Propaganda: The Danger Of Demonisation

Does any intelligent person look at a New York Times article about Russia or Vladimir Putin these days and expect to read an objective, balanced account? Or will it be laced with a predictable blend of contempt and ridicule? And is it any different at The Washington Post, NPR, MSNBC, CNN or almost any mainstream U.S. news outlet?

And it’s not just Russia. The same trend holds true for Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Nicaragua and other countries and movements that have fallen onto the U.S. government’s “enemies list.” We saw the same pattern with Saddam Hussein and Iraq before the 2003 U.S. invasion; with Muammar Gaddafi and Libya before the U.S.-orchestrated bombing campaign in 2011; and with President Viktor Yanukovych and Ukraine before the U.S.-backed coup in 2014.

That is not to say that these countries and leaders don’t deserve criticism; they do. But the proper role of the press corps – at least as I was taught during my early years at The Associated Press – was to treat all evidence objectively and all sides fairly. Just because you might not like someone doesn’t mean your feelings should show through or the facts should be forced through a prism of bias.

In those “old days,” that sort of behavior was deemed unprofessional and you would expect a senior editor to come down hard on you. Now, however, it seems that you’d only get punished if you quoted some dissident or allowed such a person onto an op-ed page or a talk show, someone who didn’t share Official Washington’s “group think” about the “enemy.” Deviation from “group think” has become the real disqualifier.

Yet, this conformity should be shocking and unacceptable in a country that prides itself on freedom of thought and speech. Indeed, much of the criticism of “enemy” states is that they supposedly practice various forms of censorship and permit only regime-friendly propaganda to reach the public.

But when was the last time you heard anyone in the U.S. mainstream say anything positive or even nuanced about Russian President Putin. He can only be portrayed as some shirtless buffoon or the devil incarnate. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton got widespread praise in 2014 when she likened him to Hitler...

Robert Parry, consortiumnews.com

Thankfully the gay media doesn't do this sort of thing.

If you just go 'LIKE HITLER!', you've already lost the debate.

Eurovision: Oh Those Russians!

Textbook hysterical over-reaction from Pink News.

Been a while since the gay/GBH media has had a chance to return to its favourite licence to write bollocks, Russia.

The sad thing is, I'm not sure Nick Duffy believes a word of this.

Or maybe, like most gay journalists, he's happy to be a handmaiden of power?

Eniarku tub enoyna!

See also: The Eurovision dilemma: What if Russia wins, Gay Star News, If Russia wins, will Eurovision's gay fans boo or cheer, Telegraph.Could Russia actually win the song contest despite its anti-gay law, Independent. Snore!

PS See the hilarious comments section after this gem.

Good to know Pink News readers know more about what Russia's actually like than, erm... a Russian!

See also: Gay clubbing and stoic activism in Russia’s homophobic heartland, Guardian report from the industrial city of Samara, where gay life goes quietly on.

There's an interesting interview with a gay Russian Eurovision fan on GT online, 'Boycotting my country will only make things worse'.

Ukraine: Not Russia

Last week we reported on a social experiment in Russia where two young men spent the day walking the streets of Moscow while holding hands. Things didn’t go so well.

A hidden camera captured an unyielding barrage of insults, slurs, skunk-eyed stares, and physical intimidation, culminating in one extremely tense confrontation.

To shed light on the reality of LGBT life in other hostile areas, Bird in Flight magazine decided to repeat the exercise in Kiev, Ukraine.

Things really didn’t go so well.

A group of neo-nazis or extreme-right men approaches the couple, asking them if they are patriots and getting aggressive.

Once police are out of sight, they pull out pepper spray and blind both men before hurling punches and kicks at them.

Luckily, the project team was at the ready to intervene and prevent serious injury...

Queerty.

Wonderful to see Queerty readers are so well-informed they think Ukraine is part of POOTIN'S RUSSIA, not the American-made fascist entity.

USA USA USA! etc

Ukraine: This Is Fascism

BBC News.

Fagburn is very surprised - nay flabbergasted - at this turn of events in a country now governed by a neo-fascist junta who came to power in a CIA backed coup.

