Calling all UK Skeptics – Free Talk with 97% Bias – plus the ability to ask questions

UPDATE: It’s a double feature, Mann will be there too, see below

From the University of Bristol: Dogma vs. consensus: Letting the evidence speak on climate change

19 September 2014, 6 pm Victoria Rooms, Queens Road, Bristol, BS8 1SA

In this Cabot Institute public lecture, we are pleased to present John Cook, Global Change Institute, University of Queensland and owner of the Skeptical Science blog, in what promises to be a fascinating talk.

In 2013, John Cook lead the Consensus Project, a crowd-sourced effort to complete the most comprehensive analysis of climate research ever made. They found that among relevant climate papers, 97% endorsed the consensus that humans were causing global warming. When this research was published, it was tweeted by President Obama and received media coverage all over the world, with the paper being awarded the best article published by the journal Environmental Research Letters in 2013. However, the paper has also been relentlessly attacked by climate deniers who reject the scientific consensus. Hundreds of blog posts have criticised the results while newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal and Boston Globe have published negative op-eds. Climate denial organisations such as the Global Warming Policy Foundation and Heartland Institute have published critical reports and the Republican Party organised congressional testimony against the consensus research on Capitol Hill. This sustained campaign is merely the latest episode in over 20 years of attacks on the scientific consensus on human-caused global warming. John Cook will discuss his research both on the 97% consensus and on the cognitive psychology of consensus. He will also look at the broader issue of scientific consensus and why it generates such intense focus from climate deniers.

Registration

You must register for this event. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dogma-vs-consensus-letting-the-evidence-speak-on-climate-change-tickets-12288231431?ref=ebtnebregn

This event is free to attend and open to all.  Please contact cabot-enquiries@bristol.ac.uk if you have any accessibility requirements.

The event will run from 6 pm – 7.30 pm.  Please ensure you are seated by 6 pm.

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

Note: I registered since I’ve always wanted to come to England anyway, and this was as good as an excuse as any…plus I have many questions to ask. Note also that while the event is free, there are a limited number of tickets available.

All that is required is an email address and name. The ticket was delivered by email as a printable PDF – Anthony

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

UPDATE:  Guess I’ll be staying longer. I just registered for this one too:

Cabot Institute Lecture: The Hockey Stick and the climate wars – the battle continues

23 September 2014, 6 pm The Victoria Rooms, Queen’s Rd, Bristol, BS8 1SA

In this special Cabot Institute lecture, in association with Bristol Festival of Ideas, Michael E Mann will discuss the science, politics, and ethical dimensions of global warming in the context of his own ongoing experiences as a figure in the centre of the debate over human-caused climate change.

Dr. Michael E Mann is Distinguished Professor of Meteorology at Penn State University, with joint appointments in the Department of Geosciences and the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute. He is also director of the Penn State Earth System Science Center. He is author of more than 160 peer-reviewed and edited publications, and has published books include Dire Predictions: Understanding Global Warming in 2008 and The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars: Dispatches from the Front Lines in 2012. He is also a co-founder and avid contributor to the award-winning science website RealClimate.org.

Registration

This event is free to attend and open to all but you must register to attend.  We expect this event to be very popular so we encourage you to register as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.  If you can no longer attend this event, please email cabot-enquiries@bristol.ac.uk so that we may reallocate your ticket.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/custombutton?eid=12014388359

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Rod Molyneux
July 16, 2014 4:36 pm

Shame. I can’t go but I did send this email though.
” I have just read your description of this event and I am appalled that a so called academic institution has used the expressions “climate deniers” and “climate denial organisations”. This is about as untrue and as unscientific/ unacademic as you can get as well as being utterly meaningless in any scientific debate. These expressions are used primarily as a deliberate slur to imply, by inference, that climate change sceptics are as bad as or the same as holocaust deniers.
You really display the feebleness of your position when you have to resort to such terminology which has no place on any university website and I would suggest that if you want to maintain any academic credibility that you rewrite your description and remove such offensive, unscientific and inaccurate terminology.’

Sleepalot
July 16, 2014 4:46 pm

M. Courtney says “Don’t worry. There is hope for another.” (life, that is.)
And there it is! I would be ashamed to make a living parasiting others while feeding them lies.
Theists have no such problems.

gnomish
July 16, 2014 5:22 pm

heh- if you want to contribute the appropriate gravitas to the event, please consider giving the news reporters something of major interest that will overshadow the silliness.
for example:

try to to that before cook gets to quoting monckton about how the consensus is actually 100%.
(cook seems to have anticipated that from the outset, that skeptics would end up claiming the only distinction was the C and not the AGW. now it makes no sense to dispute his claim of 97% with a refutation of 100%, doesn’t it?)

