Thank you Caitlin - for doing more than your fair share of the heavy lifting in opening eyes worldwide! Please continue for as long as you can - the people NEED voices like yours as helpful guidelights to awaken the spark and add fuel to it.
Actually, I think a great many people are now well aware that they're being lied to, deceived, misled, bamboozled, et cetera, by sociopaths and their attendant buffoons. Judging from going about and listening what people say, in the case of Americans I think it might well be a majority. What many of them need might not be awakening but opportunity to do something about what they perceive. And that may arrive before too long. At some point we're going to go from _what_needs_to_be_done but _how_to_do_it_. But it could be rough.
>>"Actually, I think a great many people are now well aware that they're being lied to, deceived, misled, bamboozled, et cetera, by sociopaths and their attendant buffoons."
???? Really ????
The OPPOSITE may be true instead.
Look at how many people voted for Trump or Harris. Look at the divide between the Right and Left (people falling for the divide-and-conquer strategies of power). Look at all the hate, racism, bigotry, idolatory worship, subservient following of people/personalities in positions of power & authority (and celebrities, etc.). Look at all the people whose attention (and energies) are being diverted and focused on "conspiracy theories" and "lucrative, capitalist pseudoscience solutions and thinking" instead of challenging power and critical thinking. Look at all the people still consuming MSM and social media. Look at all the people consuming things at an ever increasing pace (shop-till-you-drop), I could go on for quite a while.....
The propaganda (and narratives) have penetrated so deep into the psyche of people that their WHOLE belief systems and values have been based on lies. People don't yet have adequate CRITICAL THINKING and MEDIA LITERACY skills to dismantle those narratives and put up barriers against the propaganda.
BUT, things are changing (albeit slowly). There is HOPE.
Critical thinking: Jesus lived and Jesus died on the cross then he came back to life to lead his people. Gossip passed down through the ages by people who had nothing better to do. Who were the scribes who wrote these insane books? Maybe the first propaganda in the world though I doubt it.
How many people TRULY believe that Jesus came back to life?
The French Revolution: The beloved people of GREAT Britain moved heaven and earth to not allow the British people knowledge of a revolution in France. They were scared 'shitless' this might mean that the Royalty in England would also be sent to the guillotine.
Caitlin as comrades here affirm, you are doing more than your fair share of keeping people aware and alert.
We have walked with you through the rubble and carnage of Gaza, feeling and weeping. Through the injustices past and present meted out to most Global South nations. Aware and awake to the web of lies and machinations and malevolence of empire keeping the killing and destruction of wars going.
Angry and appalled how a few inept men without empathy and decency, have acquired vast wealth and been handed power; while the basic requirements of a functioning society that of providing for the welfare of its citizens are not even within their horizon.
They cannot keep these truths from the people for much longer... From something I read this morning " It's not about what class you are from: It's about what class system you serve".
To have an avalanche you need to form a rolling snowball. The snowball is formed by the union of many snowflakes, all different from each other but united by the common goal of turning into an avalanche by rolling.
The lies about torture helping to stop so-called terrorists at Guantanamera Bay were eye opening. Almost every person there was not a terrorist. They were people overseas who had been turned in by people for dollar rewards. When the supreme court wanted to say it wasn't american soil was surprising. Using Japanese american internment as justification was surprising. The way the media manufactured consent to defend torture in the news and through TV shows like 24 and movies like Zero Dark Thirty was depressing. All to instill fear in people thousands of miles away caused disillusionment. And the torture never even worked.
A small task for you. When you notice demoralizing, fear porn,degenerate movies, articles. Track down the writers, producers etc. Look at the NGO’s who are trying to bankrupt and sew chaos in our nation. Look at who they are and their ethnic/ religious background. Do it for a few months, you will be in awe. Same group over and over again. This is a spiritual world and there are demons among us, they are currently exposing themselves. Pay attention folks.
Speaking of heresy, didn't Jesus trashed a temple infested with moneylenders charging exorbitant interest, AKA usury? Well...corporate america is one big usury network and in my mind, isn't that one of the biggest heresy itself?
So true! I've seen the lights go on for some people who identified a lie, and then they start to question everything. As so many more must. I hope we can help them with that.
That’s okay. That first glimpse of the truth is like a worm. Once they see it that worm starts eating away at the indoctrination, one piece of information at a time. We don’t always get to see the outcome of the work we do but it’s important that we continue to do it.
I think this is very true. Not that the first such missive eats away and eventually makes a conversion--but that someone changing their mind is an incremental process. They may walk away but you planted a seed., raised a question. They won't acknowledge that you had an effect, but the next time they encounter a similar heresy they'll look a little closer because of the prep work you did.
Yeah, true that. But not everyone, and if one out of a hundred gets your message, however delayed their awakening may be, it’s worth suffering through all the others. I know it’s thankless work but please stay with it! ❤️🔥🕊️🇵🇸
In my research on the tech-industrial complex, I've documented how today's digital giants weren't simply co-opted by power structures - many were potentially designed from their inception as tools for mass surveillance and social control. From Google's origins in a DARPA-funded CIA project to Amazon's founder's familial ties to ARPA, these weren't just successful startups that later aligned with government interests.
What Tavistock discovered through years of careful study—emotional resonance trumps facts, peer influence outweighs authority, and indirect manipulation succeeds where direct propaganda fails—now forms the foundational logic of social media algorithms. Facebook's emotion manipulation study and Netflix's A/B testing of thumbnails (explored in detail later) exemplify the digital automation of these century-old insights, as AI systems perform billions of real-time experiments, continuously refining the art of influence at an unprecedented scale...
..Understanding these systems is the first step toward liberation. As the machinery of control reaches its peak, so too does the opportunity for resistance. The endgame for centralized power presents a paradox: the same systems designed to limit freedom also expose their own vulnerabilities...
