New film accuses Big Oil of using 'sophisticated and successful' Big Tobacco-style lies

Jessica Corbett,

 Common Dreams
October 14, 2025


FILE PHOTO: A pump jack drills oil crude from the Yates Oilfield in West Texas?s Permian Basin near Iraan, Texas, U.S., March 17, 2023. Picture taken through glass. REUTERS/Bing Guan/File Photo

With less than a month until the next United Nations climate summit, filmmakers and campaigners on Tuesday released an animation that calls out the fossil fuel industry’s use of Big Tobacco’s public relations tactics in under three minutes.

The Well-Oiled Plan was created by Daniel Bird and Adam Levy at Wit & Wisdom, in association with the Global Climate and Health Alliance (GCHA), a consortium of over 200 health professional and civil society groups. It “comprises scenes spun off from My Pet Footprint,” a comedy feature film about climate grief that Wit & Wisdom is developing with Greenpeace.

“My Pet Footprint plays with the idea that consciences are removable,” Bird, the director, said in a statement. “Decades ago, the fossil fuel industry decided business as usual was worth any price, and it takes an incredible deficit of conscience to be able to do that when that price is the demise of civilization and possibly even life in general.”

With the new short, he said, “we took a direct route from smoking as an evil perpetuated on individuals, and the nascent public relations industry around that, to smoking as an industrial process imposed upon the global population. The only difference now is that the PR machine has become all the more sophisticated, and, dare we say it, successful.”

The short film—starring comedians Cody Dahler and Michael Spicer, and actors Jaylah Moore-Ross and Sinead Phelps—comes as Big Oil has faced mounting scrutiny for its decades of burying, denying, and downplaying the impacts of its products. Since the #ExxonKnew exposés a decade ago, more journalism, scholarly research, lawsuits against the fossil fuel industry, and congressional reports and hearings have further revealed major polluters’ climate disinformation efforts.


In 2020, Fossil Free Media launched Clean Creatives, a project targeting public relations and advertising agencies that serve Big Oil. Since then, 2,700 creatives and 1,500 agencies have signed the campaign’s pledge to decline future contracts with the industry. Despite that progress, polluters continue to dump money into PR and ads from firms that will work for them.

“Fossil fuels are making people sick—and the companies behind them are spending millions on advertising and PR to cover it up,” said Shweta Narayan, campaign lead at GCHA—which last month released a report detailing “the health toll of fossil fuels” for at every stage of the production cycle and across the human lifespan.

“The PR and communications industry must commit to fossil-free contracts,” she argued. “Firms cannot claim to advance sustainability while helping fossil fuel companies greenwash their image or delay climate policy. We call on agencies to adopt fossil-free policies, disclose all fossil fuel clients, and ensure their work does not obstruct the transition to clean, healthy energy systems.”

“We call on agencies to adopt fossil-free policies, disclose all fossil fuel clients, and ensure their work does not obstruct the transition to clean, healthy energy systems.”


Narayan noted that “the same PR firms spreading fossil fuel disinformation are also working with health organizations—a clear conflict of interest for health. Through the Break the Fossil Influence—Fossil-Free Health Communications commitment, health organizations are leading by example, by cutting ties with those agencies.”

Clean Creatives executive director Duncan Meisel stressed that “health organizations should not be hiring agencies with fossil fuel clients.”

“The fossil fuel industry is one of the leading causes of long-term illness and premature death worldwide, and agencies that help sell coal, oil, or gas products have a conflict of interest when it comes to organizations and companies that promote public health,” he continued. “At the same time, the public health sector has enormous leverage to use their procurement policies to accelerate the marketing industry’s exit from fossil fuels.”

Hundreds of organizations, including GCHA, are also calling on Brazil, host of the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference (COP30), to “make clear that unchecked corporate influence is not compatible with climate leadership.”

GCHA executive director Jeni Miller on Tuesday urged the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) “to draw a red line” and declare that “no PR or advertising firms that continue to work for fossil fuel companies should be allowed to shape the story of the COP or the climate crisis.”

“For all future COPs, governments and the UNFCCC must adopt clear conflict-of-interest rules and ethical procurement standards for all communications, PR, and event contractors—just as the World Health Organization does under its tobacco control framework,” she said. “Just as the health community once stood up to Big Tobacco and its advertising, now it’s time to stand up to Big Oil.”

Why cardboard boxes may signal the next recession


ByDr. Tim Sandle
SCIENCE EDITOR

DIGITAL JOURNAL
October 13, 2025


Are cardboard boxes an indicator of recession? Image by Tim Sandle

Many economists and politicians levy theories about potential recession indicators across the economy. But what if the key to finding the right economic indicator is to stop thinking outside the box and to start thinking about the box itself?

This is the approach taken by Virginia Tech economist Jadrian Wooten, who believes that the so-called cardboard box index may carry with it a warning sign for today.

Box utilisation rates — essentially how much a factory is producing versus what it could produce if it were running full capacity — are significant for understanding the manufacturing business.


