Alberta teachers are set to strike. This is causing different reactions. Some are reprimanding teachers for showing concern not for the kids they teach, but for only themselves. Some news publications and programs have insinuated that teachers want to strike. I talked to several teachers who deny that, saying they have no choice but a strike.

Such misinformation is exemplary of many organizations which broadcast information on a large scale. Indeed, our society now relies on knowledge regarding things outside our experience. For anything from reports on weather to the actions of companies and corporations, most people turn to media organizations of some kind for information. These organizations know that.

Media organizations put a large amount of resources into promoting the idea not only that their information is true, but that to doubt that information is to discredit oneself, to be paranoid or foolish. They are succeeding. How often do people react to a person who characteristically exhibits doubt by putting them down or mocking them?

Misinformation is far more than a board of censors returning Tom Green’s latest project with scenes deleted. For instance, Heather Reisman (the woman behind the merger of Indigo and Chapters book sellers) banned Mein Kampf (Adolf Hitler’s most important work) from her stores, which control a large portion of book sales in this country. Is that not akin to banning books which detail the workings of diabetes and cancer? Why does she not want Canadians to know how a fascist mind thinks? Is she playing her cards close to her chest?

In New York City’s Times Square there is a large and prominent billboard which displays an American flag, the stars of which have been replaced by various corporate logos. There is text that reads “Declare Independence From Corporate Rule”. Recently Miramax, a subsidiary of Disney, phoned the organization responsible for the billboard, and informed them that they wanted to shoot a movie at that location, and that the billboard was not wanted as part of the film. Adbusters, the thorn in this particular side of Disney, states: “Disney gave us three options. We could (a) take the billboard down for a week or two; (b) cover up the billboard; or (c) change the billboard's corporate logos back into stars.” (http://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/flag/nyc.html) Miramax’s timing in wanting to shoot their movie scene is remarkable. Indeed, one cannot deny that their timing was perfect for silencing Adbusters’ message.

Recently Michael Gerber wrote Barry Trotter and the Unauthorized Parody, in which Trotter’s biography is marketed as Barry Trotter and the Inevitable Attempt to Cash In. Never heard of it? That’s because former obscure doting British mother J.K. Rowling has been purchased by megalithic corporation AOL, and no publisher wants anger them, so he self-published. Need more? Visit http://saveharry.com. Also note: I have heard that Gerber earlier published a parody of the Bible.

Even the CBC suspended reporter Norman Lester for writing Le livre noir du Canada anglais, a book which criticizes English Canada. The worst part is that if suppression does not work, corporations admit their evils and make them “cool”, so that even then if anyone criticizes them, that person appears to be a naïve “radical” who is not in touch with post-industrial reality.

Various forms of information control surround us at all times. As author William S. Burroughs is quoted as saying, "The definition of paranoia is having all the facts." Indeed, the X-Files catch-phrase, “The truth is out there”, now applies to more than just aliens and the paranormal; these days “out there” is sometimes the most accurate location of where the truth really is.