Bishop Hill Splitters, deniers, and circular firing squads
;)
A couple of weeks ago, we were treated to the sight of Naomi Oreskes badmouthing a variety of climate scientists for having the temerity to support the expansion of nuclear power. Her use of the d-word caused shock among some parts of the green fraternity, who like to reserve it for people who disagree about the value of climate sensitivity. Oreskes' great contribution to uncivil society has been to apply this unpleasant term of abuse to those who disagree on policy measures too. Splitters, I tell you! Splitters!
And in an amusing development yesterday, we got a strong hint that this application of the d-word is expanding still further. The BBC's Matt McGrath did a piece on the UK's recent floods and failed to dwell with sufficient loving attention on the possible contribution of global warming. For this egregious sin against the faith he was roundly taken to task by carbon rentier Anthony Hobley.
Shocking piece of climate denial by @MattMcGrathBBC @BBCNews reporting on El Niño & #ukfloods https://t.co/g2Nb49OkIv
— Anthony Hobley (@arhobley) December 30, 2015
If this really is the beginning of a trend then it's probably time to lay in supplies of popcorn. It's going to be like the green movement forming itself up into a circular firing squad.
Reader Comments (80)
If climate alarmists are going to have a circular firing squad - is there anywhere one can contribute to ensure they have effective ammunition?
Here's hoping that - the name-calling ratchets up and decorum is discarded and feathers fly :-)
Good stuff. I'm more than happy to hold their jackets whilst they shoot each other. No remuneration required.
Bish:
Also known as a Mexican Standoff. Whoever shoots first will probably hit someone but is sure to die - maybe, just maybe, that's what Oreskes has managed to do, but I'll sit back for a while before I break out the Kleenex.
One of the best cinematic renditions still is in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
Looking at Hobley's resume at the 'Carbon Tracker Initiative' is revealing.
'Anthony has been a long-term advocate, active promoter and excessive beneficiary of the carbon scam. Anthony was one of the overpaid clowns responsible for creating the disastrous EU Emission Trading Scheme and also had his snout in the green trough when he played a 'key' role in setting up the UK's equally disastrous first foray into Emissions Trading. His consistency in troughing many thousands from the non-existent carbon fairy is exceptional even by the august standards of the Green Blob and reflects years of dedicated public-spirited service pushing the Greatest Scam of our Age.
Anthony has wasted his entire career on 'climate change' law in the study and application of legislation applied to an effectively natural (rather than human) phenomenon. Anthony is looking forwards to lining his pockets for many years to come on the back of the biggest steaming pile of nonsense since Noah was a lad.'
Once a highly emotive meme (like 'denier') is launched into a new domain (like the climate change scene), it will inevitably get out of control at some point. The development of cultural phenomena like CAGW, rather than being mostly a function of close control from above, is more a function of the average direction of the unleashed emotions and consequent emotional bias.
'For this egregious sin against the faith '
Indeed it always been the case that for the religions fanatic the 'heretic' is seen as much more of a threat ,and therefore are attacked most often and with greater energy . than those who are 'unbelievers'.
Step just one foot away form the path of 'truth' and the attacked dogs will be on you, and even even occurs to the prophets and icons of 'the cause ' has Monbat found out .
These people can't compromise. It's utopia or nothing so they eventually rip themselves apart. As AGW slips down the agenda they'll get more agressive and less attractive to bystanders.
El Nino has peaked.
It was not significantly larger, in magnitude comparable with 1997 and 1983
http://ioc-goos-oopc.org/state_of_the_ocean/sur/pac/nino3.4.php
Any group of radicals will always have its splitters.
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=life+of+brian+splitters&view=detail&qpvt=life+of+brian+splitters&mid=D249559A86B6DDA0F53ED249559A86B6DDA0F53E
I object to having to share my honourable title of Den*%r with a member of the faith. Truly, this man is an Apostate.
Try that link again.
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=life+of+brian+splitters&view=detail&&mid=D249559A86B6DDA0F53ED249559A86B6DDA0F53E
Following climategate, the Guardian had to use 100% reputation free cannon fodder to promote global warming. These are the tragic and inevitable consequences.