..The battle for freedom of consciousness is now our most fundamental struggle. Without it, we are not autonomous actors but non-player characters (NPCs) in someone else's game, making seemingly free choices within carefully constructed parameters. Each time we question an algorithmic recommendation or seek out independent voices, we crack the control matrix. When we build in-person local communities and support decentralized platforms, we create spaces beyond algorithmic manipulation. These aren't just acts of resistance - they're steps toward reclaiming our autonomy as conscious human actors rather than programmed NPCs. The choice between authentic consciousness and programmed behavior requires daily discernment... https://stylman.substack.com/p/engineering-reality-part-iii
“…making seemingly free choices and within carefully constructed parameters,” most blatant recent example was being required to choose a President between two evils.
Thank you , Zionist Johnson for the deaths of all your 30+ sailors on that good ship.
The shame of the USS Liberty.
You certainly showed the evil Israelis that they had you....and the USA therefore,....by the vitals. From then on it grew, now at 86% of all politicians, Presidents by the bucketload and most of the criminally inclined White Christian Western governments. Weak US / Israel puppets.
From that point on, all respect for 'exceptional' America died, one day at a time.
Now gone forever.
What a record.. Lies over JFK's death, Chile assassination, 9/11, Iraq and the greatest crime of all......the support and approval of the Palestine genocide, a crime from which they will never recover.
Becoming awake to the realities of the world is like being diagnosed with cancer. It’s on your mind all the time and even when distracted for a bit, the terrifying knowledge returns. Such is my life.
Gaza is the dominant feature of my life at this point…. And I’m not even there. It permeates every waking thought.
I will never again feel the same about this godforsaken world. I find myself detesting humanity with few exceptions. Like you, if I find a remnant of happiness, I’m filled with guilt.
"Every day there’s something coming up that you can show anyone who will listen to you, saying, “See? Look at that! They lied! They’re lying right now! I wonder what else they’re lying about?”
Call me a heretic! I'm constantly pointing out the lies and the plot holes and the false narratives to everyone and anyone I can. It does piss off some people, but I figure eventually even they'll thank me once their eyes are fully open. Get out there and boldly blaspheme, y'all!
Thank you! I have one question. In my experience many people, the majority, are simply not interested in the truth. They are lazy, cynical and don't bother because they can't change anything anyhow. How to reach them? I afraid it needs a major deterioration of their private lives to woke them up.
Maybe we need more realistic understanding of people overwhelmed by the constant drumbeat that “resistance is futile?” Blame and name calling don’t help. Calling attention to actual possibilities for change can.
Thank you, Caitlin...I had pretty much decided before reading this to step back and just let it all just play out as it will, because it will... it always does. What I was forgetting, and what you reminded me of... was that I am a part of all this, not separate from it... and can't walk away from it anymore than I can step out of my skin.
For me it started at age 12, when I announced I did not believe in God, growing up in a small conservative town. I has never ended. EAch day, I am exposed to lies and have taken as my mission to expose them, not to convert the liar but to reveal their falsity. It gets me in a lot of trouble: I have been banned by 5 right wing websites and 4 "progressive" websites for not toeing the party line, which almost always exists.
And that is the problem: the party line, a narrative which if you question it, brings in its wake criticism, insults, and finally, being banned. IN my stubbornness, I choose what I sense is the truth over acceptance, and so, even here on this forum, I fear being banned for disagreeing with Caitlin. I hope this never happens but when you stubbornly refuse to conform, the doors slam shut all to often.
You're always on here simping for the Democratic Party. You're still conforming. You've got a ways to go before you can accurately say you've freed your mind from indoctrination.
Caitllin, I am advocating that the only hope for the US is for the socialists in the Democratic PARTY, ALONG WITH the most progressive, take control and usher in a new era, as has happened several times in the past. I have not conformed for over 70 years but you are conforming to a cult leader's tactic of branding anyone who disagres or challengers her views as a sell out. I have a long history of dissent, risking my ass to protest the Vietnam War, marching with Dr. King, and calling out war cirimes in Afghanistan, Iraq, and now Israel Your attempt to paint me as a conformist is laughable. At 83, I am fully independent and and rebellious, but I am also pragmatic, knowing that denouncing "civilization" or calling out those who are callin out genocide as sell outs is the sign of a person who is unable to accept criticism. By supporting AOC when she calls out geocide, or Sanders when he seeks support to halt US shipment of arms to Israel, or for a ceasefire in Ukraine, how is that indoctrination? You are unable to defend your accusations, and you shold not be making them, as it fractures our unity in aligning on these issues. You are in the absurd position of attacking those most able to support your positions! I suggest you so some self-reflection and come to terms with the only hope in the US of defeating the militarism, which is to unite with those that share our values and goals . I oppose the Democratic establishment, which is why I support the democratic socialists in Congress. I urge you to reconsider and lend support to the effort to call out genocide , which the majority of Democrats believe is happening in Gaza (according to a poll reported by the Jerusalem Post) and the growing movement in Congress, where the decision can be made, to halt arms shipments to Israel. Why you would attack the people doing this essential work is beyond mel, which is why I suspect you are either blinded by a hatred unwilling to see hope or burnt out. I don't know but something in you has changed, and attacking me is an example. I suggest we join forces; I would not be here if I didn 't think you an important voice in this effort to bring justice.
Before the election you were in my comments spreading the lie that Kamala Harris had denounced Israel's atrocities in Gaza as a genocide. I showed you unequivocal proof that this was false and you never even acknowledged that you were wrong; you just kept coming back to yell at me over and over again for not believing in your cult leaders AOC and Bernie Sanders. Stop trying to convince me that I've had some kind of mental breakdown, it's gross.
I quoted her so I did not lie. I will quote her again. Shame on you for calling me a liar! Here is the headline exchange I cited accurately: "But what about the genocide? What about the genocide though?” the protestor, wearing a keffiyeh, yelled.
The man was then escorted out of the hall while yelling, “19,000 children are dead, and you won’t call it a genocide.”
“Listen, what he’s talking about, it’s real. That’s not the subject that I came to discuss today, but it’s real and I respect his voice,” Harris said." There is no ambiguity in saying that his claims of genocide are real. You responded that the next day, someone on her staff walked it back. I pointed out that she never did. You have no understanding of the courage it took for her, whose job was to support Biden, to say that and never to take it back.
