133

Debunking CIA and MI6 Syria narratives – one by one

Vanessa Beeley

Audio Version New Feature!

The UK/US deep state talking points about Syria are familiar. The President is a “tyrant”, the state is “authoritarian”, “political prisoners” abound and the nation is a “police state”.

These reductionist labels stick. They stick because regime change-pushing media outlets repeat them ad nauseam until they are absorbed into our psyche as truths.

“The interventionist war is bad but Syria is still “at fault” because The Guardian or CNN say so” is a paraphrase of the statements of many geopolitical commentators, even those allegedly onside with exposing the UK/US-led regime-change war in Syria.

Ten years into the CIA/MI6-orchestrated war against Syria, even self-proclaimed anti-imperialist journalists deploy this terminology with zero hard evidence or context.

History teaches us to examine every corporate media tagline with cynicism but many times such misrepresentation is allowed to slip through the analysis net.

Perhaps hanging on to the “less harmful” criticisms of Syrian governance will prevent the Assadist label being applied to journalists by the colonial media outlets determined to maintain control of the Syria narratives. Some would describe it as “choosing your battles.

Personally, I would call it negligence, even cowardice. As journalists, our job is to unpack everything, every media-mass-produced accusation that has been used to subjugate, devastate and bleed a target nation dry.

Peter Ford, former UK Ambassador to Syria and Bahrain and an eminent Arabist told me:

I always like to say that maybe Syria is a so-called “police state” because in states which the West tries to subvert there is a lot of policing to be done! Bravo on your effort to counter the sloppy labelling.”

Over the next few weeks, I intend writing a series of short articles detailing aspects of Syrian society and the context of the latest destabilisation campaign engineered by CIA, MI6 agencies & supported by allies in Israel, Turkey, EU, Gulf States, NATO.

I hope to expose the reductionism that continues to plague the Syria narrative on both sides of the fence – and to bring to light perspectives that have previously been kept from view.

Next week, Off-Guardian will publish a comprehensive timeline of CIA/MI6 interference in Syrian affairs post World War 2 which will explain some of the context to the creation of a security apparatus in Syria to combat such intelligence operations that have been ongoing for decades, including assassinations and coup d’etats.

Speaking to Syrians about Syria 

Speaking to Syrians about Syria is a selective process in the West. Rarely does colonial media speak to or cite the millions of Syrians who support their government, their President, their military and their allies in the war against foreign interference.

I spoke at length with Syrian journalist, Kevork Almassian who opened my eyes to the freedom given to Syrian TV drama producers in the three decades leading up to the externally-manufactured “uprising” in 2011. Almassian said:

First of all, we need to define the “police state” which is a type of state where government institutions exercise an extreme level of control over civil society and liberties.

The most common way of exercising control is by the deployment of internal security and police forces and allowing them to play a heightened role in governance.

Is this the case in Syria? The simple answer is no.

Although it is true that Syrian security apparatuses don’t enjoy the best reputation in Syria, facts on the ground indicate that security apparatuses weren’t heavily involved in civil society and the turmoil that the CIA and its regional allies triggered in Syria in early 2011, suggests that, if the security apparatuses had an upper hand in the period before the war, Syria would have better prepared for the American plot.

Almassian told me that Syria holds a prestigious reputation in the Arab world for the quality of its drama productions. Not many people are aware that Syrian drama reflects the current issues in Syrian society, politically, economically and religiously.

Syrian drama started to develop in the early 90s addressing controversial issues that took many Syrians by surprise. Topics that were formerly taboo became commonplace on Syrian TV – the malpractice of the Security apparatus, corruption of senior officials and even the growing phenomenon of religious extremism.

Almassian recounted that high ranking religious and security figures were reported to have lobbied hard to prevent the airing of a drama series called Ma Malakat Emankoum in 2010, he told me:

The series sheds light on the middle class, its problems and concerns, and on controversial issues such as religious extremism, corruption and terrorism. The series stirred controversy among the Syrian society, and especially among the religious figures who were against screening such work. Their attempt at censorship failed because Syrian law gave complete freedom to the Drama production teams and they were unequivocally supported by the political leadership.”

Almassian argues that under a “police state” such “subversion” would be heavily censored.

This particular series was revelatory for many, exposing the emerging Salafist scene in Syria which influenced many among the ranks of Syrian officials who betrayed their country in 2011 and joined the “opposition”.

Peter Ford agrees with that take, referring to the UK state policing of dissent over Covid narratives:

If we in the UK have not been living in a police state for the last year and three months you could have fooled me.

The tyrannical state has interfered in the most intimate aspects of our lives in a way that even China’s Red Guards would have considered excessive.

On pain of receiving a visit from the police and being dragged away people have been forbidden from leaving their own houses, from seeing their parents, from rescuing elderly parents from care homes become torture chambers, from taking holidays abroad, from even travelling a few miles, even from breathing freely without masks.

This has all been imposed under the pretext of a national health emergency in which the most common symptom of the allegedly lethal disease from which the state is protecting you is that you feel absolutely fine.

This is the Nanny State become Police State, cheered on by a corrupt political class including a puny official opposition and by a state broadcaster, the BBC, who is capable of totally ignoring the most massive street protest in Britain this century.

Almassian referred to two other Drama series that reinforce his opinion. When Wolves Get Old aired in 2019 and addressed the era of the 1980s immediately after the much misreported Muslim Brotherhood “rebellion” against the secular government of Hafez Al Assad.

Instead of glorifying the Syrian government, the series exposed the Government and Security vulnerabilities and mistakes – highlighting the policies of re-integration and amnesty with Muslim Brotherhood and Salafist  instigators of violence which are believed to have led to an increase in their leverage within government and civil society leading up to 2011.

Almassian summarised thus:

To put in simple words, the Muslim Brotherhood understood that it can’t overthrow the Assad government by force and shifted its policy to penetrating the state institution, hoping for a stronger presence and better preparation for the future, which happened in 2011, as the Muslim Brotherhood “rebellion” lasted more than 10 years now comparing to 3 years in the first rebellion between 1979-1982.

The final example is the famous Syrian drama Maraya (“Mirrors”) which screened from 1981-2013, perhaps the most dangerous point of the war against Syria when the US/UK-led proxy coalition of armed groups were gaining a serious foothold on Syrian territory.

This series was liberally critical of the Syrian government and security services. Almassian finished by telling me:

There are hundreds of Syrian series that I can mention but for the time being, these examples are enough to conclude that Syria is surely not a model for freedom of speech, but at the same time, it is very far from the police state that some try portray without a shred of evidence except for the propaganda of the “Syrian opposition” that is itself funded by brutal dictatorships in the Gulf and imperialist powers.

As Laith Marouf, a lifelong activist for Palestine and an end to imperialist wars, pointed out, the biggest police state in the world is the US itself and the majority of despotic regimes with which it is allied – Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey etc:

The true ultimate Police State is the USA; where the country has the largest prison population in human history, 25% of the global total, where every Black and Indigenous revolutionary in the past 100 years have been liquidated, jailed or exiled, where all media and communication is monitored by the most advanced surveillance system on the globe. Claiming Syria is a police state in this context, a state that had a lower than average incarceration rate, and almost no electronic surveillance, would be disingenuous if not malicious.

