UPDATE: They apparently had second thoughts. see below.
When the Heartland billboard fiasco came about last week, I pointed to this as a previous example of how both sides have made missteps. Heartland blundered with the unabomber billboard, was summarily denounced by both sides and pulled it within 24 hours.
My reader poll conducted about the issue suggests a majority (72% of 2561 respondents as of this writing) think Heartland made a blunder with the billboard ad. So do I.
It appears now that Climate Progress/Think Progress has been embarrassed enough by the attention brought to their article as a parallel example, to deep six it. Here’s the screencap I made last week.
Visiting this URL I referenced last week yields a “404 – page not found”
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2011/07/25/277564/norway-terrorist-is-a-global-warming-denier/
I find this development curious, especially since there’s no mention of the deletion on Think Progress/Climate Progress that I can find.
It is still available on Google Cache here:
While Heartland at least made a press release announcing they’d end the billboard, The Center for American Progress appears to have made no announcement of their removing a story linking climate skeptics to a terrorist and mass murderer. If I am wrong, and someone can find such an announcement, I’ll gladly post it as a correction.
Even so, I applaud them for doing so, but there’s no shame in telling anyone that you thought this article was too volatile to leave it in place.
h/t to WUWT reader cbrtxus
UPDATE: 5/8/12 11AM It appears the story has been restored. Second thoughts apparently, or just some sort of ploy. I checked the link several ways yesterday, and it had been removed. Many readers saw the same thing – Anthony
Acknowledging a mistake, apologizing for it, and then making it right indicates a certain level of integrity.
Sweeping a mistake under the rug, on the other hand…
If their goal is to collapse society so a socialist utopia can arise, the expected outcome would be millions, perhaps billions of deaths. I’m not sure the Heartland missed the mark by much here.
I agree that this type of media presentation (dare I call it that?) is over the top – but on the other hand there is an element of fight fire with fire in all this IMO. As far as I am concerned I NEVER look at such BS – but I do appreciate that some ordinary folk need ‘persuasion’ to look at stuff! Unfortunately, in the Climate Science meme, anything goes (apparently!)…..which, I happen to think is rather sad – I don’t mind the warmists using silly scare tactics ( a la blowing up children in class!!!) but the skeptics must try to remain aloof as far as possible. Heartlands own goal is a shame, but not the end of the argument by any means…….
What was Heartland thinking? Who knows exactly, and I’m fairly sure that what they did was not helpful, but we could take a political advertisers point of view… and think in terms of who the targeted group(s) were?
One very positive development over the last few years is the conservative mass exodus from belief in the leftist AGW fairy tale. Could Heartland have been thinking that this is a “base solidifying” ad? Going after laggard or “maverick” conservatives that still toe the leftist line, like Chris Christie?
Rewriting the past is integral to leftist politics and warmist science.
Bishop Hill have also ensured that the Climate Progress story is preserved for all to see……
http://www.bishop-hill.net/storage/Norway%20Terrorist%20Is%20A%20Global%20Warming%20Denier%20_%20ThinkProgress.pdf
This is why the Heartland billboard was genius. It forced the warmists to condemn something they were already doing themselves at every turn, and which was a successful tactic. Now every time they use it their own words will be turned on them. In exchange, what has Heartland really lost?
The date on that post is almost 1 year ago, 7/25/2011. Reading the story in detail, it shows that Brevick had a conspiracy theory about AGW, which is similar to what can be found posted on this web site. For Brevick this wasn’t a casual thing. He followed the issue in detail. He said about those who want action against global warming:
“You might know them as environmentalists, enviro-communists, eco-Marxists, neo-Communists or eco-fanatics. They all claim they want to save the world from global warming but their true agenda is to contribute to create a world government lead by the UN or in other ways increase the transfer of resources (redistribute resources) from the developed Western world to the third world. They hope to accomplish this through the distribution of misinformation (propaganda) which they hope will lead to increased taxation of already excessively taxed Europeans and US citizens.
