I love the sharpness of a gannet’s eyes, as they fly so gracefully over the waves. They don’t miss much, they are not deceived as they patrol with their wonderful air of detachment. They might or might not cast a disdainful eye down on my boateen as they soar past.
Winging their way past Cape St Vincent, for example, they of course know just when it is time to head east, but one will not detect the least glance at the land. The land! It is just and only that, whatever name we may choose to put on this or that chunk of it. Cast a cold eye on life, on death! - the poet Yeat’s epitaph seems to sum up their attitude as well.
It’s all very fine when you’re dead though! We all have our lives to lead. Would that we could suss out the truth of things that affect us with the gannet’s ease! There seems to be some sort of crescendo of confusion in the world, which pulls at our minds more and more. ‘Truth?’ said Dave here in Guadianaland; ‘I’ve given up on it!’ Indeed, if it’s peace of mind you want, this sometimes seems the only thing to do; it certainly is a proposition that appeals to most of us in times like these. There's a lot to be said for simply letting the horsemen pass by! Especially the ones like this Duckie!
In theory, I consider it an unacceptable and lazy cop out, but I realised with renewed force the other day that I am guilty of it myself. The occasion was a casual encounter with a fellow Irishman at Faro. Canice and I met him at the bus stop and we decided to take a taxi together to the station, then we had time for a coffee together. He had spent 30 years in the States and was a clued up, sane kind of a man. Somehow 9/11 came up and he professed his opinion that the official story was a white-wash. Now of course I’ve heard this before and even looked at some of the web-sites; but I’ve never actually bothered to screw myself up to seriously considering their truth. Well, says your man, take another look at them so!
How about this:-
How about this:-
Scientific Panel Investigating Nine-Eleven Association Statement: "We have found solid scientific grounds on which to question the interpretation put upon the events of September 11, 2001 by the Office of the President of the United States of America and subsequently propagated by the major media of western nations."*
Or this:- Twenty-five U.S. Military Officers Challenge Official Account of 9/11 1/14/08:
- “September 11, 2001 seems destined to be the watershed event of our lives and the greatest test for our democracy in our lifetimes. The evidence of government complicity in the lead-up to the events, the failure to respond during the event, and the astounding lack of any meaningful investigation afterwards, as well as the ignoring of evidence turned up by others that renders the official explanation impossible, may signal the end of the American experiment. It has been used to justify all manners of measures to legalize repression at home and as a pretext for behaving as an aggressive empire abroad. Until we demand an independent, honest, and thorough investigation and accountability for those whose action and inaction led to those events and the cover-up, our republic and our Constitution remain in the gravest danger.”**
Well ok, anyway havn't we all seen the video of the third building collapsing straight down on itself; and bought the story that it was just collateral damage? How could we have possibly done so? Then there is more, much more…. And then the next thing, President Kennedy’s assassination! Just a lone nutter?
I remember clearly the moment I heard about it, as a teenager waiting to buy some chocolate in the tuck shop at school. Well we’ve all heard long since how the CIA or some such seemed to be involved. Now take a look at the evidence that President Johnson himself was in it…. So that’s my active life gone by without facing what is at the very least a strong possibility. How would things have been different if this had come out at the time? Apparently there was a big story calling out LBJ on other bad stuff ready to roll on the Time/Life presses at the time, which was pulled when he suddenly became president.*** But why should we be surprised at it all, we who have read our Shakespeare and a bit of history? I suppose we just kidded ourselves that somehow things were different in our modern democratic age!
Which brings us to now, and Mr Tim Cook, the boss of Apple, calling in the Daily Telegraph:- ‘for governments to launch a public information campaign to fight the scourge of fake news, which is “killing people’s minds.”
‘In an impassioned plea, Mr Cook, boss of the world’s largest company, says that the epidemic of false reports “is a big problem in a lot of the world” and necessitates a crackdown by the authorities and technology firms.
‘He said that this crackdown would help providers of quality journalism and help drive out clickbait. “The outcome of that is that truthful, reliable, non-sensational, deep news outlets will win,” Mr Cook said.’
-Daily Telegraph, 10/2/17.
-Daily Telegraph, 10/2/17.