Seyed Mohammed Marandi, an Iranian academic also refers to the historical context of where Syria is today:

I have been to Iraq during Saddam’s reign and I have spent 4 months in Saudi Arabia. Taxi drivers in Damascus say things that people in Baghdad couldn’t tell their children and people in Riyadh still cant say to their children. The same people who were silent when their governments were giving Sadam Hussein chemical weapons to use extensively against Iranians and his own people, call Syria a police state to justify the NATO led dirty war as well as infanticidal economic sanctions.

Vanessa Beeley is an independent journalist and photographer who has worked extensively in the Middle East – on the ground in Syria, Egypt, Iraq and Palestine, while also covering the conflict in Yemen since 2015. Follow her on Twitter @VanessaBeeley, or read her blog at The Wall Will Fall.

SUPPORT OFFGUARDIAN

If you enjoy OffG's content, please help us make our monthly fund-raising goal and keep the site alive.

For other ways to donate, including direct-transfer bank details click HERE.

4.9 18 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

133 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Frances
Frances
Oct 27, 2021 5:35 AM

What is one to believe? I’ve read about a man trying to save cats in Allepo and his comments on the al-Assad govt. and now finished reading Destroying a Nation by Nikolos van Dam.

NickM
NickM
Oct 24, 2021 3:05 PM

Newsweek Magazine
Syria’s Bashar al-Assad Returns to World Stage in Defeat for US, Win for the World
By Tom O’Connor On 10/13/21 at 5:00 AM EDT

timasprin
timasprin
Oct 24, 2021 12:04 PM

I look forward to the planned work of Vanessa Beeley here ay OffG.
The narration was precise and more preferred to the often confusing complicated dialogue that Vanessa often has at UKColumn. Thanks.

Penny
Penny
Oct 23, 2021 2:00 PM

“Syrian journalist, Kevork Almassian”

How long has Kevork lived outside of Syria now?
Why has Kevork often been supportive of the YPG/PKK who alongside the US occupy approximately 1/3 of Syria, while stealing their oil? And directing it to Israel.
While endlessly covering the Turkish hold on Syrian lands, okayed by Russia in my opinion, which constitutes about 4% of Syrian territory
33% oil rich territory, with multiple huge military bases held by US YPG/PKK
vs 4% held by Turkey.
Where does the bigger problem really lie?
That’s where the focus should be and it isn’t

Trewpol
Trewpol
Oct 23, 2021 12:26 PM

I see the Christopher Steele operation is being rolled out here in the UK 18 months after it’s proven to be nothing but conjecture and lies in the US.

Mr Steele like Luke Harding needs a steady income and now that his wife was forced to retire early as an FCO Crown Agent due to Russian influence (no doubt) how else will the Steeles fund their holibobs to the Caribbean.

It is really encouraging that the MSM and “our” government keep rolling out these charlatans like Ferguson and Steele, it shows desperation in that they’re flinging all manner of excrement hoping at least some of it sticks.

And of course this culture of “making shit up” our rulers have embraced wholeheartedly will only last a limited time – I’d say it’s near the end soonish because the lying is now so brazen and blatant it WILL collapse on itself.

PS Admins – the up/down voting was pretty ok as it allowed one to agree/disagree (interact) with other posters without needing to reply. Maybe you could rethink its removal..?

Sam - Admin2
Admin
Sam - Admin2
Oct 23, 2021 12:49 PM
Reply to  Trewpol

Thanks for your perspective, opinion noted. The trial will continue for a bit and we’ll assess after a while. So many new readers were looking straight to the highest upvotes, we acted on strong evidence that this was being abused by ‘bad actors’. Facebook et al have generated an expectation of instant impulse fulfilment and instant gratification, however we didn’t think, in today’s climate, that it’d do any harm to trial switching voting off for a while, especially if bad actors were gaming them.

I have already closed one thread for being off topic on this issue. I reply out of consideration now to fill you in, since we didn’t make a site-wide announcement, as this minor feature trial didn’t really warrant one.

Out of respect to our authors, let’s stay on topic. We’ll introduce a new method to discuss off comment material in the near future. Until then, by all means email. Thanks, A2

Trewpol
Trewpol
Oct 23, 2021 1:02 PM
Reply to  Sam - Admin2

Understood and Thanks for the response Sam

Marilyn Shepherd
Marilyn Shepherd
Oct 23, 2021 11:06 AM

A little known fact is that the former Prime Minister of Australia, Malcolm Turnbull, took us to blow up Syria without cause or invitation or UN agreement and granted our ”troops;’who were actually pilots, the right to kill anyone who looks sus, from the air. And there are still dozens of Australian children trapped and locked up in prison camps because our government calls them terrorists.

Frances
Frances
Oct 27, 2021 5:40 AM

There is a drone facility to be built by Boeing in Toowoomba, Qld., probably similar to Canada and its drone sensors and sales to Saudi Arabia, used to kill people in Yemen.

George Mc
George Mc
Oct 23, 2021 10:57 AM

Up here in Totalitarian Teuchter Land, along with our by-now instinctive mask wearing, I have noticed big taps of Domestos at the entrance way to stores and the folks ahead of me always stop to use them.

I am guessing that with the none too subtle drumbeats about England’s erroneous “Tory driven” ways going disastrously wrong, the Southern plains will shortly be reinstating No-Man’s-Land for Christmas.

But all of this only goes to emphasise the true processes at work. It’s not the politicians who matter – save as actors. The media embodies “The Voice of God” and the politicians then act out the scenario  desired.

Actually, this media is even more dictatorial than the divine voice since, when God “spoke”, you would actually see the words and know the commandment. The media is nowhere near as humble. The media is the unacknowledged arbiter of reality itself.

Grafter
Grafter
Oct 23, 2021 12:32 PM
Reply to  George Mc

👍

Edwige
Edwige
Oct 23, 2021 12:44 PM
Reply to  George Mc

The UK MSM campaign for another lockdown has been going four or five days now. It’s like a movie that one’s seen before – alleged raisng cases (not deaths not even hospitalisations) based on garbage evidence, the NHS will be overwhelmed stories, it’ll be worse later on if we don’t lockdown now warnings, Christmas will be cancelled hysteria. Trade union leaders have weighed in this morning revealing their true nature yet again. The government is doing its pretend reluctance yet again. Worst single story so far goes to the Fraud telling cancer patients they must support lockdown or not get any treatment (which would be terrible if the treatment actually did any good – from what I’ve seen first-hand all it does is finish people off).

There is some encouragement from a Sunday Times’ poll that showed almost as many people rated protecting the economy as high a priority as combatting the virus. The majority favouring the latter was massive a year ago. Some people are starting to realise that furlough and home-working aren’t the fun-and-games they’d been duped into believing. Expect to see armies of virtue-signallers out there telling you it’s greedy and selfish to put the economy first and acting as if a ruined economy won’t kill more people than their precious virus, even by their own faked figures. Plus of course blaming it all on the unvaccinated…

ImpObs
ImpObs
Oct 23, 2021 10:41 AM

Another definition change:

Gain Of Function Research (GOF) becomes enhanced Potential Pandemic Pathogen Research (ePPP)

https://twitter.com/JeremyRedfernFL/status/1451565600673828869

Lie to congress, admit it later, then quietly change the definition, nothing to see here, move along please.

