No "Russian Hacking" In Durham Election - NY Times Report Belies Its Headline
The last piece pointed out that the NYT headline "U.N. Peacekeepers in Lebanon Get Stronger Inspection Powers for Hezbollah Arms" was 100% fake news. The UNIFIL U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon were not getting any stronger inspection powers. The relevant UN Security Resolution 2373, which renewed UNIFIL's mandate, had made no such changes. No further inspection powers were authorized.
Today we find another similarly lying headline in the New York Times.
The piece is about minor technical election trouble in a district irrelevant to the presidential election outcome. Contradicting the headline it notes in paragraph five:
There are plenty of other reasons for such breakdowns — local officials blamed human error and software malfunctions — and no clear-cut evidence of digital sabotage has emerged, much less a Russian role in it.
All of the reported troubles are simple computer hiccups that would not have occurred in a more reasonable election system build on paper and pencil balloting. All the computer troubles have various innocent causes. The officials handling these systems deny that any "Russian hacking" was involved. Moreover, there was no chance that these troubles in one district would have effected the general election. There was thereby no motive for anyone to hack these systems:
Despite the disruptions, a record number of votes were cast in Durham, following a pattern there of overwhelming support for Democratic presidential candidates, this time Hillary Clinton.
Screenshot of NYT report
The NYT headline is an outrageous lie. It promotes as causal fact completely unproven interference and troubles for which, as the article notes, plenty of other reason might exist. It is politically irresponsible. Only two out of ten people read beyond the headlines. Even fewer will read down to paragraph five and recognize that the headline lies. All others will have been willfully misled by the editors of the New York Times.
This scheme is the gist of ALL reporting about the alleged "Russian hacking" of the U.S. presidential election. There exists zero evidence that Russia was involved in anything related to it. No evidence -none at all- links the publishing of DNC papers or of Clinton counselor Podesta's emails to Russia. Thousands of other circumstances, people or political entities might have had their hands in the issue. There is zero evidence that Russia was involved at all.
The whole "Russian hacking" issue is a series of big lies designed and promulgated by Democratic partisans (specifically Brennan and Clapper who were then at the head of U.S. intelligence services) to:
- cover up for Hillary Clinton's and the DNC's failure in the election and to
- build up Russia as a public enemy to justify unnecessary military spending and other imperial racketeering.
The New York Times, and other media, present these lies as facts while not providing any evidence for them. In many cases they hide behind "intelligence reports" without noting suspiciously mealymouthed caveats in those subjective "assessments" of obviously partisan authors. Hard facts contradicting their conclusions are simply ignored and not reported at all.
Posted by b on September 2, 2017 at 3:26 UTC | Permalink
"Never trust a computer with anything important." I have been relentlessly campaigning against the use of voting machines, particularly voting computers, since 2004. I have demanded openly hand counted paper ballots in hundreds of blog posts, and even have a website promoting this. At the end of the day it is obvious that the Deep State Syndicate controls the machines, and thus the elections. And then they have the nerve to demand that we must beware of "Russian hacking"!
Get strategic hedge simple score voting today!
Posted by: blues | Sep 2 2017 5:37 utc | 2
The whole Russia stole my homework meme is getting fairly old and it makes me wonder what they are really hiding with this ongoing obfuscation of the facts......if the drums of war are loud enough will they drown out the calls for justice by any of the current or recent politicians?
Yes, of course.....thats the plan.....is it working?
If not, invade Venezuela on some pretext and claim ownership of their oil....someone has to make Israel look reasonable.
Posted by: psychohistorian | Sep 2 2017 5:59 utc | 3
What a bizarre article.
“We don’t know if any of the problems were an accident, or the random problems you get with computer systems, or whether it was a local hacker, or actual malfeasance by a sovereign nation-state,” said Michael Daniel, who served as the cybersecurity coordinator in the Obama White House. “If you really want to know what happened, you’d have to do a lot of forensics, a lot of research and investigation, and you may not find out even then.”...
the firm had not conducted any malware analysis or checked to see if any of the e-poll book software was altered, adding that the report produced more questions than answers.
They don't even know what happened. Best blame it on the Russians anyway.
Posted by: Bob | Sep 2 2017 6:01 utc | 4
The "paper of record" is just another outlet for the Ministry of Propaganda.
Posted by: Perimtr | Sep 2 2017 7:07 utc | 5
B of course realizes that the headline of an article is almost never written by author but by an editor.
Such as blatant nonsense at NYT and elsewhere I think is possible when author wanting to get published on good NYT page would lie to editor about its contents.
Of course Editor is no idiot and in old American tradition of pretending and deniability does not read it to cover his/her butt and hence this obvious crap get published epitomizing a failure {actually Orwellian success] of editor to vet the paper, as long as bosses are happy with insinuations however baseless.
Posted by: Kalen | Sep 2 2017 7:22 utc | 6
The Guardian still sees mileage in Pussy Riot, or at least one former member: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/01/pussy-riot-mariya-alyokhina-russian-activist-jailed-white-house
Posted by: Shakesvshav | Sep 2 2017 7:31 utc | 7
...
Of course Editor is no idiot and in old American tradition of pretending and deniability does not read it to cover his/her butt and hence this obvious crap get published epitomizing a failure {actually Orwellian success] of editor to vet the paper, as long as bosses are happy with insinuations however baseless.
Posted by: Kalen | Sep 2, 2017 3:22:15 AM | 6
I like the theory that NYT's sub-editors are too lazy/busy/careless to read the articles they're paid to summarise and add an appealing headline. It's certainly food for thought when pondering possible Chain Of Command issues within the MSM.
When I was a regular lurker at What's Left, one notable aspect was the frequency with which Gowans' most stunning revelations were sourced from the nether regions of articles published in the NYT, WaPo et al.
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Sep 2 2017 11:21 utc | 8
What this all speaks of is ineptitude and malfeasance at all levels of government. Lies covering more lies. The only things that gets done in Washington iare covering asses and those, like their wars without end, are complete and utter failures. That the Clinton mob are sore losers and press on with delegitimization of a clown president who, unlike the wicked witch of the West, feigned disinterest in war and won what's left of a hollowed out presidency is theatre of the absurd par excellence. Build the fence around the beltway and keep the psychopaths in the asylum in.
