TBR.cc

Top Clinton official calls emissions trading schemes a 'rort'

A top advisor in the Clinton/Gore administration has told an audience of Australian business leaders to avoid emissions trading schemes like the plague.

Robert Shapiro warned ETS schemes will invariably make rich global players even richer, and do nothing to help the climate:

CAP AND TRADE HAS NO FUTURE, CLINTON OFFICIAL WARNS

The Age, 27 August 2009
<http://business.theage.com.au/business/carbon-tax-better-clinton-official-20090826-ezu5.html>

Trading of emission permits around the world will become a financial rort that fails to reduce carbon emissions - and will ultimately be scrapped in favour of a simple carbon tax, a former senior official in the Clinton administration has forecast.

Robert Shapiro, former US undersecretary of commerce and author of Futurecast, predicted that the US Senate would reject the emissions trading scheme proposed by President Obama, which is now before it.

Speaking by video to the Trade 2020 conference convened by Austrade and the Committee for Economic Development of Australia, Dr Shapiro said 'cap and trade' systems as proposed by the US and the Australian governments to limit carbon dioxide emissions and allow trade in permits do not work as intended.

"Cap and trade has proved very vulnerable to vested interests, and therefore too weak to deliver the necessary emission reductions'', he said. ''Cap and trade creates trillions of dollars of new financial instruments to be traded, and subjected to the next financial fads. China and India will never accept a cap and trade regime.''

Read more at the link.

Climate change Minister Nick Smith take note.

Putting the referendum result in context

It has been said that the overall turnout (54%) in the smacking referendum provides no mandate.

If this were true, no city or regional council has a mandate to govern today and all should resign pending a fresh election, as those results are decided on turnouts of fewer than 50%.

But more significantly, here's something else to keep in mind.

More than 1.4 million people voted 'No' on the referendum.

In the 1999 election that swept Labour's Helen Clark to power, 800,199 people voted Labour.

In the same 1999 election, 629,932 voted National.

In other words, the no vote in the referendum is almost double (75% higher in fact), than the number of voters who gave Helen Clark a mandate to run New Zealand for three years.

It is more than double (130% higher in fact), than the number of people who voted National in 1999.

In fact, it may even be that on the final tally, the 'No' vote actually exceeds the combined votes of both National and Labour at the 1999 election.

Green Party MP and pro-smacking law campaigner Sue Bradford has tried to argue that if you take into account those who didn't vote (46%), and add them to the 11% who voted in favour of her own position, that's a majority of the population who support her and therefore the referendum gives "no mandate" for change.

Taking that logic at face value, if we look at the 1999 election, the number of people who did not vote Labour or did not turn out to vote, clearly outweighs Labour's 800,000 votes.

Bradford is on a loser if she keeps riding down that path.

Ironically, more people voted No in last night's referendum than voted in favour of introducing MMP to our electoral system. Does that mean we should declare MMP null and void using Bradford's logic?

Perhaps, if we did, the Greens would disappear in a puff of (dope) smoke.

Air Con - the interview

WorldNetDaily in the US has published an abridged version of a Vox Day interview on Air Con.

Air Con managed to spend a couple of weeks at the top of Amazon's climate change category in the UK, and also in the US: Download AmazonbestUSno1

Physicists shoot down global warming believers

A group of senior physicists, including a Nobel Prize winner, have put their names to a letter rejecting claims that evidence of human caused global warming is "incontrovertible", and suggesting the role of CO2 has been overhyped.

This post from the US should give people like Public Address' Russell Brown something to chew on as they continue to spread alarmism like a band of howler monkeys across the blogosphere:

(Hat Tip: Conservative Business Network)

An Open Letter to the Council of the American Physical Society

 

Regarding the National Policy Statement on Climate Change of the APS Council: An Open Letter to the Council of the American Physical Society

 

As physicists who are familiar with the science issues, and as current and past members of the American Physical Society, we the undersigned urge the Council to revise its current statement* on climate change as follows, so as to more accurately represent the current state of the science:

Greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, accompany human industrial and agricultural activity. While substantial concern has been expressed that emissions may cause significant climate change, measured or reconstructed temperature records indicate that 20th 21st century changes are neither exceptional nor persistent, and the historical and geological records show many periods warmer than today. In addition, there is an extensive scientific literature that examines beneficial effects of increased levels of carbon dioxide for both plants and animals.

