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

Friday, November 13, 2020

Posts that I especially recommend today: Friday, November 13, 2020

He makes the argument--and he is correct--that the overwhelming majority of Americans are ignorant and/or manipulated because of the control by the ruling class of every ideological institution of society. He goes on to argue that the recent election was laced with fraud, and then implies that we should not accept the apparent results of the election, and that we should support the Trump camp in a valid election. It seems to me that the appropriate response would have been the total boycott of the elections because we have been offered a choice between to what resembles old-fashioned fascism or the slicked-up version of neofascism promoted by the Democratic Party (controlled by the capitalist Deep State), that is, essentially between Tweedledum and Tweedledee (def.).
  • A Counter-History of Fascism and Liberalism featuring Gabriel Rockhill interviewed by Allen Ruff, an FM radio programmer on WORT-FM station in Madison, Wisconsin. This broadcast was posted on Internationalist 360° because I could not find, in my limited time, the program on WORT-FM Madison that Allen Ruff hosts. (Note: If you want the true history of fascism and the media and educational institution's revised history of it from capitalist countries (but you say, you already know that!), you need to listen to this broadcast which is nearly 53 minutes in length. If you want the accurate history of neo-fascism led by the USA after WWII, you should read my post (while you still can) entitled "Fake leaders and ineffective movements" posted earlier this year.)
  • The Canadian Military Declares War on Canadians – #PropagandaWatch featuring Canadian James Corbet and Dan Dicks of PressForTruth.ca posted on The Corbet Report. (Note: Corbett and Dicks uncover a fake news type of propaganda to influence people of Nova Scotia and other areas of Canada. Of course, Canada is an integral part of the US/Anglo/Zionist Empire. And, of course, the people of all these nations that make up the Empire are "enemies" of all their capitalist ruling classes.)
  • The Mechanical Soul by John Steppling from his weblog. (Note: This is a rather lengthy article, but by one of the most astute writers in the world. Remember, the formulation of algorithms, which control AI (artificial intelligence), are created by employees who answer to the the Deep State of the Empire.)
One of the reasons I keep writing about AI is that the entire construct of an artificial intelligence has become both a symbol and metaphor for contemporary thought, and, is part of this ongoing reshaping of human consciousness. 
I admit I am surprised how many people believe in the entire project of AI. Clearly it holds something very appealing that people WANT to believe in. And a key element in this is the idea of predictability. And predicting means controlling. So, in one sense, there is nothing new in this desire to foretell the future.

Thursday, November 12, 2020

Posts that I especially recommend today: Thursday, November 12, 2020

That we live in a time where the plans of the elite are more openly and more brazenly spelled out, in fiction, in public mythology, in culture, and are manufactured in a way entirely out of the hands of the vast majority of people whose lives will be forever changed, likely for the worse, is hands-down the real catastrophe of our time.
It’s odd, you know. US political leaders are so revered by the media and so normalized on our screens that it’s easy to forget how many children they’ve killed. You see the doddering old man eating ice cream enough times and it becomes difficult to marry him in your mind with the butcher who played a crucial leading role in advancing the Iraq invasion which killed a million people and ushered in an unprecedented new age of military expansionism. 
But the important thing is that he won’t be making rude tweets and bungling coup attempts in the Global South. He will be a Competent Grown-Up, like the daddy we always wanted. He will pilot the insatiable death machine with grace and decency, right into the homes of the world’s most vulnerable.

Wednesday, November 11, 2020

Posts that I especially recommend today: Wednesday, November 11, 2020

My personal position is that I think that the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 causing covid-19 illness is a mild and highly contagious disease that was likely created in a US lab, but used by the capitalist transnational ruling class of the US/Anglo/Zionist Empire as a prime population reduction method because of their losing battle with global warming. Other benefits include: 1) to enrich the Empire's ruling class by providing them with investments in major pharmaceutical corporations and mandating or urging vaccines; 2) as a means, after their corruption of WHO, UN's World Health Organization, to provide an excuse or cover to extend control over the populations of the Empire. 
I can't prove these propositions yet, but it takes time to unravel the deceits of the transnational capitalist class and all of their psychological operations, and I won't be here (because of advanced age) when this finally happens. I have had considerable experience with these deceptive operations throughout my long lifetime (the Vietnam War, assassinations, War on Drugs, 9/11, War on Terrorism, all the "color revolutions" or subversive efforts to overturn and consolidate their control over nations of the world, etc.), and I am convinced that this pandemic is highly exaggerated by media corporations to serve the various interests (outlined above) of  the Empire's transnational ruling class.

