Ecuador: The Rights of Nature Threatened in Yasuní National Park

Click here to access article by Marc Becker from Upside Down World. 

Global capitalist's insatiable desire for energy and other resources to produce objects for first world consumers and thereby extract profits is destroying indigenous communities all over the world. While Ecuador's president has been hailed as a hero by liberal environmentalists, his version of "green capitalism" is a sham like all the others. This, and many other similar stories, demonstrate that once you buy into the logic of capitalism, you cannot have unconditional human rights or a sustainable environment.

Leftist opponents repeatedly charged that Correa had failed to make a fundamental break from a capitalist logic of resource extraction. Sociologist Jorge León Trujillo states that he never understood how the commodification of the environment, as would happen with the Yasuní initiative, could be considered a revolutionary proposal.

The economic proposals that Correa pursues are not unlike those that the conservative economist Hernando de Soto in neighboring Peru has long advocated. At best, for leftists Correa’s approach appeared to be one of green capitalism that was quickly discarded when it no longer provided the expected economic returns.

See similar examples of neoliberal attacks on indigenous people going on now in Africa and Indonesia here and here. 

US Planned Syrian Civilian Catastrophe Since 2007

Click here to access article by Tony Cartalucci from Land Destroyer Report. 

This blogger has put together an excellent summary of events leading up to the proposed US attack on Syria that has stirred up the present international crisis. There are so many factors that have contributed to this crisis and one cannot expect anyone person to provide them. 

Others to consider are Escobar's "pipelineistan" thesis, Engdahl's view of the Saudi kingdom's independent role, and the ever cunning ploys by Israeli leaders and their US Zionist supporters to establish their own hegemony over the Middle East (see this, this, this, this, and this). 

The dilemma for Empire directors is the lack of public and international support, and actually a lot of strong opposition. Because of the recent revelations of US spying on foreign governments in addition to this naked commitment to an act of aggression, the reputation and credibility of Empire officials is at an all time low. By making such a strong commitment to the attack on Syria, it appears that Empire directors have painted themselves into a corner. Needless to say, the situation is extremely dangerous.

So, the situation begs some questions: have these directors lost their nerve and are hysterically trying to asset control in Syria? or because they command so much military/police police power, have they now succumbed to megalomania by depending solely on their instruments of violence regardless of world and public opinion? 

Making the World Safe for Banksters: Syria in the Cross-hairs

Click here to access article by Ellen Hodgson Brown from Dissident Voice. 

This author sees banking elites behind the Empire's plan to attack Syria.

America’s Deadliest Export: Democracy

Click here to access article by Sean Ledwith from CounterFire (Britain).

Ledwith provides a review of a recently published book by William Blum, a former US State Department employee who resigned in 1967 over his opposition to the Vietnam War. Since then, unlike so many anti-Vietnam War activists, Blum has never ceased his opposition and his activism against the US Empire and its ruling capitalist class's insane drive to rule the world while pretending to be promoting "democracy" and "human rights".

His viewpoint is that such is that ideological iron grip the US ruling class has over its population that many of them might as well have been in a coma when it comes to political awareness. As he puts it, ‘the American government has pulled off what must surely rank as one of the most outstanding feats of propaganda and indoctrination in all of history’.

US: The indispensable (bombing) nation

Click here to access article by Pepe Escobar from OpEd News.

...the Empire of Chaos is now totally out of control.

Syrians In Ghouta Claim Saudi-Supplied Rebels Behind Chemical Attack

Click here to access article by Dale Gavlak and Yahya Ababneh from Mint Press News.

Rebels and local residents in Ghouta accuse Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan of providing chemical weapons to an al-Qaida linked rebel group. 

Faking It: How the Media Manipulates the World into War

Click here if you wish to access the transcript for this 14:15m video report from Global Research TV.

Syria and “Conspiracy Theories”: It is a Conspiracy

Click here to access article by Felicity Arbuthnot from Global Research. 

This re-published piece from last year is now very timely given the imminent attack on Syria promised by the public relations officer of the Empire (Obama). Having posted the article last year, I again examined it and once again found it to be an excellent example of investigative reporting using primary and other excellent sources such as the 1997 document from the US Army War College. Although she sourced the document to Information Clearing House, I've found the primary source at the War College (Strategic Studies Institute). I also noticed that one piece of documentation, the second YouTube video (ref. #6), has since been removed from YouTube. 

Above all, this article illustrates once again the obvious, on-going conspiracies engaged in by ruling class operatives. Like shit, conspiracies happen! 

I was recently reminded of this phenomenon in the US where all allegations of government/ruling class conspiracies are labeled in mainstream media as merely "conspiracy theories", that is, smeared with contempt as a kind of folklore, not to be taken seriously, and automatically discredited. In a conversation with an acquaintance, he regarded some solid article I referred to as a "conspiracy theory". Such is the insidiously powerful influence of major media to shape the thinking of the American people.

The Promise of an Unhurried Society

Click here to access article by Mat Little from New Compass (Norway).

I have a problem with an argument presented in this piece. The author seems to be indulging in idle fantasies. No, I don't disagree with the possibility that work-free time could be put to very constructive uses. It's just that he totally ignores that our home is on fire (both literally and figuratively), and indulging in such fantasies while our home is burning down is approaching insanity. We should and must be gathering all our energies and imagination to figure out how we are going to fight this rampaging fire of capitalism and preserve our home. Once we put the fire out, then we can realize the true potential of human imagination and activity. Time is running out.

The Confidential Memo at the Heart of the Global Financial Crisis

Click here to access article by Greg Palast from Vice.

Palast summarizes the "end-game" as this:

The bankers' and Summers' game was to use the Financial Services Agreement, an abstruse and benign addendum to the international trade agreements policed by the World Trade Organization.

Until the bankers began their play, the WTO agreements dealt simply with trade in goods–that is, my cars for your bananas.  The new rules ginned-up by Summers and the banks would force all nations to accept trade in "bads" – toxic assets like financial derivatives.

Until the bankers' re-draft of the FSA, each nation controlled and chartered the banks within their own borders.  The new rules of the game would force every nation to open their markets to Citibank, JP Morgan and their derivatives "products."

As a followup to this article, British activist Pete Dolack puts these sensational revelations in their proper perspective in his article "‘End-game’ conspiracy or business as usual?" by emphasizing that what Geithner, Summers, and Rubin were doing was "business as usual" under capitalism.

I’ve no argument against the accusation that Secretaries Summers and Rubin have personally enriched themselves to the tune of many millions of dollars. The facts speak for themselves. I am not suggesting that there is no personal interest at stake here; but the larger issue is that these Wall Street consiglieres are acting for ideological reasons. The logic of an entire economic structure led to deregulation and the disastrous consequences that flowed from it. The steps that culminated in the 2008 collapse that we continue to live with go back decades, before the careers of any of today’s capitalist mandarins.

Vulture funds: US court ruling on Argentina enrages debt justice campaigners

Click here to access article by Bodo Ellmers from The Committee for the Abolition of Third World Debt.

The long litigation odyssey between the government of Argentina and holdout creditors continues. Debt justice campaigners in Argentina and the USA are enraged about a new ruling by the New York appeals court in favour of the vulture funds

That these international banking institutions are controlled mostly by the US that used its clout following WWII to establish them is rarely mentioned in any articles related to them. These banks are key players in the US dominated capitalist Empire.

The USA is the IMF’s largest shareholder and is endowed with a de facto veto right over its decisions.

For more information of the use of vulture funds and sovereign debts that have been used by major banks to hold entire nations in debt to them, I recommend the following links: this, this, this, and this. Also, read Confessions of an Economic Hit Man in which author John Perkins provides all the nefarious details on how this banking scam works.

