By Daisy Luther
Survival Saturday is a round-up of the week’s news and resources for folks who are interested in being prepared.
This Week in the News
This week, Survival Saturday discusses the Propaganda State in which we live. The dictionary definition of propaganda is:
ideas or statements that are often false or exaggerated and that are spread in order to help a cause, a political leader, a government, etc.
If you want to see propaganda in action, you need look no further than right here in America. Journalists are throwing in the towel and admitting to bias, but they’re doing it to help you out. Our own federal officials are stalking us and stealing our money without due process of law, but it’s only because they need to balance their budgets so they can continue to serve you.
What you need to ask yourself is this: if the public media outlets and officials are all trying to obfuscate the facts, shouldn’t you consider resisting the manipulation?
That doesn’t mean you have to automatically do the opposite, but it means you should inspect all sides of the story without a pre-conceived notion of what the truth really is.
This week, I have 2 stories that should scare the snot out of you and a little opinion blurb about my stubborn urge to rebel against the propaganda coercion.
Unbiased Journalism Is Completely Dead But It’s For Your Own Good
The mainstream media is churning out the propaganda so hard and fast, they’re gonna burn out the motor to the printer pretty soon.
The job of the “news” is supposed to be to report facts without bias, allowing the listener/watcher/reader to come to his or her own conclusions. But the media is now trying to justify their slanted coverage as their “duty”, as they flush any guise of journalistic integrity right down the toilet.
Jim Rutenberg of the New York Times explains why he thinks this is okay in a lengthy, meandering cry for vindication. “If you view a Trump presidency as something that’s potentially dangerous, then your reporting is going to reflect that. You would move closer than you’ve ever been to being oppositional. That’s uncomfortable and uncharted territory for every mainstream, non-opinion journalist I’ve ever known, and by normal standards, untenable.”
And there it is in a nutshell: “non-opinion journalists.”
If you print opinion as opinion (like here, on a blog), that is commentary.
If you print opinion as fact (like in a so-called news story), that is propaganda.
Here’s a perfect example:
This week, the propaganda machine vilified an offhand comment made by Trump as a cry for the assassination of Hillary Clinton (that really wasn’t my first thought when I heard his statement). Meanwhile, they ignored the calls for violence in the Democratic party. (See the quick helpful tutorial I put together here.) Actor Will Smith even suggested that Trump needed to be “cleansed” from America, with no resultant hullabaloo.
Meanwhile, there are more and more questions about the health issues of Hillary Clinton. The mainstream dismisses those concerns with cries of “junk science” and “none of your beeswax” while promoting headlines that claim Donald Trump is mentally ill and quoting neuroscientists (who have never examined Trump and are putting out the same kind of assertions that everyone is so mad about with HRC.)
I could go on and on with the media bias, but if you ever had any doubt that the mainstream news is nothing but blatant propaganda, you can rest assured that now they’re even admitting it, and they’re doing it to save you from yourself.
Now the Feds Are Stalking Travelers to Identify Civil Asset Seizure Targets
It’s no secret that the United States government is running on a massive deficit, but they have a cool new plan to help out with their budget.
They’ll just take the money from us.
Leaving the old method of simply extorting taxes in the dust, there is some new technology that makes civil asset seizure a quick and easy way for the government to make money.
According to Simon Black, the brains behind the website Sovereign Man, the Feds are now stalking Americans to see what they can snag.
“Like sophisticated thieves who case a jewelry store before robbing it, the DEA has been trolling Americans’ travel records looking for ‘suspicious’ activity.
I’m not talking about past travel. I’m talking about upcoming travel.
Anytime you book a flight, airlines create a code called a PNR, or Passenger Name Record, with all of your travel details and personal information.
And what a surprise– the federal government has gotten its hands on this data.
So now it seems the DEA is combing through PNRs looking for suspicious activity like last minute, one-way tickets.
Because apparently only slimy low-lifes who carry treasure troves of illicitly acquired cash buy last minute one-way tickets.
This is amazing: you’d think that, with the obvious public backlash against Civil Asset Forfeiture over the past two years that the government would tone down the practice.
On the contrary, they’re taking it to the next level.
So now instead of passively waiting to steal from citizens as the opportunities arise, they’re actively casing our travel itineraries looking for potential targets.”
Apparently, the DEA is leading the charge, using this technology to – cough – target drug couriers – cough. They’re seizing the money that travelers have with them, and most times, releasing them without any charges.
