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Feral Finster's avatar

It is not malpractice but intentional obfuscation. Those so-styled journalists know damn well why Palestinians are starving and who is starving them.

Orwell wrote extensively on the use of the passive voice to hide facts that the writer would rather not mention.

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Vin LoPresti's avatar

Exactly. Any good writing teacher will counsel you to use active verbs, which implies writing in the active voice. Meanwhile, we have an epidemic of passive voice reporting in mainstream media for exactly the reason you pose -- hide the real facts..

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Starry Gordon's avatar

Yes, as Pol Pot famously said, "Mistakes were made." But there is also the magical substitution of subjects and agents. The proper headline would be something like "Biden Starves People of Gaza" since the starvation is with and by his will. He could stop the starvation one minute from now. He chooses not to.

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gypsy33's avatar

After reading your reply, Feral, I am convinced that cats should still rule as gods.

Actually, I was anyways.

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Feral Finster's avatar

Any cat would agree, But not because of anything I wrote.

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gypsy33's avatar

😁

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Libor Soural's avatar

Bingo, bango, my friend, you nailed them SOBs POS!

https://liborsoural.substack.com/p/circes-magick-spell-on-odysseus

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Mar 19, 2024
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JennyStokes's avatar

Nothing will change even if Netanyahu goes. Things have changed drastically.

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Mar 19, 2024
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Chang Chokaski's avatar

John Zwiebel, I feel compelled to address/correct some of the facts (and opinions) that you have expressed:

(1) Reddit is seeking a valuation ~6.4B with $31-34 per share, and knowing how the stock market works, it will shoot up much more than that (in the extremely short-term).

(2) >>"Have you been to Reddit? It is composed of highly restricted "silos" of information. On many, if you so much as breathe a hint of being "progressive" (meaning in the sense that you give a damn about others) you will be immediately and permanently banned."

I have been on Reddit for over 5 years - and my experience has been very different from yours. Each community has its own moderation rules (some I agree with others I don't). I am somewhat far left and have never had issues in any of the groups - one does need to be respectful, argue in good faith, and not be insulting/threatening. I believe your framing of Reddit communities is disingenuous. There is a very large community of progressives (even in the way you seem to define it), and apparently our experiences have varied greatly.

The problem I have with your statement/characterization of Reddit is not one of "differences in opinion" between your and my experiences. It is one of anecdotal evidence. You make an all-encompassing judgement/statement on Reddit based on "your experiences" that may not be representative of the millions of other people's experiences of the platform - and you do it in a way so as to suggest that "your opinion" is the definitive/majority/prominent one.

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Mar 20, 2024
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Chang Chokaski's avatar

Why do you consider Reddit to be any different from any of the other Social Media or Big Tech corporations? They are all controlled by monied interests, corporations and the financial elite. Meta, Apple, Google, Amazon, Netflix, Microsoft, Twitter(X), you name it - the list is endless. But this isn't just in the space of Big Tech. This corporate control is prevalent in every industry.

>>"You don't seem to be anywhere close to "slightly left""

I don't think you're qualified to make that statement as you really don't know much about me or my views. Similarly, I would not make a statement on any of your political leanings/ideologies as I don't know enough about you.

>>"Let's remember who owns Reddit and who will profit from the IPO."

This is the same as every other IPO of such/most corporations. This is the way the financial system (in the US) is structured - to favor the elite. It is a rigged system. There is nothing about it that is unique to Reddit. So why are you making it about Reddit? And regardless of who owns majority stakes in it (Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Zoroastrians, whatever) the financial system and incentives still work a certain way and favor a certain class of people. So to tie any such corporations and systems to a certain type of people (eg. Jews) is to incorrectly arrive at conclusions and conflating how systems of power work. If you look at some of the largest non-US corporations in the world - eg. in China, India, many other economies - you will find that it is not Jews that control those corporations. If you embark on a serious academic and statistical approach on analzing ownership of global financial assets (not one based on oft-repeated tropes) you might land up questioning your assumptions and conclusions.

>>"Why are you making excuses for the Oligarchy?"

I am not making any excuses for the oligarchy. The Oligarchy is the oligarchy - regardless of faith, religion, spiritiuality, ethnicity, nationality, etc. The oligarchy can always be expected to do what is in their best interest - to the detriment of 99% of the people on the planet.

Here is something else for you to think about - re:SubStack

All corporations grow, evolve, change hands, change ownership structures, change policies, change financial management, etc. Maybe in the future it is conceivable that some of the owners of a future SubStack could possibly be Jewish (amongst others). In that scenario, will you be inclined to make similar insinuations and correlations about the "Jewish" ownership/control of SubStack?

