Fish Fear Me

Real Science Doesn't Need Propaganda

Watts Up With That busts WaPo across the chops for turning this:

Into this:

And it's not the first time they've duped their readers with that image. Kind of makes you wonder how many other ways they are misinforming people, doesn't it?

If this was a one-off it might be different, but climate change alarmism is riddled with gimmicks like this that are meant to manipulate us into agreement, not persuade us using real science and reason. 

If climate change believers don't want to be seen as a bunch of con artists, they kind of need to stop acting like a bunch of con artists.

More: In the Eugene Robinson op-ed accompanied by that deceptive photo is another major bit of propaganda that is going around now and that's the resurrection of the claim of 97% consensus among scientists regarding human caused climate change.

Remember the last time? Here's my post on it from February last year. The figure of 97% then was based on a thoroughly rotten bit of selective data and statistical manipulations and it was complete bullshit. The same can be said for the latest "study." Here, from Christopher Monckton, are just some of the criticisms of the report:

• It did not discuss, still less refute, the principle that the scientific method is not in any way informed by argument from consensus, which thinkers from Aristotle via Alhazen to Huxley and Popper have rejected as logically fallacious.
• Its definition of the “consensus” it claimed to have found was imprecise: that “human activity is very likely causing most of the current anthropogenic global warming”.
• It did not put a quantitative value on the term “very likely”, and it did not define what it meant by “current” warming. There has been none for at least 18 years.
• It cited as authoritative the unscientifically-sampled surveys of “consensus” by Doran & Zimmerman (2009) and Anderegg et al. (2010).
• It inaccurately represented the views of scientists whose abstracts it analysed.
• It disregarded two-thirds of the 12,000 abstracts it examined, on the unscientific ground that those abstracts had expressed no opinion on Man’s climatic influence.
• It declared that the one-third of all papers alleged to have endorsed the “consensus” really amounted to 97% of the sample, not 33%.
• It suggested that the “consensus” that most recent warming is manmade is equivalent to the distinct and far less widely-supported notion that urgent action to prevent future warming is essential to avert catastrophe. Obama fell for this, twittering that 97% found global warming not only real and manmade but also dangerous.

In another post there, four scientists weigh in on how their work was mischaracterized to get that 97% result and I have no doubt that there will be more, given the ludicrously unscientific process by which the papers were rated. 

Assuming he really believes what he wrote, Eugene Robinson has just told the world that he has been conned and he doesn't even know it. The same goes for anybody you talk to who earnestly cites that phony 97% consensus. Most disturbing of all, the same applies to the President of the United States and he is basing policy on that. 

Check that. The most disturbing thing is that the 97% "fact" will be difficult if not impossible to dislodge from the minds of the true believers. It has probably already become a literal article of faith to millions of people and their minds are closed, because much of climate alarmism these days resembles a religious belief more than science. 

If we can't reverse that, if we can't bring truth and reason and real science back into the climate change discussion, we are well and truly screwed.

The Worst Of Both Government Worlds

We've seen a major spike in gasoline prices up here and it has many of us, including me, feeling more than a little ornery as the summer travel season comes on. One of the main reasons for living up here is summer up at the lake and of course, boating and fishing. Gasoline at $4.39/gallon or more puts a crimp in that for a lot of people. Here's the "heat map" as of this morning that shows why people are a little heated about this:

The issue is one of gasoline supply and not oil. Part of it is being blamed on the switch from government mandated winter to summer gasoline blends. Part of it is some areas are required to have reformulated gas blends specific to their market. But mostly the problem appears to be higher than normal refining capacity being offline for maintenance at the same time.

A natural question that has popped up in a number of media reports has been, "Why can't the refineries coordinate their maintenance times better?" The answer to that has uniformly been that such coordination would amount to collusion and violate antitrust laws.

So, what we have is government issuing mandates that restrict what gasoline products can be sold when and where, limiting the ability of the market to respond to spot shortages. Then, at the same time, they prohibit any agreements between refiners that would protect supplies for consumers and keep prices down.

Our government at work.

The worst thing is I don't believe anybody at the federal government level even gives a shit. For too many of them, and us for that matter, high gas prices are a feature, not a bug. As in, "Why do those idiots in flyover country need to drive up to the lake so much for anyway? There's plenty to do in the city and it will fight global warming."

It's not going to stop me, but I remember the days of living from paycheck to paycheck and those are the people it will hurt. Not that anybody gives a shit. 

Disaster

My heart goes out to those devastated by yesterday's tornado on Oklahoma. As I write this post the death toll stands at 91 with 233 injured. It will likely rise as responders work through the wreckage. The Salvation Army is already responding to the scene and they have set up a donation page for anyone who wants to contribute specifically to help this disaster. 

A pox on those already politicizing this horrific tragedy and I hope there's a special place in hell for Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, who, even as rescuers were frantically trying to find and free the victims, chose that moment to scream at Republicans on the Senate floor about global warming. Utterly shameful.

More: As of this afternoon, the number of confirmed dead has dropped to 24, though that may rise as the day goes along. Hopefully not. 24 is of course too many, but it's better than 91.

From The Department Of "Good Luck With That"

Pay attention all you global warming alarmists, it's time for you to put away the beef and pick up the beetle if you are truly serious about saving the planet:

Eating more insects could help fight world hunger, according to a new UN report.

The report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization says that eating insects could help boost nutrition and reduce pollution.

It notes than over 2 billion people worldwide already supplement their diet with insects.

