Skepticism and critical thinking is not panacea, but can help to understand the world better
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May the source be with you, but remember the KISS principle ;-) Skepticism and critical thinking is not panacea, but can help to understand the world better |
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The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People! ~ Donald Trump
Skepticism > Political Skeptic > Media-Military-Industrial Complex > Propaganda
| "The truth is that the newspaper is not a place for information to be given,
rather it is just hollow content, or more than that, a provoker of content.
If it prints lies about atrocities, real atrocities are the result."
Karl Kraus, 1914 WAR IS PEACE. FREEDOM IS SLAVERY. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH 1984 We are the world, we are exceptional, we cannot fail. The elite will lie, and the people will pretend to believe them. Heck about 20 percent of the American public will believe almost anything if it is wrapped with the right prejudice and appeal to passion. jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com, Feb 04, 2015 "The media's interest in the well-being of a foreign population is directly proportional to the West's interest in toppling its government, while editorial standards are inversely proportional to its enemy status." ~John McEvoy The UK's propaganda machine rivals and even surpasses Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany.~ Comment by Gravatomic , Apr 17, 2019 link |
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I think journalists today — elite journalists at least — absorb the biases of the ruling neoliberal oligarchy far more readily than they used to do. The media establishment is populated by yes-men. I do not understand how any skeptical person can, in good conscience, trust a western MSM description of foreign events. You need a second source to compare coverage. The mainstream media gives us no real news. Just the regurgitation of talking points they were given. Seeing how they treat the concept of truth these days, one might think that 1984 dystopia was an understatement.
Truth killing is a meta-issue ( nationalinterest.org (
The problem is fundamental, and relates to a broad spectrum of policy issues both foreign and domestic, because truth — factual reality — is a necessary foundation to consider and evaluate and debate policy on any subject.
Crushing the truth means not just our having to endure any one misdirected policy; it means losing the ability even to address policy intelligently.
To the extent that falsehood is successfully instilled in the minds of enough people, the political system loses what would otherwise be its ability to provide a check on policy that is bad policy because it is inconsistent with factual reality.
I think it is good that people question their lying politicians and these lying, corrupt partisans pretending to be MSM pundits. If that means that MSM try to slander the people as “conspiracy theorists” you should take it with a grain of salt. As Gore Vidal quipped they are actually "conspiracy analysts" not "conspiracy theorists". BTW the term was invented by CIA to crush alternative versions of JFK assassination. This label is a form of censorship, plain and simple.
I would rather be a conspiracy theorist than take anything CNN or FOX says as gospel. Or, God forbid, believe what US politicians say to justify their action or inaction. Skepticism is good. These people don’t automatically deserve our trust. As Reagan said (translating Russian proverb) "Trust but verify".
The angle under which this page views events and MSM can be called anti-neoliberal angle (please note that the term populism is the attempt to discredit any anti-neoliberal movement). Until recently such sites were a lone voice. In 2019 this changed. See Tucker Carlson rejection of neoliberalism
If you take in television news as truthful information, that's all a critically thinking person needs to know about you. In reality 99% of political coverage is neoliberal propaganda, sometimes refined, sometimes crude.
| Propaganda can be defined as a war on reality using fake news, disinformation, projection, witch-hunts (see neo_Mccarthhyism) and other methods. An attempt to create an artificial reality. |
Propaganda can be defined as a war on reality using fake news, disinformation, projection, witch-hunts (see neo_Mccarthhyism) and other methods. It is an attempt to create an artificial reality. The key here is controlling the narrative. For example, "fake news" hysteria is a perfect method of suppressing of dissent and questions about MSM ties to three-letter agencies ( see US and British media are servants of security apparatus )
Journalists manipulate us in the interest of the Powerful. Do you also have the feeling, that you are often manipulated by the media and lied to? Then you're like the majority of Germans. Previously it was considered as a "conspiracy theory". Now it revealed by an Insider, who tells us what is really happening under the hood.The Journalist Udo Ulfkotte ashamed today that he spent 17 years in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. ...he reveals why opinion leaders produce tendentious reports and serve as the extended Arm of the NATO press office. ...the author also was admitted into the networks of American elite organizations, received in return for positive coverage in the US even a certificate of honorary citizenship.
