“I’ll Trade You Cuccinelli For Splattergate With A Player To Be Named Later“. Thomas Fuller offers a vague opinion piece filled with half-hearted attempts to sound “neutral”.
Hmmm. Links to recent WUWT posts (are these really the authoritative coverage?), vague references to “the scandals”, a bit of back-pedaling over District Attorney Cuccinelli’s attack on Dr. Mann. Which was the bigger waste of time Tom, us reading it or you typing it?
“Delivering Messages Is Not Communicating“. Thomas Fuller rambles on in an “op ed” guest post about how “they” are losing the battle of “messages”. “They” need over-dramatize because:
there really isn’t enough data to make a definitive case for the type of climate change the establishment needs to command immediate and decisive action. (emphasis mine)
Andrew Montford’s book The Hockey Stick Illusion? Not defeated by a blog! Hah! Stephen Schneider’s paper about the credibility of climate change authors? Somehow, libelous! Environmental videos featuring exploding children? In poor taste! (I’ll give you that one.) Hair-splitting denialist scientists like Lindzen, Spencer, Christy? Still splitting hairs!
But what is the denialist messaging, Thomas? Climategate fraud accusations – proven to be fabricated. Political and legal attacks on scientists – proven to be unjustifiable. Statistical evidence disputing global warming – proven to be misreprentative.
Your ‘message’ is one of insinuation about their motives. “Their” message is that denialists are provably lying. Pick a side.
O…M…G – Video explodes skeptical kids in bloodbath. Anthony Watts joins in the “astonishment” and “outrage” over this poorly conceived video. I have to point out that the blowin’ up kids bit is only the first of the four scenes. No compassion for white-collar workers, footballers or hard-working narrators?
10:10 exploding skeptical children video “disappears”. Anthony wants to know where the video has gone. Did Dr. Phil Jones e-mail everyone to delete it? Wait he’s found it again! Those wishing to refresh their outrage should click-through.
A message to 10:10 -”sorry”, just doesn’t cut it. Why, oh why would Anthony accept the video author’s apologies when he can continue to use it to malign all environmentalists?
WUWT’s story on 10:10 – 3rd most popular on WordPress globally – even in New Zealand. Anthony boasts about his web statistics. That was a given, wasn’t it?
Blow Me Up, Blow Me Down. Thomas Fuller continues to represent this video as proof that environmentalists think that “it’s okay to ostracize, bully and dismiss those who don’t agree that climate change”. Apparently their intent “is to legitimize the cruelty of children towards each other”. Go get ’em, Junior! Thomas knows he’s gone off the deep end though, because he spends a lot of time trying to preëmpt charges of Nazi allusions (while accusing environmentalists of doing it first).
“Lower Than This They Cannot Stoop“. Thomas Fuller tells us that an edgy British video called No Pressure that uses shock-value images in campaign to persuade people to lower their own emissions by 10 percent has destroyed any chance of discussion about global warming.
I will say that it’s a pretty strange one-off video. I understand that it was never aired and has been yanked from the 1010global.org/uk website. Is blowing up people (“even children!” note the scandalized denialists) who can’t be bothered to participate in conservation efforts a helpful image? Not really. I suppose someone decided the shock-value would draw publicity and that maybe the more prosaic intended message would get an exposure.
Thomas tries to insinuate that the exploding people represent the noble, independent “skeptics” being punished for their resistance, but the victims are clearly some kind of unsuccessful representation of ‘laziness’ or ‘thoughtlessness’. [Update: maybe ‘complacency’ is the best description.]
Thrash away, Thomas. Every day must have its own scandal. You’ll be considering something else “the lowest ever” before the week’s out. Last week it was the tide of public opinion is turning towards us! This week its we’re a threatened minority!
The comments at WUWT are naturally full of Nazi references, argumentative denialists ache to make them. Ironically, in the midst of the expressions of outrage over the paranoid conclusion that the “alarmists” want to identify and eliminate their opponents, Anthony Watts demonstrates that he actually engages in researching and intimidating his opponents with this little item about a commenter (David Gould) who dares to suggest that the video was an over-blown dramatic device:
Silly Anthony, don’t demonstrate the thing you’re complaining about while you’re complaining about it! That’s the dumbest kind of hypocrisy.
“Wasted Opportunities“. Thomas Fuller steps up to the plate for Anthony Watts again. He thinks it’s a shame that so much effort has gone into renewable energy sources: solar, wind and biofuels (no love for hydro or tidal?). We should be using cogeneration! Ah, if only we all lived beside a power plant.
Oh, wait, we are using cogeneration! 7% of energy in the US, even more in some Scandinavian countries. So, Thomas’ point is what exactly? Use more somehow? He also claims cogeneration “gets little attention from environmentalists”, but doesn’t really put much effort into the accusation. This post is just Fuller filler.
So I’m back again after another layoff… What was I up to? Well aside from returning to the algore secret world headquarters for new orders and getting my brain-washing topped up, I was enjoying a warm (too warm I tell myself ominously) month of summer training and racing in triathlons. I was also helping, in a small way, run the Toronto International Film Festival.
Of course Anthony Watts and friends have been busy without me. Unsurprisingly, they’ve said absolutely nothing new. The Arctic sea ice has continued to recede despite their daily protestations and crowing about momentary tiny reversals. They still darkly accuse reality-based scientists of being money-grubbing communist liars. They’re still finding phrases to work themselves into a lather over, with “global climate disruption” being the latest definitive evidence that “warmers” are slippery-tongued con artists. Apologies and retractions, as long after the fact as possible, as still trickling out of the deceived mainstream media. “Lord” Monckton is still threatening to sue anyone that criticizes him. Fox News cobbled together another collection of denialists to explain it all to their viewers.
What’s new? There have been some entertaining developments, randomly selected.
So much fun I’ve missed out on! Well time waits for no man.
I can make a small contribution here though. There were two films at Toronto International Film Festival that touched on climate change. Cool It was an uncritical documentary about Bjorn Lomberg and his ideas on climate change. I really wanted to catch a screening, but my schedule didn’t allow me to get to it. My contacts tell me that it was very poorly attended, but I would have loved the chance to see some of the local denialists bouncing around the 75 seat theater chosen to screen it in. The documentary Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie, was also playing, it won the Cadillac People’s Choice Documentary Award. So much for the tide of public opinion turning against the “climate change alarmists”.
Wott's Up With That? 