200 000: Standing on the Shoulders of Giants while Peering into the Abyss

A thank you and a humble suggestion

Published: 2024-03-22

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Thank You

The occasion of exceeding 200 000 views of the combined publications of this newsletter warrants a moment of reflection.

Before that, however, must be stated the obvious: that 200 000 is you.

Thank you deeply, for taking your time to examine some of the published material . Thank you also for deserved criticisms, your comments and 'Like's as you saw fit.

This seems also a good opportunity to pass on a small piece of advice based upon a slightly painful, but nonetheless true, self observation. The way to read written publications here is -- at the website -- and the time to read them is -- more than 2 hours after -- they are published.

I am terrible at proof reading my own work, and constantly identify improvements, quite often from the disastrous to the bearable, in spelling and grammar. These "fixes" are usually made within that two hour window. I don't see any sudden improvement in my 'sub-editing' of my own work in the near future. Hence the suggestion.

This identification and reckoning is perhaps consistent with the work: acknowledge reality, adapt and move on.

Acknowledgments

There are 3 pieces of original reporting published within the 450 odd articles. This newsletter is, thus, as it says on the tin, "a non-state hostile opinion service". I thank then CIA Director Pompeo for the phrase, even while acknowledging that its use was the public declaration of the strategy to be used by the CIA through the US Department of Justice to slowly kill Julian Assange via lawfare. Some mixed news is available on that front.

To my mind, there is no better definition of a newspaper than a "non-state hostile intelligence service". What the CIA director announced, at the CSIS no less, was that the CIA accepts "state" intelligence services only, which in turn describes the agency's relationship with the MSM or Official Imperial Echo Chamber, as I've become want to label it.

The work published here is analysis based on the dogged, professional work of a very wide range of mostly independent reporters. To all of these reporters, and commentators and analysts, I have offered my thanks through accurate citation.

I hope that via those references you have found skilled and principled reporters, commentators and analysts. I hope also that via the Culture section we have shared an understanding that news is just news. Life is about living and celebrating with community.

Live long and prosper. And, as a old friend would say "Confusion to your enemies!"

Sources

CIA Director Calls WikiLeaks a "Non-State Hostile Intelligence Service", C-SPAN, 2017-04-13

Report: Assange in Plea Deal Talks, Joe Lauria, Consortium News, 2024-03-20

57 Links, YesXorNo, 2023-05-07

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