Saturday, October 14, 2017
Trump’s Media Furore... US Democracy On Thin Ice
Click here to access article by Finian Cunningham from Strategic Culture Foundation.
So, what's an advanced capitalist ruling class to do when it wants to get rid of a president? Well, we saw how it was done with Kennedy. Although he refused to take orders from the Deep State that rules the US, he was very popular. But Trump is merely acting like a clown; on the other hand, he is quite a useful clown for the capitalist Deep State. A coup would put US "democracy" on a par with Latin American banana republics. Impeachment process might take too long, and it represents only a first step in getting rid of him. Appearances are everything to our masters who find the myth of "democratic" rule so useful in preventing Americans from seeing the darker reality. So, stay tuned to corporate media to find out how our masters resolve this dilemma. If Trump weren't so dangerous as CEO of the US, this "show" that is broadcast every day on TV would be very entertaining.
The US capitalist's version of "democracy" is indeed on thin ice as numerous reports are showing up in both mainstream and alternative media, both the right and left of the political spectrum, that suggest the orange "moron" may not be our head of state much longer. (See also this, this, this, this, and this.) It is becoming serious when even his close friends, the Israelis, are expressing concern.The irony is, however, that the attack on American democratic rights has already been underway before Trump entered the White House, and without much protest from the same media outlets who are now railing against Trump over this rants. We can point to the increasing surveillance powers of federal intelligence agencies which have steadily encroached since the September 2001 terror incidents in New York and Washington DC.
Media freedom in the US has been under assault for a long time.
Trump’s latest outburst is not a one-off anomaly.
So, what's an advanced capitalist ruling class to do when it wants to get rid of a president? Well, we saw how it was done with Kennedy. Although he refused to take orders from the Deep State that rules the US, he was very popular. But Trump is merely acting like a clown; on the other hand, he is quite a useful clown for the capitalist Deep State. A coup would put US "democracy" on a par with Latin American banana republics. Impeachment process might take too long, and it represents only a first step in getting rid of him. Appearances are everything to our masters who find the myth of "democratic" rule so useful in preventing Americans from seeing the darker reality. So, stay tuned to corporate media to find out how our masters resolve this dilemma. If Trump weren't so dangerous as CEO of the US, this "show" that is broadcast every day on TV would be very entertaining.
Thursday, October 12, 2017
Why U.S. and Saudi Arabia back Rohingya in Myanmar
Click here to access article by Sara Flounders from Workers World.
Flounders with this article accomplishes an excellent example of investigative reporting.
She argues that the US and Saudi agents are supporting terrorist groups that have infiltrated the Rohingya. (Later she lists the sources that support her argument. The latter reports, of course, find very little coverage in corporate media.) While US officials have been hypocritically "beating the drums" (def.) on behalf of the Rohingya and corporate media is doing likewise, the result is...
I would like to suggest a larger hypothesis that shapes nearly all widespread coverage by media corporations: Media corporations overwhelmingly exist to promote the profit and power interests of their owners who are major capitalists. Therefore it follows that if you are going to following Western corporate media reports, you will be exposed to what they want you to believe about world events that affect their interests. In other words, you will be treated as a dupe.
The US-led Empire and its ruling capitalist classes are in a desperate struggle right now to wrest control away from other nations so that they can cover their increasing debts (around the massive figure of $20 trillion dollars for the US alone) with their increasing control over the world's labor and consumer markets and access to cheap resources by their corporations. If they fail at world domination, they fail their investors who constitute the ruling class of the Empire and will likely end their opportunities to cover government debts that are owed to themselves. The obvious problem is that they are hell-bent on stirring up conflicts like the one in Myanmar (Burma) and never-ending wars all over the world with devastating results for people like you and me.
Unless you are one of these investors, you have almost no reason to listen, read, or follow the news reports issued by their media corporations. It is now more urgent than ever to seek out reliable alternative media for this information; and better yet, to help create an independent news service to serve the interests of working people like ourselves.
Flounders with this article accomplishes an excellent example of investigative reporting.
She argues that the US and Saudi agents are supporting terrorist groups that have infiltrated the Rohingya. (Later she lists the sources that support her argument. The latter reports, of course, find very little coverage in corporate media.) While US officials have been hypocritically "beating the drums" (def.) on behalf of the Rohingya and corporate media is doing likewise, the result is...
Demonstrations, protests and online petitions have appeared worldwide to defend the struggle of the Rohingya people who have been driven from Myanmar into exile.The obvious conclusion, which she reaches, is that these carefully engineered events and corporate media reports are crafted by the US-led Empire's directors in order to contain China's influence in the region.