Posted by: Lawrence Smith | Sep 2 2017 13:59 utc | 9
Moreover, there was no chance that these troubles in one district would have effected the general election. There was thereby no motive for anyone to hack these systems:
Plenty wrong with that logic...gosh...give it some thought...a tiny bit will help there...
Posted by: doug | Sep 2 2017 14:44 utc | 10
I have a theory that all of this BS mis-headlining, bogus fact presenting, hyping of tiny events into world shattering 'news' is bad.
During Harvey, the misinfo was as rampant as real news, and I found myself constantly being phoned about some crazy things. But at the heart of things here, the actual stories making the rounds in the national news were slanted. Initially, some news about our response that was positive made it out, but was quickly subsumed with the usual train wreck videos and accompanying invective.
In short, based on the revelations ongoing wrt national news of any kind, people have no idea what to believe anymore. Toss in all the fake newsery on social media and the internet, and you have a complate shit-storm. If this was, in fact, the CIA/NSA/FBI goal, it is fairly well met.
The rubber is meeting the road here with Harvey where fake news is concerned. News media local staff, in general, are being castigated amongst people for their fawning and sycophantic behavior towards Lester Holt and other national talking heads. The local newsies were all but taking their clothes off and offering their bodies to these national, 'elite' employees of news companies. It was both obvious and odious. People were booted out of hotels to accommodate these clowns, but that is not making it into the new stream - imagine that...
The real issue, the real problem, is that when an event such as Harvey hits, nobody believes anyone from government any longer. We are being forced to go direct to local LEOs and such to get them to 'rethink' their orders from the city or county, because they make no sense on the ground where we are trying to recover and help people. Fortunately, most LEOs are people first, and not their job titles - so we can make them understand what needs to be done to get things moving. They are overwhelmed too.
Yet I think this entire "liars in media" thing has had a palpable effect on us here in the wake of Harvey. The slanting of stories to the negative has grown smelly and tiresome. The 'blame-game' in the wake of a storm nobody imagined is also tiresome. I went through Ike, Allison and many other storms - this one really was unprecedented and unimagined.
Fortunately people are NOT their governments. Which is likely a reason many comment here on MoA. But my question is: what happens when we cannot trust what we are being told any longer? Not just in the slant, but in the actual events. This isn't just problematic anymore - it is getting dangerous.
As the media drinks and spews forth more and more fictional and irrelevant narrative, do we go back to 1850? I ask this because the media helped a lot locally with routing ERTs and such during the storm event - relaying things over the broadcasts that helped people and routed help to others. But after Harvey began to subside, the stripes changed. Locals began to echo the nationals, and that is just not helping anyone.
Where does this leave communities in trouble and people trying to make informed decision about any and every little thing?
Here, in the storm, local media was involved and helpful. Once things calmed a bit, it became the media telling the story they want to deliver, rather than covering an event already ended or ongoing. That is why I used 1850 - pre-radio and TV, where the stories were written after the fact. If media is only reliable in real-time mode, then the best thing to do is ignore them at all other times.
Thoughts anyone?
Posted by: Oilman2 | Sep 2 2017 15:00 utc | 11
yeah - more stories on pussy riot.. a story like how pussy riot ate george soros, or putins breakfast would be good..... when i read the nyt, i want a story filled with lies and deception... i'm running away from reality and heading straight for the nyt, lol..
Posted by: james | Sep 2 2017 15:01 utc | 12
The truth about US support for the FSA terrorists in Syria - Now playing on DTube - Intentional Lies and Taking Lives - U. S. State Department Greatest Hits on Syria (Highly Graphic - N.S.F.W.)
https://dtube.video/#!/v/clarityofsignal/mzaqrtv3
This highly revealing video features numerous heightened tension moments during U.S. State Department briefings where reporters exposed the U.S. State Department spokesperson's hypocrisy and misdirection related to events in Syria. These reporter questions relate to horrific events in Syria, including the beheading of 12 year old Abdullah Issa by US backed terrorist group Nour Al-Zinki, the chemical weapons attack that took place in Kherson, Syria on April 4, 2017 and the bombing of the UN convoy in September 2016, as well as parallels between events taking place in Yemen in comparison to Aleppo in December 2016. This video exposes the fact that the FSA and White Helmets are aligned directly with al-Nusra Front (al-Qaeda in Syria) terrorist groups and have consistently received US and western support for their actions. Photos at the link reveal that the White Helmets are, in actuality, terrorists and not the humanitarian rescuers the mainstream media portrays them to be. The terrorist photos contrasted with the State Department statements put forth in the videos reveal that the US government and media have been intentionally lying and covering up the truth about terrorist related events in Syria all along.
Additional links proving the White Helmets are terrorists -
Massive White Helmets Photo Cache Proves Hollywood Gave Oscar to Terrorist Group - clarityofsignal.com/2017/02/27/massive-white-helmets-photo-cache-proves-hollywood-gave-oscar-to-terrorist-group
Direct Terrorist Collusion: Over One Dozen Videos Capture White Helmets Working Side-By-Side With Terrorist Groups in Syria -
clarityofsignal.com/2017/05/08/direct-jihadist-collusion-over-one-dozen-videos-capture-white-helmets-working-side-by-side-with-terrorist-groups
Tapestry of Terror - White Helmets Exposed As FSA Terrorists Linked With ISIS (Highly Graphic - N.S.F.W.) - steemit.com/video/@clarityofsignal/now-playing-on-dtube-tapestry-of-terror-white-helmets-exposed-as-fsa-terrorists-linked-with-isis-highly-graphic-n-s-f-w
Intertwined – The White Helmets and FSA Terrorist Groups – Evidence of Collusion -Part 1 -steemit.com/news/@clarityofsignal/intertwined-the-white-helmets-and-fsa-terrorist-groups-evidence-of-collusion-part-1
Numerous US Government Officials Caught On Camera Meeting With White Helmets and FSA Terrorists -clarityofsignal.com/2017/07/18/numerous-us-government-officials-caught-on-camera-meeting-with-white-helmets-and-fsa-terrorists
“Now You See Me” – Over 100 White Helmet Self-Posted Facebook Images Expose Fake Humanitarian Group as FSA Terrorists Linked with Al-Qaeda - clarityofsignal.com/2017/05/01/now-you-see-me-over-100-white-helmet-self-posted-facebook-images-expose-fake-humanitarian-group-as-fsa-terrorists-in-bed-with-al-qaeda
White Helmets Exposed: Numerous Videos and Photo Evidence Directly Link White Helmets to FSA Terrorists Torture and Atrocities -
clarityofsignal.com/2017/01/30/white-helmets-exposed-numerous-videos-and-photo-evidence-link-white-helmets-to-fsa-terrorists-torture-and-atrocities
Video composed by Clarity of Signal utilizing official State Department briefing moments combined with Free Syrian Army (FSA) cached screen images proving the US supported FSA is comprised of murderous terrorist groups who conduct atrocities in Syria.
