Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
These idiot politicians think everyone loves them!
So … idiot politician? Man I do not like this guy either. But someone shows up to his rally and gives him something they made…what is he supposed to do? While kinda a quick “haha” in reality it’s not very clever and pretty stupid actually. Person thinks they are being so clever…I hate those people
I’m just saying they’ll grab anything that someone gives them specially at a function like this! They are under the assumption that no way someone could be there to do something like this!
These idiot politicians think everyone loves them!
So … idiot politician? Man I do not like this guy either. But someone shows up to his rally and gives him something they made…what is he supposed to do? While kinda a quick “haha” in reality it’s not very clever and pretty stupid actually. Person thinks they are being so clever…I hate those people
It’s a stupid “Gotcha!” That they can post to their social media. Dumb and means absolutely nothing.
These idiot politicians think everyone loves them!
So … idiot politician? Man I do not like this guy either. But someone shows up to his rally and gives him something they made…what is he supposed to do? While kinda a quick “haha” in reality it’s not very clever and pretty stupid actually. Person thinks they are being so clever…I hate those people
It’s a stupid “Gotcha!” That they can post to their social media. Dumb and means absolutely nothing.
No way, it totally proves that he is fascist and he knows it. Burn.
These idiot politicians think everyone loves them!
So … idiot politician? Man I do not like this guy either. But someone shows up to his rally and gives him something they made…what is he supposed to do? While kinda a quick “haha” in reality it’s not very clever and pretty stupid actually. Person thinks they are being so clever…I hate those people
It’s a stupid “Gotcha!” That they can post to their social media. Dumb and means absolutely nothing.
No way, it totally proves that he is fascist and he knows it. Burn.
Just going to take this opportunity to thank you again for not changing that avatar
These idiot politicians think everyone loves them!
So … idiot politician? Man I do not like this guy either. But someone shows up to his rally and gives him something they made…what is he supposed to do? While kinda a quick “haha” in reality it’s not very clever and pretty stupid actually. Person thinks they are being so clever…I hate those people
It’s a stupid “Gotcha!” That they can post to their social media. Dumb and means absolutely nothing.
No way, it totally proves that he is fascist and he knows it. Burn.
Just going to take this opportunity to thank you again for not changing that avatar
I actually thought that was him....then I saw the pic somewhere else of Affleck
Remember the Thomas Nine !! (10/02/2018) The Golden Age is 2 months away. And guess what….. you’re gonna love it! (teskeinc 11.19.24)
1998: Noblesville; 2003: Noblesville; 2009: EV Nashville, Chicago, Chicago 2010: St Louis, Columbus, Noblesville; 2011: EV Chicago, East Troy, East Troy 2013: London ON, Wrigley; 2014: Cincy, St Louis, Moline (NO CODE) 2016: Lexington, Wrigley #1; 2018: Wrigley, Wrigley, Boston, Boston 2020: Oakland, Oakland:2021: EV Ohana, Ohana, Ohana, Ohana 2022: Oakland, Oakland, Nashville, Louisville; 2023: Chicago, Chicago, Noblesville 2024: Noblesville, Wrigley, Wrigley, Ohana, Ohana
These idiot politicians think everyone loves them!
So … idiot politician? Man I do not like this guy either. But someone shows up to his rally and gives him something they made…what is he supposed to do? While kinda a quick “haha” in reality it’s not very clever and pretty stupid actually. Person thinks they are being so clever…I hate those people
It’s a stupid “Gotcha!” That they can post to their social media. Dumb and means absolutely nothing.
No way, it totally proves that he is fascist and he knows it. Burn.
Just going to take this opportunity to thank you again for not changing that avatar
I actually thought that was him....then I saw the pic somewhere else of Affleck
These idiot politicians think everyone loves them!
So … idiot politician? Man I do not like this guy either. But someone shows up to his rally and gives him something they made…what is he supposed to do? While kinda a quick “haha” in reality it’s not very clever and pretty stupid actually. Person thinks they are being so clever…I hate those people
It’s a stupid “Gotcha!” That they can post to their social media. Dumb and means absolutely nothing.
No way, it totally proves that he is fascist and he knows it. Burn.
Just going to take this opportunity to thank you again for not changing that avatar
I actually thought that was him....then I saw the pic somewhere else of Affleck
Ha! I wish I could rock a bath towel like that, staring pensively into the ocean.
And NYR Nick, same to you too. Although fuck the Rangers. They made some good moves at the deadline. The east is loaded and going to be brutal in the playoffs. West looks like a bunch of softies.
These idiot politicians think everyone loves them!
So … idiot politician? Man I do not like this guy either. But someone shows up to his rally and gives him something they made…what is he supposed to do? While kinda a quick “haha” in reality it’s not very clever and pretty stupid actually. Person thinks they are being so clever…I hate those people
It’s a stupid “Gotcha!” That they can post to their social media. Dumb and means absolutely nothing.
No way, it totally proves that he is fascist and he knows it. Burn.
Just going to take this opportunity to thank you again for not changing that avatar
I actually thought that was him....then I saw the pic somewhere else of Affleck
Ha! I wish I could rock a bath towel like that, staring pensively into the ocean.
And NYR Nick, same to you too. Although fuck the Rangers. They made some good moves at the deadline. The east is loaded and going to be brutal in the playoffs. West looks like a bunch of softies.
Haha! Who’s your team in hockey? With the Bruins, it’s looking like no one has a chance against them anyway.
These idiot politicians think everyone loves them!
So … idiot politician? Man I do not like this guy either. But someone shows up to his rally and gives him something they made…what is he supposed to do? While kinda a quick “haha” in reality it’s not very clever and pretty stupid actually. Person thinks they are being so clever…I hate those people
It’s a stupid “Gotcha!” That they can post to their social media. Dumb and means absolutely nothing.
No way, it totally proves that he is fascist and he knows it. Burn.
Just going to take this opportunity to thank you again for not changing that avatar
I actually thought that was him....then I saw the pic somewhere else of Affleck
Ha! I wish I could rock a bath towel like that, staring pensively into the ocean.
