There are people you know – perhaps a loved one or professional contacts – that believes something that you 100 percent know to be false. That false belief may range from something minor across the spectrum to something quite serious. False thinking may be industry related or it may have be connected to something else. But because they are unwilling to face the truth about X, you and others often simply leave that topic alone. Isn’t that common?
Multiply that commonplace reality by the tens of millions here in the United States or Canada. Then hold that thought.
Earlier this year, the USA Today reported that “ABC News said it suspended veteran correspondent David Wright because his comments hurt the network’s “reputation for fairness and impartiality…”
USA Today is part of a family of newspapers owned by the Gannett Company. According to Wikipedia, “Gannett Company owns over 100 daily newspapers, and nearly 1,000 weekly newspapers.” Chances are good that one or more newspapers near you is owned by the Gannett media conglomerate.
Why did left-of-center ABC News suspend reporter David Wright?
Because Wright was caught on an undercover video by the controversial Project Veritas making statements embarrassing to the news organization. Matt Young at left-of-center Medium called the Project Veritas undercover video that brought about Wright’s suspension “a masterpiece of propaganda.” Really?
Which is to be believed? ABC News, which suspended a veteran reporter for that journalist’s video recorded comments? Or is Medium’s Young, who wants to apparently fight to debunk what ABC News clearly accepted as accurately recorded statements that proved embarrassing to their network?
True, False, Spin…?
Welcome to the world of trying to discern what is real and what is fake that comes from ‘respected’ sources in mainstream media. If there were a free truth decoder ring in your favorite box of cereal, it would be easy to solve the riddles of what is true, false, some mix, paltering or spin.
But until that magic decoder ring is discovered and sold, millions of everyday Americans – including professionals – must rely on dispassionate discernment. Because decisions are made, day by day, in your profession that are in some degree influenced by media reports, this is a critical topic.
What is clear is that surveys reveal that a sizable majority of Americans believe that some news stories are fake. Those surveys may be a sign for hope.
Corporations and BLM
If you are a member of Amazon’s Prime service and have recently accessed that service to stream a video, you will see at the top of their splash page a Black Lives Matter (BLM) message. Amazon is hardly alone. Numerous other corporations – some of them giants in their field – have made that stunning discovery in the wake of peaceful protests that have swept the nation which have often turned violent, deadly, and destructive.
When COVID19 – a.k.a. the Wuhan Virus, the Chinese Communist Party Virus (CCP Virus), coronavirus, etc. – became a widely accepted concern, several corporate interests stepped up to pledge sometimes a million dollars or more for causes related to finding a vaccine, treatments, or helping those whose jobs had been lost due to the “Crimson Contagion.”
Hold all of those thoughts and then flash back to the months before the United States invaded Iraq.
At that time before the Iraqi invasion by a coalition of nations led by the U.S., the mainstream media, largely across the left-right media divide that already existed then, were beating the drum making the argument on the need for war against Saddam Hussein’s government in Iraq. The reason? Because Hussein supposedly had “weapons of mass destruction.”
The New York Times, MSNBC, were on the same page as Fox News in the hype in that runup to a Persian Gulf war in the Middle East. But years later, tens of millions have come to understand that supposed ‘case for war’ was built upon lies. Trillions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of lives in the Middle East were lost in places like Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. Thousands of Americans have died. Tens of thousands of service members of all racial, ethnic, political, or religious groups were wounded and/or harmed by PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Big Picture
MHProNews – as the name implies – is a manufactured housing industry focused publication, the largest and by far the most read in our once far larger industry. It is no surprise to thousands of our affordable housing industry’s professionals to read the words that millions of Americans have the wrong ideas about manufactured homes. But why is that so? How can it be that after decades of professionally researched, third-party evidence, how is it possible that tens of millions of our fellow citizens still have the wrong ideas about the HUD Code manufactured home product itself?
Properly understood, all of the above are aspects to the same phenomenon.
