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This is responding to an undercover video by the activists at Project Veritas. They have released a video that appears to show a Pfizer director saying they ar

by Digory 4y ago

This is responding to an undercover video by the activists at Project Veritas. They have released a video that appears to show a Pfizer director saying they are mutating new COVID lines for vaccine purposes.

hnbad 4y ago
For context, this is Project Veritas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Veritas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Veritas > Project Veritas is an American far-right activist group founded by James O'Keefe in 2010. The group produces deceptively edited videos of its undercover operations, which use secret recordings in an effort to discredit mainstream media organizations and progressive groups. Project Veritas also uses entrapment to generate bad publicity for its targets, and has propagated disinformation and conspiracy theories in its videos and operations. Regardless of what you may think of the recordings themselves, the presentation and editing is often extremely misleading and credentials of the recorded individuals are often overstated to help create a narrative.
- LargoLasskhyfv 4y ago
  [flagged]
- willcipriano 4y ago
  For more context, they consistently win defamation lawsuits and the chorus of "this is out of context" folks never seem to be able to provide any. Look up "Project Veritas RETRACTO" on YouTube to find their ongoing series where mainstream journalists have been forced to retract statements made about Veritas hundreds of times due to them being inaccurate.
- robswc 4y ago
  Something like this is always posted whenever Project Veritas comes up. I agree they're mostly finding things for outrage culture and are generally annoying... sometimes they uncover legitimately concerning things though. That said, here's an example of why I dislike this "argument." Joseph Bruno, Dean of Students, Francis W. Parker School: “So, I’ve been the Dean for four years. During Pride -- we do a Pride Week every year -- I had our LGBTQ+ Health Center come in [to the classroom]. They were passing around butt-plugs and dildos to my students -- talking about queer sex, using lube versus using spit.” The school's response: A school spokesperson said the dean was “filmed without his knowledge or permission while describing one example of our inclusive, LGBTQ+ affirming a comprehensive approach to sex education. Veritas deceptively edited the video with malicious intent.” [1] Notice, they say absolutely _nothing_ about whether they [2] pass around butt-plugs and dildos. If anything, their statement lends to the idea that they do in fact do that. I do not care if the Dean was "misled" or the video is "edited" unless that disproves what the Dean claimed. My bar isn't that high at all. -- [1] : https://www.wane.com/news/private-school-defends-dean-after-project-veritas-claims-sex-toys-shown-in-class-discussion/ https://www.wane.com/news/private-school-defends-dean-after-... [2] : edit, as some believe my original wording (do give out sex toys to kids) was disingenuous
  - noibl 4y ago
    Your substitution... - passing around butt-plugs and dildos to my students + [giving] out sex toys to kids ...is an example of exactly the kind of transcription error via which controversy ignites into hysteria. If we are to interpret your intent charitably, we must also charitably assume that abstract anatomical models (sex toys) are a useful and valid demonstration tool in the context of sexual health education.
    - hnbad 4y ago
      FWIW most dildos aimed at women are not actually "anatomical models" and would not be recognizable if you've never seen one before. Likewise, butt-plugs may sound kinky but they don't look particularly imposing unless you deliberately go for extreme sizes. Also presumably much like condoms often handed out to students in sex ed, it's safe to assume these aren't used. The "leak" deliberately evokes the image of a queer predator handing out their own massive butt plugs and veiny rubber dongs to children to seduce them into sexual acts. The video is not just supposed to spark outrage with extreme conservatives who think giving "children" (I can't find any source specifying the age so this could be anything from 6 to 17) an opportunity to ask questions about sex is child abuse (or "grooming", "sexualizing children", etc), but also moderates who assume the worst because of how this "revelation" is reported on (after all, if it makes headlines, it must be bad).
      - noibl 4y ago
