From This Morning's "Chronicle of Higher Education" Daily Mailing:

AN UNUSUAL INVESTIGATION into the work of three climate
scientists by a powerful congressman has drawn public
rebukes from another prominent House Republican and from
scientific associations in the United States and abroad.
--> SEE http://chronicle.com/daily/2005/07/2005071801n.htm

Here's a series of excerpts for those who do not have a subscription to the Chronicle:

"An unusual investigation into the work of three climate scientists by a powerful congressman has drawn public rebukes from another prominent House Republican and from scientific associations in the United States and abroad.

Those critics characterize the investigation by Rep. Joe Barton, a Texas Republican, as a form of intimidation aimed at scientists whose work he disagrees with. The scientists have published studies suggesting that the earth is warmer now than at any time in the past 1,000 years.

Mr. Barton, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce committee, is a longstanding opponent of international efforts to curb emissions of greenhouse gases, the pollution that scientists say has likely caused much of the recent warming.

It also demanded that the scientists turn over the computer programs they used in their analyses, in spite of statements by the National Science Foundation that such programs are the intellectual property of the investigators. The three scientists received support from the foundation for the climate studies at the focus of the investigation.

In response to the criticism of his studies, Mr. Mann wrote that several other authors have used independent data and methods and reached similar conclusions: that the earth is warmer now than at any time in the past 1,000 years."

on Friday, a group of 20 eminent earth scientists wrote to Mr. Barton that they were "deeply concerned about your approach." A draft of the letter said that Mr. Barton's request for " " The authall working materials related to hundreds of publications stretching back decadescan be seen as intimidation -- intentional or not -- and thereby risks compromising the independence of scientific opinion that is vital to the preeminence of American science. Authors of the letter include Mario Molina, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of California in San Diego who won the Nobel Prize in 1995, and John P. Holdren, a professor of environmental policy at Harvard who is president-elect of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. "


Hmm. Global Warming Doesn't exist. Have any of you read Michael Crichton's "State of Fear?" Well, I have. Apart from, in my opinion, being the worst of his pseudo-science fictions, Crichton's book pulls data from around the world to support that notion that global warming is not true. He focuses on data from the last 50-100 years to show that urban areas have seen an increase in average temperatures, but rural areas have seen an average DECREASE in average temperatures. This seems to support the idea that urbanization is a big culprit in measuring global warming. But nevermind the oceanic recording scales. In his fiction book, Crichton puts forth the "Environmental Liberation Front" (ELF) that is out to cause catastrophic acts of "environmental (eco-)terrorism" as a way to gain international attention to their cause that global warming is happening. It sounds like a radical extention of the modern-day "Earth First" [Greenpeace is non-violent] which has been connected with the spiking of trees to prevent logging operations among other concerns. ELF is a real organization that is often put in alliance with the ALF (Animal Liberation Front) -- an activist side of PETA.

What I find interesting here is that some may find that the acronym ELF has another meaning in the environmental activist side as well. ELF stands for "Extreme Low Frequency" and refers to the U.S. Navy's use of ELF signals that can penetrate the Earth's crust and ocean in order to be used as a global communication mechanism for submarines. These antenna sites have been the site of numerous protests and arrests since the 1980s. There was one of these "bases" near where I grew up. The current word is that the bases are now being shut down in favor of other communication devices, but the point is that inconclusive evidence has been out there for years that ELF has caused interruptions in the natural navigational and behavioral functions of whales, dolphins, seals, and other sea life resulting in beachings and illnesses. While the jury is still out on this, there has been suspicion that ELF affects migratory birds as well and emits harmful radiation that affects all mammals. Read about ELF at the following website:

http://www.nukewatch.com/projectelf/talkingpoints.html