Science Journalism (and General Ranting)

Oh, New Scientist (he says shaking his head in shame and disdain.) What were you thinking?

There are many offenses you could have committed, and this one in and of itself is minor, but I fear is indicative of a larger problem in science media today.

You see, this has got to be the stupidist "study" I have seen a while.

There's this whole backlash right now against Wind Energy (I think by upset people in the oil industry) and they will use anything to make sure we don't have wind turbines, solar power, or anything they might discover some difficulty in maintaining a monopoly over and making a profit with. Now it's bats with exploding lungs due to some the low pressure vortex around the blades?

My first thought, a visceral one, was airplanes. I'll let you chew on that one, because it's not as important as what's to come.

New Scientist has completely lost my respect for even printing this article. I'm not real knowledgeable on searching scientific journals (real scientific journals that publish peer reviewed materials), so I didn't get much of a look at the study. In fact, I somewhat rely on good science journalism to do some of that work for me, and to condense it down as accurately as they can for the layman. I did try to find the paper, but with no success.

So I looked up the organizations that sponsored the study.

From the bottom of the article, "The study was funded by a number of bat conservation groups together with energy companies with a financial interest in wind energy, such as Shell Canada and Alberta Wind Energy."

Well, I can see the vested interest of bat conservation groups right off, and to be fair, I think bats are valuable predators. I don't want to see bats getting unnecessarily killed any more than I'm sure those guys do. Nevertheless, there is clearly some potential for bias right off the...er..."bat."

Next: Shell Canada? I went through their site. Maybe they have a vested financial interest in wind power, but only peripherally. Like all the big oil & gas companies, they talk the talk on their website...but when the big shareholder headline on their site is the following:

Shell Canada Limited Completes Acquisition of Duvernay Oil Corp.

I do wonder how interested they are in heading for a sustainable future rather than sucking up all they can now. If they could tell me they were doing such things in order to fund future sustainable alternatives, it would at least be a start, but there's no hint of that in the summary. Basically it's 100% profit driven. Fine. They are a company. They want to make a profit. That should not absolve them of some level of "personal" responsibility.

So I wondered what Alberta Wind Energy's interest in all this was, given the other players. Only took me a couple minutes to come up with their board of directors since the site doesn't really reveal much in itself. They could be harmless and genuine, and perhaps looking to future solutions, but I would want to keep an eye on them given the following bio information.

L. Stewart Duncan - President,CEO, & Director

From 1997 to 2005 Mr. Duncan has operated Stewart Duncan Consulting providing corporate development services, managing acquisitions and sales in the multi million dollar ranges, due diligence assignments, arranging private financings, corporate restructuring, and completion of industry studies. From 1993 to 1997 he was President and a Director of Jubilee Resources Inc. a public company listed on The Alberta Stock Exchange. Prior thereto he had 17 years finance experience with a major Canadian Chartered Bank and also served as an officer and director of two other public companies, Twin Richfield Oils Ltd. and Lidco Industries Ltd. both listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Mr. Duncan attended the University of Manitoba and is a Graduate of the Banff School of Advanced Management.

Nothing outright damning, though I noted Twin Richfield Oils, and Lidco seems to be a plastics company. Otherwise he just seems like a finance guy. Can't necessarily fault him for that.

Russ Edwards - Director

Mr. Edwards is a Chartered Accountant (1980 Saskatchewan) whose business career focuses on providing investment capital to emerging companies in oil & gas production, oil & gas services, mining, biotech and real estate industries. Projects that have emerged, partially from these investments include:
Aaron Oil Corporation. 1987-1994. An oil & gas production company also involved in diamond exploration in the NWT and Saskatchewan.
Birch Mountain Resources Ltd. 1995-Present. The initial financier of this now TSE listed company (market cap. of $.5 billion) that owns widespread strategic land holdings in the oilsands area of northern Alberta. Birch is gearing up to provide aggregate and quicklime to oilsand operators and the community of Ft. McMurray.
BioMS Medical Corp. 2001-Present. A part of the investor group that has helped finance this U of Alberta research project to develop a Multiple Sclerosis drug which is showing excellent results in slowing down the progression of secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. This drug is the only MS drug in the world in Phase III trials. BioMS is now a TSE listed company with a market cap of $200 million.
Canadian Royalties Inc. 1999-Present. A part of the financing of ongoing exploration activities of this TSE listed company ($100 million market cap) with extensive land holdings in the Raglan area of Northern Quebec, a prolific nickel/PGM production belt. The company is currently preparing a feasibility report to quantify the economics of its drill results.
Canitron Systems Inc. 2002-Present. The Edwards family is the controlling shareholder of an emerging private oil and gas services company with patented technology to melt metal downhole in an oil & gas well for certain applications where conventional cement technology is ineffective.

A lot of oil interest going on there. Maybe if you're looking for someone who understands the financial aspect of energy, the oil industry is the logical place to pool from?