The neo-communist agenda uses politicised science to propagate the global warming scam in order to implement their true agenda; global Marxism. Marxism‘s ultimate goal is to redistribute wealth from successful nations to failed nations, instead of actually trying to fix these broken nations. Politicised science is being used by the cultural Marxist hegemony to manipulate the unsuspecting masses. They are using our trust and faith in science to spread lies and hysteria that will allow Marxists to implement socialist “solutions” to a problem that never actually existed. …”
This news story about Brevick’s views is a legitimate news story. It is a one off. [snip – facts not in evidence]
Orwellian revision of a website or blog without noting and explaining change is more than bad form, it is a conscious form of deception. However, they have to know that nothing really “disappears” on the web, as this thread shows. Perhaps it is the arrogance of believing they can get away with it. They had to know that “skeptics” are likely to take notice, but they hope that there are no wider repercussions.
Damned by faint praise.
“The moving finger writes; and, having writ, moves on: nor all thy piety nor wit shall lure it back to cancel half a line, nor all thy tears wash out a word of it.” Omar Khayyám (1048–1131 – Persia)
Except for Internet Tears…
Heartland blundered and were forced to issue an apology and retraction that WILL be used against them in the future. The warmists (with a ton of dosh and a compliant MSM to help them) are very good at the public relations game (even if their “science” is flawed). The polar bear imagery was a fraud but a highly effective one.
Here’s one of the their latest: green bike lanes. Yep, they really are painting the lanes on the roadway green!
http://www.mercurynews.com/traffic/ci_20567909/green-bike-lanes-spreading-across-bay-area
It’s silly and completely lacking in any substance. But I think it’s quite brilliant and an excellent way to reinforce the green agenda with a huge and receptive audience. Much more powerful than regular advertizing and probably cheaper too.
WUWT readers may consider the manner in which Climate Progress pulled their advert less than honorable and even sleazy. But it will work for them and attacking them for it will fail. They have a really, really easy defense. “We received a handful of complaints and we pulled it!”. Game over because it’s a solid position.
Be afraid because the warmists ARE still winning the war of image and public opinion even while their flawed science is taking hit after hit in this forum and elsewhere.
I am always left wanting as to how sane and intelligent people can upon serious reflection still hit the SEND button on these types of hit and run advertisements. Nothing good ever comes from ridiculing people. Ideas are fair game, but not people. It only creates a smallness of humanity for those doing the ridiculing, and turns everyone off to the message.
Climate Progress disappears their own climate ugliness…
but the lunacy continues amongst their faithful.
…..The Center for American Progress appears to have made no announcement of their removing a story linking climate skeptics to a terrorist and mass murderer. If I am wrong, and someone can find such an announcement, I’ll gladly post it as a correction. –Anthony Watts
I think I hear crickets chirping.
Eric Adler says:
May 7, 2012 at 4:35 pm
The date on that post is almost 1 year ago, 7/25/2011
===================
Eric, why do you think it was ok for a year, then they pulled it last week?
Mike Smith is right. CAGW Theory is a hulk blazing from stem to stern but still refuses to sink.
It is propped up on reefs of money stolen from the taxpayers.
Hey–maybe their whole web site will disappear! Couldn’t happen to a better bunch of science deviates.
Skiphil says:
May 7, 2012 at 4:38 pm
Orwellian revision of a website or blog without noting and explaining change is more than bad form, it is a conscious form of deception. However, they have to know that nothing really “disappears” on the web, as this thread shows. Perhaps it is the arrogance of believing they can get away with it. They had to know that “skeptics” are likely to take notice, but they hope that there are no wider repercussions.
——-
You may be correct but we seem to be the only people discussing them and their website. I wonder how long it will take their readership to notice them missing.
Mike Smith says:
May 7, 2012 at 5:05 pm
Heartland blundered and were forced to issue an apology and retraction that WILL be used against them in the future. The warmists (with a ton of dosh and a compliant MSM to help them) are very good at the public relations game (even if their “science” is flawed). The polar bear imagery was a fraud but a highly effective one.