Studies of a variety of natural processes, including ocean cycles and solar variability, indicate that they can account for variations in the Earth’s climate on the time scale of decades and centuries. Current climate models appear insufficiently reliable to properly account for natural and anthropogenic contributions to past climate change, much less project future climate.

The APS supports an objective scientific effort to understand the effects of all processes – natural and human --on the Earth’s climate and the biosphere’s response to climate change, and promotes technological options for meeting challenges of future climate changes, regardless of cause.

 

* The statement of the APS Council, adopted on November 18, 2007 is as follows:

"Emissions of greenhouse gases from human activities are changing the atmosphere in ways that affect the Earth's climate. Greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide as well as methane, nitrous oxide and other gases. They are emitted from fossil fuel combustion and a range of industrial and agricultural processes.

 

The evidence is incontrovertible: Global warming is occurring. If no mitigating actions are taken, significant disruptions in the Earth’s physical and ecological systems, social systems, security and human health are likely to occur. We must reduce emissions of greenhouse gases beginning now.

 

Because the complexity of the climate makes accurate prediction difficult, the APS urges an enhanced effort to understand the effects of human activity on the Earth’s climate, and to provide the technological options for meeting the climate challenge in the near and longer terms. The APS also urges governments, universities, national laboratories and its membership to support policies and actions that will reduce the emission of greenhouse gases."

— APS News; January 2008 (Volume 17, Number 1)

 

THE UNDERSIGNED

Harold M. Agnew

Director, Los Alamos National Laboratory (1970 -1979)

President, General Atomics Corporation (1979 -1984)

White House Science Councilor (1982 -1989)

 

 

E.O. Lawrence Award 1966, Enrico Fermi Award 1978, Los Alamos Medal (with H.A. Bethe) 2001 Member National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Fellow APS, AAAS

 

Sol Aisenberg

President, International Technology Group

Formerly Staff Member, MIT; Lecturer, Harvard Medical School;

Visiting Research Professor, Boston University

 

 

Ralph B. Alexander

Former Associate Professor of Physics

Wayne State University

President, R.B. Alexander & Associates

Technology and market analysis in environmentally friendly materials and coatings

Author, Global Warming False Alarm (Canterbury)

 

 

Moorad Alexanian

Professor of Physics and Physical Oceanography

University of North Carolina -Wilmington

Member Mexican Academy of Sciences, American Scientific Affiliation

 

 

Louis J. Allamandola

Director, Astrochemistry Laboratory

NASA Ames Research Center

Fellow APS, AAAS

Member ACS, American Astronomical Society, International Astronomical Union

 

 

Eva Andrei

Professor of Physics

Rutgers University

Fellow APS

 

 

Robert H. Austin

Professor of Physics

Princeton University

Fellow APS, AAAS; APS Council: 1991-1994, 2007-2010

Member National Academy of Sciences, American Association of Arts and Sciences

 

 

Franco Battaglia

Professor of Chemical Physics and Environmental Chemistry

University of Modena, Italy

Life Member APS

 

 

David J. Benard

Aerospace Scientist (retired)

Co-Inventor of the Chemical Oxygen-Iodine Laser

 

 

Lev I. Berger

President

California Institute of Electronics and Materials Science

Author, Semiconductor Materials; and

Material and Device Characterization Measurements (CRC Press)

 

 

Stuart B. Berger

Research Fellow and Divisional Time-to-Market Manager

Xerox Corporation (retired)

 

 

Ami E. Berkowitz

Emeritus Professor of Physics

University of California at San Diego

Fellow APS

 

 

Barry L. Berman

Columbian Professor and Chair

Physics Department

The George Washington University

Fellow APS

 

 

