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Tuesday, August 30, 2011

In Which Bill Nye "Confuses" Fox News Viewers

Posted by on Tue, Aug 30, 2011 at 9:09 AM

But then, most Fox News viewers are confused by basic facts, so that's a good thing.

 

Comments (29) RSS

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1
Oh, Bill Nye. Trying so hard to bring science to the masses. I applaud you, sir. It's just too bad that cable news anchors/viewers don't have the attention span to follow your commendable logic.
Posted by Ptera on August 30, 2011 at 9:20 AM
Gurldoggie 2
I'm impressed. In a few simple and charming steps he explained away racism, defended Al Gore and made climate change skeptics look like fools. Let's not kid ourselves that he'll change any of the retrograde minds at Fox, but he gets major props for trying and for doing it with class.
Posted by Gurldoggie http://gurldogg.blogspot.com on August 30, 2011 at 9:23 AM
MacCrocodile 3
He learned last time that you have to talk to Fox like children.
Posted by MacCrocodile on August 30, 2011 at 9:29 AM
More, I Say! 4
Oh god, every time the news anchor speaks, Bill Nye has the most incredulous look on his face...priceless!
Posted by More, I Say! on August 30, 2011 at 9:35 AM
Urgutha Forka 5
So will fox viewers come away from that thinking "those were interesting points, I feel I have a greater understanding of my opposition now" or will they think "damn elitist librul scientists!"?
Posted by Urgutha Forka on August 30, 2011 at 9:53 AM
6
Are all Fox anchors as shouty as that dude?
Posted by shabadoo on August 30, 2011 at 9:58 AM
7
@6: most, but not all.
Posted by doceb on August 30, 2011 at 10:03 AM
venomlash 8
He talked too much about racism, not enough about the issue at hand.
Posted by venomlash on August 30, 2011 at 10:12 AM
9
Elementary and middle school students can follow his logic. I am pretty sure the interviewer wanted the audience to decide they were confused before they realized they were thinking. @8 The interviewer brought up raceism. Chewbaca defense.
Posted by Spike1382 on August 30, 2011 at 10:19 AM
10
So in under 7 minutes, Bill proved that: 1) global warming is real, 2) racism is an evolutionary throwback, and 3) we all love doggies.

I love that guy.
Posted by Mr. Happy Sunshine on August 30, 2011 at 10:21 AM
angel in indy 11
I love Bill Nye, but those eyebrows drive me nuts.
Posted by angel in indy on August 30, 2011 at 10:32 AM
12
Bill Nye is soooo patient!!
Posted by subwlf on August 30, 2011 at 10:40 AM
Baconcat 13
BILL BILL BILL BILL
Posted by Baconcat on August 30, 2011 at 10:42 AM
prompt 14
That newscasters first question "Is this proof of global warming yes or no!??!?" is as totally ignorant of science as you can get. I'm imagining Bill Nye holding back an urge to slap him through the camera.
Posted by prompt on August 30, 2011 at 10:42 AM
15
Wow. How can you be such a rude, condescending asshole to freakin' Bill Nye? Is that attitude a requirement to work for Fox News?
Posted by jhops on August 30, 2011 at 10:53 AM
16
@8: what was the issue at hand? Every time he addresses one, the "issue at hand" changes to whatever other talking point the anchor can think of.
Posted by doceb on August 30, 2011 at 10:56 AM
Posted by Fifty-Two-Eighty http://www.nra.org on August 30, 2011 at 11:05 AM
Simply Me 18
Bill Nye let himself get off message with the racist analogy. It was a smart answer, but he should have returned to "global warming is a fact." He should have said that over, and over, and over, and over again.
Posted by Simply Me on August 30, 2011 at 11:06 AM
SEANIEPANTS 19
THIS IS THE FUNNIEST THING I HAVE EVER EFFING SEEN!
Posted by SEANIEPANTS on August 30, 2011 at 11:14 AM
20
yawn tldw.
Posted by K on August 30, 2011 at 11:22 AM
MacCrocodile 21
@18, 8 - If he'd sidestepped the racial issue the screeching man-harpy brought up, that would have looked worse. I think Bill handled himself very well here.
Posted by MacCrocodile on August 30, 2011 at 11:50 AM
More, I Say! 22
@21 "screeching man-harpy" heh. I like it.
Posted by More, I Say! on August 30, 2011 at 12:24 PM
rob! 23
As someone who's watched almost no television in the last 8 years (except incidentally when traveling), I'm struck by the constantly WHIRLING graphics in the background of the p-i-p interview headshots. It's like watching the world from a merry-go-round. No wonder Fox viewers are so addled.
Posted by rob! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZBdUceCL5U on August 30, 2011 at 1:19 PM
gloomy gus 24
@21, me too, that's a hell of a line. That Fox Business show is apparently called "Freedom Watch" and is usually hosted by the jagoff judge Anthony Napolitano. The show's motto is paranoid blather:
Centuries of government deception have suspended our freedom and replaced it with a mythology rich in the ideals we are promised but do not actually experience.
http://www.foxbusiness.com/on-air/freedo…
Posted by gloomy gus on August 30, 2011 at 1:31 PM
25
@17: So you DO agree that global warming is occurring? That's progress, at least. Beyond that point though, the linked article—which consists solely of commentary, not data—distorts the findings to a degree that's just silly.

Climate scientists are incredibly interested in this experiment, although there are major limitations on how much can be extrapolated from it. For anyone who's more interested in what scientists think about the science than in what a novelist thinks about the science, check this out: http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/arc…
Posted by highverbalfan on August 30, 2011 at 1:39 PM
rob! 26
Link of the day for me, @25. Thanks a bunch.
Posted by rob! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZBdUceCL5U on August 30, 2011 at 1:57 PM
venomlash 27
@17: Let me tell you why that's bullshit.
The study indicates that the sun's activity influences the extent of cloud formation. Here's the kicker, though: clouds have very little to do with global warming! Clouds cause heating by absorbing and reemitting outbound terrestrial radiation, and cause cooling by reflecting incoming solar radiation. HOWEVER, solar radiation is mostly in the visible spectrum, whereas terrestrial radiation is almost entirely in the infrared spectrum, and so the cooling effect of clouds is much stronger.
In order for this effect to be responsible for the observed trend of global warming, we'd need a noticeable constant decrease in cloud cover. And guess what we get? This. Notice that the change in cloud cover correlates quite nicely to the change in cosmic ray intensity, and that they are both cyclical with a period of about 11 years. (Just like every other fucking thing about the Sun.)
Posted by venomlash on August 30, 2011 at 2:20 PM
28
Poor, poor Science Guy. I can't believe that Fox news can still convince thinking humans to come to try to speak sensibly just to be yelled at.
Posted by jBee on August 30, 2011 at 2:40 PM
Urgutha Forka 29
For anyone who's interested, the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR, located in Boulder, CO) does a lot of research on climate change:
http://www2.ucar.edu/news/backgrounders/…

Including some data about how the sun cannot be the only factor responsible for it:
http://www2.ucar.edu/climate/faq/dont-ch…

sorry 5280, the sun isn't the problem.
Posted by Urgutha Forka on August 30, 2011 at 2:47 PM

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