Blood on the tracks of the New Silk Roads

Click here to access article by Pepe Escobar from Asia Times.

This devoted China booster writes that the Chinese Communist Party is distressed by the current conflict pitting Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain against Qatar and Turkey. The former faction is opposed to the latter's increasingly warming relations with Iran and Russia. And, Trump in his profound ignorance probably ignited this fire.

China’s cardinal foreign policy imperative is to refrain from interfering abroad while advancing the proverbial good relations with key political actors – even when they may be at each other’s throats.

Still, it’s nothing but gut-wrenching for Beijing to watch the current, unpredictable, Saudi-Qatari standoff. There’s no endgame in sight, as plausible scenarios include even regime change and a seismic geopolitical shift in Southwest Asia – what a Western-centric view calls the Middle East.

Since the late 1970s under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping, the Chinese Communist Party launched what they regard as a "win-win" strategy using economic development to solve conflicts both within China and abroad. (See my commentary here starting with "For background material on contemporary China ...".)

Chelsea Manning’s Persevering Spirit Shines In Interview For ABC’s ‘Nightline’

Click here to access article by Kevin Gosztola from Shadowproof.

Whether in an imperfect or hostile setting, Chelsea Manning’s persevering spirit and humanity never fails to shine. That was certainly the case in her exclusive interview for “Nightline” on ABC.

The United States Army whistleblower describes her military prison life at Fort Leavenworth as a daily fight for survival.

Capitalist trends

by Brian McFadden from his website.

Capitalism in the Web of Life: Ecology and the Accumulation of Capital

Click here to access a review by Elaine Graham-Leigh of a book by the above title posted on CounterFire (Britain). 

I totally agree with her concluding paragraph:

It is a fairly common belief within green thought that practising pre-figurative politics, living as far as possible as if capitalism did not exist, is a strategy for defeating the system; that it can be hollowed out from within by individuals and communities making some effort to withdraw themselves. It is a tempting belief (it would be much easier) but as numerous examples, from the Diggers to the communist village in Spain, demonstrate, capitalism can continue to exist even if there are groups of people within it who think they are escaping its clutches. The only way that we will see the end of capitalism, before its crisis of negative value sees the end of us, is if we overthrow it and for that, we need to organise. Moore’s often impressive analysis overcomes the common green allergy to talking about a revolution. It just needed to go a little further and embrace the revolutionary socialist organisation that any chance of a successful revolution will require.

If you didn't know, I have such a proposal for the overthrow of capitalism in the following series entitled "A revolutionary model": Part 1, Part 2a, Part 2b, and Part 3. The proposal uses a pre-figurative political structure in a radically new alternative media organization as a method to undermine the legitimacy of information from media corporations--the engines of capitalist rule.

The Kurds Are Playing A Dangerous Game

Click here to access article by Paul Mansfield and Mary Woodward from BSNews.

The British authors are obviously referring to the Syrian Kurds that I learned in past reports have distanced themselves from the Iraqi Kurds who are much more conservative. I have been trying for the last several years to understand why they were playing such a dangerous game, and the authors are as perplexed as I am. 

I was also initially taken in by articles from ROAR (around 2014) that described the Syrian Kurds as an epitome of advanced revolutionary thinking, but then I began to read reports about their collusion with US forces and allowing the latter to have military bases on their territory. Still, more recently I've read a report in which a TeleSur reporter asked them if they were seeking an independent state, and the answer was a firm "no". This is the same answer that they gave in some article I read in 2014.

Mark Crispin Miller on “conspiracy theory”

Click here if you wish to access an 25:54m interview with Mark Crispin Miller by RT directly from Miller's website. 

In this interview this specialist in communication studies offers his understanding of the words “conspiracy theory” often used by Empire agents to smear views that they don't like. This weapon is a part of the vast arsenal that Empire agents use in their largely one-sided war on authentic information.

One of the most divisive terms in the English language today is the phrase ‘conspiracy theory.’ Its stigma has a chilling effect on people and the label has the subtle power to shut down enquiring minds and, with them, any inconvenient conversations.

But where did the term come from, and how does this catch-all phrase affect independent thinkers, international debate and the media today?

Host Ross Ashcroft is joined by author and Professor of Media Studies at New York University Mark Crispin Miller.

'Without Putin, Syria Would Have Ceased to Exist'

Click here to access an interview with Father Daniel Maes, a Flemish priest living in Syria, posted on Russia Insider. 

