Tag: Ukraine

When Did Critical Thinking Disappear?

On Feb. 6, 2024, former Fox News host, Tucker Carlson, sat down with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin for an interview. If you haven’t seen the interview, you can watch it here: The Vladimir Putin Interview.

I (#blogger #blog #somseason #YA #authors) took the time to watch the full interview because I wanted to know Putin’s perspective on the war in the Ukraine. The interview was fascinating. Why would I watch this interview? Vladimir Putin is the enemy, isn’t he? If you listen to the Mainstream Media (MM), he is. Here is a sampling of headlines after the interview aired. Tucker Carlson faces media fury over Putin interview, Tucker Carlson faces new backlash over Putin interview after Navalny death, EU Bureaucrats Look to BAN Tucker Carlson Following CONTROVERSIAL Putin Interview, Tucker Carlson’s Putin Interview Was a TV Turn-Off for Russians, and Zelensky on Tucker Carlson interview with Putin: ‘2 hours of bulls‑‑‑’.  For those who don’t know, bullshit refers to something worthless or deceptive. Watch how Tucker Carlson is mocked in this video.

If you believe the MM, Everybody hates Vladimir Putin according to CNN. Putin now among most hated world figures according to The Washington Post. Why does the MM want us to hate Putin so much? Why do they demonize or dehumanize Russia’s President? What are they afraid of? What don’t they want us to know? They did the same thing with former US president Donald Trump. They demonized Trump to manipulate us into hating him. Demonizing or dehumanizing is nothing new. The MM have always done it as shown by Welfare Queens and Scroungers: How Media Narratives Demonize the Poor, How Media Demonize Religious Minorities, and 3 Ways That Media Outlets Demonize Black Families, The article, The Media Must Stop Demonizing Immigrants explains that “dehumanization of whole groups of people for the purposes of attacking them in the United States and across the world is nothing new. As Isabel Wilkerson points out in her book Caste, the creation of a dominant caste depends upon the dehumanization of the other.”

It is now being reported that there was a Tucker Carlson assassination attempted in Russia. Reports say a native Russian was arrested for the attempted assassination of Tucker Carlson. The unsuccessful assassin was allegedly hired by Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence who offered to pay the man $4,000. Why would the Ukraine want to stop the Carlson-Putin interview? The answer seems obvious to me. They wanted to prevent people from hearing Russia’s perspective on the war. It’s also why they demonize the Russian president as well. Maybe Putin has just cause to attack Ukraine.

MM, and governments, don’t want the general public to think for themselves. When I taught Social Studies, I tried to teach critical thinking, which is the ability to interpret, evaluate, and analyze facts and information, to form a judgment or decide if something is right or wrong. I always taught that there are two sides to every story; that to make an informed decision, you need to listen to and understand both differing perspectives.

This was especially true when I taught my students how to write position papers. I emphasized the importance that a position paper needed an analysis of both sides of the subject matter and the main point is to address both aspects of the argument. Any guide to writing position papers will tell you this. Why does the MM only focus on one side of an argument?

The latest buzz words used by governments and MM is ‘disinformation’ and ‘misinformation,’ as shown in the articles, The real ‘fake news’: how to spot misinformation and disinformation online, and Fake News, Big Lies: How Did We Get Here and Where Are We Going? Disinformation, as defined by the UK government, is the deliberate creation and/or sharing of false information in order to mislead, and misinformation is the act of sharing information without realizing it’s wrong. Is the MM feeding us disinformation to mislead us? Seems like it to me. Why else would they demonize and dehumanize Tucker Carlson and President Putin? They constantly inundate us with the plight of Ukraine, saying we—the Western World—need to defend Ukrainian independence. They never tell us Russia’s perspective on Ukraine, at least not that I am aware of.

