As IF Times

link Rent-a-Crowd Entrepreneurs in Ukraine Find People Fast to Cheer or Jeer for any cause – WSJ.com.

And there are still doubters on the natural role of capitalism in humankind.  That someone thought of making a business out of protesters shows how enduring is the human instinct to create and profit from a business opportunity.  There is no reason to think this kind of scheme hasn’t been in operation in the west for the past while.  Hmm, now we know why climate protesters are young, have beards and wear woollen hats or toques, even in the heat of summer…and we’re talking males and females.  I thought they were fashion statements, but in  fact they were veils of anonymity.

I’m sure these guys are much better off than their counterparts in the middle east.  Whenever you see those protesters assuming the “death to the Great Satan” chant,  they are standing outside in the hot sun with no shade.   In the middle east, the chants have to be co-ordinated with rhythmic fist pumping, the universal gesture of giving the west the bird.  As well, the pay is probably not as good if at all.  In addition, there is always the risk of being shot by your fellow protesters if they shoot bullets into the air.

Professional protesters in western countries have life a bit easier.  As the article states, there is an organized pay system and it will only be  a matter of time before competitive agencies increase the money available.  Next thing you know, they’ll be organized into unions with local chapters outlining specific working conditions and benefits.  For example, protests must be held only at venues with at least one Starbucks nearby for pre and post rally use.  Bathroom breaks of course are in the contract.  If anyone is designated to physically confront the police, pay is extra as are surcharges if pepper sprayed or being thrown in the hoosegow. 

Out of town gigs at ice floes or seal hunt venues require extra pay as well as donuts when the cameras are turned off.   Ostensibly a short term career choice for some students but there are those who enjoy the lifestyle, the travelling and the camaraderie that comes with the gig.  Heck, some stay on and become famous doing this well after their school days are over.  David Suzuki comes to mind. 

Alas, as the popularity of this profession peaks, some people will be recognized as ‘regulars’ and the effectiveness of professional groups will suffer.  Luckily, there are always new recruits from the new freshman class to replenish the ranks.  Professional protesting will be like pornography, a young person’s pursuit.

link The great global warming collapse – The Globe and Mail.

You know the jig is up when a Canadian newspaper prints a story daring to question a “green” cause.  As more evidence of cover ups by scientists  and scientific bodies at the core of the hysteria that is AGW, the fervent clamor to “do something” has died down.  Especially since the northeastern part of the United States  has been so hard hit with generations levels of snow and cold.  Understandably, Al Gore and his gang have been mercifully quiet recently, no doubt afraid to appear from his  mansion to face the pitchfork and torches crowd. 

As discussed in an earlier post, the international scientific body which supposedly knows about such things, the IPCC,  has admitted with great embarrassment that data upon which they made such dire predictions with regard to glacier melt was not only unchecked, they were bogus in the first place reinforcing the old computer credo, garbage in, garbage out.  This is not to indict the work of such bodies because I’m sure some science is involved with their work.  How are we supposed to know the weather forecast in 30 years if no one works on it? Besides, where’s all that research money going to go?

However,  all contentious science must be brought to closer scrutiny because as we have seen, there are many many players willing to capitalize on people’s naivete and fears.  In the case of AGW, entire industries, political action movements and opinions were spawned from the hysteria of the now iffy theories and projections.  In the old days, scientists were regarded with great respect for they were merely reporting observations and projecting conclusions.  There didn’t appear to be a  political agenda to the conclusions.  If subsequent research proved the theories wrong, the knowledge base was updated and people were better off. 

Vaccinations are a good example of this.  In my youth, it was just accepted that vaccinations against all manner of diseases was the way to go and there was not much questioning of that.  Recently, the outbreak of H1N1 has not made everyone panic to get inoculated, in fact many chose not to because of varying debates on efficacy and longer term effects.  I don’t recall that non participants in the vaccine  program were considered  foolish gomers. 

In today’s climate change discussion, critics of AGW are regarded with contempt, scorn and labelled deniers instead of having their views rationally aired.  A couple of things are at work here.  First, the whole Green movement needed a cause to get behind so they could rise to political influence in nation states, mainly in the west.  In fact, they were able to progress from a somewhat fringe movement to influencing legislative and tax policies in western governments.  The machinery for so called “cap and trade” was built by governments and large corporations savvy enough to see this as a monster revenue source.  To support this program, they had to bring the public on side with their vision, plus they needed their willingness to be taxed.   Sounds diabolical, but looking at the people at the forefront of AGW and then to follow the money trail to figure out who benefits is very revealing.  At least now it appears, the public is waking up.

The next logical step in this saga is, who’s going to get sued?  This step always happens at the end of any fiasco.  This will be a bonanza for tort lawyers who can pursue those who knowingly pushed or abetted the massive fraud which is AGW.  They will rope in politicians, former politicians, scientists, newspaper editors, teachers, cartoonists, comedians, entertainers, even lawyers that can be charged with propagating BS and costing taxpayers billions and billions.  The pool of defendants will be so big that someone coming out of law school now can make an entire career out of this alone. 

Meanwhile, the alarmist crowd will have moved on to the next issue.  Perhaps alien invasion or imminent planet collision.