In this book you will learn about industry lobby organisations. The author calls hundreds of names and looks behind the Scenes of those organizations, which exert bias into media, such as: Atlantic bridge, Trilateral Commission, the German Marshall Fund, American Council on Germany, American Academy, Aspen Institute, and the Institute for European politics. Also revealed are the intelligence backgrounds of those lobby groups, the methods and forms of propaganda and financing used, for example, by the US Embassy. Which funds projects for the targeted influencing of public opinion in Germany
...You realize how you are being manipulated - and you know from whom and why. At the end it becomes clear that diversity of opinion will now only be simulated. Because our "messages" are often pure brainwashing.
Gekaufte Journalisten - Medienwelt Enthüllungen Bücher - Kopp Verlag
Simplifying, the US MSM foreign events media coverage (and large part of domestic coverage related to the opposition to neoliberalism and neoliberal globalization, see Anti Trump Hysteria during elections and immediately after them ) has very little to do with the reality and is mostly a barometer of the paranoia of the US neoliberal elite. It is 100% propaganda, or as CBS like to call it "fake news".
How does Fake History and Fake News in the US MSM gradually superseded their reality-based version (which never was perfect, and often quite distorted) is a very interesting question but it is too big for this page. I would only say that this process is closely connected with the process of the neoliberalization of the US society which started in full force in late 70th (see also late Sheldon Wolin notion of Inverted Totalitarism) . We can take election of Reagan as a starting point although the process started immediately after WWII. From this point "fake news" were enforced on the US society as the only acceptable narrative? Which, is essence, is a neoliberal war on reality.
The process started with the creation of CIA. The key question that arise in this regard is whether representative democracy is compatible with the existence large all-powerful and largely uncontrollable and positioned "above the law" intelligence agencies.
| The key question that arise in this regard is whether representative democracy is compatible with the existence large all-powerful and largely uncontrollable and positioned "above the law" intelligence agencies. |
At some point any society with powerful intelligence agencies naturally arrive to the point when "the tail wags the dog." In other words they became political power and in institutional hierarchy are positioned above White House. In the USA this probably happened around 1963, with the JFK assassination. In a way the USSR via Truman enforced its model of governance on the USA ;-). Creation of intelligence agencies by Truman was actually the act of the creation of national security state. Which could be viewed as an official end of the US democracy with quick (less then two decades) rise to power of the Deep State (with the first major victory demonstrated to the US people in 1963).
With it the huge apparatus of state propaganda (and by extension means of suppressing of dissent) intelligence agencies, which gradually acquired political power including considerable (but not yet absolute, that will come much later, after 9/11) level of control of MSM (see Church Committee - Wikipedia ). Which is documented in the book by Dr. Udo Ulfkotte Journalists for Hire How the CIA Buys the News
After 1963, the level outrage in the society was such that there were some meek attempts to check this power, especially the power of intelligence agencies over the MSM (Church Committee - Wikipedia was probably the most well known) but they lead to nowhere. CIa and other inteeligence againces remain positioned above the White House.
Color revolution against Trump (aka Russiagate) launched by CIA and FBI after election has shown who is the real master of the USA. It was accompanied by unprecedented neo-McCarthism campaign in which neoliberal MSM lost any remnants of decency and objectivity.
The recent incident with CIA director Gina Haspel lying to President Trump to inflict severe sanctions on Russia is just a confirmation of the level of this influence. She will never be fired for her "transgressions"
Apr 17, 2019 | www.moonofalabama.org
William Gruff , Apr 16, 2019 4:41:41 PM | link
"If Trump were not in on the schemes he would just fire his underlings!"
This sentiment indicates a failure to understand the power dynamics at play here. Haspel is not the "underling" . Trump is the underling. Sure, being that he is also an oligarch makes Trump's role in the show complicated, but Presidents are installed in order to serve the oligarchy, and the CIA are top level strategists/enforcers for the oligarchy.
