FOX Skews
by Alex Symington…
Now wait just a minute! Let me get this straight… Brian Williams gets suspended from NBC for six months, without pay for telling tall tales about his exploits of daring while covering military actions that he never actually took part in? Really?! Why is Brian Williams being targeted? A little ego inflating canard and he is the devil incarnate, yet our friends at FOX lie on an hourly basis and have the audacity to call themselves “fair and balanced”! Why no hue and cry over the fact that sixty percent of Fox News statements examined by PunditFact were found to be “mostly false”, “false” or “pants on fire”? That’s fifty of eighty-three comments that fit that catagory! Why is a lie from Fox acceptable, but a lie from NBC high crime?
Is it the fact that FOX is expected to lie like a rug sixty percent of the time, so people are just used to it? Is it like Adolph Hitler said, “If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.” Is it because many people tune into FOX expressly to hear only what they like/want to hear and the truth is irrelevant? I’m going to go with all-of-the-above.
That isn’t to say other network and cable “news” stations don’t alter and edit material, but FOX is the champ when it comes to manipulating information to influence perception and stoke the fires of twisted patriotism and self righteous indignation of the fearful faithful. Fear of immigrants, fear of terrorists, fear of Islam, fear of homosexuality, fear of people of color, fear of change, fear of disease, fear of vaccination to prevent disease! FEAR is the product that FOX sells to America. Fear keeps our endless war machine well lubricated. Fear keeps us in a state of perpetual imbalance and gridlock preventing any chance of amelioration in our government or society at large; just the way the war profiteers and corporate power elite have engineered it.
The lie as a tool is nothing new; it is just that we have more ways of telling them than ever before. However, at the same time, cable, network, radio and print media are becoming less and less diverse as ownership of media is in the hands of fewer and fewer individuals. So, I’ll ask again, why is a lie from the lips of say, cliché blond talking head, Megyn Kelly gospel, yet Brian Williams not so much?
A perfect example of FOX’s duplicitous manipulation of information to inflame the true believers was a February 11, 2015 report by Megyn Kelly on our embassy in Yemen being closed and evacuated and our Marines being “ordered to stand down and leave their weapons behind.” Megyn, along with FOX’s “military expert”, Pete Hegseth, from the Koch-funded veterans’ organization Concerned Veterans for America, was on hand to rile up the easily riled with statements like, “So, we’re surrendering around the world, we’re surrendering our embassy, and now we’re asking U.S. Marines to surrender their dignity, give up oaths that they made, creeds that they live by, and surrender their rifle.”
Complete incendiary twaddle. So if you tuned in, heard that, then turned off the TV to rush out and buy another gun in solidarity with those “humiliated” Marines you would have missed the awkward retraction by Megyn later in the broadcast. The Marines were ordered to destroy any weapons and render them worthless before they left the embassy. At the airport they destroyed their personal weapons before boarding to leave the country. Megyn would have us believe that the Marines were forced to hand over functioning weapons to the enemy, apologize for being American and pledge their undying fealty to the Dark Lord, Sauron.
Megyn, unable to honestly and completely admit to her deception, made a sideways retraction with the caveat that, Yeah….well, even though everything I’ve told you is total poppycock, “the Marine Corps does not dispute the reporting that CENTCOM is outraged over weapons being rendered inoperable.” That is like saying, “I cannot confirm or deny CENTCOM was upset with the outcome of the Super Bowl.”
This kabuki theater of delusory misinformation goes on all day, every day at FOX. Not once, not now and again, but ALL THE TIME and yet we want to crucify Brian Williams. Of course, I am not the only one that sees the absurd double standard of our “media watchdogs”. Canada, a nation we often contemptuously ridicule for its responsible social contract with its citizens, has out-and-out banned FOX from bringing their brand of “Skews” north of the border. Canadian regulators have rejected efforts by Canada’s right-wing Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, to repeal Canadian law that forbids lying on broadcast news!
