Fish Fear Me

Climategate

In November of 2009 a file mysteriously appeared on the internet. Inside it were copies of thousands of emails between some of the leading climate scientists in the world. The emails revealed some rather unscientific behavior and led to a controversy dubbed Climategate by global warming skeptics. Now a second set of emails has again been mysteriously released and the additional revelations dubbed Climategate II. If you really want to dig deep into this stuff you can find all of the info and links to more at Watts Up With That? I'm not going to hit you with all of that, but there are two things that I think are important to note as all of this hits the news again.

The first thing is the way traditional media outlets use certain words to try to de-legitimize the controversy. The emails were "stolen" or "hacked," when in fact nobody knows how they were obtained or why they were released. I believe the normal term for such a circumstance in the news media is "leaked."

They are also often referred to as "private," as if reading them makes us some kind of creepy voyuer and any unprofessional statements by the scientists can be chalked up to "scientists are people too." That last bit is kind of amusing, considering how often we are otherwise hectored to blindly accept their authority on climate science.

Anyway, if these were emails about how some scientists were hiding the dangers of fracking or how the Vatican was plotting to interfere with the 2012 elections I doubt that we would see the media positioning the story the same way.

That stuff aside, if there is one story about this that you will read, I urge you to make it the following one about how one climate scientist fought tooth and nail to keep another scientist from testing his conclusions:

Dear Dr. Jones:

You and I have been interacting, albeit at a distance, since I first asked you for your data some five years ago. I asked for your data in part because I was astounded by your answer to Warwick Hughes when he asked for the same data. You replied to Warwick at that time,“Why should I make the data available to you, when your aim is to try and find something wrong with it?”

I couldn’t fathom that a leading climate scientist could actually believe that. Finding something wrong with other scientists’ data and ideas is an integral part of how science progresses. This requires transparency and access to the data. I also couldn’t believe that other climate scientists would let you get away with saying that, without some other scientist pointing out the anti-scientific nature of your denial.

There's much, much more at that link. It is more than a tale of outright lies and terribly sloppy scientific procedure(It turned out that the data that was requested was in such disarray that it couldn't be reproduced). It is also a tale of conspiracy and coverup on that and other subjects and similar stonewalling has occurred with other temperature data sets and more than a few climate prediction models. 

“Why should I make the data available to you, when your aim is to try and find something wrong with it?”

What an astonishing thing for a scientist to say.

This is about more than whether humans are causing the climate to change. This is about behavior by some scientists that has led to the corruption of the scientific process at the highest levels of climate science. The real deniers in this debate are the ones who want to excuse and cover that up. 

Herman Cain: This One Matters

Unless this woman is batshit crazy, I would think her allegations are reasonably easy to corroborate or dismiss:

An Atlanta businesswoman is breaking her silence, claiming she has been involved in a 13-year-long affair with Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain.

She claims that during that time Cain flew her to different cities and put her up in hotel rooms so they could be together. That shouldn't be too hard to check on and if Cain is as innocent as he has said he should be happy to cooperate with any such investigation by reporters. 

If he really did meet up with her in so many places over the years then I don't find a claim that they were just friends to be credible. Not when it's said that Cain's wife had never met her. That sort of thing just doesn't happen by accident.

I'm sure we'll be hearing more from both sides in the next few days.

So even if he did have an affair, does it really matter? After all, as they said with Clinton, it's just sex.

Well, I think it does matter, mainly because of the length of time involved. I mean, people make mistakes, and as bad as those mistakes can be it is wise to remember we are all human too. But 13 years is not a mistake, it's a calculating duplicity that has to be somewhat sociopathic, if that's the right word. I doubt that I could get away with betraying my lover for a week let alone 13 years.

Clinton's flaws seemed to be about maturity and narcissism. Cain's, if it turns out that this betrayal of his wife is true, strikes me not only as a similar narcissism, but something far darker too. Something that tells me this man should not be President of the United States.

Uh Oh

Speaking of Hollywood, there's some bad news for any guys thinking about taking their date to see the latest Twilight movie:

A local man says the latest movie in the popular ‘Twilight’ franchise triggered a seizure, and similar incidents have been reported in theaters around the country.

Brandon Gephart and Kelly Bauman said they were watching “Breaking Dawn: Part One” at a theater Friday night when Brandon sudden began convulsing during a graphic birthing scene.

No, it's not the pretty rare episode of photosensitive epilepsy that guys have to worry about, it's the end of that last sentence. Because if there's one thing I learned in 11th-grade health class, it's that watching any movie that contains a "graphic birthing scene" with your girlfriend means you ain't gettin' any for awhile.

Great Moments In, "WTF?"(cont.)

Hmmm, "...the rise of cryptofascist Hollywood", eh? Okay, I figured I would at least see where the man was headed, because while a have a few complaints about Hollywood, cryptofascism wasn't on my list. I was hanging in there as he ranted against schlocky action films of the 1980s until he lost me with this:

Or what about the expensive and aesthetically pretentious Gladiator (2000), which I still contend is an allegory about George W Bush's candidacy for president, despite the fact that director and principal actor were not US citizens.