Duncan McCowan - Director

A professional geologist, Mr. McCowan is currently President of McCowan Exploration Management Ltd., a management consulting firm specializing in oil & gas ventures. He is also Chairman and CEO of Winter Petroleum Ltd., a privately owned exploration company with approximately 2.5 MMcf/d gas production and 145 sections of undeveloped land in the Rainbow Alberta area.
He received his B Sc. (Specialization in Geology) from the University of Alberta in 1972. Mr. McCowan has a history of being associated with the growth of successful oil and gas companies, in both technical and managerial capacities. These companies include: Canadian Hunter Exploration, Flame Oil & Gas Ltd., Opinac Exploration, Tarragon Oil & Gas Ltd. (subsequently Marathon Canada) and as a founder of Atlas Energy Ltd.
As a senior manager and officer of most of these companies with budgets in excess of $50 million annually, he has been exposed to a broad spectrum of exploration, high tech optimization, production enhancement and strategic opportunities. He has also served as a director of several other private and public companies.

What are we doing with all these geologist / oil types in a wind company? Clearly there are some things I do not understand about the wind industry. Granted, I can see where a geology background would be useful to some degree, but...things are adding up here...

Even their treasurer seems to warrant further investigation into Alberta Wind's genuine motives.

Jack Montgomery - Treasurer

Since 1986, Mr. Montgomery has been self employed as a consultant usin his considerable business experience to assist junior and start up companies move to an increased level of maturity and profitability.
Prior thereto, Mr. Montgomery was Vice President of Finance and Administration of Royal Trust Energy Corporation Pension Fund. 1985-1986. Managing Director (resident in Hague, Netherlands) of Challenger International BV, the international holding company of Turbo Resources Ltd., of Calgary, a public company, 1981-1984. Treasurer of Cherokee Resources Ltd., a public oil and gas exploration and production company, 1980-1981. He was also Vice President of Finance, Corporate Secretary, Treasurer and Director Nabors Drilling Ltd., a public compaany and subsidiaries of Kodak Oilfield Haulers Inc., and Nabors Alaska Drilling Inc., from 1972-1980.

There's the oil tie-ins again with "Cherokee Resources Ltd." Also, he worked in the Hague, which I looked up is in indeed the location of Royal Dutch Shell's HQ, though he worked for the holding company of "Turbo Resources Ltd." which is, you guessed it, and oil & gas interest.

See, I know companies and organizations behave this way, and have for some time. I think it happens on the environmental side as well, when people get so entrenched in ideologies and money and such, and it's unfortunate and wrong. I also think these kinds of things are never going to get corrected so long as our dominant forms of media are pop-culture rags and ClearChannel / Ted Turner / Rupert Murdoch stations that purport to be neutral investigative authorities on subjects, when in fact they are merely trying to keep up with the 24 hour news cycle by pumping out so called "news" without doing any research at all on the subject. It took me longer to write this blog than it did to look up that information on Google. In fact, I probably spent all of ten minutes digging it up, and if I were journalist would probably go a further.

It's fast food again, isn't it. Serve it up quick. Doesn't need substance, they'll come back for another later if they're still hungry. Doesn't have to be good, just has to be there.

Blind trust of authority. Chasing the dollar / pound / euro / whatever... In the age of technology, mass media is continuing to dumb down when everything was supposed to get better, easier and faster. Granted, anyone else with an investigative bent could have found what I found, but in an age where we are inundated with information, shouldn't we be able to rely on supposedly authoritative sources to do some of that footwork? Perhaps they do. The problem is, since when has mass media ever been an authority on anything?

A lot of people in that mass media still want to put down blogging as "amateur hour", but if it's blogs that uncover these little details...not necessarily full on evidence of anything but at least material to make the reader think...if it's blogs that uncover and reveal this stuff and not the major news and information outlets, then I have to question who the amateurs really are. As it is, I'm having a hard time distinguishing between forums like Slashdot and Engadget over New Scientist and CNN.

Slashdot and Science

Yes, I'm a slashdotter, and believe me, the quality of slashdot's conversations is often of only marginally more value than the articles themselves, but this is an exception. Good proper definitions of what science isn't and more importantly what science is abound. Just read through the posts and you'll see what I mean.

http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/02/1518245&from=rss

What You Are vs What You Did

I discovered this vlog post from Jay Smoothvia Astropixie Amanda Bauer's Blog, and I think it's right on the money. Not only that, but it applies to more than just race. Nuff said.

Even McCain Will Be Voting Obama

This political blog post at the L.A. Times discusses the McCain campaign's "humorous" attempt to compare Barak Obama to the "original celebrity" in their latest TV ad. I...uh...I'm a little perplexed.






