It's not surprising that many people are uncertain about the dangers of climate change. Much confusion has been created by groups with vested interests, who have successfully utilised sophisticated PR (public relations) techniques to influence public perceptions and opinion. In this article, I consider the link between tobacco industry PR and that of the fossil fuel sector. The story...
Is mass media used to manipulate the public? Yes, undoubtedly so. Examples to illustrate this are so numerous and backed up by intellectuals like Noam Chomsky , Norman Solomon , and those that actively engaged in this manipulation, like Edward Bernays , that this fact is not a
“These three stories—the anthrax evidence, the McCain/POW revelations, and the Sibel Edmonds charges—are the sort of major exposés that would surely be dominating the headlines of any country with a properly-functioning media. But almost no American has ever heard of them.” I encourage you to read this article b
The uncle of the two suspected Boston bombers in last week’s attack, Ruslan Tsarni, was married to the daughter of former top CIA official Graham Fuller The discovery that Uncle Ruslan Tsarni had spy connections that go far deeper than had been previously known is ironic, especially since the mainstrean media's focus yesterday was on a feverish search to find who might have...
In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing and while a massive police manhunt continued for the suspected perpetrator, 19 year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, NBC journalist David Gregory would say to American television viewers: "This is a new state of terror the country has to get used to." Given the breathlessly hyperbolic coverage provided by NBC, CNN and many other cable news...
Your information diet is an ethical choice of yours, so when you’re on the Huffington Post looking at say the Kardashians and you click on the Kardashians, understand that you are not only reading that article, but you’re also voting for that article. You’re telling an editor to produce more content like that at the expense of the stuff that you didn’t click on...
“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear...” ~ H.P. Lovecraft Our interest for self-preservation needs no introduction or explanation. Without mankind’s propensity and efficiency for self-preservation, we would be yet one more fossil set for some future intelligent species to chip their shovels upon. Yet, like so many aspects of life, too much of a good...
Forget Boston, 9/11 and Oklahoma City … Is False Flag Terror Even a REAL Historical Concept? More people are using the term “false flag” than ever before . Some claim that the Boston marathon bombing, 9/11 and the Oklahoma City bombing were false flag attacks. Others claim that anyone who uses the phrase “false flag” is a nut conspiracy theorist...
News reports purporting to describe what Dzhokhar Tsarnaev told US interrogators should, for several reasons, be taken with a huge grain of salt. The sources for this information are anonymous, they work for the US government, the statements were obtained with no lawyer present and no Miranda warnings given, and Tsarnaev is "grievously wounded" , presumably quite medicated, and...
The horror of Boston should be a reminder that the choice of weaponry can be in itself an act of evil. “Boston Bombs Were Loaded to Maim” is the way The New York Times defined the hideousness of the weapons used, and President Obama made clear that “anytime bombs are used to target innocent civilians, it is an act of terror.” But are we as a society prepared to be...
Alex Jones must be either getting lazy or think his readers are really dumb, because his grand theory about the Boston Marathon bombings is the sloppiest concocted narrative we’ve seen since that dog ate your homework. Of course, Jones and his comrades at InfoWars thinks the brothers suspected in the bombing are innocent, citing such reliable sources as Twitter user...
For years the US and its intelligence services have championed the Chechen cause – legitimizing terrorism as righteous resistance. But after news that the two alleged Boston bombers were of Chechen origin, the story took on a new political dimension. How Boston has changed the language In the last 48 hours, an astounding change has occurred in the lexicon of the mainstream media...
We've been covering the debate on climate change for a while now, and we've noticed there's about a dozen or so common responses that we get on Facebook and here on the site. From "it's the sun" to "other planets are warming too" to "volcanoes emit more co2 than humans" to "in the 70's they said there'd be an ice age" to...
The way The Telegraph and some other media houses in Kolkata are manipulating the public opinion on behalf of the big pocketed lobbyists, it's becoming more obvious than ever. When someone speaks of media manipulation, they can mean both manipulation by the media and manipulation OF the media (by business lobbies/politicians/self-serving interest groups etc.) Manipulation of the media does...
Conservative billionaires used a secretive funding route to channel nearly $ 120m ( £77m ) to more than 100 groups casting doubt about the science behind
The word “libertarian” is becoming an increasingly popular descriptor of political ideology in the US, though many in the US incorrectly associate libertarianism only with the capitalist Libertarian Party. Historically libertarianism was a term used most commonly by anti-authoritarian socialists to describe their political philosophy. In fact, in most countries the term is...
Reporters who witness the worst of human suffering and return to newsrooms angry see their compassion washed out or severely muted by the layers of editors who stand between the reporter and the reader. The creed of objectivity and balance, formulated at the beginning of the 19th century by newspaper owners to generate greater profits from advertisers, disarms and cripples the press.
A fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work (Part 1) Last year in Lansing, Michigan, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) union leadership fought a pitched battle with the Lansing City Council to push capitalist real estate developers to use union labor. When discussing the fight, Joe Davis, the union representative, proclaimed, “It’s important to...