To be sure, covid-19 illness is real, but they engineered this "crisis" by creating a highly contagious, but mild virus and used global media corporations to spread fear of this disease. This pandemic has been blown out of all proportion to the mild threat posed for most populations in rich nations, but the shutting down of economies is devastating for poorer people ("deplorables") and likewise with poorer nations with inadequate health systems. Government authorities, under the control of the Empire's ruling class, interfered with constructive medical efforts to control it. If you think that these criminals are seriously interested in protecting your health and that of the world's populations, I have several bridges to sell you (def.)
  • The Tories against democracy by Aris Roussinos from Unherd (a British based website). My reaction: Because people of the Empire have not been taught real history, they are completely unaware that their capitalist ruling classes have no commitment to democracy. In fact, they see it as threat to their rule, and try to contain it with every means at their disposal.

Tuesday, November 10, 2020

Posts that I especially recommend today: Tuesday, November 10, 2020

  • How the Dictators in ‘Democracies’ Stay in Power by Eric Zuesse from Strategic Culture Foundation. (Note: In most countries of the world major capitalist countries that pretend to be democracies are recognized to be governed by the capitalist class who pursue their interests of profit and power. People of most countries outside of the USA (and maybe Britain) identify such nations as "bourgeois democracies" in contrast to socialist or, much more frequently, mixed economies of other nations.)
  • The Strange Demise of The American Herald Tribune by Philip Giraldi from The Unz Review. My reaction: Giraldi argues, in contrast to Zuesse, that the internet (web) is increasingly affected by the ruling class--which is, indeed, true. The capitalist ruling class will always try to take control of every social institution as they have the economy. The internet is the last. However, one can still find real discussion of real issues from the web in contrast to broadcasts by media corporations. But the gap is closing rather quickly.
  • Goodbye YouTube Party!!! featuring several of the remaining independent people running websites that still challenge the Empire's censoring efforts. Posted on James Corbett's website and hosted by him. My reaction: It is encouraging to see that many of the remaining bloggers are celebrating the coordination of their efforts to defeat the Empire's giant beasts which are engaged in the management of the minds of their subjects. We must support their efforts or they might disappear--then we will really be in deep shit! (This is a best post.)
A quick look at a map tells the story: this struggle is most one of the deep state vs the deep (real) country. Yeah, I know, Trump is hardly a miner from West Virginia or a farmer in Alabama. But that doesn’t matter one bit. What does matter is that the deplorables from the “overfly country” felt that Trump speaks for them and that he is all that stands between them and the (pseudo-) Liberals of CNN, the Antifa/BLM thugs and the destruction of the United States as we all knew them. And yes, this is a simplistic view, but it is fundamentally correct one nonetheless.
Yes, this is a simplistic view. A more complete view reveals that the transnational capitalist ruling class will no longer tolerate nationalistic fascism. Instead, it will be replaced by real power that lies in the Deep State--the powerful transnational capitalist class and their slicked-up version of neo-fascism. The Trump faction can legally challenge the election and quarrel with the results endlessly, but the outcome will be the same (as in the 2000 election when the Deep State needed Bush, Jr. to be President to carry off their 9/11 project).
  • Europe and the Pandemic by Eric Toussaint and Manoel Barbeitos from CADTM (Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt). (My reaction: The European Union is an integral part of the US/Anglo/Zionist Empire. Is it only a coincidence that their policies which are supporting corporations are the same as in the US and England?
Call it the “New Normal,” or whatever you want. Pretend “democracy has triumphed” if you want. Wear your mask. Mask your children. Terrorize them with pictures of “death trucks,” tales of “Russian hackers” and “white supremacist terrorists.” Live in fear of an imaginary plague (or perhaps a non-imaginary plague if that “very dark winter” comes to pass). Censor all dissent. Ban all protests. Do not attempt to adjust your telescreen. Click on the link to join the Zoom meeting. Have your password and your identity papers ready. Watch your pronouns. Get down on your knees. It’s GloboCap Fucking Über Alles!

Monday, November 9, 2020

Posts that I especially recommend today: Monday, November 9, 2020

Murray is right when he writes "If people thought that the last four years in American politics were divisive, then they’ve seen nothing yet. Since Trump was elected in 2016, we have been subjected to 24/7 lies from the main ruling transnational capitalist class. They have demonstrated that they will use any means to accumulate more money and power. But what could we expect from this criminal gang of thieves? They have simply done to Americans what they have always done to manage their minds--cover for their assassinations, psy-ops, lies, in other words, the subversive use of media corporations to spread their propaganda. Murray cites numerous specific examples to smear Trump. 
He is right about the hardening of divisions among Americans, and I think we can expect this ruling class to contribute to this divisiveness in the years to come while distracting gullible Americans from the real issues as they "laugh all the way to their banks".
  • Colbert WEEPS Over Trump's Press Conference! featuring Jimmy Dore (of the Jimmy Dore Show) using his YouTube channel to trash Steven Colbert, a "comedian" for the ruling class featured regularly on one of their TV corporations. 
'Sparked by activist Greta Thunberg in Sweden and exploding around the world, the global climate protests have been some of the largest demonstrations in history. Rebellion, a documentary from The Nature of Things, is a vivid portrait of this extraordinary grassroots movement.

