TV viewers who watched President Trump’s rally Friday at Rochester, MN on CNN, NBC or similar networks saw only the 250-person group which Minnesota Governor Tim Walz “allowed” to enter the airport grounds. However, thousands of cheering people infiltrated the rally beyond the barriers. I know this from a reliable source: Our daughter Stephanie, an experienced ag writer, and her son Justus. They joined the crowd outside the perimeter and texted me this photo.
November 1, 2020 Weekend essay by Jerry Carlson — Today’s media censorship of news which doesn’t comply with a biased narrative is one of many symptoms that crucial data is deleted or distorted by gatekeepers in broadcast and social media. For shocking evidence of this, watch the documentary The Plot Against the President on Amazon.com.
In my experience, censorship and selective data distortion is also misleading in many supposedly scientific topics. Examples:
1. Reporting primarily on new Covid-19 “cases” instead of the total of people who carry antibodies. This signals how we’re approaching herd immunity, and reveals that the Covid’s fatality rate is about the same as seasonal flu.
2. Maintaining the facade that glyphosate toxicity in our environment is “safe” — when court cases and epidemiology studies worldwide show evidence it isn’t. One unbiased authority on this: Dr. Don Huber.
3. Safety data are typically obfuscated for GMOs, vaccines, fluoride, electromagnetic field (EMF) pollution, mercury dental fillings, hydrogenated vegetable oils and many dietary items like aspartame.
4. We’re seeing social media oligarchs like Facebook and YouTube, owned by Google, block interviews and videos which contradict the World Health Organization or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Example: YouTube blocked “Plandemic” Part 1, A video with virologist Dr. Judy Mikovits. The documentary clarifies much of the disinformation about Covid-19. For extensive detail on censorship of Covid-19 information, look at Dr. Joseph Mercola’s analysis of restoring your personal health and freedom, along with other articles on Mercola.com. (An example is Mercola’s analysis showing that most face masks are statistically ineffective against Covid-19 and may do you more harm than good.)
Fortunately, you can often dig into alternative sources to find facts that the “mainstream” scuttles. After four years as an Air Force information officer, I’ve been a working ag journalist for my entire career. I began at Farm Journal in 1964. When I became eager for independence from advertisers, I joined Merrill Oster to co-found Professional Farmers of America in 1972. Then, Pro Farmer was totally farmer-supported.
For almost 60 years, I’ve seen how major financial and political pressures distort, filter and spike the facts which Americans need for profitable long-term decisions. As you’ve seen the past four years, even our non-political agencies such as the FBI and CIA have been compromised. A recent video documentary on the World Health Organization points to similar distortions imposed by self-interested funding agencies and “philanthropists.” The special interests providing 70% of WHO’s budget can, and do, steer the agency’s agenda.
A model for the farmers’ answer to accurate performance data on products and technologies emerged in 1985: Practical Farmers of Iowa. I became a PFI on-farm research cooperator for several years, testing biological farming techniques. Today, PFI’s membership includes 3,000 farmers, horticulturists and rural residents eager to produce healthy food.
Today, the immense data-collecting and analytic power of GPS, yield monitors, field mapping and lab analysis opens opportunities for larger, regional farmer research groups. They could accelerate finding “what works.” In my on-farm testing experience, row-crop farmers with 500 to 2,000 acres would be the most willing researchers. A group of 100 to 300 research-minded farmers who chip in, say, $2,000 each could retain a research coordinator who’s a professional crop consultant — one who doesn’t sell products.
I’ve found a few Midwest growers eager to test the new wave of biological products. At Renewable Farming, we try to piece together meaningful field-test data. For 10 years, we conducted our own on-farm field trials on our small farm, testing how WakeUP enhances nutrients and biologicals. Now, farmers need more comprehensive sources to sift through the swelling new array of “bio” products and techniques. The Practical Farmers of Iowa strip trial method is ideal for a farmer equipped with a GPS planter, sprayer and combine. To see a strip trial protocol, Download data collection form here.
I hope several farmers will will step forward and help launch such groups. Two people did it in 1984-85: Boone, Iowa farmer Dick Thompson and Iowa Institute for Cooperatives’ Larry Kallem.