Gold amongst the dross
or the Great Monckton Memory hole
From Christopher Monckton via JoAnne Nova we have the answer to Monckton's deranged demand letter on the University of St. Thomas (corrected, JAN from whom Eli copied the letter text left something out. Thanks to Igor for pointing this out. Omission in italic)
The lawyers have spoken for the University. Go add your support for the University and Prof. Abraham at Gareth's placeWe received your email response to our June 25, 2010 letter. The University of St Thomas respects your right to disagree with Professor Abraham, just as the University respects Professor Abraham's right to disagree with you. What we object to are your personal attacks against Father Dease, and Professor Abraham, your inflammatory language, and your decision to disparage Professor Abraham Father Dease and The Univerity of St Thomas.
"Please be advised that neither we nor the University of St Thomas will communicate with you any further about your decision to sully the University of St. Thomas, Professor Abraham, and others rather than to focus on the scholarly differences between you and Professor Abraham."
Signed: Phyllis Karasov, Moore Costellow and Hart, P.L.L.P.
Added: Nick Barnes immediately below points to the "complete" correspondence, which includes this bit of purple prose from our Viscount
I should also be obliged if you were to specify which television interview you are referring to (I do not recall having conducted such an interview, so it may have been recorded some time ago), and to set forth a schedule specifying each "disparaging", "outrageous", or "defamatory" comment I am alleged to have made, with a brief indication of why, in each instance, the comment is considered "disparaging", "outrageous", or "defamatory", so that I may reach an informed opinion on whether to repeat or apologize for the comment.Since bunnies are obliging beasts, joe finds the dross amidst the blovation
It is also fair that I should draw your attention to a radio interview I gave to the Alex Jones show yesterday, before your present letter reached me. If there are any "disparaging", "outrageous", or "defamatory" remarks therein that you would prefer me not to repeat, perhaps you would be kind enough to say which and why, ut supra.
From the Alex Jones show, 24 June 2010 part 5/6 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnQdKDeDjqI)Christopher does not really understand the parallel nature of the internet and blogs. Eli eagerly awaits Moncktons apology to the University of St. Thomas and Father Dease.
"...that, on its own, would be an offense for which he would be dismissed from a real university, but then he only belongs this half-assed Catholic Bible college" (1:10)
"...but apparently in this Bible college, lying is part of what they regard as their Christian mission..." (2:45)
"...I want you to email this creep of a President, Father Dennis J. Dease..."(08:30)
BTW, John Abraham's letter to Monckton was a work of art
Dear Mr. Monckton:Thanks to Joe and Nick
I am replying to your letter of June 10, 2010, on behalf of myself and, at his request Fr. Dennis Dease, President of the University of St. Thomas. I stand by my original position. Point and counterpoint are the standard in academic discourse.
Regards,
Dr. John Abraham
Associate Professor
School of Engineering
University of St. Thomas
Posts
35 comments:
The whole correspondence, allegedly, is here:
http://jonova.s3.amazonaws.com/monckton/warm-abraham-correspondence.doc
It's excellent; I've taken a copy for future reference. That Monckton or his supporters can see this as bolstering his side is indicative, and also very, very funny.
I tried the link, Nick but didn't get much joy. What I would realy like to see is the Letter Monckton sent that is decsribed as containing " personal attacks against Father Dease" and being inflammatory and disparaging of Father Dease.
I don't understand why Monckton hasn't made this letter public. After all he is demanding the immediate release of all Abraham's emails concerning this matter.
Also how could a good Catholic boy be so disrespectfull to the clergy?
John McManus
You can tell he's serious because he uses latin words unnecessarily!
Monkton calls for Abraham's dismissal. That's rich! If only CM could be fired from being a Lord.
Bay Bunny
That is a very well-written "pi*s off" message from Ms. Kasarov.
Toby
John: I think the lawyers were responding to comments Monckton made on the Alex Jones Show on 24 June 2010. To wit:
From the Alex Jones show, 24 June 2010 part 5/6 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnQdKDeDjqI)
"...that, on its own, would be an offense for which he would be dismissed from a real university, but then he only belongs this half-assed Catholic Bible college" (1:10)
"...but apparently in this Bible college, lying is part of what they regard as their Christian mission..." (2:45)
"...I want you to email this creep of a President, Father Dennis J. Dease..."(08:30)
I think Ms Karasov wrote not so much a "pi*s off' letter
but rather a "you've just received your only warning" letter.
