Tim Ball

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[[File:Tim Ball.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Ball]]
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'''Timothy Francis "Tim" Ball'''<ref>Not to be confused with [[Calvinball]]</ref> {{lived|1938|2022}} was a [[credentials|credential-fudging]] [[denialist]] [[crank]]. He had no relevant [[credentials]] on climate change.

==Credential fudging and climate denial==
Ball was a professor of geography with a focus in historical climate who retired in 1996, but has been represented in the [[media]] as a "climatologist" ([[Canada]]'s first, don'tcha know?) who has held a professorship for upward of twenty-eight years. However, he carefully ''omits'' this in his ''curriculum vitae''.<ref>[http://drtimball.com/_files/dr-tim-ball-CV.pdf Tim Ball's CV]</ref> When the ''Calgary Herald'' published a letter<ref>[http://scienceblogs.com/deltoid/2006/09/tim_ball_sues_for_325000.php Tim Ball Sues for $325,000], Deltoid</ref> that questioned the credentials listed for Ball (in an article in which Ball attacked [[Tim Flannery]]<ref>[http://www2.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=d622e9fa-cdc8-4163-8292-a1a554f58f94 "Aussies' Suzuki heavier on rhetoric than on science" Ball's original letter]</ref>). Ball sued for libel, while admitting that he had not been a professor for twenty-eight years.<ref>[http://www.desmogblog.com/tim-ball-vs-dan-johnson-lawsuit-documents Tim Ball vs. Dan Johnson lawsuit documents] archived at DeSmog Blog</ref> (Don't think too hard about that or it might make your head hurt.) Before the suit was dropped (against 3 defendants), Tim Lambert of [[ScienceBlogs|Deltoid]] dared Ball to sue him, too.<ref>[http://scienceblogs.com/deltoid/2006/06/dear_tim_ball_sue_me.php Dear Tim Ball: Sue Me], Deltoid</ref> Lambert also expressed doubt over the relevance of Ball's research:
{{cquote|However, hardly any of those 51 publications are in scientific journals but include things like gardening magazines. I looked in Web of Science and could only find four papers by Ball, all on historical climatology, none on climate and atmosphere. I don't see how Ball can possibly win his case, but I guess that's not the point.<ref>[http://scienceblogs.com/deltoid/2006/09/tim_ball_sues_for_325000.php Tim Ball Sues for $325,000], Deltoid</ref>}}

Eli Rabett has created the "Tim Ball Award for Resume Stretching" in his honor.<ref>[http://rabett.blogspot.com/2008/12/he-has-another-list.html The Tim Ball Nominees], Eli Rabett</ref>

Even within the deniosphere, Ball didn't come up with anything new or impressive. All he did was constantly repeat [[PRATT|points refuted a thousand times]] about solar cycles and how [[CO2 is Green|carbon dioxide is plant food]]. For example, take a look at his ingenious "refutation" of rising sea levels where he just puts some ice cubes in a glass and lets them melt.<ref>[https://scienceblogs.com/deltoid/2008/01/18/tim-ball-and-archimedes-princi Tim Ball and Archimedes principle]. ScienceBlogs, 18 January 2008.</ref>

==Creationism==
Ball also seems to have been a [[creationist]] of some sort. In an op-ed in [[Canada Free Press]], he wrote:
{{cquote|Even though it is still [[Just_a_theory#Common_misconceptions_about_theories | just a theory and not a law]] 148 years after it was first proposed, Darwinian evolution is the only view allowed in schools. Why? [[Psychological projection|Such censorship suggests fear of other ideas, a measure of indefensibility]].<ref>[http://www.uncommondescent.com/evolution/timothy-ball-still-just-a-theory/ Still Just a Theory], Ball in Canada Free Press (via [[Uncommon Descent]])</ref>}}
On his website, he attacked [[Richard Dawkins]] and claimed [[science]], [[evolution]], and [[environmentalism]] are [[secular religion|religions]]. He also believed that the [[Bible]]'s predictions have been just as verified as those made by science:
{{cquote|Perhaps the ultimate irony<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2y8Sx4B2Sk</ref> is that the biblical views on nature, human roles and responsibilities are as logical as any other including modern environmentalism.<ref>[http://drtimball.com/2011/lack-of-logic-from-those-who-claim-to-be-logical/ "Logic from Those Who Claim to be Logical"], Tim Ball</ref>}} 
When you take his global warming denialism together with creationism and his admiration for [[Immanuel Velikovsky]],<ref>[http://drtimball.com/2011/scientific-reaction-to-velikovsky-symptomatic-of-climate-science-debacle/ "Scientific Reaction to Velikovsky Symptomatic of Climate Science Debate"], Tim Ball</ref> there's clear evidence for [[crank magnetism]].

