A short editorial

I'm on the fence, kinda torn. On the one hand I think the government (federal, and many states) did a bad job of being consistent in COVID-19 messaging and that fed into a lot of people's paranoia and government mistrust. We really don't need people gathering together to protest social distancing, and part of me thinks they are just pawns doing the bidding of Big Oil who desperately needs us to start consuming gasoline at a breakneck pace again.

But on the other hand I'm deeply troubled by the censoring of alternative points of view, particularly on YouTube. In fact, a lot of the early censoring was aimed at people who were merely factually reporting on the developing situation in China, back in December and January. There are too many ulterior motives to shake a stick at.

Normally I'm pro-radical, anti-authoritarian, and highly suspicious of the government and giant corporations, but here I can see the damage that this mindset is creating. To me, that's the worst part of it all, that I'm not sure what to think about it.

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Lily O Lady's picture

constantly shifting beneath us.

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10 users have voted.

"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

Raggedy Ann's picture

be with us for sometime. Check and double check all sources until you are satisfied with the "truth" you are getting.

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14 users have voted.

"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

The internet is most peoples go to source of information. Other hand, it's the tower of babel. Mainstream media has lots of pictures and verbiage, but little content or conscience. Newspapers...ownership is everything as to what gets covered. Most pundetry is probably hackery.

I don't know what to think either, but I cross off those sources that tell, yell and try to shame me into doing what they tell me. They at least should try to lie convincingly to me.

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15 users have voted.

by the many mechanisms of the propaganda machines

here I can see the damage that this mindset is creating

healing a damaged mindset comes with questioning everything

I think the scarier aspect is to go along just to get along

the pressure to acquiesce and 'get in line' gets stronger

as the plays get weirder.

Good luck

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bondibox's picture

@QMS Of all the right wing memes I've seen, the one that really rang true was this:

COVID-19 Is Conditioning Us To Believe That Demanding Freedom Is Selfish

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6 users have voted.

F the F'n D's

from assuming something is the case just because a newspaper headline or someone the MSM deems an authority says it is.

Agree with Raggedy Ann that it's best to check and double check sources.

It's easy to dismiss opinions or claims that depart from the authorized memes but it's a useful exercise to consider whether they could be true and, if so, what the implications might be. How would that fit (or not) in context of other things we know or can discover?

That dismissing out of hand things that seem wild or inconceivable on their face is not a good idea is confirmed by the fact that we are currently in a situation that would, to most people, have been considered wild and inconceivable just six months ago.

The extremes to which censorship is being carried is truly scary - it's hard to know whether it is driven by the hubris of those controlling the media or a measure of their desperation to prevent the truth about the elites' nefarious actions and agenda from being exposed. Probably some bizarre combination of both - I seriously doubt it's because they have the serfs' best interests at heart.

If the concern was really the truth, the media would not be resorting to censorship and personal attacks but would encourage debate and let good information counter bad, but that is not what is happening. Witness the extreme lengths to which they have gone to censor Dr. Judy Mikovits and the Plandemic documentary about her experiences and books "Plague" and more recent "Plague of Corruption". The documentary itself is taken down from Youtube any time it pops up, and also any interviews with her. Despite this the books are best sellers and the Plandemic video gone international, with versions in Portuguese, Greek and possibly others by now. About the only domestic site it is up on is Brighteon.com (associated with Natural News). Facebook will not even allow links to Brighteon and Natural News is completely banned from all major social media except Gab (AFAIK).

Mikovits interviewed by Mike Adams here

All this suggests that there is some there there that the PTB really don't want people to be aware of. Naturally, that doesn't mean everything Mikovits or others have to say is all correct, either.

Another concerning area is hydroxychloroquine and other possible therapeutic interventions against COVID-19. That's a topic for an essay in itself. For the moment though, just consider the uproar over Trump disclosing the he's taking HCQ as a prophylaxis against COVID. In the MSM he is universally condemned and ridiculed for it - consider, for example late night useful idiot comedian Jimmy Kimmel's take on the subject: "Does Trump Have a Death Wish?" and the hundreds of negative (to Trump) comments. He's a liar/dangerous/idiot/suicidal... People commenting claiming to be medical workers who say no one is doing this and no one recommends it.

Except for that, if anyone cared to look, they could find that:

New Delhi: .The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the apex medical research body spearheading India's battle against coronavirus has now released an Advisory on the use of hydroxy—chloroquine as prophylaxis for SARS-CoV-2 infection This came after the National Task force for COVID-19 constituted by Indian Council of Medical Research recommends the use of hydroxy— chloroquine for prophylaxis of SARS-CoV-2 infection for high risk population. Advertisement The Advisory provides for placing the following high risk population under chemoprophylaxis with hydroxy chloroquine Asymptomatic Healthcare Workers involved in the care of suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19 Asymptomatic household contacts of laboratory confirmed cases The protocol recommended by the National Task force has been approved by the Drug Controller General of India for restricted use in emergency situations.

