Surviving Capitalism (Not) : The new US-Russia Cold War

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

The new US-Russia Cold War

Click here to access article by Pepe Escobar from Asia Times Online.

This is a very important editorial because it touches on some very important trends relating to the direction of the US Empire. In this piece the links he provides are very important and must be accessed to lend substance to his views. For example, the link to Asst. Sec. of State Nuland speaking to the US-Ukraine Foundation provides additional context to the leaked secret conversation with the US Ambassador to Ukraine. Notice at its beginning the posters contain the large Chevron logo on the right poster-board and on the left you can dimly make out "Exxon-Mobil", indicating that both global corporations are major sponsors of the forum.

Update: the latest news from Kiev, Ukraine does not look good.

Escobar's link to The Nation piece by Stephen Cohen covers well the almost monolithic anti-Russian coverage found in US media.

I have noticed this same propaganda-loaded news trend in US media coverage over the past decade, and it seems to be getting steadily worse--or is this just my imagination?

Just last night I viewed NBC's nightly news coverage which opened with the program's host, Brian Williams, intensely and breathlessly hammering away at the human rights crimes committed by the North Korean (DPRK) government going into considerable detail about horrifying incidents which reminded me of the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. The report was triggered by a UN Human Rights commission report on the DPRK. Looking into the commission members, I discovered they were made up of members from Empire friendly countries: Poland, Australia, Serbia, and Indonesia.