Posts that I especially recommend today: Friday, January 1, 2021

• Pigs Catch COVID – UK Bans Free Range Chickens! – War on Meat / Animal Ag by Christian Westbrook of California from his weblog Ice Age Farmer. (Note: He addresses various signs of shortages of animal protein in this 16:21m video report that, in his opinion, suggests future shortages of our meat supply. He cites current articles which report coronavirus infections in animal stocks which supply our meat. At the end of this video he refers us to a website that promises so much as solutions to meet this protein crisis as well as many other societal problems. I will comment on this website in the next post.)
  

• The Greater Reset by followers of a relatively new philosophy of "agorism". (Note: "The Greater Reset" is a response to the Great Reset.) My commentary follows: 

This website espouses a new movement created by followers of "agorism" that offers solutions to many societal difficulties that we are now experiencing. Agorism is a philosophy that is gathering support from various critics of neoliberalism. Is this an effective answer to today's problematic capitalist nightmare? My tentative conclusion is negative. After perusing various websites that offer explanations about various aspects of agorism, I have found numerous disturbing elements.

Perusing the Wikipedia entry for agorism, I find that it was strongly influenced by the American version of libertarianism, the followers of Ludwig von Mises of the Austrian School, and such "notables" as Ayn Rand. They (seminal ancestors and current agorists) all want a return to earlier forms of pure capitalism which has inevitably spawned what we are currently experiencing as neoliberalism, a transnational capitalist philosophy that exclusively focuses on profit, and non-capitalists, that is, ordinary people be damned. 

This movement is no threat to the transnational capitalist class--in fact, they welcome these new antagonists--that is in control of the US/Anglo/Zionist Empire that has a history of ignoring in practice the destabilization of our climate such that they are ensuring our extinction along with most other species. This is their cardinal sin, but it ignores their history of exploitation of workers, numerous and neverending wars, poverty, inequality in all aspects, etc. To return to some mythical golden age of capitalism is out of the question. Capitalism is the problem and the solution is revolution. 

I think that the leaders of the agorist movement have been influenced by ruling class's version of history, the indoctrination and 24/7 propaganda that they have been exposed to throughout their lives that they are so confused and inadequately prepared to solve anything. My tentative conclusion is that they (agorists) are excelling as critics but totally failing as revolutionaries. As a result, we will have to look to foreign activists to find revolutionary solutions (or at least outside of the core nations of the current Empire, that is, USA and what was formally known as the British Empire).

• Planet Lockdown featuring Catherine Austin Fitts in a 48:31m interview posted on Truth Matters channel of YouTube (with some unnamed person) expressing her views regarding the significance of the lockdown and related matters that our ruling class has in the form of governors' emergency powers to dictate activities on the general population. According to this post "The full film, when released, will be available at https://www.PlanetLockdownFilm.com".
  

Posts that I especially recommend today: Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2020

• Politics and Violence Go Hand in Hand by Thomas Knapp from CounterPunch. My commentary follows:

This article touches more on true wisdom than it appears. But it only touches the surface. There is a whole lot more beneath the surface that I would like draw your attention to. It is the ultimate question on how we humans should live. Unfortunately for our species, we are just cognizant enough to realize that our individual existence is only temporary. But this insight is an unacceptable truth which becomes an ultimate evil.  This realization has caused humans to neurotically believe in delusions: an after-life and an obsession with acquiring power, and especially power over other humans.

You see, we humans think that we are unlike other species which are doomed to only a temporary existence. Most religions teach us that there is some sort of an afterlife. Also we frequently believe that other species exist in order to serve our needs. We humans have long held belief systems, or religions, that put our species at the center of the universe. But religion is only one method to overcome this dreadful consciousness. Domination of other humans has become a major means to ward off this unthinkable fate. Thus, our human history has been marred by attempts to use violence to coerce others to serve our needs. Only recently we have become aware that we humans are only a tiny part of the web of life on our planet Earth; and while we search the universe for other life forms, we haven't yet found any. 

It is apparent that a major part of our existence is in families and clans, and down through the ages we humans have used this organic structure to impose power over other families and clans, and this often has taken some form of violence: outright physical violence, the threat of such violence, and/or the deprivation of the material means of existence such as denying them access to water, food, shelter, jobs, etc. 

