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“Prior to the 1984 presidential elections, the two candidates confronted each other on television in what were called 'debates.' These events were not in the least like the Lincoln-Douglas debates or anything else that goes by the name. Each candidate was given five minutes to address such questions as, what is (or would be) your policy in Central America? His opposite number was then given one minute for a rebuttal. In such circumstances, complexity, documentation and logic can play no role, and, indeed, on several occasions syntax itself abandoned entirely. It is no matter. The men were less concerned with giving arguments than with “giving off” impressions, which is what television does best. Post-debate commentary largely avoided any evaluation of the candidates’ ideas, since there were none to evaluate. Instead, the debates were conceived as boxing matches, the relevant question being, who KO’d whom? The answer was determined by the “style” of the men - how they looked, fixed their gaze, smiled, and delivered one-liners. In the second debate, President Reagan got off a swell one-liner when asked a question about his age. The following day, several newspapers indicated that Ron had KO’d Fritz with his joke. Thus, the leader of the free world is chosen by the people in the Age of Television. What all of this means is that our culture has moved toward a new way of conducting its business, especially its important business. The nature of its discourse is changing as the demarcation line between what is show business and what is not becomes harder to see with each passing day. Our priests and presidents, our surgeons and lawyers, our educators and newscasters need worry less about satisfying the demands of their discipline than the demands of good showmanship. Had Irving Berlin changed one word in the title of his celebrated song, he would have been as prophetic, albeit more terse, as Aldous Huxley. He need only have written, There’s No Business But Show Business.” Extract from Neil Postman - Amusing ourselves to death - 1986 - pages 113-114

"Television is different because it encompasses all forms of discourse. No one goes to a movie to find out about government policy or the latest scientific advances. No one buys a record to find out the baseball scores or the weather or the latest murder. No one turns on radio anymore for soap operas or a presidential address (if a television is at hand). But everyone goes to television for all these things and more, which is why television resonates so powerfully throughout the culture. Television is our culture’s principal mode of knowing about itself. Therefore - and this is the critical point - how television stages the world becomes the model for how the world is properly to be staged. It is not merely that on the television screen entertainment is the metaphor for all discourse. It is that off the screen the same metaphor prevails. As typography once dictated the style of conducting politics, religion, business, education, law and other important social matters, television now takes command. In courtrooms, classrooms, operating rooms, board rooms, churches and even airplanes, Americans no longer talk to each other, they entertain each other. They do not exchange ideas; they exchange images. They do not argue with propositions; they argue with good looks, celebrities and commercials. For the message of television as metaphor is not only that all the world is a stage but that the stage is located in Las Vegas, Nevada." Extract from Neil Postman - Amusing ourselves to death - 1986 - pages 107-108

❗️ EXCLUSIVE: Criticize NATO, get couped? Bolivian President Luis Arce sharply criticized the NATO military alliance in an exclusive interview with Sputnik just over two weeks ago, on June 7, on the sidelines of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum 2024.

“I believe that NATO's actions are putting world peace at risk,” the leader insisted. “We have seen it not only here in Europe, but also in Latin America,” he noted, referring to the bloc’s attempts to form partnerships with the historical US ally Colombia and, more recently, with Javier Milei’s Argentina. “We see with great concern that NATO is acting in several countries in the region where it previously did not participate, where it did not exist.”

“We see how NATO acts in other places and where it has gone, there have been problems… We do not share the militarist, liberal objectives it proposes when what the planet needs today is peace,” the president emphasized.

Western countries have historically interfered throughout Latin America and in Bolivia in particular, where the CIA collaborated with the notorious Nazi torture chief Klaus Barbie to persecute leftists. The United States backed a coup in the Andean country in 2019, having long objected to former President Evo Morales’ anti-imperialist government. Observers suggest the US maintains a keen interest in the country’s lithium deposits, which are some of the largest in the world. 👍 Boost us! | Subscribe to @geopolitics_live

👅🥾🇮🇱 HE [BIDEN] HAS BECOME LIKE A PALESTINIAN - TRUMP - WATCH U.S. PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFULS FIGHT OVER WHO LOVES ISRAEL MORE - with orange man thinking being Palestinian is an insult. Trump wasn't impressed by his rival claiming to be biggest supporter of Tel Aviv's war crimes and "saved Israel" by protecting it from Iran (bottom video).

He [Biden] said only one who wants to keep [war] going is Hamas, actually Israel is the one and you should let them finish the job. He doesn't wanna do it, he's become like a Palestinian, but they don't like it because he's a very bad Palestinian, a weak one - Trump (top video).

To AIPAC, it's like choosing between fighting, bickering, screaming sons! Boost us here @IntelRepublic

Today is Elon Musk's birthday. He turns 53. Hail Satan. 🎉😈

If it can’t be questioned, is it history or propaganda?

Législatives pour les nuls : Comment pirater une machine à voter en moins de 2 minutes https://lemediaen442.fr/legislatives-pour-les-nuls-comment-pirater-une-machine-a-voter-en-moins-de-2-minutes/

Water minigun? Whom do I give the money? I need it. @MyLordBebo | Boost us! | X

Bolivia Announces BRICS Membership And Suddenly Army Tank Breach Presidential Palace In A Military Coup https://ift.tt/8tWJT27