Musings on Russian War Propaganda - OPINION.

 

Now that we are close to a full year since Russia invaded Ukraine, the mainstream media in the US and Australia have deemed it not as newsworthy as before. Like all headline news, once its appeal has diminished, it drops down the editorial list. Despite this lack of coverage, the war has grown more intense while the propaganda has been reduced. COVID-19, for example, has not disappeared, though the virus continues to rage in many places around the planet. We just don't hear about it anymore. because its uses in "informing" the public have achieved its goal. Once the public's mindset has been adequately framed toward the establishment agenda, mainstream media will move on to the next "crisis." 

The propaganda and censorship surrounding Russia/Ukraine proxy war began years before the invasion in 2021. I believe Russian propaganda truly started in 2016 during the presidential election. What we now know as Russiagait primed the public to view Russia as America's number one enemy. Russia stole the election away from Hillary Clinton. The Podesta emails by way of Wikileaks were a Russian plot. Even though Assange denied the source of the emails came from a state actor, however, mainstream media continued to push this lie. Over the four years of Trump's presidency, one could not turn on the television, radio, and computer without hearing the word *Russia*. 

MSNBC's number one show was Rachal Madow. This "journalist" could not stop her hype and fear-mongering about Russian interference in our elections and, later, Russia influencing all aspects of our lives. She claimed that Russia would likely tamper with the US eastern power grid during winter to freeze Americans to death.  These "news reports," although 100% speculation and anti-Russian propaganda, her audience of millions believed her every word. American propaganda was in full swing. 

After these four years of anti-Russian propaganda, Rachal Madow was taken to court for spreading false information. The woman's defense was she wasn't reporting the news and that her show was entirely for entertainment purposes. After this court case, Madow retired and disappeared from the public landscape. 

The number of lies and deception about Russia continued post-Madow, though it slowed down after the Mueller Report was published. The reason was there was zero evidence revealing any collusion between Trump and Russia. It also turned out that the FBI and certain democratic operatives pushed this agenda, despite zero evidence. 

Countless articles and books were published, pushing the "collusion lie." The problem is that 99% of these published lies have never been retracted. This was a diabolical disinformation campaign on the American people and the world. The damage was done - Russia was bad; Russia desired to conquer the world like Hitler. Russia and Putin is the west's greatest enemy. All lies.

The fact that most people do not have the time or inclination to investigate this disinformation is what those spreading the bs are counting on. We accept what's given to us at face value. 

The spread of anti-Russian sentiment goes even further. When watching espionage thrillers in movies and television, 9 times out of 10, the antagonist is Russian. This was prevalent during the Cold War - in a way that's understandable. Continuously placing Russia as the "bad guy" on film will seep into people's brains, reinforcing the lie. It should be common knowledge that the CIA has a considerable foothold in Hollywood. In many instances, film scripts are sent to the CIA for approval. And if you need Black Helicopters and certain inside information militarily, bringing the CIA on board for a film is highly advantageous. Constantly placing Russia as the evil antagonist in films will affect the public psyche. 

Another anti-Russian phenomenon that was ongoing before the invasion of Ukraine was any journalist, politician, or pundit who questioned American imperialism around the planet was called a Putin puppet, Kremlin spy, or traitor. Hillary Clinton called Congresswoman and presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard a Russian dupe. (paraphrased) Gabbard responded on Twitter, calling Clinton the queen of warmongers. For a high-level statesperson, a once first lady and presidential hopeful, to call Tulsi Gabbard a Russian spy reveals the depths of this anti-Russian propaganda. Suddenly anyone was called a "Putin puppet" who questioned US foreign policy. It became insane, bordering on psychotic. 

So in 2021, Russia invaded Ukraine for apparent reasons. These reasons were hidden from the general public, and Ukraine flags sprung from the lawns of "patriotic" Americans like weeds in a bean field. No one wanted to understand the history of Ukraine and its relationship with Russia. No one wanted to know that the Ukraine government had been bombing Russia leaning Donbast, killing 14 thousand of innocent civilians. Why? Because in counterintelligence, the *silence* of information is just as efficient as *misinformation*.  

In the west, we have been groomed to despise Russia. To offer any alternative perspective is met with antagonism and childish name-calling - worst, banishment from media platforms that offer different voices. 

We have been groomed to view Russia as the west's enemy. This grooming has been going on for some years. Censorship has risen in leaps and bounds since 2020. 

Why?

Censorship is a tool of authoritarianism. 

Corporate Media Attack on Matt Taibbi.

