by Oui
Sun Oct 29th, 2023 at 04:21:45 PM EST
Muammad al Fatih mosque Beit Lahia Gaza Strip
Tools of propaganda as evergreen in political discourse to make policy of war stick in the digital age of social media, fake news and disinformation led by Western governments....
Israel has destroyed 31 mosques in Gaza Strip since 7 October: Ministry
Israeli airstrikes on the besieged Gaza Strip have destroyed five more mosques, bringing the total number to 31 since 7 October, the Gaza-based Endowments and Religious Affairs Ministry said.
The number of mosques completely destroyed since the
beginning of Israel's attacks on Gaza has increased to 31
The ministry said in a statement. It also highlighted the Israeli bombardment of several civilian sites such as the ministry's headquarters, the ministry's Quran radio station and a church.
Losing Iraq | PBS Frontline Documentary |
U.S. troops withdrew from Iraq in 2011, ending America's military commitment in the country. Now, chaos is once again engulfing Iraq. The team behind "The Lost Year in Iraq," "The Torture Question" and "Bush's War" takes a look at how we got here, what went wrong, and what happens next.
Prophetic Speeches: Dominique de Villepin at the UN Security Council in February 2003
Killing The Left, Losing Moral High Ground
Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media by Noam Chomsky
When it comes to understanding the political economy of mass media, there is arguably no work more seminal than "Manufacturing Consent" by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky. Published in 1988, this comprehensive critique of the mass media's role in shaping public opinion has proved to be enduringly relevant in the contemporary landscape.
The main premise of "Manufacturing Consent" is the `propaganda model' of communication, which argues that the mass media serves to propagate the viewpoints of the elite classes, thereby "manufacturing" public consent for their agenda.
Herman and Chomsky posit that this process occurs not necessarily through a deliberate conspiracy, but due to the structure and economics of the media industry.
The authors identify five `filters' through which this propaganda model operates: the concentration of media ownership, advertising as the primary income source, sourcing of news from government and business entities, `flak' as a means of disciplining the media, and `anti-communism' as an ideological control mechanism.
They argue that these filters shape the news we consume, often leading to biased coverage that serves the interests of power structures.
The authors' incisive critique of the media's role in propagating dominant ideologies provides a thorough and thought-provoking insight into the media's function as a social institution.
Their analysis of media bias extends beyond partisan lines, challenging the notion of the media as a neutral 'fourth estate.'
The Washington Connection and Third World Fascism
"A major contribution to understanding political repression inflicted by the CIA and its related services on millions around the globe and the economic requirements behind such repression .... A must-read for all those who would resist." Philip Agee, former CIA agent
How Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism are manufactured through disinformation | The Conversation | also published @ Juan Cole's Informed Comment
Disinformation industries, and the brokers who exchange in this false currency, have an immense capability to circulate propaganda and conspiracy theories to a greater public, outside of their own echo chambers.
Producing social fictions
Through media outlets and co-ordinated networks, Islamophobic and anti-Palestinian tropes and conspiracies are circulated. Eventually, they become regarded as social facts, especially in times of war, conflict and heightened political tensions.
Nonetheless, the repetition of this false story led to the dehumanizing characterization of Palestinians as "bloodthirsty monsters" and "human animals," fomenting widespread anti-Palestinian racism.
These campaigns of disinformation and demonization also tragically resulted in the murder of Wadea Al-Fayoume, a six-year-old Palestinian-American Muslim boy, in Plainfield, Ill. He was stabbed 26 times, allegedly by his family's white landlord, who is also accused of repeatedly stabbing Al-Fayoume's mother, proclaiming, "You Muslims must die!"
Casualties of war
These violent trajectories bring to mind the military maxim attributed to the Ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus, which warns that "In war, truth is the first casualty." In times of war and conflict, disinformation is the first weapon to be deployed.
Uncritically consuming political or media narratives is no longer an option. In these dystopian times, the public needs to be able to separate fact from fiction as fabrications masquerade as truth. The consequences are dire.
The Manufacturing of Consent | Irish Vote by Frank Schnittger | @BooMan - 6 June 2012 |
America A Troubled Nation for Decades
However, politics in Washington DC will never clear its own house as long as capitalism can be expanded across the globe ... I would not be surprised if the end was near. Losing Central Asia, the Far East and the Global South ... as the gap grows, there is less affinity with what once was heralded as "The New World" of unlimited opportunity ... from St. Louis through Kansas ... Go West Young Man ... pass through hostile Indian territory, fear not your Winchester is more capable than their bow and arrow. Eureka when you see the Pacific Ocean and find shining gold.
