Skeptical Science: "Drown Them Out"

In March of 2012, the climate alarmist website Skeptical Science had their forums "hacked" and the contents posted online. In these it was revealed that Skeptical Science members are organizing themselves into eco-strike squads to "drown out" those who do not accept their alarmist positions,

"I posted over at Politico just recently. Hey, we can tag team it a bit if you like, use time zone differences." - Glenn Tamblyn [Skeptical Science], February 10, 2011

"I think this is a highly effective method of dealing with various blogs and online articles where these discussions pop up. Flag them, discuss them and then send in the troops to hammer down what are usually just a couple of very vocal people. It seems like lots of us are doing similar work, cruising comments sections online looking for disinformation to crush. I spend hours every day doing exactly this. If we can coordinate better and grow the "team of crushers" then we could address all the anti-science much more effectively." - Rob Honeycutt [Skeptical Science], February 11, 2011

"Rob, Your post is music to my ears. I've been advocating the need to create a "crusher crew" for quite some time. I was not however able to get much traction on it with fellow environmental activists here in South Carolina or nationally. Like you, I spend (much to my wife's chagrin) many hours each day posting comments on articles. One of haunts was the USA Today website [...] The bottom line, would you be willing to patrol articles posted on the USA Today website?" - John Hartz [Skeptical Science], February 11, 2011

This started a new forum discussion entitled, "Crusher Crew".

"Badgersouth [John Hartz] and I were just discussing the potential of setting up a coordinated "Crusher Crew" where we could pull our collective time and knowledge together in order to pounce on overly vocal deniers on various comments sections of blogs and news articles." - Rob Honeycutt [Skeptical Science], February 11, 2011

"May I suggest first on our list as being the *#1 Science Blog* "Watts up with that"? They get a few people come there to engage from time to time but rarely a coordinated effort." - Robert Way [Skeptical Science], February 11, 2011

"I think it might be better to start out with smaller fish. Build a community and a team. Find some methods and strategies that work. Then start moving up the denier food chain with our targets set on WUWT. I could see this expanding into a broad team of 100 or more people (outside the scope of this SkS forum of course). [...] We just need to raise our collective voices to drown them out. I would venture to guess that most people here know of 4 or 5 regulars on comments sections that would be interested in coordinating their efforts. I know probably 10 or 20 people who would like to help with this." - Rob Honeycutt [Skeptical Science], February 11, 2011

This eco-strike squad was highly endorsed by John Cook,

"The Rapid Response Network would be a good way to coordinate this kind of activity, identifying new articles, logging responses, supporting each other. Can i suggest if a group engage in this, that they use the RRN as beta testers to he'll me develop and refine the system?" - John Cook [Skeptical Science], February 11, 2011

References:
From the Skeptical Science "leak": Interesting stuff about generating and marketing "The Consensus Project" (Tom Nelson, March 23, 2012)
Skeptical Science hacked, private user details publicly posted online (Skeptical Science, March 25, 2011)

Skeptical Science: Too Inaccurate for Joe Romm

In March of 2012, the climate alarmist website Skeptical Science had their forums "hacked" and the contents posted online. In these it was revealed that Skeptical Science was found to be even too inaccurate for fellow alarmist Joe Romm of Climate Progress,

"Just got this email from Joe Romm: You must do more post vetting. More errors are creeping into posts and it will start making people like me wary of using them." - John Cook [Skeptical Science], December 2, 2011

This was met with both admission and denial,

"...I somewhat agree with Romm. There does seem to be a perpensity of us towards producing masss volumes of articles when I feel sometimes we should be spending more time critiquing." - Robert Way [Skeptical Science], December 2, 2011

"I am pretty much done reading Romm. His knee-jerk attacks on anything remotely contradictory to his own narrative as "flawed" are irksome in the extreme." - thingsbreak [Skeptical Science], December 3, 2011

"I don't care for Romm either, [...] For the sake of accuracy, we can afford to wait until the heavy hitters have weighed in, we don't have to pretend to an authority we don't have." - nealjking [Skeptical Science], December 3, 2011

"Romm is waspish and curt, [...] but I have noticed that SkS tends to run into trouble when we do our own analysis." - Albatross (Julian Brimelow) [Skeptical Science], December 3, 2011

"I think our own analysis needs to be vetted externally or by those absolutely qualified on the subject matter prior to being put out there." - Robert Way [Skeptical Science], December 3, 2011

"Romm was the one to rubbish the Schmittner study. He got burnt. Tough titties." - Rob Painting [Skeptical Science], December 3, 2011

"Maybe Romm is getting a touch jealous of SkS's rising fame." - Rob Honeycutt [Skeptical Science], December 3, 2011

