by Christopher Monckton of Brenchley
Those brave enough and open-minded enough to ask questions in the search for objective scientific truth about our influence on the climate rather than credulously swallowing and cloyingly parroting the socially-convenient, politically-expedient, financially-profitable party line will henceforth celebrate 7 January as Watts Up Day.
For it is today that Anthony’s outstanding blog welcomes its 100 millionth visitor: eight orders of denary magnitude. In the twinkling of an eye, Wattsupwiththat.com has become one of the most significant and influential news media on Earth. Rupert Murdoch, eat your heart out.
How has Anthony achieved this? First and foremost, by courageous persistence in the face of the barrage of venomous ad-hominem name-calling that is the sullen climate-extremists’ characteristically petulant – and increasingly desperate – way of treating those whose scientific and economic arguments even the IPCC-hugging hard-liners among them are beginning to suspect may be true.
To gather, edit, and publish several new postings daily; to illustrate each one with a suitable image; to recruit, manage, and motivate surely the best team of moderators on any blog; to keep a patient balance, maintain courtesy, and reject extremism even in the skeptical direction; to scour the web and the literature for facts and data and papers of interest; that is just part of what it takes to control the gentle giant that WattsUpWithThat has become.
And it is hard work, 24/7, 366 days a year. I do not suppose that the advertising revenue that Anthony now gets comes anywhere close to compensating him for the exhaustingly relentless grind that maintains the daily splendor of his exceptional blog.
Not long from now, when the absurd intellectual aberration among the world’s governing class that is “dangerous global warming” is a mere curiosity rather than a grave threat to the economic and political well-being of Man and a mortal menace to the democracy of the West, historians will write of their admiration for the small and gallant band who worked out the truth for themselves in the teeth of lavishly-funded hostility and quietly asserted it against all attempts to bully them into silence until it could no longer be denied.
Not the least among this platoon of heroes, outgunned but not outclassed, will be Anthony Watts, to whom the world has very good reason to be grateful. Long may he and his blog flourish. Let us hope that there will be no need for Anthony to keep at it until he notches up his ninth order of magnitude. Here’s to Anthony, his long-suffering family, and his hard-working team. Ad multos annos floreatis!
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John Wright said @ur momisugly January 7, 2012 at 8:58 pm
“Let’s go for a record number of comments into the bargain.
Hearty congratulations, Anthony.”
The Git used to frequent a ListServ that split from the Banyan Vines List having been accused of wasting bandwidth with pointless banter. We managed over 3,000 posts in 24 hours 🙂
Gareth Phillips said @ur momisugly January 7, 2012 at 3:40 pm
“Personally I think Monckton is a right wing plonker…”
Personally, I think you are a plonker. I’m slightly left of centre and strongly libertarian. I wouldn’t dream of letting my politicz get in the way of appreciating The Good Lord’s wit, scholarship, rhetoric and mathematical abilities. Frankly, there are few who I can think of that would make a better companion at the dining table.
@meemoe_uk:
I think the point is that on achieving the 100,000,000th visit, there have been 8 orders of magnitude “accomplished”: 99,999,999 and we are now working on the 9th place. (We must be skeptics and not “climate scientists as we’re assuring precision on the order of a single digit out of a 10^8 number 😉
George Lawson said @ur momisugly January 7, 2012 at 11:31 am
“And the cult is still spouting that 97 per cent of climate scientists believe in AGW.”
There you go, and I thought it was 97.310843% 😉
major9985
You object to Anthony “allowing” the good Lord here and then complain, falsely that your post was removed. I, along with others, suspect Monckton must have spanked you in debate/comment at some point and you come across as spiteful. You cannot even get the simple British law on his title past your blinkered mind. Your constant attempts to remove his nobility show you have not followed the story up to date!
Top right of this page is a small byline…..
“The world’s most viewed site on global warming and climate change”.
Do you not get the feeling your scam has been well and truly exposed by people prepared to be fair, open minded. I have read many articles here from the warmist side so do not come here with demands for people to be banned! Try using science here instead of snark!
