In all the time that @allthecitizens has been broadcasting @IndependentSage’s weekly briefings, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the scientists express such utter disbelief
We are embarking on a massive herd immunity experiment. We are truly stepping into the unknown. Please watch.
These are 2 clips from @chrischirp’s presentation of the data. We are looking at 90k cases a day by July 19. Look at these charts. We’ve never seen infection on this scale. This is massive population-wide experiment of a type that no other country in the world is contemplating
I highly recommend watching whole briefing. This populist govt that has made mistakes time & time again. Labour Party is missing in action. And cohort of scientists who sounded alarm from start believe it’s unethical unnecessary profoundly hazardous gamble
And read all of @chrischirp’s essential thread here including her comprehensive debunking of the astonishing claims that it doesn’t matter if kids get it
Final point: this dangerous unethical experiment by the UK govt will have global consequences. We are looking at a million+ infections between now & July 19. A breeding ground for potential new variants. That would have disproportionate impact on rest of unvaccinated world
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Well this is very exciting. My investigation into the Guardian’s new partner & the Observer’s new owner has just got the thumbs up from the Baron of Siberia.
I’m not entirely sure he’s familiar with my journalistic oeuvre, mind…
The Guardian is cancelling my contract after 19 years continuous employment with no pay-off so totes happy to go to the Indie to continue my investigation into Evgeny’s dad, the ex-KGB spy.
To be clear, I’m not being singled out: fully one third of Guardian & Observer staff are on either zero hours or sham ‘freelance’ contracts. The Guardian issued notice on all these this week. If you’re an employment lawyer, feel free to slide into my DMs!
This week the Guardian's owner, the Scott Trust, gifted the 233-year-old Observer to Tortoise Media.
This isn't just a dark day for journalism, it's a sign.
Meet the team.
This is Putin giving Tortoise's energy advisory board member an 'Order of Friendship' medal in 2017. 1/
Independent news is under pressure across the world. The US is already crumbling: ABC settled with Trump. WaPo pre-obeyed.
This week Guardian lost 100 journalists & one of its arms. To understand what's lost, let's start with Putin's friend: Ivan Glasenberg, ex Glencore CEO.
2/
Glasenberg didn't just get a medal from Putin, he sat on the board of a Russian oil company, Rosneft, chaired by one of Putin's closest allies
And here he is: on Tortoise's energy advisory board, assembled by Tortoise, founder, owner & editor, James Harding. 3/
This is what the Observer team & I were doing between strikes. Please read it because it couldn’t be more relevant. I interview Asif Kapadia about his alarming new film, 2073, with its stark warning of where Trump, Musk & Farage are taking us..
Kapadia won an Oscar for Amy, his heartbreaking film about Amy Winehouse. This is emotional too, a sci fi thriller with Samantha Morton set in the future made of fragments of the present. I tell the story of how I accidentally ended up in the film. But it’s so much more than that
It’s a chilling warning of what’s to come. The first film I’ve seen that attempts to unravel the technological crisis that underpins our democratic one. And I’m so pleased to be able to write about in Observer New Review, where I work with the best editors & designers in Britain including @JaneFerg who commissioned this & made it look beautiful. It’s where we’ve relentlessly covered the technoauthoritarian takeover that’s at the heart of Asif’s film…as part of the Guardian’s core journalistic output. While Asif’s film has journalists & journalism at its heart. I’m proud & flattered to be part of it but it also brings home what we stand to lose 😢
This is an incredible short film. If you want to understand why the Guardian & Observer journalists are fighting for our survival, please watch it. It gave me the chills.
Winnie Mandela on how the Observer helped save Mandela's life & the ANC leadership
What I find so fascinating film is the parallels to our own time. In the film, the son of legendary editor, David Astor, describes how it was witnessing fascism in Germany that made his father alive to the danger & evil of apartheid. A fact that informed his whole editorship.
And, here we come full circle, with the Observer under mortal threat. Just as apartheid bleeds again into fascism. Because it's 2 men, raised in apartheid SA, with their hands on the steering wheel of the world's superpower & coming authoritarian state: Elon Musk & Peter Thiel.
If you’re a Guardian or Observer reader, please share this. The need for a strong, free & independent press couldn’t be greater. Yet, here it is. The billionaire Scott Trust is preparing to push a core part of the Guardian over the cliff into the hands of speculators & profiteers
If you haven’t heard about this, it’s probably because you’re a Guardian or Observer reader. The one place you won’t read about the turmoil. Or as @paulfwebster - the Observer’s editor until week ago calls it - the betrayal of everything we represent
@paulfwebster Thank you to everyone who’s written. If you have views on the sale you can write to observer.readers@observer.co.uk. And/or or copy me in: Carole.Cadwalladr@theguardian.com. I think what makes us feel so sad & naive is that we had this ‘implicit trust’ too.
NEW: The great Trump-Musk crackdown is coming. And it will hit hard & fast. Journalists will be first. But everyone else is next.
I urge you to read my 20 lessons in How to Survive the Broligarchy, inspired by & featuring the great @TimothyDSnyder. 1/ theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
Lesson 1: When someone tells you who they are, believe them.
This week, Trump told us who he is. Believe him. If his adminstration picks look like a plan to destroy America from within, it likely is. 2/
2. Journalists will be first. But everyone else is next.
How do we know this? Because it always is. It's the authoritarian playbook.
Lawsuits are first. Prosecutions are next. America needs to learn these moves fast. It's already later than you think. 3/