References:
From the Skeptical Science "leak": Interesting stuff about generating and marketing "The Consensus Project" (Tom Nelson, March 23, 2012)
Skeptical Science hacked, private user details publicly posted online (Skeptical Science, March 25, 2011)
Alarmism or Not? Joe Romm and the 'Crying Wolf' Dilemma (Watts Up With That?, May 1, 2012)

Skeptical Science: The Partnership with Al Gore

In March of 2012, the climate alarmist website Skeptical Science had their forums "hacked" and the contents posted online. In a forum thread titled, "Got a call from Al Gore's people today" John Cook proudly posted,

"This morning, had a long skype call with a guy working with Al Gore's Climate Reality Project. [...] He brought up the possibility of a partnership. [...] an exciting opportunity and another vindication of what we're doing" - John Cook [Skeptical Science], September 27, 2011

This was met with near unanimous enthusiasm,

"I am a great admirer of Al Gore, and think of him as a prophet of our time." - alan_marshall [Skeptical Science], September 27, 2011

"I personally approve of Gore." - nealjking [Skeptical Science], September 27, 2011

"...this is a good opportunity to give a wider circulation to SkS content and resources and should be seized on with vigour." - Steve Brown [Skeptical Science], September 27, 2011

"Welcome to the BIG TIME boys and girls..." - Glenn Tamblyn [Skeptical Science], September 27, 2011

"This is a good opportunity" - grypo [Skeptical Science], September 27, 2011

"I have no qualms about SkS providing content to Gore's new organization, [...] I'd even consider doing freelance stuff for him" - Daniel Bailey [Skeptical Science], September 27, 2011

"I think that's awesome." - Dana Nuccitelli [Skeptical Science], September 28, 2011

"Nice. [...] I think there is a good chance he's going to be looked at very very differently 5-10 years from now" - Rob Honeycutt [Skeptical Science], September 28, 2011

"I think its a great opportunity that Al Gore's folks are interested in using SkS-content. ...AIT really drove home the issues with climate change for me" - BaerbelW [Skeptical Science], September 28, 2011

"Sounds like a great opportunity." - Rob Painting [Skeptical Science], September 28, 2011

"When a golden opportunity comes your way, grab it! What the heck are wa waiting for? Let's do it!" - John Hartz [Skeptical Science], September 28, 2011

Cook later posted updates on his partnership with Gore,

"Sorry for taking so long to join this discussion. UQ (and Jim Powell + The Climate Reality Project folk) are working me pretty hard." - John Cook [Skeptical Science], October 20, 2011

"I created the data feeds for them a few weeks back, heard back from them this week with requested changes to the data feed but haven't had time yet to respond. Will aim to do it tomorrow" - John Cook [Skeptical Science], November 23, 2011

Just like Real Climate, Skeptical Science has direct ties to Al Gore but they don't want you to know this.

References:
The Truth about RealClimate.org (Popular Technology.net, July 6, 2009)
From the Skeptical Science "leak": Interesting stuff about generating and marketing "The Consensus Project" (Tom Nelson, March 23, 2012)
Skeptical Science hacked, private user details publicly posted online (Skeptical Science, March 25, 2011)

Skeptical Science: From Al Gore to Al Jazeera

In March of 2012, the climate alarmist website Skeptical Science had their forums "hacked" and the contents posted online. In a forum thread titled, "From Al Gore to Al Jazeera" John Cook proudly posted,

"Al Jazeera want[s] to feature SkS as the Site of the Week... Am sending them some info and pics now." - John Cook [Skeptical Science], September 28, 2011

This was met with near unanimous enthusiasm,

"Wow, that's a new demographic." - nealjking [Skeptical Science], September 28, 2011

"Great News! [...] Wow! Dude! Excellent! ( Plays air guitar. )" - logicman [Skeptical Science], September 28, 2011

"Very cool. I'm a fan of Al Jazeera news." - Rob Painting [Skeptical Science], September 28, 2011

"That's good. [...] I was wondering if WUWT had been site of the week, heh, heh, heh." - Paul D [Skeptical Science], September 28, 2011

"Al Jazeera is actually one of the really good sources of journalism these days. [...] I'd say they're really taking over the mantle of NPR for doing hard news. Al Jazeera is providing a news product that all but disappeared in the US today: Unbiased news." - Rob Honeycutt [Skeptical Science], September 29, 2011

"...if being on Al Jazera may help, ...it's great." - Riccardo [Skeptical Science], September 29, 2011

"This great. Al Jazeera is an excellent news outlet ...and only the truly bigoted will think that this taints SkS in any way." - Andy S [Skeptical Science], September 28, 2011

Friedman was the lone dissenting voice,

"Watts et al will have a field day with this. [...] I would tactfully suggest that they can link to content here (which they can do anyway), but not display any form of SkS logo." - muoncounter (Dan Friedman) [Skeptical Science], September 29, 2011

"Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn about what WUWT says about SkS." - John Hartz [Skeptical Science], September 30, 2011

On October 4, 2011 Al Jazeera featured Skeptical Science in a brief article titled, "Site of Sustainability: Skeptical Science" logo and all.