Edwin X. Berry

Atmospheric Physicist, Climate Physics, LLC

Certified Consulting Meteorologist #180

Member American Meteorological Society

 

 

Vladislav A. Bevc

Associate Professor, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey (retired);

Formerly Technical Staff Member, The Aerospace Corporation;

Physicist, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory;

Visiting Fellow, Hoover Institution (Stanford University)

Member IEEE

 

 

Clifford Bruce Bigham

Atomic Energy of Canada, Ltd. (retired)

Senior Member APS, Sustaining Member CAP

 

 

Arie Bodek

George E. Pake Professor of Physics

University of Rochester

Wolfgang K. H. Panofsky Prize in Experimental Particle Physics (APS) 2004

Fellow APS

 

 

Lowell S. Brown

Emeritus Professor of Physics

University of Washington

Scientific Staff Member, Los Alamos National Laboratory

Fellow APS, AAAS

 

 

Daniel M. Bubb Associate Professor and Chair Department of Physics Rutgers University -Camden

 

Timothy D. Calvin President, Bearfoot Corporation (retired) Fabricated rubber products for the DOD, shoe and automobile industries Member ACS

 

Gregory H. Canavan Senior Fellow and Scientific Advisor, Los Alamos National Laboratory Fellow APS

 

Roger W. Cohen Manager, Strategic Planning and Programs ExxonMobil Corporation (retired) Otto Schade Prize (Society for Information Display) 2006 Fellow APS

 

Steven R. Cranmer Astrophysicist, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Karen Harvey Prize (AAS) 2006 Associate Editor, Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics Member: American Astronomical Society, American Geophysical Union

 

Jerry M. Cuttler President, Cuttler and Associates, Inc. Engineering, consulting, and licensing services for the nuclear power industry President, Canadian Nuclear Society 1995-1996 Fellow Canadian Nuclear Society, Member American Nuclear Society

 

Joseph G. Depp Founding President and CEO, Accuray Incorporated (retired) Stereotactic radiosurgery technology Founding President and CEO, PsiStar Incorporated Life Member APS

 

Riccardo DeSalvo Senior Scientist Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) California Institute of Technology Member ASME

 

David H. Douglass Professor of Physics University of Rochester Fellow APS

 

Paul J. Drallos

President and CEO, Plasma Dynamics Corporation (retired)

Kinetic & fluid dynamic computer simulation services

 

 

William T. Duffy Jr.

Professor Emeritus of Physics

Santa Clara University

 

 

David F. Edwards

Physicist, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (retired)

Formerly Los Alamos National Laboratory;

Professor of Physics and Electrical Engineering, Colorado State University;

Lincoln Laboratory, MIT

 

 

Albert G. Engelhardt

President and CEO, Enfitek, Inc.

Environmental control and security systems

Senior Life Member IEEE

 

 

Hughen Falconer

Emeritus Professor of Geology

University of Aberdeen

Member American Geophysical Union

 

 

Jens G. Feder

Professor of Physics of Geological Processes

University of Oslo

Fellow APS

 

 

Peter D. Friedman

Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering

University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

Member American Geophysical Union, ASME, American Nuclear Society

 

 

Rodger L. Gamblin

Inventor

Holder of 44 issued U.S. patents

 

 

G. Roger Gathers Senior Scientist, M. H. Chew and Associates Physicist, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (1967-1993) Author, Selected Topics in Shock Wave Physics and

 

Equation of State Modeling (World Scientific Publishing)

 

Gary J. Gerardi Professor, Department of Chemistry and Physics William Paterson University

 

Ivar Giaever

Institute Professor, School of Engineering and School of Science

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Nobel Prize in Physics 1973

Fellow APS, Member National Academy of Science, National Academy of Engineering

 

 

Albert Gold

Associate Dean of Engineering and Applied Sciences (Retired)

Harvard University

 

 

Laurence I. Gould

Professor of Physics

University of Hartford

Member Executive Board of the New England Section of the APS

Chairman (2004), New England Section APS

 

 

Paul M. Grant

EPRI Science Fellow (retired)

IBM Research Staff Member Emeritus

Senior Life Fellow APS

 