Posted by: Liam | Sep 2 2017 15:06 utc | 13
...
Plenty wrong with that logic...gosh...give it some thought...a tiny bit will help there...
Posted by: doug | Sep 2, 2017 10:44:46 AM | 10
It would only be a logical fallacy if it said...
"Moreover, there was no chance that these troubles in more than one district would have effected the general election."
...but it doesn't, so it isn't.
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Sep 2 2017 15:20 utc | 14
US reportedly preparing to forcibly enter Russian trade mission in DC to "search" it
http://www.fort-russ.com/2017/09/breaking-moscow-summons-us-ambassador.html?m=1
BREAKING: Moscow summons US Ambassador to submit protest note over diplomatic downsizing
September 2, 2017 - Fort Russ News - Paul Antonopoulos
Russia has call for the deputy chief of mission of the US Embassy in Moscow, Anthony F. Godfrey, to submit a protest letter over US plans to search the Russian trade mission in Washington, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement just made moments ago.
The statement revealed that Russian diplomats have been denied access to the trade mission building despite being owned by Russia and protected by diplomatic immunity.
Because of this gross violation of diplomatic immunity, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that:
"The US authorities must stop the gross violations of international law and refuse to encroach on the immunity of Russia's diplomatic institutions. Otherwise we reserve the right to reciprocate on the basis of reciprocity."
“We consider the planned illegal search of Russian diplomatic premises in the absence of Russian officials and the threat we have received to break down the door of the building as an aggressive action, which the US intelligence service may use to orchestrate an anti-Russian provocation by planting compromising items,” the statement also said.
This was triggered when days ago the US ordered the closure of the Russian consulate in San Francisco and the downsizing of its diplomatic presence in New York City and Washington DC.
Posted by: Perimetr | Sep 2 2017 15:56 utc | 15
And right on cue comes a left hook from Moldova...
"Moldova's ambassador to the U.N., Victor Moraru, recently asked the U.N. to discuss Russian troop withdrawal from Trans-Dniester on the sidelines of the Sept. 12 General Assembly in New York, something Russia opposes.
Moldovan Foreign Minister Andrei Galbur says the presence of Russian troops on its soil for the past 25 years "contravenes the constitutional provisions of permanent neutrality, sovereignty and the principles ... of international law."
Posted by: dh | Sep 2 2017 16:03 utc | 16
We are witnessing a coup of power within what remains of empire.
The geo-political positions that Trump spoke of and displayed before are not those that the current empire is marching forward to actualize. Trump didn't seem inclined to take on both Russia and China at the same time but Russia seems to be our enemy according to the current media propaganda.
We live this way as a species because we bow to the God of Mammon instead of coming together to build a just and equitable world.
Posted by: psychohistorian | Sep 2 2017 16:16 utc | 17
Re Posted by: Oilman2 | Sep 2, 2017 11:00:31 AM | 11 the hyping of insignificant events is designed to do at least two things: 1) create unleaderable chaos and 2) hide the real activities that are being conducted at meetings around the globe. and RE Posted by Liam | Sep 2, 2017 11:06:38 AM | 13 the mammoth sized corporations apparently have decided to take control of the political systems of the world and seem actively engaged to find ways to preempt government authority by developing international agreements and by finding ways to deny independent human choice and access to knowledge. Weapons of mass control [WMCs] are being developed to assist in these endeavors.
WMCs enable the capture, analysis, take down, redirection, substitution, morphing, targeting or interception of communications between all people and allow monopoly corporations to control everyone's information environment. So soon l expect posting the truth to be made, by every nation in the world, a crime. Controlled information and propaganda have become more threatening than bombs.
see https://wikileaks.org/tisa/ for an update on recent corporate take over efforts.
Several solutions come to mind: 1) break these large corporations up into very small pieces and force them to sell the pieces (anti trust laws) and 2) make unconstitutional copyright and patent laws. The patent and copy write inventories of these corporations and their monopoly size gives these corporations government funded [by contract] access to government, so government ends up paying for the development of WMC which the corporations can use, along with their monopoly size public funded capital to design markets that no one can complete in. After all capitalism is about defeating any and all competition; the profits follow.
Posted by: fudmier | Sep 2 2017 16:53 utc | 18
And Putin stole my Halloween candy. I'm pretty sure it was him.
Posted by: Bob In Portland | Sep 2 2017 17:15 utc | 19
July 28, 2017
Empire Files: The Hidden Purging of Millions of Voters
http://therealnews.com/t2/story:19516:Empire-Files%3A-The-Hidden-Purging-of-Millions-of-Voters
Above, is the real problem, and, it has NOTHING to do with Russia...
Posted by: ben | Sep 2 2017 17:48 utc | 20
More on "voting" in the U$A..
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=14545
https://www.rt.com/usa/397907-defcon-first-voting-village/
Posted by: ben | Sep 2 2017 18:28 utc | 21
Talking about making stuff up and whingeing about it to smear govts, this story fits right in...
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41047721
The US State Dept is insinuating that dizziness & deafness experienced by US 'diplomats' at its Embassy in Cuba are caused by a Sonic Weapon!?
...amusingly, it would seem that being exposed to too much spin has the same effect on the spinmeisters as it has on their targets...it makes them dizzy and, eventually, deaf.
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Sep 2 2017 20:03 utc | 22
The end of this story has already decided. It didn't matter who won the election, it doesn't matter that the people chose the candidate who wanted peace, and it doesn't matter that there wasnt any Russian election hacking. WG at 1.