What’s the greatest way to dishonor Martin Luther King Jr .? Compare him with US President Barack Obama – a servant of an engine for the greatest disparity, inequality, and injustice on Earth – driven by the very corporate-financier interests King stood up against, was opposed by throughout his entire life, and most likely was killed by. For Ma
About $59 billion is spent on traditional social welfare programs. $92 billion is spent on corporate subsidies. So, the government spent 50% more on corporate welfare than it did on food stamps and housing assistance in 2006. Before we look at the details, a heartfelt plea from the Save the CEO’s Charitable Trust: There’s so much suffering in the world. It can all...
If YouTube was a race, gold would go to South Korea with Psy’s ‘ Gangnam Style ’ easily topping one billion hits, while silver would go to North Korea for it's documentary ‘ Propaganda ’ currently sitting at 1.3 million hits. This hard hitting expose on capitalist public relations techniques takes a pot shot at almost every aspect of the Western system and...
While it’s often best not to engage with conspiracy theorists on their own turf, as you can probably never convince them , it’s worth setting the record straight on all the myths and phony evidence surrounding the Sandy Hook massacre. We’ve rounded up every major piece of evidence we could find that leads theorists to say the “official narrative” of events...
The Sandy Hook conspiracy can no longer claim censorship by the mainstream media as one of its articles of evidence. Sandy Hook 'truthers' can now find their claims mentioned and addressed in dozens of articles online, and in some TV coverage. The best written response I've found so far addressing the claims can be read here and watched here. Yet rather predictably, the...
Many of you have visited the Films For Action website and asked us why we have not posted any Alex Jones documentaries or included Infowars, Prision Planet, Natural News or other like-minded sites on our list of recommended independent media. Unfortunately, we feel it would be irresponsible to promote Alex Jones, his websites, or any of his films. His films were always overly sensational...
As a conspiracy theory, the term New World Order or NWO refers to the emergence of a totalitarian one-world government. The common theme in conspiracy theories about a New World Order is that a secretive power elite with a globalist agenda is conspiring to eventually rule the world through an authoritarian world government—which replaces sovereign nation-states—and an...
I give a little chuckle each time I hear one label the New World Order a push toward world socialism- if only such were the case. The New World Order is a dangerous conclave of far right mad men who wish to see but two classes of people in the world - the haves and the heave-nots. Theirs is a game to instate neo-feudalism, and with so many countries now going bankrupt and most of the...
In recent years, populist explanations for world events have become common and often taken the form of anti-establishment conspiracy theories. The contradiction between how people believe the world should be, according to the mainstream propaganda pertaining to liberty and democracy, and how it is in this time of crisis leads people to search for easily digestible answers. It’s easy...
I’m fascinated by climate deniers. How could anyone deny the climate change is happening? What evidence is there? Surely it’s unambiguous? Curious, I investigated the key statements made by climate denialists and sought out the counter-views, as presented by climate research scientists. The result is this image . Click for a larger view.
I get a lot of emails as to why I do not bring up notions such as the “New World Order”, “Illuminati”, “Zionism”, “Secret Societies” and other popular occult/conspiracy concepts which are very topical in this day and age. While I, of course, acknowledge the “men behind the curtain” and the various levels of manipulation and corruption...
“It’s kind of embarrassing,” Emmanuel of Oakland, California, responded when asked about carrying a reusable shopping bag. “It looks like a man-purse.” 1 Emmanuel was part of a recent OgilvyEarth study entitled, Mainstream Green: Moving Sustainability from Niche to Normal , which investigated the discrepancy between Americans’ actions and intentions...
We must remember that in time of war what is said on the enemy’s side of the front is always propaganda, and what is said on our side of the front is truth and righteousness, the cause of humanity and a crusade for peace. — Walter Lippmann Probably every conflict is fought on at least two grounds : the battlefield and the minds of the people via propaganda. The...
Y ou’ve seen the scenario before: some talented, young filmmaker releases his latest short film on Vimeo… and BOOM… practically overnight it goes viral. A few million views and a couple hundred thousand comments later, they garner industry attention, eventually cinching a movie deal with Hollywood. Welcome to the new American dream! Scratch that… the new global...
It’s Not Terrorism When WE Do It The United States is arguably the world’s largest sponsor of terrorism , although we call it “self defense” and fighting “humanitarian” wars. But when other people – especially brown-skinned people who wear funny clothes – do the same things that we do, we label it as terrorism . Mark Selden - Bartle...
Representative-elect Alan Grayson (D-FL) said Monday that he will put mega-retailer Walmart squarely in his sights during the next Congress for the company’s liberal use of public assistance programs to supplement their workers’ wages. Speaking to Current TV host Cenk Uygur on Monday’s episode of “The Young Turks,” Grayson called Walmart “the largest...
