I was surprised to see this essay and poll on the Daily Kos tonight.
Don Mikulecky writes:
Michael Mann is a Modern Hero and we need to acknowledge that!
I have been both a scientist and a political activist for most of my 76 years. But the situation regarding Michael Mann is very different. I just finished a very moving experience reading The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars: Dispatches from the Front Lines and I have lots more to say than I can fit in a single diary. So I will devote this diary to trying to convince you that this Mann is a hero. There are too few heroes among the scientific community because of the nature of what we do.
Michael Mann was not someone who chose his role. Military persons can anticipate the possibility of being in situations where acts of heroism are called for. Scientists are certainly not in the same situation. Or at least, they have not been for a long time. Galileo comes to mind and it was the Church then that made his life one of great sacrifice. In these times the situation has deteriorated so rapidly that few of us have had a chance to evaluate the impact of what is going on. Science is a threat to the dark forces that are moving to control us all. People like Carl Sagan and Stephen jay Gould were out there early on fighting against these dark forces. They did a lot for us. Rachael Carlson and many others were on the front lines.
Yet the situation with Professor Mann is something beyond all that. He has become a symbol for what our future is all about and he did not chose his role. No sane person would have. Read on below and I will try to paint a broad picture of how much is at stake and give you a perspective on how this one Mann has focused on the threat to all of us.
…
The full essay is here:
And, there is a poll at the end which has some surprising choices.
Update 3/14: One of the comments there is by somebody who posts here regularly, John Sully. He writes:
Anthony Watts posted about this over at his site and told the trolls to come and freep the poll. This is why year after year his site gets voted “Best Science Blog” or whatever.
Mr. Sully please point out exactly where in the 35 words I wrote (the rest are from Kos) in this essay I have “…told the trolls to come and freep the poll.” Otherwise sir, you are a liar. – Anthony
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Fire him? No, let Penn State carry him.
Lord knows we don’t need him out here burdening the real world.
It is obvious to me that the article is pure sarcasm. It is the only explanation that makes any sense at all.
“Somehow, I don’t think that’s the result they were expecting.”
That is the short summary of all of their efforts.
I would like to know what the counts were on that “poll” when this article went up, and what the plot of “visits here” vs “‘voted’ there” looks like.
http://blogs.dailymail.com/donsurber/archives/52724
Most polar ice ever recorded, but hey, Al Gore Says the Polar Ice Cap Will Be Gone In 823 days, while NASA says the Arctic Sea Ice will be almost gone in just 191 days.
Isn’t science and scientific modeling amazing?
Poll appears to be closed with:
2/0/4/15 in the pro Mann options and
479/149 in the anti-Mann options
It looks like we have a consensus (95% by their reckoning) so can we hope to see the out of work, ex-‘scientist’ in front of a judge soon?
Poll must be hosted out of Chicago since you can vote early and often.
I risked breaking out in allergic hives by visiting the “dailykoz” site and voted for Mann to be dismissed from the university
Oh my I don’t expect this poll to remain long. Right now.
did not choose to be hero – 3
attacked – 0
outstanding scientist – 4
all of the above – 15
distorting evidence – 533 – 73%
be fired – 166 – 23%
I can’t believe the pole is still up not with 96% disapproval of Mann.
Michael Mann
did not choose to became a symbol
0% 2 votes
has been attacked in many of the same ways that the President and John Kerry were
0% 0 votes
Is an outstanding scientist and human being
0% 4 votes
all of the above
2% 15 votes
is distorting evidence to prove his point
73% 480 votes
should be fired from the university
23% 151 votes
It is interesting to me that in the two hours that I have been watching this, the “for” ‘voted’ have not changed more than a few (I’ll say–I think “any” is correct) ‘votes’.
Not closed–ticked up 25 ‘votes since I last posted — I hear you can’t use IE to link from here to there.
Let it be known that WUWT provides an opportunity for all sides to present their views. Even if we don’t agree, we listen politely. Somrthing others don’t do.
a consensus has been reached
Odd…for a socialist democrat who apparently sees right wing conspiracy at every turn (as evidenced by the president/kerry question) to not have big backing at Kos, the home of socialist democrats…that means something.
The man is clearly delusional, although I’m sure in his mind he shares the same”brave”traits as his martyr, Mann.