———————————
Mike, Heartland blundered in that it was the inappropriate source to run such an ad. It lost support of a corporation, distanced Microsoft and frightened off the gentility. Not good if you are targetting the mainstream. But I think it’s a recoverable situation and our support of Heartland and proper pressure on the faint-of-heart will help a lot.
But what’s more interesting to me is that Climate Progress, with their piles of money and super-duper marketing gurus chickened out, meaning that they are afraid of this kind of a battle. Instead, being the weasels they are, they provided a link to the article on another online venue and count on oily slime-muppets like Eric Adler to repeat the Breivick canard without sullying their cool kid image. It won’t wash. The Warmists’ crimes are too big for such a maskirovka. The Soviets controlled all their media, institutions and education and backed their message with a mixture of bribes and state terror and they still lost. As Smokey said on another thread, there is no reason to say that the message itself is wrong. It’s correct in that the suffering, the starvations and the deaths they have brought and are plotting to bring about make Kaczinsky look like a puff, and I’d add Breivick too. Don’t worry about their “highly effective” PR either; it’s cheap yesterday’s shlock by has-beens who’ve been plied with billions, and they are still screwing up, losing and running scared because they know we haven’t even begun eviscerating them.
Maybe they removed it because they realized that Brevik was right about one thing – green IS the new red.
And this is why we must call for the AGW fraudster like Mann, Hansen and the leading journalists to face jail sentances for what they have done. We are no winning this debate, they are not and will neve let up until they know they will be brought to account for their crimes
I posted the following on Heartland facebook page. I would have posted it at their ‘contact us’ link, but they don’t have one – ring any bells for you re communication ?
… “billboards are an effective way of getting your message accross. but you don’t actually want to infuriate anyone in the revenge business.
much better to embarrass a democratic state government, and a politician within it. what do your politicians say about un-elected administrators, a la UN agenda 21 ? that might be a bit strong for a billboard, but appropriate elsewhere.
I would recommend ‘GLOBAL WARMING is a SCAM’
boasting but… our residential community took on the state government, and won !
a 4×3 metre banner which I painted and put on my roof, read ‘minister for transport DUDS ….. … residents’. it was visible from 250 metres, to thousands of commuters, the ‘fine print’ from 50 metres.
think of banners and billboards from a haiku and fibonaci perspective.
a better placement would be in a high pedestrian traffic area when you are less likely to be sued for causing traffic accidents”…
Now that I understand Heartlands motivation for that poster it makes a lot more sense. I think that had a point.
Baghdad Romm
Sorry, folks, I still think this poster wins the prize for sheer contemptuousness in these ongoing advert wars:
http://deathby1000papercuts.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Discovery-Companys-Treehugger-Ad-child-noose.png
Let’s hope this is leads to a new phase in the climate war, in which ad hominem arguments are not acceptable on either side. I’m not over-optimistic, but not likening your opponents to mass murderers is at least a start.
Eric Adler says:
May 7, 2012 at 4:35 pm
The date on that post is almost 1 year ago, 7/25/2011. Reading the story in detail, it shows that Brevick had a conspiracy theory about AGW, which is similar to what can be found posted on this web site.
The troubling thing about conspiracy theories is that every so often, there’s a real conspiracy — Climategate proved that.
William Martin: I would have posted it at their ‘contact us’ link, but they don’t have one….
Ah, but they do: info@heartland.org
Heartland’s “billboard fiasco” is, in fact, a huge success. Their story is all over the news, and media bunnies obviously don’t know, how to counter Heartland’s argument. Millions hear about these billboards, and are applauding them for finally saying something true in the face of the liars. Look at the ubiquitous teenager comments on Yahoo — even they get it.
[SNIP – Mr. Feht – I’m not interested in discussion of your personal views about what I should/should not do here on my own blog. Keep them to yourself please. If you don’t like what I do here, don’t visit then – Anthony]
/sarc on
Anthony, are you a terrorist?