John Whitman
July 16, 2014 5:25 pm

Anthony,
Please be circumspect on your trip to Bristol.
I hope you have the logistical and tactical support on the ground in England of either BH blog’s host and denizens and/or the GWPF!!!
John

clipe
July 16, 2014 5:29 pm

Caroline K says:
July 16, 2014 at 9:52 am

I think that if a lot of climate realists are coming to this event, we should also try to have a meeting independent of the Cabot talks; I live in Bristol not far from this venue and have booked my tickets for both talks. What do others think? Could we book a church hall or something between the two talks just for a catch-up or something? I shall be in Australia from next Monday till end of Aug, but would like to hear what others think of this idea

If there is some sort of pub meet planned I’m in. Willing to throw some Canadian dollars into the pot.

July 16, 2014 6:11 pm

Does anybody know how he has come to be described as “Distinguished”? Maybe it is self-bestowed, like the Nobel prize some of the warmists have claimed! Although, to be fair, he has distinguished himself with some apparently fraudulent scientific publications.

Ian L. McQueen
July 16, 2014 6:12 pm

Re: Alba says:
July 16, 2014 at 7:04 am
Back when I was at university (1960s) communism/Marxism was commonly referred to as a secular religion.
Ian M

phlogiston
July 16, 2014 8:53 pm

By Sept 19 the 2015 Arctic sea ice mininum will be already clear. If this is an upset for the Cookite CAGW dogmatists, and quite high, then this will be a useful point to make to sow doubt in AGW believers present who may be close to “losing their religion”.

Jeff Alberts
July 16, 2014 8:54 pm

evanmjones says:
July 16, 2014 at 12:40 pm
Cook: Some practical advice for your field research:
Be sure to swap in your PzVDs for PzIIIGs. The 3Gs, unlike the 4Ds, can at least sort of stand up to the T-34s and KVs, and are quite adequate to clean up the soviet infantry. Then, after you have conquered Russia, upgrade to PzVGs — and include at least a couple of KonigsTigers to crack the M26s you will encounter when invading America.
Forget about air superiority. The Amis will shoot holes in you down the line when you most need strength. So include only a couple of FW190a units for defensive purposes and back them up with mobile AAs, and keep them upgraded. Use this to protect your artillery (though you will lose some).
And don’t invest in Jagdpanzers; you will find pure armor to be a better investment.

Just go with all Tiger IIs, why bother with all the other stuff. Take out the T-34s well before they have any range.
As far as Jagdpanzers go: The Elefant really shone in Kursk, earning a K/D ratio of 13:1, making it one of the most successful Tank Destroyers of the war. Pity for Hitler that there were so few.

4 eyes
July 16, 2014 9:57 pm

Don’t forget to ask how many attendees got to the meeting via low carbon footprint public transport, or in cattle class on the plane.

July 16, 2014 10:01 pm

I look forward to the day when ALL the people who attend one of these talks turn out to be skeptics/realists. And while it’s underway, they all realize it…
Just my little fantasy. 🙂
Enjoy yourself, Anthony, looks like there’ll be a few with you on both occasions.

July 16, 2014 10:10 pm

Neither of those blokes discuss anything!
One spews nonsense with copious green spittle; the other pretends to be a temple priestess channeling CO2 alarmism from trance like states.

July 16, 2014 10:23 pm

“…Jeff Alberts says: July 16, 2014 at 8:54 pm

” evanmjones says: July 16, 2014 at 12:40 pm
Cook: Some practical advice for your field research:
Be sure to swap in your PzVDs for PzIIIGs. The 3Gs, unlike the 4Ds, can at least sort of stand up to the T-34s and KVs, and are quite adequate to clean up the soviet infantry. Then, after you have conquered Russia, upgrade to PzVGs — and include at least a couple of KonigsTigers to crack the M26s you will encounter when invading America.
Forget about air superiority. The Amis will shoot holes in you down the line when you most need strength. So include only a couple of FW190a units for defensive purposes and back them up with mobile AAs, and keep them upgraded. Use this to protect your artillery (though you will lose some).
And don’t invest in Jagdpanzers; you will find pure armor to be a better investment.”

Just go with all Tiger IIs, why bother with all the other stuff. Take out the T-34s well before they have any range.
As far as Jagdpanzers go: The Elefant really shone in Kursk, earning a K/D ratio of 13:1, making it one of the most successful Tank Destroyers of the war. Pity for Hitler that there were so few.”