And NYR Nick, same to you too. Although fuck the Rangers. They made some good moves at the deadline. The east is loaded and going to be brutal in the playoffs. West looks like a bunch of softies.
Haha! Who’s your team in hockey? With the Bruins, it’s looking like no one has a chance against them anyway.
Yeah I’m not sure anyone is going to stop them B’s
These idiot politicians think everyone loves them!
So … idiot politician? Man I do not like this guy either. But someone shows up to his rally and gives him something they made…what is he supposed to do? While kinda a quick “haha” in reality it’s not very clever and pretty stupid actually. Person thinks they are being so clever…I hate those people
It’s a stupid “Gotcha!” That they can post to their social media. Dumb and means absolutely nothing.
No way, it totally proves that he is fascist and he knows it. Burn.
Just going to take this opportunity to thank you again for not changing that avatar
I actually thought that was him....then I saw the pic somewhere else of Affleck
Ha! I wish I could rock a bath towel like that, staring pensively into the ocean.
And NYR Nick, same to you too. Although fuck the Rangers. They made some good moves at the deadline. The east is loaded and going to be brutal in the playoffs. West looks like a bunch of softies.
Haha! Who’s your team in hockey? With the Bruins, it’s looking like no one has a chance against them anyway.
I lived in Tampa from 92 to 2002 so I am Lightning full out. Grew up in Cleveland so no true 'home' team for me. I don't buy the Bruins. Seems like every President's cup winner gets bounced early. I think you burn all that energy in teh regular season, it's hard to win in the post season. If the Leafs weren't the Leafs, I'd predict them winning it all. But your goaltending is so good, you can ride him.
These idiot politicians think everyone loves them!
So … idiot politician? Man I do not like this guy either. But someone shows up to his rally and gives him something they made…what is he supposed to do? While kinda a quick “haha” in reality it’s not very clever and pretty stupid actually. Person thinks they are being so clever…I hate those people
It’s a stupid “Gotcha!” That they can post to their social media. Dumb and means absolutely nothing.
No way, it totally proves that he is fascist and he knows it. Burn.
Just going to take this opportunity to thank you again for not changing that avatar
I actually thought that was him....then I saw the pic somewhere else of Affleck
Ha! I wish I could rock a bath towel like that, staring pensively into the ocean.
And NYR Nick, same to you too. Although fuck the Rangers. They made some good moves at the deadline. The east is loaded and going to be brutal in the playoffs. West looks like a bunch of softies.
Haha! Who’s your team in hockey? With the Bruins, it’s looking like no one has a chance against them anyway.
I lived in Tampa from 92 to 2002 so I am Lightning full out. Grew up in Cleveland so no true 'home' team for me. I don't buy the Bruins. Seems like every President's cup winner gets bounced early. I think you burn all that energy in teh regular season, it's hard to win in the post season. If the Leafs weren't the Leafs, I'd predict them winning it all. But your goaltending is so good, you can ride him.
I agree and hope you’re right about the bruins! Nice to see a fellow hockey fan on the boards, regardless of which team you root for. For me , it’s the best sport for sure.
These idiot politicians think everyone loves them!
So … idiot politician? Man I do not like this guy either. But someone shows up to his rally and gives him something they made…what is he supposed to do? While kinda a quick “haha” in reality it’s not very clever and pretty stupid actually. Person thinks they are being so clever…I hate those people
It’s a stupid “Gotcha!” That they can post to their social media. Dumb and means absolutely nothing.
No way, it totally proves that he is fascist and he knows it. Burn.
Just going to take this opportunity to thank you again for not changing that avatar
I actually thought that was him....then I saw the pic somewhere else of Affleck
Ha! I wish I could rock a bath towel like that, staring pensively into the ocean.
And NYR Nick, same to you too. Although fuck the Rangers. They made some good moves at the deadline. The east is loaded and going to be brutal in the playoffs. West looks like a bunch of softies.
Haha! Who’s your team in hockey? With the Bruins, it’s looking like no one has a chance against them anyway.
I lived in Tampa from 92 to 2002 so I am Lightning full out. Grew up in Cleveland so no true 'home' team for me. I don't buy the Bruins. Seems like every President's cup winner gets bounced early. I think you burn all that energy in teh regular season, it's hard to win in the post season. If the Leafs weren't the Leafs, I'd predict them winning it all. But your goaltending is so good, you can ride him.
I agree and hope you’re right about the bruins! Nice to see a fellow hockey fan on the boards, regardless of which team you root for. For me , it’s the best sport for sure.
i wish my team would have sent the memo to kyrou that we are trying for the number 1 draft pick and that we do not need those hat tricks at this point.
"You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry." - Lincoln
These idiot politicians think everyone loves them!
So … idiot politician? Man I do not like this guy either. But someone shows up to his rally and gives him something they made…what is he supposed to do? While kinda a quick “haha” in reality it’s not very clever and pretty stupid actually. Person thinks they are being so clever…I hate those people
It’s a stupid “Gotcha!” That they can post to their social media. Dumb and means absolutely nothing.
No way, it totally proves that he is fascist and he knows it. Burn.
Just going to take this opportunity to thank you again for not changing that avatar
I actually thought that was him....then I saw the pic somewhere else of Affleck
Ha! I wish I could rock a bath towel like that, staring pensively into the ocean.
And NYR Nick, same to you too. Although fuck the Rangers. They made some good moves at the deadline. The east is loaded and going to be brutal in the playoffs. West looks like a bunch of softies.
Haha! Who’s your team in hockey? With the Bruins, it’s looking like no one has a chance against them anyway.
I lived in Tampa from 92 to 2002 so I am Lightning full out. Grew up in Cleveland so no true 'home' team for me. I don't buy the Bruins. Seems like every President's cup winner gets bounced early. I think you burn all that energy in teh regular season, it's hard to win in the post season. If the Leafs weren't the Leafs, I'd predict them winning it all. But your goaltending is so good, you can ride him.