Judith
Judith
Oct 23, 2021 11:32 AM
Reply to  ImpObs

I actually had to read that link because I thought you were taking the piss.

ImpObs
ImpObs
Oct 23, 2021 4:27 PM
Reply to  Judith

I know right!

just when you think it can’t get any barmier…

some talking head/shill proves you wrong…

ad infinitum for the last 18 months!

George Mc
George Mc
Oct 23, 2021 10:39 AM

And in line with the general degradation of rhetoric, a WHO article on “How to distinguish between Flu and Covid-19” (which tells you no such thing) ends with “Stick with Science!” as if “Science” were a brand of footwear.

Marilyn Shepherd
Marilyn Shepherd
Oct 23, 2021 11:07 AM
Reply to  George Mc

WEll I hear people discussing which brand of jab to have as if they are selecting shoes

Judith
Judith
Oct 23, 2021 11:34 AM

Yes. “Spike” heels are back in fashion!

NickM
NickM
Oct 23, 2021 12:20 PM
Reply to  Judith

👍

Mike Ellwood (Oxon UK)
Mike Ellwood (Oxon UK)
Oct 23, 2021 1:43 PM

I was mightily relieved when “have you had your jab yet?” stopped being the main opening topic of conversation, after most people who were going to, had had their second clot-shot. But it’s now back with “Have you had your booster yet…”.

Mike Ellwood (Oxon UK)
Mike Ellwood (Oxon UK)
Oct 23, 2021 1:41 PM
Reply to  George Mc

as if “Science” were a brand of footwear.

Or a brand of glue.

Kate
Kate
Oct 23, 2021 8:35 AM

Signs of the Times. Here’s a short compilation of the ‘great and the good’ showing their allegiance. Might knock the cobwebs from some eyes.

https://www.bitchute.com/video/utOkztGj0x65/

Judith
Judith
Oct 23, 2021 11:42 AM
Reply to  Kate

That’s amazing. So what do those hand signals mean to their side of the world?

I’ve always thought (and used) the “6” sign as “OK”.

Don’t know what that horn looking sign means.

Kate
Kate
Oct 23, 2021 1:08 PM
Reply to  Judith

Hi Judith, the triple 6 sign is self explanatory I think. The other sign is the devil’s horns or the devil’s triad which is another sign used by satanists to signal to one another. That it is used so openly by the ‘elites’ (or more accurately the puppets of the elites) shows us how complete their take over of the world is.

Another frequently used sign that you will see used by practically every celebrity in existence is the one eyed symbol, where they cover one eye with their hand or a prop in a photograph.

Take a look at the Vigilant Citizen site to get an intro into this stuff if you’re interested.

Here’s a link to the latest symbolic pics of the month.

https://vigilantcitizen.com/pics-of-the-month/symbolic-pics-of-the-month-09-21/

jubal hershaw
jubal hershaw
Oct 23, 2021 6:50 AM

A report from Canada mentions that many employees are stressed and anxious from having to carry out the governments requirement that they police customers vax status etc.,.Seems they are being abused even threatened by angry people being denied entry to stores and service…Some are frightened to leave work expecting their abusers to be waiting outside….
Workers have no rights. An employer can order an employee submit to a risky medical experiment. An employer can order an employee face customers hostility policing government dictates… Whatever happened to Freedom Through Work ?

Hele
Hele
Oct 23, 2021 7:38 AM
Reply to  jubal hershaw

I live in Canada.It’s really a terrible place.The majority are walking around in masks.Health Canada is funded -84%-by pharma.Liberal gov gave 600 million to msm.People are being forced to vax and are losing jobs or crying and getting jabbed.Unemployment insurance may be denied if you leave work because you don’t want the jab.Lots of anger toward unvaccinated.Can’t board a plane if not jabbed after nov 30. Everyday brush up against fear insanity,Watch great vids of real scientists telling us the efficacy of vax is like 1.5 %.
How can you even start to explain the whole evil thing.It’s not possible.6 months ago-When my intelligent friend said that Bob Woodward was an FBI or CIA operative-I get them mixed up-and not the investigative journalist represented in All the President’s Men-that I watched when I was 11 -in a movie theatre in downtown Vancouver-with my best friend Diane- something I have believed my whole life-and thought he was nuts when he told me that and I now know it’s true.it’s hard to accept the people who believe the lies as facts but understandable.I am both furious and forgiving,

jubal hershaw
jubal hershaw
Oct 23, 2021 8:29 AM
Reply to  Hele

We were told the vax wouldnt prevent being infected, and wouldnt prevent passing on the bug .The many reports of research proving the vax’s low efficacy seem to be unwittingly (?) making the case for “boosters”. The vax was certainly effective in helping governments find out who the disobedient are…

Early this week local press reported the government was getting ready to roll-out “boosters” for “Those Most At Risk”.. That’s how the campaign requiring everyone Get Boosted ! is introduced.. Saturdays/todays press reports the “booster program” will start as early as next week. Aged care residents are the first to have ‘their immunity super-charged, and ready as infections are expected to spread as lockdowns are lifted.’

On Tuesday Week, 2 November, The Race That Stops The Nation, The Melbourne Cup race, will be run. It’s the race Everybody has a flutter on. Housewives put aside their housework, Office-workers desert their offices, even the unemployed scrounge up a couple of dollars to have a punt… They Flock to, gather packed together in TABs and pubs (no masks required) to watch the race on The Telly… A Major Spreader Event.

All the obedient ones will definitely need “boosters’ after it !
And the timing of the announcement just before that Major Spreader Event is just
coincidence…
(

shamen
shamen
Oct 23, 2021 9:30 AM
Reply to  jubal hershaw

Every country seem to have the same script
In U>K they let the horse racing happen yet only 30 people at a funeral wedding, it more a elite sport horseracing and it helps when the track and trace executive is fucking one of the jockey club owners it really is about breeding and class.They are exempt from self isolating and all that !
Ironically their horses now has more rights and less vaccination than the plebs.

Marilyn Shepherd
Marilyn Shepherd
Oct 23, 2021 11:11 AM
Reply to  shamen

https://www.smc.org.au/ Here is why, all the countries have their own centres, they are all funded and operated by Gates and Google, all the think tanks contribute and they all babble the same bullshit.

Judith
Judith
Oct 23, 2021 11:48 AM
Reply to  jubal hershaw

Like our Superbowl.

mgeo
mgeo
Oct 23, 2021 12:47 PM
Reply to  jubal hershaw

They imposed the jabs without stating how long it would protect – if you survived the jab. Then, they publicised the studies showing that it only lasts 4-6 months. Notice that they are still denigrating the single-jab “vaccines”. To summarise, the more jabs including “boosters”, the more money to be made.

