Murdoch Plumbs the Depths of Climate Cynicism
September 23, 2021
After years of labelling climate change a hoax, Rupert Murdoch’s Australian news empire is apparently set to “ease” it’s denialist stance.
Paul Whittaker, chief exec of misinformation-clogged Sky News, called it “an exploration of what are very complex issues.” Yet just two years ago, one of Sky’s hosts called climate change “a fraudulent and dangerous cult, which … is driven by unscrupulous and sinister interests including the power-hungry socialist mob at the UN.”
As it embraces the status quo, News Corp’s Australian branch is hoping its long history of abetting conspiracies and deepening the climate crisis will be swiftly forgotten. Meanwhile, the company’s American outlets — including Fox News and the Wall Street Journal — continue to pump out dangerous, misleading, unscientific crap for the consumption of millions.
By cynically playing both sides, Murdoch has solidified his reputation as one of the chief merchants of death in this century.
When will Australia rid itself of this doom-dealing rat? And the US toss out its Almighty Liar?
Current Issue!
The rich pay no taxes. Foreign tax havens continue to thrive. Flash trading algorithms whirr away, turning stock markets into cash cows for the rich.
Money begets money begets money. And in the wake of Covid we’re being told to go out and consume again. But what about climate change? Does anyone have a solution for that?
Yet something is stirring. The banked fires of previous stifled revolutions never went out.
And now they have found a new fuel.
In this issue, we lay out a plan to crack the fatal neoclassical consensus, reinvigorating the wayward “science” of economics with the revolutionary fire needed to stave off a long dark age.
On September 17th, everything simply ... stops.
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The Next Student Uprising (PT. 3)
The rich pay no taxes. Despite proof of a gigantic rogue offshore finance industry, foreign tax havens continue to thrive. Flash trading algorithms whirr away, turning stock markets into cash cows for the rich. Money begets money begets money. And in the wake of Covid we’re being told to go out and consume again. But what about climate change? Does anyone have a solution for that?
Read Full StoryThe Second Student Revolt (PT. 2)
On September 15, 2008, out of the blue sky, a crash. Twenty percent of global trade wiped out. The beginning of a depression that would last longer than the Great Depression. Mainstream economists were blindsided. Not even one in a hundred saw it coming. “How did economists get it so wrong?” asked The New York Times. “What good are economists anyway?” quipped Business Week. “Will economists escape a whipping?” wondered The Atlantic.
Read Full StoryThe First Student Uprising (PT. 1)
There’s a word for people who are obsessively focused only on what matters to them, in such granular detail that they lose sight of the big picture, and forget that what they do affects other people and other things, and that not everything needs to happen right now.
Read Full Story
What is bionomics?
Maverick economics everywhere are on a rampage. They're determined to kill off all the remaining "logic freaks" ... come up with real measures of progress ... make all markets true-cost ... outlaw derivatives ... abolish flash trading ... ultimately make usury taboo.
Read More...The Reluctant Therapist: A 1-on-1 with AdBusters co-founder Kalle Lasn
Sometimes, there's a conversation that's worth diving into without the need for introduction. Join the Reluctant Therapist, Elizabeth Barrett, for a wide-covering conversation with Kalle Lasn, a co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of AdBusters, which refers to itself as a "a global network of artists, activists, writers, pranksters, students, educators and entrepreneurs who want to advance the new social activist movement of the information age." The two discuss, among other topics, Lasn's work with AdBusters and its influence on politics, an exploration of the current climate crisis and what lies ahead for Generation Z.
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Peak Stupidity
I started my career in 1975, drawing electrical schematics on pieces of paper taped onto a drafting board. The old-timers were still using protractors to draw circles, but the young guns were using circle templates. You got the same sized circle every time, and it didn’t leave a hole in the page. Back then, a pencil with an eraser on the end was considered high-tech.
In 1975 engineering was a slow, sedate business. It would be another decade before personal computers entered into most engineering offices and two decades before the last drafting board fell into disuse. The computer profoundly changed the typical design office. With computer-aided design techniques, it was now possible to screw things up 40 times faster than you could with a pencil. What used to take months of persistence and attention to detail could now be botched almost instantaneously.