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers…For he today that doubts with me, shall be my brother, be he ne’er so vile, this day shall gentle his position. And warmists, o’er the world, now silent, shall think themselves accursed they were not here, and hold their theories cheap, whiles any speaks, that fought with us upon St. Anthony’s Day!
major9985 says:
“No Anthony , you are wrong again. I only come to this website to debunk every word you say.”
That’s odd, I’ve never even noticed a single post from you ! 🙂
thepompousgit says:
Frankly, there are few who I can think of that would make a better companion at the dining table.
While not seated at the same dining table, I had the pleasure of a few minutes conversation with Lord Monckton just after dinner in Chicago about 2 years back. Charming, pleasant, witty. Keeps you on your toes, yet would be just as comfortable sipping brandy I’d wager. My one regret from the experience was that it was way too short as the venue was wrapping up. Perhaps someday again I’ll have the pleasure of the encounter. Haven’t needed a dictionary yet (other than a Latin one 😉 but a few words have required a bit of a think to retrieve them… 😉
otsar says:
January 7, 2012 at 6:51 pm
I also enjoy reading the troll’s comments. The techniques they use remind me of a rhetoric class I took ages ago. It would be great if a moderator versed in rhetoric would deconstruct their posts for the audience.
When I first started a blog I was beset by Trolls. At first I tried the “let all speak all the time” rule, and was just overwhelmed with Trolls. Then I tried the “moderate each comment”. Took way too much time (how it is done here with so much more volume amazes….)
I finally settled on a kind of middle ground. Trolls go to a moderation queue and sit until I have time free to deal with them. THEN their comment goes into a “Carping Comments” posting, with a deconstruction of method and content. Plus rebuttal and commentary as needed. Usually each ‘new troll’ lasts about 1 or 2 sessions of that and then gives up… as it defeats their desire to “stir the pot”. Just realize that the graffiti ‘artist’ gets an emotional ‘hit’ out of having their ‘tag’ be ‘up’; they are cheated of that when it is critiqued in a time delayed classroom…
I’ll not be doing that here, though, as this is not my blog.
But, a comment:
Trolls can be a little bit amusing. They seem to think nobody is onto their game. Works on ‘stupid sites’. Doesn’t work at all on places full of folks with loads of degrees, like here.
They just look a bit sad and, dare I say it, pathetic. Trying so hard to do something that “matters”, but being capable mostly of trying to put “mental graffiti” in between folks with decent thoughts to share. I mostly feel embarrassed for them. Rather like a friend’s spoiled child who wishes they could play the piano like their more disciplined classmates, but can’t, so just shouts rude things during a recital- desperately trying for attention, even negative attention, to feel “validated”.
So here Lord Monckton gives a well written ‘Thanks and Best Wishes’ to Anthony. A class act like R. Gates has the social graces to say in essence ‘Congratulations, fair adversary, today we have a truce, tomorrow the battle begins again’…
What do those lacking in such graces do? Well, like chimps, they fling unpleasantries…. But don’t disparage them, it is all they are able to do. It does no good to tell the chimp it is only his own fingers being left smelly. Just step aside and let the “poo” go by.
OK, per the ‘minor major’9985:
major9985 says:
January 7, 2012 at 8:46 am
Poor Anthony, what immature reply, and to even talk about courage when you clearly don’t have any to stand up to the fact you associate yourself with Monckton.
This one is hardly a work of art. Basically just an attempt to generate an angry response via taunting. 3rd grade at most.
Anthony had pointed out that the poster has no courage and is hiding behind a false face. All true. The response is not to recognize that truth, nor to correct it, nor even to be embarrassed by it. No, the response is to cast an insult: “immature”. Now, an odd thing I’ve noticed. Folks tend to accuse others of what THEY are feeling or doing. So here we have someone who is behaving in a ‘tantrum’ sort of way. TRYING to pick a fight. TRYING to smear poo on a “congratulations card” to Anthony. Just who is being immature toward whom?