During the 2008 recession, cardboard-box manufacturers’ operating revenues fell by more than 50%

“Once used by former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, the metric gauges the production of corrugated cardboard boxes – in which more than 75% of all non-durable goods are shipped – to presage the upcoming packaging and shipping demands of the economy,” explains Wooten.

This approach runs: The economy of corrugated cardboard box production is influenced by consumer demand, which is a major economic indicator. Since the industry relies on a circular model, using a mix of new wood fibre and recycled paper to produce boxes efficiently, this can be used to signal the outlook for both the broader manufacturing sector and consumer spending.

Sensitivity

Changes in box demand can be seen more quickly than traditional indicators like GDP, which are only reported quarterly.

Amid recent cuts, U.S. box makers have scaled back operations, with 9% of domestic production capacity set to shut down. In terms of impact, Wooten says that will put thousands of workers out of jobs, and is the biggest such pullback since the Great Recession of 2008.

Other factors besides a general recession are affecting the cardboard box industry, including changes in consumer spending habits (more on services than delivered goods), e-commerce innovations (smaller boxes, reusable packaging), and supply chain issues

“If we’re to assume that cardboard boxes are a leading indicator, it could be a bad sign of what’s ahead,” he explains in a guideline. “If they’re cutting back on capacity, it likely comes as a response to fewer orders. That would suggest weaker demand in the broader economy. If shipments keep falling, other indicators like GDP or unemployment may eventually catch up.”

Wooten is keen to emphasise that no single statistic is foolproof when trying to make broader predictions, however he makes the claim that the approach he describes could be a leading indicator of where the consumer economy is headed.


Written ByDr. Tim Sandle

Dr. Tim Sandle is Digital Journal's Editor-at-Large for science news. Tim specializes in science, technology, environmental, business, and health journalism. He is additionally a practising microbiologist; and an author. He is also interested in history, politics and current affairs.

House lawmaker draws chilling parallel between Trump and notorious Nazi-era theorist

Robert Davis
October 14, 2025 

RAW STORY

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) compared President Donald Trump's governing style to a notorious Nazi jurist during an interview with CNN's Erin Burnett on Tuesday.

Khanna joined Burnett on her show, "OutFront," to discuss Trump's decision to bailout Argentina with a $20 billion currency swap with the country's central bank and the impact of the government shutdown on American households. Khanna said Trump has presented a "clear view" of governance, one that seems closely aligned with Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt.

"He helps his friends, and he punishes his enemies," Khanna said of Trump's governing style. "It's sort of the Carl Schmitt philosophy of politics, and there's nothing more to it.

Schmitt was a renowned political theorist who is most known for his critiques of liberalism and democracy. Schmitt once argued that "deceptive" democratic procedures should be replaced by a "charismatic leader" who works on behalf of a "homogeneous" people and nation, according to an analysis of Schmitt's works in the political journal, American Affairs.

Khanna suggested that Trump has deceived his voters during his second term since he has yet to fulfill a key campaign promise.


"He sold the American people on lowering prices on day one," Khanna said. "He sold the American people that he's a business guy, that he's going to get the economy moving, and he's done nothing for America's farmers. Grocery prices are up.


"You know what I would do with that $20 billion? I would give that money to the American people who have had a 26% increase in coffee tariffs and coffee prices because of the irrational tariffs on coffee," he continued. "He's made food prices go up. He's hurting America's farmers, and then he's giving the money away to Argentina. We're adding insult to injury by then taking the business away from American farmers and selling it to China."

Bombshell report reveals leaked GOP chat filled with racist jokes and rape fantasies

Tom Boggioni
October 14, 2025

RAW STORY

A treasure trove of leaked Telegram chats among the leadership of the Young Republicans exposed a mixture of racist comments, rape fantasies, and suggestions on how to drive their opponents to suicide.

According to a bombshell report from Politico’s Jason Beeferman and Emily Ngo, there were jokes about “loving Hitler,” how to construct gas chambers, with one woman, Annie Kaykaty, New York’s national committeewoman, chiming in with, “I’m ready to watch people burn now.”

The report notes that, despite cautioning each other about what they wrote, “They referred to Black people as monkeys and ‘the watermelon people’ and mused about putting their political opponents in gas chambers. They talked about raping their enemies and driving them to suicide and lauded Republicans who they believed support slavery.”

According to Politico, the chats spanned “more than seven months of messages among Young Republican leaders in New York, Kansas, Arizona and Vermont,” adding that since Politico followed up with inquiries, “one member of the group chat is no longer employed at their job and another’s job offer was rescinded. Prominent New York Republicans, including Rep. Elise Stefanik and state Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt, have denounced the chat.”

Peter Giunta of the New York State Young Republicans, who was an active participant, objected to the exposure, claiming it was “a highly-coordinated year-long character assassination led by Gavin Wax and the New York City Young Republican Club.”

He added, “These logs were sourced by way of extortion and provided to POLITICO by the very same people conspiring against me. What’s most disheartening is that, despite my unwavering support of President Trump since 2016, rouge (sic) members of his administration — including Gavin Wax — have participated in this conspiracy to ruin me publicly simply because I challenged them privately.”

