Greenpeace Shoulda Listened To Me

...because if they'd pulled the piece--which suggests taking violent action against climate change deniers-- when I (and others) told them too, they'd've suffered 24 to 48 hours less grief. But they finally have pulled it, and that's good. So far, the only MSM outlet to pick up has been Leo Hickman's Guardian Blog, which gives a fairly sympathetic account, so hopefully the damage won't be too severe. I still fear, though, that the story will wind up on the Limbaugh show. There's usually a couple days lag between the appearance of this kind of thing in the deniosphere and its appearance on Fox.

Calls to violence, even if intended rhetorically, are never good PR.

I Smell Bullshit

I do. If I am wrong--if, for instance, charges are laid--than Mr. Bergamini will get a patented BCLSB apology, and I will issue a patented BCLSB denunciation of the attackers. I haven't done one of those in a while. It'd be fun. Until then, I am smelling bullshit. This is from a facebook page via a website run by the guys that "outed" Ellen Ocran. So their view of things seems a bit feverish.

A few MSM stories here.

Sun Goes CP Free...Or Not

I've written once or twice...well, once...about the Canoe chain's (Toronto Sun and co.) attempts to wean themselves from Canadian Press wire stories as a cost cutting measure. Well, this week they've been attempting an experiment:

A TSF tipster says Sun Media editors have been told not to use Canadian Press content from April 5 through 10, not even a file shot.

"It is a dry run for when they go AP/CP free on July 1," says the tipster.

Alas! The experiment goes poorly.

Next up: the washroom stalls at 333 King (T.O. Sun HQ) will be made coin-operated.

Our Afghan Ally

“If you and the international community pressure me more [to clean up corruption], I swear that I am going to join the Taliban,” [Afghan President Hamid] Karzai said, according to the Parliament member.

2011 and out, baby! Canada is gone! Like a dot on the far horizon!!!

Explaining The Inexplicable

In particular, Obama's decision to open new area's to offshore drilling:
Obama’s decision probably doesn’t make sense unless you take the fear factor into account. Let’s face it, if you were President of the United States, and you looked at this graph, what would you do? I don’t know about you, but I would probably start by saying something like, “HOLY SHIT!” Politically, Obama is looking at rapidly rising petroleum prices right around the time of his reelection campaign, if not sooner. Economically, he’s looking at a potential crunch just when things are supposed to be getting better. And while opening these new regions to drilling isn’t going to solve the problem (because even if large amounts of oil are lurking there the supply won’t come on line for about a decade), at least he’s now given himself political cover.

GreenPeace Emulates Marc Morano

Here's Marc on climate scientists:

"I seriously believe we should kick them while they're down," [Morano] said. "They deserve to be publicly flogged."

Here's "Gene" from Greenpeace India. As you can see, he's got a goatee and tatts and even now he's probably listening to that shitty rap metal music kids today are so into on his ipod. Anyway... His opinion?

If you're one of those who have spent their lives undermining progressive climate legislation, bankrolling junk science, fueling spurious debates around false solutions, and cattle-prodding democratically-elected governments into submission, then hear this:

We know who you are. We know where you live. We know where you work.

And we be many, but you be few.

Now, what's the difference between these two people? Well, for one thing, Morano is deeply connected to the U.S. GOP establishment and commands an army of tea-bagging kooks with a potential for real violence through his website Climate Depot. And, indeed, in the aftermath of the CRU Hack , a number of climate scientists have been on the receiving end of some rather disturbing acts of vandalism. Gene is a nobody who probably needs help setting his player to"shuffle".

However, even as we speak the right-wing nut machine is doing all it can to elide these differences and push Gene's remarks to any MSM news outlet ready to repeat them and ascribe them to Greenpeace per se or, worse, to Environmentalists per se. Astonishingly, in the comments of the above post, Andrew (Greenpeace's web producer, for whom the term "hapless" appears to have been specially invented) is attempting carrying on effete philosophical discussions with faux outraged deniers sent over from CD rather than pulling down Gene's diatribe (update: or at least editing out that nutty conclusion) and saying, clearly and finally, that Greenpeace 1) does not have a file which includes the home addresses of its opponents, and 2) does not endorse violence.

Because, if you don't endorse violence, you don't post material that appears to endorse violence. Period.

Temporarily Out Of Bullshit

...Bullshitting will resume Monday, April 5.

Can Somebody Please Answer Him?

Thomas Walkom writes:

The opposition Liberals want Prime Minister Stephen Harper to clarify what he plans for Afghanistan. But he is clear. He says he's bringing Canada's troops home.