David Suzuki joins the front lines of the protests, meeting the youth of this generational wave — often compared to the civil rights movement of the ‘60s, the Vietnam War protests, the gay rights movement, and the women’s movement. We meet Olivia Wohlgemuth from New York, age 17, as she plasters flyers on utility poles in Manhattan; Jerome Foster, who was mocked for his lonely vigil for climate justice in front of the White House when he was 16; and Sophia Mathur, of Sudbury, Ont., who at age 11 was the first Canadian student to join Thunberg’s school strike.

Suzuki talks to veteran voices in the climate crisis: David Attenborough, famous for his BBC nature documentaries, shares his fears for the future of civilization itself; Gail Bradbrook, co-founder of the Extinction Rebellion movement that shut down the city of London, describes a tipping point in modern history; Bill McKibben — journalist, activist, and founder of the worldwide 350.org movement — reveals a 30-year conspiracy of the fossil fuel industry to tell “the most significant lie in human history.'
My commentary follows (edited for clarity at 7:25 PM CT):

While viewing this I was emotionally moved by the hordes of people protesting the deterioration of our climate brought about by the capitalist ruling class because of their obsession with profits and power. I also thought about the smug people celebrating the defeat of Donald Trump in the recent "election" announced by media corporations. I thought about the contrast of these protesting (mostly) young people and the people who were celebrating the defeat of Trump (which his camp is disputing), the devil incarnate created by the media of the ruling class. Then I thought about the Germans who were attracted to the Nazi party because they represented a powerful force that were lavishly supported by international capitalists who wanted to destroy the one country where their class didn't rule--the Soviet Union. (See my commentary in which I developed this argument.) (Sorry about the delay in applying this link--I was distracted by format problems.)

Then the thought occurred to me that many ordinary Germans were attracted to this powerful social-economic force because they felt so powerless themselves, and they wanted to identify with what they perceived as a powerful force. I thought the same was applicable to many of my fellow Americans.

But my mind didn't stop there. I concluded that the Great Reset project that our unelected masters decided and their massive engineering of this pandemic was intended to divert our attention to the many real issues that divide Americans while they focus their attention and actions to
projects that will support their class's obsession with profits and power, and to extend as long as possible their system of capitalism that provides them with these rewards.
  • Humans don’t know how to be happy by Sam Leith from Unherd (based in Britain). (Note: I had to look up the meanings of two words: alterity and Whiskas.) My reaction: This piece got me thinking about the difference between humans and other species. Hopefully, it will have the same effect on you.)

Sunday, November 8, 2020

Posts that I especially recommend today: Sunday, November 8, 2020

A ‘fourth industrial revolution’ is the only way by which to ‘square this circle’, according to this mindset [referring to the dominant section of the neoliberal ruling class]. The Reset is purposefully aimed to disrupt all areas of life, albeit on a planetary scale.  Shock therapy, as it were, to change the way we humans think of ourselves, and our relationship with the worldThe Great Reset looks to a supply-side ‘miracle’, achieved through full-spectrum automation and robotics.  A world where the money is digital; the food is lab-grown; where everything is counted and controlled by giant monopolies; and everyday existence is micromanaged by ever-monitoring, ever-nudging AI that registers thoughts and feelings before the people even get a chance to make those thoughts.
My reaction: I am convinced that many years of anti-communist, anti-socialist, and capitalist pro-growth propaganda will ensure the extinction of humans. People will gradually wake up and "connect the dots", but it will be far too late to save a planet that can support human life and that of many other species.
  • Internalized Danger by Craig Murray, a Scottish activist, from his weblog. This Scot gives his views on the recent US election. (Note: "Burisma" refer to this, and "bung" is British slang.)
  • Feminist Contradictions by Linda Ford from Dissident Voice. (Note: Given that Kamala Harris is likely to assume the presidency after the aging Biden becomes incapacitated, this article is important.)
  • Internalized Danger by Craig Murray, a Scottish activist, from his weblog. This Scot gives his views on the recent US election. (Note: "Burisma" refer to this, and "bung" is British slang.)