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, February 4, 2022

Posts that I especially recommend for Friday, February 4, 2022

  • Damning Video of Media Lying About Ivermectin featuring Jimmy Dore with guest Kurt Metzger, a comedian mostly interjecting some satirical comments, and a number of other clips of people--from Dore's channel on YouTube (14:31). 
  • Attack of the Transphobic Putin-Nazi Truckers! by C. J. Hopkins from his weblog Consent Factory, Inc. My reaction: Hopkins, a political satirist, returns to his trademark satire to lampoon criticism of the Canadian truck protest convoy that has reached Ottawa, Canada.
My reaction: Again the Democratic Party, one of the two-party system, which the capitalist ruling class permits to have any substantial following, demonstrates its "woke" hypocrisy by targeting people of color.

Yesterday, The Hill published an article called “Five Democrats the left plans to target” about progressives who are trying to unseat moderate Congressional incumbents. Though not inaccurate, the piece fails to mention how important race is in all this.
  • Sources Say, a poem, by Australian Caitlin Johnstone with her American husband, Tim Foley, also reading the poem for those of you who prefer audio.
I still believe the United States is not that concerned about Ukraine’s security, though they may think about it on the sidelines. Its main goal is to contain Russia’s development. This is the whole point. In this sense, Ukraine is simply a tool to reach this goal. This can be done in different ways: by drawing us into some armed conflict, or compelling its allies in Europe to impose tough sanctions on us like the US is talking about today.
The Russia-China joint statement (here, in Russian) did not cut any corners. The two global powers, among the summit’s key takeaways, are against NATO expansion; favor the UN and “justice in international relations;” will fight “interference in the internal affairs of sovereign countries;” oppose “external forces” undermining national security; and are resolutely against color revolutions.
In this article, we are going to explore the immense economic and financial implications of BlackRock’s plan, which has been set in motion and is currently operating globally. It stipulates that central banks—which are privately owned—control our governments' fiscal policy and that policy coordination is enforced. In other words, central banks, and ultimately private wealth managers, will control the spending of our taxes and of the debt taken out in our and our children's name.

This is a global coup d’état. The government you elect no longer controls how it spends your taxed income; central banks do, and they will do as directed by private money.
  • Splendid opening ceremony raises curtain on Games from ChinaDaily, an online news source for China. My reaction: Our ruling masters are doing everything they can to downplay this event. You don't have to meekly comply. I assume this opening ceremony will be broadcast in the USA this evening. Although I'm not active anymore, I formerly was and tried most sports--I excelled at long-distance bicycling and cross-country skiing.
  • US Exacts Revenge on Afghanistan for its Defiance by Viktor Mikhin from New Eastern Outlook. My reaction: This post again "puts the lie" to the almost daily propaganda broadcasts in the USA from media corporations about the US giving aid to Afghanistan.
When the Taliban toppled the US-backed government of Ashraf Ghani last summer, they lost access to financial reserves under full US control of the World Bank and IMF, their assets were frozen and development assistance was suddenly suspended. In addition, President Joe Biden’s administration has frozen $7 billion of Afghanistan’s foreign exchange reserves held in New York. It is only natural that these enormous funds are not lying dormant, but are actively working, bringing in considerable dividends for the US bankers.
  • Panama Ransacked in 1989 from Tales of the American Empire and their channel on YouTube (15:35). My reaction: This post offers an accurate example from recent history. These highly secretive CIA operations continue today.
... while 5G networks, satellites, mass data-harvesting, artificial intelligence and virtual reality will allow the colonization of still more physical, economic and mental space by multinational corporations, technologies like fossil fuels, global trading infrastructures, and television have already helped to impose a corporate-run consumer-based economy in almost every corner of the globe.

For reasons that are increasingly evident, an acceleration of this process is the last thing we need in a time of serious social and environmental crises. 
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