As I understand it, back in 2022, Putin recognized the “independence and sovereignty” of the two eastern Ukraine provinces, Donetsk and Luhansk, and ordered Russian peacekeepers to protect them.  Justin Trudeau sums up the rhetoric of the MM when he strongly condemned Russia’s recognition of ‘independent states’ in Ukraine as a “blatant violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and international law.” That was the only point of view we were given, at least here in Canada and the USA. What is wrong with hearing Russia’s side? Why is the MM trying to prevent us from hearing the Russian side? Is there more to the story? Are they hiding something? To quote Heather Vogel Frederick, “There’s always more to the story.” Listen to Putin in the interview and decide for yourself if he is the horrible person the MM maintain he is. Give yourself permission to think for yourself instead of the MM doing the thinking for you.

I find it interesting that Canada’s prime minister claims Conspiracy theorists threaten mainstream media. As the article, The Mainstream Media Are Dying of Self-Inflicted Wounds says, they are doing it to themselves. The article says just 7 percent of Americans have “a great deal” of trust and confidence in the media. It is interesting that Journalists now lecture us, contributing to the lack of trust in media. This article sites a poll that was commissioned by the Canada’s federal government saying that just 32.5% trust the media in Canada. The article goes on to say, “As traditional media outlets continue to lose audience share, it might be worth asking why people are tuning us out or losing trust. Far too often, it’s that people think we have an agenda…” The article speaks truth when it says the problem is journalists are lecturing the public instead of informing them. Is their agenda to manipulate us into believing one point of view?

We are no longer being informed, we are being misled, manipulated, and propagandized. MM news outlets have an agenda; the agenda to get the public to believe a certain narrative. It doesn’t want you to know both sides of the story. They only want you to hear their biased side or their narrative. They want to tell you what to think. This is bullying (#bullying, #antibullying) in my view! The MM wants to “bully” you into believing their narrative regarding an event. It is time we got back to thinking critically for ourselves, and that means listening to both points of views. I am grateful to Tucker Carlson for giving me Putin’s view of the war in Ukraine because I sure didn’t get it from the western media.

Things Don’t Add Up

You may have noticed that I (#blogger #blog #somseason #YA #authors)  haven’t written a post since September 21. There is a reason for that. World events are changing so fast that each time I a plan a post, it is already old news. Let me explain.

Initially, I planned to write about the wildfires (I know, it’s old news). Beginning in March 2023, the news was consumed with wildfires. As the article, North America’s summer of wildfire smoke: 2023 was only the beginning, says, “Canada’s seemingly endless wildfires in 2023 introduced millions of people across North America to the health hazards of wildfire smoke.”  The article blames climate change and makes the statement “global warming means more fires.” Legacy Media amped up the climate change rhetoric, claiming Climate change made weather conditions that powered Quebec fires twice as likely, scientists say. Yet, Alberta’s premier downplays link between wildfires and climate change, commits to arson investigations. Is climate change the problem? These headlines suggest otherwise. Quebec man arrested for starting multiple wildfires, RCMP charge Alberta woman with 32 counts of arson after spring wildfires, Arsonists Behind More than Half of Italy’s Wildfires, Officials Say, Italy arrests two Sicilian sheep farmers for lighting wildfires, and Greek police arrest dozens for arson as EU’s largest-ever wildfires rage. How can climate change be the cause, when arsonists are lighting the fires? Why are arsonists lighting these fires? Are they being paid? It doesn’t make sense. Or, to use the old adage; Things “do not add up,” meaning things do not seem plausible, logical, or believable. All I can say, is we are NOT being told the full story.

Then came the Maui wildfires when in August, we heard non stop reporting on them. The Hawaiian Electric says power lines started morning fire on August 8, but not afternoon Lahaina Fire, so humans once again are to blame. What about the devastating Lahaina fire? Were humans to blame—and I’m not talking about the climate change narrative? Some are blaming Direct Energy Weapons (DEWs), as in the articles, Were Maui wildfires caused by a US weapons test? and the Video: Maui Wildfires: Evidence of Direct Energy Weapon? Of course, Legacy Media were quick to call the DEW story conspiracy. Things “do not add up.” More is going on than meets the eye.