I would like to suggest a larger hypothesis that shapes nearly all widespread coverage by media corporations: Media corporations overwhelmingly exist to promote the profit and power interests of their owners who are major capitalists. Therefore it follows that if you are going to following Western corporate media reports, you will be exposed to what they want you to believe about world events that affect their interests. In other words, you will be treated as a dupe.
The US-led Empire and its ruling capitalist classes are in a desperate struggle right now to wrest control away from other nations so that they can cover their increasing debts (around the massive figure of $20 trillion dollars for the US alone) with their increasing control over the world's labor and consumer markets and access to cheap resources by their corporations. If they fail at world domination, they fail their investors who constitute the ruling class of the Empire and will likely end their opportunities to cover government debts that are owed to themselves. The obvious problem is that they are hell-bent on stirring up conflicts like the one in Myanmar (Burma) and never-ending wars all over the world with devastating results for people like you and me.
Unless you are one of these investors, you have almost no reason to listen, read, or follow the news reports issued by their media corporations. It is now more urgent than ever to seek out reliable alternative media for this information; and better yet, to help create an independent news service to serve the interests of working people like ourselves.
Living Dangerously in Catalonia
Click here to access article by "Don Quijones" from Rigged Game. ("Don Quijones" is a pseudonym for a Brit who lives with his Mexican wife mostly in Barcelona.)
This is the best article (together with its linked-to 2013 article by the same author) that I have read about the developing crisis in Barcelona and its province Catalonia. I have read several books (including Orwell's Homage to Catalonia) about the Spanish Civil War that began in 1936, and have wondered if this pivotal historical event were a direct antecedent of the current split between Madrid and Catalonia. Catalonia was the ideological and military center that defended the young, leftist Spanish republic from the attacks of Spanish, German, and Italian fascist armies. (Meanwhile the Western "democracies" stood passively by in neutrality and watched the destruction.) His linked-to article of 2013 affirms that this history has a very strong influence on what is happening today. I strongly encourage you to read it.
In the 2013 article he insightfully writes about the developing hostile relationship between the Spanish government and Catalonia and relates it to the earlier Civil War:
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| The province of Catalonia in Spain |
In the 2013 article he insightfully writes about the developing hostile relationship between the Spanish government and Catalonia and relates it to the earlier Civil War:
Franco’s dictatorship ended only 38 years ago — a mere blink of the eye in the great scheme of things — and Spain’s “transition” into a full-fledged constitutional democracy remains very much half-finished. Its institutions of democracy and civil society are still precariously young and extremely fragile.In today's article he writes about the current situation:
Perhaps most importantly, Spain, as a living, breathing whole, is yet to come to terms with its recent past. The reason for this is simple: In the wake of Franco’s death in 1975, rather than confronting and reconciling themselves to the injustices and horrors perpetrated in his name, most Spanish people, including many on the left, simply swept all memory of them under the rug of collective amnesia.
Instead of confronting the fear and loathing that had built up during 36 years of brutal dictatorship, not to mention three years of bloody civil war, the Spanish people, egged on by the political and business establishment, chose to simply forget.
...while all this frenetic flag buying, selling, waving and draping may be good business for some, it points to a very dark reality for society as a whole: two deeply rooted, diametrically opposed forms of nationalism with a bleak not-so-distant past are on the verge of a head-on clash. And it’s already having devastating effects on the social fabric as communities in Catalonia fracture, families splinter and friendships break apart.
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
The War on Google Terrorism: Las Vegas, Nothing Google Allows is True
Click here to access commentary by Gordon Duff, Senior Editor of Veterans Today--originally posted on Natural News.
The data that Adams, who is a director at CWC Labs, provides makes absolute sense to me, especially in reference to "lag times". I would formerly do a rough estimate between the visual display of lightening and the sound of thunder to determine the distance I was from the lightening strike. I used a very similar method that Adams uses in the video.
The video above proves, scientifically and categorically that there was a 2nd shooter in Las Vegas. Many have gotten it right and Google is taking down the videos and blocking the reports. We believe they do it because we are open to this: We believe Google Jigsaw, the military arm of Google, may well be complicit. No, VT is not kidding, we have found their trail in the Paris attacks, in recent and earlier Sarin attacks in Syria, and we find their agenda, crushing “non-Google approved news” to also be involved in covering up crimes.I have been waiting for more definitive information released by official agencies to support their theory that Paddock was the lone shooter. There were all kinds of security cameras all over this area--why haven't such photos been released? Why haven't data been released such as Mike Adams reveals in the following video?