An Eye-Witness Account of the Real War in Syria

Click here to access article by Don Quijones from Raging Bull-Shit.

When they took control of a neighbourhood, the rebels would expel the children from the schools, which they would then turn into makeshift bases. On one occasion we visited one of those bases and I got speaking to the commander. At first he didn’t want to grant us an interview but I told him that I was Columbian and that Columbia was a friend of Israel.

His concerns duly allayed, he gave us a tour of the place, showing us their weapons stash, which included sub-machine guns, as well as a group of Al Qaeda fighters in one of the rooms.

During our conversation, the commander never stopped asking for support from the U.S. and Europe.

Banks put a price on Earth's life support

Click here to access article by Paul Brown from The Daily Climate.

It seems that some banksters at the highest level of banking are getting a bit concerned about the deep contradictions between their exploitative system of capitalism and our ecosystem. They have been forced by an abundance of scientific evidence and the almost daily occurrence of extreme weather events to finally acknowledge the reality of global warming. So, what's a bankster to do but come up with another plan to pretend to solve the problem. I'm sure some of them are sincerely concerned, although not enough to become a socialist in any sense, while others cynically view this as another public relations gimmick that will keep people off their backs.

They have agreed that the present economic system uses and often destroys the environment without paying to do so. And that, they say, is not sustainable.

The banks are also concerned that some companies are using up natural resources so fast, with no thought for their own future, let alone that of the planet, that they will collapse.

The Full Story on Why Obama Backed Down on Syria

Click here to access article by Ibrahim al-Amin from Al Akhbar.

This editor of Al Akhbar appears to have inside knowledge of the negotiations involving all the important parties to the standoff in Syria. Because there is no supporting documentation, one has to depend on his credibility as demonstrated by past editorials, some of which I have cited on this website (see this and this). This record plus the internal logic and judgement displayed in this article lends a heightened credibility to his analysis of the present standoff in Syria which he portrays as a case of brinkmanship involving major powers.

Commentators in the West will surely declare that it was their democratic systems of government that forced US President Barack Obama to back down on attacking Syria. But the events that led up to Washington’s de-escalation suggest there were other factors at play.

This latest move by the US directorate to refer the matter to Congress could be either a face-saving way out if Congress were to deny support, or it could be a means of adding legitimacy to the attack on Syria. From what I have seen in the media thus far leads me to believe that the directorate is only intent on engineering greater support for the attack. Judging from past experience, it will not be difficult to gain Congressional authorization.

While reporting on the issue, both local and national mainstream TV continue to replay scenes of victims from a chemical attack and feature prominent US officials claiming that they have solid evidence that the Assad government was responsible. Just last night I saw local TV coverage of a street scene in Seattle which depicted a small number of people identified as Syrians or people of Syrian ancestry (see this) supporting the attack while numerous protests against the attack by much greater numbers of people all over the greater Seattle area have been mostly ignored.

Egyptian Addition to: “US Power Elite: At War Among Themselves?”

Click here to access article by Andreas Schlüter from Wipokuli. 

This is an updated addition to his primary essay entitled "US Power Elite: At War Among Themselves?” published in December 2012 and is also well worth reading. The author is a 65 year old German sociologist living in Berlin.

This piece offers a deep political analysis of the US power structure, or what I often refer to as "the directorate" or "shadow government" (in place of the staged version of "democracy" performed by the ruling class), which is nearly always missing from the views of other Western geopolitical analysts. These are the people who make the important decisions about policy matters; and as this analyst argues, they consist of two factions. 

Unfortunately, this article has some rather serious English flaws due to a poor translation in some places. I have offered below what I think he meant in the more seriously flawed places.

The fraction faction of the Neocons is more for direct action done by the US military, thus formerly dubbed the “Warriors”. ("fraction = faction throughout the article)

They are closest to Israel´s Power Elite and their dream of “having the whole cake” which means the perspective of the Palestinians “Transfer” over the Jordan. the transfer of Palestinians to Jordan.

The neocon ties into the US military and the ties of those to the Egyptian military gave the clue. This IMO should read "Neocon ties to the US military and the latter's ties to the Egyptian military offers the clue."

But that military coup could have been countered by the Obama administration if not the Saudis would also support had not supported the Egyptian Junta. And they do so! But they did! The Saudi regime is good friend of the Bush Clan (http://tinyurl.com/8t7rd), they consequently step in and compensate Western financial aid thus they stepped in and offered substantial aid (http://tinyurl.com/mlcl4ea).

 “Seven Countries in Fife Five Years”

After all, the enormous recourses resources of gas and oil in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea are the general reason for fierce the strong US influence in the region as well as Geo-Strategy geo-strategic interests, but there is also Israel´s desire to trigger an “all out war” in the region for the desired “Transfer” (of Palestinians).

Brutal Repression of National Strike in Colombia-Santos Declares Militarization of Bogotá

Click here to access article by James Jordan from Alliance for Global Justice. 

The national strike was called following attacks against peaceful protesters in the Catatumbo region, which set off a national movement. Demands include popular participation in the peace process, an end to Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) that threaten the livelihoods of family farmers and workers, and government fulfillment of unkept promises for infrastructure development and Peasant Reserve Zones in rural areas.

I haven't seen any coverage of this in US mainstream media.

CIA Files Prove America Helped Saddam as He Gassed Iran

Click here to access article by Shane Harris and Matthew M. Aid from Foreign Policy.

The U.S. government may be considering military action in response to chemical strikes near Damascus. But a generation ago, America's military and intelligence communities knew about and did nothing to stop a series of nerve gas attacks far more devastating than anything Syria has seen, Foreign Policy has learned.

Thanks to this article I was reminded of Iraq's use of chemical weapons in their war with Iran in the 1980s with the full knowledge of US officials who supplied both sides with at least conventional weapons. It was a classic case of Western agents promoting war between two antagonists both of whom they wanted to destabilize--the old divide and conquer scenario. I remember reading reports of this from--of course!--alternative news sources. And, I remember reports of discovery of some chemical agents that were manufactured in West Germany which is confirmed in this statement in the CIA documents:

Chemcial agent precursors, munitions, equipment and expertise were purchased in Western Europe and Egypt. 

Thinking about Revolution

Click here to access article by John Spritzler and Dave Stratman from NewDemocracyWorld.

This timely PDF document is featured on this website to encourage us to think about a real alternative to the current capitalist mode of organization of societies so that we can live in harmony with nature, with others, and enjoy the fruits of our labor. It is clear that the time for radical change is no longer merely desirable, but absolutely necessary for our survival.

Real democracy will require a whole new organization of society. This paper proposes radical changes in how we think about ourselves and what we imagine human possibilities to be. It proposes a democratic structure based on confidence in the values and good sense of ordinary people.

Also, there are many other interesting articles to peruse on this website.

One thing that I don't understand in this age of full-spectrum surveillance is the "This I Believe" statement that they want you to sign, collect other signatures, and email it to them!

Obama's Carte Blanche War Resolution

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

Any war resolution Congress would pass would likely be interpreted by the administration as a license for all out war on Syria and beyond. 

USA: No.1 Threat to World Peace, Security and Freedom

Click here to access article by Finian Cunningham from Press TV (Iran) via nsnbc.

The people of the world have had it with elite Western rulers acting as terrorists who are holding humanity to ransom. The rulers are presiding not only over military terrorism. They are inflicting economic, social and ecological terrorism with their bankrupt capitalist smash-and-grab system. That system has reached the point of meltdown and that is why we are being pushed into relentless wars – in order for the rulers and their politician puppets to corner the remaining resources. The ultimate solution to end the wars is for the people to overthrow the economic system that US and Western elite rulers preside over. The insane criminality of the US rulers over Syria is exposing this historic challenge facing humanity.