 

Howard D. Greyber

University of Pennsylvania (retired)

Formerly Princeton University, LLNL Theory Group, Northeastern University

Member American Astronomical Society, Fellow Royal Astronomical Society

 

 

Mike Gruntman

Professor of Astronautics

University of Southern California

Author, Blazing the Trail. The Early History of Spacecraft and Rocketry (AIAA)

Luigi G. Napolitano Book Award (International Academy of Astronautics) 2006

Member American Geophysical Union, Associate Fellow AIAA

 

 

George Hacken

Senior Director, Safety-Critical Systems

New York City Transit Authority

Formerly Senior Member of the Technical Staff, GEC-Marconi Aerospace

Chair, New York Chapter, IEEE Computer Society

Member AMS, SIAM, ANS, AIAA, New York Academy of Sciences

 

 

Sultan Hameed

Professor of Atmospheric Science

School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences

Stony Brook University, New York

 

 

William Happer

Cyrus Fogg Brackett Professor of Physics

Princeton University

Fellow APS, AAAS

Member National Academy of Sciences

 

 

Howard C. Hayden

Emeritus Professor of Physics

University of Connecticut

Editor, The Energy Advocate

Author, A Primer on CO2 and Climate (Vales Lake)

 

 

Jack M. Hollander

Professor Emeritus of Energy and Resources, University of California, Berkeley

Vice-President Emeritus, The Ohio State University

First Head, Energy and Environment Division, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory

Fellow APS, AAAS

 

 

David B. Holtkamp

Scientific Staff Member, Physics Division

Los Alamos National Laboratory

 

 

Helen Jackson

Physicist, U.S. Air Force

Wright Patterson Air Force Base

Member Materials Research Society, IEEE

 

 

James R. Johnson

3M Company (retired)

Member Carlton Society (3M Hall of Fame)

Member National Academy of Engineering

 

 

O’Dean Judd

LANL Fellow

Los Alamos National Laboratory (retired)

Technical Advisor and Consultant

Fellow APS, IEEE, AAAS

 

 

Andrew Kaldor

Distinguished Scientific Advisor

Manager of Breakthrough Research

ExxonMobil Corporation (retired)

Fellow AAAS, Member ACS

 

 

Alexander E. Kaplan

Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

The Johns Hopkins University

Max Born Award (Optical Society of America) 2005

Alexander von Humboldt Award (von Humboldt Foundation) 1996

Fellow OSA

 

 

Jonathan Katz

Professor of Physics

Washington University

 

 

William E. Keller

Leader. Low Temperature Physics Group 1971-1985

Los Alamos National Laboratory (retired)

Fellow APS

 

 

John M. Kennel

Autonetics Division,

Boeing North American (retired)

Formerly Electronics Division,

Northrop Grumman Corporation

Member AAAS, AIAA

 

 

Robert S. Knox

Professor of Physics Emeritus

University of Rochester

Member APS Council (1985-1988)

Fellow APS

 

 

Joseph A. Kunc

Professor, Physics and Astronomy

University of Southern California

Fellow APS

 

 

Robert E. LeLevier

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (1951-1957)

Physics Department, RAND Corp (1957-1971)

R&D Associates (1971-1983)

Eos Technologies, Inc. (1983-1993)

 

 

Robert E. Levine

Industrial and Defense Physics and Engineering (retired)

Member ACM, IEEE

 

 

John D. Lindl

James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics (APS) 2007

Fellow APS, AAAS

 

 

Michael D. Lubin

Colonel,

United States Air Force (retired)

 

 

Alfred U. MacRae

President, MacRae Technologies

Fellow APS, IEEE, Member National Academy of Engineering

 

 

Phillip W. Mange

Associate Superintendent, Space Science Division

Scientific Consultant to the Director of Research,

Naval Research Laboratory (retired)

 

 

Joseph Maserjian

Senior Research Scientist,

California Institute of Technology Jet Propulsion Laboratory (retired)

 

 

Harold Mirels

Principal Scientist,

The Aerospace Corporation (retired)