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Feral Finster's avatar

Basically, this. For liberals, as good symbol manipulators, all problems can be solved with better P.R..

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Mary Wildfire's avatar

You left out that most of the world's media--print, TV, online, music, books, radio-is owned by six megalithic, octopus-like corporations, these corporations all have ties with each other, and they have ownership of weapons companies, so they have an extra reason to slant things in a pro war way.

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Min Molloy's avatar

Mass murder by Israel should be the headline

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A Parseeker's avatar

Thank you, Caitlin. The one lesson the Palestinians have taught us repeatedly is to become media literate, to see through lies, disinformation and special pleading.

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JennyStokes's avatar

....and for once in the US Politically literate!

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Vin LoPresti's avatar

What can you expect from fecal rags like the Times when that in-charge Zionist Sulzberger family daily publishes prominent front page scumbag lunatics like Thomas Friedman offering incredible rubbish like: "If you are calling for a 'cease-fire now' in Gaza and not a 'cease-fire and hostage release now,' it’s making the problem worse. Because it just feeds Israelis’ fears that the world is against them, no matter what they do." Oh poor poor Israel!

Prior to which statement Friedman accuses Hamas of choosing the "most dovish Israelis" (settlers) to attack. This juvenile display of twisted Zionist reality reminds me of my fifteen year-old self baldfacedly lying to my dad the first time I wandered drunk into my home after midnight, struggling to sound coherently in touch with reality as I scraped together any lame excuse before I sprinted for the porcelain god and vomited.

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Feral Finster's avatar

Israel should feel that the world is against them.

Not because Israel is on any level "Jewish". But because of their behavior.

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Vin LoPresti's avatar

It would be amusing to leave this comment in Friedman's Times column, merely to see how much defensive return-fire it would draw from his large collection of Zionist shitlib defenders.

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Feral Finster's avatar

Mostly, they'd just scream variations on "antisemite".

Was I also an antisemite when I physically confronted bona-fide self-proclaimed Nazis putting up antisemitic posters in Ukraine?

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gypsy33's avatar

Vin, I doubt Feral would stoop to lining his litter box with that rag.

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Jenny Tuffnell's avatar

The real truth is that the US is committing the starvation at this point. None of this goes on without US backing and approval. It’s barely worth mentioning Israel at this stage of the genocide. Of course The NY Times is a filthy state mouthpiece.

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Feral Finster's avatar

Of course. Biden could end this with a single phone call.

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El dragon's avatar

The media landscape changed everything in the West. Look at the Guardian when Glenn Greenwald wrote for them and today. Do you guys believe the WAPO would publish today anything damaging to the Biden's regime like the Pentagon Papers?

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jamenta's avatar

What's interesting is many of these big papers did print what Wikileaks released. But they only went after Assange - not WAPO or the New York Times.

I think in the past, when Ellsberg released the Pentagon Papers - news outlets in the US were not so beholden to the oligarchs and there were more media outlets than we have today. There were also some US laws on the books that required big news organizations to provide some level of objectivity to the American public - which they subsequently got rid of - along with loosening the regulation of antitrust laws.

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El dragon's avatar

It's not only in the U.S.. in Germany too, Der Spiegel was premier Liberal newspaper in post war Germany - they challenged the Government at every turn, today they are a regimes mouthpiece.

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JennyStokes's avatar

This is why you need to comment on WAPO. I still do this and send these liberal elites to substack.

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Another WorldView Is Possible's avatar

In that article you linked to at Consortium News, I feel like it was you burying the lead, there...with #'s14 & 15. The work of Alex Constantine focused like a laser on that point, and still does. Noam Chomsky is a guardian of the leftward portion of the OVERTON WINDOW, with his bullshit about 'innocent' 'structural reasons' - why the news sucks consistently... I think it's quite telling that Chomsky was allowed to continue with "academic freedom" at a CIA and Pentagon connected base, like MIT, for most of his career... But he really got sloppy, and started exposing himself, later on, what with his glowing endorsement for former CIA Director James Woolsey for some high potentate position at MIT, and an office, just down the hall. He also attacked Oliver Stone, for approaching the ugly truth about the murder of JFK, by the REAL State (and, no doubt, there was also some Zionist input - since he was adamant that they shouldn't be allow to have Nukes, and his brother/Atty General was looking qt the forerunners of AIPAC, as unregistered foreign agents. And sure enough, LBJ was a serial killer, and a huge Zionist.). Chomsky later LIED about a lack of peer -reviewed science around the impossibility of the official narrative of "9/11". And that wasn't JUST ignorance. He kept repeating the fraudulent claim, until Richard Gage showed up to his office, with a stack of peer-reviewed science, proving not only the fraudulence of the official narrative - but of Chomsky's pronouncements. If you can find where he ever admitted his errors (lies) and corrected them - please let me know... I don't think that ever happened. He just went silent - as he should have been from the start - since he clearly didn't know the first thing, about what he was talking about. Then there was his endorsement of Concentration Camps and starvation, for those who refused to take the Pentagon and CIA's "WARP SPEED" Bioweapons. And lately, we find out that he and Jeffery Epstein were fairly tight - but what they talked about was 'none of our business'. It's time to pull Chomsky dien off of his pedestal. He's a GATEKEEPER, and at best a gateway drug, in the way to the actual truth.

