Tag: media

ABC News Admits It Censored RFK Jr. Interview For “False Claims About Covid-19 Vaccines”

In a remarkable video, ABC News presented a pre-recorded interview with presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, telling viewers that parts of what was said had been edited out because he said something about the COVID vaccine that the news network disagrees with.

The interview was aired with clear edits made during parts where Kennedy spoke about his views on vaccines.

The interviewer Linsey Davis asked RFK Jr. about his belief that vaccination was linked to autism, which he began to explain before she jumped in and claimed that has all been debunked. The footage then skipped to a different topic entirely.

After the interview concluded, Davis told viewers “We should note that during our conversation, Kennedy made false claims about the Covid-19 vaccines.”

She claimed “Data shows that the Covid-19 vaccine has prevented millions of hospitalizations and deaths from the disease.”

“He also made misleading claims about the relationship between vaccination and autism,” Davis further asserted, adding “Research shows that vaccines and the ingredients used in the vaccines do not cause autism, including multiple studies involving more than a million children and major medical associations like the American Academy of Pediatrics and the advocacy group Autism Speaks.”

“We’ve used our editorial judgment in not including extended portions of that exchange in our interview,” Davis explained.

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With Pentagon Leak, the Press Had Their Source and Ate Him Too

TRACING THE CONCEPT of homo sacer from antiquity to modern life, philosopher Giorgio Agamben cites the ancient Roman lexicographer Festus, who defined the term as someone “whom the people have judged on account of a crime. It is not permitted to sacrifice this man, yet he who kills him will not be condemned for homicide.” Homo sacer is thus an outlaw who is free to be pursued by vigilante lynch mobs but who, crucially, cannot be martyred. The mass media’s treatment of the alleged Pentagon leaker appears to have taken this conceit to heart, codifying him as a justifiable target for persecution, to be “tracked” and “hunt[ed] down.”

Over and over, the mainstream press has employed a rhetoric of exclusion, stripping the leaker bare of any protections that might be afforded to a whistleblower. He is not, they tell us ad nauseum, an Edward Snowden or a Chelsea Manning. “It does not seem to involve a principled whistleblower, calling attention to wrongdoing or a coverup,” according to a Washington Post editorial. The “far-right” is incorrectly calling him a whistleblower, claims the New York Times. This view lets the outlet chastise those who attribute different motives to the alleged leaker, Jack Teixeira, while simultaneously distancing itself from the “far-right,” despite its own notably pro-law enforcement slant.

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Biden cheat sheet shows he had advance knowledge of journalist’s question

A cheat sheet held by President Biden during a Wednesday press conference revealed that the 80-year-old commander-in-chief had advance knowledge of a question from a journalist.

“How are YOU squaring YOUR domestic priorities — like reshoring semiconductors manufacturing — with alliance-based foreign policy?” read a question from Los Angeles Times reporter Courtney Subramanian.

The revelation came during a joint press conference with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol that discussed growing nuclear threats from North Korea — as the nations celebrate the 70th anniversary of their alliance.

Another cheat sheet held the names of other Biden administration officials to show the order in which remarks would be delivered at the press conference.

It’s not the first time Biden’s crib notes have been outed by speedy photojournalists — which fuel Republicans’ speculation about his mental acuity.

His physician reported the president was in good health in February, but refused to field questions from reporters about his cognitive strength.

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How to Shame the Warmongers in Mainstream Media Into Embarrassing Silence in Under 4 Minutes

In a breathtaking moment of unbridled honesty and defiance, activist Jose Vega confronted the mainstream media powerhouses for their warmongering narratives and blatant disregard for the truth. Vega attended a panel discussion at the Columbia Journalism Review, which featured editors from The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and Reuters. The panel was titled “Fault Lines – a Panel on Building a Democratic Press,” but it quickly turned into a moment of reckoning for these media giants.

