neo-con

‘Climate villain’: scientists say Rupert Murdoch wielded his media empire to sow confusion and doubt

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Image of InBedWithBigOil by Not Here To Be Liked + Hex Prints from Just Stop Oil's You May Find Yourself... art auction. Featuring Rishi Sunak, Fossil Fuels and Rupert Murdoch.
Image of InBedWithBigOil by Not Here To Be Liked + Hex Prints from Just Stop Oil’s You May Find Yourself… art auction. Featuring Rishi Sunak, Fossil Fuels and Rupert Murdoch.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/sep/23/rupert-murdoch-climate-change-denial

The tycoon, who is stepping down from News Corp and Fox, has used his outlets to promote denial and delay action, experts say

Scientists have described the media tycoon Rupert Murdoch as a “climate villain” who has used his television and newspaper empire to promote climate science denial and delay action.

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Prof Michael Mann, a climate scientist at the University of Pennsylvania, said Murdoch had been “one of the most destructive forces in modern history when it comes to climate action”.

“He has wielded his global media empire as a cudgel to sow confusion and doubt about the science and the solutions. He will go down in history as one of the greatest climate villains,” said Mann.

Dr Friederike Otto, senior lecturer in climate science at the Grantham Institute, Imperial College London, said: “There’s no doubt that the Murdoch empire has played an important role in letting the public believe that there was any scientific doubt that the burning of fossil fuel causes the climate to warm and that it is detrimental for society and ecosystems. It is a terrible legacy he leaves, that many people paid for, and are paying for, with their lives and livelihoods.

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https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/sep/23/rupert-murdoch-climate-change-denial

Image: Boris Johnson confirms his thumbs up from Rupert Murdoch
Boris Johnson confirms his thumbs up to be UK prime minister from Rupert Murdoch
Continue Reading‘Climate villain’: scientists say Rupert Murdoch wielded his media empire to sow confusion and doubt

Mark Carney demolishes Brexit and Liz Truss’ economic policies

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Image of Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng
Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng. “Some people said we were in too much of a rush – and it is certainly true that I didn’t just try to fatten the pig on market day, I tried to rear the pig and slaughter it as well. I confess to that.”

https://leftfootforward.org/2023/09/mark-carney-demolishes-brexit-and-liz-truss-economic-policies/

The former governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, has taken apart the arguments of Brexiteers as well as the economic policies of Liz Truss during a speech at the Global Progress Action Summit in Montreal, where he praised “progressive” policies while attacking “far-right populists”.

Carney, who was governor between 2013 to 2020, accused those who backed quitting the European Union of wanting to “tear down the future” and also launched a scathing attack on the disastrous economic policies of Liz Truss.

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Turning his attention to Truss, Carney said that when Brexiteers tried to create Singapore on the Thames, the Truss government instead delivered Argentina on the Channel – and that was a year ago.

“Those with little experience in the private sector – lifelong politicians masquerading as free marketeers – grossly under-value the importance of mission, of institutions, and of discipline to a strong economy.

“And the bad news is that while these tactics never work economically, they can work politically. Brexit happened, Donald Trump was elected. So we can’t dismiss the impact of anger, but we must resist its power.”

https://leftfootforward.org/2023/09/mark-carney-demolishes-brexit-and-liz-truss-economic-policies/

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Nigel Farage turns attention to right-wing capture of National Trust

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https://leftfootforward.org/2023/09/nigel-farage-turns-attention-to-right-wing-capture-of-national-trust/

Flytipped rubbish. Image: Graham Robson, CC Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
Flytipped rubbish. Image: Graham Robson, CC Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

The Restore Trust has a new list of candidates for the upcoming council elections and, this time, they’ve been endorsed by Nigel Farage.

Arch Brexiteer Nigel Farage has a new target in his sights: The National Trust. The former UKIP leader has now thrown his weight behind a renewed attempt by anti-woke activists to capture the Trust, which owns more than 1,300 farms, 775 miles of coastline and 250,000 hectares of land, making it Britain’s largest private landowner.

In October 2021, the charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation warned of an ideological campaign being waged against it by self-styled ‘anti-woke insurgents’ belonging to Restore Trust (RT). Last year’s AGM saw the Trust subjected to a well-coordinated campaign by RT.

The Restore Trust campaign began in 2021, in the wake of the publication of a report by the National Trust that highlighted connections between 93 of its historic places and slavery. The dossier of sites linked to ‘colonialism and slavery’ and included Winston Churchill’s former family home, citing the former prime minister’s role in the Bengal famine and his opposition to Indian independence. RT took exception to the report claiming it “presents a strongly negative view of Britain, and which does not properly represent the scholarly consensus.”

