Tag: mainstream media

Pentagon-Funded Think Tank Simulates War With China On NBC

NBC’s Meet the Press just aired an absolutely freakish segment in which the influential narrative management firm Center for a New American Security (CNAS) ran war games simulating a direct US hot war with China.

CNAS is funded by the Pentagon and by military-industrial complex corporations Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, and Lockheed Martin, as well as the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office, which as Antiwar’s Dave DeCamp notes is the de facto Taiwanese embassy in the US.

The war game simulates a conflict over Taiwan which we are informed is set in the year 2027, in which China launches strikes on the US military in order to open the way to an invasion of the island. We are not told why there needs to be a specific year inserted into mainstream American consciousness about when we can expect such a conflict, but then we are also not told why NBC is platforming a war machine think tank’s simulation of a military conflict with China at all.

It happens that the Center for a New American Security was the home of the man assigned by the Biden administration to lead the Pentagon task force responsible for re-evaluating the administration’s posture toward China. That man, Ely Ratner, is on record saying that the Trump administration was insufficiently hawkish toward China. Ratner is now the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs in the Biden administration.

It also happens that the Center for a New American Security has openly boasted about the great many of its other “experts and alumni” who have assumed senior leadership positions within the Biden administration.

It also happens that CNAS co-founder Michele Flournoy, who appeared in the Meet the Press war games segment and was at one time a heavy favorite to become Biden’s Pentagon chief, wrote a Foreign Affairs op-ed in 2020 arguing that the US needed to develop “the capability to credibly threaten to sink all of China’s military vessels, submarines, and merchant ships in the South China Sea within 72 hours.”

It also happens that CNAS CEO Richard Fontaine has been featured all over the mass media pushing empire narratives about Russia and China, telling Bloomberg just the other day that the war in Ukraine could serve the empire’s long-term interests against China.

“The war in Ukraine could end up being bad for the pivot in the short-term, but good in the long-term,” Fontaine said. “If Russia emerges from this conflict as a weakened version of itself and Germany makes good on its defense spending pledges, both trends could allow the US to focus more on the Indo-Pacific in the long run.”

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The Subtleties of Anti-Russia Leftist Rhetoric

While the so-called liberal and conservative corporate mainstream media – all stenographers for the intelligence agencies – pour forth the most blatant propaganda about Russia and Ukraine that is so conspicuous that it is comedic if it weren’t so dangerous, the self-depicted cognoscenti also ingest subtler messages, often from the alternative media.

A woman I know and who knows my sociological analyses of propaganda contacted me to tell me there was an excellent article about the war in Ukraine at The Intercept, an on-line publication funded by billionaire Pierre Omidyar I have long considered a leading example of much deceptive reporting wherein truth is mixed with falsehoods to convey a “liberal” narrative that fundamentally supports the ruling elites while seeming to oppose them.

This, of course, is nothing new since it’s been the modus operandi of all corporate media in their own ideological and disingenuous ways, such as The New York Times, CBS, the Washington Post, the New York Daily News, Fox News, CNN, NBC, etc. for a very long time.

Nevertheless, out of respect for her judgment and knowing how deeply she feels for all suffering people, I read the article.  Written by Alice Speri, its title sounded ambiguous – “The Left in Europe Confronts NATO’s Resurgence After Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine” – until I saw the subtitle that begins with these words: “Russia’s brutal invasion complicates…” 

But I read on.

By the fourth paragraph, it became clear where this article was going.  Speri writes that “In Ukraine, by contrast [with Iraq], it was Russia that had staged an illegal, unprovoked invasion, and U.S.-led support to Ukraine was understood by many as crucial to stave off even worse atrocities than those the Russian military had already committed.” [my emphasis]

While ostensibly about European anti-war and anti-NATO activists caught on the horns of a dilemma, the piece goes on to assert that although US/NATO was guilty of wrongful expansion over many years, Russia has been an aggressor in Ukraine and Georgia and is guilty of terrible war crimes, etc.

There is not a word about the U.S. engineered coup in 2014, the CIA and Pentagon backed mercenaries in Ukraine, or its support for the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion and Ukraine’s years of attacks on the Donbass where many thousands have been killed. It is assumed these actions are not criminal or provocative.

And there is this [my emphasis]:

The uncertain response of Europe’s peace activists is both a reflection of a brutal, unprovoked invasion that stunned the world and of an anti-war movement that has grown smaller and more marginalized over the years. The left in both Europe and the U.S. have struggled to respond to a wave of support for Ukraine that is at cross purposes with a decades long effort to untangle Europe from a U.S.-led military alliance.

In other words, the article, couched in anti-war rhetoric, was anti-Russia propaganda.  When I told my friend my analysis, she refused to discuss it and got angry with me, as if I therefore were a proponent of war  I have found this is a common response.

This got me thinking again about why people so often miss the untruths lying within articles that are in many parts truthful and accurate.  I notice this constantly.  They are like little seeds slipped in as if no one will notice; they work their magic nearly unconsciously.

