A number of cultural and political think tanks supported by the tobacco industry are also supported by the petroleum industry to disseminate disinformation. "Doubt is our product." said one tobacco industry executive years ago. The same is true of the petroleum industry with regard to climate change and the ongoing resource war that is consuming our own attention and resources when we need so much to be focused on sustainability.

"Big Petroleum" and "Big Tobacco" both have gained their reputations as liars through the kind of advertising and PR "astroturf" false-flag organizations they have funded for decades.

Here are some quick websites outlining some of the relationships between junk science and "Big Tobacco" and "Big Oil" (via American Petroleum Institute, etc.)

http://implants.clic.net/tony/Corner/M/870.htm

"Junk Science and the Art of Spin Doctoring especially focuses on the Cato Institute and a host of inter-related groups all funded by BT and BO -- and "Junkman" Milloy, who runs phony scientific organizations on behalf of both Big Tobacco and Big Oil.

http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/2000Q3/secondhand.html

PRWatch does good work. Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber's "Toxic Sludge Is Good For You" and "Trust Us We're Experts" are must-reads for those interested in how Big Tobacco and Big Oil join with other industries to make us into absolute Dunces with regard to environmental and economic issues.

The trick played by Corporatists -- the new "Friendly Fascists" -- is to poison the stream of information and analysis that informs public discourse and shapes public opinion. This tactic was pointed out clearly by FDR's middle VP Henry A. Wallace and even "The father of public relations" Edward Bernays.

See PRWatch review on "The Father of Spin..." here:

http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/1999Q2/bernays.html

The Neocons followed up on Bernays very well. See Richard Heinberg's superb summary analysis of the NeoCons. My books are packed away right now, but I believe Heinberg gives an overview on pages 60-61 of "The Party's Over." (Can someone please check this?)

Before folks launch into Dunce-like discussion about "Conspiracy theories" I suggest that you check the analysis and information on the sites I linked to. The leading NeoCons and PR and corporate lobbyist organizations all believe very much that democracy is only a tool to help keep the rabble in line. Real decisions are made by those who already have wealth and power. This is clearly stated by Bernays and others, such as Leo Strauss, who taught a number of the NeoCons at U of Chicago -- Wolfowitz and Kristol, and others. Strauss clearly taught that people were not capable of governing themselves, and must be manipulated by a small elite.

For one online summary of Strauss:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Strauss

All of this to say that the "Top Ten Energy Stories" of each year are manipulated and massaged to reflect the current Corporatist fashions, and that any other narratives are marginalized in our culture.

Facts are decontextualized and interpreted depending on our perspective.

The key questions is this: "Is war the only answer?" You can bet that our Corporatist leadership loves war -- it is profitable and keeps them in firm control. So the causes and effects of the big story -- the Global Resource War -- will be excluded from discussion as much as possible.

Dave,

You are right, the global economy is a gigantic piracy. The word community is an oxymoron to these louts.

The analogy to the lying tobacco bums is a good one.

And then there are the head in the sand (and other places :) turkeys at public radio, public tv, and the major newspapers who play their fiddles as Rome begins to burn.

Just think of all of the young people who are starting large families, who will soon find out that all of their leaders have been lying to them.