 

American corporate media have been on the offensive this week against the independent journalist Matt Taibbi. The writer's reporting on the Twitter Files exposes the collusion between MSM, Intelligence agencies, and Twitter. What is certainly not surprising, those on the attack are mostly ex-intelligence employees and government attorneys. From what I can glean, the criticisms are directed at Tiabbi's character and authenticity as a journalist. They also propose an insane conspiracy theory that his writing fuels far-right and far-left views in politics. In a recent article Taibbi published on his substack page, titled, On MSNBC and Authoritarianism, he writes: 

 Even by the low standards of the genre, "How the populist left has become vulnerable to the populist right" is a humorous standout. It argues that after I spent a month detailing how the FBI, DHS, DOD, CIA, and other agencies built a system for mass delivery of censorship requests to firms like Twitter and Facebook, I helped fuel a subculture that "could funnel people from leftism to authoritarianism." 

I must admit that these vacuous establishment types have become a little more clever in their criticisms of those who oppose or question their political opinions. Any complaint of them was responded to with "Putin Puppet," "Russian Agent,," Assad Apologist," etc. Again, calling leftist commentators 'funnels for an extreme political view' is clever, though, on its face, this claim is insane. Taibbi goes on to write: 

MSNBC and similarly foundering competitor CNN (which lost 19% and 27% of their audiences, respectively, last year) have been open for years now in their desire to serve as final revolving door destinations for the shadiest conceivable military and security officials.

If anything, these "left" commentators and journalists have only reported on the lies and propaganda that the government and MSM have told the general public for years. A prime example was the Russiagait disinformation campaign, lasting over 4 years, pushing unfounded conspiracy theories, calling the 2016 presidential election Russian-influenced, and calling the then President Trump, an agent of Putin, a traitor to his country. This was created by the Clinton campaign and fueled by the MSM by way of the intelligence agencies. All this disinformation turned out to be just that, conspiracy theories presented as fact. Somehow, high-profile leftist journalists and commentators funnel propaganda to shepherd people into a world of authoritarianism. 

A 2nd grader would see through this unfounded claim. 

What is that age-old adage in journalism: 'Never let the facts get in the way of a good story.' The corporate media practices this style of tabloid 'entertainment' and misinformation daily. 

In recent history, the CIA launched Project Mockingbird, where agents would infiltrate influential news organizations to plant stories that promoted their own ends. In the 21st century, no subterfuge is required because they hire ex-spooks and establishment shills right out in the open. 

The Twitter Files revealed this collusion between Intelligence agencies, corporate media, and social media to plant disinformation or prevent other news that might affect public opinion. 

Taibbi names these people. Most of which are ex-spooks and ex-political influencers. 

(See article).

Rather than report on Taibbi's factual reporting, these establishment geeks come out swinging with more lies and conspiracy theories. 

Considering corporate media's drastic plummet in their audience, they would try another tactic. Only more lies will do when you deal only with lies and propaganda. 

As the saying goes: 

You can't teach an old dog new tricks. 

Bukowski - Women - Review

Bukowski's Women was first published in 1979.  The setting is LA, California, which, in the late '70s, rings of an atmosphere familiar to my memory. I can see the author driving down the freeway in his 69 Volkswagon, speeding towards LAX to meet another "poet groupie" with who he had a brief correspondence. The pattern is the same: the women are between 20-32, and they've read his books. Before picking up their baggage, he insists on going to the bar for a few drinks. On arriving at his shitty apartment, they drink much more and end up in his bed, either performing miserably (too much to drink) or having a good exchange. The groupie will stay a couple of days and leave from where they came. 

The book is this, though much more. As a reader, there were so many 'encounters' and short-term relationships that it was difficult to separate them. All the names melded together as one woman, different only in age and profession. The woman he devotes the most words is Lydia. She's in her mid-twenties, beautiful. and a ticking time bomb that occasionally explodes dramatically. In one scene, the author returns to his apartment to find all his books gone and his beloved typewriter missing. He ventures outside only to be physically attacked, and later watches her smash his typewriter on the street several times. The woman is jealous. She has spent time in psychiatric care and is hooked on various drugs. The strange thing is Lydia is the woman who the author truly loves. 

As readers of Bukowski know, his main focus in life is booze, gambling, women/sex and writing. In his descriptive, and at times raunch prose, he can describe a sex scene graphically and with honest emotion. The author is old, ugly, and has acne scars and a pot belly. This does not stop the slew of women that knock on his door weekly. He loves women but treats them like meat; the younger, the better. The interesting point is all these women know the author is an alcoholic sex fiend, yet fall in love with the man anyway. This begs the question: are these women in love with the man or the writer? After finishing the novel, I believe it's a little of both. 