Fellow APS, AIAA

Member National Academy of Engineering

 

 

Jim Mitroy

Lecturer in Physics, School of Engineering and Information Technology

Charles Darwin University, Australia

 

 

Michael Monce

Professor of Physics, Astronomy, and Geophysics

Connecticut College

Member AAPT, American Geophysical Union

 

 

Nasif Nahle

Scientific Research Director

Biology Cabinet, Mexico

Member AAAS, New York Academy of Sciences

 

 

Rodney W. Nichols

President and CEO, New York Academy of Sciences (1992-2001)

Vice President and Executive Vice President, The Rockefeller University (1970-1990)

Secretary of Defense Medal for Distinguished Meritorious Civilian Service (1970)

Fellow AAAS, New York Academy of Sciences

 

 

Gordon C. Oehler

Senior Fellow, Potomac Institute for Policy Studies

Working Group Chairman, Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States.

Corporate Vice President for Corporate Development, SAIC (1998-2004)

National Intelligence Officer for Science, Technology and Proliferation (1989-1992)

 

 

William P. Oliver

Professor of Physics

Tufts University

Life Member APS

 

 

Frank R. Paolini

Adjunct Professor of Physics

University of Connecticut at Stamford (retired)

Senior Member APS, Member IEEE

 

 

Thomas E. Phipps, Jr.

Physicist (retired)

Operations Evaluation Group, MIT

US Naval Ordnance Laboratory

Senior Member APS

 

 

Donald Rapp

Chief Technologist, Mechanical and Chemical Systems,

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (retired)

Professor of Physics and Environmental Engineering, University of Texas (1973-1979)

Author, "Assessing Climate Change" and "Ice Ages and Interglacials" (Springer-Verlag)

Fellow APS

 

 

Ned S. Rasor

Consulting Physicist

Formerly President and CEO, Rasor Associates, Inc.

Member IEEE, AIAA

 

 

John E. Rhoads

Professor of Physics

Midwestern State University (retired)

Member SPE

 

 

Harry I. Ringermacher

Sr. Research Physicist

General Electric Global Research Center

AIP "History of Physics in Industry" Participant at GE

Sir William Herschel Medal (American Academy of Thermology)

Copper Black Award (American Mensa) 2003 and 2007

 

 

Stanley Robertson

Emeritus Professor of Physics

Southwestern Oklahoma State University

 

 

Berol Robinson

Principal Scientific Officer

UNESCO (retired)

Member AAPT, AAAS, Association des Écologistes Pour le Nucléaire

 

 

Raymond E. Sarwinski

President, Cryogenic Designs, Inc.

Life Member APS

 

 

Nicola Scafetta

Research Scientist, Physics Department, Duke University

Member American Geophysical Union

 

 

Thomas P. Sheahen

President/ CEO, Western Technology, Inc. (energy sciences consulting)

Member AAAS; APS Congressional Science Fellowship (1977-78)

Author, Introduction to High Temperature Superconductivity (Springer)

 

 

Joseph Silverman

Professor Emeritus of Nuclear Engineering,

Department of Materials Science and Engineering

University of Maryland

Fellow APS, ANS

 

 

S. Fred Singer Professor of Environmental Sciences Emeritus University of Virginia First Director of the National Weather Satellite Service Fellow APS, AAAS, American Geophysical Union

 

Hermann Statz Raytheon Corporation (retired) Microwave Pioneer Award (IEEE) 2004 Fellow APS

 

Nick Steph Chair, Department of Physics Franklin College Member AAPT, ACS

 

Peter Stilbs Professor of Physical Chemistry Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden Life Member APS

 

Szymon Suckewer Professor of School of Engineering & Applied Sciences Director of Plasma Science & Technology Program Princeton University Fellow APS, OSA

 

Ronald M. Sundelin Associate Director, DOE Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (retired) Commonwealth Professor Emeritus of Physics, Virginia Tech Fellow APS

 

Frank J. Tipler Professor of Mathematical Physics Tulane University Coauthor, The Anthropic Cosmological Principle (Oxford University Press)

 

