The Rembis Report and Other Fascinating Topics - Volume LVIII

Fake News.

RETRACTION: Last week's report contained erroneous information regarding Stephen Spielberg's series of Jurassic Park films. It has come to my attention that they are not documentaries but are indeed fictional accounts based on novelist Michael Crichton's books Jurassic Park and its sequel The Lost World.

Apologies to those who spent the last week planning vacations to Isla Nublar (which does not exist) and everyone who secured tickets to Jurassic Park at Universal Studios in Orlando Florida or Jurassic World at Universal Studios in Hollywood California. Those visiting will not see real dinosaurs, but will be greeted with state-of-the-art animatronics, and plenty of thrills and surprises to make you feel like you have really entered a realm where fiction comes to life.

This is how rumors get started. Somebody misinterprets something, they give somebody else misinformation about what they think they know, then that somebody else puts their spin on it and it spreads out into the world with colorful exaggeration that some people believe while others dispute. There can only be one truth, but with conflicting information, people sometimes choose the information they want to be real over the facts, and what we end up with are a lot of people believing lies.

They taught us the game of Telephone Tag when we were kids to illustrate this point. In case you missed this class here is how it works. Line up all the kids in the class and whisper a simple line into the first kid's ear. He turns to the kid next to him and whispers the same thing, and the kids go on down the line whispering to the next kid until they reach the end, and the last kid tells the teacher the phrase they heard. So, what the teacher whispered to the first child, for example "I have a delicious apple in my lunch box," after running through twenty or so eardrums, morphs into "I ate a box full of apple pies," and nobody except the last kid remembers hearing that phrase before.

But at least it was simple. A fair example of how you hear one thing, reorganize it in your brain, and then, when repeating it, say something that you think is the same, when it is not.

I have a strange relationship with the words right and left. I can't explain why my brain behaves the way it does because I know the difference between the two. What happens to me is that I often say right when I mean left and vice versa. I will even point to the left and say, "on the right." I know what I mean, and I know it is wrong, but I still get where I am going whether I say right when I mean left or not. And I don't know why I say it wrong even though I know what I am talking about. That's the brain for you. Can't live without it no matter what it thinks.

Fake news, however, is not a game of telephone tag, innocently misinterpreted by children in the midst of a lesson. It is a calculated method of distributing false information. There are all kinds of reasons for doing this, but let's first look at true information which is not fabricated.

Real news is factual. It is presented as truth in a historical context so as to convey a timeline and explain the cause and effect of events and how they relate to a community or the world at large. Those reporting the news are generally held to high standards. They offer proof. They verify their sources. They will not change their story because they know it to be true. In short, a good reporter does not fabricate stories, they would not waste time doing that.

In rare instances, some newspapers or television news outlets discover mistakes and issue retractions. This is a big deal to a reputable news establishment. They don't go ahead and print just anything and hope they got it right. When a legitimate news source gets it wrong, they spend some time stating how the error was made, apologizing for flawed reporting, and promising to enforce their vigilance and do better. When mistakes happen a legitimate news organization will take it seriously.

Not so with those of lesser integrity.

You may have heard about Alex Jones and his website, Infowars.com, which touts itself as THE MOST CENSORED NEWS BROADCAST IN THE WORLD. This week Alex Jones and company were hauled into court for the restitution phase of the first of three separate defamation cases they had lost to parents of children who died in the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. Suit was filed because Alex Jones used his InfoWars platform to claim and fuel a conspiracy theory that this school shooting was a fiction, complete with crisis actors, and dead bodies of children who never existed. The goal of this lie was to claim that those perpetrating the hoax were doing so to initiate gun control legislation and deconstruct the second amendment right to keep and bear arms.

The Sandy Hook school shooting took 26 lives. It was real. There was no conspiracy to stage an event that did not happen and traumatize the nation for the sake of taking away anybody's guns. But InfoWars persisted. They stated that this was a false flag operation meant to scare righteous gun owners and everyone else into giving up their weapons and submitting to a fictional new world order. The lie blossomed. In addition to InfoWars there are dozens of conspiratorial websites and blogs who are now emboldened to promote more lies and use scare tactics to make people fear nonexistent entities who want to control them. It is simply playing to a crowd of stupid, easily duped people, to take advantage of them for one thing. Money.