You are still using manipulative terms to describe, this time I was "yelling." At 83, a lefty and dissenter for over 65 yrs, I do not yell, I do not rant, I do not babble: I report the truth. You have asked us to tell the truth but when the truth contradicts your fixed views you attack it. Nor do I find AOC or Sanders to be cult leaders; they did not appoint themselves, they were elected and have had the guts to stand up to the official policy of the Biden administration. Honestly, Caitlin, I am embarrassed for you. I did not say you had a mental breakdown nor have I tried to convince you by yelling at you. I have made an observation that you appeared burned out.....which is not a mental breakdown but exhaustion. I have sympathy for that but ask that you calm down and stop using the terms about me that I am used to from the far right. Deal with the issues I present and welcome discussion, dissent, and diverse views. That is how we proceed, not by insulting those who do not agree with us.
Stop trying to convince me I'm "burned out", then. Whatever words you want to use to describe your efforts to convince me that there is something wrong with my mind, whether you want to label its cause "exhaustion" or something else. I understand that you are elderly so I'll be more understanding than I normally am, but men who try to manipulate women into believing they're having mental problems when they're not getting their way are not typically good people. I generally have a zero tolerance policy for such behavior.
Did you read what I wrote: burned out is not about something being wrong with your mind but being exhausted. Exhaustion is not a label but a common experience.......it is not a mental problem. I have zero tolerance for people who claim I am manipulative and accuse me of claims I have not made. My age has nothing to do with it: I am 83, a super ager with a mind sharper than ever. I am not trying to convince you manipulatively that you are having a breakdown but rather that you appear exhausted and with no patience, would suggest taking a vacation or a brief rest. You have my sympathy. And I am not "not" getting my way: I say what I mean and I report what I have learned. You can take it or leave it. My way is to report what I have learned and speak the truth as I see it. It's not about getting my way at all. No one can stop my way, which is to tell it as I see it. You can ban me but you cannot silence me. I suggest you listen to me and stop attacking me as being a male manipulator. You can disagree but attacking me with false claims and insults....sad.
>>"I am advocating that the only hope for the US is for the socialists in the Democratic PARTY"
Dale Ruff, based on your above comment - I'm afraid you don't know/understand what SOCIALISM is. There are NO socialists in the Senate or House (or positions of high power anywhere in the US Govt.). If there were socialists, they wouldn't have been able to rise to their current positions in the first place. The US Capitalist system weeds out socialists WAY BEFORE people get to such levels of power and authority.
Until you understand this, your understanding/interpretation of US politics will be misguided. I suggest reading some Noam Chomsky for starters (and truly understanding what is being said).
And unfortunately, YOUR LOGIC of "calling out Genocide means being against it" falls flat on its face. That's called "lip service", platitudes, theatre. Calling out Genocide when you don't do anything about it after you call it out (other than performative acts meant to convey virtue, morals, etc.) is not only NOT ENOUGH, but it is disingenuous and deceptive.
Here's what AOC, Bernie Sanders, other so-called progressives could have done -> tell ALL THEIR FOLLOWERS to NOT VOTE for Harris or Trump. Vote for a third party candidate OUTSIDE the 2-party solution.
Here is a TRUTH you may not be able to digest -> "There is NO solution to be found in the current US 2-party fake duopoly". NONE!! Regardless of campaign finance reforms, money in politics, corruption, etc. - NONE of those supposed hail-mary fixes will solve the problems that the US has.
Your thinking is too narrow. The US Empire's problems stem from the systems that run it - neoliberal capitalism, global corporations, etc. Voting for Harris or Trump is NOT going to solve this problem!
The people have all been brought up on a diet of liars but we can have discernment as to who are the liars. Almost universally those who refuse to respond to questioning and who shut others down so only one side ever gets a hearing. I want to salute you for continuing to be stubborn. It can seem thankless for a long time but our truth speaking is what is forcing this evil to be pressured. Many are not going along with it anymore.
When you write "the people" you lump everyone together but for instance, a poll found the majority of Democrats think Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, so clearly lumping that majority in with those "brought up on a diet of liars" is incorrect. I think it is the images from Gaza, more than any "truth speaking" that have brought that majority to this conclusion. We are all lied to but in many cases, most of us do not buy the lies. Why then is the US still supplying the weapons of genocide: that goes to the fact that the US is NOT a democracy, and until people stop believing it is (the real Big Lie), nothing can change that fact. POlls have shown, as an example, that 89-97% of the public supports universal background checks, but it has never even come to a vote, which is proof that the gun manufacturers and lobby (ie wealthy corporations) run the show. Until we change that, nothing significant will change. Until we replace the plutocracy with genuine democracy, nothing will change.
There is no they...this herd thinking must stop! The Democratic base is a diverse lot and it was not given a choice in the matter...so those of us with a voice called out the hypocrisy! Democratic socialists like Bernie Sanders and AOC and Tlaib called out the criminalty and are working to build support to end shipment of arms to Israel. That is why the term "what did they do about it" is fallacious. Sanders started alone in the Senate to end the shipments but in the latest effort got 18 to support his bill. If we want to help, we can support those 18 so it grows to a majority. Attacking AOC and others who have called out the genocide or Sanders as sell outs actually benefits the war hawks, who would pay to have the dissenters trying to build a majority denounced. If you want to talk about controlled opposition, what could be more effective than having one faction of the anti-fascist movement attack the other? Thisis what I have seen happening on these pages. HOw does attacking people calling out war crimes and seeking to halt arms to Israel help the Palestinians?
Since you brought up controlled opposition, what concrete actions exactly have the characters you mentioned taken? They murmur a few demurals to war and genocide, then fall right in line and urge Team.D cultists to do so as well.
Risking your career to call out Israeli genocide is hardly demurring. AOC has a huge platform, with 12 million Twitter followers and a national presence: against the Biden policies, she has loudly called out genocide. The first step in ending an injustice is to call it out....for decades, Dr. King called out racial injustice..would you say to him: what do you do but demur? AOC is not murmurthis kind of rhetorical is destructive of the goal of ending the genocide. NOr does Sanders mummer.he got 18 of the 50 Democratic Senators to join with him in a growing movement to pass a bill banning US arms support for Israel. This is not a murmur, Feral; it is a loud public voice of a growing movement you are attempting to dampen with your absurd rhetorical about demurals and murmurs. AOC and Sanders and the others, now scores in Congress, have not fallen in line, as you falsely accuse, but stood up to the Biden policies and done all they could to reverse them. I find your accusations cultish, in an effort to degrade criticism of those who are actively and publicly challenging the policies in place. You are hurting the cause while you should be standing up for those calling out genocide and trying to end arms shipments. You are hurting the Palestinians by dividing the movement to end this bloodshed. Here is the murmured demural by AOC: "“If you want to know what an unfolding genocide looks like,” the New York Democrat added, “open your eyes.”