RSN (Reader Supported News) reports, “Harper’s attempts to make lying legal on Canadian television are a stark admission that right-wing political ideology can only dominate national debate through dishonest propaganda. Since corporate profit-taking is not an attractive vessel for populism, a political party or broadcast network that makes itself the tool of corporate and financial elites must lie to make its agenda popular with the public. In the Unites States, Fox News and talk radio, the sock puppets of billionaires and corporate robber barons, have become the masters of propaganda and distortion on the public airwaves.”
Conversely in these United States of America lying on broadcast news is fine and dandy. According to the Florida Court of Appeals that in February 2003 unanimously agreed with an assertion by FOX News that “there is no rule against distorting or falsifying the news in the United States.”
Daily Kos reported, “During their appeal, FOX asserted that there are no written rules against distorting news in the media. They argued that, under the First Amendment, broadcasters have the right to lie or deliberately distort news reports on public airwaves. Fox attorneys did not dispute Akre’s claim (link below) that they pressured her to broadcast a false story; they simply maintained that it was their right to do so.
The court further stated that, “The FCC policy against falsification of the news does not rise to the level of a “law, rule, or regulation,” it was simply a “policy.” Therefore, it is up to the station whether or not it wants to report honestly.
There you have it; lying is simply a policy decision of FOX. So, for all the FOX watchers out there, knock yourself out, but know you would be equally or perhaps even better informed if you tuned into the Cartoon Network.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More from other sources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzYymuslGDw
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/07/31/364678/-Fox-News-wins-in-court
http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/276-74/5123-fox-news-lies-keep-them-out-of-canada
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/03/should-lying-be-illegal-canadas-broadcasters-debate/72866/
http://crooksandliars.com/2015/02/fox-news-lies-about-marines-leaving
everything you wrote is true Mr. Symington, but why restrict your commentary to Fox News? Does it not equally apply to all establishment media? do you really believe there is a difference in the journalistic integrity between Fox, ABC, CBS, NBC, or the New York Times? do you trust any of these media outlets to provide you with the unbridled truth? Fox has the reputation of being a mouth piece for the right wing, but have you examined the political panel show lineups of all the other networks? what about Judith Miller and the vaunted New York Times? What about the complete take down of Gary Webb by the aforementioned NY Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and even his own newspaper? what about just about any headline you see today… ISIS, Ukraine, Ebola…
while the lies the blonde bimbo parade at Fox News clearly are beyond dispute, so it is with the rest of the media. relying on ANY of these organizations to provide you with anything but propaganda is just plain naïve.
these companies are owned by a handful of people; why would they permit you to be informed of anything that does not promote their interest?
look into the Gary Webb case; it will tell you all you need to know about how independent ANY of the media is. or, you can just watch the movie Kill the Messenger (though it is somewhat sanitized).
“That isn’t to say other network and cable “news” stations don’t alter and edit material, but FOX is the champ when it comes to manipulating information to influence perception and stoke the fires of twisted patriotism and self righteous indignation of the fearful faithful.”
“The lie as a tool is nothing new; it is just that we have more ways of telling them than ever before. However, at the same time, cable, network, radio and print media are becoming less and less diverse as ownership of media is in the hands of fewer and fewer individuals.”
**direct from snopes fwiw. wjm
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Fox Skews
image: http://www.snopes.com/graphics/news/foxnews.jpg
Claim: Fox News won a 2004 court case allowing the cable channel to lie to viewers.
image: http://www.snopes.com/images/content-divider.gif
image: http://www.snopes.com/images/red.gif
FALSE
image: http://www.snopes.com/images/content-divider.gif
Example: [Collected via e-mail, October 2014]
Can you check out this about Fox News winning a case in 2004 where they don’t have to provide the truth in the news?
image: http://www.snopes.com/graphics/news/foxlies.jpg
Origins: Rumors have circulated since at least 2009 claiming that the Fox News cable television channel fought successfully in court
for the right to lie, misinform, or deceive viewers. The claim that Fox News legally won the “right to lie” has been repeated across the internet despite its being factually inaccurate on more than one level.