Then there is a badly worded attempt at a ‘twist/insult’. An attempt to “twist” their lack of courage of self into a failure of same on the other side. But the wording is so strained as to be hard to even read. Topping that, though, is that the “jab” is on the face of it farcical. That Anthony would not “stand up to the fact” that he associates with Monckton? Pardon, but didn’t Anthony just POST a Monckton posting on his site? Hardly running from the association. Heck, if asked, I’d suspect both chaps would state publicly they are rather happy to associate with each other.
There simply IS NO foundation for claiming lack of “courage” in an act that takes no courage at all. It is, in essence, an oxymoronic argument to make. I would stand by Lord Monckton in any field, at any time, with NO explanation of the need given to me whatsoever; simply because he is an honorable man. He can request my services in any capacity, and at any time. Period. Same thing for Anthony. Both honorable. Both honest. Both worthy. It takes no courage on MY part to say that. It just is. A simple fact of life. Some folks just deserve honorable allegiance. They earn it by their actions and words.
So how can you even make mention of “courage” in a context where honor is all that exists? Yes, I would be honored to be associated with either of them.
Right out the gate, the attempt at a goad or a smear just falls flat.
The only thing it can possibly be is an attempt to turn the thread from “Congratulations” to “defend Monckton”. Yet M’Lord needs no defending. Again the faulty reasoning turns sour…
So all we are left with are some negative words, flung with invective, with the faint odour of “poo” about them. Always very close to the name: major9985.
As there is no real semantic content to the sentences, just emotional loading and attempts to bait into a fight in furtherance of a thread hijack, IMHO, the best thing to do is just point out that it is a “Carping Comment” from someone still learning how to behave in polite company; and return to the festivities (upwind, if possible).
With that:
Thank you again, Anthony, for a great site and a well deserved recognition.
Thank you, M’Lord Monckton of Brenchley, for a great wit and sharp reasoning. Gentleman, scholar, and leader.
No argument from me. Well done Anthony!
Thanks for the eulogy, Brenchley old man. Give or take the occasional troll frothing at his mouth, I think most of us are looking forward to more of your engaging erudition over the course of Anthony’s next hundred million hits. In a world becoming daily more illiterate, your hyperliteracy shines the brighter.
And thanks for the education, Anthony. When all this is history, there really has to be an honorary doctorate somewhere for you for your dedication to good old unfashionable facts; you;ve more than earned one.
And mods, you are too kind … you really should have let “major” what’s-is-name publish his name and email. I’m sure lots of us would have enjoyed sending him links to WUWT articles … or writing little scripts to do so … 😀
Great to hear from you, Lord Monckton !
I am glad you survived the jump over Durban.
Noone could have persuaded me into jumping out of a plane, saved by someone elses packing-skills.
Very few individuals has done more for the sceptic camp than you, Lord Monckton.
I noticed a while back that you shifted your language? You sort of took the same arguments as the “warmers” use, and multiplied it by, say, 0.1, or something like that. Well, not quite the same, but you know what I mean.
I suspect you did that because you expected they might listen to you? 100% more than earlier?
Am I right?
I am sure you agree that at the moment it all comes down to Applied Physics. Which of the well known formulaes are correct to use when studying a certain real phenomenon. In my opinion that is the hardest part of physics.
One camp says it is all about radiation. The good old Arrhenius, back-radiation , and all that.
Another other camp says the athmosphere acts like an insulator against empty space, and heating is all due to a heat pump driven by gravitation and the sun.
And it goes on and on. It has been going on like this for quite a few years now. Since the eighties?
That is 30 years.
The scientific method urges for experiments. Nasif Nahle did one.
I think you should persuade some of the big organisations to repeat it, instead of using the “warmers argument” * 0.1.
What do you think? Lord Monckton persuades The British Meteorology Society to perform the ultimate backradiation experiment. (I am sure such a society exists).
The BBC to cover it. ( Just kidding. Ho ho! )
Jenn Oates says:
Yeah, well…I’ve read about this Moncktonly guy and not only does he not have any scientific or mathematical expertise, evidently he’s not a real “Lord,” whatever that is.