/sarc off
juanslayton,
thanks for the info, I’ve copied the link to my email contacts.
the link you provided is not apparent on the heartland main page (below)
http://heartland.org/
is not having a ‘contact us’ , ‘tips and notes’, or similar, an oversight ?
thanks again, it’s heartening to be on a blog where people are willing to help !
I get it now, Mr. Watts. To visit your site, I must like everything you do and everything you say. Or, in those few cases when I don’t, I must shut up. Nice.
[Reply: If that was true your comment here would not appear. ~dbs, mod.]
“Acknowledging a mistake, apologizing for it, and then making it right indicates a certain level of integrity.”
What do you think of the integrity of someone who pretends it was an “experiment meant to be provocative” not a mistake. Who do not apologise “We do not apologize for running the ad” and leave the offending posters and supporting press release on their website?
What about their integrity if Ted Kaczynski had made no comments about global warming in the first place and they just assumed he would believe in it as he’d commented on other environmental issues. Does everyone who thinks the oil spill in the gulf was a bad thing then have to also believe in global warming?
If it is true that Microsoft withdrew its financial support of Heartland, then it was a cowardly and inexcusable act. This is what is wrong with our society: rampant conformism. If more people and more businesses would simply stick to their guns and and say “No” to incessant ideological brainwashing, we all, individuals and corporations, would be much freer and richer today.
@James
Ted Kaczynski is an environmentalist fanatic. It is an incontrovertible fact. He did what he did, according to his manifesto (yes, I read it, not all of it but enough), to stop our technological civilization from destroying the environment. The fact that he acted as a loner doesn’t mean that he is alone. In essence, his manifesto is similar to what James Hansen is preaching. Armed with all the power of the federal government, Lisa Jackson’s EPA seems to profess the same anti-business, anti-liberty, anti-civilization-as-we-know-it, “after us the blissful primeval deluge” ideology.
According to recently disclosed Al-Qaeda documents, Osama bin Laden approved of the green movement and of the mainstream media green and leftist bias (he strongly disapproved of Fox News, though — not that I watch it, I don’t watch TV at all).
From what I could find in Al-Qaeda quotations, their point of view is that the immoral, Satanic leftist agenda is helping to achieve the objectives of Jihad, because it is an internal Western mechanism of self-destruction. And you know what? They may be right.
http://desmogblog.com/diageo-liquor-giant-backs-away-science-dissembling-heartland-institute
I don’t think they did, actually. Diageo provided £6000 to Heartland in 2010 on a separate issue (excise taxes) and had already said that they had no plans to extend their funding.
What I find rather more disturbing is this statement:
a Diageo spokeswoman told the Guardian: “Diageo vigorously opposes climate scepticism and our actions are proof of this.”
Vigorously opposes scepticism? Wow!
“Doubting Rich says:
May 7, 2012 at 4:28 pm
This is why the Heartland billboard was genius. It forced the warmists to condemn something they were already doing themselves at every turn, and which was a successful tactic. Now every time they use it their own words will be turned on them. In exchange, what has Heartland really lost?”
What has Heartland really lost?
They have lost any goodwill that was generated by them being victimized by Gleick and the MSM press. They have also lost my support. I really question anyone who thought that an ad campaign like that was a good idea. Where are their heads at if they think stuff like this is okay?
It will take an enormous amount of work on their part to make me change my mind about who they are and what they represent. For now, I am saddened that they are even a part of this discussion. They have tarnished a good cause.
Just more “battle fatigue,” Anthony (your phrase, not mime). If you can give Heartland a break, why not Joe Romm?
REPLY: You assume poorly. I gave no “breaks” to Heartland, and in private emails that day I told them it was a dumb mistake and they should immediately take down the billboard. I also ran a poll, asking readers if my thinking it was a blunder. I think you have blinders on – Anthony
Billboards by Heartland are a great way to communicate and would love to see lots of them. However, I believe it should have been done by posting quotes from reputable scientists and famous people with web-links to where people can go to find out more. There is a huge number of people who have “forgotten” about AGW yet “Rome” is still burning. We need people to realize that even thou AGW may be dead in the water and they think it is of low importance to them, the ominous rules and laws are still being put into place by the EPA under the Obama administration that will destroy the american way of life. New laws and treaties, such as the impending Law of the Seas treaty, are on the horizon and will be disastrous for the US.