When Irish people do what their government won’t

Click here to access article by David Malone from his blog Golem XIV. 

Malone writes about a very interesting case of an Irish banker who tried to follow the rules to prevent a bank collapse and was told to shut up. Since then their government like ours has refused to hold Irish banks accountable for their destruction of the economy. This lone honest banker and other Irish individuals are fighting back.

It comes to something when ordinary people have to uphold the laws because their government refuse to. But that is where we are, not just in Ireland but in all of our nations.

(Note: Because of fast moving events in the Middle East, I am posting today's articles much earlier than usual.)

The formula for revolution

Click here to access article by Tomasz Pierscionek from London Progressive Journal.

The author provides an excellent assessment of the unfinished revolution in Egypt in the context of the Arab Spring revolts. He implies that it is a work in process because once a people experience revolutionary possibilities and their power to change things, it's very hard for any ruling class to put this genie back in the bottle. 

As the fighting between the Muslim Brotherhood and the Egyptian military continues, there remains the real risk of a return to the exploitation of the Mubarak era. Such a choice would be a safe and stable bet for global capital. But any future military regime needs to take note that the Egyptian people now have a memory of revolution. They have political consciousness and experience of ousting leaders who do not represent their interests.

This revolutionary spirit is also a big threat to the rule of the Empire in the all important Middle East and its access to their resources. That is precisely why the Syrian situation is so dangerous. While the Empire directorate is desperate to bring about some measure of control in Syria, Syrians and people as a whole in the Middle East have experienced so much disruption of their lives from Western agents that they may be willing to incur extraordinary risks to rid themselves of Empire agents, their puppet governments, and their mercenary "jihadist" terrorists.

I am no weapons expert, but I believe that Syria has quite sophisticated weapons that can inflict real damage on the US fleet in the Mediterranean. Because Empire directors and their military strategists have operated militarily with impunity since WWII, they have become so addicted to a sense of power which may cause them to underestimate the will and the means of Syrians and others in the region to fight back. If the US does go ahead with plans of a limited military strike, it could very well escalate into a dangerous conflagration. Empire directors are truly playing with fire this time.

On this theme read the piece entitled "Obama is Playing With Fire in Syria" by Ibrahim Kazerooni and Rob Prince from CounterPunch.

Joining the Dots: Just Who Are The “Official” Syrian Opposition?

Click here to access article by Don Quijones from Raging Bull-Shit.

Despite being faithfully reported by the media as a perfectly viable military strategy, this notion of limited warfare is as disingenuous an example of conflict marketing you’re ever likely to find.

To End All Wars: How the First World War Divided Britain

Click here to access article by Lindsey German from CounterFire (Britain). 

The author offers a book report on a recently published book by this title written by Adam Hochschild. The book appears to offer an accurate account of this devastating war that featured inter-Nicene rivalries for world dominance among capitalist ruling classes at that time. The war, like all wars in the capitalist era also served several other purposes: stifling dissent and activist opposition in their home countries using appeals to patriotism and the huge profit opportunities from weapons production as well as from re-building of assets destroyed during war. 

It's clear from reviewing this history, that nothing has substantially changed: it's still the same story because it still is the same criminal system that is driving history--capitalism.

Lindsey German

YouTube Censors Anti-Oil Videos

Click here to access article by Andy Rowell from The Price of Oil.

This report illustrates how big corporations will on occasion use outright censorship to protect and support each other and their system of capitalism. Because they "own" the means of communication of information, they control the content, and to a considerable extent the minds of their subservient populations. This ethos has infected even parts of the internet which many young people have seen as offering a "bastion of...freedom":

The website, which is owned by Google, argues it “provides a forum for people to connect, inform, and inspire others across the globe and acts as a distribution platform for original content creators and advertisers large and small.”

But that distribution platform only goes so far as activists and film makers have recently found out.

NSA Blackmailing Obama? Interview with Whistleblower Russ Tice.

Click here if you wish to access the source of this 11:49m video from RT via YouTube.

The fact that government spy agencies regularly spy on its officials, even those at the highest levels, is not really new--except to the American people. After J. Edgar Hoover was appointed to head the FBI in 1924, he immediately was used to spy on various radical groups and labor leaders in the post WWI red scare. Then in the 1930s President Franklin Roosevelt had him spying on all kinds of people who opposed his policies. Eventually Hoover was collecting dossiers on high public officials including members of Congress, and information was often fed to investigating committees of Congress and leaked to the media to discredit public officials when they crossed powerful people. (Read Hoover and the Un-Americans by Kenneth O'Reilly for all the details.)

Then with the 1963 assassination of President Kennedy, engineered by the surveillance services and ordered by top members of the ruling class, any independent power of the office of President came to an end, and the shadow government has exercised direct control ever since.

However, I don't think that the Empire directorate or the shadow government needs to discipline or blackmail Obama in any way. He long ago sold his soul to the shadow government and functions largely as a public relations officer whose main task is to sell the policies of the shadow government to the gullible public. I'm sure that he must have moments of pangs of conscience, but he knows better than to thwart his real bosses.

The Autonomous Roots of the Real Democracy Movement

Click here to access article by Jérôme E. Roos and Leonidas Oikonomakis from Reflections on a Revolution. (Posted by permission from Roos.)

These two academics are explicating the unique nature of what they refer to as the "Real Democracy Movement" whose activities are reflected in various sub-movements throughout the world and identified by the authors. It is essentially a political treatise in that the authors clearly support this new form of political orientation, organization, and actions. 

The years since 2011 have witnessed the (re-)birth of a global cycle of struggles around the issue of democracy. With the representative institutions of liberal democracy in crisis, social movements appear to be increasingly moving away from claims-based and state-oriented contention towards a global project of autonomy. In this article, we focus on those movements that have articulated a critique of representation and expressed a desire to radically transform democratic processes from below.

U.S. allows states to legalize recreational marijuana within limits

Click here to access article by David Ingram from Reuters. 

In a move marijuana advocates hailed as an historic shift, the Obama administration on Thursday began giving U.S. states wide leeway to experiment with pot legalization and started by letting Colorado and Washington carry out new laws permitting recreational use.

This posting provides me with an opportunity to comment on the major about-face in US drug policy. I've been waiting for someone else, hopefully with inside (inside the ruling class directorate) knowledge, to write about a "conspiracy theory" in relation to this dramatic change in policy. Alas, I can wait no longer.

I live in Washington state where it was one of two states to recently legalize marijuana use. The state also reversed itself on the sale of hard liquor which for many years has been sold only through a limited number of state stores. (Yes, I know that legalizing liquor sales to the big chain stores was passed through the initiative process, but it was a well funded campaign that deceptively promised more jobs and lower prices.) So, I've had this persistent question in my mind: why now for such dramatic changes in public policies?

If you have followed this blog at all, you would understand why this question has so persisted in my mind. To briefly recapitulate, our society is a class structured society, and within the structure lies a ruling class that directs policies to serve their interests. (Of course, they have constructed many ways of disguising this fact; but if this is a mystery to you, I offer my sympathies for your ignorance. I simply haven't the time to explain.) Hence, it follows that such a sudden, dramatic change in policies must be explained in terms of their interests, and why it serves their interests at this time.

The answer seems so obvious to me that I can't understand why no one else has seen it and written about it. If viewed within the context of events in the last five years, it simply must become obvious to you: collapse of the economy, millions thrown out of work and few prospects for employment in the future, bankster bailouts, millions left homeless, ever more ruthless austerity policies, and the 2011 riots and mass protests in the streets. Surely, I don't need to explain my "conspiracy theory" further.

