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4/25/2015 Navigating the news - Or how to cut through media lies -- Puppet Masters -- Sott.net

http://www.sott.net/article/293593-Navigating-the-news-Or-how-to-cut-through-media-lies 1/7

Nick LerchSott.netSun, 08 Mar 2015 22:06 UTC

We are swamped with news every single day. We all say that the media lie, but there's aproblem: most events are usually portrayed in a contradictory fashion in different media outlets.So while we have access to a lot of information and we know that a large part, maybe even themajority of the reported news in mainstream media (but also in alternative media), is eitherwrong or plain propaganda - COINTELPRO - how can we know what's really going on?

Take the recent murder of the Russian politician, Boris Nemtsov. Most Western mainstreammedia squarely point to the Russian state as the perpetrator, or some rogue elements within it,and by extension, to its president Vladimir Putin. At the very least, they suggest it and perhapsattribute some attitude of facilitation or laissez-faire in order to harvest any potentially beneficialpolitical fallout. The other side calls it a false-flag operation, aided and abetted by Westernpowers to create chaos and inflame tensions within Russia, to create a "critical mass" thatwould, at some point in the future, get rid of the current leaders of Russia and impose a newgovernment more in line with Western economic and geopolitical aspirations.

How can we ever get a clear idea of the truth behind the news and where the responsibility liesfor what happens in the world with any degree of certainty?

Navigating the news - Or how to cut through media lies



In order to get to a reasonable understanding of current - or past - events, and to get to areasonably well-defined idea of who is pulling the strings behind any given event, we're goingto need a useful methodology. Of course, for some events it is easier than others. Sometimesinformation is scarce and the party responsible will do everything to cover their tracks. Someevents are buried in the past and much of the information is simply not easily accessibleanymore, altogether missing, or available only to a handful of specialized individuals with theright access and accreditation.

The components of this methodology are the following:

1. History tends to repeat itself2. Facts - especially, early facts3. Cui bono4. Bias5. Intuition

Let's have a look at each more closely.

1. History

It is a sad fact, that history tends to repeat itself. For anygiven event, there is likely another that has beenorchestrated in a similar manner. False-flag operationsare a good example. The history of false-flag events isas old as human history.

The burning of Rome in 64 AD is commonly attributed tothe emperor Nero, although he probably wasn'tresponsible for the fire. It seems to have been that acombination of strong winds and the geographicallocation of the fires resulted in Rome burning for 5 days.

Nero is often portrayed as a maniacal psychopath who sung from his balcony as the city wasengulfed in flames. But whoever Nero was, and whatever he did or didn't do, one thing thatNero certainly did - after the fire was brought under control - was to 'not let a crisis go to waste':if anything bad happens, point the finger at your enemy. Nero's enemy happened to be a newreligious sect, whose followers refused to worship the emperor and shunned personalpossessions. Luckily for Nero, the presence of this group in Rome gave him the pretext heneeded. He spread the rumour that these Christians had started the fire, and ordered many ofthem to be thrown to the dogs, crucified and burned. Manipulated events and scapegoats usedfor political expedience go back a long way.

Another well-known false-flag operation was the burning down of the Reichstag, the parliamenthouse of the German Empire in 1933. Hitler assured everyone that 'communists' had startedthe fire, which the next day led to the proclamation of the Reichstag decree, which suspendedmost civil liberties and sent Germany firmly down the road to fascism and ultimate destruction.Today it is quite certain that the Nazis were - directly or indirectly - responsible for the fire.

In modern times 9-11 comes to mind. For anyone who has studied the events onlysuperficially, the official version is incompatible with reason, facts on the ground, and even the



physical laws of nature. It is almost inconceivable that a bunch of Arab terrorists, armed withbox cutters and operating out of caves in Afghanistan, would have been able to dupe andoverwhelm the trillion-dollar military and security apparatus of the US. At present it is notentirely clear who really planned and executed the destruction of the World Trade towers (therewere three, not two, destroyed in the attack, by the way), and how exactly they did it, but theevidence points to a mixture of 'rogue elements' within the Bush administration (Bush probablybeing in the know too), members of the financial elite and elements of the Mossad (Israelisecret service).

The point is, if something happens today that seems unique, it probably has happened before.The diligent student of history will be able to see parallels and gain insight from it.

The problem here again is that mainstream historians more often than not just toe the partyline. A good example is the history of the First World War. Mainstream history teaches thatGermany started WWI. In reality, as Docherty and MacGregor show in their seminal workHidden History: The Secret Origins of the First World War, a secret cabal of British officials andfinanciers plotted and advanced an agenda to drag Germany into a war for over ten yearsbefore it officially broke out. At the turn of the 19th century, German industry had begun tooutcompete the British and made an impact on territories abroad (mainly Africa) that the Britishtraditionally viewed as 'their own'. The authors meticulously describe the strategies employedby this secret elite to further their war agenda.

