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, December 15, 2021

Posts that I especially recommend for Wednesday, December 15, 2021

In the USA and Germany, high-level officials have used the term pandemic of the unvaccinated, suggesting that people who have been vaccinated are not relevant in the epidemiology of COVID-19. Officials’ use of this phrase might have encouraged one scientist to claim that “the unvaccinated threaten the vaccinated for COVID-19”. But this view is far too simple.

There is increasing evidence that vaccinated individuals continue to have a relevant role in transmission.
  • Omicron Fears Mount: But Only For The Data Hesitant by Chris Martenson from PeakProperity (part 1: Episode 039). (Note: Both audio and visual for Part 1 (below "Part 2") is available. Part 2 will only be available for members.) My reaction: Listen/view this because you don't want to passively submit to fear propaganda that is spread by corporate media.
Assange committed empire’s greatest sin. He exposed it as a criminal enterprise. He documented its lies, callous disregard for human life, rampant corruption and innumerable war crimes. Republican or Democrat. Conservative or Labour. Trump or Biden. It does not matter. The goons who oversee the empire sing from the same Satanic songbook. Empires always kill those who inflict deep and serious wounds.
In Part 1, we explored the ever-expanding definition of the global commons and the claim made by stakeholder capitalists that they should be the trustees of both the global commons and society. We are now going to look at how systems have been established to enable those stakeholders to seize the commons and to control society.

We should be mindful of what “global commons” means in the eyes of the Global Public-Private Partnership (GPPP) capitalists. For them, it indicates possession of everything: every resource on the planet, all land, all water, the air we breathe, the natural world in its entirety, and all humanity.
 
My reaction: "You will own nothing and be happy!"--Klaus Schwab. Translation: We, in the transnational capitalist ruling classes will own everything and control everything--and be completely satisfied!
  • Tuesday~Tuff Times by John Allen from his weblog on Medium. (Note: You may be required to subscribe to Medium @ $5/mo in order to access this article.) My reaction: He has important news for recipients of Social Security.
New reports explore how the OPCW suppressed findings that undermined US-led allegations of a chemical weapons attack in Douma, Syria in April 2018. Dr. Piers Robinson and Aaron Maté discuss the latest revelations on how the OPCW censored science.
Who knew that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the biggest importer of sophisticated weaponry in the developing world going back a generation and more, is SO fragile?
:
Apparently, the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board thinks so. Last week, it published an alarmed editorial that relayed the Saudis’ urgent pleas “for America for help as it runs out of ammunition to defend against the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen.”
at