Michael Ryan regurgitates Conservative Bloggers' Lies about Global Warming

Re: "Today's forecast: Increased doubt," from the February 16th edition of the Augusta Chronicle editorial page.

I can't find the original source of these lies. There are many conservative bloggers in addition to Fox News pundits who have been giving misleading interpetations of some comments made by Phil Jones, a British climate scientist. Nevertheless, this column is potentially another example of Mr. Ryan's plagiarism. I'm 100% sure he didn't come up with the idea to intentionally mislead people about what Dr. Jones said. Here are the facts:

Mr. Ryan (repeating what many other conservative bloggers and Fox News pundits said and wrote) claimed that Dr. Jones said that there has been no significant warming since 1995 and that the earth may have been warmer in medieval times.

According to www.realclimate.org, this is what Dr. Jones actually said. "While the globe has nominally warmed since 1995, it is difficult to establish the statistical significance of that warming given the short nature of the time interval (1995-present)."

That's a big difference from what conservative bloggers are claiming. In other words Dr. Jones is merely stating that the time interval wasn't long enough to determine whether the warming (which is occurring) is of statistical significance. Conservatives try to make it sound like no warming is occurring. Furthermore, Dr. Jones said there isn't enough data to determine whether the earth may have been warmer in medieval times, not as conservatives claim, he was saying it may have been warmer. BTW, that the earth was warmer during medieval times is fed into climate scientists' models, so this isn't some big gotcha point.

Mr. Ryan's column cites a poll showing that 29% of meteorologists think global warming is a scam, and he comes to the conclusion that the science is in doubt. This is another sample of Mr. Ryan's stupidity. Meteorologists are not climate scientists. Most are not even college graduates. Meteorologists are basically pretty people trained to forecast short term weather. Their main attribute is to look good in front of the camera.

Mr. Ryan notes, as further evidence casting doubt on global warming, some typos in the IPCC report. A few typos in a scientific report don't disprove greenhouse gas theory. This is a pretty asinine claim.

And finally, Mr. Ryan states, "Now that there is considerable doubt about the data being relied upon to push such policies (cap and trade, etc.)..."

This last statement is just wrong. There is no debate within the scientific community that man is contributing to global warming. The debate is entirely political with conservatives taking the anti-science side. The best proof of this is that Mr. Ryan's column is on the political opinion page--not a scientific journal.

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Re: "Don't cry for Bayh," from the February 18th edition of the Augusta Chronicle editorial page.

I don't take issue with the main point of this editorial--that Bayh really quit because he was being more seriously challenged than the media reported. I take issue with Mr. Ryan's statement that "Bayh bows out after a year of consistent votes for the far left and wildly unpopular Obama agenda."

What far left agenda could that be? Does Mr. Ryan mean the tax cuts for 95% of Americans, the increase in troops sent to Afghanistan, or the approval of two nuclear power plants in Burke County that the Mr. Ryan supported in the column above this one. Oh yeah, that sounds like a real far-left agenda.

And if Obama's agenda is so unpopular, how did he get elected just last year?

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I guess Mr. Ryan thinks he needs support. The guest editorial written by James Sanderson is merely a regurgitation of Mr. Ryan's lies about cap and trade causing job losses. The biggest lie in this column is when Mr. Sanderson wrote that democrats are raising taxes on people. No they aren't. They reduced taxes on 95% of us.

I happen to disagree with tax cuts at the current time. I think taxes should be increased on everybody too, but especially the rich. I know that's unpopular, but taxes are always unpopular. That doesn't make them unnecessary.

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Star Parker's column ("Social Security reform cooking again after years on the back burner.")from February 16th is just stupid. In this column she demonstrates her ignorance over where payroll taxes go. She writes as if it goes into the Social Security fund. There is no Social Security fund--payroll taxes go into the general tax fund along with income taxes.

She remarks how Social Security and Medicare "reflects the inevitable failure of social engineering." She needs to study census statistics on poverty rates which have dropped decisively since these programs have been implemented.

