Re: [asa] World sets ocean temperature record

This site is shameless. The only thing accurate about the title of the Politifact.com site is the "Politi" part (and maybe the .com). This is in the vein of Snopes and other self-appointed watchdog sites. Sometimes they are valuable but sometimes their debunking is just as subjective as the assertion. And in those cases who is watching them? John ________________________________ From: Rich Blinne <rich.blinne@gmail.com> To: Schwarzwald <schwarzwald@gmail.com> Cc: asa@calvin.edu Sent: Friday, August 21, 2009 8:55:27 PM Subject: Re: [asa] World sets ocean temperature record On Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 3:00 PM, Schwarzwald <schwarzwald@gmail.com> wrote: I'd have to agree with Dave Wallace, and I was just in the middle of writing a post along those lines. > >And the idea that there are two camps involved in the global warming/climate-change debate - the people who are correct, and the people motivated by politics - just doesn't wash. It is entirely possible for AGW claims to be true, yet for the people "demanding action" to be largely, even exclusively motivated by politics. There's such a thing as co-opting truth to an illicit end. As Christians and as scientists we should be standing for the truth and not be in the group that is motivated by politics. Even if the truth is  co-opted for an illicit end should not be a reason to simply make stuff up. Everybody can have their own opinion but they cannot have their own facts. The sad truth is there are people who are more than willing to distort the truth and outright lie to serve a political agenda. Check out the non-partisan Politifact.com for their "pants on fire" rulings: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/rulings/pants-fire/ This in turn has produced a hostility to the non-political and non-partisan use of science for the public good -- and not just in the area of climate change. It has come to the point where a simple proposal to use the National Academies --  as was intended by President Lincoln when he founded them --  to study the relative effectiveness of medical treatments and publish it on the Web is considered by some a sinister plot to kill Granny. Rich Blinne Member ASA

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Received on Sat Aug 22 07:08:08 2009