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, January 19, 2022

Posts that I especially recommend for Wednesday, January 19, 2022

UK Prime Minister has announced the end of all restrictions allegedly brought in to combat the spread of the “Omicron variant”.
Under questioning from Senators Tom Cotton and Ted Cruz, high-ranking US Government officials refused to say whether undercover FBI agents were involved in the January 6 riots at the US Capitol Building, fueling suspicion and conspiracy theories about FBI involvement in provoking the Capitol invasion.
  • No, 270 “Doctors” Didn’t Criticize Joe Rogan featuring Jimmy Dore commenting on the smears on Joe Rogan's show from various media corporations, and guest Kurt Metzger, a comedian mostly interjecting humorous satirical comments, from Dore's channel on YouTube (32:21). 
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, World Health Organization (WHO) Secretary-General and overseer of the UN’s global coronavirus response, has established a shadow relief operation that sidesteps the authority of Ethiopia’s sovereign government and directly coordinates with his political allies in the country’s civil war.

The alleged actions by Tedros, which have come to light through leaked audio conversations of UN workers, constitute a violation of UN code, which stipulates staff maintain neutrality and refrain from intervening in the affairs of member states. A participant in the leaked discussion also states that Tedros tried to replace the UN’s top coordinator in Ethiopia with someone willing to advance his political objectives.
 
My reaction: I have a well-reasoned suspicion that Tedros has been corrupted by the de-facto US/British/Zionist Empire to serve the Empire's interests, but here he is also accused of following his own interests and that of the Tigray state in Ethiopia. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has a number of close connections with the Tigray state of Ethiopia.
Many have long suspected that the wealthiest humans would like to have the world to themselves. Aside from an underclass of servile worker bees, the elite, some think, would just as soon see the planet purged of ‘useless eaters.’

They’ve gotten awfully ballsy about admitting it, too.
  • The Surprise Ending by Australian Caitlin Johnstone with her American husband, Tim Foley, also reading the script (but you may miss supporting examples, links, illustrations, etc.)--from her weblog. She offers this important insight:
The surprise twist at the end of the quest for liberation is the realization that true freedom comes from setting life free. That freedom from slavery to one’s conditioning and the ability to experience life in its natural boundlessness is only possible with a letting go of all effort to control things; to control outcomes, to control our experience, to control others, to control life. All egoic patterning is ultimately born of a desire to control, and freedom from that patterning can only come when there’s a letting go of that desire.
... when it comes to BBC News, it is time we all grew up and rejected the absurd fiction of BBC ‘balance’ and ‘impartiality’. Over the past two decades, we have provided endless examples of deep BBC bias, distortions and omissions. On our 20th anniversary last year, BBC News featured heavily in our round-up of ‘propaganda horrors’: see Part 1 and Part 2.

Time and time again, we have shone a light on the nonsensical BBC claim that ‘we don’t do propaganda’; on the arrogance and ignorant boasts of BBC News; and on the serial propaganda by omission in BBC News coverage, covering for the crimes of ‘our’ governments.

Somehow we are supposed to overlook all this, or see it as just occasional ‘mistakes’.
 
My reaction: Today the BBC serves the ruling imperial capitalist class of Britain and they are an integral part of the US/British/Zionist Empire. The authors of the article include a particularly insightful quote of the quintessentially American writer and politician, Upton Sinclair:

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it."
 
This insightful quote explains so much of human behavior in an era that Margaret Thatcher commented: "There is no such thing as society, there are only families ...", and if I may add, within a capitalist system. These three factors explain so much about the human species and their likely disappearance from planet Earth.
Eight years after the water crisis in Flint, Michigan began – few people have been held criminally responsible – despite the fact it was one of the worst manmade public health emergencies in US history. RT contributor Mollye Barrows takes a closer look at the investigation.
For the last few years, the name "Ghislaine Maxwell" has been synonymous with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. However, there is more to the story about this one-time socialite, who has been pictured with some of the most powerful people in the world. So who is Ghislaine Maxwell? RT's John Huddy gives us the story.
After nearly 8 years of civil war in Yemen – and years of involvement from its neighbors Saudi Arabia and the UAE – the Houthi rebels responded with a deadly attack on civilian infrastructure in Abu Dhabi – the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. An armed drone attack made its way about 1,000 miles to bomb an Emirati oil plant – killing 3 foreign workers and injuring many more. The Houthis took responsibility for the attack – citing this was payback for Emirati involvement backing the Saudis against them. Former Pentagon official Michael Maloof and founder of Mint Press News [based in Minneapolis] Mnar Adley join a panel to discuss. [my insertion]
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