Beyond bizarre: University of Graz music professor calls for skeptic death sentences

[Update, Parncutt has pulled his page, the webcite link still works, 1:00 am PDT 12/24/12 ~mod]

UPDATE2:  9AM PST 1/24 The Parncutt page now gets a 404 “file not found” error, which to me suggests that University of  Graz officials pulled the plug on it rather than Parncutt, as Parncutt alludes to and expects the reactions in his ugly essay and was prepared for them. Based on his demeanor, if he had pulled it, I posit that he would have left some rationalization essay in its place. In the wake of well known mass shootings this year, I suspect the University of Graz didn’t want this PR disaster on their hands before it got beyond the blogging world and into the MSM. See below for the page that I archived using an established and accepted archiving service  – Anthony

UPDATE3: 5AM Dec 25th, Parcutt’s page has returned, completely rewritten without a hint of the ugliness of the previous one. It’s a Festivus miracle! I blame the airing of grievances. – Anthony

The bizarre world of AGW proponentry continues. I wonder how David Appell will react to this one? Jo Nova tells us of the latest climate ugliness that is beyond bizzare, and, even more disturbing, we see who’s motiviating this man’s hate. – Anthony

Richard Parncutt

Jo Nova writes:

Death threats anyone? Austrian Prof: global warming deniers should be sentenced to death

Richard Parncutt,  Professor of Systematic Musicology, University of Graz, Austria, reckons people like Watts, Tallbloke, Singer, Michaels, Monckton, McIntyre and me (there are too many to list) should be executed. He’s gone full barking mad, and though he says these are his “personal opinions” they are listed on his university web site.

For all the bleating of those who say they’ve had real “death threats“, we get discussions about executing skeptics from Professors, wielding the tyrannical power of the state. Was he paid by the state to write these simplistic, immature, “solutions”? Do taxpayers fund his web expenses? (And what the heck is systematic musicology?)

Here’s a quote from Parncutt:

“I have always been opposed to the death penalty in all cases…”

“Even mass murderers [like Breivik] should not be executed, in my opinion.”

“GW deniers fall into a completely different category from Behring Breivik. They are already causing the deaths of hundreds of millions of future people. We could be speaking of billions, but I am making a conservative estimate.”

Read the whole story here at Jo Nova’s place: http://joannenova.com.au/2012/12/death-threats-anyone-austrian-prof-global-warming-deniers-should-be-sentenced-to-death/

=============================================================

This is the ranting of a person who has become propagandized.

Reading Parncutt’s web page at the University of Graz it becomes clear where his delusions originate from. He names the websites “Skeptical Science” and DeSmog blog as his sources.

“For a reputable summary of arguments for and against GW, see skepticalscience.”

“Much more would have happened by now if not for the GW deniers. An amazing number of people still believe that GW is a story made up by scientists with ulterior motives. For a long list of climate change deniers and their stories see desmogblog.”

As his affirmed sources for his article calling for the death of climate skeptics, John Cook and Jim Hoggan now own this despicable ugliness. The question is: will they care? And will they condemn this or agree by their silence?

My guess is neither John Cook nor Jim Hoggan will have the moral integrity to condemn this man’s delusional hatred. I hope to be proven wrong.

Since his page will likely be modified or disappeared once University of Graz officials realize they have a rogue PR disaster on their hands, I’ve permanently archived the page here:

Richard Parncutt. Death penalty for global warming deniers?. University of Graz. 2012-12-24. URL: http://www.uni-graz.at/richard.parncutt/climatechange.html. Accessed: 2012-12-24. (Archived by WebCite® at http://www.webcitation.org/6D8yy8NUJ)

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alan
December 24, 2012 6:02 am

Where did my coment on Musicology go?

alan
December 24, 2012 6:02 am

Thank you!

Doug Huffman
December 24, 2012 6:04 am

Oh my gOodness, the fusion – conflation confusion – of AGW-ism with gun grabbing. Will nightmares ever cease?
Good people ought to be armed as they will, with wits and Guns and the Truth.

