patrick.net

Can we agree that citing Santa Clara’s old order as a “return of mask mandates” is kind of fake news? The closest thing to a legit new mandate Newsweek cited in the article were vague, hand-wavy references to a short list of birdbrained hospital masking requirements. For example, Newsweek reported that “UW Health says it requires masks at many of its sites.” Um.

That foggy reference to “many sites” did not specify which ones, say for whom, link to any websites, clarify the source, or give any further information about the alleged “requirement.” I’m not saying I don’t trust them, but … your factual mileage may vary. Consume at your own risk.

Second, I caught them faking again! Twice in one story, and I wasn’t even trying. Newsweek included a powerful photo evidencing the “return of mask mandates,” an image either terrifying or hope-inspiring, depending on which end of the neuroticism spectrum you’re on:




But when you squinted at the greyed-out, 6-point font caption, it turned out the picture was a stock photo from 2020...

Stupid reporters. Misleaders! Why not use a current photo if mask mandates are back in three states? This misleading photo reminded me of all the fake photos they terrified Covidians with back in 2020, passing off old stock footage of bloody gurneys from some backwater Italian clinic from 2014 to evidence New York City’s “overwhelmed hospitals” in 2020.

AP news is not news, it's paid for marketing

pay the piper, call the tune. see how AP sings for its supper. ...

many had simply assumed that the “AP” in “AP news” simply stood for “Always Partisan.”

what if, instead, it stands for “Affordable Propaganda”?

because that appears to be the stronger case:




this is not how a news service functions. this is how a marketing department functions.

climate activists pumped $8 million into AP and got a couple dozen new reporters led by peter prengaman who rapidly amassed a team of climate zealots to engage in one sided reporting on this topic.

oh how the money rolled in.

and oh how the marketing copy masquerading as news rolled out.

I have paid hardly any attention to Jan 6 issues over the last 3 years. Coming to terms with studying the stolen election was exhausting and I lost interest in Jan 6.

But I had no doubt that whatever was being said in the mainstream about it would be distortions and untruths. I didn’t need to allocate any effort to reach that conclusion.

If you can steal a US election in broad daylight…

If you can have 1m people march in London during lockdowns without the BBC reporting on it…

If you can live in Melbourne and not know that rubber bullets were fired at peaceful protesters in Melbourne because the media didn’t report on it (as was the case when I discussed the rubber bullets with a work contact who lived in Melbourne who had no idea what I was talking about)…

Then you know that the media, local and global media, lies and they lie ALL THE TIME about anything of significance.

Yes, a senior editor for Bloomberg Opinion thinks that people voting is a threat to democracy because there's only a 10% chance things will go well [read: The way he thinks they should go].

From Tobin over at Bloomberg:

"41% of the world's population is having major elections this year. Yay democracy! Right? Not really, what with extremist populist parties — mostly right-wing — on the rise everywhere from the European Union to the Pacific rim."

What's wrong with right-wing parties, Tobin?

Ah, you believe that progressivism is the inevitable and morally right destiny of government and humanity. That's called a political and religious belief. ...

So Trump, the only US president to achieve multinational peace in the Middle East with no new wars, would be the "wrong" choice over Biden, where the Taliban has reconquered Afghanistan, Iran is making big moves, Israel is in the biggest fight of its life, and Houthi rebels are stopping cargo flow through the Suez Canal. Got it.

And Britain was crazy to leave the EU, which is struggling financially and buckling under mass migration as it turns off its nuclear reactors in favor of failed wind projects.

And China is going to be dissuaded from invading Taiwan by an ancient president who has spent over half of his total time in office on vacation - who didn't even know his own defense secretary was bedridden in the hospital for days on end?

But see, if I point these things out, I'm an undesirable and squashing my voice is the only way to save democracy!

President Joe Biden's re-election campaign has begun organizing a series of off-the-record trips for top political reporters and editors to the team's headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware and meet top officials, including the campaign manager, deputies, and other senior advisors for background briefings on campaign strategy.

They're also using it as an opportunity to tell them what they're getting wrong. Two people with knowledge of the situation told Semafor that during meetings with reporters from outlets like The New York Times, the Washington Post, and others, campaign officials have invoked a coverage spreadsheet laying out areas where the team believes their reporting has fallen short.

In particular, campaign officials have chafed at some of the coverage of former President Donald Trump, feeling that outlets are too focused on his legal troubles and haven't paid enough attention to some of his incendiary recent statements on the campaign trail. A source familiar told Semafor that with the exception of its recent meeting with the Times, the campaign meetings had been "substantive" and "productive," and that Biden staffers were scheduled to meet in the coming days with political reporting teams from ABC, NBC, The Wall Street Journal, Fox, NPR, Reuters, Bloomberg, and others in Wilmington.

Great work, Biden campaign! I hope the journalists do what you say. If not you can always find a way to punish them for it!

It's like they say...

Democracy dies in darkness!

Corporate media has been breathlessly reporting that Nikki Haley is now the number-two candidate, somehow, polling neck-and-neck with front-runner Trump, even though she can’t even fill a small diner (see above) while Trump is regularly packing folks in the thousands and DeSantis is also drawing respectable numbers to his Iowa events, where the Governor has strategically focused all his recent efforts.

How often have western media actually questioned their country's war efforts before hostilities begin?

As context, I studied journalism some 20 years ago now. In my mind growing up, and for a long time, the idea of a journalist would conjure up a left-leaning bespectacled intellectual, drowning in books, infinitely knowledgeable about history, taking the establishment to account and absolutely, fiercely adverse to war.

Yet… what is the reality? Reflecting on major conflicts from recent and less recent times, I could instantly think of several that were heartily cheered on — and possibly enabled — by the media. Take the 1898 Spanish American war or the 2003 US invasion of Iraq.

I'm sure it was a mistake... right?

Houston QB CJ Stroud is very open when it comes to his love for Jesus Christ. In his rookie season, he's led Houston not only to the playoffs, but to the divisional round where they'll face off with a tough Ravens team who holds the #1 seed. All of this he attributes to his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

On Saturday night in his postgame interview he did just that, but when NBC posted the interview to social media they edited the Jesus stuff right out.

Here's the original interview that aired live (you can ignore that second video within this link; I'll post it below)...

LOS ANGELES, CA — Recently laid-off Los Angeles Times reporter Marco Gonzalez was seen standing on a street corner this past week offering to call people racist for food or money.

"These are hard times and we journalists need work just like everyone else," Gonzalez said. "I have a lot of marketable skills like calling people racist, calling people homophobic, accusing air pollution of being ableist, you know, the usual reporter kinda stuff."

The LA Times announced massive layoffs this weekend, with a large number of cuts impacting their culture, politics, and BIPOC issues departments. Gonzalez said he wasn't deterred by his layoff and knows he'll land on his feet soon.

"I spent years at the Times accusing people of being racist for wanting to solve issues like homelessness, immigration, inflation, diabetes, obesity, male-pattern baldness, rat infestations; you name it!" Gonzalez said. "I'd be happy to call anyone you want racist in exchange for a vegan burger or an ethically sourced soy oat milk caramel mocha frappuccino."

As of publishing time, Gonzalez had secured part-time work at a local animal shelter where he spends his time accusing people who don't want to adopt pit bulls of being ‘species-ist' and yelling at his boss for not hiring enough quadriplegic animal control officers.

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Savar mentioned fighting the "wokeism disease" and problems with godlessness and multiculturalism.
If he were a white conservative Christian, imagine the headlines. But since he's Muslim, nothing. Interesting!