Yes I get the pov WG, I’m not being snarky :) A feeling of crushing invevitability sets in. And we are all doomed anyway (a truism..) What is the end of the story? Is it decided ?
Trump was not a ‘peace’ candidate, he was quite belligerent against Muslim terrorists, ISIS (and its supporters incl. the US sub rosa), aka the Muslim Brotherhood, at home and abroad. (Not to mention Iran.) DT pre-election was nationalistic, seemingly partly isolationist, while ready to enter trade wars notably w. China, ensure MAGA, etc.
All told, imho, a predictable conventional move to keep US imperialism afloat for perhaps another 30 years, thru retrenchment, concentration on a few aims, choosing carefully between alternatives and only picking a few possible paths, etc. I.e. at all costs conserving present power, not giving up one inch more!
Some degree of ‘national unity’ to push thru policies that may not suit some at one point in time is then required. It is very telling that Trump’s opponents don’t attack his policies vigorously but concentrate on vilifiying him / his supporters the ‘deplorables’ and so on.
Reviving the US coal industry and collaborating with the major non-Muslim FF producer (Russia) was part of the plan. (leaving out Venezuela for now.)
It mattered greatly who won the US election. Just as, it matters that GB is in the throes of an impending Brexit, and France decided to do its very own local rah-rah color revolution and elect a Marcron.
Posted by: Noirette | Sep 2 2017 20:15 utc | 23
I agree that the MSM represents a significant new low. But if you look back at news of the last two centuries, it was just as skewed, just as libelous, just as distorted as it is today. Remember Hearst, "Send me the photos, I'll supply the war." Remember aluminum tubes, remember the lies used by Lincoln to justify Constitutional violations during the Civil War.
What we are experiencing is not new what is new is the news is now 24/7 and dissenting independent voices are being routed out and suppressed. Solution?
Vote out EVERY current politician now in office, there were 12 million people behind Bernie, and 13 million behind Trump. If both those groups aliened behind a candidate draining the swamp could actually happen.
I think the full court press to get people at each other's throat is because the PTB have done the same math as I have.
Posted by: frances | Sep 2 2017 20:43 utc | 24
in my comment (24) that should have read,"aligned" in line four.:(
Posted by: frances | Sep 2 2017 20:53 utc | 25
@11 oilman
I would be very interested to know how Twitter and, more especially, NextDoor.com was acting during all this. There's nothing like a bunch of voices from real people in the neighborhoods to get a picture of what's happening. The broadcast platforms themselves turn to these sources for the story much of the time. Are you saying the local outlets were at variance with what people knew and were confirming to be true through their own social media? Suicide by the local news outlets if so.
To your request for thoughts, I offer the perspective that we have more information access now than ever. The truth is that the people have never known what was going on, in all of history. We have always had to take what we were told as true. Today, we stand a chance of figuring it out for ourselves.
We need new standards of authority because what we thought was authority in the past - the press, government - has now been shown to be saturated with falsehood. And not just shown to be, it shows itself daily to be lying, because it never had to develop the skills of lying very greatly. It had no alternative narrative that stood any chance of competing, until now.
Just as the blockchain seems to be quietly pulling the rug out from under much of the existing infrastructure of intermediaries and brokers - making them unnecessary and irrelevant - so too perhaps there's a blockchain form of reportage which makes it impossible to walk something back, and which adds any subsequent deconstruction of a claim to the claim itself.
Imagine b's article here being welded to the NYT story, forever. Yes, many people will never read past a headline, but imagine if the headline is a dynamic meta-summary that changes as the proofing and deconstruction of the article occurs, and by Day 3 the NYT headline resembles b's headline here.
These revolutions are occurring, I think. We here are a small piece of the process. The revolutions are all around us, and not yet connected.
Posted by: Grieved | Sep 2 2017 20:53 utc | 26
The story of Russian hacking (? totally unclear…manipulating e-voting machines in the US? what?) was invented by the Dems to pre-emptively explain away the DNC leaks and the impending possibly devastating implosion (from various sources, in first place Podesta e-mails) re. Pizzagate. Some rationale concerning ‘what could be found on computers’ had to be constructed so as to claim innocence - bame to evil hackers are our modern day devils.
The Dems, aka part of the US PTB, could not, in these two cases (maybe more …) blame in-group members, that would shatter unity and ideological soldering credibility — not could it blame other US factions such as the Repubs (that would be traitorous and would destroy the status quo of a fake two-party system), or Corporate (who actually pay for these idiotic greedy Gvmt. types), etc.
Only an outside enemy would do, and the role had to go to the biggest, most powerful and savvy. US citizens would never believe or care that Mongolia, Moldova, Macedonia, Malawi, Madagascar, hacked into Clinton’s e-mail, etc. Russia, the age-old enemy and rival, the only other important country on the block except China, was the inevitable choice. Of course all that was a long time coming, rumbles of Russia vilification took off soon after Russia started to re-coup. "Russian hacking" hype is dying down because it appears there is no need to claim 'fake' about very dodgy stuff on various servers.
Posted by: Noirette | Sep 2 2017 21:00 utc | 27
This report from the times ranks up there with there report on Gary Johnson's apparent lack of knowledge of Aleppo, which was followed up with not one but two corrections about what and where Aleppo is.
I don't think that the Russians should have seeded the gulf clouds that caused Hurricane Harvey... weaponising the weather is way below the belt. Putin probably went too far this time.
Posted by: MadMax2 | Sep 2 2017 23:14 utc | 30
@11 oilman2... quote "But my question is: what happens when we cannot trust what we are being told any longer? Not just in the slant, but in the actual events...."
aside from agreeing with @18 fudmeir and @24/25 frances, i would draw your attention to @13 liams post... taking a story and completely fabricating another one based on lies, deception and propaganda for the purposes of making war is on full display here... yes - it has been going on for probably forever, but it does appear to be ramping up the past few years.. i suspect the wheels are coming off the empire and there are going to be any number of accidents as a result.. the first one happened a long time ago - revealing the truth hasn't been the agenda of the msm for so long, it isn't worth commenting on... only a nave with no critical thinking would be foolish enough to believe what they are served via the msm.. unfortunately for many - this would appear to include large numbers of people in various different countries - my own here in canada included..
it is relentless, ramping up and it isn't going to stop by all appearances and it does suggest something major and bad coming down the pike sometime soon...
