Cliff Kincaid
Terrorism, not climate change, kills people
By Cliff Kincaid
On November 13, the same day as the terrorist attacks in Paris, USA Today ran a full-page ad from billionaire Tom Steyer's group NextGen Climate highlighting the alleged global threat from climate change. As hundreds of people were being injured or killed in Paris, the ad featured these quotes about the "climate crisis":
Mrs. Clinton is not alone, however. All of the Democrats running for president, plus former Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore, want to treat changes in the weather as something to be addressed through new treaties, international agreements, and global tax schemes. This campaign has taken precedence over defeating international terrorism.
At the Democratic Party debate this past weekend, Sanders claimed that "Climate change is directly related to the growth of terrorism, and if we do not get our act together and listen to what the scientists say, you're going to see countries all over the world – this is what the CIA says – they're going to be struggling over limited amounts of water, limited amounts of land to grow their crops and you're going to see all kinds of international conflict...."
So from one disputed claim about people causing climate change, they have reached another disputed claim that climate change is causing people to commit terrorism.
On the same day as the Paris attacks, former Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore was staging his 24-hour climate change telethon from the foot of the Eiffel Tower to focus attention on this month's United Nations climate summit in Paris. The attacks forced him to pull the plug on the event after five hours.
In advance of his ill-fated climate change telethon, People magazine asked Gore which Democrat he was endorsing for president. "It's still too early, in my opinion, to endorse a candidate or pick a candidate," he said.
But why is his endorsement worth anything? Al Gore has become a very rich man, a one percenter. He and his partners sold Current TV (Gore personally netted an estimated $100 million of the $500 million sale price) to the terrorist-supporting Middle Eastern oil and gas dictatorship of Qatar.
A member of Apple, Inc.'s board of directors, Gore is today worth as much as $170 million. Even the New York Times has wondered if his climate change campaign is designed to make himself rich, while preserving his lifestyle as an elite member of the one percent.
His telethon carried the official title of "Live Earth: 24 Hours of Reality." The reality of terrorism got in the way of the broadcast, featuring various rock stars and co-sponsored by Arianna Huffington's television channel, HuffPost Live.
Gore and his partners sold Current TV to Qatar so another Al Jazeera spin-off could be piped into American homes. The Al Jazeera America channel was the result, and it is now publishing nonsense like the piece by Rami G. Khouri entitled "Military responses alone will not defeat ISIL."
Khouri acknowledges that "Religion is critical for shaping the theological concept of the Islamic State and the wider Caliphate...." But, he says, "it may not be the most important reason why individuals go there to live, work and do battle." He lists "eight reasons why people across Islamic societies join or support ISIL."
But none of the "reasons" for the rise of the Islamic State, in his analysis, consists of the hate-filled passages from the Koran which guide their beliefs and actions.
Instead, we are told, in reason number four, that their motivations include "To live among like-minded people in a society defined by camaraderie, peace, justice and wholesome family life." Reason number six is "To find meaning, direction and purpose to one's personal life, or to escape family or personal problems, loneliness or alienation."
We are supposed to believe this may be why terrorists opened fire on people in Paris. This is why the Islamic State beheads people or burns them alive?
It is easy to forget that the website publishing this material is financed by a Middle Eastern dictatorship that promotes Islamic terrorism. Like the notion of the "existential threat" allegedly posed by climate change, Al Jazeera America constitutes a diversion from what really threatens America, our way of life, and our people. Perhaps that was the intention all along.
As serious as this is, the problem of foreign propaganda in the U.S. media market could get far worse. Television producer Jerry Kenney notes that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is planning to remove the barriers to broadcast station ownership by foreigners, a move that would enable American broadcasters to sell out to foreign interests, just like Gore did. The FCC could allow the sale of local broadcast stations and other media properties to the Chinese, Russian, and Mexican governments, or to the Muslim Brotherhood.
The public must respond to what the FCC is planning to do by December 21.