John Puma
Eli,
The last paragraph in your quote from the lawyers' response to Monckton is incorrect. Looking at the full correspondence using Nick's reference above, it should read:
"Please be advised that neither we nor the University of St Thomas will communicate with you any further about your decision to sully the University of St. Thomas, Professor Abraham, and others rather than to focus on the scholarly differences between you and Professor Abraham."
Igor.
Joe - Thanks for watching that so I don't have to! Chris might consider being careful about dissing Bible Colleges. Especially since you might very well describe Bethel University, where he delivered his debunked diatribe, in just such terms.
Best,
Bay Bunny
I can't help thinking that Monkton's screed against Dr. Abraham provides a kind of litmus test: Anybody who can read more than a few paragraphs and not identify it as the work of an utter crank is probably one himself.
My congratulations to Dr. Abraham. It must be very gratifying to find that his presentation has had so great an impact as to have provoked such an obviously disturbed response.
Thanks;
I found the info. Maybe I'm not as good on the net as I think I am.
The reference to the creep was nice, but the assertion that the Bishop was too busy with allegations about little boys was truly classy.
A number of nits were picked with Jones. Again and again the delusional duke said that his use of a graph from an academic paper could in no way indicate his use of the information in that paper.
John McManus
Did JoNo also add the typo, or are the lawyers in need of a proofreader? ("The Univerity")
I do like 'univerity' -- but it smacks of ex cathedra ....
Your version has an apostrophe that Deltoid's text was missing; maybe JoNo has been correcting her text?
Eli supplied the gold; now let me supply a turd (a big steaming one at that)
It's Anthony Watts' first highlighted "Comment of the Week" (http://wattsupwiththat.com/2010/07/15/comment-of-the-week/#more-21987 --reproduced here it its full glory):
Comment of the week
Posted on July 15, 2010 by Anthony Watts
This may or may not become a new weekly feature, but I thought this comment was worth elevating to post status:
Alexander Feht says:
July 14, 2010 at 11:18 pm
I completely understand, why Christopher Monckton felt a need to make an example of a typical reprehensible representative of modern Academia. People like Christopher Monckton make me hope again that not everything is lost yet under the Moon.
And yet… I spent first half of my life battling liars and cockroaches in the former USSR. I would win against any individual liar or cockroach, no sweat. But year after year after year, I was getting more and more convinced that I didn’t want to die in this battle, overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of my enemies.
So. I live in a quiet valley now, in Colorado Rockies. Grass is green, air is fresh, sky is huge. But what is this constant swish and rustle coming from the East Coast and from the Left Coast? I know this sound well! There is no escape from the battle: cockroaches are coming.
In the old Soviet Union, commies weren't the only sour-pussed authoritarians.
"Cockroach" was the term used by Hutu radicals to inflame the war against the Tutsis in Rwanda. It is a way of dehumanizing the enemy. Is this really what Anthony Watts wants to highlight? Will post there when I get to my home IP.
Deech56
Questions for Lord Monckton.
94. You complain about damage to your reputation due to your words being misrepresented and taken out of context. Yet in your talk you attribute to Sir John Haughton FRS CBE the phrase 'Unless we announce disasters no-one will listen'. Are you aware that Sir John never actually used this phrase? Why did you use the quote without checking the alleged source, Sir John's book on global warming, where it never appears. Why did you fail to reply to an email from The Independent newspaper alerting you to this fact?
95. Why should anyone contact you for sources and citations, when a previous attempt by Arthur Smith to give you advance notice of a critical article by sending you a draft, resulted in that article being posted on the internet, in breach of Smith's copyright and harrassment of Smith by yourself and Bob Ferguson of SPPI?
Talk being cheap, those who are so inclined might consider flinging some gold at the dross as a more concrete expression of support:
A campaign for St. Thomas
Two minutes into the video linked by Joe:
But I'm already talking to some of the university's largest funders and they are gonna cut off funding unless he gets on and gets of his bottom and does his job as head of that university. And has this man Abraham hauled in front of a committee of his peers, to examine whether I am telling the truth or he is telling the truth.
Hope the funders see through M.
Is that actionable?
