nomoon
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02-21-12 11:18 AM - Post#145679
Has anyone else been keeping up with this? This keeps getting more interesting. It involves forgery, fraud, identity theft, and slander. A Berkeley climate scientist has admitted to being involved, but I haven’t seen much in the mainstream media yet.
It seems that at least one climate scientist has come unglued after the second release of the Climategate files. For a short time, it seemed that they had their own “leaked” set of emails from the Heartland Institute to gloat about. The Heartland Institute’s mission mission is to “discover, develop, and promote free-market solutions to social and economic problems.” They’ve held a skeptical view of climate alarmism, and have organized conferences which have included more skeptical views of the climate science debate.
Roughly a week ago, a “Heartland Insider” published a set of emails and an internal Heartland strategy paper to various alarmist blogs. The emails contained budgeting information. Unlike the climategate emails, personal information was not redacted from the emails. The strategy paper included what appeared to be very embarrassing text from head of the Heartland Institute. The alarmist blogs were having a field day.
It Gets More Interesting
The Heartland Institute quickly released a statement stating that the strategy paper was a forgery. Several alarmist blogger had already been writing scathing commentaries which had assumed that the strategy paper was real. Retractions have been slow in coming, or non-existent.
Even More interesting:
Internet sleuths began analyzing the strategy paper. This document had been printed, scanned, and then turned into a PDF, apparently in an effort to hide any incriminating or exculpatory meta-data within the file. This was consistent with the Heartland’s statement that the document was forged. Analysis of the language inside it was interesting. Amusingly, instead of stating things like “refuting” alarmist climate science, it used phrases like “undermining” climate science. Also, there were some specific grammatical peculiarities that paralleled the language used by one particular rapid global warming activist/scientist, Peter Gleick. The use of parentheses instead of commas, and the use of the word “anti-science” were among these peculiarities that were common with Gleik’s writings. Gleick was already a prime suspect.
The Heartland Institute stated that no information had been leaked by a principled “Heartland insider.” They said that someone had impersonated a board member, and managed to get someone to “resend” some material to a false email address.
Yet, even more interesting
Last night, , Peter Gleik posted a partial confession.He admitted to assuming the identity of a Heartland board member in order to get materials, but he hasn’t yet admitted to any role in the creating the forged document. Oddly, it was the forged document that got fingers pointing towards Gleik in the first place.
I’ll continue to follow this story.
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nomoon
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02-21-12 11:55 PM - Post#145708
In response to nomoon
Well, he's not the Chair of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Task Force on Scientific Integrity anymore. 
Here is a quote from a video interview with someone at Heartland (Original link from wattsupwiththat)
Gleick “impersonated a board member of the Heartland Institute, stole his identity by creating a fake email address, and proceeded to use that fake email address to steal documents that were prepared for a board meeting. He read those documents, concluded that there was no smoking gun in them, and then forged a two-page memo”
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mgrayar
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02-22-12 07:23 AM - Post#145711
In response to nomoon
You can't make this stuff up. I'm going to guess Al Gore and M. Moore are not going to team up and do a film based on this though.
Funny how the evening news hasn't picked up any of this.
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nomoon
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02-22-12 09:46 AM - Post#145714
In response to nomoon
The Atlantic has a good history of this whole episode.
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carygold
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02-22-12 11:19 AM - Post#145716
In response to nomoon
From what I read it looked like Gleick got information that Heartland did not want released.
The fact Galeick impersonated someone to get the information does not change the facts of the email from Heartland. Unless you choose which side you wish to believe. I doubt that the man went through all the trouble to fake his identity, risk his career to then put out false information... that doesn't make sense. He could have just put out false information. I think Heartland got caught.
Talking about Teamism, your assuming that one side is telling the truth the other is lying, based on personal feelings about global warming. This is all childish nonsense while the world has pollution issues.
Global Warming is not going to be believed by one group of people, regardless who has the data or what the temperature is on average on this planet. That's just the way it is.
Global Warming or No Global Warming.
All I know is I can sit in the same room with someone that smokes 25 cigarettes a day and I might get cancer after 30 years... or I can sit in the same room with a small gasoline powered car with the engine running at an idle speed and in 30 minutes I will be dead from Carbon Monoxide poisoning.
There are over 1 Billion of these little poison generators running on this planet, and we want to argue over CO2 hockey sticks.
How close do we need to bring the planet to the point of death before we care?
If CEO's increased their pay at the same rate as Average Americans
their pay would average $1,384,890 not $10,621,000 |
Edited by carygold on 02-22-12 11:21 AM. Reason for edit: No reason given.
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mgrayar
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02-22-12 11:38 AM - Post#145717
In response to carygold
Cary,
What report led you to believe the document was authentic? Nothing posted here led me to that conclusion. I agree that people tend to believe only what fits their agenda, but I really don't see any information that would disprove the analysis of this document being a forgery.
It's also surprising that you would say you have a hard time believing he would take the risk of forging this document. I would say that anyone willing to break the law to try to obtain information they believe exists is probably not above manufacturing false documents when that information is not found.