Star Parker is just an idiot hypocrite as I've noted on earlier blogs. She's alive today, thanks to the social programs she's so critical of. Without them, she would've likely starved to death long ago.

Rick Mckee Draws another Ridiculous Cartoon

On January 13th a political cartoon drawn by Rick Mckee comparing Harry Reid to a member of the KKK appeared on the Augusta Chronicle editorial page.

Comparing Harry Reid to a member of the KKK is just ridiculous. I addressed this stupid controversy in my last blog entry, but in the last few days I've learned more information that makes the comparison between Harry Reid's comments and Trent Lott's even more absurd. According to the hot political gossip book, Game Change, by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, it was Harry Reid who encouraged President Obama to take on the Clintons. If it wasn't for Senator Reid, there would be no Barrack Obama presidency. And obviously, if Senator Reid was in any way comparable to the KKK, he wouldn't encourage an African-American to run for the presidency. Rick McKee is a moron.

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Also on this date, the Augusta Chronicle ran a really ignorant editorial written by Walter Williams, who I always jokingly refer to as Rush Limbaugh doing a minstral show. In the column, "Global Warming is a religion," Mr. Williams wrote two obvious lies and made three points that reveal a stunning ignorance of basic science.

Mr. Williams claimed that some scientists "fraudulently manipulated data and engaged in criminal activity revealed in what has been called 'Climate gate.'" Not only is this a lie, but it is a libelous lie. No scientist has been criminally charged in this case. www.factcheck.org posted an article explaining that they didn't fraudulently manipulate data either.

The other lie in this column was Mr. Williams' bizarre claim that CO2 is not correlated with temperature. Temperatures are without a doubt tied to CO2 levels. See www.skepticalscience.com/CO2-temperature-correlation.htm for a good layman's explanation.

Then he listed several points that supposedly debunk the alarmism over rising CO2 levels. These points only reveal how ignorant he is of science. He wrote that humans contribute 3.4 percent of annual CO2 levels while nature contributes 96.6 %. Nobody is disputing that. What scientists say is that this unnatural addition of CO2 may tip the scales and upset the natural balance in detrimental ways.

Mr. Williams wrote that the Cambrian explosion 550 million years ago occurred when CO2 levels were 18 times higher than today. Yeah, and humans could not have survived in that atmosphere. All life forms during this time period were aquatic.

And he wrote that when dinosaurs roamed the earth, CO2 levels were 9 times higher than today. Yeah, and earth was a miserable hot place to live where temperatures seldom fell below 80 degrees Fahrenheit, and there were no seasons. Oceans covered 85% of earth's surface during this time period because there were no polar ice caps.

Mr. Williams was so ignorant about science, he didn't even realize his facts were actually contrary to the point he was trying to make. I emailed him and informed him of his ignorance. His response was one word--"Amen." I'm sure that was a pre-planned response to expected criticism of his column, implying that anyone disagreeing with him was worshipping at an altar of global warming. Nevertheless, his column proved him an ignoramous.

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On January 14th Lee Benedict regaled us with yet another one of his incoherent, right wing rants in his letter, "Actions show where Obama's heart lies." In this letter it seems evident that Mr. Benedict doesn't know what a Zionist is. He also told a whopper of a lie when he said President Obama goes mum when terrorists attack the U.S. I'm not even going to look up a source to debunk this falsehood. Anybody who follows the news knows this is not true. Why would Michael Ryan run something this blatantly false? He won't run my letters accurately documenting his plagiarism because supposedly "they can't verify the accuracy of the content," but he will run ridiculous lies such as this.

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Re: "Huge test of Democratic rule," from the January 16th addition of the Augusta Chronicle editorial page.

Conservatives are making a lot of hay about the senatorial election in Massachusetts. Mr. Ryan claims the republican candidate is within striking distance. Actually, that's only according to one poll. All other polls have the democratic candidate safely ahead. The Boston Globe has her 18 points ahead. In any case voter turnout is much lower in off year, special elections. So I believe conservatives are making too much over the so-claimed closeness of this race. We'll see on Tuesday. I predict Coakley wins handily, even considering the low turnout which always hurts democrats.

