People send me stuff.
Yesterday Skeptical Science owner John Cook announced to the world that he thought Willis’s open letter to the new editor of Science was “creepy” and “sexist”.
As is typical with the Skeptical Science kidz, it’s just projection. How much? You have no idea. But it turns out that when you scratch the surface of the SkS Forum, where the principals and moderators talk amongst themselves (seemingly unaware of others watching) you discover what creepy really is. For a supposed site about “climate science” it sure does look a lot like “high school climate science”.
Get a load of the pictures from the SkS forum website sent to me today. A friend of WUWT writes:
(Note: I’m leaving the author of this email private, lest he become another Photoshop victim. Note that all the links are in the open, there’s no hack or mole action going on here. BTW, each word highlighted below is a separate link to an image. – Anthony)
I found something I thought you might be interested in while looking to see what is publicly viewable on the new SkS forum’s website (www.sksforum.org). Little is, but there happens to be a viewable images directory that has a subdirectory, [http://www.sksforum.org/images/user_uploaded]. This directory has some… interesting images.
One [http://www.sksforum.org/images/user_uploaded/WeAreSkeptics.jpg] has several the heads of several skeptics photoshopped onto people from a movie about the 300 Spartans (300, perhaps?). I assume it was an attempt at humorously painting skeptics as few in number and dogmatic.
But the most interesting ones defy explanation at the moment. There are a number of images where the head of Dana Nuccitelli or John Cook appear to have been photoshopped onto images of [http://www.sksforum.org/images/user_uploaded/herrscooterboy.jpg]
[http://www.sksforum.org/images/user_uploaded/herrtankboy2.jpg]
It’s possible these images were taken from somewhere else and uploaded, but that seems unlikely as a couple of them show signs of further photoshopping done to improve them. To see what I mean, compare this image to this one.
Combined with the fact there are a number of similarly photoshopped images done to flatter Nuccitelli, it seems almost certain SkS members have photoshopped images of SkS members as Nazi soldiers. I can’t think of a single sensible reason they would do that.
I don’t think they dream of being Nazis, and I can’t imagine it was particularly fun to make those images. It’s possible they made these with the idea of a false flag operation in mind, but that seems ridiculous. It’s not more absurd than Peter Gleick’s behavior was, but it’s hard to believe anyone would consider doing that (especially on a forum which has been exposed once before).
[NOTE: Brandon Shollenberger decided that he didn’t care that his name was attached to the above, hence this update. – Anthony]
You have to wonder what motivates them to take the time do things like this, especially when they claim that global warming is accelerating, and there is precious little time left before we all roast.
SkS Kidz will be kids I suppose.
I haven’t looked this good since high school:
L-R: Watts, Monckton, Delingpole.
=================================================================
UPDATE: 10:35 PDT About three hours later It seems that somebody at SkS has been embarrassed that they’ve been caught out, and they have comically simply moved the “user_uploaded” folder to one with a seemingly random (Ric Werme says: “Hey, a11g0n3 is leet-speak for allgone. Oh Lord, there be idiots over there.”) name: [http://www.sksforum.org//images/a11g0n3/]
Of course that breaks all the links in the story above.
Only problem is, it’s still open to the public there. All images are still visible: [http://www.sksforum.org//images/a11g0n3/]
Surely they know that the Internet has a permanent memory and all these images still exist elsewhere in folders that people have scraped from the original by now?
Amateur hour cover up tactics. – Anthony
UPDATE2: 11:07AM PDT It seems that they’ve taken down the “leet speak” folder as well, no matter, they still all exist in many places, and I’ll add a gallery shortly. -Anthony
UPDATE3: 11:19AM PDT here is a few of the images referenced above in the story and in comments. I also have a screen cap of the original folder listing at SkS which I’ll upload tonight when I get home.
UPDATE4: 5:31PM PDT, As promised earlier in UPDATE3 here is a PDF capture of the file listing from the original SkS forum snapped at 829AM PDT today.
Index of _images_user_uploaded (PDF)
=============================================================
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Nazi role play in fantasy does seem a very common feature of all kinds of things. We’ve had an MP who resigned for going to a stag party where he dressed up as a nazi. Prince Harry went to a party dressed up as a Nazi. An F1 administrator was stitched up by the NOTW for consorting with ladies of the night who gave discipline to nazis. There’s something rebellious for some, outrageous for others, disciplinarian for yet others.
Political smearing using nazi allegories would be just about the quickest way to get sacked as a media advisor for a political party. If there really is someone out there with nazi views, far better to let them come out with them of their own accord: they’ll hang themselves in most countries of the world in professional terms when they do. If you have to do that, it really does show you’re desperate. Most of the public are getting tired of ‘all politicians should be the pope’, so serial affairs, even children outside wedlock haven’t eliminate Boris Johnson just yet.They’re a bit more peppery about fiddling expenses and rather hot on hypocrisy. So a rabid Greenpeace supporter driving a gas guzzler would be manna from heaven. A skeptic’s harder to get, since there’s less to pin onto them directly. Best to steer clear of oil funding or tobacco funding unless you have complete editorial control on all publications, publicity and media stunts though.