According to the Flemish Father Daniel Maes, who has lived in Syria since 2010, the coverage of the Syrian war is based on lies. President Bashar al-Assad is not the problem, but our own politicians, who support ISIS and Al Nusra, in order to topple the Syrian government. "The real terrorist leaders are in the West and Saudi Arabia."

The 79-year-old Father Daniel Maes is back in his native country Belgium. He stays in the Norbertine abbey of the Flemish village Postel, which he left for Syria in 2010, when the country was not yet at war.

Why Americans Don’t Understand Terrorism, At All

Click here to access article by Joe Giambrone from OffGuardian. 

Giambrone thinks that Brits are holier than Americans. Because they voted for Labor candidates under Jeremy Corbin? We Americans were only given a choice between a real estate tycoon who promised jobs and peace with Russia and a mad-dog warmonger as represented by Hillary Clinton. This only proves that their political process might be more open than ours. After all, the US is now the center of the Empire, not Britain! Who cares where North Korea is?! 😉

We live in an invisible empire, and so the mechanics of the empire are never openly discussed with the rabble. Americans don’t comprehend how power actually works across the planet that their country seeks to control. They live from momentary headline to headline without any honest, in-depth analysis of why events like the Manchester bombing occur and keep occurring.

When it comes to terrorism it is dire, urgent, and desperate that the public understand, if anything is to change. But it certainly appears that Americans never will. Perhaps Britons may, and then lead the effort to stop it.

The need to radicalise the Bolivarian Revolution – interview with Jorge Martín

Click here to access article which is a transcript of an interview with Jorge Martin and posted on TeleSur. 

Martin confirms my own impressions of the rather pretentious Bolivarian Revolution that Hugo Chavez spoke so frequently and passionately about. It is easy for others in foreign lands to be critical of leaders of socialist revolutions, so I tried to retain an open mind about the Chavistas and their leadership. 

However after a trip to Venezuela in December of 2005, I returned home with a feeling that the so-called revolution would not be able to establish socialism by pretending to empower the base of workers and peasants organized in communal councils. (See my commentaries here, here, and here) Martin reinforces all my doubts about its original authenticity. It seems that cultural traditions promote a strong tendency to follow old patterns even among revolutionaries. I am referring to clientelism and caudilloism that is so prevalent throughout South America. 

However because the vast majority of Venezuelans know that they will be far worse off under a pro-capitalist government, they might have sufficient energy to move against their capitalist foes by nationalizing large industries. Then we would likely see a repeat of the Syrian conflict, and that may be the precise reason why Hugo Chavez was so cautious.

Economic Update: Human Nature and Capitalism

On the last half of a recent program presented below, economics Prof. Wolff interviews Dr. Harriet Fraad who talks about human nature.



Because I'm not entirely sure if she is arguing that human nature is infinitely malleable, I would like to clarify my own position. 

Human nature is very adaptable, but within limits. Our nature is to be free, but within limits of human society. Because ruling classes have emerged during the last 2% of human existence corresponding to civilization, there has also occurred far more stringent limits that have been imposed on large numbers of people by ruling classes in order to secure their advantages. 

Originally they accomplished this through violence, but since then mostly by indoctrinating the oppressed with various justifying messages: such arrangements have been ordained by some god, there is no alternative, or it is simply conforming to human nature. The desire for freedom within social limits, which humans had to maintain for 98% of human existence in order to survive, has never been destroyed, but only repressed by ruling classes during the last 2% of human existence.

Hence there never ceases to be vigorous opposition to these arbitrary limits imposed on oppressed people by ruling classes. This conflict between rulers and the oppressed is often referred to as "class struggle". It also represents what oppressed humans frequently refer to as "fairness" or "social justice". If human nature were infinitely adaptable, this conflict would not occur.

The Russians Did Not Do It

Click here to access article by Gregory Barrett from The Greanville Post. 

If you are bothered by the incessant propaganda spewed by media corporations to the extent that it is threatening your mental health, then I recommend this piece as an excellent antidote.

Neocons 2.0: The problem with Peter Pomerantsev

Click here to access article by Mark Ames from Pando.