Strange how apt, are comparisons with 'established' religions....
So - do we see the rise of the 'Methodist' faction..?
On the subject of "denial", I recently read Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning, by Timothy Snyder, which includes an extended rant about "global warming" in its final chapter. Other than the credulous twaddle that Snyder regurgitates (the sort of stuff that would make even the IPCC blush), the most amazing thing is his liberal use of the word "deny".
He must know exactly the significance of "deny", "denial", "denier" etc. That doesn't stop him using those terms repeatedly, to refer to climate sceptics, in a book purportedly about the Holocaust.
No one can deny that nuclear can provide huge amounts of electrical surplus.
But the slightly deeper question is can people afford it ?
Currently France for whatever reason cannot consume its own surplus.
It must export its surplus to recover costs.
Current began flowing through the new Spanish - French interconnector this October.
This has doubled the exchange capacity.
Data will arrive over the forthcoming year.
We can be pretty sure that mean Spanish residents will not consume the surplus in their homesteads or recreational areas.
The surplus current will be used to create artificial corporate demand.
That is more streetlights , high speed train energy consumption , British tourist activity (tourism is a export of wealth) etc etc
If so what was the point of spending 700m euro + infinite interest on such a endeavour.
The simple facts on the ground suggests GDP expansion destroys living standards...
Sorry folks but the euro data is conclusive.
Owen Morgan:
Thank you for the book revue. I shall leave anything by Snyder on the shelf (in the book shop).
How do you define the Worlds warmest year?
Is it the warmest historically known year ever?
Was the world warmer in prehistoric times?
Is it determined by proxies?
How does the Medieval Warm Period compare with today.
The CET goes back to 1698.
Comparing 2015 average global temperature with Global Annual Temperature Anomalies only going back to 1880 is trickery.
The BBC and the environmentalists want to show it as the warmest year ever, due to anthropogenic CO2.
1880 would approximate to the start of the Industrial age in the Northern Hemisphere and shows modern recorded temperature anomalies only
A Swedish study found that the planet was warmer in ancient Roman times and the Middle Ages than today, challenging the mainstream idea that man-made greenhouse gas emissions are the main drivers of global warming.
The study, by scientist Leif Kullman, analyzed 455 “radiocarbon-dated mega-fossils” in the Scandes mountains and found that tree lines for different species of trees were higher during the Roman and Medieval times than they are today. Not only that, but the temperatures were higher as well.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2013/12/13/study-earth-was-warmer-in-roman-medieval-times/#ixzz3vuJeJlut
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2013/12/13/study-earth-was-warmer-in-roman-medieval-times/#ixzz3vuJEcuyE
An interesting article from Cumbria, by Philip Walling.
Flooding cause that the Government would rather keep to itself
It starts:
Amid all the devastation and recrimination over the floods in Cumbria hardly anybody mentions one factor that may not be the sole cause, but certainly hasn’t helped. That is the almost complete cessation of dredging of our rivers since we were required to accept the European Water Framework Directive (EWF) into UK law in 2000.
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/flooding-cause-government-would-keep-10580092
Deja-vu spotters will recall the same theme regarding the Somerset floods.
If the UK had not developed its own nuclear deterrent back in 1940s 1950s there wouldn't have been Vulcan Bombers and then Concord and then Airbus.
Then there would not have been Blue Steel and a British Space Program and then the European space agency and the commercial Arian Rocket.
Without Aldermaston Chevoline ,Polaris and Trident there would not have been Wind-scale ,no weapons grade Plutonion no British Nuclear power stations and then money for British Nuclear Physics no research no money for CERN and no money for Professor Higgs or Professor Stephan Hawking.
Whole point of Scottish Independance and getting rid of Faslane Submarine Base and lose our seat on the UN Surcurity Council ,what is the point of weakening a World Power that is also the worlds oldest Democrisy.
I think that I may be reaching peak BBC weather stupidity
Mild, wet December breaks Met Office weather records
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35204014
The writer of this piece gives us this
*A UK mean temperature of 8C (46F) broke records too and would have felt more like a day in April or May*
May ? really ? now we wouldn't be getting much global warming with May having a mean of 8C , would we ?
