Guest Post by Willis Eschenbach
According to a biased article in the Boston Globe, a man named Kert Davies, the Executive Director of something called the “Climate Investigations Center” (CIC) has penned a scurrilous letter to the journal Science Bulletin, accusing Dr. Willie Soon of a conflict of interest. The article says he was accused because in the past he received funding “from companies and interests supporting studies critical of climate change.”
Now it is important to know that Dr. Soon did not get a grant for the scientific study in question. That work was done on his own time and at his own expense. He does not profit from the work in any way, he was not paid for it, and thus he has absolutely no conflict of interest of any kind.
So let me get Kert Davies claim straight. For example, his claim is that if a scientist ever received funding from say Greenpeace or the World Wildlife Fund, in any future study whether funded by Greenpeace or WWF or not, the oh-so-noble Kert Davies thinks you need to disclose that.
Now there are dozens of scientists out there who have received funding from Greenpeace. Heck, a number of IPCC authors are not just funded by but have been employed by Greenpeace.
Curious, isn’t it, how Kert Davies seems to ignore the dozens and dozens of scientists who have received funding from a host of funders with a clear axe to grind … and focuses on Dr. Soon regarding work that he did on his own dime? I gotta confess, a man like Kert Davies that is involved in that kind of underhanded and deceptive action is … well … I fear my opinion is not fit for expressing on a family blog.
…
Now, after writing the above I had an interesting thought … I thought “I wonder who the CIC is when it’s at home?” And I have to admit, I laughed out loud when the first page I pulled up said this:
Who We Are
The Climate Investigations Center (CIC) was established in 2014 to monitor the individuals, corporations, trade associations, political organizations and front groups who work to delay the implementation of sound energy and environmental policies that are necessary in the face of ongoing climate crisis.
Kert Davies, Executive Director
CIC was founded by Kert Davies, a well-known researcher, media spokesperson and climate activist who has been conducting corporate accountability research and campaigns for more than 20 years. Davies was the chief architect of the Greenpeace web project ExxonSecrets, launched in 2004, which helped expose the oil giant ExxonMobil’s funding of organizations and individuals who work to discredit the validity of climate science and delay climate policy action. More recently, Davies established the PolluterWatch program at Greenpeace, which launched the report Koch Industries: Secretly Funding the Climate Denial Machine.
Well, I guess that explains a few things …
But despite all of Kert Davies’ claims about “secret funding”, I don’t find one word on their website about who funds the CIC … although I did find this intriguing snippet on the web:
… the Climate Investigations Center, a collaboration between former Greenpeace Research Director Kert Davies and the Guardian …
So Kert wants to bust others for where they get their funding, but either he doesn’t have the courage to divulge his own backers, or he thinks that revealing your funding is for the common people and doesn’t apply to him …
In any case, in the past I’ve had jobs working for both extremely liberal and extremely conservative groups … so freakin’ what? Unless they are funding my current work, I fail to see the relevance … and just like with Willie Soon’s study published in the Science Bulletin, nobody is funding my current work. But according to Kert Davies, I should have to put a conflict of interest statement on my work because obviously I’m conflicted from both sides, liberal and conservative.
Kert Davies, however, doesn’t reveal who is funding his current work …
In any case, I just used the CIC Contact Us form to send the following questions:
Dear Kert Davies:
You are attempting to discredit the work of Dr. Willie Soon, not because of someone funding a piece of work that he got published in Science Bulletin, but because of funding that he received in the past. This brings up a couple of questions.
1) Are you going to do the same with every scientist who ever received any funding in the past from e.g. Greenpeace, WWF, or any of the many AGW supporting organizations?
2) Since you are so concerned about funding, why is it that I cannot find out anywhere on your website just who it is that is funding the Climate Investigations Center?
3) Since you are so concerned about funding, are you planning to bust the ex- and current Greenpeace and WWF scientists and others involved in the IPCC Reports for not declaring their conflicts of interest? I mean according to you, because at some time in the past they received money from groups like Greenpeace and WWF who advocate and advance the anthropogenic warming hypothesis, their work is forever tainted and their conflict of interest must be declared in any future work … or does that just apply to people you disagree with?
My thanks in advance for your response,
w.
We’ll see how that goes over … their “Contact Us” form is here if you wish to contact them, please keep it polite …
w.
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I didn’t get to the contact us page using the link above.
http://www.climateinvestigations.org/contact_us
As for contacting them, it seems like the same old CAGW dogma we’ve been hearing/reading for years… I don’t really see the point.
Hopefully they fade back into the obscurity they deserve.
Thanks, fixed.
w.
And you just have to love their attempts at subliminal re-definition by such things as ” “from companies and interests supporting studies critical of climate change.” Taking this literally demands seeing those “interests and companies” as supporting the notion that climate is always in stasis when not interfered with by humans. Of course, climate change only happens when humans are instigating it. Why aren’t these people embarrassed?
And FWIW the Boston Globe has as much ethical credibility as the Guardian so it’s no surprise they aid this kind of slander.
Right. We can also wonder about the competence and integrity of Sylvan Lane (sylvan.lane@globe.com), the Boston Globe scribbler who penned the hatchet-job on Willie Soon.
I remember many of the Boston Globe’s feats of journalistic prestidigitation. In the 1980s we had dozens of articles from tech genius Fred Kaplan about the wasteful spending on useless cruise missile technology and then whoa, Desert Storm! Oh yes and there was the months and months in 1986 when we had to wade hip deep in article after article that tried to pin the Challenger disaster on the Reagan White House wanting to have a poster child teacher in space in time for the SOTUS that year. Oh yeah credibility runs deep there.
Look at Boston’s current view of K-12 projects to teach science, citizenship, and the need for social justice. http://www.communityschools.org/assets/1/AssetManager/MBLT%20Boston.pdf
Training the students to be change agents it says. So they can be teachers, journalists, or politicians apparently.
In the absence of other data, I’ll assume that CIC is funded by Koch brothers.