Our species' history has produced various systems to socialize entire societies, along with the assistance of religious authorities, to inculcate beliefs among populations that their system was divinely sanctioned, and of course it is the best and only system possible. But people eventually noticed that a certain segments of their societies held more power and material benefits than others. These were designated as ruling classes which consisted of families and clans that used their systems to obtain disproportionate rewards, and sometimes these rewards were extremely disproportionate.  

Human history can be considered as a series of changes of systems, and the latter all have the same characteristics: use of physical force or the threat of such force with a supporting ideology to impose their disproportionate rule on other classes of humans.  Social scientists have identified such systems as rule by military or religious classes; feudalism: rule by those who, or their heirs, of conquered lands; and in our present- day, capitalism. Capitalist families continue to place special value only on families and clans instead of whole societies, but uses a hidden class commitment to capitalism which enables and sustains a ruling class.

Our existing capitalist ruling class continues this sordid history via the private purchase of the economy and awarding the owners of property of nearly unlimited rights. This system uses the denial of life sustenance needs, in addition to the use of violence, mostly directed on those who oppose the system. Capitalists have a built-in tendency to reduce the sustenance needs of workers to a bare minimum, and to deny aid to those who do not contribute to the wealth and power of the capitalist ruling class.  

Currently there is a growing awareness of the unsustainability of capitalism: of the extreme inequality of wealth distribution that is inherent in the capitalist system, the contradictions that are obvious in the capitalist requirement of infinite growth on a finite planet, the lack of awareness by our masters that we humans constitute minuscule part in the web of life on our unique planet Earth. Under capitalism, militaristic ruling classes are currently threatening a nuclear war catastrophe which will end our very existence.

• Social media fact-checking, brought to you by the Deep State by Daniel Espinosa from Off-Guardian. (Note: This is a best post.)

• The political battle over a COVD vaccine: your health is of no concern by Jon Rappoport from his weblog.

• Gates' Keepers of Journalism by Dr. Joseph Mercola from his health weblog.  

• EXCLUSIVE: Covid Vaccine Patent Warned of Deliberate Coronavirus Release from ISE. (Note: Ben Swann reports on a surprising discovery.)

• Bipartisan effort to oust the outsider Trump makes 2nd US stimulus unlikely by Ramin Mazaheri from A bird's eye view of the Vineyard.

• In the Footsteps of Rome: Maybe It No Longer Matters Who's Emperor by Charles Hugh Smith from his weblog Of Two Minds.

• Meet the “Violet” Successors to the White Helmets’ Syria Propaganda Throne by Vaneesa Beeley from BS News (based in Britain).
  

• Will Self-Taught, A.I. and Robotics Be the End of Us? from 21st Century Wire. (Note: In a one hour video program, a panel of artificial intelligence (AI) experts contribute their understanding to this topic.)

• From 9/11 to Covid-19: 19 Years of Media Lies. By Dr. Eric Beeth from Global Research.
  

• Why Aren’t Insurers 9/11 Truthers? – Questions For Corbett #067 from The Corbett Report.

• What Could Happen, Part 2: Time for a New Revolution by Alan Johnstone from Dissident Voice.
  

• Triple Crisis in the Anthropocene Ocean, Part One: Corrosive Seas by Ian Angus from Climate & Capitalism.
  

Posts that I especially recommend today: Monday, Sept. 7, 2020

• Exclusive: Interview With InDoctorNation's Dr. David Martin featuring David Swann (from ISE) who interviews Dr. Martin who reviews the evidence that the covid-19 was created in our nation's laboratories.
  

• At A Time Of Rapidly Creeping Authoritarianism, Assange’s Freedom Is More Crucial Than Ever by Caitlin Johnstone from her weblog.

• Media Freedom? Show meSM Journalist Opposing the Torture of Assange by Craig Murray (a Scotsman) from his weblog. 

• The “Stalinist” Trial of Julian Assange by John Pilger from Global Research.
  

• From Terrorists to Viruses: Dystopian Progress by Edward Curtin from his weblog Behind 
• the Curtain.

• Whitney Webb Interview – 2020 Election Chaos Being Used To Set Stage For The Final Technocratic Push from The Last American Vagabond. (Note: This daily report by interviewer Ryan Cristián, who is also the found of this weblog, is a little short of one hour followed by a short film (an exception to his often two to three hours of commentary.)

