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.
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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.