What you have been reading has been written by people who cannot refute his arguments and therefore resort to personal attacks instead. If you don’t know what a real lord is why do you claim that he is not one?
Monckton is certainly a real lord. However he cannot vote in the House of Lords because the laws regarding its membership were changed a few years ago. Nowadays most of the peers who are allowed to take part in the debates in the House of Lords are not people who have inherited titles. Instead they are people who have been given “life peerages” which cannot be inherited.
Some life peers deserve their titles; others are people who were given their titles by the government in power at the time because they can be relied on to do their party’s bidding. Therefore measures to “democratise” the House of Lords have, paradoxically, damaged its standing because the old lords tended to speak only on matters that they knew a lot about and they also tended to take an independent line regardless of any party allegiances they had. Many of the new ones are merely party hacks.
On the subject of Monckton’s scientific and mathematical expertise, although I studied mathematics for two years as a subsidiary subject as part of a chemistry degree, my knowledge of mathematics is not a patch on Monckton’s. Written qualifications do not make a person knowledgeable. Knowledge enables a person to gain qualifications but you can acquire expertise without studying for a qualification. If the idea of “lifelong education” has any meaning there must be lots of people who have acquired a fair measure expertise in various areas without gaining written qualifications after completing their formal education.
Congratulations to Anthony and his band of colleagues and helpers, and also to the many who have either directly contributed to or whose work has been reported on WUWT.
The uses of the Internet are still an evolving phenomena. WUWT, like many others hosted by keen students of climate issues is showing what a power for good that it can be in the right hands.
Onwards into history….
Congratulations, Anthony, for all your unpaid work.
What amazes me on this site – apart from the scientific discussions – is the courtesy and civility. So different to the circling-the-wagons mentality of The Team as exposed in their emails.
The Team come across as an incestuous group of scientists who, I think, must have been promoted too soon above their actual talents and abilities because they’d set their careers on fulfilling a government project: proving that the world needs to cut CO2 emmissions because of dangerous global warming.
That’s very bad science.
Their contempt for non-scientific people is extraordinary. They still think that people are incapable of thinking for themselves but are rather brainwashed by so-called shock jocks. They refuse to consider that many of us non-scientists, motivated by curiosity, try to understand the science of climate change and in doing so are amazed to discover that climate science is in its infancy! Mainly thanks to the WUWT team.
Don´t forget to inform Greenpeace its about views not dollars from Exxon.
Congratulations Anthony and family, moderators and posters.
Great job.
Well done Anthony and the WUWT team. We have a long way to go when we are populated by so many sheep/lemmings who can’t think outside of the box. It’s the effort you and your team put in that will surely turn the tide and win this war against tyranny.
Thanks WUWT !!
Anthony,
Congrats on your major acheivement. Calvin Coolidge must have had you in mind when he said…
“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race”
So I say thanks, and “press on”!
That being said, I do have a suggestion for a future post. Last week, I heard a quote on the radio from Stephen Hawking who stated that the real mystery of the universe is women. Perhaps you could explore that subject here. I’m sure the AGW debate will seem like childsplay in comparison to this new subject…
Who better than Lord Monckton to so eloquently heap such well deserved praise on Anthony and his merry band?
Oh, and if Lord Monckton isn’t a real Lord, why is he listed in DeBrett’s and Burke’s?
Shooting from the lip, are we? Had you read the second half of her very short post, you might have saved yourself the trouble:
How great it is that truth has such power.
We are blessed to have folks here who stand up for what they believe through a civil open debate, who graciously accept others and stand firm against the deceptive plan to enslave the ignorant with demonizing outrageous lies.
We are blessed and thank full for the enduring grace and high ground for which Anthony stands.
And thank you again Christoper for your incredible intellect you so cheerfully devote to exposing the lie.
Gary Krause
I guess that many, like me, just missed the 100,000,000 hit. Congratulations and best wishes to Anthony and the WUWT team.
Congratulations Anthony Watts and thanks to the many others that make this site informative, current, and accurate. I appreciate the efforts of the moderators and the commentators who keep the discussions respectful.
