Were you to take an inquisitive interest in ‘string theory’, the field of physics that predicts all particles are different vibration modes of fundamental filaments of energy, you would likely be thanked for your interest. Discuss the ‘saturation’ of carbon dioxide, as many distinguished scientists do, and inquire whether the gas’s warming properties in the atmosphere rapidly decline after it reaches a certain level, and you will be lucky if the only insult you get is the ubiquitous slur that you are morally equivalent to a Holocaust denier. Slowly, the politicisation of climate – and medicine – is leading to the widespread demise of empiricism. Last month, the Australian Academy of Sciences (AAS) made a disgraceful call for broadcast news and the internet to censor what it called “climate denialism misinformation” as well as “disinformation” about the Great Barrier Reef, Covid vaccines and other issues that result in “societal harm”.
It went on to call for all social media platforms to proactively promote “trusted information” to “inoculate” people against misinformation. Platforms should be “held accountable” for content that challenges the official narrative on any of these issues. According to the Australian climate writer Jo Nova, the head of the AAS is Anna-Maria Arabia, who spent five years advising local Labour politicians and has been calling for legislation to silence climate sceptics since 2011.
Ms. Nova goes on to note: “Once upon a time the AAS had esteemed scientists. If there are any left they had better speak up while they still can.” She quotes the atmospheric physicist Professor Garth Paltridge, who said: “I just cannot understand how any science academy that is supposed to operate through rational debate can behave like this – that is, to use pure political brute force to prevent one side of the argument from putting its case.”
The shutters on serious climate science are coming down everywhere. As the Daily Sceptic reported recently, computer models are being developed at Exeter University to track down “climate disbeliefs”. These ‘disbeliefs’, tracked by Associate Politics Professor Travis Coan, such as the ‘saturation’ of CO2 in the earth’s atmosphere, along with suggestions that the climate moves in natural cycles and the Sun plays a part in climate change, as does water vapour. The fact that these are central issues in the study of climate and the atmosphere does not seem to have occurred to this academic nincompoop. Over in the Geography Department of this same seat of unlearning, Associate Professor Saffron O’Neill has written a paper suggesting a “solution” to the dissemination of climate misinformation might be “fines and imprisonment”. I hear they’re keeping a table in the Wormwood Scrubs canteen free for the staff of the Daily Sceptic. (Note to fact-checkers: that’s a joke.)
Much of the AAS’s recent comments can be fairly described as trade protection. The Academy holds itself out as providing “independent, authoritative and influential advice” to government, bringing science “to the service of the nation”. Disinformation on health matters, or ecological and environment matters, such as material ‘misrepresenting’ studies of coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef, ”are a barrier to good policy and a healthy society”.
Writing on Watts Up With That?, Eric Worrall suggested the AAS was in no position to claim the mantle of gatekeeper. “Their inclusion of criticism of Great Barrier Reef science in their censorship proposals is particularly outrageous,” he wrote. Imagine not being able to criticise the alarmist statements of AAS-affiliated scientists like ARC Centre for Coral Excellence Director Terry Hughes, who told us in 2021 that coral bleaching is caused by record-breaking temperatures driven by global warming.
Just a year later, the Reef was restored to full health with record coral cover. The Reef’s had a difficult past decade and alarmists took full advantage to peddle their global warming agenda. Cyclone damage, starfish attacks and two powerful El Niño oscillations causing sudden spikes in the water temperature around the Reef led to considerable damage and bleaching. Once conditions stabilised, the coral sprang back – in the process, thoroughly debunking the politicised tantrum that it was all due to human-caused global warming.
The AAS is not just prepared to beat up on free speech on the internet. It also has professional mainstream broadcasters in its sights. Sky Australia is a thorn in the side of the green propagandists with a pesky inclination to present all the facts. Or as the AAS notes, “some Australian news outlets are havens for climate science misinformation”. Sky’s media personalities are said to be a “key source of climate science misinformation globally”. Particular irritation seems to have been caused by the news broadcaster’s coverage of the recent COP26 meeting in Glasgow. Australia has a ‘Code of Practice’ on digital “disinformation and misinformation”. AAS says that Sky and others should not be excluded from being penalised for broadcasting “misinformation” under the Code, despite following their own editorial legal requirements.
Thankfully, there is a growing push back against these anti-free-speech movements within science, as practised by outfits like the AAS. As we have reported, nearly 300 professors from around the world have signed the World Climate Declaration, stating there is no climate emergency. Climate science is criticised by the signatories for having degenerated into a discussion based on ideological beliefs, not sound self-critical science. One of the lead signatories is the Australian geologist Professor Ian Plimer, who has been a long-time critic of global warming scaremongering. Another signatory is the noted coral reef expert Professor Peter Ridd. In 2018 he was fired from his post at James Cook University in Queensland for pointing out the quality assurance deficiencies in reef-science institutions.
Unlike the coral, Professor Ridd’s position remains the same. He is still fired.
Chris Morrison is the Daily Sceptic’s Environment Editor.