Whatever next!?

A boycott by Dan Savage and Michael Lucas?

A tear-soaked documentary by Dame Stephen Fry?

I wouldn't hold your breath.

Eurovision 2: Pavlov's Gays Say Boo!

Peter Brookes in The Times.

After a year in which Russia continued to be fiercely condemned for annexing the Crimea and its separatists' seizure of eastern Ukraine, the country remains a pariah through most of Europe.

Now, amid fears Russia's Eurovision singer Polina Gagarina will bear the brunt of the ill-will, contest organisers have installed drastic 'anti-booing' technology for the final in Vienna.

Special sound reducers have been installed in a bid to stop the acrimony towards Russia being broadcast - an issue that was last year labelled 'embarrassing' by organisers...

The organisers' intervention also comes after Russia's anti-gay laws continue to be condemned by the international community, while Vienna - this year's host city - has installed gay-themed traffic lights...

Daily Mail.

Fagburn looks forward to the deafening boos from the audience which will almost certainly greet the representative of the country with by far the worst human rights record, the apartheid state of Israel. 

Many have asked why Australia is entered this year, though it's only a silly gimmick for the contest's 60th anniversary.

Israel - which is also rather obviously not in Europe - has taken part since 1973, but what can this be but Pinkwashing?

Russia: What Fools We Are

A quarter of a century after the end of the cold war, the “Russian threat” is unmistakably back. Vladimir Putin, Britain’s defence secretary Michael Fallon declares, is as great a danger to Europe as “Islamic State”. There may be no ideological confrontation, and Russia may be a shadow of its Soviet predecessor, but the anti-Russian drumbeat has now reached fever pitch.

And much more than in Soviet times, the campaign is personal. It’s all about Putin. The Russian president is an expansionist dictator who has launched a “shameless aggression”. He is the epitome of “political depravity”, “carving up” his neighbours as he crushes dissent at home, and routinely is compared to Hitler. Putin has now become a cartoon villain and Russia the target of almost uniformly belligerent propaganda across the western media. Anyone who questions the dominant narrative on Ukraine – from last year’s overthrow of the elected president and the role of Ukrainian far right to war crimes carried out by Kiev’s forces – is dismissed as a Kremlin dupe...

Seumas Milne, The Guardian.

The demonisation of Putin as a 'homophobe' - or whatever we're told to hate him for this month - only serves imperialism.

Wake up!

PS Vladimir Putin is already the West’s public enemy number one. The British Government, in particular, has a long charge sheet against him, stretching from the Litvinenko polonium case to Russia’s role in the crisis in Ukraine today. Many observers jumped to the conclusion that the murder [of Boris Nemtsov] beneath his Kremlin windows was Putin’s perverse confessional “selfie”. But while the president might be ruthless, is he really foolish or brazen enough to stage the killing of a fallen rival from the Nineties with his office in the background?

Mark Almond, lecturer in Moder History, Oriel College, Oxford, Telegraph.

Noam Chomsky: Philosopher And Political Scientist, Apparently

Joins us live from Boston!

Fuck Nato.

PS No news today, so bum off. x

Foreign Affairs: Barbarism Begins At Home

Michael Rosen.

Legs akimbo for teh gays.

Gay Star News.

The Guardian. *

In an age where every US/UK imperial war is justified as a 'humanitarian intervention', a good guide to who are our current bogeymen is when the media suddenly start writing about their human rights abuses.

These days, that often means saying; 'THESE MONSTERS DON'T LIKE THE GAYS!'

'SEND IN THE DRONES! SEND IN NATO!'

Ten years ago it was all about telling fairy stories about horror stories in Iran, last year it was those evil Russians.

This is the flipside of Pinkwashing, where we are expected to look kindly on Israel's persecution of the Palestinian people because Tel Aviv is a super-duper sexy place for a gay holiday. 

Shall we call it Pinkblooding?

"Every empire, however, tells itself and the world that it is unlike all other empires, that its mission is not to plunder and control but to educate and liberate." Edward Said.

