Corporate Media Uses Hyperlinks To Confuse, Not To Clarify

 

If anyone wishes to argue with me that establishment media is NOT beyond abysmal and that many independent journalists are NOT doing vastly superior work, I offer this example, one of many, as exhibit A: https://www.forbes.com/sites/oliviaenos/2022/04/04/ms-bachelet---dont-go-to-xinjiang/?sh=a4e993c14d3e

There is no reason to subject yourself to the painfully obvious propaganda that is the article, I ask you only to focus on the first sentence of the fourth paragraph: “These horrific realities are very well-documented, yet the High Commissioner will see none of it on her visit to Xinjiang.” The words “well-documented” are underlined and in blue, meaning it is a hyperlink. One would think it would be a hyperlink to what it actually suggests, well-documented evidence of HORRIFIC REALITIES! Click on it. Go ahead, click on it.

It takes you to a blog post from the Heritage Foundation website. Look them up if you don’t know who they are. Suffice it for me to say they are not a source you should consider when you want reliable, unbiased information. But forget the source, even that doesn’t matter. The link takes you to a blog post titled “China Transparency Report”.

I thought the issue was a genocide of an ethnic minority. The Forbes article mentions “ongoing crimes against the Uyghurs”, talks about “China’s mounting atrocity crimes against Uyghurs” and “ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity”. “Today, an estimated 1.8 million to 3 million Uyghurs are held in political reeducation camps.” Imagine having that kind of build-up, and clicking on a link promising that “These horrific realities are very well-documented”, only to see the title “China Transparency Report”.

Yeah, I read it. Not many people read the links provided by mainstream media. You should, because even if you trust mainstream corporate media (you shouldn’t), you should trust but verify. But I read the China Transparency Report and it didn’t mention Uyghurs once. Nor the Xinjiang province. Nor crimes against humanity. Nor genocide. It is at this point where a rational person begins to believe that something irrational is unfolding.

There was, however, this hyperlink at the bottom of the blog post:

This is one step further than anyone would expect an honest source to ask of readers in search of truth. Any earnest and experienced searcher of truth would start thinking their chain was being yanked. But someone trying to prove a point, such as myself, would be willing to push that button and waste his time in order to prove exactly how useless establishment journalism is in providing people with useful information.

So I clicked it, confident at this point that I would not find any supporting evidence. I clicked it, knowing that I would have to concentrate very hard on a stream of nonsense in order to prove to others just how vapid the reporting of mainstream media really was.

Click.

You’ll have to concentrate on the upper right hand part of the screen. I tried to use the Snip And Sketch program in order to show you the warning I received, but the warnings disappeared when I tried it. It says “File Not Downloaded, Potential Security Risk”.

You’ll forgive me if I do not investigate further, I believe I’ve made my point to those willing to consider it, whereas no matter how far down I dig I will never make my point to those set in their beliefs. If anyone would care to do the download despite the warning, please let me know if you have found any “well documented” “horrific realities”. I do not hold out any great hope that such evidence is forthcoming. One does not light a lamp only to put it under a blanket.

Keep in mind that this is not my first rodeo and this if not the first time I have followed link after link without finding any substance to what is presented me. Rather, I find only obfuscation and — pardon the term — bullshit. Here is my attempt to dig down and find sources using the provided hyperlinks on the Uyghur Muslim assertions in the Guardian. Here is another article that not only has hyperlinks that do not mention what the headline promises, the article itself does not even mention Russia or Russians. Although it is a lot of work on my part, I promise to bring you more evidence on this subject in the future. I come across it all the time and you will too once you stop making the assumptions that their hyperlinks will always lead you to actual evidence.

This isn’t an accident. This is not an anomaly or a “whoopsie”. This is happening all the time at the most respected journalistic institutions. This is the media showing their contempt for their readers by asserting or promising what it does not deliver. And, might I emphasize, getting away with it. You are letting them get away with it because you trust them even though they are time and again proving themselves untrustworthy. This, my friend, is on you, as it is on me, as it is on all of us. We need to hold the media up to basic standards and we need to hold people accountable when they fail to meet basic journalistic standards. This will not be a small task.