In fact, the guy that Chomsky is talking to in that interview you mentioned, was probably working for MI-6, and/or the CIA. Do you really think that they'd leave an interview like that, up to chance? Hell, no - they wouldn't! That guy was just a spy, with intact cover - just like the CIA- and Wall Street Journal- 's Evan Gershkovich. Just like Luke Harding, and his MI-6 handler, Pablo Miller... Check with Gordon Dimmack on that... He's covered how those two were connected to the Skripals, and their misreported Fentanyl poisoning. http://dilyana.bg/skripals-poisoned-with-fentanyl/

In any event, The (NYT's) Sulzberger family are ARDENT Zionists. It's NEVER an accident that they run a CIA and Mossad MOCKINGBIRD substation. Anyone looking through the lies of the last 30 years, propagated by that rag, will find that they're constantly being exposed for their mendacity and deception. The Grayzone just OWNS THEM, on the regular. Dick Cheney's Intelligence Operative, Judith Miller kept her job there until it was no longer sustainable to keep her on the payroll.

Look at the consistency in the passive language used in all of the headlines that you rightfully cite, here. And then note that ALL of those outlets have a long history of working for and with the Spook Community. Reuters, BBC, CNN, NYT - all are bases for intelligence agency infiltration and control. And notice - they NEVER get things wrong, going in the other direction. If they're ever accused of accidentally saying something unpopular but true about the Empire and it's satellites - they'll just throw their reporter under the bus, and correct the story, until the Empire backs off.

http://whale.to/b/depraved_spies.html

https://whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/POLITICS/MOCK/mockingbird.php

https://www.laprogressive.com/progressive-issues/left-gatekeepers

https://constantinereport.com/media-liberals-for-fascism-how-corporatecia-subsidized-progressive-journalistic-surrogates-mau-mau-the-communard-flak-catchers-baby/

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Another WorldView Is Possible's avatar

And just this morning - more on the inner workings of the Hegemonic Narrative propagators.

https://www.kitklarenberg.com/p/british-censorship-unit-targets-big

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Mar 19, 2024
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Another WorldView Is Possible's avatar

My only warning is that statement sounds like something Thom Hartmann would tell you... And as he admits - he's an NSA contractor. About what, we're not allowed to know... But based on the bullshit he pedals about the Vietnamese killing JFK...It appears that he has a very broad portfolio.

L. Fletcher Prouty - the inspiration for the "Mr. X" character, played by Donald Sutherland in Oliver Stone's JFK - has a useful concept... "The Secret Team". It assumes that BOTH major parties are heavily infiltrated, as is the Government, at all levels, and in all branches. Bill Clinton was a CIA asset (at a minimum) under the control of GHWBush41 - who was part of the Nixon gang, and who was also directly involved in the JFK Hit. https://covertactionmagazine.com/2022/01/03/there-is-absolutely-no-reason-in-the-world-to-believe-that-bill-clinton-is-a-cia-asset-except-for-all-the-evidence/

Obama's mother was CIA, and he interned at a CIA front company in Afghanistan, during Iran Contra. https://covertactionmagazine.com/2021/10/01/a-company-family-the-untold-history-of-obama-and-the-cia/

And surprise, surprise - both were pals with GHWBush41, and invitees to his funeral, and given secretive envelopes upon arrival. Instructions? New Contact information? Someone should ask them.

My point is that the CIA uses both parties, to advance all of their goals in a phased manner. There's no point in playing 'team sports', these days... Washington DC only has ONE team, in reality... And that's why the Censorship powers bill ("Tik Tok") can fly through Congress so easily.

Scoop Jackson was an early NeoCon. So is Joe Biden. Zoell Miller, $hillary Clinton and Joe Lieberman - all ostensibly Democrats...

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Ohio Barbarian's avatar

I took a journalism class in high school, in Texas in the early 70s. I still remember the basic questions of journalism: Who, what, when, where, and how, with why answered if known.