What? Tiger IIs only get four space moves per turn. Very very slow! Yes, they make for terrific open country tanks providing long distance power and support; but slicing distance attacks need faster tanks.
The Jagdpanzers, especially the D’s and above provide both power and speed. The Elefants have terrific firepower, (as in it is a very bad idea to let them shoot your equipment), but are light on armor compared to the advanced tanks.
For all those confused by these exchanges; they’re discussing some of the game pieces in a computer game called ‘Panzer General’; one can play either one or both sides in the game.

NikFromNYC
July 16, 2014 11:32 pm

You mainstream skeptics miss something.
Steve Goddard is a lark. A weirdo egomaniac CIA mind control conspiracy theorist divorced completely and willfully from civil society.
You mainstream skeptics miss something.
This very week on WUWT is featured Tim Ball, a man who with a convicted son/daughter rapist Oliver Manuel, published a book called Sky Dragons. It played right into Al Gore’s stereotype of skeptics as dysfunctional freaks.
You mainstream skeptics miss something.
Climate alarm is now sustained by partisanship in America between City and State.
There are too many violent gang members in big cities, so we all want to take away guns. There are too few police in middle America so more guns are needed to shoot violent criminals who are turning psychopathic lately, car jacking, home invasion, honor killings with bullets flying into crowds.
Please stop being so tribal. Love everyone. That means to no label either yourself or others as being some mere cartoon character.
You mainstream skeptics miss something.
God is Love.
It doesn’t matter how you define God.
We are a social animal.
We are meant to get along.
But you must call bad people “bad.”
At least for a day or two.
You mainstream skeptics miss something.
I’m not really sure yet what it really is.
But NYC is the real internet.
And nobody here gives a flying fuck about climate.

July 16, 2014 11:36 pm

Could people hold off sending angry emails to the Cabot institute – ref ‘climate deniers’ for just a little while please.
Can’t explain why just yet

richardscourtney
July 17, 2014 12:07 am

ATheoK and Jeff Alberts:
If our host is interested in tanks then while in the West Country he could visit the Tank Museum at Bovington, Dorset. The museum is much better than any game, and he may get to see a real Tiger II giving a demonstration in the outdoor arena.
The Bovington museum is well worth a visit whatever the day’s outdoor displays and I have been visiting more frequently than annually for several years. The annual Tank Fest is not to be missed by anybody, and on Tiger Day fans of Tiger Tanks can have a crash course including operation and maintenance. The only surviving swimming tank as used on D-Day is among the many unique exhibits at the museum.
Also, if such tanks are of interest, Trebah Gardens are very near where I live here in Cornwall, and one can stand on the remains of its concrete harbour built to load Americans and their equipment to Omaha Beach. Military Day at Trebah is an annual event held to honour them and some members of the present US armed forces usually attend.
Richard

July 17, 2014 2:00 am

George Steiner says:
July 16, 2014 at 12:31 pm
Mr. Watts for what it is worth, my advice is go and have a good holiday in England. But don’t go to the events at U of B. Yo will be eaten alive by pretentious and pompous Brits.
======================================================================
Hmmmph. Nothing like a bit of gross stereotyping to start the day with eh?

mikewaite
July 17, 2014 2:03 am

I agree with PHLOGISTON who suspected this to be an ambush.
A large group of academics .politicians and industrialists have turned a reasonable theory into a goldmine . Whilst others, from James Watt to Bill Gates , have used original thought and business acumen to create fortunes and generally improve the quality of life for everyone , these have enriched themselves at the expense of the public who have received nothing in return .
The sceptics and “deniers” are thorns to be plucked from their sides.
The BBC , Guardian and others will be briefed, Remember the famous Oxford meeting where Bishop “Soapy Sam” Wilberforce tried to destroy Huxley’s defence of Darwin. Instead of scientific arguments he used dogma and then personal abuse.
By all means go , but don’t expect Old World courtesy at the events.
Forewarned is forearmed .

Patrick
July 17, 2014 4:08 am

Those pictures of Cook just totally spook me.

JohnB
July 17, 2014 4:11 am

If both Cook and Mann are there, does that make it a “Science Fiction Double Feature”?

rogerknights
July 17, 2014 8:04 am

Patrick says:
July 17, 2014 at 4:08 am
Those pictures of Cook just totally spook me.

The charitable interpretation–and probably the correct one–is that the initials of his organization suggested a dress-up prank.