Gaza resident Asem Alnabeh posted a photo of his little sister Nesma earlier tonight in their home. Her name means breeze . "But she really isn't," her brother writes me. "she's very impish!" Nesma's house has lost electric power. There are fighter jets roaring over the house, and there are explosions never too far away -- not sufficiently far for the worried parents to attempt to calm...
The BBC News, and particularly the reports from Diplomatic Correspondent Jonathan Marcus, on the ongoing Israeli military attacks on the Gaza Strip has presented the violence as little more than a defensive policy manoeuvre by Israel, whose government, in Marcus's view, 'clearly wants' another ceasefire. On Wednesday Marcus wrote that the Israeli assassination of Ahmed Said Khalil...
THEY SAY WHEN all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. But when you are a politician and all you have is a hammer, you must convince voters every problem looks like a nail. This is the only thinking that can explain Israel's behavior in escalating bombardment of Gaza. The Israeli spin machines are out in full force in the hopes of convincing Israelis and the rest of the world...
This made me do a double take. What about you? It's disconcerting that some of the biggest issues in 2011 and 2012, which happen to be race-related, are being covered primarily by white reporters. I want people to look at this and realize, wait a minute — there IS bias in journalism. The things that we all care and read about are being influenced by the perspectives of people who may...
Editors Note: A few decades ago, there were thousands of independent media outlets in the US. Today in America, six multi-national global media mega corporations run by six individuals control 96% of the content Americans see on TV and watch at the movies; read in books, magazines and newspapers, and hear on the radio. Time Warner VIACOM CBS Walt Disney News Corp General...
A round up of the 10 best films about climate change or the issues related to it. Click the title of each film to watch all of these documentaries online. 10. Who Killed The Electric Car? (2006) In 1996, electric cars began to appear on roads all over California. They were quiet and fast, produced no exhaust and ran without gasoline... Ten years later, these cars
Barack Obama has been called everything from a gun-hating, closet-Muslim hiding socialist to a big-government loving, deficit exploding , tax increasing, class-warfare waging liberal elitist. He's been compared to Hitler and denounced for wanting to destroy capitalism and/or America. He pals around with terrorists . They say he wasn't born in America and secretly hates white people...
The first two U.S. presidential debates have been painful to watch. Both candidates are running on platforms constructed from verbal hallucinations about the nation’s past, present, and future. And the American people are being asked to choose between those hallucinations in order to select the best available scapegoat for the next four years of national economic decline. The race is...
Davis Guggenheim's 2010 film Waiting for Superman is a slick marketing piece full of half-truths and distortions. The film suggests the problems in education are the fault of teachers and teacher unions alone, and it asserts that the solution to those problems is a greater focus on top-down instruction driven by test scores. It rejects the inconvenient truth that our schools are being...
Thrive is the name of a controversial film that asks, and attempts to answer, some of the deepest questions about the nature of the human condition and what is thwarting our chances to prosper. Lavishly funded, it features appealing imagery, beautiful music, and interviews with many leading progressives, including myself. Yet ten of us have signed a statement formally disassociating ourselves...
Former CNN correspondent turned whistleblower, Amber Lyon, analyzes CNN’s response to a series of stories that ran in the Guardian that expose how the network is earning money from oppressive regimes in exchange for creating and airing content that casts a favorable light on the regimes. The stories also revealed CNN International refused to air CNN’s own award-winning documentary...
I love Columbus Day. Each year, I recall the simple song I learned as a child about the man who "discovered" America. I still recall the innocent boy whose imagination was taken by the story of adventure and discovery. In fourteen hundred and ninety two Columbus sailed the ocean blue. On Columbus Day, I reflect on the facts of that fateful discovery. Hispaniola at the time of...
The following is an excerpt of “Columbus and Western Civilization” written by Howard Zinn that appears in the Disinformation anthology You Are Still Being Lied To edited by Russ Kick. Author’s Note: In the year 1992, the celebration of Columbus Day was different from previous ones in two ways. First, this was the quincentennial, 500 years after Columbus’ landing...
Excerpt from A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn, Chapter 1: Columbus, The Indians, and Human Progress Arawak men and women, naked, tawny, and full of wonder, emerged from their villages onto the island's beaches and swam out to get a closer look at the strange big boat. When Columbus and his sailors came ashore, carrying swords, speaking oddly, the Arawaks ran to greet...
Did you ever stop to consider that the wild and hairy anarchists of the Earth First! Movement are really just a bunch of death cult Illuminati in cahoots with big government, Time magazine, the Shriners and um, aliens and lizard people and shit? Yeah, we didn’t either. But now, after watching this video “Earth First! Death Cult” from Infowars.com, an Alex Jones...
The picture is of a US Predator drone in Afghanistan. The strike in Somalia means armed drones are operating in six countries. Photograph: Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images I find myself caught between the need to follow the drone debate and the need to avoid unpleasant memories it stirs. I used drones – unmanned aerial vehicles – during the nadir of my military career that was...