Then the headlines changed to what some called Nazigate, and the stories about wildfires disappeared. In case you don’t know what Nazigate is, on Sept. 22, 2023. the Canadian parliament accidentally honours Nazi – with Zelensky and Trudeau applauding, and reporting that the Speaker of the House apologized for calling Nazi SS soldier a ‘Ukrainian hero.’ That’s honouring a bully (#bullying, #antibullying)! How do you accidentally honour someone? Someone please explain it to me. Of course, some Legacy Media try to downplay the incident with articles like, Last week’s Nazi incident in parliament was framed by some as a learning opportunity.  Canada’s Immigration minister claims ‘Canada has a really dark history with Nazis in Canada’ and some say Canada has a long history of soft-pedalling the Ukrainian Waffen-SS Galicia Division.  Our deputy Prime Minster, Chrystia Freeland says she has nothing to be ashamed of about her grandfather’s ‘Nazi’ ties. It’s true,  Chrystia Freeland has a Nazi history according to the Civilian Intelligence Network.

Now I agree that this Nazigate event is Canada’s disgrace and parliament’s Nazi celebration cannot be forgotten or forgiven. Don’t try to convince me this is a mistake. Things just don’t add up. Why would Canadian parliamentarians applaud a former Nazi like he is a hero?  Watch the video where all Canadian Parliamentarians give Yaroslav Hunka, 98, an ex-Waffen SS fighter, a standing ovation. What is really going on? As this article asks, How did a Nazi fighter end up in Parliament?  Things “do not add up.” There has got to be more to this story.

Then the Nazigate news disappeared. as on October 3, the US speaker was ousted starting a US government crisis as U.S. Congress is headless after a first-in-history ouster of House Speaker. It is said to be the first-ever ejection of a sitting Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. News broadcasts were consumed with this crisis. Twenty three days later, on October 25, 2023,  Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana elected speaker of the House. But little was said about that event as October 7, 2023 Hamas launched a surprise attack in the south of Israel. We are still hearing about this as it is all Legacy Media talks about. Read Background to War in Israel if you don’t know what that is about. The rhetoric is building as The US is mounting a frantic effort to head off a wider Middle East war. Watch the video below: Can President Biden prevent World War III?

I find it comical that the world’s fate is put into the hands of a man who seems to be senile. It is said that the New Middle East war delivers a new threat to world economy. The scariest rhetoric Is Middle East Closer to World War 3 After Israel-Palestine Conflict?  I have to wonder, Are we heading for World War Three?

I am confused though. According to the article, A detailed look at how Hamas secretly crossed into Israel, Hamas militants broke through Israel’s complex border security systems, attacking towns, killing hundreds of people and taking at least 150 hostages. CNN asks, Why didn’t Israel’s sophisticated border security stop Saturday’s attack? According to them, Israel’s military found itself caught off-guard, despite decades in which the country became a technology powerhouse that boasts one of the world’s most impressive armed forces and a best intelligence agency. A former international spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces said, “The entire system failed. It’s not just one component. It’s the entire defense architecture that evidently failed to provide the necessary defense for Israeli civilians.”  How can an entire security system fail? Something doesn’t add up. We’re definitely not being told the real story. 

What is even more interesting is the sudden silence on the Ukrainian war. Did that war suddenly end? Back in February 2022, Russia launched a military invasion of Ukraine and that was all we heard for months. For months, billions of dollars from all over the world were being sent to the Ukraine for the war effort. CNN asks since $113 billion was sent to the Ukraine, Where has the US investment in Ukraine aid gone? The World Bank approved $723m financial package, and Canada has promised more than $1.5B in military aid to Ukraine. Why all money for the Ukraine? Why is Ukraine so important? This article says there are 5 reasons America must support Ukraine and help it defeat Russia, but I don’t buy any of it. Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister said, “Canada will stand with Ukraine with whatever it takes, for as long as it takes. As Ukrainians continue to fight for their freedom and their democracy, our support will be unequivocal until they are victorious,” yet the article, Marking 50 Years in the Struggle for Democracy it says:

New coups and other attempts to undermine representative government destabilized Burkina Faso, Tunisia, Peru, and Brazil. Previous years’ coups and ongoing repression continued to diminish basic liberties in Guinea and constrain those in Turkey, Myanmar, and Thailand, among others. 

