W. Niederhut

Most people on this forum are probably familiar with RAND's 2016 paper about Russia's "Firehose of Falsehoods" propaganda techniques. Obviously, the same 'firehose of falsehoods" technique has been used by the CIA and the U.S. mainstream media (and in U.S. political campaigns-- e.g., Swift Boat Vets in 2004) for decades. Of interest, to me, is RAND's 2016 analysis of counter-propaganda techniques-- and the implications for JFKA and 9/11 Truth. The only limited success I have ever had in my efforts to discuss 9/11 Truth with skeptics is by helping people understand why alternatives to the official Bush-Cheney-Zelikow theory of 9/11 offer better explanations of the definitive data. According to RAND, pre-emptive (and repetitive) labeling of the disinformation may be of some use, in addition to focusing on the need for alternate, valid explanatory theories. (See excerpt below.) An example of this approach would be Fred Littwin's latest Warren Commission propaganda being pre-emptively labelled and debunked by James DiEugenio. The problem, of course, is that our M$M has the firehose, and the Truthers only have squirt guns. The Russian "Firehose of Falsehood" Propaganda Model Why It Might Work and Options to Counter It The Russian "Firehose of Falsehood" Propaganda Model: Why It Might Work and Options to Counter It | RAND We are not optimistic about the effectiveness of traditional counterpropaganda efforts. Certainly, some effort must be made to point out falsehoods and inconsistencies, but the same psychological evidence that shows how falsehood and inconsistency gain traction also tells us that retractions and refutations are seldom effective. Especially after a significant amount of time has passed, people will have trouble recalling which information they have received is the disinformation and which is the truth. Put simply, our first suggestion is don't expect to counter the firehose of falsehood with the squirt gun of truth. To the extent that efforts to directly counter or refute propaganda are necessary, there are some best practices available—also drawn from the field of psychology—that can and should be employed. Three factors have been shown to increase the (limited) effectiveness of retractions and refutations: (1) warnings at the time of initial exposure to misinformation, (2) repetition of the retraction or refutation, and (3) corrections that provide an alternative story to help fill the resulting gap in understanding when false “facts” are removed.34

Ron, I've learned over the years that gas grills and fireplaces can be useful during these power outages. Meanwhile, here's an authentic Native American weather alert from North Dakota today.

I've skied at -30 F temperatures a few times, and it's downright dangerous. Tears instantly freeze on my goggles, and my beard is solid ice by the time I get to the bottom of the mountain. It was a balmy -10 F yesterday morning here in Denver, and it got up to a high of 0 F by the afternoon. My koi are all alive today, but I had to put an extra heater in my koi pond over the weekend to keep my pond from turning into a giant block of ice. (I lost $500 worth of mature koi a few years ago when the temperature dropped below -10 F.)

A related issue is the Trump administration's apparent thwarting of security measures in D.C. on January 6th. Perhaps these matters will be brought to light by future investigations. But the evidence may have very little impact on Trump's base, since 44% of Republicans in a recent poll, apparently, approved of the January 6th attack on the Capitol!

Sad, but true. It's a pernicious propaganda trick-- convincing the public that all "conspiracy theories" are equally absurd. As if the JFKA research experts or the thousands of scholars, scientists, engineers, architects, and pilots who have debunked the the Bush-Cheney-Zelikow conspiracy theory about 9/11 are no different than the QAnon, Pizza-gate "theorists!"

Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC) suggested today that a future Republican-controlled Congress should impeach Kamala Harris for her support of the Black Lives Matter protests-- because, apparently, attacking Congress to overturn the results of an free and fair election is equivalent to protesting about police violence toward black people. Graham also criticized Mitch McConnell for admitting that Trump is guilty of inciting the attack on the Capitol. Unreal. Is there a slimier creature in the Trump swamp than Lindsay Graham?

James DiEugenio as the 2021 Big Lebowski of Cannes? I hope the CIA doesn't try to give him a swirly... 🤥

Kudos to the seven Republican Senators who had the integrity to vote for Trump's conviction. The other 43 belong somewhere in the lower levels of Dante Alighieri's Inferno.

Chris, I grew up in a predominantly black neighborhood in northeast Denver in the 60s and early 70s, so I have a lot of direct experience observing racial profiling and discrimination against black people. It's very real and very prevalent in the U.S. What has truly appalled me is watching the rearing of the ugly head of white supremacy in the U.S. since Obama's election in 2008! I naively believed that we had progressed far beyond that level of racism during the 40 years subsequent to the assassination of MLK! As for the subject of this thread, I hope that Oliver Stone and James DiEugenio publish an annotated companion volume to the Destiny Betrayed documentary. I read the annotated Untold History of the United States by Kuznick and Stone while watching the Showtime series, (three times) and the documentation was terrific. Yet, the series was criticized in the M$M (even by Sean Wilentz) as pseudo-history!

