Using Discernment in Listening to the News

The 10 Most Critical Things to Consider When Consuming Mainstream News

TV Screen Thinking Head - 2
Dylan Charles, Editor
Waking Times

It’s no secret that 90% of American media is owned by just 6 corporate conglomerates, and it’s also no secret that the media is used by political and corporate propagandists as a tool to reach deep into the hearts and minds of the masses. Mainstream newscasts are a staged version of reality, and as world events continue to rise in pitch and fervor, so will the propaganda, so it’s imperative to brush up on critical thinking skills as a defense against falling into group-think and mass-hysteria.

The great irony here, though, is that it is precisely through the power of media that people will awaken to the deceit happening in the media. By and large the programming that makes it to our eyes and ears is produced to support an agenda, but, even amongst the corporate programs there are genuine voices of reason and truth.

So, how do you tell the difference between a voice of truth and voice of deceit?

The fog of the propaganda war is sure to thicken in the coming months and years, so here are 10 absolutely critical points to ask yourself when consuming mainstream media.

This checklist was submitted by one of our readers, George L. Humphries, who brings a lifetime of experience in military and law enforcement to bear on the issue of propaganda.


Questions I routinely ask myself while reading or viewing. And I ALWAYS pay attention to the masthead and the credits!

1. Who is the author – nationality, ideology and political affiliation, religion, affinity group, related experience base, and education? Who are this author’s friends and promoters? Where, by who, and possibly why is this author normally published? Are other publications by this author parallel, or do they take a different angle entirely – and if so, why?

2. Unstated underlying value assumptions. What values does the author assume the audience shares, and upon which the author builds the thesis? Do you share these values? Does the author in fact share these values, or are they used merely to sell copy or manipulate the reader to a desired attitude or conclusion? What symbols does the author use?

3. Is the author attempting to ‘frame an argument’? What alternative frameworks for the argument occur to you? Why might the author attempt to frame the argument in the way provided, and exclude from identification, acknowledgment or general acceptance other frameworks? Is the author’s thesis merely a preemptive counter-accusation?   

4. Does the author’s mistrust of one government extend to all governments, or does the author forgive the sins of a particular nation’s regimes and ascribe to them an overwhelming benign humanitarian sensibility? What are the shear points in the logical development of the author’s thesis – does the author jump from one well-developed line to an undeveloped one to engage you in the pre-drawn conclusion, hoping you won’t notice or object to the somersault en route?

5. Does the author appeal to your intellect, your emotions, or both? Does the author subliminally propose that all civilized, educated, right-thinking people of the social elite think a certain way, thereby suggesting that your attitudes should fall in line? Does the author recruit you for the ‘Heavenly Host’ by appealing to ‘common’ religious values? Does the author appeal to your sense of justice and proportionality? Does the author appeal to your spirit of humanity? Does the author wave the flag? What does the author’s peripheral vision include, and what does it exclude? What does the author’s cognitive dissonance miniaturize, and what does it enlarge?

6. What gimmicks does the author use to characterize individuals or groups? Does the author use hyperbolic comparisons to historical figures such as Hitler or Jesus? Does the author try to make a case through guilt by association or guilt by dissociation, or innocence by association or innocence by dissociation? Does the author damn with faint praise or edify through shallow criticism? Does the author tear down and trivialize individuals through cheap, pseudo-comic references to personal habits, modes of dress or accent, and then compound these with unfair, grotesque analogies? Does the author use the unsubstantiated words of others, great or terrible, to reference an individual’s character or lack thereof? From where and from whom does the author draw expert witnesses and citations, and do you agree with these sources? Are sources footnoted or substantiated in some way? Might a citation be the old propagandist’s trick of referring to an item carefully placed elsewhere just for that purpose?

7. What themes can be identified? For this author, who or what is good and who or what is bad? What is the author’s litmus test and bottom line, and do you share it? What alternative does the author wish us to identify and support, even if it is not outlined in bold terms?

8. What is the author’s agenda? What, if anything, does the author want us to believe when we have finished reading or viewing, or what action if any would the author like us to take? Remembering that the best propaganda is the truth, and the second best propaganda is 99% truth as a vehicle to propel a 1% lie, does this article fall into either of these two categories? What piece of information might be the 1% lie?

9. Does the author recommend military action? What other conflicts has the author supported, and what other conflicts has the author opposed? What military service, if any, does the author have, and for which nation? Does the author want to put one nation’s blood and treasure in harm’s way for the benefit of a client state? Is the author still fighting a past war? If so, which one, and what side is taken? From your point of view, which conflict should the author be fighting, and from what side?