The report adds, “At least one person in the Telegram chat works in the Trump administration: Michael Bartels, who, according to his LinkedIn account, serves as a senior adviser in the office of general counsel within the U.S. Small Business Administration. Bartels did not have much to say in the chat, but he didn’t offer any pushback against the offensive rhetoric in it either. He declined to comment.”

You can read more here.

'I LOVE💔 HITLER'

'Inexcusable': Red state Republican group shut down after shocking report on racist chat

Republican Party. (Photo credit: danielfela / Shutterstock)

Kansas Young Republicans shut down after Politico report on racist, violent encrypted chat

by Tim Carpenter,

Kansas Reflector
October 14, 2025

TOPEKA — The chairman and vice chairman of the Kansas Young Republicans took part in encrypted chats with political peers laced with violent, racist and antisemitic rhetoric and blended with references to white supremacy and suppression of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

On Tuesday, the chairman of the Kansas Republican Party said the Politico article disclosing the commentary prompted immediate deactivation of the Kansas Young Republicans organization.

Politico, a digital news company specializing in coverage of U.S. politics, reported that Kansas Young Republicans chair Alex Dwyer and vice chair William Hendrix took part in the Telegram group chat.

In 2,900 pages of chat text, Hendrix praised the Missouri Young Republicans because leaders in that state didn’t like LGBTQ+ people. He repeatedly used racial slurs to refer to Black people, including words such as “n–ga” and “n–guh.” In a July conversation in the thread about African-Americans, he said, “Bro is at a chicken restaurant ordering his food. Would he like some watermelon and Kool-Aid with that?”

He was fired from a communications job in the office of Attorney General Kris Kobach as Politico prepared its report on Hendrix’s role in the chat.

“The comments in the chat are inexcusable,” Kobach said. “As soon as the office learned of those messages, Will Hendrix’s employment was terminated.”

In the chat threads, Dwyer and others delved into discussions of how GOP operatives could tarnish a political candidate by linking the individual to white supremacists. The idea was dismissed, Politico said, because the plan could backfire in a place such as Kansas, where “Young Republicans could end up becoming attracted to that opponent.” Subsequently, a person in the chat asked others to guess what room number they had at a hotel.

Dwyer responded: “1488.” That figure is a form of shorthand among white supremacists when making reference to their beliefs. It refers to the 14 words of text in the slogan, “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.” The “88” stands for “Heil Hitler,” with the H marking the eighth letter of the alphabet.

At another juncture, Dwyer touched on controversy involving the release of government files on Epstein, the convicted sex offender. Republicans and Democrats in Congress have sought public release of files to either exonerate or incriminate President Donald Trump or other prominent individuals.

“Trumps too busy burning the Epstein files,” Dwyer wrote on Telegram.

Before Politico’s disclosure of the Young Republicans’ commentary, Dwyer and Hendrix were photographed at a campaign event with Senate President Ty Masterson, the Andover Republican who is a 2026 candidate for governor. A social media post of the picture, taken at Masterson’s campaign announcement event, shows both of them holding signs touting Masterson’s campaign for governor.An image from Senate President Ty Masterson’s announcement of his campaign for Kansas governor includes Kansas Young Republicans chair Alex Dwyer, far left, and vice chair William Hendrix, second from right. Politico reports Dwyer and Hendrix took part in a private Telegram chat with other state GOP leaders touting racist, violent and antisemitic ideas such as “I love Hitler” and “They love the watermelon people.” (Submitted)

The Masterson campaign released a statement after the Senate president landed in Washington, D.C., for meetings Wednesday with White House officials. In that statement, Masterson blamed political opponents for “shopping around a photo, with deceitful intentions, in efforts to disparage” him.

“I categorically deny any association with William Hendrix or Alex Dwyer, as neither is current, nor has ever been, on staff or volunteered for my campaign for governor,” Masterson said. “Anyone suggesting otherwise is either lying or misinformed.”

In addition, Masterson said, he was guided by deep Christian faith and possessed a record of condemning hateful and violent rhetoric.

“I am personally disgusted by the comments attributed to individuals in the article, as such behavior is utterly counter to Christ’s message that life is valuable and we are all equal in God’s eyes, and my unwavering commitment to these values has not changed,” the statement said.

A collection of Kansas Republicans and a Democratic candidate for governor denounced contents of this trove of Telegram messages logged under “RESTOREYR WAR ROOM,” or Restore Young Republicans.

The communications chronicled by Politico covered a period between January and August, and involved state Republican leaders in Kansas, Vermont, Arizona and New York. Included in the thousands of comments was this insight: “If we ever had a leak on this chat, we will be cooked.”

“The viewpoints expressed in this chat are not representative of Kansans. Period,” said former Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer, who is seeking the GOP nomination for governor. “Our state was founded on the belief that all of us are created equal under God — and anyone who mocks those principles dishonors the very spirit of Kansas.”


