Bishop Hill Who is behind the Nazca vandals?
Dec 23, 2014 Greens The Guardian today is carrying another dull piece about global warming dissent, which is apparently going to become a thing of the past in 2015. One to revisit in twelve months' time I would say.
I was struck though by the fact that the author is John Sauven, the director of Greenpeace in the UK. I found it rather astonishing that a newspaper would be giving space to a group that had just caused irreparable damage to a World Heritage Site. Wouldn't a reputable publisher want to distance itself from such behaviour? Quite possibly it seems.
This got me thinking about who else is happy to be associated with Greenpeace and, more precisely, who is actually paying for their activists to run around trashing the world's cultural heritage and the Peruvian tourism industry. The biggest single donors to Greenpeace seem to be the Dutch and Swedish Postcode Lotteries and two US organisations, the Oak Foundation and the Climate and Land Use Alliance. Each is making gifts of $1 million or more.
It's also quite interesting to see what the postcode lotteries are spending their funds on. For example, as well as Greenpeace, the Dutch version has funded the Clinton Foundation, the Carbon War Room, Sea Shepherd and WWF. So as well as desecration of heritage sites, they can be said to be funding piracy and the persecution of the Baka pygmies.
I think this needs to be widely publicised.
;)
Reader Comments (66)
Is anyone surprised by the Guardian?
The Guardian completely ignores fuel poverty because renewables are saving the planet. They ignore our security by irresponsible reporting of the Snowdon affair because they are protecting our freedom (free to be attacked by terriorists). They have fairly obnoxious "environmental" bloggers who ignore evidence and indulge in ad hominem attacks.
Is anyone surprised by the very dark side of the Environmentalists? They banned DDT causing the death of millions from malaria. They throw indigenous off their lands so they can bring western tourists to buy their fluffy toys.
Their zealotry is trying to drive us into a pre-instustrilal medieval society. They live by the old lie "the end justifies the means"!
We desparately need to have these people properly investigated!
Paul Homewood has recently been covering the misleading information given out both by Greenpeace and by the WWF here.
The Grantham Foundation gave $175,000 to Greenpeace in 2012, revealed on Form 990.
It gave more than $2,000,000 each to Imperial College and LSE, homes of the two Grantham Institutes.
O/T, but WWF have been heavily advertising their 'sponsor a polar bear' scheme on TV of late, peddling the notion that they are in critical danger. Given the evidence that they aren't at risk, doesn't this amount to fraud?
As regards the NL Postcode Loterij - surely that's yet another great example of Gramsci's exhortion to march through the institutions and is something libertarians and the right/conservatives (let alone climate skeptics) don't pay enough attention to, or if they do, don't seem to have any real strategy to handle. The climate issue long ago ceased to be anything much to do with the science for most on the alarmist side, it's all about the political ideology. Hence, shut up denier!
Does anyone actually take the Guardian seriously anymore. Most of the guys I know who buy it take everything the read in it with a pinch of salt.
All this political climate clap trap.
Now I have some idea what it must have been like for the population in pre war Germany, as zealots pushed their agenda and ridiculed all that opposed them
The trouble with the Grauniad is that it is stuffed full of people who, indoctrinated in IPCC Climate McScience, act like the Taleban. They cannot help themselves. What do 72 Climate Virgins look like? Are their any? Just arsking.......
O/T, but WWF have been heavily advertising their 'sponsor a polar bear' scheme on TV of late, peddling the notion that they are in critical danger. Given the evidence that they aren't at risk, doesn't this amount to fraud?
Not sure about fraud but I have made a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority about this advert. I don't know if it will do any good unless they get lots more complaints about it
"What do 72 Climate Virgins look like?"
Hot virgins, presumably...
The sad fact is the employees of councils in the Netherlands are mostly lefties and similarly the PostCode Loterij is likely stuffed to the rafters with wrong-headed lefty do-Gooders who are happy to rob poor and overly-optimistic lottery players to fund their lefty and green causes.
When lefties get it wrong it doesn't matter because they meant well.
The Grauniad never knowingly undersells its own sense of selfrighteousness.
Fortunately, very few people buy it.