And the same strategies are in place today, so history tends to repeat itself, as the same time-tested elements of control and manipulation are used again and again on an unsuspectingpopulace.

Briefly summarized, they are: control of the press; control of the political parties, so that itdoesn't matter which party wins; control of the economy through banks and multinationalcorporations; and buying and corrupting 'suitable' persons of influence, who then (willingly orforcibly) do the bidding of their masters.

And once you know these strategies, you can more easily see through the lies and deceptions.It's an old game.

2) Facts - especially early facts

In the early stages of an event, when everything ischaotic and the pullers of strings haven't yet been ableto scrub inconvenient facts and guide the narrative in thedirection they want, facts often surface that directlycontradict one line of argumentation. They will later beremoved from any official record, and will commonly bedebunked as "conspiracy". Whenever someone cries"conspiracy theory", you can almost be sure that he isprotecting or obscuring some vital information."Debunking" some inconvenient facts is most efficientwhen its bearer is ridiculed, so that the information is

made unimportant due to the standing of the messenger. Who believes a clown, a crazy nut-job?



Take for instance the 2012 Aurora cinema mass shooting, in which witnesses consistently

spoke of there being two shooters present in the cinema during the shootout - a fact that was

quickly scrubbed from the internet and newswires. Again, the Aurora shooting had all the

hallmarks of a false-flag event, and the presence of two shooters directly contradicted the

meme of the "lone shooter" who allegedly perpetrated the crime. So it pays to note any details

early on in the aftermath of these events, especially details that might not fit the official

narrative. This recurring pattern is itself a clue that the real perpetrators are never uncovered.

And those ill-fitting facts will quickly disappear in the fog of unfolding events.

Some facts that reach public consciousness cannot be easily scrubbed, even by the Powers

That Be. These inconvenient facts get a special treatment - again a time-honoured process.

They either get vastly underreported, swept under the rug, or completely ignored. If that is not

possible, they will be discarded as "irrelevant", as an "anomaly", or the media will again

insinuate an evil agenda on the part of anyone who dares bring them up for debate. Common

practice is to denigrate the questioner as "unpatriotic" or as taking side with the "enemy" - "you

are either with us, or you are against us!" Thus a discussion about the pertinence of these

inconvenient facts is stifled. These inconvenient facts, once dropped from the official narrative,

quickly vanish from public consciousness in our ever faster news cycles. Another item - often

very trivial in nature - is wheeled out for public consumption, usually a sporting event, or the

misdeeds of some celebrity.

Facts speak their own language, and whoever wants to get to the bottom of things should pay

attention to them - especially to those items that seem to suddenly go missing from the

mainstream narrative and that are reported at the early phases of an event, when spin has not

yet been able to cover the tracks.

3) Cui bono

The third point I'd like to raise is cui bono - Latin for "towhose benefit?" This is probably one of the most

important points in analysing events in the world. Very

few events - if any, with the exception of accidents - just

happen randomly. Most of them are carefully staged and

executed. The organisation of such events may be quite

complex and require thorough preparation and a

considerable amount of money. So there needs to be a

benefit for the perpetrators to go to such lengths.

Take the above-mentioned murder of Nemtsov. It just

doesn't make any sense that Putin would order this murder (or let it happen), as the Western

MSM implies. Nemtsov was a political nobody, even within the weak political opposition in

Russia. Russians firmly stand behind Putin, as recent polls have demonstrated - to the tune of

up to 85% of the population (compare that to any Western leader!). What possible benefit could

Putin ever derive by killing him? He would be pouring oil onto the fire and would make his own

position even more difficult.

But now take the Washington elite: they have everything to gain from this assassination. They

can point the finger at Putin, again, compare him to Hitler and rouse anti-Russian sentiments,

within Russia and abroad. The West is hell-bent on starting a war with Russia - through the



Ukraine crisis - because Russia is in the way of the hegemonic plans of the Western elites. The

general population's appetite for war is always low; but for psychopathic, neoconservative,

hawkish elites in Washington, NATO and the EU, it's always high, now more than ever as they

try to prevent the USA's downfall into political and financial oblivion - hence the need for

another war. To follow their leaders down the path of war, the people need to be whipped up

into a frenzy. The best way to achieve this is through fear of an enemy that has only one wish -

'our destruction'. This legitimizes 'our self-defence', a cause for which millions of young soldiers

have gone to war and to their slaughter. War is always a distraction and, according to

Clausewitz, the great strategist on war, always serves two fronts - within the country and

without. And, for the most part, the inner front is the more important.

So by answering the question 'who benefits most?' from any controversial event happening in

the world, we are already a big step closer to understanding who is pulling the strings. This is

the extended version of 'follow the money'. Often it is not money directly that points in the right

direction, but power over certain groups or countries, and thereby access to resources andpotential, future sources of money-making.

