We have to be wary of being influenced in that fashion, but it is not the point about what needs to be done. The point about what is going on in our world and where we need to keep our focus — that is how we avoid being waltzed down the primrose path of Shock Doctrine. Not an easy task, given people’s tendency to act on less information than they really need.
We have to be wary of being influenced in that fashion, but it is not the point about what needs to be done. The point about what is going on in our world and where we need to keep our focus — that is how we avoid being waltzed down the primrose path of Shock Doctrine. Not an easy task, given people’s tendency to act on less information than they really need.
True, for instance we are really not much different than crows, being distracted by the next shiny thing.
For instance, what is happening in Ukraine is threatening to the west, Putin is pounding Ukraine into rubble, knocked out their main power production, committing genocide, left and right and he threatens nuclear war and WWIII, this actually does affect not only Europe but America.
However we are distracted by the destruction in Gaza, and campus idiots.
We and the media.
When they tire of this distraction, another will arise. Meanwhile while the hypocritical bleeding hearts are distracted by Gaza, not a phucking word about the murder and starvation of innocents in Sudan and elsewhere around the world.
Because there are no wealthy South Sudanese and Somali's buying chairs in Universities and sending their kids to our Universities and bestowing largess on Universities via sovereign funds.
And it isn't sexy, because there are no hundreds of indigenous reporters with cell phones and video camera's feeding images to AP, Reuters, Tik Tok or Reddit.
Well, I’ve been posting about Sudan. Actually for years.
The RSF, who are the Janjaweed with a new name — monstrous. The whole situation, monstrous.
Mostly, not on our radar in the news because — Oh, I don’t know, maybe Black people? Certainly, poor people.
I don’t consider Gaza a distraction, though — or any of the things going on anywhere — I would prefer we be able to walk and chew gum. Which I have also said, regarding our Congress bi*ching that we need to take care of our border and NOT be concerned with Ukraine OR Gaza OR Taiwan OR Sudan OR Central and South American or African or Pacific Island people unable to live in their own countries OR climate change … OR, for the luvva pete, YEMEN!!
There’s plenty of important stuff to deal with. Hell, we need to be very careful about the damned bird flu …
I do hope our government pays attention to the things that need attention, even when the news cycle does not.
I agree Pat, however you personalized my comment. I wasn't talking about you being distracted by the new shiny object, but the media.
We , the people, get our juices roiled up by the media and what they choose to report on. It is all about selling clicks and papers, and our juices are roiled by our bias.
I take note of how the campus idiots have turned out en mass for Arabs, but sat back quietly not even murmuring about Ukraine and even the Sudan, there is a reason of course, and it is about money and social influence on Universities. Sudan and Ukraine don't have the sons and daughters of oil millionaires on campus, nor have the Sudanese and Ukrainians have been able to buy fellowships and chairs in our Universities.
Before Gaza blew up, all we heard about was Ukraine.
I may be living on a different planet from you.
You mentioned that “we and the media” are distracted. I didn’t personalize a statement from you. You personalized it.
These are the things that get frustrating for me. You being a variable object on the view screen.
I disagree with WHY we hear less about Ukraine right now. Press headlines ARE designed to attract eyes. One hopes the stories have information within, but sadly, there’s no guarantee.
A lot of press is venal.
Not all.
It’s tough to find a source that can be trusted to at least cover the stories they DO address well … but there are some out there.
Hard to find a source that is circumspect about the world.
That might be more than we can ask for. I’m pretty much disappointed in a lot of the US press. Not all, but a lot. I’m afraid SOME journalists are becoming what the popular culture THINKS they are — not what they’ve always been, but what they’re becoming. Makes me sad.
I do not understand why you are wring. You say the press is venal, and then next sentence not at all.. Is the press venal or not?
I don't personalize impersonal statements.
I agree that journalists often follow the popular trend or interest, and there are those, that consciously try to create a popular mentality.
For instance take the so called journalists in Gaza, I've seen reports that over a hundred reporters have been killed in Gaza.