First, the case from which the rumor stemmed resulted in a Florida appeals court ruling in February 2003, not 2004. More germane to the rumor, however, is the fact that the case at hand did not involve the national Fox News cable channel (the case substantially predates the Fox News cable channel’s current 24-hour coverage), but rather a local Tampa Bay television station (WTVT) that was an affiliate station of the Fox network.
Additionally, the events that led up to the “Fox lies” case were not about the station’s day-to-day programming; rather, the legal battle to which the rumor refers was about a husband-and-wife reporting team (Jane Aker and Steve Wilson) who objected to being involved in an unaired story about bovine growth hormones (BGH) due to what the pair believed was a corporate conflict of interest. The reporters claimed they had been unfairly terminated from their jobs for “resisting WTVT’s attempts to distort or suppress the BGH story”:
In September 1997, WTVT notified Akre and Wilson that it was exercising its option to terminate their employment contracts without cause. Akre and Wilson responded in writing to WTVT threatening to file a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) alleging that the station had “illegally” edited the still unfinished BGH report in violation of an FCC policy against federally licensed broadcasters deliberately distorting the news. The parties never resolved their differences regarding the content of the story, and consequently, the story never aired.
In April 1998, Akre and Wilson sued WTVT alleging, among other things, claims under the whistle-blower’s statute. Those claims alleged that their terminations had been in retaliation for their resisting WTVT’s attempts to distort or suppress the BGH story and for threatening to report the alleged news distortion to the FCC. Akre also brought claims for declaratory relief and for breach of contract. After a four-week trial, a jury found against Wilson on all of his claims. The trial court directed a verdict against Akre on her breach of contract claim, Akre abandoned her claim for declaratory relief, and the trial court let her whistle-blower claims go to the jury. The jury rejected all of Akre’s claims except her claim that WTVT retaliated against her in response to her threat to disclose the alleged news distortion to the FCC. The jury awarded Akre $425,000 in damages.
Another common misconception is that Fox News invoked First Amendment protections in order to retain the “right to lie” during the lengthy legal battle between the couple and the Florida Fox affiliate. There was no mention of any such claim in the appeals court decision, and Akre herself does not corroborate it. Ultimately, the FCC concluded in 2007 that the conflict between Akre and Wilson and the affiliate boiled down to an “editorial dispute … rather than a deliberate effort by [WTVT] to distort news.”
The “right to lie” claims are similar to another false story about Fox News’ trustworthiness, that the network was banned in Canada because it does not meet stringent Canadian broadcast standards for truthfulness.
Last updated: 2 October 2014
Urban Legends Reference Pages © 1995-2015 by snopes.com.
This material may not be reproduced without permission.
snopes and the snopes.com logo are registered service marks of snopes.com.
Read more at http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/foxlies.asp#4Bx01hEoJLckiBIl.99
and as to Canada banning fox! again FALSE. wjm
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Canadian Fox
image: http://www.snopes.com/politics/graphics/canadahead.jpg
Claim: The Fox News television channel has been banned in Canada because they report false information
FALSE
image: http://www.snopes.com/images/content-divider.gif
Examples: [Collected via e-mail, October 2012]
Is it true that Fox News Network is not allowed in Canada?
I’ve heard that because the Fox News network is not factual, they are not allowed on Canadian TV.
image: http://www.snopes.com/politics/graphics/foxnewsb.jpg
Origins: Since at least 2011, rumors have circulated claiming the Fox News television channel has been banned in Canada due to its running afoul of Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) prohibitions which make it “illegal to broadcast lies and label it news.” One prominent example of this rumor states, for example, that:
America’s middle class battles for its survival on the Wisconsin barricades — against various Koch Oil surrogates and the corporate toadies at Fox News — fans of enlightenment, democracy and justice can take comfort from a significant victory north of the Wisconsin border. Fox News will not be moving into Canada after all! The reason: Canadian regulators announced last week they would reject efforts by Canada’s right-wing Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, to repeal a law that forbids lying on broadcast news.