Posted by: james | Sep 2 2017 23:33 utc | 31
Anyone who has been involved in an incident which got reported by the media knows that the story as reported is always incorrect. Not just in factual detail but especially in the tone or slant given the newstory. While these flaws are most frequently down to the reporters inability to be objective - if you consider that the media 'industry' is a preferred destination for careerists the preferred model for character is general bourgeois whitefella even if the reporter is an ungendered polka dot as a reporter knows what gets he/she/it ahead.
The probem with journos is pretty much identical to the problem ordinary people face when they hire a lawyer - who inevitable sees him/herself as being a better judge of the 'facts' than the client. They may be useful when the law is really complex or if the client doesn't feel able to express themselves but since I decided to stop using the fuckers who always charge too much to get the story wrong, I haven't looked back - most beaks will take a bit of extra care when the client is standing for themself and that sure helps.
Basically the issue is a human one that we always look at the world in our own special way and anything second or third handle vastly increases the likelihood of concentrating on the wrong stuff or just plain getting the facts wrong. Reporters may send their guff straight back but most of the time they are reporting on something they weren't a direct witness to so the screw it up.
Natch this flaw was ripe for abuse by those who need to see stories told in a way which aids their profits and that is how we got here. Where I am all the stories about texas and storms now, are about the bidding war between trump & the Texas governor on how much money will be diverted away from the greedy maw of DC crooks into the claws of the Texas white shoe brigade. I guess the media has decided people are bored by the sight of humans looking like drowned rats. Me I wanna know why we can have so much time spent on any of this and now the Rohingya refugee issue (ably avoiding the civil war aspects), while no media attention has been focused on the shame of 2017 - the murder by starvation and disease of the people of Yemen, executed by Saudi on behalf of amerika.
Posted by: Debsisdead | Sep 3 2017 1:01 utc | 32
Today I was taking a walk in the countryside near an old Roman settlement in England in this beautiful season of pre-autumn with fruit happy on the trees and hay being cut and gathered. There is a peace about autumn as if nature is tired after its huge growing effort. From my vantage on a hilltop I watched a young girl and her horse negotiate the route downhill. Like a skier the horse slalomed its way down weaving from one side to the other. Was this typical for a horse I wondered or was it somehow injured? I had always imagined a horse charging straight down a hill. But like so many things I simply did not know.
Back on the path I saw a notice outside a farm that read “Dog poo causes abortions in cows so pick it up.” My sister, who was with me, wondered where such a theory had originated given that cows are not known for eating poo of any description, certainly not dog poo. It struck me that “fake news” had struck the rural footpath. I wanted to put add a little sticker “CNN says” dog poo causes abortions in cows.
One minute CNN says antifa are heroes, the next they are semi-terrorists. Opposing narratives are drawing so closely together time-wise that we are in the Yeats’ scenario of the centre not holding.
Back in the village a very posh Englishman, the sort who would have ruled empire, wished to converse with us but that’s another story…
Posted by: Lochearn | Sep 3 2017 1:03 utc | 33
@ Grieved 26...
Twitter was a loss - it was inundated by kids and some snarky comments from outside the affected area. I don't do tweets, so this is from my daughter.
Facebook, much as it is maligned and full of crazies and trolls - did do some good in letting people that knew each other pass relevant information on stranded people and who was getting flooded realtime. I don't do fb, but my wife was monitoring fb and people were relaying info quick and fast, with video. Apparently the censorship was either suspended or overcome by sheer volume during the event.
Several people in trouble situations were fed onto the local networks from fb, and ERT folks went. I don't know how they were vetted or if they were.
I don't know anyone on Nextdoor - you would be better asking a user located here.
This same type of information could be handled by p2p on a mesh without any censorship, slanted media hype or government intrusion - and it should be.
As to authority - I have never trusted it, not since Kent State. Read up o it if you don't know the reference. I would much prefer blockchaining government, but then an entire industry will develop around corrupting blockchains, as is currently happening.
I think the unspoken issue is that we no longer need centralized government control with the communication we have today, IF IT REMAINS RELIABLE. Today, much of it simply isn't. If we could fix that by switching to some type of p2p where we don't need massive servers where control can be consolidated - it might work.
Which is why (@ alain 29) WCD. If they cannot control it and tax it, then it must be destroyed. The internet is too valuable and too much government is hanging off of it already - they canot roll it back easily, if at all, at this point.
@ frances 24
I think that voting is going to be severely restricted in terms of candidate options in the future. Trump got in and it scared the beejeezus out of the lifetime bureaucrats and parasites. They have him now, by either blackmail of him or everyone not aligned to their cause around him. They will limit options, and any 3rd party type arising will be dealt with by any means necessary before he gets on either ticket here. So the only real option is not to vote, and then start ignoring their edicts. The red/blue diatribe isn't playing well anymore, but they will roll with it because they aren't that right and are very used to having their way.
The math you speak about is on full display here - government is swamped and out of their depth here in the wake of the storm. The Fed-types are watching as we do it all ourselves by our playbook, because they don't have the tools for this type of thing - they need a nail since they only carry a hammer in their toolbox. State, county, city and Louisiana and other states volunteers are making the real difference here, regardless of what is printed. You can already see the national coverage tapering off, except for finger-pointing, blaming and trying to make Texas look small and ignorant. That won't work on a state the size of ours, that feeds more money into DC than it takes out. DC needs us far more than we need them, and many of us know this. More are going to discover that in the coming months, since the government is broke and about to play fussball with the budget cap.
A hoarsewhisperer 22...
LOLOL - I almost blew coffee out of my nose when I read that stupid headline on zh - they will print anything to get eyeballs and clicks.
Thanks all for the replies - I have been hammered in several places for my comments, and all I have been trying to do is say what I am seeing here, as a private citizen. It's not always what others expect, but se la vie...
Posted by: Oilman2 | Sep 3 2017 1:08 utc | 34
@34
Zh for all its foibles is still an invaluable source of rolling news. Unfortunately as the genuine left has ceased to exist we have to go to the libertarian right to get our news. How bad is that? We have to put up with shit like Obama being called a socialist. These are sad times indeed.