That claim alone is extraordinary. What constitutes a reporter, according to HAMAS it is a cell phone, a video cam maybe, a helmet and a vest with Press. Anyone is a reporter.
But a reporter is someone who is on the staff of a reputable news agency, and not "over 100" of them have been killed.
Same with the number of casualties on both sides of Ukraine , one side has a motive to minimize theirs and exaggerate the other side.
In Gaza, HAMAS exaggerates not only the number of casualties,but fails to mention that half the number are Jihadi fighters.
Even when we get news reports, from any source, we have no way of knowing what is factual and what is bullshit and propaganda.. and BTW that includes the IDF.
I just watched something on Amanpour and Company, about the explosion and death at Abbey Gate. It was claimed that all, but maybe a few deaths, were the result of the explosion by the suicide bomber during the mayhem at Kabul airport.
The showed video's and counted the shots, about 43, but not the shooter or targets, then they had an Afghan Doctor who lives in America, interviewed saying that he counted half of the bodies with bullet wounds in the head or bodies.
Bear in mind, that the only way he could have done a post mortem on the dead, was if he was sanctioned by the Taliban, because the post mortem would have happened after the last plane left the runway, and in a Taliban facility.. So he wasn't an Afghan refugee trying to flee the Taliban, but instead, in my opinion, either Taliban or a sympathizer because those that weren't if professionals are dead. So when, how and more importantly why is this man who obviously harbors animosity towards the Americans wind up in the U.S.A.
I don't take things at face value Pat.
Nor do I take his claim that half the 170 dead Afghans were shot by scared Marines.
We don't know who was shooting at the Marines and who they were shooting at, all we have is the sensationalism of the video and the shot counts of about 43, that assumes that the scared young 18 and 19 years old, every bullet hit and killed an Afghan civilian.
It is bullshit propaganda. Here is another example of which I have knowledge.
There is a famous phot of a Vietnamese officer, shooting a VC in the head in Saigan during the day of the Tet offense. The campus idiots were outraged.
Here are the facts. The officer was the Chief of Police of Saigan, the VC had rampaged though his neighbor hood and brutally murdered the wife, and children of his friend and neighbors, what do you expect him to do, sit down and have tea with him.
The VC killed these innocents up front and personal, just like the terrorists of HAMAS and Islamic jihad killed the jewish infants, children, women, elderly and disabled. not as collateral damage trying to get to Bibi, the Likkud and the orthodox Settlers, but up front and personal
And the campus idiots and bleeding hearts over look that because they are fed with propaganda videos, which are horrible to be sure, of the after effects of war.
Don't believe your lying eyes, and use the critical reasoning skills, that humans are suppose to have (and please don't take the you personal, it is third person plural, , a fault of the English language, in Espanol es el, ella, ustdes.
I’m only going as far as the first couple of sentences. You quoted: <<I do not understand why you are wring. You say the press is venal, and then next sentence not at all.. Is the press venal or not?>>
I didn’t write what you said I wrote. Read it again, and that will answer your question.
The rest, I have not investigated, so won’t address at present.
Incidentally Pat, you just confirmed an observation of mine, that people read so far, until they come upon a word or phrase that hits a hot button, then they stop reading. the heart rate goes up, there is a flush, and the reply hit. In future, I will save what I think are hot buttons to the last, then again most of the response is a hot button, especially when it is a negative comment that hits someones recall of reality or their identity.
I did a word search on the thread, The first instance of the use of the word venal is by you.
To wit: "A lot of press is venal.
Not all."
The above two sentences are yours Pat, from your omment, given that this is substack, you will probably have to go the bottom of the page, click on load more, do it twice and then do a word search via ctrl "f" for find.
Yes, that is a psychological reality.
We have to be wary of being influenced in that fashion, but it is not the point about what needs to be done. The point about what is going on in our world and where we need to keep our focus — that is how we avoid being waltzed down the primrose path of Shock Doctrine. Not an easy task, given people’s tendency to act on less information than they really need.
