Swivel-eyed maniacs

Frank S

Humans seem to scare easily. These chaps have collated 26 previous instances of false alarmism back up by shoddy science, just like the climate one: http://kestencgreen.com/green%26armstrong-agw-analogies.pdf

Seems like human nature likes a good apocalypse. The authors of this work in progress note:
'Our preliminary findings are that analogous alarms were presented as “scientific,” but
none were based on scientific forecasting procedures. Every alarming forecast proved to be false;the predicted adverse effects either did not occur or were minor. Costly government policies remained in place long after the predicted disasters failed to materialize.'

George J

Got to love the internet. You can say anything and find an audience. Hang on while I get the popcorn.

Sarah

Another voice - make that 230 voices - the BBC missed:

'230 physicists, including a Nobel Laureate, sign petition on Climategate'

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/12/230_physicists_including_a_nob.html

Humbug Seacole

Rod,I can't tell whether or not you're being ironical. Sorry.

Natty Dobson

God, I wish this climate would bleeding change. Or at least that someone would turn the heating up at work. I know there's a recession on but I've just licked my computer screen (Harriet Harman MP, youtube) and my tongue's gone and stuck.

Dixon

What happens if their favourite Green, Monbiot, slides any further towards publicly reconsidering the certainty of his views ( for which he is due credit )...will they ban him!

Murgatroyd

He is wearing a waistcoat - loony!!!

And he has an odd way of stroking the lectern.

Liz Brown

Oh Seacole Rod! do keep up - this has been doing the rounds since its debut in October. world governance is now not so far removed.
I don't have swivel eyes

Jez

What's your point?

Bill Rees

Rod, as you obviously know, having worked for the BBC, if you want to put an opposite point of view that you don't agree with, get Nick Griffin, or someone like him, to espouse it.
It works every time!

Moxon

Swivel-eyed maniac? What's that got to do with truth or falsity? For all we (including Big Rod Liddle) knbow to the contrary, he may be a swivel-eyed truth sayer, this Monckton man.

Isn't this the trouble with the whole man-made global warming fiasco? No one has a clue. But maybe Monckton is a better bet than - shall we say? - Prof. Phil Jones.

Hysteria

I've read the legal draft of the Copenhagen treaty - and it is not a stretch to say it is, in effect, one world government. Here are a few extracts....(sorry if the formatting is all screwed up - I dunno what tags work in this blog)

Article 6 – Copenhagen Climate Facility

1. A Copenhagen Climate Facility, hereinafter referred to as “the Facility”, is hereby

established.

To avoid dangerous climate change and build climate resilience, the way society is

structured will need to change fundamentally - from investment patterns to

development programs. This cannot be accomplished by the fragmented set of

existing institutions. In order to enhance the implementation of the Convention in

accordance with the Bali Action Plan and its four building blocks, a new institution,

the Copenhagen Climate Facility (CCF), is needed.

2. The Facility shall enjoy such legal capacity as is necessary for the exercise of its

functions and the protection of its interests, in particular the capacity to enter into

contracts, to acquire and dispose of movable and immovable property and to

institute legal proceedings in defense of its interests.

3. The Facility shall have:

a) an Executive Committee, as ........

b) At least four Boards ..........

c) A Committee for Reporting and Review ..........

d) A Registry of nationally appropriate mitigation actions .............

e) An Executive Secretary and such staff as shall be necessary for the Facility to

carry out its functions.

GOVERNANCE

4. The Facility shall function under the guidance and authority of, and be

accountable to, the Conference of the Parties.........

5. The Boards shall have decision-making power, including the allocation of funding

6. The Executive Committee and its Boards shall each have equitable and balanced

geographical representation, ..........

7. ..........

8. Decisions shall be taken by consensus whenever possible. If all efforts at

consensus have been exhausted and no agreement reached, decisions may be

adopted through voting. A one-member-one-vote rule shall be observed.

9. The Executive Committee and its Board may, individually or jointly, establish any

expert groups, technical panels or sub-committees they deem necessary ...........

10. Specific operational policies and guidelines, the necessary legal arrangements and

additional rules of procedure shall be developed and forwarded to, and appropriate

action taken by, the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties,

at its first session, and shall reflect the needs and requirements of each Board

pursuant the provisions of this Protocol.

baron Pipin II

As Liz Brown @ 6.20 has pinched my posting, well, a part of it anyway, I have to lighten up.

Only few days back you were ranting about a female outreach operative somewhere in the sticks of the west country. My point to you was that you were barking at the wrong bush. As it was bound to turn out, the good burghers sitting in the County Council that appointed her have said since they were only following the law, they had to outreach whether they liked it or not.

What the articulate ‘swivel eye’ Viscount is suggesting here comes under the same heading. The West will sign the Copenhagen piece of paper and then stick to it. By and large, we still respect the law whether it originates here, in Brussels, or elsewhere. And if that piece of paper calls on us to tighten our belts and set up multibillion funds to ‘aid’ the developing world, we will oblige. You mind not, I take it.