That phenomenon is the power of generate fake, hyped, agenda-driven or misleading news. Let’s stress, not all news is fake. But AllSides – a media rating resource – makes the interesting point that all media has an agenda. AllSides claims, and shares their data, to stress that hidden agendas aside, what readers should wonder is how often a particular media source gets their reporting right or wrong.
News and other media shapes perceptions of reality of hundreds of millions in the U.S. and Canada on a wide range of issues. Those topics includes Black Lives Matter (BLM), the Wuhan Virus, manufactured homes, President Trump, Obama-era former Vice President Joe Biden or other issues. Something similar is often occurring in media in Europe, Latin America, Africa, or Asia. We are not alone.
Decades ago, here in the U.S., the process for mainstream media consolidation began. If you believe the data point from Shadows or Liberty, some 90 percent of all mainstream media outlets are owned by 5 corporations. Others before and since have framed that claim differently. But suffice it to say that a relatively few conglomerates own much of the media that you, your colleagues, friends and loved ones consume. Even if you never tune into a news channel, or never pick up a newspaper or magazine, odds are excellent that when you access your smart phone or check out the latest in your social media stream, you are getting the narrative that this or that person or organization is putting forth. If you listen to music on a radio station as you drive, you are often getting someone’s take on ‘the news.’
Rephrased, no one is immune.
Gannet and USA Today are just a tiny example of a much larger and more common occurrence of media consolidation. ABC News is currently owned by Disney. NBC News is owned by NBCUniversal. Your favorite theme park and movie producer may also be providing you with their version of ‘the news.’
There were federal laws in place that had to be changed in order to bring about the consolidation of news, entertainment, and other forms of media that we experience today. Those changes in law occurred during Democratic and Republican Administrations alike. The process dates back to the 1980s. Step-by-step, America has been brought to this moment in time where a handful of media and tech giants produce or advance narratives that you, those you work with or care about get as their take on the ‘news.’
This media and platform consolidation phenomenon isn’t a simple case that leftist media is ‘right or wrong,’ or that more conservative or libertarian media sources are ‘correct or incorrect.’ If that were the case, then this vexing issue would be far easier to clarify.
But the reality is that virtually all news media got it so wrong in the run up to the war against Iraq is a reminder that sometimes both sides of that left-right media divide get the reporting wrong. That is worth mentioning. Furthermore, something similar occurred in the first Gulf War more than a decade before the current Gulf War.
That makes the point that when something has happened before it means it can happen again.
Hindsight can be 20/20. But hindsight is only clarifying to those who are willing to seek what is the truth and accept that reality. It is better to change a belief proven wrong than to persist in incorrect thoughts.
Notice. The statements that follows isn’t about bashing or cheerleading for President Donald J. Trump.
There is an evidence-based argument to be made that President Trump was misled several times this year on key issues that brought us to this tumultuous moment in time. Iceland, Taiwan, and Sweden handled the outbreak of the Wuhan Virus differently than America and much of the rest of the world did. The data is still developing, but if the trends hold true, the notion that three relatively smaller nations can outperform the U.S. in their health and economic impact begs serious questions about how America and over 100 nations around the world got the handling of the coronavirus so wrong. What the candidly anti-communist Epoch Times has labeled the CCP Virus – Communist Chines Party Virus – is about seeking the truth that has upended literally billions of lives around the world.
Propaganda should ideally give way to facts when those facts are knowable.
Stating the obvious, media are corporations. Now, hold those thoughts as we pivot back to what Project Veritas caught veteran ABC News reporter David Wright on video saying.
ABC Exposed?
ABC News’ David Wright: “I feel terrible about it. I feel that the truth suffers, the voters are poorly informed, and people also have the opportunity to tune into whatever they want to hear.
Veritas: Right.
Wright: “And so, it’s like there no upside in, or our bosses don’t see an upside in doing the job we’re supposed to do which is to speak truth to power and hold people to account.”
MHProNews note: The video then cuts to a discussion of the media handling of the death of NBA star Kobe Bryant.
Wright: Uh, a colleague of mine f**ked up on Kobe Bryant, and said that all of his daughters died in the helicopter crash.
Wright: And that was a f**k up.