More than 32,000 people in the coastal enclave have been killed since the Israel-Hamas war began, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
All 2.2 million people in Gaza do not have enough food to eat, with half of the population on the brink of starvation and famine projected to arrive in the north “anytime between mid-March and May 2024,” according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification.
“What we are seeing here, I think, with a forced famine is beyond our ability to deny or explain away,” Ocasio-Cortez told Tapper. “There is no targeting of Hamas in precipitating a mass famine of a million people, half of whom are children.”
Her comments come as the Biden administration is hardening its stance ahead of key meetings this week between US and Israeli officials." This is directly standing up to the Biden administration on a large public platform. Nor is the Sanders bill a murmur, as it calls for exactly what we all want.......in the only way it can happen, thru a Congressional bill. Calling these murmurs and demurals is a betrayal of the movement to end the genocide. We can only win if we stand together.....that is the lesson at hand.
The phone call would not have been to NutanYahoo, but to DOD transportation officer, STOP flying to israel or you will be court-martialed : ) That would work for a few more weeks. Strange we still have no idea who actually made any of these decisions for us ha.
I feel that, though those facts are all important, there are overriding factors that go beyond all that. We are in a program, all of us are. Even using the language is programming. We are going into more expansive consciousness where we realize that everything around us is alive. This energy of war is not new in Gaza. We need to stop the energy from taking root. The energy is in ordinary people because they are the ones that carry out the orders of the deranged bloodlines. What do you call genuine democracy? I see no need to have representative anything anymore when everyone holds a communication device in our back pocket. It may be a difficult thing to ask yourself but why do we need government at all? Why can't we just work it out ourselves? Of course that takes communication. And be done with all this government nonsense, wars, trafficking, poisoning....
The language we use can be enslaving or liberating; our language has a long history of dissent, of great rebels Socrates to Orwell, who use the language to expose lies and indoctrination. Genuine democracy is based on a long culture of institutions and norms, including an engaged and informed citizenry, a free and diverse press, an independent judiciary, separation of powers, , checks and balances, and free and fair elections uncorrupted by threats or money. IN such a democracy, we can choose to create the laws and institution's that best suit us. Among the choices is where I come down, which is libertarian socialism, which is free of both corporation's and the state but a 3d way in which collection and democratic rule expanded to the workplace is the norm. There is government, which you mistakenly lump in with the state. But this government is thoroughly democratic. An example would be Mondragon in Spain. We need accountable democratic government because without it, we will have the corporations, the warlords, and the gangster filling the vacuum. We need self-government in all spheres of life for power is not deleted when you eliminate the state, and so that power should be shared through genuine democracy. Anarchism is not lack of rule but self-rule, democratic, collective, accountable.
Voting on a person is not "democracy", it's not having your say which I take it democracy means in the end. How can you have your say when your representative also represents others? And they never ask you what you think about anything? Really, when we wake up from the spell, it's laughable that we fell for the belief that anyone can represent us. I had a quick peek at Mondragon in Spain and it's pretty big but it's not a world changer, it's just a deckchair shifter. I noticed association with the UN Sustainable Development goals which means less carbon, meaning getting rid of a lot of people as we're considered bad for the environment (this is the stuff of the deranged) but so many buy into the UN agenda.
No, I was talking about language in a different way. The way we have learned to construct it causes us to speak what we don't want, thinking we are speaking what we do want. It's a bit difficult to explain as it is the very fiber of the reason for language. We have no awareness of an unspoken rule or unrealized formula, which is that we create what we speak, and what we think about mostly. So if we're thinking about terrible things happening for example, then we are summoning the future to be that way. And vice-versa. We could speak of a marvelous future and summon that into existence too. We are simply unaware of a lot of things, and I was saying that language is a biggie. The narrative is also all-important and that is why media and the government (and corporations) are all in cahoots to drive the narrative. It's something most go along with without realizing they are.
Dear Caitlin, your voice is raw, real, and unapologetically truthful—I read you every morning. It’s astonishing that you have not been silenced by the Australian government.
When it comes to the Gaza genocide, the complicity goes far beyond the Western Empire. The silence and inaction of Arab states, Russia, and China are equally damning. No one is standing up for the Palestinians. They’ve been crushed under the weight of a global system driven by greed and unrelenting capitalism.
Thank you Caitlin - for doing more than your fair share of the heavy lifting in opening eyes worldwide! Please continue for as long as you can - the people NEED voices like yours as helpful guidelights to awaken the spark and add fuel to it.
Happy New Year to you and your family!
Actually, I think a great many people are now well aware that they're being lied to, deceived, misled, bamboozled, et cetera, by sociopaths and their attendant buffoons. Judging from going about and listening what people say, in the case of Americans I think it might well be a majority. What many of them need might not be awakening but opportunity to do something about what they perceive. And that may arrive before too long. At some point we're going to go from _what_needs_to_be_done but _how_to_do_it_. But it could be rough.
>>"Actually, I think a great many people are now well aware that they're being lied to, deceived, misled, bamboozled, et cetera, by sociopaths and their attendant buffoons."
???? Really ????
The OPPOSITE may be true instead.
Look at how many people voted for Trump or Harris. Look at the divide between the Right and Left (people falling for the divide-and-conquer strategies of power). Look at all the hate, racism, bigotry, idolatory worship, subservient following of people/personalities in positions of power & authority (and celebrities, etc.). Look at all the people whose attention (and energies) are being diverted and focused on "conspiracy theories" and "lucrative, capitalist pseudoscience solutions and thinking" instead of challenging power and critical thinking. Look at all the people still consuming MSM and social media. Look at all the people consuming things at an ever increasing pace (shop-till-you-drop), I could go on for quite a while.....
