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Received via email:
Dr. Curry,
Thanks for reproducing in your recent post my account of the left’s attacks on our scientists and donors. It’s a story that isn’t getting nearly enough attention in the blogosphere. I’m disappointed, though, that you also reproduced, at length and even endorsed, the lies and distortions written about us by Suzanne Goldenberg. A simple call or email to me or Jim Lakely would have given us a chance to correct her many misstatements.
I won’t ask for a correction or apology, but please understand that …
(a) Concerning ICCC-7, we set a record for the number of cosponsors (60), 12 speakers asked to speak after only 2 withdrew, and the mood was decidedly upbeat. Opponents (including “Forecast the Facts” and Occupy Wall Street) promised to disrupt the conference and failed utterly – fewer than 50 people showed up for their rallies. Those who did show up wore boots on their heads and refused Christopher Monckton’s invitation to debate.
(b) You didn’t see many new faces on the program because 50 warmists invited to speak refused to show up, and we had set aside space on the program for them. I’ve said after nearly every conference since the 3rd one that “this is probably our last conference,” and I’ve made a fundraising pitch, because the ICCCs are expensive and I suspect they are subject to the law of diminishing returns, but we keep doing them due to popular demand. Stay tuned for news about ICCC-8.
(c) Concerning Heartland’s financial health, we’ve raised more money since the Fakegate incident than in the previous 11 months, and are on track to double our income this year. We’ve doubled the number of current donors since February. With only one exception so far, the donors we’ve lost either didn’t give in 2011 (or even in 2010) or have agreed to fund spin-off organizations we are creating, such as the R Street Institute, so the result is no net loss of our effectiveness, and actually an increase.
(d) The campaign against our directors and donors being conducted by “Forecast the Facts,” 350.org, and Greenpeace – not by “anonymous individuals” as you strangely suggest – in fact is unprecedented because it could not have occurred had not Peter Gleick stolen and revealed our donor list. But we are obviously well on our way to building a new and much larger donor base that is “Greenpeace proof.”
(e) Our PR response to Fakegate has been called “brilliant” even by the folks at DesmogBlog. History will record it as another major scandal that helped bring down the man-made global warming movement. But the MSM and environmental groups doubled down on their strategic mistake, understanding that the only way to prevent Fakegate from “becoming another Climategate” is to take down Heartland and its network of scientists and donors. Their tactics compelled us to match their intensity.
(f) I am not surprised or disappointed that you and other bloggers disapprove of our tactics. It is simply not your role in the controversy to be aggressive or controversial. But it is ours.
(g) The billboard, which cost $200, generated more than $5 million in earned media so far, and that figure doesn’t include television, radio, and tens of millions of page visits and online commentaries. Was the MSM coverage overwhelmingly negative? Of course. How could it be otherwise? There has been no positive coverage of skeptics since Fakegate broke, none at all, and reporters have made it clear that they will not report the debate fairly, so there is no longer any point in trying to appeal to their ethics or honesty. Thanks to the billboard, 37 million Americans now know that the debate over climate change continues.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me or Jim Lakely if you have questions or suggestions.
Joe
Joseph Bast
President
The Heartland Institute
One South Wacker Drive #2740
Chicago, IL 60606
Web site http://www.heartland.org
Support The Heartland Institute today!
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FYI, I can back up point (b) from personal experience, he said the same thing last year. Also I’ve seen the list of people invited who declined to join the debate. You’d think that if we were as wrong and as stupid as they claim, it would be easy to just show up and slaughter us intellectually, but for some reason they don’t want to even try. – Anthony
Dave Wendt says: @ur momisugly May 25, 2012 at 1:
……The Internet has assured that their strategizing efforts will always be accessible, but their multigenerational program to transform education has also assured that few will be left with the curiosity to seek them out.
That transformation of education is also why focusing on the science will never do much to curtail their plans. The notion of education as a system to develop the capacity for critical thought has been replaced by a system whose goal is the develop revolutionary consciousness. If you doubt this check out the works of Bill Ayres, Obama’s old mentor, who went from terrorist murderer to a leading light in educational philosophy and who is also utterly transparent about his goals. Goals he and his Weather Underground colleagues, most of whom who have not assumed room temp are now in academia, have been so successful at implementing that in recent years a number of graduate schools of Education have actually attempted to enforce a philosophical litmus test as a requirement of admission….
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About the demise of our educational system. A bit more on that: John Dewey (Fabian Socialist) started it over a century ago: http://www.ordination.org/dumbing_down.htm
We have now progressed to drugging anyone in school that is not a brain dead follower including our gifted children: see: http://www.scn.org/~bk269/r-ball.html
ESPECIALLY white males…
Worse is the side effects
Not to mention death
And psychosis – the desire to KILL
Parents can be hauled into court for refusing school perscribed Ritalin http://www.schaler.net/inthenews/ritalin.htm and http://breggin.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=81 and http://www.cchrint.org/tag/ritalin/ (Israel)
Yes schools can prescribe the drug and enforce dosing of YOUR kid in the USA.