Other great billboards would be ones illustrating the falied predictions of AGW that never materialized. Polar bear populations, sea ice in 2007 vs 2012, all kinds of cool billboards could be made.
I don’t get it…the link works fine for me. The page is still there
[Reply: If so, they are reacting to the exposé by WUWT. ~dbs, mod.]
Breivik is right when he assessed that the immediate threat to Norway does not originate with the immigrant population which resists assimilation of native norms and seeks to impose its own; but, with the left-wing ideologues who actively conspire to betray their fellow citizens. Subversion from within is the most insidious, which Breivik and, in fact, a progressive number of Europeans, are recognizing with each passing day. In the past, the conflict was overt and explicit, and the Europeans successfully resisted forcible entry by Islamic imperialists, less the millions who were captured and enslaved. They successfully resisted the efforts of left-wing regimes, including: Nazis, fascists, communists, etc. Today, and throughout much of the 20th century, the threat is from the same class of people, but it originates from native left-wing interests. Interests that have learned to exploit human vulnerability and baser appetites through emotional extortion and purchase through promises of redistributive and retributive change (i.e. instant gratification). It’s unfortunate that he targeted innocents, especially their children; but, it is exactly those elements of Norwegian society who have suffered the most under the irresponsible immigration policies supported by the European left. This is how the left acts in a democracy, when their position is a minority, and precludes an outright assault on the society they endeavor to dominate.
He is also right about the “global warming” scheme. At least in its global incarnation and with respect to its unsubstantiated claims of knowledge. It denies the fundamental nature of the Earth system and specifically with respect to natural climactic variability induced by subterranean, terrestrial, atmospheric, and extraterrestrial sources and processes.
It would appear that “ThinkProgress” is complicit with these subversive interests. They resemble the traitors and quislings that are a persistent plague suffered by human civilization.
Oh, one more thing, there is no equivalence between the right in Europe and America, or any other nation for that matter. American conservatism is defined by the establishment document, The Declaration of Independence, and the organizational document, The Constitution; and can be summarized as classical liberalism tempered by Judeo-Christian principles. As for when Americans will respond with force, it is explained in the organizational document.
The left-wing ideologies, however, are defined by universal philosophies, and exhibit only minor variations from one nation to another. Regimes realized upon those principles are predisposed to embrace denigration of individual dignity and devaluation of human life. They all seek to consolidate wealth and power through the establishment of coercive authoritative monopolies. They can be presented as effectively equivalent.
ThinkProgress needs to think before “opening their mouths,” because their efforts to inculcate confusion has been a progressive failure. Neither a selective history nor a selective science nor their faith will be sufficient to support their position.
Phil C says:
May 8, 2012 at 6:25 am
“Just more “battle fatigue,” Anthony (your phrase, not mime). If you can give Heartland a break, why not Joe Romm?”
No comparison whatever.
Heartland told the truth. Romm constantly prevaricates. Heartland pulled their ad upon request. Romm keeps on lying.
Get it now?
• • •
n.n: Agree. However, I would use the legal definition of the Constitution: the basic law of the land. As Justice Alito said when he was asked about it: “The Constitution is a legal document!”
It seems my first comment was lost. I will just note that Breivik was right when he identified the left in Norway as the principal threat to his fellow citizens, and not the immigrants who resist assimilation of native norms, or who conduct the vast majority of violent assaults against their hosts. It’s unfortunate that he targeted innocents, especially children, but it is exactly those elements of his society who have suffered the most under irresponsible immigration policies. It’s ironic that overpopulation was once a favorite concern of left-wing interests. Perhaps they don’t understand the significance of that issue, since they have clearly misclassified its causes.