Perhaps not too off topic with respect to the discussion topic, in terms of who’s funding whom, I note that HotWhopper’s January 23, 2015 blog-post, “Tim Ball does a Denier Don…”, attracted a remarkably candid comment from one the hive’s leading insiders, Victor Venema (January 25, 2015):
“A large number of people writing comments at WUWT seem to be paid by Greenpeace.”
Now, of course, everyone has pretty much already figured out that the low-rent gibbering-dorks, brainwashed bratty-teenyboppers, and low-bid eco-bots, who regularly troll WUWT, Climate etc., and other freedom-and-ethical-science-loving climate-blogs, are self-evident, NGO-retard hive-hirelings. Still, it’s good fun to have a bona-fide hive-worthy acknowledge the real skinny on this deal and dispense, for once, with the “BIG FIB” obfuscations and the ever-dreary, “conspiracy theory ideation!” misdirection-boogers, the hive customarily employs in these matters.
The title of this article is incorrect
From a picture of Kert Davies, it is clear that he is normal sized, and is not a “midget’
http://www.iisd.ca/ozone/exmp/pix/3greenpeace56-b.jpg
Intellectually, perhaps?
Or maybe he is a whole bunch of midgets clinging to each other and masquerading as a human?
It’s midgets all the way down …
How do we know he is not sitting in a room full of midgets in that photo.
Um, I don’t believe one can detect a mental midget from a photograph, but the phrase “you will know them by their works” seems appropriate.
/grin
I think that you can Look at the blank stare and the finger-sucking affect.
It makes sense to consider “mental midget” was implied though I think using the word midget in disparaging ways is nearly always inappropriate. I’d prefer “small minded”. Personally I think Kert is the result of bad parenting and a public school system somewhere owe the tax payers an appology.
is he smelling his finger?
dp January 27, 2015 at 12:01 pm Edit
Indeed.
I suppose that in this PC world that might be so … although it’s still fine to have a movie called “White Men Can’t Jump”. Go figure. But I’ve changed it to avoid attacks from other mental midgets …
w.
Mick,
These guys have a thing about their fingers:
One thing i have noted — politically correct language prevents sharply identifying problems.
Eventually these problems may not be named at all.
When problems can no longer be named they cease to exist.
When problems cease to exist they have been solved.
In this way politically correct language solves all our social problems. (This is really just 1984 stuff.)
That is how socialists solve problems.
Eventually people who continue to speak about these “solved” problems just disappear. Improper use of language becomes a crime against social cohesion — a crime against humanity.
I myself favor the term “pinheads”.
Eugene WR Gallun
The term coprocephalic springs unbidden to mind.
I trust y’all are aware if the transmission of your truck is making odd sounds or overheating – do not call it a tranny.
No, Mick, he’s not “smelling his finger”. He already smelled it and now he’s clearly tasting his finger.
The title of the story would not have been as funny using the description “small minded”. See by saying “mental midget”, you can visualize the midget biting his ankles. Then by describing that the midget is biting ankles you can visualize how really “small minded” he is because no midget is actually only ankle high. For the love of God, it’s f’n funny………
Morally, perhaps?
Well I have no idea who Kert Davies is or what his schtick is, but I do know who “Willie” Wei Hock Soon is (Dr. Soon), and beside him; many of us would be perceived as “mental midgets” (me included).
So perhaps the poster was referring to Mr. Davies in that “mental stature” frame of reference.
But as for what we can see of him in that presumably not photo-shopped image, he would seem to be normal sized; at least what we can see of him is.
G
Not going there, G, just not going there.
LOL
The accusation that skeptic climate scientists were ‘paid industry shills’ initially got its media traction via efforts by book author Ross Gelbspan and the top 3 people at the old Ozone Action organization back in 1996-2000, and O.A.which got merged into Greenpeace USA. I mention some of those details at my GelbspanFiles.com blog. The trio was John Passacantando, Phil Radford, and Kert Davies: http://gelbspanfiles.com/?p=1960
Kalee Krieder – Al Gore’s 2006-2012 spokesperson – claimed she was one of the founders of Ozone Action. http://gelbspanfiles.com/?p=919 Accusers of skeptic climate scientists are just one happy little cozy family.
Russel, here’s another interesting take on the history of the climate change debate, focusing on the corporate involvement on both sides:
http://activistteacher.blogspot.co.uk/2007/05/dgr-in-my-article-entitled-global.html
A PORG a person of restricted growth.
Perhaps a PORMG a person of restricted mental growth is more appropriate?
/sarc
@ur momisugly Pethefin Jan 27, 2015 10:11 pm Thanks for the link. Problem is, blogger David F. Noble there steers straight into a ditch within the first paragraphs with his bits on “… a growing consensus … a corporate campaign, which has by now been amply documented … modelled after [ / ] built upon the earlier campaign by the tobacco industry to sow skepticism … formed the Global Change Coalition (GCC), with the help of public relations giant Burson-Marsteller…” Each bit is literally unsupportable, with that last one being an outright error. Various other errors follow later in his piece, but since it is based on the false premise that there was an initial corporate effort done in a manner parallel to tobacco industry tactics, that undermines the balance of the piece to near worthlessness. As my own work in the matter shows, that alleged ‘tobacco industry-style effort’ has NOT been ‘amply documented’ in the least. Kert Davies and the collective lot of others promoting the ‘corrupt skeptic scientists’ meme instead show how there is only ONE source who ‘documented’ the accusation, and that source is plagued by credibility problems.
I just looked it up in Wikipedia. There are five million midgets in America. So it is not inconceivable that the five people in the photo are all midgets. If that’s true. Davies looks to me to be about three feet tall.
The guy has a sort of McKibben resemblance.
or maybe Lurch !
Here’s another Leader of the Alarmist Cult:
http://geosci.uchicago.edu/i/RayPierhumbert.jpg
Raymond T. Pierrehumbert actually quite (in)famous: called Anthony, Steve and Ross “clowns” and “noisemakers”, has been on the catastrophe side for a long time. But he now is busy with the climate of exo-planets. I guess he has given up on good ol’ Earth.
Timo,
It looks like Pierrehumbert is visiting from an exo-planet himself.
