Hamilton
Place and East South Executive Avenue and adjacent sidewalks
(contiguous to Sherman Park) to unauthorized vehicular and unauthorized
pedestrian traffic. The EA will further inform the USSS as it considers
replacing existing security elements in the area, such as jersey
barriers, provisional guard booths, canopy tents, bike rack, concrete
planters and standing canine vehicles. These security elements, while
effective, are visually unattractive and may detract from the iconic
and historic nature of the area. The USSS would seek to install
security elements that are both durable and more aesthetic at the
vehicle checkpoints and along the street closures. The NPS will utilize
the EA to assist in its consideration of landscape and infrastructure
changes to President’s Park South that respond to USSS security
requirements and conform to the area’s historic features, its iconic
status and popularity as a visitor destination. The National Capital
Planning Commission (NCPC) is a cooperating agency in this EA and is
assisting in the development of potential alternatives by holding a
limited competition for design concepts that integrate USSS security
requirements and NPS cultural landscape preservation policies and
guidelines.
Other government agencies are invited to serve as cooperating
agencies. Interested agencies are asked to contact the Office of the
National Park Service Liaison to the White House at (202) 619-6344 at
the NPS as early as possible in this process. Compliance with the
National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), including NHPA Section 106,
and other laws and requirements, will be coordinated with this EA
process, and government agencies that are affected by the proposed
actions or have special expertise will be consulted, whether or not
they are cooperating agencies.
This notice also serves as an announcement of scoping on both
proposed actions, and comments are sought from the public, government
agencies and other interested persons and organizations. Scoping is
used to gain insight into the issues to be addressed and to identify
other significant issues related to the proposed actions. For comments
to be most helpful to the scoping process, they must be received within
45 days of this notice.
During scoping, a public meeting will be held on Thursday, March
31, 2011, to present information and obtain input from attendees. The
meeting will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the White House
Visitor Center located at 1450 Pennsylvania Avenue South, NW.,
Washington, DC. At the meeting, the NPS and USSS will describe the
proposed actions and how the planning will be conducted, and NCPC will
describe the design concepts competition it is conducting. All comments
submitted during scoping, including at the meeting, will be considered
by both the NPS and USSS. If you require additional information or
special assistance to attend and participate in this meeting, please
contact the Office of the National Park Service Liaison to the White
House at (202) 619-6344.
Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or
other personal identifying information in your comment, be advised that
your entire comment –including your personal identifying information
–may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask in your
comment to withhold from public review your personal identifying
information, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
There is always the possibility that the NPS and USSS might proceed
to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed
actions instead of an EA. If this occurs, comments submitted now will
be considered for any EIS that is developed.
NEPA regulations and policies encourage agencies to collaborate or
otherwise use the same NEPA analysis to avoid duplications of effort,
to reduce paperwork, and to prevent delays in decision-making. The
proposed actions grow out of needs identified by USSS concerning the
level and type of security required for the White House. The NPS and
USSS seek to re-design the security elements in this space and preserve
the landscape to create a visitor and pedestrian-friendly, elegant and
beautiful environment that is respectful of its historic context and
iconic status, while continuing to meet USSS security needs.
President’s Park South is part of the National Park System unit and
includes Sherman Park, First Division Monument, the Ellipse and its
side panels, as well as the associated roadways in the area. These
places, along with other site features, are listed on the National
Register of Historic Places. The NPS manages President’s Park South
pursuant to its statutory authorities, regulations and policies, the
Comprehensive Design Plan for the White House and President’s Park
(2000) (Plan), the Design Guidelines for the White House and
President’s Park (1997), and in light of the area’s National Register
status. The section of E Street, NW. within this park area is also
administered by NPS.
Following the events of September 11, 2001, USSS temporarily closed
the section of E Street, NW. within President’s Park South to
unauthorized vehicular traffic. To secure this general area, USSS
placed a line of jersey barriers along the southern edge of E Street
and installed provisional guard booths, canopy tents, bike rack,
concrete planters and standing canine vehicles at vehicle checkpoints
at the east and west ends of E Street. A vehicle check point
[[Page 12755]]
was also placed at the 16th Street and Constitution Avenue entrance to
the Ellipse. Since that time there has been a continued, temporary
closure of the roadways to unauthorized vehicular traffic. The USSS
will determine whether to change the status of the closure from
temporary to permanent and to integrate durable, more aesthetic
security elements in place of the temporary security elements
identified above.
The intent is to integrate durable, more aesthetic security
elements that not only help satisfy the requirement to maintain the
historic and iconic character of President’s Park South, but also
improve the experience of visitors moving through the area to enter or
view the White House and its grounds.
The EA will assess a range of alternatives establishing a permanent
closure of E Street and associated roadways and the installation of re-
designed security elements resulting in changes to the area, along with
a no-action alternative for continuing the current closure using the
existing, temporary security elements. The Plan was developed as an EIS
and it will serve as a foundation for this EA, and the EA will also
review the Plan’s treatment of President’s Park South.
