Gaslighting, brainwashing, or just dominating the information battle-space? Blowhards have a way of attracting attention. They thrive on it. They put on a good show. Rush Limbaugh made his fortune as one, as have a biblical flood of TV preachers. Rupert Murdoch erected a global media empire around blowhards. The decibels they generate and maintain day after day do more than entertain audiences and generate cash flow. What Bill McKibben once said of the Christian right might have presaged the rise of the flag-bedecked MAGA cultist: “They’re like the guy who gives you directions with such loud confidence that you drive on even though the road appears to be turning into a faint, rutted track.” Is it gaslighting, brainwashing, or simply dominating the information battle-space? Blowhards organize discontent to “groom” their base and work the media refs. Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, the Freedom Caucus, and fringe-right disinformers succeeded in convincing followers that the 2020 election was “stolen” from their savior-king. The blowhard right has long convinced the media that they represent majority opinion.
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At the grocery store the other day, when my five-year-old made an impassioned plea for a certain kind of cereal, I said, “nah, that one’s too sweet for breakfast.” He responded with a stern reprimand: “Mom, you shouldn’t yuck my yum!” I was pretty sure that admonishment didn’t apply here, but I heroically let it […]
by Gary Gardner
One of the more puzzling features of modern life is the starkly contrasting visions of humanity’s near-term future. Watch thirty minutes of commercial-filled TV and you get a cheery sense that all is well in the world. A BMW, an anti-depressant, or a Caribbean vacation—these will ensure ever greater happiness.
At the same time, a 2021 poll in ten countries found that four in ten young people are hesitant to have children because of the climate crisis.
The post Which Future? appeared first on Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy.
Throughout the years, hundreds of Ain Al-Hilweh's refugees have been killed in Israeli bombings, and with the camp a tinderbox of political rivalries and machinations, infighting is adding new danger to the lives of Palestinian refugees in the camp.
The post Behind Crumbling Concrete: The Tragic Story of Ain Al Hilweh’s Displaced Palestinians appeared first on MintPress News.
Sheila Muniz is delighted to be making her parenthood debut as Mom in Ainsley: Six Pounds Seven Ounces. She comes to the role after a recurring appearance as Cool Aunt (Jacob) and Cat Mom (Floof). She has also worked in Mid-Level Marketing Company (Sheila), where she will return in two months to reimagine this role as Sheila Who Realizes the Lactation Room Is a Broom Closet and Sues. She’d like to thank her epidural.
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Laura Getty appears again with Westside School PTA after her successful seasons in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022. She is best known for Amelia (Mom), also starring in Dustin (Mom) and Felix (Mom). She has been nominated for Best Mom Ever (Amelia; The Day We Got a Dog) and Worst Mom Ever (Dustin; The Fight about Screentime, Part XXIV). Next year, she is planning an appearance as Woman Who Already Paid Her Dues So Ask Someone Else, a dream role, for Westside School PTA.
In today's BCTV Daily Dispatch: Star Trek: Prodigy, Loki, The Wheel of Time, The Continental, Barbie & Bill Maher, Doctor Who, and more!
President Lukashenka has colluded with Putin in the forced transfer of children, and should face the same sanctions
Just one in nine local council audits are now conducted on time - which researchers blame on a privatised system
The Audit hosts examine right-wing media operation’s plan to infiltrate the public education system.
Twenty-one years ago today, a newly wedded couple celebrates in the garden of their summer residence. As always, for you, Jeanette. Though I speak with the tongues of angels, If I have not love… My words would resound with but a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy… And understand all mysteries… […]
- by Aeon Video
- by Calum Jacobs
- by Chloe Faure
States with the tightest labor markets have seen job openings soar and labor forces shrink; those with the least tight labor markets have seen sharp declines in job openings.
Marco Garofalo, Simon Lloyd and Edward Manuel The economic consequences of the Russia-Ukraine war have brought the importance of sharp changes in commodity prices, such as oil, to centre stage. While many have focused on understanding the impact of these developments on the central projection for the macroeconomic outlook, this post investigates the balance of … Continue reading Fuelling the tail: inflation- and GDP-at-Risk with oil-supply shocks
"Hank the Tank" has been captured.
Constructing a Saudi dystopia.
The post Krabzaam appeared first on The Perry Bible Fellowship.
Episode 13 of my – Podcast – Letter from The Cape – is now available. In this episode, we consider the concept of productivity and discover that the mainstream bias towards a narrow interpretation – where a productive worker is only one that generates profits for a private capitalist – prevents us from fully understanding…
The amount of warming is based primarily on how much CO2 there is in the atmosphere.
This is what is known as a STOCK. Think of it like the water in a sink.
The amount of climate change gases we are putting into the atmosphere is a FLOW. Think of it as the net amount of water going into the sink.
So, when you read an article talking about how much gas is being produced, if it says that amount is going down, what that means is that warming is still increasing.
If we want to reduce the amount of warming, we have to get to a negative amount of gasses going into the pool; into the stock. The flow needs to be negative, like turning off the water and pulling the plug.
After four weeks of strike action, UWU members at Australian Pharmaceutical Industries in Melbourne have won an immediate 7 per cent cost-of-living pay rise, better than official inflation.
The post Nothing less than 7 per cent: API workers beat inflation appeared first on Solidarity Online.
