The Only Show in Town

        Recently, the Mayor posted some book titles featured in a NYT Sunday supplement(11/30/14).  Since then, we've been treated to several reviews of one of the included books written by author Peter Pomerantsev, the British journalist.   Two weeks later, he has a byline column in the same NYT, on the opinion pages.   This definitely propels him and his work(s) up the stairs of literary recognition.
     His 10 paragraphs serve to add a brief inside look at the larger work, making an effort to entice future readers to his subject:  Russya's propaganda methods as it tries to misinform the world by an extensive campaign of misinformation.  He outlines the case from his position as a former news media specialist in Moscova and news producer  among a group of Russyans who followed the script handed them by the chief architect of Misinformation Vladislav Y. Surkov, chief advisor to Mad Vlad hisself.  
     This man followed some former dictator's plans by infiltrating various interest groups and manipulating them from the inside.  Hmmmm.  Haven't we seen this somewhere before?   When society loses faith in institutions or trusting any political organization, they are then fed a conspiratorial vision of the world they live in.  Thus, he says, we have a "gullible cynic".   The aim of this strategy is to confuse the West by disinformation.   To disorganize opponents(enemies) through an information war.
    He states that the take down of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine is a prime example.  No sooner than the plane went down, than the Kremlin said the plane was fired upon by Ukraine's planes.   Then, they followed that up with claims that the West was after Putin's own plane nearby.   This was to confuse the facts which pointed to a missile fired by Russian teams assisting separatists in Eastern Ukraine.   Soon, few people actually pursued a determined examination of the facts.
     He noted that Pres. Obama said "We are not entering a new Cold War; Russya is not the Soviet Union."   " Russya leads no bloc of nations, no global ideology".
His book, "Nothing is true and Everything is Possible:  The Surreal Heart of the New Russya", is on our highly recommended list.  The mayor will provide his own review when he is finished.  Soon.