The entire InfoWars platform is a cesspool of misinformation and lies. It is filled with conspiracy theories which sensationalize a slanted view of governments and businesses to guide the viewer into a seemingly never-ending maze of doubt about what is true and what is false. In lieu of advertisers, InfoWars sells its own brand of coffee, shampoo, temporary tattoos, dietary supplements like selenium, essential oils like lemongrass and bergamot, a huge collection of conspiracy theorist books and DVDs hailing Trump as a winner and others as liars, hats, T-shirts, bottle openers, and a corkscrew with a .50 caliber bullet for a handle. Everything is branded with the InfoWars logo. You can even get Halloween masks to make you look like a screaming Alex Jones.

There is a lot to unpack here. Where do we begin?

Easy. Start with the money. There is no revenue stream without something to sell. If you can't get real advertisers to sponsor your show, like real news outlets, you build your own brand. Once they knew they had a captive audience, who they knew would buy what they were saying, they knew they would buy whatever they sold. So, in addition to the mugs and stickers, they offer vitamin supplements similar to what you may find in a health food store, branded as InfoWars exclusives.

Take a look at the ingredients of Brain Force Plus:

• Bacopa Herb Extract: Traditionally used as an important neurological tonic and cognitive enhancer in Ayurvedic medicine.

• Alpha-GPC: A natural compound found in the brain that delivers choline, a water-soluble essential nutrient, across the brain barrier.

• Yerba Mate Leaf Powder: Containing natural amounts of caffeine, yerba mate is also loaded with polyphenols like quercetin, as well as potassium, magnesium, and manganese.

• Phosphatidylserine: An important chemical that is responsible for a number of important functions within the body, phosphatidylserine is particularly known for its maintenance of cell structure in the brain.

• L-Theanine: An amino acid that is one of the key constituents of green tea, L-theanine helps transmit nerve impulses in the brain.

• Vitamin B-12: Vitamin B-12 promotes energy production through supporting the body's natural processes of the adrenal glands, red blood cell formation, and many others.

• Black Pepper Fruit Extract: taken from the Piper nigrum fruit, black pepper has been used since antiquity as a form of traditional medicine and was chosen by our chemists to give Brain Force PLUS an extra kick.

Then there is ULTRA 12:

• A powerful B12 formula fueled by the premium source of B12 - methylcobalamin - for TWICE the B12!

Plus, SURVIVAL SHIELD X-2 - NASCENT IODINE:

• The globalists want you to be run down and unhealthy so they can dominate your life. Fight back with one of nature's greatest essentials.

• Check out the all-new Survival Shield X-2 Nascent Iodine Spray here!

• Leading the way into the next generation of super high-quality nascent iodine, Infowars Life Survival Shield X-2 is back! 

Don't forget to pick up some SUPER MALE VITALITY:

• The all new and advanced Super Male Vitality formula uses the newest extraction technology with even more powerful concentrations of various herbs and extracts designed to be even stronger.

And for the ladies - SUPER FEMALE VITALITY:

• Super Female Vitality is the result of unparalleled ancient wisdom reinterpreted in the light of modern equipment and analysis.

• Super Female Vitality can be a powerful alternative to Super Male Vitality as well! Made with many similar ingredients, both formulas support your body and lifestyle.

Are you kidding, Mike?

No, dear readers, I am not making this up. You can get just about everything you don't need or can find someplace else right here on this website, so look no further. But AJ and crew are not without their detractors. There is one anti-semite who has a real problem with them. I am not sure what their deal is, but they seem to be even more misinformed than the average InfoWars viewer. The expatriated American Caleb Jones (relation to Alex - unknown) living in Dubai, yet still managing his business with a Beaverton Oregon address had a few questions for Alex Jones fans about what they saw in the guy and why they pay him any heed.

Here are a few of the answers he got:

• Alex Jones is a gatekeeper working FOR the elites, not against them as he claims.

• It’s his job to not be taken seriously so the average Joe doesn’t think too much about the topics he presents, many which shed light on carefully guarded secrets. He presents, I would say about 80% truth with 20% disinfo.

• Since he’s the ONLY one with significant viewership covering topics that mainstream news won’t touch with a 10-foot barge pole, he’s worth following for education purposes so long as you understand he is an actor playing a role and should be taken with a grain of salt.

• IMO Alex Jones uses sensationalism to sell product, no different from other marketers.

This blog post appeared in 2018. It is long and exhaustive and reveals a lot of information about those who listen to Alex Jones. The surprising thing was that most of the posters do not offer full support and in many cases do not believe him at all. But still, they listen.