Yea right! Mr Cook, you just don’t get it! I doubt if there is anything as sensational as unvarnished truth! (Why, a small outbreak of it is currently set to bring down the Irish Government. Thank God it can happen in our wee country!) A crackdown by the authorities and technology firms, in order that we may have truthful, reliable, non-sensational, deep news !!! I find this statement as alarming as any of the many alarming statements that have come out recently. I'm sure our Duckie would love it. If that is to come about, we have but a short window of opportunity to insist that the potential of the internet to facilitate freedom of thought is not stifled.
Meanwhile, we have the said Duckie confusing the issue even more, even as he calls the mainline news providers liars. No doubt there's truth in that, but is it the way he means it? It seems to be a case of the pot calling the kettle black, if ever there was one. Yet he is capable of coming up with the odd little flash of truth, as in the well-known exchange on Fox News:-
There is indeed need to drain the swamp, but it is very hard to believe that this Duckie is the man to do it. Meanwhile the USA appears to be about to sink further into it. The present situation actually makes Europe look like a bastion of sanity. How very sad, for anyone like me who is fond of England, that they should choose such a moment to go taking the wrong way! Looking at things strategically, who in their right mind would want their country to turn in the American direction, rather than the European, at this particular moment in history? Can anyone possibly get it into those thick Tory heads that it might be wise to put off invoking that famous article 50 at least for another while? Could they not cite 'circumstances of exceptional peril' or something like that? After all, things have moved on since the famous referendum!
And what can we do? Pace our Luke, who was making snotty noises about 'cyber-warriors' the other day, I think it is useful to engage on the internet. The Russians certainly seem to think so, because even this little blog suddenly had a score of hits out of the blue from them, when I said something about their president. Very likely only mechanical hits, but it still goes to show the extent of their engagement!
Meanwhile, perhaps the best we can do is to get rid of censorship in our own minds, as we keep quietly and courageously striving to get a handle on what's happening in the world around us. At least we won't be bored, as we try to build up our little communities of truth and solidarity!
Here is some food for thought, courtesy of Fergal whom we met at Faro and who suggested a few good 'alternative' news sites:-
http://patriotsquestion911.com/
http://www.tomdispatch.com
https://consortiumnews.com/
http://truthdig.com/
http://theintercept.com/
http://spartacus-educational.com/
*http://www.physics911.net/
**http://www.opednews.com
O’Reilly: “He’s a killer, though…Putin’s a killer.”
Trump: “We got a lot of killers. What, you think our country’s so innocent?”There is indeed need to drain the swamp, but it is very hard to believe that this Duckie is the man to do it. Meanwhile the USA appears to be about to sink further into it. The present situation actually makes Europe look like a bastion of sanity. How very sad, for anyone like me who is fond of England, that they should choose such a moment to go taking the wrong way! Looking at things strategically, who in their right mind would want their country to turn in the American direction, rather than the European, at this particular moment in history? Can anyone possibly get it into those thick Tory heads that it might be wise to put off invoking that famous article 50 at least for another while? Could they not cite 'circumstances of exceptional peril' or something like that? After all, things have moved on since the famous referendum!
And what can we do? Pace our Luke, who was making snotty noises about 'cyber-warriors' the other day, I think it is useful to engage on the internet. The Russians certainly seem to think so, because even this little blog suddenly had a score of hits out of the blue from them, when I said something about their president. Very likely only mechanical hits, but it still goes to show the extent of their engagement!
Meanwhile, perhaps the best we can do is to get rid of censorship in our own minds, as we keep quietly and courageously striving to get a handle on what's happening in the world around us. At least we won't be bored, as we try to build up our little communities of truth and solidarity!
Here is some food for thought, courtesy of Fergal whom we met at Faro and who suggested a few good 'alternative' news sites:-
 |
| Meanwhile some of the Gannet's distant relatives are preparing for Spring in VRSA! |
http://patriotsquestion911.com/
http://www.tomdispatch.com
https://consortiumnews.com/
http://truthdig.com/
http://theintercept.com/
http://spartacus-educational.com/
*http://www.physics911.net/
**http://www.opednews.com
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