The problem is that humans don’t think any faster than they used to. Intelligent thoughts need time to bore through bone, gristle, and rummage around, searching for an active synapse to stimulate. That process is far slower than most would believe. Unintended consequences often do not surface for weeks or months after a project is completed. It seems that mankind has been set on a path toward peak stupidity, a journey that modern computer technology has shortened considerably.
Unprime Day
Prime Day, Amazon’s yearly deal-hawking hoopla for its swindled subscribers, begins on June 21. And there’s never been a better occasion to cancel your Prime membership and boycott Amazon and all its subsidiaries (which include AbeBooks, Amazon Studios, Audible, Book Depository, ComiXology, Goodreads, IMDb, Twitch, Whole Foods, Zappos, and dozens more).
Prime Day, Amazon’s yearly deal-hawking hoopla for its swindled subscribers, begins on June 21.
And there’s never been a better occasion to cancel your Prime membership and boycott Amazon and all its subsidiaries (which include AbeBooks, Amazon Studios, Audible, Book Depository, ComiXology, Goodreads, IMDb, Twitch, Whole Foods, Zappos, and dozens more).
As you can tell from the list above, Amazon owns a huge number of companies whose products and services millions use every single day.
. . . whether they’re walking to work in their Zappos shoes with an Audible audiobook in their ears, or watching streams on Twitch while scarfing down premium Whole Foods goodies, or binging Amazon Studios–produced TV shows while looking up the name of “that guy who looks like that other guy” on IMDb. And that’s true even when you leave Amazon itself out of the tally.
The point, in short, is not just that megacorporations are taking over the world, but that one monolithic corporation named Amazon controls an ever-increasing share of our mental environment.
Think that sounds exaggerated? Think again.
Amazon’s dominance is funded by an illegal price-rigging racket that disguises the costs of its “free shipping” promise to Prime members. As a result, it has oodles of capital to spend on ventures well beyond its e-commerce perview. (Remember when all it sold was books?)
Today, Amazon has its finger in cloud computing, streaming, electronics, home security, A.I., surveillance — and yes, even the defense industry. (Oh, and did I mention that it’s now a bank, too?) As one of the ten biggest corporations on the planet, it’s power to influence you is therefore enormous. It’s meddling in areas of your life you’re not even aware of.
With all this, what are the chances that Amazon has your best interest at heart? Ask yourself: Are you being empowered — or exploited?
Don’t be naive — after all, we’re talking about the same company that is set on hanging workers out to dry, chucking the environment in the bin, forcing you to foot its tax bill, and distorting democracy itself. And it’s no friend of whistleblowers, either.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Amazon’s fate lies in one person’s hands . . . one person with the power to make or break the gargantuan tech tyrant, by either shopping from it — or dropping it altogether.
And that person is you.
We’ve long called for unswooshing the swoosh. This Prime Day, ditch your membership and boycott the mother of all tech-corp crooks (and every one of her brats).
It’s time to #unprime Prime — not just for one day, but for good.
The
#TrueCost
Revolution
What's in a price?
Raw materials. Labor. Equipment upkeep. Rents and fees. Supply and demand. Taxes.
Those things influence how much you pay at the till. But what about the cost of the wrapper you throw away, toxic run-off leaking into lakes and streams, carbon released into the atmosphere — in short, all the noxious side-effects of using or producing everyday things in a capitalist world? Who pays for that?
The short answer: We all do.
Read Full StoryThe
#TrueCost
Revolution
Where you Fit In
Over the last couple of generations, we in the so-called “developed” world have eased into a very cushy way of living. We love our dish washers, spin dryers and microwave ovens. We love our throw away diapers, pre-washed veggies and ready-to-eat dinners delivered right to our door. And we love cruising in our cars with our favorite music playing. The idea of living more austere lives is anathema. We’re hooked on all of this stuff now. Whatever it takes, we gotta have our Doritos.
That’s just the way it is.
Or is it?
Read Full StoryRead
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The Third Force
The hierarchical, top-down power structures that ruled the world for thousands of years are collapsing before our eyes. The street now has unprecedented sway.
Nous sommes sur le point de vous donner les codes.
Are you ready?
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