Unmoderated Post on Moderation

I will allow comments through by default for repeat commenters again, first time commenters will still need an initial approval. I will however now be a more active moderator and delete things that are useless or unnecessarily personal from now on, except on this thread. This is unavoidably subjective but I will try to err …

Global Day of Overshoot

August 13th was Earth Overshoot Day. The correct date, if calculated precisely, would come earlier and earlier each year, the current choice is just an approximation. This year, the year 2015, by sometime around August 13th, humanity had consumed as much of what we require from the lands and seas as our planet can sustainabley …

AFTIC Status Report

A gentle reader recently asked for a "status of the blog" report. As the two week delay between ask and answer can attest to, things are rather slow moving around here at the moment and I am mainly just my own lurker.  I do have some new content that I will offer very shortly and …

Experts, “plebs” and hope.

A very good video on the gulf that exists between the climate science experts and the general population in terms of awareness and alarm regarding anthropogenic climate change: (from a comment on a P3 thread) The essence of this impending calamity is, more than anything else, a story of betrayal: betrayal of a naively trusting …

One of the biggest problems for humanity

Via un-climate-related readings, I came across this gem (from the victim article of the link): My job is to assess not the rightness of each argument but to deal in the real world of campaign politics in which perception often (if not always) trumps reality. I deal in the world as voters believe it is, …

“The universe is expanding at an alarming rate!”

Okay, sorry about that title...it is an actual quote from a History Channel documentary on, well, the universe.  I nearly spat out my cool beverage with laughter when I heard it the first time and have really wanted to share it since then.  I have yet to finish watching that series on the huge DVD …

Objectivity

Via MT at Planet3, we have a nice quote from FAIR: This is what I like to describe as the difference between objectivity and "objectivity." Objectivity is the belief that there is a real world out there that's more or less knowable; the "objectivity" that journalists practice holds that it's impossible to know what's real, …

Chinese corporate hackers, the Chamber of Commerce, Fakegate

What do they have in common?  Apparently some methodologies, uncovered by the hacktivist group Anonymous. Details can be found in an interesting, if dense, article at The Nation, which describes how Anonymous revealed dealings the Chamber of Commerce was having with a Cyber Security firm that did not limit itself to defensive measures. Attorneys for …

Happy anniversary FakeGate!

So it is about one year ago that Peter Gleick exposed the too-ashamed-to-admit-it donors of the science denialist industry flack Heartland Organization.  Michael Tobis has a very comprehensive run-down and analysis of the event over on P3, I recommend it, especially if you need to get up to speed on what I am talking about. …

Ever wonder…?

Did you ever wonder just how it can be possible that the same, thousand times debunked, climate "skepticisms" keep re-emerging, month after month, year after year? Obviously, there are those individuals (like Singer and Soon), organizations (like HeartlessLand), and media outlets (like Faux News) who deliberately lie and misinform with no concern for scientific or …