"Bandar ibn Israel"

Click here to access article by Sharmine Narwani from Al Akhbar. 

This is as finest a piece of political analysis as I have ever read. She draws support for her analysis from solid, primary sources and supplies links to these sources. Thus, I highly recommend that you not only read it, but study the article and its sourced links. 

You will be rewarded with a much clearer picture of the mess that Empire directors have gotten themselves into by allying themselves with the most nefarious characters on earth. You will learn that the thieves and criminals in this case include Saudi Medieval princes, Zionist imperialists, Empire sociopaths, and terrorists for hire that can be used against anyone for any purpose. It appears that terrorism for hire has become a major industry in the region from North Africa to Eurasia. Her analysis illustrates the aphorism that there is absolutely no honor among thieves, and Empire directors are exhibiting signs of frustration and conflict by trying to use these people in their mad quest for hegemony over this region.

The title refers to the Arabic use of "ibn" which means "son of". Thus, the writer suggests that one of the key players in this mess, Prince Bandar al-Saud, is playing into the hands of Zionists. No doubt his long years as Saudi ambassador in Washington provided ample opportunity for Zionist-American agents to co-opt him.

NY Times Gasses its Own People, re: Syria

Click here to access article by Mickey Z. from World News Trust.

The author expands on the ruling class's use of propaganda to incite and inculcate hatred in their subject populations to justify war crimes against their enemies.

By portraying all official enemies as savages, gooks, chinks, butchers, terrorists, evildoers, godless communists, or a never-ending parade of thugs auditioning for a starring role as the "next Hitler," wartime propaganda plays into our worst fears: the bogeyman. Our enemies, we learn, are never mere flesh-and-blood.

Dr. King Was A Man, “The Dreamer” Is A Zombie

Click here to access article by Bruce A. Dixon from Black Agenda Report.

The author explains that once Martin Luther King turned against the war, he essentially crossed an unofficial "red line". Our ruling class directors could barely tolerate him as a strictly civil rights leader, even less so as a union supporter; but when he turned against the Vietnam War, he had to be assassinated and the deed framed as the work of a lone, racist gunman. Once again our ruling class directors got away with murder of a very popular figure. So, what to do with his legacy? They merely constructed a new Martin Luther King, aka a "zombie" in this author's analysis.

Having lived through this period as an adult, I don't quite remember it the same way that Dixon does.

In the four decades since, I never saw anything like the instant turnaround the establishment media did on Dr. King. Overnight the chorus of praise and approbation turned into a perfect media storm of abuse and calumny. He was denounced as arrogant and ungrateful, traitorous and deceitful, a hypocritical dupe of the communists, and on and on. By the time of his death a year later Dr. King was one of the most reviled and hated figures in the nation.

To be sure he was attacked in mainstream media after his turn against the Vietnam War, but it was mostly rather carefully gauged. There was some of the vitriol as expressed in the above paragraph, but this was mostly from very conservative sources and, of course, reported in mainstream media. Corporate media's editorial position was generally much more circumspect, and they certainly did not diminish ML Kings popularity to any significant extent. However his great popularity posed a real dilemma for the Directorate (shadow government): the threat of his bringing the vast Civil Rights Movement into opposition against the War. Thus, he had to be assassinated. (Read An Act of State by William F. Pepper.)

By this time the Directorate was expert at assassinations having eliminated President Kennedy and Attorney General Robert Kennedy, Malcolm X, and a host of anti-war activists. They concocted a story that he was killed by a lone racist, and for the most part the American sheeple once again demonstrated their gullibility. 

However, in King's case the Directorate had to deal with his popularity and legacy as a great anti-war, pro-labor, and civil rights leader. To do so they had to construct a new "Martin Luther King" which becomes the "zombie" in this author's analysis.  

50 Years Later - West Defiles Martin Luther King's Memory

Click here to access article by Tony Cartalucci from Land Destroyer Report.

It's great to see this blogger back offering his penetrating insights on all things political. Here he points out the hypocrisy of the Western propaganda machine by citing an Associated Press article trying to merge the image of Obama with ML King. 

The US shadow government whose members hangout in the major banks, global oil corporations, and their so-called "think tanks" (they're really conspiracy tanks) are very clever people. They would have to be to "cover the wool" over most workers eyes for the past several hundreds of years. This use of Obama's black skin is probably right at the top of the list of clever ploys that our ruling class has used. 

Next up, it looks like the Democratic party members of the ruling class are grooming a woman, Hillary Clinton, to be the figure-head president (in reality the chief public relations officer of the ruling class's government). Thus, they turn racism and sexism on its head to legitimatize the continued exploitation of a population whose members have been thoroughly indoctrinated in racism and sexism by the same ruling class for centuries. Ain't that clever?

Western Intervention in Syria: A Desperate Deception in a Turgid War of Lies

Click here to access article by Don Quijones from Raging Bull-Shit. 

It seems to me that Empire directors are becoming ever bolder with lies justifying their military attacks on countries who refuse to submit to their demands. Could this be because they've gotten away so easily with their previous, but more sophisticated, lies? Success in lying breeds ever more bolder lies. Where is this going to end? 

The author asks a very important question: cui bono? While his suggested answers are good, I think he misses the most relevant answer that is revealed in past Empire actions in this important region. To introduce my answer, I ask this question: what has been the most salient fact thus far accomplished by Western military actions in Iraq, in Libya, and in Egypt? My answer is the disintegration of their societies and bitter social conflicts fueled by terrorist actions. So, who reaps the most benefits from this?

My answer is Israel--that crucially important outpost of the Empire in the Middle East. Is the directorate of the Empire not laced with Zionist supporters? It's not really a question of whether the US is directing events in the region or whether Israel is directing the Empire's response: their goals and methods are in total conformance. Thus, it follows that both the directors and Israeli Zionists want to keep the conflict going in Syria as long as possible. The fact that Assad forces have been heading toward victory against Western sponsored terrorists now needs to be thwarted. Hence, their objective is to attack and destroy important Syrian military targets and thereby even the odds, keep the killing going, and eventually reducing Syria to chaos as has been accomplished in the other countries. 

Your tax dollars at work in Syria's eastern town of Deir Ezzor on August 26, 2013.  (AFP Photo)

George Melloan: Pity the Big Banks – the Problem Is Populists

Click here to access article by Pam Martens from Wall Street on Parade. 

I think you can skip the early part of this article referring to the timing of the Congressional hearings on banking misconduct. What I think is really important in this piece is that the material illustrates the overwhelming power of the banksters. Whereas, in the previous history of banking crimes, the government punished the central banksters by removing their authority to issue the nation's currency with the backing of the government, today they have taken over the government and the government is now unwilling and unable to respond to the welfare and needs of the public.

The Dark Relationship Between International Banking and Military Conflict

Click here to access article by Don Quijones from Raging Bull-Shit. 

This short article includes an excellent 1:43m film clip of "The International" to reveal a deep truth about many, if not most, military conflicts. Have you noticed that there never seems to be a shortage of weapons whenever and wherever social conflicts occur (or can be created)?

Labor politicized or politicized labor.

Click here to access article by Jano Charbel from Mada Masr. 

It seems that in the Empire's Egypt asking to be paid for work is tantamount to treason.

The demands of the Suez Steel Company workers include the payment of their wages for the month of July and the payment of overdue profit-sharing. Meanwhile, workers at the Scimitar Petroleum Company have been demanding overdue bonuses and the reinstatement of several sacked workers, along with better wages and working conditions. 

