I got caught up in the Global Warming debate on today over at See Jane Mom. I was less concerned about debating global warming, which we had already debated on Friday, than with correcting some statements Jane had made about Dr. Heidi Cullen of the Weather Channel. Some excerpts:

Jane: When "climatologist", Ms. Cullen, armed with her bachelor's degree in Near Eastern religions and history from Juniata College starts spouting that if you "don't have the time" to understand global warming, just read this little puff piece from the Pew Center, that's real "climate code" for "you aren't a sophisticated scientist who is near smart enough to understand nuanced mathematical bullshit". And she wants to deny accreditation to all scientists who refuse allegiance to Global Warming.

"Doctor" Cullen is now the hysterical point guard for The Weather Channel's new ??? initiative??? website??? show??? Whatever it is, they call it---"ONE DEGREE". How utterly ironic, given her lengthy resume...

Me: By saying that Dr. Cullen is not a scientist, putting "Doctor" in quotes, and implying that she only has "one degree" in Near East studies, you are obviously and demonstrably factually incorrect, which makes you look uninformed. I am guessing that you got this nonsense from Melanie Morgan's column, but even Melanie has acknowledged (on her radio show this morning) that Dr. Cullen is a genuine scientist with a Ph.D in climate science.

Jane: The "science" of Climatology is in its infancy. That is a fact. And as for this Melanie Morgan, I do not know who she is, but used The Weather Channel's own bio information (nonsense?) for my facts about the front woman for this very dangerous political tyranny.

Jane: When they give Creation Scientists some respect, I'll worry about offending some hack who got her credentials from a matchbook school of political quackery.

Me: Now I am truly perplexed. You used the Weather Channel's info on Dr. Cullen? I found two pages on her at the Weather Channel's site. Both say: "She received a bachelor’s degree in Engineering/Operations Research from Columbia University in New York City and went on to receive her doctorate in climatology and ocean-atmosphere dynamics at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University."

Columbia University is hardly a matchbook school.

Neither mention her other undergraduate degree, although I was able to confirm that she did get an undergraduate degree in Near East religion and history.

As for Creation Scientists, they are obviously motivated by religion not science. Some of them maintain that the Earth is less than 10,000 years old, which is patent nonsense.

(Jane first deleted then restored and answered the above comment.)

Jane: I do not dispute what The Weather Channel's web site says about her. If Joe Biden can do it, so can "Doctor" Cullen. WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO GET IT, GARY?---I REJECT "CLIMATOLOGY" out of hand as a Science with the same disdain as you have demonstrated for CREATION SCIENCE.

And you said "S O M E of them maintain that the Earth is less than 10K years old". SO IF I FOLLOW YOUR LOGIC GARY>>>>> THOSE F E W CRAZIES ARE TO BE BELIEVED ABOVE ALL OTHERS IN THE DISCIPLINE????

Hardly fair, considering you won't give the (you claim) F E W dissenters the same quarter in the GW fray......

Jane then locked the thread from any additional comments, which is just as well as I found her last comment incoherent and unintelligible.