The real puzzle is: What would the Liberals do?

This is not an academic question. By the time Canada's scheduled troop withdrawal begins next July, we may well have had another election. Should Michael Ignatieff's Liberals win, it will be up to them to decide how to proceed.

[...]

The Prime Minister...says the entire Afghan military mission will be terminated.

If he's sincere, that means Canadian troops won't be staying on as trainers or advisors – which, to a large extent, is what they are doing now. Nor will they provide security for reconstruction.

Actually, I think Walkom's got it half backwards. In an interview last week with CBC radio, Lawrence Cannon (I think) dodged and weaved and bobbed so bad over the question of training police/troops in Kabul post 2011, that it sounded either like he hadn't been told what the talking points were or the Tory gov. as a whole doesn't yet know its own mind on the issue. In any case, the minister certainly didn't rule anything out.

So, it would be nice if Iggy laid down a few markers indicating that, no, any involvement in the Afghan issue after 2011 will not involve the Canadian military. There is clarity needed on this issue; Harper and co. are not providing it, and if the official opposition doesn't step up and say what is acceptable from its POV, our guys will be getting shot at and blown up from 2011 until god knows.

Because You NEED Another Ann Coulter Post

...and its a slow news day and I'm feeling lazy:

The cancellation of controversial conservative commentator Ann Coulter’s Ottawa talk seemed to Capital Diary to be due less to protesters and more to incompetent organizers. Those in charge of the event kept allowing people into the foyer of the lecture hall until occupants were in danger of being crushed. The two sets of doors that opened into that foyer became difficult to open with all the bodies pushing through, creating a serious safety hazard. (At one point the fire alarm was pulled.) Ottawa police officers, who are certainly used to dealing with large crowds, seasoned protesters and dignitaries (like Barack Obama) rolling through town, were on hand but decided to allow the crowd to grow as more and more people from the long line outside pushed in. Ten minutes before the event was to start, two organizers started to slowly check off names from an email list and let people in. It soon became obvious many of the hundreds of people in line who had been waiting for hours would not get in, yet organizers chose not to inform them, fuelling anger in the crowd. “Will we even get in?” people started shouting. Fifteen to 20 minutes after the first people had been let in, entry to the hall was stopped (even though lots of VIPs continued to get in through side doors). Around 8 p.m., with the hall about half full, the event was cancelled.

Click through the link for a particularly dorky picture of Ezra.

Coulter Protester Is Xxxtremely Hot

Of course this poor fool thinks the real story is that Ellen Ocran works for NDP MP Pat Martin. But, given the fact that she is also a University of Ottawa student, I don't see how that's relevant. Doesn't she have the right to protest the people her school brings in as speakers? What is far more to the point are these pictures of Ellen from model-mayhem, which are irrefutable evidence of high-level sexxxiness.

Laurie Hawn Clarifies

Apparently, I wasn't the only one hassling him for suggesting that Bill C-392 was an attack on the West. He offers a "clarification" of his opposition to the bill in the first minute of the following youtube clip:

Fair enough, Mr. Hawn, but you did play the alienated Westerner card in your original twitter post. You did.

Whattcott Case To Supreme Court

REGINA, Saskatchewan, April 1, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has announced their intention to take their case against Bill Whatcott, a Christian fighting the encroachment of homosexualism, to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Bill Whatcott is a Christian activist best know for mailing a feces bomb to the Governor General. He is also the guy whose postings first brought the CHRC down on Free Dominion. Suffice to say, if you see Bill Whatcott, your most likely reaction is to try to have the authorities remove him from your lawn.

Naema's Husband Speaks

His English isn't particularly good, and this has drawn ridicule from the fat chick's elderly husband, among others. But his arguments are not entirely mad or unreasonable either.

And Tarek Fatah, in suggesting that Niqab wearing women are either oppressed or radical Islamists, is being by far the bigger dick-head, though in perfect English!

The West Wants Affirmative Action

Why did the Tories vote en masse against Bill C-232, which requires that Supreme Court nominees be bilingual?
I'm sure there are other, less silly reasons.

From here.

Ezra Getting Sued Again?

From a FreeD account of some pre-trial stuff in Levant v. Warman:

Mr. S[c]hiller said that Ezra [Levant] is on a "campaign against the Human Rights Commissions". He said that Ezra is entitled to do that, but he is not entitled to make false statements. Shiller said that he has three other clients with cases against Ezra and, surprisingly, said that he has another one coming up.