Vicki Schmidt, the state’s insurance commissioner and a Republican candidate for governor, said Dwyer and Hendrix should formally resign from their Young Republicans positions because “their actions are disgusting and disgraceful and they tarnish the reputation of Kansas nationally.”

Sen. Cindy Holscher, a Johnson County Democrat also running for governor, said she was disgusted by messages shared by Kansas GOP political operatives that promoted overt racism, extremism, antisemitism and sexual violence. She said the extremist language was encouraged from the top down by politicians who seek to divide voters rather than bring them together.

“Let’s be clear: These aren’t kids joking around,” Holscher said. “These are 20- and 30-something adults with leadership roles in the Republican Party. The chair of the Kansas Young Republicans, who participated in these messages, is nearly 30 years old. Unfortunately, this type of rhetoric is not isolated. For too long in Kansas, the Republican Party has been dominated by extremists who see no room for moderation or bipartisanship, let alone unity or mutual respect.”

Danedri Herbert, chair of the Kansas Republican Party, said the organization’s leadership was disgusted by comments by young Kansas Republicans contained in the Politico story. In March, Herbert was elected state party chair. She is Black.

“Their comments do not reflect the beliefs of Republicans and certainly not of Kansas Republicans at large,” she said. “Republicans believe that all people are created in the image of God.”

She said the state party platform stated: “We welcome Kansans of every ethnicity into our party as we work together to preserve our heritage of political equality, religious freedom and strong moral values. We strive to eliminate racism and we condemn all racist acts and groups.”

Michael Austin, chief executive of the Kansas Black Republican Council, said the organization unequivocally rebuked the behavior and language revealed in Politico’s report.

“Such conduct is not merely offensive. It is a betrayal of the very principles upon which our party was founded: the defense of liberty, the abolition of slavery and the belief in the inherent worth and dignity of every human being,” Austin said. “Let there be no confusion. These few individuals do not represent Kansas, nor do they reflect the values of Kansas Republicans.”

He said all Republicans should in this moment “uphold the standard of integrity, moral courage and respect that has long defined our party’s proud history.”

Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com.

Monoskop.orgmonoskop.org/images/5/54/Theweleit_Klaus_Male_Fantasies_Vol_1_Women_Floods_Bodies_History.pdf

Klaus Theweleit Male Fantasies, 1. Women, Floods, Bodies, History

Theweleit, Klaus. Male fantasies. (Theory and history of literature; v. 22). Translation of : Mannerphantasien. Bibliography: p. Includes index. Contents: v ...

Monoskop.orgmonoskop.org/images/4/4d/Theweleit_Klaus_Male_Fantasies_Vol_2_Male_Bodies_Psychoanalyzing_the_White_Terror.pdf

Klaus Theweleit Male Fantasies, 2. Male Bodies - Monoskop

Theweleit, Klaus. Male fantasies. (Theory and history of literature; v. 22-23). Translation of: Mannerphantasien. Vol ...

YANKEE HIGH SEA GANGSTERISM                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

US threats cast doubt on shipping emissions deal


By AFP

October 13, 2025

-
Washington has threatened to sanction countries supporting a UN plan to cut maritime emissions - Copyright AFP Jim WATSON
Pol-Malo LE BRIS

An ambitious plan by the UN’s shipping agency to cut maritime emissions could be scuttled at the last minute after the United States threatened to impose sanctions on those supporting it.

Already approved in April, members of the London-based International Maritime Organization (IMO) are set to formally adopt the Net Zero Framework (NZF) on Friday as part of talks opening Tuesday.

The framework requires ships to progressively reduce their carbon emissions starting in 2028, and achieve complete decarbonisation by 2050.

But the United States on Friday threatened sanctions and other punitive actions against those who support it, potentially derailing the plans.

Top US diplomat Marco Rubio, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement the administration of President Donald Trump “unequivocally rejects” the NZF proposal.

They threatened a range of punishing actions against countries that vote in favour of the framework, from visa restrictions to blocking vessels registered in those countries from US ports and imposing commercial penalties.

– US influence –

The NZF would require all ships to use a less carbon-intensive fuel mix or face financial penalties.

In April a majority of members — 63 states — voted in favour, including the European Union, Brazil, China, India and Japan.

Sixteen states voted against the measure, including major oil producers Saudi Arabia, Russia and the United Arab Emirates.

Pacific Island states abstained from the vote, deeming the proposals insufficient to meet decarbonisation goals.

The United States had withdrawn from negotiations, not commenting on the proposal until last week.

Brussels reaffirmed on Monday the full support of European Union states for the proposal, as did Britain, when contacted by AFP.

But US threats may affect “other countries more sensitive to US influence and vulnerable to these retaliations”, a European source told AFP.

“We remain optimistic about the outcome, but it will probably be tighter than before, with a higher risk of abstention,” the source added.

Consensus, usually the norm in this assembly, has already been ruled out.

The Philippines, which has the world’s largest contingent of maritime workers and supported the NZF in April, would be particularly impacted by visa restrictions.

