The forthcoming 'documentary' casting doubt on global warming is made by the same bunch that brought you the controversial and plain mendacious "Against Nature" series. That was directed by Martin Durkin, who's a close mate and follower of Frank Furedi, leader of the secretive grouplet that started life in the 80s as the Trotskyist "Revolutionary Communist Party" (though renowned at the time for being neither revolutionary nor communist). The RCP mutated into the "LM Project" (after its house journal "Living Marxism") which specialised in "media entryism", gaining an influence in broadcast media through careful recruitment which enabled it to punch way above its weight and get a dispoportionate amount of airtime on TV and radio. LM then lost a libel suit brought against it by ITN over its mendacious allegation that the Bosnian Serb concentration camp at Omarska didn't exist, and went bust. It relaunched itself, phoenix-like, as the Institute of Ideas, and hydra-like appeared in a number of different guises as front organisations (a classic tactic of Trotskyist sects), such as Spiked Online, Sense About Science, and many other fronts too numerous to mention here (see links below for further info).

The main principles of this exclusive sect/cult are:

1. Unrestricted economic progress.
2. A rabid anti-Green stance (following from 1, as Greens are seen as hindering economic growth).
3. "Unconditional support" for nations under attack by imperialism, hence the sect's highly controversial support of the Serb side in the Balkan Wars of the 80s.
4. A belief in "Enlightenment values" and humanism.
5. A deep loathing of the Left in all its guises.
6. An uncompromising 'freedom from' libertarianism, akin to that promulgated by Right groupings in the US.

RCP/LM personnel, in particular Frank "Dear Leader" Furedi, featured prominently in Against Nature, which was rightly censured by TV authorities for seriously misrepresenting and misquoting Greens who appeared on the programme. In the discussion after the last prog in the series, George Monbiot immediately said that the series was sponsored and made by the RCP/LM, to which Durkin replied with lots of bluster about "witch-hunts" but at no time denied the accusation. It'll be interesting to see, if there is a discussion after this programme, what he has to say about his backers.

For further reading on this small but highly influential sect, see:

Lobbywatch.org: LM Watch
http://www.lobbywatch.org/p1temp.asp?pid=39&page=1

Sourcewatch: LM group
http://www.sourcewatch.org/wiki.phtml?title=LM_group

Wikipedia: Revolutionary Communist Party (UK)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutionary_Communist_Party_(Furedi)

Invasion of the Entryists
http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2003/12/09/invasion-of-the-entryists/

The Guardian: Life after Living Marxism
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4038177,00.html

Weekly Worker: Farewell Living Marxism
http://www.cpgb.org.uk/worker/344/farewellLM.html

On Martin Durkin:

GMWatch.org
http://www.gmwatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=39

Booman Tribune: Global Warming Denier
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2007/3/6/8814/25388
{This is a recent article looking at Durkin's track record, and previewing the forthcoming programme)

Hello Gerry,

Thanks for the info. There has to be an ulterior motive behind such misconceived trash. Here it is.

It is very irresponsible of Channel 4 to air this documentary. If they intend to be balanced on this most important of issues I take it "An Inconvenient Truth" will be aired at the earliest opportunity on C4 and with the same prime time slot and fan fair of publicity!

Test

quote:

Originally posted by Culpability Brown:
It is very irresponsible of Channel 4 to air this documentary. If they intend to be balanced on this most important of issues I take it "An Inconvenient Truth" will be aired at the earliest opportunity on C4 and with the same prime time slot and fan fair of publicity!

Agreed. These things have to be debated in a fair and open way. Documentaries that just show one view without giving the public access to the other view, is biased and encouraging propoganda. Unfortunately, there arent may people in the publc that will think that. It's the "convenient truth" most people want to hear.

Clearly, the fact that you know this political stuff in such detail speaks volumes about you and all those posting support on this thread. Clearly, you see this documentary as political and not scientific yet happy no doubt to applaud George Monbiot’s emotive green ramblings as non-political and scientifically accurate – how strange.

Talk about the kettle calling the pot black, but then such is the case with politics. At least we can see on this thread those in the discussion who see the ‘environmental issues’ as political science and not from a climate scientific stand point – can’t we?

APL doesn't seem to grasp that the programme was political, as well as scientific. He also has trouble with seeing that Monbiot's articles are scientific, as well as political.

Odd how people who insist on keeping the two seperate never understand either.

The real questions are: Was Durkin's documentary good scientific analysis, and was it good political analysis. To both questions the answer is obviously "no".

quote:

Clearly, the fact that you know this political stuff in such detail speaks volumes about you and all those posting support on this thread. Clearly, you see this documentary as political and not scientific yet happy no doubt to applaud George Monbiot’s emotive green ramblings as non-political and scientifically accurate – how strange.

Nope - Monbiot's as political as the RCP/LM, but at least he's open about it. Neither is he very literate scientifically. Others, though, are, not least New Scientist magazine, which I've read for some 30 years now, which is convinced that climate change is anthropogenic, and in a recent issue severely slated the IPCC report (which Durkin put the boot into) as being heavily watered down for political reasons.

Let's put the boot on the other foot. Were a documentary to be broadcast pushing the man-made global warming message, and that documentary was made and directed by a green organisation that didn't declare itself, then "no doubt" you and other global warming "sceptics" would cry foul, and rightly so.

I know the "political stuff" because I've had long contact with the sect/cult formerly known as the RCP, and I know for a fact that they wouldn't accept man-made global warming even if there was absolutely zero doubt about it, which of course there never can be given the inherent uncertainty in all science. The reason for that is simple - they are committed to unrestricted economic and cultural "human progress", and see any obstacle to that as "anti-human". They don't care about scientific method.

There have always been people who want to have control and power over others. (Why that is I don't know, maybe someone can shed some light on that for me?)

For example the communists that controlled Russia and Eastern Europe for so many years. People wern't allowed cars, only the political elite. Foriegn travel was allowed only with permission. People were followed, mail read, phones tapped. Permissions were even required to travel internally. The excuse used was, it's for the good of the state and for the protection and benefit of its citizens.

We now have surveillance cameras everywhere, we are told for our safety. Our emails are read, our downloads monitored, this is supposed to protect us from perverts etc (are there really so many around) and what happened to people taking personal responsibility? Is crime so bad in this country that we need more surveillance cameras in London than in the whole of the USA? Have there been so many accidents at roadworks that we need average speed cameras at them all?

If certain people have their way our cars and foreign travel will disapear or only be available for the politically priviledged. This will be achieved under the guise of global warming in the same way our thoughts and actions are being policed by the politically correct brigade.

Beware, these people will by stealth and by inducing guilt over global warmimg gain power and control in a way that will make the former communist regimes look like paradise.

It is in their interest that their is no debate and the only option is.....

You have been warned.