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, December 31, 2021

Posts that I especially recommend for Friday, December 31, 2021

The Justice Department’s China Initiative Was Established by the Trump Administration to Crackdown on Chinese Economic and Scientific Espionage
 
However, its primary targets have been academics prosecuted for failing to properly disclose their connection to Chinese universities on grant forms and it has led to numerous miscarriages of justice 
  • Live Talking Maxwell Verdict w/Whitney Webb 12/29/21 featuring Whitney Webb's interpretation of the Ghislaine Maxwell trial to date as revealed in this interview with Webb, who has done extensive research on the Maxwell case. This interview and discussion was directed by Graham Elwood using his channel on YouTube (33:40). (Note: This is not a 1:08:03 interview because Elwood has technical difficulties with YouTube and other problems with hooking up to Webb. The interview starts at about 10:00 and lasts until about 43:40, which equals about 33:40 total for the interview with Whitney Webb.) My reaction: As you probably know, Maxwell was found guilty of five of six counts during her recent trial. But that isn't justice served because the two main criticisms of the trial are provided by Webb which indicates that the trial made a concerted effort to prevent any prominent names associated with Epstein's trafficking of minors for sexual blackmail purposes would be kept out of the trial, and prevented any examination of Israeli spy involvement with this essentially blackmail operation. Elwood near the end cynically speculates about the sentencing of G. Maxwell put off until another day.
  • Brian Williams’ RIDICULOUS Retirement Speech featuring Jimmy Dore commenting about the hilarious speech that Brian Williams gave on TV, with mostly humorous comments interjected in the conversation by comedian Kurt Metzger--using Dore's channel on YouTube (25:46). My reaction: Williams is representative of the shallow, morally-compromised people who work for media corporations, and the mouthpiece of corporations and the ruling capitalist class in general. He has been rewarded with a long career at NBC as a presenter of the "news" or, more realistically, ruling class propaganda.
at