So if you are wondering why kids now a days act “Brain Dead” it is because there is a good chance the actually had their brains fried by the government school system.
No wonder there is no real debate!
If you want much press to cover the conference, set up a “Press Only Area” where they can get free coffee, juice, fruit, donuts, waffles, mufins, and toast.in the mourning and soda pop, sandwiches, pizza slices and other tasty snacks in the affternoon. They will show up droves! Have known these guys to turn free food?
I supported the HI ‘s billboard tactics and the wonderful media blitz generated by HI’s billboard from the initial announcements of the billboards here at WUWT. I think early on in the initial WUWT post on the billboard that it was just Smokey and I who indicated positive views of HI’s actions. (SMOKEY – It was nice being introduced to you at happy hour during the ICCC-7).
HI has shown in the billboard experience that it is neither a wallflower nor a politically correct pansy. : )
I think HI knows that, although objective climate science research is necessary to debunk the thematically biased ‘science’ supporting IPCC’s CAGWism, they also think that objective climate science is insufficient by itself to win the overall dialog. It is my view that HI knows it is also necessary to apply all the intellectual weapons of an integrated philosophy (HI’s in this case) to debunk the many headed snake of false ideology that informs the IPCC leaders and their fawning acolytes in the science community.
The HI has brilliantly and efficiently refocused, with its billboard, on the broad irrationality of the IPCC centric CAGWists.
I applaud the HI. I support HI intellectually in this billboard experience.
John
Geneke11y says: May 25, 2012 at 2:24 pm ….
I suggested tying CAGW to Job Loss.
For example:
____________________________
What ate your Job?
The United Nations Crazy Climate Computer
Want the real science? => http://www.heartland.org
___________________________
No just have Josh design a funny cartoon around that “Mann eating Computer” (snicker)
Superb letter. Can’t disagree with a word. Notwithstanding the out-of-joint noses and sniffs of disdain thru same, I think the adage, “There’s no such thing as bad publicity!” does apply here (though it doesn’t always.)
How do you teach a mule? First, take a 2X4, …
Curry is no scientist as she demonstrates in her biased letter. She is just another AGW cult member, albeit one who up till now tried to manage her reputation by giving the appearance of being a scientist. Now her reputation is in tatters.
I read Curry’s post before coming across this. A good ripost.
I didn’t want to write anything with regards to ‘the debate on the HI billboard’ as to not let on the the ‘greens’ lobby that the more they tromped the issue, the better for Heartland. Heartland let the cat out of the bag, not me. The result was just what I anticipated. Unwitting friends?
I read something recently that the ‘Unabomber’, Kaczynski, is writing in the Harvard yearbook. Occupation listed: “prisoner”.
Under awards: “Eight life sentences, issued by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, 1998.”
I’ll say no more. My eyes remain open and my lips were sealed.
Nah, happened one morning when he was about to park his head as usual in his inferior orifice, and he liked the look.
I apologize for an error in the above comment.
Kaczynski is writing in the Harvard alumni guide, not in the Harvard yearbook.
AndyG55 (from down-under) says:
May 25, 2012 at 2:02 pm
I would like to see a billboard that challenges the AGW brethren to come and debate the issues… LIVE.
Come and debate….. Come on Al, Jim, Mick et.al.. IF YOU DARE !!!
Let the public know just how scared they are to even say hello !!! 😉
The AGW brethren are cowards.
*
Well said, AndyG55. I like this! Let the world know they are cowards – again and again and again. Regular folk might start to wonder why those screaming the loudest about CAGW won’t front up and clean up the skeptics in debate. Hey, and maybe even why the CAGW crowd won’t show their data, not even to “save the world” and, again, clean up the skeptics with their data. If they are so sure of CAGW and their authority and consensus – WHERE ARE THEY?
I remember years ago when Gore in unison with a number of scientists and political pundits declared the debate was over. And then someone published that being a skeptic was a crime against humanity and that skeptic should be taken before a tribunal and subjected to the equivalent of Nuremberg trials. It appeared to me that our small little group of skeptics went quiet for a heartbeat. Those being the early days when there were but a few. This vicious attack seemed to generate an introspective silence. In response to these attacks I added a new category to my website and named it “It ain’t over until the fat lady sings!” And after that the ice was broken and the chatter resumed.
As far as the billboard is concerned, it was your call. And I respect that.
Heartland provides a great service to the skeptical community by providing these conferences. And I wish to thank you for all of your efforts in this struggle to reach the truth.
The billboard worked well Joe…after all it’s a ‘gunfight’. Why take a knife to a gunfight, I think the saying goes. Thanks for all that Heartland does to prove a point.
DirkH says:
May 25, 2012 at 3:48 pm
“Ian Hoder says:
May 25, 2012 at 1:33 pm
“The Unabomber billboard was infantile (“Gee, Hitler believed in Christianity. Do you?”) and Bast non apology of saying that skeptics should get to slander people as well is just as idiotic. ”
Ian, read a history book. About Hitler. Or the wikipedia. Anything.”
