Interesting Articles: 2022, Early September

2022, Early September

Publication date: 2022-09-08

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Introduction

This newsletter's editorial describes its fundamental purpose:

Above all things the desire of this publication is to encourage people to seek wider sources of information.

The statistics gathered by the surveillance platform which publishes this newsletter indicate that a very low, single-digit percentage of the readership actually follow links to the sources which underpin most articles. At the risk of falling afoul of Albert Einstein's definition of insanity "to repeat an action and expect a different outcome", this article begins a new series entitled "Interesting Articles: <time period>".

This series will not be published to a time schedule, but when inspiration arrives. It will follow the format you see below, with each "interesting article" being described by a synopsis and the point or points it makes which provided interest.

I hope that you, dear reader, can examine the list provided and select one or more articles which you may also find thought provoking. The only “theme” to this article series is “interesting”. That propaganda turns up in many of the articles listed in its first issue is merely a sign of our times.

Interesting Articles

Bernhard

Ukraine Loses Soldiers - Europe Its Economies - All For No Gain, b., MoonOfAlabama, 2022-09-07

MoonOfAlabama's Bernhard describes the tragedy of the recently launched counter-offensive in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine, against the advice of senior Ukrainian military advisors and for the purpose of creating headlines to bolster calls for more arms and funding to be provided by "the West". Bernhard quotes extensively from a pay-walled Washington Post article wherein their reporter visits hospitals at the rear of the offensive to interview injured Ukrainian soldiers. Bernhard laments on the horror of war and how this whole situation is playing into the geostrategic agenda of the USA "empire" at the cost of Ukrainian lives.

Caitlin

It's Not Okay For Grown Adults To Say The Ukraine Invasion Was "Unprovoked", Caitlin Johnstone, her newsletter, 2022-09-07

Caitlin draws on comments made by Noam Chomsky on the absurd and unprecedented use of the term "unprovoked" to describe the conflict in Ukraine. She, with the support of Chomsky's comments, is figuratively tearing her hair out on the level of propaganda and misinformation being delivered to "Western" societies by the editors of their media.

John

JOHN PILGER: Silencing the Lambs — How Propaganda Works, John Pilger, Consortium News, 2022-09-07

Mr. Pilger draws on two sources to advance an understanding of the use of propaganda. His first source is Leni Riefenstahl, a Nazi propagandist whom he met in Kenya. His second source is his now deceased friend, the playwright Harold Pinter. Pilger uses statements made to him by these sources to unveil the level of misunderstanding used by the USA "empire" applied against the societies which the empire purports to protect.

Ted

How the War Is Choreographing Russia’s New Stance, Ted Snider, Antiwar, 2022-09-06

Ted Snider provides a sensible, reasoned analysis of Russia's geopolitical strategy, and how that is being shaped by the evolution of actions taken as a part of the conflict in Ukraine, and the response to it by Western actors. The key "take away" is the analysis. That which is most striking is the very calm language employed to describe it.

Patrick

Patrick Lawrence: Unmaking History, Patrick Lawrence, ScheerPost, 2022-09-07

The article is long, and at times its text is not as easy to follow as one may wish. The target is a series of six articles published by The Washington Post. The subject is the idea of "journalists writing the first draft of history". Mr. Lawrence is at pains to relate that in recent memory journalists from the "mainstream media" have been of disservice to historians. This six part series is a classic example of this betrayal. He relates a more nuanced and credible account of the background to the conflict in Ukraine.

Alex

Zelensky rings New York Stock Exchange bell as Euro dips below dollar, Alex Rubenstein, The Grayzone, 2022-09-07

The Grayzone have recently published a series of article by Alex Rubenstein. This article on Ukrainian President Zelensky "ringing the bell" at the New York Stock Exchange, looks at the future prospects for Ukraine from a financial perspective. The government has hired the services of WPP the most prominent "public relations" (read "propaganda") firm. What is being planned for Ukraine, the wholesale privatization of public assets, is an echo of that which occurred in Russia in the 1990's. Alex does not draw this parallel. However, he does provide ample evidence that this is exactly what is happening.

Update

To assess the effectiveness of this article in achieving its stated purpose of encouraging the reader to adopt a wider scope of information sources it is compared with a previous article. They have almost exactly the same number of "views" and are contemporaneous. Thus, a comparison between them has validity.

The Numbers

The surveillance site which publishes this newsletter provides statistics. I hold them in some contempt for accuracy, but all I need here is for them to be consistent in whatever accuracy they provide. The numbers show a percentage of readers who have clicked on a link in an article. The entire numbers include things such as the "Like button". These non-source elements are removed below.

Base Article: "Sneaking ET into an Addendum: Its All Fine, just Decommission Nuclear Weapons"

3% Richard Dolan at the National Press Club (video)

2% Caitlin Johnstone's article

2% Malmstrom AFB incident interview (video)

1% The archive.org loanable text to Dolan's first book in his series

1% The "Disclosure Project" (video)

Comparative Article: "Interesting Articles: 2022 Early September"

6% Caitlin Johnstone's article

5% John Pilger's article

2% Bernhard's artice

1% Patrick Lawrence's article

1% Alexander Rubenstein's article

0.7% the newsletter's Editorial

The Analysis

Because these articles have an almost identical readership the increase in percentage numbers is both clear and significant. I am always happy to see evidence of any reader engagement with the referencing I provide. I am extremely happy to see that this first "Interesting Article" piece has increased that engagement. Thus, the article is a "success" and more of its type will be produced as inspiration comes.

Thank you, readers, for validating this idea.

There is an additional piece of information which can be derived. The numbers for the base article largely follow the order in which they are presented in the article. This is not the case for this article.

Readers have selected on interest, not by the order of presentation. This gives me a great sense of satisfaction. The top ranking "6%" by Caitlin is the second article presented. The next ranking "5%" by John Pilger is the third presented (though it also gets a pride of place as the image which headlines the article). In third place is Bernhard with "2%" which was the first article presented.

Again, thank you readers. I am duly encouraged by your engagement, validation and consideration.

Sources

All sources are provided directly in the article.

Culture

Roger Waters - The Gunner's Dream, Roger Waters, Youtube channel, uploaded 2021-01-18

Sorry to repeat this musical reference. This is an incredibly powerful song. I believe that it serves its place to support the tragedy enmeshed in the above referenced articles. By this, I mean that I cry for lives lost to stupidity and hubris. Water’s understanding of sound and music is deep. Listen very carefully to the sounds. The precision of construction is mind-blowing.

Can you also find a 9 beat delay to provide accentuation to a section in the recording? Waters starts on the second beat. Half time beats are used in the earliest bars. We are thrown out of time. “Floating down through the clouds” “memories come rushing UP to meet [us] now”. We are disoriented in both space and time.

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