“They count on this as part of the budget,” said Louis Weiss, a former supervisor of the DEA group assigned to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. “Basically, you’ve got to feed the monster.” (source)
So, let’s get this straight.
- Your itinerary is inspected before you travel, along with your personal finances.
- If you are a good enough target, your money is stolen.
- There is no due process of law, no criminal charges, just “give us your money and you can go.”
We are being robbed and extorted by our own government, and if we fight back, we get charged with a crime, kidnapped, and locked in a cage.
Man, I’m sure glad we live in America, not some Third World banana republic with shady law enforcement people who set up innocent people and steal from them.
Oh.
Wait.
Maybe Independent Thinkers Should Give Trump a Closer Look
Wait – don’t go away! There’s a reason for my shift of opinion.
I started out this election cycle strongly disliking both of the major candidates. And to be honest, I still think the whole thing is a complete circus and think that maybe we should just be single and go without a president for a few years.
But the more the mainstream media offers their one-sided, biased propaganda journalism (see above), covering Trump and his alleged mental illness while ignoring the HRC health/lies/treason elephant in the room, the more I’m compelled to think that just maybe he isn’t the bad person the media is portraying him to be.
It’s sort of like when everyone got worked up about Confederate flags and I immediately pulled out my old Dixie t-shirt and started wearing it again.
Or how I added a second Gadsden flag bumper sticker to my Jeep when people began to say there was something wrong with that, just in case the first one was too small to be noticeable.
Every time I get told something is politically incorrect and horrifying, I immediately have the urge to investigate it for myself to see why it’s scary and offensive. And, it seems to me that those gun-grabbing media mouthpieces are having exactly the opposite effect of the one they wanted, because I’m not alone in thinking that if they don’t like someone, maybe we should give that someone a closer look.
The enemy of my enemy, and all that stuff.
This has happened more and more lately, with television shows portraying the scary evils of guns, kids’ programs preaching the politically correct rhetoric of the week, and newscasters doing away with any pretense of unbiased journalism. It’s a sleight of hand, just like magicians do when performing their illusions. Watch the dramatic motion of the left hand, while the right hand subtly does the trick. We are being manipulated on the grandest scale in history right now, and with all of these people and outlets complicit in trying to push you into thinking that you believe a certain way, it is an act of revolution to dig your heels in and say, “Wait. What is it you’re trying to hide? What is it you are trying to coerce me into doing?”
Think about what they’re trying to force you to do, friends, and strongly consider doing the opposite.
I was always kind of a difficult child – when someone tried to force me to do something, I immediately did the opposite and did it with great enthusiasm. Just ask my poor, long-suffering mother.(Sorry, Mom.) This isn’t a resounding endorsement of Donald Trump or the Republican party, but these relentless attacks on him by the mainstream media have had the effect of making me consider that he might not be the worst guy in the world, since the establishment seems utterly terrified of him.
This is NOT a resounding endorsement of Donald Trump or the Republican party, but these relentless attacks on him by the mainstream media have had the effect of making me consider that he might not be the worst guy in the world, since the establishment seems utterly terrified of him.
When I posted this little stream of consciousness on my Facebook page (the real one where I post my politically incorrect opinions, funny pictures of cats, and the snarky observations that offend people on my business page, where I generally try to be polite), one lady suggested that I had a mental disorder. “Sounds like you have oppositional compulsive disorder. You have to oppose everything and everyone.”
I still don’t believe in this two party system and I’m pretty sure the entire election is a facade to make us think we live in a place where our votes count. But I’ll be damned if I allow myself to be manipulated by those twits in Hollywood and the liberal media. While I am not exactly pro-Trump, I am decidedly anti-Clinton.
Just so I’m 100% clear: this is not an endorsement of Donald Trump or the Republican party or politics or the election process. However, these relentless attacks on him by the mainstream media have had exactly the opposite effect on me of the one they desired.
This week, watch the coverage with a critical eye:
“What are they so scared of?”
“Who stands to gain by this?”
“If they dislike A and B and C, and I think A and B are wonderful, then perhaps this means that C is not as bad as they’re making it out to be either.”
Do I have a disorder? Does Trump have a disorder? Is the media in the right here? Let me know what you think.
The Bookshelf
Flat Earth News: An Award-Winning Reporter Exposes Falsehood, Distortion and Propaganda in the Global Media (This is an INCREDIBLY BOOK!!!!)