        Several good points of clarification. My own phrasing leaned heavily on "abstract".
    - robswc 4y ago
      I was actually trying to be _less_ polarizing in my phrasing. The issue isn't that ppl are under the impression they got to take these items home. The issue is that there is 0 reason on earth for schools to be introducing kids to butt-plugs and passing them around like its show and tell.
  - tanaros 4y ago
- hulitu 4y ago
  > in an effort to discredit mainstream media organizations and progressive groups. Project Veritas also uses entrapment to generate bad publicity for its targets, and has propagated disinformation and conspiracy theories in its videos and operations. This looks like normal journalism.
- horns4lyfe 4y ago
  That’s a very generous reading of what far right means. They’re not fascists.
fidgewidge 4y ago
It actually does show that, albeit he says they're considering/planning on doing it, not doing it right now. The clips where he talks about it are long and with plenty of context, the man in question does indeed have the title Veritas claimed for him (although they are now trying to scrub his internet presence), and when he was confronted with the recordings he freaked out and attacked the reporters. On every thread about Veritas recordings, there's always people like hnbad who try to stop people watching the videos by labelling it as "far right" i.e. if you're progressive, you're not allowed to look. It's just more lies. There's nothing "far right" about what they do. The people in the videos literally speak for themselves, and often admit to the worst case scenarios that had previously been considered absurd conspiracy theories. Pfizer planning to create COVID variants so they can later sell vaccines for them - tinfoil crazy uncle stuff, except it comes direct from the mouth of a Pfizer employee who has been briefed on the initiative.
- hotpotamus 4y ago
  You insult the intelligence of anyone to suggest that Project Veritas does not have a right-wing political agenda. Whether it is "far" to the right, I don't know. I'd certainly be curious to see the videos if they were to turn their spycraft/journalism (I'll admit there may be some overlap in those) on powerful right-wing figures, but we both know that will not be happening. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that a vaccine maker is doing research on the virus and what all that entails. What would strike me as "tinfoil crazy uncle" stuff would be if he had said they had plans to release new viruses in order to sell vaccines. But who knows - the profit incentive can drive all sorts of innovation - especially in medicine where the stakes are life and death.
  - gjsman-1000 4y ago
    Well, if you watch the original video, he said that he speculated that’s what happened in Wuhan, and that there had better not be more outbreaks. Just the fact that a Pfizer employee would make a serious comment like that is terrifying and should spark investigations into that lab immediately. Also, there should be investigations to our pandemic leadership for so heavily insisting that it almost certainly was not a leak - especially after the employee’s comments on regulatory capture.
LBJsPNS 4y ago
And Project Veritas has demonstrated they are not to be taken as a valid source.
- gjsman-1000 4y ago
  By the claims people make against them, the mainstream media is many times more guilty. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34558690 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34558690
  - timeon 4y ago
    > the mainstream media is many times more guilty This "activist" is financed by Koch brothers. How is he in opposition to "mainstream" media?
    - horns4lyfe 4y ago
      He’s not, but they’re no more credible for the same reason.
- up2isomorphism 4y ago
  What part of this video is in particular untrue? If you lied 10000000 times before, so your claim that 1+1=2 is no longer valid?
  - gjsman-1000 4y ago
    Also, on that note, the average American lies 4 times every day, or 1,460 lies per year. Does that mean there is no such thing as trust? I can make anyone look like a serial liar if I hate them enough.
- horns4lyfe 4y ago
  Fortunately we don’t have to, we have the video that shows exactly what they said it did, unambiguously and with plenty of context.
up2isomorphism 4y ago
“Appears?” You appear to use the word “appears” when it is just a fact. Also I guess soon chatgpt will gain this function by reading your narrative.
unraveller 4y ago
You got a source that those internal "admissions" are the allegations they are responding to and not any other floating around? Their vagueness on this point alone is far from transparent.