@ur momisugly RoyFOMR says: August 6, 2013 at 10:55 am
The Guardian did heavy pruning of the comments last night and this morning – including removing three long posts of mine listing all the various eminent scientists who are in fact skeptics – they removed those without trace, after having left them in place for several days. I guess those had gotten too many positive votes, and too clearly proved that there is no 97% consensus.
And now suddenly I’m on “pre-moderation” which is apparently the “about to be banned” status – even though none of my posts violated their comment standards. It’s clearly a very unabashedly rigged game over there.
Yeah, a Jewish girl I know likes it.
@ur momisugly davidmhoffer says: August 6, 2013 at 10:54 pm
In my experience as a woman working in a very male dominated, highly technical scientific/engineering field (nuclear), that certainly hasn’t been the case – and they don’t mind doing it in a very public fashion either and often far more so than they would towards other men. What’s worse, after they incorrectly claim you are in error, if you go on to show clearly that you in fact were correct (no matter how politely you do so), those men get very ticked off about it even though they were the ones who erred (or perhaps because they were the ones who erred).
@ur momisugly richardscourtney says: August 7, 2013 at 12:04 am
Thank you Richard! Yes, that’s exactly the sort of thing I was looking for, with solid references such as the NOAA quote you used.
Rational Db8 says:
August 7, 2013 at 9:53 am
Yup. Don’t reward them giving you a chance to play on a crooked playing field by playing. Hold out for decent conditions, or take your conversation elsewhere.
I don’t think most people like being told they’re wrong.
My experience is telling a woman she’s wrong (in a social, not a professional sense, although it can be necessary there too of course if an organisation is to meet its goals) usually gets her attention and earns you points in the end. She may never agree with you, but she respects the fact that you’re not sucking up to her like most every other man is. I think most men are just too gutless with women.
Now there is a certain type of person who falls to pieces when being told they’re wrong, but I don’t think most women are this way in particular.
Are you in pre-moderation status, Db8? Sometimes a particular word will trigger moderation. For example, this comment of mine just a few moments ago was moderated, but most aren’t.
Perhaps you are being pre-moderated however. I’ll say that I’ve enjoyed seeing your perspective and while I don’t always agree, you bring important counterpoints and experience to the conversation.
Unfortunately, there does tend to be too much of a blind echo effect from several commenters from time to time, but I suppose that’s just how it goes.
Wow … does this represent an SkS “Shark” jumping moment or what?
“Jumping the shark” – from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumping_the_shark :
Jumping the shark is an idiom created by Jon Hein that was used to describe the moment in the evolution of television show when it begins a decline in quality that is beyond recovery, which is usually a particular scene, episode, or aspect of a show in which the writers use some type of “gimmick” in a desperate attempt to keep viewers’ interest.
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I have put several comments on the Grauniad 97% article linking to this post. They were all removed as the did not conform to the standards of the site.
Actually, since most of the commenters have a thought disorder and some have de la Tourette’s syndrome, who cares?
Christoph Dollis says:
August 7, 2013 at 10:14 am
Nazi role play in fantasy does seem a very common feature of all kinds of things.
Yeah, a Jewish girl I know likes it.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
OK, you’ve exceeded “creepy” by several orders of magnitude and gone to straight sick.
I find the 300 image very appropriate as it is indicating the extreme minority (300) standing against the vast majority (The Evil Xerxes and his [Persian] Army) But which of the 3 is Leonidas
Monkton perhaps
All,
Your “personal experiences” with the matter are immaterial because you have no control to compare against. You can’t say if your experience in a given situation would be worse, better, or the same if the genetic imperative did not exist. It isn’t a black and white issue.
To get some sense of this requires reading of studies that look at the issue via a variety of techniques to isolate the effect. Sorry, my reading of same is 20 years ago, I have neither links nor references to offer up, but the effect is real, much diminished in some circumstances (life or death decisions for example) and much pronounced in others.
I find it odd that this has become a central piece of the discussion, because Willis’ transgression in his article is hardly in the same league as being portrayed (by the hand of another or by oneself as the case may be) as a Nazi.
Charlie Chaplin’s portrayal stands the test of time as the best of the mockingly best. Panning Hitler and his SS is by no means lifting them up as paragons of moral virtue and righteousness.
That said, and knowing history’s final comment on the real Hitler and his troops, as well as the German armed forces of the day, dressing yourself up for real or in photoshopped garb to highlight your supposed prowess as troopers for a cause is laughable!
they didn’t photo shop a still of the heros in the ‘300’ movie… (Watts, Delingpole, Monckton)
They photo shopped a still of the ‘heros’ in parody of 300 movie, entitled ‘Meet the Spartans’
thus perhaps thinking, this is how the sceptics think themselves as heros, but in reality just meet the spartans.