NickM
NickM
Oct 23, 2021 8:43 AM
Reply to  Hele

“Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do”. — Luke 23:34

Mike Ellwood (Oxon UK)
Mike Ellwood (Oxon UK)
Oct 23, 2021 1:46 PM
Reply to  NickM

Father, damn them to Hell because they know exactly what they are doing.

shamen
shamen
Oct 23, 2021 2:18 PM
Reply to  NickM

i cant and wont

Marilyn Shepherd
Marilyn Shepherd
Oct 23, 2021 11:10 AM
Reply to  Hele

All the Australian governments are owned by big pharma, and all the peddlers of drugs are owned by big pharma with government collusion. The Doherty Institute for one is in collusion with Pfizer, they list it but no one reports it. The Burnett Institute is funded by Gates and vaccine companies, the Kirby Institute is in collusion with the Fauci funded and supported mob, the TGA do no work of their own, just follow the CDC and UK health service lies.

shamen
shamen
Oct 23, 2021 2:22 PM

U>K Patrick valiance The U.K. government’s chief medical adviser had shares in Vaccine medical company NO conflict of interest.
Trump had share in Regeneron.
1st time i saw the experimental anti body treatment mentioned was at the blood full moon harvest ritual he performed on his followers with his fake diagnoses.

Judith
Judith
Oct 23, 2021 11:48 AM
Reply to  Hele

One of my favorites. Watched it several times.

It’s still a great film. But it’s lost the intrigue. It’s just entertainment now.

Yes, furious and forgiving. And astounded.

Penny
Penny
Oct 23, 2021 2:06 PM
Reply to  Hele

Hi Hele
I live in Canada as well. In Ontario. It’s horrid here.
It’s a dystopia- The way people recoil from other people with that look of fear in their eyes- As I said to hubby
Can this society ever be normal again?
Can their ever be civil interaction between people, again?
People have been terrorized on such a mass scale-

I still smile and say hello to everyone while outdoors. And am sure to chit chat while inside, always complaining about the mask wearing- no one likes them. Most are forced to wear them for their jobs.

NickM
NickM
Oct 23, 2021 8:40 AM
Reply to  jubal hershaw

“Whatever happened to Freedom Through Work ?”

You mean, “Arbeit Macht Frei ?”. Still alive and kicking.

“The knaves will still be kicking,
The fools will still be pricking.
So wags the world along.” — Hermann Melville, Poems.

remo
remo
Oct 23, 2021 3:32 AM

Well. They’re on the move. 911deception demolished the middle east ><
now Cov2 attacks the “home countries” with the freedom jab; fascism dressed in MD drag.

NickM
NickM
Oct 23, 2021 8:44 AM
Reply to  remo

👍

Moneycircus
Moneycircus
Oct 23, 2021 3:01 AM

Pfizer is pushing its 5-11 y/o jab, having done a paltry trial with no placebo group.

Instead the shysters cane up with “immuno-bridging” — some chicanery of comparing efficacy in 16-24 y/os.

They are not even hiding it now. Animals get better-tested drugs.

You are barbarians (look it up in the scrolls). You are less than beasts. And those of you that survive the shot are designated to be slaves.

It’s all there in The Great Reset of the Elders of Ze Vorld Ekonomische For’hum

Schools peddle trash — parents who complain are “terrorists.” Illegal entrants are dispersed around the country, untested and unvaxxed just to rub it on your face. The Anglophone nations have been selected for division and dismantling.

Syria? Like Iran it’s still standing but it’s on General Wesley Clark’s list to take out 7 countries in 5 years. That would be 5:2 to greater Israel.

Does the clot shot meet geopolitics?

https://www.bitchute.com/channel/earthnewspaper/

Pig Swill
Pig Swill
Oct 23, 2021 4:20 AM
Reply to  Moneycircus

Trials are about as legit as 3 dollar bills when what they are injecting is quite simply goop. Always was goop, is goop and always will be goop.

NickM
NickM
Oct 23, 2021 8:47 AM
Reply to  Moneycircus

“Animals get better-tested drugs.”

As the white mouse said, No, I haven’t had my jab; they’re still testing it on the humans”. — Anon?

Judith
Judith
Oct 23, 2021 11:52 AM
Reply to  Moneycircus

“Like an immuno-bridge over troubled waters, I will lay you down”.

Rhys Jaggar
Rhys Jaggar
Oct 23, 2021 12:41 PM
Reply to  Moneycircus

These Pfizer Execs: they have 24/7 militias defending them at home then?

I don’t believe for one minute that those execs are trained terrorists, capable of withstanding the assault of 100,000 enraged and highly armed ‘good ol’ boys’….

All these arguments presume that the world goes meekly in 2021 where the Jews went meekly in 1936-1945…..

I don’t think those arguments will hold much longer….

Moneycircus
Moneycircus
Oct 23, 2021 2:31 AM

Mix ‘n match booster shots — with no interaction tests by the FDA, thus breaking their own rules — who needs Da Science? We are in cult territory.

If you have an adverse reaction you’re not even going to know which shot may have caused it. Perhaps people would rather not know. Blind faith!

Stew Peters show http://thephaser.com/2021/10/fda-announces-mix-match-boosters-death-cocktail/

les online
les online
Oct 23, 2021 2:11 AM

The Governments and populations of countries under siege develop a siege mentality. Under threat, the governments become authoritarian, dictatorial. Any dissent is rooted out
Anything that saps the will to resist is rooted out. Conformity and self-censorship rule. .Whether you like or dislike The Leaders you’ll support their efforts to defend your country… Security First…
When Western politicians condemn the Syrian leaders for being “undemocratic” dont forget Western attacks against Syria helped bring that about…
There was strong sentiment that after all the help Uncle Joe Stalin gave in helping The West defeat those Nasty Germans, relations would continue to improve… The Marshall Plan was going to include The USSR… Instead certain Western politicians decided to erect an Iron Curtain…Russia is still encircled (under siege) by dozens of military bases.
The populace might want democracy…
The North Koreans might also want democracy, but knowing The West’s hostile, belligerent attitude, willing or unwillingly they support The Leader.

NickM
NickM
Oct 23, 2021 8:57 AM
Reply to  les online

That’s right. The same Anglo Zionazi Capitalists who built up Nazi Germany to invade Communist Russia, bombed Communist Korea and Communist Vietnam ‘until there was nothing left to bomb’, used Con-911 as a pretext to invade Communist Afghanistan, Iraq and Socialist Syria, and are currently whipping up propaganda to start a nuclear Holocaust against Socialist Iran and Communist China — this same Anglo Zionazi Capitalist class is behind Con-19.

Edwige
Edwige
Oct 23, 2021 10:33 AM
Reply to  les online

A siege mentality… except on immigration. If this was even remotely real, immigration would have been stopped.

les online
les online
Oct 23, 2021 12:12 PM
Reply to  Edwige

I feel under siege. There’s been dread always tugging at my mind since covid was invented. Turn on teevee, radio, or pick up a “news”-paper and it’s “we’re coming to getcha !”. Covid. Covid. Covid ! State premiers and prime ministers have rode the waves of a massive Fear Campaign to severely restrict us, claim dictatorial powers over our lives… A siege mentality, feeling hemmed in, has developed. Either that, or i’ve developed a selfish variety of paranoia… (I’ve often wondered would the Bolsheviks have been able to hold onto power, crush the revolution, had Churchill not sent commonwealth troops into Russia to help the White Army.)