This is journalism in the 21st Century. Don’t ask me to explain it — it is not rational — but please allow me to point out its many failings. This is simply me, a metal fabricator, pointing out what is wrong with establishment media. I welcome any contrary views from those who have a better understanding than myself. I only ask of you not to yank my chain, as establishment media has time and again done. Be honest, be open, be critical, but do not provide me links to evidence that does not reinforce your claims.

 

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A Dream Of A Ridiculous Man (With Apologies To Dostoyevski)

 

This may sound crazy to you, but I believe we are ripe for a paradigm shift the likes of which the human race has scarcely ever seen. A paradigm shift the likes of which, after it has taken hold, will completely alter our priorities, rendering worthless most of what we now hold dear.

I say this because the Earth can no longer sustain a warlike species capable of creating planet-destroying weapons. I say it because our planet cannot much longer continue to supply a species that is unceasingly ravenous, gluttonous, and wasteful. I say we are about to make what seems like a once in a millennium paradigm shift because that is what appears to be necessary, and I am optimistic enough to say it is going to happen. Don’t get me wrong, I believe the odds are stacked against us, but I am an optimistic person. Why be optimistic when being realistic is much more, well, realistic? It is because I think we need a little optimism to get us started. When you’re facing great odds in a struggle for survival, being realistic is merely weighing the odds in order to be right, rather than victorious. Truth be told, when it comes down to it, I don’t think there is such a thing as being realistic. Deep down you’re either an optimist or a pessimist, and you approach life from one position or the other.

I say that we are about to undergo a radical paradigm shift because Leo Tolstoy already envisioned it and explained how it would take place well over a century ago (see excerpt in comments).

I say it because the way has been pointed out by visionaries and prophets for over three thousand years. The fingers of Jesus Christ, Lao Tzu, Plato, and many others have been pointing the way. Though they may have been considered radical in their day, it is pointless to believe them radical today.

I say it because the 1960’s were an early tremor indicating what is to come, a warning tremor so intense in itself that it nearly toppled existing paradigms. As it was, the ‘60’s created unseen cracks in the foundations of the existing structures and showed just how vulnerable they are.

I say it because it is so obvious that change is coming that only those capable of living a life of delusion are able to deny it. People want it, which is understandable. People fear it, which is also understandable. It is frightening, just as the prospect of walking is frightening to a toddler and riding a bike is frightening to a kindergartner. But change that cannot be avoided must be embraced, and change in this instance cannot be avoided.

I say a radical paradigm shift is happening because I feel the switch has already been flipped on in me. I really don’t feel it is my obligation to support endless war and exploitation against other nations or endless war and exploitation against the earth itself. I say it because I’ve seen it switch on in so many others, and because I see so many others awakening. We are quite willing to stand alone if need be, but we are not alone.

I see the change. They say “buy this” and we say “no”. They say “believe this” and it induces laughter in us. Not a cruel laughter, but a pure and rejuvenating laughter. They say “obey us”, and we use the entirety of our humanity to resist or sidestep their alleged authority. They have the law on their side, but there is a greater weapon we can draw upon, the sympathy of the masses who yet recognize timeless values such as justice and fairness, despite all of their indoctrination. We know they fear us as we once feared them.

“Madness”, you might say. “The mutterings of conspiracy theorists who live within their deranged fantasies. Who or what is this cabal, this star chamber, this alleged but secret group of lizard people or illuminati that controls the world behind an impenetrable curtain?” It is no deep mystery, they are not hidden, nor do they even bother to hide their plans or their motivations. They are simply those who believe the world should be run through domination and subjugation of others, all those who cling to primitive beliefs and attitudes and practices that even 3,000 years ago were seen through by the wise. They belong to no one race, or culture, or gender, or nation, or religion. They are those who use race, culture, gender, nationality, and religion to divide us and thus subjugate us.

