527 replies to this topic

[Nparker]

Not unlike keeping the masses permanently frightened (climate change, apocalyptic viruses etc.), a drug-dependent society is easier for those in charge to manipulate and control. Propagation of the former supports the latter. Aldous Huxley told us as much in Brave New World nearly a century ago (a recent TV adaptation is referenced below)

...Since the citizens of New London are conditioned to take the soma medication from a young age, they become reliant on the drug to the point where everyone walks around in some sort of drugged state. Any sense of tension or confrontation causes characters to grab their soma dispenser. The drug allows society to have better control over the citizens since soma helps extract any sense of individuality. Without soma, people would start to get a better sense of who they truly are by experiencing all types of emotion, either good or bad. Stability would also be more difficult to achieve. For New London to retain its hive mind, all citizens must be compliant...

https://screenrant.c...pose-explained/

 

[dasmo]

Not unlike keeping the masses permanently frightened (climate change, apocalyptic viruses etc.), a drug-dependent society is easier for those in charge to manipulate and control. Propagation of the former supports the latter. Aldous Huxley told us as much in Brave New World nearly a century ago (a recent TV adaptation is referenced below)

[Nparker]

Perfection.

[max.bravo]

The only thing those authors didn’t predict was how gay it would all be. Nobody in the secular world saw that aspect coming

[dasmo]

The hunger games should ne added in.

[Victoria Watcher]

https://twitter.com/...210207008539107

 

[lanforod]

Yeah. Philistines and Canaanites, not Palestinians.

[Victoria Watcher]

Yeah. Philistines and Canaanites, not Palestinians.

 

"Tens of thousands of years ago" not sure anyone was into much organized religion.  I'm sure sure everyone had some spiritual thoughts or wonder, not sure if they were organizing into major religions.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 05 February 2024 - 08:40 AM.

[Mike K.]

Philistines were descendants of the lands we now know as Greece. 

[Victoria Watcher]

How come all these “experts” are just university teachers that can’t get normal private sector jobs?



Experts urge federal government to pursue moderate, 'judicious' approach to harmful content online

Previous version of bill addressing online harms was harshly criticized

https://www.cbc.ca/n...perts-1.7111566

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 26 February 2024 - 02:16 PM.

[max.bravo]

The only problem is that what’s “moderate” has shifted so far left in the current Marxist environment. It’s why someone like Elon musk is currently labeled right wing, even though his politics haven’t changed in 10 years when he was formerly known as a centrist.

[Tony]

 

The word Palestine derives from Philistia, the name given by Greek writers to the land of the Philistines, who in the 12th century bce occupied a small pocket of land on the southern coast, between modern Tel Aviv–Yafo and Gaza.

 The area was also called  Judea.  The Babylonian, the Persian, the Greek, and Romans conquered it.

 At one point Syria Palæstina^[a] was a Roman province between 135 and about 390.^[108] It was established by the merger of Roman Syria and Roman Judaea,

Edited by Tony, 26 February 2024 - 03:40 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

I was a broadcast journalist. Now, TV is the last place I go for news

WENDY MESLEY

 

 

 

Wendy Mesley is a journalist, podcaster and blogger.

 

I’m a former anchor of the CBC News program The National and I have an uncomfortable confession to make: I don’t watch the news.

This is really hard to say but I don’t watch The National any more. I can’t tell you the last time I watched W5. I don’t get news from people who do what I used to do for a living. It’s sad, but it’s much more than that.

 

I’ve been sitting on the sidelines as I watch people react to all the job cuts, amid our shrinking media landscape. It hurts to see people I know and love lose their jobs. There is lots of anger and disappointment over the latest layoffs at Bell. I get it: W5 is the longest-running investigative program in Canada. CBC could be next, if Pierre Poilievre becomes prime minister and defunds it.

 

But here’s the awkward part: If everyone who is complaining about the cuts actually watched, the situation would be very different.

 

It breaks my heart to say this, but I understand why people don’t watch the legacy stations any more. If I’m being honest, the stories, tone and presentation are just not working. I have lots of other options, and they’re better. By 10 or 11 at night, I have all the information I need. We’re not going back to the 1960s – or the 1990s, for that matter.

 

It’s disappointing and scary, and it’s beyond sad. That said, it’s happening. So what are we going to do about it?

