They love to quote him, Edmund Burke, eighteenth-century Irish philosopher, and statesman, he apparently said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
And then they did nothing.
I forgive the Left, the Democrats, and the Australian Labor party, because they cannot know that human-caused climate change is a conspiracy. But Conservatives, and the right of politics more generally, they know.
And so, I cannot forgive the CEI (Competitive Enterprise Institute) for not standing with Mark Steyn and their former employee Rand Simberg against Michael Mann.
It is twelve years since Michael Mann began defamation proceedings against Steyn for insulting him, in particular, Steyn wrote that Mann’s last 1,000-year reconstruction of northern hemisphere temperatures is a fraud. Further, Steyn quoted from a Competitive Enterprise blog by Rand Simberg claiming:
Mann could be said to be the Jerry Sandusky of climate science, except that instead of molesting children, he has molested and tortured data in the service of politicized science that could have dire economic consequences for the nation and planet.
As crude as these words are, they would appear to be accurate. It is well known that his infamous historical temperature reconstruction (the hockey stick) is a nonsense.
The Medieval Warm Period came before the 20th Century’s obsession with global warming and Al Gore’s movie and Mann’s hockey stick that literally flattened this history.
This single most influential chart (the hockey stick) in the history of 21st century climate science shows no warming through the 11th Century, or cooling in the 16th Century, which makes it inconsistent with everything we know about English history.
This absurd rewriting of history leapt onto the front cover of magazines and into newspapers and government reports beginning with the third United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Assessment report in 2001. The hockey stick denies the Medieval Warm Period – it literally flattens it. Yet it is the accepted, popular, and consensus view, of our relatively recent climate history.
John Anderson, former Australian Deputy Prime Minister, and now a founding member of the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC), and purportedly a great champion of Western Civilization was compliant with this rewriting of history. As was every other member of John Howard’s cabinet because they sent Australian government officials to the IPCC meetings and signed off on the reports from 1996 through until 2007 when they were the government of Australia. Of course, Anderson could have objected to the Hockey Stick, to this rewriting of the history of Western Civilisation but he did nothing.
I cannot forgive him, and I cannot forgive the CEI for not standing by Rand Simberg.
The truth can sometimes offend – that does not make it wrong.
It is offensive, what former CEI employee Rand Simberg, wrote:
Mann could be said to be the Jerry Sandusky of climate science, except that instead of molesting children, he has molested and tortured data in the service of politicized science that could have dire economic consequences for the nation and planet.
It is the case that Jerry Sandusky was finally convicted in 2011 of 52 counts of sexual abuse of young boys over a 15-year period from 1994 to 2009, with senior Penn State university staff failing to tell police of reported incidences of rape dating from 1998.
It is the case that those in positions of power have also repeatedly turned a blind eye to the molestation of boys in Australian institutions including the Brisbane schools my brothers and first boyfriend attended at these same times, through the 1970s and 1980s*.
Back before Rand Simberg wrote those offending words, and still now, the CEI employed senior staff who know the situation. They know the theory of catastrophic human-caused global warming to be a fraud. For example, another of their employees, Christopher C. Horner, wrote best-selling books including ‘Red Hot Lies: How Global Warming Alarmists Use Threats, Fraud, and Deception to Keep You Misinformed’ (Regnery Publishing, 2008). That is the title of the book by Horner, acknowledging and detailing a culture of fraud and deception.
The CEI knew that Rand Simberg was only writing the truth, but they did not, and they have not, stood by him.
In my experience, Conservative think tanks do not stand with their foot soldiers when the going gets tough, when there is an opportunity to take a stand. When it most counts.
To be continued.
We are now up to Day 7 of the defamation trial, I hope that you can start following along with Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer, click here for the page from which you can link to Apple, and other podcasts.
Part 1 is here
Part 2 is here
** ***********
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, is here and reported:
The Royal Commission’s Report into Case Study No. 34 – The response of Brisbane Grammar School and St Paul’s School to allegations of child sexual abuse, was released today.
The report follows a public hearing held in Brisbane in November 2015, which heard about the experiences of former students at Brisbane Grammar School at Spring Hill and St Paul’s School at Bald Hills. The public hearing also examined how the schools and others responded to allegations of child sexual abuse of former students.
At the public hearing a number of former students of the schools gave evidence of having been sexually abused by:
• Kevin Lynch (deceased) – a teacher and later counsellor at Brisbane Grammar between 1973 and 1988 and a counsellor at St Paul’s between 1989 and 1997
• Gregory Robert Knight – a teacher at St Paul’s between 1981 and 1984.
