Whoever knew?! Jeez, and I've given up smoking and all as well. The sad decline of New Scientist as a rational and politically disinterested science magazine continues. New Scientist has a barrage of articles on “denialism”, including one from DeSmog Blog misinformer Richard Littlemore, who runs with the tired old comparisons of today’s skeptical public to tobacco industry campaigns. He bashes what he calls “manufactured doubt” while at the same time ignoring the billions poured into the climate industry, including the funding he and his namesake publisher (Hoggan and Associates PR firm, who run DeSmog Blog) receives from that industry. It’s quite the sanctioned hatefest going on there. It is truly sad that like Scientific American, New Scientist has become nothing more that a political science mouthpiece, and a shell of its former self. Here’s links to all the New Scientist articles on “denial”. They did include one article from Michael Fitzpatrick that is a feeble attempt at balance, but even it too strays into the ugly territory of comparing climate skeptics with AIDS deniers. |
Posted via email from Garth's posterous
1 comment:
I first noticed this "denialist" tactic surface about six months to a year ago. My guess is that it was pushed as a tactic by the professional Antismokers at the last "World Conference on Smoking OR Health" held in Mumbai and has been filtering out in their newsletters and such. While the "Great Antismoking Crusade" isn't a monolithic conspiracy, the big money leaders in the game are very effective at communicating their target points and tactical advice to the locals that make up their troops.
For anyone watching closely you'll notice how each year or two the "trends" of what the studies and news releases concentrate on changes. One year smoking in movies will be all the rage. The next year it will be smoking in cars. The following year it'll be outdoor smoking on college campuses or on beaches. Yes, *all* of those things will be going on continuously - but there are definite spikes in the activities.
Michael J. McFadden,
Author of "Dissecting Antismokers' Brains"
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