There once was a Lord who used "Bible"
As if it were just short of libel
He said "They're half-assed"
"While I have got class"
"Those Catholics appear to be liable"
There once was a trenchant young Viscount
Who sought climate science to discount
A professor denied
The wee lord a free ride
And now his hurt pride he must surmount
The Miscount of Brenchley was rude
His religion-based insults quite crude
Said he "It's their mission"
"These sins of commission"
"And their 'Father' is one creepy dude."
Monckton also refers to John Abraham as a "wretched little man" in the interview he can't remember having taken. For a man who appears to have memorised large swathes of criticisms against John Abraham he certainly has a selective memory.
Sagan's candle is burning a little brighter tonight...
The fool Lord of Brenchley did name
John Abrahams as worthy of blame,
And President Dease,
Marring St. Thomas' peace,
Till all roared, "Ecraser l'infame!"
This is simply hilarious.
Makes you realise the twisted thought processes of those who were just recently calling foul over "blacklists".
My post at WUWT seems to have been stuck in moderation since yesterday evening, so here it is:
The term "cockroach" was used to by Hutus to dehumanize their Tutsi neighbors in Rwanda. Do people here really want to demonize people who disagree with you this way?
Apparently, commenter Kum Dollison thinks this way: "Cockroaches are many, but they’re easily killed. Time, and numbers, are on 'our' side."
As blogger Dave Neiwert has pointed out, this is eliminationist rhetoric, and IMHO, has no place in a scientific, or political, argument. Commenter toby has been posting some good stuff.
Deech56
Deech, another commenter calling opponents of Monckton cockroaches was elevated to the rank of comment of the week. Despicable.
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2010/07/15/comment-of-the-week/
I'm guessing that Judith Curry will have to add an additional tribe.
"The cockroaches"
Mela
Found another smelly bit of Watts scat:
(From http://wattsupwiththat.com/2010/07/15/comment-of-the-week/ -- scroll down a bit)
REPLY: Big update being planned just prior to the release of our paper. After having NCDC “borrow” our own work before it was even done, against my objections, I’m not going to give them anything to build on further until the paper is out. -A
So Watts' surface stations paper is coming along very nicely, and when it is published, the scientists and NCDC and NOAA are going to scatter like cockroaches!!! That'll learn 'em!
-- caerbannog the anonybunny (the one with the nasty big pointy teeth).
Oh, and the comment right below Watts' comment just exploded my irony meter:
Robert of Ottawa says:
July 15, 2010 at 11:39 am
As a kid, I was baffled as to how Lysenko could prevailo; now I understand.
-- caerbannog the anonybunny (the one with the nasty big pointy teeth).
Watts' "comment of the week" comment thread just keeps on giving!
Here's another gem (glad I haven't replaced my blown-out irony meter).
Richard says:
July 15, 2010 at 11:04 am
His blog, his rules. Alexander lives in the Rockies, perhaps a Galt’s Gulch can be started there!
Reading that thread has been entertaining, but expensive. Let's see -- so far it's one toasted irony-meter, one gummed up keyboard, some slightly scalded nasal passages...
-- caerbannog the anonybunny (the one with the nasty big pointy teeth).
Those academic types are all roaches
Quite typical of their approaches:
To emerge with the facts
And then scurry back
And hide when the Motel encroaches.
Watts (via anonymouse) wrote:
After having NCDC “borrow” our own work before it was even done
That's the Menne paper right? Has anyone told McIntyre that Watts is refusing to share his SurfaceStations.org data? It sounds to me like he needs to be audited.
Regards
Luke
Limericks are all well and fine, but black belts defame with double-dactyls. Mine will be along in a piffle.
I also try to find poetry in everyday wording and phrasing. Freud was right. An infinite number of monkeys, preparing an infinite number of powerpoints, would eventually lampoon an infinite number of poltroons with the grace and acid of an infinite number of Daniel Defoes. Until that day, however, we'll have to allow the polpoons to lamtroon themselves.
Zo:
Brenchley said:
"At universities here in the UK, artfully dishonest personal attacks such as this, and which on his own admission has been circulated to a very wide audience, would not be prepared or distributed on the university’s time or with its facilities, and could – if found to be serious, as you may well find this one to be – merit dismissal."
The university agreed. Monckton's complaint has been dismissed.
ice9
A small point, but it has bothered me for several days. The St Thomas of the university appears to be St Thomas Aquinas (at least they have a St Thomas Aquinas chapel). The painting, however, is Holbein's portrait of Thomas Moore.
Love the articles Eli, keep up the good work!
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