Hoping the Bs break that streak of the PC winner getting bounced… like the Macho Man said, streaks are made to be broken.
NHL playoffs are the best tournament in sports, hands down.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
My sister for my Bday one year sent me a book Armed America. After looking through it I asked her why she thought I would like this? Her reply was you like guns so thought you'd enjoy it. I then told her that I am not one of these whackos that does portraits with them. These people are a wee bit off center...
The book contained people from all over the US taking portraits of them holding their firearms, much like that Christmas pic.
i wish my team would have sent the memo to kyrou that we are trying for the number 1 draft pick and that we do not need those hat tricks at this point.
That that trick solidified my fantasy win this last week!
i wish my team would have sent the memo to kyrou that we are trying for the number 1 draft pick and that we do not need those hat tricks at this point.
That that trick solidified my fantasy win this last week!
lol nice! happy my frustration could at least help you win, haha
"You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry." - Lincoln
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Conspiracy theorists on Facebook are ‘winning the information war’ about N.J. whale deaths
Are wind turbines to blame for recent New Jersey whale deaths? Scientists say no, Facebook says yes.
A juvenile humpback whale that washed ashore on the Atlantic City beach on January 7, 2023 was rolled up toward the dunes and buried the next day after a necropsy.Amy S. Rosenberg
by Amy S. RosenbergPublished an hour ago
They named the whale Windy.
“Windy was a young humpback whale taken in the prime of her life,” read the caption on a March 3 post in the Facebook group Protect our Coast NJ showing the diseased humpback whale on the beach near Seaside Park.
“Her gravesite is dug — this will be her final resting place.”
The caption ended with five emojis: prayer hands, crying face, whale, blue heart, another prayer hands.
ADVERTISEMENT
Before long, it had been shared 1.7K times, with 420 comments, many tracing the whale’s death, and that of nearly two dozen others along the coast of New York and New Jersey since early December 2022, to work being done in advance of several large-scale wind turbine farms off the Jersey coast. It is a connection scientists and government agencies have dismissed.
Even as necropsies find evidence of ship strikes in nearly half of the whales, which have been dying in elevated numbers since 2016, the drumbeat of scapegoating wind energy has intensified.
The debate has split, perhaps predictably, along political lines, frustrating those who say they really are just worried about the whales, and those who may have other concerns about the full impact of wind turbines.
‘Amateur scare tactic’
“When do we March?,” said one poster, whose Facebook bio is “SURVIVOR, RESPECTFUL, DEDICATED, PERSISTENT, PATRIOT.” “I’m so mad I could spit.”
Workers walk near a dead whale that washed ashore in Seaside Park N.J. on March 2, 2023. New Jersey officials say a wide array of research and preventive measures are either under way or planned soon to protect marine mammals during the construction and operation of offshore wind farms. Some people blame offshore wind preparation for a spate of whale deaths on the U.S. East Coast this winter, but three federal science agencies say there is no evidence linking the deaths to offshore wind preparation. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)Read moreWayne Parry / AP
Election conspiracy theories soon followed, with Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy a frequent target of derision.
They quoted the Book of Jonah, pondered whether to march on Trenton, packed local municipal meetings.
ADVERTISEMENT
One frequent Facebook post argued, falsely, that Murphy had a share in a company involved with wind energy called JECS Offshore, a name similar to one that he formed to buy his property in Italy. (JECS are the first initials of his children’s name.)
“Phil has no interest in stopping the project because he’s set to make $$$$, always follow the money,” wrote one poster.
The accusation is baseless.
“There is no connection between JECS Ltd. and JECS Offshore Services, and any claim otherwise is absolutely false,” said Alexandra Altman, Murphy’s deputy communications director, in an email.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Conflating two companies with similar names is another amateur scare tactic being used by groups whose sole focus is to stall the progress of New Jersey’s clean energy future.”
On Facebook, Brett Whiting, Offshore Operations Director at JECS Global Offshore Wind, said, “I’ve been called a little bugger in my time, but this is the first time I’ve been named and shamed in a conspiracy involving a United States Governor and a Leading Global Energy Supplier!”
‘Consuming my life’
Posters reflected personally on every whale death.
“You just gave me anxiety….like everything you said I was a whale in the water experiencing it,” said one poster.
ADVERTISEMENT
“This is really bad,” said another. “How long before we start seeing dead children washing up on the beach?”
At least 178 humpback whales have died from Maine to Florida since 2016, with necropsies completed on half. About 40% bear evidence of being struck by a vessel or entangled in fishing gear, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Marine Fisheries Service, which designated the time period as an unusual mortality event predating offshore wind-energy activity.
Tricia Devoe, dressed as a mermaid, and fellow "whale warriers" with their Save Our Whales banner and paper mache whale float at the Belmar St. Patrick's Day parade earlier on March 5, 2023.Handout
For Tricia DeVoe, an Ocean County, N.J. resident who works for a whale watching company in the summer who posted the photo of the whale they call Windy, that marine mammal death was just the latest in a string of gut wrenching strandings that are, frankly, taking over her life.
She became emotional when asked in how the effort was affecting her.
ADVERTISEMENT
“I‘m holding back the tears because that question made me cry,” she said in an interview. “I’ve been basically so consumed on trying to learn more and raise awareness. Literally my son just said to me, the whales better stop dying because it’s consuming my life and [that of] many others. It’s very, very personal.”
‘A very local phenomenon’
The wind companies have pushed back, citing conclusions by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the Marine Mammal Commission, and the NOAA that preparation for building the turbines, including sonar mapping activities, is not to blame for whale deaths.
Atlantic Shores holds one lease to build a wind farm off Atlantic City whose turbines that will be visible, at least on the clearest of days, from the lease area, 183,000 acres between Atlantic City and Barnegat Light. Phase one will be 200 turbines.
“There’s not a shred of evidence connecting ocean wind farms or surveying activities to the harming of whales,” said CEO Joris Veldhoven, in an interview.