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Edited by mgrayar on 02-22-12 11:45 AM. Reason for edit: No reason given.
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Joe Schirmer
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02-22-12 11:45 AM - Post#145718
In response to carygold
Cary don't forget the fact that the "strategy memo" was almost certanly faked. It is easier to hide a lie among a bunch of truths which is most likely why Gleick did the phishing attack on the HI to get the other documents.
No matter what side you take on the AGW debate the dishonesty and tactics taken by Gleick should be condemed by everyone.
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carygold
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02-22-12 12:11 PM - Post#145719
In response to Joe Schirmer
I know all of the software required to fake documents.
If I took any email, printed it and then scanned the print to a PDF document you could not prove anymore than the time I scanned it to a pdf and maybe the tool I used to scan it.
The information in all of this is not proof of anything, except what Gleick admitted to doing, the rest is speculation.
There is no information that proves the data is real or fake, except that the Teams have chosen sides.
Just because Charles Koch says why he donated money to Heartland does not make it fact, especially from a person with the last name Koch.
To me there is no proof anyone here is telling the truth, but the fact Gleick got the info dishonestly... means there is a good chance its real information. Otherwise he could have just made it all up to begin with without scamming Heartland into sending him email.
I think they have all forgotten the point.
It proves nothing.
When two people pretending to be a pimp and his "employee" go into an organization with a hidden camera, then solicit specific responses for the camera and then edit the video put it on an opposing news channel, all to destroy the organizations creditably... who is in the right?
Who benefits from a destruction by lies or misinformation?
These two sides of the Global Warming issue are all twisting the truth to suit their needs. Now, no one will listen and big corporations can keep dumping their garbage into the environment.
If CEO's increased their pay at the same rate as Average Americans
their pay would average $1,384,890 not $10,621,000 |
Edited by carygold on 02-22-12 12:13 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.
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nomoon
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02-22-12 12:12 PM - Post#145720
In response to carygold
Congratulations, Cary, you are one of a extremely small group of people who are defending the memo as legitimate. Even rabid warming activist David Appell (The "fake" Memo Definitely Looks Suspicious) thinks that it looks suspicious, as well as several other bloggers who are supportive of the global warming cause. The Atlantic's "Heartland Memo Looking Faker by the Minute" gives lots of details.
I doubt that the man went through all the trouble to fake his identity, risk his career to then put out false information... that doesn't make sense. He could have just put out false information.
Stupid, but it wouldn't have been the first stupid thing that he's admitted to recently. It was the content in the memo that convinced people that he was a prime suspect in the first place. It seemed odd that he admitted to the other stuff first.
It has nothing to do with Teamism. There are plenty of people of both sides of the global warming debate who think that the memo is dubious, based on the evidence.
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carygold
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02-22-12 12:42 PM - Post#145722
In response to nomoon
How do we know this part is true... because someone said it was true?
"I used a pdfinfo script to analyse the memos. The info I got is that all the meta data dates changed on the day of the leak in the Pacific time zone (-8 GMT). This is likely where our thief resides."
Come on....pdf info scripts?? Time zones??? When Meta data changed??... really??
If the emails were printed and scanned there is no change to the meta data only a creation date and GMT accuracy has been an issue for lots of software users, it might not even be correct if he could really find it.
Also since the meta data can be easily changed, how do we know these people didn't make it fit their own scenario.
I'm not siding with anyone...
I'm just using Occam's razor. I think it is less likely that a person would post fake information, if they went through the trouble to get the actual information in the first place, even if they faked their identity to do it.
And its more likely that Heartland would say the information is fake, especially if it was gained through their back door.
I don't have a side, my gut says, Heartland got scammed and they don't want to admit it.
If CEO's increased their pay at the same rate as Average Americans
their pay would average $1,384,890 not $10,621,000 |
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Joe Schirmer
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02-22-12 01:20 PM - Post#145724
In response to carygold
He's talking about where the PDF was created. The Metadata in the PDF files show that it was created in the Pacific Time Zone (or at least the computer used to created it was set to use Pacific Time Zone). And since the Heartland's offices are in the Midwest it would be unlikely that the PDF file was created by them. And if the Metadata was hacked, what would that prove? Why would HI hack their internal documents to make it look like they were created in a different time zone?
I would re-apply Occam's razor, since the preponderance of evidence seems to point to a faked document.
Edited by Joe Schirmer on 02-22-12 01:21 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.
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carygold
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02-22-12 01:54 PM - Post#145728
In response to Joe Schirmer
I'm simply saying just because someone says they saw (-8) GMT does not mean they really did and even if it was in that time zone... so what!!
That does not make the document more or less real, it just a BS argument.
If I send you an email and you print it out and scan it to a pdf, does it make it a lie? No it doesn't, in fact its more of a trail.
Its a hard sell to tell me someone faked their identity to get actual information, to then turn around and post a fake document.