Personally I laughed my butt off at his little worshiping
I was thinking of voting “is distorting evidence to prove his point.” However, there was an implication in that verbiage that his point was right and that he was “only” distorting to make his “correct” point more convincing.
I voted the better, unequivocal, option…..
WUWT readers are probably the majority of the essay/polls traffic.
Current Results:
did not choose to became a symbol 0% 3 votes
has been attacked in many of the same ways that the President and John Kerry were 0% 0 votes
Is an outstanding scientist and human being 0% 4 votes
all of the above 1% 15 votes
is distorting evidence to prove his point 73% 590 votes
should be fired from the university 23% 191 votes
With 818 votes, last two are:
That adds to 97%. We have a new Climate Consensus!
Well he’s right about one thing. Heroes don’t choose their lot in life.
Well, unless it gives them a shot at millions in research grants, who knows how much in book royalties, speaking fees, travel to exotic locations on someone else’s dime to tell everyone how smart he is and how important his research is, and no risk of life doing it. Other than that, itz exactly like being a hero.
Regarding – “NSF IG report on Michael Mann investigation: “No research misconduct. Case closed.” Don’t bother telling Rick Perry.
Posted on August 22, 2011 by Rick Piltz
This is getting old. Completing yet another investigation of the co-author of a seminal study of the 1,000-year temperature record (commonly referred to as the “Hockey Stick”), the National Science Foundation Inspector General concluded: “Finding no research misconduct or other matter raised by the various regulations and laws discussed above, this case is closed.” But don’t waste your breath telling that to global warming denialist Rick Perry, oil-money governor of Texas and would-be president. See Joe Romm, Climate Progress: Climate Secret: NSF Quietly Closes Out Inspector General Investigation with Complete Vindication of Michael Mann
Two things we know with extremely high confidence:
1. Recent warming is unprecedented in magnitude and speed and cause (so the temperature history looks like a Hockey Stick).
2. Michael Mann, the lead author on the original Hockey Stick paper, is one of the nation’s top climatologists and a source of first-rate analysis.
We know these things because both the Hockey Stick and Mann have been independently investigated and vindicated more times than any other facet of climate science or any other climate scientist.”
_____________________________________________
The last two points are untrue. Global warming is (and always has been) caused by the Sun. Moreover, the warming is not ‘unprecedented in magnitude’ as there have been decades before in Earth’s history where global warming – again – caused by the Sun – has happened with no help from humanity whatsoever.
The second point is this – Michael Mann is not a forecaster. He does not forecast even seasonal weather, much less climate weather of a year or more. Anyone who claims to be able to be an expert analyzer of the Earth’s climate should easily be able to forecast seasonal and yearly climate and weather – in advance. Mann does not do this and has not.
Lastly, Mann and his ‘hockey stick’ graphic have been independently reviewed but not vindicated since that would preclude that Mann is correct about his ‘graphic’ that essentially says that the causes of global warming in the past and present is man-made – and this HAS NOT been accomplished since Mann’s findings would violate the laws of thermodynamics and physics.
This year will see some of the warmest temperatures of late according to my astrometeorological forecast of 2012-13 climate conditions, published here -> http://solarcycle24com.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=globalwarming&action=display&thread=1929
The above normal warm temperatures we will experience are caused by the activity of the Sun and we are in the 32nd year of Solar-forced global warming with four (4) more years to go before the warming regime ends as the world transitions into a new climate regime – that of global cooling.
At 2056 Central, “Nerd” report the first four were 2/0/4/12
A4 2236 Central they are………………………………..3/0/4/15
I’d think there would be an “all hands” call to get the counts up.
What’s up with that?
And for the record I have gone over there several times and have been offered the opportunity to ‘vote’ near every time. I have voted but once, the first time I looked at it.
I fired him.
I see Mann writes for Kos now.
I’m sure with the poll results,we could make a TRUE hockey stick.LOL
This is a bogus poll! I just voted in the old Chicago style of early anf often (~150 times) for ‘Is an outstanding scientist and human being’ and not even my first vote was counted!
Who set up this poll?
Anyone who believes this poll is a fooling themselves.
Anyone who thinks its KOS is an idiot.
Opa50
[Reply: You would need ~150 separate computers to do that. -mod]