Speaking of noisemakers, I hope he’s heard the warning:
Play an accordion — go to prison…
…it’s the Law!
DBSteadly, the English definition of a gentleman is someone who can play the accordion, but doesn’t.
@ur momisugly dbstealey
Raymond T. Pierrehumbert resembles any number of people The Git drinks with at his local. Not saying I’m at all offended here, just puzzled. Apart from his short hair, lack of spectacles and an apparent ability to play a musical instrument, there’s even a slight resemblance to The Git. Mind you, The Git wouldn’t be caught dead in those shoes! He wears cherry red clogs 😉
Actually, Pierrehumbert looks kinda conservative compared to my friend David.
http://resources0.news.com.au/images/2011/01/19/1225991/006440-david-walsh.jpg
David Walsh privately owns a substantial collection of art, a winery and the $75 Million Museum of Old and New Art or MONA the largest privately owned museum in the southern hemisphere. In July 2012, Walsh was involved in a dispute with the Australian Tax Office, which demanded he pay $37 million from the profits of his gambling system. The dispute was “entirely resolved” in October 2012.
You can always tell a hippie, commie lair just by their appearance, no?
That softish bump on top of his head looks ready to pop. Is it mean to say that? Am I being uncharitable and unfair? Is my first sentence an ad hominem remark? Possibly; I have been trying to reply on Dr. Kert’s own level. . . perhaps I should stop.
@ur momisugly Jon M, you better, you might hurt your back.
In the best traditions of the ad hominem web, he’s a funny lookin’ dweeb.
An insult is rarely an ad hominem on its own. Indeed, the most effective ad hominems are truths about the subject.
Mark
Why is David Socrates disseminating a picture of Kert Davies? Especially an unflattering one. Is Kert using his finger to play with his lips?
Maybe David finds public displays of lip manipulation appealing, no need to share it here though.
Wouldn’t you think that someone utilizing the name “Socrates” would have skeptical tendencies? At least he should be asking questions instead of making claims.
I can’t tell. . . is he standing on something?
Didn’t the guy who wrote “Dress for Success” say “Never wear green!”
I’m all for researchers and associated groups disclosing their funding as long as it includes environmental groups, too. There is a news report out today that claims Russia may be backing anti-fracking efforts in the United States.
“A shadowy Bermudan company that has funneled tens of millions of dollars to anti-fracking environmentalist groups in the United States is run by executives with deep ties to Russian oil interests…”
In other words, it’s really environmental groups who are funded by “big oil.”
http://freebeacon.com/issues/foreign-firm-funding-u-s-green-groups-tied-to-state-owned-russian-oil-company/
Perfectly believable. During the Cold War, the Soviets were funding anti-war groups, labor unions and others.
That is a big fat lie.
I was in the antiwar movement in Berkeley in 1968-1970. We joked about this. I even joked that the Chinese communists gave me $600. The next day, that was a headline in the SF Chronicle. I called them and told them there was no money, never was any money and if anyone wanted to give me $600 I would be delighted.
They had to retract the story. 🙂
Emsnews… Not a lie it is the truth
emsnews: not a lie, although they certainly weren’t funding every anti-war group and labor union. I should add I have absolutely no doubt the CIA did and continues to do essentially the same thing.
Conspiracy faithful of all shades and leanings need to read G K Chesterion’s The Man Who Was Thursday. In fact, when you consider the interwoven threads of “interests” involved in forming the thought of the ’60s, who knows, possibly the USSR was funded by the FBI.
I call BS on that one. You already admitted:
No paper would retract a story if you later claimed “I was only joking”. How would they know you weren’t telling the truth the first time, and only simply joking now? They can’t, so they would do nothing until there was proof one way of the other. You word on its own would no longer be believable. And the situation remains unchanged even to this day.
$2 per gallon gas will put a huge slowdown on fracking or any other oil/gas exploration.
Actually, it will force fracking to become cheaper in order to survive to everyone’s gain
It will also embarrass the “renewables” even further because those are tax funded and don’t understand the concept of fair competition in a free market.
Ironically, Kert has an article amongst his “investigations” from 2014 linking so-called American oil companies with Russia…
Well the single biggest financial benefactor of “Big Orl” is Uncle Sam. The United States Government gets more from big oil than do the share holders in big oil companies.
And since most of these liberal organizations are wards of the government and owe their support to US taxpayers, including big oil, then they should shut up or risk losing their funding.
Just saying.
Willy Soon has put up with far more undeserved personal attacks than anyone should have to tolerate. Heartland recognized that and gave him an award for “Courage in Defense of Science Award”
All round nice guy and incredibly dedicated.
http://climateconferences.heartland.org/willie-soon-award-iccc9/
Is it as bad as the horrific personal attacks endured by that poor, hardworking, reluctantly in the public eye, scrupulously honest, darn good looking, affable and wonderful Nobel Laureate M. Mann?
(yes, that was sarcasm)
my screen is now wearing the coffee I was drinking.
Hypocrisy on the side of climate alarmism?
I am shocked, just shocked.
Check out the oil funded green bodies.
Here is a taste from the long list of green and climate bodies funded by fossil fuel companies HERE. The hypocrisy is quite amazing.
Jimbo, could it be a matter of knowing your enemies?
No. The oil industry is very happy the EPA is taking action against coal, because this will force consumers over to natural gas, which will raise the price of natural gas and as a result raise oil company profits.
Without coal as an option, big oil is back to its monopoly position on energy, and once the $2 oil has driven the little guys out of the market, the price will come back higher than ever – as will the profits.
US Presidents have recognized this going back to the Arab Oil Embargo 40 years ago, and the government promoted the use of coal for electricity production because the US has 200 more years of proven coal reserves.
The current administration in the US is cutting the use of coal, leading the US back to the days when big oil had a monopoly on energy production. This will not be good for consumers.
It would be better to just find Kert Davies and kick his ass. Metaphorically, of course.
From what I have gathered, at least for the last several years in order to get a research proposal funded by the government it must contain a statement describing how that research should help to reinforce the CAGW meme. So he should also add those scientists who ever did climate research funded by government grants to those with a conflict of interest.
