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

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Recommended articles for Wednesday, May 22, 2019 -- (frequent updates)

  • The American Pathocracy by Paul Craig Roberts from his blog. (Updated at 9:30 AM, 9:40 AM, 9:45 AM, 10:40 AM, and 6:30 PM.)
Gowans provides us with an excerpt from his recently published book Israel, and teaches us some of the real history of Palestine after WWII. I highly recommend this book to reveal the efforts of the the Anglo-American capitalist ruling classes in collusion with Jewish nationalists to establish "Fort Israel", a European Jewish colony, to guard oil and gas resources in the Middle East for the benefit of newly emerging empire of Anglo-American capitalists against Arab nationalists who wanted such resources used for their benefit.
He reports on the legal and the not-so-legal maneuvers used by the Empire and omitted by corporate media, the propaganda organs of the US/Anglo/Zionist Empire, to capture Julian Assange. Assange functioned as a journalist who reported crimes committed by the Empire furnished him by whistleblowers and other sources. Such independent sources are dangerous to the ongoing operations of the Empire and its ruling capitalist classes to dominate the entire world.
I have been increasingly frustrated by the no longer active links to important articles that I have used in the past to reveal supporting information to various arguments that I advanced. Corbett provides some very useful information on what to do if you encounter such links.
  • Raising the Alarm – On the Capitalists Seeking to Profit from the Climate Crisis, a statement from the Wrong Kind of Green Collective posted on Wrong Kind of Green. (I advise people who are focused of the looming catastrophes of climate destabilization to follow this blog daily. They are revealing the real agendas that some prominent climate movements are serving--it's not the welfare of ordinary people.)
Over the past few weeks there has been much discussion among the online community concerning our six-act investigative series “The Manufacturing of Greta Thunberg”. Some have continued to question the veracity of the information compiled by Wrong Kind of Green (WKOG).

Our series sought to illustrate how Thunberg’s image is being both propelled and exploited by various entities interested in promoting certain projects and ideas that will benefit their stock portfolios and bank accounts under the guise of “saving the planet”. 
Referring to the recent resolution passed by the British parliament declaring "a climate emergency", the author writes:
On one hand it’s a weapon in the hands of each and every campaign on climate change in the UK. It makes it all the more difficult for politicians and trade union leaders to defend their indefensible decisions to support fossil fuel companies and fossil-fuel-intensive infrastructure projects.

On the other, it’s a reflection of a huge political effort to co-opt, neutralise, patronise and smother the growing movement against politicians’ inaction on climate change. The cynicism and sophistication of these efforts should not be underestimated: they have been going on globally ever since the Rio agreement on climate change was adopted in 1991. And meanwhile, fossil fuel use has risen by about 60%.

We need to define, outside parliament, what this emergency means, and how it is going to be tackled.
  • The Disinformationists by C.J. Hopkins, master satirist, from his blog Consent Factory, Inc. (Some entertainment to keep you laughing while in a despondent mood.)
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