If you still have doubts about my assertion that there is a one-sided information war going on in my last opinion piece entitled "A Revolutionary Model: Problems and Possibilities - Part 3 of 3", then you will surely need to read this piece. But even if you were aware, I still recommend it because it gives you an idea of the length that mostly neocons (I think that they are more accurately identified as "Ziocons"--short for "Zionist conservatives") go to invert reality. I don't think you did need wade through the entire rather lengthy article to get the idea that our masters' media corporations are under the control of highly skilled sociopaths who are very much like Peter Pomerantsev. 

Also consider the trend in the last decades of subverting alternative media sources into serving us propaganda of the US Empire. A prime example of this is in this article entitled "When Mother Jones Was Investigated For Spreading 'Kremlin Disinformation'".

Pulling away

Click here to access article by David Ruccio from Real-World Economics Review Blog. 

Ruccio's graphs and analysis clearly illustrate the co-optation of the upper-middle class by the capitalist class.

Some speculations about the defeat of terrorist forces in Syria

by Ron Horn

Today there is considerable evidence to indicate a victory is near for the Syrian government forces (aided by Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah) over the various terrorist armies and ISIS that have been organized and supplied by the US-led Empire, Saudi Arabia and their medieval allies, Turkey, and Israel to remove the Assad government from Syria. The evidence is supplied by the following reports: here, here, here, and here. Yet if you do a Google search, you will find mostly articles from corporate media that claim that the US is defeating ISIS! What an astounding example of turning reality on its head! And yet many Americans will read these articles without any awareness of the opposite reality.

The impending defeat of ISIS got me thinking. I wonder if the failure of the project to remove the Assad government from power might account for the current bitter conflicts within the anti-Syrian coalition, particularly in the Middle East and within the US itself. 

Pepe Escobar in his article "Trump's Sword Dance Sets Off the War of the Wahhabis" sheds a lot of light on the confusing conflict in the Middle East following Trump's visit among the Arab geopolitical powers who like to play games of dominance. Trump in his ignorance and blundering apparently ignited the bomb. According to Escobar, the fuels that led to this explosion are oil/gas pipelines, competition among regime change organizations (Wahhabi terrorist armies versus the Muslim Brotherhood), and Qatar's friendly overtures to Iran and Russia.

A Revolutionary Model: Problems and Possibilities - Part 3 of 3

by Ron Horn.

It is clear to many informed people across our planet that we are now in the midst of a global war on information on a scale that people have never experienced before. On one side of this war are the powerful corporate megaphones of the rich ruling classes spewing out fake reports and propaganda that is designed to primarily manipulate people in support of their interests. On the other side are the numerous tiny voices of poorly funded individual bloggers trying to do the best they can with limited resources to counter the misinformation of corporate media.

As a result most people are completely confused about what is going on in nation and the world. Corporate media has only served to mystify and obscure the reality of events so that many people no longer trust their own judgement. Given the occurrence of terrorist events (real or contrived), some people are increasingly afraid and relying on authorities in the ruling class for guidance. This, of course, only drags people deeper into mental bondage. The end result is what we see today, and well described in a recent article by Vanessa Beely as "gaslighting".

Gaslighting as an abuser’s modus operandi, involves, specifically, the withholding of factual information and its replacement with false or fictional information designed to confuse and disorientate. This subtle and Machiavellian process eventually undermines the mental stability of its victims reducing them to such a depth of insecurity and identity crisis that they become entirely dependent upon their abuser for their sense of reality and even identity.

Gaslighting involves a step by step psychological process to manipulate and destabilize its victim.  It is built up over time and consists of repetitive information feeds that enter the victim’s subconscious over a period of time, until it is fully registered on the subconscious “hard disk” and cannot be overridden by the conscious floppy disk.  Put more simply, it is brainwashing.

The effects of this brainwashing are evident everywhere. Not only are there many people looking to "authoritative" sources of the ruling class for guidance, many others are listening to partially informed voices or sometimes even fake leaders who lead them into futile activities or shepherd them back into the Democratic party (for example, listen to this). Then there are countless numbers of people so confused by the myriad of views that they have withdrawn into protective mental enclaves of passivity or self-righteous cynicism. 

In order for the project to be successful, the journalists and news analysts in this proposed media organization must be attuned to the class nature which underlies most major events and issues. Of course, not everything can be reduced to a class analysis, but the cultivation of a class perspective or awareness can unravel many of the mysterious events that occur today. That is precisely why the ruling class encourages activists to pursue social identity issues instead of a class issues which might expose their illegitimate, if not criminal, activities. A class-informed consciousness has the potential to equip the people with a confidence that they have the ability to understand issues and the courage to act as protagonists to alter events to serve their needs. I call this consciousness "social power". Contrast this concept with the perverted kind of power that the ruling capitalist class are addicted to: power over people, power to dominate, manipulate, and control people for their class interests--more wealth and power. 