Caribbean islands, economically dependent on US cruises, could also be affected by sanctions.

– Trump alleges climate ‘scam’ –

Contacted by AFP, IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez declined to respond directly to the US statement, maintaining he was “very confident” about the NZF vote.

The NZF would charge ships a tax on emissions exceeding a certain threshold, creating a fund to reward low-emission vessels and support countries vulnerable to climate change.

If the global emissions pricing system were adopted, it would become difficult to evade, even for the United States.

IMO conventions allow signatories to inspect foreign ships during stopovers and even detain non-compliant vessels.

Since returning to power in January, Trump has reversed Washington’s course on climate change, denouncing it as a “scam” and encouraging fossil fuel use by deregulation.

Australia must deploy ‘unconventional’ means to deter China, Russia: US think tank


By AFP
October 14, 2025


Under the tripartite AUKUS pact with the United States and the United Kingdom, Australia will acquire at least three Virginia class submarines from the United States within 15 years - Copyright POOL/AFP/File COLIN MURTY

Australia must learn from past guerrilla insurgencies and adopt an “unconventional deterrence” policy in facing down threats from China, Russia and elsewhere, one of the country’s leading think tanks said Wednesday.

Australia, under the tripartite AUKUS pact with the United States and the United Kingdom, will acquire at least three Virginia class submarines from the United States within 15 years, with an eye to eventually build its own.

Until then Canberra faces a major gap in its defences, warned the report by the non-partisan Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), which receives funding from Canberra’s defence ministry as well as the US State Department.

“Australia’s traditional reliance upon ‘great and powerful friends’ and extended nuclear deterrence now seems no longer assured,” the authors wrote.

“Australia has options to fill today’s deterrence gap: we just need to look beyond conventional paradigms,” they said.

ASPI, acknowledging Australia’s “inferiority” against adversaries like China, argued that past guerrilla wars like the Chechen insurgency against Russia in the 1990s showed that smaller actors could inflict heavy damage on much larger foes.

“History demonstrates that innovative concepts and asymmetric capabilities can achieve deterrent effects ahead of and during conflict,” the authors wrote.

“Australian concepts of deterrence don’t address the nature of competition as currently practised by China and other autocratic regimes such as Russia, North Korea and Iran,” they warned.

ASPI pointed to Beijing’s growing use of so-called “grey-zone” tactics — cyberwarfare, coercion and subversion that fall short of acts of war — as evidence that Australia needed a more dynamic and reactive policy.

It also argued Canberra could learn from former Singaporean leader Lee Kuan Yew’s description of the city state as a “poisonous shrimp” — as well as the “porcupine” strategies of Switzerland and the Baltic states.

ASPI called for the recreation of a National Security Adviser with sweeping powers and oversight over Canberra’s intelligence agencies, as well as reforms of spying and defence laws to facilitate the new policy.

Australia is engaging in a rapid military build-up in a push to strengthen its defences against China, also its largest trading partner.

Canberra plans to gradually increase its defence spending to 2.4 percent of gross domestic product — well short of US demands for 3.5 percent.

The AUKUS submarine programme alone could cost the country up to $235 billion over the next 30 years, according to Australian government forecasts, a price tag that has stoked criticism.

Major media outlets reject Pentagon reporting rules

DEPT. OF WAR HEGSETH BIGGEST LEAKER


By AFP
October 15, 2025


The Defense Department has restricted media access inside the Pentagon, forced some outlets to vacate offices in the building and drastically reduced the number of briefings for journalists. - Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File Andrew Harnik

US and international news outlets including The New York Times, AP, AFP and Fox News on Tuesday declined to sign new restrictive Pentagon media rules, meaning they will be stripped of their press access credentials.

The new rules come after the Defense Department restricted media access inside the Pentagon, forced some outlets to vacate offices in the building and drastically reduced the number of briefings for journalists.

The media policy “gags Pentagon employees” by threatening retaliation against reporters who seek out information that has not been pre-approved for release, the Pentagon Press Association (PPA) said.

AFP said in a statement Tuesday that it “cannot sign up to the terms of the Pentagon document that would require media to acknowledge insufficiently clear new policies that appear to fly in the face of US constitutional principles and of the basic tenets of journalism.”

“We shall continue to cover the Pentagon and the US military freely and fairly, as we have done for decades,” the agency added.

TV networks ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox and NBC issued a joint statement saying they will not sign the new rules, which would “restrict journalists’ ability to keep the nation and the world informed of important national security issues.”

Alongside Fox, other conservative outlets the Washington Times and Newsmax are also reportedly refusing to agree to the new policy, which could see a total of some 100 press passes revoked.

The new rules are the latest in a series of moves that restrict journalists’ access to information from the Pentagon, the nation’s single largest employer with a budget in the hundreds of billions of dollars per year.

The Defense Department announced earlier this year that eight media organizations including the Times, the Washington Post, CNN, NBC and NPR had to vacate their dedicated office spaces in the Pentagon, alleging that there was a need to create room for other — predominantly conservative — outlets.

