... unless and until you verify it through at least half a dozen reliable (well, as reliable as possible) sources. I don't care whether Ukraine or Russia is claiming something: they're all lying.
The latest example is the "scandal" over Ukraine leader Zelensky's wife's alleged purchase of a Bugatti sports car. It was made up out of whole cloth by Russian propaganda sources. You can read all about it in this BBC report, which shows how it was created and disseminated, and why it's "fake news".
I've gotten to the point where, if I know that a news report originated from one or the other side's official sources, I automatically disbelieve it. The only people I'll listen to are those that use independent sources (particularly satellite imagery, reports from people on the ground who've established a reputation for reliability, and so on). If they report and/or confirm something, all well and good. If they don't . . . fuggetaboutit.
The same goes for video clips of fighting in the area. We've seen "recycled" video footage dating back years, even decades, purporting to show atrocities. I'm sure there are some real clips among them, but when it's so difficult to verify any of them, why waste time trusting them? Given modern technology and editing facilities, the camera can - and does - lie like a trooper.
Trouble is, too many of our legislators believe - or pretend to believe - such biased sources, and use them to justify voting for a few dozen billion dollars more for Ukraine, or more sanctions against Russia. They don't want to know the truth, because if they did (and their constituents did) they'd be voted out of office for being spendthrift wasters of taxpayer dollars. US veterans need health care? Victims of natural disasters in our country need help to recover? None of that matters as much as funneling more of our dollars into the bottomless pit of the Ukraine war - not to mention the few billion here and there that get kicked back to our politicians as a "Thank you!" for their compliance.
One of the nicest things about President Trump's term of office was that he didn't get America involved in any more foreign adventures; in fact, he pulled a lot of US troops out of areas they had no need to be, and brought them home. That alone offers good grounds to vote for him next time round, IMHO.
Peter
"I've gotten to the point where, if I know that a news report originated from one or the other side's official sources, I automatically disbelieve it. "
ReplyDeleteAdd our own government's official sources in there and I'm right there with you. After COVID, the CDC's crap, the Surgeon General's latest anti-gun Bovine Excrement and pretty much any public statements, I can't see how anyone can trust any of them.
Trust but verify is finally hitting John Q up side the head... sigh
ReplyDeleteThe problem I have is lack of accountability for our money. I don't mind sometimes but I want to know who dips their grubby, sticky fingers in it.
ReplyDeleteSaw an old, Maury Povich? show when Trump called in and donated $150,000 to girl suffering from a rare disease so she could have treatment. Comments said he also had a Trump plane fly her to where she needed to go. Maury sure was a lot younger then.
@ SiGraybeard
ReplyDeletex2, x3, x∞
Now I am wondering if Russia truly destroyed those Ukrainian planes on the ground that I noted yesterday. I do not trust either side either. “Nine Ukrainian Jets Destroyed In 24 Hours, Russia’s Military Says”
ReplyDeletehttps://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/nine-ukrainian-jets-destroyed-24-hours-russias-military-says
I do know this. I doubt that the 50 or 100 F-16s that we and other NATO members are giving Ukraine will last very long. That plane is not very stealthy and requires a highly trained maintenance crew.
The exception was some Pentagon scumbag that didn't bring the troops home from Syria and didn't tell Trump. He bragged about it when Biden got in. Trump should hang him for treason right after he is inaugurated.
ReplyDeleteThe 'BBC'?
ReplyDeleteSame BBC caught fudging 'Climate' (Cult) data a while back?
Agreed. The only thing I'm sure of is that what's happening there isn't what anybody is opening talking up in the news.
ReplyDeleteThe only reasonably trustworthy news I have is from a coworker who was recently over there (visiting extended family). And I only take what he saw in the limited context of where he was and saw with a non military background.
Jonathan
Covered this days ago.
ReplyDeletehttps://raconteurreport.blogspot.com/2024/07/color-me-shocked.html
As noted at the time, as if an "invoice", by an Italian car company, in Paris, France, selling to a Ukrainian, would have ever been prepared in English, fer crying out loud.
Like the idea of anyone getting their hands on it in the first place wasn't prima facie proof it was created out of whole cloth.
These fakes couldn't be more ham-fisted if they were done by Porky Pig.
I've been holding the whole Ukraine-Russia war at arms length. The all gung-ho cheerleading the Ukraine side are the same folks just a handful of years back running the "Deathplague 2020 submit or we'll all die!" campaign.
ReplyDeleteWho to believe? I don't know. Do I trust these people to tell me who our enemies and friends are. No.
BCE did some good sleuthing and uncovered / corroborated deaths of 2 NATO generals in Ukraine (apparently) that happened 1 year ago. At least what he poasted recently made sense.
ReplyDelete