Which means Trump was correct in saying that frontline workers have been using HCQ prophylactically . The above article is from March 23 and a large-scale trial to make HCQ available on a mass basis starting with a large percentage of 100,000 people locked down in some of India's worst slums was scheduled to begin in mid-April:

Jyoti ShelarMUMBAI, APRIL 14, 2020 03:31 IST
UPDATED: APRIL 14, 2020 03:34 IST
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), in an attempt to arrest the spread of COVID-19 in slums, plans to roll out the anti-malarial drug, hydroxychloroquine, as prophylaxis — a treatment course administered to prevent a disease — for the community. The first-of-its-kind pilot project will be implemented in Dharavi and Worli Koliwada this week.

Additional municipal commissioner Suresh Kakani on Monday told The Hindu that medical experts from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and NITI Aayog had given a green signal for the pilot.

“At present, 50,000 people are in the containment areas of Dharavi and Worli Koliwada each. We are planning to target the population in the containment areas in the age group of 18 to 55, but without any underlying ailments like diabetes and hypertension,” Mr. Kakani said.

full article here

More of the sort of thing we are being "protected from" - Dr. Ivette Lozano Md. Dallas TX

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travelerxxx's picture

Katharine Graham's quote, "News is what someone wants suppressed. Everything else is advertising" seems to come to mind here. Of course, other news-folks have made similar statements.

What if the statement went:

News is what someone wants suppressed. Everything else is propaganda.

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7 users have voted.

Fascinating article on some epiphanies that social media
"influencers" have apparently been experiencing in the course
of the COVID hysteria - questioning the official narratives instead
of pushing designer crap and Brazilian butt-jobs - and how this
is prompting a panicked response among the MSM...

I've quoted a bit, but recommend going to the article so you can
see the tweets, Reddit and Instagram posts as they appear to fully appreciate.

From Information Liberation:

The New York Times is in panic mode after seeing popular influencers are sharing the viral "Plandemic" conspiracy flick and talking about ObamaGate with their millions of followers instead of just posting selfies and pushing product.

NYT reporter Taylor Lorenz whined about the situation in a thread Wednesday on Twitter:

Taylor Lorenz

@TaylorLorenz
· May 13, 2020
Are you even an instagram influencer if you haven’t posted the full plandemic video to ur millions of followers this week

Taylor Lorenz

@TaylorLorenz
Another one with 2.3m followers. Carmella Rose spent yesterday posting about Obamagate, the plandemic video/promoting anti vaxx content in between photos and videos of herself https://instagram.com/carmellarose

Taylor Lorenz

@TaylorLorenz
Replying to @TaylorLorenz
The evolution of L.A. #resistance influencers to full on conspiracy theorists is something to watch.

Here's one influencer just 2 yrs ago, posing in RBG socks, calling herself a "nasty woman,” posting abt feminism and male privilege https://instagram.com/iamannawood

Taylor Lorenz

@TaylorLorenz
Replying to @TaylorLorenz
Here she is today posting a steady stream of content promoting COVID-19 and 5G conspiracies, QANON, anti vaxx messaging, and “censorship” abt the “plandemic”. She’s even launched a YT channel to “share this truth with others” https://instagram.com/iamannawood

Taylor Lorenz

@TaylorLorenz
Replying to @TaylorLorenz
People think “oh these influencers are just doing it for traffic” but that’s not it. Many people deeply believe this stuff now. They don’t care if they lose some followers b/c they see these dangerous conspiracies as the “truth” and are intent to spread it.

Rolling Stone joined in with an article whining about TikTok not doing enough to censor views they don't like:

Ej Dickson

@ejdickson
· May 13, 2020
Despite its policy banning medical misinformation, TikTok is rife with anti-vaccine and COVID conspiracy theories, some of which have thousands of likes and hundreds of thousands of views. My report for @RollingStone: https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/tiktok-conspiracy-...

Tiktok
On TikTok, COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories Flourish Amid Viral Dances
TikTok has pledged to curb misinformation, but anti-vaccine COVID-19 conspiracy theories have racked up hundreds of thousands of views.

rollingstone.com

Ej Dickson

@ejdickson
One video shows someone promoting the idea that the COVID vaccine is the "mark of the beast" and that he'd rather die than get a vaccine. It has 66,000 views and is one of the first that show up when you search the #vaccine hashtag

Uh, oh....

Whoops, aren't these about the last people you'd expect to be going off the mainstream reservation?

All this in the face of ever more strident warnings about the dangers of "conspiracy theories" and ever escalating censorship...

Well, as the author of the article observes:

The only video I've seen censored as aggressively as Plandemic is the Brenton Tarrant mass shooting in New Zealand -- which was a livestreamed massacre.

Nonetheless, despite Big Tech's censorship just one Plandemic reupload of dozens on BitChute has over 1.3 million views.

I didn't find the film particularly compelling but the fact it's being censored like crazy is no doubt causing millions of people to want to watch it even more.

Censorship works best when people don't even realize it's happening but Big Tech has gone to such extremes to censor absolutely everything that it's clearly now backfiring.

As I said in late April, we're entering what may be the greatest revolutionary moment in a century and millions of Americans are sitting at home for the first time in their lives with nothing to distract them and studying how we've been railroaded and robbed of our futures by our criminal ruling oligarchs.

If our parasitic rulers wanted people to believe and trust everything they say, perhaps they should have thought about that before they decided to lie to the public non-stop about everything for decades.

Indeed.

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