Salvatore Torquato Professor of Chemistry and the Princeton Center for Theoretical Science, Materials Institute and Applied & Computational Mathematics Princeton University 2009 APS David Alder Lectureship Award in the Field of Material Physics Fellow APS

 

Edward S. Troy Principal Engineer Aerospace Consulting Wireless, RF, microwave, analog/DSP, and GPS circuits and systems Member IEEE

 

Samuel A. Werner Curators’ Professor Emeritus The University of Missouri Guest Researcher, NIST Fellow APS, AAAS

 

Bruce J. West Adjunct Professor of Physics Duke University Fellow APS

 

Peter J. Wojtowicz Group Head, Senior Member Technical Staff (retired) RCA Labs, GE, Sarnoff Corporation Fellow APS

 

Ya-Hong Xie Professor of Materials Science and Engineering University of California at Los Angeles Senior Member IEEE, Member Materials Research Society

 

M. John Yoder Principal Physicist The MITRE Corporation Life Member APS

 

Martin V. Zombeck

Physicist, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (retired)

Author, Handbook of Space Astronomy and Astrophysics (Cambridge University Press)

Coauthor, High Resolution X-Ray Spectroscopy of Cosmic Plasmas (Cambridge University Press)

A definitive thumping of RealClimate.org...

And by implication, their NZ-based parrots at Hot-Topic who rely on RealClimate.

I stumbled across this Marc Morano post at Climate Depot while browsing. Strongly recommend you click through and read the whole thing, it absolutely shows the weakness in much of RealClimate's simplistic sloganeering on global warming:

The global warming promoting website RealClimate.org, is under fire yet again from a prominent scientist for presenting incorrect climate information. Climatologist Dr. Roger Pielke Sr. publicly rebuked the website in a June 30, 2009 article for "erroneously communicating the reality of the how the climate system is actually behaving." Pielke, the former Colorado State Climatologist and currently a senior scientist at the University of Colorado in Boulder, countered Real Climate's claim that warming was "progressing faster than expected" with the latest data on sea level rise, ocean heat content and Arctic ice.

In his article titled "Real Climate's Misinformation", Pielke also chastised readers of Real Climate for blindly accepting the incorrect climate claims promoted on the site.

"Media and policymakers who blindly accept these claims are either naive or are deliberately slanting the science to promote their particular advocacy position," Pielke Sr. wrote.

Realclimate.org, a website which much of the mainstream media has relied on for climate science developments, has come under increasing criticism and scrutiny from scientists. Real Climate's lead blogger and NASA scientist Gavin Schmidt was harshly criticized for some of his scientific claims in January 2009. Atmospheric scientist Dr. Hendrik Tennekes, a prominent scientist from the Netherlands, wrote a scathing denunciation of Schmidt in which he said he was “appalled” by Schmidt's “lack of knowledge” and added, “Back to graduate school, Gavin!”

The latest scientific woes by RealClimate.org were rebutted point by point by Pielke on June 20, 2009.

Real Climate claimed:

“Our regular readers will hardly be surprised by the key findings from physical climate science, most of which we have already discussed here. Some aspects of climate change are progressing faster than was expected a few years ago - such as rising sea levels, the increase of heat stored in the ocean and the shrinking Arctic sea ice."

Pielke responded:

"First, what is 'physical climate science'? How is this different from 'climate science'. In the past, this terminology has been used when authors ignore the biological components of the climate system," Pielke wrote.

Pielke continued: "More importantly, however, the author of the weblog makes the statement that the following climate metrics 'are progressing faster than was expected a few years ago'":

1. Real Climate Claim: “rising sea levels”

Pielke's Response: "NOT TRUE; e.g. see the University of Colorado at Boulder Sea Level Change analysis. Sea level has actually flattened since 2006."

2. Real Climate Claim: “the increase of heat stored in the ocean”

Pielke's "Response: NOT TRUE; see
Update On A Comparison Of Upper Ocean Heat Content Changes With The GISS Model Predictions.
There has been no statistically significant warming of the upper ocean since 2003."