==Lawsuits turning around and kicking Ball==
In 2011, Ball found himself at the receiving end of a couple of libel suits. In February, University of Victoria climatologist (and later a member of the British Columbia legislature) Andrew Weaver filed a lawsuit against Ball for his op-eds that [[PIDOOMA|accused]] Weaver of incompetence and corruption. In March, Penn State climatologist [[Michael Mann]] filed a lawsuit against Ball and his [[think tank]] for publishing statements on their websites that claimed Mann was complicit in a "[[cover-up]]" of [[Climategate]] and that he had committed scientific fraud.<ref>[http://www.desmogblog.com/weaver-sues-tim-ball-libel Weaver v. Ball] and [http://www.desmogblog.com/michael-mann-suing-tim-ball-libel Mann v. Ball] lawsuit documents archived at DeSmog Blog.</ref>

Since the suits were launched Canada Free Press retracted one of the interviews with Ball on the website.<ref>[http://carbonfixated.com/more-libel-troubles-for-tim-ball/ More libel troubles for Tim Ball], Carbon Fixated</ref> Furthermore, they seem to have scrubbed a good deal of Ball's articles and Ball-related material.<ref>[http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/members/1/Ball/ No columns are currently listed under Ball's profile at the website.] and [http://www.canadafreepress.com/2007/2007-ball-harris.htm his archives redirect to the homepage.]</ref>

In February 2018, the suit by Weaver was dismissed on the grounds that Ball's attack on Weaver was so stupid and inept that it couldn't be considered libelous thus doing no injury to Weaver's reputation to an informed reader.<ref>[https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/02/judge-finds-written-attack-on-climate-scientist-too-ludicrous-to-be-libel/ Judge Finds Written Attack on Climate Scientist Too Ludicrous to be Libel]</ref> Therefore the official judgement of the Canadian court system is that Tim Ball is either an incompetent idiot or someone pretending to be an incompetent idiot.

In August 2019, the Supreme Court of British Columbia dismissed the suit against Ball by Micheal Mann for technical reasons,<ref>[https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/8/28/1881956/-Tim-Ball-Pleads-For-Mercy-As-An-Irrelevant-Sick-Old-Man-Gets-It-Declares-Victory Tim Ball Pleads For Mercy As An Irrelevant Sick Old Man, Gets It, Declares Victory]. Daily Kos, 28 August 2019. {{quotebox|[...]the court dismissed the case on the basis that it has dragged on and been delayed for so long. Ball requested a ruling based on the timing instead of merits to allow the court avoid the messiness of whether or not his attacks on Mann’s climate science were valid. Now Mann (and his lawyers) have a month to decide if they’d like to appeal.}}</ref> despite the rantings of climate denialists<ref>[https://principia-scientific.org/breaking-news-dr-tim-ball-defeats-michael-manns-climate-lawsuit/ Breaking News: Dr Tim Ball Defeats Michael Mann’s Climate Lawsuit!] principia-scientific.org, 23 August 2019.</ref> that claim this is a victory for Ball's pseudoscience.

==See also==
*[[The Great Global Warming Swindle]]
*[[Friends of Science]]

==External links==
*[http://drtimball.com/ Ball's site]
*[http://www.friendsofscience.org/ "Friends" of "Science"]
*[http://scienceblogs.com/deltoid/category/global_warming/timball/ Deltoid], [http://deepclimate.org/tag/friends-of-science/ Deep Climate], and [http://www.desmogblog.com/tim-ball DeSmog Blog] have categories for his [[bullshit]]. (Yeah, he's that bad.)
*[http://www.straight.com/article-67107/trust-us-were-the-media Trust Us, We're the Media], Mitchell Anderson
*[http://www.gamegecko.com/game/498/tim-ball-pinball Play a game of TimBall.] (No actual relation to Tim Ball.)

==References==
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[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:Canadians]]
[[Category:Christians]]
[[Category:Creationists]]
[[Category:Educators]]
[[Category:Global warming denialists]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience promoters]]
[[Category:War on science]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ball, Tim}}

Categories: Authors, Canadians, Christians, Creationists, Educators, Global warming denialists, Pseudoscience promoters, War on science