The average is 11.4C
in the particular
http://www.sheffieldweather.co.uk/Averages/MONTHLYAIRAVERAGE.htm
in the general
http://www.sheffieldweather.co.uk/Averages/MONTHLYAIRAVERAGE.htm
Once they start attacking each other, the end is nigh.
Sometimes, you don’t have to do anything but wait.
Pointman
Anthony Hobley thinks BBC is not alarmist enough when it didn't mention anthropogenic global warming when handling El Nino?
Right. Denial. Not using an opportunity to push CAGW is a micro aggression.
" the almost complete cessation of dredging of our rivers"
Bingo.
Much like here in North America, where previous forest stewardship allowed for underbrush to be cleared, etc.
Now, in the era of "its natural, you have to leave it", that underbrush is thick, and very, very flammable.
But, hey, everyone knows that global warming leads to more forest fires, so it can't be the greenies' fault.
Dec 31, 2015 at 1:33 PM | Unregistered Commentersherlock1
Not strange, really. The same underlying mechanisms drive all full cultures, whether religious or secular (CAGW being an example of the latter). This is bound to result in many similar features, albeit the detail and the specific narrative will always be different.
http://judithcurry.com/2015/11/20/climate-culture/
If they are going to have a circular firing squad, could they hold it in a solar farm, so that no stray lead is wasted?
We're seeing the same phenomena as in the college campus lunatics.
Extremism is a 'positional good'. Once you declare agreement with any position the outriders must re-position themselves further away to emphasize their purity, and therefore the 'rarity' value of their 'knowledge' and opinion.
Eventually the only position extreme enough is insanity.
We are getting close now.
Andy West's work on viewing the CAGW disgrace as a cultural development would presumably see this Hobley chap's busy-busy bleats as routine police work (as per items 2 and 4 of the list here).
Or, perhaps, a culture which does 'not so much communicate the truth, as manufacture it', is also going to need a lot of sheepdog work to keep the flock heading the right way. McGrath being just a poor little lamb who has lost it. In which case, Hobley's bleats were actually barks.
"sin against the faith"
And faith it is: http://ncronline.org/blogs/eco-catholic/praise-and-plaudits-best-cop21
"The ecumenical religious climate movement also arrived in Paris with great vigor. Most impressive was the Lutheran World Federation’s decision to bring only delegates to COP21 who were under age 30. That was daring and smart. If they have to go to more COPs, at least they will be prepared.
At the conference’s midweek point, the many faith groups gathered at the American Cathedral in Paris to build ourselves up.
GreenFaith, the OurVoices campaign, the World Council of Churches, Islamic Relief Worldwide, the Bhumi Project (Hindu), Plum Village (Buddhist), the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life, ACT Alliance, the Lutheran World Federation, the Unitarian Universalist Association, the Global Catholic Climate Movement, the Franciscan Action Network, and others all were represented.
The liturgy for the night was appropriate to our stage of development as a global religious movement."
Can't be long before Naomi turns on Bill Gates and all the other Tech Elite Multinationals.who were in Paris.
Promoting Super Conducting power Cables and Wind Turbines hung from Airships is the best way to fight Climate Change.
Centrally imposed Austerity reduced Consumption and cut our standard of living that's the Purest Environmentalists way.
Science tried to Engratiate itself with Enviromentalism selling the myth of CO2 menace to help the Lefty Enviro further their agenda .
After Paris Science is of no further use to the Greens so they have turned back on Science their old advasasary ,attacking nuclear power,nuclear weapons , genetics ,animal experimentation ,generally increasing human prosperity and the human footprint.
The Enviromentalists mugged Science and sadly Science mugged itself.
Happy new year Bish and everyone else.
"...'The liturgy for the night was appropriate to our stage of development as a global religious movement'..." --dennisa
I.e., they kept their clothes on, for now.
Dec 31, 2015 at 3:51 PM | Registered CommenterJohn Shade
Yep, emotive policing is about right I think. Thanks for linking :)
There has been an intellectual civil war amongst the warmists for some time - between those that came up with reasons for 'the pause' and those that claimed there never was a pause.