It has also required journalists to be accompanied by official escorts if they go outside a limited number of areas in the Pentagon — another new restriction on the press.

And it has drastically reduced the number of briefings for journalists — holding some half a dozen this year, compared to an average of two or more per week under president Joe Biden’s administration, which left office in January.

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth — a former Fox News host and Army National Guard veteran — has campaigned against leaks from the Defense Department.

But he was inadvertently involved in the release of sensitive information earlier this year, sharing details about upcoming strikes against Yemen’s Huthi rebels in a chat on messaging app Signal to which a journalist had been mistakenly added.

Hegseth has also reportedly used Signal to discuss US strikes on Yemen with his wife and other people not usually involved in such discussions.

His use of Signal has prompted an investigation by the Pentagon inspector general’s office.

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Myanmar scam centres booming despite crackdown, using Musk’s Starlink: AFP investigation


By AFP
October 14, 2025


Work going on in February on a new tower block in Shwe Kokko, southeastern Myanmar, where some of the most notorious scam centres are based - Copyright AFP 

Jim WATSON

Scam centres in Myanmar blamed for swindling billions from victims across the world are expanding fast just months after a crackdown that was supposed to eradicate them, an AFP investigation has found.

New buildings have been springing up inside the heavily guarded compounds around Myawaddy on the Thailand-Myanmar border at a dizzying pace, with others festooned with dishes for Elon Musk’s Starlink internet service, satellite images and AFP drone footage show.

The revelations come as Britain and the United States imposed sanctions Tuesday on the “masterminds behind industrial-scale scam centres in Southeast Asia”, freezing 19 London properties “linked to a multi-billion-pound network”.

They include a mansion worth £12 million (nearly $16 million) on one of London’s most expensive streets and a £100 million office building in the city’s financial district.

US prosecutors have also launched an action to seize up to $15 billion in cryptocurrency they said is held by Chinese-born Chen Zhi, the alleged head of a “sprawling cyber-fraud empire” based in Cambodia where workers are trafficked and “confined in prison-like compounds”.

Americans are among the top targets of Southeast Asia scammers, the US Treasury Department says, losing an estimated $10 billion last year, up 66 percent in 12 months.

The centres have caused misery to millions of people across the world, pushing some victims to suicide, while the families of those who work in them often have to pay to have relatives freed.

Experts say most of the centres in Myanmar and Cambodia, notorious for their romance scams and “pig butchering” investment cons, are run by Chinese-led crime syndicates that have switched from gambling into cybercrime.

Starlink has gone from nowhere at the time of the Myanmar crackdown in February, when Thailand cut power and internet cables to the scam centres along its border, to becoming the country’s biggest internet provider every day from July 3 until October 1, according to data from the APNIC Asian regional internet registry.

The US Congress Joint Economic Committee told AFP it had opened an investigation into Starlink’s involvement with the centres.

SpaceX, which owns Starlink, did not reply to AFP requests for comment.

China, Thailand and Myanmar forced pro-junta Myanmar militias who protect the centres into promising to “eradicate” the compounds in February. They freed around 7,000 people — most Chinese citizens — from the brutal call centre-style system, which the United Nations says runs on forced labour and human trafficking.

Many workers told AFP they were beaten and forced to work long hours by bosses who target victims across the globe with telephone, internet and social media cons.

Only weeks after the headline-grabbing releases, building work on several of the centres had started along the Moei River, which forms the frontier with Thailand.

AFP analysis of satellite images from Planet Labs PBC found dozens of buildings going up or being altered in the largest of the compounds, KK Park, between March and September.

Construction work has also been going on at several of the other 27 suspected scam centres in the Myawaddy cluster, an AFP analysis found, including what the US Treasury called the “notorious” Shwe Kokko centres, north of Myawaddy.



– ‘Abhorrent’ –



Last month, the US imposed sanctions on nine people connected to Shwe Kokko and the Chinese criminal kingpin She Zhijiang, founder of the multistorey Yatai New City centre there.

Senator Maggie Hassan, the leading Democrat on the US Congressional committee, has called on Musk to block the Starlink service to the fraud factories.

“While most people have probably noticed the increasing number of scam texts, calls, and emails, they may not know that transnational criminals halfway across the world may be perpetrating these scams by using Starlink internet access,” Hassan said.

She wrote to Musk in July demanding answers to 11 questions about Starlink’s role.

Erin West, a former California prosecutor who now heads the Operation Shamrock group that campaigns against the centres, said: “It is abhorrent that an American company is enabling this to happen.”

While still a cybercrime prosecutor, she warned Starlink in July 2024 that the mostly Chinese crime syndicates that run the centres were using its service, but received no reply.

Up to 120,000 people may be being “forced to carry out online scams” in the Myanmar centres, according to a UN report in 2023, with another 100,000 held in Cambodia.

South Korea President Lee Jae Myung said Tuesday that he was concerned by the “significant harm” being done by the centres amid the shock over the death of a Korean student who police said was tortured and killed after being kidnapped in Cambodia.

