Bully

dcpetterson

Well, Jim Steele is doing his best to prove he's a bully. He's got a response at WUWT to my blog article about his denial of the climate link to the recent Russian anthrax outbreak. Not content with that, he's got my picture and a link to my Facebook homepage in the comments at WUWT, along with information from my LinkedIn profile.

The man is beneath contempt.

Sou

That's appalling, DC. Jim Steele is a lowlife creep. (I can think of much more apt descriptions, but this chat room has standards.) He isn't up to writing a straight science article that could stand on its own merits. That's probably why he picks on individual scientists and defames them all over the internet. Jim has attacked Kevin Trenberth and Camille Parmesan and Ove Hoegh-Guldberg in a thoroughly despicable and dishonest manner. His eco mates won't support his articles so he writes for Anthony Watts, who shares his defamatory and bullying ways.

Reading his article I can't help but notice that it's all "me, me, me". That's Jim Steele all over. He claims to not seek honour and glory, but his articles are all about him. And the only way he thinks he can make himself look good is to defame everyone of any note. It doesn't work. He just comes across as a sleazy little man trying to bignote himself. Typical Dunning-Kruger - or worse.

(After reading and researching his articles in the past, I haven't yet found one where Jim doesn't misrepresent scientific papers and scientists.)

The only consolation i can offer is that you got under his skin - which is a good thing. You can stand tall. And you might even get some WUWT lurkers reading your blog, which would also be a good thing.

BTW - I noticed he pulled me into it, too. Goodness knows why. I'd love to take some credit - it was a great piece, but I had nothing to do with your article.

dcpetterson

Thanks for the support, Sou. On the plus side, I'm clearly in good company considering the others he's gone after. I'm sorry he pulled you in. 

He's been increasingly nasty to me on LinkedIn. I just blocked and reported him there.

I've been insulted by professionals, so my first impulse was to let him rage. But cyber bullying is on the rise, and it should be responded to.

Sou

Another consolation, DC, is that you've got the respect of the scientific community, and a platform at Daily Kos. All Jim Steele has is a climate conspiracy blog and adulation from sworn members of the Scientific Illiterati (the 'NASA faked the moon landing' so gravity is a myth crowd)

dcpetterson

Wow, now I'm intimidated. "Respect of the scientific community"? How did that happen?

Anyway, I'll have to come up with another blog post (climate-related, but with a different focus) just to prove I can...

Ari_Jokimaki

Here are some more ammunition if needed:

Papers on micro-organisms in permafrost

https://agwobserver.wordpress.com/2016/09/13/papers-on-micro-organisms-in-permafrost/

dcpetterson

Great stuff, Ari. Thank you. Maybe I'll do a followup article.

tadaaa

keep up the good work dcpetterson, your VOX articles on the Monkton "no warming" meme were brilliant

really well written and easy to understand

aTTP

DC,
I think Sou is right.  You've probably got under Watts's skin, which means that he thinks he's entitled to do things that most reasonable people would regard as pretty appalling. Of course, he doesn't need much of excuse.

dcpetterson

I should thank Steele and Watts for raising my profile. But no, that'd be too cruel.

I will instead thank you Whoppers for the support and encouragement. 

It was amusing how Steele claimed Sou helped me with the anthrax article. I view that as high praise. I'm sure the piece would have been far better with her collaboration.

citizenschallenge

dcpetterson said:

Wow, now I'm intimidated. "Respect of the scientific community"? How did that happen?

Anyway, I'll have to come up with another blog post (climate-related, but with a different focus) just to prove I can...

please share links

dcpetterson

please share links

I will when the next is ready

One unexpected and delightful result I see in the Wordpress stats is that I've gotten a sizable number of readers who came to my blog recently directly from WUWT. No evidence they read or understood anything, but it's still amusing.

citizenschallenge

I got around to looking at it, 3500 words worth of emotional ranting focused on demonizing anyone who disagrees with him - yup that's the same Jim I know.  How he continues getting away with it I can fathom.  And of source those so and so at San Francisco State College are totally silent on that matter.

Why should it concern them that he used them as a badge of authority, as though all he's ever done anything of substance for them besides being caretaker of their Sierra Mtn field campus where he could take college cuties on nice nature walks and do a little bird watching for science.

Sou said:

Another consolation, DC, is that you've got the respect of the scientific community, and a platform at Daily Kos. All Jim Steele has is a climate conspiracy blog and adulation from sworn members of the Scientific Illiterati (the 'NASA faked the moon landing' so gravity is a myth crowd)

And if I might add a resource full of examples of Jim Steele's debate by slander style and his utter inability to rationally and constructive engage in a debate.

http://whatsupwiththatwatts.blogspot.com/p/landscapesandcycles.html

LandscapesAndCycles

In a nutshell Jim Steele proposes that landscapes and natural cycles are more powerful drivers of global warming than the atmosphere that lies between Earth and frigid outer space. 

His scientific underpinning is a self-certain, but unexamined, rejection of 'CO2 science' - maintaining it's a hoax with political underpinnings.