Is John McCain trying to get Obama elected? Sure, the spot is slightly humorous and tongue and cheek...it's not really offensive. The whole spot, however, kind of paints Barak in a good light (no pun intended.) It showcases his vision, his conviction that we the people are the change this country needs (some would call the ability to communicate that so clearly "leadership"), and his own sense of humor. After a spot that doesn't say a whole lot of anything favorable about John McCain (or much of anything particularly negative against Barak Obama) the final few seconds conclude with "Barak Obama may be the one...but is he ready to lead?"

Well, it's menacing...uh...I think...but lets look at "the facts on the ground", shall we?

John McCain seems unable to inspire people around him.
John McCain is not being received and respected by world leaders for his message and ideology.
John McCain 2008 is not the John McCain of 2000.
John McCain is waffling on issues.
John McCain is barely discussing issues anymore.
John McCain accuses Barak of waiting too long to go abroad, then when Obama does go abroad, he accuses Obama of grandstanding.
John McCain is fighting dirty.

I'm really disappointed. I like the guy. He has some gaping flaws, sure. In fact, I'd be surprised if those flaws don't affect the voter turnout of the moral right. His divorce, the Savings and Loan scandal, and (if you're religious) his somewhat vague spiritual compass.

McCain, who I think stood up as best he could when captured by the Vietnamese, became the Republican for the environment. He's the guy who struggled for campaign finance reform. He opposed torture. He reached across the aisle to put forth bi-partisan proposals in the spirit of comprimise and doing what's best for the country. Remember his temper? I like his temper. He had spirit. Fire. He was rational and when someone would say something stupid, he'd fight back.

This is not the John McCain who is running for president in 2008. Whither the maverick? The Independent? The man who stood not on the right, nor on the left, but wherever was the most reasonable place to stand? Something strange is going on here.

Either a) he's completely lost his ability to cope, in which case I don't want him as president, b) his campaign staff are driving this thing and they are dreadful at it, or c) he's trying to get Obama elected.

Look, the Republican base is gonna come out and vote for McCain because they are ideologues who believe their football team must win at all costs (the Democrats have a similar fanatical base who will do the same for Obama), but even then, some of those Republican voters may just not bother this year. McCain is not an inspiring character anymore. I'm not hearing straight-talk, and I don't think most anyone else is either. The endless anti-Obama rants of McCain supporters would be coming from that sector regardless of who was running for which party.

Obama is no saint. I think he is manipulative. I think he's clever. I think he's made a strategic decision not to debate John McCain so early because he's trying to avoid early gaffs that would hang on him for the remainder of the campaign (all politicians make gaffs) but I think that's an unfortunate affront to our democracy. I think Obama should have visited Iraq and Afganistan a lot sooner.

Other people have other gripes. Obama the Muslim. McCain - not a real war hero. Flag pins. Vitriolic pastors and campaigners (on both sides) spouting ludicrous things. These are things taken out of context, or attributed to people not repsonsible for them. Obama is not a muslim (though if he's honest about the campaign he's running, I don't think that should matter one way or the other.) McCain is a war hero. Under duress, he may not have been a Hollywood hero, but he did the right thing at the right time, and he accepted those consequences. Did he ever crack under the pressure? Who knows...he stuck to his guns, though, as well as any human could. Flag pins? Really? Obama wears a flag pin all the time. He wore them before the campaign. He's worn them since. The one time he didn't wear one and they tried to make a big deal out of it, he merely stated that symbols alone don't make you a patriotic American. Actions do. He's right. Imagine you're a Christian. Is just believing enough? Carrying around crosses? Or should you maybe consider some charity to the beggar on the street. Volunteer to help the homeless and those you might consider "dirty sinners." Maybe give a damn about the poor instead of always believing that they're too lazy to work...many of them are working...two jobs...just to stay afloat.

I digress.

McCain is not talking about himself. He's not talking about his campaign. He's not talking about the issues. Not really. He flirts with it from time to time, but he's taking a very old school approach to trying to get elected, and it's failing.

In 2000, this would have upset me greatly, but that was a different McCain back then. A fighter. A man who seemed to be able to deliver words from the heart and mind. A man willing to comprimise to get the job done, but not at the expense of those values we hold dear. That was a man I would have trusted with the solution to the 9/11 attacks.

In 2008, McCain is feeble. He seems to be at the mercy of puppetmasters, and ones less "able" than those that drove the Bush campain into office eight years ago. He is a flip-flopper. He doesn't seem to stand for anything. He is unwilling to discuss comprimise, even if he keeps changing his positions. Worst of all, the straight talk express isn't talking straight. They are fighting dirty. They are confusing a political campaign for a football game.

Is Obama the one? He's a finer candidate than his rival, that's for sure. And I think he's sincere. I've read his book. I've heard him talk. For the most part he's consistent. I think he wants to break the old cycle of politics. He's respected. He's smart. Yes, he is playing a sly, strategic hand in this election, but isn't that what we want out of a president? Someone who can assess the options and keep control of the situation?

Well, I'm voting for Obama this year. You might consider it. I think McCain will be voting for Barak Obama, too.