The data that Adams, who is a director at CWC Labs, provides makes absolute sense to me, especially in reference to "lag times". I would formerly do a rough estimate between the visual display of lightening and the sound of thunder to determine the distance I was from the lightening strike. I used a very similar method that Adams uses in the video.
Naval false flags and the twentieth ‘American Century’
Click here to access article by Bas Spliet from Scrutinised Minds.
The history of the directors of capitalist ruling classes as related in this long article by Spliet reveal that they will not shrink away from the most criminal humanitarian crimes to promote their class's interests of profit and power. Spliet explains how the directors were able to turn American opposition to war in the late 19th century into support for wars. He examines convincing evidence that led gullible Americans down the path to support US wars and imperialism which began in the late 19th century to the end of the 20th century. Ruling class directors discovered to their astonishment that creating false-flag attacks on naval vessels combined with pro-war propaganda issued by their class's media corporations were able to convert widespread American opposition to wars into strident pro-war sentiment.
The history of the directors of capitalist ruling classes as related in this long article by Spliet reveal that they will not shrink away from the most criminal humanitarian crimes to promote their class's interests of profit and power. Spliet explains how the directors were able to turn American opposition to war in the late 19th century into support for wars. He examines convincing evidence that led gullible Americans down the path to support US wars and imperialism which began in the late 19th century to the end of the 20th century. Ruling class directors discovered to their astonishment that creating false-flag attacks on naval vessels combined with pro-war propaganda issued by their class's media corporations were able to convert widespread American opposition to wars into strident pro-war sentiment.
Combined with a steady stream of propaganda, however, a number of naval mass casualty attacks blamed on the enemy of the day succeeded in temporarily changing public opinion in favour of war. As a result, at the expense of the lives of many more Americans and people from all over the world, the American empire was born.
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
The limitations of two of America's brightest intellectuals
by Ron Horn
I will focus on two of America's brightest, historian Alfred W. McCoy and America's informal theologian Chris Hedges (a once divinity student and aspiring theologian, and later a NY Times journalist), in order to illustrate how intellectuals of the upper-middle class function to preserve the ruling capitalist class. I will draw on a recent book by McCoy entitled In the Shadow of the American Century (also a precursor to the book in a 2010 article by him published by CBS News entitled "The Decline and Fall of the American Empire") and a recent article by Chris Hedges entitled "The End of Empire" in which he references the book by Professor McCoy.
When you examine both of their backgrounds (McCoy's self biography in his book's introduction entitled "US Global Power and Me" and Hedges in Wikipedia), I think there is sufficient evidence to classify their backgrounds as upper-middle class. These people are truly indispensable to running a capitalist society. But their relationship to capitalists, who constitute the ruling class, is very much like the African-American concept of one type of slave relationship with the master of the house or plantation that existed in our period of slavery. Malcolm X colorfully described them as "house Negro" (the servants and maids who worked for the master's family in their home and enjoyed superior privileges) versus the "field Negro" who correspond to ordinary workers.
While Hedges occasionally criticizes the excesses of capitalism, he continues to insist that our governing system somehow represents "democracy", and his apparent obsessive concern about non-violence (or at least he uses this as a rationale to oppose any form of violence--see the "The Cancer in Occupy"--even against property as well as the police) insures that a revolution can never be achieved. He praises such benign forms of activism as projects like Cooperation Jackson; and in his latest article entitled "Faces of Pain, Faces of Hope" he definitely prefers the mild models of activism such as found in the Catholic Worker Movement and "intentional communities".
They both fear losing the privileges and wealth they have gained from many years of their active participation in ruling class institutions. Their long years of indoctrination in capitalist views and values handicaps them from offering any effective advice to young activists who see the necessity of ending a system which guarantees endless wars, exploitation, the destabilization of the climate, and the likely extinction of humans.
I will focus on two of America's brightest, historian Alfred W. McCoy and America's informal theologian Chris Hedges (a once divinity student and aspiring theologian, and later a NY Times journalist), in order to illustrate how intellectuals of the upper-middle class function to preserve the ruling capitalist class. I will draw on a recent book by McCoy entitled In the Shadow of the American Century (also a precursor to the book in a 2010 article by him published by CBS News entitled "The Decline and Fall of the American Empire") and a recent article by Chris Hedges entitled "The End of Empire" in which he references the book by Professor McCoy.
