Emergency Public Meeting Called After Break-In Attempt At Ecuadorian Embassy

Click here to access article from ContraSpin. (Edited for corrections on 11/4/2018 at 8:20 AM CT.)

It appears to me that this website is the best source of information regarding the issue of detention of Julian Assange who is presently in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Bookmark it. This post is the latest news regarding Assange. I plan to re-post every new article on this ContraSpin and Courage websites until Assange is free.

[IMMEDIATE ALERT] New Threats to Julian Assange; Consortium News to Broadcast Emergency Meeting Live on Saturday [Nov. 3]

Click here to access article posted on Consortium News.

This will commence on Saturday November 3rd, 2018 at 3pm EST (midday Pacific), via https://unity4j.com/stream

At the meeting, details of these new threats to Julian’s life will be presented, along with the unveiling of a new action plan to secure and protect his life, human rights, and freedom.

A special message from Julian’s mother, Christine Assange will also be broadcasted. 

(While you may be waiting for the broadcast to start, you might be interested in a related piece by Caitlin Johnstone entitled "What Empire Loyalists Are Really Saying When They Bash Julian Assange".)

Watch the film the Israel lobby didn’t want you to see

Click here to access article posted on The Electronic Intifada.

The film was made by Al Jazeera during 2016 and was completed in October 2017.

But it was censored after Qatar, the gas-rich Gulf emirate that funds Al Jazeera, came under intense Israel lobby pressure not to air the film.

The film entitled "The Lobby--USA" is in four parts of about 50 minutes each. The following is episode 1 of the film, and episode 2 is in the article. Presumably episodes 3 and 4 will be posted in the future. There are also numerous links related to the film in the very interesting article. (I have not viewed much of the film at the time of this posting.)

Some recommended articles for Friday, November 2, 2018

• Pipe Bombs: Frantic Denunciations of the False Flag Concept by Prof. Graeme McQueen from Global Research.

• Washington’s Silent Weapon for Not-so-quiet Wars by F. William Engdahl from New Eastern Outlook.

• By Way Of Deception - False Flag Terror Acts Press Europe To Sanction Iran by Bernhard from Moon of Alabama.

Crackdown on Gab Following Pittsburgh Massacre Proves Need for Alternative Internet Architecture

Click here to access article by Robert Bridge from Strategic Culture Foundation. 

Our masters are using the Pittsburgh massacre to shut down an ...

ad-free social media service that was/is devoted to “preserving individual liberty, the freedom of speech, and the free flow of information on the internet” – the exact things, incidentally, that the invisible comptrollers of the Internet fear the most – is facing an Internet sanctions regime when it became know that Bowers had posted an anti-Semitic rant over their platform.

I'm wondering if we will see other such social media services and websites shut down because of such incidents, manufactured or not. 

The author ends his article with a conclusion that I strongly agree with:

An entirely separate internet architecture needs to be created – pay services, hosting platforms, social media services – that are not bounds by the whims of the ‘free market,’ which as we have learned is not so free after all. In fact, it’s absolutely tyrannical. At the same time, IT companies – made up of men and women who subscribe to their own favorite ideologies, which more often than not are Liberal oriented – are no less susceptible to pursuing political agendas than the government, and to believe for a second they will not take advantage of a tragedy to oust a bothersome competitor from the marketplace would be shortsighted and plain stupid.

Since the internet is currently comprised of two separate and distinct people, from two separate universes, time to act like China and construct an entirely separate internet architecture. Personally, I see no other alternatives.

The Logic of Human Survival

Click here to access this review by Barry Sheppard of a book entitled A Redder Shade of Green: Intersections of Science and Socialism authored by Ian Angus and posted on Solidarity.

The levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide and methane (the “greenhouse” gases) produce rising surface temperatures, melting of the icecaps, ocean level rise and acidification. Plastic waste in the oceans, tropical forest loss, species extinctions and other indicators have ballooned, with grave implications.

This new book contains polemics, debates and articles from a Marxist perspective, dealing mainly not with the climate change deniers but with other environmentalists, scientists and socialists, who differ with each other on explanations and solutions. This includes ecosocialists — because as Angus explains, there are as many differences among them as there are differences among socialists more broadly.

Ep. 1: The secret society that rules the world

Click here to access article by Bas Spliet from Scrutinised Minds. (I recommend that you follow the script instead of listening to the audio.)

