Paranoid Whale

Cameron Slater thinks he is being stalked  by global warming religionists.

Whale bleats: ”Global Warming … have taken upon themselves to try to “convert” me to their religion of  snake-oil and  false deities who spout inconvenient truths that are actually proven lies.”

They’re wasting their breath. One thing’s for sure; Whale is likely to keep yelling “black is white” till his dying day. The best that one can expect is to put on record that Whale is wrong.

Hockey stick as ‘snake oil’

Whale’s ‘snake oil’ link refers to the now-famous ‘hockey stick’ graph about paleoclimate. The “hockey stick” model created by Mann &et al in 1998 is not ‘snake oil. There is a continuing scrap over that single study, published in 1998, started by economist (note: not a scientist) Ross McKitrick and mining industry shill Steven McIntyre (M&M). Numerous other papers debunk M&M’s rejection of the Mann hypothetis.

If anyone feels the original ‘hockey stick’ study may be tainted, simply ignore it. But don’t ignore the numerous other temperature reconstructions that come to similar conclusions. Although they tend to show more variability than the original hockey stick (their sticks are not as straight), they all support the general conclusions the IPCC Third Assessment Report  presented in 2001. The essence of those conclusions:

• late 20th century warming is anomalous compared to the last one or two thousand years,
• the 1990s were likely warmer than any other time in that period (including the medieival warm period).

 

Twitter – bombing.

 Whale: I have been bombarded [by Tweets] … blah blah blah …”

No you haven’t. You’re following their posts. They aren’t bombarding you; you’re sucking up their tweets. If you don’t like it, un-follow them.

 

Sad certainty in pathetic denial 

Whale bleats: “…in response to empirical data that shows the opposite of what they believe and  “ The evidence is very clear for anyone who actually wants to look at it and understand it. If 30,000 don’t, too bad.” in response to evidence of  more than 30,000 scientists who aren’t in agreement with “consensus.”

*sigh*.

• Jennifer Marohasy – subject of  the first link to evidence. Marohasy’s scientific background is in biology. I grant that’s a science, but it’s not exactly an ideal foundation for authoritative pronouncements on climate change. Is it? She used to work for the sugar cane industry, which is interested in people believing AGW is untrue. Also, her current context is that she’s a shill for a herd-right-wing think tank (Australia’s Institute of Public  Affairs) , which keeps its funding sources highly secret. Who would believe that she’s unbiased? Be honest.
   
• The Oregon Petition – the subject of  second two links to support denial. Oh. Dear. It is a massive fraud. The Oregon Petition is a project by biochemist Arthur B. Robinson, head of the tiny (ie, one-man operation), industry funded so-called Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine (see http://tinyurl.com/qxyz9).   But don’t believe me or other people of my ilk; believe the Skeptics Society: http://tinyurl.com/8zvbso. Most of the names on the list (of those that are legit) date back to 1998, in some cases to the early 90s. Like there’s been no updates in the science in the past ten years? 

 

Science and proof

Whale: “Two things is for sure [sic], the science is most definately [sic] not settled and there is no such thing as scientific consensus when it comes to the new religion called Climate Change.”

Whale, my little cetaecean comrade, science is never settled. That’s the thing about science. Policy can be settled. Decisions can be settled. Court cases can be settled. Babies can be settled.

True scientists WILL admit to being wrong, if they find evidence that contradicts their findings. That’s what it is to be a scientist; all of your conclusions have to be deniable, otherwise you aren’t doing science. If you are saying absolutely that your position is totally certain (isn’t that your position?) then you are either doing mathematics or promoting an idealogy. Which is it for Cameron and the other denial wingnuts? Clue: not many of them are mathematicians.

It’s interesting that there are very very few scientific papers emerging in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Why do you think papers challenging the climate cange hypothesis are:

• rare as hens’ teeth in peeer reviewed scientific journals and
• quite common on self-published websites, right-wing non-scientific journals and corporate-sponsored propaganda? LOL!

Here’s a fact worth considering: any scientist that can find and present evidence in a peer-reviewed journal that the theory of anthropogenic climate change is untrue, will make a shitload of cash. He or she will be loved and lauded the world over by presidents, prime ministers and right-wing bloggers! It hasn’t happened. Go figure.

 

The price of R&R

The government, led by a party that portrayed itself as happy-faced common-sense centrists, is baring its money-grubbing fangs.

Today we hear it wants to allow employers to buy back your fourth week of holiday. It’s not difficult to imagine an employer telling a worker, “Righto, here’s the deal: back to three weeks hols and an extra $1 a year or we’ll need to let you go. There are plenty other people willing to work here with only 3 weeks holidays, so you’re too expensive.”

 

John Key thinks that $1 will compensate you for the lost nine days with your family at a peaceful DoC campground overlooking an idyllic Coromandel coastline. 

Whaleoil blogger Cameron Slater thinks it’s a good idea. He says the fourth week of holiday is “”the single biggest productivity killer that Labour brought in.”

Cam, if it’s a “productivity killer” and therefore a bad thing, why not delete the right to all holidays, Christmas and Easter included? While we’re at it, let’s also remove any restrictions on the working week! 

Cameron and other wingnuts also think it’s a bad thing that Labour ensured the fourth week was inalienable. That’s what made sure that it couldn’t be sold, you plonkers. The enitlement is a protective measure to take the holidays off the employment negotiation table. otherwise, employers are able to adopt a take it or leave it attuitude, with four weeks hols a misty dream for most workers.

As well, wingnuts go on alarming about the breakdown of families and all that. Then they attack one of the elements of employment law that helps to keep families together. A holiday is a crucial social cement for families; if you take away people’s right to holidays, fewer holidays will be given and taken.

The Nats and their supporters need to gain some sense and have a heart.