Rhys Jaggar
Rhys Jaggar
Oct 23, 2021 12:43 PM
Reply to  les online

So get out into the public domain the consequences of ‘non-compliance’ by politicians. The messages must have been sent, so put them up on Twitter, YouTube, and if they try to ban you, direct letters to every citizen in your country.

Just put it out there: ‘Bill Gates et al threatened to bump me off unless I complied’….that sort of thing.

Whether it’s Bill Gates, Jamie Dimon, Warren Buffett, George Soros, Henry Kissinger, any number of Jewish billionaires: who cares?

It’s the message that’s important, above all else.

You can deal with the messengers once the message is in every brain in your nation.

Moneycircus
Moneycircus
Oct 23, 2021 1:59 AM

Amandha Vollmer: Don’t comply!
https://www.bitchute.com/video/OtnAAc0XsUc6/

simon crow
simon crow
Oct 23, 2021 2:38 AM
Reply to  Moneycircus

Thumbs up on this. Thanks

NickM
NickM
Oct 23, 2021 9:16 AM
Reply to  simon crow

👍

Corarden
Corarden
Oct 23, 2021 11:08 AM
Reply to  Moneycircus

‘good luck…you’re gonna need it”

I like that for a reversal

Pig Swill
Pig Swill
Oct 23, 2021 1:31 AM

Pretty much, a reasonable policy is to just assume everything is a staggering, colossal heaping of pure unadulterated bullshit, except for the stuff you see in front of your own face…which is unfortunately a lot of masked, shuffling QR code scanning automatons. But at least you can kind of keep them at arm’s length.

Paul Prichard
Paul Prichard
Oct 22, 2021 11:48 PM

Your alternative update on #COVID19 for 2021-10-20. Jab is biggest dud in medicine’s history. QR Codification of World. Drs & Crimes against Humanity
https://paulthepaperbear.wordpress.com/2021/10/20/your-alternative-update-on-covid19-for-2021-10-20-jab-is-biggest-dud-in-medicines-history-qr-codification-of-world-drs-crimes-against-humanity/

shamen
shamen
Oct 22, 2021 11:02 PM

Yes guardian and CNN terrible reporting also BBC etc etc etc etc
what about alex jones or u.k shillum many hold u.k codswallop in high standards lOL
Mrs Beeley how would you describe their middle east correspondence ?

Dennis Gannon
Dennis Gannon
Oct 22, 2021 7:23 PM

Duh, the anti-Semitic and Satanist State of Israel is behind all the lies. And anti-Semitic is a correct adjective for them as Arabs are a Semitic people and no one hates or kills more Arabs than Israel. Once again, they are hypocrites.

wardropper
wardropper
Oct 22, 2021 10:59 PM
Reply to  Dennis Gannon

Well said about the Arabic people. They are indeed a Semitic people, and the current use of ‘anti-semitic’ actually makes no sense, except of course unless you want to precipitate chaos and plunder.

Rhisiart Gwilym
Rhisiart Gwilym
Oct 24, 2021 5:18 PM
Reply to  wardropper

Don’t forget Iranians. Also a Semitic people.

Pig Swill
Pig Swill
Oct 23, 2021 1:35 AM
Reply to  Dennis Gannon

Who funded Israel into existence so that it could be a “new Ulster in the middle east”? Israel is a jewel in the crown, as it were.

But, well, you know, you can play Russian dolls until the cows come home with the idea of who’s behind everything.

Researcher
Researcher
Oct 23, 2021 2:42 PM
Reply to  Pig Swill

Yes. They are determined to buy into the Hegelian dialectic, faux opposition narrative. Within that narrative, groups that work together behind the scenes (Israel works with Russia, Iran, China AND the US and UK) appear to be enemies or oppositional in public. It’s a way of confusing the general population so they don’t know who is to blame or who is in charge of these scams.

The same cartel already owns all the incorporated countries. So there’s no need for “regime“ change.

Confusion and obfuscation achieved.

The world as a chessboard is run using the same principles as red vs blue, good cop, bad cop. Keep the people confused so they don’t know that their real enemy is always their own government and the system of hierarchy.

Marilyn Shepherd
Marilyn Shepherd
Oct 23, 2021 11:12 AM
Reply to  Dennis Gannon

Powell died this week, most of the bullshit he peddled in the UN to blow up Iraq was from Israeli intelligence.

Ort
Ort
Oct 23, 2021 7:55 PM

Apparently Israeli intelligence was disappointed at Powell’s performance, and concluded that the props they supplied– sinister vials, fake incriminating photographs– were too sophisticated for the UN audience.

So when Netanyahu spoke at the UN years later, he was equipped with simpler, more basic visual aids 😉 :

comment image

shamen
shamen
Oct 22, 2021 6:53 PM

so Syrian girl on you tube isnt Syrian (looks live from GCHQ)

Igor
Igor
Oct 22, 2021 10:13 PM
Reply to  shamen

About as real as The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Marilyn Shepherd
Marilyn Shepherd
Oct 23, 2021 11:13 AM
Reply to  Igor

And as accurate as Chalabi

Researcher
Researcher
Oct 23, 2021 12:00 AM
Reply to  shamen

The whole “war” seems mostly faux anyway. Just the usual Masonic psyop. Planned since 1983.

Faux beheadings with some targeted bombing, some faux bombing and definitely faux chemical weapons attacks, some more faux bombings and faux atrocities, along with some organized, coordinated and controlled destruction of certain areas, probably to move people off their land, out of their businesses and into the West and neighbouring regions as penniless, dependent refugees, while expanding Narcostate trafficking in secret coordination with the British American Cartel, also furthering the East vs West hoax.

NickM
NickM
Oct 22, 2021 6:51 PM

Con-19 Police State, in a nutshell:

“On pain of receiving a visit from the police and being dragged away people have been forbidden from leaving their own houses, from seeing their parents, from rescuing elderly parents from care homes become torture chambers, from taking holidays abroad, from even travelling a few miles, even from breathing freely without masks.”

I had great difficulty getting my wife out of a care home. This was a very good care home, certainly not a “torture chamber”. But insaned Con-19 regulations tortured both the carers and the inmates. My own torture was to hear of inmates being cross-infected and carried away to die in isolation, fearing that my wife might be next. The mental torture was prolonged by legal procedings and administrative delays imposed by Con-19 Con-fusion. It ended happily for us; but, for no fault of the staff, the ward was closed a week after my wife got out. One of the signs of a police state is arbitrary legislation by diktat; as happened, for instance, when Fascism swept through pre-war Europe.

susan mullen
susan mullen
Oct 22, 2021 9:29 PM
Reply to  NickM

+1

Pig Swill
Pig Swill
Oct 23, 2021 1:43 AM
Reply to  NickM

It takes the nerve of a burglar to slip into a supermarket and buy a bag of apples without a mask these days. 2 years ago I was innocent of all crimes. Now I must steel myself and psych myself up to go buy petrol or to go to the bank or supermarket or to buy food for my goldfish without a mask. I now feel like a criminal. And the longer this shit goes on, the more normalised it gets.