Mr. Ryan took issue with one statement she made. Ms. Coakley said there were no terrorists left in Afghanistan. Mr. Ryan considered this a large gaffe. Actually, Ms. Coakley is correct. Al Qaida has been routed in Afghanistan, and there are few terrorists left there. The U.S. is fighting the taliban, and they're not the same entity as the terrorists our troops were originally sent there to fight. So what she said was not at all outrageous as Mr. Ryan falsely claims.

Michael Ryan's Mindless Opposition to New EPA Regulations

Here are some images that show the extent of global warming. The top picture is of Barrow, Alaska. The one on the left is from July 2006; the one on the right is from July 2007. The Bush administration classified this picture because it gave such obvious evidence of global warming. The Obama administration declassified it, and it's now part of the public domain. The bottom images are from NASA's earth observatory. Note that during the summer of 2008, the arctic ice cap almost completely melted and is much smaller than it was in the summer of 1999.

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Re: "Scary, suffocating regulation," from the December 10th edition of the Augusta Chronicle editorial page.

Mr. Ryan mindlessly claims that the constitution forbids the government from regulating pollution, yet he cites no part of this document nor any court case that supports his argument. To put it bluntly, he is full of shit once more. If he was correct, there would be no Clean Air Act, no Clean Water Act, and no Environmental Protection Agency. For good measure, Mr. Ryan throws in the Declaration of Independence as another document that somehow outlaws government regulation of pollution. How ridiculous. The Declaration of Independence merely states the U.S. declaration of independence from England and has nothing to do with the rule of law.

Mr. Ryan is mindlessly closing his eyes, shutting down his brain, and pronouncing loyalty to the constitution and the Declaration of Independence. This is an incredibly weak rhetorical method of avoiding debate about a subject he's completely ignorant of.

He calls the EPA's move to regulate greenhouse gases as a "weapon to be used to advance what amounts to a socialist agenda..." There's that word again. Socialist. This is a clear example of more mindless namecalling.

He quotes an anonymous Obama administration source who stated that the move would be used to as a "gun against the head of Congress to exact global warming legislation favorable to the administration's left wing point of view." This is nonsense. There is no political point of view in science. Scientists urge that steps be taken to reduce global warming. This isn't based on political philosophy...it's based on what the science says.

And as usual, Mr. Ryan naively thinks that industry can solve the problem of global warming with "ingenuity, innovation, and entrepreneurship..." As if industry would ever voluntarily reduce pollution. What hogwash. If it wasn't for government regulations strictly enforced, our planet would be uninhabitable from pollution created by unchecked greedy businessmen.

More Lies and Ugly Bigotry from Michael Ryan

Re: "Godspeed, Mr. President," from the December 3rd edition of the Augusta Chronicle editorial page.

Here's the bigoted quote. "Radical Islam is a global cancer caused not by any policy or actions of the West, but by the insane hatred for infidels and the utter disdain for God-given life that makes radical Muslims one of history's most insidious maladies."

What about radical Christians in America? Isn't it mostly Christians in the U.S. military who have actually participated in an invasion and occupation of two muslim countries--actions that have led to the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent civilians? Christians in the U.S. army went all the way around the world, invaded, and occupied two countries that were no threat to us. The U.S. did have a reason to temporarily raid Afghanistan, but that reason has vanished, since the terrorists escaped to Pakistan. Nevertheless, American Christians are still occupying that country. He refers to radical muslim terrorists as a sickness. It's no more sick than American mainstream support for U.S. government ventures whose sole purpose is to enrich the military-industrial complex.

Everytime Mr. Ryan ties a religion to terrorism, he is revealing his ugly bigotry. Moreover, the next day, he featured yet another ugly bigoted letter, this one by J.F. Rodgers of Clearwater, S.C. who stated, "Patriotic Americans should no longer be the silent majority concerning those who want such so-called 'religious practices' to be acceptable in America."