My reaction:

I regard Webb as a top investigative journalist. In this interview she uses her encyclopedia knowledge, gained from her research, to shed light on the Deep State, their various organizations, operatives, and their deceptive propaganda in the run-up to the November election and their Transition Integrity Project. All of these deceptive projects are treated by media corporations as protecting the security of the people, but in reality are designed through their well-honed chaos strategies to create fear in order to increase their neo-fascist control of the population. This is a best post.)

• Russia – Nord Stream 2 vs. Poisoning of Alexei Navalny by Peter Koenig from Global Research. (Note: I could not access the post from the original source, New Eastern Outlook, my usual policy.)

• U.S. govt-linked PR firm ran fake news networks for right-wing Latin American regimes by Ben Norton from The Grayzone.
  

• Season 2, Episode 1 of “TRUTH” with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. from Children's Health Defense. (Note: Kennedy is interview by Polly Tommey.)
  

• REVIEW: The people need to take back control by Tony Sutton from Off-Guardian (based in Britain). (Note: Sutton reviews a book entitled The Sport & Prey of Capitalists: How Capitalists Are Stealing Canada’s Wealth.)
  

• Time for a New Revolution Part 1: What Happened by Alan Johnstone from Dissident Voice.
  

Posts that I especially recommend today: Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2020

• The Dollar Standard Slipping Out of Control? by Alastair Crooke from Strategic Culture Foundation. My commentary follows:
  

Crooke has an interesting background in British diplomacy, MI-6 spy analyst, and now geopolitical analyst. In this article he attempts to unravel the mysteries of global currencies, and in particular, the Federal Reserve's printing money and giving it mostly to US banks and corporations. His analysis explains this as an attempt to make US dollars cheaper and easier for the US government to pay off its soaring debts.

It is about U.S. explosive debt accumulation, on account of the Coronavirus lockdown. In a world where there is already over $100 trillion in dollar-denominated debt, on which the U.S. cannot default; nor will it ever be repaid. It can therefore only be inflated away. That is to say the debt can only be managed through debasing the currency. (Debt jubilees are viewed as beyond the pale.)

One thing to keep in mind: Control of the Federal Reserve lies mostly in the real ruling class that owns most of the USA--the financial and dominant part of the ruling capitalist class. However, these fabulously rich and powerful people are split between domestic financiers but are increasingly being challenged by transnational capitalists or "globalists". The latter see the cheapening of dollar as a hindrance to their transnational capitalist profits and are becoming worried about the US dollar as a prime global currency.

But keep in mind, these problems exist regardless of which capitalist party wins the elections. Elections are mostly irrelevant in this fake democracy in order to distract workers from the real issues. International workers, particularly highly skilled and trained workers who are essential to make economies run, have been largely co-opted with lucrative careers into serving capitalists. Capitalists have nothing much to do but to bet on stocks, bonds, and currencies in their Wall Street casinos. Meanwhile, ordinary workers are left to struggle to feed, clothe, and house their families on a planet that is increasingly threatened by global warming.

• Stories Of Economic Despair From America’s Worst Economic Downturn Since The Great Depression Of The 1930s by Michael Snyder from End Of The American Dream.

• US GDP Collapses & Economic Rebound Fades by Jack Rasmus from his weblog.
  

• A Crisis of Capitalist "Civilisation" from The Internationalists.

• CDC Director Admits Hospitals Have Monetary ‘Incentive’ to Inflate Coronavirus Death Count by Chris Enloe from Anti-Empire.

•  Are Face Masks Effective? The Evidence. From Swiss Policy Research.

• What They are Not Telling You! The Mask’s Impact on Your Health by Laura Ingraham, Dr. Pascal Sacré, and Dr. Russell Blaylock from Global Research.
  

• Masks are a Psychological Preparation for Mandatory Vaccinations by Bill Willers from Dissident Voice.

• New Book Due Out September 1 posted by Edward Curtin from his weblog Behind the Curtain. (Note: I am promoting this book, SEEKING TRUTH IN A COUNTRY OF LIES, on the basis of Curtin's past record of excellent posts on his weblog.)

• Shape Yourself Into The Perfect Weapon Against The Empire by Australian Caitlin Johnstone from her weblog. (Note: Very inspiring in a time filled with despair!)

• Document exposes new US plot to overthrow Nicaragua’s elected socialist gov’t by Ben Norton from The Grayzone.
  

Posts that I especially recommend today: Monday, Aug. 3, 2020

• Do Not Let Them Train You by Caitlin Johnstone from her weblog.
  