Unless they need a copy tucked under their arm for a BBC job interview
It is worth reading John Sauven's apology on the Greenpeace UK blog.
http://greenpeace.co.uk/blog/climate/words-are-never-enough-20141216
The comments are pretty scathing. For example:-
"What do 72 Climate Virgins look like?"
Hot virgins, presumably...
Dec 23, 2014 at 2:56 PM | davidchappell
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Wrong guys. As Robin Williams (RIP) noted, it's not actually "virgins". It's "Virginians". Which puts an entirely different light on the matter. All those poor Jihadis, expecting a bit of nooky when they've blown themselves up, get insteat to meet 72 backwoodsmen.
@KevinMarshall
Thanks for the link. The opening para tells us all we need to know
" I want to start by saying how deeply disappointed and sorry I am for the activity undertaken in the name of Greenpeace "
Note how he moves the pea. Not "by Greenpeace", but "in the name of Greenpeace". How well he's washed his hands...
The bravery of Greenpeace and their supporters, in testing the public relations theory, that there is no such thing as "bad publicity", should be encouraged.
Now that the world is benefitting from cheaper fuel, people can afford to donate more money to Greenpeace, to make it more expensive again.
@Charming Quark.
Of course "The Guardian" ignores fuel poverty. These people can't afford to buy this vile rag.
@cd "does anyone take "The Guardian" seriously? Yes the twerps in the BBC.
Have a look at the BBC spoof on the life of fictional rock star and his bi-polar polar bear appeal. Hilarious and indicative of the fact that the environmental movement is looking ridiculous , publicity seeking and open to corruption.
"a group that had just caused irreparable damage to a World Heritage Site"
humm... they may be fools, criminals in this case, hypocrites, watermelons, etc, etc, however I think "caused irreparable damage" might be over-egging the pudding just a bit. They laid out some silly posters near to some of the lines, in a stunt that backfired and has landed them in court - but that was about all.
IMHO hyperbole is best left to Alarmists. If it gets recognised as such it is unlikely to sway a neutral observer to the argument.
I find it shocking that a lottery corporation can divert funds to the likes of WWF or Greenpeace.
I'm not a big government kind of guy but lotteries should be run by governments and profits should go to federal treasuries and eventually back to taxpayers (support for gamblers anonymous for example).
MHO hyperbole is best left to Alarmists. If it gets recognised as such it is unlikely to sway a neutral observer to the argument.
Dec 23, 2014 at 4:34 PM | gareth
Oh blah. Get off your high horse. The damage *is* irreparable.
http://notrickszone.com/2014/12/22/video-analysis-nazca-lines-cultural-heritage-site-permanently-ruined-marks-left-by-greenpeace-are-irreparable/
I agree with Gareth. It shouldn't be exaggerated.
I always associated vandalism with intent. The stunt by Greenpeace wasn't intended to cause malicious damage*. But it does illustrate once again, if anyone needed to see it, their ignorance, shallow thinking, and hypocrisy.
*Not malicious damage to the Nazca Lines, at least. Malicious intent to the worlds industrial economies and peoples, yes.
Persecution or other abuse has befallen pygmy people even in places we consider civilized.
http://quadrant.org.au/opinion/history-wars/2002/06/the-extinction-of-the-australian-pygmies/
http://quadrant.org.au/magazine/2010/12/the-enigma-of-the-australian-pygmies/
It appears to be associated with the spread of Europeans and certain other non-pygmy races across the world. Not unlike the problems Neanderthals faced, if you think about it. The problem is old enough to not be unique to modern Green adherents who certainly have an abundance of intolerance for many things.
They did damage the site. They left paths in the rock cover that are visible in the drone pictures. The archiologist has said it make take hundreds of years for the rocks to re-accumulate.\ and obliterate these paths.
Is it possible that Greenpeace got confused by NASCAR, and thought that Nazca was just a South American version? Easy mistake for those used to dictating, and those accustomed to gullibility.
Ah, Sea Shepherd. That would be the crowd that just got fined for releasing diesel fuel into the pristine waters next to the Great Barrier Reef, because in their fervour about the environment, nobody bothered to read the manual about how to run their (diesel powered) boat.
