Ne News
28 January 2018
The first names for the fourth season of Network Ten's I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here has been announced. The entertainment at the Superbowl announced. But if you are not interested in that, then you are interested in the Week in Review, news that were covered in the previous week, some of which were not reported by Ne News. And sorry that it is one day late.
The Media: Are They Giving Us What We Want?
In the past year, there has been talk of the so-called "fake media" by US President Donald Trump (mostly aimed at outlets like CNN), but the question is: Are the media giving us what we want, or the elite want? But this section is not about debating about the so-called "fake media", but the gradual "dumbing down" of the media, in which real, investigative journalism has been replaced by short stories and stories that don't really affect us (such as the world of celebrities). In the past, the mainstream media had investigative journalism, as well as providing background on these stories. Even A Current Affair (the highest-rating "current affairs" program in Australia) was more "current affairs" that what it is today. In The Korea Times, Emanuel Pastreich talks about the media in which he asked a journalist friend about how they should respond to a decline in investigative reporting and the disturbing replacement of a calm presentation of a calm presentation about the facts of policies by sensationalist news about food, fashion and the personality of politicians (http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/opinion/2018/01/723_243162.html).
In 2018, we have seen the gradual dumbing down of the media, in which stories (which are increasingly showbiz related) are often talked about without any background or context. There is an interesting paragraph about this in the article by Pastreich
Destroying Syria: Why Does Washington Hate Assad?
Over the past several years, the regime in Washington has been fighting a war against the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad, allegedly to bring freedom to the people of Syria and fighting against Daesh. However, even after Daesh is defeated, the United States of America will maintain a military presence in the country (https://www.globalresearch.ca/destroying-syria/5627105). It has been argued that the United States of America is supporting freedom fighters in Syria, but the reality is that many of these so-called "freedom fighters" in Syria are actually the terrorists that we are meant to be fighting against.
But the real reason why we are fighting this "war" in Syria (which is not a "civil war" as the mainstream media portrays it as) is to gradually prepare for a war against Iran as mentioned in the 2016 Brookings report "Which Path to Persia" (https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/06_iran_strategy.pdf), as well as facilitating a Greater Israel, which has been a goal of Israel since it's "founding" in 1948 which requires a fractured Middle East. It is worth noting that while Israel is occupying parts of Syria (like the Golan Heights) and Palestine; while Syria (as well as Russia and Iran) are not occupying any parts of any country (Russia annexed Crimea after the Crimean people voted to leave Ukraine and join Russia in a free and democratic referendum).
It is worth noting that Syria has a large degree of independence from Washington, which is the main reason why the United States of America is hell bent on getting rid of al-Assad, who would win a democratic election.
The Doomsday Clock: Two Minutes to Midnight
Perhaps the biggest news story of the week is the Doomsday Clock, which has been adjusted by 30 seconds to 2 MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT! (https://www.globalresearch.ca/doomsday-clock-moves-closer-to-midnight-the-most-perilous-time-in-world-history/5627393). When it was at its original setting just after World War II, it was seven minutes to midnight, and has moved as far back as 17 minutes to midnight in 1991 when the United States of America and the Soviet Union signed the First Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I) and last reached 2 minutes to midnight in 1953 when the United States of America tested its first thermonuclear device in November 1952 and the Soviet Union followed suit in August 1953 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomsday_Clock).
On the left is a chart of the changes to the clock since it was launched in 1947, the higher the points on the chart, the less likely nuclear war was (the highest point represents 17 minutes to midnight in 1991) and the lower points represents higher chances of nuclear war (the lowest point was 2 minutes, first in 1953 and second in 2018).
At the current time, there could be nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula that has nothing to do with North Korea's alleged "nuclear weapons program" with Washington building up troops and fighters to wage the war that would start after the Paralympics finishes in Pyeongchang (https://www.globalresearch.ca/will-there-be-a-us-nuclear-sneak-attack-on-north-korea/5627356) and despite a conference that voted to ban nuclear weapons that was boycotted by all nuclear countries except North Korea, which was among the 122 countries that voted to ban nuclear weapons (http://www.globalresearch.ca/122-nations-create-treaty-to-ban-nuclear-weapons/5598230).
Collapse of Carillion
Another major news story of the week was in the United Kingdom when Carillion collapsed (https://www.globalresearch.ca/jeopardizing-livelihoods-carillion-collapse-shows-the-urgent-need-to-democratise-social-services/5627215), and this has shown the urgent need to democratise social services.