Canada’s Radio Act requires that “a licenser may not broadcast … any false or misleading news.” The provision has kept Fox News and right-wing talk radio out of Canada and helped make Canada a model for liberal democracy and freedom. As a result of that law, Canadians enjoy high quality news coverage, including the kind of foreign affairs and investigative journalism that flourished in this country before Ronald Reagan abolished the “Fairness Doctrine” in 1987.
It is true that various sections of CRTC regulations prohibit the broadcasting of “false or misleading news” by radio and television licensees, and that in 2011 the CRTC declined to narrow those regulations to apply only to “news that the licensee knows is false or misleading and that endangers or is likely to endanger the lives, health or safety of the public.” However, it is not true that such regulations
have kept the Fox News Channel from gaining entry into Canada, or that they were invoked to boot Fox News out of that country after the channel was established there. The CRTC regulations apply only to Canadian broadcasters using Canadian airwaves; they do not apply to the Fox News Channel, which is a non-Canadian entity transmitted via satellite and cable, not broadcast over public airwaves.
Fox Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch was rebuffed in his efforts to establish Fox News Canada in 2003 due to Canadian laws regarding foreign ownership of print and broadcast media, but the CRTC approved an application to bring the Fox News Channel to Canadian digital television line-ups back in November 2004, and that channel is now carried by dozens of different digital providers throughout Canada. (The claimed distinction that Fox News is only allowed in Canada due to its being classified as an “entertainment” channel rather than as a “news” channel is a meaningless one, as those classifications only apply to Canadian media outlets, and Fox is an American company.)
The Fox Network, which is a broadcast entity distinctly different from the Fox News Channel, does not have any affiliates or owned-and-operated stations in Canada, but Fox Network programming is carried on cable and satellite providers in Canada through several U.S. stations located near the U.S.-Canada border.
Last updated: 15 February 2015
Urban Legends Reference Pages © 1995-2015 by snopes.com.
This material may not be reproduced without permission.
snopes and the snopes.com logo are registered service marks of snopes.com.
image: http://www.snopes.com/images/content-divider.gif
image: http://www.snopes.com/images/template/icon-sources.gif
Sources:
Galloway, Gloria. “CRTC Plan to Lift Ban on False News Prompts Political Investigation.”
The Globe and Mail. 7 February 2011.
CBC News. “CRTC approves Fox News for Canada.”
18 November 2004.
National Post. “Harper to Loosen Telecom Rules?”
23 November 2009.
image: http://www.snopes.com/images/content-divider.gif
Read more at http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/foxcanada.asp#Yq9tvxG5W2SYARE4.99
KB,
I do not watch ANY cable or network skews. You are correct in your assessment.
Alex, If you don’t watch ANY cable or network news, how would you know Fox lies? Do you get your news from Facebook? Twitter?
Mr. Symington:
I did read the article, and did notice the two paragraphs you displayed in your retort. my point was simply to express the singularity of the article to Fox. they are no better or worse than any other media outlet. their viewership is relatively small, their demographic is relatively old, and will soon die off. it is my personal opinion that they have far less influence then they are credited with. they have far less cache (and viewers) with the public than do the network shows, and I believe most people view them as entertainment more so than anything else. the fact that they are given such prominence by the rest of the media is what is telling to me, and surely lends credence to the incestuous relationship that permeates, no defines, our government-business-media complex.
they are all nothing but propaganda megaphones for their owners, and that was my point.
Cynthia and I have stopped watching even PBS after the Nation and Mother Jones’ expose of their corporate censorship of investigative pieces. We now watch, of all things, Al Jazeera. Their treatment of international news, especially related to the Middle East, where most of the intl news is now, is leagues above network or other cable. You do NOT have to watch endless speculation about the next US presidential election. There is an understandable slight bias towards the Palestinians, but they are so aware of it that they come across as even-handed.
