It’s like reverse McCarthyism. If you don’t believe in the AGW party line espoused by other “enlightened” actors, you don’t get to work. From the article:
…
A deal was allegedly worked out to pay him $300,000 for the commercials and to appear at a company event. “The only points still under discussion–but not in dispute–were what kind of tea and other snacks Ben Stein would have on the set,” the complaint states. “There were no outstanding deal points.”
…
Stein alleges he informed the ad agency and Kyocera that he was deeply concerned about the environment but he was not certain that global warming is a man-made phenomenon. “He also told [his agent] to inform defendants that as a matter of religious belief, he believed that God, and not man, controlled the weather,” the complaint states.
Days later, Kyocera allegedly withdrew its offer and hired an economics professor at the University of Maryland to appear in the commercials and, “in an astonishingly brazen misappropriation of Ben Stein’s persona, dressed him up as Stein often appeared in commercials (bow tie, glasses, sports jacket).”
==============================================================
Taken further, I can just imagine Ed Begley Jr. and Henry Waxman on the dais asking people like Ben Stein a rephrase of the famous McCarthy question: “Are you now or have you ever been a denier?”
I know this, I’ll never buy another Kyocera product ever again.
Apparently, fantasy disaster movie director Al Gore is teaming up with the Governator to do a remake of Arnie’s famous Mars based sci fi thriller ‘Total Recall’.
I hear the new version is to be called ‘Total Bullsh1t’
I am known by my nickname Hollywood,and I assure you I have no actors on my blacklist!
I do have many of them on my Naive,un-informed,and just plain STUPID list,but NOT a Blackist.
Interesting in light of Kyocera’s own statement that “….emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) — a suspected contributor to climate change..”
http://global.kyocera.com/company/csr/environment/index.html
Seems to me Ben and Kyocera are in perfect agreement…. CO2 is “suspected”, and nothing more.
This is all part of the process of intimidation that results in an appearance of greater “consensus” by suppressing dissent through the fear of one losing their job. We have seen it time after time. It must stop.
I hope he wins the lawsuit. It should have been for much more.
I’m not in faver of the litigation environment that has evolved in the US but that is a very big part of what has gotten us in the shape we are in now. Play the cards the other way for a long while and then stop all the b*llsh*t.
Let the pendulem swing wide before it stops.
as Kyocera manufacture solar panels I’m sure his views would conflict with their government subsidies.
Reblogged this on 54°40′ Or Fight!.
Thanks for the link. A quick perusal finds that this company is way out there on it’s ‘green’ agenda. No wonder.
Ben has always been an advocate for free speech in science and I hope he wins. Despite the fact I believe in Darwinian evolution and didn’t agree with parts of his movie “Expelled – No Intelligence Allowed”, I recommend it to all. It was thought provoking and exposed yet another example of scientific intolerance toward those who would suggest that the consensus may not be completely correct:
I recall a econometrician posting an article here on wuwt that pretty well attributed increase CO2 and increase temperature as a coincidence rather that causal, analogy to a staggering drunk and a meandering puppy and trying to decide if the puppy was following the drunk or not,
cointegration in bivariate time series I believe was the name of the principal; could it be that Economists have become skeptical of over-tortured data and computer models in conflict with reality due to their professional training?
Why should ANY BODY be surprised by this?
Ask James Cagney his opinion.
“Causation always equals correlation, ‘cept when it don’t”…I think…
I am now a Kyocera DENIER
A Kyodenio?
May be this is why Michael Crichton’s “State of Fear” has not made it to the big screen: Begley – alias ‘Bradley’ – , of course, gets eaten…
Days later, Kyocera allegedly withdrew its offer and hired an economics professor at the University of Maryland to appear in the commercials and, “in an astonishingly brazen misappropriation of Ben Stein’s persona, dressed him up as Stein often appeared in commercials (bow tie, glasses, sports jacket).”
———————————————————
Didn’t Jerry Lewis pioneer this look in the original Mad Professor?
I won’t be buying any Kyocera products OR watching Ben Stein either. Not until he apologizes to Jerry and admits he’s not as funny. And why would you even mention God beliefs in advance to a potential client? Unless you were Tom Cruise or Donny Osmond.
It is the disease out there. George Lucas just noted that the studios won’t promote Red Tails, which I am dying to see, because it is not green and too black. It is George “Money rains on me” Lucas doing the Tuskeegee Airmen for Pete’s sake. And he funded it.
