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

Saturday, December 4, 2021

Posts that I especially recommend for Saturday, December 4, 2021

If you thought the surveillance state was already out of control, hold on to your hats---because the Covid pandemic has just opened the door to the world of medical surveillance—and we’re not just talking about data. Covid-19 has provided your personal health data, your name—and other identifying details-to the federal government and it doesn’t stop at US borders. This is happening globally. Investigative journalist and Boom Bust cohost Ben Swann shares his perspective. 
Singer songwriter Brad Skistimas of Five Times August discusses his unanticipated turn toward anti-establishment rebel rock in the age of Covid. Many of his songs have gone viral and his most recent tune targeting Dr. Fauci had been censored and banned by YouTube. He talks about the pandemic power grab and how people continue to double down on their emotional investment in the official narrative even though none of this is making sense anymore. He touches on why all our old guitar heroes have gone woke and become part of the establishment. He addresses the challenge and danger of speaking your mind at the cost of family, friends, and fans. In spite of the difficulties, his outspokenness has garnered him huge worldwide support.
Earlier today, I was horrified to hear that one of my readers had just been denied access to a local hospital. He was taking his wife in for a very important reason, but there were people at the entrance that were checking the vaccination status of everyone that attempted to enter. He and his wife had not been vaccinated, and so they were turned away. 
  • New film sounds alarm on Wall Street rapacity featuring an interview (from RT) with Sean Stone, author and filmmaker, who "discuss his new film, 'the Paradigm of Money', which exposes corruption in the financial markets of perfidious Wall Street. His film seeks to show how 'collusion between big government and big finance' have led to irresponsible investments, an unaccountable financial sector and a ruined US middle class." [my link inserted]
  • More Fake News About China featuring Lee Camp from his channel on YouTube (15:40) regarding the "news" on all major media specifically about the Chinese tennis star. 
The Pentagon has released its annual Global Posture Review (GPR), which included a number of revisions to US strategy in its struggle to maintain influence in multiple theaters. It recommends “infrastructure” improvements at bases in Guam and Australia and increasing its South Korean presence. It also proposes a rescission of the Trump-era cap on troop deployments in Germany, apparently wanting to be prepared for deeper trouble in Ukraine.
  • UNGA’s Latest Resolution Illustrates the International Community’s Complicity With Israel’s Colonial Expansion by Ramona Wadi from Strategic Culture Foundation. My reaction: This is because of the US's merger what was left of the British Empire after WWII combined to have effective control over the UN and its General Assembly, and designed its organization back in 1945. The General Assembly is organized so that it can only offer non-binding resolutions. So most of the nations have no effective voice in the General Assembly other than offering resolutions. The US and the British set it up that way to allow most nations of the world (outside of the big five: US, Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and China--remember that US's ally, the Kuomintang gov. still ruled there until 1949) to "feel" like they had a decision-making voice.
Wadi writes in her opening paragraphs:
 
Yet another non-binding UN General Assembly has passed, granting Palestinians permanent sovereignty over their natural resources, even as Israel has absolute dominion over their territory. The draft resolution, titled “Permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan over their natural resources,” is a perfect example of how the UN glosses over Israel’s colonial violence by refusing to take action, preferring to enact non-binding resolutions which do nothing to protect the Palestinian people’s political rights and their territory.

The resolution demands Israel ceases its exploitation and theft of Palestinian land, while noting all other Israeli violations on Palestinian territory, such as the Apartheid Wall, settlement expansion, destruction of Palestinian infrastructure, as well as the impact of Israel weapons in Gaza. With the passing of such a detailed resolution, it would stand to reason that the UN takes measures against Israel’s colonial violence, rather than call upon Israel to halt its damage.
Microwork is a rising form of labor exploitation being deployed by some of the world’s wealthiest capitalists. It’s online work where users are asked to perform menial, small tasks for pennies. Naomi Karavani takes on the phenomenon and shows us the victims of the industry. The low-paid work includes tasks like identifying the contents of images, translating, transcribing audio, or any task that someone on the site is willing to pay for. These tasks can become abusive where workers have been sexually harassed by the people setting the tasks. Jeff Bezos has a company called Mechanical Turk that competes for microwork jobs. Vulnerable people such as refugees and those living in occupied territories are the target worker for the microwork industry.
Debt collectors can now come after you on social media. Some rules apply, but that’s just the latest after a new set of policies that came into place this week by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. RT contributor Mollye Barrows reports. Then, professor of economics at UMASS Amherst Richard Wolff weighs in.
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