Posted by: Lochearn | Sep 3 2017 1:27 utc | 35
I think, at this juncture and with the tightening of the noose by the Syrians within their country, the Russian hacking has now been proven a canard to most people not brain dead. While the media ignores the advances in taking back territory by the Syrians, it is happening nonetheless. In the end, this has to be counted as victory over the USS, even if it actually should be victory over Israel and the CIA.
Unfortunately, this leaves Russia free to hack away, because we will not believe they are doing it - the 'cry wolf sword' is double edged, and the unelected party used it to try and kill Trump.
@ debsisdead 32...
Same reason as always - it's the other side of the world and few people here have vested interest in the locals or even know where Yemen lies on a map. It's really mind boggling when you put a globe on a table and ask the average American to show you where Nepal is or even Indonesia. Which leads me to - we should not have military bases or forces in places people cannot locate on a map.
Posted by: Oilman2 | Sep 3 2017 1:28 utc | 36
hey - i didn't get a reply.. ce le vie... as for americans knowing anything outside their own country - most of them remain incredibly ignorant, in spite of how many of there armed forces base are around the globe.. americans at this point are a complete joke by and large..
Posted by: james | Sep 3 2017 1:35 utc | 37
@ 36
"Unfortunately, this leaves Russia free to hack away, because we will not believe they are doing it"
What do you mean by this? Please explain.
Posted by: Lochearn | Sep 3 2017 1:36 utc | 38
i think he means the never ending boogie man russia will be up to no good at some point...
usa - good
russia - bad...
simple thinking at it's finest, lol...
Posted by: james | Sep 3 2017 1:55 utc | 39
@ james who is chiding Oilman2
Oilman2 lost me when saying how special Texans are but we shouldn't be too hard because there is some sort of awakening going on and being shared in their comments.
Maybe someday Oilman2 will come here and report about how those folks in Yemen are currently suffering worse than anything Harvey threw at Houston residents....not to denigrate any suffering but urge global perspective of our social cancer....we can hope.
Posted by: psychohistorian | Sep 3 2017 2:16 utc | 40
@ psychohistorian...
If I were there, you could count on it. I'm not, and I currently don't have any buddies over there either. I was not trying to disparage or belittle what is going on in Yemen - it is despicable and both our elected and unelected government are pushing it and supplying the ammo. These things are why guys like me should never be allowed within arms reach of congresscritters.
Be as hard on me as you want - I'm made of clay, not glass. Texans aren't any more special than anyone else. What we do share is an identity - which other states have as well. We are different, beginning with electing to join the USA, from other states in many respects. Size and resources and businesses all come to mind. Defending the border comes to mind, because the feds sure suck at it. Even other states acknowledge that Texans are different - ask a few. Some believe we are delusional, but we certainly aren't as deluded as Washington DC.
We stick together for the most part, because of the size of our state and the large areas where it is necessary to do so or fail. Alaskans are likely similar, but they are less numerous and off the radar most of the time. We have the same issues as everyone else does - and fail at things like everyone else does. But we don't give up easily.
I can't speak to the transplants to Texas - depends on if they have been infected yet or not... (wink)
@ lochearn & james...
I mean, that once the Russian boogey man card has been played and flayed to death by the media, if Russia truly does go on a hacking spree, then few will believe the news. Because this entire witch hunt was bogus and created to try and oust Trump and prevent detente from emerging. Large numbers (even many of the sleepwalking) know that the Russia hacking meme was a lie.
My reference was to the tale of the boy who cried 'wolf" over and over outside the village, to amuse himself. When the wolf truly arrived, the villagers paid his cries no heed as he was eaten.
Americans in general are ignorant of the rest of their world. It's why my kids were all sent away on holiday to other countries after they graduated high school (before I went broke...LOL). I wanted them to see how other people lived and laughed and were so very similar to themselves. And that many make much better beer than Americans...
My position wrt Russia is that I think every country has a right to their own sovereignty. If we don't accede to that right, and we don't, then we can hardly frown when other countries get into our business as we do theirs. Many Americans have forgotten that respect can be had by other means than at the end of a sword. The sword method only works as long as you have the strength to hold the sword at your opponents chest. The respect method works without unsheathing the sword.
I prefer option 2...
Posted by: Oilman2 | Sep 3 2017 2:53 utc | 41
@40 psycho - i would like to think that last line too... if we can only convince the texans, including the one down at the moron ranch, how this is all a part of saudi arabia's new leader mohammad bin salman to spread the love, not just to yemen, but to texas too... i am sure some texan can enter into some lucrative business deal with bin salman to make everything better.. in fact, the dude down at the moron ranch was in quite a few business deals with bin laden, before he wasn't and look how good that turned out? lolol..
Posted by: james | Sep 3 2017 2:56 utc | 42
@41 oilman2... i like what you say in the last part in particular... would be nice if the usa stopped fucking making wars in every corner of the globe, but seeing as they have been doing this my whole lifetime since i was old enough to remember, beginning in vietnam and going on to south america and etc. etc. - i ain't holding my breath that anything is going to change with regard to usa foreign policy direction.. and as for the msm - i think one can reasonably just completely write it off as a complete lying piece of crap almost 24/7... for entertainment purposes i get a kick out of the usa state daily briefing to the press... it is hard to believe the folks at those meetings can be that thick, but the spokesperson puts on a good propaganda front for all intents and purposes... the whole charade is pretty laughable - speaking of which - nikki haley - if someone told me i had a choice between rocky and bullwinkle or nikki haley for telling me the straight goods, i would pick rocky and bullwinkle hands down.. sorry, but i don't hold out a lot of faith in the usa to do the right thing at this point..
Posted by: james | Sep 3 2017 3:02 utc | 43
I am puzzled. What is the purpose for the NY Times publishing this article now?
This was first reported back on June 5th, 2017 by the Intercept and other media organizatons, so why has the New York Times treated this as what appears to be a new story when all that is actually new is the information about Durham, NC and Susan Greenhalgh?
VR Systems who produces an electronic poll book has contracts with eight states: California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, New York, North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia and only one state Florida saw a change in result, Florida which switched from Democratic to Republican while in all the other states there was no change. In North Carolina, a state with 100 counties, Trump won by about 180,000 votes so the "hundreds" who were disenfranchised in Durham County, which appears to be the only one effected would not have much effect the result.