Hele
Hele
Oct 23, 2021 7:44 AM
Reply to  Pig Swill

I know how they make you feel -when you don’t comply-like an alien turd.

NickM
NickM
Oct 23, 2021 9:13 AM
Reply to  Pig Swill

Normalised: my dentist has informed me that she agrees Covid-19 is just ordinary flu by another name — but under Con-19 decree she must halt my treatment in mid course, because I am one of “the great unvaxxed”. So I am walking around with a broken front tooth, waiting for the Medical Profession to bring the Con-19 regime to its senses.

How much more normal can it get?

Judith
Judith
Oct 23, 2021 12:03 PM
Reply to  NickM

So sorry to hear this.

Mike Ellwood (Oxon UK)
Mike Ellwood (Oxon UK)
Oct 23, 2021 1:53 PM
Reply to  NickM

Which country are you in (if you don’t mind my asking)?

Corarden
Corarden
Oct 23, 2021 11:10 AM
Reply to  Pig Swill

feel like you’re resisting an illegal occupation, because you are, don’t be cowed, make it an empowering thing, walk tall

Marilyn Shepherd
Marilyn Shepherd
Oct 23, 2021 11:14 AM
Reply to  Pig Swill

I have never and will never do any of those things.

Judith
Judith
Oct 23, 2021 12:02 PM
Reply to  Pig Swill

Yes! Went through this for the whole of the initial nightmare.

Then when injections started things let up. SIGH, I was not confronted constantly and told to leave stores. My shopping excursions did not turn into a Jerry Springer show.

And now it’s back! The word that comes to mind is “stealth”. I sneak around the aisled looking for products, making sure to stay away from staff covered front of store.

The good thing is – well, from this perspective – there is a dearth of employees know to even yell at you.

I think employees are exhausted at this point. From working 72 hour shifts because of staff shortages.

For a bag of apples.

Lorie
Lorie
Oct 22, 2021 6:30 PM

Thanks Vanessa, I look forward to the series.

Martin Usher
Martin Usher
Oct 22, 2021 5:56 PM

If you want a key marker then you don’t need to look very closely for it. The moment a government is called a ‘regime’ then you know the knives are out.

There are other markers — the insertion of ‘state controlled’ or similar verbiage to discount anything written or said by media in the target country, for example.

citizen
citizen
Oct 22, 2021 6:11 PM
Reply to  Martin Usher

ironic that the media in for example the UK is “state controlled”

NickM
NickM
Oct 22, 2021 6:56 PM
Reply to  Martin Usher

I make a point of writing “the Westminster regime”. And thanks for your tip about “the state controlled” BBC.

Donald Duck
Donald Duck
Oct 22, 2021 5:53 PM

Among anyone who uses their brain the Syrian war is basically a regime change operation using the ISIS foreign legion which is funded and organized by the Anglo-American backers. Oh and not forgetting Israel of course.

fame
fame
Oct 22, 2021 5:52 PM

Tomorrow there is a big (hopefully) protest in Tallinn. Coincidentally (probably not) at the same time and day there is “supposedly” a Swedish film company looking for actors, to be paid, to portray angry protestors for their crime series “Cell 8.“. They are so fucking desperate, they can’t even find police to be the agent provocateurs. Will they enter the edges of the real protest, who knows what their psychopath minds are up to. Most likely the footage will be shown elsewhere as they are looking for english speakers. The link contains their advertisement in English.
https://www.delfi.ee/artikkel/94938011/allfilm-varro-vooglaidi-provokatsioonikahtlusest-see-vote-ei-toimu-uldse-tallinnas

susan mullen
susan mullen
Oct 22, 2021 9:35 PM
Reply to  fame

Shoot, that lets me out. The film company requires you to submit to a “quick Covid test” before filming.

les online
les online
Oct 23, 2021 6:16 AM
Reply to  fame

On local TV last evening, in the movie was a crowd protesting. I swear every protest slogan was represented by a placard – except for “save the gay whales”. It had to be the first protest gathering ever for no two people to have the same slogan-placard. I assumed it was how the movie maker imagined such demos, and participants were all low-waged actors…

fame
fame
Oct 23, 2021 9:09 AM
Reply to  fame

Should read Estonian film company for Swedish tv series. The film company also put up a post looking for actors to portray bodyguards, militant type, for today.

hydra
hydra
Oct 22, 2021 5:32 PM

Videos of the things that are alive inside the vaccines:

https://rumble.com/vnzy9f-shocking-dr.-carrie-madej-releases-first-look-at-pfizer-vial-contents.html

Show it to your vaccinated friends and relatives, whilst they’re still able to communicate with you.

aspnaz
aspnaz
Oct 22, 2021 4:27 PM

Meanwhile voting dies on OG: Jesus, what is happening to this world. ZH is auto-generating comments, no “real people” are able to comment any more. OG gets rid of voting for comments, why is that, who told you to do that? How does that work in the “marketplace of ideas”, ideas that cannot be priced because pricing is illegal? It’s all gone, only IRC and dark web is worth following any more.

NOTE FROM ADMIN: Thank you for your range of feedback on this healthy thread. Out of respect to our author I will close this off-topic thread now. We will arrange other other means to discuss off-topic issues in the near future. Thank you – Admin

Willem
Willem
Oct 22, 2021 4:52 PM
Reply to  aspnaz

All the votes under previous articles are gone too.

Maybe next is that comments disappear completely and then the articles disappear too. That at least is how zerohedge is working.

I like OffG, but something is odd, ain’t it? They can deny that they are deliberately killing their very good website by

a. Publishing articles above the line of which 13 go into a dozen
b. making the comments look like an incoherent thoughtless cabal.

But they are killing it, that’s for sure.

Well, what can I say. ‘Enjoy it while it lasts, because it never does.’

S Cooper
S Cooper
Oct 22, 2021 5:27 PM
Reply to  Willem

To me the up/down voting is no big deal. Though it may have been a mistake in eliminating it. Be that as it may. Any suggestions or other sites worth reading? Thanks.

****
comment image

No tips for him.”
comment image

“Robyn/Dick should be thankful. At least they did not (or the FDA approve of) injecting the Boy Wonder with cleaning fluid, anti-freeze or floor wax… at least not yet. Besides them who knows what really goes in that shit?”

Willem
Willem
Oct 22, 2021 5:42 PM
Reply to  S Cooper

This one seems okay: https://dailysceptic.org/

At least you can vote there 🙂

But maybe the best is to give up commenting completely. There doesn’t seem to be much more to say anyway.

I am currently holding my breath/closely follow the excess mortality numbers throughout the Western World. We could see a Neil Ferguson kind of exponential rise there the coming months/years. If so, there will be more important things to do than commenting.

NickM
NickM
Oct 22, 2021 7:03 PM
Reply to  Willem

Willem, with your medical background, do you know whether current instructions are to run PCR differently for jabbed versus unjabbed? I read somewhere that cycle rates were reset to produce fewer “cases” among the jabbed.

Jesper
Jesper
Oct 22, 2021 8:56 PM
Reply to  Willem

Those in charge love to have a laugh over these comments sections. Also great for monitoring what’s going on in those heads out there/here. So they wouldn’t want us to stop obviously.

