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March Issue

Vol 32|No 4|March 2022




Brainwashed!

By Jamie McKenzie
(about author)
Note: The Instagram post on the left was not from the woman in the photo.

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Some people are more susceptible to propaganda than others, willing to accept fake news and false claims without fact-checking.

"Don't confuse my mind with facts!"

Good school programs should equip all students with the thinking skills and attitudes to fend off misinformation, lies and propaganda. Unfortunately, many students pass through school here in the USA and overseas without ever developing either the skills or the attitudes. Some actually even grow to take delight in the absurd and the outrageous.


© Shutterstock

As Putin sends his army into the Ukraine, the war is also being waged on other fronts, with misinformation and propaganda playing an extraordinarily important role. While false stories have always been a part of waging wars, social media may have brought about a huge shift, as most citizens now can film events and send the videos across borders and into homes where the government is lying.

The New York Times published an article "4 Falsehoods Russians Are Told About the War" detailing the major lies Putin has been spreading to justify his criminal assault on the Ukraine. 



When Putin claimed at a news conference that Russia had sent no conscripts on what he is calling a "special military operation," his lie was swiftly revealed when Ukrainians sent photos of Russian conscripts that had been captured. (Source: CNN)

"I understand how you're worrying for your beloved ones ... I emphasize that conscript soldiers are not participating in hostilities and will not participate in them," Putin said, reported Reuters. "And there will be no additional call-up of reservists."

The Russian president stated that only "professional military personnel" were involved in the invasion. He also said on March 5 that there were no plans to enlist conscripts to fight in the war in Ukraine.
Putin has been spreading the Nazi lie in the above Instagram post since the 2014 annexation of the Crimea and attempted separation of the Donbas region by Russian sympathizers even though the presence of Nazis in western Ukraine is minor.



Both the New York Times and CNN have reported conversations that took place between Misha Katsurin living in the Ukraine and his father, Andrei, living in Russia, during which the father repeatedly denied the truth of what his son had seen and was reporting. Misha was so upset by this exchange that he created a Web site for others to post similar stories.

After a post on Instagram complaining about his father’s disbelief went viral, he launched a website, papapover.com, which means “Papa, believe,” with instructions for Ukrainians about how to speak to their family members about the war.




Few people recognized how successfully Putin prepared for this war by undermining the American election system, installing a puppet who would weaken NATO and cozy up to the dictator. While many now fear the start of World War III, it actually started with the 2016 United States presidential election. The technology of war is not limited to tanks and bombs. Information technologies now exercise a powerful impact on the minds and hearts of populations.

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