In an atmosphere of mass hysteria and paranoia (like the one we’re living in at the moment), the authorities’ narratives do not have to make sense, or stand up to any type of real scrutiny. Their primary purpose is not to deceive, but rather, to demarcate an ideological territory of acceptable belief, expression, and emotion to which “normal” people are expected to conform.
We don’t normally do movie reviews here at BSNews. In fact, we usually concentrate exclusively on geo-politics and foreign policy, steer clear of sports and let others cover gossip and popular culture. My co-ed occasionally reveals her anthropological fascination and ultimate exasperation with the insidious twins of celebrity culture and the advertising industry but for me, I avoid them both like the plague, I never watch TV and I wouldn’t know a Kardashian if one punched me in the face.
President Trump’s confected indignation at Unesco, and his shrugging off of its vital global programmes, serve as a reminder that the US is not an “honest broker” of a Middle East peace. Rather it is the biggest obstacle to its realisation.
We are required to unquestioningly praise the U.S. Military for keeping us free, and protecting us from the villains du jour, in spite of the fact that it is really nothing more than a band of merciless mercenaries, hired by Wall Street to rob, rape, and pillage the resources of other countries. Amerika is in the business of war…nay, is dedicated, heart and soul, to the manufacture, sale, and use of Weapons of Mass Destruction.
Earlier this week, Milo Yiannapolous, an editor at the right-wing news platform Breitbart.com, had his widely coveted ‘blue tick’ removed from his Twitter account by the social media company, for violating ‘terms of service’ (ToS).
I don’t read newspapers anymore – I just lie to myself and cut out the middleman, but I think it’s important to note that the press themselves are not actually outraged by what they report on as being offensive.
Imagine if George Monbiot, John Pilger, Noam Chomsky, Edward Herman, David Peterson, Jonathan Cook, Mark Curtis, Glenn Greenwald, Nafeez Ahmed, Robert Fisk, Naomi Klein, Russell Brand, Michael Moore, Julian Assange, Chris Hedges, Sharon Beder, Seumas Milne and others rejected the media moguls, billionaires, parent companies and advertisers, and offered their work completely free of charge from a single media outlet. Would the global public be willing to support such a group, such a cause, through donations? The answer, we think, is blindingly obvious.
“A string of at least 69 arrests in France this week on the vague charge of ‘defending terrorism’ (‘l’apologie du terrorisme’) risks violaing freedom of expression,” Amnesty International said in an understated press release on Friday.
Why such hostility to Meatless Mondays? Well Staples has received at least $116,000 in campaign contributions from beef and ranching interests since 2010, according to public records. And this treasonous rhetoric is identical to that of the meat industry; just a few days ago I reported on Beef Magazine comparing the Humane Society to ISIS.
The very reason why Bill’s work lives on and still has such amazing potency is that, in a world full of ‘banality and mediocrity’, of sophistry, of casuistry and speciousness, of the kind of fakery and shallowness Brand Man and his ilk make their stock in trade, his words retain the mark of genuine authenticity. They are like water in a desert to those of us thirsting for something real in a world of fabrication and deception.