This Week in Preparedness…
Urban and Suburban Preppers: The Forgotten Majority
9 Things You Can Learn from Camping That Will Make You a Better Prepper
Got a Wheat Intolerance or Celiac Disease? Gluten Free Preps
How to Survive a Terrorist Attack
Anything to add to Survival Saturday?
Do you have any news links you want to share? Now’s the time! You are absolutely welcome to post your links in the comments below. Let me know what you think of the blatant propaganda, too. Please join the discussion!
I’ve been a newspaper reporter for more than 20 years now. I’ve never been more disgusted with my chosen field than I am today. I have my own political leanings, obviously, but if I ever felt it creeping into my news reporting, I’d turn over my notebook and pencil on the spot. (Yes, I still use a notebook and pencil. You get burned by a recorder once and you never trust the technology again.)
You say vote for Trump. How about “none of the above”? I plan to vote Libertarian, although that is probably throwing away my vote. I am very disappointed in our political “system”.
Hi Chuck!
Actually, to be perfectly clear, I didn’t say vote for Trump. I said that we need to see why the media is bashing him to the extent that they’ve admitted to losing all sense of journalistic integrity. The Libertarian candidate is definitely an option, although with our electoral college system, very unlikely to get into office. And you know, if you are following your conscience, I could never consider that throwing away a vote. Doing what we believe is right against the odds is never a waste. 🙂
I’m with you on the Hillary/Trump thing. I’m convinced that it’s all a performance and that it’s pretty much irrelevant which of them ends up in the White House. That said, I watched a biography of Trump the other night and, at the very least, found myself admiring what he’s accomplished over the decades. Most detractors will insist that the Donald was born with a silver spoon in his ass, but he’s pulled off some amazing feats of real estate and high finance. If nothing else, the bio emphasized how little I knew about the man.
Maineuh – Which documentary was this? It sounds very interesting!
You and I could be twins…right down to the exasperated mother and cute cat pictures (just shared “surprised kitty” again with family and friends. It doesn’t get old) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Bmhjf0rKe8#action=share
I am yet again confused about the portrayal of Trump as the devil incarnate. How can we be sure they DON’T want him? Maybe this is reverse psychology? I just don’t see how HE would benefit their plans. Maybe Pence? You can read into that what you like.
I love your writing. It’s good therapy for me. Who needs Comedy Central? While I’m with you on Trump, I just can’t take their bashing of him anymore. It’s over the top.
Well, God bless and thanks for all you do! It’s nice to hear a sane voice in the wilderness.
Hi Mangomuffin2!
Squee! That kitten! <3
Thank you for your kind words and the kitty video. You brightened my morning!
Hi Daisy,
Sorry I didn’t find you sooner. You are a woman after my own way of thinking. I am getting so mad at all this crap I could spit. A local paper “editorial” claims he’s not a “Hillary-hugger” but goes on to say that she “has a problem with the truth” but Trump is “psychotic”. Media downplays the Hillary crap and blows up the Trump crap and there is no escaping it in any newspaper or t.v. channel. Tell us what to do—better yet, want to run for president??? I will write in your name!
Ha! NO. No way, Deb! I would never, ever want to be in the limelight like that!
The most important thing we can do is to refuse to be bamboozled by the media, while refusing to allow the propaganda to remain unchallenged. This is the first election in which social media had so much power! Use it, and make certain that the coverage is less biased.
Spot on.
I hope this isn’t off topic too much but I just finished reading the dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. Written in 1985 it takes place in the future, maybe late 2000’s. It tells the story of a woman’s place in a section of the US, probably upper Maine, after the President and all of Congress are killed by Islamic terrorists maybe, maybe not. This government takes over and strips women of all their rights including reading, marriage, and takes control of their reproductive systems. Men are also regulated, but it is the story of a woman.
Because I see many of our rights being taken away by government, I actually find this novel, especially since it was written 30 years ago, somewhat scary. It makes me think more and more about the coming election and what we are in store for depending on who is elected.
Most of our election coverage, even locally, is on the Presidential election but just as much attention needs to be given to the local elections. In my case, a seat on the local airport board is up, as are 3 seats on the Board of Education, a judge, etc. The decisions these people make will impact my life more directly than the President. So, please make your election decisions carefully, research as much as you can from as many sources as you can, attend as many meet the candidates as you can and ask, ask, ask questions. And, PLEASE VOTE – every vote counts.