However it admits that "consumer disgust" remains a large barrier in many Western countries.

Gee, ya think? 

The study goes on to note that "Most insects are likely to produce fewer environmentally harmful greenhouse gases than other livestock." I suppose, but I'm a little unclear on the science. I mean, can you even measure an insect fart? What are they called, nanofarts? How many insect nanofarts does it take to be the equivalent of one steer fart? I regret to say that I found no answers to those important questions.

Perhaps a study comparing the nutritional value of beef vs. mealworms(p.75) will change your mind. Or perhaps the super green fact that mealworms can be raised on organic waste, though with the warning that "low-value organic waste streams" will negatively affect their nutritional value. Obviously one wants their mealworms raised on only the highest quality shit.*

Yum.

Except for the occasional novelty thing, somewhere around 5 billion people don't routinely eat bugs for one simple reason: We don't have to. Our position on the food chain allows us to eat the things that eat the bugs. So we don't have to. Maybe even eat the things that eat the things that eat the things that eat the bugs. So we don't have to. 

Personally, I intend to keep it that way.

*Not that I'm opposed to manure as a plant fertilizer, I'm just not too keen on eating some creature that literally eats shit." At least, I'm pretty sure about that.

All Work And No Play...

You guys are probably bored to death with my weather posts, but as my good friend Jack knows, writing can be very therapeutic:

Yes, it's probably going to happen. Again.

On May 5, 1991, the Twin Cities were graced with 0.3 inches of snow -- it was the last recorded May snowfall accumulation, according to the Minnesota Climatology Office. And if the latest projections hold true, Wednesday, May 1, 2013 will take its place.

Between 2 and 4 inches of snow is expected in the metro area late Wednesday, with an outside chance of an additional inch of accumulation Thursday morning, according to the National Weather Service.

I think I'll just hang out at the bar with Jack today...

Good News: I Have Powered Through To The Other Side...

...and so I will just laugh at this:

If the laugh gets slightly maniacal, well, I'm hoping that you'll work with me here.

I Have A Plan

I've decided to just drink heavily until May arrives.

Human Achievement Hour 2013

Don't forget to celebrate Human Achievement Hour this Saturday night starting at 8:30 PM local time:

On March 23, some people will be sitting in the dark to express their "vote" for action on global climate change. Instead, you can join CEI and the thousands of people around the world who will be celebrating Human Achievement Hour (HAH). Leave your lights on to express your appreciation for the inventions and innovations that make today the best time to be alive and the recognition that future solutions require individual freedom not government coercion.

Rather than mourn the advancements that have liberated billions of people from backbreaking labor with some phony ceremony of atonement, people who actually care about the environment would be better off advancing the use of electricity and fossil fuels in the Third World in order to help end the real problem of deforestation, for just one example.

Let It Snow

Looks like I'll be firing up the snowblower again when I get home this afternoon:

Friday is the 12th day this month out of 22 with measurable snow. If the Twin Cities gets 4.8 inches, this would become one of the 10 snowiest Februarys on record in the metro, following an early winter with little snow and a summer-fall drought.

The National Weather Service reported that the storm is dropping more snow on southern and southwestern Minnesota than in the Twin Cities area. Claremont, west of Rochester, has seen 8.2 inches so far. Ellendale, north of Albert Lea, has 7.5 inches, Fairmont in south-central Minnesota has 7.2 inches, Worthington in southwestern Minnesota has 5 inches and Northfield 4.2. Farmington leads the way in the metro with 5.

It looks like we got about 2" of snow overnight and we'll get another 2-3" before the day is out.

As much as I'm starting to get tired of winter I'm glad to see the snow keep coming, and it's really good to see the farmland south and west of here getting even more moisture too. If the moisture and temperature trends continue it bodes well for solid moisture for the spring melt, yet not so much as to cause above normal flooding. 

It also marks a strong two months of normal snow and temperature levels for the Twin Cities. Last fall was warm and dry and the drumbeat about climate change was incessant and annoying. Now all I hear is crickets chirping on that score. I know, a few months doesn't really mean anything, but then I wish the same would hold true for the flip side. So just as a nudge at those who constantly use weather to try to make the case for climate change...  

Dude, where's my climate change?

More Climate Change Hypocrisy

Awww, isn't it special that Derk Jeter, presumably in Davos, Switzerland as celebrity meat for Pepsi at the World Economic Forum, is worried about climate change?

DAVOS, Switzerland -- As global political and business leaders gather here for the World Economic Forum this week, New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter hopes climate change is addressed.

"I was in New York for Hurricane Sandy," Jeter told The Dispatch this morning, following a private function in Davos, Switzerland. Jeter is here for the Forum this week with Pepsi.

"It's just something that's gotten so much attention," Jeter said of climate change. "Regardless of how you feel about it, it's something that needs to be addressed because we're seeing more and more natural disasters each year, it seems like. Something has to be causing it."*

I'm guessing "something" means the day-to-day activities of us peons and not the Pepsi corporate jet or charter he probably flew on to Switzerland, nor the lavish accommodations you know he's enjoying in Davos with all of the bigwigs.

Nor the private jet he took to get his ankle checked last fall.

Nor the extravagant 30,000 square foot house he had built in Tampa Bay a few years ago.

I've said it before: I do not begrudge Jeter or any other rich person their lavish carbon-spewing lifestyle, or house, or toys. But they are going to have to do some major downsizing in those areas before I'll listen to one reeking-of-hypocrisy word about climate change from them. 

*This is all besides him being wrong on the facts.