Colin Porter
December 24, 2012 6:07 am

Jo Nova’s blog and Anthony’s reproduction of it here may have been the reason for the heightened publicity of Parncutt’s ramblings, but we should not kid ourselves that the reason for the web pages disappearance has anything to do with the sensitivities of sceptics. Rather, it will be the reference to the fate of the Pope which has stirred Parncott’s superiors into action.
“Since these figures exceed the arbitrary limit of one million that I am proposing, it follows that the death penalty might be an appropriate punishment for influential GW deniers and possibly also the Pope.”

Gary
December 24, 2012 6:07 am

Future people? Millions of them?!
Oh, wait a minute. He’s using a model.
I think I know what might be wrong…

Caleb
December 24, 2012 6:09 am

Thanks for posting this, Anthony. I thanked Jo Nova on her site, as follows:
I heard about this, and was linked to your site, from WUWT. I’d like to thank you for alerting us to this poor man’s madness. It may not be a very Christmasy subject, however the cure for darkness is to shine a light on it, and I suppose that is what Christmas is all about.
Apparently this man was educated by the Sceptical Science site. My own brother once asked me what I thought of that site, and when I honestly expressed my (low) opinion, explaining my various reasons, he exploded at me. He was of the opinion I had been brainwashed. I replied that no, he was the one who had been brainwashed. Our reasonable discussion swiftly disolved into a typical brother-to-brother name-calling binge.
This sort of mud-slinging is all well and good between brothers, who can make-up, and who are used to it. However I like to think such bad behavior doesn’t occur out in public, among reasonable scientists. Sadly, the Sceptical Science site seems to encourage such nonsense in public.
Brothers can yell at each other, and it only hurts egos. However a death threat promices a fate you can’t undo. Once a person is dead, you can’t kiss and make up.
I don’t blame anyone in Europe for being frustrated by the mess their idealism has gotten them into, and anger is merely the fume of a frustrated mind. However death threats deserve the strongest rebukes possible, to avoid mud-slinging turning into actual murders.
——————————————————————————–

December 24, 2012 6:11 am

Berényi Péter says: December 24, 2012 at 4:44 am
For raping human rights this way and putting due process into a mass grave along with the rest of constitutional principles, he expects the Pope to turn him into a saint by 2050.

Nope. You didn’t read the part in which he wants to execute the Pope and a few collaborators because the Catholic Church is against the use of condoms, hence is murdering lots of Africans.
(BTW, that viewpoint is no longer held since 2010, a part the good, well-read Professor missed:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/the-pope/8148944/The-Pope-drops-Catholic-ban-on-condoms-in-historic-shift.html)

arthur4563
December 24, 2012 6:13 am

Well, we can at least confidently assume that “systematic musicology” has nothing to do with either logic or science, or ethics or morality.

December 24, 2012 6:19 am

Tasteless outburst by this particular individual after the Tragic events at the Sandy Hook elementary High School .Has his university apologized
After the riots in England Last Year and with our forces serving in Afghanistan Had he said that on Twitter or Facebook in the UK he would be investigated by our police.

mpainter
December 24, 2012 6:21 am

The good professor points his finger at the World Future Council as the source of his genocide inspirations, and gives a link at the bottom of his website.
Following this link, we find that the chairman and founder of World Future Council is Jakob von Uexkull, a notable person of Baltic extraction who resides in the UK, according to his detailed Wikipedia entry. His organization has initiated a project called “Crimes Against Future Generations”. He lives in the UK and so does a John Sloboda, whom Parncutt names and thanks as a helpful advisor in his “death penalty for deniers” advocacy.
Someone needs to look into this Jakob von Uexkull and find out what he is all about. Parncutt is none too bright and he seems to be the sort of “useful fool” who might be used to advance a chilling prescription of genocide which the actual author would be loath to be associated with publicly.
Here, it seems, is a fruitful field of investigation for some sleuth who has the time and inclination. IMHO, this is the sort of affair that could get very big and be very embarrassing, as in Climategate, and perhaps even worse.