References:
Al Jazeera (Discover the Networks)
Site of Sustainability: Skeptical Science (Al Jazeera, October 4, 2011)
From the Skeptical Science "leak": Interesting stuff about generating and marketing "The Consensus Project" (Tom Nelson, March 23, 2012)
Skeptical Science hacked, private user details publicly posted online (Skeptical Science, March 25, 2011)

Skeptical Science: "[W]e're all a bunch of leftists"

In March of 2012, the climate alarmist website Skeptical Science had their forums "hacked" and the contents posted online. In a forum thread titled, "Political Compass" frequent Skeptical Science commentators and moderators took a political quiz revealing (much to their surprise) they all share the same left-wing political ideology,

"It's official, we're all a bunch of leftists" - John Cook [Skeptical Science], August 26, 2011

"I'm a damn dirty commie" - Dana Nuccitelli [Skeptical Science], August 26, 2011

"OMG, I'm a closet Leftist!" - Daniel Bailey [Skeptical Science], August 26, 2011

"It seems I am on par with Nelson Mandela" - perseus [Skeptical Science], August 26, 2011

"Turns out we're all a bunch of soppy leftists" - MarkR [Skeptical Science], August 26, 2011

"Reality reveals a left-wing bias." - nealjking [Skeptical Science], August 26, 2011

"We're all pretty much a bunch of Socialist Libertarians - See Chomsky" - gyrpo [Skeptical Science], August 26, 2011

"[A]t heart I am a fundamentalist extremist moderate" - Dikran Marsupial (Gavin Cawley) [Skeptical Science], August 27, 2011

"I'm still something of leftie, despite all those years in business." - Andy S [Skeptical Science], August 27, 2011

"The Criticisms of the Skeptics are right - SkSers are obviously all pinko/liberals" - Glenn Tamblyn [Skeptical Science], August 27, 2011

Ironically they were surprised by these results, apparently believing climate alarmism would be more politically "diverse".

"I recall previous discussion dealing with the SkS team page, and how the map and bios would be able to show that we are a diverse group of people that have different social and political views and backgrounds - ...apparently, ...most of us are in the same general quadrant." Andy S [Skeptical Science], August 27, 2011

References:
Chomsky's Economics (Ludwig von Mises Institute, January 6, 2003) Noam Chomsky: GOP Victory Amounts to 'Death Knell' for Humans (Newsmax, January 21, 2011)
From the Skeptical Science "leak": Interesting stuff about generating and marketing "The Consensus Project" (Tom Nelson, March 23, 2012)
Skeptical Science hacked, private user details publicly posted online (Skeptical Science, March 25, 2011)
The Political Compass

Update: The Political Compass quiz hijacked the term "libertarian". Milton Friedman who would be considered very close to a true libertarian falls to the right.



I prefer the World's Smallest Political Quiz.

Skeptical Science: "Ding dong, the witch is dead"

In March of 2012, the climate alarmist website Skeptical Science had their forums "hacked" and the contents posted online. In these it is revealed their lack of humanity for the death of a political adversary. In a forum thread titled, "Conservative commentator Andrew Breitbart is dead at 43" frequent Skeptical Science contributors and moderators posted insensitive and juvenile comments,

"[H]e was a particularly destructive individual, almost entirely without morals. He was an "ends justifies the means" type and his sole purpose was to try to destroy everything liberal regardless of what he had to do to achieve this. He was the one who made the cavallier comment that "We have all the guns and we outnumber liberals." He's the kind of guy that would laugh if someone acted upon such a suggestion." - Rob Honeycutt [Skeptical Science], March 2, 2012

"Breitbart ...was a horrible human being" - Daniel Bailey [Skeptical Science], March 2, 2012

"Maybe he got a call from his mom saying 'the Bank of America is going bankrupt', and died of shock for this jest." - Otto Lehikoinen [Skeptical Science], March 2, 2012

"Ding dong, the witch is dead..." - John Hartz [Skeptical Science], March 2, 2012

R.I.P. Andrew Breitbart and my condolences to his family.

