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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Apr 28, 2010 - 02:47pm PT
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Now CC seems to have confused CO2 with ash.
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blahblah
Gym climber
Boulder
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The Commonwealth of Virginia has launched an investigation into Michael Mann and his involvement in Climategate. Depending on the results of the investigation, this could lead to fraud claims being asserted against Mann and demands for repayment of grant money that he received.
The British investigations have largely (but not entirely) exonerated the Climategate scientists, but there have been accusations of a whitewash based on the compositions of the investigative panels and other factors.
I hope the Virgina inquiry will be conducted competently, thoroughly, and without any prejudging of Mann. If nothing else, this should make it clear to other scientists that the public is now watching them and they will be held accountable for any shenanigans.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/03/AR2010050304139.html
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dirtbag
climber
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I hope the Virgina inquiry will be conducted competently, thoroughly, and without any prejudging of Mann.
Yeah, that will happen alright.
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blahblah
Gym climber
Boulder
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Sounds like you're prejudging the Virginia investigation.
Maybe you're right but Virginia investigators (and any follow up actions) will at least be conducted according to American law and so we can have confidence that the due process rights of all involved parties will be respected--this includes the rights of taxpayers not to have public money squandered or stolen, if that's what happened.
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Jim E
climber
away
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Cuccinelli has an agenda and the tab for the "investigation" will be picked up by taxpayers.
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dirtbag
climber
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Bingo. Cuckoonelli has a big time axe to grind.
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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I hope the Virgina inquiry will be conducted competently, thoroughly, and without any prejudging of Mann.
blahblah as usual pronounces with certainty and no clue.
Here are some clues about Cuccinelli's incompetence and prejudices, by Dahlia Lithwick in Slate today:
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli started the week by attempting to cover up the offending left breast of the Roman goddess Virtus on the Virginia state seal worn on the lapels of his staff. Last night he dropped the effort and issued a statement indicating he'd decided to stop trying to make Virtus more virtuous. Designed by a committee that included George Wythe, George Mason, Robert Carter Nicholas, and Richard Henry Lee, the bare-breasted Virtus has been on the state seal since 1776. A version has been on the state flag since 1861. But when Cuccinelli tried to put Virtus in a burqa this week, the darling of the Tea Party movement explained without irony: "Just because we've always done something a certain way doesn't mean we always have to continue doing it that way."
Seriously?
The problem with Breastgate was that it distracted from Cuccinelli's other efforts to press the legal machinery of the commonwealth into the service of his own agenda. Between his thwarted attempts to rescind anti-discrimination policies for gays and lesbians at Virginia universities, his one-man lawsuit against Obamacare, his recent approval of a new state policy allowing sectarian prayer by state police chaplains at public events, and his lawsuit suit against the EPA for attempting to regulate greenhouse gases, Ken Cuccinelli has become the Where's Waldo of Fox News stories. But his latest attack—against the University of Virginia's climate science researchers—is more troubling than his assault on bare-breasted Romans.
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blahblah
Gym climber
Boulder
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Chiloe as usual resorts to ad hominem attacks rather than addressing the important issues.
The Virgina attorney general seems to be a prude, at least by SuperTopo standards, but I don't see any connection between that and attempting to ascertain whether public money has been misappropriated.
Unless there's some reason not to, I'd accept the investigation at face value. If Mann hasn't done anything wrong, I'm sure he'll be exonerated. Unlike the pat-on-the-back investigations that have happened so far, any charges made by Cuccinelli would need to be proved in a court of law. He won't bring charges unless he's got the goods.
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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He won't bring charges unless he's got the goods.
Sad to say, Blahblah, prosecutors don't work that way all the time. The higher up the prosecutor, the greater the likelihood of finding a prosecution done for purely political ends (see numerous suits by states' attorneys general, including but not limited to my own state's Jerry Clown).
While I agree that a court must ultimately judge, I've seen too many prosecutions brought for political purposes that succeed in ruining reputations, even after the final outcome exonerated the defendant.
While I, too, have questions about some of Mann's actions, I have greater skepticism of this prosecution.