Louis Hooffstetter says:
January 12, 2012 at 2:47 pm
Ben has always been an advocate for free speech in science and I hope he wins.
==============================================================
This isn’t about free speech. It is no more correct to compel Kyocera to hire someone they disagree with than it is to compel us to agree with the warmista. I’m certain if Ben thought about this for more than just a second, he’d understand what he’s doing is the antithesis to freedom. He doesn’t have a right to work for Kyocera or anyone else.
I’m a beer drinker, should I have a right to be a spokesperson for the Betty Ford clinic?
I wish Ben wins!
Somewhat off topic except in that this story seems to be on a “blacklist” with the “Lamestream Media” in spite of having EPIC SAGA written all over it .
The tanker “Renda” and the icebreaker “Healy” in a daring rescue mission , battling through the ice to deliver fuel to the city of Nome , Alaska . Apparently severe snow storms stopped the usual supplies of fuel from getting through before they became locked in for mid-winter and no heating at this time of the year means death in that part of the world .
http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/renda-update-late-night-surge-forward
http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/shipposition.phtml?call=NEPP
Maybe it`s just Me but I`d rather watch updates on something like this on the news than more “Hippies bothering whalers” crap .
reuters
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/01/12/newly-discovered-molecule-criegee-biradical-may-have-cooling-effect-on-earth/
@ James, except of course when you are denied work on the basis of your religious belief that god controls the weather (Which seems to me a little closer to the truth than man does). IE we are at the mercy of the weather rather than the weather is at the mercy of man – somehow I don’t see mother Nature calling “Uncle” anytime soon!
Here is Kyocera’s feedback page:
https://www3.kyocera.co.jp/form/app/input?region=gl&frmid=others
Is my feedback over the top enough? I figure its best to put a good scare into them. Feel free to cut and paste:
Bobl says:
January 12, 2012 at 3:40 pm
@ James, except of course when you are denied work on the basis of your religious belief that god controls the weather (Which seems to me a little closer to the truth than man does).
==================================================
I agree with the posit that God controls the weather. But, again, I ask, as a drinker, should I be able to compel the Betty Ford clinic to hire me as a spokesperson? Or perhaps as another recent court case argued, should I be able to compel a church to hire me if I’m my religious beliefs are conflict with the church I wish to be hired by?
You don’t gain rights by taking rights from others. We all lose rights when this occurs.
Well, I assume he is suing based on a breach of contract or stealing his persona to sell a product.
He certainly doesn’t have a case if he wasn’t hire for his beliefs. Or rather, he shouldn’t have a case. Nobody should be forced to hire anyone if they decide they don’t want to and I’m not forced to buy their products either.
“Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.”
Napoleon Bonaparte
he should get on the Greenlist…
11 Jan: Washington Times: Jim McElhatton: Bankrupt Solyndra seeking to pay bonuses
Court’s OK sought for ‘incentive plan’
Now seems an unlikely time for handing out bonuses at bankrupt Solyndra LLC, but that’s the plan of company attorneys intending to dole out up to a half-million dollars to persuade key employees to stay put.
Nearly two dozen Solyndra employees could receive bonuses ranging from $10,000 to $50,000.
The attorneys say the extra money will add motivation at a time when workers at the solar company have little job security and more responsibilities because so many of their colleagues have been fired…
The biggest bonus, for $50,000, would go to a Solyndra employee whose job title is listed as a senior director with a base salary of $206,499 per year. Two senior managers stand to receive bonuses of $30,000 and $32,500.
Bankruptcy attorneys said the so-called “key employee incentive plan” aims to keep important personnel from leaving the company…
http://p.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jan/11/bankrupt-solyndra-seeking-to-pay-bonuses/
12 Jan: Guardian: Suzanne Goldenberg: Green energy investment soars to $260bnNew data shows worldwide funding of green energy projects rose by 5% last year
Global investment in clean energy reached a new high of $260bn (£169bn) last year – despite the financial crisis and the anti-environment agenda of Republicans in the US Congress, a United Nations investors’ summit was told on Thursday…
And while the US domestic political scene was riven by the furore over a $535m government loan to the now bankrupt solar-panel manufacturer Solyndra, there was apparently little immediate direct fallout for industry…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jan/12/green-energy-investment-increases
pat says:
January 12, 2012 at 4:27 pm
“Now seems an unlikely time for handing out bonuses at bankrupt Solyndra LLC, but that’s the plan of company attorneys intending to dole out up to a half-million dollars to persuade key employees to stay put.”