Good morning, Bellen, and welcome!
I read that book as well – it is definitely thought-provoking. Thanks for bringing it up!
Unfortunately, Daisy, I can’t agree with you on this one. I’ve done a lot of research on Mr. Trump and I can’t get beyond some things. One of the most important, as a woman, being the vacant Supreme Court seat and the knowledge that 1 or 2 more may become vacant during the next President’s term. It’s interesting the last comment from Bellen is about a book taking away women’s rights to their own bodies. It is baffling to me so many men continue to want to change established law such as Roe v. Wade and regulate my body and more importantly, my daughter’s. Yes, I realize there are women against abortion too, they are entitled to their opinion, men not so much until they get a uterus. How’s that for a liberal position? My 5 sons and my hubby don’t think much of it either. LOL
I don’t believe the Court needs to be filled with radicals of either political philosophy, but with moderate, thoughtful Jurors who will uphold the Constitution and legal precedent. They also need to have the courage to overturn egregious laws as done in the past for discrimination in all its forms, Loving v. Virginia, etc.
They also need the courage to keep the laws that protect the freedoms of half the population of this Country and keep the separation of Church and State not bow to a vocal minority who want to outlaw abortion and then punish the women who have those children by not providing living wages, affordable childcare and the support needed to raise children effectively as a single mother. I myself cannot imagine having an abortion, but I want it available if need be for the younger women in my life should they need it for whatever reason. Mr. Trump has been clear he wants to outlaw abortion and originally wanted to punish women who get an abortion. Yes, I know he retracted that statement and changed it to the provider who gives it. All that law change would do is send women back to back rooms and coat hangars and massive infections and death.
I am by no means a one issue voter and I am getting very tired of having to deal with this issue in election after election. There need to be common sense limits put on abortion and we need to move on.
Hi, PJ!
You and Bellen are both correct – there is a lot at stake because of that vacancy in the Supreme Court. But I can’t, in good conscience, opt for a person who will take away my right to use a gun to defend my children. I, too, hate to be a one issue voter, but the 2nd Amendment has to be that issue for me.
PJ,
Sorry, but just like 98% of the population you have bought the lie. Roe v Wade is not established law, it is court opinion. We are now a nation not ruled by law, but by opinions. And you know what they say about opinions… everybody has one.
What an ignorant CUNT!
Good morning, Ashley.
You MUST be speaking of Hillary Clinton. I understand. My feelings toward her are pretty harsh as well.
You are absolutely correct; the media are political institutions with a clear driven agenda. Media is controlled by the elite who in turn control both the Democrats and the Republicans. After all, Romney and the Bushes are making sure we know that they belong to the Establishment and Trump doesn’t but Hillary is part of the Establishment. Establishment of the Elite. Great news; I know who to vote for and it is Hillary.
The screeching voice of Hillary Clinton spinning her lies with the support of the media is repulsive. If we had true political freedom where this election was open to the best people for presidency would we be seeing this election? I think not.
Bellen, I didn’t read that book yet, but it sounds like the author knew some of the Pol Pot history and their style of Totalitrianism. During this maniac’s regime he forbade women to do a lot of things and if they were teachers, which were mostly asian women were in that area of the world at the time, their reading glasses were made illegal and seized, among other things.
And you’re right. I hate to see that idea of ‘why vote’ when it won’t be worth much or mean anything because ALL politics are corrupt’ that we now know is purposely part of the agenda brainwashing. It’s a mind f**k without a condom.
Because anybody who doesn’t vote is a vote for the other side.
Agreed, though, that all politics reek of the stench of corruption and now obviously criminal behavior, but the visionary Framers took so long to write a relatively simple Constitution, not because they were ignorant or dull witted, quie the contrary, in fact. but because they wanted to carefully construct the least possible vehicle for political corruption while maximizing the Freedoms of the individual to maintain an egalitarian system of the people, by the people, and for the people.
The Truth is that the original way the Framers set up our political system was quite ingenious if you bother to investigate and think about the mechanism. Just like they set up our government management system with a self-regulating format consisting of three separate power entties which must work in synchronic harmony for the best results to preclude the manifestation of corruption and emergent Tyranny.
