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August 05, 2007
The Gold Hat school of journalism
Newsweek takes a page from the bandit in Treasure of the Sierra Madre in a revealing analysis called "The Truth about Denial'.
That truth? It's inconvenient as all get out. Denial ain't just a river in Egypt, kids: it's skepticism about man-made causes of climate change, allegedly bought and paid for exclusively by a band of ruffians called Dick Cheney and the Industrial Pollluters-- or so Newsweek says, while sounding the alarm about "the denial machine" and "greenhouse doubters" who "hate being called deniers" (how unsporting of them!).
The goalposts have been moved, says Newsweek, with an argument that changed from "global warming is natural" to "even if it's man-made, it won't hurt." No word from the warmie side about how predictions of an ice age became predictions of a warming trend before morphing into the catchall "climate change" bogeyman. We're told that "hundreds of studies have ruled out" change in glacier size over time as a natural phenomenon, but the piece doesn't cite even one. Badges? We ain't got no badges! We don't have to show you any stinking badges!
And, of course, "the frequency of Atlantic hurricanes has already doubled in the last century." Good luck finding the May 23, 2007 MSNBC report titled "Big hurricanes not always due to warming"-- that's been flushed down the memory hole.
Per Newsweek, we must assume that these guys are getting petroleum dollars. Ditto 15-year-old Kristen Byrnes. And Michael "State of Fear" Crichton. And Bjorn "The Skeptical Environmentalist" Lomborg. And so very many others-- it's what the vast right-wing conspiracy does in its off hours. Feel the love!
Posted by Patrick at August 5, 2007 03:52 PM
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Comments
Thanks for more ammunition; I just posted the story from the "so very many others" URL above elsewhere; I keep trying to enlighten the unwashed masses.
Just another public service I provide...
Posted by: camojack at August 6, 2007 01:30 AM
I think it ironic that those researchers whose gov't funding is so very dependent on what they "find" from their research are so eager to point questioning and accusing fingers at the funding of those whose research results in a different finding.
Posted by: daveg at August 6, 2007 11:30 AM
As has been mentioned elsewhere: we didn't exactly have all these satellites running around everywhere that could find hurricanes in the middle of the ocean a hundred years ago either.
You might as well state that the number of stars in the sky increased after the invention of the telescope.
Posted by: Yu-ain Gonnano at August 6, 2007 12:36 PM