John
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Jim E
climber
away
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blahblah,
1. Your very first post on this thread was an attack so spare us the victim bull you're trying to pull.
2. Of all the likely wasted tax payer dollars why go after Mann? He's a very small fish in the Virginia budget.
It's a political agenda, plain and simple.
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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As for Mann, I should write about him sometime too. He's quite highly regarded among actual scientists, rightly so. Many people have confirmed or extended his basic findings, as the field advanced far beyond the 1998 paper. There was never any "chicanery" involved.
Virgina's Cuccinelli on the other hand is a right-wing hack with no interest in or knowledge of science. Even skeptic and Mann critic Thomas Fuller recognized Cuccinelli's fishing expedition for the witch hunt that it is. As he wrote in an open letter:
No matter what has prompted your investigation, there is no doubt that it will be interpreted as a witch hunt. If you are in fact investigating a credentialed scientist for results that do not suit your political opinion, that interpretation is correct.
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EdBannister
Mountain climber
CA
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The climate change business has been very good to Al Gore,
quoth the LA times from Aprils's purchase:
Former Vice President Al Gore and his wife, Tipper, have added a Montecito-area property to their real estate holdings, reports the Montecito Journal... The couple spent $8,875,000 on an ocean-view villa on 1.5 acres with a swimming pool, spa and fountains, a real estate source familiar with the deal confirms. The Italian-style house has six fireplaces, five bedrooms and nine bathrooms.
so al and Tipper have a new low impact pad to fly the jet to Santa Barbara for, the fourth Gore house, and don't think for a minute that they will fly on public transportation there, connections from the east will mean the carbon offset of staying one night in an LAX area hotel versus a private jet flight direct to Santa Barbara? HA they will convert more co2 in the one round trip than Dr F will in the rest of his life.
If global warming is exactly what AlGore says it is, then why is he not acting like it is?
me? i figure it's more air fertilizer for the trees, the earth has been getting warmer for many thousands of years...
I just think the total hypocracy or Mr. Gore ought to at least make you stop to think!
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dirtbag
climber
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The climate change business has been very good to Al Gore,
quoth the LA times from Aprils's purchase:
Former Vice President Al Gore and his wife, Tipper, have added a Montecito-area property to their real estate holdings, reports the Montecito Journal... The couple spent $8,875,000 on an ocean-view villa on 1.5 acres with a swimming pool, spa and fountains, a real estate source familiar with the deal confirms. The Italian-style house has six fireplaces, five bedrooms and nine bathrooms.
so al and Tipper have a new low impact pad to fly the jet to Santa Barbara for, the fourth Gore house, and don't think for a minute that they will fly on public transportation there, connections from the east will mean the carbon offset of staying one night in an LAX area hotel versus a private jet flight direct to Santa Barbara? HA they will convert more co2 in the one round trip than Dr F will in the rest of his life.
If global warming is exactly what AlGore says it is, then why is he not acting like it is?
me? i figure it's more air fertilizer for the trees, the earth has been getting warmer for many thousands of years...
I just think the total hypocracy or Mr. Gore ought to at least make you stop to think!
...yawn...
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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So does a 'yawn' mean it is cool to be a 'man of the people' and own four mega-mansions and jet all over? I always thought people on a mission tried to walk the walk.
Oh, and for the record, I voted for him. I am disappointed.
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dirtbag
climber
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It just means, who gives a sh#t? And, so what? And also, Christ, this is boring and lame.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Well, I agree venal hypocrites are pretty lame but pardon me for
caring about anything. Since you don't why do you bother?
Or are you hoping to pass on your ennui?
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dirtbag
climber
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Well, I agree venal hypocrites are pretty lame but pardon me for
caring about anything. Since you don't why do you bother?
Or are you hoping to pass on your ennui?
yawn
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blahblah
Gym climber
Boulder
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May 17, 2010 - 12:33pm PT
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If you want to make a living by taking the taxpayers' money, you may need to account every now and then to show that the money was properly spent. Pretty simple, no?
The fear that the scientists express about this inquiry makes it reasonable to suspect that maybe there's something fishy going on . . .
The only potential problem I see is that the Virginia AG may be a bit off his rocker.
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