The crushing of union protests and other actions by Egyptian police and army show whom these instruments of state violence really serve. Of course, behind these instruments of violence there stands the armed might of the capitalist Empire that supplies them with $1.3 billion worth of weapons and training annually. 

Extreme weather, more extreme greenhouse gas emissions beckon urgent activism

Click here to access article by Patrick Bond (reporting from So. Africa) from the International Journal of Socialist Renewal. 

The author provides an update on the worldwide assaults on the Earth's ecosystem by business as usual under capitalism, and the picture grows ever more ominous.   

Colombia Nationwide Strike Against 'Free Trade,' Privatization, Poverty

Click here to access article by Sarah Lazare from Common Dreams. 

The people of the Empire's thoroughly militarized client state in South America are fighting back against a broad range of neoliberal attacks on their economy and well-being. The author provides many details.

Protesters are levying a broad range of concerns about public policies that devastate Colombia's workers, indigenous, and Afro-Colombian communities.

Incidentally, it must be observed how similar Columbia is to Egypt in that both countries' military establishments have been joined at the hip to the Pentagon through the massive supply of military equipment and elaborate training junkets.

More recently, US aid seems to be going to Columbia to train other countries' soldiers in methods which would not be allowed in the US (see this and this).

Wherever corporate-backed free trade policies are promoted, you will find the US military or secret "security" agencies engaged in one way or another. Of course, this is nothing new about the role of the US military. As Gen. Smedley Butler wrote back in 1935, “I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers." 

Peak Water in the American West

Click here to access article by Peter Gleick from ScienceBlogs.

We are informed of another approach to ecological limits in the American West by this author. City reservoirs are going dry, dam levels are lowering, fights over water supplies are increasing, etc. However he offers only a short-term set of proposals for correcting the problem. The fundamental problem which he, and most other people insist on ignoring, is an economic system that demands growth.

Anti-Syria Western axis coming apart

Click here to access article by Finian Cunningham from PressTV (Iran). (Note: if you encounter computer problems as I have had occasionally while accessing this source, you can also use this link.)

The author sees the imminent threat of US-British attack on Syria justified by the suspicious chemical weapons attack as a means of creating greater cohesion among the numerous terrorist factions and their crony Empire accomplices. 

As in all criminal conspiracies when results do not go according to plan, the protagonists start blaming one another; and because of the treacherous nature of the conspiracy, the partners-in-crime are eventually prone to feelings of distrust, resentment and paranoia.

This splintering and bickering can be seen in the Western-led axis against Syria. In recent weeks, we have signs of emerging rivalries, spats and distrust that all point to the axis coming apart.

That may be the important backdrop to this week’s alleged chemical weapons attack near Damascus, in which over 100 people were killed.

Suspicion points to the atrocity being ultimately the work of Saudi Arabia or Israel, or both, in an attempt to trigger a full-scale Western military intervention.

The History of America’s Death Squads

Click here to access article by Michel Chossudovsky from Global Research. 

The professor has collected a lot of information on US death squads as a means of creating chaos and divisions within any targeted population, and thereby defeat a population's ability to organize an effective effort to fight back. This policy which has become known as the "Salvador Option" has been successfully used in a number of countries whose ruling classes serve the Empire's interests at the expense of their own populations.

The chief way that Empire directors deal with leaks about such activities is to deny everything and launch a huge propaganda campaign backed by government policies to simulate actions against the very thing the leaks have revealed. Hence, we have the "War on Terror" and the "War on Drugs", both of which (terror and drugs) Empire directors and their operatives have frequently promoted throughout the world. 

Given the current uproar about government/corporate collusion in spying on Americans, it logically follows that the government is waging a war on spies (although not formally announced)...you know, like Assange, Manning, and Snowden who are portrayed in corporate media as traitors.

If you are a naïve American who values comfort above all else, you probably don't want to read this. Actually, you probably should get out of this website as soon as possible.

ACLU Reveals FBI Hacking Contractors

Click here to access article by Pratap Chatterjee from CorpWatch. 

Who says there aren't job opportunities for college graduates? This article provides details on job opportunities that are in great demand by the government's surveillance agencies--computer hackers. It also indicates that hackers don't necessarily have to work for the spy agencies directly, which might cause some issues of conscience, instead they can work for private contractors.

“The government doesn’t have the resources to directly monitor every American or let alone every foreigner but they want to read the communications of every foreigner and they want to collect information on every American,” explains Soghoian. “What do you do when you don’t have the manpower to collect everyone’s communications?”

The answer, he says, is spy software. [Designed by corporations]

For another way to gather private information which might offer more job opportunities, see also this article from the same source entitled "Glimmerglass Intercepts Undersea Cable Traffic for Spy Agencies".

Fracking Boom Slouching Toward Bust

Click here to access article by Richard Heinberg from World News Trust.

The author digs up reports on fracking operations that you probably didn't see reported in mainstream media--because they weren't. Heinberg explains why:

Americans are being subjected to a massive PR assault attempting to persuade them that shale gas and tight oil have brightened America’s energy future. What has really changed is the nation’s energy conversation: until recently, it was about how we should reduce our dependency on depleting, climate-changing fossil fuels. Now our “conversation” has become a one-sided harangue about the energy, jobs, and tax revenues the industry insists will flow from fracking from now ’til kingdom come, and how these outweigh environmental concerns.

The data do not support these claims.

Climate Change: Ocean Acidification Amplifies Global Warming

Click here to access article from Science Daily.

This article reports on one more piece of scientific research from Germany identifying global warming feedback effects that will accelerate the ominous threat of climate destabilization:

Simply put, their research shows that ocean acidification has the potential to speed up global warming considerably.

Defeated NATO Dangerously Desperate in Syria

Click here to access article by Tony Cartalucci from Land Destroyer Report. 

While I absolutely differ with this writer regarding his cynical regard for the Arab Spring events, he assembles a comprehensive background of information from solid sources to consider while examining the latest propaganda stunt by Empire directors to justify military intervention in Syria to salvage some kind of victory from what has been a disaster up till now.

Egypt: ‘the revolution lives as long as we will die for it’

Click here to access article by Jerome Roos from Reflections on a Revolution. (Note: be sure to read the comments following the article.)

I felt a bit uncomfortable with parts of this essay, but nevertheless it is a thoughtful review of the revolutionary struggle manifested in Egypt up to this point. I definitely agree with the headline, and believe that Egyptians will be forced by circumstances to be willing to "die for it".

I see this struggle as a process, a trial by fire that ordinary Egyptians are confronted with. Of course, a new equilibrium could theoretically be attained under the control of the Egyptian military, the regional power of the Empire; but I think that this is unlikely. It is unlikely because the Empire and its rule is extremely unstable at this point in history. Thus the subplot of resistance to Empire control in Egypt cannot, in my opinion, attain any kind of stability even with the overwhelming military power of SCAF backed by the Empire and its crony Medieval allies in the region. 

Therefore, a trial by fire will be unavoidable for Egyptians as well as many others in the region. They will be forced by the onslaught of economic and political chaos to learn not only who their real enemies are, but how to effectively combat them in order to secure their very survival. I fear for their future. It is not a future that I would wish on anyone, but history will have its way. Hopefully, in this terrible process they will also learn how to construct an inclusive, sustainable democratic society.

The Road to World War 3

Click here to access video posted on StormCloudsGathering.

This 13:48m video offers the most concise and valid argument that I have seen which implores the American people to act because to continue to remain passive insures that our society will remain on the road to a totalitarian nightmare state and WWIII. The video highlights the most influential facts determining the course of history since WWII, their implications for the future, and offers reasonable recommendations for action. 

