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#merchantsofdoubt

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Debbie Goldsmith 🏳️‍⚧️♾️🇺🇦

Regarding my last boost, here's a direct link to the article, both Apple News and direct:

apple.news/AmA59zfVSRIWrgeB63N
thenation.com/article/society/

This is perfect framing of the pseudoscience being used against gender-affirming care: straight out of "Merchants of Doubt,” the same playbook the far right has used to attack the science around climate change, tobacco, and abortion. The pseudoscience that corporate media parrots.

Bookmark this article.

apple.newsTrans Medicine’s “Merchants of Doubt” — The NationThere is plenty of uncertainty involved in gender-affirming care—as in most aspects of medicine. But the groups behind the Tennessee ban aren’t driven by science—or patient care.
#transphobia#MerchantsOfDoubt#fascism
Replied in thread
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bignose

@LeftistLawyer
> How many people need to die from a discrete natural catastrophe before […]

Another factor is the strategy learned from the #tobacco industry and expanded into effective #ClimateDenial:

“Who can really say how many of those people died *because of* #GlobalHeating? This expert says many of them were already unwell, or chose to live in marginal environments. We need hard facts, not hyperbolic chicken-little alarmism”, etc. etc.

#MerchantsOfDoubt, the #FossilFuel industry included, don't need to *disprove*. They merely need to foster the impression the facts are not settled, which impression results in more delay.

CelloMom On Cars

"To better understand the perspectives of those who see less urgency to address #ClimateChange, Pew Research Center conducted in-depth interviews with 32 U.S. adults who hold this view, including some who do not believe there’s evidence that the Earth is warming."

The interviewees who don't think climate is a big deal repeat all the talking points of the climate denial machine. It really shows that the "#MerchantsOfDoubt" have sold their product well. Unfortunately.

pewresearch.org/science/2023/0

Pew Research Center · Why Some Americans Do Not See Urgency on Climate ChangeBy Reem Nadeem
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Doc Edward Morbius ⭕​

"Discourse Magazine" is Koch-funded Libertarian propaganda

For those unfamiliar with Discourse Magazine, it is a new-ish (~2020 launch) publication of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, both of which are strongly Libertarian, highly ideological, free-market fundamentalist, strongly aligned with the Koch family and Koch Industries, who provide major financial support and whose head, Charles Koch, serves on the board.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercatus

discoursemagazine.com/about/

These are part of the larger global Atlas Network of Libertarian "think tanks" (that is, propaganda mills) founded in 1981 by Antony Fisher:

sourcewatch.org/index.php?titl

And are an outgrowth of the Mont Pelerin Society of "free-market' economists and propagandists.

sourcewatch.org/index.php?titl

Excellent investigations of these groups include

I'd run across Discover Magazine via a recent HN submission, having been previously unaware of it: news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3

Edits: Markdown / reordering descr/links.

en.wikipedia.orgMercatus Center - Wikipedia
#DiscourseMagazine#KochBrothers#KochIndustries
Mark Stoll

A textbook case of @naomioreskes and @erikconway's #MerchantsofDoubt thesis:

Revealed: The secret push to bury a weedkiller’s link to Parkinson’s disease

Internal documents from chemical giant Syngenta reveal tactics to sponsor sympathetic scientific papers and mislead regulators about unfavorable research

theguardian.com/us-news/2023/j

#pesticides #environment #capitalism #paraquat @TheGuardian_us

The GuardianRevealed: The secret push to bury a weedkiller’s link to Parkinson’s diseaseBy Carey Gillam
Caro S.

"It is important to note that no government has said COVID-19 has gone away and that we can resume unmitigated social interactions facing the same risks we did in 2019. Instead, official messaging has centered around the idea of individual responsibility, that we should each engage in our own assessment of the risks of SARS-CoV-2 infection. This feels a little like government smoking policy in the 1950s;"

johnsnowproject.org/insights/m

John Snow ProjectMerchants of DoubtSome people wave away concerns about the long-term effects of COVID-19 by saying, “if it was really bad, the government would take steps to protect people.”
#smoking#cancer#MerchantsOfDoubt
Mark Stoll

Looks like Naomi #Oreskes and @erikconway will need to add a new chapter to #MerchantsofDoubt, about #gasstoves

In the Fight Over Gas Stoves, Meet the Industry’s Go-To Scientist

Here's a free link:

nytimes.com/2023/01/29/climate

www.nytimes.comIn the Fight Over Gas Stoves, Meet the Industry’s Go-To ScientistBy Hiroko Tabuchi
#environment#climate#gas
Replied in thread
Heskie

@Sheril
The truth-twisting playbook has many chapters and authors, but simple aims - suppression of information, protection of vested interests, sowing doubt and confusion, all the while ignoring even the possibility of an ethical dimension. #MerchantsofDoubt indeed.
If you are able to access BBC Radio - this series is a real eye-opener: " ... the story of how to manufacture doubt."
bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000l7q1/

BBCBBC Radio 4 - How They Made Us Doubt Everything - Available nowAvailable episodes of How They Made Us Doubt Everything
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