The capitalist ruling class know that their wealth and power depend upon control of information, and they will do everything they can to undermine such an independent organization. That is why they have so vigorously engaged in this information war. An independent media organization would threaten the core propaganda functions of their corporate media, and they would launch every weapon in their vast arsenal to defeat it. We must be prepared to endure the difficulties that lie ahead which may discourage all but the strongest of people who wish for a better future. So, what are these weapons?

Activists with experience know the many methods that the ruling capitalist class have used in the past to protect them from us and to keep us in mental bondage. There is also considerable information online that is available. Because our mission is based on the very legitimate reason to provide an independent source of information about world events, they will undoubtedly try to paint the new media organization using the old, tired smear of serving Russian interests. But if the project continues to grow, they will use many other methods they have so often used in the past: infiltration of the organization with their agents, divide and conquer by attempting to sow chaos and divisions among the staff of the new media organization, using their vast arsenal of surveillance methods (fixed surveillance cameras, cameras on drones, interception of our electronic communications, etc) to spy on the organization, blacklisting people from participating in the economy, and even assassinating journalists and other key functionaries. But we also must be aware that the more vigorously ruling class agents try to undermine or attack the project, the more likely that new followers and supporters among the general population will be drawn to our new media service.

Still, we must be prepared to prevent these weapons from destroying the project. Committees must be formed that are comprised of experienced and skilled people to study these issues and recommend corrective actions. People who have had experience with infiltrators in activist political organizations must be recruited. The same goes for people with advanced computer skills so that important communications of the project can be encrypted, website administrators with advanced skills, security people who can protect our leaders and journalists, and outstanding news analysts. Most important of all, the project must attract people with solid journalistic and investigative skills and dedicated to a reasonably objective reporting of news, uncovering evidence, and promoting an understanding of events and issues. And last but not least, we the people must support journalists and analysts with our participation, energy, and money, because without us they will surely fail. 

So, why should anyone engage in such a dangerous effort and risk losing what they have and putting their futures in jeopardy?

First of all, I think we owe it to the brave people who have already sacrificed so much to bring us the truth, and supported efforts to have the wonders of the internet serve us instead of merely the tiny capitalist ruling class. I am thinking of people like Julian Assange, Chelsea (Bradley) Manning, Edward Snowden, and Aaron Swartz. I am also thinking of journalists like Eva Bartlett, Vanessa Beely, and Abby Martin who have traveled to dangerous areas to bring us the real news about what was happening there. I think we have a moral responsibility to carry on their efforts at exposing the truth about our world. But we also must do a better job of protecting them.

If successful, this new media organization could serve to make events understandable to all, and with this understanding the people would gain confidence to engage in activities that really challenge the powerful voices coming from the media of the rich ruling class. Armed with this new knowledge, more and more people might stop collaborating with their ruling class bosses and start engaging in activities designed to serve society as a whole. And then, who knows where that might lead them?

One hopeful scenario is the rise of a radically new society out of the ashes of the old war-torn, divided societies composed of a few extremely rich and powerful people who control vast numbers of poor people. This proposal is an attempt to strengthen the side of the people, to make it a much fairer war, and to increase the chances for the people to win so that they can create societies that are for their benefit instead of tiny ruling classes. These new societies would be led by vast numbers of people energized by "social power" and who are fully aware of their collective power to create their own future. Such a future must necessarily include a new social-economic system that fosters the growth of all humans, protects the health of our home-planet, and ultimately might enable humans to survive as a species.


(See previous parts of this proposal: Part 1, Part 2a, Part 2b)

Do Not Trust The Intercept or How To Burn A Source

Click here to access article by Bernhard from Moon of Alabama. 

I've long had my suspicions back  about The Intercept which was strongly reinforced by a series of Newsbud's (formerly Boiling Frogs) articles in 2013 and 2014 about Glenn Greenwald's reluctance to release the treasure trove of NSA linked spying documents that Edward Snowden gave him. Bernhard makes a very good case that we should not trust The Intercept.

