Dean's World

Some of you might know Nasa climatologist James Hansen for his "speaking truth to power" by bravely standing up to the Bush Administration.

What you may not know is that James Hansen's anti-administration and global warming crusade was funded to the tune of $720,000 by the Open Society Institute - the George Soros fund which spent $74 million of the old man's cash in 2006 attacking Bush, Republicans, and anyone the billionaire doesn't like. Hansen also received a quarter of a million from the Heinz Foundation, Sen. John Kerry's wife's outfit that promotes liberal causes - like hubby's presidential run in 2004.

Nearly a million dollars. That must be a lot of money to a humble civil servant like James Hansen. However since Hansen's climate models are riddled with errors, self-fulfilling assumptions, and bootstrapping biases, I'm not sure I would call what Hansen has done "speaking truth to power." It's more like "telling a rich geezer what he wants to hear for a few bucks."

What's amazing is how unsuccessful the billionaire Soros has been so far. For all the money he's thrown around, Bush is still in office and American soldiers are still in Iraq/Afghanistan.

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Kevin D (mail) (www):

For all the money he's thrown around, Bush is still in office and American soldiers are still in Iraq/Afghanistan.

It seems to be a lesson the left never learns. They seem to think he that spends (or raises) the most money wins. This simply isn't so. The American generally know a turd when they see it. And a polished turd is still a turd.

But, I will say, Soros and his ilk are succeeding in pushing the country in the direction they want. It's just not gonna get to where they want when they want it. And should they over step their bounds, it may even roll back on them a tad. However, America's progression to the left is fairly plain to see and I don't see any reason for that progression to change.

9.26.2007 3:10pm

John_B (mail) (www):

Another Soros subsidiary got whacked by the House today: House Condemns MoveOn.org Attack.

Keep pushing and sometimes you get push-back.

9.26.2007 3:25pm

Exactly. Like I said, if they over step their bounds (as the Times ad did) they will get rolled back a bit. But, untimately, this will be forgotten and a condemnation by the House really does nothing in the long run. Or even mid-run. It's a short term slap on the wrist that does nothing to change their course.

9.26.2007 3:32pm

Dishman (mail):

George Soros made his money off of currency markets by manipulating the markets directly. He got busted for that, so now he uses geopolitics and "the Left" to manipulate markets instead.

If anyone looked at his books, they'd find that the net cost of his "philanthropy" is substantially less than zero.

9.26.2007 5:02pm

Dave Schuler (mail) (www):

Dishman is on the right track. Ask yourself who benefits from reduced American influence in the world and loss of confidence in the dollar. Currency brokers, perhaps?

9.26.2007 5:51pm

Having shown he could (and did) destroy the UK economy, Soros might well envision his next trick to be bringing down the US economy. He's more likely to succeed in tanking the global economy, though, so if he starts buying up all the gold and silver available, watch out....

9.27.2007 12:38am

It's worse than that...
He's currently shorting the dollar.

9.27.2007 2:34am

Commenting on Dean's World is a privilege, not a right. Dean is your host, you are his guest, and you should behave in that fashion. Dean is not your babysitter, nor is he your punching bag. Please remember this. In general, you are free to disagree with anyone on any subject you wish, but abusive behavior will not be tolerated.

Of course we all lose our tempers now and then. Dean freely admits to being imperfect in this regard, which is why regulars to this establishment will generally be cut more slack than people who we don't know very well.

Still: behave like an adult, or go find somewhere else to play. Thanks.