Wright: He just f**ked up. And, uh, got bad information and reported bad information, and he has paid the price for it, he got suspended. But you know, I don’t know. The fake news abounds. There are problems with the truth these days.”
There is more, which can be seen in the video posted here. Keep in mind this is undercover video, so its isn’t great quality – rather, its revealing.
One of the key takeaways? Wright said that “The fake news abounds. There are problems with [getting] the truth these days.” Don’t doubt that ABC News suspended Wright for those words and others that embarrassed not only their networks, but others by extension too.
That noted, bear in mind that Project Veritas did a similar video with a CNN producer early on in the so-called “Russia Collusion” narrative that kept repeating that the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow. That Russian Collusion storyline embroiled America and Congress for much of the last 3 years. It has been thoroughly disproven since. Evidence? Not a single person was charged with a crime directly connected with Trump Campaign-Russian collusion. Zero. There were other crimes found that sent Paul Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, to prison. But they had nothing to do with actual Russian collusion. Note that Manafort was since quietly released from prison to serve out the remainder of his term at home.
An estimated $40-45 million tax dollars were spent on numerous investigations that created a grand illusion which millions still believe. Yet, that CNN producer was caught on a hidden camera and microphone by Project Veritas in 2017. He said on camera at the time that the Russia collusion story was “bullsh*t” a ‘nothing burger’ but that it was good for CNN’s ratings. MHProNews was among the media outlets which reported that shortly after that video emerged. Despite the reveal by Project Veritas and other similar exposes the false Russian collusion narrative went on. The narrative was good for ratings. The false narrative served the political interests of those who promoted it.
Project Veritas happens to lean right, while the Shadows of Liberty docudrama producers and those that they interviewed happen to lean left. Yet both sources have made a strangely similar point. Propaganda is being generated that masquerades as news. It is similar to some of the quotes that MHProNews shares every business evening in our nightly market reports. Mainstream media has been hyping news and events for years with agenda driven motivations. Different sources have differing motives.
Going back to Project Veritas’ exposé, they caught ABC News’ reporter Wright saying: “Again I think, some of that at least in the place that I work, [ABC News] and the places like it is that we’ve, with Trump we’re interested in three things. We’re interested in the outrage of the day, the investigation, and the palace intrigue of who’s backstabbing whom. Beyond that, we don’t really cover the guy [President Trump].”
MHProNews, as you and every other American, knows people near and dear that think the worst of President Trump Ironically, Trump-supporters don’t believe the man is a saint. His lack of perfection is no deterrent to their views of his policies. Prior to real estate and media mogul Trump entering the race in 2015, he was a celebrity that was seen as a successful professional who was a womanizer. There were no serious allegations of racism against the man whom black billionaire media tycoon Oprah Winfrey had on her show several times. Oprah is not known for positively hyping or headlining racists.
Narratives – often illusions – are created by taking what looks like or appears to be ‘evidence’ and then hyping it. Repeat that over and over again and people will believe it. The evidence is found in this report. That happened in the first and second Gulf Wars. It occurred with candidate turned President Trump. It has happened with the Wuhan Virus, where information that was deemed true a few weeks or months ago by ‘scientists’ and ‘medical experts’ mysteriously changes 180 degrees. It is happening with the BLM movement too.
There are people on both sides of the left-right political and media divides that have made the point that the CCP Virus pandemic has resulted in one of the greatest transfers of wealth in American history. The Wuhan Virus was real enough, that is not the issue. The question is, why was the pandemic handled so radically different than the Hong Kong Flu in the late 1960s? At this point in time, about a similar number of Americans died from each of those two different outbreaks. Why did one result large parts of the economy being shut down?
As you ponder that, consider this question. Why are voices on both sides of the left-right media divide giving cover to billionaire Bill Gates and his foundation’s role in the pandemic? It is a strawman argument and a red herring to say that all of the concerns raised about the Gates Foundation are ‘conspiracy theories.’ That begs all of the dots from known facts that have already been compiled.
Real news reporters – if their parent companies allowed them to do so – would be asking the tough questions. Reporters if allowed would follow the evidence and would also be following the money trail, which is what MHLivingNews did in the report linked above.