Editor
December 24, 2012 6:25 am

David Ross says:
December 24, 2012 at 2:20 am

Parncutt’s page has also been cached by Google in full
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http%3A%2F%2Fwww.uni-graz.at%2Frichard.parncutt%2Fclimatechange.html

Thanks. He proposes a million death threshold:

More generally, I propose that we limit the death penalty to people whose actions will with a high probability cause millions of future deaths

Therefore he’s also after the Pope and his closest advisors:

That raises the interesting question of whether and how the Pope and his closest advisers should be punished for their consistent stand against contraception in the form of condoms. It has been clear for decades that condoms are the best way to slow the spread of AIDS, which has so far claimed 30 million innocent lives. The number of people dying of AIDS would have been much smaller if the Catholic Church had changed its position on contraception in the 1980s, or any time since then. Because it did not, millions have died unnecessarily.

Surely the pope wins brownie points for helping bring more lives into the world than AIDS extinguishes!
Bush and Blair are safe though:

Since these figures exceed the arbitrary limit of one million that I am proposing, it follows that the death penalty might be an appropriate punishment for influential GW deniers and possibly also the Pope. It also follows for example that George W. Bush and Tony Blair should not face the death penalty for the Iraq war, since it “only” claimed about 100 000 lives since 2003

Then he says he’s just kidding

Please note that I am not directly suggesting that the threat of execution be carried out. I am simply presenting a logical argument. I am neither a politician nor a lawyer. I am just thinking aloud about an important problem.

Please cool it with the comedy – you’re killing me!
It looks like the most delusional statement is at the end:

Outlook
Right now, in the year 2012, these ideas will seem quite crazy to most people. People will be saying that Parncutt has finally lost it. But there is already enough evidence on the table to allow me to make the following prediction: If someone found this document in the year 2050 and published it, it would find general support and admiration. People would say I was courageous to write the truth, for a change. Who knows, perhaps the Pope would even turn me into a saint. Presumably there will still be a Pope, and maybe by then he will even have realised that condoms are not such a bad thing! And by the way 2050 is rather soon. Most people reading this text will still be alive then.
I don’t want to be a saint. I would just like my grandchildren and great grandchildren, and the human race in general, to enjoy the world that I have enjoyed, as much as I have enjoyed it. And to achieve that goal I think it is justified for a few heads to roll. Does that make me crazy? I don’t think so. I am certainly far less crazy than those people today who are in favor of the death penalty for everyday cases of murder, in my opinion. And like them I have freedom of speech, which is a very valuable thing.
This page is inspired by the project Establishing Crimes Against Future Generations by the World Future Council. Please support the work of the World Future Council!
The opinions expressed on this page are the personal opinions of the author. I thank John Sloboda for suggestions, and further suggestions are welcome.

My guess is that he won’t make sainthood…. Who is John Sloboda?

DirkH
December 24, 2012 6:26 am

Heh. Parncutt concludes with

“I don’t want to be a saint. I would just like my grandchildren and great grandchildren, and the human race in general, to enjoy the world that I have enjoyed, as much as I have enjoyed it. And to achieve that goal I think it is justified for a few heads to roll. Does that make me crazy? I don’t think so. I am certainly far less crazy than those people today who are in favor of the death penalty for everyday cases of murder, in my opinion. And like them I have freedom of speech, which is a very valuable thing.”

Contorts himself into a contradiction in five sentences. Logic, not his strong suite. But then again, I wouldn’t expect any person capable of logical thinking on the side of the warmists today, except for the crooks at the top who run the scam to siphon off hundreds of billions.
What a poor crazy tool for a movement he doesn’t understand at all.

Chuck Nolan
December 24, 2012 6:27 am

Now this is where gun control comes in to play.
Let’s be sure this idiot, Richard Parncutt, Professor of Systematic Musicology, University of Graz, Austria doesn’t own any.
You never know about some people, they could go postal.
cn

December 24, 2012 6:31 am

personally I also use desmogblog, scepticalscience, thinkprogress and even realclimate as (respected) references;
next to that I read whattsupwiththat, bishophill, notricszone to know what is living in the counter(under)world of climatesceptisism;
I don’s see what’s wrong whith that;

PaulH
December 24, 2012 6:32 am

I wouldn’t shut down Prof. Parncutt. The man is obviously educated beyond his capacity to think. It’s best to keep these people in the daylight than to force them into hiding in the shadows.