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I don’t know what to make of this. What are Globocap up to?
Surely Norway hasn’t gone rogue?
Very strange.
Anders must have given his neighbours some helpful advice.
Well, they can deal with Norway the same way they dealt with Sweden.
Step 1: Manufacture some terrible stats from Norway that “demonstrate’ that their approach has been a disaster. Basically create the false narrative that their approach has failed.
Step 2: Give air time to a few local “experts” who show that the population is really begging for the mindless measures implemented elsewhere. So create the false narrative they are really unhappy with their government’s approach.
Step 3: Ignore the place exists and ignore the success of their approach so that people elsewhere can’t find out the information they’ve been fed about the place has been a pack of lies.
As long as this sort of rogue behaviour is confined to seemingly inconsequential and out of the way countries in Scandinavia, they probably think they can deal with it.
Although Norway fell into the trap of excessive Covid measures, its responses have tended to be tempered by emerging evidence much more than most western European nations. So this isn’t so strange.
Having the most sensible country as their neighbour could well have helped, too.
They simply don’t want Sweden to be first.
Let`s see how long it lasts. Am seriously considering buying into a boat escape to get the hell out of this sh** hole (with one or two other local sceptics/deniers) Norway might be a feasible destination from the North East coast. Will they accept tyranny refugees.. Florida too far to paddle.
Ha ha! I could have written your comment word for word!
I worry that this is more behavioural psychology at work. Fear cannot be sustained indefinitely, therefore it is necessary to ease the pressure for a time before ramping it up again.
That is why we are getting a taste of ‘freedom day’. Get everyone used to normal and then when winter arrives we get the ‘choice’ between a return to lockdown or accept the vax passports- which was the aim all along.
It will be impossible to reject the domestic health pass because you are essentially campaigning to go back into lockdown and cancel Christmas. Checkmate.
Classic abuse case psychology – control the narrative so the illusion of choice makes the only palatable option to be the one you wanted all along.
Yep, spot on. Of course what’s it’s going to take is for the majority to mightily push back and reject both! But will that happen?
Oh dear – “unless they are professionally justified”. How many times has that one been there? They’ve never been justified, professionally or otherwise
But I understand you have to be double-jabbed to get in from the UK, unless you quarantine for a NOK500 per night fee for however many days …
Perhaps look a bit syrian and you’ll no longer have to follow migration rules.
Their inalienable rights and freedoms were stolen from them and now they’re “grateful” to have them back? Well, I suppose I’d be grateful if a thief returned my stolen car after 18 months but I’d still want to smack him in the mouth.
“Their inalienable rights and freedoms were stolen from them and now they’re “grateful” to have them back?“
This is how rights become privileges.
3 mosques in Tønsberg coincidentally.
Meanwhile in Lithuania
https://txti.es/covid-pass/images
Lithuania left the USSR yet even Putin’s country doesn’t oppress as much!
Perhaps a Nazi salute to the covid mutaween while you internal passport is checked may help get across what’s happening.
What percentage of Norway is vaccinated? Heard it’s quite high? Is that the reason why they have freedom?
It’s not really freedom if you had to accept being injected with an experimental drug to get what they decide is good enough for you, is it?
“Two in five Norwegians believe corruption taints both the country’s political parties and the industry sector.”
https://www.thelocal.no/20130709/norwegians-wary-of-corrupt-politicians/
It’s baffling isn’t it and a plot hole in the ‘it’s all a Global Coup’ argument. We need to be honest about that. I suppose it was never going to be perfect and while astonishingly successful in convincing country after country to commit hari-kari on the sword of technocracy, maybe it was never going to be perfect – the criminals behind this aren’t superhuman after all…
Norway has not got rid of Covid restrictions:
“25 September at 4 pm entry restrictions for the EEA/Schengen area and purple countries (countries outside the EEA/Schengen area which the Norwegian Institute of Public Health considers to have an acceptable rate of infection) will be lifted. This means that EEA nationals, people from other countries who reside in the EEA, and people residing in the UK and Switzerland may enter Norway.
Entry restrictions will continue to apply for people coming from all other countries (grey countries).”
“travellers arriving from red, dark red, purple (countries which the Norwegian Institute of Public Health considers to have an acceptable infection rate) and grey countries (all other countries) must quarantine. People who are either fully-vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19 during the past six months are exempt from this requirement. They must be able to document this by means of a verifiable COVID-19 certificate that is connected to the EUDCC gateway.”
https://www.regjeringen.no/en/topics/koronavirus-covid-19/travel-to-norway/id2791503/
If you think Norway has gone free of Covid regulations and rules and forced vaccines, you need to bang your head against the wall and think again.
“Norway will begin to offer COVID-19 vaccines to children aged 12 to 15, Prime Minister Erna Solberg said on Thursday.”
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/norway-offer-covid-vaccines-children-aged-12-years-older-2021-09-02/
Just as this country is making plans for “vaccine passports”, another draconian measure, Norway is free to go.