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Emergent Order, the company behind the petition that featured in a full page advert in today's @IrishTimes, is an public relations agency, founds and funded by the American Far Right Koch Foundation. It has previously managed large scale campaigns for the Fossil Fuel Industry...
... Big Tobacco and more. The Koch family have, for decades, funded a vast network of institutes who have succesfully lobbied governments around the plate on issues like; climate change denial, anti abortion campaigns & the Brexit No campaign.
... they also own and fund a wide array of right wing media outfits like Spiked. It should, therefore, come as no surprise that these billionaire 'liberations" are actively funding a massive global anti lockdown movement. And that's something we should all be aware of.
One thing to please keep in mind. None of the journalists working at @IrishTimes have the slightest control over what adverts go in the paper. They don't deserve your anger, or abuse, when you discuss this piece. In fact, @jackpowerIT has already written a rebuttal to the advert.
tbh, I'm totally not interested in debating the "science" behind their claims. So I'm just going to post a few links to the relevant articles I screen grabbed above. https://bylinetimes.com/2020/10/09/climate-science-denial-network-behind-great-barrington-declaration/
More on the Koch Brothers's anti shutdown campaign in the US. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/22/koch-coronavirus-shutdown-protests-202320
And this is some good background on the family, if you're not familar. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/sep/26/koch-brothers-americans-for-prosperity-rightwing-political-group
As is this (very good) @RollingStone piece; https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/inside-the-koch-brothers-toxic-empire-164403/
Got to politely disagree here. Journalists know their jobs are, now more than ever, so important. And, they're doing their jobs, brilliantly, often risking their safety (& their loved ones) to report the news. I imagine the IT newsroom is furious RN https://twitter.com/Sarklor/status/1316736004573847552?s=20
On and a piece on the Koch families funding of the leave campaign during the Brexit referendum. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/dec/07/us-billionaires-hard-right-britain-spiked-magazine-charles-david-koch-foundation
BTW The guy paying for the advert? Robert Cairnduff, a multi-millionaire tech bro & wannabe Dominic Cummings. Someone who thinks 6 months of arsing about with databases makes him a qualified epidemiologist, economist & public health expert rolled into one. https://twitter.com/brian_ofaolain/status/1316742694924820482
The CEO of Moorezy Industries is Charles Moore. Who owns his own VR company called "Roomality". And what can I say, he looks *exactly* like how you imagine.
But sure, go ahead, take public health advice from these two guys
But sure, go ahead, take public health advice from these two guys
Fine. Some science about the myth of "herd immunity" too. https://twitter.com/FrancosBruvva/status/1316765141384470528?s=20
Of course, it's factually inaccurate. And understanding who (& why) someone is giving you information is *extremely important*. In this instance it comes from a highly sophisticated PR agency paid for by an unscrupulous American billionaire https://twitter.com/endalarkin/status/1316780705532317698?s=20
Final. Post. *I swear*. This thread is just a little bit of a closer look into the finances of John Moore & Robert Cairnduff, the two men who paid for the full page anti lockdown advert in today's Irish Times. It's *very* illuminating. https://twitter.com/artimusfoul/status/1316759662096715777?s=20