In the real organization chart for the empire the CIA is above the President. This has been the case in the US since Kennedy.
Trump cannot fire Haspel or Pompeo. They can fire him, though, and with a sniper's bullet if they want.
Unfortunately for the oligarchy, that would cause additional complications at a time when they have lots of tricky and inexplicably unstable (for them) operations ongoing, which is why they are just steering Trump around instead of replacing him. And Trump is willfully cooperating, even if they are not filling him in on the plans.
Trump will not fire Haspel. He can't. He's just an actor playing a role in a show, and Haspel is one of the producers/writers of that show. If she doesn't put firing in the script then Trump cannot say those lines. I doubt he really wants to anyway.
Principles are are well known since the WWI (Falsehood in War-Time):
1. We do not want war.
2. The opposite party alone is guilty of war.
3. The enemy is the face of the devil.
4. We defend a noble cause, not our own interest.
5. The enemy systematically commits cruelties; our mishaps are involuntary.
6. The enemy uses forbidden weapons.
7. We suffer small losses, those of the enemy are enormous.
8. Artists and intellectuals back our cause.
9. Our cause is sacred. "The ages-old 'God bless America' is playing once more."
10. All who doubt our propaganda, are traitors.
The blog empirestrikesblack cites Belgian investigative journalist Michel Collon who has outlined five principles driving war propaganda:
NeoMcCarthyism campaign which was launched around mid 2016 by Democratic Party operatives as tactical tool to distract attention from DNC corruption and illegal removal of Bernie Sanders from the Democratic ticket after lection of Trump turned into important component of color revolution against Trump. And was fueled not only by MSM but also powerful factions of neoliberals and neocons in US intelligence agencies concerted about their future and the level of financing of "national security parasites". They also have skeletons in the closet to hide (especially FBI and CIA) and did not prepare well to the Trump victory as this was a huge surprise for everybody including Trump himself. See Steele dossier and Strzok-gate
Please note that the original McCarthyism campaign lasted more then a decade. And McCarthyism was not exactly or only about Communist infiltration into the US government. It has elements of a more general framework of suppressing any "dissidents" who question "official narrative" and simultaneously served as the framework of brainwashing of population creating a stereotype of enemy, in best Bolsheviks, or, if you wish Nazi Germany, style. In other words, like in famous Orwell novel 1984, under McCarthyism questioning of official narrative has become a "though crime" (much like it was in the USSR, especially under Stalinism period). And repressions were real, although far less extensive and brutal, than in the USSR in 30th. Thousands of people lost jobs and were blacklisted. Many ostracized, especially from artistic circles, committed suicides.
While Senator McCartney has a certain gist for blackmailing people and, being an alcoholic, he probably would be a suitable candidate for high position in NKVD, he was not a pioneer. He was just a talented follower. This type of modern witch hunt was first implemented on large scale by Bolsheviks in Russia after 1917. Actually Bolsheviks originated many modern methods of brainwashing of the population. Which later were enhanced and further developed in Nazi Germany and than imported to the USA after WWII.
That all brings us to the concept of "deep state" and its control of MSM. The problem with the "deep state" approach to governance is that it replicates Bolshevism on a new, more polished, level, with high officials of intelligence agencies, Wall Street and military industrial complex as a new Politburo. Which is not elected but still controls that nations. So much for remnants of democracy in the USA. That does not mean that some deviations from the "Party line" are impossible: the election of Trump is one such event. But loop at the power of the reaction of the "deep state" on this event. Not that Trump (who can be viewed as some kind of Republican "Change we can believe in" Obama" ) was intended to follow his election promises in any case. The level of vetting of candidates is two party system probably is higher then many of us suspect.