In 2008, the NCPC Security Task Force recommended, and the NPS and
USSS agreed, that NCPC, through its Task Force, would manage a limited
competition to generate creative and thoughtful design concepts that
incorporate necessary USSS security elements while improving the
experience of visitors moving through the area to enter or view the
White House and its grounds. The NCPC is a Federal agency whose mission
includes serving as the central planning agency for the Federal
activities in the greater Washington, DC area. The design concepts
generated through this process may become alternatives in the EA.
Dated: December 22, 2010.
Peggy O’Dell,
Regional Director, National Capital Region.
[FR Doc. 2011-5253 Filed 3-7-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-54-P
Of course Hansen could be fired for his civil disobedience. He would certainly know this. The fact that he’s doing it anyway is a measure of his confidence in the science and the strength of his convictions. This is a solid guy.
Bob says:
“Of course Hansen could be fired for his civil disobedience… The fact that he’s doing it anyway is a measure of his confidence in the science and the strength of his convictions.”
You have it exactly wrong, Bob. Hansen has protection and knows he won’t be fired. If his boss told him, “Jim, one more arrest and you’re fired,” Hansen would suddenly be a good boy.
Smokey @ur momisugly 1:40
“Hansen has protection…”. That sounds so…mysterious. Consider this scenario: Rick Perry is president in 2012, appoints a new NASA administrator sharing his views on climate change, Hansen gets arrested at another protest, and is then fired. You’re saying this is not a distinct possibility?
Bob,
Speculation is fun, can I play? Thanx:
Perry gets elected. Hansen then:
1. Retires, to go on lucrative speaking & book signing tours, or
2. Decides that his days of getting arrested are over
Hansen is tolerated and protected the same as others like tax cheat Tim Geithner, who now runs the IRS. Tell us, would you get a “Get Out Of Jail Free” card if you were caught cheating on your taxes? See how it works? There’s nothing mysterious about it, it’s just corrupt cronyism.
—————-
Bob,
Thanks, your comment tees up some things to consider:
First, the fact that he hasn’t been fired is evidence that he is not considered as a credible supporter of alarmism by many key critical independent thinkers who are countering that alarmism. Therefore not actively contesting his continued role at GISS is a very good strategic move by some opponents of alarmism. Leaving him in place exposes a weakness of the strategy of the alarmist leaders; the pro-alarmist strategists have not provided good leadership to Hansen thus allowing his non-credible statements and actions. He is ineffective in place and if removed would become a martyr so anti-alarmists support his continuing. Meanwhile I think we encourage the alarmist strategists to continue their bad counseling for Hansen. Sounds like a perfect strategy to me; it parallels the very good anti-IPCC strategy of leaving Rajendra K Pachauri in place as an ineffective head of the IPCC.
Second, of course he (Hansen) seems solid to those uncritical of the IPCC’s so-called consensus and so-called settled science. We all understand that. The real point in this regard is how the natural human mind could not be critical of the IPCC’s so-called consensus and so-called settled science? The answer to that question is immensely interesting; it is the key to unlocking the cause of our age of irrational fear.
John
Bob says:
August 30, 2011 at 1:30 pm
Of course Hansen could be fired for his civil disobedience. He would certainly know this. The fact that he’s doing it anyway is a measure of his confidence in the science and the strength of his convictions. This is a solid guy.
I doubt he gives it any thought whatsoever. If they were going to fire him, they would have done so before now. He probably thinks “hey, I’m Jim Hansen, they wouldn’t dare fire me”, and he’s probably right. In another administration, though, especially a Rick Perry admin. he would have his hat(s) handed to him, and they’d tell him “there’s the door, don’t let it hit ya”.
“Confidence in the science”? Yeah, that’s a laugh. He likes being leader of a giant pseudoscientific cult, and the fame and attention he’s getting. Jim Jones had the “strength of his convictions”, too.
Smokey says:
August 30, 2011 at 2:04 pm
I really don’t understand why Hansen (who is 70 after all) just doesn’t retire and become a “Greenpeace Scholar” or something, earning $500,000 in speaking fees. It would be better than his current job. That way he could protest all the time, along with his extremist left-wing buddies!
R. Gates says:
August 29, 2011 at 8:37 pm
hum says:
August 29, 2011 at 2:26 pm
He should be fired.
____
A man should be fired for standing up for what he believes in…right or wrong? Nice country Amerika has become…
================================
As usual, nothing is more “Amerikan” than your newspeak, R.
Hansen can stand up or believe in whatever the hell he chooses, just not with a guaranteed pension and retirement from the taxpayer.
