When I Was a Kid

When I was a kid, the label of “Scientist” was one of the highest accolades that one could have bestowed on them.  That would include, of course, Medical Science.  If you were anything that ended in “ist,” you were really something special.  That was it.  No one looked beyond the PhD or Physicist, or MD, or Meteorologist or any other form of “ist.”

The coming investigations – not just Congressional — into what is fast becoming known as “ClimateGate,” though, will send folks like I am into another zone, reeling from disbelief and the attack on the foundations of all I’ve ever been taught.  Been taught by other Scientists, that is.  Hmmmmm.  If you also count yourself among those who also are surprised that Climate Scientists have been disingenuous in their endorsement of the challenge from climate “shtuff,” I welcome your company.  Before long, the actual numbers of the skeptics among us will surpass the announced, supposed, alleged numbers who believe in the phenomenon, especially after having had their Global Warming gatherings cancelled because of snow.

The signs of false claims have been growing over the years in a number of fields, not just Science, unmistakably.  Claims of cloning “successes” that turned out to be falsified.  “Cold Fusion” as an inexhaustible source of “free” energy…..wrong!  The “Dot Bomb” stock bubble followed by the housing bubble.

On the one hand, it is part of growing up to discover that some Policemen take bribes, that some Dentists drink to excess, and that some Priests get carried away with Altar Boys.  On the other hand, though, most of us still go to work every day and put in an honest day’s effort, not concealing much beyond an “extra” ballpoint pen in our pocket or purse now and then.  On the other hand, though, to discover that thousands of people – “Scientists” — climbed aboard the “Global Warming” train in order to heighten the success rate of their grant proposals and, thus, their incomes, is very disturbing.  As the media coverage mounts, and it will, be prepared to put your fingers in your child’s ears and cover their eyes just like you do for coverage of other sorts of societal bad behavior.  And say a prayer that the No-Bell Piece Prize can be revoked as easily as it was awarded to Algore.

The good news is that, just as other slimy things found under big, flat rocks slither away looking for a new place to hide when the rock is turned over and they are exposed, so will the coming investigations into Global Warming/Climate Change reduce the number of “Scientists” performing laboratory “tricks,” at least for a while.