I just discovered this website this morning, and thus far have only viewed three other videos. Unfortunately, one of the videos I found presented the old, tired, hysterical accusations about water fluoridation. So, as usual, you as a thinking person will have to make up your own mind by using your critical thinking skills to judge the soundness of the other videos and the website as a whole. 

Mark Leibovich on Glitz and Greed in Washington

Click here if you wish to access the source of this 45:00m video and/or transcript of interview from Moyers & Company. Or if you wish to see it on TV this weekend, you can determine the scheduled broadcasts here for your area.

Bill talks with journalist Mark Leibovich about his latest book, This Town, a city where money rules the day and status is determined by who you know and what they can do for you. “If you can sell yourself as someone who knows how Washington works, someone who has these relationships,” Leibovich explains, “that’s a very marketable commodity.  If you’re seen as someone who knows how this town works, someone who is a usual suspect in this town, you can dine out for years — that’s why no one leaves.”

Bill Moyers actually uses the forbidden word "revolution" in his introduction to the interview in which the author describes his findings about the extreme and widespread corruption he found in his research on the Washington scene. Leibovich's focus is on the people who are part of the "revolving door" phenomenon, and the corruption of government that results. He recounts incident after incident of government officials/lobbyists who have engaged in corrupt practices that serve corporate/financial interests of the ruling class. 

Barrett Brown, Glenn Greenwald, and the Mafia State

Click here to access article by DSWright from FDL. 

Targeting independent journalists and leakers has become a major preoccupation for Empire enforcers to keep the unwashed masses (aka the hoi polloi) in ignorance.

You should not be surprised because you should know what Western states like the United States and the United Kingdom have become in the world today – hit squads for a transnational elite, the global 1%. They have no allegiance, they have no care for legality, and they have no real legitimacy. And what’s more, they know it. It’s about power, which is an end not a means to an end.

Uncertainty Looms Over Terrestrial Ecosystems

Click here to access article by Jutta Wolf from Eurasia Review.

Recent research suggests that the ecosystem has already experienced a dreaded feedback effect which could mean that the tipping point has passed when climate destabilization becomes inevitable. (Burning of fossil fuels spews excessive carbon into the atmosphere which causes global warming which causes extreme weather which causes vegetation to absorb less carbon, thus more ends up in the atmosphere.)

The team then fed the various readings into complex computer models to calculate the global effect of extreme weather on the carbon balance. The models showed that the effect is indeed extreme: on average, vegetation absorbs 11 billion fewer tons of carbon dioxide than it would in a climate that does not experience extremes. “It is therefore by no means negligible,” says Reichstein.

Beating back the climate denial behind All of the Above

Click here to access article by David Turnbull from The Price of Oil. 

This writer confirms my observations about mainstream media's reporting on the reality of climate change: the capitalist ruling classes now recognize it, but their policies haven't changed. It's getting weirder and weirder. His quote by Gopal Dayaneni is absolutely accurate as a description of capitalist attitudes:

Somehow it’s easier to envision the end of the world than the end of this economy. 

Nevertheless, this liberal writer insists on more letters and petitions to capitalist authorities to solve the problem.

When Schools Become Dead Zones of the Imagination: A Critical Pedagogy Manifesto

Click here to access article by Henry A. Giroux from Uncommon Thought Journal.

This rather lengthy article is an example of a liberal critique of education in the US. This academic writer, Giroux, provides the most articulate of what passes as left social criticism in our country today. It also profoundly reflects a middle class perspective on contemporary issues of education which is focused on the latest onslaught against public education by the ruling class. 

Because of major advances in technology, today this class is promoting the latest version of capitalism, neoliberalism, which is a much more aggressive, slicked up version that intends to transform the entire world into material and labor that ruling classes can use to accumulate more wealth and power.  A part of this project is to "reform" or streamline education so that it directly meets the needs of today's corporations. They now need only a relatively few highly skilled people who are completely indoctrinated in the tenets and values of neoliberal capitalism. Privatized schooling can meet these needs--so why support public education anymore? Thus, most students will be left in prison-like schools to flounder as best they can. 

So, a fundamental question I think needs addressing is: what is this middle class perspective and what informs this perspective? And, why is it deficient in its critique of neoliberal educational policies? 

If one examines history from a radical perspective, one knows that the capitalist class rose to ascendency through a compromise with workers, or rather, with one section of workers--a fairly broad sector made up of highly skilled workers, managers, and professionals. (Disregarding the many false uses of the term "middle class" used by media propagandists, these workers are quintessentially the middle class.) That informal compromise is referred to by historians as "the social contract". The following description, from an Israeli source, is the most accurate (after decoding it), succinct description that I have ever encountered:

One of the basic assumptions...is that democratic [capitalist] society is based on a tacit social contract between the state and its citizens, according to which, in return for the citizens abiding by the state’s laws and agreeing to fulfill their duties to it (like paying taxes and serving in the armed forces), the state has an obligation to guarantee and actively promote individual and collective social security, social justice and effective forms of social solidarity. Besides direct assistance to the weaker parts of the population, the state is expected to ensure that its middle classes are able to obtain affordable housing and maintain a decent standard of living.

Any radical knows that capitalists often use the word "democracy" (or "democratic") as a code word for capitalism, and the "state" is one in which they control. By translating these code words, we can now fully understand the meaning of the social contract. By this contract the ascendant capitalist class bought off the allegiance of these workers. But, it was only expedient and necessary up until now. With the advances in technology many workers in today's middle class are being threatened with the loss of their jobs because they have been automated out of existence. The capitalist system no longer needs nearly as many "middle class" workers to function. That is the fundamental reason why they want to "reform" education.

A liberal critique of education such as this one clearly implies that past educational policies were perfectly fine. Therefore, we just need to return to the past. A radical critique would suggest that while past educational policies were better, they still served the needs of a ruling class and not those of workers or fully participating citizens. And, there is no return to the past simply because of the addiction of capitalists to wealth and power, and they can satisfy this addiction even better under neoliberalism--at least, until they destroy human habitat. But, addicts never worry about the long term.

The only real solution is the transformation of society into one where there are no classes, where no members are given special rights such as the current class of capitalists who can derive wealth/power from the work of others through the legal framework of private "ownership" of socially produced wealth.

Capitalism Cannot Be Reformed

Click here to access article by Mickey Z. from World News Trust.

This writer clearly sees that capitalism is the real religion that directors of most countries practice and preach in today's world. Formal religions have long been used by ruling classes to serve their interests of power and exploitation. 

He then proceeds to attack the liberal position which merely wants to reform capitalism. Most of his article focuses on the deep contradictions between the system and a sustainable planet, or one that can sustain human and many other life forms.

Did Fabrice Tourre Really Create the Global Financial Crisis?

Click here to access article by Greg Palast from Vice (Britain).

This piece provides an excellent illustration of how capitalist social criminals function today. It is a real story involving complex financial instruments that few people understand but are used by powerful sociopathic bankers and speculators who engage in devious and criminal schemes, even by their laws, to enrich themselves while causing monumental disasters for the rest of society. Of course, if you believe in the capitalist dogma that "there is no such thing as society only individuals and their families", you don't concern yourself with such consequences. 

To cover for their crimes and to maintain the fiction of a just society, banksters occasionally have their enforcement agencies convict some rather ordinary person, a scapegoat or "patsy", like Lee Harvey Oswald, a low level CIA agent, who was immediately convicted and executed for assassinating President Kennedy by our justice seeking authorities to prevent the conspiracy from unraveling in a trial.

In this case, the rather ordinary person is Fabrice Tourre, a young, mid-level employee of Goldman Sachs in France.