4) Bias

Bias is human and affects all of us. Bias is defined as "an inclination of temperament or outlookto present or hold a partial perspective, often accompanied by a refusal to consider thepossible merits of alternative points of view". Bias can be overcome by rational appraisal of thefacts. When I hold a certain viewpoint, and I am presented with facts that directly contradict this

view, and the facts prove to be grounded in objectivity, the obvious thing for me to do would be

to change my view. Unfortunately, not all people seem to be able to do that. One personality

type especially - the 'Authoritarian Follower', as described by Bob Altemeyer in his book TheAuthoritarians - is unable to change his of her view in the face of contradictory facts - UNLESShis or her established authority figures change it for them. Altemeyer characterises

authoritarian followers as follows:

They are highly submissive to established authority,

aggressive in the name of that authority, and

conventional to the point of insisting everyone

should behave as their authorities decide.

They are fearful and self-righteous and have a lot of

hostility that they readily direct toward various out-

groups. They are easily incited, easily led, rather

uninclined to think for themselves, largely impervious to facts and reason, and rely

instead on social support to maintain their beliefs. They bring strong loyalty to their in-

groups, have thick-walled, highly compartmentalized minds, use a lot of double

standards in their judgments, are surprisingly unprincipled at times, and are often

hypocrites.

But they are also Teflon-coated when it comes to guilt. They are blind to themselves,

ethnocentric and prejudiced, and as closed-minded as they are narrow-minded. They

can be woefully uninformed about things they oppose, but they prefer ignorance and

want to make others become as ignorant as they are. They are also surprisingly

uninformed about the things they say they believe in, and deep, deep, deep down

inside, many of them have secret doubts about their core beliefs. But they are very



happy, highly giving, and quite zealous. In fact, they are about the only zealous people

around nowadays in North America, which explains a lot of their success in their

endless (and necessary) pursuit of converts.

Altemeyer estimates the percentage of these Authoritarian Followers in the US to be about

25% of the overall population - so quite a high number. They will follow what authorities tell and

demand of them without much - or any - thought, and without much - or any - moral reasoning.

It's enough for them to know that orders 'come from above', from the authorities, whether this

be the government, their religion or their boss. 'Daddy knows best!' is their motto. And if they

are presented with facts that run counter to their beliefs, they will become very aggressive and

'attack the messenger', and this will paradoxically increase their adherence to their erroneous

beliefs.

So the first thing anyone who wishes to get to the bottom of events needs to do is to be

conscious of their own beliefs and world views. We take a lot of things for granted, because

that is what we were inculcated with in our formative years, and these often don't hold up to

scrutiny. To change one's view, to 'kill the sacred cows', is often an enormously painful, but

essential, process, if one is to develop the faculty of analysing events in a dispassionate frame

of mind. Only when we know our own vulnerabilities, our own mechanical beliefs, are we then

able to accept viewpoints that might be contrary to what we held dear up to that point.

5) Intuition

This last point is the most vague, and also the most

problematic. It is very much under the influence of bias.

Who hasn't heard this small niggling voice -

accompanied or viscerally expressed in their gut ('gut-

feeling') - telling them that something just isn't right? But

we often disregard these signals, if we detect them at all

- and wonder, after the fact, why we didn't heed their

call. Intuition alone is not very precise and effective, but

combined with rational thought it can be quite helpful. Intuition is associated with the brain's

right hemisphere, which often can read things the more conscious left hemisphere blissfully

ignores.

But to be able to use it in an intelligent way, we first need to be aware of our biases and

irrational beliefs, because allowing them to continue running unfiltered and unchecked is to

allow them to completely overpower that small niggling voice or hunch.

In the same way, intuition can guide us in regards to information. The right hemisphere is able

to recognize patterns that the left hemisphere is unaware of. But to fully engage this process, it

is important to make it conscious. Once the pattern has seeped into the conscious mind, it'sthe left hemisphere's job to validate it with facts and reasoning.

These are the five components I try to engage when analysing news and trying to get a handle

on complex events that unfold 'in real time'. More often than not, you will see the MSM trying to

obscure the facts, and if that fails, they'll just 'disregard the screamers'. The MSM in our world

are largely controlled by just six behemoth corporations, and they are all firmly entrenched in

the military-security-industrial complex. In that sense, the internet is a boon and a curse - a



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boon, because we get access to news agencies and bloggers outside the direct sphere ofinfluence of the MSM; a curse, because the Powers That Be have of course realized the samething and are actively managing and influencing discourse on the net by inserting trolls,attacking dissenters and creating controlled opposition, thus effectively neutralising anddrowning out opposing voices.

And that is the reason why we need a methodology to sift through the heaps of rubbish, toextract that grain of truth that will lead us to a better understanding of current events.

Because, after all, knowledge is power!

Nick

Nick currently lives in the Top End of Australia working as a medical professional. He has been part of the SOTT network since 2008. His interestsrange from health & nutrition, current affairs and new media on the net. He is also involved in the SOTT translation group.

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