I wonder if we could get funding to start a watchdog group to watch watchdog groups?
Well, in a dog eat dog world, why not?
Great idea. Apply for a grant. The way this administration likes to piss away money, you just might get it.
It’s already there: Greenie Watch
http://antigreen.blogspot.nl/
Willis,
Thank you for your work. I only wish you’d have taken your “contact us” request a bit further and requested:
1) Specific issues with the science.
2) Their (his?) defitnition of ” of sound energy and environmental policies that are necessary in the face of ongoing climate crisis.”
3) a link to their (his?) chastisement of Greenpeace re: damage in Lima.
It seems responsible journalism would focus the magnifying lens on all sides of the discussion. Especially lacking the definitions in #2 above, how can they self evaluate and insure adherance to their proclaimed mission.
Now, in fairness to them, I did not see on thier site where they declared themselves to be either responsible nor journalists.
Willie Soon has been a target, especially for White House science advisor John Holdren. It is possible he has orchestrated or prompted this latest attack. Here is portion of my book, “The Deliberate Corruption of Climate Science” that details the outrageous actions taken by Holdren to try and silence Willie Soon and Sally Baliunas.
“There were two attacks. One still unknown to many and unreported by the mainstream media involved denigration and vicious attacks on Soon and Baliunas. Maybe it went unreported because it involved, in a truculent nasty manner, a member of the Obama White House.
There is a multitude of small but disturbing stories in the extensive leaked email files. For example, I’ve known solar physicists Sallie Baliunas and Willie Soon for a long time. I published an article with Willie and enjoyed extensive communication. I was on advisory committees with Sallie when she suddenly and politely withdrew from the fray. I don’t know if the following events were contributing factors, but it seems likely.
Baliunas and Soon excellent work confirmed the existence of the Medieval Warm Period (MWP) from a multitude of sources. It challenged attempts to get rid of the MWP because it contradicted the claim by the proponents of anthropogenic global warming (AGW). Several scientists challenged the claim that the latter part of the 20th century was the warmest ever. They knew the claim was false because many warmer periods occurred in the past. Michael Mann got rid of the MWP with his production of the hockey stick, but Soon and Baliunas were problematic. What better than to have a powerful academic destroy their credibility for you? Sadly, there are always people who will do the dirty work.
A perfect person and opportunity appeared. On 16th October 2003 Michael Mann sent an email to people involved in the CRU scandal;
“Dear All,
Thought you would be interested in this exchange, which John Holdren of Harvard has been kind enough to pass along…”
At the time, Holdren was Teresa and John Heinz Professor of Environmental Policy & Director, Program in Science, Technology, & Public Policy, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, John F. Kennedy School of Government. Later he became Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, and Co-Chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology—informally known as the United States Science Czar.
In an email on October 16, 2003 from John Holdren to Michael Mann and Tom Wigley we’re told:
“I’m forwarding for your entertainment an exchange that followed from my being quoted in the Harvard Crimson to the effect that you and your colleagues are right and my “Harvard” colleagues Soon and Baliunas are wrong about what the evidence shows concerning surface temperatures over the past millennium. The cover note to faculty and postdocs in a regular Wednesday breakfast discussion group on environmental science and public policy in Harvard’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences is more or less self-explanatory.”
This is what Holdren sent to the Wednesday Breakfast group:
“I append here an e-mail correspondence I have engaged in over the past few days trying to educate a Soon/Baliunas supporter who originally wrote to me asking how I could think that Soon and Baliunas are wrong and Mann et al. are right (a view attributed to me, correctly, in the Harvard Crimson). This individual apparently runs a web site on which he had been touting the Soon/Baliunas position.”
The exchange Holdren refers to is a challenge by Nick Schulz editor of Tech Central Station (TCS). On August 9, 2003 Schulz wrote:
“In a recent Crimson story on the work of Soon and Baliunas, who have written for my website , you are quoted as saying: My impression is that the critics are right. It is unfortunate that so much attention is paid to a flawed analysis, but that’s what happens when something happens to support the political climate in Washington. Do you feel the same way about the work of Mann et. al.? If not why not?”
At what point does the end no longer justify the means?
“There is a multitude of small but disturbing stories…”
I guess you couldn’t get a proofreader for your book. My condolences.
Jeff – are you suggesting a grammatical error? How would YOU rewrite it without becoming stifling?
To me, “multitude” as Tim uses it is singular – an agglomeration of SPECIFIED stories, particularly as offset, and characterized by the words: “small but disturbing”.
Likely a matter of choice – no “proofreader” nag is warranted.
Sorry Jeff, there’s nothing wrong with that sentence.
My theory is that when all that someone can find to complain about is your grammar, you’ve won the argument … but in any case, Jeff, I find this:
Regards,
w.
I would have written it as “are a multitude” as in a great number. Would you say “there is a great number of stories”?
Just one example. I often find myself shaking my head at Dr. Ball’s grammar and punctuation.
There really isn’t an argument to win or lose, Willis. It’s his opinion, therefore it is what it is.
Jeff Alberts January 27, 2015 at 10:13 pm Edit
The curious thing to me is that English as it is both spoken and written is often very different from what the rule-makers would have us believe. For example, many folks including myself say something like
“There’s a lot of ways to skin a cat.”
Now of course, by all the rules that’s wrong … but then so is the sign that says “Ten Items Or Less” at the supermarket, and yet people know exactly what is meant by both statements.
I see the English language as an evolutionary process. My rule of thumb is that if a construction is short, unambiguous and clear, it will likely survive at the expense of another way of saying the same thing which is either longer, more ambiguous, or less clear. This goes double if the first construction is also interesting or emotionally moving in some way.
Which is why I have little patience for folks who think that others should play English by their rules. If you want to play by some imaginary set of rules, that’s your business … but me, I never was much for coloring inside the lines. I’m a reasonably good wordsmith, and I recognize no rules but those that lead to moving, gripping communication … and far too often that involves coloring not only outside the lines, but completely off of the page.