 

A lot of people have been calling out Bell, or other corporate bosses. I’m happy to join the chorus. That’s easy. It’s true they have an onus to provide quality news, and it’s their responsibility in return for being given access to the airwaves. They should be made to hold up their end of the bargain. Everyone was happy when the media was making a lot of money, when people were watching.

 

It’s also true that technology has changed things. And it’s true that advertisers go where the eyeballs are. Advertising money kept traditional media alive for decades. Now the audience has splintered and gone elsewhere, and the ad money has followed. All this is true, but it’s a lot more than that.

 

The current model is not working. I don’t have a magic solution, but it seems there are a few basic considerations. How do we chase an audience? Can a large newsroom or network connect with a large Canadian audience? Can it face controversy and offer two sides on difficult discussions? And if it can, who will pay for it?

 

I left CBC in 2021 and am now doing a podcast and writing a blog on Substack with another well-known media personality, Maureen Holloway. I’m having the time of my life, talking to interesting people, talking and writing unfettered. That said, it’s difficult to make a living without the reach and scale of a network. If this is the future of journalism, it’s hard to imagine what it must be like for the twentysomethings. It’s not easy, but I’m still desperate to know what’s happening in the world.

 

In terms of my own media habits, I devour The New York Times, the Guardian, Al Jazeera and The Globe and Mail. I spend hours reading blogs, newsletters and sites I’ve found online, recommended by smart people. I read the headlines, the facts, then I go directly to the opinion sections, often reading people I don’t agree with. I do not go to broadcast news. I’m no longer relying on people like me to stay informed. And I’m not alone.

 

 

https://www.theglobe...b Article Links

 

 

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 01 March 2024 - 09:40 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Canada’s public broadcaster is getting an increase in funding, despite executives insisting that a request to cut CBC/Radio-Canada’s budget for the next fiscal year was one reason they announced layoffs for 10 per cent of staff.

 

Documents Canadian Heritage released on Thursday show CBC will get a $1.4-billion budget in 2024-25, an increase from the $1.3 billion it spent in the previous fiscal year.

 

It’s about a $90-million increase, documents say.

 

The broadcaster announced in December it would cut 800 jobs and $40 million from its production budget because of a $125-million projected shortfall for the coming fiscal year, which begins on April 1.

 

 

https://globalnews.c...fs-2024-budget/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 01 March 2024 - 09:44 PM.

[Nparker]

... CBC will get a $1.4-billion budget in 2024-25, an increase from the $1.3 billion it spent in the previous fiscal year. It’s about a $90-million increase, documents say...

Hopefully, this will be one of the last budget increases the Liberal government's national media mouthpiece sees. While I am skeptical that the Conservatives will defund the broadcaster entirely, I remain somewhat hopeful they will at least reduce the burden the CBC has, for far too long, placed on the Canadian taxpayer.

[Victoria Watcher]

This is quite a read.

 

 

 

 

The long wait for justice

 

In 1984, Robert Mailman and Walter Gillespie were convicted for second-degree murder in Saint John. Forty years later, a New Brunswick judge confirmed their innocence. What happened?

 

https://www.cbc.ca/n...gful-conviction

 

 

 

 

But reading that 80-paragraph article, you would think they just got out, after spending 40 years in jail (1984 to 2024).

 

But the fact is, one was released from jail in 2005, and the other in 2003.

 

https://atlantic.ctv...ilman served 18.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 02 March 2024 - 07:14 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

A bit more here.

One was living in a half-way house.



In Gillespie's case, the day he got acquitted, he had to move out of the halfway house where he was living and lost the part-time job he had there.

"So he was physically and financially worse off after he got acquitted than when he was serving his life sentence," said Dalton.

https://www.cbc.ca/n...swick-1.7130234




Now, all of those sentenced to life are on parole for their natural lives. But usually you would not spend 20+ years in the halfway house.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 02 March 2024 - 01:39 PM.

[lanforod]

Shouldn’t be worse off if they got compensation which the article does mention.

[lanforod]

 

https://www.cbc.ca/n...-2024-1.7132999
 

Chrystia Freeland to present federal budget on April 16 Canadians will get a look at the country's finances when deputy PM tables budget next month

"The government has been trying to rein in spending after years of big COVID-era budget deficits that more than doubled the national debt to roughly $1.2 trillion — a debtload that is costing Ottawa tens of billions of dollars a year to finance in an era of higher interest rates."

 

There is zero evidence of this statement. Blatant lie by the CBC.

[Victoria Watcher]

Yes indeed.