“We’re mapping the sea floor,” he said. “We’re not installing turbines. We’re not installing cables. We’re very concerned about how the opposition is trying to draw a causal relation with the wave of whale beachings and deaths.”
He said the discourse seems to be “very much a local phenomenon,” and said there is “only a limited window for all citizens of the U.S. and this world to do something about climate change.”
‘All my Trumper friends’
That discourse had taken on a life of its own, every dead whale intensifying the debate. U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a Republican who represents Atlantic and Cape May County, along with about 30 local mayors have called for a moratorium on wind energy.
Cape May County will hold a hearing on March 15. Van Drew is calling witnesses at the Wildwood Convention Center on March 16 for a hearing entitled: “An Examination into Offshore Wind Industrialization.” Two other Republican congressmen will be there.
“That side is winning the information war,” save Joseph Reynolds, of the Save Coastal Wildlife organization, who wrote a piece called, “Stop lying about whale deaths.”
“They’re so wrapped up in all this propaganda,” he said. “They have all these people on blogs and Facebook and social media and friends in the media. As soon as there’s a dead whale, they’re down there.”
Reynolds wants the emphasis to shift to slowing down marine traffic to avoid injuries the dead whales are showing evidence of, though many on Facebook are sure those injuries occurred after whales were disoriented by sonar mapping related to the turbines.
On New Jersey Reddit, a poster asked earlier this month, “Why are all my Trumper friends suddenly “Save The Whales” when they’ve never cared about the environment before?” Marjorie Taylor Greene and Tucker Carlson have taken up the cause.
The Heartland Institute, a national libertarian think tank that has been closely aligned with fossil fuel groups, recently filed comments with the BOEM against an offshore wind project in Virginia “to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale.”
There is near-certainty among the faithful.
“Please... we all know it’s the wind farm surveys. Stop the killing,” said one poster on the Facebook page of the Brigantine, N.J.-based Marine Mammal Stranding Center , which itself has been a target of conspiracy theories after its necropsies turned up evidence of ship strikes.
Elected officials busy with culture war and other Republican talking points like Ocean City School Board member Robin Shaffer, who is advocating for the district to denounce state health and sex education standards, are active in the whale-wind turbine movement.
“Is there a lawyer out there?” Shaffer posted. “Is it possible that Orsted and/or Governor Murphy could be brought up on charges at the International Criminal Court in The Hague for environmental crimes?”
Former N.J. Superior Court Judge, Michael J. Donohue, a prominent Republican operative in Cape May County, was named Special Counsel to the County on windmill issues. On Facebook, he’s compared the assertion that whale deaths are not tied to wind energy to “The virus did not leak from a Chinese lab,” and “If you get the vax, you can’t get the virus or spread it.”
Meanwhile, Tricia Devoe says they weren’t even thinking about the wind turbines when they named the dead whale Windy. “It was just ... really windy at the time,” she said.
Conspiracy theorists on Facebook are ‘winning the information war’ about N.J. whale deaths
Are wind turbines to blame for recent New Jersey whale deaths? Scientists say no, Facebook says yes.
A juvenile humpback whale that washed ashore on the Atlantic City beach on January 7, 2023 was rolled up toward the dunes and buried the next day after a necropsy.Amy S. Rosenberg
by Amy S. RosenbergPublished an hour ago
They named the whale Windy.
“Windy was a young humpback whale taken in the prime of her life,” read the caption on a March 3 post in the Facebook group Protect our Coast NJ showing the diseased humpback whale on the beach near Seaside Park.
“Her gravesite is dug — this will be her final resting place.”
The caption ended with five emojis: prayer hands, crying face, whale, blue heart, another prayer hands.
ADVERTISEMENT
Before long, it had been shared 1.7K times, with 420 comments, many tracing the whale’s death, and that of nearly two dozen others along the coast of New York and New Jersey since early December 2022, to work being done in advance of several large-scale wind turbine farms off the Jersey coast. It is a connection scientists and government agencies have dismissed.
Even as necropsies find evidence of ship strikes in nearly half of the whales, which have been dying in elevated numbers since 2016, the drumbeat of scapegoating wind energy has intensified.
The debate has split, perhaps predictably, along political lines, frustrating those who say they really are just worried about the whales, and those who may have other concerns about the full impact of wind turbines.
‘Amateur scare tactic’
“When do we March?,” said one poster, whose Facebook bio is “SURVIVOR, RESPECTFUL, DEDICATED, PERSISTENT, PATRIOT.” “I’m so mad I could spit.”
Workers walk near a dead whale that washed ashore in Seaside Park N.J. on March 2, 2023. New Jersey officials say a wide array of research and preventive measures are either under way or planned soon to protect marine mammals during the construction and operation of offshore wind farms. Some people blame offshore wind preparation for a spate of whale deaths on the U.S. East Coast this winter, but three federal science agencies say there is no evidence linking the deaths to offshore wind preparation. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)Read moreWayne Parry / AP
Election conspiracy theories soon followed, with Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy a frequent target of derision.
They quoted the Book of Jonah, pondered whether to march on Trenton, packed local municipal meetings.
ADVERTISEMENT
One frequent Facebook post argued, falsely, that Murphy had a share in a company involved with wind energy called JECS Offshore, a name similar to one that he formed to buy his property in Italy. (JECS are the first initials of his children’s name.)
“Phil has no interest in stopping the project because he’s set to make $$$$, always follow the money,” wrote one poster.
The accusation is baseless.
“There is no connection between JECS Ltd. and JECS Offshore Services, and any claim otherwise is absolutely false,” said Alexandra Altman, Murphy’s deputy communications director, in an email.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Conflating two companies with similar names is another amateur scare tactic being used by groups whose sole focus is to stall the progress of New Jersey’s clean energy future.”
On Facebook, Brett Whiting, Offshore Operations Director at JECS Global Offshore Wind, said, “I’ve been called a little bugger in my time, but this is the first time I’ve been named and shamed in a conspiracy involving a United States Governor and a Leading Global Energy Supplier!”
