Media?...Oh, you mean the Empire's Pied Pipers. Once upon a time,
long, long ago, and far, far away, there were journalists on the
radio, in early day TV and in the Editorial Pages of most Daily News
Papers.
But the Media has always been the possession of the Empire. Those
journalists who did not knuckle under, were spun to the back pages and
trashed. TV has gone even further, turning the reporting of the news
into a three ring giggle circus.
Even NPR, once providing us a "Left of the Middle" reporting, has been
corrupted.
While I do hold the current journalists as responsible for the
weak-kneed, spineless babble that passes for Journalism today, I have
to remind myself that it is impossible to get at much of the
government's activities, because more and more information is being
classified and hidden behind closed doors that often even keep out
Congress.
This heavy handed security along with the corporate capitalism that is
the nation we live in, make public involvement impossible.
Like all Empires before it, this gaggle of greedy rascals are not
concerned with the future. Their only goal is to control the planet,
and reap all that exists.
In order to survive, and in order to plan a brighter future, we must
seek out, and share the information that sheds light on the world
events that seem to be so disorganized. My current position is to
leave the Oligarchy and its Industrial/Military Corporate Empire, and
set out looking for new, bright and energetic people to begin a
building outside of the gang that has walled themselves off from
Reality.
Carl Jarvis
On 10/21/16, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@optonline.net> wrote:
>
> AFP/Getty Images
> New recruits trained to fight alongside opposition in Aleppo, Syria.
> By Stephen Kinzer February 18, 2016
> COVERAGE OF the Syrian war will be remembered as one of the most shameful
> episodes in the history of the American press. Reporting about carnage in
> the ancient city of Aleppo is the latest reason why.
> For three years, violent militants have run Aleppo. Their rule began with a
> wave of repression. They posted notices warning residents: "Don't send your
> children to school. If you do, we will get the backpack and you will get
> the
> coffin." Then they destroyed factories, hoping that unemployed workers
> would
> have no recourse other than to become fighters. They trucked looted
> machinery to Turkey and sold it.
> This month, people in Aleppo have finally seen glimmers of hope. The Syrian
> army and its allies have been pushing militants out of the city. Last week
> they reclaimed the main power plant. Regular electricity may soon be
> restored. The militants' hold on the city could be ending.
> Militants, true to form, are wreaking havoc as they are pushed out of the
> city by Russian and Syrian Army forces. "Turkish-Saudi backed 'moderate
> rebels' showered the residential neighborhoods of Aleppo with unguided
> rockets and gas jars," one Aleppo resident wrote on social media. The
> Beirut-based analyst Marwa Osma asked, "The Syrian Arab Army, which is led
> by President Bashar Assad, is the only force on the ground, along with
> their
> allies, who are fighting ISIS - so you want to weaken the only system that
> is fighting ISIS?"
> Sign Up
> This does not fit with Washington's narrative. As a result, much of the
> American press is reporting the opposite of what is actually happening.
> Many
> news reports suggest that Aleppo has been a "liberated zone" for three
> years
> but is now being pulled back into misery.
>
>
> On Syria: Thank you, Russia!
> The US would be more secure if it had followed Russia's foreign policy lead
> in the past.
>
> . The great dumbing-down of US foreign policy
> . Does peace in Syria stand a chance?
> . Putin should have listened to Obama about Syria
> . In Syria, the US has nothing but bad options
> Americans are being told that the virtuous course in Syria is to fight the
> Assad regime and its Russian and Iranian partners. We are supposed to hope
> that a righteous coalition of Americans, Turks, Saudis, Kurds, and the
> "moderate opposition" will win.
> This is convoluted nonsense, but Americans cannot be blamed for believing
> it. We have almost no real information about the combatants, their goals,
> or
> their tactics. Much blame for this lies with our media.
> Under intense financial pressure, most American newspapers, magazines, and
> broadcast networks have drastically reduced their corps of foreign
> correspondents. Much important news about the world now comes from
> reporters
> based in Washington. In that environment, access and credibility depend on
> acceptance of official paradigms. Reporters who cover Syria check with the
> Pentagon, the State Department, the White House, and think tank "experts."
> After a spin on that soiled carousel, they feel they have covered all sides
> of the story. This form of stenography produces the pabulum that passes for
> news about Syria.
> Astonishingly brave correspondents in the war zone, including Americans,
> seek to counteract Washington-based reporting. At great risk to their own
> safety, these reporters are pushing to find the truth about the Syrian war.
> Their reporting often illuminates the darkness of groupthink. Yet for many
> consumers of news, their voices are lost in the cacophony. Reporting from
> the ground is often overwhelmed by the Washington consensus.
> Washington-based reporters tell us that one potent force in Syria,
> al-Nusra,
> is made up of "rebels" or "moderates," not that it is the local al-Qaeda
> franchise. Saudi Arabia is portrayed as aiding freedom fighters when in
> fact
> it is a prime sponsor of ISIS. Turkey has for years been running a "rat
> line" for foreign fighters wanting to join terror groups in Syria, but
> because the United States wants to stay on Turkey's good side, we hear
> little about it. Nor are we often reminded that although we want to support
> the secular and battle-hardened Kurds, Turkey wants to kill them.
> Everything
> Russia and Iran do in Syria is described as negative and destabilizing,
> simply because it is they who are doing it - and because that is the
> official line in Washington.
> Inevitably, this kind of disinformation has bled into the American
> presidential campaign. At the recent debate in Milwaukee, Hillary Clinton
> claimed that United Nations peace efforts in Syria were based on "an
> agreement I negotiated in June of 2012 in Geneva." The precise opposite is
> true. In 2012 Secretary of State Clinton joined Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and
> Israel in a successful effort to kill Kofi Annan's UN peace plan because it
> would have accommodated Iran and kept Assad in power, at least temporarily.
> No one on the Milwaukee stage knew enough to challenge her.
> Politicians may be forgiven for distorting their past actions. Governments
> may also be excused for promoting whatever narrative they believe best
> suits
> them. Journalism, however, is supposed to remain apart from the power elite
> and its inbred mendacity. In this crisis it has failed miserably.
> Americans are said to be ignorant of the world. We are, but so are people
> in
> other countries. If people in Bhutan or Bolivia misunderstand Syria,
> however, that has no real effect. Our ignorance is more dangerous, because
> we act on it. The United States has the power to decree the death of
> nations. It can do so with popular support because many Americans - and
> many
> journalists - are content with the official story. In Syria, it is: "Fight
> Assad, Russia, and Iran! Join with our Turkish, Saudi, and Kurdish friends
> to support peace!" This is appallingly distant from reality. It is also
> likely to prolong the war and condemn more Syrians to suffering and death.
>
>
>
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