==============
In case this type of thing might surprise anyone, it sounds like SOP in Chicago politics.
George says:
January 12, 2012 at 3:12 pm
“It is the disease out there. George Lucas just noted that the studios won’t promote Red Tails, which I am dying to see, because it is not green and too black. It is George “Money rains on me” Lucas doing the Tuskeegee Airmen for Pete’s sake. And he funded it.”
_____________________________
One grows accustomed to the hypocrisy of ‘the left’ and comes to expect it.
@tallbloke
Total Recall the remake has been in production for a while and stars Colin Farrell and filmed in Toronto.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1386703/
Boycotting Kyocera is a waist of time. Most of the things they manufacture, they don’t sell directly to the public. You will never know if you are buying their crap or not. They are a Japanese monster and have been for years.
JC
In the UK it has been happening for a while. A popular naturalist, David Bellamy, did many programs for television, but has suffered for his skeptical views. From an article of his :
“I’m sceptical about man-made climate change. There’s absolutely no proof that carbon dioxide will kill us all. It’s not a poison, it’s the most important gas in the world. Carbon dioxide is an airborne fertiliser. How can farmers grow increasing amounts of food without a rise in CO2? I used to be very popular but most of the green people won’t even speak to me any more. When I was sacked from the Wildlife Trusts because of my views they didn’t tell me, I read about it in the paper. ”
Similarly an actor/presenter, Johnny Ball, has had his career affected because of his skepticism :
“In the past decade or so I’ve been mocked, vilified, besmirched — I’ve even been booed off a theatre stage — simply for expressing the view that the case for global warming and climate change, and in particular the emphasis on the damage caused by carbon dioxide, the so-called greenhouse gas that is going to do for us all, has been massively over-stated. For daring to take this contrarian view, I’ve lost bookings, had talks cancelled and been the subject of a sinister internet campaign against me that only came to an end following the intervention of the police. Britain seems to have become a remarkably intolerant place, a place where healthy debate seems to be stifled rather than encouraged.”
I am sure there are others.
Now that Ben’s lawyers have bellied up to the bar, perhaps they will draft a brief for conservatives whose belief in evolution and textbook climate science has made them persona non grata at The Discovery Institute and The Heritage Foundation ?
Kyocera Mita was a sponsor of the gore-filled 10:10 snuff video where children were blown up for their lack of belief in AGW. Ben Stein should consider himself lucky.
The final argument of global warming has come to this:
Did not!
Did too!
Did not!
Did too!
A phrase from the Kyocera creed: “the natural goodness of man.” For those of us who know the doctrine of original sin and all that has followed therefrom, that phrase is laughable. I’ll bet the Kyocera executives (and even mere employees) lock their cars and houses. Why? They know, deep down, that the natural inclination of man is to lie, cheat, and steal, and that these precautions are necessary. Except for our sinful nature, they would not be necessary.
Go get ’em, Ben!
Dr. John M. Ware says:
“A phrase from the Kyocera creed: ‘the natural goodness of man.’ ”
A phrase from Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince: “Men are bad unless compelled to be good.”
Who’s right?
anticlimactic says:
January 12, 2012 at 5:28 pm
In the UK it has been happening for a while. ….
Similarly an actor/presenter, Johnny Ball, has had his career affected because of his skepticism :
“In the past decade or so I’ve been mocked, vilified, besmirched — I’ve even been booed off a theatre stage — simply for expressing the view that the case for global warming and climate change, and in particular the emphasis on the damage caused by carbon dioxide, the so-called greenhouse gas that is going to do for us all, has been massively over-stated. For daring to take this contrarian view, I’ve lost bookings, had talks cancelled and been the subject of a sinister internet campaign against me that only came to an end following the intervention of the police. Britain seems to have become a remarkably intolerant place, a place where healthy debate seems to be stifled rather than encouraged.”