• America’s Frontline Doctors’ website removed after viral video censored by John C. A. Manley from Off-Guardian. (Note: If you liked this, you may also be interested in these articles: this article (from an epidemiology journal), "Doctors for The Truth – all over the world", "Remdesivir for Covid-19: $1.6 Billion for a “Modestly Beneficial” Drug?", and one entitled "Video: Hollywood Celebrities and the Covid-19 Fear Campaign".

• LOCKDOWN LUNACY 3.0—It’s over. By J.B. Handley from Children's Health Defense. (Note: Also, you might be interested in the following articles: "Who is Behind 'Fake News'? Mainstream Media Use Fake Videos and Images" and "New Study: COVID Restrictions Killing 10,000 Children per Month, ‘Wasting’ and ‘Stunting’ Millions More".) (My reaction: While reading these articles, I recalled my thoughts last night while viewing the film The New American Century (2009) which I've now added to films that I recommend. I thought it was ridiculous for my fellow Americans to be caught up in the post-9/11 frenzy of hating Muslims which they viewed as "terrorists".)

• Racism, Sexism, Classism – The Necessary Incoherence Of ‘Mainstream’ Ethical Debate by David Edwards from Media Lens.

• XIII Theses on the Imminent Ecological Catastrophe and the (Revolutionary) Means of  Averting It. By Michael Löwy from Global Ecosocialist Network.
  

Posts that I especially recommend today: Tuesday, June 30, 2020

• The Co-opting of Activism by the [Deep] State by Dustin Broadbery from Off-Guardian.

• US Gov website falsely inflating Care Home Covid deaths from Off-Guardian.

• The Covid-BLM Diversion; "Shock Therapy" Behind a Smokescreen of Hysteria and Racial Incitement by Mike Whitney from The Unz Review.

• The Media is Lying About the ‘Second Wave’ by Ron Paul from his weblog.

• Unsanitized: Time to Seize Drug Patents by David Dayen from The American Prospect. 

• WHO’s Conflict of Interest? by David Macilwain from American Herald Tribune.

• Real Revolution Means Expanding Consciousness, Both Outwardly And Inwardly by Caitlin Johnstone from her weblog. 

• Capitalism is a Class-Divided, Racist, Sexist Horror Without End from The Internationalists.

Posts that I especially recommend today: Tuesday, April 21, 2020

• Covid-19: Likely financial conflagrations to come (part 3 of a series, the first two can be accessed in the article) by Eric Toussaint from CADTM. (Note: This is a comprehensive series on the US/Anglo/Zionist Empire's central banks and the role they are playing to keep the Empire afloat.) He concludes this article with the statement "It is of fundamental importance that a strategy be put into practice that makes a radical and complete break with the capitalist system and its deadly logic".

• Negative Prices Mark The End Of U.S. Shale by Bernhard from his weblog Moon of Alabama.

• Oil Price Collapse Delivers a Loud Warning by Pam Martens and Russ Martens from their weblog Wall Street on Parade.

• The Bailout, the Fed, and the Aftermath: A conversation with former Federal Reserve Governor Sarah Bloom Raskin (Robert Kuttner interviews Raskin) from The American Prospect.

• The mother of all monologues | Biden will NOT be able to stand | EP 44 featuring a monolog by George Galloway (via YouTube), a former member of the British parliament.  (Note: I thank an activist for sending me this post.)
  
  My commentary: I entirely agree with his implied question at the end: what to do when the working class wakes up to the knowledge that the ruling classes have been doing virtually nothing to preserve and protect them?
  
  I fear for the future, not for myself, but mainly for the workers of both countries--they have a very rough road ahead of them. I can't imagine how the US elections in November will turn out.
  
  However, I hesitate to agree with Galloway's implication (if I understand him) that it was a naturally occurring mutation that produced this virus and only accidentally exposed to the general population. I'll await further evidence to decide. Prof. Francis Boyle offered convincing evidence that Covid-19 was produced in the USA, but I differ from his view that it was accidentally released in China. I think it was likely deliberately released in China as a desperate attempt by the Deep State (whether the US or the Empire's) to act as a cover to again bail-out major banks and corporations; to damage much of China's economy as well as a number of other national economies such as Russia, Iran, and Venezuela while maintaining sanctions on them, and increasing them on the latter two; to get rid of a number of senior citizens that was a growing burden on the Social Security Administration; and to reduce populations as a necessity to prevent the growing threat to capitalism that greenhouse gases posed.
  