What will it take for you to figure that the mess we got ourselves into has happened largely because we enshrined in statues, for noble and heart warming reasons, the foundation of a system that curtails the core principles of governance of the unwashed embodied in the spirit of Magna Carta?

Did the Labour Party manifesto in the last election say that the Government would sign up to a treaty compelling us to drastically change our lives on the basis of a still largely unproven theory, ha?

Jimmock

Explain where Monckton is wrong. His delivery may be a little camp, but his analysis is spot on.

John Edwards

The frightening thing is that this character was a close advisor to Mrs Thatcher during the Eighties. His advice to her on AIDS was to prepare for at least a million deaths in the UK within a short time. So his track record of predictions is not good.

daniel maris

I think Frank S's point is relevant here. We've had a few instances of wolf being cried - particularly over the Millennium bug, various viruses, measles vaccination, AIDS resulting from normal heterosexual intercourse etc.

AGW might well be true but the wolf-crying has bred a certain degree of scepticism among many.

Baron Pipin II

John Edwards @ 11.19:

shows you doesn’t it that the Dutch are right: ‘man can predict everything but the future’. The guy though did get one thing spot on: the faking of science by the ‘scientists’ you are batting for, the Joneses, Watsons & co.

Baron Pipin II

John Edwards @ 11.19.

and another thing. Below is the latest on the scam. If you have a minute have a look, then come back and tell us what you think. Will you, please.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/12/revenge_of_the_computer_nerds_1.html

Luke

I think there is a better chance of world destruction due to the Hadron Collider, Man-Made Black holes is a more reliable theory than Man-Made Climate Change.

Kevinc

Rod

It's been said before, but it bears repeating. The whole global warming/climate change issue is being debated not at a scientific level but an emotional and political one.

There are swivel-eyed loonies on both sides, and until we get a transparent, clear-headed review of the data among the scientific community, who then report back to us in non-sensational and non-apocalyptic terms their best guess as to what is happening, the whole thing is going to descend even further into farce and disarray.

For what it's worth, my experience of life is that the truth probably lies somewhere between the 2 extreme positions, with the earth possibly warming a little bit, possibly not, but nowhere near enough to justify the disaster scenarios put forward by the extreme AGW crowd, who clearly have a political not a scientific agenda (Have you noticed how they seem to want their predictions to come true - present them with some heartening news, such as the fact that Antarctica seems to be cooling, and they foam at the mouth) and so for the time being I say a plague on both their houses!

Mary Seacole

What about David Shukman? He pops up in jungles, up mountains or by the seaside every around the world every other night. His carbon footprint is probably the size of Luxembourg.

rod seacole liddle

Think I sort of agree with all of that, KevinC.

Ian C

Rod

If you read the drafted Treaty of Copenhagen this is what is proposed - government of what energy we can use decided by the UN or equivalent.

Not very attractive when they have a tendency to put people like Mugabe and Gaddafi on Human Rights commitees etc. And who voted for them anyway?

His point is that it's the "global elites who proclaim greater wisdom" than us who will direct global energy policy. Not pretty and very communistic.

You are far better to read Monckton than watch him. I hinted at that when I recommended his recent paper in your previous post on warming.

AC

Yes lets ignore this global warming circus show. lets pick it up again when the Maldives is under water and all that is left of the UK above sea level is Birmingham... (on purpose, red herring here).

Then we will POSSIBLY MAYBE THINK ABOUT TAKING ACTION.

Scientist don't need to confirm global warming or tell us that the ice caps are melting and water is rising. I have seen pictures of a baby polar bear on a little ice cube that used to be miles and miles of ice to roam.

Lets think about trying to, possibly, maybe, give future generations a chance of survival.. Geez.

Fergus Pickering

AC, you are convinced we are all doomed to drown because you've seen a picture of a baby polar bear on a little iceberg. Jeeze.

rod polar bear on a little ice cube liddle

AGW proven, beyond all doubt:

"I have seen pictures of a baby polar bear on a little ice cube that used to be miles and miles of ice to roam."

From AC. Yep, does it for me. Everyone else?

John Levett

I've seen lots of pictures from the 70s that show that women used to sport a lot more body hair than they do now. This is incontrovertible proof of global warming. Are there any grants to properly study this sort of thing?

Lord Poopsy of Ploppingdon

Rah, rah, rah, rah.
Twiddle-dee-dee.
Arf, arf.
Rah, rah, rah, rah.
Save the pint not the ruddy bears. Arf

David Ossitt

AC.

“Scientist don't need to confirm global warming or tell us that the ice caps are melting and water is rising. I have seen pictures of a baby polar bear on a little ice cube that used to be miles and miles of ice to roam.”

There are fairies in Cottingly Woods two little girls photographed them, so it must be true.

Each and every suicide bomber; is whisked straight to paradise so that he can shag a hundred virgins, we have seen the videos so it must be true.

Tony Blair told us all on the television; that he is a straight kind of guy, so it must be true.

