At the anti-LTN rally in Oxford, I picked up a copy of British conspiracy newspaper The Light, which brings together many of the beliefs to which many vulnerable people now subscribe. I read it so you don't have to. A thread! 🧵
Bearing the tagline "the uncensored truth", this issue of The Light runs to 28 pages and is mostly poorly written anti-vax screeds, such as this item about adverse reactions to the Pfizer jab.
Skipping onward: climate science denial! Ft. one of the most popular charts in the conspiracist community: satellite temperature records from the University of Alabama. This is a great example of cherrypicking to make people think climate denial has a scientific basis.
There's a lot of great work out there on why this specific bit of misinformation is just that. @hausfath himself has spent far more time than ought to be necessary debunking it:
These guys love talking about dystopias. Here's a piece on how AI will bring about dystopia - rather than, say, 13 years of austerity politics or Britain's offshore billionaire-owned press might.
A couple more anti-vax articles, and then this fun bit on how "innocent" schoolchildren in Wales will get to try insect protein. As opposed to, say, guilty schoolchildren.
Apparently, letting "unexpecting [sic] 4 to 11-year-olds" try insect protein is "another example of the lengths the climate change fanatics and globalists will do [sic] to pursue their dark ambitions."
Here's an anti-renewables piece, complete with the incredible claim that "as expensive renewables replace cheaper gas, so our bills inevitably continue to rise". A perfect inversion of reality, where record high electricity bills are wholly the result of the high price of gas.
There's then some extremely outdated stuff about subsidies, which the author apparently doesn't understand the function of, and no mention of the colossal tax breaks and multitude of financial benefits handed to the oil and gas majors as they announce record profits.
More anti vax stuff, and then this piece about Klaus Schwab complete with a cartoon. The globe-straddling octopus was a popular motif in Nazi propaganda depicting Jews as controlling the world. loc.gov/exhibits/churc…
Don't hate mainstream media journalists - feel sorry for them. Way ahead of ya, bud.
I can't believe I'm only halfway through this darned thing. But check it out, here's a centre spread on how the moon landings were faked. Might hang this one up, it's awesome.
I can't sugar coat it: this article claims sexually transmitted diseases are fake. In fact, it goes further than that, claiming "there is no evidence that any germ is the cause of any disease". Turns out the two people who wrote the article are trying to sell a book.
The next page claims virology is also fake - which I guess stands to reason if you believe germs are fake.
Skipping some pages as a nod to Self Care.
Advertising from companies who presumably gave money to this publication, including a clothing company that offers "high performance radiation protection", and services for "vaccine damaged" people.
And finally, feeling like I've been dragged down cobbled streets for two hours by a horse, I reach the final page. It's an ad for the latest book by that granddaddy of all conspiracy guys, David Icke, who claims lizard people rule the world.
Obviously there's lots to be said about all this, but I'm going to go for a little lie down.
Just realized that glowing blurb quote in the ad isn't attributed to anyone, so I'm going to have to assume that David wrote it.
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I'm live at the pro-traffic rally in Oxford city centre. Ostensibly a protest against LTNs, or low-traffic neighborhoods, it's an intoxicating mix of far-right conspiracy slogans, antisemitism and really terrible hip-hop.
There's a fairly hefty police presence, and turnout occupies about a third of Broad Street at its widest. There's about an equal contingent of confused tourists.
Some of the many inventive signs at the rally. There's a great deal of information about chemtrails, the WEF and the Rothschilds.
"A mountain which is nothing but lithium": Zimbabwe has banned all exports of lithium ore - a significant move in the context of global decarbonization, Chinese energy security and African economic development. 🧵
Here's Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa talking on Dec 4 about his reasons for drawing up the ban, which came into force Dec 19: miningzimbabwe.com/watch-nomore-r…
In his speech, Mnangagwa says a ton of raw lithium can fetch $220 on the global market, whereas processed lithium goes for well in excess of $1,000 per ton - meaning Zimbabwe is losing a huge amount of money by simply exporting the raw ore, rather than processing it domestically.
Hi @Expedia@ExpediaHelp. I've just been informed that the car hire company that failed to provide me with a car is refusing to refund me, and that there's nothing Expedia can do about it. I've already wasted a day on this. Please let me know how you're going to fix this.
To recap, I booked a car through Expedia with a hire company called Priceless. I arrived at the Priceless office in Jersey City to discover there is no office; just an Exxon gas station. The gas station attendant was strangely aggressive when I asked where the office was.
So I waited outside the gas station on a busy highway. I phoned Priceless, who put me on hold for over 20 minutes. After that time the line went dead. I tried to call back and the call went to voicemail.
Disinformation vendor Toby Young says doubts are being raised over record UK temperatures seen in July 2022. "Whose doubts?" you ask. Turns out the doubts are those of Young's very own Salacious Crumb, Chris Morrison, who's written them down in a blog post.
As usual, Morrison begins by talking about a topic wholly mysterious to him - this time, air temperatures. He pontificates about what caused the high of 40.3°C seen at RAF Coningsby, citing a plane spotter's website as evidence that jets caused it. thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/spotting/conin…
Morrison then says "This is not the first time that concerns have been raised about Met Office claims of a temperature record" - the sole person cited as having concerns being ... Chris Morrison.
Musk has begun suspending left-leaning accounts and journalists from Twitter, in a purge of those he regards as his political enemies. Meanwhile, he is reinstating the accounts of far-right activists.