Know your enemy : the foot soldiers.
We wretched dissenters from the climate orthodoxy have been placed under the psychological microscope several times in the last year or so. Since the studies, and I use that word advisedly, were conducted by featherweight academics with warmista rap sheets as long as your arm, the results as you might guess have not been too flattering. … Read more
How to run a really bad infowar campaign.
It’s perhaps a debatable opinion, but I think the main way that a lot people found out there actually was such a thing as the climate skeptic blogosphere, was that its existence was highlighted by the alarmists themselves. In the complete absence of any PR budget, it was actually the alarmists who by attacking it, inadvertently … Read more
On climate science and all those leaks.
Over the last few years, we’ve had a number of substantial leaks of sensitive material from deep within the very heart of climate science. In each case, it’s been fairly obvious that the person doing it works in the field and is relatively senior, if only because they have access to such quantities of high-grade … Read more
Intentions, profiles and predictability.
I’ve spent an inordinate amount of my life working out other people’s real intentions, and what they would do and how they would attempt to do it, because of those intentions. Getting one jump ahead of complex, imaginative and sometimes troubled minds, is a tough business, but that’s what made it interesting. They were those very … Read more
The Nigger Word.
There’s been a bit of a furore recently about a supposedly prestigious science journal running a paper that was peppered with the word nigger. The editor, of what can only be referred to as a rag now, even came up with a fatuous reply to the resultant criticism, which when stripped of the oily sophistry, was … Read more
Mullering the data.
There is this new sort of creature who’s emerged in the climate debate in the last year or two. Unsurprisingly, they all seem to spring from the alarmist side, but they all have one of those comfortably recognisable patterns of behaviour that I quite like. I’ll freely admit I’ve a slight compulsion to look for … Read more
Climate Alarmism and The Prat Principle.
I’d like to introduce you to one of the great discoveries of my life, the Prat Principle. Before doing so, I’ll have to ensure we have a common understanding of what exactly a prat is, prior to sharing it with you, together with some related tricks and tips. Prat is one of the great words in the … Read more
Some thoughts and some questions about the Climategate 2.0 release.
Two years ago, I did what can only be described as a highly speculative profile of the climategate leaker. You can find it here. I strongly suggest you read it now or you’ll have some difficulty following the rest of this piece. Reading it again in the light of what more can be deduced about … Read more
On murderous madmen.
The tragic events of last week in Norway do give you pause for thought. How could anyone do that and especially to defenseless young people? Does it say something about us all? Are we all capable of doing something like that? The answer is no and that’s not just my subjective opinion, it’s a fact. … Read more
Some thoughts on fanatics and how to fight them.
I’ve always liked Churchill’s definition of a fanatic. “A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject.” Once you get past the witty aspect of the definition, there’s a deep truth in it too. They simply can’t change their mind. I’ve seen a lot of debates in the blogosphere, where … Read more
Moderating, trolls, soup ladles and Ethics.
If you’re running a blog, one of the chores that has to be done on an ongoing basis is moderating comments. I operate the common system where a contributor’s first comment is held for moderation. If I approve it, then they can comment freely thereafter. If I don’t, then they’re effectively shut out. I may … Read more
Profile of the Climategate Whistleblower
Seeing as we’ve just passed the first anniversary of the Climategate leak, it might be of topical interest to repost a piece I did shortly after the emails became a blogosphere bombshell. In the time since then, the ‘hunt’ for the whistleblower has not met with any success that I’m aware of. I would be … Read more
