John Pilger: Have a nice world war, folks

[seemslikeadream]

I NEVER miss reading a post by Min and I miss reading Hugh too......

[Nordic]

@ggreenwald: John Pilger column on how Liberal Hollywood is returning to its roots of producing US Government propaganda

https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/3 ... 1253652480

The new propaganda is liberal. The new slavery is digital
As Leni Riefenstahl said: "Propaganda always wins if you allow it".

By John Pilger Published 14 March 2013

What is modern propaganda? For many, it is the lies of a totalitarian state. In the 1970s, I met Leni Riefenstahl and asked her about her epic films that glorified the Nazis. Using revolutionary camera and lighting techniques, she produced a documentary form that mesmerised Germans; her Triumph of the Will cast Hitler’s spell.

She told me that the “messages” of her films were dependent not on “orders from above”, but on the “submissive void” of the German public. Did that include the liberal, educated bourgeoisie? “Everyone,” she said.

Today, we prefer to believe that there is no submissive void. “Choice” is ubiquitous. Phones are “platforms” that launch every half-thought. There is Google from outer space if you need it. Caressed like rosary beads, the precious devices are borne headsdown, relentlessly monitored and prioritised. Their dominant theme is the self. Me. My needs. Riefenstahl’s submissive void is today’s digital slavery.

Edward Said described this wired state in Culture and Imperialism as taking imperialism where navies could never reach. It is the ultimate means of social control because it is voluntary, addictive and shrouded in illusions of personal freedom...

Hollywood has returned to its cold war role, led by liberals. Ben Affleck’s Oscar-winning Argo is the first feature film so integrated into the propaganda system that its subliminal warning of Iran’s “threat” is offered as Obama is preparing, yet again, to attack Iran. That Affleck’s “true story” of good-guys-vbad- Muslims is as much a fabrication as Obama’s justification for his war plans is lost in PR-managed plaudits. As the independent critic Andrew O’Hehir points out, Argo is “a propaganda movie in the truest sense, one that claims to be innocent of all ideology”. That is, it debases the art of film-making to reflect an image of the power it serves.

The true story is that, for 34 years, the US foreign policy elite have seethed with revenge for the loss of the shah of Iran, their beloved tyrant, and his CIA-designed state of torture. When Iranian students occupied the US embassy in Tehran in 1979, they found a trove of incriminating documents, which revealed that an Israeli spy network was operating inside the US, stealing top scientific and military secrets. Today, the duplicitous Zionist ally – not Iran – is the one and only nuclear threat in the Middle East.

In 1977, Carl Bernstein, famed for his Watergate reporting, disclosed that more than 400 journalists and executives of mostly liberal US media organisations had worked for the CIA in the past 25 years. They included journalists from the New York Times, Time and the big TV broadcasters. These days, such a formal nefarious workforce is quite unnecessary. In 2010, the New York Times made no secret of its collusion with the White House in censoring the WikiLeaks war logs. The CIA has an “entertainment industry liaison office” that helps producers and directors remake its image from that of a lawless gang that assassinates, overthrows governments and runs drugs. As Obama’s CIA commits multiple murder by drone, Affleck lauds the “clandestine service . . . that is making sacrifices on behalf of Americans every day . . . I want to thank them very much.” The 2010 Oscar-winner Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty, a torture-apology, was all but licensed by the Pentagon...

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/po ... ry-digital

I originally intended to show how John Pilger's essay here pointed at precisely the danger of fascism being enabled by W.O.O., a case I've been trying to make for a few years here at RI.

But I decided this would only lead to admin. banning me so after a few minutes of reconsidering getting into this seemingly futile subject, I deleted my initial post in frustration...

It's worth noting that in the 3 years since this thread started, Hugh has been banned, and I can't see this...
without thinking of...

I just worked with an actor who is almost a dead-ringer for Tom Cruise. The poor guy can't get any work except for, literally, playing Tom Cruise. And playing comedic roles that make fun of characters that might be played by Tom Cruise.

[8bitagent]

I NEVER miss reading a post by Min and I miss reading Hugh too......

Im sad he or someone couldnt help him make a 10-20 minute youtube short. Even with basic windows movie maker.
I considered Hugh an artist, and I hope he's doing ok. I do feel he should try and enjoy a movie for movie's sake though.

[The Consul]

Could there be a digital Wat Tyler who would only lose his head digitally? Who could only win because he is not "real"? Is there a revolution that will lead us to a place beside the block? Is there a way to turn War Inc. back in on itself? Is there anything significant that will happen that will avert total collapse and absolute chaos?

Apparently not.

[FourthBase]

Could there be a digital Wat Tyler who would only lose his head digitally? Who could only win because he is not "real"? Is there a revolution that will lead us to a place beside the block? Is there a way to turn War Inc. back in on itself? Is there anything significant that will happen that will avert total collapse and absolute chaos?

Apparently not.

Oh, don't be such a drama-consul.

How about: Possibly so.
Or was that implied by the unreliability the word "apparently" connotes?

[The Consul]

well, I could have said, "LET'S HOPE SO! " and I have to admit there is a sliver of me that does. Still, the odds are stacked pretty high on collapse. I think we are being conditioned to become zombies. We will just become these fat pustules though which commerce passes on its way to profit. On lighter days it could be differently phrased but Patrick Henry's "The greatest preoccupation of mankind is to indulge in the illusion of hope" remains a deep tatoo on my consciousness. All other forms of madness are co opted by banal marketing.