The propaganda (and narratives) have penetrated so deep into the psyche of people that their WHOLE belief systems and values have been based on lies. People don't yet have adequate CRITICAL THINKING and MEDIA LITERACY skills to dismantle those narratives and put up barriers against the propaganda.
BUT, things are changing (albeit slowly). There is HOPE.
I could not have written this any better Chang.
Critical thinking: Jesus lived and Jesus died on the cross then he came back to life to lead his people. Gossip passed down through the ages by people who had nothing better to do. Who were the scribes who wrote these insane books? Maybe the first propaganda in the world though I doubt it.
How many people TRULY believe that Jesus came back to life?
The French Revolution: The beloved people of GREAT Britain moved heaven and earth to not allow the British people knowledge of a revolution in France. They were scared 'shitless' this might mean that the Royalty in England would also be sent to the guillotine.
My feeling exactly : )
Caitlin as comrades here affirm, you are doing more than your fair share of keeping people aware and alert.
We have walked with you through the rubble and carnage of Gaza, feeling and weeping. Through the injustices past and present meted out to most Global South nations. Aware and awake to the web of lies and machinations and malevolence of empire keeping the killing and destruction of wars going.
Angry and appalled how a few inept men without empathy and decency, have acquired vast wealth and been handed power; while the basic requirements of a functioning society that of providing for the welfare of its citizens are not even within their horizon.
They cannot keep these truths from the people for much longer... From something I read this morning " It's not about what class you are from: It's about what class system you serve".
Small acts of heresy - that's awesome Caitlin. Keep it coming. You're blasting it out and what a voice of sanity.
To have an avalanche you need to form a rolling snowball. The snowball is formed by the union of many snowflakes, all different from each other but united by the common goal of turning into an avalanche by rolling.
As we all know. An avalanche cannot be stopped.
The lies about torture helping to stop so-called terrorists at Guantanamera Bay were eye opening. Almost every person there was not a terrorist. They were people overseas who had been turned in by people for dollar rewards. When the supreme court wanted to say it wasn't american soil was surprising. Using Japanese american internment as justification was surprising. The way the media manufactured consent to defend torture in the news and through TV shows like 24 and movies like Zero Dark Thirty was depressing. All to instill fear in people thousands of miles away caused disillusionment. And the torture never even worked.
"And the torture never even worked."
The torture never even stopped, although it in fact worked exactly as intended (not as stated): "we can do anything we want to you."
A small task for you. When you notice demoralizing, fear porn,degenerate movies, articles. Track down the writers, producers etc. Look at the NGO’s who are trying to bankrupt and sew chaos in our nation. Look at who they are and their ethnic/ religious background. Do it for a few months, you will be in awe. Same group over and over again. This is a spiritual world and there are demons among us, they are currently exposing themselves. Pay attention folks.
Speaking of heresy, didn't Jesus trashed a temple infested with moneylenders charging exorbitant interest, AKA usury? Well...corporate america is one big usury network and in my mind, isn't that one of the biggest heresy itself?
The existence of $Billionaires in a MONEY DRIVEN World is a Crime against Humanity.
Jesus, the original anti-Semite.
How do you know Jesus existed?
He was an excellent writer, people are still reading her/his work : )
Do we even know if Jesus was male or female other than the later
christian inspired art? Bearded lady maybe, the robes looked comfortable though.
Brilliant. It's such a slog sometimes, as you've pointed out. It's good to lift one's head for a minute and remember why it's important to keep going.
So true! I've seen the lights go on for some people who identified a lie, and then they start to question everything. As so many more must. I hope we can help them with that.
In my experience, they quickly change the subject, lest wrongthink ensue.
Mine too.........walking away is always happening to me.
That’s okay. That first glimpse of the truth is like a worm. Once they see it that worm starts eating away at the indoctrination, one piece of information at a time. We don’t always get to see the outcome of the work we do but it’s important that we continue to do it.
I think this is very true. Not that the first such missive eats away and eventually makes a conversion--but that someone changing their mind is an incremental process. They may walk away but you planted a seed., raised a question. They won't acknowledge that you had an effect, but the next time they encounter a similar heresy they'll look a little closer because of the prep work you did.
Exactly. What we sow with tears brings joy when the harvest is full.
Possibly. But my knowledge of people is that: As long as they are happy/contented/able to afford housing/healthcare they won't give a flying f..ck!
Yeah, true that. But not everyone, and if one out of a hundred gets your message, however delayed their awakening may be, it’s worth suffering through all the others. I know it’s thankless work but please stay with it! ❤️🔥🕊️🇵🇸
Joshua Stylman, Engineering Reality: Part III
In my research on the tech-industrial complex, I've documented how today's digital giants weren't simply co-opted by power structures - many were potentially designed from their inception as tools for mass surveillance and social control. From Google's origins in a DARPA-funded CIA project to Amazon's founder's familial ties to ARPA, these weren't just successful startups that later aligned with government interests.
What Tavistock discovered through years of careful study—emotional resonance trumps facts, peer influence outweighs authority, and indirect manipulation succeeds where direct propaganda fails—now forms the foundational logic of social media algorithms. Facebook's emotion manipulation study and Netflix's A/B testing of thumbnails (explored in detail later) exemplify the digital automation of these century-old insights, as AI systems perform billions of real-time experiments, continuously refining the art of influence at an unprecedented scale...
..Understanding these systems is the first step toward liberation. As the machinery of control reaches its peak, so too does the opportunity for resistance. The endgame for centralized power presents a paradox: the same systems designed to limit freedom also expose their own vulnerabilities...
..The battle for freedom of consciousness is now our most fundamental struggle. Without it, we are not autonomous actors but non-player characters (NPCs) in someone else's game, making seemingly free choices within carefully constructed parameters. Each time we question an algorithmic recommendation or seek out independent voices, we crack the control matrix. When we build in-person local communities and support decentralized platforms, we create spaces beyond algorithmic manipulation. These aren't just acts of resistance - they're steps toward reclaiming our autonomy as conscious human actors rather than programmed NPCs. The choice between authentic consciousness and programmed behavior requires daily discernment... https://stylman.substack.com/p/engineering-reality-part-iii
“…making seemingly free choices and within carefully constructed parameters,” most blatant recent example was being required to choose a President between two evils.
indeed, them allowing us the internet was a bit sus. it will be a struggle to get some 'freedom' in.
