Whose World is it, Anyway?

We're adrift
in a tv show
with Drew Carey's evil twins
pronouncing
the facts don't matter

Only we're not talking about
who gets the credits -
or the last word.

It's not like we can escape
the gas that's seeping,
or the oil you're sweeping
under the stage

Not to mention the
loose wires,
the smouldering fires
and the sprinklers set to Climate Change.

Come on, guys,
it's too late for improv
and some nob
spouting metaphysical
"what's real, anyway"
bullshit.

This is a crisis.
We're dying down here.
Overheated,
poisoned
and drowned in
endless
obfuscating
babble.

You can't make these things up
and not even Josie or Sandi
can balance the obvious bias.
We need the audience
in this game,
pointing out
the facts.
This theatre,
this game
was never about the points,
it was about having the time of our lives.

A.J. Ponder

A piece inspired by a right wing "libertarian" who insisted that facts don't matter so much that I couldn't help but think of Drew's famous line on Whose Line is it Anyway, "Where everything's made up and the points don't matter."

Who knows what we're meant to do with these people who fly into endorphin releasing righteous indignation any time the lies they base their lives on are threatened - Seriously, what are we meant to do with people whose opinion can't be swayed by facts, and who've ensured that, by simply refusing to believe that facts are a thing?

I almost put "where the spin's made up" but that spin is
terrifyingly real so...

BTW the clip opposite has been captioned many times, you'll find most of them by searching the slogan. Where everything's made up and the points don't matter. so here's another one, because the meme is so screamingly obvious, the U.S/America line had already been taken.
#posttruth

Have a great week,
And never take a good fact for granted ;)

A.J. Ponder

Battle Hymn of the Resistance

Public domain image from the Project Gutenberg archives

I went to see the truth about the changing of the guard
(After it was over because watching was too hard)
They'd sugared it through serpent's fangs and covered it with lard
And the lies kept marching on

Glory glory, what's it to ya
Glory glory, what's it to ya
Glory glory, what's it to ya
And posttruth keeps marching on

Women's rights were gutted with a scribble from his pen
He's happy to risk women's lives, and so are all his men
Right to life's an awful lie - 

and now thousands will die
And the lies kept marching on

Glory glory, what's it to ya
Glory glory, what's it to ya
Glory glory, what's it to ya
And posttruth keeps marching on

Then he asked Guiliani to impose a Muslim ban
But one that protects his companies, and so they hatched an evil plan
And now they have the gall to say it's not a bloody ban
And the lies keep marching on

Glory glory, what's it to ya
Glory glory, what's it to ya
Glory glory, what's it to ya
And posttruth keeps marching on

Will America be gutted on the altar of his greed?
From Goldman Sacks and lobbyists the US should be freed
And taken to a place where there's respect every race and creed
Let's stop the lies from marching on

Glory glory, time to free ya
Glory glory, time to free ya
Glory glory, time to free ya
Stop posttruth from marching on

For too long your rights to work and vote have been twisted heartlessly
To the right to work for nothing, and to vote provisionally
But you can stop your lives and votes being thrown in the bin
Join a local human rights organization!

Glory glory, and good on ya
Glory glory, and good on ya
Glory glory, and good on ya
Keep #posttruth from marching on



A.J. Ponder 

My goodness, it's not easy to stay current and keep accurate! Also there's heaps I haven't covered eg #NoDAPL, so please tell me if you manage a verse or two and I'll link to it.

Have a great week! Breathe! Democracy is a long term objective, it's not perfected anywhere yet. All we can do is keep working toward a society that gives everyone the best opportunities to achieve-without stepping on the rights of others.

A.J. 

This is not a #posttruth world

Facts are not confetti
to be thrown in our faces
Journalism is not he said she said
it's the building up of a picture
a story
a truth
without partisan political
or monetary bias.


Facts are:
#StandingRock police are militarised
#WaterProtectors have been brutally injured
#WaterProtectors were met in freezing temperatures with a water-cannon rubber bullets, pepper spray and more.
There is a police blockade across an important bridge
One that would allow better access to emergency services?
Why should this be denied them?
It's been a long time since the safety of the bridge was questioned
Find an engineer already.
I mean, seriously
The lies are thin as a coat of
whitewash

Scratch the paint.

A.J. Ponder

It's said we live in a post-truth world - but the truth is the organisations that give most of us our news have failed us. "He said/she said is not the news, not when the reporter have evidence that one side is lying. But it's more than that, news has become about ratings, not about truth, it has become about what corporations want reported, because that's where the money is. So now very few sources of media are working for us. The Guardian is one of the last major stalwarts. But it can't tell the truth alone, on almost no budget. So yes, it could do better.

Standing Rock is one of the clearest illustrations of the injustices of the modern world, and the way media can ignore, twist and distort a story about peaceful people, protecting the drinking water of millions against an oil company who has bought a supplied a militarised police force who have used their new "toys" to seriously injure men and women who posed absolutely no threat to them. Something that has been clearly documented. But look now. Online evidence (as I know from a previous cause) can be quickly removed. And what cannot be removed will be discredited or muddied with false evidence. The police at Standing Rock changed their story 3 times within 24 hours after a particularly brutal action - as they discovered the protestors had footage that clearly showed their lies. (Nov 20 2016)

A girl had her arm mangled so badly she'll almost certainly never get the use of it back, another was fighting to keep her eyesight days later, after she was assaulted by a chemical weapon that would be illegal in international warfare. And hundreds battled hypothermia after being blasted by a water-canon in freezing temperatures. This is against Waterprotectors who have been so fiercely non-violent that they even managed to diffuse a pipeline worker who drove into their campsite and threatened them with a gun. (There is video)
I've seen this before. Truth turns to lies, and vicious public attacks as people are silenced "for the greater good." So remember "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither." Benjamin Franklin

Below are the techniques used to prevent us from seeing the truth. Watch out for them. And stay safe.

A.J. Ponder

Misleading Techniques to watch for:
1. Lying by Omission
2. Controlling the Debate
3. Scripting and Synchronizing News
4. Politicizing Everything  
5 Chasing and creating buzzwords and memes
6. Asking the Wrong Questions
7. Closing down the topic - or airing it like the birther conspiracy long after it was dead.
8 Triviality and Distraction
9. Outright Lying