As currently there is no alternative to neoliberalism, the current situation will continue to exist. Notwithstanding the fact that neoliberal ideology was discredited after 2008 financial crisis, much like Bolshevism in 60th. Bolshevism as a theocratic ideology was essentially dead after WWII (although it managed to kick the can down the road for another 45 years). After 60the Soviet people despite constant brainwashing started to have wide-ranging doubts about the communist state and communist ideology. Listening to state-sponsored propaganda radio-stations from the West such as BBC and Voice of America became national pasture of Soviet citizens, especially educated one. Despite all the jamming. Similar situation happened with the USA after 2008, when citizen suddenly start showing some level of interest RT broadcasts and views on internal situation in the USA ;-). And, of cause, all this needs to be stopped. In the name of the "health of the state", democracy be dumned (religious term which literally means "condemned to eternal punishment")
In this particular sense, imitating the enemy by the USA elite after WWII, which was done to fight communist threat (which was overblown) was a very dangerous course with far reaching consequences. The new level of this process of "imitating the enemy" now started with the USA -- the rise of alternative press (kind of Samizdat replica from Soviet past) and clumsy attempt of the deep state to suppress it claiming that they are propagator of "fake news" with the subtext that they are Russian agents (the campaign which spectacularly backfired: which the help of President Trump tweets this term now became the standard nickname of the "official" US MSM). That brings us directly to revising Stalin's "Show trials" and corresponding witch-hunt in the USSR. Appointing Muller to investigate Trump for "Russian connection" (so called "Russiagate") replays favorite theme of accusing enemies of Stalin of being British agents. On a new level incorporating set of political technologies of overthrowing the legitimate government commonly known as "color revolution" technologies. But in both cases it is all about eliminating political rivals.
In broader context the current practice of manipulating population is similar to "high demand cults" style practice -- Bolshevism actually can be best viewed as a religious cult merged with the political movement, much like political Islam today ( Belief-coercion in high demand cults ):
They use all of the techniques as "low demand" faith groups use: requiring members to accept a system of beliefs, conforming to certain behavioral norms; expecting them to involve themselves in the life of the congregation, etc. However, mind-control groups add many additional methods, and take them all to a much higher level. Some are:
- Members' access to outside information is severely restricted
- Their thoughts, beliefs and emotions are tightly controlled by:
- stress; e.g. long hours of work; little or no free time
- restricting sleep
- requiring endless repetition of prayers
- auto-hypnotic exercises
- generation of fear and paranoia; viewing the outside world as threatening
- restricting criticism of the leadership or group policies
- Their behavior may be controlled by:
- public shaming and humiliation
- requiring personal confessions
- isolation from outside contacts, including their family of origin
Members are not physically restrained from leaving the group. They are not held prisoner. They can walk away at any time. But there are strong pressures to remain. If they left, all social and emotional support would disappear; they will often be shunned. Some groups teach that God will abandon or punish them if they leave. They may be told that they will die in the imminent war of Armageddon if they leave the protection of the group.
The main methods here always was the generation and totalitarian control of "suitable" narrative (that's why Sheldon Wolin called neoliberal society "inverted totalitarism"):
"The primary aim of official propaganda is to generate an "official narrative" that can be mindlessly repeated by the ruling classes and those who support and identify with them. This official narrative does not have to make sense, or to stand up to any sort of serious scrutiny. Its factualness is not the point. The point is to draw a Maginot line, a defensive ideological boundary, between "the truth" as defined by the ruling classes and any other "truth" that contradicts their narrative. "
Gerald Celente coined the term "presstitutes", which is obviously politically incorrect, but still is a very precise term: presstitutes sell themselves to neoliberal establishment for access and governments to prosper financially and to keep their jobs. In the USSR journalist were called "soldiers of the Party" so in the less humiliating way we can call them "soldiers of neoliberal establishment" ;-).
Due to the size an introductory article was converted to a separate page Neoliberal Propaganda
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"It tends to be all accurate, but not in an over-all context."
Donald Rumsfeld
"Citizens must be alert to propaganda and
glittering generalities is a type of propaganda
which often uses words such as freedom and patriotism."