When you examine both of their backgrounds (McCoy's self biography in his book's introduction entitled "US Global Power and Me" and Hedges in Wikipedia), I think there is sufficient evidence to classify their backgrounds as upper-middle class. These people are truly indispensable to running a capitalist society. But their relationship to capitalists, who constitute the ruling class, is very much like the African-American concept of one type of slave relationship with the master of the house or plantation that existed in our period of slavery. Malcolm X colorfully described them as "house Negro" (the servants and maids who worked for the master's family in their home and enjoyed superior privileges) versus the "field Negro" who correspond to ordinary workers.
There was two kind of slaves. There was the house negro and the field negro. The house negro, they lived in the house, with master. They dressed pretty good. They ate good, cause they ate his food, what he left. They lived in the attic or the basement, but still they lived near their master, and they loved their master, more than their master loved himself.McCoy supports the existing ruling class by the absence of any mention of capitalism, a social system that insures that societies are infected with class conflict; and in order to reduce such conflicts to a minimum, the ruling classes must engage in widespread and ongoing subterfuge to disguise this fact. He accepts capitalism as the only reality, but suggests that eternal vigilance from more people like him could have preserved US dominance in the world. He argues convincingly that the "American Century", which Henry Luce announced in February 1941 to the delight of domestic fascists, will come to an end in about a decade. However he doesn't see any threats to human extinction due to the likely prospects of a nuclear war conflagration or climate destabilization.
While Hedges occasionally criticizes the excesses of capitalism, he continues to insist that our governing system somehow represents "democracy", and his apparent obsessive concern about non-violence (or at least he uses this as a rationale to oppose any form of violence--see the "The Cancer in Occupy"--even against property as well as the police) insures that a revolution can never be achieved. He praises such benign forms of activism as projects like Cooperation Jackson; and in his latest article entitled "Faces of Pain, Faces of Hope" he definitely prefers the mild models of activism such as found in the Catholic Worker Movement and "intentional communities".
They both fear losing the privileges and wealth they have gained from many years of their active participation in ruling class institutions. Their long years of indoctrination in capitalist views and values handicaps them from offering any effective advice to young activists who see the necessity of ending a system which guarantees endless wars, exploitation, the destabilization of the climate, and the likely extinction of humans.
Monday, October 9, 2017
Remembering Che Guevara 50 Years After His Assassination
Click here to access article by James Cockcroft from TeleSur.
Guevara was another martyr who dedicated his life to serving the interests of ordinary working people against the US-led Empire, a capitalist empire that was trying to crush all revolutionary actions and ideas in order to satisfy their addictions to profits and power in the world. Like other martyrs such as Lenin, Trotsky, Rosa Luxembourg, and Mao Tse-Tung, Guevara will live on in the fond memories of ordinary people and will inspire others to serve the interests of the people against the oppressive rule of transnational capitalists.
In his opening paragraphs the Cockcroft writes that capitalist well-paid ideological agents are, of course, trying to besmirch his memory with the usual deceptions and emphasis on Guevara's mistakes. Crockcroft sets the record straight.
Guevara was another martyr who dedicated his life to serving the interests of ordinary working people against the US-led Empire, a capitalist empire that was trying to crush all revolutionary actions and ideas in order to satisfy their addictions to profits and power in the world. Like other martyrs such as Lenin, Trotsky, Rosa Luxembourg, and Mao Tse-Tung, Guevara will live on in the fond memories of ordinary people and will inspire others to serve the interests of the people against the oppressive rule of transnational capitalists.
In his opening paragraphs the Cockcroft writes that capitalist well-paid ideological agents are, of course, trying to besmirch his memory with the usual deceptions and emphasis on Guevara's mistakes. Crockcroft sets the record straight.
The year 2017 is the 50th anniversary of the CIA-ordered assassination of Che Guevara.You may be also interested in another article in TeleSur entitled "Richard Gott on Meeting Che and Covering His Death".
In light of a recent upsurge in denunciations of Che and the Cuban Revolution, it is important to separate fact from fiction.
Here are five important points to take into account, all in historical context, drawn from countless reliable sources, especially from the "References" section at the end of this article.
[Russian Revolution part 8 of ?] The state and revolution
Click here to access article by Amy Leather from Socialist Review (Britain).