‘Consuming my life’
Posters reflected personally on every whale death.
“You just gave me anxiety….like everything you said I was a whale in the water experiencing it,” said one poster.
ADVERTISEMENT
“This is really bad,” said another. “How long before we start seeing dead children washing up on the beach?”
At least 178 humpback whales have died from Maine to Florida since 2016, with necropsies completed on half. About 40% bear evidence of being struck by a vessel or entangled in fishing gear, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Marine Fisheries Service, which designated the time period as an unusual mortality event predating offshore wind-energy activity.
Tricia Devoe, dressed as a mermaid, and fellow "whale warriers" with their Save Our Whales banner and paper mache whale float at the Belmar St. Patrick's Day parade earlier on March 5, 2023.Handout
For Tricia DeVoe, an Ocean County, N.J. resident who works for a whale watching company in the summer who posted the photo of the whale they call Windy, that marine mammal death was just the latest in a string of gut wrenching strandings that are, frankly, taking over her life.
She became emotional when asked in how the effort was affecting her.
ADVERTISEMENT
“I‘m holding back the tears because that question made me cry,” she said in an interview. “I’ve been basically so consumed on trying to learn more and raise awareness. Literally my son just said to me, the whales better stop dying because it’s consuming my life and [that of] many others. It’s very, very personal.”
‘A very local phenomenon’
The wind companies have pushed back, citing conclusions by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the Marine Mammal Commission, and the NOAA that preparation for building the turbines, including sonar mapping activities, is not to blame for whale deaths.
Atlantic Shores holds one lease to build a wind farm off Atlantic City whose turbines that will be visible, at least on the clearest of days, from the lease area, 183,000 acres between Atlantic City and Barnegat Light. Phase one will be 200 turbines.
“There’s not a shred of evidence connecting ocean wind farms or surveying activities to the harming of whales,” said CEO Joris Veldhoven, in an interview.
“We’re mapping the sea floor,” he said. “We’re not installing turbines. We’re not installing cables. We’re very concerned about how the opposition is trying to draw a causal relation with the wave of whale beachings and deaths.”
He said the discourse seems to be “very much a local phenomenon,” and said there is “only a limited window for all citizens of the U.S. and this world to do something about climate change.”
‘All my Trumper friends’
That discourse had taken on a life of its own, every dead whale intensifying the debate. U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a Republican who represents Atlantic and Cape May County, along with about 30 local mayors have called for a moratorium on wind energy.
Cape May County will hold a hearing on March 15. Van Drew is calling witnesses at the Wildwood Convention Center on March 16 for a hearing entitled: “An Examination into Offshore Wind Industrialization.” Two other Republican congressmen will be there.
“That side is winning the information war,” save Joseph Reynolds, of the Save Coastal Wildlife organization, who wrote a piece called, “Stop lying about whale deaths.”
“They’re so wrapped up in all this propaganda,” he said. “They have all these people on blogs and Facebook and social media and friends in the media. As soon as there’s a dead whale, they’re down there.”
Reynolds wants the emphasis to shift to slowing down marine traffic to avoid injuries the dead whales are showing evidence of, though many on Facebook are sure those injuries occurred after whales were disoriented by sonar mapping related to the turbines.
On New Jersey Reddit, a poster asked earlier this month, “Why are all my Trumper friends suddenly “Save The Whales” when they’ve never cared about the environment before?” Marjorie Taylor Greene and Tucker Carlson have taken up the cause.
The Heartland Institute, a national libertarian think tank that has been closely aligned with fossil fuel groups, recently filed comments with the BOEM against an offshore wind project in Virginia “to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale.”
There is near-certainty among the faithful.
“Please... we all know it’s the wind farm surveys. Stop the killing,” said one poster on the Facebook page of the Brigantine, N.J.-based Marine Mammal Stranding Center , which itself has been a target of conspiracy theories after its necropsies turned up evidence of ship strikes.
Elected officials busy with culture war and other Republican talking points like Ocean City School Board member Robin Shaffer, who is advocating for the district to denounce state health and sex education standards, are active in the whale-wind turbine movement.
“Is there a lawyer out there?” Shaffer posted. “Is it possible that Orsted and/or Governor Murphy could be brought up on charges at the International Criminal Court in The Hague for environmental crimes?”
Former N.J. Superior Court Judge, Michael J. Donohue, a prominent Republican operative in Cape May County, was named Special Counsel to the County on windmill issues. On Facebook, he’s compared the assertion that whale deaths are not tied to wind energy to “The virus did not leak from a Chinese lab,” and “If you get the vax, you can’t get the virus or spread it.”
Meanwhile, Tricia Devoe says they weren’t even thinking about the wind turbines when they named the dead whale Windy. “It was just ... really windy at the time,” she said.
Conspiracy theorists on Facebook are ‘winning the information war’ about N.J. whale deaths
Are wind turbines to blame for recent New Jersey whale deaths? Scientists say no, Facebook says yes.
A juvenile humpback whale that washed ashore on the Atlantic City beach on January 7, 2023 was rolled up toward the dunes and buried the next day after a necropsy.Amy S. Rosenberg
by Amy S. RosenbergPublished an hour ago
They named the whale Windy.
“Windy was a young humpback whale taken in the prime of her life,” read the caption on a March 3 post in the Facebook group Protect our Coast NJ showing the diseased humpback whale on the beach near Seaside Park.
“Her gravesite is dug — this will be her final resting place.”
The caption ended with five emojis: prayer hands, crying face, whale, blue heart, another prayer hands.
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Before long, it had been shared 1.7K times, with 420 comments, many tracing the whale’s death, and that of nearly two dozen others along the coast of New York and New Jersey since early December 2022, to work being done in advance of several large-scale wind turbine farms off the Jersey coast. It is a connection scientists and government agencies have dismissed.
Even as necropsies find evidence of ship strikes in nearly half of the whales, which have been dying in elevated numbers since 2016, the drumbeat of scapegoating wind energy has intensified.