Chuck Nolan
December 24, 2012 6:36 am

ggm says:
December 23, 2012 at 11:06 pm
AGW fraudsters like Parncutt, HAVE TO resort to threats of violence. Otherwise evenually the public will catch on, and realise that these people are pedling a deliberate and planned fraud…….
—————————————-
The bad news is this guy is no scientist trying to protect his grants and his domain.
He’s not with IPCC or EPA or NASA or any government/scientific organization.
He’s not even an outspoken NGO member (although he may be a member of GP, WWF, or ELF)
He’s a real believer and it’s possible he’s a nut looking to jump in and help save the world.
cn

S. Meyer
December 24, 2012 6:37 am

I bet that page was pulled because of his death threat against the pope….

DirkH
December 24, 2012 6:38 am

Charles.U.Farley says:
December 24, 2012 at 5:12 am
“Poor Dick.
One minute he’s happily doing whatever a musicologist does and in the next uncle adolfs inherited dormant braincell is stuttering into life and shouting about Ubermensch, final solutions, Tod Klimawandel-Leugner!!! ”
Slow down, the guy’s Australian.
His own words in an essay about a flat tax system:
“When I first dreamed of UBI-FIT , I was on unemployment benefit in Australia in the mid 1980s. Luckily, that only lasted a few months, during which I managed to convert my PhD thesis into a book manuscript. If the unemployment office had known that, they would presumably have cut the benefit! After all, I was supposed to be doing nothing and feeling depressed.”
http://www.uni-graz.at/~parncutt/BIFT2.html

Kev-in-Uk
December 24, 2012 6:39 am

The crazy thing is – that if the guy thinks the death penalty is ok for skeptics for potential ‘future deaths’ – does he feel the warmista should be tried for the CURRENT deaths as a result of fuel poverty? and the wasting of funding on AGW, which could have saved millions of starving folk, etc, etc?
Hmm, methinks, he needs to consider his own position – will be watching for news of his self inflicted demise as he realises that he cannot live with his own murderous activities and conscience?

Editor
December 24, 2012 6:44 am

Alexander Feht says:
December 24, 2012 at 12:07 am

I am a music composer. Therefore, I am as much entitled to my opinion on climate matters as a mentally disturbed musicologist from the parasite-infested Museum of the Past Glory, which is Europe.

I’m listening to your Violin Sonatas at http://www.feht.com/ where you note

The astute observer of contemporary classical music cannot help but note that, the more modern composers give their all to “atonal” or “experimental” schools of composition, the more listeners are driven to archival recordings of great works.

My take on atonal music is the composers didn’t have the skills to expand on the great works, and went off in a direction that doesn’t “resonate” with me. It’s nice to add you to my list of modern composers worth listen to. You and John Rutter.
Thanks!

December 24, 2012 6:45 am

We should demand that this guy be fired for making death threats. The university should fire this guy. Such behavior should be unacceptable within a learning institution.

Bill
December 24, 2012 6:47 am

Toward the bottom, he has his 3 rules. He wants to prosecute people on the basis of future effects. Hmmmm, all you need is to be able to predict the future for this to work. That’s what we have climate models for I guess.

james griffin
December 24, 2012 6:52 am

Personally I am not too upset as what goes around comes around. When CAGW is finally rumbled I will ask the Professor to meet me in Switzerland where assisted suicide is legal. All he has to do is turn up. Prior to administering a full bottle of asprin which I will expect him to swallow in one go…. I will advise the following.
He will be made fully aware of the people who have died due to fuel poverty, starvation due to biofuels causing a 6% reduction in food production and of course the many millions who have died in the Third World denied the basics of Western life…..clean fresh drinking water, sanitation and access to affordable power.

Patrick.
December 24, 2012 6:53 am

Alarmists, not posting in this thread? Am I seeing this right?

tolo4zero
December 24, 2012 6:54 am

For the record:
I think Al Gore “is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I’ve ever known in my life.”

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