Hey, I found a use for keysbum’s facile vitriol. Set me straight, bum, on how I don’t get how Al Jazeera is also a part of your megalomaniacal evil world order phantasm..
I disagree that Fox is the same as the rest. I agree, they all represent a narrow socio-economic point of view, but there are varying degrees of lying. Fox represents such a narrow sliver of capitalist theory, one so far to the right, one so advantageous to the plutocrats this favors, that they must lie in order to propagate such theory. The more center-left capitalist theorists definitely will cherry pick the narrative that suits their point of view, but they do not have to always lie to show some positive effects of this point of view (sure, my own objectivity could be called into doubt here, but what I believe is what I believe until proven otherwise). But yes, as Mr. Boettger says, I have no doubt that al-Jazeera comes far closer to the truth, especially with regard to the Middle East, than anything offered by Big Media in America. In the end, I agree, the fringe elements of information are more reliable than the main stream, but Fox is a different animal. It is purposely simple minded. It’s mission is to not just promote the capitalist-consumer society, but the most savage concept of it. It has done great damage to our country and the world.
Well said, Jerome. They all stink of corporate sponsorship, but FOX Spews has a more obvious ripe smell of corporate propaganda. The Fifth Estate/Indy News is the last bastion.
Shaquille speaks!!
there is no setting you straight Shaquille; regardless of the information you are exposed to, your arrogance and refusal to process any idea not borne out of your own limited knowledge base is an exercise in futility. it doesn’t matter whether you watch Fox, CBS, or try and be cool and hip by watching Al Jazeera, you are not capable of abstract thought, nor are you capable of accepting a paradigm not in accordance with your own world view. geez, you wrote a book about the national debt and clearly demonstrated you know nothing about, and do not understand the monetary system!! ever wonder why your “book” is priced (and over priced at that) for a penny on Amazon? it’s literally not worth the paper its written on!
rather than call me names, why don’t you call me out on any of the facts that I have written. challenge me on anything that I have said, anything at all. here’s an easy one: challenge me on the national debt. you wrote a book about it, so you should be well versed on the subject. tell us all why we should even have a national debt. tell us all why its necessary to have money as debt in the first place. tell us all where money comes from and from who. that should be right in your wheel house.
if you can’t or wont, then just sit down, zip it, and count your degrees.
Knock, knock….
Hello? Hello? Shaquille? are you there? HELLO??
…he surely is out to lunch….
http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/foxcanada.asp
http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/tv/fox/
yes your first link above is exactly what I copied in my second post on feb 20 @ 11:40am refuting your original story claim. color me dumbfounded!
looks like
“kccwoodworks
February 21, 2015 at 10:57 am
Alex, If you don’t watch ANY cable or network news, how would you know Fox lies? Do you get your news from Facebook? Twitter?”
has much merit especially in light of you apparently not reading the text of 11:40am. disseminating mindless email spam falsehoods in a story line is poor judgement in the least or blatant lying of which you accuse fox of in the most or is it merely by omission the taking out of context and cutting and pasting a story line that fits the occasion?
Let’s face Facts Alex, EVERYONE lies to suit their purpose. Every elected official lies, our spouses lie, our kids lie, or clergy lie our bosses lie. So given that revaluation it’s up to each individual as to what they choose to accept. You have issues with Fox News, your choice. I have issues with comissioner George Neugent, the biggest lier I know others think he’s great, so be it. We still get to choose what to believe. There is a on/off switch
Keysbum, Let me put it this way: It is not just a question of what they tell us, but of how they tell it. Fox News has emotionally changed the game. They’ve done away with sportsmanship, with fair play, with respect for the opponent, with a hand shake after the game, all metaphors for the idea of a “loyal opposition”, which is the foundation of a democracy. It is no accident our political arena has degraded into such belligerence and dysfunction and Fox News has willingly led the way. They’ve turned our national discourse into a back alley gang fight that has been dumb downed to their specifications. None of us here see the other Big Media outlets as pristine sources of truth, but Fox is a radical element of retro-thought. They are the termites gnawing away at our national house. Mr. Singleton is correct in singling them out. As for trying to be “hip”, no one here tries more for that standard than you. You refuse to see any shades of gray in our politics, and they do exist.