We are a dangerous group to those who wish to continue to rule through power and propaganda, because we realize the importance of our cause. There is nothing more worth living for. We cannot live for our progeny, for they are bound up in this. We cannot help but know what we are damning them too should we forsake this transition for the sake of giving them a better position aboard a sinking ship. Nor can we live for our own creature comforts, knowing that the truth will eat into our subconscious minds, allowing us to derive no pleasure from our attempts of escape through denial. Our generation will not pass without witnessing a world of robot dogs and climate breakdown. Our delusions, we feel if not admit, will not endure.

Is it too late? Perhaps. No individual can know his own future, let alone can he predict humanity’s. It is merely our job to awaken, to cease to support that which is killing our planet, our species, and everything we hold dear, and to begin to act according to a higher law, a law of conscience rather than obedience, of faith instead of fear, of mutual assistance rather than competition.

Capitalistic Endeavors Always Start Out Promising, Then They Give You Honey Boo Boo

 

Capitalism always starts off good. Just like that incident in the Garden Of Eden started with the serpent offering a tasty treat. Seriously, though, I can’t count the many times I’ve encountered a new idea that has hit the market and I’ve thought to myself: “Man, I am lucky to be living in the era and country that I am”. I believe capitalism may just well be the best system for generating innovation.

The problem is, the honeymoon always ends and you realize she was only in it for the money the whole time. What am I talking about? I’m talking about MTV, which started out as a way for unknown musicians to make a cheap but innovative video and have it connect with fans. Then Michael Jackson put out the first million dollar video and changed the whole scene from small-time bands finding an audience to a bigtime star investing money to make money. Was Thriller a good video and a good song. Yeah, but the price paid by all the small-time artists who could not compete wasn’t worth it. And that was just the start. Take a look at MTV today. It still exists, right? Hear any good new artists lately?

Or look at the music industry as a whole. From 1964 to 1967, rock and roll went from I Want To Hold Your Hand to Tomorrow Never Knows, Sunshine Of Your Love, Are You Experienced?, and See Emily Play. An amazing leap of innovation and exploration by an industry that wasn’t yet sure what it was doing. But then the suits took over and maximized profit by replacing risk-taking with marketing. The result was more superstars and less good music. Correct me if I’m wrong.

MTV wasn’t the only TV station that went down the toilet. Once upon a time the History Channel had interesting and informative history programs on it. Once upon a time A&E actually had real arts programming on it. Hell, before striking it rich with Honey Boo Boo, TLC was known as The Learning Channel.

This life-cycle can be seen everywhere you have a good idea reach a certain measure of success. YouTube, which was once watchable, now has a commercial (or two) before and within most every video you watch. But much worse than that, they have manipulated their algorithms so that you no longer find what you want to see so much as what they want to show you. And like everything else from Netflix to Hulu, they constantly feed you their preferred next choice rather than waiting for you to choose what you want to watch. What once was the servant soon becomes the master.

The problem is that innovation which leads to success soon becomes business. And I’m not against people who are successful making a buck, don’t get me wrong. The problem begins when those who are not successful in anything other than turning a profit notice the success of artists and entrepreneurs, see an opportunity to make a buck, and soon have the people who have created something that resonates with others working for them.

Small capitalists are, to a large degree, people who want to do what they enjoy and hope others will appreciate what they do. Or else they are people who are willing to work hard in order to meet the needs of others. Not all of them succeed, and they pay the price for their failures. But those who do succeed, to a large degree encounter the profiteers who have no interest in their vision or in serving others but simply see a way of maximizing short term profit. I’m often shocked that those who call themselves small businessmen do not see the difference between the two.

I do not propose to you any clear-cut solution to the problem of corporate capitalists, but perhaps pointing out the difference between those with genuine creativity and willingness to work hard and those who only wish to spend a buck to make seven might prove useful. There is a life cycle to capitalism, one phase being where innovation is allowed to prosper, and another where rot sets in. If I can help you to realize the difference, I feel I have done something useful, just as the lady at the grocery the other day helped me to pick out the best peaches. But really, the best advice is universal: give it the smell test and watch out for maggots.