  If this was the strategy, it likely backfired. Now some workers are calling for a general strike on May Day. Meanwhile, the ruling class's sheepherder, Bernie Sanders, who campaigned for "Medicare For All", dropped out of the election just in time to prevent any damage to the election of Joe Biden, the ruling class's choice. The latter's government could only manage a $1200 to bail-out to some workers. This class is experiencing a growing sense of desperation, and they're doing everything they can to keep their Empire's currency afloat. Alastair Crooke is seeing the US dollar collapsing under the weight of debts. Graham Peebles sees an economic tsunami coming: "Everywhere in the world the cushioned and comfortable are more or less, insulated, both from inconvenience and to a degree from the coming economic [and political] tsunami." (My insertion.) 

• The Gates Foundation's Vaccination Activism by Eric Wagner from the German website Multipolar.

• 100 days after the assassination of Soleimani: Did the US achieve its goals? (part 2/2) by Elijah J Magnier from his weblog. Note: (The author cites events since the assassination to argue that the event backfired on the Empire.)

• State of the climate: First quarter of 2020 is second warmest on record by Zeke Hausfather from Carbon Brief.

Posts that I especially recommend today: Sunday, April 19, 2020

• Covid-19: stage assessment on the multidimensional crisis and alternative approaches by Eric Toussaint from CADTM (Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt).

• Bill Gates – Coronavirus Vaccine or Biological Weapon and Implanted Microchip? by Nazar Golovko from FRN (Fort Russ News).

• Can COVID-19 Truth and 9/11 Truth Change the World? (with Matthew Ehret) featuring Kevin Barrett interviewing Canadian Matthew Ehret, a critical analyst, who frequently writes for Strategic Culture Foundation. This is an opportunity for people who respect Ehret's views and analysis to listen to him in this one hour interview. Dr. Barrett taught at the University of Wisconsin until he was blacklisted in 2006 by the ruling class who disapproved of his views and analysis. The interview was posted on False Flag Weekly News, one of Barrett's weblogs.

• Will antibody tests for the coronavirus really change everything? by Smriti Mallapaty from Nature.

• Capitalism Grappling with Coronavirus from The Internationalists. (Note: If you liked this article, you may be interested in another article entitled "Covid-19 struggles and workers' control".

• Unsanitized: Donna Shalala Selection Makes a Mockery of Bailout Oversight Panel by David Dayen from The American Prospect.

• David Meiswinkle Interview – Ongoing Suppression Of 9/11 Truth & Proof Of Controlled Demolition from The Last American Vagabond. (Note: This is a 48:35m interview with the lead attorney trying to push this effort through the federal court system.)

• The Fatal Road To 4 Degrees Celsius by Andrew Glikson from Arctic News. (Note: This is a comprehensive scientific report that supports my view that we humans and a vast majority of other species are inevitably heading for extinction within the next several decades.) 

Posts that I especially recommend today: Saturday, April 18, 2020

• The International Situation in the Era of the Coronavirus Pandemic by Philippe Alcoy originally from Révolution Permanente, translated by Scott Cooper, and posted on Left Voice. 

• The pandemic, profits and the capitalist justification of suffering and death by David North from World Socialist Web Site.

The premature return to work that the Trump administration is orchestrating will lead to countless thousands of deaths, which could be prevented if a rigorous program of social distancing, supported by a massive program of testing and contact tracing, were implemented and sustained during the coming critical months.

My commentary: I don't think it is the fault of the Trump administration, rather it is due to the capitalist system that always prioritizes profits/power over the health of workers. The author, as is fashionable in media corporations, criticizes Trump too much rather than the logic of capitalism that is suggested by the title of the article.

• Seeds Of Awakening: Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix by Australian Caitlin Johnstone from her weblog.

• Threat of Starvation Becoming More Real by Vladimir Odintsov from New Eastern Outlook. 

• Covid-19 on a debt assault by Eric Toussant from CADTM (Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt). 

• Coronavirus: Middle East states crack down on media freedom by Megan O'Toole from Middle East Eye.

• The Trickle-Up Bailout by Matt Taibbi from Substack.

Posts that I especially recommend today: Saturday, April 4, 2020

• This is a Global Pandemic – Let’s Treat it as Such by Adam Hanieh from Defend Democracy Press.