Evan Jones
Editor
July 17, 2014 9:55 am

What? Tiger IIs only get four space moves per turn. Very very slow! Yes, they make for terrific open country tanks providing long distance power and support; but slicing distance attacks need faster tanks.
Yeah, but you only do the Tiger II upgrades to units with leaders. That gives them a movement of 6, which is sufficient for operational purposes. Once you scramble the Americans’ face with those, you can strike for the deep objectives with your Panthers; there will be nothing left to oppose them they can’t handle.
Yes, most of your upgrades will be Panther-Gs, but you need at least two, preferably three, King Tigers to made the initial attacks on the American M26s (followed up by your panthers). Otherwise your Panthers will take unaffordable losses in the initial shot. Artillery won’t help you much here, and you need that to take out the soft targets and crack the towns, anyway. You have to land and survive — and win — before you can deep strike anywhere. After that, it’s (relatively) easy (sort of).
The Jagdpanzers, especially the D’s and above provide both power and speed. The Elefants have terrific firepower, (as in it is a very bad idea to let them shoot your equipment), but are light on armor compared to the advanced tanks.
Yes, very pretty. But no overrun capability. There’s the rub. Give me pure armor every time. I’ll even sell off a tank destroyer if awarded one. And when landing, you must, Must, MUST have a high defense (preferably covered by mobile AA). Or there won’t be any power left alive. You are extremely vulnerable on those opening turns.
For all those confused by these exchanges; they’re discussing some of the game pieces in a computer game called ‘Panzer General’; one can play either one or both sides in the game.
Why, I am sure I have no idea what you are talking about. We are merely attempting to assist RF Cook in his field research.
(P.S., What I am saying applies to Pz General II. Savannah is a very tough nut to crack. And I only play hardcore: No saves. No do-overs. No milking the system for prototype units. No nothing. And Brilliant Victories ONLY — or else start it all over. I can knock off England, 1940, with virtually no losses.)

Evan Jones
Editor
July 17, 2014 10:27 am

Just go with all Tiger IIs, why bother with all the other stuff. Take out the T-34s well before they have any range.
(@RF Cook: Mein . . . dickey old chum . . .)
Okay for a plan B, but arguably too expensive. 420 per upgrade rather than 300. But you must have two (preferably 3) to make the initial shots.
And T-34s are moot. It never comes to that. Brilliant Victories ONLY, no leisurely sojourns through Africa. In that case, none of that stuff is available for Russia.
That makes it very tough: the PzIVDs are essentially anti-infantry vehicles. You need them for France and England, when you hit Russia “downgrade” them to PzIIIJs for their higher defense and better anti-armor (which costs nothing). (Earlier I said IIIG’s. I meant IIIJs.)
Then at least you have a fighting chance against those T-34s — provided you can overwhelm them relatively quickly. Use your extra swag to “rent” whatever you need, don’t lose it, and sell it back afterwards.
When you go for America, sell off your bombers and any tank with less than three stripes and no leader. (8 to 10 remaining armor units should be sufficient.) Use this swag for your final upgrades, and you will have to suck it up and max. overstrength your armor (preferably everything) for the last two scenarios.
And BE SURE to follow this procedure: First overstrength two steps ONLY. Then upgrade. Then (and only then) overstrength the rest of the way. I play hardcore. Real losses along the way. I need every point of prestige I can swing. (You can’t count on getting a so-called “Liberator”.)
Sell off your old mobile AA and buy the new stuff. You’ll need up to six. (DON’T upgrade leaderless AA — ‘way cost-inefficient).
Hey, this is peer-review level stuff I’m selling you, here!
As far as Jagdpanzers go: The Elefant really shone in Kursk, earning a K/D ratio of 13:1, making it one of the most successful Tank Destroyers of the war. Pity for Hitler that there were so few.
But definitely not worth the wait. They put off Kursk a month on account of those things. If the attack had come in June, the Sovs. would have been at an extreme disadvantage (totally pants down) and might well have taken a tactical trashing to rival Izyum.

Evan Jones
Editor
July 17, 2014 10:31 am

The charitable interpretation–and probably the correct one–is that the initials of his organization suggested a dress-up prank.
Yes, quite. For some reason the Brits seem prone to that. Even royalty #B^)
(But I can’t help it; I find some things impossible to resist.)
I will add that I don’t agree with all of Pz General II’s unit ratings and options. But it is a truly swell game with amazing staying power.

Patrick
July 17, 2014 3:40 pm

“rogerknights says:
July 17, 2014 at 8:04 am”
I should have been clearer. I was talking about the picture in the thread header. Either way though…