Why aren’t we sending money to these countries as they “fight for their freedom and their democracy?” That argument doesn’t make sense. Things “do not add up.” Are we being fed propaganda? Are we being told what they—whoever they are—want us to think and believe. We are not being told the real story, that’s for sure.  What is really going on in this world? As Haruki Murakami, a Japanese writer says, “Please remember: things are not what they seem.”

Truth Always Prevails

Author Ulpian Fulwell wrote, “Truth in the end shall prevail.”  I (#blogger #blog #somseason #YA #authors) believe that. The problem is, what is truth?  There are those who say truth is ever changing, never static or absolute, and what we consider to be truth today may be proven a lie tomorrow. There are those who claim that at least some truth is absolute truth, or some truths are universal and unalterable. I think both are true depending on the truth, but it can be confusing. For me personally, I trust my heart. If it feels true, I accept that. If it feels false, I accept that too. In other words, I follow my intuition.

Author Llewellyn Rockwell once wrote, “We like to imagine that in history, truth will prevail through sheer persuasive power. Sadly, this is not the case. Truth needs champions …” Truth does need champions (sometimes referred to as ‘truthers’) as we humans are easily manipulated, programmed and mind controlled.  Joseph Goebbels, a German Nazi politician who became Reich Minister of Propaganda, once said:

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”

That is a frightening thought. Could this be happening? Are truths being told really lies? For this post, when I speak of truth, I am referring to the ever changing “truths” told to us by our politicians, the mainstream media (MSM) and health officials. Let’s start with politicians.

Canada’s Parliament drops investigation into woman who stood on War Memorial tomb, a committee investigation into a highly publicized incident of a woman who allegedly climbed atop the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier during the Freedom Convoy protests in Ottawa. Funny how no reason was provided for discontinuing the committee hearings. Was the story a lie? Was it an attempt to discredit the protesters? That’s my guess. Trudeau’s national security adviser says Freedom Convoy planned to ‘overthrow the government’, another lie since the Freedom Convoy’s spokesperson stated on Fox News that “We want to get rid of the vaccine mandates and the (vaccine) passports. And that passport, that’s the really concerning one” (see Independent). Even MSM’s, The Globe and Mail says, Trudeau and Ford’s use of emergency legislation was pure show business. Actress Felicity Kendal says, “There is one sure way of telling when politicians aren’t telling the truth – their lips move.” That says it all.

What about the health officials? Are they telling truths? Alberta Health admits they manipulated ICU numbers. The CDC admits COVID-19 isn’t a threat to the vast majority of people. CDC Scientists admit they did manipulate study data to show the Covid-19 Vaccines are safe for Pregnant Women. This was an obvious attempt to mislead as researchers discover 91% of pregnancies resulted in miscarriage following Covid-19 Vaccination. Health Officials Admit COVID Numbers Were Inflated As They Cover Up Vaccine Injuries, and a Fired ER Doctor Tells RFK, Jr. ‘We Just Bowed Down’ Instead of Practicing Science. A Nurse claims Canadian PM Justin Trudeau’s COVID-19 vaccination was faked, points out red flags. Watch her video. It seems we are being deceived by health officials.

Even MSM, especially Canada’s National Broadcaster,  admit to lying. MSM’s Toronto Sun says More falsehoods about the convoy are now being retracted. CBC issues second retraction on their convoy coverage, retracting the story by the CBC that foreigners—the Russians—had played a major role in the Freedom Convoy protest, and that the Convoy protest received hundreds of donations that appeared to be from abroad. Both stories were blatant lies. Here are 5 Ways The Establishment—aka MSM—Tried To Rewrite The History Of Freedom Convoy 2022. The MSM protects politicians as Canadian Media Cover-Up International Condemnation Of Justin Trudeau. Regarding the alleged pandemic, the CBC apologizes for using fake patients and training facility in COVID-19 story, another lie. The CBC forced to pay $1.95 million in libel case as court finds it “failed in its duty to be fair, balanced and responsible,” as reported by the CBC. This explains why CBC viewership hits record lows as subsidies hit record highs, The CBC’s ad revenue problem continues, and why the CBC wants to know why young people aren’t watching their programs. People are even leaving as CBC producer quits, slams woke broadcaster for failing to cover issues important to Canadians, and Tara Henley explains, Why I quit the CBC in the National Post. We see this in other companies as a Former Global News employee Anita Krishna speaks out about COVID-19 narrative. Yet, Canada’s government is pouring money into the CBC as Liberals move to ‘modernize’ CBC, making public broadcaster less reliant on advertising, plus  CBC salaries include 125 senior directors earning up to $186,000 each. Something is wrong with this picture when truths are not being reported!