 

Read the rest here

Air Con author preparing to sue Herald, and Hot Topic

MEDIA RELEASE

13 August 2009

Air Con author preparing defamation papers against Herald columnist and newspaper

The author of an international bestseller on climate change is preparing to sue the New Zealand Herald and one of its journalists for defamation.

Ian Wishart, whose book Air Con has been a #1 bestseller in New Zealand and on Amazon.com in the United States, says Herald columnist Chris Barton has gone a bridge too far by defaming him without first reading the book.

“Barton has accused me of being dishonest, and or stupid, on the issue of climate change,” Wishart said today.

“Honest opinion is one thing, but when such allegations are leveled even though Barton has not actually read Air Con and instead relied on a discredited review by a rival pro-anthropogenic global warming author, Barton and the Herald need to face up to their own stupidity,” Wishart said.

“Air Con is packed full of peer-reviewed scientific papers. It has been read and positively reviewed around the world, including by climate scientists. A negative review based on a genuine appraisal of the book is perfectly fine, but for the Herald to publish Barton’s vitriol on the basis of someone else’s flawed hatchet-job of a review is ridiculous. Barton has done journalism a major disservice today, in my opinion, not just in relation to me but in relation to a number of other people he has defamed.”

“Barton has admitted to me that he has not read Air Con, but claimed he was entitled to take a swipe at me on the basis of Gareth Renowden’s review at Hot-Topic. If he wants to rely on Renowden as the ‘true facts’ in support of his opinion in court, good luck to him,” said Wishart, who added that he may widen the lawsuit to include Renowden as well.

SOME REVIEW COMMENTS ON AIR CON:

“This book by New Zealand journalist Ian Wishart a #1 bestselling author four times, surprised me by the completeness with which he reviewed and presents alternatives to the plethora of IPCC inspired spin and publicity which floods our media today. His sixteen chapters examining aspects of the debate are meticulously footnoted and thus are a valuable reference resource for those wishing to dig deeper or keep up to speed with the unfolding global warming / carbon reduction political drama in years to come. --Dr Warwick Hughes, climatologist

Ian Wishart's AIR CON is another masterpiece of scientific reason, letting the thinking world know that so-called man-made global warming is the greatest scam ever aimed at humanity. Please read this book. - Professor David Bellamy, England

 

UPDATE: FOR ALL OUR PUBLIC ADDRESS VISITORS

You might also appreciate this, and this (Russell, all these people must be "fools" too, yeah?)

 

UPDATE TWO:

Just noticed Russell Brown claims I moderated his comment out, and then gets bitchy as a result. Let the record show Brown has his facts wrong, yet again. His comment appears in chronological order below as does my response. Evidently the Left's leading blogger in NZ hasn't learned how to navigate the "Next" and "Previous" screen tabs.

A perspective on Honduras

The following article was sent to TBR.cc by Armando Valladares, with a request for us to post it:

(Important: It is not only permitted, but it is rather requested for that this message is openly spread around, especially to Honduran and the whole world's media, in such a crucial moment when hours, minutes and even seconds may be decisive to prevent Honduras from falling down into the Chavist abyss, pushed not only by the Obama's Kerenskyism, but also by OAS's and the entire European Union's Kerenskyism, that has just reestablished the financial aid to communist Cuba and yet cut it off to anti-Chávez Honduras).

Published by Accuracy in Media, July 30, 2009:

http://www.aim.org/guest-column/obamas-kerenskyism-honduras-and-the-chavist-abyss/

You can write your valuable opinion in El Heraldo, de Honduras (in English, Spanish or Portuguese), about Valladares' article, clicking in the following link:

http://www.elheraldo.hn/content/view/full/202643/#comentarios

 Destaque Internacional, July 21, 2009; El Heraldo, Honduras, July 23, 2009; Diario Las Américas, Miami, USA, July 24, 2009; Accuracy in Media, USA, July 30, 2009 (and many other publications and blogs).