The New York Times couldn't even pass a freshman high school journalism class. Though I imagine journalism is taught quite differently these days.

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Joy in HK fiFP's avatar

There must be a permanent ceasefire in Gaza in order to comply with the ICJ ruling. Not with Palestinians suffering under oppressive conditions, but as a place where all live with peace and equality. It is time for Pope Francis to do more than talk. He must go to Gaza and make a stand for peace and freedom.

Please sign my

petition and share widely.

https://chng.it/CRQ7qw4Gzn

Let us also support UNRWA. If our governments won’t act in accordance with humanity, then we will. https://www.unrwausa.org/donate Let us do it to honor Aaron Bushnell, or in memory of Hind Rajab.

Let us call for a No Fly-Zone over Gaza!

And while we’re at it! Let’s arrest the Biden Administration for genocide under 18 U.S. Code § 1091.

These are a few small things we can do. If we can do more, let us do more.

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rjb's avatar

A political saying in Japan says, "The Geisha doesn't need to be told what to do".

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JennyStokes's avatar

I keep telling everyone........IF you are on any MSM go into comments and refute this.

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Diana van Eyk's avatar

Is the propaganda extremely thick and heavy these days, or has it always been and we're just noticing it more?

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JennyStokes's avatar

It's always been there.

That's why you have all been terrified by Russia and China for years.

Not to mention Socialism or commnism!

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Diana van Eyk's avatar

Thanks for illustrating my point, Jenny.

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pretzelattack's avatar

i think there is more propaganda now than I've seen in my lifetime.

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Diana van Eyk's avatar

Me too, actually, but I'm noticing that things I believed before turned out to be propaganda. And I thought I was pretty discerning.

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pretzelattack's avatar

I used to be less cynical about the people that run the US. I defended Bill Clinton in internet political debates during the impeachment hearings; I actually believed democrats were the lesser evil at one point. I thought Obama would adopt a different stance toward US foreign policy than Bush, and try to make the US at least a better place. I hoped Sanders would but I don't believe he would even have tried now, any more than Obama did, even if the DNC hadn't torched his campaign. I don't see one politician on a national level that i trust.

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Susan T's avatar

I don't see any politicians anywhere that I feel I can totally trust. I am in Canada, and maybe Jagmeet Singh is marginally better than the other choices: Pierre Poilievre or Trudeau. I commented on a list serve that I didn't think Obama would be any better than any of the others when everyone was patting themselves on the back for electing a black person as president. I got called a racist.

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jamenta's avatar

I was on the same path as you Pretzel. I voted for both Clinton and Obama. Was a HUGE supporter of Sanders.

Now, until Big money is taken out of politics, there is no one I trust - especially Bernie Sanders. And I refuse to participate in a corrupt electoral process, even to vote third party - as my participation would legitimize the stupidly corrupt (corporatized) and rigged process itself. Until the current electoral process is reformed, and Big Money no longer has the decisive influence on US government - I'm out. Which means I'm probably out for good - at least for the next few decades.

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Just sayn's avatar

Our ability to access various media instantly, and to discuss items of interest in open forums like these have had a huge impact on many peoples awareness of Truth vs Propaganda. Unfortunately the (lies) propaganda travels further and faster.

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jamenta's avatar

State censorship leads to far worse consequences.

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Just sayn's avatar

I am no racist. As for Racism and bigotry. Here is a quote; "Our race is the master race! We are divine God's on this planet. We are as different from the inferior races as they are from insects. Other races are beasts and animals, cattle at best. Our Destiny is to Rule over the inferior races, the masses will lick our feet and serve as Our Slaves!" - Menachem Begin, founder of the Likud party. Yes, that is Netanyahu' party.

End of discussion. Thanks.

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Chang Chokaski's avatar

Just sayn, your quote is misquoted and misrepresented.

References:

(1) Correcting A Misquotation Reputedly By Menachem Begin (https://rense.com/general90/begin_quote.htm)

(2) https://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/zaq9j/menachem_begin_and_the_our_race_is_the_master/

Can you provide provenance for your quote or back it up with "facts"? Many quotes on the internet are misquoted and misattributed. This quote you mention has come up several times, but no one has been able to verify its authencity.

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jamenta's avatar

Pick any religion - you will find extremists and fundamentalists in any said religion.

Pick any secular society - you will find extremist atheists and fundamentalists in every secular society.

The core problem is not "religion" - it is the human psyche.

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elizabeth's avatar

not even sure why NYT is considered as a reliable source for jack shit anymore when people were just having this exact same conversation 1-2 years ago about their coverage on trans people. fuck nyt

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