Why did Gates and his Gates foundation, which has Warren Buffett as a huge contributor and trustee, help fund Event 201 in October 2019, and then not recognize and warn the world about the pandemic as it was emerging in November 2019? Where is the common sense? Gates and his foundation have prepared for this for years. Are thinking people to believe that just a few weeks after the Event 201 pandemic response exercise was performed, that everyone involved missed all of the signs in Wuhan, China? That defies belief and common sense.
But Gates and his organization are not alone. Similar questions must be asked about other Americans knew and did, because several were in state, local and federal governments that practiced a response to a pandemic just weeks before the actual viral outbreak.
The Crimson Contagion exercise occurred in August 2019. The video below was one of those made documenting the event. Crimson Contagion was extensively reported by MHProNews at links here and here, plus in the MHLivingNews report above.
As the New York Times and others in media put it last week, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) was waiting for decades for just such a pandemic. How did the CDC get it so wrong? That’s the right question, even if the New York Times may fail to provide the correct answer. Note that the video below isn’t exciting, it simply reveals that numerous state, local and federal agencies tested their preparedness of a viral outbreak – in an exercise called Crimson Contagion – that occurred in August 2019. The evidence now points to U.S. intelligence awareness of the Wuhan Virus threat by November of 2019. Why didn’t those who prepared see COVID19 for what it turned out to be?
Members of Congress were briefed on Crimson Contagion on December 4, 2019. Why didn’t they see what was coming sooner from China in the pandemic they were spending billions to spot and prevent? Dr. Robert Kadlec is testifying in this video below and the Crimson Contagion pandemic drill fell under his agency’s umbrella. New York City was among the jurisdictions involved in the preparation. Why didn’t officials there spot what was occurring in China and act accordingly? The questions are many, and they cross partisan lines.
Talk radio king Rush Limbaugh, a friend of the president, said recently that President Trump was misled by people that he trusted. Weeks before Limbaugh’s on-air comment, MHProNews raised the notion that the president was being deceived by members of the federal government. Why did we raise that concern? Among other reasons, because former Fox News reporter James Rosen issued an exclusive fpr Sinclair that made a related point. Rosen reported that the White House had been misinformed on a medical issue related to COVID19. If misinformation happens on one thing pandemic related, why are we surprised if it happens on others?
- 2020 is an election year. It is 5 months to the general election.
- The Chinese Communists have an agenda.
- There are American billionaires that are happy to work with China for profit’s sake. Among them are each of those who is listed in the report below.
- Money and power are two of the oldest motivators in history. A third, sex, comes along as a bonus for those who have money and power. Investigators look for evidence, motivations and the money trail. Why is so little of that occurring in much of the media? There are reports, by why are they fairly obscure?
Some of the richest people in America are also the richest in the world. Some of them have deep ties with media and/or own their own media platforms. Additionally, they may have significant stock holdings in major media operations.
It was largely left-of-center Shadows of Liberty that made it clear that CBS News was happy to look the other way on the Nike scandal, because Nike cut a deal with CBS for an Olympic sponsorship. That was another case of the truth hiding in plain sight because Nike’s logo was on CBC News correspondents covering those Olympics. Correspondents became “human billboards” said Shadows of Liberty. If something happens once, that means it can happen again and again. Thinking people must be open to the possibility that something like that on a larger scale is occurring again.
Are there screw ball conspiracy theories about the Wuhan Virus? No doubt. But a few bad theories doesn’t mean that everything known about the handling of the pandemic can be dismissed as a ‘conspiracy theory.’ There are highly informed people and governments who hold views similar to what we’ve reported.
Has the Trump Administration been misled on the handling of the pandemic? There is evidence that it has. But if so, then the guilt or responsibility for that mishandling lies with those that perpetrated the deception. You don’t blame the mugging victim for getting mugged. America spends billions on the CDC, or on spy agencies that both reported late in the game. That merits serious, impartial investigation.