The die-hard fans apparently did not have time to seek out and reply to Caleb Jones. They were busy watching the videos and reading the books they picked up from InfoWars, like Graphic Video: COVID Vaccine Genocide 2021-2022 or Endgame: Blueprint for Global Enslavement.

Alex Jones latest book is:

• The Great Reset: And the War for the World, the most controversial man on earth Alex Jones gives you a full analysis of The Great Reset, the global elite's international conspiracy to enslave humanity and all life on the planet.

Already number #1 on Amazon with no reviews. It will be released on August 30th.

But Alex Jones is not the only one pushing this theory. A prolific blogger named Martin Armstrong has been saying a lot of the same things since 2009. He claims to understand the scheme behind the great reset and knows that we are all doomed to enslavement. His revenue streams are nowhere as elaborate as InfoWars. He has no gadgets or vitamins, but high-priced self-published books, DVDs, and video on demand footage of economic conferences for as high at $1,500. You have got to really want to see this stuff to pay that price. There is way too much to peruse through on this site, but I did catch the fine print:

• For the sake of clarity, Armstrong Economics is not a financial services firm – we do not provide individual investment or trading advice, nor do we offer money management services. The information provided on this web site, and in our Products and Services, is made available “as is”, without warranty, and for educational purposes only. Please read our Terms and Conditions of Use for more information.

A fancy way to say we are talking out of our ass. Just like Info Wars.

At trial the other day Alex Jones described his show as an alternative to the "mainstream media bubble" that most people are used to. His associate Owen Shroyer has mastered the art of doublespeak. His appearance on the witness stand would have been a waste of time had it not shown the confusion he has about what he believes and does not believe and his failure in explaining the InfoWars mission. He made little, if any sense.

In the end, Alex Jones has been ordered to pay $4.1 million to the parents of Jesse Lewis, who was 6 years old when the gunman took his life. They were seeking $150 million. Jones says he doesn't have that kind of money, even though at one time during the trial, he offered information that InfoWars once raked in as much as $800,000 a day, every day, for a while. Some reports mention that he pulled a lot of cash out of the bank (over $60 million) the last few years and paid the IRS $30 million. His net worth is estimated to be between $5 and $10 million.

Alex Jones sat across from Jesse Lewis' mother who told him to his face that he was lying and asked, "For what? For money?" He shook his head the entire time, clinging to his conspiracy theory until the bitter end. When he was finally completely cornered and had no place to run, he conceded that the Sandy Hook Massacre did happen.

What he truly believes is up for debate. Is he a changed man who has seen the truth? Is he still living in disbelief and saying whatever he must to survive? Or did he know all along that he was lying and finally realized that all the money he lied so hard for would soon be gone? This last scenario is my best guess. He threw a fifty yard Hail Mary with nobody in the end zone. And he lost.

Even after complaining that half the jurors were simple blue collared folks who did not know who he was, that his celebrity had eluded them, and even after the jurors were later given this same information before they rendered verdict, they did not rule that he should pay tens of millions. They were lenient.

But there are more trials to come and punitive damages to decide upon. The price tag for spouting fake news is going to climb. This is a good thing because fake news is not good for anybody.

It is one thing for a simple newsletter to take on the persona of an ill-informed documentary watcher just to get a laugh, or lampoons like The Onion and the Weekly World News. Nobody gets hurt when everyone reading and listening knows it is a joke. But when it is obvious that people have been murdered, and every reputable news organization in the world reports nearly the same thing, and it is clear that there is no good reason for anybody to lie about the incident, you can take that truth to the bank.

Sowing seeds of doubt to cash in on bloodshed is evil, pure and simple. They do it for the money. They wouldn't do it if they didn't get paid.

So, while Alex Jones may lose his pulpit, watch out for those other screechers who have useless things to say, and more important than that, watch out for their supporters, because they are dangerous. If they really believe lies and will pay to support them, what else might they do?

After the verdict was read Alex Jones issued a statement on InfoWars. He ripped a page right out of the Trump playbook, claiming that he won, when he did not, saying it was a "big victory against the tyrants and the new world order."

Is there fake news? Absolutely. Anyone with common sense can tell the difference. So, when you hear somebody pointing at trusted reputable news outlets, with reports which have been verified by multiple sources, and they call that fake news, remember that their agenda is money, not truth.

That is the real fake news.

Mike Rembis