Facebook Shuts Down Syrian TV Page after Uploading Video Showing ABC's Manipulation of Interview wi

Assad was an excuse to rob Libya of it's gold. Sure the guy was a POS, but at least there was some semblence of law and order rather than a mad-max warlord no-mans land it is now. If I had my way with it I'd just get a sniper to off him if neccessary. I hate the double standard of saying we are fighting evil when the objective goal is by definition evil...

you guys... I know even I dabbled into the whole Facebook spin off conversation too, but could we please discuss the topic? Facebook is partially part of the topic, but not our own personal opinion of using it. I admit that this could also be an interesting thread topic, but it would be nice if we could keep the Facebook portion of the conversation at least related to the topic.

Thanks

reply to post by Corruption Exposed


As I see it there is no such thing as a sorta bad guy or sorta bad people. Al-Assad is a Tyrant.

This smacks of propaganda.

I have a friend who was held prisoner in Syria and his brother came down from Turkey and bought his freedom. Their jails are holding cells for kidnap victims and those who don't have family with money are left to die.

I posted about it at that time. LINK
Here is the main story of my post to give folks an idea of what the authorities in Syria are truly like and how they treat their enemies.

"As I was leaving my office this afternoon to run errands before going home, a friend I’d not seen in a while pulled up to say hello. Who he is and the story he related to me were so pertinent to things I see here, I thought it might be of interest to some as to often we only hear one side and never the other.

My Friend of about ten years now, is originally from Turkey, born in Syria and he is a Kurd and a Sunni from birth.

He got word his Father had passed on about a year and a half ago if memory serves and was unable to return at that time, due to a medical issue that almost killed him. Thankfully the Doctors were able to return him to good health and save his life.

A mutual friend I see almost daily mentioned to me our friend was taking a trip home. He wanted to see his father’s land one last time and see family he had not seen in years. I heard a few months later he had gone and would return in a couple of months. I’d been wondering what happened to him and he shows up today having just returned. What he had been through reduced me almost to tears as he related why he was gone so long.

While visiting family in Turkey where he was welcome and had no problems, he managed to get the documentation he needed and permission so he could enter Syria to visit his place of birth and his father’s land and family.

He presented his legitimate documents at the border and was immediately arrested. He was beaten, tortured and driven blindfolded for hours to new location in Syria. He was placed in a windowless room along with about a hundred others being held. He described the room as the same size as the office I use for a handful of people, meaning to me they were packed in there like sardines in a can.

A few days later they discovered he had flown in from the United States and took him to another room where he was tortured again and questioned. He was accused of being CIA which of course they knew was a lie and beaten for days. Then he was returned to the windowless room with all the others to suffer for months.

He then described the daily routine to me. A single meal of rice and some kind of beans I’m not familiar with. No bathroom facility of any kind and the room was never cleaned. He drew a line across his abdomen just below his waist as he described the depth of the filth he was forced to sit in with all the others. He said they had one blanket for the whole room to tease them and the nights were long and cold. Every evening they would spray them down with cold water after it got cold to make it worse. As the prisoners slowly died they were taken away.

When he left I would guess he had gotten up to almost 300 pounds as his health issue had taken away his ability to walk more than a few feet at a time. As I looked at him in his car, I realized he was now thin as an anorexic and the only evidence of his former bulk was a roll of flesh that had not yet rebounded under his chin. I’d guess his current weight as maybe 110 pounds or so; he is not a very tall man and he is now skeletal.

After he was missing for a few weeks and his family in Turkey had not heard from him, they became worried for him. His brother who lives in Turkey grabbed all the cash he could for bribes and successfully tracked him to where he crossed the border by talking to people he had visited along the way. Using a bribe he got a border guard to give him his brothers’ location.

He negotiated his release for the equivalent of $48,000.00 U.S., grabbed his brother, got him some food and clean clothing and immediately took him to the airport to get the heck out of there. At the airport his brother had to leave him for a moment to get the tickets; my friend was immediately grabbed again and another ransom was demanded. Luckily his brother returned before they could get out the door and talked them into letting them leave.

As my friend related this horror story to me, I could not help but notice a broad smile on his face to counter the shock on mine. He was so happy to be among sane people once again; he said he had not been able to stop smiling since landing a couple of days ago.

He drove away still smiling and I jumped into my car still shocked, while looking around and thanking God that I live where I do and enjoy the freedoms I have."

reply to post by Blaine91555


I agree, he is a tyrant. He allows a lot of pain and suffering. Even though he has done good for his country he has also done a lot of bad. I have never denied this even though I do believe that our media exaggerates it.

