When they lie right on the cover, it speaks volumes about the content of the film.
![Greedy-Lying-Bastards-Movie-Review[1]](http://wattsupwiththat.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/greedy-lying-bastards-movie-review1.jpg?quality=83)
What’s the lie in the cover you ask? I contacted the West Coast press agent to confirm my suspicion.
At first glance, I said to myself “they really wouldn’t be that stupid to make an oil slick for a photo op, would they“? After all, as any boater knows, the US Coast Guard has severe penalties for getting any oil on the water, be it intentionally or accidentally:
The Federal Water Pollution Control Act prohibits the discharge of oil or oily waste into or upon the navigable waters of the United States or the waters of the contiguous zone if such discharge causes a film or sheen upon, or discoloration of, the surface of the water, or causes a sludge or emulsion beneath the surface of the water. Violators are subject to a penalty of $5,000.
I asked the West coast press agent, and got this reply:
I spoke with Craig and This picture was created digitally http://blog.zap2it.com/pop2it/greedy-lying-bastards-review.jpg
Thanks and please let me know if you have any other questions
Alexandra Drapac
MPRM Communications
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx | Los Angeles, CA 90036
Tel: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx | Fax: xxxxxxxxxxxx
I replied:
OK so that picture is fake, which speaks volumes about the content I suppose.
And got this reply in return:
Yes definitely fake-
Thanks!
Alex
Well and good to know. It reminds me of the famous Ursus Bogus scandal with Science, where fake digital photography was also used to make a point.
To illustrate its item about scientific facts, Science chose this image of a doomed poley bear:
One small problem.
As James Delingpole reveals, that poley bear image is fake. It’s been photoshopped. Science subsequently admitted:
The image associated with this article was selected by the editors. We did not realize that it was not an original photograph but a collage, and it was a mistake to have used it.
As Science says: “There is always some uncertainty associated with scientific conclusions.”
So just like that episode, Greedy Lying Bastards lies to the viewer right on the cover of the DVD. What a great start. It gets even more interesting, so lazy are the producers and contributors, they use erratum recycled language from 2005:
WUWT reader Russell Cook writes in an email:
=============================================================
Our AGW friends are so lazy as to drop in material from 2005.
From this other page, notice how just a couple of words of substitution turns this farce into a spectacular example of sheer projection: http://www.exposethebastards.com/jim_hoggan_clearing_the_pr_pollution_that_clouds_climate_science
Few PR offences have been so obvious, so successful and so despicable as this attack on the science of climate change. It has been a triumph of disinformation – one of the boldest and most extensive PR campaigns in history, primarily financed by the ̶e̶n̶e̶r̶g̶y̶ ̶i̶n̶d̶u̶s̶t̶r̶y̶ enviro-activists’ benefactors and executed by some of the best PR talent in the world.
And right after that, Hoggan says…
…. Ross Gelbspan, in his books, The Heat is On and Boiling Point sets out the whole case, pointing fingers and naming names. PR Watch founder John Stauber has done similarly exemplary work, tracking the bogus campaigns and linking various pseudo scientists to their energy industry funders. ….
That is lifted verbatim from Hoggan’s 2005 WordPress blog, pre-Desmogblog. As I’ve said so many times, all paths in the smear of skeptics lead to Gelbspan.
==============================================================
Heh. Recycled propaganda.
Apparently I don’t rate as a ‘bastard’. Color me disappointed. The list of heroes is equally funny. On the plus side, at least they weren’t stupid enough to put Peter Gleick on the list. They did however, interview Dr. Pieter Tans.
Pieter Tans, keeper of the CO2 records for Mauna Loa, is a self-declared 911 Truther. Here’s a letter to the editor he co-signed in 2006:
World has lost a true, humble friend
The world has lost a true friend in Gilbert White, winner of the 2000 National Medal of Science, natural resource adviser to FDR, ecologist before the word existed, president of Haverford College, social scientist and much else he was too humble to mention.