=======================
Jimmy Ball used to do childrens’ science programmes, and was very popular. What was truly astonishing about the episode in his life when he was booed off stage is that his talk was given at a gathering of Atheists, priding themselves on being scientifically minded, i.e. open and inquiring and defending the right of scientists to be such…
http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/article/7841/
I was disappointed to find Dara O’Briain among the vociferous against him. Seems Dara and his Atheist scientist chums have their own God of Global Warming to defend against scientific inquiry and they don’t like it one little bit when science shows Him non-existant..
The man is an opportunist like the others looking to make a buck. I would gladly post a link to a larry king interview but will leave you with this instead…
http://www.liberation.fr/depeches/01012382716-fraude-a-la-tva-sur-le-marche-carbone-la-justice-prononce-de-lourdes-peines
THANK YOU! For such a timely story. I might be getting ready to open up a new shop if things work out well. Guess Kyocera might have missed out on a couple of copiers and a blueprint size printer.
I agree with Ben Stein on a lot of things, but someone choosing to not do business with you is something different than blacklisting. His suit is misguided and will hurt him in his career.
Also just a another example of why the hucksters who have been leading the AGW racket cannot be allowed to slink off without being held accountable. Not just for the general looting of public funds to perpetuate the scam and feather their own nests but for specific incidences like this where real people suffered real damage for no other reason than maintaining a healthy skeptisism of scientific theory.
Smokey says:
January 12, 2012 at 6:44 pm
Dr. John M. Ware says:
“A phrase from the Kyocera creed: ‘the natural goodness of man.’ ”
A phrase from Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince: “Men are bad unless compelled to be good.”
Who’s right?
==============================
Both. Machiavelli was correct. But the compelling was the requirement from God. In other words, without God, man is evil. With the compelling argument from God, man turns to good.
Good isn’t good for the sake of itself. Good is the sum of Wisdom and Knowledge appropriately applied. For example, there is reason why God said, “Thou shalt not kill.” If you were to run down the rest of the commandments, you would see reason…… but only if your reason was to be equal to God’s.
Last I knew, (dis)belief in CAGW wasn’t a protected class. I deal with this in my work (where my contract wouldn’t be renewed if they knew I was a lukewarmer) by simply avoiding the discussion and my personal beliefs to anyone there. In general, I like Stein, but I disagree with him here.
-Scott
Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1l9jucj2kY, and http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ for a few more data points on the blacklisting.
I think it varies. Both with definition and circumstances. Some are born with the frontal lobes switched off, others attain amorality or immorality. In the normal course of things, we’re biologically equipped and prepped to appreciate enlightened self-interest and group consensus. Neither is enough at all times, so there’s no black/white answer to your question.
Paul says:
January 12, 2012 at 2:54 pm
“cointegration in bivariate time series I believe was the name of the principal; could it be that Economists have become skeptical of over-tortured data and computer models in conflict with reality due to their professional training?”
No; it was the application of a standard econometric test for possible causality, Granger-causality to be specific. The result of the test was “CO2 concentrations cannot Granger-cause the temperature rise.” They use this kind of test all the time in econometrics because often they have correlating variables but not necessarily causation. And Granger got an economics Nobel for the invention of the test if I recall correctly.
clipe says:
January 12, 2012 at 3:30 pm
”
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/01/12/newly-discovered-molecule-criegee-biradical-may-have-cooling-effect-on-earth/
”
Cool – plants making their own clouds! Schmidt! We need to rewrite the climate model! (Oh no. Not again.)
[snip. I used to defend you, until you turned into a nasty old man. ~dbs, mod.]
If you watch CNN–just to see some news clips–from the United Kingdom, you are subjected every minute or so to an incredibly self-righteous and quasi-parodic spiel from Kyocera about how their employees want to be ‘number one in loving the earth’ or such. I’m normally an equable sort of a person but could happily punch the screen when subjected to the ad in the plural. Mr Stein should consider himself lucky to have escaped the association with these Japanese nutters.
Stein deserves to lose and lose big if discrimination due to personal beliefs about global warming is his only complaint. Koyocera has every right in the world to not hire Stein for any reason not explicitely proscribed by applicable law just as Anthony has every right to not buy Koyocera products because of their decision. That’s the way free markets work.
Being as he thinks a god controls the weather, couldn’t it just be that the company were terrified he’d come out with something equally as stupid from time to time, and therefore make the company’s image look bad? Imagine you own a business and decide to use some celeb to promote your product. Then imagine that the celeb blurts out that little fairies live at the bottom of his garden. Would you want to proceed and use the celeb? No, thought not.