He's referring to some reprehensible practices among a minority of muslims. But his point is ridiculous. No one is saying abuse and murder should be tolerated. The rest of his letter is just totally incoherent. For example he writes we have "plenty of oil and natural gas under our soil. We are idiots to buy from those who like our dollars but hate us. Al Gore's manmade global warming is a big lie." What do these sentences have to do with each other? If we did have plenty of gas and oil, we wouldn't be importing these fossil fuels. Then he writes, "I resent everything I buy having 'Made in China' stamped on it. If he resents it, why does he buy it? Mr. Ryan won't print my letters but features this one. Go figure.

Below this letter there was another redneck gem. Lee Herron, a sons of the confederate, condemned the defacing of a confederate monument downtown. He compares this to what if someone defaced a statue of MLK and asked why there was no outrage, why the double standard? I'll tell him why. Confederate soldiers were defending the existence of slavery and were traitors to the U.S. MLK was a hero, a real man of peace.

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Re: "Global warming, or hot air?" from the December 7th edition of the Augusta Chronicle editorial page.

Are conservatives just stupid and ignorant about every single subject under the sun?

The only scandal worth focusing on here is this: the scientists' emails were illegally hacked and stolen. Mr. Ryan doesn't even mention or point out that these emails were made available publicly by someone who BROKE THE LAW. And the scientists' privacy was violated. Just a day earlier Mr. Ryan was defending Tiger Woods's right to privacy. But he must think that scientists, whose findings he doesn't like, have no right to privacy.

Political hacks who know nothing about climate science have misinterpeted and taken out of context some things the scientists wrote in the emails to make it sound like they were fudging the data. Yet, Mr. Ryan has the chutzpah to call the scientists "disengenous." Most people would logically agree that anyone who stole private emails and misinterpeted them should be considered the disengenous ones.

Mr. Ryan called the scientists' explanation for the word trick as disengenous, but when Mr. Ryan wrote this, he clearly showed that he didn't take the time to understand what the scientists meant. In other words, Mr. Ryan is being an ignoramous. An explanation for the word trick can be found in an article from today's Augusta Chronicle on page 8C--"Penn State scientist at center of storm over hacked emails."

Here's the explanation which makes perfect sense, but is obviously too nuanced for the conservative-clogged brains of right wing media pundits.

"By trick Mr. Mann (the scientist in question) said he meant only a technique for highlighting data on a graph. ...It's just a way of showing two kinds of data together. Mr. Mann said his method of combining proxy data has withstood numerous statistical tests--lining up neatly with thermometer readings during the 150 years where they overlap."

Here's the explanation for what scientists meant by "hiding the decline." Note, they were not hiding decline in temperatures. They were referring to "a decline reflected in a certain kind of tree-ring measurement on wood density. For reasons researchers can't explain, those wood measurements track neatly with temperatures from the late 1800's to the 1960's. After that, they show temperatures going down as thermometers show the opposite."

Mr. Ryan also falsely claims the mainstream media is ignoring this story. NBC recently ran an unfair criticism of scientists based on these illegally obtained emails, and CNN plans a prominently advertised documentary (that also sounds unfair from the previews) within the next few days.

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Cal Thomas is a conservative media pundit who is always a day late and a dollar short in my opinion, if you'll excuse the tired cliche`.

In today's Augusta Chronicle editorial page he also wrote a column about Global Warming entitled "The flathead society? The debate is far from over on global warming."

His sole source is Leonard Weinstein, an engineer, not a climate scientist. Mr. Thomas quotes liberally from a blog posting by Dr. Weinstein. Dr. Weinstein, of course, debunks anthropogenic global warming with misleading arguments and blatant lies. He claims the short term trend in temperatures is down, defying scientists predictions. This is bullshit. According to an AP article, also on page 8C of today's Augusta Chronicle, 5 of the past 10 years, have been the hottest in recorded history. Dr. Weinstein makes many false claims but the easiest to debunk is his claim that the arctic ice cap is cooling rather than warming.

NASA takes pictures of the arctic all the time. They clearly show that the ice is melting. I'll upload these images on this blog tomorrow.