The resulting system of a Representative REPUBLIC defined by a Libertarian Constitution (Which is not a DEMOCRACY as everyone is also brainwashed to believe because the Founders knew a pure democracy of 51% of the population controlling 49% of the rest of the disagreeing populate is much more easily corrupted) was quite ahead of its time and not that easy to corrupt in the actual pull-the-lever polling place voting process as conspiracy folks like to imagine. the obvious standard Chicago style ‘vote early and often’ Cemetary voter registration’ election shenanigans notwithstanding… but these are only a negligable percentage if they can even still get away with that kind of thing after groups like Acorn got busted out.
So YOUR VOTE DOES, INDEED, COUNT VERY MUCH.
It’s a shame that it comes down to the lesser of the two evils, but right now it’s all about Damage Control for our Freedoms.
In other words, even though I’m a Constitutional Libertrian/humanist and don’t want to vote for anyone but the likes of Rand Paul or the Libertarian candidate, I’m going to have to vote for Trump…IF I WANT TO KEEP MY 1ST, 2ND AND 4TH AMENDMENT RIGHTS.
Because if Hillary gets in, these rights are over in less than 2 YEARS AS ALL THE FIAT BILLS ARE ALREADY IN CONGRESS TO EMASCULATE THE CONSTITUTION ONE WAY OR ANOTHER.
If you are voting Liberty, then there’s no option but Trump. Because it’s too late because of the slow drag of the brainwashed and apathetic to get a third party victory.
And any votes taken away from Trump by a third party candidate will guarantee Hillary’s victory.
Which any lover of liberty knows will then be followed by the most devastating rape of the Constitution since it was written.
Mahatma Muhjesbude – the book is definitely worth a read!
Daisy, The slippery slope of Totalitarianism doesn’t apply to just the 2nd and 4th amendments.
The first thing a failing, collapsing government does is to start stealing the people’s personal money after taxes. Plenty of historic lessons on that.
But this Asset Forfeiture Tyranny is just the tip of the iceberg. It’s far worse, and coming soon-to a theatre near you- at the end of the slippery slope in your neighborhood.
I was going to write an article on the latest violations of your due process rights for Surviopedia but I don’t have the time at the moment. But here’s a couple examples of the latest outright Police State asset seizure Gestapo tactics above and beyond merely profiling your travel behavior.
I think it’s in Oklahoma (you’d have to search it) that Troopers or Deputies pulling you over who have a ‘reasonable suspician’ that you might for ‘some reason’ be a drug dealer or maybe their dog hits on your car (even though statistics prove half the dog hits are not conclusive’) and even if they don’t find any drugs or paraphenalia…
They have a hand=held device that can scan your bank card if you also have a ‘suspiciously’ large amount of cash in your checking account, AND INSTANTLY SEIZE THAT AMOUNT BY TRANSFERRING IT INTO POLICE ACCOUNTS! Without your permission! Even though you are not arrested!
Then it’s up to you prove it wasn’t drug money?
This is one up from the Vegas scam of stopping people who just won cash at the casinos and seizing their cash if again, there is that dirty little ‘reasonable suspicion’ beast lurking in the officer’s mind, that it was ‘drug’ money.
But wait, it’s even worse than that on our East Coast branch of Kalifornia style Tyranny!
Due to a recent Superior Court decision, a Narcotics officer now can actually obtain a no-knock drug search warrant on your residence based onLY on ‘reasonable suspicion’ derived FROM HIS JOB EXPERIENCE AS A NARCOTICS OFFICER!
AND NOT ON THE CRITERIA FOR A 4TH/A SEARCH WARRANT which must meet more than just reasonable suspicion tests in the form of physical evidence to base serious probable cause on which must be articulated in a sworn affidavit to the judge!
This means that if you’re are a relatively innocent passenger in a car and the driver happens to have been arrested once for pot and a cop recognized the driver and pulled him over, searched the vehicle and found nothing, and merely ‘suspected’ that the passenger was somehow a drug dealer or whatever also, that they could write down his address and even though the car and driver and passenger were free to go, that passenger’s house could now’legally’be subject to a no-knock home invasion at 4am that night, flash bangs, jack boots and all!
And there were an estimated over 70 thousand Swat type drug raids estimated in 2015 throughout the country!
We’re in big Police State Tyrnny folks,
Get out there and vote with anybody else you can get. Lot’s of people of both parties just don’t know the extent of their liberty destruction by this regime. The MSM is too busy bashing Trump to even look at this problem.
Educate them. Check out my piece “The War on Drugs is a War on the People” @ Survivopedia for more info.