Joules Verne,
Your comparison between contract law and Anthony’s right to buy the products he likes does not apply here. The free market is based in large part on contracts. IANAL [lawyer], but if an agreement was reached and Kyocera then welched, that appears to be a tort. I’m not into predicting outcomes, but if you personally had bypassed other opportunities in order to negotiate an employment contract, and the employer that originally approached you with an offer then reneged, you might see this case differently.
At least in McCarthy’s case, there actually WERE communists in the government.
Unless the contract was actually signed and there was no enforceable escape clause, Ben Stein shouldn’t have much of a case. Could be something binding in the verbal agreements, but that would be tough to prove. Maybe Buehler can help. If Ben can find him.
Hello, Hollywood! Anybody home upstairs?
Anybody… anybody…?
Talking about suing for past wrongs, here’s someone else who’s suing after years and years of being blackened – a far greater wrong, on a personal level, than was done to Ben Stein or even – God bless them – to Willie Soon and Sallie Baliunas.
Dr Andrew Wakefield is finally suing the British Medical Journal and a nasty piece of work called Brian Deer, a journalist who lied about Dr Wakefield wrt the MMR vaccine / autism link.
I’ve followed some of this because I myself am (just) on the autistic spectrum, so I did a lot of research to find the truth there, just as with Climate Science. There appears to be a strong link between autism and vaccination but the evidence I sifted suggests the culprit is the mercury preservative they used to use in vaccines. In fact that’s quite possibly what triggered my own Asperger Syndrome many years ago.
@Lucy Skywalker
All great points!
“Causation always equals correlation, ‘cept when it don’t”
I think your personal anecdote shows jst how deeply you look into…personal situations…think about that for a moment….ok,
What I am getting at is this; if “the situation” directly impact your life…you are much less likely to get “snookered” by some ‘Silly Goose’ like Algore or get tricked by some quirk in ‘Nature’…if you catch my drift, lol…
I have dealt with a few “personal anecdotes” my selfs…but no…not multiple personality disorder…actual one is ADHD…and my phone just rang…(ty Ms. Smythe…grrr)…
What I am getting at…’weather’ it is the ‘whether’ or the elks, the bulls,its and ‘harem of cows…running from the wolves, or its my add or your issues. We notice things that impact our lives…like the Dino knew what killed him off right? A big impact…it took Mann millions of years to figure it out…I think…
I hope someone enjoyed reading this…as much fun as I had trying to rite it…its an AdHd thing…It takes intense focus to wright weird…its either this or scream…sometime…ok,
If you are still reading…let me ‘splain. Ms Smythe, was panicing cause the STORM of the YEAR !@!@ is coming two Seattle…Whoops…caplock issues…2012…Snomeggedon…is about hit our region ….
http://www.king5.com/news/local/Puget-Sound-braces-for-snow-this-weekend-137274828.html
I began bracing for winter last summer…so I aint worried…I reminded her…because of being without power for two week last winter…WE are better prepared this year…One generator is in the garage…we need to get fresh gas however…but I know exactly where 2 empty red clean gas cans are…
My dad taught me to be prepared…but we never did boy scout stuff…but he showed me a really cool meteor shower in August of 1980 from 10,000 up at Camp Muir…way more stars when the air is thin…
You learn to observe tiny details all around…like the fact that right now…30 miles away from Seattle…I look outside…see sun, calm…bearly a wisp of air…I have time…before ‘Danger Jim Forman’…in his little Yellow (city)Slicker…oops snow…Yellow ‘Flaming’ Down Parka…atop Queen Anne Hill in Seattle and does play by play of all the SUV’s playing bumper cars with all the Hybrids!…I am sure you can find coverage via that link above. Oh…and just to be clear…the ‘flaming’ parka …I assume a Bad Karma might fly bye…on the Hood of some pimped out Government Motors Escalade…or something.
Accuweather says…right now…….AIR STAGNATION ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT PST TONIGHT …
http://m.accuweather.com/en/us/seattle-wa/98104/weather-forecast/351409
Sure am glad I have me an Interweb so I can ask the government Watt’s happening outside…Thanks Al Gore…time to run, lunch break over…
Andrew
(have fun with this one mods, lol)
Lucy, I think the causes of Autism are as varied as the cause of runny noses.