It’s interesting how the Covid narrative disappeared almost overnight when Russia entered the Ukraine. Now the MSM narrative is “Putin is evil,” and it’s terrible what he’s doing in the Ukraine, but be wary of what you’re being shown and told by the MSM. Powerful deep narratives control us. We’re shown something one way, when there is usually something much deeper going on behind the scenes, intentionally hidden from us. There is a reason for everything media says and shows. There are many countries experiencing worse things than the Ukraine, but we’re not being told about them. We are only shown what they want us to see, and it’s often faked. We are only told what they want us to hear. Everything is designed to control and manipulate us. There are those who think I talk craziness, so consider this.  MSM says Russia’s wild theories about secret bio-labs and ‘crisis actors’ in Ukraine are crafted to appeal to US conspiracists, experts say, yet the U.S. Confirms there are Biolabs In Ukraine. Listen to what Tucker Carlson says in the video  The Pentagon is lying about biolabs in Ukraine. Only one of these narratives are true.

There are worse things occurring in the African country of Yemen, as opposed to the Ukraine. According to Countries Currently At War 2022, the Yemeni Civil War began in September 2014 and continues today. Saudi Arabia intervened in the conflict and there have been more than 140,000 fatalities since the start of the war, including nearly 20,000 in 2020 alone. A great number of these are children. According to 10 Countries Facing Humanitarian Crises in 2020, Venezuelans and 9 others need humanitarian assistance right now. Why aren’t we hearing about these on the MSM?

Why did Freeland’s office “pressure” legacy media to change critical stories? and why did Trudeau announce millions of dollars to attack news agencies he doesn’t like.? Are governments and the MSM trying to create a narrative to manipulate the masses? There is much evidence that what is shown on the daily news is faked. Don’t believe me. Check out this video MSM Fake News Air Raid. The video on the left is of supposed Ukrainians running from air strikes. The second video was added by another user. Also, observe the body bag on the left in this news clip MSM Fake News (body bags). This video is yet Another example of disinformation about the Ukraine War. We are only given what they want us to see.

Why would media do this? Some argue that the MSM, or television in general, puts people in a hypnotic state. According to How To Override Hypnosis In The Media :

Hypnosis is a state of mind in which you suspend your normal analytical thinking, and place yourself in an open, accepting frame of mind. In this state, you find it easier to accept ideas that you normally wouldn’t.

The article, How Hypnotists (and Mass Media) Hack Your Mind to Control Your Behavior says:

Those who regularly watch news on the television, which is well-known to rapidly induce alpha brain wave states in the viewer, bringing them into a hypnotic trance automatically, typically affecting the function of the frontal lobe within an astonishing 90 seconds, and bypassing critical thinking.

According to the article, How TV influences your mind through hypnosis:

Your mind slips into the hypnotic trance state within seconds of watching TV. This lowers your brainwaves to a lower ‘alpha state’ commonly associated with meditation and deep relaxation. This is believed to be caused by the screen flicker and explains why you feel sleepy while watching TV.

Is media hypnotizing its viewers? Was the Covid narrative for the past two years to keep its viewers in a hypnotic fearful state? Are they presently hypnotizing us to think of Russians as demons? People are catching on? Poll shows trust in media, government at all-time low.  In another poll published in the National Post, it shows trust for Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer eroded either a little or a lot among 46 per cent of Canadians. And for provincial public health institutions, led by the chief medical officers, almost half of Canadians (49%) saying they had lost trust in them. Trust goes down the drain when authority figures mislead and lie (#bullying, #antibullying). Truth is prevailing!