Chemical Weapons Propaganda Prompted Security Council Session

Click here to access article by Christof Lehmann from nsnbc. 

Here we go again with the same ploy by Empire directors to justify a NATO attack on Syria.

Alleged Photo Evidence in “Opposition Handouts to Media” staged, say experts. Yesterday night, nsnbc international contacted two active duty members of the Danish Civil Defense Services who are experts in chemical weapons.

The experts, who wish to protect their identity, were shown the alleged photographic evidence that has been handed out to media by the Syrian opposition.

Both experts unequivocally expounded, that the likelihood, that the alleged photographic evidence is showing images that have been taken at the scene of a real chemical weapons attack is close to zero in [if] not zero.

One of the two experts went as far as to say, that it is not even a well-staged falsification. Both of the experts pointed out that the medical staff, shown in the images, does not wear gloves, does not wear protective suits, and does not protect their airways.

Also see  M K Bhadrakumar's attempt to unravel the political intrigues and mysteries related to this event.

Amazing! Just three days after UN chemical weapons inspectors arrived in Damascus to investigate some older claims of chemical weapons use, this incident supposedly happens about 10 miles away from the inspectors hotel! Bottom line for me is that it looks like a desperate move on the part of the Empire to salvage some sort of victory out their failed attempt to remove Bashar al-Assad from Syria and install a puppet government.

Saudi King Backs Egypt Military defying Washington

Click here to access article by  F. William Engdahl from Voltaire. 

Engdahl argues that Saudi Arabia is acting against, or at least independent of, Empire policies which have accommodated the Muslim Brotherhood, because of their own rivalries with the latter. This, of course, has caused friction with Turkey's Erdogan who has had rather close ties with the Muslim Brotherhood. 

As much respect I have for Engdahl's expertise and knowledge about international political affairs, I think he is wrong about this subject. Although the Egyptian's coup against Morsi has caused some diplomatic headaches for Empire directors, it is consistent with their general policies of promoting inter-sect rivalries among Arabs. On this subject, I have to go along with M. K. Bhadrakumar's position as reported in Strategic Culture:

Make no mistake about it that the US game plan is to destabilize and destroy Egypt just the same way Iraq and Syria have been destroyed so that Israel’s absolute security is assured in the region for the conceivable future.

This is the conclusion that can be safely drawn as the Egyptian junta launched the mass murder of hundreds of Egyptian protestors on Wednesday. A bloodbath of horrendous proportions has commenced in Egypt.

The Egyptian military is literally the creation of the US. The American military aid is the vital lifeline for the Egyptian junta. The real agenda behind the overthrow of the elected government of President Mohamed Morsi cannot any longer be hidden.

OP-ED: Rising Temperature, Rising Food Prices

Click here to access article by Lester R. Brown from Inter Press Service. 

Agriculture as it exists today developed over 11,000 years of rather remarkable climate stability. It has evolved to maximize production within that climate system. Now, suddenly, the climate is changing. With each passing year, the agricultural system is becoming more out of sync with the climate system.

 He also explains his concerns in the following video from the Earth Policy Institute which he heads.

Supremacy: A Social Order of Division, Control and Enslavement

Click here to access article by Kali Ma from The Hampton Institute. (Commentary that follows was modified slightly at 8 AM 8/22/2013.

Overall I think that this is an excellent contribution to understanding how the capitalist system can so easily control their populations through the method of divide and control. However, I think it has some weaknesses which can lead one into the favorite liberal critique of society--that of identity politics. This view tries to emphasize that we are all entitled to respect regardless of our "place" in the social class structure of such societies. Thus, such a political critique emphasizes political action toward eliminating inter-group rivalries and invidious distinctions that such rivalries naturally promote. Such emphasis diverts attention away from the system itself and the necessity to change the system--not merely hierarchy which is an effect, not a cause.

...the goal is to completely abolish hierarchy, which only the people can do.

I do not believe that it helps to dignify the work that many wage slaves must perform in order to survive. 

This is how hierarchy works - someone has to rank at the bottom in order for those on top to be recognized as the "winners." Without such ranking, everyone would be equal. Moreover, society absolutely depends on workers to clean, maintain, repair and service various sectors of society, including private property and public commons. These individuals provide an extremely valuable service that allows society to function yet the system gives them no credit and, in fact, looks down on them and blames them for being in that position. Just imagine a society without sanitation workers to haul off your waste and keep the streets clean, or maintenance workers to keep your buildings running and the AC flowing when it's 100 degrees outside, or grocery clerks who stock your food and water so you can conveniently pick it up and feed your family. Without them, doctors, lawyers, engineers and other members of the professional class could not go about their business. But society has little respect for these individuals who are often paid minimum wage with no benefits; yet they are the very people who make society function. 

Such efforts are very misleading. The work that many people have to do is of course necessary to the functioning of society, but the low pay they receive limits the opportunities they and their families have in order to participate in society in meaningful ways outside of their work hours. Such limitations are the direct actions of the capitalist system and directly contributes to worker low self-esteem. Here I am thinking mostly about low wage worker opportunities in education and lack of participation in decision making, not only in their work places, but also in society as citizens. In other words, low-paid, low-skilled work is intrinsically demeaning, and we should acknowledge that and not pretend otherwise. That doesn't mean, of course, that we should treat such workers with contempt, but rather with sympathy and understanding, and as comrades.

These limitations are an inherent part of any class-structured society, and extremely evident in our present capitalist society. Hierarchy must be studied as a method of controlling populations in order to provide lavish benefits to a ruling class while exploiting the vast majority, and not simply as producing bitter rivalries and invidious attitudes among competing worker groups. And, it is only one method among many: chief of which includes agencies of indoctrination throughout society.

JFK’s Death Marked the End of the American Republic

Click here to access the interview with Mathias Broeckers, a German investigative journalist and author from Lars Schall's blog.

I have read widely on the topic of JFK's assassination, and I followed this event from the very beginning. My research and experience supports all the observations by this author except for a few details that I wasn't aware of or have forgotten (for example, that Permindex was a front-company for CIA, MI-6 and Mossad). And I thoroughly agree with Broeckers that this was the pivotal event of the second half of the 20th century. 

Actually, I think it could be argued successfully that it is the most influential single event in US history. Everything of political significance that has happened since then, wherever the US has been involved, has antecedents in that event (examples: the assassinations of ML King and Bobby Kennedy, the "War on Drugs", most of the invasions and subversions of other countries, 9/11, the never-ending "War on Terror", and the NSA revelations). Because the American people were not able to successfully challenge the coverups by ruling class directors and their involvement in the event, this country and the world has descended into a new dark age, although this time a political/economic one in which we are living today. By successfully accomplishing the assassination of the president, they then knew they could get away with anything.

My knowledge of US history also confirms Broeckers' conclusion that the assassination was inevitable given the power that had been amassed by Wall Street connected people following WWII. What was not inevitable is the fact that they got away with the crime.

The Escuelita Zapatista and its proposal to the movements

Click here to access article by Leonidas Oikonomakis from Reflections on a Revolution. 

There are some glimmers of hopeful light in the world, and this article reports on one of them. 

All those activists, young and old, have dreamt of a better world — a horizontal world without domination and exploitation — and the Zapatistas took up the opportunity to propose what that such a world might look like: by letting their alumn@s live it for a week. After all, for all these years, the creation and evolution of this better world in Chiapas has been safeguarded by activists from all over Mexico and the world — and now the Zapatista communities took the responsibility to show them the results. Not to provide a “guide” or “blueprint” of what autonomy should be like, but to present what they have come up with, and to prove that a better world is not only possible — it exists here and now.