During the discussion, Vega seized the microphone and challenged the editors on their lack of coverage and misreporting on critical issues like the Nord Stream pipeline destruction. He called out their hypocrisy in trying to silence investigative journalist Seymour Hersh and questioned if their publications had any remaining credibility.

Vega’s impassioned speech highlighted the failures of these esteemed publications in the last two decades. He pointed out their inaccuracies in reporting on Iraq, Syria, and Russiagate, asking if they had managed to get anything right during that time. He urged the editors to at least acknowledge the leaked information that revealed Ukrainian President Zelensky’s plan to bomb Moscow on the anniversary of the war, which brought the world to the brink of World War Three.

As Vega continued to criticize the mainstream media for their incompetence and bias, he reminded everyone that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is still in prison for doing the job that these editors should have been doing – seeking and reporting the truth. This statement ultimately led to Vega’s forceful removal from the event by the police.

Vega’s confrontation is a sobering reminder that the mainstream media has strayed far from its once-honorable role as the watchdog of democracy. His words expose the double standards and deceitful practices of these powerful publications, as well as the need for courageous whistleblowers and independent journalists to stand up for truth and transparency.

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The US Is Heavily Involved In Sudan’s Renewed Turmoil, Western Media Omits This

The armed clashes in Sudan, that began last week, are being presented by Western corporate media as a shock from a country that was heading towards democracy. These attempts to absolve the West of any accountability for the militarized confrontation that could spark civil war, and to even blame Russia, are leaving out the key context to understanding this conflict.

Days of chaos have again left the Sudanese population without any sense of security and in fear for their lives. The Sudanese military head and de-facto leader of Sudan, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, ordered strikes against targets belonging to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, colloquially known as Hemedti, claiming that they were plotting a military coup. The RSF were set up under former Sudanese dictator Omar Bashir, in 2013, as a militia force that combined forces of the infamous Janjaweed and was used to crush his political rivals.

The RSF head, Hemedti, grew in the ranks over the years as a power militia leader and was given free rein to seize lucrative gold mines in Darfur that belonged to a rival tribal leader, eventually making him one of the wealthiest men in Sudan. After the RSF gained its horrifying reputation through mass killings, rape, and other atrocities, the militia leader, who was empowered by President Omar Bashir, turned against him in 2019. The RSF and the Sudanese army, together, decided to participate in a coup to officially oust Bashir and end his 30 year rein, taking advantage of a civilian-led uprising that demanded the fall of dictatorship in Sudan.

A Transitional Military Council (TMC) was then set up, which was created with the stated aim of catapulting Sudan towards civilian rule. The TMC was formally headed by Sudan’s army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, with the deputy head of the TMC being Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti). A Transitional Sovereignty Council (TSC) was later set up and was overthrown in another coup in October of 2021, before being reinstated later that year. The recent power sharing balance had been maintained between the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia of Hemedti, with a deal having been struck on the implementation of civil rule last December.

What is important to understand here is that the portrayal of recent events, in Western media, is deliberately misrepresenting the extent to which the United Kingdom and US governments, as well as Israel, have been involved in Sudanese affairs. The narrative that is being pushed by The New York Times, is that “the violence is an alarming turn for a country that only four years ago was an inspiration to Africa and the Arab world”, claiming that Sudan had been on the path to democracy. A NYT piece on the issue reports that the US had lifted its sanctions on Khartoum because it was inching close to democracy, when in reality Washington removed its designation of Sudan as a state-sponsor of terrorism as a reward for signing onto a normalization deal with Israel — no changes required. US Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, also signed an agreement to provide a bridge loan to clear the $1.2 billion debt that Sudan owed to the World Bank. The normalization deal with Israel was signed in secret in Khartoum.

