Naomi Klein: how power profits from disaster. Here have been times in my reporting from disaster zones when I have had the unsettling feeling that I was seeing not just a crisis in the here and now, but getting a glimpse of the future – a preview of where the road we are all on is headed, unless we somehow grab the wheel and swerve.
When I listen to Donald Trump speak, with his obvious relish in creating an atmosphere of chaos and destabilisation, I often think: I’ve seen this before, in those strange moments when portals seemed to open up into our collective future. One of those moments arrived in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, as I watched hordes of private military contractors descend on the flooded city to find ways to profit from the disaster, even as thousands of the city’s residents, abandoned by their government, were treated like dangerous criminals just for trying to survive. I started to notice the same tactics in disaster zones around the world.
And this is part of a much larger trend. And there was more. A 60% rise in industrial emissions points to failure of Coalition's 'safeguard mechanism' Industrial greenhouse gas emissions in Australia have risen 60% in the past 15 years, putting the country on a path that, if it continues, will lead to it missing the target set at the Paris climate conference.
That is the conclusion of an analysis by energy and carbon consultants RepuTex, which examined the rise in industrial carbon pollution – including from oil and gas extraction, mining and large-scale transport – in the period covered by Australia’s 2030 emissions target, starting in 2005. The resulting report highlights the failure of the Coalition government’s “safeguard mechanism” policy, which was promised to limit carbon pollution rises so cuts paid for by taxpayers through the emissions reduction fund, the main national climate policy, were not just wiped out by increases elsewhere. Adani receives criminal conviction for misleading Queensland government over land clearing. Prosecutors have called for Adani to be fined $25,000 for giving the Queensland government false or misleading information about land clearing.
The Indian mining company pleaded guilty to the offence in Brisbane magistrates court on Thursday, after the state environment department charged it last year with clearing part of its controversial Carmichael mine site in 2018. The case relates to information in Adani’s 2017-18 annual return for the central Queensland mine, with the department accusing the miner of failing to report a disturbance area of more than 130 hectares. It is the first criminal conviction against Adani in Australia. The company has blamed an administrative error. “Importantly, there was no environmental harm, all relevant works were legal, and fully complied with our project conditions,” Adani said in a statement. How the oil industry has spent billions to control the climate change conversation. America’s oil companies are trying to rebrand themselves as part of the solution to the climate crisis, launching a campaign to counter top Democrats’ proposals to rapidly cut pollution from the power plants and cars that run on the industry’s petroleum and natural gas.
They say natural gas – a fossil fuel that emits heat-trapping carbon dioxide – is helping to slow climate disruption by providing an alternative to coal. “We’re taking our message of energy progress to every corner of the country to show just what’s at stake in Washington and in state capitols around the country,” said Mike Sommers, CEO of the oil trade group the American Petroleum Institute (API), on a press call announcing the plan. The campaign is part of a strategy in which the oil industry has funneled billions of dollars into its defense, threatening to outpace climate action advocates, say frustrated environmental activists who are increasingly calling on Democrats in Congress to take a tougher line on the sector.
Fresh Cambridge Analytica leak ‘shows global manipulation is out of control’ An explosive leak of tens of thousands of documents from the defunct data firm Cambridge Analytica is set to expose the inner workings of the company that collapsed after the Observer revealed it had misappropriated 87 million Facebook profiles.
More than 100,000 documents relating to work in 68 countries that will lay bare the global infrastructure of an operation used to manipulate voters on “an industrial scale” are set to be released over the next months. It comes as Christopher Steele, the ex-head of MI6’s Russia desk and the intelligence expert behind the so-called “Steele dossier” into Trump’s relationship with Russia, said that while the company had closed down, the failure to properly punish bad actors meant that the prospects for manipulation of the US election this year were even worse. The release of documents began on New Year’s Day on an anonymous Twitter account, @HindsightFiles, with links to material on elections in Malaysia, Kenya and Brazil. The dark side of plant-based food – it's more about money than you may think.
If you were to believe newspapers and dietary advice leaflets, you’d probably think that doctors and nutritionists are the people guiding us through the thicket of what to believe when it comes to food.
But food trends are far more political – and economically motivated – than it seems. That’s why tariffs and other trade restrictions on imported food and grain were enforced in Britain between 1815 and 1846. These “corn laws” enhanced the profits and political power of the landowners, at the cost of raising food prices and hampering growth in other economic sectors. Over in Ireland, the ease of growing the recently imported potato plant led to most people living off a narrow and repetitive diet of homegrown potato with a dash of milk. IBAC hearing: Premier Daniel Andrews was 'friendly' towards developer, says offsider as another apparent meeting is revealed. In contrast the Planning Minister Richard Wynne was seen in a far less favourable light by the developers.
In an phone tap played to the inquiry, Ms Schutz and Mr Woodman referred to Mr Wynne as “DH”, code for “dickhead”, and discussed him potentially moving from planning to become parliamentary Speaker. Ms Schutz told the inquiry Mr Wynne had been regarded as unfriendly to the development industry and favouring community groups and the public interests. Senators Ask Zuckerberg To Explain Why Facebook Still Tracks Users' Location Even When They Have Asked it Not To. Two senators are asking Facebook to "respect" users' decisions to keep their location data from the company.