Other Koreans have also been abducted. “The numbers are not small, and many of our citizens are deeply concerned about their family members,” Lee said.

isk-mjw-sjc-nlc-fg/js

US indicts Cambodian tycoon over $15bn crypto scam empire


By AFP
October 14, 2025


Scam centers across Cambodia, Myanmar and the region use fake job ads to attract foreign nationals to purpose-built compounds, where they are forced to carry out online fraud under threat of torture - Copyright AFP

 Giuseppe CACACE

US authorities on Tuesday unsealed an indictment against Chen Zhi, a UK-Cambodian businessman accused of running forced labor camps in Cambodia where trafficked workers carried out cryptocurrency fraud schemes that netted billions of dollars.

The 37-year-old, known as Vincent, founded Prince Holding Group, a multinational conglomerate that authorities say served as a front for “one of Asia’s largest transnational criminal organizations,” according to the US Department of Justice.

The Justice Department also filed the largest forfeiture action in its history, seizing approximately 127,271 Bitcoin worth around $15 billion at current prices.

“Today’s action represents one of the most significant strikes ever against the global scourge of human trafficking and cyber-enabled financial fraud,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Chen allegedly directed operations of forced labor compounds across Cambodia where hundreds of trafficked workers were held in prison-like facilities surrounded by high walls and barbed wire.

Under threat of violence, they were forced to execute so-called “pig butchering” scams — cryptocurrency investment schemes that build trust with victims over time before stealing their funds.

The schemes targeted victims worldwide, causing billions in losses.

Scam centers across Cambodia, Myanmar and the region use fake job ads to attract foreign nationals — many of them Chinese — to purpose-built compounds, where they are forced to carry out online fraud under threat of torture.

Since around 2015, Prince Group has operated across more than 30 countries under the guise of legitimate real estate, financial services and consumer businesses, prosecutors said.

Chen and top executives allegedly used political influence and bribed officials in multiple countries to protect the operation.

Proceeds were laundered in part through the Prince Group’s own gambling and cryptocurrency mining operations.

The stolen funds financed luxury purchases including watches, yachts, private jets, vacation homes and a Picasso painting bought at a New York auction house, authorities said.

Chen faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted on wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges.

In coordinated action, British authorities on Tuesday froze 19 London properties worth over £100 million linked to Chen’s network, including a £12 million mansion in North London.

The sanctions also target Chen’s associate Qiu Wei Ren, a Chinese national with Cambodian, Cypriot and Hong Kong citizenship.

An AFP investigation on Tuesday found that scam centers in neighboring Myanmar were expanding rapidly just months after a crackdown there.

China, Thailand and Myanmar forced pro-junta Myanmar militias who protect the centers to promise to shutter the compounds in February, freeing around 7,000 people — most of them Chinese citizens.

But the brutal call center-style system is flourishing again in Myanmar, now using Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite system for internet access.

Animal welfare transport law deadlocked in EU

REVANCHIST LANDOWNERS

By AFP
October 14, 2025


The EU is deadlocked over a draft law on improving transport conditions for livestock - Copyright AFP ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS

Adrien DE CALAN

An EU proposal aimed at improving animal transport conditions has hit a wall two years after its introduction, with negotiations deadlocked and its future uncertain.

The draft legislation sought to cap journey times for slaughter-bound animals at nine hours, increase space in transport vehicles, and mandate night-time travel during extreme heat.

But it has faced fierce opposition from several member states and the right wing of the European Parliament — treading carefully around agricultural interests since protests over EU red tape swept the bloc last year.

“The situation is completely stuck. It’s very, very, very frustrating,” said Tilly Metz, a Green EU lawmaker from Luxembourg who sponsored the bill.

Metz believe the law is being blocked because it poses a “challenge to intensive farming practices” and said there is currently no timeline for moving forward.

But she vows she will not back down, citing strong public support for animal welfare across Europe.

Her co-sponsor, Romanian conservative Daniel Buda, advocated a more “targeted” update to the existing 2005 legislation, which he described as already “among the most advanced worldwide”.

“Farmers’ unions oppose the legislative proposal because farmers know the situation best — they are the ones who actually implement the rules,” he told AFP.

“I cannot be deaf and blind to this reality,” he said.

Current EU rules permit livestock transport times of eight to 28 hours depending on species, with no mandatory pauses for pigs.

Temperatures inside trucks are allowed to range from five to 30 degrees Celsius, with a tolerance of five extra degrees.

Farmers argue the real issue lies with enforcement of existing laws.

French farming union FNSEA’s vice-president Patrick Benezit said the existing regulation was “fairly well designed”, pointing to a lack of checks.



– ‘Out of touch’ –



Benezit criticised Brussels’ new proposals as “out of touch” — invoking a contested argument that keeping animals tightly packed helps prevent injuries during sudden stops.

The commission’s proposal is rooted in scientific advice from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which recommends shorter journeys, lower temperatures, and more space to improve animal health — and in turn bolster food safety.