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The US and the War Crimes in the War on Terror

For the past two decades, the International Criminal Court has concentrated on the war crimes and criminals who have operated in Africa.  Over the past month, however, the court has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Commissioner or Children’s Rights.  Our own Department of Justice is even considering a federal indictment of Syrian leaders responsible for the torture and execution of an American human rights worker, Layla Shweikani.  The war crimes of Syrian President Basher al-Assad are well known, but this would mark the first time that the United States has criminally charged Syrian officials with human rights abuses. There is no indication, however, that the ICC or the Department of Justice will take on the war crimes committed by the United States during its Global War on Terror in the wake of the 9/11 attacks in New York City and Washington.

The mainstream media has been giving increased attention to the issue of war crimes as well as the 20th anniversary of the start of the Iraq War, but there has been no attempt to link the issues.  The war itself could be labeled a war crime or a “crime against the peace,” which was the charge against Germany introduced at the Nuremberg Trials in 1945 and 1946.  The most prominent war crimes were the Central Intelligence Agency’s detentions and renditions program as well as the sadistic program of torture and abuse, which have been devoid of any accountability whatsoever.  One of the leaders of the program, Gina Haspel, even became Donald Trump’s CIA director.

Nor has there been any focus on the U.S. military’s role in renditions and detentions, including the detaining of individuals suspected of involvement in 9/11.  There are many reasons for closing down the wartime prison at Guantanamo Bay, but the obvious one deals with prisoners there who have never been charged with a crime over a period of 20 years and/or were subjected to numerous forms of torture and abuse.  It was Vice President Dick Cheney who convinced President George W. Bush to locate the prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba in an effort to put it out of reach of the U.S. legal system.  A federal appeals course is still dealing with the issue of whether the Gitmo prisoners have due process rights under the Constitution, but the relevant opinions have not been released because they reportedly contain classified information.  Once again, we are witnessing the application of security classifications to hide embarrassing information.

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A BBC Instruction Manual For Kids To Propagandize Their Parents

The day before yesterday, the BBC carried a piece titled “Earth Day: How to talk to your parents about climate change.”

The article begins addressing their target underaged readers:

You want to go vegan to help the planet, but you’re not paying for the shopping. You think trains are better than planes, but your dad books the summer holiday.

Young people are some of the world’s most powerful climate leaders and want rapid action to tackle the problem.

Big changes are difficult, especially when they involve other people. Where do you begin? For this year’s Earth Day, we spoke to people who have successfully had tricky climate chats at home. Here are their top tips:

The piece is broken into three sections targeting what they imply are evils of our times.

The first section focuses on “How to talk about going meat-free.”

The section begins by claiming that “eating less meat is one of the best ways to reduce our impact on the planet, say scientists.”

The piece introduces us to 17-year-old Ilse who has dyed her hair bright red, and her parents, Antonia and Sally.

The BBC claims that the family ate meat twice or even thrice a day, but when Ilse was 13, she “decided to do more about climate change and read that cutting out meat was a good start.”

Sally and Antonia were understandably skeptical about the plan initially. They were concerned about not getting enough protein and the fact that Ilse was too young to make that decision.

But they still complied with Ilse’s wishes and began with a one-day-a-week trial, they proceeded to scale up, and after a year, went totally meat-free.

Sally says that seeing the emotional impact of the topic on her daughter helped to persuade her it was the right thing for her family.

The BBC reveals that Ilse is part of ‘Teach the Parent’, a U.K.-based campaign that “encourages these conversations between generations.”

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Just 0.3% of Scientists agree Humanity is causing Climate Change; NOT 97% as falsely spread by the UN

You have likely heard that 97% of scientists agree on human-driven climate change. You may also have heard that those who don’t buy into the climate-apocalypse mantra are “science deniers.” The truth is that a whole lot more than 3% of scientists are sceptical of the party line on climate. A whole lot more.

The many scientists, engineers and energy experts that comprise the CO2 Coalition are often asked something along the lines of: “So you believe in climate change, then?” Our answer? “Yes, of course we do: it has been happening for hundreds of millions of years.” It is important to ask the right questions. The question is not, “Is climate change happening?” The real question of serious importance is, “Is climate change now driven primarily by human actions? That question should be followed up by “is our changing climate beneficial or harmful to ecosystems and humanity?”