From a report: In a letter sent Tuesday, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., asked Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to respond to questions about how the company collects location data through the new operating systems for Apple's iPhones and Google's Android. Both Google and Apple updated their operating systems earlier this year to give users more control and insight into which apps can access their location data. Anticipating those changes, Facebook released a blog post in September explaining that even if users opt out of letting Facebook collect their data, it could still determine users' locations in other ways, like through check-ins and users' internet connections. Fossil fuel companies are fueling a global plastics binge; what will we do with it all? They are building hundreds of new "cracking" facilities to make 40 percent more plastic.
Are we going to drown in it? What's a fossil fuel company to do? Thanks to fracking, horizontal drilling, and the shale gas boom, there is more natural gas at a lower price than there has been in decades. People can't burn it fast enough, so the big oil companies like Exxon and Shell are investing US $180 billion in new plants to make plastics. According to Matthew Taylor in the Guardian, Meramist Abattoir neighbour tells of 'frantic' sounds of horses brought in at night, horror at realising what happens next door. Updated 20 Oct 2019, 3:31amSun 20 Oct 2019, 3:31am The Meramist Abattoir in Caboolture is now at the centre of an animal cruelty scandal, but those who live near it say they have tried to raise concerns for years.
Key points: Naomi Rizniak, who lives behind Meramist Abattoir, says she started complaining about the noise of distressed horses two years agoShe says she complained to the abattoir but trucks of horses had continued to arrive after darkSince seeing the footage from ABC's 7.30, she says she wishes she had done more "It wasn't always noisy," says neighbour Naomi Rizniak. Top investment banks provide billions to expand fossil fuel industry. The world’s largest investment banks have provided more than $700bn of financing for the fossil fuel companies most aggressively expanding in new coal, oil and gas projects since the Paris climate change agreement, figures show. The financing has been led by the Wall Street giant JPMorgan Chase, which has provided $75bn (£61bn) to companies expanding in sectors such as fracking and Arctic oil and gas exploration, according to the analysis.
The New York bank is one of 33 powerful financial institutions to have provided an estimated total of $1.9tn to the fossil fuel sector between 2016 and 2018. The data shows the most aggressively expanding coal-mining operations, oil and gas companies, fracking firms and pipeline companies have received $713.3bn in loans, equity issuances and debt underwriting services from 2016 to mid-2019. When environmental activism is more dangerous than being a soldier. A new study reveals that murder rates of environmental defenders have spiked in recent years. Being an environmental activist has never been easy work, but in the past two decades it has become more dangerous than ever. Between 2002 and 2017, the annual death toll has doubled and 1,500 defenders of land, forest, water, and other natural resources have been killed, mainly in countries with high levels of corruption and weak rules of law.
As the authors of a study just published in Nature Sustainability point out, "Murders of environmental defenders outweighed the combined deaths of soldiers from the U.K. and Australia deployed to overseas war zones" (via Scientific American). WSJ: Natural gas leaking, venting and flaring equivalent to driving 79 million miles. Evidently natural gas has a clean image that is being threatened by reality. What's the world coming to? First we had the commies in the Financial Times predicting the end of oil, and now we have those hippies at the Wall Street Journal writing about how "leaks can threaten the clean image of Natural Gas. " Rebecca Elliott writes that "2.3% of the natural gas produced in the U.S. escapes directly into the atmosphere due in part to leaky equipment or intentional discharges. " Facebook workers listened to Messenger conversations. Image copyright Getty Images Hundreds of workers were paid to transcribe voice recordings of Facebook users, it has emerged.
Facebook is the latest company to confirm it has used third-party workers to do such work, following Google, Apple, Microsoft and Amazon. Facebook's shadowbanning process is now patented. It's official and patented: Facebook is that company that engages in censorship utilizing a practice known as shadowbanning. Facebook has applied for a patent on this particular, very controversial online moderating practice – and the US Patent and Trademark Office has now granted the request.
There's no doubt that this patent being granted will boost the argument of conservatives who claim to be the victims of shadowbanning, i.e., censorship of free speech by social media giants, on ideological grounds. From the patent: “The social networking system may receive a list of proscribed content and block comments containing the proscribed content by reducing the distribution of those comments to other viewing users.
In the summary of the patent case Facebook describes how shadowbanning works: comments are analyzed for content and sentiments that are prohibited by the social network, such as profanities, or racist, derogatory, “or negative” remarks. Gab reports Apple to the US Department of Justice as the Dissenter iOS app is rejected from the App Store - even though Apple admits it doesn't violate any terms. Millions-of-faces-help-train-facial-recognition-software-is-yours-one-of-them-20190719-p528uw. 'The Story of Water: Who Controls the Way We Drink?' Gab reports Apple to the US Department of Justice as the Dissenter iOS app is rejected from the App Store - even though Apple admits it doesn't violate any terms.