Bringing it Home…
Manufactured housing has been underperforming before Warren Buffett led Berkshire Hathaway bought into the industry in 2003. But during an affordable housing crisis, manufactured housing has underperformed at a historically low rate since the Berkshire acquisition of Clayton Homes and their affiliated lenders.
Simultaneous to industry underperformance, Berkshire owned Clayton Homes – along with affiliated lenders 21st Mortgage Corporation and Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance (VMF) – have steadily grown their market share during over 15 years of industry underperformance. Thousands of businesses have been driven out of business that previously were successful for years. Thousands of other businesses owned by ‘mom and pop’ operations sold out at discounted valuations.
Understanding the sobering facts sheds light. Our industry has gone backwards, as measured by the percentage of manufactured home sales sold compared to the mainstream housing market attests. How was that possible — unless Buffett-led Berkshire wanted it to be so? Doesn’t that fit the Buffett Castle and Moat with alligators and sharks in the water at work thesis that MHProNews has contended for years?
More to the point, doesn’t that fit the concerns that the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR), and several current or past MHI members and staff have raised? Note, they haven’t weighed on the pandemic in general, but they have on more industry specific issues.
When viewed objectively through the lens of hindsight and history, the truth is hiding in plain sight. But it is routinely obscured by methods of propaganda and manipulation. That’s not a mere opinion. Look at the linked evidence. Because odds are good that you and those that you know have been harmed by this purported scam.
Black lives have always mattered. But so too have all other lives too. Terrance Floyd, George Floyd’s brother, said as much. Terrance said that he and his family are God fearing people. Terrance Floyd pleaded for peace, while thanking protesters that are not acting violently or criminally.
There is no need to fund groups that have ties to Antifa or other parties which per law enforcement sources are linked to the terror, looting, violence, death and destruction. That devastation of often smaller businesses have been witnessed on streets across America for the past 2 weeks.
That too rage is also in some measure a media-fueled phenomenon. Is there evidence? What happened to concerns over COVID19? Why was it wrong for smaller businesses to peacefully protest their companies being locked down? Why is it then okay for mega-corporations and billionaires to openly fund the protestors that are de facto undermining so many smaller sized businesses? Why are several politicians and public health officials sending such obviously mixed messages? Isn’t the obvious answer that there are hidden agendas that opposed the one but supported the other?
The principle of separating the wheat from the chaff is necessary with all people, organizations, and things. The president has his flaws, but his policies also helped foster an economic renaissance that the U.S. had not seen in decades. Those Trump Administration policies where lifting all boats, including those of minorities. There was fear among his opponents who are often Democrats, but some Republicans and others too, that the Trump-Pence ticket would cruise to re-election. The pandemic and riots, hope his rivals, believe could place his reelection in doubt.
- Divide and conquer. That is a strategy that dates back for centuries.
- Misinformation, half-truths, spin and even grand lies. That pattern too goes back through the ages. You may agree or disagree with House Minority Whip James Clyburn (SC-D) politics to agree with this truism.
Sometimes people on either side of the left-right divide get something correct, or something incorrect. That’s life and it happens to everyone. There is nothing sinister with certain types of mistakes. But when mistakes are discovered, moral people and ethical organizations admit their errors. It is when errors are covered up that concern should grow.
There are events such as the two Gulf Wars that are reminders that sometimes widespread misinformation has been occurring for decades. Not all news is fake news. That only makes spotting fake news more challenging.
Why did America and over 100 other nations spent billions on pandemic preparation still get caught flat-footed by COVID19?
Why after decades of typically Democratic rule in cities like Minneapolis, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta or others result in more wealth inequality among minorities? Why did George Floyd’s tragic death get so much attention, while the dozens shot and often killed in Chicago every weekend for years get only a period mention by national news? Don’t all black lives matter? Or is that just useful to gin up a reliably Democratic base as the 2020 election approaches?
Each of those topics and several others that include the massive underperformance of manufactured housing are examined in the headlines that follow.
If there were a decoder ring for truth detection, this would be simpler. But there isn’t. Thus fact checks, analysis and thoughtful commentary that cites sources accurately are necessary for professionals like you.