I have read about the mercury preservative link and it doesn’t seem “strong”.
I have three autistic children, one had the vaccines with the preservative, the other two did not. I don’t offer that as proof but it does point to a genetic link.
No, it doesn’t. The discussion of man in a state of nature is as old as speech. The basis of all governments and all civilizations throughout time springs from the answer to this question. By far the most successful governments and civilizations have answered this question the same way Machiavelli did. The answer to this question explains why the Utopian ideal is unattainable.
Anyway, glad to have this brought to my attention. I have a Kyocera phone. I won’t have one on Monday.
if it were a ‘dog eat dog’ world, there’d be nothing but skinny cannibal dogs.
man evolved a brain for reasoning, not big claws or teeth.
what you have is tribes.
even chimps kill other tribes of chimps.
from this evolved specialized soldiers and a monopoly on force (government) and the glorification of sacrifice (altruism)
they look just like h. sapiens and can interbreed with them but their nature is to consume only – they never produce- which means their survival depends on taking from others. but a parasite that kills its host also dies, hence laws and regulations.
if one were to get all dawkiesque, one could define various subspecies of h. sapiens according to their beliefs – enculturation (sometimes also called philosophy) can effective prevent actual interbreeding (intellectual separation can be as effective as geography).
the prosperity of one of the subspecies allowed it to host a load that has increased in population to the extent that the host is in decline.
the parasitic species had evolved a method to consume its prey without violence – a form of animal husbandry where they raise a population of their consumable suspecies which have been specially memetically modified for the purpose. the cliche used in training a novitiate is ‘all they can do is say no’ (but the fact is that the breed does not know how to say no. they do whine when they suffer, though, and that behavior will simply be bred out of the philosophy.)
heh- it’s impossible for a logical case to be made that anybody is a victim when that ‘victim’ subspecies negotiates the terms with the parasite, ain’t it? if nobody refuses and none of them actually have a real gun in their faces or some thugs on the doorstep – if they can’t show a clear and present danger – how can they call it predation? they would have to actually refuse to even find out if their fears were valid – but they don’t breed their own offspring (teach – keeping with the dawkinsy stuff). they turn over their progeny to the parasite subspecies for training and memetic modification. that’s how domesticated this subspecies is.
and so – it is very easy to make a perfectly logical case that it ain’t rape if it’s negotiated and that the whingy ‘victim’ asked for it, paid for it, got it – and that is exactly as it is and ever shall be.
data proves that both agree on this.
Surprise, surprise (not).
http://www.kyocerasolar.com
there have been brief periods in human history when the population of the reasoning subspecies dominated the forum. they get the name ‘renaissance’. check the etymology. consider the implications.
these periods are maintained, usually, for but a single generation. the reason for this is because they fail to infect their progeny with the explicit philosophy that permitted their success. they lose the ability to define values objectively. they become so unhinged that the concept of refusal, which requires a minimal level of self confidence in one’s ability to reason that only grows from evidence which is only produced by rehearsal of it, is too much of an absolute to be incorporated into the memenome. the notion of an absolute is an antigen and can even bring about anaphilosophic shock.
when there are too few minds remaining in a culture that are able to explicitly define ‘good’ and ‘evil’ in a single sentence at age 4, the culture faces decline. when the prey can no longer say why he isn’t prey by nature – then he becomes that because the distinguishing characteristic of h. sapiens is that he must, by nature, define his own nature – or, better said, a man’s owner has the sole responsibility and sole ability to define the nature of the owned.
and everybody wants to belong – but not to himself…lol
that’s why i love the westboro gang – they are a lot smarter than most of the population in recognizing that things are what they are and there ain’t no shouldawouldacoulda. they provoke outrage because they cruelly taunt ‘sheep’ for being ‘sheep’ and wailing that they shouldn’t be what they are. they don’t loathe themselves and they are able to explicitly damn the self loathers who believe in and support and pay for and suffer the consequences of their self loathing – then go on to howl that they shouldn’t be what they worked so damn hard to be.
once you lose the ability to judge – you lose what made you a reasoning creature by definition.
when you fear to judge because judgement itself is a shibboleth, nature will judge you and that’s when we leave dawkins and go attend your darwin award ceremony.
I have basically no sympathy for a gentleman who thinks God controls the weather. We should also consider taking his PhD away from him.
