Friday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your week.- Joshua Pearce discusses the reality that the climate crisis could carry a ten-figure death toll over the course of this century - which would…
Astroturf
Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Ed Yong laments the U.S.’ particularly dangerous spin through the pandemic cycle of panic and neglect as it is eliminating all federal funding…
Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Katharine Wu examines how the effect of immunity is just one more area where people are seeing profoundly unequal results of the COVID…
Johnson, Anglin, Nenshi and Butler. Who said Alberta politics is dull in the summer?
TweetPremier Dave Hancock is standing behind Jeff Johnson, even after the Information and Privacy Commissioner ruled that the embattled education minister broke Alberta’s privacy laws by sending a direct message…
CFIB members please post: ‘Money from public sector wages & pensions NOT wanted here!’
CFIB AstroTurf technicians roll out part of their campaign against improved pensions for Canadians, a plan certain to harm the group’s naïve supporters. Below: A suggested sign for the windows…
Minuscule Canadian Taxpayers Federation in running for ‘Turfy Award’
Former Canadian Taxpayers Federation Alberta Director Scott Hennig, now the group’s Communications VP, in a nice AstroTurf-coloured sweater at last weekend’s Ottawa conference of the Manning Centre for Undermining Democracy.…
Fracking Industry’s Answer to “Gasland”: Devised by Astroturf Lobbying Group and Political Ad Agency
This is a guest post by Ben Nelson from Public Accountability Initiative that originally appeared on LittleSis. Truthland, a 35-minute compilation of interviews with fracking proponents, is being promoted by…
Climate Change Denial Isn’t About Science, or Even Skepticism
David Suzuki.png Cross-posted from the David Suzuki Foundation's Science Matters blog. By David Suzuki with contributions from David Suzuki Foundation Editorial and Communications Specialist Ian Hanington. Let's suppose the world's…
American Petroleum Institute’s Jack Gerard Fact Checked By Activists During Speech
Vote 4 Oil.png Guest post by Connor Gibson, cross-posted from Polluterwatch. Two days ago, President Obama denied the permit for the destructive Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, much to the…
Unaccountable Oil: Is Enbridge Already Polluting the Canadian (Political) Environment?
Enbridge oil spill.jpg If the pipeline giant Enbridge Inc. is content to cower behind a 20-something blog manager rather than acknowledge its role in the recent attack on the patriotism…
Chatty Kathy Marshall doll debuts
Just pull the ring. You never know what she’ll say next. Kathryn Marshall. She’s no puppet. She’s a doll!
API’s New ‘Vote 4 Energy’ Ad Campaign Is Thinly Veiled Election Year Bullying
API Vote 4 Energy.jpg American Petroleum Institute President Jack Gerard today announced the oil and gas industry’s latest election-year scare campaign to threaten the demise of the U.S. economy unless…
Astroturf #nlpoli
Sometimes the people using fake names online screw up their little game. This little gem came from the Telegram last week and a letter to the editor in favour of…
Power Workers Union Rethinking "Social Media" Campaign?
oth their fake blogs, Enviralment and Envirogy are "undergoing scheduled maintenance". We'll see for how long, and what comes out the other side.Background here.h/t Scott in the comments.
Justice Department Launches Investigation Into BP’s Oil Gusher Cover Up
bp_oil-leak.jpg The U.S. Department of Justice has launched an official investigation to determine whether or not BP lied to the public and to the government about the amount of oil…
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business: another AstroTurf organization attacking the interests of its own members
Alberta small businesses: not helped by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. Below: The CFIB’s Dan Kelly, the CLC’s Ken Georgetti.Why does the so-called Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses push…
Oil Industry Steps Up Astroturf Efforts For 2012 Election
astroturf.jpg The oil industry has put their astroturf and lobbying efforts into overdrive over the last few months, preparing for a bitter fight in the upcoming 2012 presidential election. In…
Koch Industries: The Dirty Business Of Climate Denial
A short animation by by Australian filmmaker Taki Oldham which details the efforts of billionaire oil barons Charles & David Koch to undermine belief in climate change and prevent legislation…
Wind-power take-down
Over at The Disaffected Lib you can find a first rate take-down of wind-power opponents, including Progressive Blogger's own Wind-Concern Ontario. The problem, as Disaffected points out, is the single-mindedness…
The Problem With Taxpayer Funded Social Media
Whooee! Well, friends an' foes, the twitterverse and blogdom is finally sittin' up and takin' notice that our gummint is paying for favourable postings in various social media. There was…