Beyond the headlines and linked reports that follow, there are some teasers for developing reports that include federal and corporate items you will likely find no where else but here on MHProNews. One more secret hiding in plain sight will also be briefly discussed.
With no further adieu, let’s turn to the headlines and reports for the week that was from 5.31 to 6.7.2020.
What’s New from Washington D.C. from MHARR
What’s the latest on MHLivingNews
What’s New on the Daily Business News on MHProNews
Saturday 6.6.2020
PissedConsumer.com on Clayton Homes, Growing Section 230 Legal Dispute
Friday 6.5.2020
Thursday 6.4.2020
Manufactured Housing Industry Production Drops During COVID19 Closures
Wednesday 6.3.2020
Tuesday 6.2.2020
Monday 6.1.2020
Sunday 5.31.2020
Speaking of Psychology and Manipulation…
According to Dr. Vaile Wright, a psychologist who has studied fake news, she has said the following. “Well, you can’t call everything fake news. Just because information doesn’t necessarily align with your personal views that you have already doesn’t mean that it’s fake…There’s a difference there. So, just because people disagree with you doesn’t mean that the information that they’re presenting is fake or false.”
MHProNews unpacks the issue of discerning fake from real news day by day. Keep in mind that someone can be speaking the truth, but may be doing it in a deceptive fashion. There are numerous ploys used to deceive.
Teasers and Tips
MHProNews has exclusive comments on and off the record from federal and corporate sources on developing reports. Some of those may break for reporting as soon as this week. Watch for them. Additionally, there are troubling reports about MHI member firms that tipsters have asked us to investigate.
Why are we able to unpack issues that others in our industry gloss over and ignore?
No one has our audience which trusts us to follow up on tips that a range of sources provide. We are not Johnny come lately to issues of social justice. We’ve been spotlighting that through the lens of affordable housing for years.
Not to brag, but few in our industry would dare claim that they have the training or experience to see what is possible fake or what is begging for scrutiny.
- “Jesus said: “Watch out that no one deceives you.” (Mt. 24.4).
- “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Hosea 4:6.
- “And do not argue on behalf of those who deceive themselves. Indeed, Allah loves not one who is a habitually sinful deceiver. [Quran, 4:107]” – according to the Understand Quran Academy.
- “All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when we are able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.” ― Sun Tzu, The Art of War, per GoodReads.
- “Just because something isn’t a lie does not mean that it isn’t deceptive. A liar knows that he is a liar, but one who speaks mere portions of truth in order to deceive is a craftsman of destruction.”
― Criss Jami, per GoodReads.
There’s always more ahead, because news and historic insights are always developing.
To provide a tip or sign up for our industry leading x2 weekly headline news updates, look below the byline, just above other related reports.
Thousands of industry readers daily vote with their browsers, devices, and time to say that you’ve found the right place to do that here at your home for authentic “News Through the Lens of Manufactured Homes and Factory-Built Housing” © where “We Provide, You Decide.” © ## (Affordable housing, manufactured homes, reports, fact-checks, analysis, and commentary. Third-party images or content are provided under fair use guidelines for media.) (See Related Reports, further below. Text/image boxes often are hot-linked to other reports that can be access by clicking on them.)
By L.A. “Tony” Kovach – for MHLivingNews.com.
Tony earned a journalism scholarship and earned numerous awards in history and in manufactured housing. For example, he earned the prestigious Lottinville Award in history from the University of Oklahoma, where he studied history and business management. He’s a managing member and co-founder of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHProNews, and MHLivingNews.com. This article reflects the LLC’s and/or the writer’s position, and may or may not reflect the views of sponsors or supporters.
Connect on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach
Related References:
The text/image boxes below are linked to other reports, which can be accessed by clicking on them.
[caption id="attachment_155928" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
“MHI Lies, Independent Businesses Die” © – True or False? – Berkshire’s Joanne Stevens Strikes Again
Prosperity Now, Nonprofits Sustain John Oliver’s “Mobile Homes” Video in Their Reports