Obama's Kerenskyism, Honduras and the Chavist Abyss

Just like President Eduardo Frei Montalva passed to history as the Chilean Kerensky for paving the road to socialist Allende, president Obama is at risk of passing to history as the Americas' Kerensky if pushing Honduras into the Chavist abyss

 By Armando Valladares, July 21, 2009, 10:50 AM

 When Honduras' president Zelaya was deposed from power by order of the Supreme Court of that country, and with the majority support by the congress, Honduras was fast moving toward a Chavist dictatorship, crossing over the constitution and the laws. In addition to Honduras highest judicial body, the most prominent political and religious representatives of that country were warning about the Chavist risk.

However, nor president Obama, nor OAS's General secretary, Chilean socialist Insulza; nor the "moderate" president of Brazil, Lula da Silva; not even -- as far as we know -- any other Latin-American president said a word about the event. Self-determination was alleged, as well as the need for a dialogue, respect for internal political processes, etc.

All of those political players had the chance to intercede in behalf of Honduras, and although those opportunities are surely very recent, all of them preferred to wash their hands, as Pilate. I would like to point out two recent chances.

First, the Trinidad and Tobago Summit of the Americas, close to Honduras, where president Obama, with his neo-kerenskist style, was all smiles with dictator-president Chávez, flirted with Zelaya himself and with other indigenous-populist presidents, such as Equator's Correa and Bolivian Morales, praised "moderate" Lula and announced he was willing to dialog and establish "a new beginning" with the bloody Castro dictatorship.

Second, at the OAS General Assembly, that through a history irony was held in Honduras, with the approval of the Obama government, the Castro dictatorship was acquitted and the doors were opened for the country to return to the international body.

Under their own noses and before their own eyes, the chancellors of the governments of the Americas could feel and see the grave internal Honduras situation, but all of them would rather wash their hands, like Pilate did.

It was when Zelaya was taken from power, ordered by the Supreme Court and based on constitutional precepts that impede a president to be re-elected, that their vestments were torn off and one of the greatest joint clamors of both leftists and "useful moderates" of contemporary history cried out, with a true fury against a small country that decided to resist to those pressures. A small country that became gigantic spiritually, inspired by Saint Paul's expression, with expectations "against all human hopes", but expecting all from the Providence and recalling the biblical character of David against Goliath, for those who care for the Honduran drama.

At the moment when I am writing these lines, deposed president Zelaya threatens to return to Honduras where, according to that country's Cardinal warning, he will be responsible for any brother-to-brother bloodshed that may occur. In view of the Honduran resistance, even dictator-president Chávez looks at president Obama and hopes he breaks the Honduran resistance against the country's Chavism. Also when I am writing these very lines, news are spread that secretary of state Hillary Clinton has just called the interim president of Honduras, and there are versions that she has given him a sort of ultimatum. It is the same secretary Clinton that in Honduras, at the recent OAS meeting, approved the acquittal of the bloody Castro dictatorship; the very secretary of state that, along with president Obama, is open for a dialog with the pro-terrorist Iranian government; opens her arms to the Cuban communists; meets and smiles with dictator-president Chávez; and shuts the door to the civil Honduran delegation that went to Washington simply to explain their version of the facts. There are two weights and two measures of an injustice, hypocrisy and arbitrariness that clamor to heavens.

As it has already been recalled, the Honduras' Cardinal warned deposed president Zelaya that he will be liable for the bloodshed that may take place should he force his way into his country.

As for myself, while being ex-political Cuban prisoner for 22 years in Castro's jails, in my condition of US ambassador with the United Nations Commission on Human Rights for several years and as a simple citizen of the Americas, I'm sure that just like president Eduardo Frei Montalva passed to history as the Chilean Kerensky for paving the road for socialist Allende, president Obama runs the risk of passing to History as the Americas' Kerensky if he helps to keep on pushing Honduras toward the Chavist abyss.

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Armando Valladares, former Cuban political prisoner, was the US ambassador with the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, in Geneva, during the Reagan and Bush governments. He has just been granted an important journalism award, in Rome, for his articles in behalf of freedom in Cuba and everywhere else in the world. E-mails to: armandovalladares2006 @ yahoo.es

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