Now the RT has a new list of candidates for the upcoming council elections and, this time, they’ve been endorsed by Nigel Farage, who is a family friend of one of the candidates. Earlier this month, seven-time failed parliamentary candidate Nigel Farage said: “I hope that Restore Trust knocks a bit of common sense into what was once the great National Trust.”

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https://leftfootforward.org/2023/09/nigel-farage-turns-attention-to-right-wing-capture-of-national-trust/

Continue ReadingNigel Farage turns attention to right-wing capture of National Trust

More than a fifth of UK shoppers’ favourite grocery items at climate breakdown risk

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https://www.theguardian.com/food/2023/sep/13/uk-grocery-items-climate-breakdown-risk

Report finds consumers could also face shortages of bananas, avocados, peas and tea in the coming years owing to carbon dioxide emissions

Empty supermarket shelves. Image: citytransportinfo Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.
Empty supermarket shelves. Image: citytransportinfo Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

More than a fifth of UK shoppers’ favourite grocery items are at risk from climate breakdown, a new report has found.

Consumers could also face shortages of bananas, grapes, avocados, cashews, cocoa, peas, canned tuna and tea in the coming years, as the countries they come from are hit by changing weather patterns because of CO2 emissions, the charity Christian Aid has said.

Of the 25 biggest food exporters to the UK, eight – Brazil, South Africa, India, Vietnam, Peru, Colombia, Ivory Coast and Kenya – faced high climate vulnerability, according to research by the charity. It found 22% of the items in a typical British grocery shop were at risk.

Some effects have been seen already. Earlier this year, UK supplies of tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, peppers and citrus fruits ground to a halt as drought hit parts of Spain and Morocco.

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https://www.theguardian.com/food/2023/sep/13/uk-grocery-items-climate-breakdown-risk

Continue ReadingMore than a fifth of UK shoppers’ favourite grocery items at climate breakdown risk

‘Stop Starmer’ initiative launches at London’s Conway Hall

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Original article republished from the Skwawkbox.

Campaign group warning of the dangers of red Tory government and to inform the public about Starmer’s authoritarianism and ‘murky’ past holds launch event featuring leading left speakers

Image rights: S Walker

A campaign to inform the public about the dangers of a red Tory ‘Labour’ government launched in London today, with a range of leading left speakers. Crispin Flintoff, the former Labour fundraiser expelled by the party in Starmer’s cowardly purge of the left after sharing, as constituency party secretary, the resignation letter of the group’s chair, told Skwawkbox that the campaign’s aims are:

to educate people about how dangerous a Starmer government would be. The media are unwilling to probe into Starmer’s murky past, expose his dishonesty or report on his alarming authoritarianism.

A healthy democracy requires an enlightened population and Trilateral Starmer is firmly opposed to that.

Ours is a grassroots campaign to get the word out via street stalls, leaflets, tailored social media posts and publicity stunts that emulate Just Stop Oil and Palestine Action. We see this as the only way to get our message out there. If the media pick up on it that would be a bonus.

A Starmer government would be just as bad – or worse – than a Tory government.

The event, which saw London’s Conway Hall full of activists outraged by Keir Starmer’s eager betrayal of the false promises he made to con Labour members into selecting him as party leader, featured:

  • former ANC MP Andrew Feinstein
  • homelessness campaigner Andrea Gilbert
  • tax and economics expert Richard Murphy
  • Sheila Day
  • DPAC’s Ellen Clifford
  • Liverpool’ Audrey White, who famously gave Starmer a dose of uncomfortable truth during his sneak visit to the city
  • former Labour and Respect MP George Galloway
  • ‘free Assange’ campaigner Deepa Driver
  • Palestine Action leader Huda Ammori
  • purged Labour member and star of ‘The Labour Files’ Becky Massey
  • NHS campaigner Dr Bob Gill
  • Jewish former party member Frances Rifkin
  • investigator Ben Timberley
  • Eric Jarvis and Phil Davison of OCISA, the group aiming to fight Starmer in his London seat at the next election
  • Colin Hendrie

Video messages were sent by former miner John Dunn, former union leader Tosh McDonald, ex-Labour MP Chris Williamson, forensic author and journalist Asa Winstanley and Carel Buxton that time did not allow to be shown, but these will be published in due course.

The event has already been targeted by apparent pal of the security services Paul Mason, so it’s doing something right.

There is, of course, no functional difference – at least for the better – between ‘long-time servant of the security state’ and compulsive promise-breaker Starmer’s red-Toryism and the blue version.

Original article republished from the Skwawkbox.

Continue Reading‘Stop Starmer’ initiative launches at London’s Conway Hall