Don't Look Up

The way they steal the news hooks.

The history of our world has always been accompanied by wars, the carving up of territories and the political influence of some states on others. One could even say that the history of mankind is largely a history of wars. The ancient world speaks mainly the language of military history, then there is the era of bloody medieval wars. The contemporary times are even more perverse, having invented all sorts of methods of self-destruction. Rules have changed, which have increased the number of armies and the instruments of combat.

War has taken a hybrid format and, unfortunately, it affects absolutely everyone. Being in the information field, without which the life of modern man is almost impossible, we involuntarily become soldiers of the digital front, where every day we receive terabytes of information from various sources. Those who are media literate have learned to filter and compare facts. However, one must accept the fact that propagandists are on the alert as well. I guess one of the most important weapons for Russia now is not machine guns, missiles and tanks, but Skabeyeva, Solovyov and other garbage. The daily destruction of the mind and will of its own citizens, so that God forbid they wake up and take to the streets against Putin, the war criminal.

The military resources of Putin's army are running out. The information resources are no exception. As an example: the first mentions of Zhirinovsky's death were made as early as March 25. Both the official media and their sources in the State Duma reported it. However, a few hours later, the media published a retraction. And one wonders: those close enough to the authorities couldn't have been so wrong. And apparently they were not. The propaganda machine simply decided not to miss such a huge news hook and, when the need arises, to shift the focus to Zhirinovsky's death. And so it happened. Zhirinovsky's death was announced after the whole world saw the horror that had happened in Bucha. The Rashists committed an unthinkable atrocity, thinking that the government would cover for them anyway. But they were wrong. The propaganda machine has given a colossal crack and is losing on all fronts. They are shouting from the housetops that Bucha is a fake, but then why haven't they provided video of their beasts leaving the town and the brutally murdered women, children, elderly people are not lying on the ground. And the death of one lunatic cannot outweigh the fact of the genocide of thousands of people in Bucha. This is what we should think about, seeing the real picture is much better than hearing about it.

The tendency to outbid the agenda is observed quite often. They try to cover up high-profile and really important events with some empty and worthless things. It all reminds me of the film Don't Look Up, in which the viewer scoffs at the stupid government, which does nothing to protect people from the looming threat of an asteroid, but deflects their attention away in every way possible by breaking the main agenda. The Grammy ceremony, where they remembered Ukraine and even included an address by President Zelensky, put it in my mind particularly strongly. However the main event of the evening, to my surprise, was not Ukraine's first appearance at a major music ceremony, but the Korean singer's embrace with Lady Gaga. It became one of the main news on Twitter

That's how the news hooks are stolen every day. It is safe to say that if the agenda of the political crisis in our country had remained at the same level in 2020, and sanctions had come into play much earlier, there would not have been a migration crisis on the border with Poland and Lithuania. Russia would not have deployed its missiles on the territory of Belarus. Thousands of prisoners would have been at large. And, of course, there is a great probability that the war would not have started. We must all learn to drive the nail to the head. And the change of power in Belarus to a democratic one is one of the key moments in this war. Let us not, at least now, miss the important events that may cost thousands and hundreds of thousands of lives. Nothing can be more important than that. It lies in our power to see the truth, to filter the truth and to carry it to those around us. These are small, but crucial steps, which can help us and Ukraine live in peace.

Long live Belarus! Glory to Ukraine!

Artsiom Chernikau, specially for "Basta!"