As many people in the West knows, governments are privatizing public services (i.e. transferring public services into private, for-profit hands). In Australia, many utilities has been privatised (including telecommunications, banking, health insurance, electricity and gas) with talks of the Medicare public health care system, CSIRO and Centrelink among the targets for privatisation. Even the former Commonwealth Employment Service has been privatised, and now there are hundreds of for-profit job agencies which is about channeling people into lucrative "programs" that are designed to make money for the job agencies (such as American-owned companies MAX Employment and Mission Providence) such as "Work for the Dole" (in which people are paid FIVE DOLLARS A DAY for medial work), which claimed the life of Josh Park-Fing a couple of years ago (and has been exposed as dangerous) as well as dodgy training programs. There is even a possibility that MAXIMUS (the parent company of MAX Employment) will take over Centrelink when it is priviatised.And in Victoria, public transport has been privatised (even though V/Line is now back in government, and therefore taxpayers, hands, but there is a possibility that V/Line will be re-privatised).
In the United Kingdom, there is talk of the NHS being privatised, and as mentioned previously, former "UKIP" leader Nigel Farage has been on record as supporting the replacement of the NHS with a system of private health insurance (http://www.caef.org.uk/d-pdf/d143web.pdf). And the privatisation of everything is a goal of the European Union.
Privatising public services is a dangerous thing as this could place sensitive details about people into the hands of private, for-profit multinational corporations such as MAXIMUS or Serco (which has taken over the Centrelink call centres as a prelude to Centrelink's privatisation). Putting sensitive details of people into the hands of multinational corporations such as Serco or MAXIMUS could put lives at risk or could be used to silence dissent. That is a reason why privatisation of essential services should be opposed and everything should be owned by the taxpayers who fund these services, and as mentioned in a April 2017 editorial, privatisation is one of the fourteen signs of fascism (http://nenews2016.blogspot.com.au/2017/04/editorial-14-defining-characteristics.html).
That is the week in review. Note that the Week in Review will be published next Sunday and will go back to Saturdays from the following week.
28 January 2018
The first names for the fourth season of Network Ten's I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here has been announced. The entertainment at the Superbowl announced. But if you are not interested in that, then you are interested in the Week in Review, news that were covered in the previous week, some of which were not reported by Ne News. And sorry that it is one day late.
The Media: Are They Giving Us What We Want?
In the past year, there has been talk of the so-called "fake media" by US President Donald Trump (mostly aimed at outlets like CNN), but the question is: Are the media giving us what we want, or the elite want? But this section is not about debating about the so-called "fake media", but the gradual "dumbing down" of the media, in which real, investigative journalism has been replaced by short stories and stories that don't really affect us (such as the world of celebrities). In the past, the mainstream media had investigative journalism, as well as providing background on these stories. Even A Current Affair (the highest-rating "current affairs" program in Australia) was more "current affairs" that what it is today. In The Korea Times, Emanuel Pastreich talks about the media in which he asked a journalist friend about how they should respond to a decline in investigative reporting and the disturbing replacement of a calm presentation of a calm presentation about the facts of policies by sensationalist news about food, fashion and the personality of politicians (http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/opinion/2018/01/723_243162.html).
In 2018, we have seen the gradual dumbing down of the media, in which stories (which are increasingly showbiz related) are often talked about without any background or context. There is an interesting paragraph about this in the article by Pastreich
The media should take the time to explain in detail the historical background behind current society. We must create a culture in which citizens have the patience and concentration to engage in a serious discussion about what the significance of the past is for the present and future. The media assumes that all citizens know what the World Bank or the United Nations are and how the functions. But this is not an honest approach to journalism. Most people have only the vaguest idea of what these organizations do. Moreover, even for those with real experience, the institutions have changed considerably over the last five years ? demanding that we consider their nature because it is relevant to the story.In the United States of America (the so-called "land of the free" where 90 percent of the media is controlled by just five media conglomerates), there is often no background given in stories that make it to air. With the potential war against North Korea, the American people are not given a background on a war that could spark World War III. In fact, most (not all) Americans don't know where North Korea is on a map, or the possibility that the people of North Korea are more free than the people of the United States of America. Go back to the quote from a 2000 episode of Futurama, (which was mentioned in an editorial last year) in which troops from Earth waged war on a planet in which they knew nothing about, including their language, their history or what they look like.
Fry: Uh, just so we'll know - who's the enemy?By putting a story into context (which involves looking at the history and background) may make the story longer, but it would be better than a short story that doesn't take anything into context. As mentioned by Pastreich, in that we must create a culture in which the citizens have the patience and concentration to engage in a serious discussion about what the significance of the past is for the present and future. This involves researching the issue and checking out as many sources as possible (such as Global Research, Press TV or Russia Today among others) rather than just the New York Post, Washington Post, New York Times, CNN or Fox News.