From what I can make out, the poll book is maintained at the county/parish level and since the contents are specific to each county/parish, hacking it would be different for each county/parish and would require specific information about each voter's political allegiance. While that might be easy to establish for registered Democratic or Republican voter, it would be difficult for the unaligned. If you want to hack an election, hacking the poll books is not a very effective or efficient way to do it as there's no economy of scale.
Posted by: Ghostship | Sep 3 2017 3:45 utc | 44
My comment is about Myanmar. One red flag, aside from the rebel leaders having Saudi/Pakistan connections, is the fact that a lot of photos are either stolen from another conflict or too vague to determine what exactly going on. Lack of clear scenery and identification of those involved. I hope you can do a post on what's really going on over there. I have a few friends who have made emotional posts about the Rohynga for months now but there isn't much solid info just posts to shock and trigger an emotional response. Like Syria..
Posted by: Guest | Sep 3 2017 3:49 utc | 45
@ Oilman2 who blames the folks in DC
While we agree that most of our representatives are not governing in our best interests, we disagree on them being the source of our social woes. I believe in government but agree with your concerns about local versus regional, national, global control issues.
I believe we need to change our core incentives to be public rather than private focused by eliminating private finance (FED, City of London, BIS, IMF, World Bank) and replace all those private owned institutions with publicly organized and focused ones.
Posted by: psychohistorian | Sep 3 2017 4:10 utc | 46
@ 35 Lochearn
Indeed the left is almost totally bereft of non-corrupted voices, but you can always tune in the Jimmy Dore Show for proof that sense and morality has not been totally abandoned by some parts of the American left.
Posted by: Sad Canuck | Sep 3 2017 4:49 utc | 47
@ psychohistorian 46
I don't think that you will ever remove corruption from large civilizations - ever. It has always been the way that when money is concentrated anywhere, corruption follows. I believe in small countries and smaller government and open financial books. These first two may happen in the next generation or two, but the last? We may be looking at a radically different situation in the world long before that occurs.
I blame DC for a great many ills that beset the world - and rightly so. Then again, if it wasn't DC, the bankers would have simply usurped another country. It's what they, and money do, after all.
Humanity has to come to grips with its own history and current reality - and that will be difficult, as most people desperately hate facing the consequences of their decisions, should they be negative. Few people have learned the lessons of our history either - so until that is stored somewhere within the genome, I don't look for the lot of mankind to do much more than cycle - boom/bust or boom/war or variations thereof.
Our job is to try to make things better within the confines of our existence. DC certainly isn't helping that along, nor are many other governments. Shifting from private to public banking only shifts the corruption - it doesn't stop it. The only way it can be managed effectively is in smaller countries where it is more difficult to hide the corruption.
@ james 43...
When the politicians cannot buy anything because they are flat broke, then it will stop. Unfortunately that means some hard times, but there you have it. There is no chance that the USA will change the direction of its foreign policy unless it is forced to by outside events - a simple look at the last 70 years or so will make that quite plain. I just hope that the tyrant mantle isn't taken up by the next indispensable empire-to-be.
Posted by: Oilman2 | Sep 3 2017 6:02 utc | 48
@45
Andrew Korybko wrote a series (long, but worth the read) about hybrid wars published at Oriental Review. Several chapters were about the use of the Rohinga human rights issue as a weapon against the Myanmar government. The series reviews its history and relations with and between the various ethnic groups, China, Thailand and Bangladesh and the possibilities the empire has for destabilising the country.
China has an oil and gas pipeline from Yunan to Kyaukphu in Rhakine state, home of the Rohinga Muslims, and wants to build a rail link.
A Chinese rail link to the Bay of Bengal would bypass the strategic bottleneck of the Malacca Straits and reduce transport costs.
Korybko suggests the Buddhist nationalists could be persuaded to create a human rights crisis that would justify an R2P intervention and thereby thwart another part of the OBOR initiative.
Posted by: Bolt | Sep 3 2017 6:22 utc | 49
Its worth reading the entire Law of Hybrid War series in order to get acquainted with his thesis, and for the insights he offers in terms of African politics.
http://orientalreview.org/2016/03/04/hybrid-wars-1-the-law-of-hybrid-warfare/
Posted by: Bolt | Sep 3 2017 6:52 utc | 50
/~~~~~~~~~~
<<= Debsisdead | Sep 2, 2017 9:01:13 PM | 32
Anyone who has been involved in an incident which got reported by the media knows that the story as reported is always incorrect. Not just in factual detail but especially in the tone or slant given the newstory.
\~~~~~~~~~~
I was a young political activist who always worked from the "back end". That is, my name seldom got into the news paper -- It was the "front end" "leaders" (bullshitters) who got their names into the "stories". You must understand how the journalism racket really works. They do not care and have never cared about reporting the truth -- That is not their job. What their job is is to make up some vaguely interesting narrative that only faintly reflects whatever event they are "reporting". You will learn almost nothing from their "stories".
I once had a housemate who worked as a journalist. He was that rare creature who was a totally cynical psychopath and was not a bit afraid to let it show. Reporters are never heroic. They are all hucksters. You really think the propaganda outlets would hire honest people?
Oh and that Houston Texas disaster that keeps cropping up here? The news heroes are not telling us that the cooling systems of the South Texas Nuclear Generating Station about 30 miles Southwest of Houston have been totally destroyed by floodwater.
Posted by: blues | Sep 3 2017 6:54 utc | 51
@ psychohistorian regarding the silence over Yemen
Although an outcry for Yemen at a local level is ideal, I feel that "think locally" still is the gold standard for countering all the empire's misdeeds. People just get confused when you say stuff like "what do you think about the situation in Yemen?" Like relating Kierkegaard's thought to a drive-thru attendant at McDonald's. Just really silly. The situation is Yemen is really a bullet-point of the global intrigue of Syria and the empire's butt-kicking by RF. In the last thread about Harvey, people were saying shit like, "you think Harvey is bad...well, did you hear about the Tibetan flooding?" Translation: Americans deserve to suffer. Sure I want the stormtroopers of the empire to get kicked in the mouth....but people are people the world over and no tragedy deserves a snide reminder that it could be worse..."we could be Yemen!" Because then you could say conversely to a starving Yemeni that, "it could be worse, you could have lost your family in a submerged minivan in Houston."