George Mc
George Mc
Oct 22, 2021 9:36 PM
Reply to  Willem

Well sure – why don’t we all just shut up? Just say nothing at all. Just get on with it i.e. Just let them get on with it! Because – let’s face it! – the media sure as hell isn’t going to shut up!

fame
fame
Oct 22, 2021 6:17 PM
Reply to  S Cooper

But you get so many upvotes! No big deal, I totally agree, the voting thing is pretty irrelevant compared to sharing pertinent analyis/information and providing good links to be further disseminated. Many shills have commented here and the upvotes, probably artificially started, continuing until someone replys “hey wait a minute…”, and then the downvotes start. Many times for me, the most important comments go unnoticed as people focus on the voting thing. There are many highly upvoted comments that express feelings we all have but no analysis, or cover the same topic over and over, I tend not to read very closely these types of comments. To me the voting tends to create a groupthink, but hopefully most commenters and readers here are themselves very discerning. The one instance where I can see the upvotes as beneficial is when someone lays out the extreme difficulty they are having and many people have sent supportive replies and/or suggestions, and to show support for that person, i think a simple up vote is useful.

Corarden
Corarden
Oct 23, 2021 11:12 AM
Reply to  S Cooper

I’m not so sure, the really superb comments got very high votes, and the shitty shill comments got drubbed, anyone coming in to check various articles was directed to the best comments, and this was a very good thing. Now, it’s just a big mush…so I echo Willem’s comment, I think it sucks and wonder why.

Sam - Admin2
Admin
Sam - Admin2
Oct 23, 2021 11:41 AM
Reply to  Corarden

Please let’s stay on topic. Out of courtesy I will reply, although I will close this thread soon if people ignore my repeated polite requests.

We are trialling this minor feature switched off. Who knows how it will go, perhaps a new comment culture will quickly emerge to easily allow people to spot the comments they like best.

Just to note, using votes to direct you to the ‘best’ comments can make newer readers vulnerable to easy manipulation, since the current voting system could be easily ‘gamed’ by faceless ‘bad actors’. We had repeated evidence that this process was indeed taking place, so we feel it’s the only responsible thing to our readers to trial turning them off.

Let’s see what happens in the coming weeks. As Einstein said “The measure of intelligence is the ability to change” and since Offg prides itself on being an intelligent site, we will never shy away from trying new things to make the best of what we have!

Thanks for your perspective. Please, let’s stay on topic with this piece, entitled “Debunking CIA and MI6 Syria narratives – one by one” by Vanessa Beeley.

Thank you. A2

Edwige
Edwige
Oct 22, 2021 11:44 PM
Reply to  Willem

There seem two repetitions – those against voting are cowards and getting rid of voting is “killing” the website. The last two articles had nearly 400 and nearly 300 comments which looks pretty healthy to me. It’s a feeble case imo.

In addition to hostile site-bombing and personal profiling voting had two other insidious uses – it helps commenters from hostile sources (which we all know have existed here) to identify what tactics work and voting entrains us to find rating all our interactions normal which is another big part of the forthcoming social credit system.

ZH is the most obvious limted hangout there is. There’s nothing to be learnt from its running except what to avoid.

Sam - Admin2
Admin
Sam - Admin2
Oct 23, 2021 11:41 AM
Reply to  Edwige

Thanks for your perspective! A2

Sam - Admin2
Admin
Sam - Admin2
Oct 23, 2021 1:32 AM
Reply to  Willem

I thought you’d had enough here, Willem. Nice to see you sticking around for one last hurrah! Don’t worry, comments aren’t going anywhere. They are an essential part of OffG’s USP. We’re still the real deal, and we’ll be here when you come back, however the no-voting trial turns out.

Lets please stay on topic now. Thanks. A2

Willem
Willem
Oct 23, 2021 7:30 AM
Reply to  Sam - Admin2

Hi OffG,

I said I was leaving, but was thinking about a last comment in order to leave in style if you know what I mean. Your sneakiness of turning the voting thing off without any acknowledgment is a big red flag to me.

About staying on topic: for me there is currently only one topic, and it is not discussed here, that is the excess mortality after vaccination programs started. If it’s real, we are in for change. If it’s not or if it turns out to be not so bad at all, we’re screwed. Nothing but excess mortality in big numbers will change the minds of the deluded who are continuously implementing ever increasing antisocial rules, because they can. So excess mortality is the big thing. I am sorry to say so, and it could have been different, but people can’t listen and must learn the hard way. Apparently.

Well, you have to make choices and sometimes they are made for you. I guess you and I are in the same position. You had a great website and now it’s changed. There is nothing I can do about it. You can’t either. But it is not so bad for me as it is for you. I can leave this website and in fact I will. You must stay. This is not something that I feel happy about. As previously said, I wish you all the best and I will remember the good times when it was possible to write some truth down and above the line. That was a lot of fun.

Sam - Admin2
Admin
Sam - Admin2
Oct 23, 2021 10:24 AM
Reply to  Willem

Bye for now Willem and keep your chin up! It can’t rain all the time, to quote Branden Lee in The Crow. 😁

Corarden
Corarden
Oct 23, 2021 11:32 AM
Reply to  Sam - Admin2

Brandon Lee got shot dead on the set by an idiot armourer who left a dummy cap above the blank round…so weird choice of quote, but very topical considering Alec Baldwin’s tragedy, and another odd comment from you Sam. I, like Willem feel less inclined to comment, feels like the energy has been sucked out of OG
I keep writing paragraphs and deleting them. I guess my comments won’t be missed much so I have zero ego regarding that, but as I mentioned earlier, many superb educational comments going back months are now lost in the mush of Opmoc bollocks and Petrified Liver twaddle

Sam - Admin2
Admin
Sam - Admin2
Oct 23, 2021 11:54 AM
Reply to  Corarden

Wow, I guess I must be psychic, didn’t even know about this. Seriously, some good evidence of the paranormal right here. XD Thanks for your perspective and we hope you continue to evolve along with Offg during these interesting times. All the best, A2

Corarden
Corarden
Oct 23, 2021 12:16 PM
Reply to  Sam - Admin2

Ah, how weird. Okey Dokey. All the best to you too Sam

Martin Usher
Martin Usher
Oct 22, 2021 6:01 PM
Reply to  aspnaz

Up/Down voting doesn’t generate meaningful results and its too easy to game. It also means that we’re going to have to read all the comments rather than just scan through looking for the ones with the most ‘up’ votes which may be valuable for promoting discussion rather than just increasing the volume in an echo chamber.

Sam - Admin2
Admin
Sam - Admin2
Oct 22, 2021 9:40 PM
Reply to  Martin Usher

Good point. Thanks for your perspective. A2

susan mullen
susan mullen
Oct 22, 2021 9:52 PM
Reply to  Martin Usher

Re: “too easy to game,” I always took that into account. I don’t view the up or down as Bible and I don’t care much about votes my own comments receive. What was very important about up or down to me was feeling like I had a voice, being part of a discussion. On the other hand, perhaps I was mistaken about this website. Removal of the up or down makes this a different website than I thought it was.