Ian used the Hitler spiel as an example of an infantile remark. Even if Hitler did not “believe in Christianity” there are others in history that have and committed atrocious crimes. Associating all Christians with those that have committed crimes is an example of what young children sometimes engage in. T
Hitler, the Unabomber, Manson are all criminals that committed criminal acts. Belief in AGW is not. Ian is right on target. It was idiotic and infantile, no matter the reason.
pokerguy says:
May 25, 2012 at 10:29 am
I’m a big fan of Dr. Curry and was quite surprised to see her treat The Guardian and DeSmogBlog as credible sources on her blog, I’ve got to say as a possible defense, I’m not sure she even realized how partisan they are. There’s almost a kind of naivete about her.
Naive? Or, crazy like a fox?
After all of her visitations to the various blogs and boards discussing “GW”, for her not to know that The Guardian and DeSmogBlog are highly partisan “sources” is simply unfathomable.
One would be wise to be careful when considering whether her motives are those of science or economics.
Kurt in Switzerland says:
May 25, 2012 at 12:41 pm
Most people are not in this trench warfare as is Joe Bast. And they will respond negatively to attacks which are tasteless.
Warmism has a large base of support, despite frequent tasteless attacks for decades.
Your argument is invalid.
I would like to see the next billboard to feature Suzuki. Maybe Hansen after that.
Best to wait a while, not overload the “Pavlov reflex” that caused the press to respond so thoroughly to the first one.
@ur momisugly sunshinehours1. Hahahaaaa! That video of David Suzuki is quality – what a feckin nut-job! I know it was forty years ago, but still….
Judith who ?
John Whitman says:
May 25, 2012 at 4:12 pm [ … ]
It was a pleasure meeting you too, John. We don’t seem to be part of the consensus regarding the Heartland billboard. But I have not changed my view: Kazynski’s polemic and Gore’s Earth In The Balance have much in common. Others are even closer to Kazynski’s point of view, with their proposed Eugenics-style eradication of most of the human race. [Of course, not a single one of them ever leads by example.]
To me, the comparison to Kazynski was apt. And for those like Donna Laframbois, who disagreed with the billboard, she didn’t have to self-righteously and publicly scold a very good organization. A private email would have conveyed her views just fine. But I suppose it’s OK for Donna to publicly trash a fine organization run by human beings, because she has probably never made a mistake in her perfect life. In that case, she has every right to preach to the rest of us fallible humans, who are not as free from error as Donna obviously is.
As for Dr. Judith Curry, she’s just being a politician, and her shameless use of the Guardian puts her in the same class as the self-serving Donna L. Joe Bast’s response to her is spot on.
reply to jaschrumph at 11:50 am, Spiritual salvation is very personal and much considered over a lifetime. The results of this consideration are deep felt and lasting and will not be displaced by anothers vague arguments. The spirit within me that is my deepest self acknowledges a supreme being and I believe Jesus Christ manifested that being in the flesh. Where will your supposed arguments get you when this life is over? By the way, I think Heartland has been on target with their approach in this battle to return the debate to science instead of propaganda.
Glenn says:
May 25, 2012 at 5:12 pm
Hitler, the Unabomber, Manson are all criminals that committed criminal acts. Belief in AGW is not. Ian is right on target. It was idiotic and infantile, no matter the reason.
Gleick admitted to (some of) his criminal acts in the name of CAGW. Why is he not in jail?
Unabomber and Gleick, both crazy and both criminals. I think the billboard.
Also what billboards used Hitler and Manson, BTW? I missed that part.
tallbloke says:
May 25, 2012 at 10:04 am
I got a response from the press complaints commission in the UK about Suzanne Goldberg’s latest piece:
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If you haven’t visited tallbloke’s site, take the time to have a look. There are plenty of interesting ideas. Given climategate 2 and the police raid, tallbloke has got someone in high places worried.
http://tallbloke.wordpress.com/
Some may not agree with the science presented, but that doesn’t make it wrong. A lot of what is considered nonsense today was the accepted science not long ago. A lot of what is considered obvious today was heretical blasphemy not so long ago.
For many that is the fascination of science. In an infinite universe there are an infinite number of new discoveries yet to be made.
Glenn says:
May 25, 2012 at 5:12 pm
Hitler, the Unabomber, Manson are all criminals that committed criminal acts. Belief in AGW is not. Ian is right on target. It was idiotic and infantile, no matter the reason.
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Wrong. There have been numerous documented atrocities committed in the name of AGW. Murder, rape, forced sterilizations, land confiscation…… you name it, it’s been done in the name of AGW advocacy. This really isn’t a surprise. They told us they would do such atrocities and their feelings toward their fellow mankind.
http://suyts.wordpress.com/2012/05/14/how-i-know-enviro-alarmists-are-misanthropists-and-work-against-human-advancement/
It doesn’t matter if one is active in CAGW advocacy or if they’re passively accepting this lunacy, if you throw your lot with those lunatics you are either accepting the atrocities (and giving approval to such) or actively encouraging them.
The views of Ted Kazynski on global warming have been truthfully presented by Heartland. I suspect that Ted’s support for AGW is “An Inconvenient Truth” for other CAGW fanatics. If the shoe fits, wear it!