• A New Humanity, A New World by Owei Lakemfa from Internationalist 360°.

• The class issues in the coronavirus pandemic by Niles Niemuth from World Socialist Web Site. 

• COVID-19: Seeds of Revolution Grown on Capitalism’s Corpse? by Gilbert Mercier from News Junkie Post. 

• How To Tell Real News From Useless Narrative Fluff by Australian Caitlin Johnstone from her weblog. 

• Coronavirus pandemic will inevitably cause food crisis by "InfoBrics" from The Duran.

Posts that I especially recommend today: Sunday, March 15, 2020

• White House Removes Public Health Experts from Coronavirus Discussions by Michael Halpern from Union of Concerned Scientists.

• How much is coronavirus spreading under the radar? by Amy Maxmen from Nature.

• A 70-Year War on ‘Propaganda’ Built by the CIA by Cynthia Chung from Internationalist 360°.

• Economic Effect of Coronavirus Could Be Revolutionary by Paul Craig Roberts from his weblog.

• Trump’s Response to the Pandemic: Demagogy for Workers and Billions for Billionaires by Ana Rivera from Left Voice.

We need self-organization from the below, with unions and social organizations at the forefront, taking adequate measures to demand a real health emergency plan to stop the Coronavirus and the chaos to which the capitalists and their governments are leading us. The unions have to fight for the workers and be a tool to get medicare, paid leave, and everything else that the crisis for the working class demands. The working class has a major role to play in resolving the crisis.

• Looking at the Military Aspects of Biological Warfare by "The Saker" (Andrei Raevsky)  from The Unz Review. 

• Was Coronavirus a Biowarfare Attack Against China? by "OldMicrobiologist" from The Unz Review. 

Posts that I especially recommend today: Saturday, January 11, 2020

• Iran: Ukrainian plane brought down 'due to human error' from PressTV (Iran).

• Iranian Armed Forces Say They Inadvertently Shot Down The Ukrainian Plane - Updated by Bernhard from Moon of Alabama.

• Iraqi PM asks US to begin withdrawal process in Iraq from Al-Masdar Al-'Arabi ("The Arab Source", based in Lebanon). 

• France strikes: nurses, teachers and lawyers join pension protests by Angelique Chrisafis from Defend Democracy Press.

• Cabin Porn from Maize.

‘How Dare You!’ The Climate Crisis And The Public Demand For Real Action

Click here to access article by the editor of Medialens from that website (British). 

(Note: I am only going to post this one article today because it offers, together with important links, so much important truths about today's humans and the crisis they face. I use the third person because I am near the end of my life and the third person offers an appropriate way to address those who come after me.)

I emphatically recommend that you do not skip the following links to important articles (that is, if you haven't already read, or listened to, them): Greta's recent speech to UNGA (my link), Greta Thunberg and the consolation of doubt, Greta Thunberg's Facebook statement earlier this year, the Ted talk she delivered in August 2018, "Something Drastic Has To Happen" with an interview by Roger Hallam on the BBC in August, 2019, and many others that I may have, in the rush to post this article, overlooked.  

Please do not misunderstand me by posting this article and commentary. I do not wish to discredit those people (especially Cory Morningstar) who have tried to expose the attempts by agents of the capitalist classes to co-opt her and thereby limit her influence. They immediately recognized how dangerous she was, but that doesn't mean they were successful. Also, I don't want you to hero-worship Greta Thunberg--that would be too easy. Rather you should take her message as another inspiration to become active in your locale to join with others to take down the system of capitalism, and the people defending it, that will inevitably result in the extinction of humans, that is, if you do nothing!

Articles I especially recommend for today: Tuesday, September 24, 2019

• What Climate Activists Still Haven’t Learned by Eric Schechter from The Greanville Post.

• Explainer: How climate change is accelerating sea level rise by Zeke Hausfather from Carbon Brief.

• Voices from the Seattle Global Climate Strike by Andy Freeman from Liberation.

• What Iran and the US offer their allies: Tehran’s multiple messages by Elijah J Magnier from his weblog. 

• US Task Force Smoking Gun smuggles weapons to Syria: Serbia files by Dilyana Gaytandzhieva from BSNews (Britain).

Articles I recommend on the internet today: Tuesday, September 10, 2019

• How To Defeat The Empire by Australian Caitlin Johnstone from her weblog.

• The Establishment is Changing its Tune on Russia by Patrick Lawrence from Consortium News.