As one woman comments, once meeting the man, the tender and the honest poet doesn't exist, only on the page. After watching a short documentary on Bukowski, a journalist asks his young wife if she's in love with the writer or the man. She answered the "man," which noticeably pleased the writer. 

This novel of the late seventies is a cultural relic, where women, at least in public, were treated as merely baby-making machines and sexual objects. In our modern cancel culture, this book would never have been published. Different views, different attitudes, and a different culture in 1979. Despite the author's apparent 'disrespect' for women generally, close to the novel's end, he experiences an emotional breakdown, realizing he treats women like shit and is just an old, selfish asshole, only out for his own ends. This was a healthy epiphany, though. Despite this newfound self-realization, his behavior doesn't change - he returns to being a selfish prig.

This book is undoubtedly a relic of times past. I would not recommend this novel to young people searching for a literary example, forging ahead on their own writing path. However, the writing is crisp, descriptive, and honest. Bukowski doesn't care what we think and writes without literary pomp like he has something to prove. 

He's telling it like he sees it and nothing more. 

2022 - A Ranting Retrospective.

 

The predominant focus for 2022 has to be the war in Ukraine. A close second is proof that certain government agencies have colluded with social media platforms to spread disinformation about various essential issues. This real conspiracy revealed the suppression of news that would have significantly influenced the 2020 Presidential election. Yes, I'm talking about the Hunter Biden Laptop. With the aid of social and corporate media, the government spread the lie that the laptop was an effort by the Russians to influence votes in the United States. Specific statistics show a sway of at least 16% of votes in favor of the Trump campaign.  For agencies like the FBI and CIA, running interference in American elections (suppressing the truth and forwarding lies) should have been a significant scandal. For the most part, however, this anti-constitutional corrupting influence was barely covered. This is merely another reason for not trusting mainstream corporate media. 

What naturally follows here is the severe censorship of particular voices on social media, as revealed by the Twitter Files. Those who control the narrative will dictate people's views of the world. The misinformation spread by corporate news and the censorship on social sites has forced many to seek alternative media. From one survey, I discovered that the corporate media is less trusted than the American government - and that's saying something. 

What many call a "mask-off" moment, the extent of censorship across the board is more severe than anyone could imagine. Those promoting a different perspective of the Russian proxy war in Ukraine were banned, shadow-banned, or banished entirely from any platform. War is a divisive issue for people, no matter what they believe. Personally, I lost a good friendship from my views of Ukraine. We agree on just about everything else except this stupid war. For our authorities to expect us to believe everything they vomit out daily is ridiculous. Many people do not have the time to read alternative media and varying points of view on any given subject. Family, two jobs, etc., collapsing on the couch, and switching on the major networks is about the extent of knowing what is happening in the world. 

In an unprecedented move, the US government approved over 780 billion to the war budget. Though it seems to change weekly, close to 100 billion was given to Ukraine for the US's proxy war with Russia. This is a massive amount of money, a massive dent in the American tax dollar. While the US has a huge homeless problem, a corrupt medical system designed to bankrupt families, and the average family working paycheck to paycheck, 100 billion dollars handed over to Ukraine is a slap in the face for the common American citizen.  

Over 2022, I've often commented on why our governments are handing over so much money for war. Our government is not for the people but is the servant of the corporations. Ukraine is a boon for weapon manufacturers and related companies producing military products. Our politicians are rewarded by their donors, ensuring they remain in office. Like all recent wars over the 20 years, including Libya, Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan, this is our capitalism in motion. War for these people, although shrouded in jingoistic rhetoric and nationalistic cliches of 'freedom and democracy,' is a money laundering exercise and racket. More people are beginning to understand this caper of war, which can only be good. 

In Australia this year, the Labor Party was elected, and there were high hopes that the Prime Minister would speak up about Julian Assange. He finally spoke up about a month ago, but in all reality, the Assange case is out of his hands. The Intelligence agencies are the ones running the show in this case. No one can go against the permanent state because, as one politician has said, "they can screw you six ways from Sunday." Assange remains in a high-security prison without charge in the UK for exposing the machinations of these agencies. These organizations are above the law. 

From a personal perspective, the Russiagate hoax was all a lead-up to the proxy war with Russia. Russia was and currently is rammed down our throats as the west's number one enemy. I remember the movies and TV shows over the last few years that all have posted Russia as the antagonist. Undoubtedly, we have been systematically conditioned to see Russia as a threat. Russia was never a threat after the fall of the Soviet Union. America requires an enemy to ensure its goal of economic and political hegemony of the planet. 