Is that a thin bit of reasoning (and yes, It hurts trying to work out what were they thinking!)..
well John Cook (Skeptical Science owner and founder) did spend 16 years doing cartoon pardodies of sci fi and fantasy movies.
his website was called Sev Wide Web (wayback time only now)
http://web.archive.org/web/20101231044327/http://www.sev.com.au/
Parodies were ‘Sev Trek, Sev Wars, etc, it’s even got a wiki page by an ex Sev discussion board member…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sev_Wide_Web
BFL says:
August 6, 2013 at 5:45 pm
“Sure enough, but it wouldn’t make sense, would it, that Cook and trusted company would allow that content in an SKS file on purpose. So perhaps an inside ringer or a hacker but still (probably) a skeptic (maybe even converted by Watts). For a good conspiracy: the Climate Gate leaker. Of course it’s always more fun to assume that Cook and Co. and/or friends are really that Batsh*t crazy.”
As I said, it does make sense if they planned to plant their material on skeptics blogs in the hope that they hand it around. After which Diana and Herr John could have played the victim card.
Planting material is a run of the mill dialectic operation; governments do it all the time to have a pretense to take down operations they don’t like; google “TOR FBI” for the most recent example.
Looks a little better than outright breaking their own laws; google “Liberty Dollar” for an example of that.
So when you’re a dissident, and climate skeptics in the west are; you take extra care.
But Nucci and Cook don’t have enough brains to understand that; so they thought it might just work.
DirkH says:
August 7, 2013 at 1:12 pm
——————–
Could be.
Or could be the whole thing was intended to come to light to generate counterfactual nefarious conspiracy ideation and serve as fodder for another study.
Or is that what they wanted me to think?
Yeah, I’m paranoid. Doesn’t mean Lewandowsky isn’t out to get me though.
Pamela Gray says:
August 6, 2013 at 8:12 am
Photo shop me! Use the gal who starred in the 200 Zillion BC flick with the fur bikini.
Ahhh, Racquel Welch, or Squelch as we lustful young schoolboys called her.
https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRdy8E2SUBpDzO-VeaNQ4sG_6AO4eAGY28M1XbyuH6PxuIUWAEXSQ
Some archived copies at http://www.webcitation.org/
Archived copy of the file listing:
* http://www.sksforum.org/images/user_uploaded/
Please use the URL http://www.webcitation.org/6Iflclvd7
Some of the files:
* http://www.sksforum.org/images/user_uploaded/WeAreSkeptics.jpg
Please use the URL http://www.webcitation.org/6Iflb84Wi
* http://www.sksforum.org/images/user_uploaded/WeAreSkeptics.jpg
Please use the URL http://www.webcitation.org/6IflZJNrm
* http://www.sksforum.org/images/user_uploaded/timemachineboy1.jpg
Please use the URL http://www.webcitation.org/6IflmFlDi to access the cached copy of this page
* http://www.sksforum.org/images/user_uploaded/timemachineboy3.jpg
Please use the URL http://www.webcitation.org/6Ifll6DsU to access the cached copy of this page
* http://www.sksforum.org/images/user_uploaded/1_herrscooterboy2.jpg
Please use the URL http://www.webcitation.org/6IfljrKDc
* http://www.sksforum.org/images/user_uploaded/herrscooterboy2.jpg
Please use the URL http://www.webcitation.org/6Iflhvc4g
* http://www.sksforum.org/images/user_uploaded/herrtankboy2.jpg
Please use the URL http://www.webcitation.org/6IflfdbqP
* http://www.sksforum.org/images/user_uploaded/herrscooterboy.jpg
Please use the URL http://www.webcitation.org/6Ifle2Dbc
The usual opportunity for doing so being ‘the annual employee review’; one wonders how the more cocky enjoy these ‘sessions’ which befell more than just a few of us? So much more enjoyable is the simple ‘life’ of a contractor (literally: a contract hire) where there isn’t this need to establish ego and look good in front of management for the next step in the process beyond the review (i.e. the “KPA” or Key Personnel Assessment) where the actual money is ‘handed out’ (the stage where management decides where/who gets the raises and the promotions.)
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Jim, saving it up till the performance review is bad management practice. It’s like training puppies – you have to give immediate feedback (positive and negative) for good results.
I loathed PRs as much as my staff did, and we mainly used it as a way of planning the next year’s work and training objectives. Quite often, the would ask me what they could do better, but only in extreme cases did I ever use those sessions as a way of raking over their shortcomings.
Don’t forget this creepy one
http://itsnotnova.wordpress.com/2012/02/23/nova-smuggles-a-budgie/
Anthony nice rippling pectorals you have there. I’m impressed, with those you should be able to crush any opponent with a mere flex of your arm.
Oh and anyone who found Willis’ open letter creepy needs their head examined.
Delingpole will have a field day with this story, can’t wait for his take on it.
Nice One:
re your post at August 7, 2013 at 4:56 pm
The only things “creepy” about your having posted that link are that anyone would want to make such a sexually deviant photoshop construction and that a creep would want to link to it.
Richard