• The West Oppressed the Third World for So Long It Became the Third World Itself by US citizen Andre Vltchek from New Eastern Outlook (magazine of the Russian Academy of Sciences).

Hiroshima Unlearned: Time To Tell the Truth About US Relations with Russia

Click here to access article by Alice Slater from Defend Democracy Press.

Slater doesn't even begin to explain how and why the capitalist ruling classes have forbidden any serious attempt to draw the right lessons from this horrendous event and all other events since then.

The extensive history of major political events since the Russian Revolution has encompassed military invasions, CIA subversive actions (including the "Color Revolutions"), infiltration of media corporations, educational institutions to obliterate the true history since this revolution, etc. She focuses on only one dramatic event.  Since the end of WWII the US Empire engaged in one of history's worst crime of mind altering accomplishments motivated by capitalist ruling classes to preserve their system from any good examples that the vast majority of the Earth's people might create. One of the results was the distortion of socialism.

The Russian Revolution of 1917 shocked the capitalist ruling classes all over the globe. (I covered this in a series of posts in October and November 2017 commemorating the hundredth anniversary. Type in "Russian Revolution" in any of my search engines scattered across my weblog.)  This decisive event of the 20th century established the first government that banned any significant private ownership of the economy. (Only small family-run businesses were permitted.) 

Since that time capitalist ruling classes have fought obsessively to crush this economic arrangement and to prevent it from spreading. (See this and this.) The British led the efforts, along with at least 13 other nations, after the Revolution to militarily destroy it. (Yes, the USA participated.) The extensive capitalist ruling classes efforts did not destroy the Soviet Union, but they succeeded in distorting much of the fabric of Russian socialism which led to its collapse in 1990, and have largely prevented the establishment of socialist governments elsewhere in the world. Cuba is hanging on by a thread, and Venezuela's efforts are being threatened. In my opinion, China's rule by the Communist Party with its substantial capitalist sector has still to prove itself. 

The history of this sordid, long series of events has been carefully and successfully hidden from the American people. Since then, one of history's most significant event has been rewritten by well paid historians and others employed by Western media and entertainment corporations. This largely successful propaganda and indoctrination effort has been overwhelmingly successful. Slater focuses on only one horrendous event in this long and complex history.

In these dreadful current times, we see the rise of major countries like Russia, China, and Iran, which are pursing a multilateral world, are threatening the dominance of the US/Anglo/Zionist Empire which replaced the overtly fascist empires of Germany, Japan, and Italy in WWII.

The Yellow Vests Are Just The Start Of The Global Working Class Revolution That’s Underway

Click here to access article by Rainer Shea posted on The Greanville Post.

I've been a socialist for the past 60 years, and during that time I've always seen the necessity for a revolution that would take away ownership and control of the economy in private hands and put it in the hands of ordinary people to serve their needs. This article is welcome news that at least some of the young generation are waking up to this reality. However, from my vantage point in a milieu that is limited to mostly old people like myself, I still don't see this happening. So, this article evoked mixed feelings in me: skepticism and hope.

Yes, there is growing resistance here in the USA, but it is widely dispersed among people who are directly impacted by the various capitalist crises. Too many Americans seem too comfortable with their circumstances, and their individualism and isolation due to so many years of indoctrination prevents them from uniting behind any organized effort to overthrow their capitalist masters. The Empire's exploitation of the rest of the world and nature has bought off our educated, that is, highly trained and indoctrinated upper-middle-class who have the means of shutting down the economy and make the capitalists scream until they surrender their control (ownership) of the economy. Without these people I fear that the capitalist directors of the Empire will bumble along from one crisis to another until they ultimately face the desperate choice to surrender or engage in a catastrophic nuclear war against its foreign enemies. Actually I think we are approaching this scenario now. 

But what about the more distant future of environmental destabilization and its threat of destroying the habitat of humans and many other species? If I were a betting man, I would bet that it is too late to prevent the extinction of humans. But I also know that humans, like many other species, will fight to preserve their species. It's too late for me to prevent this tragedy from happening, but my last hope is to see the perpetrators of our extinction lose their power at the hands of ordinary people who can no longer tolerate the abuses and crimes of this capitalist class. So, it's a Pyrrhic victory, but it will be a little something for me: a sweet reward for my lifelong efforts at the end of my life. I only hope that I can live that long.