Pilger is a prize we must strive harder to attain.

[Nordic]

" ... Remains a deep tattoo on my consciousness."

Damn Consul, I wish I could write like you.

[MinM]

@ggreenwald: John Pilger column on how Liberal Hollywood is returning to its roots of producing US Government propaganda

https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/3 ... 1253652480

The new propaganda is liberal. The new slavery is digital
As Leni Riefenstahl said: "Propaganda always wins if you allow it".

By John Pilger Published 14 March 2013

What is modern propaganda? For many, it is the lies of a totalitarian state. In the 1970s, I met Leni Riefenstahl and asked her about her epic films that glorified the Nazis. Using revolutionary camera and lighting techniques, she produced a documentary form that mesmerised Germans; her Triumph of the Will cast Hitler’s spell.

She told me that the “messages” of her films were dependent not on “orders from above”, but on the “submissive void” of the German public. Did that include the liberal, educated bourgeoisie? “Everyone,” she said.

Today, we prefer to believe that there is no submissive void. “Choice” is ubiquitous. Phones are “platforms” that launch every half-thought. There is Google from outer space if you need it. Caressed like rosary beads, the precious devices are borne headsdown, relentlessly monitored and prioritised. Their dominant theme is the self. Me. My needs. Riefenstahl’s submissive void is today’s digital slavery.

Edward Said described this wired state in Culture and Imperialism as taking imperialism where navies could never reach. It is the ultimate means of social control because it is voluntary, addictive and shrouded in illusions of personal freedom...

Hollywood has returned to its cold war role, led by liberals. Ben Affleck’s Oscar-winning Argo is the first feature film so integrated into the propaganda system that its subliminal warning of Iran’s “threat” is offered as Obama is preparing, yet again, to attack Iran. That Affleck’s “true story” of good-guys-vbad- Muslims is as much a fabrication as Obama’s justification for his war plans is lost in PR-managed plaudits. As the independent critic Andrew O’Hehir points out, Argo is “a propaganda movie in the truest sense, one that claims to be innocent of all ideology”. That is, it debases the art of film-making to reflect an image of the power it serves.

The true story is that, for 34 years, the US foreign policy elite have seethed with revenge for the loss of the shah of Iran, their beloved tyrant, and his CIA-designed state of torture. When Iranian students occupied the US embassy in Tehran in 1979, they found a trove of incriminating documents, which revealed that an Israeli spy network was operating inside the US, stealing top scientific and military secrets. Today, the duplicitous Zionist ally – not Iran – is the one and only nuclear threat in the Middle East.

In 1977, Carl Bernstein, famed for his Watergate reporting, disclosed that more than 400 journalists and executives of mostly liberal US media organisations had worked for the CIA in the past 25 years. They included journalists from the New York Times, Time and the big TV broadcasters. These days, such a formal nefarious workforce is quite unnecessary. In 2010, the New York Times made no secret of its collusion with the White House in censoring the WikiLeaks war logs. The CIA has an “entertainment industry liaison office” that helps producers and directors remake its image from that of a lawless gang that assassinates, overthrows governments and runs drugs. As Obama’s CIA commits multiple murder by drone, Affleck lauds the “clandestine service . . . that is making sacrifices on behalf of Americans every day . . . I want to thank them very much.” The 2010 Oscar-winner Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty, a torture-apology, was all but licensed by the Pentagon...

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/po ... ry-digital

I originally intended to show how John Pilger's essay here pointed at precisely the danger of fascism being enabled by W.O.O., a case I've been trying to make for a few years here at RI.

But I decided this would only lead to admin. banning me so after a few minutes of reconsidering getting into this seemingly futile subject, I deleted my initial post in frustration...

It's worth noting that in the 3 years since this thread started, Hugh has been banned, and I can't see this...
without thinking of...

For some reason I used to get David Icke confused with Anthony Summers. Not that they look that much alike. Perhaps they sound alike?

[Belligerent Savant]

.
Icke must really be loving the attention he gets on this board. He's ubiquitous here.

[MinM]

.
Icke must really be loving the attention he gets on this board. He's ubiquitous here.

This place can never get Ickey enough...

Ickey Shuffle

[conniption]

bumped - for the nostalgia of seeing/reading a few of the old names in play...


EP.662: Special Guest John Pilger on “Approved News”, Syria, Iran, Austerity and Julian Assange

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vfeIY71UcA

goingundergroundRT
Published on Oct 3, 2018
On this episode of Going Underground, legendary journalist John Pilger discusses Syria and it’s ally Iran and the Trump administration’s policies towards the two countries, the Venezuela crisis, Julian Assange, austerity and the concept of approved news and unapproved opinions!

[Sounder]

bumped - for the nostalgia of seeing/reading a few of the old names in play...

This is worth being reminded of;

The true story is that, for 34 years, the US foreign policy elite have seethed with revenge for the loss of the shah of Iran, their beloved tyrant, and his CIA-designed state of torture. When Iranian students occupied the US embassy in Tehran in 1979, they found a trove of incriminating documents, which revealed that an Israeli spy network was operating inside the US, stealing top scientific and military secrets. Today, the duplicitous Zionist ally – not Iran – is the one and only nuclear threat in the Middle East.

But really, thanks for the new Pilger material. It is quite nice to hear some level headed analysis, it's a good contrast to the air sucking hysteria of western media.