Pravda and Izvestia

Back in the good old days of the Cold War when all you had to fear was imminent Nuclear Annihilation, the Soviet Union had two main Newspapers- Pravda and Izvestia.

Pravda means “Truth” and was the official organ of the Communist Party. Izvestia means “News” and was an official product of the Soviet Government. Not that they didn’t print facts occasionally, whether by accident or as sugar for the medicine, just that’s not what you should expect.

I think of the Washington Post as Pravda. It’s a Company Newsletter all about politics and since I write about politics I cite them frequently. If you are inclined to peruse I invite the same kind of filter you would apply to CNN– Not particularly Liberal. I have taken them to task recently for being especially stupid.

I think of The New York Times as more like Izvestia. All the news that fits, Oceania’s paper of record. I once held them in great respect, now I wish I still had a Cat (not that there aren’t other reasons like they’re affectionate and fun and low maintenance). It’s printed with Soy based ink which means you can even wrap your greasy Fish and Chips with it which is what makes it so popular on the Upper West Side. It used to arrive with a satisfying thump on my doorstep as I virtue signaled I was liberally hip.

Now I’d rather have Pravda. It is voluminous, cheap, and more focused on my research in Kremlinology.

It sometimes has some interesting sciency things and recipes, and if you live in the Tri! State! Area!, you can find stuff to do within a reasonable distance and I like to travel (D.C. is not a reasonable distance, have you looked at Congress? And I’d have to go through NYC anyway.).

But don’t mistake it for Truth or News, it’s pretty much pure propaganda.

The current contretempts is about their characterization of Drinking or Injecting Clorox, Lysol, or Isopropyl Alcohol as a thing some Doctors think is bad, implying they are a subset rather than an overwhelming Super Majority. My answer is–

IT DEPENDS ON WHETHER YOU CONSIDER INSTANT DEATH BAD!!!

You should really check out my Jack Sparrow joke.

As wrong as that is it’s not the worst thing that appeared in Izvestia this week. No, that would be Bret Stephens about how Red States shouldn’t have to suffer the excruciating pain of Social Distancing, the Estrangement from their God at this Holiest time of the Year, the Economic Consequences of having filthy and crowded Meatpacking Plants (over 100 years after Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle) all over the Country errupt as Coronavirus Hotspots and have to be shut down anyway as the Workers succumb to the infection. Not only do they die but the price of Meat goes through the roof.