Mr. Brian Schiller is Richard Warman's lawyer in Warman v. Levant.

A Rumour...

Glen McGregor is: National affairs reporter with the Ottawa Citizen.

PS. Helena's exec. assistant's mama wrote a letter???

Free Speech Senate Inquiry: Free Speeches, No Action

(Actually, four speeches, but whatever)

The speeches were part of the two-hour-long Senate inquiry, a kind of procedure unique to the upper chamber to allow senators to raise important issues. Usually, aside from drawing attention to a given subject, Senate inquiries have little effect.

And remember, underneath it all the University of Ottawa thing was all about Coulter's Coulter camp's inability to successfully rent a room.

UEA Responds To Parliamentary Science and Technology Committee Report

They are of course very happy. And they make a point of taking another stab at the UK ICO (Information Commissioner's Office):

Whilst acknowledging concerns about FOIA request support, we also note the conclusion that the Information Commissioner’s Office made a statement to the press which led to much adverse comment, but could not be substantiated.

The full report can be found here. Apparently, Labour MP Graham Stringer, whose questioning during the actual committee hearing was probably the most acerbic, voted against accepting the report. His concerns are outlined at CA.

Lots of whining in the Deniosphere. Their tears uplift me.

And lots of coverage from the U.K. and other media. I may add links or a bit more analysis to this post when I get time.

UK Climategate Parliamentary Inquiry: Science Was Solid, Jones Was Scapegoated

Quotes from the UK parliamentary Science and Technology committee presser, and brief comments:

MPs today strongly criticised the University of East Anglia for not tackling a "culture of withholding information" among the climate change scientists whose private emails caused a furore after being leaked online in November.

[...]

But the committee did not condemn the actions of Prof Phil Jones, the head of UEA's Climatic Research Unit (CRU) because it said he should have been better supported by the university in dealing with requests for data under the Freedom of Information Act. It added that the scientific reputation of Jones and the CRU was untarnished.

The committee's report entitled The disclosure of climate data from the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, said the focus on Jones and CRU in the row about the hacked emails had been "largely misplaced" and that, "on accusations relating to freedom of information, we consider that much of the responsibility should lie with UEA, not CRU". In evidence to the enquiry, Jones admitted that he had sent some "awful emails".

"He probably wishes that emails were never invented," said Willis at a press conference. "But apart from that we do believe that Prof Jones has in many ways been scapegoated as a result of what really was a frustration on his part that people were asking for information purely to undermine his research."

Now, Denialists will almost certainly say that science is all about "undermining research", and bring out tired nostrums from Karl Popper. But it isn't. That's sometimes a by-product, but in science it is never the point. For Deniers like McIntyre it is the one and only point.

The MPs also take a well-deserved shot at the ICO (Information Commissioner's Office):

The MPs expressed "regret" that the UK's deputy information commissioner had made a statement saying, in their words, that "at least some of the requested information should have been disclosed" without his office having conducted a formal investigation. However, they agreed that there was a prima facie case for the university to answer and that the Information Commissioner's Office should conduct an investigation.

Oh I hope so! Because, as I have written previously, they will likely wind up investigating themselves.

An interesting comment from doctor Myles Allen:

Professor Myles Allen, a leading climate scientist at Oxford University, said that free exchange of data with fellow scientists was a fundamental requirement of academic research. But he added: "There was an assumption within the climate science community that we could use our professional judgment to distinguish between professional scientists and activists or members of the public."

"The big implication in all this for science is that the [FOI Act] is taking away our liberty to use our own judgment to decide who we spend time responding to. And that has a cost," he said.

...and so we circle back around to the notion of being supported by your institution. That support is going to have to be financial. Hopefully, the UK government will be kicking in a few lbs.

Overall judgement: BOOYAH!!! Its okay to call them deniers again!

Pachauri Cleared

One of the side-stories that grew out of Climategate were accusations of financial impropriety by Rajendra Pachauri, head of the IPCC. These have now been put to rest:

London, Mar 29 (PTI) Rajendra Pachauri, the embattled head of the UN's climate change panel who was under scrutiny for receiving alleged payments from private companies, has been cleared of the allegations by an independently conducted review, a media report has said.

Professional services company KPMG examined personal finances of Pachauri, chairman of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, following allegations that he received money for advising several private sector companies, including Toyota and Credit Suisse.

I suspect Pielke Jr. is working on his most fulsome apology even now.

PS. Pachauri's climate science friends apparently call him "patchy".