Doomscroll News

Category: Media

  • From Mandela’s Ghost Flight to Fravor’s Ghost Ship: A Journey Through the Fog of Information

    From Mandela’s Ghost Flight to Fravor’s Ghost Ship: A Journey Through the Fog of Information

    How much of what you read online can you actually trust? A deep dive into one seemingly simple fact shows just how unreliable our modern information ecosystem is: the details of Nelson Mandela’s 1990 U.S. tour. We navigated past a simplistic AI answer and a vague Wikipedia entry to find the real story buried in a 30-year-old newspaper. This journey highlights a critical problem that information on platforms like Wikipedia can be scrubbed, leaving no trace. When basic history is this murky, and official sources are discussing UFOs, it fundamentally changes our relationship with the truth.

    The fabric of our shared reality is more fragile than we think. Consider the logo for Fruit of the Loom; many people vividly recall a cornucopia, a horn of plenty, nestled among the fruit. Yet, the company asserts it was never there. This is a prime example of the Mandela Effect, a phenomenon of collective false memory that has been a subject of online fascination for over a decade. The term was coined around 2009 by paranormal researcher Fiona Broome after discovering that she, along with many others, shared a distinct but incorrect memory of Nelson Mandela dying in prison in the 1980s. In reality, Mandela was released from prison in 1990 and passed away in 2013.

    This divergence between memory and recorded history extends beyond logos and historical figures. A recent exploration of Nelson Mandela’s 1990 U.S. tour provides a compelling case study in the subtle distortions of fact. An inquiry to an AI assistant might yield a very specific, yet incomplete, detail: “During his historic 1990 U.S. tour, Nelson Mandela’s organizers chartered a Boeing 727 from the Trump Shuttle for a flight from Boston to New York.” A broader search on Wikipedia reveals a more ambiguous statement: “Trump Shuttle conducted some charter operations around this time… In June 1990, the airline carried Nelson Mandela on his eight-city tour of the United States.” The vagueness of “carried on his tour” leaves room for misinterpretation.

    It is only through digging into primary sources, such as a Los Angeles Times article from June 25, 1990, that the granular, verified truth emerges. The article explicitly states: “Mandela and the approximately 80 people traveling with him arrived here Sunday in a Trump Shuttle 727 and will take the same plane on the rest of the tour… Organizers are paying $130,000 to charter the plane.” This journey from a simplistic AI response and a vague Wikipedia entry to a detailed primary source highlights the unsettling nature of how we consume and accept information as factual.

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  • Threads’ Gag Order

    Threads’ stringent 500-character limit for posts is a deliberate method to stifle detailed conversation, forcing users to either oversimplify their points or use other cumbersome methods, effectively burying nuanced arguments. This is yet another shady, digital “gotcha” from Mark Zuckerberg, who has a history of manipulating public discourse. We saw this clearly during the COVID-19 pandemic when he complied with government pressure to censor content, including humor, satire, and criticism of vaccines, a decision he now claims to regret. By controlling how much and what we can say, he manipulates the narrative and favors simplistic, spam-like content that aligns with a specific agenda.

  • The Algorithmic Assault on My Health

    Algorithms that ignore user preferences are having a crippling effect on my health. For instance, despite repeatedly indicating my disinterest, my feed is inundated with John Bolton stories about the FBI. This digital hostility is a significant challenge to my ability to start a family, and I refuse to let it succeed.

    This isn’t confined to the Internet; it’s a reflection of a disturbing reality I’ve witnessed firsthand in New York City. There, I’ve seen people openly advocate for ideologies promoting the subjugation and demographic displacement of white people, using dehumanizing language like “inbred” and blaming them for all of society’s problems. To me, this is a clear push for eugenics and racial persecution. I believe this is symptomatic of a historically violent leftist movement that now seeks to instigate an Islamic Communist revolution.

    Furthermore, these platforms create a facade of civic engagement. Trying to communicate with public officials is a useless exercise, as they never provide a receipt or any acknowledgment that they’ve even received the f****** message. It’s a one-way street designed to absorb dissent without action.

  • X’s Entrapment Algorithm

    X’s algorithm is a form of entrapment; I literally clicked “not interested” on the same story three separate times, yet it kept pushing it on me. It’s clearly designed to stir up anger to sell ads and subscriptions, train their AI, and gather political data points for their America PAC, rather than having a real debate. This tactic, which feels as politically focused as the FBI has become, makes the platform feel asinine and unusable: it’s not a homely place, and this manufactured outrage is genuinely starting to affect my health and professional relationships.

  • Critique of “Portland residents beg Antifa not to destroy property during anti-ICE riots”

    The article by Hayden Cunningham, while capturing the correct sentiment of residents’ fear, is a deeply flawed piece of journalism that mischaracterizes the situation in Portland and fails in its basic reporting duties.

    1. Misleading Terminology Minimizes Violence

    The article consistently uses passive and misleading language that downplays the severity of the events.

    • It refers to “ongoing protests” and “anti-ICE activists” when the situation is more accurately described as a series of organized riots and attacks on federal property.
    • These are not peaceful “demonstrators” but masked agitators who have engaged in violence against more than just law enforcement. Reports from Portland have described rioters using commercial-grade fireworks as weapons, committing arson, and assaulting officers. There are also accounts of Antifa attacking civilians, Christian prayer groups, and destroying private businesses, none of which is detailed in the article.
    • Calling the events “clashes” and “confrontations” fails to capture the reality of the targeted violence.
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  • Reuters’ South Africa Lies: Predictable Deceit from an Outlet Accused of Embedding with October 7th

    Reuters’ South Africa Lies: Predictable Deceit from an Outlet Accused of Embedding with October 7th

    Those who unquestioningly accept Reuters’ take on critical global situations, like today’s alert on South Africa as an “Editor’s Picks”, should be aware of the outlet’s problematic history. Reuters has faced serious credibility issues, including publishing manipulated images during wartime and maintaining controversial policies on defining terrorism, which distort public understanding.

    1. Photographer’s Images from 2006 Lebanon War: In August 2006, Reuters had to remove all photographs by a freelance photographer, Adnan Hajj, from its database. This occurred after it was discovered that at least two of his photos from the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict had been digitally manipulated. One image showed smoke billowing over Beirut, which had been altered to appear darker and more dramatic. Another showed an Israeli F-16 firing missiles, with the photographer adding an extra flare to make it appear more threatening. Reuters severed ties with Hajj following these revelations.
    2. Embedded with Assailants? Serious Allegations of Reuters’ Foreknowledge in October 7th Attack Coverage: Following the October 7th attacks by Hamas on Israel, Reuters, along with other news organizations, faced scrutiny about how some freelance photojournalists, whose images were used by Reuters and others, were able to be at the scene of the attacks so early. These journalists may have had advance knowledge of the attacks. Reuters denied having any prior relationship with the freelance photographers in question and stated the published photos were taken hours after the initial attacks began and well after Israel had confirmed gunmen crossed the border. Bipartisan U.S. lawmakers sent a letter to Reuters requesting an explanation.
    3. Policy on Not Using the Word “Terrorist”: Reuters has a long-standing policy which includes generally not using the word “terrorist” or “terrorism” to describe specific events or individuals, instead opting terms like “bombers,” “gunmen,” or “militants.” This obscures the nature of such acts and the motivations behind them. Reuters’ editorial policy states they “may refer without attribution to terrorism and counterterrorism in general, but do not refer to specific events as terrorism.”
    Sent by the Reuters app at approximately 6pm on May 21, 2025.