10. If the author was a paid agent of (foreign) intelligence services(s), who might be the author’s paymaster(s)?

 – George L. Humphries

from:    http://www.wakingtimes.com/2015/10/23/the-10-most-critical-things-to-consider-when-consuming-mainstream-news/

Information, Conditioning, & Discernment

Keeping Your “Reality Bubble” Permeable

During this time of massively conflicting information, misinformation and disinformation we must make sure our “Reality Bubbles” are permeable to new information.


by Corey/GoodETxSG on 10 Sep 2015 

 Every one of us have developed belief systems based on certain data-sets from Guru’s, Channelers, Contactee’s, “Whistleblowers” and Researchers. All of these people are fallible human beings who’s info is only as accurate as their chosen sources.If we say we are discerning, but basing or comparing information to our ensconced belief systems (rejecting anything that conflicts), we are deceiving ourselves. For our discernment filters to work correctly and truly they must also be permeable and allow new information to pass through to be filtered. Do not get caught up in enlightenment traps of the theologies and philosophies of others… No matter how well-intentioned they may be. You are responsible for your own growth and journey. Locking yourself into a belief system and then defending it from anything that conflicts with it, or makes you uncomfortable, will prevent you from evolving any further and make you dependent on another human or being who may have been mislead.

The bitterest truth is better than the sweetest lie.

There is more to come, however it is requested that in order to read the rest of the article, you please go to the source:     http://spherebeingalliance.com/blog/keeping-your-reality-bubble-permeable.html

Re-thinking Channeling & Channelers

Discernment Lessons: Who’s Really On This Channel?

There have been many things I have wanted to write to you over the last couple of months, so I will focus on the most important topics as I see them in the moment.  Today we are going to go further with discernment and addressing the high “noise” to “signal” ratio that is being intensified at this time.

Every day I skim emails I receive pertaining to some “very near” wonderful or even transcendent event that “we all just have to wait for” according to the authors.  Unfortunately, their dates come and go without any physical occurrence.  The people who had believed in the message usually sigh in resignation and go back to their daily lives somewhat disappointed, but maybe still hopeful.

Why is there so much inaccurate “noise” out there right now?  Precisely because something *transcendent* IS approaching, and more people are feeling its approach than ever. Everywhere you look, someone is going to tell you that they know what is coming and when.  Often they are channeling some source who claims to be a “higher being” that you “need to pay attention to.” Sadly, most of these channelers are receiving their information from beings that are NOT who they claim to be.

This brings us to discernment point #1: It is very easy to fool the human mind, especially if you exist in a higher level than our 3rd density.

(Please note, I use density and level interchangeably.)

The 4th density of consciousness is wondrous and magical compared to the sluggish 3rd density where we currently reside, but the beings who populate this density are still polarized in their consciousness.  They are actually much MORE polarized than most humans, who tend to be a “mixed bag” of energies.

This means that within the 4th density there are “selfish and manipulative” entities (Service to Self), and also “kind, loving and nurturing” beings (Service to Others).  There don’t seem to be many (or any?) 4th density beings who are sometimes kind, other times selfish like 3rd density humans.  On the 4th density, they seem to polarize to one extreme or the other, which is very significant to our discernment process.

Discernment point #2: Your free will is one of your greatest sources of power and energy.

If you can be tricked, conned or brainwashed into choosing of your own free will to believe in a false prophet, that prophet will receive some of your power and energy.  This trickery is abundant on 3rd density, and much of it is broadcasted from 4th density “Service to Self” (STS) beings who have polarized as far towards selfish, manipulative, dominance-oriented behavior as possible.  They made this choice while in 3rd density, and used the power and energy gained by this extreme polarization (and energy stolen from others) to propel themselves to the 4th density.  However, they are dependent on feeding off the energy of others for sustenance, unlike their “positive” counterparts in the 4th level that have polarized towards “Service to Others” (STO).

If a false prophet can convince you to be in fear, your false belief in that fear will feed them.  At the same time, if they can convince you to do nothing, your false belief that you need not do anything will also feed them.  This discernment stuff is tricky business, but we all need to get very good at it, very quickly.

You may be wondering, “Who is telling me to do nothing?” This is coming very strongly at this time through channels spreading messages that essentially tell people: “Your Big Brothers & Sisters are coming back from off-planet to clean up your mess.  You have done all you can, so just sit tight, “spread your light” and wait for us to bail you out.  The situation is too complex and difficult for you to solve, but it is easy for us to do, and we’re happy to do it for you.  No action is required of you at this time, but you ‘true believers’ will be needed once we appear on your planet to fix things.”

This is a strongly disempowering message, and it is a manipulation of our innate (and societally programmed) desires to have a benevolent, central authority that actually has our best interests at heart, to take care of us. Most lightworkers are very tired at this stage of the game, and would welcome truly loving, positive, “Service to Others” oriented beings to show up and “clean house” on this planet.

However, when I look at most of the numerous channels that are telling people they don’t need to do any inner-clearing work because they have already done all the work needed, and should just “send light in meditation” while waiting for the ET calvary to arrive, I do not sense the intent of a truly Service to Others being.  What I sense is a very clever manipulation that reinforces the human desire to be told what to do by a more wise and powerful being.   This type of manipulation is a classic example of “Service to Self” beings masquerading as a positive, “Service to Others” being instead.

