Monbiot and libel

Ian C

Perhaps Moonbat is finally turning his attention to something he may have a remote chance of doing something about!

Tom

Caveat: the last paragraph of his article is complete rubbish, as it is actually very difficult for a politician to sue someone for defamation (Reynolds v Times Newspapers; Derbyshire CC v Times Newspapers).

Alas, Monboit has made a career out of substituting facts with hyperbole.

David

Surely though, Stephen, the innocent until proven guilty standard should apply to the person being accused of something by the writer in question? As such, that the burden of proof on the writer to support his claims is just?

Andy Marr

Yes for once Moonbiot is correct.

Amazing.

Well journalists at least should stand up against manipulating the courts to hide embarssing information.

THX1138

SP- You always have a go at Monbiot but I'm wagering that you agree more with him more than you might think & with anything to with science more than "The Indefatigable defender of Liberty" Melanie Phillips" although I notice that she dropped off your blog roll recently, did you fall out?

A few examples where from your previous bloging I would expect you agree with George over Mel:

Man made climate change
MMR jab causes autism
Intelligent design (Mel states we are here due to an Intelligent designer)
Primacy of science & rational thought over superstition & religion

I don't want to second guess you but I would imagine that you probably would fall out with George on economics, The Middle East & the solutions to climate change & me too but he is always interesting, thoroughly well researched & controversial, just what I want in a columnist

Did you read his fisheries post last week brilliant & right

http://tinyurl.com/6ee5rx

& watch him put Mel to the sword on climate change 2.40 mins & 6.12 mins in.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=fubJLYm4JJk

wgaf

Not sure why if you are slagging someone off you shouldn't have to prove what you say is true. If it isn't true, why write it? If you didn't check, you are negligent. What's the problem? I think George maintains his 100% record.

Ann

Moonbat is rarely right on climate change, and I say this as someone who thinks that there is at least some man-made climate change. The numbers in Heat, for example, are just plain dumb.
And as to his screeching anti-Israel stupidity ...

andy

"& watch him put Mel to the sword on climate change 2.40 mins & 6.12 mins in."

err - no. Mel is correct. There is evidence that the ice at the South Pole is increasing in thickness.

There was a signficant loss of ice at the north pole (which widely was reported) but this has grown back at a record rate, and is now larger than it was previously (which has not been widely reported).

Temperatures have not signficantly increased statistically sinced 1998.

Published IPC models have been shown to be inaccurate, on the basis on empircal data.

The Hockey Stick Graph has been shown to be a fraud.

Care to look for this information, and you'll find it.

oh and by the way, the world 'isn't running out of oil', we are approaching 'peak oil'. This is the real problem and one we should be concentrating on.

No stephen you're not a nutter, you just happen to agree with moonbat (who most definelty is a nutter) on one particular issue.

David

I hope that Senators Specter and Lieberman draft something that stamps on all the ridiculous extra-terratorial US laws - or is it only other peoples laws that impact the US of A that they don't like.

Ann

"oh and by the way, the world 'isn't running out of oil', we are approaching 'peak oil'"

Err ... the two things are not mutually exclusive. We are consuming oil faster and faster, therefore we are running out of it faster and faster. Draw a graph if it might help, using differentiation and integration to work out rising slopes and cumulative consumption of a finite quantity.

THX1138

Andy I'm not going to get into a big debate on AGW it's my experience that people believe it's put up job for political reasons rather than rational scientific reasons & any amount of line by line destruction of your assertions or mis representation of established facts will make no difference.

My point is rather that I'm not a climate scientist or an atmospheric chemist or some such expert I'm someone who believes in the primacy science & rational thought over counterknowledge & mumbo jumbo.

All the time that these experts & all the major scientific bodies tell us we have a problem I'm going to believe them over a bunch of bloggers & journalists particularly those with no scientific training & plenty of political axes to grind & when the scientists give us the all clear (looking highly unlikely I fear) I will rejoice.

Your wrong about "peak oil", "peak oil means that we have run out of half of the worlds available reserves ie we have exploited all the easy to reach reserves large parts of the other half will either be impossible to exploit or ruinously expensive or simply use more energy to get at them than the energy derived from them. This means that in a world where we are using a lot more of the stuff we may soon reach a point where we simply run out of economically exploitable reserves & this could happen very quickly.

Ann- I read Heat & found it thought provoking & challenging I usually agree with Monbiot on the science but I think he is too pessimistic on our ability to find a scientific solution. I'm interested in what numbers are "just plain dumb" he's usually very good on facts bad on solutions. I agree with you on his Middle East rhetoric straight out of the Guardian play book & said so in my original post. Please get back to me if you can be bothered.

Ann

THX - one example I can think of without digging out the book (although I may have put it in the recycling box anyway, or donated it to a charity shop) is on something like page 4, where he miscalculates the consumption of aviation fuel. See if you can locate it. I'll try to find the book in the mean time.

Ann

Well, I have replied, but it seems that THX is the one who cannot be bothered.

THX1138

Sorry Ann I was packing for my Hols
wrestling with a nightmare spread sheet for a client & blogging along with you & got a bit carried away Mels board. I decided I'm taking Heat on holiday to re read bits.