The author leans heavily on the writings of Carrol Quigley about whom he accurately describes in this quote:

Quigley was no uncredentialled conspiracy theorist. He was a prominent Harvard-educated historian who taught at the Ivy League universities of Georgetown, Princeton and Harvard, in addition to working as an advisor to both the US Department of Defense and the US Navy.

Spliet introduces his essay with this insightful statement:

Since the dawn of civilisation [roughly 2% of the existence of humans], kings, emperors and other men and women of wealth have wanted to rule the world, but none has succeeded. Every empire that arose on the blood of the people it subjected and enslaved – the ancient kingdoms of Egypt and Assyria, the successive Persian and Chinese empires, the Roman empire, the Islamic caliphates, the Ottoman empire, the various European colonial empires and even the communist regime of the Soviet Union – all eventually fell. Even the United States’ global primacy, a logic result of the end of the Cold War, is now being tested by re-emerging superpowers and increasing calls for a more multilateral world order. But these are all well-known attempts at establishing world supremacy. Since the rise of [fake] democracy, people – not tyrants – were suddenly said to be in charge. Therefore, if one wanted to obtain or maintain hegemony, one had to find a way to shape world order through hidden means while simultaneously convincing the people the gradual change was of their own making. [my inserts]

Here is a very useful webpage that has a list of Quigley's books, and some have PDF links where you can perform searches throughout each book. Look for these PDF links under the image of the books. 

Recommended for all people who still believe the official fairytale about 9/11

• The Magnum Opus of the 9/11 Consensus Panel: A Review of Griffin and Woodworth’s ‘9/11 Unmasked’ by Dick Lowman, P.E (Professional Engineer) posted on Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth.

• The 9/11 Consensus Points: Factual Evidence Contradicts the 9/11 Story by 9/11 Consensus Panel (of experts) from Consensus 9/11

Bolsonaro: A monster engineered by our media

Click here to access article by Jonathan Cook from his blog.

I like this post better than yesterday's post by Pepe Escobar, the independent Brazilian journalist. Although both are honest reporters and both have been influenced by capitalist propaganda like we have been all their/our lives, Cook has made more progress to break free of this mind-hobbling brainwashing and attain more insight on political issues. The only problem I have with Cook is that he refuses to name the system that delivers the wealth (and power) to "plutocrats" (capitalists). I strenuously object to statements like this when Cook refers to "plutocrats":

They prefer the social divisions fueled by neo-fascists like Bolsonaro, divisions that protect their wealth and privilege, over the unifying message of a socialist who wants to curtail class privilege, the real basis of the elite’s power.

Socialism means to me that we end the system of capitalism which delivers so much power via wealth to ruling classes. Likewise, I insist that class structured societies must totally disappear, not "to curtail class privilege". Why should some people have more power and privileges than others--except for individuals on a temporary basis and with the consent of people?

The fundamental problem is not about the accumulation of wealth, because wealth is power and that is what our ruling class desires most of all. Their next concern is the preservation of the system of capitalism which has delivered to them so much of their wealth which, in turn, provides them with overwhelming power. What's the use of gaining more wealth after one gathers around $1 million dollars a year? Few of them could spend all that money in a year if they had to. I could not. Most of the "plutocrats" acquire more than a billion (that is a 1000 million) dollars every year, and a few considerably more.

It Is a New Era, but China’s Balancing Act Will Fail in the Middle East

Click here to access article by Ramzy Baroud from The Palestine Chronicle.

Although ties between Washington and Tel Aviv are stronger than ever, Israeli leaders are aware of a vastly changing political landscape. The US’ political turmoil and the global power realignment – which is on full display in the Middle East – indicate that a new era is, indeed, in the making.

This is the perfect segue to articles I've recently posted (here and here), and I still haven't decided whether China's long term strategy is the correct one. On the pro side they seem to be succeeding in their very careful ascent in the global power struggle in which they ostensibly wish to promote a multilateral world that is pitted against the US capitalist Empire's ambition to rule the world. On the negative side I don't see a future in the long-term for human inhabitants in the Earth's increasingly fragile habitat that supports human life. Of course, as always, you must decide for yourself using your critical thinking skills and understanding of what is going on in the world.