Gil was a fearless thinker who supported ideas that were before their time, such as the project at Vote.org and ideas that many ridicule or fear, such as evidence that a few people in our government allowed or caused the 9/11 attacks. He’s the eldest in the Oct. 21, 2004, Boulder Weekly photo with us, attending a 9/11 Truth event, although we weren’t identified — see Boulderweekly.com/archive/102104/coverstory.html. At lunch afterward, he expressed surprise and frustration that the media simply refused to make this an issue in the coming presidential election.
Gil was pretty sure that 9/11 was treason partly because, when he was working in the FDR White House, he witnessed the congratulatory atmosphere there the day of Pearl Harbor. He believed the government had invited the attack to get people’s support to enter World War II, and that something similar happened to get Congress’ (not the people’s) support for the Bush wars.
Gilbert could have been a member of almost any elite, but he preferred non-elitists. He believed in giving power to the people rather than keeping it in the hands of any elite. He hoped that when people learned that the government was complicit in 9/11 that they’d demand the kind of participatory government you can help realize at Vote.org. That’s why we risk accusations of sullying the dead by writing this.
Steven Jones, BYU Physics professor suspended for his work with Physics911.net, and Kevin Ryan, fired from Underwriters Laboratories for speaking out, will speak Oct. 29 from 2 to 6 p.m. in CU’s Math 100, along with the founder of the Muslim-Jewish-Christian Alliance for 9/11 Truth, Kevin Barrett, Ph.D.
EVAN RAVITZ, ROBERT McFARLAND,
PIETER TANS and MARTIN WALTER
Boulder
And here he is in a photo, he appears to be the one in the middle holding the banner:
![coverstory1[1]](http://wattsupwiththat.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/coverstory11.jpg?quality=83)
Source of the photo: http://archive.boulderweekly.com/102104/coverstory.html
Here’s Tan’s NOAA page: http://cires.colorado.edu/people/tans/
I wonder if Dr. Tans has ever heard of the Hatch act?
Watching the trailer and reading the synopsis, it seems to be the same old stuff, skeptics are (take your pick):
In the employ of big oil, recycled tobacco lobbyists, not scientists, ruthlessly greedy industrialists, don’t care about your children or your grandchildren, only out for profit, blah blah, blah.
We’ve heard it all before.
[ UPDATE:
I get this via one of my sources, Paul Dreissen, via email:
In case you don’t recall the name, GLB director Craig Rosebraugh used to be the mouthpiece for Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front anarchists and terrorists, who liked to brag about their firebombing of homes, cars and research labs. Nick Nichols and I discussed him and his exploits in some depth in Nick’s Rules for Corporate Warriors, pages 46, 47, 50, 217 and 306. He was investigated, and his computer hard drive was searched, but I don’t think the authorities were ever able to link him directly to the terrorists he assisted, and don’t believe he was ever successfully prosecuted.
When called to testify before a congressional committee that was investigating eco-terrorism, he took the Fifth on every question he was asked.
I confirmed this via Wikipedia and the citations here
From 1997 to 2001, Rosebraugh served as a spokesperson for the Earth Liberation Front receiving anonymous communiques from the ELF and forwarding them on to news media internationally. In 1999, Rosebraugh co-formed the North American Earth Liberation Front Press Office (NAELFPO) with Leslie James Pickering, where he continued to forward communiques, conduct international press interviews, and nationwide informational lectures on the ideology of the ELF movement.[10] Between 1997 and 2006, Rosebraugh received eight subpoenas to appear before federal grand juries to discuss his sources, but he has said he has no knowledge of them and refused to cooperate with the proceedings.
end update]
Only the weak minded will pay much attention to this movie, but then again, isn’t that the purpose of propaganda? Here is the movie trailer and the producer’s synopisis from the press kit:
“GREEDY LYING BASTARDS” SYNOPSIS
Hurricane Sandy. Wildfires in the West. “Brown-Outs” in the East. Farmers losing crops to the worst drought since the Dust Bowl. Climate change is no longer a prediction for the future, but a startling reality of today. The U.S. Pentagon believes it to be a matter of national and international security. Yet, as the evidence of our changing climate mounts and the scientific consensus proves a human causation, there continues to be no political action to thwart the warming of our planet.