Too busy to redredge the reference, it is in the comments at Ben Pile's latest.
Grr. I despise these people.
Why doesn't Greenpeace set a good example and relocate its headquarters and staff somewhere without mains electricity, drainage, roads, medical care, freshwater, etc. Then, in 10 years time, any survivors could tell the rest of the world how brilliant it was
Might be a good idea for someone to write WWF's big contributors and ask them why they are helping to fund the eviction of natives from land they've been on since time immemorial for parks:
http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/10546
Just another example of Deep Green ideals of Malthusian proportions brought to the mainstream.
The damage is hard to assess from here, since the local soil strata are complex and subtle. One repair estimate is pegged at $200,000,000. If Greenpeace parts with even a fraction of a fraction of their holdings, the Peruvian government can have the site restored to its previous condition in perhaps five years, all ready for the next egotistical coterie of hypocritical, self-sanctified do-gooders to display their insane propaganda.
On the question of who supports Greenpeace, "Greenpeace" stamps have been issued by; the Republic of Guinea, the Republic of Senegal, Romania, Cambodia, the Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Republic of Madagascar, Mongolia, Laos, and Bosnia & Herzegovina. (GP also make their own "cinderella" stamps.)
Do you remember when the Taliban destroyed the Buddhas of Bamiyan in 2001. There are distinct parallels there too. Both the Nazca lines and the Buddhas of Bamiyan were built between the 5th and 7th centuries and both were UNESCO World Heritage sites.
Does this confirm Greenpeace as "The Green Taliban."
Incidentally, had Greenpeace members taken the trouble to research the construction technique of the Nazca lines, they would have discovered that they are shallow lines made in the ground by removing the reddish pebbles and uncovering the whitish/grey ground beneath. To reposition any pebbles as they did is therefore an act of wanton vandalism and desecration. Additionally, there was concern that the lines were already being damaged by an influx of squatters in recent times and Greenpeace must surely have known this.
Reading this Guardian column is quite funny - I think I've worked out the problem, the author thinks the Chinese meant 8:30 pm this evening instead of 2030. Still, when the last reader has finally given up with this comic there's always a guaranteed job with the BBC for the staff.
@ DaveS and Dave38 - I simialrly complained to the ASA about the WWF 'advert' being fraudulent only to have my complaint summarily dismissed (I have their reply for anyone interested).
Greenpeace and the Grauniad have been boring people for years about Peak Oil, a bit like global warming, ice caps, polar bears, sea levels etc. Doom was iminent 10-15 years ago.
Have we now reached Peak Green, Peak Graun etc? They have been boring people for years too.
For completion I offer the following copy of the response received from the ASA in regard to my complaint against the WWF Polar Bear campaign: (my bold throughout)
John Sauven's article in the Guardian shows how naive Greenpeace are about the real world. He says
President Obama can make whatever agreements he likes, in the full knowledge that he will never get any deal through Congress. China will peak in its emissions by 2030 without any real effort as its economy matures. A similar thing happened in all the rich economies, which is why more than 100% of the emissions growth since 1990 has come from developing countries. Even worse is that China's total emissions could peak at around 100% of 1990 global emissions, but emissions per capita could still be lower than in the USA in 1990. The delusion of Greenpeace is just a reflection of the UN climate negotiators. They have been duped into praising an agreement that sinks any prospect of reducing global emissions for a generation.
Sauven's article is savaged btl by one particular regular commentator (himself (?) a self-righteous True Believer) for being totally at odds with the true nature of the 'breakthrough agreement' between the US and China. Sauven is joyously predicting renewable domination, leading to fossil fuels becoming 'stranded assets' and thus obsolete. The man is a complete fool.
And after reading some of those comments btl I genuinely think Guardian AGW alarmists are amongst the most deluded souls in the land. Absolute nut jobs.
As for "repairing the damage" $200,000,000 might seem high but is probably optimistic. The Nazca figures were "drawn" by removing the top few millimeters of the soil which is dark because off "desert varnish", a dark manganese-rich film a few microns thick that accumulates on the upper side of rocks and pebbles in very dry climates. This takes several thousand years. When walking in such desert without special low-pressure footgear it is impossible to avoid disturbing the pebbles and creating a light colored trail. Even a single person does this, much less a whole bunch of activists first marching in line and then spreading out to "spread the word".