D.Orlov warning of possible meltdown of Ukrainian nuclear reactors as a result of nation state collapse.
http://cluborlov.blogspot.ie/2015/12/on-19th-day-of-christmas.html
Get real lads.
The finance oligarchy wants all of the industrial surplus even if it must engage in massive industrial sabotage.
Has anyone actually read the IEA booklet on Ukraine published before the war became hot.
At the time I claimed its objectives were scandalous .
I.e. To increase capitalistic costs via any means necessary.
Now France is likely to see a increase in electricity costs also (Spanish interconnector )
God knows where the remaining French heavy industry will go.
Meanwhile, back at the North Pole
http://vvattsupwiththat.blogspot.com/2015/12/santas-warm-welcome-home.html
vvussell, did Santa present you with an answer to Steve McIntyre's question, or is that on your wish list for next year?
Police Dog Russell barks and bites himself.
============
Santa is still pondering how many lumps of coal to give Steve for asking:
"When did you stop beating your wife for the third time?"
Heh, dogs have more shame.
====================
Lets all remember that the EA eventually admitted that 9 out of 10 homes on the Somerset levels would not have been flooded if the area had been dredged and pumps put in position
http://www.westerndailypress.co.uk/Better-pumps-dredging-stop-floods/story-27574691-detail/story.html#ixzz3vgUkdoR0
Reading a wide range of comments over the last week or two, I confidently predict the EA will have to hold up their hands about many of the current crop of floods
tonyb
tonyb
Freezing again up North Pole way, vvussell. Do keep up.
Perhaps (fingers-crossed), some of the zealots are waking up to the reality that unreliable energy is unviable, without reliable back-up.
The latest article on fracking in our local rag, attracted only comments against the anti-frackers (mind you, that might be due to the Duddleston CBM protesters pi$$ing-off back to Islington for their Chrimbo hols).
TIME Magazine Screws the Pooch on North Pole Temperature
Isn't geography wonderful?
Happy New Year!
To be fair to TIME they have a
hee hee I love the British slang insults like tossers, whingers, wankers, splitters. I think whinger is a variation of whiner. Can anyone expound on the roots of these terms?
I'm looking forward to what happens when the "naming and shaming" focuses on China, India, Malaysia, Russia, Africa .... anyone other than the EU, Britain, the US, (now) Canada and Australia, who reports increased coal use and CO2 emissions. How can the US and France, for instance, be criticized when the two Gods of Obama and Hollande themselves brought their influence to create the Agreement to End All Agreements (To Save the Planet) at COP21?
By the way, if the carrying capacity of the planet is actually only 1 billion, not the current 6.5 billion, as the eco-green alarmist says, does that mean that 5 out of 6 celebrity Greens have to get tubes tied and untidy bits snipped? Will the world of 2050 not have a Hollywood, and the program E! be one guy and a trained cat talking about the latest Nature flick?
The implications of the New World (Green) Order are staggering.
Anthony has really left his run rather too late. Jeremiah did a far better job about 665 BC See here.
https://youtu.be/ccZx4QuPqJI
Wakey wakey, Jeremy- My Dec 30 post says "
TEMPERATURES AROUND THE NORTH POLE HAVE RISEN TO RECORD EARLY WINTER HIGHS OF + 31 F, AS WARM AIR FROM THE UNFROZEN ATLANTIC SURGES NORTH.
THIS IS 50 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL FOR THE SEASON, AND THE FIRST JANUARY POLAR THAW IN RECORDED ARCTIC HISTORY MAY USSHER IN THE NEW YEAR
And lo and behold, it's now 2016 in Greenwich, and the latest radiometer scan puts the boundary layer 2,000 miles North of Northumbria at two degrees above freezing.
"it's now 2016 in Greenwich"
Er, not quite, Russell. Tricky things, time zones.. :-)
vvussell, do you want to check your source for that? Climate science reporting isn't all that good given the amount of money paid.
..."it's now 2016 in Greenwich"
Er, not quite, Russell. Tricky things, time zones.. :-)
...
NOW it is....
Happy New Year to all of ye
countering the consensus culture
denizens and in particular.ter
the bish and kim-non-pareil.
from beth the serf,