North America is a much better place to live than the Middle East in my opinion, so I'm glad you're friend likes it too. Of course Assad was sugar coating his responses. He was probably prepared for a lot of the questions too.

That does not change the fact that ABC did some very dishonest things with the production of that video they aired. I do acknowledge that this is nothing new and this tactic is used very often so it comes as no surprise. The main concern of mine is that Facebook took it upon themselves to not allow this video to be broadcasted on their site. Sure, it's their site and they can take down any video they want, but the video violated no terms and conditions that I'm aware about.

Originally posted by Corruption Exposed

you guys... I know even I dabbled into the whole Facebook spin off conversation too, but could we please discuss the topic? Facebook is partially part of the topic, but not our own personal opinion of using it. I admit that this could also be an interesting thread topic, but it would be nice if we could keep the Facebook portion of the conversation at least related to the topic.

Thanks

Sorry. I've been part of that FB debate. I still contend that using FB is not evil or a waste of time. (Had to get that in there!)

Back to the topic:
I think it is disgusting that ABC (or any media outlet) manipulates footage that way. It is SO easy to do that in a taped interview, and it seems that we've been falling for it for years and years. ANYTHING someone says can be taken out of context, and that can make things sound completely opposite of what was meant. We have got to keep calling them on it, each and every time it comes to light. If we continue to do that, perhaps they will get the message that there are people who are not falling for it. Wouldn't that be nice? I'm not holding my breath, but awareness is the first step.

That being said, FB is a private company. They can take down anything they wish, even if we don't agree with it. If someone has a message that they want to spread, there are many, many places on the internet where that information can be posted OTHER than FB. I know FB is still evolving, but I would NEVER use it as my hard news source. When I go to FB I'm more interested in seeing that my cousin ran a marathon or that the student I taught 13 years ago now has a baby boy that just started walking.

Just to clarify, I am NOT saying that I think it is just fantastic that FB took down the page, or that they SHOULD have done so. Only that they have the right to do so, and that there may be more appropriate avenues for this type of information to be put out there.

Originally posted by Corruption Exposed
reply to post by SyphonX

 

I think Barbara's production team did a better job at filtering out the parts that they deemed "unimportant". I think the West learned a lesson from the Mahmoud interview, they will never let a world leader speak their own version of what they consider the truth in the media ever again.

You know, I agree completely. I watched both clips and all I could say to that was, well one good spin deserves another. Both sides were equally guilty in serving those bits which they felt were more 'relevant' to what they wanted the world to see. The US version highlighted the tyranny, the other highlighted the point that the occurrences were not part of political policy.

Takehome message? More bloody tug of war with facts and opinions over a giant # puddle of personal agendas. I see no innocent parties here.....

"How many levels of deception can one perceive?"

I find it hilarious that the people who are claiming that "facebook" identifies the sheeple, are the ones who have hijacked the conversation and distracted from the original problem at hand - thus showing sheeple like attention deficit trait.

As several (assassinated) theorist have stated - and a few thrown out on this thread - the people who wish to know who we are and what we are thinking already know.

Sharing a few pictures of your wedding for granny in Ohio is not going to change that in the LEAST.

Now on to the issue at hand* this may seem completely trivial , BUT i lost all respect for ABC when they hired Martin Bashire after the proffesional embarrasment and underhanded tactics used for the Micheal Jackson interview in which the "full" interview was shown and it was obvious that a LOT of the sound bites that made MJ look insane where completely chopped and screwed for Martin's benefit.

Sadly , journalism no longer exists.

Wether this "president" is a bad guy or not. The job of journalist is to show the most unbiased view possible so the public/subscribers can draw their own conclusions.

Editing the interview from a reclusive president whose country is in upheaval does NO one a favor in the mission of truth seeking.

And isn't that what its all about?

reply to post by GeorgiaGirl


As we both mentioned, when it comes down to it Facebook can take down any content they want because it's their own privately owned site. I don't necessarily support this specific example, but that's not my choice to make.

Now that we have both agreed on that part, what would you say their intention was?

I'm personally wondering if it was requested or commanded by a government agency, maybe ABC or one of it's affiliates are sponsor or shareholder of FB. The possibilities are endless but even though I expect to never find out the actual reason, I would like to know what their agenda was for taking it down. My guess is that it's propaganda related.

reply to post by Blaine91555


Wow. Thanks for sharing that story.

It is hard for many Americans to imagine the depth of the horror that goes on in other countries.

reply to post by Corruption Exposed


I would also guess that they were asked to take it down by the government. That was my first thought when I read the article.

reply to post by SyphonX


Remember boys and girls, the keyword being used to program viewers in there view and perception is "Crackdown".

Kind of sounds familiar.