Kyocera has every right to say no to someone that agrees or disagrees with Global Warming. It is or should be the right of every private party or person to hire or deny hire someone based on political colors. The author of this piece forgot the difference between a public institution and a private part.
It is like someone protesting that Wattsupwiththat wouldn’t let them write global warming.
Smokey says:
January 12, 2012 at 6:44 pm
Dr. John M. Ware says:
“A phrase from the Kyocera creed: ‘the natural goodness of man.’ ”
A phrase from Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince: “Men are bad unless compelled to be good.”
Who’s right?
—————————————————————————-
The real question is who compells the compeller, or perhaps my favorite scene and quote from “Gentlemen prefer Blondes” Nobody Chaperones the chaperone, thats why I am so right for this job. http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CCkQtwIwAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DdaylV6FVCiE&ei=kqgQT5fkNcakiQKRqYTtDQ&usg=AFQjCNF6kdM2cezb-tAfKhUHANNDG_ApuA&sig2=vIgJOxRV-udQAY6cXha8TA
More seriousely, (although actualy both points are very serious) humans have a good side and a bad side, and free choice, so we are both and a blend of both.
Scott Covert says: January 13, 2012 at 11:00 am
Lucy, I think the causes of Autism are as varied as the cause of runny noses.
Agreed. Certainly heredity is a big factor. And my, you have a handful. I wish you well.
But there is a factor with the vaccine: strong correlation. One way to see this is that it takes that extra straw to break the camel’s back. But my real beef here is the injustice dealt to Dr Wakefield – as well as the roadblock in the way of research down this line.
Scott Covert
Meant to add, I now swear by the gf-cf diet, it pretty well returns me to “normal” plus it did well in closely-monitored tests, so long as it’s followed 100% not 99%. Naturally I want to encourage all on the spectrum with this.
Andrew
Thanks for your stream-of-consciousness input. Don’t know if gf-cf works for ADHD, it might, certainly it’s a spiritual challenge and for many AFAIK, wake-up call. All the best.
Part of Stein’s case involves the claim that the chap Kyocera hired instead “appropriated his image”. Nothing could be further from the truth. Not only has Morici been wearing glasses, bow ties and sports jackets for years (evidence: http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/news/stories/2008/morici-testimony.aspx) but unlike Stein, he actually IS an economics professor, as portrayed in the commercials.
Stein-0, Truth-1
You’re referring to Peter Morici, Prof. of Economics at U. of Maryland. Morici testifies pretty frequently in Congress and mostly says sensible things–as does Ben Stein. Morici regulary wears a bowtie, and cuts a fairly idiosyncratic figure. I doubt his is an AGW proponent, and I would guess he’s cheaper than Stein.
Kyocera has every right to say no to someone that agrees or disagrees with Global Warming. It is or should be the right of every private party or person to hire or deny hire someone based on political colors.
Do they also then have the right to copy his persona and appearance? Maybe, in the end, it had less to do with his views than the fact that they wanted to save money. Aren’t there any passing off laws in America? If they wanted to drop him for his views they should not then have copied him. Dishonest from every point of view.
Steven Kopits: Although he has opposed measures like Kyoto for merely encouraging the relocation of “dirty” industries to developing countries (where they’d be exempt), from what I’ve read Morici seems to accept that human activity is influencing climate change.
However my point was about the spurious allegation of image appropriation. As you mentioned , does cut an idiosyncratic figure–the elements of which (bow tie, glasses, sports jacket) are identical to those Stein which seems to believe belong to him and him alone.
Please pardon the editing errors in my previous post. I also meant to add that, while Morici has written very little on climate issues (and solely from an economic perspective), his bête noire has long been America’s trade deficit with Japan (and others). Ironic that he will now be shilling for a Japanese multinational..
If Stein’s image were still based on Ferris Bueller and “Win Ben Stein’s Money”, he’d still be a desirable spokesman.
Stein had discredited himself with “Expelled”, his virulent creationism, and embarrassing pollyannic nonsense he passes off as informed investment and economics commentary (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x01rhPtMLQ for example).
Did Kyocera chose someone else as a spokesman because Stein is too expensive or because they didn’t want him tainting their image? I hope it’s the latter.
> It’s like reverse McCarthyism.