The debate has split, perhaps predictably, along political lines, frustrating those who say they really are just worried about the whales, and those who may have other concerns about the full impact of wind turbines.
‘Amateur scare tactic’
“When do we March?,” said one poster, whose Facebook bio is “SURVIVOR, RESPECTFUL, DEDICATED, PERSISTENT, PATRIOT.” “I’m so mad I could spit.”
Workers walk near a dead whale that washed ashore in Seaside Park N.J. on March 2, 2023. New Jersey officials say a wide array of research and preventive measures are either under way or planned soon to protect marine mammals during the construction and operation of offshore wind farms. Some people blame offshore wind preparation for a spate of whale deaths on the U.S. East Coast this winter, but three federal science agencies say there is no evidence linking the deaths to offshore wind preparation. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)Read moreWayne Parry / AP
Election conspiracy theories soon followed, with Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy a frequent target of derision.
They quoted the Book of Jonah, pondered whether to march on Trenton, packed local municipal meetings.
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One frequent Facebook post argued, falsely, that Murphy had a share in a company involved with wind energy called JECS Offshore, a name similar to one that he formed to buy his property in Italy. (JECS are the first initials of his children’s name.)
“Phil has no interest in stopping the project because he’s set to make $$$$, always follow the money,” wrote one poster.
The accusation is baseless.
“There is no connection between JECS Ltd. and JECS Offshore Services, and any claim otherwise is absolutely false,” said Alexandra Altman, Murphy’s deputy communications director, in an email.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Conflating two companies with similar names is another amateur scare tactic being used by groups whose sole focus is to stall the progress of New Jersey’s clean energy future.”
On Facebook, Brett Whiting, Offshore Operations Director at JECS Global Offshore Wind, said, “I’ve been called a little bugger in my time, but this is the first time I’ve been named and shamed in a conspiracy involving a United States Governor and a Leading Global Energy Supplier!”
‘Consuming my life’
Posters reflected personally on every whale death.
“You just gave me anxiety….like everything you said I was a whale in the water experiencing it,” said one poster.
ADVERTISEMENT
“This is really bad,” said another. “How long before we start seeing dead children washing up on the beach?”
At least 178 humpback whales have died from Maine to Florida since 2016, with necropsies completed on half. About 40% bear evidence of being struck by a vessel or entangled in fishing gear, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Marine Fisheries Service, which designated the time period as an unusual mortality event predating offshore wind-energy activity.
Tricia Devoe, dressed as a mermaid, and fellow "whale warriers" with their Save Our Whales banner and paper mache whale float at the Belmar St. Patrick's Day parade earlier on March 5, 2023.Handout
For Tricia DeVoe, an Ocean County, N.J. resident who works for a whale watching company in the summer who posted the photo of the whale they call Windy, that marine mammal death was just the latest in a string of gut wrenching strandings that are, frankly, taking over her life.
She became emotional when asked in how the effort was affecting her.
ADVERTISEMENT
“I‘m holding back the tears because that question made me cry,” she said in an interview. “I’ve been basically so consumed on trying to learn more and raise awareness. Literally my son just said to me, the whales better stop dying because it’s consuming my life and [that of] many others. It’s very, very personal.”
‘A very local phenomenon’
The wind companies have pushed back, citing conclusions by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the Marine Mammal Commission, and the NOAA that preparation for building the turbines, including sonar mapping activities, is not to blame for whale deaths.
Atlantic Shores holds one lease to build a wind farm off Atlantic City whose turbines that will be visible, at least on the clearest of days, from the lease area, 183,000 acres between Atlantic City and Barnegat Light. Phase one will be 200 turbines.
“There’s not a shred of evidence connecting ocean wind farms or surveying activities to the harming of whales,” said CEO Joris Veldhoven, in an interview.
“We’re mapping the sea floor,” he said. “We’re not installing turbines. We’re not installing cables. We’re very concerned about how the opposition is trying to draw a causal relation with the wave of whale beachings and deaths.”
He said the discourse seems to be “very much a local phenomenon,” and said there is “only a limited window for all citizens of the U.S. and this world to do something about climate change.”
‘All my Trumper friends’
That discourse had taken on a life of its own, every dead whale intensifying the debate. U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a Republican who represents Atlantic and Cape May County, along with about 30 local mayors have called for a moratorium on wind energy.
Cape May County will hold a hearing on March 15. Van Drew is calling witnesses at the Wildwood Convention Center on March 16 for a hearing entitled: “An Examination into Offshore Wind Industrialization.” Two other Republican congressmen will be there.
“That side is winning the information war,” save Joseph Reynolds, of the Save Coastal Wildlife organization, who wrote a piece called, “Stop lying about whale deaths.”
“They’re so wrapped up in all this propaganda,” he said. “They have all these people on blogs and Facebook and social media and friends in the media. As soon as there’s a dead whale, they’re down there.”
Reynolds wants the emphasis to shift to slowing down marine traffic to avoid injuries the dead whales are showing evidence of, though many on Facebook are sure those injuries occurred after whales were disoriented by sonar mapping related to the turbines.
On New Jersey Reddit, a poster asked earlier this month, “Why are all my Trumper friends suddenly “Save The Whales” when they’ve never cared about the environment before?” Marjorie Taylor Greene and Tucker Carlson have taken up the cause.
The Heartland Institute, a national libertarian think tank that has been closely aligned with fossil fuel groups, recently filed comments with the BOEM against an offshore wind project in Virginia “to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale.”
There is near-certainty among the faithful.
“Please... we all know it’s the wind farm surveys. Stop the killing,” said one poster on the Facebook page of the Brigantine, N.J.-based Marine Mammal Stranding Center , which itself has been a target of conspiracy theories after its necropsies turned up evidence of ship strikes.
Elected officials busy with culture war and other Republican talking points like Ocean City School Board member Robin Shaffer, who is advocating for the district to denounce state health and sex education standards, are active in the whale-wind turbine movement.