True, for instance we are really not much different than crows, being distracted by the next shiny thing.
For instance, what is happening in Ukraine is threatening to the west, Putin is pounding Ukraine into rubble, knocked out their main power production, committing genocide, left and right and he threatens nuclear war and WWIII, this actually does affect not only Europe but America.
However we are distracted by the destruction in Gaza, and campus idiots.
We and the media.
When they tire of this distraction, another will arise. Meanwhile while the hypocritical bleeding hearts are distracted by Gaza, not a phucking word about the murder and starvation of innocents in Sudan and elsewhere around the world.
Because there are no wealthy South Sudanese and Somali's buying chairs in Universities and sending their kids to our Universities and bestowing largess on Universities via sovereign funds.
And it isn't sexy, because there are no hundreds of indigenous reporters with cell phones and video camera's feeding images to AP, Reuters, Tik Tok or Reddit.
So it isn't sexy.
Well, I’ve been posting about Sudan. Actually for years.
The RSF, who are the Janjaweed with a new name — monstrous. The whole situation, monstrous.
Mostly, not on our radar in the news because — Oh, I don’t know, maybe Black people? Certainly, poor people.
I don’t consider Gaza a distraction, though — or any of the things going on anywhere — I would prefer we be able to walk and chew gum. Which I have also said, regarding our Congress bi*ching that we need to take care of our border and NOT be concerned with Ukraine OR Gaza OR Taiwan OR Sudan OR Central and South American or African or Pacific Island people unable to live in their own countries OR climate change … OR, for the luvva pete, YEMEN!!
There’s plenty of important stuff to deal with. Hell, we need to be very careful about the damned bird flu …
I do hope our government pays attention to the things that need attention, even when the news cycle does not.
I agree Pat, however you personalized my comment. I wasn't talking about you being distracted by the new shiny object, but the media.
We , the people, get our juices roiled up by the media and what they choose to report on. It is all about selling clicks and papers, and our juices are roiled by our bias.
I take note of how the campus idiots have turned out en mass for Arabs, but sat back quietly not even murmuring about Ukraine and even the Sudan, there is a reason of course, and it is about money and social influence on Universities. Sudan and Ukraine don't have the sons and daughters of oil millionaires on campus, nor have the Sudanese and Ukrainians have been able to buy fellowships and chairs in our Universities.
Before Gaza blew up, all we heard about was Ukraine.
I may be living on a different planet from you.
You mentioned that “we and the media” are distracted. I didn’t personalize a statement from you. You personalized it.
These are the things that get frustrating for me. You being a variable object on the view screen.
I disagree with WHY we hear less about Ukraine right now. Press headlines ARE designed to attract eyes. One hopes the stories have information within, but sadly, there’s no guarantee.
A lot of press is venal.
Not all.
It’s tough to find a source that can be trusted to at least cover the stories they DO address well … but there are some out there.
Hard to find a source that is circumspect about the world.
That might be more than we can ask for. I’m pretty much disappointed in a lot of the US press. Not all, but a lot. I’m afraid SOME journalists are becoming what the popular culture THINKS they are — not what they’ve always been, but what they’re becoming. Makes me sad.
Mmmmmph.
I do not understand why you are wring. You say the press is venal, and then next sentence not at all.. Is the press venal or not?
I don't personalize impersonal statements.
I agree that journalists often follow the popular trend or interest, and there are those, that consciously try to create a popular mentality.
For instance take the so called journalists in Gaza, I've seen reports that over a hundred reporters have been killed in Gaza.
That claim alone is extraordinary. What constitutes a reporter, according to HAMAS it is a cell phone, a video cam maybe, a helmet and a vest with Press. Anyone is a reporter.
But a reporter is someone who is on the staff of a reputable news agency, and not "over 100" of them have been killed.
Same with the number of casualties on both sides of Ukraine , one side has a motive to minimize theirs and exaggerate the other side.