There are some scientific truths that are quantifiable and easily proven, and with which, I am confident, at least 97% of scientists agree. Here are two:

  1. Carbon dioxide concentration has been increasing in recent years.
  2. Temperatures, as measured by thermometers and satellites, have been generally increasing in fits and starts for more than 150 years.

What is impossible to quantify is the actual percentage of warming that is attributable to increased anthropogenic (human-caused) CO2. There is no scientific evidence or method that can determine how much of the warming we’ve had since 1900 that was directly caused by us.

We know that temperature has varied greatly over the millennia. We also know that for virtually all of that time, global warming and cooling were driven entirely by natural forces, which did not cease to operate at the beginning of the 20th century.

The claim that most modern warming is attributable to human activities is scientifically insupportable. The truth is that we do not know. We need to be able to separate what we do know from that which is only conjecture.

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Disaster Troll Propaganda

So-called conspiracy theories abound, especially among those who attack others by calling them conspiracy theorists. There are official conspiracy theories, such as the government-approved stories about 9/11, the 7/7 bombings, the Manchester Arena attack and so on. There are also unofficial conspiracy theories, such as the expressed opinion of Richard D. Hall that the Manchester arena attack was a staged simulation without injury or death but performed and reported as if real.

We have to use the term “conspiracy theory” advisedly because, as we shall see, conspiracy theory, as we understand the term, doesn’t exist. “Conspiracy theory” is really just an opinion that the state does not wish anyone to either hold or express.

The BBC’s special disinformation and social media correspondent, Marianna Spring, calls Richard D. Hall a “disaster troll.” She claims that Hall lives in a “dark world” and that his “warped views” have “led him to the doors of terror victims.” Spring says that Hall is spreading “obscene lies” and that he is “at the centre of a network of conspiracies.”

Spring is utilising the propaganda technique of “othering.” She is trying to cast Hall as subhuman—a troll—and, by association, applies the same dehumanising propaganda label to anyone who shares Hall’s concerns about the official account of the alleged Manchester Arena bombing.

“Othering” is an applied psychological strategy widely used by authoritarian political regimes. Prominent historical examples include the “othering” of Jews in Germany during the 1930s by Nazi propagandists.

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NBC disinformation reporter is actually a partisan opinion writer

Ben Collins has made a name for himself around the media cool kids table as NBC News’s disinformation reporter. Except that Collins is actually an opinion writer.

His work doesn’t focus on breaking news stories nearly so much as it does on spreading naive disinformation. Collins’s intent appears to rest with scoring cheap Twitter hits and accruing the associated endorphin release gained when his sympathetic colleagues then praise his hot takes. Take what happened on Thursday when the SpaceX Starship rocket lifted off and shortly thereafter exploded over the Gulf of Mexico. This was a result predicted by SpaceX founder and Twitter owner Elon Musk and by engineers on the massive project. Still, Collins couldn’t help but weigh in on his Twitter feed, saying, “The kid gloves we in the press give this man is unbelievable.”

To be sure, Musk isn’t perfect. His commitment to free speech is flexible, for example. But again, Collins’s rhetoric isn’t exactly reporter-style rhetoric. It’s clearly a statement of loaded opinion. Of course, this isn’t the first time Collins has prioritized scoring cheap points against Elon Musk. Indeed, he was reportedly suspended by NBC News for a brief period for his rabid hyperventilating surrounding Musk’s purchase of Twitter.

Just a day prior to Collins’s foray into rocket science, he reacted after Twitter suspended a journalist from Wired for soliciting hacked information pertaining to conservative commentator Matt Walsh. That solicitation was a violation of Twitter’s terms of service. But Collins instead offered his familiar hyper-partisan glibness, tweeting, “Fun fact: This is the very same rule that was used to block distribution of the New York Post story about Hunter Biden, the greatest First Amendment violation in American history.”

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