“Is there a lawyer out there?” Shaffer posted. “Is it possible that Orsted and/or Governor Murphy could be brought up on charges at the International Criminal Court in The Hague for environmental crimes?”
Former N.J. Superior Court Judge, Michael J. Donohue, a prominent Republican operative in Cape May County, was named Special Counsel to the County on windmill issues. On Facebook, he’s compared the assertion that whale deaths are not tied to wind energy to “The virus did not leak from a Chinese lab,” and “If you get the vax, you can’t get the virus or spread it.”
Meanwhile, Tricia Devoe says they weren’t even thinking about the wind turbines when they named the dead whale Windy. “It was just ... really windy at the time,” she said.
I thought they were going to come to a conclusion that there was more boat activity from the offshore powerplants that were causing this.
A few takeaways from this and just purely the eye test.
We have had more whales off shore here in NY after Sandy than I'd ever seen before in the past 35 years. Seeing humpys was a rare occurrence, now? We see them all the time, which is good.
These whale deaths were very, very rare in this area. We have heard about 1/2 dozen since they started working on the off shore stuff so I can see the reason to think it's the cause.
Increased bait fish is at an all time high out here too. These past few years you could walk on the bunker. It's made for great fishing and mammal watching.
what is one thing maga republicans have contributed to amercian society besides dead bodies?
dead bodies from covid disinformation. dead bodies from cutting social programs. dead bodies from ending abortion and going after the lgbtq community. dead bodies from failure to do anything about guns. their lapel pin logo is an ar-15 by the way.
can someone name one contribution besides dead american bodies?
"You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry." - Lincoln
what is one thing maga republicans have contributed to amercian society besides dead bodies?
dead bodies from covid disinformation. dead bodies from cutting social programs. dead bodies from ending abortion and going after the lgbtq community. dead bodies from failure to do anything about guns. their lapel pin logo is an ar-15 by the way.
can someone name one contribution besides dead american bodies?
Trickle down economics, only the greatest contribution to America since we won the freedom to get taxed and fleeced by our wealthy land owning countrymen instead of the crown.
Comments
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
The Golden Age is 2 months away. And guess what….. you’re gonna love it! (teskeinc 11.19.24)
1998: Noblesville; 2003: Noblesville; 2009: EV Nashville, Chicago, Chicago
2010: St Louis, Columbus, Noblesville; 2011: EV Chicago, East Troy, East Troy
2013: London ON, Wrigley; 2014: Cincy, St Louis, Moline (NO CODE)
2016: Lexington, Wrigley #1; 2018: Wrigley, Wrigley, Boston, Boston
2020: Oakland, Oakland: 2021: EV Ohana, Ohana, Ohana, Ohana
2022: Oakland, Oakland, Nashville, Louisville; 2023: Chicago, Chicago, Noblesville
2024: Noblesville, Wrigley, Wrigley, Ohana, Ohana
The Golden Age is 2 months away. And guess what….. you’re gonna love it! (teskeinc 11.19.24)
1998: Noblesville; 2003: Noblesville; 2009: EV Nashville, Chicago, Chicago
2010: St Louis, Columbus, Noblesville; 2011: EV Chicago, East Troy, East Troy
2013: London ON, Wrigley; 2014: Cincy, St Louis, Moline (NO CODE)
2016: Lexington, Wrigley #1; 2018: Wrigley, Wrigley, Boston, Boston
2020: Oakland, Oakland: 2021: EV Ohana, Ohana, Ohana, Ohana
2022: Oakland, Oakland, Nashville, Louisville; 2023: Chicago, Chicago, Noblesville
2024: Noblesville, Wrigley, Wrigley, Ohana, Ohana
And NYR Nick, same to you too. Although fuck the Rangers. They made some good moves at the deadline. The east is loaded and going to be brutal in the playoffs. West looks like a bunch of softies.
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
NHL playoffs are the best tournament in sports, hands down.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
I then told her that I am not one of these whackos that does portraits with them. These people are a wee bit off center...
The book contained people from all over the US taking portraits of them holding their firearms, much like that Christmas pic.
....haunting, familiar yet I can't seem to place it...
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
https://www.inquirer.com/news/new-jersey/whale-deaths-nj-shore-wind-turbines-conspiracy-theories-20230314.html
Conspiracy theorists on Facebook are ‘winning the information war’ about N.J. whale deaths
Are wind turbines to blame for recent New Jersey whale deaths? Scientists say no, Facebook says yes.
by Amy S. RosenbergPublished an hour ago
They named the whale Windy.
“Windy was a young humpback whale taken in the prime of her life,” read the caption on a March 3 post in the Facebook group Protect our Coast NJ showing the diseased humpback whale on the beach near Seaside Park.
“Her gravesite is dug — this will be her final resting place.”
The caption ended with five emojis: prayer hands, crying face, whale, blue heart, another prayer hands.
Before long, it had been shared 1.7K times, with 420 comments, many tracing the whale’s death, and that of nearly two dozen others along the coast of New York and New Jersey since early December 2022, to work being done in advance of several large-scale wind turbine farms off the Jersey coast. It is a connection scientists and government agencies have dismissed.
Even as necropsies find evidence of ship strikes in nearly half of the whales, which have been dying in elevated numbers since 2016, the drumbeat of scapegoating wind energy has intensified.
The debate has split, perhaps predictably, along political lines, frustrating those who say they really are just worried about the whales, and those who may have other concerns about the full impact of wind turbines.
‘Amateur scare tactic’
“When do we March?,” said one poster, whose Facebook bio is “SURVIVOR, RESPECTFUL, DEDICATED, PERSISTENT, PATRIOT.” “I’m so mad I could spit.”
Election conspiracy theories soon followed, with Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy a frequent target of derision.
They quoted the Book of Jonah, pondered whether to march on Trenton, packed local municipal meetings.
One frequent Facebook post argued, falsely, that Murphy had a share in a company involved with wind energy called JECS Offshore, a name similar to one that he formed to buy his property in Italy. (JECS are the first initials of his children’s name.)