My thanks to you, Jeff, it’s an interesting topic,
w.
Tim’s book says: “There is a multitude of small but disturbing stories….”.
Jeff (apparently) says he would write instead: “There are a multitude of small but disturbing stories…..”. This “are a” juxtaposition jars my ear.
If Jeff wishes to use “are”, he should make “multitude” an additional descriptive modifier (along with small and disturbing), i.e.: “There are multitude small but disturbing stories…..”. That is, “a multitude of” (noun) becomes just “multitude”. This construction I would find proper, extending “are” to plural “stories” – but suffocating!
No, Jeff, I would not say (your example): “There is a great number of stories”.
But neither would I say: “There are a box of books on bird behavior on my shelf.” To my mind, ”a multitude of” agglomerates just as “a box of” does.
Ha – Willis – I supposed only I was bothered by “10 Items of Less”. None the less (!) we both get in the line if we have 10 Items or Fewer. I count, and I bet you do too. Not everyone does.
The Less/Fewer is one of my two major pet peeves, and I don’t mean just the non-counters in line. The other peeve is “begs the question”. But we have lost that one.
multitude is, multitudes are.
10 years an english teacher at a university.
Another elephant? “or does that just apply to people you disagree with?” Ending with a preposition? My theory is this caused the deletion of Willis’ letter. 🙂
(Sorry Willis, but I chose not to resist)
Willis Eschenbach
January 27, 2015 at 9:45 pm
You’re right, Willis. When I see it, I envision somebody on their knees, scraping fingernails in the dirt searching for horse-nuggets…
The sentence is grammatically correct. “Multitude” is singular.
Jeff Alberts:
There are many cases in English where “correct” and “idiomatic” conflict, and what is idiomatic varies between countries and regions. Correct is “with whom were you speaking?”, but among modern US speakers this would be widely considered stilted, if not pretentious. Correct British English is “The committee have reached a decision”, but in the US we would use the singular and say “the committee has reached a decision”. British consider other collective nouns as plural, such as corporation, government, etc. I do not know whether this usage applies to well-known nouns of multitude such as flock, pride, school, etc., but in any case in the US we do not and usage is always singular.
Knowing that many posting and commenting at WUWT are not native English speakers (a condition some on the other side of the pond would extend to cover Americans), I try to be charitable when finding grammatical errors. I of course prefer that people write clearly, but it is much more important that they think clearly; I can decipher a good thought poorly expressed much more easily than the other way around.
I personally would use the singular “There is a multitude …” as WIllis has, but I would not jump on someone who used the plural solely for that reason. I also tend to treat the word “none” as if it were written “no one” and therefore also singular, (e.g., “none is so foolish …”) but I think I’m definitely in the minority.
English is an irredeemable illogical language, especially in regard to spelling. It also evolves, unfortunately sometimes for no better reason than most people don’t learn proper usage. The word “presently” used to mean “shortly”, or “in a little while”, as in “the manager will see you presently”. In modern usage it has come to mean “at the present time”, or “now”, as in “we are presently enjoying the lowest fuel prices in 10 years”. Considering there was a perfectly good word “currently” with the identical meaning, there was no reason to hijack “presently” for the same purpose, as it only makes it necessary to find another word to mean what “presently” used to. But this is one of the ways language evolves and if you try to stop it, at a certain point you become peevishly ridiculous like the French Academy.
Now just why did you bring your knowledge of that topic for us to be lectured on out of up for?
I would like to apologize to everyone, but mostly to Dr. Ball.
There are a lot of things going on in my life, and I keep getting fixated on stupid little things. I just need to stop commenting, since I obviously can’t contribute in any meaningful way. I’ve become a troll without realizing it.
I am truly sorry.
To intrude in this discussion, while I am not a native English speaker, I’ve translated technical English professionally for a number of years, and in American English the rule is that collective nouns (a multitude of stories, a pride of lions, a plethora of politicians etc) are (almost) invariably regarded as singular. In British English they can be either singular or plural, depending on context and stylistic criteria.
So Tim’s usage is correct for American English, and not incorrect for British English.
[But is not the plural of “politician” a “poop” of politicians? .mod]
AP Stylebook: “multitude” as used in this sentence is a collective noun. It takes a singular verb: “There is a multitude of [adjectives] stories.” One of the adjectives is “small.” If, however, the “multitude” was large, AP Stylebook recommends rephrasing the sentence to emphasize the size of the multitude: “Over 1,000 stories were. . . ”
If it was stated as, “A multitude of small but disturbing stories . . .” then you would use a plural verb.
My understanding is that both singular and plural are correct, with “is” being the British convention and “are” the US convention.
I concur with Bernie. The sentence is correct as written. “Multitude” is singular. It is sometimes written “there are multitudes” but that actually describes many collections, each of which is singular.
Compare to “There is a crowd at the stadium”. One crowd, one multitude, one throng, one gathering.
But if you had sixteen families each of which constituted a gathering, then you would have “gatherings”.
A pedant might have written “Many small, disturbing stories…” which gets rid of the passive voice “There is” and eliminates the “but” which is unnecessary. It implies that small stories are not normally disturbing BUT these are!
I had a college professor who gave only 3 points on a paper; and you lost one of them for each instance of “there are” or semantically similar passive phrases. Still, the passive nature of science writing almost compels this style.
I’m reminded of the gradual drift in “data”. It is plural. The singular form is “datum”. But common usage has rendered “data” also singular perhaps because it is a quantity rather than a number (water is a quantity and can be more/less, data is supposed to be countable and thus more/fewer).
I also am annoyed when I see “less” when it should be “fewer”.
“Here is the data” is incorrect but extremely common. “Here is the datum” would be correct, or “Here are the data” which is correct but sounds odd at least in the USA. Try it and see how many corrections you get.
Holdren was author of one of the worst books I have ever read. The title was something like “Energy: a crisis in power” or maybe the other way around, but nevertheless the various predictions made in it (in 1972, I think, a Sierra Club battle book no less) were proven spectacularly wrong within only a few years and look downright doty from my perspective today. Smartest man alive. Uh, huh.