The only way to "repair" this would be to restore each individual pebble to its original position, a process that would probably require thousands of manyears and be very difficult to carry out without causing more damage.
So I'm afraid that realistically speaking, the damage is irreparable.
Incidentally I visited Nazca to look at the figures back in 1980. Even then the area was off-limits to everybody and could only be viewed from the air.
No squatters by the way. The area is absolutely and utterly barren since it literally never rains. .
Dave (S, 38, & _G)
Latest on Polar Bears by Susan Crockford:
http://polarbearscience.com/2014/12/17/recent-s-beaufort-polar-bear-count-was-a-cherry-picked-result-new-evidence/
Gareth, I thought the same initially. It appears the imprints left on the site stand out differently from different angles. There is the beginning of the official Peruvian drone video that shows the entire area of the banner alphabets marked with scratches. In other videos, nothing much apart from the 'C stands out. I suspect one would have to fly over and look directly at it to get a good sense.
GP can get out of this pretty easy
A quiet donation from a wealthy GP benefactor to someone who works for the Peruvian gov and then someone willl sign a form saying the site has been fixed.
.. Go Peru prove to me you have changed.
GP has consistantly proved itself above the law.
"What do 72 Climate Virgins look like?"
Hot virgins, presumably...
Dec 23, 2014 at 2:56 PM | davidchappell
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Wrong guys. As Robin Williams (RIP) noted, it's not actually "virgins". It's "Virginians". Which puts an entirely different light on the matter. All those poor Jihadis, expecting a bit of nooky when they've blown themselves up, get insteat to meet 72 backwoodsmen.
Dec 23, 2014 at 4:03 PM | Unregistered CommenterJeremy Poynton
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Maybe it's what they want. Or goats. LOL
DaveG, did they do their investigation during the summer you think?
Mailman
" We can expect some Churchillian language in the run up to the Paris Climate talks in 2015."
I have a suitable quote from Churchill for use in the battle against the Green Blob, Bishop-
" Never give in- never, never,never ,never, in nothing great or small , large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy."
As Sauven writes, about the China-US climate deal, which he regards as the most important event of the year:
There's the Green/Left attitude to almost everything, concisely stated.
"The most important part of this agreement is its symbolism."
Symbolic of his struggle against reality
Greenpeace has more H/O employees than most corporations. Yet it produces nothing.
It is a registered charity that pays no tax but provides no welfare.
No one voted for it but in the UK it spends far more on lobbying than does any political party. Any politician who (like Owen Paterson) stands against it will be cut down.
It is funded primarily by the EU, the UN and foreign governments but spends much of its money in the UK helping drive our poor further into fuel poverty.
"GP can get out of this pretty easy. A quiet donation from a wealthy GP benefactor to someone who works for the Peruvian gov and then someone willl sign a form saying the site has been fixed." --stewgreen
The lines and background are photographable from aircraft, and Peruvian archeologists are neither stupid nor impotent. The most a wealthy benefactor can do is keep the perpetrators out of jail or prevent extradition on the US side via obamanese functionaries.
The lame "apology" and subsequent GP excuses & evasions leave no doubt that the organization is collectively insane. Anyone who would deface a site like Nasca is capable of extreme violence in support of their oh-so-so-so-noble cause. Thus I think we'll eventually see worse, possibly before the new year is through.
The "C" in the soil should be kept as-is as a memorial to how evil Greenpeace was.
For all those telly addict Bishop-hillbillies who have yet to complain about the WWF adopt a Snow Leopard / Polar Bear melting ice and get a sustainable third world sweat shop cuddly toy advert .
The telephone number for the Advertizing Standards Authority is 02074922222 and press 1 to register a new complaint.
@jamspid, 5:48pm; Given the cross-party support for WWF lead by potato Ed, I think this is a case of flogging a dead horse/snow leopard/polar bear. Although, interestingly, the link to politician's comments on the 2014 Earth Hour on the WWF website, comes up as 'page not found'.