The Intercept, a subdivision of First Look Media, was founded by Pierre Omidyar, a major owner of the auctioning site eBay and its PayPal banking division. Omidyar is a billionaire and "philanthropist" who's (tax avoiding) Omidyar Network foundation is "investing" for "returns". Its microcredit project for farmers in India, in cooperation with people from the fascists RSS party, ended in an epidemic of suicides when the farmers were unable to pay back. The Omidyar Network also funded (fascist) regime change groups in Ukraine in cooperation with USAID. Omidyar had cozy relations with the Obama White House. Some of the held back NSA documents likely implicate Omidyar's PayPal.

The Intercept was funded with some $50 million from Omidyar. Its first hires were Greenwald, Jeremy Scahill and Laura Poitras - all involved in publishing the Snowden papers and other leaks. Its first piece was based on documents from the leaked NSA stack. It has since published on this or that but not in a regular media way.  The Intercept pieces are usually heavily editorialized and tend to have a mainstream "liberal" to libertarian slant.

Getting Julian Assange: The Untold Story

Click here to access article by John Pilger from TeleSur. 

For almost seven years, this epic miscarriage of justice has been drowned in a vituperative campaign against the WikiLeaks founder. There are few precedents. Deeply personal, petty, vicious and inhuman attacks have been aimed at a man not charged with any crime yet subjected to treatment not even meted out to a defendant facing extradition on a charge of murdering his wife. That the U.S. threat to Assange was a threat to all journalists, and to the principle of free speech, was lost in the sordid and the ambitious. I would call it anti-journalism.

This vendetta against Julian Assange, along with their treatment of Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden, illustrates the extreme importance that Empire directors place on preventing any information that exposes their many criminal activities. But this is only part of the story. 

Corporate media, which capitalists own and control, have been used to purvey a countless number of fake news reports, self-serving propaganda, and poorly done investigative reports of "terrorist" incidents. The two together, that is, the persecution of alternative sources of information together with their propaganda use of corporate media indicate that the ruling class directors of the capitalist Empire regard the monopoly of information as a top priority to prevent their subjects from interfering in their plans of world hegemony and extracting the last ounce of wealth from the Earth.

Statement on deletion attempts in Wikipedia articles on SWEDHR and its representatives

Click here to access article by Professor Emeritus, med dr Marcello Ferrada de Noli (Ph.D.), chairman, Professor Emeritus, med dr Andres Romelsjö (Ph.D.), vice-chairman, and Dr Lena Oske, MD, on behalf of the Board of Directors, Swedish Doctors for Human Rights posted on The Indicter. 

The writers are representatives of Swedish Doctors for Human Rights (SWEDHR) who argue that there has been a campaign to both impugn and distort the information reported by their organization in some Swedish and international corporate media. This occurred following their publication of an article attacking numerous articles, which they regarded as fake, that appeared in international media about the "While Helmets". As a reaction to the article published by SWEDHR, there has been a campaign waged to discredit SWEDHR which has also resulted in a radically altered piece about their organization in Wikipedia.

It's obvious that those in the media controlled by the Empire's transnational capitalist class will not tolerate efforts to expose their fake news reports. 

Beyond Democrat Dead-ends: What Real Climate Action Looks Like

Click here to access article by Carol Dansereau from The Greanville Post.

The author, in my opinion, too casually slips into her third item regarding a "real climate" plan, which could prevent a disastrous destabilization of the climate, the fact that a revolution will be required to replace capitalism. It's becoming obvious to many that the system of capitalism and environmental stability are incompatible. One has to go. So far our masters have colluded to pretend to do cope with this major problem, but are only deceiving themselves as well as us in order to satisfy their addictions to power and profit.

The West’s War on Free Speech

Click here to access article by Tony Cartalucci from New Eastern Outlook. 

In a recent Tweet, NDI linked to a New York Times article titled, “In Europe’s Election Season, Tech Vies to Fight Fake News.” It claimed in the Tweet that the article featured:

"A look at some of the projects aiming to use automated algorithms to identify and combat fake news."

The article itself though, reveals nothing short of a global effort by US tech-giants Google and Facebook, in collaboration with the Western media, to censor any and all media that fails to align with Western-dominated narratives.

Cartalucci reports that our Big Brothers in the ruling class are beginning a project to insure that we, the people, only receive information and analysis over the internet/web that meets with their approval instead of what they regard as "fake news". So that we don't notice, I think they will use the "boiling frog" method: they will initially target obviously fake news items--even to the extent of supplying such fake news reports themselves--but then gradually turning their attention to reports that they don't like and don't want us to view.