This is one of the most important policy issues to address. Trillions of dollars of tax payer dollars are at stake. The biofuel scam is one example of the consequence of policy based on propaganda and alarm-ism.
I would highly recommend Christopher Booker’s The Real Global Warming Disaster as an overview of this problem.
http://www.amazon.com/Real-Global-Warming-Disaster-Scientific/dp/1441110526
The Real Global Warming Disaster: Is the Obsession with “Climate Change” Turning Out to Be the Most Costly Scientific Blunder in History?
http://www.uiweb.uidaho.edu/bioenergy/NewsReleases/Biodiesel%20Energy%20Balance_v2a.pdf
“Vast amounts of agricultural land are being diverted from crops for human consumption to biofuel The immediate consequence of this is a dramatic increase in the cost of basic food such as a 140% increase in the price of corn. Due to limited amounts of agricultural land vast regions of virgin forest are being cut down for biofuel production. The problems associate with this practice will become acute as all major Western governments have mandate a percentage of biofuel.”
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-04-14/biofuel-production-a-crime-against-humanity/2403402
“Biofuels ‘crime against humanity’
Massive production of biofuels is “a crime against humanity” because of its impact on global food prices, a UN official has told German radio. “Producing biofuels today is a crime against humanity,” UN Special Rapporteur for the Right to Food Jean Ziegler told Bayerischer Runfunk radio. Many observers have warned that using arable land to produce crops for biofuels has reduced surfaces available to grow food. Mr Ziegler called on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to change its policies on agricultural subsidies and to stop supporting only programs aimed at debt reduction. He says agriculture should also be subsidised in regions where it ensures the survival of local populations. Meanwhile, in response to a call by the IMF and World Bank over the weekend to a food crisis that is stoking violence and political instability, German Foreign Minister Peer Steinbrueck gave his tacit backing.”
http://news.yahoo.com/prime-indonesian-jungle-cleared-palm-oil-065556710.html
“Prime Indonesian jungle to be cleared for palm oil
Their former hero recently gave a palm oil company a permit to develop land in one of the few places on earth where orangutans, tigers and bears still can be found living side-by-side — violating Indonesia’s new moratorium on concessions in primary forests and peatlands.”
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1725975,00.html
“The Clean Energy Scam
The U.S. quintupled its production of ethanol–ethyl alcohol, a fuel distilled from plant matter–in the past decade, and Washington has just mandated another fivefold increase in renewable fuels over the next decade. Europe has similarly aggressive biofuel mandates and subsidies, and Brazil’s filling stations no longer even offer plain gasoline. Worldwide investment in biofuels rose from $5 billion in 1995 to $38 billion in 2005 and is expected to top $100 billion by 2010, thanks to investors like Richard Branson and George Soros, GE and BP, Ford and Shell, Cargill and the Carlyle Group.”
“But several new studies show the biofuel boom is doing exactly the opposite of what its proponents intended: it’s dramatically accelerating global warming, imperiling the planet in the name of saving it. Corn ethanol, always environmentally suspect, turns out to be environmentally disastrous. Even cellulosic ethanol made from switchgrass, which has been promoted by eco-activists and eco-investors as well as by President Bush as the fuel of the future, looks less green than oil-derived gasoline.”
“Meanwhile, by diverting grain and oilseed crops from dinner plates to fuel tanks, biofuels are jacking up world food prices and endangering the hungry. The grain it takes to fill an SUV tank with ethanol could feed a person for a year. Harvests are being plucked to fuel our cars instead of ourselves. The U.N.’s World Food Program says it needs $500 million in additional funding and supplies, calling the rising costs for food nothing less than a global emergency. Soaring corn prices have sparked tortilla riots in Mexico City, and skyrocketing flour prices have destabilized Pakistan, which wasn’t exactly tranquil when flour was affordable.”
Congrats WUWT and Anthony!
As I said many times before:
More carbo0n disoxide is O(K~!
http://www.letterdash.com/HenryP/more-carbon-dioxide-is-ok-ok