Baroud appears to see the issue only in terms of a power struggle: who will dominate the world--China or the USA? Because this strategy largely ignores the apartheid that Palestinians endure, he sees it as immoral. 

Welcome to the Jungle

Click here to access article by Pepe Escobar, the well traveled independent Brazilian journalist, posted on Corsortium News.  

Although I've seen a number of article bemoaning the election of a fascist as president of Brazil, I've not posted any articles until this one by a journalist who I admire so much.

It’s darkness at the break of (tropical) high noon.

Jean Baudrillard once defined Brazil as “the chlorophyll of our planet”. And yet a land vastly associated worldwide with the soft power of creative joie de vivre has elected a fascist for president.

He goes on to present data that suggest the election was rigged and other methods used such as social media, fake reports in media, and threats--most of which are very familiar to us in the USA--to explain the outcome.

The Long Game and Its Contradictions

Click here to access article by Leo He Zhao posted on The Greanville Post. 

This is an important article by an author who attempts to explain the Chinese version of socialism which is somewhat different from the usual Marxist interpretation. I think it accurately reflects the actual policies of the Chinese government and its leadership, the Chinese Communist Party. See what you think. (I also learned two new words: communization (US spelling) and propertarianism.)

China has overcome colonial oppression, emerged from “100 years of humiliation”, and is now developing its power on the world stage. Together and along with other formerly colonised nations, through mutually beneficial relationships and a policy of peaceful co-existence, China is building alliances based on strength, to displace Western hegemony, and counter capitalist imperialism, clearing the path toward global communism.

This long term strategy, or at least its first phase, hinges not on orthodox Marxist class struggle, but on quasi-Confucian social harmony, toward the restructuring of global trade.

The Silk Road and Israël

Click here to access article by Thierry Meyssan, a French independent geopolitical analyst, from his blog. 

This is a very interesting report on the latest Chinese moves to secure trade routes in the Middle East to bolster their new Silk Road project, particularly in Israel. If the author is correct, the Chinese strategists using their "win-win" strategy with a long-range view, first promoted by Deng Xiaoping in the 1970s, have completely outfoxed the leaders of the US-led capitalist Empire. And if he is correct, these new developments must be causing the secretive Empire leaders conniptions (def.).

(I was amazed at the length of time it took me to find a link to an article that recognized Deng Xiaoping as the first promoter of this Chinese strategy. I think it is another illustration of the profound ignorance of Westerners regarding Chinese history.)

The US pretends to support the independence of Syria and Iraq

Click here to access article by Elijah J. Magnier, an independent journalist from Kuwait (if my memory serves me correctly). 

I regard this independent journalist as very reliable as a source of reports about the ongoing strife in the Middle East. No one is perfect, but from my daily observations of reports from other informed sources, I believe his reports are the best one can reasonably expect from any individual journalist.

In this piece he reports on statements by US diplomat Bert (sic) Brett H. McGurk at a recent meeting of the Institute for Strategic Studies, a British based "think tank", in Manama, Bahrain. One never knows if such statements are made because the speaker believes them or because he is "following orders" from his superiors, the ultimate ones in the authority hierarchy being the ruling class of the US-led capitalist Empire. Magnier writes:

The US is mustering all its diplomacy against Iran in preparation for unilateral implementation of full sanctions against the Islamic Republic, expected on the fourth of November. This is why McGurk is attacking Iran in Syria and Iran.

(If you have forgotten the fairly recent history of events in Bahrain, a colony of the US Empire, do a search using the search engines on the right-hand side of my website to remind you.)

Brave New Money

I just received two articles by Norbert Häring, a German economist and business journalist, who is realistically worried about the appearance of very convenient money either issued by central banks, which are owned and operated by the ruling class of capitalists, or issued by the new "socialist" governments of China and North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea).

I've watched the slow deterioration of US money (coin money is becoming nearly worthless) and the convenience offered by credit and debit cards which are now used with increasing frequency by ordinary people. They are certainly convenient, but this convenience comes with total control either by central bankers, top financial capitalists who are key players in the Deep State, or governments that are controlled by bureaucracies. Such control over an essential part of our lives is potentially extremely dangerous, and there is no reason to believe that ruling classes (especially those controlled by financial capitalists who already control capitalist economies) will not use this power to exercise more control and exploitation of ordinary people. 

