tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29648413.post680137086136071934..comments2023-09-05T06:00:38.188-04:00Comments on QuipSpot - Drive By Blogging: Own Worst EnemyRickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03369287272186630378noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29648413.post-16758237888357163122007-07-14T15:51:00.000-04:002007-07-14T15:51:00.000-04:00After reading the RealClimate site for the last ho...After reading the RealClimate site for the last hour, the one term that comes to mind is "pompous asses".<BR/><BR/>There is no "other side" to the global warming argument? Give me a freaking break. Everyone else is wrong. What the heck? Again, scientists do themselves a disservice by proclaiming they are better than the unwashed masses.<BR/><BR/>I can't believe I just wasted an hour of my live reviewing this "balanced" site. If I had told a lib that abortion had no "other argument", he'd freak.<BR/><BR/>Give me a break. The more I readby the people "in the know", the more repulsed I become.Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03369287272186630378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29648413.post-90073247554494125732007-07-10T03:14:00.000-04:002007-07-10T03:14:00.000-04:00Hi Rick,I can see where you and Brian are comming ...Hi Rick,<BR/><BR/>I can see where you and Brian are comming from. The erruption of one large volcano can have a significant effect on climate. Quantifying this would be the correct thing to do, but numbers bore most people ridged. Most people would ask is it bad? How bad? The academic might not like such a wooley emotional response. Neither would I. Yet to be sceptical of Global Warming is very scientific, because science demands that we observe and question. That you have not been fully convinced by Brian is in a way healthy. The fact that Brian is still responding to you is good to see. <BR/><BR/>Perhaps more condoms and a vegan diet would be the right thing to do, as so much methane is released from cattle. Fish stocks would recover, and there would be fewer babies to feed. Also we would need more rubber trees to make condoms so that would help us be carbon neutral. It would also reduce abortion. <BR/><BR/>Am I serious? Some figures banded about in the UK do suggest that giving up meat would have the same effect as giving up your car. Wanted babies are much better for them and society as a whole. There is often far to much focus on the obvious, and to little lateral thinking.<BR/><BR/>Keep blogging.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29648413.post-41472257220568709942007-07-09T16:05:00.000-04:002007-07-09T16:05:00.000-04:00I realize your blog is not a forum for balanced di...I realize your blog is not a forum for balanced discussion which Brave Humans at least tries to attain. That's not a criticism, since different blogs have different goals.<BR/><BR/>My comment about referring to discussions was made not only in the sense of fairness, but also because it was part of Grant's post on how scientists on PBS blew off a perfectly reasonable question regarding the validity of global warming. He was making a very similar point to the one you seem to be making.<BR/><BR/>You accuse me of trying to scare you with facts, so perhaps you should have read through the discussion a little further where I pointed out to Grant that while global warming is a real effect, and we should take steps to address it, the threat is hardly the end of the world, nor should we live in abject terror of it. Essentially what I said should be done is the kind of moderate proposal you outline.<BR/><BR/>I realize you don't trust me, but I have always tried to answer your questions honestly. I have never lied to you. I may be an arrogant prick, but I am not a liar. As I have mentioned before, realclimate.org is a good place to go for an honest take on global warming. Their conclusion is that global warming is very real, so perhaps that makes them biased in your view, but it is written by climate experts, and they do two very important things: they focus on the science and stay away from the politics, and they clearly outline why opposing views fail based on the evidence. It is as honest and apolitical as I have found. If I find a better one, I'll spread the word. <BR/><BR/>As a point of clarification, you are not listed as a contributor on the site. You are listed as an author. You are listed as such because you have contributed to BraveHumans in the past. I will not go back through the site to remove all your posts and comments, nor will I remove your name from the list of authors who have contributed. That wouldn't be honest. If you choose never to contribute again, that's your loss. And ours, truth be told.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29648413.post-80189565963008068402007-07-09T12:13:00.000-04:002007-07-09T12:13:00.000-04:00You run your blog your way, I'll run my blog my wa...You run your blog your way, I'll run my blog my way. I have plenty of links to your blogs, people can refer to them if they choose.<BR/><BR/>I don't appreciate that my opinion has to change, but yours doesn't. My concerns were sincere, regardless of what you think. If I get one set of reports, and question them, I'm going to the person who has the best opportunity to factually and realistically disprove them. I thought that was you. I was wrong.<BR/><BR/>I am still looking for sources of apolitical data. Sorry, IPCC is not apolitical. Neither is putting MD's signatures on the IPCC report. Give me a break.<BR/><BR/>And I see I'm still a contributor to your site. Take me off. <BR/><BR/>Again, you missed my key point (typical). You are so badly trying to "scare people with facts" that you're shooting yourself in the foot. Come to the realization that talking to layman in a way that gives them something to gain or lose it what converts people, not being high and mighty from an academic and scientific perview. Your condescension amazes me. <BR/><BR/>I'm done.Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03369287272186630378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29648413.post-85269650613105987672007-07-09T11:10:00.000-04:002007-07-09T11:10:00.000-04:00Rick,The intellectually honest thing to do when re...Rick,<BR/><BR/>The intellectually honest thing to do when referring to discussions on other sites would be to link to the actual discussion so that people can come to their own conclusions.<BR/><BR/>Regarding your questions on global warming, I actually did answer them. Specifically regarding your point about blacklisting. What I stated was that blacklisting does occur in science, but it occurs largely for unprofessional behavior, such as misrepresenting findings. It does not occur for differences of opinion.<BR/><BR/>The problem is that you didn't want an admission of blacklisting, you wanted an admission of a vast scientific conspiracy. That simply doesn't exist. I know that isn't the answer you want to hear, but it is the truth.<BR/><BR/>And yes, I did slam you for not being intellectually honest. You weren't asking honest questions, and you weren't looking for honest answers. Rather than asking questions or making points based on evidence, you wanted global warming to be declared a dogma derived from the holy book of liberalism. When I called you on it, you played the intellectual coward and ran away. <BR/> <BR/>But let us return to your point. Global warming is well established by the scientific data. If you ever want to know what some of that data is, I can go over it with you. <BR/><BR/>You seem very eager to condemn liberals, but in fact your proposal of what "the left" should do on global warming is exactly what many liberals would like done. It is, in fact, what most scientists have been saying we should be doing for decades. But while elements of the left embrace an ecotopian woodstock, there are those on the right who cry "recession!" or "socialism" every time fuel standards or research funds for alternative energy is proposed. <BR/><BR/>The radical right has been just as busy as the radical left. The difference is, you listen to the radical right. They have convinced you and many other conservatives that global warming is nothing more than a liberal religion.<BR/><BR/>If you truly would accept the moderate proposal you outline, then it would help to learn about what the science actually says.<BR/><BR/>BrianAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com