It’s a tricky one. The argument for the licence fee (and one that I used to subscribe to until I watched the Panorama corporate propaganda piece – see below) is that the Beeb produces drama of a quality not found anywhere else. Read more

Genius campaign by a group called Brandalism. They managed to get around 600 spoof but corporate-looking adverts all over Paris in time for the climate talks. The fake ads were the work of 82 artists from 19 countries, and they parody the companies involved in sponsoring the climate talks. Read more

In the great state/corporate battle against you, the latest round is an attempt to water down the Freedom of Information Act (other major assaults are TTIP and the Global Redesign Initiative). This is the act that brought you the MPs’ expenses scandal, and the fact that the UK government worked with chemical corporations to block… Continue reading There are plans to water down the Freedom of Information Act; here’s what you can do Read more

I learnt something about US foreign policy (or more accurately, corporate foreign policy – this has nothing to do with the American people) in a kebab shop in Tooting – or rather, I didn’t so much learn about the foreign policy as how events that are largely unknown to most British people are common currency for… Continue reading What I learnt about US Middle East policy and the international oil market in a kebab shop in Tooting Read more

Did you see the BBC’s Panorama on monday, promoting the GM (genetic modification) industry? Here are four reasons their message is just pure propaganda on behalf of the corporate sector. Read more

It’s the next readers’ question in Philosophy Now magazine (much recommended, by the way), and when I saw it yesterday, I had a very strong reaction to it that has big implications for Lowimpact’s position on sustainability and democracy Read more

Sometime last year I took my youngest son for a walk along the beach. I’d been reading an article about climate change and the acidification of the oceans. Bad timing you might call it. Read more

Last night I attended an event organised by our local Transition group, Transition Town Tooting, where local people were able to meet and chat to parliamentary candidates for the upcoming general election. Read more

In December 2011, South Africa welcomed the United Nations Framing Convention on Climate Change. The host city was Durban, where a number of years before, and just after his release from prison, Nelson Mandela had Read more

It’s a quote from an economist invited in to comment about the UK economy on the BBC World Service earlier this week (it doesn’t matter who – this is a point that virtually all economists agree on, to the shame of the discipline). Read more

Western populations have to kept in a state of fear, so that weapons corporations can continue to make huge profits. People of America – this is your latest enemy: Read more

Here’s the incomparably wonderful Bill Hicks on marketing. If you don’t know him, just put his name into YouTube. You’re in for a treat. Read more

You may have seen a sensationalist video called ‘the End of Britain’ that’s been doing the rounds throughout 2013. It’s a flashy, authoritative-looking video, and well it should be, as it’s produced by MoneyWeek Magazine Read more

You can’t change anything by voting. Or, as Emma Goldman put it: ‘if voting changed anything, they’d make it illegal’. Politicians can rearrange deckchairs but they can’t steer the ship away from the iceberg Read more

When we complain that green/spiritual/progressive ideas are not represented in the mainstream, let me tell you about the Jonathan Ross show on Saturday night (and you can’t get any more mainstream than that – it’s the epicentre of mainstream). Read more