The Looking Glass Splinters

Click here to access article by Alastair Crooke from Strategic Culture Foundation. (Minor editing at 7:10 PM CT for greater clarity.)

I'm not sure that I should have posted this because of its rather difficult writing style for the average reader, but this normally insightful author (a former member of MI6) is very worried about the political-economic scene in Europe. He suggests that Europeans may on the cusp of major changes to their fundamental alliances and relations, but the British leadership, in particular, are behaving according to "business as usual". Is it all pretense? Crooke sees fractures everywhere behind the scenes. Among his concerns are Brexit, China's BRI, central banks, the poor European and world economy that's on the brink of recession, and the ongoing Yellow-Vest protests in France. Consider the following examples of his remarks:

Tectonic shifts like this, are rare. But when they do occur, they throw up the possibility of profound change and realignment.

 And:

"What is astonishing is the apparent continued belief amongst our superior classes that 'ordinary people' aren’t watching and understanding what is afoot.”

From some radical, perhaps? No it is a quote from the former Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce, with 30 years’ experience of UK and EU government.

I have a feeling he is on to something.

Can We Feed the World without Destroying It?

Click here to access article by Eric Holt-Giménez, Executive Director of Food First. 

The author clarifies how the capitalist system affects food production, but has unrealistic hopes about the Green New Deal's ability to transform the present system into one that empowers all of humanity instead of capitalism which serves the needs of a tiny minority of "owners".

 He writes:

The food movement has been very good at developing alternatives, but it hasn’t been good at addressing the systemic barriers to good, clean, fair food for all. Some even seem to think that we can transform our food system in isolation of the larger, political-economic system in which it is embedded. That system is capitalism and it has co-evolved with our food system, so clearly we can’t change one without changing the other.

The good news is that the food system has always been a pivotal pillar in capitalism, so if we can push systemic changes within the food system, it will influence the rest of the system. That’s why things that seem utopic, like insisting on the human right to food and food sovereignty, are so important. To the extent we can ensure these rights, we dismantle capitalism.

But pins his hopes on the Green New Deal:

... whatever you are doing—studying, gardening, in a CSA [link], whatever—thank you, and keep doing it. Now, you need to do something else: change everything! Let’s catch the momentum of the Green New Deal to build a powerful, broad-based, working class and people of color-led movement for transformation. Let’s create the political will not just for reforms, but for transformative, structural reforms that put us solidly on the road to food sovereignty and to cooling the planet. [my inserted link]

Like the New Deal under the Roosevelt administration, the Green New Deal won't be allowed to empower people at the expense of capitalists. Only an organized revolutionary people can do that. The Green New Deal, under capitalist controlled political system, likes its predecessor, will only protect the present ruling class from any substantial changes. He essentially admits that in the first paragraph.

Why Activists Fail. The Importance of Telling the Truth

Click here to access article by Robert J. Burrowes from Global Research. 

I debated long and hard about posting this article because it argues for "non-violence" as a principle to guide any activity opposed to the "global elite managers", his description of the capitalist ruling classes throughout the world. But because the first third of the article (down to "So why does all of the above happen?") accurately describes the world, I've decided to post it. The rest of it is a pitch for non-violence.

In the above three sections, I explained the importance of a sound analysis, strategic focus and an appropriate timeframe as well as the importance of telling the truth, in developing and implementing an effective nonviolent strategy. 

But I don't see any strategy of a social nature. He does advocate that we abide by individual pledges (which are all in bold print) to avoid behaviors that contribution to pollution, boycotting banks which supply loans to polluting corporations, and avoiding following news from mainstream sources. He does throw in references to other strategies, but these appear also to promote the principle of non-violence and obligatory references to Gandhi. But that's all! This argument is neatly wrapped up in a startling package he calls "truth"!

I'm always suspicious when someone advocates non-violence in the context of revolutionary change. Ruling classes always make sure that they have sufficient means of violence to put down any opposition. Likewise they have never hesitated to use violence against their adversaries. So, we must expect violence from them, and we need to protect ourselves. If this is not a sufficient reason to meet your objections, read my counter-arguments to this principle of non-violence in the commentary of my post entitled "On Contact: Extinction Rebellion". Then when he emphasized an individually oriented strategy, my hackles of suspicion rose even more.

So, I recommend reading the first part in which he gives a summary of history of the development of ruling classes, a very apt description of our present state of geopolitical affairs, and his endorsement of Giants: The Global Elite.