Absolutely nothing wrong with this construction. “is” refers to “multitude”.
Jeff’s mistake is in thinking “is” refers to “stories”, and therefore “are” should be used. Just because “multitude” refers to many, there is only 1 multitude, therefore “is” is correct. Had there been multiple multitudes, then “are” would have been correct.
The comment I produced below was meant as a reply here, but it went astray. This is a test to see if I can produce an anchor to correct the mislocation. If it all goes wrong, my apologies.
Thank you Willis and Tim.
Sallie’s withdrawal from the scientific community was a tragedy for the USA and the world – she IS that competent.
Willie Soon is obviously a very capable and principled individual who has withstood extremist persecution and has carried on.
I admire Sallie and Willie very much, and appreciate that you have both shed light on some of the odious vermin who have persecuted them.
Again, thank you Willis and Tim.
Best, Allan
Isn’t Willy Soon the CO2 Science guy? He runs on donations or subscriptions from the general public. American Apple Pie stuff. Truly democratic (in the classical sense of the word) and populist stuff.
Beyond reproach. Unlike the GASPROM funded Sierra Club, Natural Resource Defense Council, Food and Water Watch, League of Conservation Voters, and Center for American Progress astroturf.
You’re thinking of the Idsos…
“In any case, in the past I’ve had jobs working for both extremely liberal and extremely conservative groups … so freakin’ what? Unless they are funding my current work, I fail to see the relevance … and just like with Willie Soon’s study published in the Science Bulletin, nobody is funding my current work.”
Funding doesn’t matter: Typical definition is “A competing or conflict of interest is anything that might inappropriately influence (bias), or which might be perceived to interfere with, the full and objective presentation, review or publication of research findings or review-type material.”
Soon’s Heartland connection certainly counts, and I’m betting there are other connections in the his oil and gas connections, millions of $$ there.
BTW note the word “perceived”. That covers a lot.
Thanks, Pippen. Although the word “perceived” covers a lot, so does the word “inappropriately”.
In any case, given the current climate of political correctness, even the most innocuous statements or relationships can be “perceived” as a conflict of interest, even things that happened years ago. I’ve gotten accused of bad intent because of things I did in my twenties, so obviously someone “perceived” it that way.
So the “perceived” part is meaningless. Somebody somewhere will perceive any given thing as being an inappropriate influence.
w.
You’re betting? How much then. Millions, Schmillions, CAGW people only get out of bed for Billions
“You’ve done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?” –Hon. Joseph Welch
Pippen Kools comments above re: Dr Soon have to be some of the most petulant and asinine I have read on WUWT, and I have been reading here for years.
Dr Soon’s work and achievements stand on their own merit, and are recognized by all sides in the debate, except by the mental dwarves like PK and Kurt D above.
John M,
This is what made the alarmist cult go ballistic:
http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/archive/pr0310.html
Pippen Kool either can’t or won’t understand that by pointing out the 20th Century was not as warm as the MWP, Soon & Balunias became their targets.
Pippen,
Find problems with Soon’s work, not his connections. You say “millions of $$ there” so how much has Mann received since he got his PHD?
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/12/24/some-christmas-gift-notes-for-dr-michael-mann/
Now that is uncalled for , do you know how many cornflakes packets you have to collect, with their special labels, to get a PHD in climate science? Quite a few, and they’re not cheap! So he needs all the money [he] can get.
Well he is funded, indirectly, by Koch Bros.
Pippen, what do you perceive?
Jimbo,
No fair!! You’re using facts again!
Jimbo, what I say below you have said so much more persuasively! If financial support implies conflict of interest, which implies biased research, it’s game over.
Jimbo, Pardon but the graph looks familiar, have you thought to overlay it to one of the CRU’s IPCC’s climate model graphs? Of the same time period? I’m probably wrong it just looks so familiar….
smile
michael
And there is the hidden hockey stick!
Jimbo, you’ve produced the first accurate hockey stick I’ve seen in climate science.
Pippen Kool. It’s important to apply the same standards to both sides (or all sides). As implied in Willis’s Q1 to Kert.
PK,
We await your formal rebuttal to the paper. I’m not holding my breath.
Pippen … you have any problems with Barry’s connections to known terrorists ?
How about BHO’s connections with known environmentalists and “green energy” big shots?
Pippin, one should truly educate themselves on a topic before commenting on it. Always you trolls like to bring up “perceived” oil and gas connections. Heartland Institute and Dr. Soon have both said publicly they would gladly accept funds from the Koch brothers, or any other corporation or organization. Given the lack of announcements or proof from the left, one can assume that they are still waiting.
Meanwhile, tens of millions of dollars of oil and gas money have been given to organizations like Green Peace and WWF, annually. There is plenty of documentation to support that fact. It is not an allegation. I haven’t run across any announcement stating that these well-funded organizations are going to return any of that money. The funding of Heartland Institute is a small fraction of that of those organizations.
By your definition studies produced by scientists associated with CAGW-agenda driven organizations are also biased by their associations. Therefore, there is no such thing as an unbiased climate science paper. You may be right, in that regard. But I personally don’t think so. Most of us who read here can readily discern what you are and who you represent.
Pippin certainly did achieve part of his goal, I’m guessing. It was probably to stir up a lot of hate and dissent. I’m glad to see what he actually stirred up was a lot of facts, figures, and discussion his side doesn’t want to be made public. I believe that is important as it educates those who are new to this topic and demonstrates that skeptics are not the “haters” the CAGW crowd says we are.
Hmmm. I wonder if Mr. Davies or the Climate Investigations Center, or any of his or its affiliates, has/have ever received any Russian money. “Foreign Firm Funding U.S. Green Groups Tied to State-Owned Russian Oil Company” http://freebeacon.com/issues/foreign-firm-funding-u-s-green-groups-tied-to-state-owned-russian-oil-company/
The elephant in the room is government funding. The government is wealthier than any corporation, and if we conclude, with plausible evidence, that government has a thumb on the scale when it comes to awarding grants, the debate would truly be over.