“Greedy Lying Bastards” investigates the reason behind stalled efforts to tackle climate change despite consensus in the scientific community that it is not only a reality but also a growing problem that is placing us on the brink of disaster. The film details the people and organizations casting doubt on climate science and claims that greenhouse gases are not affected by human behavior. Filmmaker and political activist Craig Rosebraugh, in association with Executive Producer Daryl Hannah, documents the impact of an industry that has continually put profits before people, waged a campaign of lies designed to thwart measures to combat climate change, used its clout to minimize infringing regulations and undermined the political process in the U.S. and abroad.
Millions are spent each year by oil and related interests to fund the think tanks, groups, scientists and politicians waging what the film deems a campaign of deceit regarding the science of climate change and its dire impact on the planet. Between 1998 and 2012, “Greedy Lying Bastards” reports ExxonMobil spent over $27 million to dispel claims of global warming. The Koch brothers, who run the conglomerate Koch Industries, also provide significant funding. From 1997 through 2012, they spent over $67 million.
A far different story about climate change is told by the residents of Kivalina, a small Alaskan island above the Arctic Circle. Over the last fifty years, winter temperatures have risen nearly seven degrees and the ice that once protected the land is not forming properly leading to increasing erosion. As one tribal administrator notes: “The debate is over, we are dealing with the realities of climate change.”
“Greedy Lying Bastards” also presents a shocking analysis of the U.S. Supreme Court decision, Citizens United. According to the film, not only did this 2010 ruling pave the way for unlimited corporate contributions to political campaigns, but additionally it highlighted the blatant corruption of the country’s highest Court and its cozy relationship with top corporate interests.
Filmed in the US, Tuvalu, Peru, England, Uganda, Kenya, Belgium, Denmark and Germany, “Greedy Lying Bastards” includes interviews with scientists, industry experts, international political delegates, and people impacted by the changing climate as well as deniers. Among them: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon; Rep. Henry Waxman (CA); former EPA head Christine Todd Whitman; top U.S. climate scientists Dr. Pieter Tans (NOAA), Dr. Mark Serreze (NOAA), Dr. Kevin Trenberth (NCAR), former President of Copenhagen Climate Summit
COP15 Connie Hedegaard, UN Environmental Program Executive Director Achim Steiner, leading climate science skeptics Myron Ebell, Christopher Monckton, and Jay Lehr, and victims of the 2012 wildfires and drought in the U.S.
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[snip -over the top speculation – mod]
Oflo…I thought the point was that the oil spill ITSELF was faked.
“OK so that picture is fake, which speaks volumes about the content I suppose.”
Reply;
“Yes definitely fake”
Are we required to comment further?
[over the top speculation – mod]
From their own Film Synopsis:
“Greedy Lying Bastards” investigates the reason behind stalled efforts to tackle climate change despite consensus in the scientific community that it is not only a reality but also a growing problem placing us on the brink of disaster.
Soooo … the scientific consensus is a growing problem placing us on the brink of disaster. Well said.
I think we should organize viewing parties wherever this film is released and cheer for the Bastards and boo the Heroes. Unfortunately, this will put $ in the producers’ pockets, but it will give us a warm, fuzzy.
“We have met the greedy lying bastards,
and they are us.” – (an improbable quote by Craig Rosebraugh)
LOL
They have claimed the “high ground”!! The only constant about the climate is that it is changing.
How can we disagree with the words “climate change”? We can’t because it is always true.
We need a “two/three word” ,always true slogan, that describes our views:
1) Politicians Lie
2) NOAA Models
3) Carbon is Life
4) Warmth is Good
5) Cold is Bad
6) Storms Prevent Drought
7) -> help me out here
All the points above are valid, but this DVD is a bit like commentary by Rachel Maddow or Chris Matthews. People hear about it but very few people actually watch MSNBC. Very few people will watch this DVD — mostly the convinced.
It’s perfectly true that the labels on “bastard” and “hero” are reversed. “You can tell a man who boozes by the company he chooses…and the pig got up and slowly walked away.”
@MattN 3:52 am
Ridiculous. When PROPER science is done PROPERLY, there is virtually zero uncertainty.
Did you forget the /sarc tag?
