Anyone here heard of OISM? Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine?

[cyberpj]

My local LTTE on Global Warming was printed and now I'm being bombarded by people screaming that I need to learn about and see the lecture provided by a group called OISM.

I'm on my way to work and will view it later but I wondered if anyone here had any info on this lecture and/or the group?

http://www.oism.org/oism/s32p686.htm

http://oism.org/pproject/

Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine
PO Box 1279
Cave Junction OR 97523
Fax: [phone]
Phone: [phone]

[NYCGirl]

1. Info here — sounds like a fringe group, to say the least:

http://sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Oregon_Institute_of_Science_and_Medicine

The Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine (OISM) describes itself as "a small research institute" that studies "biochemistry, diagnostic medicine, nutrition, preventive medicine and the molecular biology of aging." It is headed by Arthur B. Robinson, an eccentric scientist who has a long history of controversial entanglements with figures on the fringe of accepted research. OISM also markets a home-schooling kit for "parents concerned about socialism in the public schools" and publishes books on how to survive nuclear war.

The OISM is located on a farm about 7 miles from the town of Cave Junction, Oregon (population 1,126). Located slightly east of Siskiyou National Forest, Cave Junction is one of several small towns nestled in the Illinois Valley, whose total population is 15,000. Best known as a gateway to the Oregon Caves National Monument, it is described by its chamber of commerce as "the commercial, service, and cultural center for a rural community of small farms, woodlots, crafts people, and families just living apart from the crowds. ... It's a place where going into the market can take time because people talk in the aisles and at the checkstands. Life is slower, so you have to be patient. You'll be part of that slowness because it is enjoyable to be neighborly." The main visitors are tourists who come to hike, backpack and fish in the area's many rivers and streams. Cave Junction is the sort of out-of-the-way location you might seek out if you were hoping to survive a nuclear war, but it is not known as a center for scientific and medical research. The OISM would be equally obscure itself, except for the role it played in 1998 in circulating a deceptive "scientists' petition" on global warming in collaboration with Frederick Seitz, a retired former president of the National Academy of Sciences.

-snip-

Robinson established the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine in 1980. In its early years, the OISM focused much of its attention on a new theory that Robinson had developed regarding "molecular clocks" that he thought might influence aging. It also became involved in issues related to nuclear war and civil defense. It published two books, Nuclear War Survival Skills (foreword by H-bomb inventor Edward Teller), which argues that "the dangers from nuclear weapons have been distorted and exaggerated" into "demoralizing myths." Robinson also co-authored another civil defense book titled Fighting Chance: Ten Feet to Survival, in collaboration with Gary North, who like Robinson is a conservative Christian. North is also a prolific author of doomsday books with titles such as None Dare Call It Witchcraft; Conspiracy: A Biblical View; Rapture Fever; and How You Can Profit From the Coming Price Controls. Following his collaboration with Robinson, North built a web-based marketing empire built around apocalyptic predictions that the Y2K bug would make the dawn of the 21st century "the year the earth stands still." North predicted that computer failures would cause "cascading cross defaults, where banks cannot settle accounts with each other, and the banking system goes into gridlock, worldwide," in addition to disruptions of oil supplies, electricity, manufacturing and public utility systems. "We are facing a breakdown of civilization if the power grid goes down," North predicted in late 1999, boasting, "I was the only person saying this on a Web site in early 1998, although a few sites do today." (After his Y2K predictions fizzled, North retooled his website to offer internet marketing products and services.)

In 1988, Robinson's wife died suddenly and he took over the home-schooling of their six children, leading to a profitable side business. He assembled a set of 22 CD-ROM disks containing public-domain versions of various books and educational materials such as the 1911 Encyclopedia Brittanica, Robinson Crusoe and McGuffey's Readers, which the family now markets as a home-schooling kit. The kits sell for $200 each, and Robinson says the curriculum has been purchased by more than 32,000 families. The OISM website markets the cirriculum as a way to "teach your children to teach themselves and to acquire superior knowledge as did many of America's most outstanding citizens in the days before socialism in education." The OISM website also offers educational links to a creationist website and an online discussion group called RobinsonUsers4Christ, "for Bible & Trinity-believing, God-fearing, 'Jesus-Plus-Nothing-Else' Christian families who use the Robinson Curriculum to share ideas and to get and give support."

MUCH MORE AT LINK

[cyberpj]

7. Oh dear. I thought it had to be a little 'out there'

Thank you for the info.
I've bookmarked and will read when I get home from work tonight.

[Warpy]

2. Let them speak for themselves:

This is the website that completely knocks the wind out of the enviro's sails. See over 17,000 scientists declare that global warming is a lie with no scientific basis whatsoever.

The global warming hypothesis has failed every relevant experimental test. It lives on only in the dreams of anti-technologists and population reduction advocates. The United States is very close to adopting an international agreement that would ration the use of energy and of technologies that depend upon coal, oil, and natural gas and some other organic compounds.

This treaty is, in our opinion, based upon flawed ideas. Research data on climate change do not show that human use of hydrocarbons is harmful. To the contrary, there is good evidence that increased atmospheric carbon dioxide is eviromentally<sic> helpful.

The link above will take you to the paper Environmental Effects of Increased Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide and a petition that will let you participate in this important project.

http://www.oism.org/oism/s32p31.htm
------------------------------

Just another bunch of heads up their asses, out of their fields, don't threaten my portfolio jerks who really don't know what they're talking about, but will continue to talk about it very loudly, misspelling and all.

[Dead_Parrot]

3. The petition is also, err, "Flawed"

Try http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_Petition as a start point.

[cyberpj]

8. Thank you. This was very helpful. nt

[sharp_stick]

4. I've heard of them

they are nuts, they don't do any real research but put enough of the language of science in their garbage that it easily convinces the pukes and freepers that they must know what they're yammering on about.

[kestrel91316]

5. Cave Junction??? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[kestrel91316]

6. Everythin you need to know about them can be found right here:

"....The OISM website also offers educational links to a creationist website and an online discussion group called RobinsonUsers4Christ, "for Bible & Trinity-believing, God-fearing, 'Jesus-Plus-Nothing-Else' Christian families who use the Robinson Curriculum to share ideas and to get and give support...."

[cyberpj]

9. Thank you all.

A quick scan of the info you posted was enough to show up this organization for just what I thought.

When I get home from work tonight I'll be fact finding so I can fight back.

Thanks DUers for your help.

[seasat]

10. I'm recalling from memory

If I remember correctly they're associated with the Marshall institute, a conservative think tank. They are run by a former NAS physicist who put out a paper that stated that increased CO2 would lead to increased production by plants and that would sequester the CO2. They then sent out this in the format of an official NAS paper and asked for anyone with a science or technical background to sign their petition. This was about a decade ago, I believe, and people mistook it for an official National Academy of Sciences publications (which of course was their intention). They also didn't validate the online petition signers. When the journal Scientific American tried to test and see if anyone on their list was valid, something like 90% of their sample either didn't actually sign it or admitted they only signed it because they thought it was a valid NAS publication. There were even gag signees with names of cartoon characters and famous dead scientists. There also were only a small of signers that were actually were qualified to opine on climate change. Since then, the hypothesis that plants will absorb all the anthropogenic CO2 has been disproven. Only hard core neoluddites even mention this petition and site anymore.