As far as I'm concerned, when the empire has retreated and is being redeveloped and reinvisoned, I think that would be an opportune time to shelf the bleeding heart of global awareness. Please donate to the Red Cross if it makes you feel better, even though they will take 50% for administrative fees and only build a few tens of houses in Haiti (and Sean Penn's boat will get stuck at the dock on his way to rescue you). People are better decentralized and looking after their own lot. We can still turn the paper on Sunday morning and shake our heads about the situation in Yemen on our way to the sports page.
Telling your neighbor about peace is probably the best we can do. Spread the good news.
Posted by: NemesisCalling | Sep 3 2017 7:09 utc | 52
Telling your neighbor about peace is probably the best we can do. Spread the good news.
Yes forget about the wars abroad, forget about the lying media at home.
Nemesis, you are calling shit.
Posted by: From The Hague | Sep 3 2017 7:58 utc | 53
@Hague
Talking about peace encompasses ending federal funding for THE R2P MIC MACHINE. Everything good can only follow from that. Still not clear enough? Why would the US have a weighted percentage of assisting the world anyway?
Posted by: NemesisCalling | Sep 3 2017 14:10 utc | 54
@48 oilman2.. thanks.. i agree with you on that.. i wish it was different. even in the case of north korea where the usa has had a chance to find a resolution with north korea - the usa isn't interested..looks like the usa is now holding japan and south korea hostage thanks their unwillingness to alter these wars games they have going, or the idea of sitting down with north korea.. the matra will inevitably come up again - we don't work with terrorists... fool proof way to avoid conversation..
Posted by: james | Sep 3 2017 14:59 utc | 55
@ james 55...
When your career and all your training is about fighting war and killing enemies, then what do you bring to the table as your primary idea? What are you confident and comfortable with recommending, when all your young adult life was spent training for war? Well, you bring war or steps up to and into a war footing. You bring threats and positioning and tactics all designed to intimidate, because that is how military people are taught to avoid war.
When all you have is a hammer, everything is a nail - same thing for armed forces. Not their fault - it's their career and what they know. That' is supposedly why there is a Department of State.
When a president surrounds their person with generals and former colonels and ex-military people, what kind of advice do you think they will be comfortable providing the president? It won't be about budget matters or social issues or what type of car insurance to buy.
It's nothing nefarious - just really bad choices for advisors and advice. You need people from different backgrounds, with different skill sets, to make plans effectively to navigate in a complex world. The prez has cut loose anybody with a dissenting opinion at this point. It will just make the current in the empire toilet bowl swirl faster. It makes a really stupid military blunder more probable, as military solutions are all they know.
Posted by: Oilman2 | Sep 3 2017 18:10 utc | 56
The headline in NYT is misleading: NYT wants you to think the voting machines were hacked - but actually at issue is spear phishing that gained access to the voter registration database software in some counties in North Carolina.
What does this mean? It means that the voter list could have been tampered with (purges, additions whatever) and it also means that registered voters might not be found on the rolls when they go to vote.
From the article: " The problems involved electronic poll books — tablets and laptops, loaded with check-in software, that have increasingly replaced the thick binders of paper used to verify voters’ identities and registration status."
When there is a problem with electronic poll books, it is COMMON practice to revert back to the paper poll books at least in North Carolina. This means there's always a way to check in voters.
The article does say that they have a LEAKED report "proving" Russian entities got access to this voter registration system through spear phishing:
"Details of the breach did not emerge until June, in a classified National Security Agency report leaked to The Intercept, a national security news site. That report found that hackers from Russia’s military intelligence agency, the G.R.U., had penetrated the company’s computer systems as early as August 2016, then sent 'spear-phishing' emails from a fake VR Systems account to 122 state and local election jurisdictions. The emails sought to trick election officials into downloading malicious software to take over their computers."
Thanks to Wikileaks #Vault7 releases we know that CIA can alter a hack to attribute it to any country or language.
But the bottom line about the system that was compromised: "The vendor does not make the touch-screen equipment used to cast or tally votes and does not manage county data."
Posted by: Laura Roslin | Sep 3 2017 18:14 utc | 57
@56 oilman2.. i agree with you in all that.. however, i can't help but think that the neo con types in the armed forces have been given undue influence over the direction of usa foreign policy for much too long and i don't see it working favourably for the usa on so many levels...
Posted by: james | Sep 4 2017 1:39 utc | 58
@ james 58...
No argument there - neocon foreign policy and looking after Israeli interests above our own has been very bad for this country.
@ LauraRoslin 57...
Which is more likely: a) that the Russians are trying to hack county level voting equipment in the USA, or b) the Democrats or Republicans of unelected government tried to hack county level voting machines?
The Russians would have to field a lot of covert operatives and expose themselves to a lot of very ugly retaliation. Why do that when they have so vary many other options to foil US efforts? Syria obviously shows they are far from fearful of direct confrontation.
The others (Dems, Reps and unelected) would just have to insert a few folks into the stream...
Posted by: Oilman2 | Sep 4 2017 1:47 utc | 59
@Oilman2 59
Pardon if I misunderstood. The article says it was the voter registration software, not the voting machines, that was hacked.
Still, most people come away from reading just the headline and think voting machines were hacked. That is a scary idea and people can understand that. When you explain it was the electronic poll books, laypeople don't quite get it.
I am skeptical about the NYT claim that Russia did it, because it is hard to prove attribution.
Posted by: LauraRoslin | Sep 4 2017 20:13 utc | 60
The comments to this entry are closed.
Look at what happened today in San Francisco- after ordering the Russians to shut down their embassy there in an unreasonably short timeframe, they then had the fire department respond to smoke coming out of the chimney of the building. Conveniently this brings attention to the situation and continues the narrative of 'ongoing conflict' to the American people.
The end of this story has already decided. It didn't matter who won the election, it doesn't matter that the people chose the candidate who wanted peace, and it doesn't matter that there wasnt any Russian election hacking.
Posted by: WG | Sep 2 2017 5:27 utc | 1