Senator Hawley "shocked" at the response he received from Facebook, discovers Facebook's "encryption" is almost meaningless. Bhp-hit-with-historic-7b-claim-in-uk-over-deadly-dam-collapse-20190508-p51l24. The Monsanto Papers. Facebook says it 'unintentionally uploaded' 1.5 million people's email contacts without their consent, Business Insider - Business Insider Singapore. How to stop Google from storing your location history. How the plastics industry is hijacking the circular economy. Coal ash has become one of Australia's biggest waste problems — and a solution is being ignored. Google CEO vs Congress Greatest Hits. How-stupid-can-you-be-bank-sends-letter-to-dead-father-of-royal-commission-witness-20190131-p50uxn. The-six-most-important-questions-our-banks-will-need-to-answer-20190204-p50vks.
Here are 3 privacy-focused alternatives to Google Analytics. Why Apple went to war with Facebook and Google this week. The real lesson of Facebook's Apple dust-up shows why Zuckerberg's 'hacker way' is even more dangerous than we thought. Google Fined $57M in Largest GDPR Slap Yet. Facebook Defends Data Policies On Heels of Incriminating Internal Docs. How Facebook Tracks Non-Users via Android Apps. Adani's complex corporate web. Abbot Point Coal Terminal under investigation after satellite images show water release. Adani avoids multi-million-dollar fine over Abbot Point sediment water discharge. Adani prosecuted over release of coal-laden water near Great Barrier Reef. Adani groundwater bores investigated amid claims they were sunk without approval.
These-ceos-got-multimillion-dollar-bonuses-their-companies-paid-little-or-no-tax-20181223-p50nyo. These-ceos-got-multimillion-dollar-bonuses-their-companies-paid-little-or-no-tax-20181223-p50nyo. DCN Google Data Collection Paper. Why the Melbourne Cup is actually one of the cruellest days on Australia's calendar. Recent App Issues Reveal Facebook's Struggles to Temper Data Privacy Woes. Yahoo Persists in Scanning Emails for In-Depth Ad-Targeting. AP Exclusive: Google tracks your movements, like it or not. Facebook acknowledges it shared user data with dozens of companies. Apple-joins-the-war-on-facebook-over-privacy-20180607-p4zk3n.
Cocaine-girls-million-dollar-fraud-what-the-commonwealth-bank-lender-did-next-20180511-p4zeqt. Telstra-s-new-sales-pitch-your-location-hour-by-hour-20180430-p4zch2. Facebook is using 'dishonest and manipulative' tactics to get EU users to agree to facial recognition, critics say. Facebook to face class action lawsuit over facial recognition.
Facebook is probably tracking you whether you use it or not — and it doesn't really give you a choice. That-s-not-really-how-it-works-amp-s-royal-commission-shambles-20180416-p4z9yv. Report reveals links between five French banks and insurance companies and the Israeli settlements. Axa-elbit-systems-palestine?akid=41474.12511895. Facebook-tracks-non-users-they-want-to-know-why-20180416-p4z9t2. 'Utterly horrifying': ex-Facebook insider says covert data harvesting was routine. Marine-parks-decision-risks-making-ocean-tragedy-even-worse-20180323-p4z5ut. Revealed-the-powerful-facebook-data-matching-tool-the-liberal-party-rejected-over-legal-fears-20180322-p4z5rh. Revealed-the-powerful-facebook-data-matching-tool-the-liberal-party-rejected-over-legal-fears-20180322-p4z5rh.
Doomed-to-fail-cba-s-10-000-inappropriate-loans-20180320-p4z573. Pressure mounts on Cambridge Analytica and Facebook over data scandal. Facebook-challenged-by-politicians-on-trump-data-harvest-20180319-p4z54a. We-ve-treated-customers-unfairly-cba-boss-warns-of-more-bad-news-20180318-p4z4xq. So-much-for-voluntary-reporting-companies-fail-to-come-clean-over-climate-risk-20180313-p4z43y. Exxon-won-t-pay-tax-until-2021-hasn-t-paid-any-for-years-inquiry-hears-20180314-p4z4ba. Nab-staff-accepted-cash-stuffed-envelopes-as-part-of-alleged-bribery-ring-20180313-p4z45i. The-coming-pokies-war-20180302-p4z2jk. BHP rewards investors with $3.7b payday as profit jumps 25% Bhp-thiess-wanted-to-pick-a-fight-with-the-unions-to-drive-down-wages-20180220-p4z0xm.
'Robot jobs' and gig economy point to need for universal basic income. On Flipboard. Carmichael coal mine magnate Gautam Adani: from school dropout to $12bn empire. Waste Recycling: Long Distance, Short Life: Why Big Business Favours Recycling. There are microplastics in your tap water - Ecophiles. 'Our minds can be hijacked': the tech insiders who fear a smartphone dystopia. How consumers got burned on electricity prices: It started with networks : RenewEconomy.
Just 100 companies responsible for 71% of global emissions, study says. Carbon Majors Report 2017. Rate rigging scandal: ASIC set to dish more dirt on the banks. Shielding MAC addresses from stalkers is hard and Android fails miserably at it. AT&T Is Making Millions Selling Your Phone Records to Police. Pharmaceutical companies splash millions on Australian nurses.