"Denier, liar, pants on fire" - Anthony Watts goes to AGU again

Anthony Watts has put out his hand again for his readers to pay their WUWT dues.  He wants them to fork up for his air fare accommodation and parking and meals and whatever else when he goes to the AGU Fall meeting (AGU14). Someone emailed me that it's known as Internet panhandling. More comfortable than standing on a street corner and much more lucrative.

This time, wisely, Anthony made no promises other than to say that he wanted to keep "tabs on the antics of people like Michael Mann, Peter Gleick, and some of the other players". So I guess he'll be skulking around the corridors of the Moscone Center with his video camera at the ready, and complaining again about being ignored or not recognised or hearing non-existent grunts.

Anthony couldn't even be bothered writing a fresh article this year. He just updated the same article he wrote in 2013 - compare to this year's plea. This year he didn't add in the cost of attendance, which I understand is free to people who manage to swing a press pass, like Anthony did last year.

I wonder if anyone he speaks to (if anyone) will be aware of the recent WUWT allegations that climate science is the biggest hoax ever perpetrated and an example of the Big Lie in action? If so, if they see him will they:

• look right through him, 
• laugh at him,
• stand in a circle around him pointing their finger shouting "denier, liar, pants on fire" - or worse, 
• ignore him, maybe glancing at him blankly and muttering to each other when passing "who the heck was that weirdo"?

Anthony did link to his woeful coverage of the last meet, and referred to his incisive Twitter commentary - but probably knew that no-one would check and few would care that the only original bit of reporting was a video of Zeke Hausfather, which few people looked at. Other than that all he provided was a couple of articles with videos that you could view on the internet without Anthony's assistance. An article showing how little he knows about scientific research. And a picture of his video camera and another one of a woman with a laptop. And another article with photos of slides, with virtually no commentary, which he isn't supposed to do this year (not sure about other years). I guess he couldn't comment because it went right over his head. This year if he's going to report anything, he'll probably be stuck with posters and snapshots of noticeboards or people walking around.

Oh, and remember last year, Anthony was brave enough to ask a question of James Hansen at one of the presentations. He didn't bother telling his readers the answer. Still at least he got in a question, unlike when he took his WUWT-paid-for holiday in the UK. He's not being so foolish as to make any promises to ask any questions this time around.

Anyway, it looks as if Anthony managed to get more than twice the amount he pleaded for (archived here). So now he can pay a few bills or splurge on the dinner he promised people last year, but didn't report on. Or maybe take another European holiday.

Deniers at WUWT are not the least bit discerning when it comes to handing over their hard-earned cash. On the other hand, going by the comments, many of them aren't expecting anything. They view it as payment for services rendered by giving them a notice board on which to post their protests at climate change.

For people who cannot get to AGU14

If I recall correctly, last year AGU said that it wouldn't provide the Virtual Options for free in the future (it was free last year), though I might have misunderstood them. On last year's FAQ is written:

Please note: The on-demand videos will be available exclusively to AGU members starting in early January 2014. For more information about AGU membership or to join for 2014, visit membership.agu.org.

The website this year doesn't give any indication one way or another, so I don't know if the virtual options will be available to everyone who registers or not. I'll see what I can find out and let you know.

From the WUWT comments

Most of the 140 comments were just people saying how they'd sent him $50 or so. davidmhoffer is about the only person who asked for anything in return. Ever hopeful.

December 5, 2014 at 6:43 pm
Funds Flunged.
But dude, ask some tougher questions this year ;-)