Some days, you just have to laugh. As WUWT readers know, we’ve had the Josh 2013 Skeptic Calendar done independently in the UK via Bishop Hill, and of course we gauged interest here at WUWT. Josh sent over the artwork via email which I turned into the USA version. (Note: Dr. Mann probably doesn’t realize that Josh is a professional illustrator in the UK who gives his climate caricature services to skeptics free each week, just for fun.) Last week I sent out a few free copies to some folks that I thought could really use some Christmas cheer: Dr. Mike Mann, Dr. Gavin Schmidt, Dr. Peter Gleick, and Dana Nuccitelli.
Never beyond my wildest dreams did I think it would turn into a #Kochmachine conspiracy theory issue. But then again, there’s this strange pervading idea that skeptics are well funded and well organized. Here’s what Dr. Mann Tweeted today:
If four people is “widely distributed” well then I guess we all need to revise our world view.
It gets even funnier. Here is what he posted on Facebook:
The return label says COSTCO Photo Center, not Heartland, not Koch Brothers World Headquarters, and not “Skeptic Lair”. I guess Dr. Mann really is out of touch with the common man, because all he had to do was visit COSTCO photo center to see for himself that ANYONE can create and order calendars, and have them sent to friends or family, just like I did. No Koch Brothers credit card needed.
It is really easy. All you have to do is upload JPEG images (Josh’s artwork emailed to me) and use the calendar creator wizard.
Here’s what it looks like after completion in the COSTCO photo center website:
And in answer to the question of:
“Who paid for production and shipping costs for this flashy (apparently widely distributed) Anthony Watts WUWT climate change denial calendar?”
The answer is, me. I used my personal credit card, here’s the screen cap of the order to Dr. Mann. I’ve blurred out his address as a courtesy to him:
See the “did you know” sidebar item that allows you to send orders from COSTCO.
So, I spent a whopping $15.84 to send this, and about the same for the other three. Given the reaction, I’d say my plan to spread a little good humor just didn’t work on the humorless.
Merry Christmas anyway Dr. Mann, and to you too Gavin, Peter, and Dana. (Of course none of this would be an issue if the world had just ended yesterday like it was supposed to, but I’m an optimist).
If you want a calendar, you can get one here. For the USA edition, Josh and I split the meager profit, the Koch Brothers get nothing. If you are in the UK/Europe, you can get one at Bishop Hill’s place. Or at http://www.cartoonsbyjosh.com/
P.S. Oh, I should mention, I gave one to Steve McIntyre too. Here’s (Right to Left) Steve, Mosher, Charles the Moderator, and I at AGU in San Francisco at a private dinner at COCO500 (Steve and I split the check). Note the Josh calendar on the table:
UPDATE: 9AM PST 11/23 It seems Dr. Mann’s ploy has backfired. This article is now #1 on WordPress worldwide. See the screencap from the WordPress dashboard:
Philip Peake says: ” December 22, 2012 at 6:07 pm
Seems like Mikey doesn’t understand Christmas.
Maybe he is the original Scrooge reincarnated?”
Hopefully he will be visited by the Ghosts of Climate Past, Present and Future this Christmas and he can wake up Tuesday as a skeptic after he sees the unadjusted data.
‘My Gaia! They’re firing calendars at now. Are there no weapons of mass distraction they won’t stoop to using? What’s next: Christmas bauble grenades, exploding Yuletide blogs!’
And I thought the Mayan calendar was the one people were getting hysterical over.
Merry Christmas everyone.
Oh-oh, Anthony, now you’ve done it. Calendargate has begun. Everybody start up those paper shredders and dumping all emails. We’re doomed.
Layne says:
December 22, 2012 at 10:44 pm
My dog stops and does a chemical analysis of volatile components of every sample of discolored snow she smells. Pretty much every damn patch. And then adds her own discoloration….
Chris Schoneveld says:
December 22, 2012 at 11:50 pm
Skiphil, what an ill-timed comment about Michael Moore after the Newtown massacre. You had a problem with Moore’s Columbine movie?
You are as big a prat as Moore. A nastier lump of lard I have never seen. He poisons every film he makes with his misguided political beliefs.
I have travelled to the arctic circle sseveral times over the past 30 years and I can tell you without a doubt that the north is melting and rapidly. This web site has loads of data proving (look at the ice pages) that the planet is warming yet everyone here seems to ignore the obvious. No matter what you think or say here you will be effected by these changes. So let me spell it out for you.
There are companies that are buying ice breaking cargo ships because they intend to use the Northwest Passage to ship goods to Europe from Asia. This works because what ice that forms there is very thin and not multiyear, as it has been in the past. If you deny the fact that ice is melting you miss a great opportunity to make money. Asia isn’t missing that.
The US military and coast guard is spending lots of money on watching the northern ports of Russia, since now they can sail where only submarines could go in the past. In addition, the value of these ports to Russian industry will be huge, not to mention the possibility of shipping all of that oil and gas globally.
