The deep throat whistleblower...

...The hundreds of e-mails being made public after someone hacked into Phil Jones’ Climatic Research Unit (CRU) computer system offer a revealing peek inside the IPCC machine. It will take some time before we know whether any illegal activity has been uncovered (e.g. hiding or destruction of data to avoid Freedom of Information Act inquiries).
Some commentators even think this is the beginning of the end for the IPCC. I doubt it.
The scientists at the center of this row are defending themselves. Phil Jones has claimed that some of the more alarming statements in his e-mails have been taken out of context. The semi-official response from RealClimate.org, a website whose roots can be traced to George Soros (which I’m sure is irrelevant), claims the whole episode is much ado about nothing.
At a minimum, some of these e-mails reveal an undercurrent of elitism that many of us have always claimed existed in the IPCC. These scientists look upon us skeptics with scorn. It is well known that the IPCC machine is made up of bureaucrats and scientists who think they know how the world should be run. The language contained in a draft of the latest climate treaty (meant to replace the Kyoto treaty) involves global governance and the most authoritarian means by which people’s energy use will be restricted and monitored by the government...more from Roy W. Spencer here...

...AND, o/t but the Hadron Collider is back in action...

The green/left hate and fear this man...

...Dr Roy W. Spencer is a principal research scientist for the University of Alabama in Huntsville and the U.S. Science Team Leader for the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) on NASA’s Aqua satellite. He has served as senior scientist for climate studies at NASA’s Marshal Space Flight Centre in Huntsville, Alabama. While Spencer is known for his satellite-based temperature monitoring work, for which he was awarded the American Meteorological Society's Special Award, he has in recent years become better known for his denial of the (so called) scientific consensus that human activity is primarily responsible for global warming. (From Wikipedia.)

...Unquestionably, the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was formed to build the scientific case for humanity being the primary cause of global warming. Such a goal is fundamentally unscientific, as it is hostile to alternative hypotheses for the causes of climate change...more here...

...While popular press reports would lead one to believe that all reputable scientists now agree that manmade global warming will be a serious problem, there is a sizeable minority of reputable scientists who disagree. They have published peer reviewed papers on the subject, yet they are largely ignored by mainstream climate scientists. .. recent evidence support(s) the view that our climate is relatively immune to mankind’s emissions of carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere...more here...

..."There's probably a natural reason for global warming...We will look back on it as a gigantic false alarm...The Earth isn't that sensitive to how much CO2 we put into the atmosphere... I think we need to consider the possibility that more carbon dioxide is better than less."
Asked in December 2008 what his advice was for then-President-Elect Obama, Spencer responded, "He should put off the environmentalists indefinitely... Tell them we have to fix the economy first before we can afford unaffordable renewable energy 'solutions.'...

...I hope that the (Senate Works) Committee realizes that, if true, these new results mean that humanity will be largely spared the negative consequences of human-induced climate change. This would be good news that should be celebrated, not attacked and maligned. And given that virtually no research into possible natural explanations for global warming has been performed, it is time for scientific objectivity and integrity to be restored to the field of global warming research ...more here...

It's hard to censor the internet...

...and the outrage on the streets in Iran is testimony to the power of accessible information. The hundreds of thousands who have taken to the streets in Iran communicate via Facebook and Twitter and are energised and mobilised by today's technology. If they are successful in bringing democracy to Iran it will be due to their laptops and mobile phones, and of course a more stable Iraq next door. And if a more stable Iraq leads to democracy and stability in Iran, the G W Bush phobics may have to swallow a little of their pride, and give credit where it's due...some hope...more too, at The Pacific Gatepost here...
...and from The Resilient Earth...Earth's climate system is amazingly complex and modeling is fraught with pitfalls and danger for even the most experienced computer scientists. No climate model predicted the current downturn in global temperatures, though many are now scrambling to predict possible decades of unchanging or cooling climate “within the general warming trend.” Still, climate science remains enthralled by its computerized playthings. I have to echo Professor Pielke's question, how many years of wrong results are necessary before we reject the IPCC reports and the models they are based on? ...more here...
...and from Roy Spencer PhD...it is interesting that the modern belief that our carbon emissions have caused the climate system to rebel are not that different from ancient civilizations that made sacrifices to the gods of nature in their attempts to get nature to cooperate. Technology might have changed over time, but it seems human nature has remained the same.

...cartoon of the day...

...the writing is not just on the wall, it's everywhere...when people start to laugh, it indicates a lack of fear and dread. And remember (Al Gore sure does) that...
"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." H. L. Mencken...
...from Roy Spencer...I have to wonder…how many more scientists will be outing themselves as skeptics? While we may never constitute a majority, and many of us have differing views on the real causes of climate change, it only takes one of us to be right for the global warming house of cards to collapse...
...and the public start to wise up, and scoff...