Zapp Brannigan: A valid question! We know nothing about their language, their history or what they look like. But we can assume this: they stand for everything we don't stand for. Also they told me you guys look like dorks!
Destroying Syria: Why Does Washington Hate Assad?
Over the past several years, the regime in Washington has been fighting a war against the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad, allegedly to bring freedom to the people of Syria and fighting against Daesh. However, even after Daesh is defeated, the United States of America will maintain a military presence in the country (https://www.globalresearch.ca/destroying-syria/5627105). It has been argued that the United States of America is supporting freedom fighters in Syria, but the reality is that many of these so-called "freedom fighters" in Syria are actually the terrorists that we are meant to be fighting against.
But the real reason why we are fighting this "war" in Syria (which is not a "civil war" as the mainstream media portrays it as) is to gradually prepare for a war against Iran as mentioned in the 2016 Brookings report "Which Path to Persia" (https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/06_iran_strategy.pdf), as well as facilitating a Greater Israel, which has been a goal of Israel since it's "founding" in 1948 which requires a fractured Middle East. It is worth noting that while Israel is occupying parts of Syria (like the Golan Heights) and Palestine; while Syria (as well as Russia and Iran) are not occupying any parts of any country (Russia annexed Crimea after the Crimean people voted to leave Ukraine and join Russia in a free and democratic referendum).
It is worth noting that Syria has a large degree of independence from Washington, which is the main reason why the United States of America is hell bent on getting rid of al-Assad, who would win a democratic election.
The Doomsday Clock: Two Minutes to Midnight
At the current time, there could be nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula that has nothing to do with North Korea's alleged "nuclear weapons program" with Washington building up troops and fighters to wage the war that would start after the Paralympics finishes in Pyeongchang (https://www.globalresearch.ca/will-there-be-a-us-nuclear-sneak-attack-on-north-korea/5627356) and despite a conference that voted to ban nuclear weapons that was boycotted by all nuclear countries except North Korea, which was among the 122 countries that voted to ban nuclear weapons (http://www.globalresearch.ca/122-nations-create-treaty-to-ban-nuclear-weapons/5598230).
Collapse of Carillion
Another major news story of the week was in the United Kingdom when Carillion collapsed (https://www.globalresearch.ca/jeopardizing-livelihoods-carillion-collapse-shows-the-urgent-need-to-democratise-social-services/5627215), and this has shown the urgent need to democratise social services.
As many people in the West knows, governments are privatizing public services (i.e. transferring public services into private, for-profit hands). In Australia, many utilities has been privatised (including telecommunications, banking, health insurance, electricity and gas) with talks of the Medicare public health care system, CSIRO and Centrelink among the targets for privatisation. Even the former Commonwealth Employment Service has been privatised, and now there are hundreds of for-profit job agencies which is about channeling people into lucrative "programs" that are designed to make money for the job agencies (such as American-owned companies MAX Employment and Mission Providence) such as "Work for the Dole" (in which people are paid FIVE DOLLARS A DAY for medial work), which claimed the life of Josh Park-Fing a couple of years ago (and has been exposed as dangerous) as well as dodgy training programs. There is even a possibility that MAXIMUS (the parent company of MAX Employment) will take over Centrelink when it is priviatised.And in Victoria, public transport has been privatised (even though V/Line is now back in government, and therefore taxpayers, hands, but there is a possibility that V/Line will be re-privatised).
In the United Kingdom, there is talk of the NHS being privatised, and as mentioned previously, former "UKIP" leader Nigel Farage has been on record as supporting the replacement of the NHS with a system of private health insurance (http://www.caef.org.uk/d-pdf/d143web.pdf). And the privatisation of everything is a goal of the European Union.
Privatising public services is a dangerous thing as this could place sensitive details about people into the hands of private, for-profit multinational corporations such as MAXIMUS or Serco (which has taken over the Centrelink call centres as a prelude to Centrelink's privatisation). Putting sensitive details of people into the hands of multinational corporations such as Serco or MAXIMUS could put lives at risk or could be used to silence dissent. That is a reason why privatisation of essential services should be opposed and everything should be owned by the taxpayers who fund these services, and as mentioned in a April 2017 editorial, privatisation is one of the fourteen signs of fascism (http://nenews2016.blogspot.com.au/2017/04/editorial-14-defining-characteristics.html).
That is the week in review. Note that the Week in Review will be published next Sunday and will go back to Saturdays from the following week.
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