Animal welfare groups say the current legislation is outdated and riddled with gaps.

“Right now the space provided for animals in transport vehicles by road is very vague, and it’s also very little,” said Tea Dronjic, a veterinarian with the Animal Welfare Foundation.

She said that animals need enough space to spread their legs to maintain balance while trucks are moving.

Dronjic considered opposition to the new rules from member states “very worrying”.

Her organisation recently carried out a mission to the Bulgaria-Turkey border, where NGOs have documented cases of animals trapped for days or weeks, bringing back footage of bloodied livestock and cows giving birth beside trucks.

Animal rights advocates are urging the EU to both tighten border checks and strengthen its internal rules.

Asked about the law’s future, the European Commission said the decision lies with the bloc’s lawmakers and member states — with a progress update among EU capitals pencilled in for December.

“We of course hope they will be able to adopt soon,” said a commission spokesperson.

Libcom.orgfiles.libcom.org/files/2023-08/beasts of burden antagonism.pdf

Beasts of Burden: Capitalism - Animals - Communism - Libcom.org

Beasts of. Burden. Capitalism · Animals. Communism as on ent ons. s a een ree. Page 2. Beasts of Burden: Capitalism - Animals -. Communism. Published October ...

US Republicans seek to shield oil giants as climate lawsuits advance


By AFP
October 14, 2025


Republicans are moving to block what they describe as 'lawfare against the energy industry' - Copyright AFP/File Patrick T. Fallon

Issam AHMED

President Donald Trump’s second term has seen the United States go all-in to boost Big Oil and block renewables — yet a wave of state and local climate-damage lawsuits against the fossil fuel industry continues to advance.

Now Republicans are moving to shut them down with a two-pronged strategy: pushing for a federal shield law and urging the Supreme Court to intervene.

“The issue for the oil companies is that they know they did it,” Richard Wiles, president of the nonprofit Center for Climate Integrity, told AFP.

“Their only avenue out of this is to get some kind of a waiver of liability, make the cases go away, bar the courthouse doors, get a ‘get out of jail free card.'”

Dozens of cases modeled on successful actions against the tobacco industry in the 1990s are playing out in state courts nationwide — including claims of injuries, failure to warn, and even racketeering, meaning acting like a criminal enterprise.

Some have been dismissed, and none have yet gone to trial — though crucially, the conservative-dominated Supreme Court has repeatedly declined to intervene and block them.



– ‘They have no shame’ –



In June, 16 Republican state attorneys general urged the Trump administration to enact a shield law to end such cases.

“Under the banner of ‘global climate change,’ they have effectively declared an all-out war on traditional American energy,” their letter said, calling the lawsuits “lawfare against the energy industry.”

It faulted the Supreme Court for not moving the cases to federal court, where companies believe they stand a better chance of winning, and cited a 2005 statute granting gunmakers a similar liability shield.

“They have no shame,” said Pat Parenteau, an emeritus professor of environmental law at the University of Vermont, pointing to the epidemic of gun violence. “I mean, come on, that’s your argument?”

Congress has yet to act, but observers see worrying signs it may be edging closer. A recent appropriations bill for the District of Columbia would bar the city from using funds to enforce consumer protection laws “against oil and gas companies for environmental claims.”

And just last week, more than 100 House Republicans filed a friend-of-the-court brief in one Colorado case, urging the Supreme Court to “put an end to these unconstitutional attempts to dictate national energy policy.”

AFP contacted Nebraska and West Virginia, which led the letter, as well as the Department of Justice, oil majors ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron and BP, and the American Petroleum Institute. None responded.



– Coordinated campaign –



The Trump administration, for its part, has escalated attacks on Democrat-led states passing “polluter pays” laws — suing for example New York and Vermont to block “Superfunds” that would require companies to pay billions toward climate and extreme weather resilience.

The Justice Department has also asked the Supreme Court to weigh in through a friend-of-the-court brief in the Colorado case, where the state’s top court allowed Boulder County to proceed with its lawsuit against Suncor Energy.

A constellation of conservative legal scholars has joined what appears to be a coordinated push, including a FoxNews.com op-ed by John Yoo — author of the Bush-era “torture memos” — urging the Supreme Court to “reaffirm federal authority over national energy.”

Results in the cases have so far have been mixed: oil firms have won dismissals in some states, while others have allowed cases to advance.

“There hasn’t been a big verdict yet. It’s not clear there’s going to be a big verdict. And you’ve always got the Supreme Court lurking in the background,” said Parenteau.

That may explain why Congress has hesitated to act, he added — though “given the craziness that’s going on in America right now, anything’s possible.”

Environmental groups have urged Democrats to hold firm, and this summer, the 3,000-member National Association of Counties passed a resolution opposing “any legislation that would limit or preempt counties’ access to courts or give companies immunity from lawsuits.”

Brigid Shea, commissioner for Texas’ Travis County, who helped lead the resolution, told AFP local governments were being “walloped” by extreme weather. “We have to protect our access to the courts,” she said. “This is fundamental to our democratic process.”