Other big news for 2022 is the amount of disinformation and the suppression of true information regarding COVID-19. Over the year, I refused to comment for fear of being banished. Those maintaining the establishment narrative made a ton of money. Many lost their businesses and homes as a result. 

There have been other important issues and revelations in 2022 that I've failed to mention. Censorship, government agency influence in our elections, and unrelenting war propaganda to promote more destruction are the issues that stand out for me. 

We should see more light in 2023. (fingers crossed).

Happy New Year.

Charles Bukowski - Post Office - Review

 

This is Bukowski's debut novel, written and published in 1971 when the author was 51 years of age. His publisher requested he write a novel after publishing a smattering of his poems. He received the manuscript within three months. When asked why only three months? Bukowski's reply: "Fear." To the author's surprise, the novel became a success, and more novels, poems, articles, and essays followed. Bukowski is considered by many to be one of America's top poets. 

My reading experience with this author was limited to his poetry. During my 'beat' phase, reading Kerouac, Ginsberg, and Burroughs, I came across a collection and couldn't get enough. Post Office is an obscenely honest, hard-drinking narrative of a working man with a curious attitude of "I don't give a stuff about anything" way of life. The novel is about a man who gets a job at the post office, quits, is hired again, and remains there for eleven years. 

There are only three activities our narrator cares about: women/sex, and drinking. He's living with his wife in a small hotel room, where both are devoted to alcohol and each other. He only works enough to drink, bet on the horses, rent, and have a little food. This wife finally leaves him, though they remain good friends. Some years pass, and they run across each other again and have another go at their relationship. Both have aged, and that old 'love spark' has vanished. Later she dies a lonely, slow death due to alcohol. He's right by her side at the end. 

The tedium of working at the post office is well expressed. In his early days as only a temporary carrier, his experiences in the rain and the aggressive and sad customer reactions are, at times, hilarious. There is one exchange with a woman who demands a letter from him. She goes into a rage when he says he doesn't have anything for her. It's somehow the mailman's fault she doesn't have mail. Another experience on the mail line is he's seduced by an angry customer. This is a bit of a cliche, "Having an affair with the mailman," though he pulls it off, and it reads truthfully. 

The character's second wife comes from a wealthy Texas family. He's certainly out of his league, but the woman loves him. In fact, she's a nymphomanic and wants it at every turn. All will be well if he just hangs in there for a while. They return home from a Texas trip, and she demands he get a job. She will as well; this is to show her parents that they can survive on their own. It's here he returns to the post office. This marriage ends in divorce because she has met another man at work. After they divorced, she wrote him a letter. Once the man realized she was divorced, he ignored her. 

I totally enjoyed his experiences at the race track. His method of picking the winner could be more scientific, though, for a time, it works wonderfully. So much so he takes a three-month leave of absence from the post office to try his hand at professional gambling. He has a good run, eating at fine restaurants and staying at first-rate hotels, and of course, the winning streak ends, and he returns to the grind. 

I personally love this style of transparent, no-frills prose. 

Post Office gave me the first taste of Bukowski's story-telling, and I'll be returning for more. 

O’ Henry and the Spirit of Giving: A re-telling of "The Gift of the Magi."

 

After teaching for some years in Australia, it is only after the reports are completed that I can finally breathe a sigh of relief and look at the festive season. It is only tonight that my list was made for gifts; although rather slim under the circumstances (less cash than usual), lack of $ somehow turns Christmas into a more meaningful event. Why? One needs to think about the gift because we want the gift to “mean” something to the receiver.

This reminds me of an O’Henry story.

 I recall reading The Gift of the Magi as a teenager, which significantly affected my outlook on Christmas and the world.

It has been many years since reading this gem, so bear with my sparse and general prose; at least, hopefully, the primary theme, the “message,” will be made clear:

Around the 19th century in grand old London, a couple lived in a very small flat on the East end, but a flat was only large enough to cook their breakfast and dinner and sleep together in a single bed. Their home was humble yet clean as the wife ensured their home remained spotless, their sheets crisp and white, their windows transparent, ensuring what little sun they captured would shine through…

Unfortunately, the husband lost his job as a clockmaker because times were hard, and people could not purchase fine-crafted timepieces. But it was Christmas, the season for giving, acknowledging life’s miracles, and the birth of a true Man of God.

In only a few weeks, all their money evaporated, not from frivolous wants but from basic needs.

One thing you should know about this special couple is that they were wonderfully in love. Fine home, beautiful clothes, and objects of beauty made no difference to them as long as they had each other.

