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Virginia AG Ken Cuccinelli's AGW Witch Hunt Continues
eldavojohn writes "A letter from Representative Edward Markey outlines Ken Cuccinelli's latest civil investigative demand targeting 39 people instead of just Michael Mann. You may recall that the original investigation was quashed by a judge, but the latest request demands records from people seemingly unrelated to Mann, including an Indian glaciologist. The Bad Astronomer calls Cuccinelli out in a similar manner and lists Cuccinelli's doubts about Mann's papers, including, 'Specifically, but without limitation, some of the conclusions of the papers demonstrate a complete lack of rigor regarding the statistical analysis of the alleged data, meaning that the result reported lacked statistical significance without a specific statement to that effect.' The school that hosted the research announced the new investigation, and the Union of Concerned Scientists accuses him of harassing scientists."
Well the intent goes beyond a university of cost of $0.5-M (the govt probably "misplaces" much more than that in a year), but its more about the claim that the fraudulent research could "cost" the country more than that if Mann's research was taken as gospel.
Found the main article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-ed-markey/just-in-time-for-hallowee_b_754228.html (I think I have to go wash myself as I feel soiled visiting that website) for the rantings of Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA).
For those of you that dont know, Markey is on the "Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming." Researchers like Mann (as opposed to scientists who develop logical theories based on science) develop "supporting data" that gives more power to Markey's committee and justifies their existance. It is only logical that Markey would attemt to tar anyone who could be a threat to his committee's power and legitimacy. I love the soviet and witch-burning implications - very spooky. *eye roll*
Now, is it a waste of money to stomp on Mann's research? For the AG to do it, I do agree that it is a waste - its like using a cannon to kill a fly. You wont see much in the more "conservative" media, because they are more focussed on where we are going...and why are we in this handbasket.
1331461 is only semiprime *sigh* Alas - I am just short of 1337.
So by climategate you mean that thing where one study had some minor flaws that faux-news and the other conservative propaganda outlets blew completely out of proportion and tried used to tar every climate scientist with the same brush? You'll have to excuse me if I don't give a flying fuck about it...
No, it's about suggesting that people murder those who disagree with them, jokingly at first, to gauge the reaction, then seriously.
I'm sure someone in Hitler's cabinet thought it would be funny if they "just killed all the Jews". Yes. Totally hilarious.
Ah yes, the "he's so good and respected he couldn't *possibly* have done anything wrong!"
http://www.thegwpf.org/gwpf-reports/1531-the-climategate-inquries.html
"The way in which Mann was exonerated proved extremely controversial and even neutral commentators appeared to be taken aback by some of the panel’s reasoning. Writing in The Atlantic, Clive Crook, widely seen as a neutral on the question of global warming, said:"
“The report...says, in effect, that Mann is a distinguished scholar, a successful raiser of research funding, a man admired by his peers – so any allegation of academic impropriety must be false...
Mann is asked if the allegations (well, one them) are true, and says no. His record is swooned over. Verdict: case dismissed with apologies that Mann has been put to such trouble.”"
And what if you ARE a baby-raping cannibal? It's not as if it never happened before. Therefore your attorney general should be fixated upon you, leaving no stone unturned, and spend a few million dollars on it.
Oh, um, there's no polite way to put this, but you got a little chunk of baby stuck right between your front teeth...no, on the bottom. It's friggin huge, man. No, still there. Still there. Just go to the bathroom and floss already. Gross.
So you're seriously posting links to realclimate, a site that is very much associated with Mann and his "hockey team", to respond to criticism of their own work? That's a little like the inbreeding Wegman noted in Climate Science (a group of friends all peer-reviewing and citing each other's papers). McIntyre and McIntrick adequately dealt with the objections (which pretty much amounted to nothing more than arm-waving). You might like to browse http://climateaudit.org/ for more details.