In Gaza, HAMAS exaggerates not only the number of casualties,but fails to mention that half the number are Jihadi fighters.
Even when we get news reports, from any source, we have no way of knowing what is factual and what is bullshit and propaganda.. and BTW that includes the IDF.
I just watched something on Amanpour and Company, about the explosion and death at Abbey Gate. It was claimed that all, but maybe a few deaths, were the result of the explosion by the suicide bomber during the mayhem at Kabul airport.
The showed video's and counted the shots, about 43, but not the shooter or targets, then they had an Afghan Doctor who lives in America, interviewed saying that he counted half of the bodies with bullet wounds in the head or bodies.
Bear in mind, that the only way he could have done a post mortem on the dead, was if he was sanctioned by the Taliban, because the post mortem would have happened after the last plane left the runway, and in a Taliban facility.. So he wasn't an Afghan refugee trying to flee the Taliban, but instead, in my opinion, either Taliban or a sympathizer because those that weren't if professionals are dead. So when, how and more importantly why is this man who obviously harbors animosity towards the Americans wind up in the U.S.A.
I don't take things at face value Pat.
Nor do I take his claim that half the 170 dead Afghans were shot by scared Marines.
We don't know who was shooting at the Marines and who they were shooting at, all we have is the sensationalism of the video and the shot counts of about 43, that assumes that the scared young 18 and 19 years old, every bullet hit and killed an Afghan civilian.
It is bullshit propaganda. Here is another example of which I have knowledge.
There is a famous phot of a Vietnamese officer, shooting a VC in the head in Saigan during the day of the Tet offense. The campus idiots were outraged.
Here are the facts. The officer was the Chief of Police of Saigan, the VC had rampaged though his neighbor hood and brutally murdered the wife, and children of his friend and neighbors, what do you expect him to do, sit down and have tea with him.
The VC killed these innocents up front and personal, just like the terrorists of HAMAS and Islamic jihad killed the jewish infants, children, women, elderly and disabled. not as collateral damage trying to get to Bibi, the Likkud and the orthodox Settlers, but up front and personal
And the campus idiots and bleeding hearts over look that because they are fed with propaganda videos, which are horrible to be sure, of the after effects of war.
Don't believe your lying eyes, and use the critical reasoning skills, that humans are suppose to have (and please don't take the you personal, it is third person plural, , a fault of the English language, in Espanol es el, ella, ustdes.
I’m only going as far as the first couple of sentences. You quoted: <<I do not understand why you are wring. You say the press is venal, and then next sentence not at all.. Is the press venal or not?>>
I didn’t write what you said I wrote. Read it again, and that will answer your question.
The rest, I have not investigated, so won’t address at present.
Incidentally Pat, you just confirmed an observation of mine, that people read so far, until they come upon a word or phrase that hits a hot button, then they stop reading. the heart rate goes up, there is a flush, and the reply hit. In future, I will save what I think are hot buttons to the last, then again most of the response is a hot button, especially when it is a negative comment that hits someones recall of reality or their identity.
I did a word search on the thread, The first instance of the use of the word venal is by you.
To wit: "A lot of press is venal.
Not all."
The above two sentences are yours Pat, from your omment, given that this is substack, you will probably have to go the bottom of the page, click on load more, do it twice and then do a word search via ctrl "f" for find.
GAD. YES. I said “A lot of press is venal.”
And I said, “Not all.”
Which means, “Only some…”
YOU claimed I said, ‘Not AT all.”
Which means, “None.”
Egad. Let’s stop now. OK.
Have a nice life.
Seriously.
Whether you said not all or not at all is irrelevant, And you introduced the word venal into the conversation, and then claimed not all.
What do you call a fallacy when you put words in the mouth of another? Strawman isn't it?
There are times that an argument (discussion if you wish) becomes so heated that it goes off the rails.
You also have a nice life Pat.
Sorry, William. There’s a clear disconnect in communication.
Take care.