The author describes the revolutionary ideas of Lenin which he, during the summer of 1917, wrote down in his unfinished book State and Revolution. Here are a few of the most popular ones that inspired people to follow the leadership of the Bolsheviks:
The author describes the revolutionary ideas of Lenin which he, during the summer of 1917, wrote down in his unfinished book State and Revolution. Here are a few of the most popular ones that inspired people to follow the leadership of the Bolsheviks:
Lenin argues that once people are freed from the “untold horrors and savagery” of capitalist slavery they “will gradually become accustomed to observing the elementary rules of community life…they will become accustomed to observing them without force, without coercion, without subordination, without the special apparatus of coercion which is called the state”.
The need for a workers’ state recedes as there are no longer any capitalists, any classes and consequently no class to be suppressed — and will wither away completely when the norm in society is “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs”....
[Weekly series of the Russian Revolution of 1917] October 9 - 15: Lenin steps up campaign for insurrection
Click here to access article from World Socialist Web Site.
I am continuing to post a weekly summary of activities during the Russian Revolution of 1917 in addition to articles by historians and other informed people of that great event. You may be interested to read my introduction to both series if you have not already done so.
I am continuing to post a weekly summary of activities during the Russian Revolution of 1917 in addition to articles by historians and other informed people of that great event. You may be interested to read my introduction to both series if you have not already done so.
With Trotsky at the head of the Petrograd Soviet, and with the Bolshevik Party in control of a growing majority of other soviets, the Bolsheviks are now the most powerful party in the Russian Revolution. However, significant differences have emerged within the party’s leadership regarding what course to take.
Sunday, October 8, 2017
Identity politics and the growth of inequality within racial minorities
Click here to access article by Eric London from World Socialist Web Site.
The most useful aspect of promoting identity politics that London does not make clear is its ability to distract subjects of the capitalist ruling class away from any class analysis or class identification. And a further (to our masters') benefit, which he alludes to, is that it fosters competition between groups over opportunities to serve the ruling capitalist class.
The most useful aspect of promoting identity politics that London does not make clear is its ability to distract subjects of the capitalist ruling class away from any class analysis or class identification. And a further (to our masters') benefit, which he alludes to, is that it fosters competition between groups over opportunities to serve the ruling capitalist class.
Identity politics has become a key mechanism through which the next 9 percent situated below the top 1 percent advances its grievances within the political establishment, fighting for “space” in the universities, trade unions, political parties, state apparatus, and corporate media. This layer, which forms a principal social base for the Democratic Party, is generally pro-war and supportive of the right-wing policies that have produced a soaring stock market.
How Billionaires Become Billionaires
Click here to access article by James Petras from Global Research.
Under the section "Consequences of Inequalities" he writes about the realities of such inequality:
Under the section "Consequences of Inequalities" he writes about the realities of such inequality:
First and foremost, billionaires and their political, legal and corporate associates dominate the political parties. They designate the leaders and key appointees, thus ensuring that budgets and policies will increase their profits, erode social benefits for the masses and weaken the political power of popular organizations.The system of capitalism inevitably degenerates into this reality. In order to eliminate all such undesirable (and worse) effects , we must find a way to end the system and replace it with one that fosters equality, true democracy (providing opportunities for everyone to participate in governing), and harmony with nature.
Secondly, the burden of the economic crisis is shifted on to the workers who are fired and later re-hired as part-time, contingent labor. Public bailouts, provided by the taxpayer, are channeled to the billionaires under the doctrine that Wall Street banks are too big to fail and workers are too weak to defend their wages, jobs and living standards.
Billionaires buy political elites, who appoint the World Bank and IMF officials tasked with instituting policies to freeze or reduce wages, slash corporate and public health care obligations and increase profits by privatizing public enterprises and facilitating corporate relocation to low wage, low tax countries.
The Big ISIS and SDF Lies of the US—‘Kurdistan’ and New Gas Wars
Click here to access article by F. William Engdahl from New Eastern Outlook.
Engdahl concludes his article with this statement:
Engdahl concludes his article with this statement:
...because of the recent success of the Syrian Arab Army and allied forces backed by Russian air power, the battle is turning into a direct US-Russia showdown, something in no way conducive to world peace. As repeatedly in their history, the Kurds of Syria and of Iraq are being played by the larger powers in the west for their own game: to totally control the vast energy resources of the entire Middle East and with it, of much of the world. Ultimately the game will fail, though not before senseless and inhuman slaughter continues to take its toll.I can only agree. And, on the subject of "senseless and inhuman slaughter", with the simple-minded Tweeter (def. 1) in the White House raving about Kim Jong-un, I can only hope and pray that the Deep State manages to control this mad-dog on some kind of leash.