No, I think the elephant in the room is State Owned Russian Oil Company funding just about every enviromental crank and concern troll still extant.
It appears that, the CAGW Hypocrisy room is big enough for more than one elephant.
A sizable portion of government grants and taxpayer-backed loans result in a nice quid pro quo campaign cash bonanza for democrat candidates, most notably, BHO.
Speaking of funding groups – read article on Drudge relating to Russian oil companies funding the environment movement to the tune of $23 million. Then talk to us about Soon.
http://freebeacon.com/issues/foreign-firm-funding-u-s-green-groups-tied-to-state-owned-russian-oil-company/
Nicely done, Willis. When Kert was Greenpeace executive director, he and I once debated on TV. So long ago I can’t recall the program or exact topic. What I do vividly remember is that he was all hail fellow well met in the green room before the broadcast, then in the on-air segment accused my organization (Competitive Enterprise Institute) of denying that cigarette smoking causes. Not content to compare me with a tobacco scientist, he in effect asserted that I am one. I had some interaction with his predecessor, John Passacantando, who had a similar ‘code’ of conduct: friendly in private, nasty ad hominem on stage. He used a debating trick Joe Romm also uses. When the other guy objects to the defamatory slurs, Passacantando and Romm will play the victim, protesting “You’re interrupting, I didn’t interrupt you!” A word to the wise: While it is worthwhile debating ISSUES with people who passionately disagree with you, it is a sheer waste of time debating YOUR CHARACTER with people who want to defame you.
After this revelation from Free Beacon via Instapundit (http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/201550/) it’s pitch fork and torch season for these character assassins. I am fed up. Why is that guy’s teeth all still intact?
The desperation increases as the wheels fall off the bandwagon.
I had not known before that greens from Greenpeace even wear green shirts. Explains why so much of what they do is in bad taste.
I Googled Kert Davies to see where Socrates obtained his impressive image of said individual . Not on any Google images that I could see nor on the Davies Greenpeace blogs – perhaps it was a “selfie” shared between friends .
However what did impress me from looking at the Davies/Greenpeace sites, but not pleasantly , is the sheer volume of propaganda directed at any organisation or individual in anyway sceptical of the official line on AGW .
The idea that the wheels are about to fall off the bandwagon is wishful thinking given the torrent of money directed at the “evil deniers “. I cannot see scepticism winning this war frankly,
Few people on this site doubt the potential of CO2 and CH4 to cause global warming, but argue about the real effects and they seem small compared to so many of life’s other difficulties. The cures for the problem seem worse than the disease judging from the policies from the US Govt , EU and particularly from Milliband and the Greens in the UK.
The Titanic was an expensive ship and look at where its at now. Reality will sink this ship and the rats on board will fade away into obscurity.
The photo was taken at a 2004 meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol.
Scroll down the page linked, to find the pic:
http://www.iisd.ca/ozone/exmp/march25.html
————————–
“…perhaps it was a “selfie” shared between friends .”
________________
One would likely find that several of the anonymous trolls appearing in these pages, are well- placed individuals within the climate fearosphere. Their deeply flawed reason and logic, along with the vitriol which they display, explains much about the workings and machinations of climate activism.
The information war has been won. It just needs to be finished. Real polls show that consistently. Also, many large nations are turning away from the Green Agenda, since it requires their governments to surrender sovereignty and causes needless suffering of their citizens. The problem to solve is how to stop desperate politicians and bureaucrats from blindly putting their religious beliefs into restrictive and devastating laws in this country. Desperate people become dangerous people.
Ernest Bush said:
” Also, many large nations are turning away from the Green Agenda, since it requires their governments to surrender sovereignty and causes needless suffering of their citizens. ”
Only true of those governments interested in maintaining their sovereignty and the wellbeing of their citizens.
whois lookup on the domain name for climateinvestigations.org produces some info presented here…hope it’s helpful:
Registrant ID:CR151142645
Registrant Name:Kert Davies
Registrant Organization:Greenpeace
Registrant Street: 702 H St
Registrant Street: Suite 300
Registrant City:Washington
Registrant State/Province:District of Columbia
Registrant Postal Code:20001
Registrant Country:US
Registrant Phone:+1.2024621177
Registrant Phone Ext:
Registrant Fax:
Registrant Fax Ext:
Registrant Email:kertmail@gmail.com
Say isn’t that the same building that GISS occupies?
National Weather Service to evaluate work after missed call
– MYFOXNY.COM/AP – A National Weather Service official says the agency will evaluate its storm modeling after a storm that was predicted to dump a foot or more of snow on many parts of New Jersey and the Philadelphia region delivered far less than that.
http://www.myfoxny.com/story/27950449/missed-call
over and over and over again. It’s missed calls all the way back to the giant turtle the universe is supposed to sit on.
Be fair they probable used an old coin that had worn out more on one side .
Actually, the storm did happen and it was quite impressive. Also, as predicted, cold follows. The track of the storm was 50 miles east of the coast as the storm went north from the Carolinas and, so, mostly missed NYC. Nassau and Suffolk counties got hit as did Rhode Island and eastern Massachusetts. The following is a bit old now, but have a look:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/01/26/nyregion/snowfall-totals-around-the-region.html
It’s not over yet. Weather Street is showing probable snow in the whole region for Thursday and Friday. Meanwhile, highs will be near or below freezing and I’m glad I’m not there to deal with the low temps. Just because the jet stream isn’t causing mayhem in Texas doesn’t mean it is ignoring the northern tier and northeast states.
Their October 16, 2014 weather forecast for the US winter said it was going to be warm east of the Rockies with little snow and cold, unlike the previous year. Can’t find link.
Twice in the last month Willis Eschenbach has resorted to namecalling.
At least this time it refers to a major publication.
Last time it was just to attack an obscure blog/blogger.
Is that the accepted standard here at WAWT?
It’s sad, lots of ‘otherwise good articles’ and great nautical stories.
Pissing contests are useless except for the smallest of fires.
Please get some ankle guards and stay focused!
🙂
If the shoe fits. Calm in the face of outrageous behavior is no virtue.