References:
Conservative commentator Andrew Breitbart is dead at 43 (Fox News, March 1, 2012)
From the Skeptical Science "leak": Interesting stuff about generating and marketing "The Consensus Project" (Tom Nelson, March 23, 2012)
Skeptical Science hacked, private user details publicly posted online (Skeptical Science, March 25, 2011)

The Breitbart Children's Trust

Update: Due to the unbelievable nature of these quotes, I was asked to provide evidence that these were made. So I am providing a selected screen shot of one of the forum posts. Since John Cook or anyone representing Skeptical Science has not denied these comments were made I see no reason to reveal more than is necessary,

Skeptical Science: The Censorship of Poptech

"The impact of that ban on PopTech was to silence him."
- Skeptical Science

In March of 2012, the same computer illiterates at Skeptical Science who do not know how to use Google Scholar had their forums "hacked" and the contents posted online. In these I am mentioned in at least 65 discussions, with 17 forum threads started that specifically mention my name and one forum category devoted entirely to discussing the Popular Technology.net list of papers. These discussions involve almost entirely with how to "deal" with the list. One of the ways they attempted to "deal" with the list was by having a former bike messenger and man-purse maker Rob Honeycutt write a Google Scholar illiterate post. In it Rob failed to use quotes when searching for phrases, is unable to count past 1000 and failed to remove erroneous results such as, "Planet Mutonia and the Young Pop Star Wannabes" - believing it to be a peer-reviewed paper about global warming. After being unable to refute how Google Scholar actually works they resorted to an extensive censorship of my comments and eventually a site wide purge of all of them.

The forum thread on Rob's post shows it initially started off with high hopes,

"Poptech and the other minions of denialdom will hate this ...so naturally I like it." - Daniel Bailey [Skeptical Science], February 13, 2011

This quickly descended into panic,

"Exit strategy for the Meet the Denominator thread: Do we have one? [...] Poptech is indefatigable ...Against such an adversary traditional methodologies are doomed to impasse. This makes the thread the Skeptical Science version of Afghanistan (substitute with many other protracted losing campaigns). I say we let Rob write up a closing synopsis ...but giving Skeptical Science the last word. And lock the thread & throw away the key." - Daniel Bailey [Skeptical Science], February 18, 2011

"Poptech will not go away. I've deleted a number of his ...comments, but I feel no obligation to explain to him why they disappear." - muoncounter (Dan Friedman) [Skeptical Science], February 19, 2011

Friedman was successful in deleting many of the comments I made to Rob's post as I had literally replied (or attempted to reply) to every single comment in that discussion. Even at this point a fraction of my comments remained but enough were removed to give the false impression that I could not respond to some of their arguments.

The outright deletion of the rest of my hundreds of comments came a few months later after I attempted to defend John Christy in another post. This site wide deletion of my comments was known and discussed in their forums but no action was taken to restore them,

"The 1,000+ Denominator Thread now stands at 524" - Daniel Bailey [Skeptical Science], September 19, 2011

"[O]ne of the moderators flagged Poptech as a spammer and that deleted EVERY comment he ever posted off all the comments threads." - John Cook [Skeptical Science], October 11, 2011

"He kept repeatedly posting comments, one after the other, that had to be deleted. I wasn't prepared to stay up all night deleting comments from that loser." - Rob Painting [Skeptical Science], October 11, 2011

When others noticed my comments were deleted and started to complain this was met with nonsensical arguments upholding the censorship,

"Let Poptech complain or anyone else who wants to whine about it. He got deleted not because of what he was saying but ...how he was presenting and defending an utterly undefensible position." - Rob Honeycutt [Skeptical Science], January 11, 2012

Ironically, Rob's initial man-purse company name was "Scumbags".

After I published my article exposing The Truth about Skeptical Science, Cook enacted a new "Poptech policy",

"[W]e should have a blanket ban of any mention of Poptech in any SkS blog posts - not give him any oxygen." - John Cook [Skeptical Science], March 21, 2012

The fact remains that Cook and his zealots cannot debate anyone, which is why they have to muzzle all dissent on their site. This way they can pretend to win arguments, when in reality they have all been refuted.

Note: if John Cook or anyone at Skeptical Science wishes to deny any of these comments I can always post the forum screen shots but I do not think they wish to have their email and IP addresses revealed.

References:
Biker Chic (The New York Times, January 14, 2007)
Refuting 104 Talking Points from Skeptical Science (PDF) (28pgs) (Lubos Motl, Ph.D. Theoretical Physics, March 29, 2010)
Google Scholar Illiteracy at Skeptical Science (Popular Technology.net, February 14, 2011)
From the Skeptical Science "leak": Interesting stuff about generating and marketing "The Consensus Project" (Tom Nelson, March 23, 2012)
Secret Skeptical Science (Shub Niggurath Climate, March 23, 2012)
Skeptical Science hacked, private user details publicly posted online (Skeptical Science, March 25, 2011)
The Truth about Skeptical Science (Popular Technology.net, March 18, 2012)
1100+ Peer-Reviewed Papers Supporting Skeptic Arguments Against ACC/AGW Alarm (Popular Technology.net, July 23, 2012)

Update: As an example of some of my comments that were censored, the first comment page of Rob's post is archived by the wayback machine. "Meet the Denominator" (Archived, July 19, 2011)