Wow! Really interesting clip, thank you for posting it.
WTC 7. The empire’s ultimate smoking gun.
And the USS Liberty.
Thank you , Zionist Johnson for the deaths of all your 30+ sailors on that good ship.
The shame of the USS Liberty.
You certainly showed the evil Israelis that they had you....and the USA therefore,....by the vitals. From then on it grew, now at 86% of all politicians, Presidents by the bucketload and most of the criminally inclined White Christian Western governments. Weak US / Israel puppets.
From that point on, all respect for 'exceptional' America died, one day at a time.
Now gone forever.
What a record.. Lies over JFK's death, Chile assassination, 9/11, Iraq and the greatest crime of all......the support and approval of the Palestine genocide, a crime from which they will never recover.
Becoming awake to the realities of the world is like being diagnosed with cancer. It’s on your mind all the time and even when distracted for a bit, the terrifying knowledge returns. Such is my life.
When i lay down to sleep i remember Gaza. I wake up and remember Gaza. I laugh at a joke, and then stop myself, remembering Gaza.
Yes, it's very much like remembering the cancer diagnosis one cannot forget. It colors the air you breathe.
I as well, Narjis.
Gaza is the dominant feature of my life at this point…. And I’m not even there. It permeates every waking thought.
I will never again feel the same about this godforsaken world. I find myself detesting humanity with few exceptions. Like you, if I find a remnant of happiness, I’m filled with guilt.
I didn’t sign up for this shit when I was born.
💔🇵🇸
"Every day there’s something coming up that you can show anyone who will listen to you, saying, “See? Look at that! They lied! They’re lying right now! I wonder what else they’re lying about?”
Call me a heretic! I'm constantly pointing out the lies and the plot holes and the false narratives to everyone and anyone I can. It does piss off some people, but I figure eventually even they'll thank me once their eyes are fully open. Get out there and boldly blaspheme, y'all!
I used to say--subversion is the highest calling.
I always liked a home schooling philosophy that included teaching a "healthy disrespect for authority" as one of its priorities.
Thank you! I have one question. In my experience many people, the majority, are simply not interested in the truth. They are lazy, cynical and don't bother because they can't change anything anyhow. How to reach them? I afraid it needs a major deterioration of their private lives to woke them up.
Maybe we need more realistic understanding of people overwhelmed by the constant drumbeat that “resistance is futile?” Blame and name calling don’t help. Calling attention to actual possibilities for change can.
I have been on here for it seems like ages........I can give you ideas BUT what happens is that (for the moment) you are too comfortable.
Protest outside the Mainstream Media. Name the people who are telling you lies.
I guarantee you won't do this!
Continued discussion without judgment, I have changed a few minds, especially showing the contradictions from the recent past.
Thank you, Caitlin...I had pretty much decided before reading this to step back and just let it all just play out as it will, because it will... it always does. What I was forgetting, and what you reminded me of... was that I am a part of all this, not separate from it... and can't walk away from it anymore than I can step out of my skin.
For me it started at age 12, when I announced I did not believe in God, growing up in a small conservative town. I has never ended. EAch day, I am exposed to lies and have taken as my mission to expose them, not to convert the liar but to reveal their falsity. It gets me in a lot of trouble: I have been banned by 5 right wing websites and 4 "progressive" websites for not toeing the party line, which almost always exists.
And that is the problem: the party line, a narrative which if you question it, brings in its wake criticism, insults, and finally, being banned. IN my stubbornness, I choose what I sense is the truth over acceptance, and so, even here on this forum, I fear being banned for disagreeing with Caitlin. I hope this never happens but when you stubbornly refuse to conform, the doors slam shut all to often.
You're always on here simping for the Democratic Party. You're still conforming. You've got a ways to go before you can accurately say you've freed your mind from indoctrination.
Caitllin, I am advocating that the only hope for the US is for the socialists in the Democratic PARTY, ALONG WITH the most progressive, take control and usher in a new era, as has happened several times in the past. I have not conformed for over 70 years but you are conforming to a cult leader's tactic of branding anyone who disagres or challengers her views as a sell out. I have a long history of dissent, risking my ass to protest the Vietnam War, marching with Dr. King, and calling out war cirimes in Afghanistan, Iraq, and now Israel Your attempt to paint me as a conformist is laughable. At 83, I am fully independent and and rebellious, but I am also pragmatic, knowing that denouncing "civilization" or calling out those who are callin out genocide as sell outs is the sign of a person who is unable to accept criticism. By supporting AOC when she calls out geocide, or Sanders when he seeks support to halt US shipment of arms to Israel, or for a ceasefire in Ukraine, how is that indoctrination? You are unable to defend your accusations, and you shold not be making them, as it fractures our unity in aligning on these issues. You are in the absurd position of attacking those most able to support your positions! I suggest you so some self-reflection and come to terms with the only hope in the US of defeating the militarism, which is to unite with those that share our values and goals . I oppose the Democratic establishment, which is why I support the democratic socialists in Congress. I urge you to reconsider and lend support to the effort to call out genocide , which the majority of Democrats believe is happening in Gaza (according to a poll reported by the Jerusalem Post) and the growing movement in Congress, where the decision can be made, to halt arms shipments to Israel. Why you would attack the people doing this essential work is beyond mel, which is why I suspect you are either blinded by a hatred unwilling to see hope or burnt out. I don't know but something in you has changed, and attacking me is an example. I suggest we join forces; I would not be here if I didn 't think you an important voice in this effort to bring justice.
Before the election you were in my comments spreading the lie that Kamala Harris had denounced Israel's atrocities in Gaza as a genocide. I showed you unequivocal proof that this was false and you never even acknowledged that you were wrong; you just kept coming back to yell at me over and over again for not believing in your cult leaders AOC and Bernie Sanders. Stop trying to convince me that I've had some kind of mental breakdown, it's gross.