Especially, when that document could risk HI's relationship with Koch Industries.
The meta data proves nothing about the validity of the information.
If CEO's increased their pay at the same rate as Average Americans
their pay would average $1,384,890 not $10,621,000 |
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Joe Schirmer
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02-22-12 02:21 PM - Post#145734
In response to carygold
Use Occam's razor.
I'm sure that if the metadata said somthing different that at least one of Gleick's supporters would have pointed that out by now?
And you are right that the timezone where the pdf file was created is not, by itself, proof of the document being a fake. But it does show rthat the document was not scaned at the HI. That, along with other evidence seems to indicate that the policy document is a fake. And there seems to be agreement with that from multiple fronts.
You are free to believe, against the evidence, that the document is legit. But like I said, use Occam's razor.
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mgrayar
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02-22-12 02:33 PM - Post#145737
In response to Joe Schirmer
Cary, don't you find it hard to believe a known and admitted criminal when he is trying to justify his crime.
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Jimi Ray Clapton
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02-22-12 02:42 PM - Post#145741
In response to mgrayar
Is it true that there is a large majority consensus among the global scientific community that are dedicated to this research that the Earth has been warming and that this group, in a majority sense, have concluded that human activity may very well be at cause?
If so, what is the significance of this alleged fraud in the larger picture?
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Joe Schirmer
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02-22-12 03:52 PM - Post#145751
In response to Jimi Ray Clapton
Good question. But a better question is: If there is such as strong consesus then why does a well-respected scientist need to resort to fraud to support his theory? The answer to my question would, I suspect, also answer yours.
Edited by Joe Schirmer on 02-22-12 03:52 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.
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carygold
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02-22-12 05:45 PM - Post#145763
In response to Joe Schirmer
Notice how the comments lead you to a conclusion...The "fake" Memo Definitely Looks Suspicious...LOL.. if its fake it would be suspicious.. wouldn't it?
The conclusion IMO..
One guy got info from HI, maybe from a disgruntaled employee of HI. Everything is real, even HI says its real...except one memo, that one memo HI and others are saying contains an information map to the important data that was collected about how an organization wants to turn kids against science and global warming.
There is a big push against academia, by the GOP and the Koch Brothers, in many areas, but that's the way it is when scientific facts get in the way of ideas like pollution for profit is better than clean air and water.
If CEO's increased their pay at the same rate as Average Americans
their pay would average $1,384,890 not $10,621,000 |
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Joe Schirmer
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02-23-12 09:17 AM - Post#145776
In response to carygold
Cary,
I suppose that there might be room for debate on the authenticity of the policy document. I believe the preponderance of evidence seems to indicate that it is most likely a fake, you don't.
But I suppose the bigger question that everyone is avoiding the one I asked earlier... If there is such as strong consesus then why does a well-respected scientist need to resort to fraud to support his theory? My guess is that there is more room for debate on anthropomorphic climate change than Gleick would care to admit.
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carygold
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02-23-12 05:40 PM - Post#145829
In response to Joe Schirmer
On the evidence side, it may be possible the one possibly fake document is not part of the original documents, but HI or a member of HI could have created that document themselves and they are now using it as a distraction from the facts in the rest of data. Or Gleick could have created it to point to the issues he wanted to highlight... I don't think we will ever know and I'm not convince that the "evidence," is conclusive, at this point.
It would be dumb to get access to actual documents and then add a fake document, but I don't know Gleick and it is possible that's what he did, I'm not convinced who created the document.
I don't think Gleick was trying to support his theory as much as he was trying to expose the internal workings of HI. IMO
As far as anthropomorphic climate change I believe there is a lot more money behind disproving the theory than to prove it. So, who knows what the truth is at this point, because if the big money is on creating doubt they have been successful.
If CEO's increased their pay at the same rate as Average Americans
their pay would average $1,384,890 not $10,621,000 |
Edited by carygold on 02-23-12 05:41 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.
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nomoon
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02-23-12 06:18 PM - Post#145832
In response to carygold
As far as anthropomorphic climate change I believe there is a lot more money behind disproving the theory than to prove it. So, who knows what the truth is at this point, because if the big money is on creating doubt they have been successful.
Really!?! You might want to check the numbers. According to Joanne Nova, the budgets for various alarmist groups are pretty hefty. Here are just the top four in her list:
WWF..................$700 M
Greenpeace.........$300 M
Pew...................$360 M
Sierra Club............$56 M
That’s well over $1 billion. And then there’s the US government’s contribution. The United States Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) has a budget of well over $2 billion (closer to $2.5 b). I’m not sure if that includes money that the EPA spends on climate propaganda and overhead. And then there are all of the over governments along with their contributions to the IPCC. Now, we are up to around $4 billion in annual funds promoting the alarmist view.
How does that compare to the Heartland Institute’s budget?
Heartland Institute ....... $7 M
They seem pretty effective with such a small budget. In case you didn't know, they called their rebuttal to the IPCC report the Non-Governmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC) report.
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