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“We know they are lying, they know they are lying, they know we know they are lying, we know they know we know they are lying, but they are still lying.” –Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

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The lying is simply nonstop. The only reality is that the fool generals, oligarchs, and their politician tools have just hastened the demise of the empire, and you and I are going to find a way to live with it because we haven't much choice. Hence, in the caverns of my despair (although, indeed, not disappointment because this empire must end), I look for comedic diversion. I picture Zelensky not in that superman costume, but in a black SS uniform, and he's the lead vocalist performing "Springtime for Hitler" from "The Producers." The dancers of the Azov Battalion dance in lockstep behind him. If you need a reminder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovCf9VRLnDY I'm afraid it may now be springtime for China and the CCP, winter for the US, you and me.

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Propaganda can be pretty subtle, clever, intellectually challenging, but what to make of demands that orchestra conductors publicly denounce Putin - or they're out? What's with denouncing/renouncing/snubbingTchaikovsky? Dostoevsky? What of cancellations on public media for wrongspeak? That's all patently crazy, and as such, a clue to what's going on surely? Authorities of all kinds have lost ground lately, but why is this initiative to unilaterally demonize Putin so daunting, so frightening? It must be that the insistence on extreme conformity on the issue of Putin's guilt, in spite of the logic and humanity of his demands, has hit a nerve: it has disclosed the essential fascist orientation and potential of governments normally seen as benign or even enlightened, and essentially trustworthy. It is Orwell in bold print. It is McCarthy revisited. It is a dark place. It is disorienting.

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Since a youth in the ‘50’s, my first principle for opinion expression has been “i could be wrong.” From that time until the present my data assimilation had the filter that information disseminated rather than sought is always meant to influence, not inform. It’s like the old saw: “Since Gutenberg, the top two things media produce are propaganda and pornography.” In 1965 i joked that i liked Ike, because he “smokes the same cigarettes as me”, and is therefore the best president of my lifetime. Unfortunately, seven decades on that sarcastic joke is now my assessment. Ms. Johnstone, “where you been all my life?”

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Another great post.

It'd be interesting to know what's happened in Australia; why it is being used as a petri dish, who's behind it, why the Australian government subordinates itself to this weird case study, why the population accepts the imposition, etc.

Canada seems to be another techno-authoritarian test case. It's a strange role for the former Anglo dominions.

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Talk about control of propaganda.

Every post I make on Facehook regarding the war instantly gets a "add a donate button to help Ukraine relief efforts" as its header.

One post was merely a quote by Howard Zinn regarding civil-disobedience and those clever algorithms picked up on it and attached a Ukraine header. This brilliant Gore Vidal quote snuck through.

“The American press exists for one purpose only, and that is to convince Americans that they are living in the greatest and most envied country in the history of the world. The Press tells the American people how awful every other country is and how wonderful the United States is and how evil communism is and how happy they should be to have freedom to buy seven different sorts of detergent.”

― Gore Vidal

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Mar 24, 2022·edited Mar 24, 2022

Interesting: zelensky had a 21% approval rating as of Mid 2021:

https://euobserver.com/opinion/152478

(if paywall, you open incognito mode)

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We can also feel in our guts that life happens only now, where we all live and are necessarily all here together. Our buildings and all technology must have integrity or they don't function. We require the same from our political and financial systems. End this whole bogus permanent war paradigm.

Find your integrity, find peace and love, let go of the fear they try to manipulate us with. And let's turn this ugly shit around.

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This is maybe the last thing you read. Think about that.

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i hate hearing the msm now it drives me mad, everything is a lie i agree with most of what you say

however i wonder how much of this war is actually planned with the WEF to bring the world economies to their knees and insert their social changes

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What a brilliant analysis. May the whole world listen.

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And just like that, everyone forgot about COVID.....

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"Under the proposal, the ACMA (Australian Communications and Media Authority) would be able to enforce industry codes and hold tech grants to account to remove harmful misleading information online should voluntary efforts fail” From Caitlin today, ……….. a quote Murdoch’s The Australian, the producer of 70% of the “news” in that compliant little country, plus owning Skynews as well.

As stated, seems as though the ACMA “upgrade" is aimed at tech giants. Is there anyone naive enough to believe that these people will really be the targets for ACMA? But read it again it is just one tiny step away from prohibiting a citizen, any citizen, from even making a comment in his own right, putting forward an opinion contrary to government dictates. Now what do they call a government like that?

We almost came to that with Covid as people who were not vaccinated became the subject of legislation in many countries.

The we have…….

"We can simply move from endless escalation to diplomacy, from diplomacy to de-escalation, from de-escalation to detente, from detente to true peace, and from true peace to collaboration and human thriving. The only thing stopping that from happening is this insane drive to dominate.”

A month prior to the invasion: top Western arms manufactures were briefing investors about a likely boost to their profits.

Gregory J Hayes, the chief executive of US defence giant, Raytheon, stated on a January 25: “Raytheon and Lockheed Martin — are openly telling their investors that tensions between the countries are good for business.” That was January 25.

Next to the need for power, we have the PROFIT motive.

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"And a lie, Mr. Mulder, is most convincingly told between two truths."

Deep Throat, The X Files

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100% they are lying. Read 'Falsehood in war time' by Ponsonby. The West are master propagandist. Re Australia. Canada is equal to the task. The hypocritical irony is that these countries babble about fighting 'for democracy' in Ukraine but simultaneously are eroding and usurping democratic rights in their own countries. Is there no bigger democratic-dictator than Justin Trudeau? And a dimwitted one at that. Speaking of which, it's almost as if God has a sense of humour. Where Justin is out there pretending he's the leader of the free world with a country that already ran out of stock arming Ukraine, the U.S. has a bumbling fool suffering from cognitive degeneracy giving away all the family secrets while slurping egg nog.

What a mess.

And the West played its part in it. It's odd. I never thought I'd be so appalled by my country (Canada) and worried about the USA to the point of actually not trusting them. Their behaviour during Covid which has been catastrophic and has significantly eroded civil rights and weakened the civil order has been shocking and disheartening.

Science my foot.

And all this is wrapped in a babushka of false virtue and Ukrainian egg of arrogant faux righteousness. The empty virtue signalling is nauseating from people who just in 2014 didn't even know there was a Maidan coup orchestrated by the neo-cons. No one cared about Ukrainian democracy then but all of a sudden, after a steady stream of anti-Putin propaganda that saw the dehumanization of not just him but Russia as a whole (notice jerk doctors declaring they won't serve Russians and 'ethicists' like Arthur Caplan calling for the same), it was decided to care for Ukraine. The hypocrisy is blinding.

It all ties into Covid too. Alas, I must stop here. Suffice to say the West is under a mass Covid psychosis while suffering from mental illness and delusions of righteous grander.

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The world is increasingly waking up to the framing of information (and misinformation) for vested interests and it needs to become a mainstream discussion, and quickly. To help that, and not be cast as a conspiracy theorist (all part of the rebuttal), can we stop saying 'they' - it's too opaque. It will help if we are more specific (every time) in pointing our collective fingers towards those who we are claiming we are being manipulated by - more specific examples of sources and perpetuators - more specific on their own vested interests. The continual use of 'they' is not helping.

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