This is one of the reasons that I do not channel.  Instead, I go within to access my Higher Self which is actually my INNER, True Self.  I do occasionally “say hello” to the Service to Others polarized beings on 4th, 5th and 6th densities and sometimes I will ask them for energetic support for certain clearing activities.  However, I do not ask them to do all the work for me, as that is not how they operate.  They “serve through support” by energizing our positive, “Service to Others” actions.

Notice I wrote actions, not wishes. The real “good guys” will most likely not show up and solve our problems for us, even if we wish they would do so.  Anyone trying to sell you on the belief that they can solve all your problems usually has an ulterior motive.  Truly serving another being means empowering them so they can solve their own problems and eventually help others to do the same thing.

Discernment point #3: The true test of ANY spiritually-oriented message is whether or not it empowers you through knowledge and helping you to access your OWN innate wisdom.

There are many blockages to accessing our own true self built right into the fabric of this density, and even into the DNA inside our bodies.  In order to transmute these blockages, we have to first become aware of them through gaining knowledge and self-examination, then apply transformational energies to dissolve the blockage / false belief / limiting identity, etc.

This is why my primary role in “Ascension Help” is to teach energy-clearing techniques that empower you to overcome blockages.

If you read a message that says you don’t need to continue to delve into the depths of your being to release limiting beliefs and embody your true self, please be careful.  If a message gives you hope that everything will be OK because help is on the way, but does not give you new information that helps you to understand the workings of the universe on a deeper level, please be careful. If a message read today looks and feels almost exactly the same as the message from one, two or more years ago, please be careful.  If you’re not sure, do some comparison of older and more current messages from the same source to see if new information is being given in a progressive manner, or if the messages seem to sound the same with a few small changes here and there regarding current events.

Please remember that whatever you believe in, you give some of your energy to.  This is one reason 4th density STS beings work so hard to “hack into” legitimate channels and impersonate the angel/master/high density being who was originally coming through. It is a significant coup for a 4th density STS being to usurp a legitimate channel and transmit subtly altered dis-information through it.  They get the double benefit of receiving the belief energy from the followers of the messages, as well as convincing those followers that they don’t need to take any action towards self-growth or to help improve the quality of life of the people in their environment.

In the future, when you read a message that tells you that there is no need to take action, no need to delve deeper into accessing and embodying your true self, that your inner work is done and you only have to wait for blessings to be bestowed upon you from an outside, higher authority, my hope is that you will not choose to believe this type of disempowering manipulation.

I hope that you will instead reclaim all energy that you had previously put into those false, yet somewhat comforting belief systems and instead choose the path of the Initiate, recognizing that YOUR truth comes from deep inside of you where your Higher Self resides.  I hope that you will disengage from false prophets who try to convince you that you need to be aligned with an external group in order to ascend to the next level.

To reach the next level will require the accrual of knowledge, the expansion of your inner Power of Love that comes from knowing your True Self, and the giving of this love to others through forgiveness, compassion, understanding and sharing empowering knowledge.  These are the gifts of light that need to be spread, and spreading them requires connecting to other people “at their level” to find out how you can empower them to take their next step in self-discovery, self-healing, self-clearing and self-love so that they can help others in the future.

As each of you empowers yourself and shares this empowerment with others to the level they want to receive it (remember their free will), your inner light will grow and show you more ways to extend the Infinite Love of your Higher Self to others.  As you become a conscious conduit for your true power, you will sense the best way to help others, which at times may be to say “No” to their ego-based desires.

The more you embrace the idea that “to love is to serve” you will be presented with many opportunities to uplift those around you and help them to heal their old wounds.  At the same time, maintain awareness so that you do not acquiesce to another person’s ego-based manipulations, while also rising above your own ego’s desire to control or manipulate.  (Remember to minimize that ego.)

So yes, there is still much work to be done.   It starts inside of you, me and all of us. As we heal and dissolve the old blockages, we can more effectively render loving service to our brothers and sisters that are ready to receive and act upon it.  Soon, almost everyone will be seeking this inner healing, so ready yourself to make sure you are prepared to give the gift of self-empowerment to the best of your ability.

I thank you for your service to humanity, and I look forward to the eventual Transcendent Event that will propel us to the next level of consciousness.  It is going to be a collective effort to bring this major shift into our collective awareness, but the work is done through loving acts of service that uplift and empower everyone involved, creating a frequency of win-win in all of our endeavors.

Much Love,
Cameron Day
www.AscensionHelp.com
www.GeniusBrainPower.com

p.s.  If you are wondering if I am subtly singling out any particular channel, the answer is no.  If you are concerned that a channel you are following might be compromised, please apply the discernment points above to the messages coming through and draw your own conclusions based on the wisdom of your Inner/Higher Self.

from:    http://www.ascensionhelp.com/blog/2011/09/22/discernment-lessons-channels/