The Royal Commission heard evidence that, during the period of Kevin Lynch’s employment at Brisbane Grammar, he sexually abused a large number of students. There was evidence that a number of complaints against Kevin Lynch were made to senior staff at Brisbane Grammar and to the then headmaster, Dr Howell (now deceased).
The Royal Commission was satisfied that Dr Howell did not investigate an allegation brought to his attention and did not report the matter to the police or board of trustees, failing in his obligations to protect the safety and wellbeing of the students.
In 1989, after he left Brisbane Grammar, Kevin Lynch gained employment at St Paul’s as the school counsellor. He remained in that position until 1997. Former students of the school told the Royal Commission that Kevin Lynch had sexually abused them while he was employed at St Paul’s. The Royal Commission heard that the school was aware of complaints of sexual abuse of students by Kevin Lynch and took no action to deal with those complaints.
Ends.
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD is a critical thinker with expertise in the scientific method.
As with you I dismiss John Anderson’s intellect on many issues. I feel he is too much in bed with the ” establishment” side of conservative politics. Interesting because, like Anderson I’m a rural person who lived close to him in NW NSW but I despair of many of his half- witted podcasts which entail talking points which were oft covered many times in the past. He needs to catch up in my opinion.
The Judeo-Christians are ‘circling the wagons’. Their ‘Born to Rule’/backed by God power-base is in disarray. This includes the Church-appointed Monarchies of Europe.
They are threatened by the exposure and destruction of their ‘Gregorian Calendar’ (and so they should be.) They have never had ‘God on their side’. There was never any ‘Immaculate Conception’ – and if Jesus was a prophet, it was never at the behest of any ‘God/Father’.
Of course, the Earth/Solar Orbital Calendar applies to ALL religious denominations and witch-doctor cabals – Science/Reality does not play favourites.
The Earth orbits 360 degrees around the Sun each Earth/Solar Year.
Thus, there are 12 x 30 Day/Night Intervals per Year.
There are NO equal 7 Day Weeks in a 30 Day/Night Interval Month.
The Earth travels through One Degree of Solar Longitude for each of the Planet’s Axial Rotations. There is NO 31st Day of any month – and NO ‘Leap Years’.
Why hasn’t Science/Scientists pointed this out, since Cardinal Gregory came up with his Catholic Fabrication in 1582?
Human-kind has to take responsibility for the conservation and stewardship of this planet, without the convenient ‘safety-net’ of regular priestly ‘absolution’.
I would like to rename this, ‘The Galileo Proof’ but that may be presumptuous….
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TFFDXyhe5b0ZfLCiFt23W4PbubQaQfQo/view?usp=sharing
If your colleague/husband was presented as a child molester because of his climate change denying position, would you step up and defend him?
*****
Reply from JM:
Michael Mann was presented by Rand Simberg as someone who had tortured the data, and someone from a university that turned a blind eye to child molestation. Part of my training as a biologist, is to see facts for that they are, and not be offended by these same facts, especially if they do not accord with the established narrative.
And it is apparent that I come from a culture, the culture of the West, that increasing condones the use of ‘offence’ as a weapon, when it would be better if we turned it over, so to speak, and sort to understand its very nature.
Jennifer, All the best to you for 2024 and note your entry into the “political War” after so many years of arguing “ only on science and nothing about politics”.
Congratulations on reminding us of John Anderson and John Howard’s gentle compliance with the AGW hoax that great physicist Richard Lindzen described as “the greatest mass delusion in history”.
Please remember to also record the impact of the Fabian Socialism infestation and corruption of much of the “Scientific Professions” that misled the scientifically ignorant Coalition.
Regards John Smeed
Thanks John. It is the case that if John Anderson, John Howard and others including Tony Abbott were prepared to focus on the science, rather than the politics, we would not be in the current mess. But they use the science, as you well know, for their own political ends.
It was the case, back in 2014, that I had some momentum with the issue of remodelling of the historical data. That with Denis Jensen MP there was some potential to prosecute the case for malfeasance within the Bureau.
I also remember that at that critical time, instead of backing me to visit Canberra, you and Case Smit organised to bring Patrick Moore over to Australia to more generally promote the politics.
At that moment, if I had got some backing instead we could have forced an inquiry. But the pressure was relieved as Patrick Moore came over and did his usual hand waving and politicking.
Of course, the end result was that rather than forcing parliamentarians to consider the detail, they could more generally mount a general campaign against anyone sceptical who was still remaining at a university. And so John Abbot and I were evicted from Central Queensland university the next year.
PS.