Oil companies are building rigs for the Arctic Ocean that will not depend on ice islands being created. They even believe the ice is melting. This is part of a huge resources grab going on in the Arctic Ocean. I hope we get a piece of that pie.
The US insurance industry is rapidly exiting the coastal insurance market. These companies deal in making decisions based on risk experience and they are running from the likes of Florida and the east coast. Pretty soon, the only insurance you will get in these areas will be backed by the government.
The views shared by the people who march in lock step with this web site, are all destined to be overtaken by events.
Meanwhile, as you are all trying hard to make the data fit the views expressed here, the rest of the world is moving on to living with, and taking advantage of, these changes. Wake up and get a clue!
He is a buffoon.
MAC says:
December 22, 2012 at 7:01 pm
Flashy? Widely distributed? LOL.
Mann: “We know Anthony Watts received $44K/yr from Koch-funded #Heartland Institute….
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WOW a one time grant for a surface station study for a mind boggling $44,000!
So how does that stack up to Mikey’s Moola?
Grants = Michael Mann brought at least $4,166,168 to Penn State
Rank and file “..atmospheric, earth, marine, and space sciences teachers, postsecondary” earn considerably more than the average university teacher ( @ur momisugly $70.61 per hour)…. [normal] university lecturers and professors earn an average of $49.88 an hour From Salaries for all US Scientists by field – A Full Professor in Science $129,818
Gee, that $44,000 is such a HUGE amount in comparison now isn’t it Mikey. No wonder you are SO jealous.
T Pugh:
1. The planet is warming. That is entirely a good thing
2. Human activity has nothing measurable to do with it. Global warming is natural
3. An ice-free Northwest Passage will save immense amounts of fuel, and transit time
4. Melting Arctic ice is a non-event. It will not add one millimeter to the sea level
5. It is the alarmist cult that is always trying to make the data fit their belief system. When data and their models conflict, they discard the data
It is amazing how flat wrong someone can be, about everything. The climate alarmist crowd cannot ever admit that anything about a warming world could be beneficial. That indicates how out of touch with reality they are.
Wake up and get a clue yourself.
T Pugh says:
December 23, 2012 at 5:32 am
Good to meet a man who lives by his convictions. Hope you will have immense pleasure over the next few years advising us here at WUWT on how well your shares on the Arctic oil fields are doing.
T Pugh says:
December 23, 2012 at 5:32 am
“I have travelled to the arctic circle sseveral times over the past 30 years and I can tell you without a doubt that the north is melting and rapidly.”
Well WUWT has the graphs that show it is, and that at the same time Antarctic Sea Ice is expanding. What’s your complaint?
“There are companies that are buying ice breaking cargo ships because they intend to use the Northwest Passage to ship goods to Europe from Asia. ”
Why do they need ice breakers when the ice is disappearing?
“The US military and coast guard is spending lots of money on watching the northern ports of Russia, since now they can sail where only submarines could go in the past. ”
T Pugh, WHY DID THEY BUILD PORTS WHEN THEY COULDN’T USE THEM? Think for a moment. There must be a reason for that.
“The US insurance industry is rapidly exiting the coastal insurance market. These companies deal in making decisions based on risk experience and they are running from the likes of Florida and the east coast. Pretty soon, the only insurance you will get in these areas will be backed by the government.”
That’s not new. You build homes on a sandbank called Long Island, the only insurance you get is federal, and ridiculously cheap. John Stossel explained on Fox News that he had the government pay him three homes over the years this way.
http://video.foxnews.com/v/1938066980001/should-the-federal-government-subsidize-flood-insurance
“The views shared by the people who march in lock step with this web site, are all destined to be overtaken by events.”
Wanna bet? I’m expecting cooling. My money is in oil, cement, steel. Oil because an inefficient society building windmills will need MORE, not less, cement because it makes great foundations for wind mills, steel because it makes great towers for windmills, all of which we wouldn’t need without the cargo cult science of global warming modelers, who, for all I can tell, have not yet understood the limitations of their models, as they lack the necessary mathematical education for that.
“Meanwhile, as you are all trying hard to make the data fit the views expressed here, the rest of the world is moving on to living with, and taking advantage of, these changes. Wake up and get a clue!”
Thank you very much for your condescension, but I’ve been exploiting the warmist cult rituals for years. Heck I even made money from a ridiculous food-to-fuel operation. I was not always that lucky with gaming the subsidy schemes of warmism but I’m getting better.
Oh BTW; I’m selling CPU’s and GPU’s as well, they make for great climate simulating supercomputers. AMD up 8% on Friday…
Mann’s reasoning was like this: If I get one of these, then surely everybody else will, too. In a man who has risen to fame both as a hockey star and a Nobelist, I find this natural, unaffected modesty most commendable.
Skiphil says:
December 22, 2012 at 9:15 pm
“Everything I see of Michael Mann makes me think that he is merely Michael Moore with a PhD, another hot-headed propagandist with no respect for factual accuracy.”