with all due respect Mr. Grapel, no one is trying to be hip. if stating facts is the standard for being “hip”, you have set an extremely low bar. opinions can be “hip”, and as I have stated before, I defy you to point to any comment I have made (sans the one above) that purported a personal opinion. so if stating facts that are not in the mainstream of thought is “hip” to you, then so be it. but i offer you the same challenge that I proffered to Shaquille Boettger: call me on my facts, rather than call me names. he can’t do it, can you?
I refuse to see the shades of grey because they do not exist in our discussions. if we were both looking at a 3-D sidewalk drawing illusion, you would see the affect and I would see the effect. you would see and accept it for the illusion it was meant to be, while I would see it for the 2-D drawing that it is. you see our political process as something that is real, while I know it to be a façade for the tyranny that really exists behind it. and the facts are there to prove it. I tell you of a jewish organization that is anti Zionist, and you refuse to accept it. that is a FACT that is not open to interpretation, is not dependent on opinion, nor what the day of the week it is. yet, because it does not conform to your myopic view on the matter, that fact is summarily dismissed and ignored. we simply do not discuss issues on the same level. cognitive dissonance is a powerful preventative, and unfortunately the self awareness required to recognize it, is seldom found in the arrogance that gave birth to it.
now to Fox News. the discussion was about news. the few “news” shows that Fox has are little different than the pabulum offered up by anyone else. it seems what you guys are discussing are all the other stuff Fox has on. however shows like Hannity, O’Reilly, Kelly, The 5, and the like are not news shows, just opinion shows. they are theatric presentations, and Fox even presents them as such. they are not trying to pass them off as anything but, and surely they do not try and equate O’Reilly with Walter Cronkite. so I will stand by my comment.
on the other hand we have CNN, the “Cadillac of News” who does this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTWY14eyMFg
can you get any lower than that?
Can individuals view or study an identical event and come away with a different understanding, along with a contrasting perspective, as to what they just experienced?
Measurement, in classical physics, means evaluating a pre-existing definite event or state of an object. However, in quantum theory, objects do not possess a predetermined and definite state; rather, they are in superposition of every probable state simultaneously. As in ‘human consciousness’, there is never a fixed or absolute (measurement//interpretation) of a person, place or thing. These events, objects and phenomena are in essence given their meaning by the individual observer.
John, And each individual observer finds their meaning from the environment around them. What one eventually settles upon as their “meaning” or truth can be right or wrong, better or worse, good or bad, etc. Some results are better than others. That is not just a personal feeling, many times it can be rationally measured. For instance, what has happened in Iraq or the Middle East in the last generation or so sucks! And it happened because many people had their “meaning” or truth concepts skewered by crap.
As a sentient human being I am aware of the nuances and peculiarities of perception and I am also aware when I am being sold a big pile of poo masquerading as truth. Love you, John.
Keysbum, You’ll have to show me where I said that a Jewish organization cannot be anti-Zionist. It would be the exception, but certainly not impossible. I know many Jews who are not down with the creation of Israel, myself included. As for the rest, I’m sorry, my beef is not just with you but with all of the excellent commentators that refuse to see the extremist nature of Fox’s sins, sins shared by all of them, but not to such a poisonous extent. I guarantee that if Fox had never come along, the whole tenor of our country’s socio-political environment would be quite different. Fox has so polluted our national discourse that it has besmudged the whole of media information. They have made everyone so cynical that no one can believe anyone anymore. To say they are all the same is a false equivalency I do not accept. The others are bad, but they are worse.
i refer you to your last comment in issue 95 for the Jewish question.