Rod Liddle is the reincarnation of a nurse, who serviced our soldiers in the Crimea,
Rod hinted as much so it must be true.

AC. Not everything is as it appears to be.

AC

Is the leaning tower of Pisa leaning?

Is the water rising in the Maldives?

Is it really mushrooms in chicken and mushroom pie?

Surely it is easy to tell if the glass is full or empty.. that can't be an illusion can it?
The glass was full of red wine now there is nothing there hic! that was me.

Well you are right, all is not what it seems but the weather does seem a bit strange these days.

...and it doesn't take all day recognise sunshine. Of course, we could pretend it's not the sun. It could be a tanning salon.

AC

Is the water rising in Venice?

we don't need the scientists, nature speaks for itself.

Coeur de Seacole Lion

Anyone else read Prof David Mackay "Sustainable Energy Without the Hot Air" ISBN97809544512933 ? Does some sums. Wind power? Come off it. Electric cars? What a hoot. No, actually, it's rather serious and needs to be widely read.

Lungfish

No AC. Venice is sinking. It has nothing to do with rising sea levels. You are a bit daft.

James Doran

Re.John Levett.Could you lend me those pictures for intimate-scientific-study?Jaquie Smith[Mr.]

robbo

No AC, it's always been like that. It's a city of canals, in case you'd never noticed.

Simon

"the United States is signing itself to a communistic world government..."

But the US under Obama *is* a communistic world government!?!

Baron

The rabbit-toothed Nick Cohen on the Andrew Neil’s ‘This week’ tonight must be the best act from the deep well of human imbecility by a long stretch. Should we have the guy stuffed?

If you didn’t see it, rush to the i-player, now and enjoy. Priceless.

michael

The 'a' words:
armageddon
apocalypse
anhialation

In just 45 mins they turn into political bollocks

Frank P

As it would appear that posts without links are making it through the technical morass can I try this one for the fifth time without links? After that I shall have to accept the Rod can dish it, but not take it:

Jimmock (11.11pm 9th Dec)

Spot on indeed - as is yours. Forget the swivel eyes; cop this:

[Link removed].

It seems a very rational analysis to me; it obviously involved assiduous work and a great deal of research; moreover it makes a mockery of Al Gore, which gives it a flying start in any 'rational debate'. I don't suppose your antipathy has anything to do with the fact that Monckton was once an advisor to Lady T in the days when Maggie was sorting out the subversives and you were still a member of rent-a-crowd, Rod? Perhaps you would like to fisk Monckton's treatise and give us the benefit of a more rational explanation of the tree ring circus; we might even get another of your apologies that have been forced upon you at higher managerial or editorial level. I doubt it though - Monckton is both a toff and kicking against the pricks; a rare combination and an easy target for reformed (?) lefties. And Rod, your somewhat circumscribed version of what Lord Monckton thinks is even more disingenuous that the BBC's. I genuinely would like to hear a critique of Monckton's thesis, rather than Rod's "he's a swivel-eyed nutter" shtick. Monckton's absence from the TV debate (other than the quoted 10 second sound bite by the Beeb) raises reasonable suspicion that he knows what he is talking about and is being silenced by default (and draconian editing when it suits the Beeb to allegedly inject some 'balance' to the tsunami of crap they have been propagating on this issue).

Incidentally I suspect the reason his eyes are as they are, is because he is suffering from thyrotoxicosis; the symptom is classic:

[link removed].

Lungfish

Is he a cousin of yours Rod?

Frank P

Okay - now that we have established that Rod is not in the business of censoring (unlike some of the 'scientists' at UEA) WTF is happening to posts with links? Is Simon Brock off for the Winterval or summat?

Frank P

Incidentally if anyone is the least interested in the links I deleted from my last post: the first relates to a piece entitled: "ClimateGate: Caught Green-Handed" (posted on internet on Dec 7th)- google the caption and Monckton.

The second is a Wiki entry for the symptoms of thyrotoxicosis.
Titter ye not at the afflicted!
Unless it's Gordon Brown, but I fear he can't help it either. However, his cohorts should have him put down before he drains the last remnants of the lifeblood of the nation down the plug-hole.

Iamlong

When you use the tactics of name calling AKA "Swivel-eyed maniac",
it is a sign you have lost the debate!

Iamlong

When you use the tactics of name calling AKA "Swivel-eyed maniac",
it is a sign you have lost the debate!

Diana Fairlamb

Lord Monckton is right. Here in America, most of us do believe that our government is leading us to Communist rule, although they are scared to say it. They believe in money and control for them rather than a free society.

Philip Machanick

daniel maris: the millennium bug aka Y2K was real. There was a massive effort to fix it, so no disaster ensued. Quick action on H1N1 prevented a major pandemic. A lack of quick action on AIDS in South Africa caused over 300,000 unnecessary deaths. Your point was ...?

Philip Machanick

Moxon: have you read and understood any of Monckton's attempts at writing science? The man's a buffoon. He spatters his work liberally with equations to fool the rubes, but he gets really basic science wrong.