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True Green Report

Rainbow Warrior stuck in Spain

July 14, 2003

Seafaring members of the world’s largest environmental lobby have had their main boy toy tied up this summer. Spain is holding Greenpeace’s flagship, Rainbow Warrior, in port and will not be releasing it until the environmental group ponies up a fine of 300,000 euros (in American greenbacks $343,100).

Donor’s money should keep the Greenpeace boys in style in beautiful Valencia. In fact, the Rainbow Warrior has been held in the southeastern port since June 13. It was on that day when four Greenpeace activists took time out from sunning to chain themselves to a ship carrying African wood. The chain gang had tried to prevent the ship from entering the port. The four got arrested for their trouble.

Greenpeace, which accuses Spain of turning a blind eye to shipments of "illegally felled" timber, attacked the government for levying the $343,000-fine against an ecological group.

"The fine is unfair, abusive and absurd, with the only objective being to avoid Greenpeace’s continual protests about the entry via Valencia of illegally felled wood which destroys the African forests," whined Greenpeace in a statement.

No one at Spain’s Development Ministry chose to comment.

Greenpeace claims Spain is the world’s biggest importer of African wood, much of which is obtained illegally.


Turner turns tap off

Ted Turner continues to lose it. His fortune, that is.

Because of dwindling fortunes, the media mogul will not be funding any environmental groups for at least the next year.

The Turner Foundation has given away more than $222 million since its first year in 1991, but has now laid off more than two-thirds of its staff.

"Founder Ted Turner and the board of trustees, including his five adult children and Jane Fonda, have firmly stated their commitment to the foundation and their interest to remain a strong and innovative force in the philanthropic community for years to come," said Devon Finley, the Foundation’s program officer.

Megabucks from the Foundation made it possible for radical environmental groups to harass business.

Turner and company have been criticized for handing over large sums to extreme, rather than mainstream environmental groups, such as Greenpeace, which has collected more than $1 million to date. The Ruckus Society, which Rolling Stone magazine described as "a cadre of direct-action veterans, who consider themselves the training arm of the radical left," was given more than $100,000.

The foundation also contributed nearly $5 million in 2001 to zero-population groups, including Population Action International.

Seems that Turner, who gives new meaning to the old adage that "a fool and his money are soon parted," prefers bison to people.


PETA’s school daze

You’ve heard the true story of grade school children frightening off over zealous People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) agents by first cornering them and then drenching them with milk?

Now PETA has had its creative advertising turfed out of a school year book.

It seems that 400 graduating seniors at Roosevelt High School won’t be getting a yearbook containing a photo of a boy spewing milk out of his mouth and nose. Not being able to stop the press on time, 300 students will.

The photo, judged political and offensive by school principal Maria Escobar, dominates a full-page advertisement purchased by the animal rights group. The text reads, "If you knew how dairy cows suffered, you’d spew."

"The picture was gross, but that wasn’t it," said Escobar. "I don’t want them to use our yearbook as a platform for their politics."

Escobar ordered the ad pulled, PDQ.

"You allow freedom of the press," said Richard A. Johanson, president of the Fresno Unified School District board. "But is a yearbook the place to debate whether cows are treated humanely?"

PETA would invade even the nursery in order to get its message across.

"It’s an ironic thing for an educator to close the year by censoring a message of compassion for animals and healthful eating," said Bruce Friedrich, PETA’s national director of vegan outreach in Washington, D.C. "That a school principal would trump the decision of the school yearbook committee by ripping an ad out of the yearbook is unsettling."

Friedrich said the ad was developed six months ago and has been placed in school newspapers and several yearbooks nationwide. PETA picked areas known for dairy production.

Friedrich acknowledged that the Roosevelt principal’s actions had inadvertently given the ad more attention than it might have received otherwise.

"Certainly, we’d be crying crocodile tears if we said this wasn’t helpful," Friedrich said.

The ad invites readers to log onto a PETA website. The site argues that milk production and consumption are cruel to cows, harm the environment, and promote poor health in humans."

Given their huge success in scoring publicity off the backs of high school students, Canadafreepress.com is predicting that PETA will go after baby’s’ milk next.


Holly Penfound:

Following the money

Last summer, Greenpeace activists had to be rescued by expensive emergency crews when they tried to scale Toronto’s CN Tower.

This summer, Greenpeace activists have "quarantined" the Agriculture and Agri-food Canada (AAFC) Research Farm in Morden, Manitoba in a dramatic pre-dawn caper. Four activists climbed onto the roof of the building with a 120-sq. m banner reading, "Stop GE Wheat," as others blocked the front doors of the building. Signs reading, "Biohazard: Stop Genetically Engineered Wheat’ were driven into the ground at the farm, while the front doors were blocked with quarantine signs. The AAFC farm at Morden is one of the sites where open-air field trials of genetically engineered wheat will take place in 2003.

"We are quarantining this facility because of the risks GE wheat poses to the environment and Canada’s farmers," said Holly Penfound, Greenpeace Genetic Engineering Campaigner. "The government should be prohibiting the release of GE wheat, not growing it for Monsanto in the open environment."

While the government refuses to reveal the locations of dozens of on-going field trials of genetically engineered crops, documents obtained by Greenpeace in April of this year show that field trials of GE wheat have been on-going at several government sites.

Meanwhile, Toronto Free Press readers may remember that this is the third episode of Holly Penfound reinventing herself. Penfound was once executive assistant to Greenpeace Canada chief Peter Tabuns, when he was merely another leftwing member of Toronto City Council. In those days, Penfound managed to have the circus banned from coming to town, an effort later overturned by a provincial judge, but not before costing tens of thousands of dollars to Toronto taxpayers.

In the reinvented Holly Penfound number two, we find the activist joining up with Rob Laidlaw to run Zoocheck, an organization which made sneak attacks on the owners of roadside menageries and petting zoos.

In her latest role of Greenpeace Environmental Health Campaigner, she’s back with her boss at Greenpeace Canada.

Holly Penfound always knew how and where to follow the money.


Jaws Part Two:

Naked man scares shark to death

People are facing fines and imprisonment for hitting birds with baseballs and killing poisonous snakes in the path of toddlers.

Now a British comedian could face criminal charges over the death of a "sensitive" shark after he jumped, nude, into a tank in an aquarium.

The 12-year-old smooth hound shark, which measured three feet, died "suddenly" after Guy Venables jumped into its tank as a publicity stunt at the Brighton Sea Life Centre, in southern England. Suddenly in this case was two days after the jump.

Before jumping to the conclusion that the shark died of a heart attack, it could have been stress that took it out.

"This variety of shark is susceptible to stress," Sea Life’s Centre Lisa Handscomb told the Daily Telegraph. "We are very concerned he died as a result of seeing Mr. Venables jumping into the tank.

"The shark is being examined by our biological services team and if is found that he died from stress, we will prosecute Mr. Venables for criminal damage."