Chris, Trump's history of stochastic terrorism would have been an impossible case to sell to the Republican Senate. Look at them! They wouldn't even convict Trump for his extortion plot involving Ukrainian President Zelensky. Nor will they convict him of inciting the deadly January 6th attack on the Congress. Trump could shoot someone on 5th Avenue without losing more than a handful of Republican Senate votes.

Am I the only forum member here who doesn't appreciate people leap-frogging and selectively truncating their detailed posts?

Benjamin, As a physician, I suspected for the past month that Sicknick died of a subdural hematoma (SDH) secondary to a head injury on January 6th. I'm familiar with cases where people died of SDHes within a day or two of head injuries. (They usually complain of headaches, confusion, nausea, and vomiting prior to death.) In contrast, epidural bleeds are more rapidly fatal. It's somewhat puzzling that Sicknick's autopsy results have still not been released to the public. Some media reports have mentioned that Sicknick had a "stroke." Was it hemorrhagic or thrombotic? We don't know. Others claim that there was no evidence of blunt force trauma. As for the issue of Trump's guilt, there is ample evidence that Trump has been inciting right wing violence (and murder) in the U.S. for the past four and a half years-- against minority groups, (Muslim, Hispanic, African American) journalists, and public officials. IMO, he's a "stochastic" terrorist-- a white supremacist demagogue. The more prominent cases include the El Paso Walmart Massacre, the Baltimore newspaper murders, the Governor Whitmer kidnapping plot, and the Cesar Sayoc MAGA Bomber case-- all directly inspired by Donald Trump. His guilt in the January 6th attack on Congress is a slam dunk. Right-wing media are spreading conspiracy theories about officer Brian Sicknick's death Right-wing media are spreading conspiracy theories about officer Brian Sicknick's death | Media Matters for America

Ron, My wife's elderly parents in Denton were able to get vaccinated last month, but her aunt who lives in a nursing home in Denton has now tested positive for COVID and is not doing well. Terrible accident down there on I-35, and I read today that Dallas will hit wind chills of -10 F this weekend! Thomas Friedman calls it "global weirding." This polar vortex will probably kill some of the marvelous flora down there that doesn't survive this far north--e.g., laurel, magnolia, bamboo, rhododendron, azalea. I grew rhododendrons and bamboo in my garden here in Denver once, but those plants died when the winter temperatures would drop below -10 F. It was a balmy -5 F in Denver this morning, but we'll get all the way up to 8 F this afternoon. Stay warm.

Jim, Will your annotated script be available to the public at some point, or has it been subjected to some sort of non-disclosure agreement? Also, if that is the case, why would Oliver Stone not want your script disclosed? Can you comment?

Joseph, Is there a reference for your "Bush CIA/Kennedy assassination research in Texas?"

Good for Cannes. The French (including Thierry Meyssan and Laurent Guyenot) have also been miles ahead of the U.S. M$M in documenting the chicanery of PNAC's 9/11 op and the fraudulent Bush-Cheney "War on Terror."

Since this is a scholarly forum, I would like to elevate this impeachment debate to a higher intellectual level. 🤥 This is one of the most profound descriptions of the trial that I've seen anywhere.

Kirk, I found this YouTube link for the Senate video earlier today at the Democratic Underground.

Very good, Ty! Give that man a ceegar!! 🤓 Michigan-- Gerald Ford/Tom Brady Miami of Ohio-- Benjamin Harrison/Ben Roethlisberger Stanford-- Herbert Hoover/ Jim Plunkett & John Elway Delaware--Joe Biden/Joe Flacco Navy--Jimmy Carter/Roger Staubach

LOL. Meanwhile, here's a trivia question for the forum. Can you name the five universities whose alumni include both, 1) a POTUS, and 2) a Super Bowl QB?

Here's more data relating to our discussion of "worst Presidents in history." Another first for Donald J. Trump. Trump was the first POTUS in history to damage the U.S. Postal Service-- in order to sabotage the timely delivery and processing of 2020 mail-in ballots.

I have a brother in that cult. I think he was radicalized by watching Fox News, living in Virginia, and hanging around with a group of friends who were Navy SEALs.

Ron and I both live in "Cowboys-for-Trump" states. Meanwhile, back at the ranch... 🤥 Fearing violence and political uncertainty, Americans are buying millions more firearms More than 2 million guns were sold in January, an 80% jump and the third-highest monthly total on record. Gun sales surged 80 percent in January, data shows - The Washington Post

Ron, Don't get yourself shot. There are a lot of angry, delusional guys out there with guns these days.

Hard to believe we're roughly one year into the plague. My wife is 65, and we're hoping she can get vaccinated here in Colorado this month. I'm 64, and don't meet criteria yet to get on a local vaccination waiting list. One of my daughters tested positive for COVID the week after Thanksgiving, but she has been o.k. On the positive side, the Colorado ski resorts are open again this year, (with masks and restricted dining options) and I've been able to ski several times since December. They've been good about enforcing mask wearing in the lift lines. Our local park remains jammed with pedestrians, but people have been much better about wearing masks this year. I think it has helped to have a POTUS who takes public health measures seriously. I hope forum members here are having success in getting vaccinated.