Actually it’s like the (so-called) free market. Right? Don’t you all espouse that — that owners of capital should be free to hire who they want to, and fire who they want to, for whatever reason?
Isn’t this exactly what you all want?
REPLY: Oh please. Apparently you have a reading comprehension disorder. He WAS hired, contract worked out, deal cut. THEN he was fired when they discovered he didn’t know for sure if AGW was a problem. It isn’t any different than what happened in Hollywood. People were blacklisted from working for their beliefs and associations. – Anthony
Anthony is exactly right. This is a contract dispute, not a free market issue per se. If Stein can prove Kyocera reneged on their agreement, he will win. If there is insufficient evidence, he’ll probably lose. But it seems pretty clear that Ben Stein is being blacklisted because of his views.
Will someone ask god why he kills little babies with tornadoes and hurricanes, but leaves people like Al Gore untouched?
Lucy,
Having done both significant college research related to thimerosal (the mercury component in vaccines) and autism, I can tell you that there is no link, biologically, that any has suggested as an accurate pathway for it to cause any damage. As an organically bound mercury compound it’s easily metabolised and excreted by the body (as opposed to inorganic salt mercury) and it’s actually one of the easiest to metabolise as it turns into ethylmercury instead of methylmercury in the body. That being said, studies being done now looking back at current adults are finding that an approximate 1% of the population has had autism as far back as we have living members of society to study, it was just never diagnosed anywhere near as readily, or for such a large spectrum of people as before. The landmark study proving vaccinations cause autism was retracted by the journal that had printed it when it was found that the lead author (Wakefield) had produced a fundamentally flawed study. Realistic studies have found no link between vaccines and autism or thimerosal and autism. I know people like to find reasons to explain things like this, but science is proving over and over, in much better controlled studies without the kind of sampling errors that Dr. Wakefield had, that this is not a cause for autism. Just a correlation between increasing vaccine use and increasingly effective and comprehensive diagnosing of autism in the community.
While it is easy to laugh at msm censorship,academia is worst. A hint of climate disloyalty will destroy one’s career faster than mentioning reverse discrimination.Sadly,so many young conservatives suffer damaged careers without realizing why.
It is the disease out there. George Lucas just noted that the studios won’t promote Red Tails, which I am dying to see, because it is not green and too black. It is George “Money rains on me” Lucas doing the Tuskeegee Airmen for Pete’s sake. And he funded it.”
You really want to waste money on that terrible looking film? Almost anything that comes out at the first of the year stinks.
Give me more of Terrence Malick, The Coens and Paul Thomas Anderson. I want more Days of Heaven, Deliverance, No Country for Old Men, Fargo, Bonnie and Clyde, The Hustler etc….
Sick of crap like Top Gun and Red Tails myself.
There are no laws preventing a firm from dismissing you if your religious observation damages their business or makes you unable to complete primary duties of your position.
In media, sometimes positively and sometimes negatively your image is important – if your image is negative, that would also be a breech of contract. Sometimes this may not be appropriate, such as if your actions don’t actually damage the business and are completely legal; I’d support laws which made sure that people could color their hair blue and not get fired, or volunteered for political campaigns or whatnot.
But if you’re selling your name and voice and you’re actively campaigning against the facts your employer wants to project? It’s going to be tough to say that’s discrimination.
McCarthy was very wrong in one thing: the number of Stalin’s agents in America were much greater than he thought. We should read the book of Stanton Evans, Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy, and understand better how the Left have been very successful in mold our visions of the world in neurotics ways by, for instance, using terms like McCarthyism that more hides than reveals the reality. And who is against the good and in favor of the bad?
Even this warming skeptic wouldn’t hire someone like Stein with his dishonest attack on evolutionary science. He’s a religious kook and I wouldn’t want to work with him.
novareason, thanks for your considered reply. I appreciate the work you’ve done.
I don’t think this is the place to take matters further – but your statements are at odds with the research I’ve done, both regarding thiomersal (UK spelling) and Dr Andrew Wakefield.
As I do in cases like this, I shall try to make time to dig deep again – but no further comments unless the topic arises naturally in another thread.
Why would an advanced technology company want to be associated with a controversial misinformer on scientific issues, such as creationism and climate change denial? They have the right to hire whomever they choose, just as Anthony Watts has the right to choose not to buy their products. His attention-seeking lawsuit will almost certainly fail.