When there is zero uncertainty, you can be certain the science was NOT properly done or reported.
PROPER science will track the error bars and report the range and confidence interval — even under the rare occasions the uncertainty is virtually zero.
Here is another movie about how spOILed we really are.
http://www.spoiledthemovie.com/the-story-of-spoiled/
It is ironic how we demonize carbon and yet blithely ignore how much we continue to rely on it and benefit from it. And also conveniently forget that in the form of CO2 that it is a wonderful plant food.
Bernie
We been here before with Gasslands , and with the same idea that their lying and their manipulation is OK has it done in noble cause and that means that its ‘not ‘ hypocrisy when they attack others for what they done themselves. Sadly for them most of the public don’t buy into that BS and so its the ‘true believers’ which actual forms their audience which mean they have zero actual influence.
Another silly man who thinks that if you say it often enough and loud enough it will become the truth. Now that may work in politics and economics but it sure doesn’t work in science.
A big FAIL!
Bad, bad case of Glowball Warming Derangement Syndrome.
I don’t believe it! Peter Gleick has twittered on this, has the man no shame?
Anthony,
I realize you will snip me again. That is absolutely fine as its political suicide to associate with anything but the ‘official’ story. So in the name of consistency why not snip your own post so as not to upset the people here who already have to deal with so much censorship on this so important topic? Otherwise its makes it hard to emphasize when fake climate scientists upset the skeptics with ad hominen attacks and then censor their rebuttals.
[??? Mod]
“Well, in the book, there are lots of government documents that back up or support what the author has said. Seeing them made me doubt the official story.”
Cherry picking can make quite a convincing story.
“No anarchist wants the government to ban anything… because anarchists want the government to stop existing and thus in turn want all government regulations to stop existing as well. No anarchist would ever support these groups because these groups heavily support government… which is why they are socialist in nature.”
The modern “anarchist” movement is, in fact, a Marxist movement. They’ve taken Marx’s delusion that after the dictatorship of the proletariat the “state would wither away” and said that is the anarchy they want — so first they have to go through the dictatorship of the proletariat.
As further evidence, look at who the “anarchists” march for and against.
The US cryptographers broke the Japanese ‘Purple’ code which had a completely separate code for each day of the lunar month. By 1941 they had broken a small number of them and knew the attack was coming. The book to read is “The Man Who Broke Purple” which tells the life story of the greatest cryptographer of the pre-computer age.
In his departing meeting the Japanese ambassador told the Prez of the impending attack personally. The US was well aware of it and made sure by two actions that it was successful: first, the orders from Washington overriding the head of the Pacific Fleet stating that the warships be placed back in the harbour nestled side by side (they had been moved out for safety in the event of an attack) and the order not to respond to the radar warming provided by the radar defense that there were hundreds of planes incoming. Obviously the motivation was to galvanise the House of Representatives to vote to go to war. The Canadian declaration of war against Japan actually preceded the US response.
I hope these clowns keep producing this sort of stuff. The more propaganda produced, the more weary the public gets hearing about unfulfilled promises of armegeddon. People know a rat when they smell one. And this stuff will never go away, thanks to the memory of the internet.
That may be (close to) true of experimental science, but not of observational science like climatology.
Last year you may remember that Lewandowsky et. al (almost) published “NASA faked the moon landing:Therefore (Climate) Science is a Hoax: An Anatomy of the Motivated Rejection of Science”. The hypothesis was that those who “deny” the truth of
catastrophic anthropogenic global warmingclimate change, as revealed to a vast majority of experts, tend also to be believers in crazy conspiracy theories. It boils down to the argument that skeptics don’t know what they are talking about. The questionnaire behind this survey included:-It did not include a “big oil pays for climate denial” conspiracy out of 15 questions. So is Professor Lewandowsky going to proclaim that the DVD is the work of some crazies from their belief in conspiracy theories?
You know your movement has failed when it becomes its own parody.
So did the Peruvian!
Maybe Daryl Hannah will blow her fortune on idiot projects like this film and finally shut up. Good grief, how can anyone be so condescending and yet so clueless at the same time?
This hateful religion is maturing, if you think its bad now, bear in mind there’s worse to come.