I quoted her so I did not lie. I will quote her again. Shame on you for calling me a liar! Here is the headline exchange I cited accurately: "But what about the genocide? What about the genocide though?” the protestor, wearing a keffiyeh, yelled.
The man was then escorted out of the hall while yelling, “19,000 children are dead, and you won’t call it a genocide.”
“Listen, what he’s talking about, it’s real. That’s not the subject that I came to discuss today, but it’s real and I respect his voice,” Harris said." There is no ambiguity in saying that his claims of genocide are real. You responded that the next day, someone on her staff walked it back. I pointed out that she never did. You have no understanding of the courage it took for her, whose job was to support Biden, to say that and never to take it back.
You are still using manipulative terms to describe, this time I was "yelling." At 83, a lefty and dissenter for over 65 yrs, I do not yell, I do not rant, I do not babble: I report the truth. You have asked us to tell the truth but when the truth contradicts your fixed views you attack it. Nor do I find AOC or Sanders to be cult leaders; they did not appoint themselves, they were elected and have had the guts to stand up to the official policy of the Biden administration. Honestly, Caitlin, I am embarrassed for you. I did not say you had a mental breakdown nor have I tried to convince you by yelling at you. I have made an observation that you appeared burned out.....which is not a mental breakdown but exhaustion. I have sympathy for that but ask that you calm down and stop using the terms about me that I am used to from the far right. Deal with the issues I present and welcome discussion, dissent, and diverse views. That is how we proceed, not by insulting those who do not agree with us.
Stop trying to convince me I'm "burned out", then. Whatever words you want to use to describe your efforts to convince me that there is something wrong with my mind, whether you want to label its cause "exhaustion" or something else. I understand that you are elderly so I'll be more understanding than I normally am, but men who try to manipulate women into believing they're having mental problems when they're not getting their way are not typically good people. I generally have a zero tolerance policy for such behavior.
Did you read what I wrote: burned out is not about something being wrong with your mind but being exhausted. Exhaustion is not a label but a common experience.......it is not a mental problem. I have zero tolerance for people who claim I am manipulative and accuse me of claims I have not made. My age has nothing to do with it: I am 83, a super ager with a mind sharper than ever. I am not trying to convince you manipulatively that you are having a breakdown but rather that you appear exhausted and with no patience, would suggest taking a vacation or a brief rest. You have my sympathy. And I am not "not" getting my way: I say what I mean and I report what I have learned. You can take it or leave it. My way is to report what I have learned and speak the truth as I see it. It's not about getting my way at all. No one can stop my way, which is to tell it as I see it. You can ban me but you cannot silence me. I suggest you listen to me and stop attacking me as being a male manipulator. You can disagree but attacking me with false claims and insults....sad.
>>"I am advocating that the only hope for the US is for the socialists in the Democratic PARTY"
Dale Ruff, based on your above comment - I'm afraid you don't know/understand what SOCIALISM is. There are NO socialists in the Senate or House (or positions of high power anywhere in the US Govt.). If there were socialists, they wouldn't have been able to rise to their current positions in the first place. The US Capitalist system weeds out socialists WAY BEFORE people get to such levels of power and authority.
Until you understand this, your understanding/interpretation of US politics will be misguided. I suggest reading some Noam Chomsky for starters (and truly understanding what is being said).
And unfortunately, YOUR LOGIC of "calling out Genocide means being against it" falls flat on its face. That's called "lip service", platitudes, theatre. Calling out Genocide when you don't do anything about it after you call it out (other than performative acts meant to convey virtue, morals, etc.) is not only NOT ENOUGH, but it is disingenuous and deceptive.
Here's what AOC, Bernie Sanders, other so-called progressives could have done -> tell ALL THEIR FOLLOWERS to NOT VOTE for Harris or Trump. Vote for a third party candidate OUTSIDE the 2-party solution.
Here is a TRUTH you may not be able to digest -> "There is NO solution to be found in the current US 2-party fake duopoly". NONE!! Regardless of campaign finance reforms, money in politics, corruption, etc. - NONE of those supposed hail-mary fixes will solve the problems that the US has.
Your thinking is too narrow. The US Empire's problems stem from the systems that run it - neoliberal capitalism, global corporations, etc. Voting for Harris or Trump is NOT going to solve this problem!
Haven't we all.
Ha, even this critique is a gem : )
The people have all been brought up on a diet of liars but we can have discernment as to who are the liars. Almost universally those who refuse to respond to questioning and who shut others down so only one side ever gets a hearing. I want to salute you for continuing to be stubborn. It can seem thankless for a long time but our truth speaking is what is forcing this evil to be pressured. Many are not going along with it anymore.
When you write "the people" you lump everyone together but for instance, a poll found the majority of Democrats think Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, so clearly lumping that majority in with those "brought up on a diet of liars" is incorrect. I think it is the images from Gaza, more than any "truth speaking" that have brought that majority to this conclusion. We are all lied to but in many cases, most of us do not buy the lies. Why then is the US still supplying the weapons of genocide: that goes to the fact that the US is NOT a democracy, and until people stop believing it is (the real Big Lie), nothing can change that fact. POlls have shown, as an example, that 89-97% of the public supports universal background checks, but it has never even come to a vote, which is proof that the gun manufacturers and lobby (ie wealthy corporations) run the show. Until we change that, nothing significant will change. Until we replace the plutocracy with genuine democracy, nothing will change.
Let us take as given that "the majority of Democrats think Israel is committing genocide in Gaza".
What did they or the Team D administration do about it, when Biden could have ended the war with a single phone call?
There is no they...this herd thinking must stop! The Democratic base is a diverse lot and it was not given a choice in the matter...so those of us with a voice called out the hypocrisy! Democratic socialists like Bernie Sanders and AOC and Tlaib called out the criminalty and are working to build support to end shipment of arms to Israel. That is why the term "what did they do about it" is fallacious. Sanders started alone in the Senate to end the shipments but in the latest effort got 18 to support his bill. If we want to help, we can support those 18 so it grows to a majority. Attacking AOC and others who have called out the genocide or Sanders as sell outs actually benefits the war hawks, who would pay to have the dissenters trying to build a majority denounced. If you want to talk about controlled opposition, what could be more effective than having one faction of the anti-fascist movement attack the other? Thisis what I have seen happening on these pages. HOw does attacking people calling out war crimes and seeking to halt arms to Israel help the Palestinians?
