And that's just one of *many* examples.

I know lots of folks are nervous about this side of war. We don't like talking about the fact that gov'ts at war disinform because they *do not owe anyone the truth* - just victory - when on a military mission.

We also don't like the idea of being "tricked", of finding out that we were moved to rage over the wrong details.

Horrible things happened on Oct 7. And were then leveraged at cost to many families *ever* being able to grieve the true horrors. /x

The description of the NYT writer's failure goes on:

"The woman who filmed Abdush on October 7 told the Israeli site YNet that Schwartz and Sella had pressured her into giving the paper access to her photos and videos for the purposes of serving Israeli propaganda. “They called me again and again and explained how important it is to Israeli hasbara,' she recalled, using the term for public diplomacy, which in practice refers to Israeli propaganda efforts directed at international audiences." /x

Here's one example of how the December NYT article did harm. The opening anecdote made a symbol of rape around a woman supposedly elaborately brutalized in 9 minutes between her sending a text to her family and her husband saying she was dead:

'It doesn’t make any sense,' said Abdush’s sister, that in a short timespan 'they raped her, slaughtered her, and burned her? Speaking about the rape allegation, her brother-in-law said: 'The media invented it.'" /x

We now know a lot more about the writer, new to investigative journalism, who skirted NYT fact-checking practices.

We also know that a lot of claims don't match material evidence, and come from sources who've made other wild and debunked claims from that terrible day.

But I cannot stress enough how much all this manipulation of what actually happened, simply to stoke a war effort, did an unconscionable wrong *to the victims & families*, who deserved not to be used as pawns for propaganda. /x

So this is a tough read.

Back in Dec, I wrote an article reflecting on how VAW is used as political leverage by men in war, even as they don't bother to investigate it.

A NYT article had just come out then, and many details didn't align with Israeli reports I'd been following... but it was the NYT! So, I carefully noted the discrepancies while reflecting on how rape is always weaponized.

As I suspected, though, that coverage did a gross disservice to the victims. /x

https://theintercept.com/2024/02/28/new-york-times-anat-schwartz-october-7/

“The plain fact is that the planet does not need more successful people. But it does desperately need more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of every kind. It needs people who live well in their places. It needs people of moral courage willing to join the fight to make the world habitable and humane. And these qualities have little to do with success as we have defined it.”

― David W. Orr

I'm also going to have a fuller reflection on my experience of working for this startup the last two years... *after* my last post there, which will be up next Thursday.

Then I have to figure out if it'll be better to port all the articles to my website (updated, & organized by topic) or Substack.

But both are issues for after this weekend. First comes a general revamping of digital platforms / media assets, a clearing of carryover tasks, and a full layout for March's workflow, to stay sharp.

Okay, folks.

This one's free to read.

It talks about changes to my workflow this week, and what they will mean for how I manage my writing going forward.

The short version is that I'll be pouring a lot more time into the newsletter and rebooting my YouTube (as a once-a-week Patreon tie-in) starting next week.

This weekend, I have a lot of digital revamping to do to prep for the change, but my success is entirely on the platforms I create now.

So, time to get to work!
https://www.patreon.com/posts/ch-ch-ch-changes-99403511

*And if you've never gone through a period that left you with the risk of poverty mentality setting in while struggling in future moments, I am SO happy for you. Keep that up, you kings and queens!

But if anyone else still has that trigger in their life from time to time: I see you, your struggle matters, you are *more* than your hardship, and you are doing the best you can under the circumstances, so give yourself every credit and kindness, eh? Being angry at yourself only makes it all worse.

Man, there's nothing like buying a big ol' bag of rice to keep poverty mentality at bay. 🙂 It doesn't mean I'm only eating rice for the next month. It's just a visual reminder, if panic sets in over the next few weeks, that I have both a roof over my head & *something* to eat, so the rest'll be okay.

It's like Moe Szyslak looking at the noose in his bar closet after remembering that he has friends and saying "Not today, ropey! Not today!" (One of The Simpsons' most macabre moments, for sure. 😬)

Sigh.

I mean, there's always room for ice cream, right?

Patreon post in a bit, but this was both a little worse than I was expecting, and also a bit better than it could have been.

Life goes on, but now I have a lot of planning and technical work to do in the coming days.

Aiming for a Monday reboot, so I don't lose momentum.

And dagnabbit, I need to finish that audiobook.

So much to do!
So much to do!

All right. Going in.

😊 I would just like to thank Past Me for making squash soup last night.

Meeting in an hour.

I was initially itching to do some unhelpful "self care" with ice cream after the rest of the band-aid was ripped off, but now I am full of nourishing soup instead.

Not today, Poor Impulse Control! Not today!

A bit of a lighter newsletter today: a reflection on how crime fiction serves us, in a world of relentless transgressions far more difficult to solve than the cases we see on TV. Here, I address Monsieur Spade and True Detective: Night Country, with tonal spoilers for the latter.

https://mlclark.substack.com/p/true-detective-monsieur-spade-and

I still have a formal meeting today.

Then I'll post to Patreon with next steps.

One day I'll have great fun reflecting on all the failings that led to this point (I saw this coming a mile away, and it was hard feeling like the only one reading the signs correctly), and on my attempt to "lean in" as best I could for as long as I could.

It's been a few years of rotten luck across many fields, but the world *is not good* right now, in many ways.

We just have to stick around and make it better.

Ha. And there's a typo in the above, but I do not care.

The typo stays in.

G'night, all!

One other thing I'm going to use this latest downturn to do: keep working on separating my sense of worth from my situation.

Canada was exhausting, because I was surrounded by people who wanted to know why a person with my so-called intelligence couldn't find financial stability. Everyone want to figure out what was wrong with me, that I couldn't "make it" and still flew solo.

Here, though, there's no myth of meritocracy. You work hard--we all work hard--and there still aren't any guarantees.*

POWER'S BACK!

Now to salvage the soup...