Sam - Admin2
Admin
Sam - Admin2
Oct 23, 2021 1:36 AM
Reply to  susan mullen

Thanks for your perspective. We’re trialling voting off for the time being and we’ll see how it goes! If you’re craving Facebook-style voting there are many options out there. I think you might have been mistaken if you thought this was an integral part of OffG’s identity. We relish great content above and below the line, and we hope you continue to enjoy it.

let’s please stay on topic now. Thanks. A2

susan mullen
susan mullen
Oct 23, 2021 3:21 AM
Reply to  Sam - Admin2

I didn’t know there was such a thing as Facebook style voting since I have no interest in Facebook, wouldn’t know how to find a website there if my life depended on it. As I’ve mentioned, voting allowed me to feel that I was part of the discussion, even if a very small part. Which was very nice for a time, but as you say it’s not an integral part of the site.

WorkingClassHero
WorkingClassHero
Oct 22, 2021 10:03 PM
Reply to  Martin Usher

That’s the problem. Some assume more up votes = a valuable post. One need only read a msm article to see that anyone critical of the content is often down voted/blocked by admins, 77th brigade or like.

Sam - Admin2
Admin
Sam - Admin2
Oct 23, 2021 1:06 AM

Great point! Thanks for your perspective. A2

les online
les online
Oct 23, 2021 12:32 AM
Reply to  Martin Usher

I was a late-comer to the world of PCs and commenting. Even later to knowing i could vote on a comment by pressing one of those symbols…. But by then i’d learned which persons comments were worth a read, and whose to ignore. I miss being able to give thumbs up to the readable, i still ignore The Others… (PS. i’ve been sin-binned over some comments, and feel let down that i never scored a higher thumbs-down than 5 down votes…)

Sam - Admin2
Admin
Sam - Admin2
Oct 23, 2021 1:16 AM
Reply to  les online

Your perspective is noted, but please let’s stay on topic.

Yes, it’s tempting to glorify Facebook-style voting. However many argue it appeals as much to narcissism as anything meaningful, and those taking the time to write comments often feel a sense of betrayal when faceless assailants can so easily sabotage their words. The very point being made in their favour – that many people browse the comments using votes as a guide to comment merit- is actually an argument against them. It’s testimony to how easily people can be influenced by anonymous voting systems, especially if bad actors are involved.

We would be naive if we thought they weren’t.

We will continue the trial and see how it goes over the coming weeks! Thanks for your thoughts, now can we please stay on topic. Thanks! 😀 A2

jubal hershaw
jubal hershaw
Oct 23, 2021 1:38 AM
Reply to  Sam - Admin2

Dear admin – the absent voting system is one of todays topics – if the number of comments about it is anything to go by…
I think you’ve made the point by the variety of topics you cover that nothing really is off-topic… In fact, not many will contribute directly to todays topic, and are probably hoping a sub-topic will be aired on which they’ve an opinion they can offer.
My experience is that whenever governments etc claim something is being “trialed, to see if….” it is the first stage of something becoming permanent. One claim you might use is “every vote requires energy. The demand for energy reqiures burning coal for electricity. Burning coal is no good for The Planet. Removing the voting function contributes our small effort to Save The Planet…”

Sam - Admin2
Admin
Sam - Admin2
Oct 23, 2021 1:43 AM
Reply to  jubal hershaw

I think we’re in danger of generating enough hot air on this topic to seriously impact at least a dozen small planets. XD seriously, your perspective is noted! Thanks! We are not a government, just a small indie news site. We’ll make the best decision about voting that benefits the site as a whole the most! The more people who come here and enjoy commenting the better for everyone. It’s that simple. Let’s drop it for now though. Thanks, A2

jubal hershaw
jubal hershaw
Oct 23, 2021 1:17 AM
Reply to  les online

-6

Sam - Admin2
Admin
Sam - Admin2
Oct 23, 2021 1:19 AM
Reply to  jubal hershaw

🤣

Sam - Admin2
Admin
Sam - Admin2
Oct 22, 2021 9:38 PM
Reply to  aspnaz

Jesus, what is happening to this world.

I do hope you’re kidding.

It’s true, votes are being trialled switched off for a bit. If this has shaken your world, maybe take this opportunity to improve your general resilience, or I fear you’re in for a shock in a post-‘covid’ world!

DO NOT WORRY, we are still the real deal – much to the chagrin of many a troll BTL!

While voting has a clear function and can be immensely helpful, it can also become facebooky, adolescent and distracting, and often upstages actual content BTL. In the hands of trolls, voting also becomes a weapon to facelessly sabotage and influence.

It is not a cut and dry situation and opinions are often sharply divided.

Let’s see how the trial goes in the weeks ahead and thanks for your perspective.

Let’s please stay on topic now, thanks. A2

wardropper
wardropper
Oct 22, 2021 11:15 PM
Reply to  aspnaz

Don’t be snowflakes, dear people.
There are much worse things to worry about than an OffG experiment in encouraging people to be grown-ups.

Knowing that 40 people like a comment I made doesn’t make my comment any more true, relevant, or perceptive. It just means they liked it.
They might also like my wife’s hair, for all it matters.

Similarly, knowing that 40 people hated one of my comments might give me pause for thought, but I still wouldn’t have posted it unless I thought it had some merit, and anybody who wished to debate something in it would do us all a much greater favour by replying to it than by downvoting it.

One of the distinguishing features of OffG is that it publicizes a lot of material which the ‘Establishment’ loathes.
We are tough people here, and we don’t depend on upvotes in order to constitute effective opposition to that Establishment.

Of course we could all make a big fuss and get OffG to scrap the experiment overnight, but, really, who cares?

I’ll play devil’s advocate here, and destroy my own case by admitting to wondering why admin have undertaken this step, and to being fond of that smart American quip: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.
But I like to think that it might hamper the style of certain trolls.
In any case I won’t lose a wink of sleep over the matter.

Sam - Admin2
Admin
Sam - Admin2
Oct 22, 2021 11:41 PM
Reply to  wardropper

Thanks for your perspective. Let’s see how it goes! A2

redbull
redbull
Oct 23, 2021 12:03 AM
Reply to  Sam - Admin2

Sam, can you let us know what criteria OG is using to conduct the up/down vote experiment?

Sam - Admin2
Admin
Sam - Admin2
Oct 23, 2021 1:18 AM
Reply to  redbull

The criteria is suck it and see, and we’ll assess over the coming weeks! 😂 Let’s stay on topic and see how it goes. Thank you. A2

S Cooper
S Cooper
Oct 22, 2021 4:04 PM

“Perhaps it is about time the Cocaine Importers of America (CIA) liberate (invade) the enslaved and occupied prison states of Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Great Britain to free their poor oppressed people from their corporate fascist gestapo rulers.”
comment image

“Oh wait it already has.”

Annie
Annie
Oct 22, 2021 9:34 PM
Reply to  S Cooper

👍

Tom Larsen
Tom Larsen
Oct 22, 2021 3:41 PM

At least the Syrians know that that there is a massive propaganda war against them!

NickM
NickM
Oct 22, 2021 7:07 PM
Reply to  Tom Larsen

Yes. And from that knowledge they draw strength.

“Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make ye free”. — John 8:32