Why Saudi Arabia Is Bankrolling Egypt’s Interim Government

Click here to access article by Melissa Dzenis from Muftah.

This medieval kingdom, a key ally of Empire directors and a specialist in beheadings, has been a major player in recent events in Egypt. This political analyst provides an insightful study of their strategies and tactics often using their abundant oil wealth to maintain a hegemonic position not only within Saudi Arabia, but throughout the region. But, all is not well within kingdom.

Thinking about Egypt: between cynicism and wishful thinking

Click here to access article by Peter Storm from libcom.  

I have posted a number of articles on the ongoing Egyptian revolution since January of 2011. This is for two basic reasons: first, we as citizens of the US are involved through our government's funding of the Egyptian military and other supports; second, what we are seeing in Egypt is an ongoing revolutionary development that we can study and learn from. It is the latter reason that I think is of critical importance for our own salvation. Let me explain.

Humanity must, in order to survive, rid itself of the dangerous cancer of capitalism which is destroying one society after another as well as an ecology capable of supporting human and many other life forms. Thus, revolution must be on the agenda of every serious activist. We must learn how to do them; and to do this, we must learn all we can about revolutionary and counter-revolutionary events. The current scene in Egypt provides a living experiment that we can study and learn from to create our own mandatory revolution. 

Empire directors have at their disposal a long history of ruling class techniques that they have consolidated into a finely honed expertise in controlling, manipulating, and exploiting populations in support of their interests of power and wealth. We must develop ours, and do so in a hurry because our lives and those who follow us are at stake. This article makes an excellent contribution to this vital project.

Congress Has Lost Control of the Big Banks

Click here to access article by Pam Martens from Wall Street on Parade.

I had to laugh at this headline because from my reading of history, banksters have always been top dog in the US. It's just that banksters have over the years, and especially under the guidance of neoconservatives and neoliberals, have greatly consolidated their wealth/power to an extent that became obvious to every awake person that they not only made the laws, but were above the laws they made.

From the very beginning of the US after the American Revolution, Alexander Hamilton and war profiteer Robert Morris set about establishing the Bank of North America. From the successful establishment of the Bank of England as a "central bank" in 1694, they clearly saw the wonderful profit opportunities in such a privately owned bank which used the traditional scam of fractional reserve banking, and was authorized to issue a nation's currency backed by the government and all of its instruments of enforcement. However, that bank soon failed because of one missing ingredient--a powerful, centralized government to guarantee and enforce their bank's money as legal tender. 

This defect was quickly remedied by the coup that occurred with the Constitutional Convention in 1787 that was supposed to merely reform the Articles of Confederation. Instead they crafted a powerful central government. Then the early banksters made haste to successfully establish the First Bank of the United States which lasted until 1811. Following that bank there was a Second Bank of the United States from 1816 to 1836, and finally the Federal Reserve was established in 1911. All of these central banks along with non-central banks were always heavily involved in major scandals as we see today. Whereas the first two central banks were abolished by government, what is different now is that the government is completely at the mercy of the all-powerful banksters.

Incidentally, the only time that the US government issued its own currency was during the Civil War under Lincoln whose administration issued "greenbacks" to fund the war because the banks demanded exorbitant rates of interest. Lincoln was assassinated after the Civil War and it is likely that his assassination was motivated by this innovation which removed private bankers from using this scam.

Egypt’s Junta Has Nothing to Lose

Click here to access article by M. K. Bhadrakumar from Strategic Culture Foundation.

One might say that "the more things change, the more they stay the same". As one country after another is destabilized using death squads, terrorist groups, and adjunct militaries, the change of US administrations changes nothing. That is simply because behind the smoke and mirrors of capitalist electioneering, there exists the same shadow government dominated by banksters and their hired operatives that have the same agenda--world domination by any means necessary.

The appointment of Robert Ford as the new American ambassador to Egypt was indeed an ominous sign that the Obama administration expected civil war conditions to arise in Egypt. Ford’s forte during his hugely successful "diplomatic" assignment in Baghdad in the middle of the last decade was to organize the notorious death squads, which tore Mesopotamia apart and destroyed Iraq almost irreparably.

Equally, Ford played a seminal role in his subsequent ambassadorial assignment in Damascus in 2011 in successfully triggering the Syrian civil war. Ford is the living embodiment of the stunning reality that between the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations, there has been no real shift in the United States’ policies in the Middle East aimed at perpetuating its regional hegemony…

However, I don't share his cynical regard for the great Egyptian tragedy of the past month as just another geopolitical game being played by Empire directors. The author is no anti-capitalist, he just wants geopolitical players to play nice, and when they don't--which is nearly always--he trots out his cynicism, and even goes so far as to justify the military's brutal repression. (Note in the following paragraph that "pluralist democracy" is Empire newspeak for capitalist electioneering.)

... a strategic ambivalence has developed – as had happened during the brutal civil war in Algeria – to the effect that political Islam is a pernicious thing and is antithetical to pluralist democracy and human rights, and sometimes coercion and even military force may become necessary to counter its surge.

Nowadays ruling classes and empires are being threatened by freedom and peace loving people everywhere. The "Arab Spring" was an example of this. As a result we see the capitalist directors and their Medieval cronies resorting to the most barbaric methods possible to make the Egyptians, the Libyans, the Iraqis, and the Syrians as examples to deter any more freedom loving people from aspiring to a better life. However, I don't think this story is over yet. 

Cancerous-Celebrity-Charity

Click here to access article by Michael Barker from Swans Commentary. 

The article explains how the ruling class loves to use celebrities to provide cover for their sins, to co-opt environmentalists into colluding with them, and to divert attention and resources away from genuine activist movements. They often succeed, but not always as the author reports. However, in Armstrong's case, it was he who used the same model to cover his own sins.

Stumbling Blocks to Figuring Out the Real Oil Limits Story

Click here to access article by Gail Tverberg from her blog Our Finite World. 

This widely respected specialist on peak oil issues describes the dilemma posed by the increasing costs of extracting oil from the earth without any other cheap source of energy in view. She is of the mainstream camp that sees no alternative to a capitalist system (TINA). Thus, necessarily the future of humanity looks very depressing. I have to give her credit for facing extremely unpleasant facts with directness and honesty, but I fault her for not factoring in the capitalist system which makes such depressing implications unavoidable. Why can't she see the necessity to imagine how societies could be organized in another way so that the contradictions she poses could be, if not avoided, considerably ameliorated?

Greece: A Social Explosion Is Inevitable

Click here to access article by Anna Filimonova from Strategic Culture Foundation.

According to this columnist from this obviously Russian-based website (they purport to be transnational), the neoliberal vultures are busy picking the flesh off of what is left of Greece. There is a hint of bias in that she seems to suggest that dealing with Russian or Chinese vultures would suit them better. In any case, the situation in Greece looks even grimmer than I thought.

Although there is no linked reference to the quoted statement, the following quote really captures the unvarnished ugliness of sociopathic capitalists and their regard for society:

As Wall Street trader A. Rastani stated not long before Lucas Papademos was appointed prime minister of Greece, "we don't really care that much how they're going to fix the economy, how they're going to fix the whole situation; our job is to make money from it and personally I've been dreaming of this moment for three years. I go to bed every night and I dream of another recession...When the market crashes...if you know what to do, if you have the right plan to set up you can make a lot of money from this."

America’s new $60 trillion deadliest enemy

Click here to access article by Paul B. Farrell from the Wall Street Journal. 

Well, whaddya know. Here we see a columnist in capitalism's primary publication finally reporting what has been well known by serious environmentalists for the past 40 years--the prospect of radical global warming. Well, better late than never--but really?