I lived and studied in St. Louis County and witnessed the Gateway Arch being build.
Morrell and Negroponte Endorse HRC for President | @BooMan - 11 Aug. 2016 |
So few who have the courage and are inclined to write about moral values. So amazing Obama put another medal on the chest of war criminal Henry Kissinger. I'm afraid Brzezinski and Madeleine Albright weren't much better, yet their influence on the Democratic Party is continuing.
Hillary Rodham Clinton picked up the endorsement of one John Negroponte:
In a statement provided by the Clinton campaign, Negroponte touted the former secretary of state's "leadership qualities" in his decision. "She will bring to the Presidency the skill, experience and wisdom that is needed in a President and Commander in Chief," he said. "Having myself served in numerous diplomatic and national security positions starting in 1960, I am convinced that Secretary Clinton has the leadership qualities that far and away qualify her best to be our next President."
As it happens, I've just finished reading an early copy of Eileen Markey's upcoming biography of Maura Clarke, one of the four American churchwomen raped and murdered by soldiers in El Salvador in 1980. These were the four women who Alexander Haig, that splendid nutball, said were killed trying to run a roadblock, and whom the late Jeane Kirkpatrick slandered as Communist sympathizers. The book is a vivid (if maddening) reminder of how the United States sold its moral credibility for a bag of magic jelly beans and the smiles of a fading actor. John Negroponte was in the middle of all of that. His endorsement should be as worthless as the promises he made to the Americans who came to him pleading for the lives of the people with whom they worked.
On December 2, 1980, four churchwomen--Maryknoll Sisters Maura Clarke and Ita Ford, Ursuline Sister Dorothy Kazel, and lay missionary Jean Donovan--became victims of escalating violence toward church members who sided with the poor in El Salvador.
Negroponte to CIA re: Iraq -- I Don't Want to Hear It | @BooMan by Steven D - 21 July 2006 |
A Goddamn Civil War that's killing THOUSANDS of Iraqi civilians each month at an ever increasing rate with each month that passes. But God forbid President Bush should ever have to hear such sobering news from the CIA. Or should we just say, Negroponte forbid, from now on?
A video for secondary school students about the life and death of Archbishop Oscar Romero who was assassinated on March 24, 1980 because his commitment to those living in poverty led him to speak out against injustice. He is remembered for his courage, his faith and his love for the poor, and his teachings inspire our work.
Remembering Those Murdered At Oscar Romero's Funeral
Dozens of poor El Salvadorans were killed during the bishop's funeral thirty five years ago.
Mural commemorating Oscar Romero (Franco Folini CC BY-NC 2.0)
He too was on Hillary's team to prevent Donald Trump from becoming president.
Assassins On the Potomac River | 6 Mar 2022 |
Translation:
"A former top US intelligence official said the administration #BarackObama should have done more to punish Russia for annexing Crimea in 2014."
A few years ago Nieuwsuur TV broadcast introduced Anne Applebaum as an independent expert on Russia and Putin. With a determined tread, Dutch were converted from the "socialist school" of media and judges to a new generation believing in less regulations, less labour rights and more freedom for business and corporations. A carpet was rolled out for rightwing warmongers and populists riding on a wave of xenophobia. The European Union and its founding Four Freedom in death throngs ... a steady deterioration of humanity and a social soul. After Brexit and the present Ukraine crisis, I see the demise of the EU-27 as an economic power steamrolled by a rightwing America.
Philosopher and sociologist Philip Selznick says in his book "Moral Commonwealth" that we have overturned our old institutions of right and wrong and are now in a moral vacuum in which reality is a matter of opinion. And Bush and his crew have taken full advantage. They think that it is OK to torture, kill hundreds of thousands of civilians, take away money from Social Security, veterans' benefits, Medicare, and education, look the other way as thousands were dying in New Orleans, and commit treason for partisan political purposes. Schmookler points out that this moral relativism has gotten to such a point that fundamentalists he knows say that in their truth, they would not have participated in the Holocaust. But, they say, the Nazis had their own worldview that says it was OK; therefore, why should they pass judgment on them?
[Source: Eternal Hope @BooMani - 20 Feb 2006]
Islamophobia speech US Congress after 9/11 Palestinian terror is Al Qaeda ...
House Committee hearing: Israeli perspective by Benjamin Netanyahu, projects the benefits of War in Iraq, 2002 | Video C-Span |
A real stunner reflecting in his own failure over the past decades.
My recent diary ...