Since you brought up controlled opposition, what concrete actions exactly have the characters you mentioned taken? They murmur a few demurals to war and genocide, then fall right in line and urge Team.D cultists to do so as well.
Leverage is worthless if you never will use it.
So true. Rep. Cortez lost her nickname being an enemy of working people.
Risking your career to call out Israeli genocide is hardly demurring. AOC has a huge platform, with 12 million Twitter followers and a national presence: against the Biden policies, she has loudly called out genocide. The first step in ending an injustice is to call it out....for decades, Dr. King called out racial injustice..would you say to him: what do you do but demur? AOC is not murmurthis kind of rhetorical is destructive of the goal of ending the genocide. NOr does Sanders mummer.he got 18 of the 50 Democratic Senators to join with him in a growing movement to pass a bill banning US arms support for Israel. This is not a murmur, Feral; it is a loud public voice of a growing movement you are attempting to dampen with your absurd rhetorical about demurals and murmurs. AOC and Sanders and the others, now scores in Congress, have not fallen in line, as you falsely accuse, but stood up to the Biden policies and done all they could to reverse them. I find your accusations cultish, in an effort to degrade criticism of those who are actively and publicly challenging the policies in place. You are hurting the cause while you should be standing up for those calling out genocide and trying to end arms shipments. You are hurting the Palestinians by dividing the movement to end this bloodshed. Here is the murmured demural by AOC: "“If you want to know what an unfolding genocide looks like,” the New York Democrat added, “open your eyes.”
More than 32,000 people in the coastal enclave have been killed since the Israel-Hamas war began, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
All 2.2 million people in Gaza do not have enough food to eat, with half of the population on the brink of starvation and famine projected to arrive in the north “anytime between mid-March and May 2024,” according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification.
“What we are seeing here, I think, with a forced famine is beyond our ability to deny or explain away,” Ocasio-Cortez told Tapper. “There is no targeting of Hamas in precipitating a mass famine of a million people, half of whom are children.”
Her comments come as the Biden administration is hardening its stance ahead of key meetings this week between US and Israeli officials." This is directly standing up to the Biden administration on a large public platform. Nor is the Sanders bill a murmur, as it calls for exactly what we all want.......in the only way it can happen, thru a Congressional bill. Calling these murmurs and demurals is a betrayal of the movement to end the genocide. We can only win if we stand together.....that is the lesson at hand.
The phone call would not have been to NutanYahoo, but to DOD transportation officer, STOP flying to israel or you will be court-martialed : ) That would work for a few more weeks. Strange we still have no idea who actually made any of these decisions for us ha.
I feel that, though those facts are all important, there are overriding factors that go beyond all that. We are in a program, all of us are. Even using the language is programming. We are going into more expansive consciousness where we realize that everything around us is alive. This energy of war is not new in Gaza. We need to stop the energy from taking root. The energy is in ordinary people because they are the ones that carry out the orders of the deranged bloodlines. What do you call genuine democracy? I see no need to have representative anything anymore when everyone holds a communication device in our back pocket. It may be a difficult thing to ask yourself but why do we need government at all? Why can't we just work it out ourselves? Of course that takes communication. And be done with all this government nonsense, wars, trafficking, poisoning....
The language we use can be enslaving or liberating; our language has a long history of dissent, of great rebels Socrates to Orwell, who use the language to expose lies and indoctrination. Genuine democracy is based on a long culture of institutions and norms, including an engaged and informed citizenry, a free and diverse press, an independent judiciary, separation of powers, , checks and balances, and free and fair elections uncorrupted by threats or money. IN such a democracy, we can choose to create the laws and institution's that best suit us. Among the choices is where I come down, which is libertarian socialism, which is free of both corporation's and the state but a 3d way in which collection and democratic rule expanded to the workplace is the norm. There is government, which you mistakenly lump in with the state. But this government is thoroughly democratic. An example would be Mondragon in Spain. We need accountable democratic government because without it, we will have the corporations, the warlords, and the gangster filling the vacuum. We need self-government in all spheres of life for power is not deleted when you eliminate the state, and so that power should be shared through genuine democracy. Anarchism is not lack of rule but self-rule, democratic, collective, accountable.
Voting on a person is not "democracy", it's not having your say which I take it democracy means in the end. How can you have your say when your representative also represents others? And they never ask you what you think about anything? Really, when we wake up from the spell, it's laughable that we fell for the belief that anyone can represent us. I had a quick peek at Mondragon in Spain and it's pretty big but it's not a world changer, it's just a deckchair shifter. I noticed association with the UN Sustainable Development goals which means less carbon, meaning getting rid of a lot of people as we're considered bad for the environment (this is the stuff of the deranged) but so many buy into the UN agenda.
No, I was talking about language in a different way. The way we have learned to construct it causes us to speak what we don't want, thinking we are speaking what we do want. It's a bit difficult to explain as it is the very fiber of the reason for language. We have no awareness of an unspoken rule or unrealized formula, which is that we create what we speak, and what we think about mostly. So if we're thinking about terrible things happening for example, then we are summoning the future to be that way. And vice-versa. We could speak of a marvelous future and summon that into existence too. We are simply unaware of a lot of things, and I was saying that language is a biggie. The narrative is also all-important and that is why media and the government (and corporations) are all in cahoots to drive the narrative. It's something most go along with without realizing they are.
I've followed your exchanges in this thread as of this moment and would like to thank you for expanding dictionary definition of what a wingnut is.
Dear Caitlin, your voice is raw, real, and unapologetically truthful—I read you every morning. It’s astonishing that you have not been silenced by the Australian government.
When it comes to the Gaza genocide, the complicity goes far beyond the Western Empire. The silence and inaction of Arab states, Russia, and China are equally damning. No one is standing up for the Palestinians. They’ve been crushed under the weight of a global system driven by greed and unrelenting capitalism.
p.s. It was COVID that shook me awake