"New World Order"
"WMDs" or "Weapons of mass destruction aka distraction"
"War on Terror"
"Domestic extremism"

There are tons more that the media and nation speakers are told to use as key words that stick.

Originally posted by SyphonX
She keeps asking the same question, the same exact question, over.. and over, and over. For 5 minutes straight. I can't even stomach it, really.

Why is this old bat being sent to the middle-east to make accusations? To be perfectly honest, she doesn't even seem competent. She's slow, she talks like she is on psychotropic medications and repeats ad nauseum her same questions regarding the "crackdown".

I don't really care one iota about the events taken place in Syria, as I have no business with it, but it's certainly not a good state of affairs. Nevertheless, there shouldn't be a senile old bat sitting down with the president, being a disrespectful idiot. It's irresponsible, and it's dangerous. People need to start embracing a non-interventionist state of mind, because the iron-curtain has dropped, and everyone thinks for themselves now. Some of the old imperialists don't want to let this go.

she had to get her angle across so they could properly edit it like she was rehearsing the interview while doing it...strange. anyway,Barbara Walters needs to give up doing interviews and find something else to crackdown on.She was pretty annoying,I'm sure he thought she was a nut job

reply to post by The_Oracle


My long lost twin!

Anyways this is not about who is a tyrant
It's about facebook and ABC serving as propaganda tools

There was a time when I had access to all the major network affiliates in the entire U.S. and it was then that I noticed broadcast on the East Coast that would be turned completely opposite by the time they were aired on the West Coast by removing certain pertinent information. I called it the time delay wave of lies and it really changed my view of the MSM & its role in our lives. It was then that I had clarity of the control and my misplaced trust.

Facebook is a lazy mans webpage where the fee (including manipulation and control of your privacy & anonymity) is a hidden moving target. I believe it was initially set up as a tool to bring personal web pages to the average computer illiterate that spawned into a multidimensional data Bank that can be traded to advertisers, governments or whomever highest bidder its operators deem to deal with. As long as they keep a user base they will become more and more powerful.

That's why I dislike the outright concept Facebook and the man who so easily trades the manipulation of your lives to fatten his power & pocket book. It is trickery or snake oil software offering very little for a price that is much higher then is outwardly apparent.

To those who argue you have control of your data at Facebook, I ask wouldn't you have more control of your own webpage/site without making agreements selling ultimate control to a corporation like Facebook? Facebook is like renting a cab to get to where you are going whereas the cabbie decides how to get there and you put your life in his hands instead of your own. The cabbie doesn't pick your pocket when you fall asleep, but Facebook will sell your soul if it can.

reply to post by Corruption Exposed


ABC has always seemed to me to be about the best as far as accurate reporting. Perhaps they made a snip here and there to make it more honest and not allow this fellow to use them to spin his story. Who knows?

I think at times way to much is made of the news understandably editing interviews as long as it's done in a reasonable way. No matter what they do, somebody will be upset I suppose.

Obvious New World Order bull# is obvious.

reply to post by Corruption Exposed

Sadly it comes down to propaganda and sensationalism not about compassion and interest in the Syrian people. Look at how Iraq and Libya ended up when they lost the "love" of their western allies, guess what Syria is suppose to be? Yup you guessed it an ally of the west. Both of the previous countries were seen as tyrants killing their people. Syria and this man are being portrayed in the same light in our media, why? Who the heck knows what agenda is being hatched, in spite of their public persona the American media is highly censored as one can see in this interview.

It's ironic that people think that facebook is for sheeple. But they want do anything about waking Them up. We are all only strong as a weakest link And if facebook is that weakest link thend that is where we must wake people up first?

The reality of the situation is that facebook is massive. first you need to win the hearts and minds of the people befor you can change the hearts and minds of the government.

Does anyone find it ironic that we have to watch Arab TV stations to find out what our government is hiding, manipulating and lying about?

reply to post by TiM3LoRd


That whole "strong as the weakest link" bit is just pithy BS. That is wholly untrue.

On a smaller scale, it may hold true. Among 8 billion, it doesn't. Among the 8 billion, we are only as strong as our collective will allow.

RE: "waking people up"....that, too, is impossible. People wake themselves up. There is another saying that applies here: "You can take a horse to water but can't make him drink." Until people are strong enough to overcome cognitive dissonance, there is no "waking them up".

RE: changing the heart of the government...that happens 1 of 2 ways: armed and violent revolt, or through the will of the collective. Problem is, because of the honey pot media schemes, most people are unable to effect their will, and the collective is more like an arrhythmatic heart: working hard but accomplishing very little. So few people know HOW to think that they just report to the media outlet du jour to be told WHAT to think instead.