Chris Schoneveld says:
December 22, 2012 at 11:50 pm
“Skiphil, what an ill-timed comment about Michael Moore after the Newtown massacre. You had a problem with Moore’s Columbine movie?”
I fully agree with Skiphil. Chris Schoeneveld, are you saying we can’t criticize Moore for x months after somebody gets shot?
Well, I think you’re reducing Moore’s work too much.
We should by your logic also not criticize him as long as anyone is obese, or as long as anyone on the planet practizes the dark art of capitalism.
You know, Moore isn’t just about shooting people.
@T Pugh The northeast and northwest passages were open in the 1930s. Here is a book review about a couple of guys who did it in a canoe in 1937. http://adirondackdailyenterprise.com/page/content.detail/id/532959/-The-Northwest-Passage-by-Canoe-.html?nav=5230
Thanks for the pointer. I think you miss my point.
There is a difference as the book points out that they were mostly within reach of the shore line and this passage has opened on and off over the years. The reason shipping companies are spending billions on these new ships is because it is open for much longer and over a much wider region that will allow an easy shipping route. It’s very different.
In addition I have been to quite a few of the places noted in the book. So I have first hand experince. Maybe I could suggest you try giong to these areas and forming your own judgement.
Peter Miller says: @ur momisugly December 23, 2012 at 1:05 am
…..Hmm, perhaps going over a ‘fiscal cliff’ could be a good thing after all – pointless expenditure, such as promoting climate disinformation, could be among one of the first things to go…..
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It is my New Year’s Wish.
Unfortunately politicians NEVER EVER cut the gravy trains they use to reward campaign funders and hangers-on. Any proposed cuts are always cuts designed to hurt the tax payer the most.
Mann needs to be paid a visit by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. Unfortunately, he would probably just send them packing, and threaten them with a lawsuit!
If four people is “widely distributed”…
… then now I understand the 97% consensus. 😉
Merry Chrismas around the world to all freezing sceptics and frying warmists also.
wucash says:
December 23, 2012 at 4:07 am
If that picture doesn’t scream CONSPIRACY, I don;t know what will.
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Christmas party?
Aren’t the 163 comments already made here and the several thousands of visitors today on WUWT enough evidence of the evilness of the Koch Brothers?
Obviousley they are forcing hundreds of their employees to work the weekend before Christmas, visit WUWT and write comments here, just to make it look like WUWT was a popular site. And let’s not forget all the planes with them they throw several million tons of frozen ice over the UK and other parts of europe every year aabout this time of the year in order to cover the fact that snow has become impossible in those areas.
FTT T Pugh;
No one here denies that we’ve had some warming, or that Arctic sea ice extent is down from what it was 30 years ago. It is actually the Warmist cult that make the facts fit their so-far unsubstantiated conjecture that man is causing the rather mild and in no way unprecedented warming. If you stick around, you might actually learn something.
Ha, Ha Ha, Ha Ha, Ha Ha!……..Ha!
T Pugh says:
December 23, 2012 at 5:32 am
I have travelled to the arctic circle sseveral times over the past 30 years and I can tell you without a doubt that the north is melting and rapidly…..
Wake up and get a clue!
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Thirty years? Only thirty years?
Graph 1
Peer-reviewed Paper
Pay special note to the section about “..the first major reactivation of the bipolar seesaw would probably constitute an indication that the transition to a glacial state had already taken place.”
NASA Technical Report: Mass Gains of the Antarctic Ice Sheet Exceed Losses by Zwally, H. Jay; Li, Jun; Robbins, John; Saba, Jack L.; Yi, Donghui; Brenner, Anita; Bromwich, David
Interesting what the Arctic sea Ice loss means when you put it into the context of these to papers….
Merry Christmas to all
DickH: Boy, did I hit a sore spot. Your comments prove my point. You are shouting so loud that you are missing the events that are really happening that will effect us all in many ways.
Ice breakers – because its a business bet that they can extend the shipping season by a few weeks.
Russian ports – Before the USSR that was the only coast line they had and now again, the same is true. These ports were almost exclusively military in nature – remember the cold war?
Insurance – the difference is that they are deserting whole states not just regions that have local problems.
Ice melting – as I am sure you know there are many reasons north and south act differently – more ice in the south does not disprove the facts I have stated above.
Is Costco aware of this incredible testimonial to the professional appearance of their calendars?
I got 2 “free” copies of a calendar featuring a picture of my car that I sent in (free= ‘just pay postage and a small handling fee’), and I guarantee nobody would mistake the quality of that calendar with a mass-produced slick and glossy production… so Costco should be proud.
Some days I feel kinda bad for Mann. But that goes away soon enough. I think we’ve all known people a lot like him during our working lives, and, yeah, it’s hard to feel bad for too long.
For reference, I once sent a lawyer a tube of KY (pretty sure everyone can make the connection). The calendar, in comparison, was a nice gesture.
‘Anthony, surely this post should be filed under the new topic “I send people stuff”.
Classic!
Thank you PMT