Readers may recall this story a few weeks back:
Be a “concerned scientist” – valid credit card required
Reader DJ writes in Tips & Notes:
Since becoming a member of the Union of Concerned Scientists when I found out all you needed was a valid credit card, my curiosity about who and what they really are has spiked.
I decided to put that theory to the test. I am very proud to announce that a member of my family has been accepted into this prestigious organization. With pride, I present new UCS member, Kenji Watts:
Yes, Kenji is our dog. Apparently, the claim is true, all that is required to be a member of the illustrious group of “concerned scientists” is a valid credit card. No discerning questions were asked of me when I prepared Kenji’s application and no follow up check after the application was done. I simply put in his name, address, and provided a valid credit card that matched the address.
Here is his letter of acceptance:
And the envelope it came in:
Kenji surveys his welcome kit:
Kenji is a Japanese Chin, hence the name. I found it ironic that the issue of the UCS Catalyst Magazine (seen above) was all about Japan.
So the real question is: How many real “concerned scientists” are there in UCS? Membership is apparently not any more discerning than the ability to send money.
I’m disappointed the Guardian hasn’t called for a quote on this story citing “leading U.S. Scientists”:
the_Butcher says:
October 8, 2011 at 1:56 am
“Now we want Kenji Watts to challenge Al Gore.”
=============================================
C’mon now, Butcher. You know darn well Al wouldn’t debate Kenji. Al never debates when it’s obvious that he’ll lose. No contest… Kenji has a PhD (Pet: huggable Dog) while Al is just a “crazed, sex poodle.”
This just in: “Al Gore considered debating Kenji regarding the merits of AGW but his (Al’s) advisors put the kibosh on the idea when they determined that Kenji would get his information from Anthony Watts.”
I don’t know Anthony. Maybe they knew that Kenji was a leading researcher in olfactoproctology?
There’s lots of information about the Union of Concerned Scientists on GuideStar – http://www2.guidestar.org/ – where you can see their 2009 Annual Report (yr ended 9/30/10) and the Form 990 they filed with IRS for that year. Prior years are also available.
Simply register – it’s free – and check them out.
Surprisingly, it’s a decent sized organization with revenues over $18 million, net equity over $30 million, and 157 employees.
Their key people are set forth in the Annual Report, as are the names of numerous contributors, while the Form 990 provides insight into how they spend their loot.
Kenji will be a great asset to you. He is fluent in dogma.
Holy crap Steve .. I just can’t stop laughing. Reading Kenji’s letter of acceptance, I can’t recall reading anything so politicized and biased. I love the lines like “You financial support allows us to be an independent voice for policy change…” .. haha really? .. and “and to produce the scientific analyses that make our arguments convincing” … haha again … man, if this line doesn’t say it all, I don’t know what does.
Thank you for all of this! … most eye opening!
Kenji’s now a bone-a-fied
global warming climate change climate disruption climate wierdingman-caused disaster expert! Good for him, Anthony! Now he can go on tour with Algore and you can relax and live out your days in the lap(dog) of luxury.PS: We can’t wait until we see Kenji performing his pee review of Mikey Mann’s next
kennel linermasterful treatise. His yellow highlighting will never have been used more applicably or appropriately. 🙂“Philosopher or dog?”
Well, my dog held a PhD from a diploma mill. I guess this is Climate State-of The Art Science today.
Maybe someone who isn’t banned from Guardian CIF (there must be one or two left surely?) could post a tactful comment asking why they’re taking their science policy from domestic pets.
Scrub last comment, I’m impressed to see that Kenji has already eloquently spoken up for his interests on the CIF thread in question. I think we should all lend him our support.
Gave me a real laugh. Kenji, how soon before there are no glaciers in the Himalayas?
Kenji is enjoying considerable support on CIF, but a new arrival is being critical of his theories.
I think this could be a defining moment in climate science.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/oct/07/european-biofuels-target-us-scientists
Concerned about diminishing public trust in the scientific community, the Union of Noble Prize Winners (UNPW) recently issued the following statement: “The science supporting Catastrophic Anthropogenic Global Warming (CAGW) is marginal at best, and deeply flawed at worst.” Kenji, a renowned member of the Union Of Concerned Scientists (UCS), concurred. Speaking through an interpreter, Kenji was quoted as saying: “I think the UNPW’s statement was too kind. I would put it that the science behind CAGW is piss-poor.”
Kenji Watts, an imminent asian scientist, has informed us that he is changing his name. He stated, “It has come to my attention that I could be discriminated against by certain associations connected with my last name and it would benefit me immensely regarding my future funding possibilities if I were to start anew. From now on I will be called kenji Mann.” When asked concerning his reasons for the change he responded, “My new name befits a personage who has unrivaled experience in deriving data from discharging scientific functions on a single tree.”
BBC
Ah, Kenji is now officially in the news…
http://www.investigatemagazine.co.nz
Hmm, I may have to join. I could write letters to the editor and in the letter say “I am an esteemed member of the Union of Concerned Scientists and can attest there is no concensus amongst our ourganization, much less in the climate community as a whole.” Not that I am even a member of the climate community. Just a lowly accountant who finds the topic interesting.
Perhaps UCS have seen Brian Griffin in Family Guy, and think there is nothing strange about a dog being a scientist.
Anthony, the reason that Kenji looks confused is that you laid out the literature UPSIDE DOWN. Give the little guy a break and turn it round……..
it’s looking as though this year won’t be among the hottest top-ten. The GISS figures for the year will be out by mid-January. Let’s see what sort of a press release (if any) it puts out about this turn of events, and what sort of media coverage it gets.
It’ll be interesting to see what sort of response the public and politicians make to the GISS’s likely forecast of an even cooler 2012, based on the strengthening La Nina. I suspect it will encourage a lot of camp-followers to drop away, and for the media to give alarmists less coverage.
This turning of the trend is what our side desperately needs to get more attention paid to our arguments–and to get mitigation measures delayed and/or whittled down.
Hi Kenji,
When you have finished reading your letter and Journal, could I please borrow them. I need something lightweight to line my litter bin.
Cheers, Rover
I must point out robustly that we need not heed anything Kenji may utter on Global Warming. After all, Kenji
a) is not a climatologist
b) has no degrees
c) has published no peer reviewed papers.
d) is in the pocket of Big Oil.*
This has been the world’s very first argument ad doginem**
* I made this one up, as is traditional in such things.
** Okay, it’s canem, but only half the readers would get it.
It may be that the average IQ of the organisation has increased with this new member.
It is unfortunately very easy to claim to be a scientist and it is one of the few titles left that the public respect. Nobody goes round falsely claiming to be a bishop or an estate agent or a politician.
Christian scientists, creation scientists, climate scientists, concerned scientists, political scientists, enmvironmental scientists, homeopathy scientists, scientists of astrology, professors of education etc.
I think any organisationclaiming to be scientific should either be able to show they adopt the scientific method & accept principles like falsifiability por be automatically assumed fraudulent if they claim to be scientists. Bit tough on Anthony’s dog but fair on Mann, Jones and Hansen and most of the political appointees running all these government funded “professional” bodies.
Another watermelon group.
The Union of Concerned Socialists.