Once again, we need to be aware that it is now essential (not merely desirable) that we create and implement bottom-up authority structures to prevent this abuse and all other abuses by powerful classes who either control nations with their extreme wealth behind fake "democratic" institutions, or by the new self-serving bureaucratic classes of "socialist" governments like we see in China and North Korea. They both make use of top-down authority methods to control their governments and societies. Only bottom-up authority power structures can make these new electronic forms of money a true convenience, and not a new form of oppression.

Part 1: PayPal, WeChat, Amazon Go - A Totalitarian World Currency in the Making 

Part 2: Brave New Money

The Root Problem 10,000 BC (leaflet [& a link to a video])

Click here to access article by Eric Schechter from his blog Eric's Rants and Videos. 

I couldn't agree with his perspective more, and he express it so well--much better than I can. 

Be sure to click on, and view, his video.

Maduro Apologizes to the Community Councils – Is This the Real Thing?

Click here to access article by Bruce Lerro from Planning Beyond Capitalism.

Because he asks a very significant question--"is this the real thing?", I am posting this brief article on the above website which is based on a longer report posted on Venezuelanalysis. 

I was dismayed following my two week visit to Venezuela in 2005 by what I saw there which has been confirmed by subsequent events. It seems that leaders, how ever radical they are to begin with, cannot get over the allure of power that all leaders since recorded history (the last roughly 2% of the 200,000 years of human existence) are drawn to. Hugo Chavez talked a lot about the community councils as a revolutionary core of the Bolivarian Revolution but he went on to simply use them as his political power base. Having said that, I admit that it's not for me to judge any revolutionary struggle because I don't know all of the powerful forces they confront which are usually backed by the all-powerful US Empire. 

The Putin-Nazi-Terrorist-O-Matic

Click here to access article by C. J. Hopkins from The Unz Review.

Hopkins through the use of satire and more serious writing is trying to understand what is going with our masters in the ruling class which I believe are now totally insane. 

We are experiencing a similarly historic ideological readjustment at the moment, which I’ve been trying to capture (satirically and more seriously) since it began in the summer of 2016. The official “War on Terror” narrative (and people’s understanding of what “terrorism” is) is being gradually redefined and expanded to encompass any and all forms of “extremism” (i.e., whatever the ruling classes decide is “extremism”). Mass murder, battery, racist graffiti, opposing the spread of global capitalism, saying nasty things about Soros, tattooing your forehead with a giant Swastika, using the words “globalism,” “sovereignty,” and so on … the distinctions are rapidly disappearing.

Yes, their grasp of reality is slipping away amidst all their lies and deceptions. They have had such a long streak of successes that apparently their one defeat in Syria has tipped them over the edge into insanity. They are deeply disturbed by what is becoming apparent to all of us that their global domination project known to early imperialists as the "American Century" and to later imperialists like Bush Sr. (George H. W. Bush) who began babbling about a "New World Order". Bush Sr. thought that the collapse of the former Soviet Union meant that the dream of all our ruling class masters was near: the total dominance of the world by the US-led (trans-nationalist) capitalist Empire which is the ultimate high of all power addicts. 

However, as the 21st century neared, the US ruling class saw that the American people needed some creative prompting for them to be fully engaged with them in this delusion. Thus, they instigated various propaganda projects to spur us into action to help them fully realize this delusion and to silence those malcontents who objected. 

The false-flag 9/11 project was masterfully pulled off, and as they say, "the rest is history" of unending wars in which they toppled one nation after another. However, this delusion along with widespread dissent, a bankrupt nation, the rise of China and Russia and other powerful independent nations, and finally culminating in their defeat in Syria has totally unhinged them. This, for me, explains the strange hysterical propaganda themes that they are promoting through their media corporations. Don't you think it is time to take away all their powerful weapons along with their ownership of all the wealth that we working people created? Otherwise I think that they will be the death of all of us.

Good satire to help you pass the day

I borrowed these videos from two comedy shows via YouTube to amuse you and lighten your day. They are contemporary satire at its best. But let's be frank about reality: few people seem to care enough to fight back effectively by creating a revolutionary movement. Well, if we can't beat 'em, we might as well laugh at them in an effort to hide our sorrows behind good satire. (In the following video, it's amazing that the voice of Bernie sounds so much like the real thing--Sen. Bernie Sanders.)