I actually giggled when I read that. Shoot, I half-expected Keith Olbermann to materialize and proclaim that "the BDS is strong in this one." How?...what?

A quick search didn't cough up what I'm sure would be a masterpiece on this subject, so I tried to figure out how that allegory would work. I couldn't do it. I've decided I would have to smoke a fair amount of weed(or something stronger) in order to get there and that's not in the cards. If anybody out there can enlighten me on how Gladiator and Bush relate, by all means give it a shot.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving and safe travels for those who have made a journey to meet loved ones this weekend. Mom and my sister Nancy are in New York, so little bro has volunteered to do the honors again this year and I'll be heading there shortly. It's a beautiful autumn day here and I hope the weather is just as nice where you are.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It Was My Understanding That There Would Be No Politics

I certainly hope this sort of thing is not some long-term trend:

But some people aren’t satisfied with that. Over the past few days, I have received at least six calls to act as the spokesperson for various social justice issues during my feast. GLAAD has insisted that I make “Aunt Betty” feel awkward about gayness, while Planned Parenthood suggests that I speechify about her reproductive health. I’ve also been advised to slyly deconstruct structural inequality while passing the mashed potatoes, to defend Occupy Wall Street over dessert, and finally, to debunk the misinformation campaigns of both Fox News and the entire compendium of conservative chain emails while sipping coffee. Since there’s not enough space on my palms to write down all the talking points, I’ll probably need to bring my Yuppie Elitist East Coast Liberal Edition iPad to the table to keep it all straight.

Oh no. No, no, no. And to be fair, if there are similar efforts from conservatives be advised that I hold them in the same contempt.

Nope. There are certain times we ought to be able to set aside political differences and just break bread together and Thanksgiving is definitely one of those times. I'm going to check my politics at the door and hope that everybody else does the same. If they don't, oh well, I'll figure out a way to talk about something else or make myself useful somewhere else. 

That will probably make everybody thankful. ;)

Oh, Come On!

Okay, as if "Amish haircut attacks" in the headline isn't enough, check out the name of the ringleader: 

Authorities raided the compound of a breakaway Amish group in eastern Ohio on Wednesday morning and arrested seven men on federal hate crime charges in hair-cutting attacks against Amish men and women.

Among those arrested were the group's leader, Sam Mullet, and three of his sons, said Mike Tobin, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Cleveland.

Really? Mullet? 

You know, it's stuff like this that sometimes makes me wonder if we're not all acting out roles in some bizarre play.

One More Way OWS Is Just Like The Tea Party: Gay Porn Video Shoots

Just the other day I was wondering when the OWS movement would match the Tea Party and do a porn video(My link is safe, but the links at the link are definitely NSFW or pretty much anything or anyone else):

Porn company Dirty Boy Video, which (we're guessing) specializes in videos of boys who are dirty, used a tent in the middle of the Occupy Oakland encampment at Frank Ogawa Plaza as the set for a recent video shoot. As Le Fag reports, along with the promotional stills, "This video could be a nice historical document in years to come, should the movement prove more than a flash in the pan."

Nobody has actually seen the Tea Party porno video, but congressmen John Lewis and Emanuel Cleaver supposedly have been holding onto it for a couple of years now, so it must be true. 

Overheard In An FFL Locker Room Near Minneapolis

"Can I have your attention please. Will the fat lady please return to her dressing room and stand by to sing next week instead. Thank you."

Saif Goodnight, Gracie

One month after his father was captured and killed, the last Gaddafi deemed capable of leading an insurgency against the...whatever is forming in Libya, was himself captured in southern Libya:

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, doctor of the London School of Economics, one-time reformer turned scourge of the rebels against his dictator father, was now a prisoner, bundled aboard an old Libyan air forcetransport plane near the oil-drilling outpost of Obari, deep in the Sahara desert.

The interim government's spokesman billed it as the "final act of the Libyan drama." But there would be no closing soliloquy from the lead player, scion of the dynasty that Muammar Gaddafi, self-styled "king of kings," had once hoped might rule Africa.

I'm very surprised that Saif had not managed to find his way to Niger or Algeria in the last month. Rumor has it that surviving members of Gaddhafi's family fled with billions of dollars and have at least some measure of protection in those two countries. I had figured all that money had bought him safe passage already and he was laying low outside of Libya for now. I guess not.

According to some reports, Saif is now a prime bargaining chip for the rebel Zintan tribe that captured him and now has him in custody. The new Libyan government, whatever it turns out to be, is certain to want to try him in Libya. The International Criminal Court wants him too, but there's not much chance of that I think. Will he ever make it to trial though?

The good news for Saif is that he is worth more to his current captors alive rather than dead. On the other hand, rivals of the Zintan have a new incentive to deny the Zintan their bargaining chip and embarrass them in front of the rest of Libya. Then there's just how much Saif knows that former allies and perhaps a few European governments might not want splashed all over the news. It was perhaps convenient for them that the elder Gaddafi never made it to trial, what about the younger?

I give Saif a better than even chance to stay alive with his current captors. If or when he is turned over to a new Libyan government, I think his chances of getting to trial go down dramatically.