I am not questioning your, or Mr. Symington’s characterization of Fox News; they are vile, rude, spew absolute nonsense…. and speak to only a few. their highest rated news show pulls in something like 2 million people, while their highest rated show pulls in 3 million people. the three network news shows together pull in something over 26 million people per day. they just don’t reach a lot of people, and their demographic is somewhere north of 60 years old. my personal opinion is that they simply don’t have the numbers, and don’t have the demographic to make much of a difference. they are basically preaching to the choir, and that choir is soon to die off. besides their few die hard fans, I find it difficult to conceive of a large segment of the tv viewing public that actually watches taking them seriously. again, not many are watching. I think you guys are giving them a power and influence that they simply do not posses. we can all be outraged and scream at the tv when that idiot Hannity says something stupid, but he’s just an entertainer, and really, who besides his few non consequential loyalists take him seriously and anything but the clown show that he is? that link to CNN I provided is cause for much more concern than the obvious buffoonery of Fox.
Keysbum, Good points, all of them, but those who do watch are the most involved in the political process, they are the ones that dictate results, even numerically. They have power and, to my way of seeing things, our country has changed negatively with the coming of Rupert Murdoch to our shores. This is a very good discussion.
Alex, Jerome, Rick & All Commentators; as always, much love and respect. Obviously, this is a compelling, well-written and thought provoking article.
For Jerome, as opposed to settling upon ‘their meaning’ based upon the environment; I would suggest that the ‘internal reckoning’ as to what is ‘Truth’, is a personal choice.
Perhaps mistakes are made in determining truth and veracity (as happens with all of us). Then readjustments and refinements to one’s new understandings can be made.
These are not ‘feelings’. They are a continuation of our strategic development as a species. The strategies and tactics evolving from this type of growth allows us to ‘life our lives’ more effectively. These are tangible results evidenced by a peaceful, poised, courageous and credible existence, which will eventually fill the void and vacuum of a rudderless ship.
Alex, in your comment you’ve spoken to and made my point. You’ve seen through the baloney that you were being fed. However, my experience has been that all of the ideologies, along with the news pundits, DOD and White House narratives, are nonsensical and foolish.
As far as I can see, none of them deal with answers and solutions. They are incapable of a critical self-analyses. The analytical reasoning and search for truth required for advancement is absent.
As to Jerome’s point, billions of citizens were opposed to W’s invasion of Iraq. No matter how hard they tried, it didn’t pass the smell test for many Americans. It had Vietnam written all over it. However, it’s difficult to go up against the bible, flag and children being killed by WMD’s.
I stood alone on the northbound and southbound divide on US 1 at mile marker 100 for weeks, prior to the war, protesting our involvement in that debacle.
Alex, Jerome, Rick and All Commentators; I am honored and privileged to speak my mind and share this forum with you. Thank you.
Blessings & Respect…..
John, Discussing things with you is an honor as well. Basically, I’d say you are talking very, very “big picture here”, something that might not be relevant to small spaces of time in history. When you say we make “readjustments and refinements”, I’d say you are agreeing with me. Sometimes we get it wrong, and sometimes right, but what we come in contact with externally shapes these decisions. People like you, I, and the rest of the commentators here, have made more serious efforts to try and uncover the ”
truth”. The vast majority of us have not made that effort and can be led easily in any direction.
Alex, Jerome, Rick & All Commentators; as always, much love and respect. Obviously, this is a compelling, well-written and thought provoking article.
For Jerome, as opposed to settling upon ‘their meaning’ based upon the environment; I would suggest that the ‘internal reckoning’ as to what is ‘Truth’, is a personal choice.
Perhaps mistakes are made in determining truth and veracity (as happens with all of us). Then readjustments and refinements to one’s new understandings can be made.