She had the longest, most beautiful hair in London. In fact, people on the streets, gentlemen, and ladies, would stop her and comment on its color, sheen, and magnificent appeal.

Though dressed in an old suit, he managed to maintain an air of respectability. His most prized possession was a gold pocket watch that had been given to him by his father, which had been given to his father by his grandfather, and so on. The watch had been in his family for many years.

Carelessly, as a young man, he lost the gold chain attached to the watch. From that day on, he kept the watch in a special box above the fireplace, fearing losing the object representing a long and vital family tradition.

Christmas meant so much to both of them.

Because of their intense love for each other, both felt a need to give each other a gift at this most important time of the year. But with no money, what could they do?

On Christmas Eve, both ventured out into the city, determined to find the perfect present.

Christmas morning arrived, and they rose from their single bed to the chilling cold of their flat.

Excited, he opened his present to find a gold chain for his most precious watch.

She looked at her lover’s face to find disappointment. Why would he not want a gold chain to wear his precious watch?

His lover opened her present to find the most beautiful ivory comb for her lovely long hair.

They looked at each other, and the truth had become clear to both: She removed a string from her hair to reveal that she had cut her beautiful hair.

“I am sorry, my love! I had to cut my hair to sell it to buy the gold chain for your watch!”

He smiled though he felt a pang of guilt.

“I am sorry, my love! I sold my gold watch to buy this ivory comb for your lovely hair.”

To them, it did not matter.

It was Christmas, and they had each other.

This is a beautiful story about the true spirit of giving.

I’ve never ever forgotten this beautiful tale and seem to remember it at this time of the season.

Icon of Modernism - Review of Marc Chagall (Bio) by Jonathan Wilson

 

The reader turns the first page of this little book to see the 1929 oil on canvas painting, "Lovers" by Marc Chagall. The painting depicts a man and woman seated and embracing; the woman's head turned inward on the man's breast, while the man, an expression of calm and contentment, peers upward, watching a winged angel flying overhead across a deep purple sky. The painting has the deep and rich signature color of all Chagall's work, though it lacks the intense emotional suffering and ambivalence that makes up so much of his oeuvre; however, this painting evokes a mystical love, a true love which, in my opinion, expresses the relationship between the artist and his beautiful wife, Bella.

As part of the Jewish Encounter project, Marc Chagall by Jonathan Wilson is one contribution devoted to promoting Jewish literature, culture, and ideas.

It can be observed that most of Chagall's work, according to the author, is an expression of his philosophy, his religious sensibility if you will, in the form of the "literalization of metaphors", deeply grounded in the mystical and symbolic Hasidic world and Yiddish folktales, which include in their writings the "repository of flying animals and miraculous events." (P. 13)

It is impossible to label Chagall's work as "Expressionism", but the representation of an acute imagination, colored in fantasy, depicting highly charged religious symbols, including in several works, Christs Crucifixion, in a variety of contexts. What I love about Chagall is the viewer is drawn into the work by its striking color and busy subject matter and is compelled to study it because the meaning of the painting must be discovered as it is not apparent on a superficial viewing.

Wilson does a wonderful job of narrating Chagall's life in terms of the major events that the artist experienced, spanning through the Russian revolution, two world wars, the Holocaust, and the establishment of the State of Israel. Wilson suggests that in viewing Chagall's paintings against the backdrop of these major historical events will see the artist's work as a response to them and his personal inner conflict between his "Jewishness" and his focus on Christ's Crucifixion and also his attempt at secularism in many of his paintings.

My favorite paintings by the artist are his various representations of love that display an ethereal, mystical quality, a sublimeness that to me, captures love in their most revealing forms; as Wilson comments, "Chagall's vision of love, so appealing to the human soul, frequently involves a merging of two faces, or bodies, into one. In this regard, he is Platonic, as his figures pursue their other halves in an apparent longing to become whole again. Over and again, he paints the myth that Aristophanes recounts in The Symposium." (P.174)

Chagall's life, Wilson suggests, was an attempt through his art at the reconciliation between two worlds, a genuine effort universalizing or merging opposites; he writes, "In his paintings, past and present, dream and reality, rabbi and clown, secular and observant, revolutionary and Jew, Jesus and Elijah...all commingle and merge in a world where history and geography but also the laws of physics and nature have been suspended." (P. 210)

Wilson's Marc Chagall is an erudite biography and insightful critical work. Although relatively short in length, it manages to capture the artist who is considered, along with Picasso and Matisse, one of the icons of Modernism.

Homage to Apollinaire. 1911-1912. Oil on canvas, 209x198 cm.