Patrick Moore, as I had explained to you (John Smeed) before you brought him over to Australia, all those years ago, his thesis is that climate is fundamentally chaotic, that floods and droughts cannot be accurately forecast. And Patrick Moore has never tried to forecast them.
Meanwhile I was beginning to publish research showing that the cycles embedded in historical temperature and rainfall data can be used for more accurate forecasting of both droughts and floods. AI (artificial intelligence) technology relies on finding patterns in historical data and so the integrity of this record becomes paramount for accurately forecasting the future, including floods and droughts.
You did not listen to me.
And then when Patrick Moore was brought to Brisbane, I was asked to attend the lecture and promote the same.
I explained to Graham Young at the time, that I knew what Patrick Moore would be saying, more or less. I had heard him speak at the Heartland Conference in Las Vegas.
I explained that I wasn’t really interested in this popular politics.
I asked to have the opportunity to debate Patrick Moore. I suggested that this could provide some opportunity for those interested in these issues to understand its complexity. I was told there was no interest in me debating Patrick Moore.
Since the AGW Hoax was authored by the Marx Leninist Fabians, forgiving the Fabian ALP, Democrats and Greens on grounds of their ignorance is hypocritical and demonstrably false.
It was similar dishonesty by JCU that enabled your and John’s dismissal as it was also in JCU disgusting treatment of Bob Carter and Peter Ridd by this left corrupted academic organisation.
The supposed politically conservatives Australian Coalition was corrupted by leftist members and too weak to reject or recognise the deliberately set socialist trap and it will only be through grassroots conservatives standing up and getting rid of the lefties in order for Australia to get a Government capable of reversing the destructive socialist trend.
Thanks John.
My reading of the history books, including Margaret Thatcher’s memoire ‘The Downing Street Years’ and discussions with the late Nigel Lawson, indicate that she, more than any other politician, promoted the ‘AGW hoax’.
The Marx Leninist Fabians may be responsible for much that is ‘woke’, but they are not responsible for the ‘AGW hoax’.
And Thatcher was ruthless in her sacking of scientists attempting to publish and/or promote contrary perspectives.
I am writing it all down, the information I glean from scientists whose careers were cut short in the 1980s because they spoke against the nonsense.
And if you listen to Will Happer’s address to the audience in Brisbane, last year, you will hear him admit that he knew better all those years ago. But he also knew that it was not in his political best interests to tell the truth. He survived at Princeton, while others were sent packing from Imperial College.
Shame.
It is the height of hypocrisy to invoke Edmund Burke in defense of Mark Steyn.
The problem is not that Mike is a 2.1 to Mark’s 7.6 on the Vicious Blowhard Richter scale, but that Mark, like Tuck Carlson , exemplifies the terminal stage of education put to waste:Iganoramus et ignorabimus :
He knows he knows nothing about the way the material world works and is metaphysically indisposed to find out.
I believe this to be too plainly evident for a disinterested jury to ignore, and we will soon see if that is the case.
How to remove Religion from the education system and the Planet;
Edward 1 (1272-1307), Statute of Jewry c1275;
‘Jews had to live in specific areas of the King’s towns. Those aged over seven had to wear a badge that visually identified them as being Jewish. All aged over 12 years were to pay a tax of 3 pence each Easter: and Jews could only sell property or negotiate debts with the King’s permission. New rules paired with heavy taxation and growing suspicions surrounding the coin-clipping events of the late 1270s, led to mounting pressure on Christian-Jewish relations. By the late 1280s, Edward could only secure parliament’s grant of further taxation to aid his war with France by making sacrifices. The expulsion of the Jews was the price he agreed to pay.
the Jews were expelled from England c1290.’
On March 31, 1492; their Catholic Majesties (Ferdinand and Isabella) signed the Alhambra Decree, expelling the Jews from Spain, after 900 years of Crusader Wars drove the Muslims out of Southern Spain and turned the country Catholic.
Church/Monarchy vs Jews/Muslims.
Kudos and massive appreciation to Jennifer for standing strong and presen thos extremely well written essay. Having been able to read a fair number of contemporaneous reports from the trial, I too wonder why more who know better have been so intimidated as to remain silent. However much one thinks Steyn is too prickly to be sympathetic, he happens to have been correct. That at long last a trial is finally taking place is only because Steyn is prickly and simply wouldn’t quit. The conspiracy to use obvious climate fraud as a rallying point to save the world was not only unworthy, it is dangerous and as we see, metastatic. The noble lie of climate led to censorship, which has spread to nearly every aspect of the life of the West. Now the West is in peril, betrayed by those who know better.