These are not ‘feelings’. They are a continuation of our strategic development as a species. The strategies and tactics evolving from this type of growth allows us to ‘life our lives’ more effectively. These are tangible results evidenced by a peaceful, poised, courageous and credible existence, which will eventually fill the void and vacuum of a rudderless ship.
Alex, in your comment you’ve spoken to and made my point. You’ve seen through the baloney that you were being fed. However, my experience has been that all of the ideologies, along with the news pundits, DOD and White House narratives, are nonsensical and foolish.
As far as I can see, none of them deal with answers and solutions. They are incapable of a critical self-analyses. The analytical reasoning and search for truth required for advancement is absent.
As to Jerome’s point, billions of citizens were opposed to W’s invasion of Iraq. No matter how hard they tried, it didn’t pass the smell test for many Americans. It had Vietnam written all over it. However, it’s difficult to go up against the bible, flag and children being killed by WMD’s.
I stood alone on the northbound and southbound divide on US 1 at mile marker 100 for weeks, prior to the war, protesting our involvement in that debacle.
Alex, Jerome, Rick and All Commentators; I am honored and privileged to speak my mind and share this forum with you. Thank you.
Blessings & Respect…..
Wanker has set me straight on the FOX/Canada issue. Thanks, Wank.
“It is true that various sections of CRTC regulations prohibit the broadcasting of “false or misleading news” by radio and television licensees, and that in 2011 the CRTC declined to narrow those regulations to apply only to “news that the licensee knows is false or misleading and that endangers or is likely to endanger the lives, health or safety of the public.” However, it is not true that such regulations have kept the Fox News Channel from gaining entry into Canada, or that they were invoked to boot Fox News out of that country after the channel was established there. The CRTC regulations apply only to Canadian broadcasters using Canadian airwaves; they do not apply to the Fox News Channel, which is a non-Canadian entity transmitted via satellite and cable, not broadcast over public airwaves. ”
” Fox Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch was rebuffed in his efforts to establish Fox News Canada in 2003 due to Canadian laws regarding foreign ownership of print and broadcast media, but the CRTC approved an application to bring the Fox News Channel to Canadian digital television line-ups back in November 2004, and that channel is now carried by dozens of different digital providers throughout Canada. (The claimed distinction that Fox News is only allowed in Canada due to its being classified as an “entertainment” channel rather than as a “news” channel is a meaningless one, as those classifications only apply to Canadian media outlets, and Fox is an American company.) ”
“The Fox Network, which is a broadcast entity distinctly different from the Fox News Channel, does not have any affiliates or owned-and-operated stations in Canada, but Fox Network programming is carried on cable and satellite providers in Canada through several U.S. stations located near the U.S.-Canada border. ”
In other words, the CRTC has banned liars that lie over the airwaves, but can’t do anything about liars that lie on satellite or cable. Good to know.
i guess you ‘won’ and got a special feeling of upsmanship using collectivist mockery in bastardizing my handle to the uk version of wrist exercise to drive home your point of distain and displeasure at being corrected by upstarts who would dare question your superiority.
John,
I enjoy reading your thoughtful comments. Apparently we should add FOX to the things one should never talk about…Religion, Politics and FOX! FOX news destroyed my only brothers sense of reason, like many people and it is a shame. I hope KB is correct in his/her statement that FOX’s influence is fading. Again, many of the comments in response to my essay obfuscate the simple fact that it is dishonorable to lie. I just posted a correction on my essay that Wank pointed out. Lying remains dishonorable no matter how the defenders slice and dice it. Peace.
Alex, I think we have to talk about Fox, and I’m glad you did so. I’ve got some Fox News essays in my arsenal that I’ll post someday, but I think we’ve had enough for now. Thanks Alex, ciao
More fair and balanced truth from FOX:
http://live.huffingtonpost.com/r/highlight/mother-jones-david-corn-on-aftermath-of-exposing-oreilly-inconsistencies/54e7597b2b8c2abdc000099a?cps=gravity_3835_8016686387686547762