Post by scpg02 on Jan 18, 2010 15:31:15 GMT
The CIA and the New "Cold" War
Written by James Heiser
Thursday, 14 January 2010 15:56
As the Northern Hemisphere experiences a winter that leaves many people wondering how much more global warming we can endure before we all freeze to death, The New York Times online edition ran the headline — “C.I.A. Is Sharing Data With Climate Scientists”— which, at first, sounds incredibly important. Clearly the government must be taking climate change really, really seriously if the CIA is giving scientists access to its spy satellite photography!
But then one stops to think: “Oh, wait. This is the same Central Intelligence Agency that leaves one doubting whether they know the meaning of the term ‘actionable intelligence’ when it comes to stopping terrorists”— Nidal Hasan comes to mind —“so what sort of intelligence are they sharing with global warming gurus?” One might as well conclude that their collaboration is evidence of global cooling — and that if they did have any evidence of global warming, they would lose it.
Some of us are old enough to remember when the job of the CIA involved the messy work of spying on other nations while trying to stop them from spying on us. Now, rather than waging a shadow war against the Soviet Bear, part of their mission is protecting polar bears.
According to The New York Times,
And well it should. After almost a decade of ‘coordination’ of national intelligence agencies it seems as if the government has not gotten one bit better at stopping terrorists. (Of course, this is usually the point where someone is supposed to adopt a knowing look and tone of smug superiority as they declare, “Oh yes, but then we don’t know how many plots they’ve stopped.” Uh huh. And maybe they’ll be able to claim the same thing now with regard to global warming. As we continue to freeze in the midst of the coldest winter in years, the refrain can begin: “Wow! The earth was really in trouble until the CIA stepped in.”)
Suddenly I understand 24. Oh, I already understood the popularity of the show as the escapist fantasy of Chickenhawk neo-cons. (As an aside, one cannot appreciate how stultified our nation’s political discourse has become until you encounter the “Of-course-torture-works-I-saw-it-on-24” argument.) What seemed bizarre was how proud various individuals involved with the show are of its being “carbon neutral.” What’s next? Handwringing over the danger of lead poisoning from Bauer's bullets? And worrying whether his sadistic efforts at torturing suspects will contribute to the spread drug resistant staph infections?
Of course, some of the tried and true old CIA excuses are easily adapted to fighting climate change. Consider this passage from The New York Times article:
Unfortunately, it seem that Dr. Cicerone forgot the punchline: “Of course, if I told you the details, I’d have to kill you.”
Meanwhile, Earth slides into the icebox while the CIA does its best to help the global warming crowd turn down the thermostat.
Back in the real world, the question is: “Is it time for another mini ice age?” Thus Dailymail.co.uk reports:
Having endured the “New Ice Age! No wait... Global warming!” shift in the last generation, lurching back to the “New Ice Age” is a bit of a nasty turn. Come on, guys! Pick a script and stay with it. In fact, I’d be tempted to think they could learn something from their friends in the Hollywood crowd about doing precisely that, but, well, they don’t seem to know very much about writing consistent scripts, either.
One is tempted to give Jack Bauer and his colleagues an opportunity to interview the IPCC and get to the bottom of all this. However, the folks at Icecap.us have come across a more practical solution. Call it “recycling.”
Well, there you go. I guess I was wrong: Gore’s books are not utterly worthless after all.
Article Link
Written by James Heiser
Thursday, 14 January 2010 15:56
As the Northern Hemisphere experiences a winter that leaves many people wondering how much more global warming we can endure before we all freeze to death, The New York Times online edition ran the headline — “C.I.A. Is Sharing Data With Climate Scientists”— which, at first, sounds incredibly important. Clearly the government must be taking climate change really, really seriously if the CIA is giving scientists access to its spy satellite photography!
But then one stops to think: “Oh, wait. This is the same Central Intelligence Agency that leaves one doubting whether they know the meaning of the term ‘actionable intelligence’ when it comes to stopping terrorists”— Nidal Hasan comes to mind —“so what sort of intelligence are they sharing with global warming gurus?” One might as well conclude that their collaboration is evidence of global cooling — and that if they did have any evidence of global warming, they would lose it.
Some of us are old enough to remember when the job of the CIA involved the messy work of spying on other nations while trying to stop them from spying on us. Now, rather than waging a shadow war against the Soviet Bear, part of their mission is protecting polar bears.
According to The New York Times,
And well it should. After almost a decade of ‘coordination’ of national intelligence agencies it seems as if the government has not gotten one bit better at stopping terrorists. (Of course, this is usually the point where someone is supposed to adopt a knowing look and tone of smug superiority as they declare, “Oh yes, but then we don’t know how many plots they’ve stopped.” Uh huh. And maybe they’ll be able to claim the same thing now with regard to global warming. As we continue to freeze in the midst of the coldest winter in years, the refrain can begin: “Wow! The earth was really in trouble until the CIA stepped in.”)
Suddenly I understand 24. Oh, I already understood the popularity of the show as the escapist fantasy of Chickenhawk neo-cons. (As an aside, one cannot appreciate how stultified our nation’s political discourse has become until you encounter the “Of-course-torture-works-I-saw-it-on-24” argument.) What seemed bizarre was how proud various individuals involved with the show are of its being “carbon neutral.” What’s next? Handwringing over the danger of lead poisoning from Bauer's bullets? And worrying whether his sadistic efforts at torturing suspects will contribute to the spread drug resistant staph infections?
Of course, some of the tried and true old CIA excuses are easily adapted to fighting climate change. Consider this passage from The New York Times article:
Unfortunately, it seem that Dr. Cicerone forgot the punchline: “Of course, if I told you the details, I’d have to kill you.”
Meanwhile, Earth slides into the icebox while the CIA does its best to help the global warming crowd turn down the thermostat.
Back in the real world, the question is: “Is it time for another mini ice age?” Thus Dailymail.co.uk reports:
Having endured the “New Ice Age! No wait... Global warming!” shift in the last generation, lurching back to the “New Ice Age” is a bit of a nasty turn. Come on, guys! Pick a script and stay with it. In fact, I’d be tempted to think they could learn something from their friends in the Hollywood crowd about doing precisely that, but, well, they don’t seem to know very much about writing consistent scripts, either.
One is tempted to give Jack Bauer and his colleagues an opportunity to interview the IPCC and get to the bottom of all this. However, the folks at Icecap.us have come across a more practical solution. Call it “recycling.”
Well, there you go. I guess I was wrong: Gore’s books are not utterly worthless after all.
Article Link
. Works for other herd animals also, such sheep(le). At least in the US, some are rams. 