Few do notice them, for they are often imperceptible.  But they have their effects and are cumulative and are far more powerful over time than blatant statements that will turn people off, especially those who think propaganda doesn’t work on them.  This is the power of successful propaganda, whether purposeful  or not.  It particularly works well on “intellectual” and highly schooled people.

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Prominent trans activist celebrated by liberal press faces 16 felony charges for sexual abuse of boy

A prominent trans activist who was highly praised by liberal media outlets and institutions is now facing 16 felony charges for the alleged sexual abuse of a minor following a sextortion investigation.

Carlos Arturo Aparicio Hernandez, 36, of Taylorsville, Utah, a biological male who identifies as a woman named “Raiza”, is accused of the sexual abuse and exploitation of a 15-year-old boy after sending the victim a friend request on Facebook posing as a teenage girl.

According to charging documents, the 15-year-old victim accepted a friend request on Facebook in January of 2021 from someone he was led to believe was a female his own age. After communicating for months, the victim sent nude photos at the request of Hernandez and was later asked to meet in-person, court documents state.

The victim invited Hernandez to his home in West Valley City, Utah where he then discovered that the girl he thought he was talking to was a transgender sexual predator.

Upon arrival, Hernandez forced the boy to engage in “sexual acts” by blackmailing him and threatening to release the minor’s explicit photos if he didn’t comply. Hernandez recorded the assault, charging documents state.

The two met on three separate occasions following repeated threats from Hernandez, according to court documents.

The West Valley Police Department busted Hernandez in a sting operation after the incident was reported to authorities. Officers gained access to the victim’s Facebook account through a search warrant and arranged a meeting with Hernandez. Officers arrested Hernandez when he showed up to the meeting location and booked him into Salt Lake County Jail.

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Add Homeschooling To List Of Things The Left Says Is Racist

A leftist professor wants you to know that you’re partaking in racism if you homeschool your kids, the latest aspect of American culture that the Left has now declared racist.

On Thursday, MSNBC ran a column arguing that people who partake in homeschooling are actually helping to end public school and re-segregate society — even if they’re doing it unknowingly.

MSNBC tweeted, “It may seem harmless, but the insidious racism of the American religious right’s obsession with homeschooling speaks volumes,” while linking to the article written by University of Pennsylvania Professor Anthea Butler.

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Washington Post Opinion Piece Says George Washington University’s Name Is Racist

Apparently The Washington Post doesn’t have enough writers on staff because it turned to a university student to write an opinion piece.

“George Washington University needs a new name,” reads the headline of the piece, written by Caleb Francois, a senior at the university in Washington, D.C.

“Racism has always been a problem at GW. At the university’s founding in 1821, enrollment was restricted to White men. In 1954, then-university president Marvin employed numerous efforts to preserve segregation, arguing for a ‘homogenous’ group of White students,” Francois wrote, adding that “systemic racism and inequality [are] still present on campus.”

“In 1987, Black students organized to demand more visibility in a predominantly Black city where Black students were outnumbered by huge majorities. Today, with Black enrollment at about 10 percent, Black students on campus continue to struggle for community. Despite alleged efforts by administration to enhance diversity, the admissions office continues to fail to ensure a student body with adequate minority representation.”

Francois notes that the university has never had a black president and says “European studies and White perspectives are favored over Black perspectives.”

“These problems are rooted in systemic racism, institutional inequality and white supremacy. There are at least four ways the university could achieve progress: Decolonized university curriculum, increased Black enrollment, the renaming of the university and the selection of an African American President,” Francois wrote.

The writer finally gets around to George Washington, the first president of the United States. “Just blocks from the main campus is the Mount Vernon Campus, named for George Washington’s former slave plantation. Every day, hundreds of Black students walk on a campus named after an enslaver of men and study at a site named after dark parts of history. Such sites, among other locations and buildings, are touted as glorified mementos here at GW.”

Francois then takes aim at Winston Churchill, prime minister of Britain during World War II.

“The controversial Winston Churchill Library must go. The university’s contentious colonial moniker must go. Even the university’s name, mascot and motto — ‘Hail Thee George Washington’ — must be replaced. The hypocrisy of GW in not addressing these issues is an example of how Black voices and Black grievances go ignored and highlights the importance of strong Black leadership.”

But Francois never targets the paper in which his opinion piece appeared — The Washington Post.

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BBC climate editor whose sister is an Insulate Britain fanatic made false claims on global warming including worldwide deaths are rising and Madagascar is on the verge of famine, inquiry finds

A BBC Panorama documentary about global warming made a number of false claims, an internal investigation by the broadcaster has found.

The programme Wild Weather, presented by climate editor Justin Rowlatt, said deaths worldwide were rising due to extreme weather caused by climate change – whereas the opposite is true.

It also claimed Madagascar was on the verge of the first famine caused by climate change – despite other factors being involved.

The programme, broadcast last November to coincide with the COP26 climate conference, sparked two complaints investigated by the BBC’s Editorial Complaints Unit (ECU).

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