“Phil has no interest in stopping the project because he’s set to make $$$$, always follow the money,” wrote one poster.
The accusation is baseless.
“There is no connection between JECS Ltd. and JECS Offshore Services, and any claim otherwise is absolutely false,” said Alexandra Altman, Murphy’s deputy communications director, in an email.
“Conflating two companies with similar names is another amateur scare tactic being used by groups whose sole focus is to stall the progress of New Jersey’s clean energy future.”
On Facebook, Brett Whiting, Offshore Operations Director at JECS Global Offshore Wind, said, “I’ve been called a little bugger in my time, but this is the first time I’ve been named and shamed in a conspiracy involving a United States Governor and a Leading Global Energy Supplier!”
‘Consuming my life’
Posters reflected personally on every whale death.
“You just gave me anxiety….like everything you said I was a whale in the water experiencing it,” said one poster.
“This is really bad,” said another. “How long before we start seeing dead children washing up on the beach?”
At least 178 humpback whales have died from Maine to Florida since 2016, with necropsies completed on half. About 40% bear evidence of being struck by a vessel or entangled in fishing gear, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Marine Fisheries Service, which designated the time period as an unusual mortality event predating offshore wind-energy activity.
For Tricia DeVoe, an Ocean County, N.J. resident who works for a whale watching company in the summer who posted the photo of the whale they call Windy, that marine mammal death was just the latest in a string of gut wrenching strandings that are, frankly, taking over her life.
She became emotional when asked in how the effort was affecting her.
“I‘m holding back the tears because that question made me cry,” she said in an interview. “I’ve been basically so consumed on trying to learn more and raise awareness. Literally my son just said to me, the whales better stop dying because it’s consuming my life and [that of] many others. It’s very, very personal.”
‘A very local phenomenon’
The wind companies have pushed back, citing conclusions by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the Marine Mammal Commission, and the NOAA that preparation for building the turbines, including sonar mapping activities, is not to blame for whale deaths.
Atlantic Shores holds one lease to build a wind farm off Atlantic City whose turbines that will be visible, at least on the clearest of days, from the lease area, 183,000 acres between Atlantic City and Barnegat Light. Phase one will be 200 turbines.
“There’s not a shred of evidence connecting ocean wind farms or surveying activities to the harming of whales,” said CEO Joris Veldhoven, in an interview.
“We’re mapping the sea floor,” he said. “We’re not installing turbines. We’re not installing cables. We’re very concerned about how the opposition is trying to draw a causal relation with the wave of whale beachings and deaths.”
He said the discourse seems to be “very much a local phenomenon,” and said there is “only a limited window for all citizens of the U.S. and this world to do something about climate change.”
‘All my Trumper friends’
That discourse had taken on a life of its own, every dead whale intensifying the debate. U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a Republican who represents Atlantic and Cape May County, along with about 30 local mayors have called for a moratorium on wind energy.
Cape May County will hold a hearing on March 15. Van Drew is calling witnesses at the Wildwood Convention Center on March 16 for a hearing entitled: “An Examination into Offshore Wind Industrialization.” Two other Republican congressmen will be there.
“That side is winning the information war,” save Joseph Reynolds, of the Save Coastal Wildlife organization, who wrote a piece called, “Stop lying about whale deaths.”
“They’re so wrapped up in all this propaganda,” he said. “They have all these people on blogs and Facebook and social media and friends in the media. As soon as there’s a dead whale, they’re down there.”
Reynolds wants the emphasis to shift to slowing down marine traffic to avoid injuries the dead whales are showing evidence of, though many on Facebook are sure those injuries occurred after whales were disoriented by sonar mapping related to the turbines.
On New Jersey Reddit, a poster asked earlier this month, “Why are all my Trumper friends suddenly “Save The Whales” when they’ve never cared about the environment before?” Marjorie Taylor Greene and Tucker Carlson have taken up the cause.
The Heartland Institute, a national libertarian think tank that has been closely aligned with fossil fuel groups, recently filed comments with the BOEM against an offshore wind project in Virginia “to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale.”
There is near-certainty among the faithful.
“Please... we all know it’s the wind farm surveys. Stop the killing,” said one poster on the Facebook page of the Brigantine, N.J.-based Marine Mammal Stranding Center , which itself has been a target of conspiracy theories after its necropsies turned up evidence of ship strikes.
Elected officials busy with culture war and other Republican talking points like Ocean City School Board member Robin Shaffer, who is advocating for the district to denounce state health and sex education standards, are active in the whale-wind turbine movement.
“Is there a lawyer out there?” Shaffer posted. “Is it possible that Orsted and/or Governor Murphy could be brought up on charges at the International Criminal Court in The Hague for environmental crimes?”
Former N.J. Superior Court Judge, Michael J. Donohue, a prominent Republican operative in Cape May County, was named Special Counsel to the County on windmill issues. On Facebook, he’s compared the assertion that whale deaths are not tied to wind energy to “The virus did not leak from a Chinese lab,” and “If you get the vax, you can’t get the virus or spread it.”
Meanwhile, Tricia Devoe says they weren’t even thinking about the wind turbines when they named the dead whale Windy. “It was just ... really windy at the time,” she said.
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
-EV 8/14/93
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
A few takeaways from this and just purely the eye test.
We have had more whales off shore here in NY after Sandy than I'd ever seen before in the past 35 years. Seeing humpys was a rare occurrence, now? We see them all the time, which is good.
These whale deaths were very, very rare in this area. We have heard about 1/2 dozen since they started working on the off shore stuff so I can see the reason to think it's the cause.
Increased bait fish is at an all time high out here too. These past few years you could walk on the bunker. It's made for great fishing and mammal watching.
dead bodies from covid disinformation. dead bodies from cutting social programs. dead bodies from ending abortion and going after the lgbtq community. dead bodies from failure to do anything about guns. their lapel pin logo is an ar-15 by the way.
can someone name one contribution besides dead american bodies?
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
There are no kings inside the gates of eden