Jim's speciality is learning about wildlife studies with an eye towards errors in those studies.  Where it gets ugly is that though he's learned about these errors and failings from wildlife scientists who were directly involved.  Scientists who were aware of issues and problems and working hard to resolve them.  Scientists who willingly shared their experiences, challenges and learning curve.  

Where Jim gets weird is the way he slams these same individuals by portraying them as clueless shills.  Where Jim gets bizarre is leaping from those shortcomings in wildlife studies to claiming it proves global warming is a hoax and that we should ignore it.  An astounding chain of logic.

As for flaws in wildlife studies, the important thing is, none of this stuff was secret, it was part of the scientific community's discussion and literature.  It's the stuff of science marching forward, learning from mistakes as much as from successes.  Another thing to keep in mind is that wildlife studies over huge expanses of landscape are exceedingly difficult and running a perfect experiment is near impossible.  

What Jim ignores is that every serious scientist, wildlife and otherwise, spends as much of their time studying and assessing errors, unexpected surprises, and those '20/20 hindsight mistakes' in order to understand and learn from them.

Once I got into researching Jim's claims and contacting many of the scientists he singled out for derision I was shocked at how shabbily Jim treated the hospitality and collegial help and support he was given for his (Heartland Institute's? Anthony's?) research project.  

I've made the effort to document Jim Steele's words and claims.  I specify his errors, and then I provide the information Jim shields from his audience.  

Jim keeps running away from my challenge instead preferring the shelter and comfort of his Republican/libertarian echo-chamber, where he can lash out at me with unrestrained venom and irrationality.

Since he won't debate, I challenge any of his fans to challenge my assessment of Mr. Steele's game.  You think I misrepresent Steele or his claims?  Where?  Name calling is easy and cheap.  Defining what I misrepresent is the challenge.  Being able to civilly defend one's counter-claims should be easy, if you have honest facts on your side. 

Friday, January 30, 2015

Mr. Jim Steele, Can you clarify your argument?

http://whatsupwiththatwatts.blogspot.com/2015/01/landscapesandcycles-clarify-your.html

A] That wildlife biologists working in extreme conditions and over continental landscapes make mistakes?

B] Disputing that Anthropogenic Global Warming with it's profound changing climate driven landscapes alterations causes adverse cascading consequences for wildlife and eco-systems (read our biosphere)?  

Can Mr. Steele come clean and explain what his fundamental thesis is?

citizenschallenge

Oh did I mention I have a thing or two to say about about that creep.   

Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Years of Living Dangerously the creepy side of the internet debate
http://whatsupwiththatwatts.blogspot.com/2014/05/steele-creepy-side-internetdebate.html
~ ~ ~
Friday, March 21, 2014
Of Recursive Fury, SkepticForum.com and science denialist's strategy of harassment
http://whatsupwiththatwatts.blogspot.com/2014/03/recursivefury-skepticforum-tactics.html
~ ~ ~

Saturday, February 7, 2015
Jim Steele watt's up with your venomous self-indignation?
http://whatsupwiththatwatts.blogspot.com/2015/02/why-your-venomous-indignation.html
~ ~ ~
Saturday, February 7, 2015
Defamation and lies are unacceptable part of the AGW 'debate' !
http://whatsupwiththatwatts.blogspot.com/2015/02/defamation-unacceptable-agw-debate.html
~ ~ ~

citizenschallenge

Oh course, the only place you'll find him responding to you is within the safety and comfort of his adoring (hermetically sealed) echo-chamber.  As he screams that no one is willing to debate climate science.

Fraud is as fraud does.

dcpetterson

I've seen much of your commentary, CC. All great stuff.

I worry ( <-too strong a word, but I don't have a better one) that we give JS too much attention. He's just a sorry little man after all, of no account, a legend in his own mind. A walk through the ocean of his soul would scarcely get one's toenails wet.

His odd notions are worth debunking, for they show how fluffy is the weight of contrarian ideas. He may be the best deniers have to offer, which is where the humor comes in. Maybe we can invent a character ("Sham Steal"?), put Jim's arguments into his mouth, and let Poe's Law have its way.

citizenschallenge

Yeah, but it's that board of regents at San Francisco State University who allow him to get a free pass using that Emeritus crap as his badge of authority, that really pisses me off.  I've been mulling over that open letter, hell must be a couple years now.

A] he was a camp director and care taker that's done precious little real science and that of the most basic level.  (He was a bird watcher of some local renown back in the day.)

B]  He's a malicious slanderer of honorable productive serious scientists, who he consistently misrepresents, both their words and their work.  That needs to be objected to.  It's rolling over to these villains for the past four decades that has gotten us into this global predicament.

His bulling has really screwed with some scientists for not legitimate reasons, PR victim, I know this from first hand correspondences.  It's malicious and no one of any authority seems to have the gumption or integrity to say enough.

But then it get's down to First Principles doesn't it?

Once we all agree on the science the obvious unavoidable implication is that we all need to learn to live with less.

Can't have that.

jolly good, full speed ahead, now be a good laddie and stop the fretting.