I believe it was a counter attack on a malicious obscure blog/blogger.
At least Willis posts his real name. Where’s yours? Got something to be ashamed of?
tolip ydob (There is no such thing as a perfectly good airplane) January 27, 2015 at 12:45 pm
I’m sorry, Mr. Won’t Sign His Own Opinions, but if a man is acting like a blackguard, I will say so. I did the same thing with the miscreants whose machinations were exposed by Climategate, and they roundly deserved it.
From my perspective, the problem isn’t that I’m too passionate or too upset by such underhanded tactics.
The problem is that you, as well as the mass of otherwise honest climate scientists, are neither passionate enough nor upset enough by these kinds of attacks and malfeasance.
You know about karma? Someone I know once described it as hitting a golf ball in a tiled bathroom … well, consider me like internet karma, in that I give back what I get.
If someone gives me reason and science, I respond in kind.
And if someone makes a scurrilous, one-sided, underhanded attack, yes, I will certainly call that person by such accurate and descriptive names as are appropriate to their actions.
I’m curious, however. Kert Davies is doing his best to blacken the name of a good, decent, honest scientist. He is trying to get him discredited and fired from his position, merely because Kert doesn’t like Dr. Soon’s scientific conclusions.
So my question is, why are you here whining at me, rather that taking whatever noble actions that your noble principles might allow you to take in order to stop Mr. Davies from his underhanded actions. Your complaint would have much more force if you were doing something more than using one hand to recreate the offense of the son of Judah …
w.
Love the golf ball analogy Willis.
I,m stealing that for sure.
I don’t think expressions of rage are an effective tool against the AGW position.
I think they are counterproductive.
I think it is sad that WUWT does not appear to see it my way.
I am only addressing the ‘headlining’ of same here @ur momisugly WUWT.
There are better ways of making the same point.
For having the temerity to voice my opinion you literally accuse me of sin in biblical terms?
What god or Torah have I committed my offence towards? you? your works?
Is any/all dissention among the ranks evil?
Sounds like an anti-cult cult tactic.
A weak ‘appeal to authority’ if I have ever seen one.
Ad hominems regarding my anonimity fail to address my arguement on merit.
I consider todays battles as no less than round two in the Copernican revolution!
I don’t think the AGW folks are beyond hope.
I also don’t think calling their baby ugly promotes discussion.
My approach involves encouraging them to discover for themselves.
As to your assault on my character,,,
I am guilty as charged, an evil-anon-mistyping-dissenter among the ranks.
Go ahead and engage in and encourage rage against dissent.
Run me off even.
I’ll bet you could get 99% support for that position among your loyal followers!
Also recall your own stated belief in internet karma while you’re at it.
Someone somewhere sometime will use it against you.
tolip ydob (There is no such thing as a perfectly good airplane) January 28, 2015 at 11:03 am
Quite possibly … so why are you here whinging about what I do, instead of being out there doing what you think is productive? I’m doing what I can to fight the good fight, and you’re doing what you can to complain about how I’m doing it … you see the problem?
What I said was:
So nah, I didn’t “literally accuse [you] of sin in biblical terms”… I just accused you of wanking instead of doing something productive. You see, the “son of Judah” was Onan, and according to popular belief, he … aw, never mind.
Your argument seems to be that expressions of rage are not effective. I fear that is an opinion that cannot be addressed “on merit”. Like most actions, sometimes expressions of rage do nothing, and other times they are highly effective. I would note, however, that my “expression of rage”, as you term it, has led to a long and fruitful discussion of the issues involved … so I’d say that yes, it has been effective.
Wonderful! Great! I don’t have a clue what you mean by that! But I like the exclamation mark!
See, this is where your anonymity bites you. You claim to have an “approach”, but there’s no way we can determine either what it is or how effective it is because you are unwilling to sign your own words.
Rage against dissent? I’m raging against the attempt to bring down a good scientist, not by attacking his science, but by attacking his funding. Your claim is a huge misrepresentation of what’s going on here. It’s just a straw man that you can attack, it has nothing to do with me.
And “Run you off”?? Good heavens, you are paranoid as well. There’s nothing I can do to you, this is the internet and you are a random anonymous popup. I have neither the intention nor the desire to run you off, quite the opposite. You are a useful foil because of the foolish positions that you take. You make demonstrating the weakness of your beliefs easy, and that’s always valuable. I’m glad you’re here.
So having erected your homo paleas, you now burn him down, and are impressed by the sparks … I don’t hold that position, Anonymoose. I have no wish to “run you off” even if I could, and I can’t. That’s just your sick imagination at work.
Better women/men than you have tried and failed, for two simple reasons. First, because I sign my own words, I’m careful about what I say. This is because unlike you, I have to defend my own words, both now and into the indefinite future. And so I do my best to only say things that I’m willing to stand up for and defend, either now or on any tomorrow.
Second, when I’m shown to be wrong, I admit it. It’s painful, and I don’t like doing it, but it’s the honorable path and I take it as necessary.
You, on the other hand, are free to build all of the straw men you want, you never have to defend your words, and rather than admit error, you can conveniently disappear and reappear as “pirdeson diputs (there is no such thing as intelligence on my planet)” or some other alias, and completely escape responsibility for your actions.
w.
tolip, you sound like an idiot. And its WUWT, not WAWT.
Ah, Funding!
History of the Climatic Research Unit
Link:-
http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/about-cru/history
I wish I could find the history I located and downloaded that described how most science research was funded in the US before 1950. It was done by large private corporations and a few foundations donating to universities. The point was made that large US corporations had a lot at stake in knowing the science that affected their business was right; in addition, they wanted independent proof.
“… the Climate Investigations Center, a collaboration between former Greenpeace Research Director Kert Davies and the Guardian ”
made me chuckle
Its getting a touch idiotic. Ideally, science is a method that anyone can repeat and confirm the findings for themselves. Only where you need to have faith in the researcher because its impractical to redo the work is the funding of the work important. Its not a substitute for when you are too lazy to write a rebuttal of the argument.