© Cliff Kincaid
November 18, 2015
On November 13, the same day as the terrorist attacks in Paris, USA Today ran a full-page ad from billionaire Tom Steyer's group NextGen Climate highlighting the alleged global threat from climate change. As hundreds of people were being injured or killed in Paris, the ad featured these quotes about the "climate crisis":
- Hillary Clinton: "An existential threat"
- Bernie Sanders: "The greatest threat facing the planet"
- Martin O'Malley: "Critical threat to our economy"
Mrs. Clinton is not alone, however. All of the Democrats running for president, plus former Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore, want to treat changes in the weather as something to be addressed through new treaties, international agreements, and global tax schemes. This campaign has taken precedence over defeating international terrorism.
At the Democratic Party debate this past weekend, Sanders claimed that "Climate change is directly related to the growth of terrorism, and if we do not get our act together and listen to what the scientists say, you're going to see countries all over the world – this is what the CIA says – they're going to be struggling over limited amounts of water, limited amounts of land to grow their crops and you're going to see all kinds of international conflict...."
So from one disputed claim about people causing climate change, they have reached another disputed claim that climate change is causing people to commit terrorism.
On the same day as the Paris attacks, former Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore was staging his 24-hour climate change telethon from the foot of the Eiffel Tower to focus attention on this month's United Nations climate summit in Paris. The attacks forced him to pull the plug on the event after five hours.
In advance of his ill-fated climate change telethon, People magazine asked Gore which Democrat he was endorsing for president. "It's still too early, in my opinion, to endorse a candidate or pick a candidate," he said.
But why is his endorsement worth anything? Al Gore has become a very rich man, a one percenter. He and his partners sold Current TV (Gore personally netted an estimated $100 million of the $500 million sale price) to the terrorist-supporting Middle Eastern oil and gas dictatorship of Qatar.
A member of Apple, Inc.'s board of directors, Gore is today worth as much as $170 million. Even the New York Times has wondered if his climate change campaign is designed to make himself rich, while preserving his lifestyle as an elite member of the one percent.
His telethon carried the official title of "Live Earth: 24 Hours of Reality." The reality of terrorism got in the way of the broadcast, featuring various rock stars and co-sponsored by Arianna Huffington's television channel, HuffPost Live.
Gore and his partners sold Current TV to Qatar so another Al Jazeera spin-off could be piped into American homes. The Al Jazeera America channel was the result, and it is now publishing nonsense like the piece by Rami G. Khouri entitled "Military responses alone will not defeat ISIL."
Khouri acknowledges that "Religion is critical for shaping the theological concept of the Islamic State and the wider Caliphate...." But, he says, "it may not be the most important reason why individuals go there to live, work and do battle." He lists "eight reasons why people across Islamic societies join or support ISIL."
But none of the "reasons" for the rise of the Islamic State, in his analysis, consists of the hate-filled passages from the Koran which guide their beliefs and actions.
Instead, we are told, in reason number four, that their motivations include "To live among like-minded people in a society defined by camaraderie, peace, justice and wholesome family life." Reason number six is "To find meaning, direction and purpose to one's personal life, or to escape family or personal problems, loneliness or alienation."
We are supposed to believe this may be why terrorists opened fire on people in Paris. This is why the Islamic State beheads people or burns them alive?
It is easy to forget that the website publishing this material is financed by a Middle Eastern dictatorship that promotes Islamic terrorism. Like the notion of the "existential threat" allegedly posed by climate change, Al Jazeera America constitutes a diversion from what really threatens America, our way of life, and our people. Perhaps that was the intention all along.
As serious as this is, the problem of foreign propaganda in the U.S. media market could get far worse. Television producer Jerry Kenney notes that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is planning to remove the barriers to broadcast station ownership by foreigners, a move that would enable American broadcasters to sell out to foreign interests, just like Gore did. The FCC could allow the sale of local broadcast stations and other media properties to the Chinese, Russian, and Mexican governments, or to the Muslim Brotherhood.
The public must respond to what the FCC is planning to do by December 21.
© Cliff Kincaid
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