See also David Cameron And The Cynicism Of Comparing Putin To Hitler, Owen Jones for Guardian online today. 

Hardly an original thought but that's Owen for you.

You may recall in the run-up to the Sochi Winter Olympics it became a commonplace to read hysterical comparisons of Putin to Hitler, and to say what was happening to gay people in Russia was just like what happened to Jewish people in Nazi Germany. You may have noticed things didn't turn out to be quite so bad for gay people in Russia. Fagburn has still not seen one revocation of this textbook gay hysteria.

* Note that the English language source for this is Radio Free Europe, the US government-funded radio station, Cold War relic and propaganda machine. I'm not saying that means Aksyonov didn't say this, just that RFE will be more than aware of this story's uses.

The Great War: Warnography

Needless to say, the centenary has been seized as a military propaganda opportunity. Last week David Cameron crudely compared Vladimir Putin in Ukraine to Germany under the Kaiser in 1914 (and under Hitler). This was neither true nor helpful. The prime minister added that Britain was “not about to launch a European war”. In which case why mention it at all, and why also send troops to train in eastern Europe? ...

The chief lesson of 1914 must be not recklessly to rattle sabres across the frontiers of Europe until all else is lost. The Germans have learned that. In Ukraine they are still counselling restraint. Britain is doing the opposite, as its leaders gently dust themselves in glory. When Cameron last year allotted £50m to “remembering the lessons” of 1914, he was also planning to go to war on Syria. I wonder what lesson taught him that.

1914: The Great War Has Become A Nightly Pornography Of Violence Simon Jenkins, The Guardian.

Meanwhile in Gaza...

Update: A blunt warning from Prince William, a century after war ravaged the continent: Ukraine crisis is a threat to all Europe Mail Online.

'In April, the Mail reported how Prince Charles told a Polish woman, who had lost many of her Jewish family in the Nazi Holocaust: ‘And now Putin is doing just about the same [in the Ukraine] as Hitler...’

Thankfully, our own dear Royal Family stand above politics, except when engaging in propaganda so crude, you'd have to be as stupid and inbred as them to fall for it.

MH17: 298

The International AIDS Society (IAS) today expresses its sincere sadness at receiving news that a number of colleagues and friends en route to attend the 20th International AIDS Conference taking place in Melbourne, Australia, were on board the Malaysian Airlines MH17 flight that has crashed over Ukraine earlier today.

At this incredibly sad and sensitive time, the IAS stands with our international family and sends condolences to the loved ones of those who have been lost to this tragedy.

The IAS is hearing unconfirmed reports that some of our friends and colleagues were on board the flight and if that is the case this is a truly sad day.

The IAS has also heard reports that among the passengers was a former IAS president, Joep Lange, and if that is the case then the HIV/AIDS movement has truly lost a giant...

IAS Statement.

Let us not rush to judge, please. It's not what these men and women would have wanted.

I know blaming Putin for everything is a national sport, but still...

[Some initial reports said 100 delegates died, this has now been downscaled to six. Gosh, it's almost like everything we've heard about this story is nonsense. Edit: How and why the media got it wrong].

Gay Star News.

Gay Star News - Corrected just 6 days later!

Update: And the award for the most tenuous and wrong-headed attempt to try and wring a gay angle out of this human tragedy goes to... The Advocate!

Turing Test: Eugene, Eugene Give Me Your Answer Do

[12:43:37] Judge: Hi, I'm Cathy.

[12:43:43] Eugene: Cathy! Nice to meet you! You're a woman, if I'm not mistaken.

[12:44:20] Judge: Right. What is your name?

[12:44:29] Eugene: People call me Eugene. Or "Zhenya". It is a short name for Eugene in Russia and Ukraine.

[12:45:17] Judge: Nice name. Are you from either area?

[12:45:41] Eugene: Agree :-) Oh, what a fruitful conversation;-)

[12:45:52] Judge: Do you really think so?

[12:46:04] Eugene: No, your guess was wrong. I don't think so. By the way, I still don't know your specialty – or, possibly, I've missed it?