Chris
Norfolk, VA, USA
Guess Darryl Hannah liked the hat….
http://wonderwall.msn.com/movies/daryl-hannah-arrested-in-white-house-oil-protest-1638840.story?GT1=28135
Are there ANY scientists in positions of authority that are not Progressive EcoFascists?
although i have not been watching that carefully i would say that the man is very careful not to hold or carry a sign that has the letters NASA on it or convey the sense that he is speaking as an official of nasa.
the federal activities have a rule that the only two people that can officially address the public/press shall (there’s that word) be the Director/Commander or his/hers/its designated representative. those that do without designation are skating on extremely thin ice and even the designated ones consider their utterance very very carefully.
C
R. Gates says:
August 30, 2011 at 10:08 am
“Only 3 things to save our democracy (at least if we really want rule by the People):
1) Campaign finance reform, so that it is not only the rich and well financed people who can become leaders.”
Ah, Gates, now you tread into my realm! I usually leave all of your science points (with their scant evidence and generally faulty logic) to the scientists to answer. But let me try to deal with your first point, because your second and third principles have their own merit, but this first one, well –
For years now, the country has tried to “reform” campaign finance. And for years, we have steadily made things worse. Why? Because: (1) the fellows who write the laws are the ones who benefit from them, and know all of the loopholes they write in for themselves; (2) money has been, is, and will always be a part of politics, and it is best we all admit that and move on to something more useful to discuss (by the way, as corporations are comprised of human beings, I have no qualms about the idea that they are “persons” with legal rights such as the right of free speech – see the Supreme Court’s Citizens United case); (3) do-gooders who try to interject their own ideas into the campaign finance system (McCain/Feingold) usually write something that violates the U.S. Constitution (first amendment, free speech, you familiar with that?) and really screw up the system.
Remember Watergate? Remember the campaign finance laws passed in the wake of that little scandal? They so “reformed” the system so much that the dunderheads McCain and Feingold decided that the system was broken and needed even more “reforming.”
As to your second and third points, I find them interesting, but these days I am not as keen on either term limits and balanced budget amendments as I used to be. The latter because the politicians will (again) write in so many loopholes and conditions that what will inevitably happen in the budget crisis is that tax increases will be forced against all good sense and political will. The former because I still hold the ultimate trump card over my representatives – I can turn out my congressman every two years; my senator every six. If enough people stopped being passive in the face of the nonsense that goes on in Washington, D.C., we wouldn’t really need term limits.
One reform that I think MUST be adopted is this: what must be limited is the time Congress spends in session. Here in Texas, our Legislature can constitutionally only meet once every two years, for five months at most, unless the Governor calls a special session. This requirement is based on the idea that the less time they spend in session, the less mischief they can cause. Congress should by Constitutional amendment only be allowed to meet every year from the first Monday in January to June 30, period. A narrow exception for national emergencies (e.g. foreign enemy attack, national depression). Nothing else. The longer they meet, the more they try to justify their presence in D.C. Enough of that. Before air conditioning, they all went home for the summer. We can’t get rid of their air conditioning (I’ve thought of that, believe me), so we can limit the time they spend there.
Garry says:
August 29, 2011 at 5:09 pm
“I don’t think there is one single federal employee who has been allowed to flaunt three misdemeanor arrests.”
An arrest doesn’t mean you’ve done anything wrong. That’s for a court to determine.
You should probably amend that to say three misdemeanor convictions.
I think most arrests of these kinds aren’t prosecuted. Rather it’s just a way to remove them from the scene, let them cool their heels in jail awhile, then release without filing any charges.
However it would be no end of amusing if the DA decided to prosecute and a judge subsequently threw the book at him.
Fire Hansen and keep the current bunch of criminals in Congress?
Bassackwards, my friends.
Thanks for posting applicable ethical requirements. The appearance of bias would be enough to bring action not counting the compromise of public arrests. Then there’s the profit. Of course, nobody’s willing to make a martyr out of a guy who likes being arrested for show, won’t be hurt by being fired, and might win a jury award to embarass the government and make it look like he was mistreated – or worse yet – cause publicitiy to veer to vindication of his highly biased views supported with inaccurate and misleading information.
This is a remnant of the childish, self-righteously myopic 1960s protestor that we are pretty much forced to deal with from time to time. Tragic that he is in a government position. Then again, we all need to make skepticism a routine part of dealing with government hacks – excuse please – experts regardless of how superficially persuasive they seem to be.
I thought it was very humorous to see the few supporters of Dr.Hansen at the White House clapping and cheering the Keystone Cops for taking away this ridiculous ‘scientist’ to be locked up out of harms way so that he cannot embarass the AGW cult any more. Dr. Hansen should realise that in a democratic society, causes are won or lost through debate and general dialogue, not through breaking the law on a bogus premiss and expecting everyone to support you for doing so.
President Obama and the White House staff must have been very amused to see the few dozen ‘crowd’ supporting Dr. Hansen acting out their comedy outside the White House gates. he will realise that there will be nothing to worry about in giving the go ahead for the pipeline which will gain him far more support from voters who want the economy to move on, rather than loose the support of a few silly Greens which in any case would have no where to go if they didn’t support President Obama.