Anyway, this is how the left operates in a democracy when they maintain a minority position. They effect progressive corruption of individuals and society, and purchase the remainder with promises of redistributive and retributive change (i.e. instant gratification).
He is also right about the “global warming” scheme. The conspirators claim a knowledge which they do not possess. They deny the natural variability inherent to Earth’s systems. They are also selective in their indignation. For example, with respect to resource recovery and energy production, they happily embrace the “out-of-sight and out-of-mind” principle, which is a superset of “not in my backyard”.
They really have or should have no credibility remaining. It is the domain of a quisling to acknowledge and inculcate a selective history, selective science, and a selective reality,
~dbs:
This post should really be updated to indicate there is no disappearance…the link works fine.
And next time this happens, some advice:
> How To Fix the 404 Not Found Error
> Retry the web page by clicking the refresh/reload button or trying the URL from the address bar > again. The 404 Not Found error has been known to appear on occasion even if there is no real > issue so a simple refresh will often load the page you were looking for.
REPLY: Oh, please. I run a server farm, I was embracing web technology back to 1995 and created an ISP for my TV station, and you really think it boils down to “we are too stupid to press refresh”? The page disappeared, much like Mike Mann does when faced with difficult questions. – Anthony
Say NO to Global Warming Hoax, and the Environmentalism agenda.
http://freemarketamerica.org/
And next time this happens, some advice:
I’ll confirm that last night, using the search function on the ThinkProgress site for:
* keywords in the headline of the scrubbed-and-now-restored article;
* keywords from the text of the scrubbed-and-now-restored article; and
* articles by Brad Johnson;
all failed to pull up the scrubbed-and-now-restored article in any of the search result sets. This suggests that the article had been removed from their search engine as well as being removed its original URL.
The implication by propagandists like Kindle Kinser that the article had not been removed from public view is simply a lie.
Also, you’ll notice that the article now has a red background instead of green background shown in the pre-scrub screenshots. That seems to be because the article has been moved from the ClimateProgress section of the ThinkProgress website to the “Security” section.
Also, Joe Romm didn’t even mention the scrubbed-and-now-restored article in his latest screed attacking Anthony Watts, which he posted on ClimateProgress earlier today (well after Anthony noted the disappearance of the scrubbed-and-now-restored article).
I suspect that since the original Orwellian memory-holing effort failed (because they got caught doing it), the stealth year-later reclassification of the article from “ClimateProgress” to “Security” is to give Joe Romm plausible deniability to his gullible readers.
One last note:
Using the search tool at the ThinkProgress site to look for “climate norway terrorist” (http://thinkprogress.org/?s=climate+norway+terrorist) now returns the scrubbed-and-now-restored article in the list of results (last night it did not), and link in the list of results still shows the original “/climate/” URL.
It still redirects to the article at the new “/security/” URL when you click on it, but for now they still haven’t quite erased all the evidence that they published that article on their ClimateProgress site.
However it’s presented, the Heartland/Climate Progress thing comes under the heading of “Please Miss, he did it too!” This false argument might pass in populist politics, but should cut no ice with scientists, or indeed anyone, trained to think logically. The warmist activists have been demonising sceptics ever since the controversy took wings, mainly because unless they keep talking very fast and loudly the people might start engaging brain. Heartland’s action has befouled the sceptic side as thoroughly as 10 10 befouled the activist side. No amount of testiculation, however well-intentioned can hide that fact. Of all committed sceptic “celebs”, Minx the Merciless was to my mind the most sure-footed in her response. While I haven’t sent back my “Fakegate” mug and T-shirt with a “Disgusted of Tonbridge Wells” note, I will pause and seriously consider any future requests for support from the Heartland Institute.
Heartland has done at least three blog posts that were equivalent to or worse than the Think Progress post. This is in addition to the billboards:
http://rabett.blogspot.com/2012/05/chance-for-anthony-watts-to-show-his.html#comments
I urge Anthony Watts to go after Heartland just as vigorously as he’s going after Think Progress.