[12:46:56] Judge: What speciality? What's yours?

[12:47:01] Eugene: Huh? And I forgot to ask you where you are from.

[12:47:51] Judge: The universe and you?

[12:48:01] Eugene: Is it your hobby to ask little poor Jewish boys such tricky questions they don't have an answer for?

The Guardian.

From 2001: a Space Odyssey to Her, the idea of an intelligent computer that can hold conversations with humans has long been a dream of science-fiction writers, but that fantasy may just have taken a step closer to becoming reality. On Saturday, a computer algorithm claiming to be a 13-year-old boy called Eugene Goostman passed the Turing test, it has been claimed. However, some commentators have suggested that pretending to be a 13-year-old Ukrainian child is not as difficult as pretending to be an Anglophone adult, and that the result should not count...

Transcripts of the conversations from the latest Royal Society test are not yet available but below are transcripts from a previous event at Bletchley Park on 23 June 2012, with the same program.

According to some boffins this is 'a load of old rubbish', but being thicker than a 13 year-old thinkbot I don't really understand why.

Fagburn would, but of course, ask the young robot lad where he stands on Crimea and the east Ukraine question.

Chelsea Manning: The Graphic Novel

Clark Stoeckley's graphic account from inside the Chelsea Manning trial is released today, marking its first anniversary. We exclusively excerpt Chelsea Manning's testimony on her treatment in prison. Content warning: state violence, discussion of suicide.

The United States Vs Pvt Chelsea Manning is available exclusively from OR Books.

PS It's thanks to Chelsea we can read things like this; a prescient 2008 cable from the US ambassador in Moscow on NATO enlargement, Russia and Ukraine.

Steve Bell, The Guardian June 4th.

Peter Tatchell: Classical Gas

Pro-Ukrainian activists led by veteran human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell interrupted a London Symphony Orchestra concert conducted by Russian conductor Valery Gergiev in Trafalgar Square.

About 20 people waved Ukrainian flags and chanted “shame on you” to Gergiev at the BMW LSO Open Air Classics concert earlier this evening.

Tatchell claims the conductor “colludes with President Putin’s expansionist policies” in Ukraine.

The free concert was delayed for several minutes just before the second performance of the night as Gergiev came on stage to conduct the Prokofiev violin concerto.

The Times - Sadly it seems no-one else has shown the least bit of interest in Saint Peter's press release about his latest self-publicity stunt.

That's right, yesterday when pro-Russian east Ukranians were braving gunfire from the Ukrainian junta's hoodlums to take part in a referendum on autonomy and self-determination, Pete thought it would be a good idea to stage a pro-Kiev protest.

Unbelievable.

From Iran to Serbia to Russia to Syria, Peter Tatchell can always be counted on to do his little bit to help the West's neo-imperial propaganda war.

And how is repeatedly harrassing a man in his 70s who is not responsible for Russian policy-making a sensible or worthwhile 'protest'?

What a silly Billy.

Update: In Ukraine, the US is dragging us towards war with Russia John Pilger, The Guardian.

Conchita Wurst: Calm Down, Dears

“This night is dedicated to everyone who believes in a future of peace and freedom. You know who you are – we are unity and we are unstoppable.” *

Independent On Sunday.

Fagburn is very pleased for the 'Bearded Lady', as the UK media have all decided to call her, and glad to hear so many people had a great night.
But can we stop the silly pretense that Conchita winning was some great seismic victory for LGBT rights?
And that homophobia is a problem over there, not here?
This wasn't politics, this was panto.
"Altogether now girls and boys, let's all say 'Boo!' to that nasty villain, Mr Putin."
"BOO!!!"
And the bearded Cinderella went to the ball, and we all lived happily ever after...

Do you really think Putin cares who won Eurovision?

* A clear attack on the unelected government of Ukraine, who seized power in a coup in February, and over Eurovision weekend continued killing their Russian-speaking citizens.
Well done for speaking out, Miss Wurst!