by Digory 4y ago

hnbad 4y ago

For context, this is Project Veritas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Veritas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Veritas > Project Veritas is an American far-right activist group founded by James O'Keefe in 2010. The group produces deceptively edited videos of its undercover operations, which use secret recordings in an effort to discredit mainstream media organizations and progressive groups. Project Veritas also uses entrapment to generate bad publicity for its targets, and has propagated disinformation and conspiracy theories in its videos and operations. Regardless of what you may think of the recordings themselves, the presentation and editing is often extremely misleading and credentials of the recorded individuals are often overstated to help create a narrative.

LargoLasskhyfv 4y ago
[flagged]
willcipriano 4y ago
For more context, they consistently win defamation lawsuits and the chorus of "this is out of context" folks never seem to be able to provide any. Look up "Project Veritas RETRACTO" on YouTube to find their ongoing series where mainstream journalists have been forced to retract statements made about Veritas hundreds of times due to them being inaccurate.
robswc 4y ago
Something like this is always posted whenever Project Veritas comes up. I agree they're mostly finding things for outrage culture and are generally annoying... sometimes they uncover legitimately concerning things though. That said, here's an example of why I dislike this "argument." Joseph Bruno, Dean of Students, Francis W. Parker School: “So, I’ve been the Dean for four years. During Pride -- we do a Pride Week every year -- I had our LGBTQ+ Health Center come in [to the classroom]. They were passing around butt-plugs and dildos to my students -- talking about queer sex, using lube versus using spit.” The school's response: A school spokesperson said the dean was “filmed without his knowledge or permission while describing one example of our inclusive, LGBTQ+ affirming a comprehensive approach to sex education. Veritas deceptively edited the video with malicious intent.” [1] Notice, they say absolutely _nothing_ about whether they [2] pass around butt-plugs and dildos. If anything, their statement lends to the idea that they do in fact do that. I do not care if the Dean was "misled" or the video is "edited" unless that disproves what the Dean claimed. My bar isn't that high at all. -- [1] : https://www.wane.com/news/private-school-defends-dean-after-project-veritas-claims-sex-toys-shown-in-class-discussion/ https://www.wane.com/news/private-school-defends-dean-after-... [2] : edit, as some believe my original wording (do give out sex toys to kids) was disingenuous
- noibl 4y ago
  Your substitution... - passing around butt-plugs and dildos to my students + [giving] out sex toys to kids ...is an example of exactly the kind of transcription error via which controversy ignites into hysteria. If we are to interpret your intent charitably, we must also charitably assume that abstract anatomical models (sex toys) are a useful and valid demonstration tool in the context of sexual health education.
  - hnbad 4y ago
    FWIW most dildos aimed at women are not actually "anatomical models" and would not be recognizable if you've never seen one before. Likewise, butt-plugs may sound kinky but they don't look particularly imposing unless you deliberately go for extreme sizes. Also presumably much like condoms often handed out to students in sex ed, it's safe to assume these aren't used. The "leak" deliberately evokes the image of a queer predator handing out their own massive butt plugs and veiny rubber dongs to children to seduce them into sexual acts. The video is not just supposed to spark outrage with extreme conservatives who think giving "children" (I can't find any source specifying the age so this could be anything from 6 to 17) an opportunity to ask questions about sex is child abuse (or "grooming", "sexualizing children", etc), but also moderates who assume the worst because of how this "revelation" is reported on (after all, if it makes headlines, it must be bad).
    - noibl 4y ago
      Several good points of clarification. My own phrasing leaned heavily on "abstract".
  - robswc 4y ago
    I was actually trying to be _less_ polarizing in my phrasing. The issue isn't that ppl are under the impression they got to take these items home. The issue is that there is 0 reason on earth for schools to be introducing kids to butt-plugs and passing them around like its show and tell.
- tanaros 4y ago
hulitu 4y ago
> in an effort to discredit mainstream media organizations and progressive groups. Project Veritas also uses entrapment to generate bad publicity for its targets, and has propagated disinformation and conspiracy theories in its videos and operations. This looks like normal journalism.
horns4lyfe 4y ago
That’s a very generous reading of what far right means. They’re not fascists.

fidgewidge 4y ago

It actually does show that, albeit he says they're considering/planning on doing it, not doing it right now. The clips where he talks about it are long and with plenty of context, the man in question does indeed have the title Veritas claimed for him (although they are now trying to scrub his internet presence), and when he was confronted with the recordings he freaked out and attacked the reporters. On every thread about Veritas recordings, there's always people like hnbad who try to stop people watching the videos by labelling it as "far right" i.e. if you're progressive, you're not allowed to look. It's just more lies. There's nothing "far right" about what they do. The people in the videos literally speak for themselves, and often admit to the worst case scenarios that had previously been considered absurd conspiracy theories. Pfizer planning to create COVID variants so they can later sell vaccines for them - tinfoil crazy uncle stuff, except it comes direct from the mouth of a Pfizer employee who has been briefed on the initiative.

hotpotamus 4y ago
You insult the intelligence of anyone to suggest that Project Veritas does not have a right-wing political agenda. Whether it is "far" to the right, I don't know. I'd certainly be curious to see the videos if they were to turn their spycraft/journalism (I'll admit there may be some overlap in those) on powerful right-wing figures, but we both know that will not be happening. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that a vaccine maker is doing research on the virus and what all that entails. What would strike me as "tinfoil crazy uncle" stuff would be if he had said they had plans to release new viruses in order to sell vaccines. But who knows - the profit incentive can drive all sorts of innovation - especially in medicine where the stakes are life and death.
- gjsman-1000 4y ago
  Well, if you watch the original video, he said that he speculated that’s what happened in Wuhan, and that there had better not be more outbreaks. Just the fact that a Pfizer employee would make a serious comment like that is terrifying and should spark investigations into that lab immediately. Also, there should be investigations to our pandemic leadership for so heavily insisting that it almost certainly was not a leak - especially after the employee’s comments on regulatory capture.

LBJsPNS 4y ago

And Project Veritas has demonstrated they are not to be taken as a valid source.

gjsman-1000 4y ago
By the claims people make against them, the mainstream media is many times more guilty. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34558690 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34558690
- timeon 4y ago
  > the mainstream media is many times more guilty This "activist" is financed by Koch brothers. How is he in opposition to "mainstream" media?
  - horns4lyfe 4y ago
    He’s not, but they’re no more credible for the same reason.
up2isomorphism 4y ago
What part of this video is in particular untrue? If you lied 10000000 times before, so your claim that 1+1=2 is no longer valid?
- gjsman-1000 4y ago
  Also, on that note, the average American lies 4 times every day, or 1,460 lies per year. Does that mean there is no such thing as trust? I can make anyone look like a serial liar if I hate them enough.
horns4lyfe 4y ago
Fortunately we don’t have to, we have the video that shows exactly what they said it did, unambiguously and with plenty of context.

up2isomorphism 4y ago

“Appears?” You appear to use the word “appears” when it is just a fact. Also I guess soon chatgpt will gain this function by reading your narrative.

unraveller 4y ago

You got a source that those internal "admissions" are the allegations they are responding to and not any other floating around? Their vagueness on this point alone is far from transparent.