Ukraine: Hot Lads Making Hot News

Odessa, the biggest city in southern Ukraine, was sliding out of the government’s control last night after riot­police gave way to a moderately sized crowd and allowed almost 70 pro­Russian prisoners to walk free.

Protesters broke the windows of the city’s police headquarters, smashed up a guard post and forced open the gates by pushing a police truck through.

The Times.

Fuck U Ukraine - We shall win!

PS One of Fagburn's failed projects, the tribute band, The Odessa Steps.

Putin Gay Dress-Up: Fighting Homophobia With Homophobia

Support our fight against Russian anti-gay laws!

On June 30 last year Russian president Vladimir Putin signed into law an “anti-gay propaganda” bill, which made it illegal to engage in any behavior that could be considered “gay propaganda.”

PutinGayDressUp.com wants to make a playful stand against homosexual discrimination and legal actions taken under the regional anti-LGBT propaganda laws. 

PutinGayDressup.com

How thick is this?

Still, hardly the first time the sophisticated political argument 'Putin look gay hur hur hur' has been used.

Watch this.

Read this.  

'He looks gay! Hur hur hur!'

Oh, and our Owen Jones has written quite a good piece for The Independent; The Hypocrisy Of The Great Powers Is On Display Again In Ukraine.
Owen called me 'Mr Bitter Anonymous' on Twitter the other day. Which was fun.
While Matthew Parris writes, Leave Ukraine To The Russians - We don't know what we're doing. So let's stop doing it. Quite.
Best of all is Seumas Milne in The Guardian, The Clash In Crimea Is The Fruit Of Western Expansion.

BREAKING: Channel 4 News subtitles can't cope with the name of Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister...

'That says 'So gay lover!' Hur hur hur!'

See also: Forged By Pride: Cursory notes on digital propaganda and Russian queers, Spitzenprodukte, libcom.org

Crimea: All Power To The Anti-Fascists! Down With US Neo-Imperial Hegemony! Self-Determination For All People! AmeriKKKa Humilated! Omelettes Eggs! Mother Russia FTW!

Jared Leto: That Oscar Acceptance Speech In Full

"Incredible. Ellen, I love you. To my fellow nominees, I’m so proud to share this journey with you. I’m in awe and have so much respect for you all. To the Academy, thank you.

"I won this award just cause I played a transsexual with Aids - well whoopeefuckingdoo!

"Usually straight actors just get at Oscar if they played a gay dude.

"So good for me!

"So brave etc etc...

"To all the dreamers out there around the world watching this tonight in places like the Ukraine and Venezuela, I want to say we are here and as you struggle to… to make your neo-fascist dreams happen, to live the impossible - like trying to overthrow democratically elected politicians and serve US power and hegemony… I don't really know much about politics, but I'm thick and saw something on CNN, dude. It's a real bummer. We’re thinking of you tonight."

PS 'You don't deserve an award for portraying a trans-woman, because you're a man,' Any actor can play anyone - that is acting. But this veneration is a patronising farce.

Death to brain-dead celebactivism!

Male actor plays trans woman: Wins awards, pats on back Trans women live as trans women: Face violence, unemployment, oppression, erasure
— Amy the Snow Queen (@EntirelyAmelia) March 3, 2014

Madonna: What's Going On?

Noted political analyst Madonna gives her two cents over on Instagram.

There's 'facism' [sic] in 'The Ukraine' '[sic] 'apparantly' [sic]...

Fagburn loves it when celebrities speak out about things they can't even spell.

Here's the slightly better-informed Seamus Milne in The Guardian, In Ukraine, fascists, oligarchs and western expansion are at the heart of the crisis.
Robert Fisk in The Independent on the Russia, Syria, Ukraine nexus.
Marc Bennetts talks to New Humanist about the reality of protest and dissent in Russia today.
And ZNet on Western media mis-reporting of Venezuela's upper-class revolt.

Should anyone be surprised which side Madonna's on?

Russia: How To Make Sure Putin Pays Attention

Independence Square, Kiev, February 2013.

And how not to...

Red Square, Moscow, July 2013.

Everything's not all about The Gays, The Gays!