"Civics in Practice". Page 274
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Jan 19, 2021 | off-guardian.org
...Life today seems like a dream, doesn't it? Surreal to the point where everything seems haunted and betwixt and between, or this against that, or that and this against us... Or a Luis Buñuel film. The logic of the irrational. Surrealistic. A film made to draw us into an ongoing nightmare. Hitchcock with no resolution. Total weirdness, as Hunter Thompson said was coming before he blew his brains out. A life movie made to hypnotize in this darkening world where reality is created on screens, as Buñuel said of watching movies:
This kind of cinematographic hypnosis is no doubt due to the darkness of the theatre and to the rapidly changing scenes, lights, and camera movements, which weaken the spectator's critical intelligence and exercise over him a kind of fascination.
Here we are in Weirdsville, USA where most people, whether of the left, right, or center, are hypnotized by the flickering screens. That's what movies do. That's what long planned psychological operations do. That's what digital technology allows corrupt rulers and the national security state with its Silicon Valley partners in crime to do.
We now live in a screen world where written words and logic are beside the point. Facts don't matter. Personal physical experience doesn't matter. Clear thinking doesn't matter. Hysterical reactions are what matter. Manipulated emotions are what matter. Saying "Fuck You" is now de rigueur, as if that were the answer to an argument.
It's all a movie now with the latest theatrical performance having been the January 6, 2021 stage show filmed at the U.S. Capitol. A performance so obvious that it isn't obvious for those hypnotized by propaganda, even when the movie clearly shows that the producers arranged for the "domestic terrorists" to be ushered into the Capitol. They let the "Nazis" in on Dr. Goebbels orders. Thank God Almighty they were beaten back before they seized power in their Halloween costumes.
Now who could have given that order to the Capitol and D.C. police, Secret Service, National Guard, and the vast array of militarized Homeland Security forces that knew well in advance of the January 6 demonstration? Who gave the stand-down orders on September 11, 2001, events that were clearly anticipated and afterwards were described by so many as if they were a movie? Surreal. Dreamlike.
As with the events of September 11, 2001 and the subsequent anthrax attacks, the recently staged show at the Capitol that the mainstream media laughingly call an attempted coup d'état will result in a new "Patriot Act" aimed at the new terrorists – domestic ones – i.e. anyone who dissents from the authoritarian crackdown long planned and underway; anyone who questions the vast new censorship and the assault on the First Amendment; anyone who questions the official narrative of Covid-19 and the lockdowns; anyone who suggests that there are linkages between these events, etc.
Who, after all, introduced the Omnibus Counterterrorism Act in 1995 that became the template for the Patriot Act in 2001 that was passed into law after September 11, 2001? None other than former Senator Joseph Biden . Remember Joe? He has a new plan.
Of course, the massive Patriot Act had been written well before that fateful September day and was ready to be implemented by a Senate vote of 98-1, the sole holdout being Democratic Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin. In the House of Representatives the vote was 357-66.
For those familiar (or unfamiliar) with history and fabricated false flags, they might want also to meditate on the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in 1964 that gave Lyndon Johnson his seal of approval to escalate the war against Vietnam that killed so many millions. The vote for that fake crisis was 416-0 in the House and 88-2 in the Senate.
In the words of Mark Twain:
Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself.
Harry Houdini, the magical performer who was able to escape from any trap, any nightmarish enclosure, any lockdown, once said,
It's still an open question, however, as to what extent exposure really hurts a performer.
The question has been answered. It doesn't hurt at all, for phoney events still mesmerize millions who are eager to suspend their disbelief for the sake of a sad strand of hope that their chosen leaders – whether Biden or Trump – are levelling with them and are not playing them for fools. To accept that Trump and Biden are scripted actors in a highly sophisticated reality TV movie is a bit of "reality" too hard to bear. Exposing them and their minions doesn't hurt at all. There's no business but show business.
Houdini knew well the tricks used to deceive a gullible audience hypnotized by theatrics. "A magician is only an actor," he said, "an actor pretending to be a magician." This is a perfect description of the charlatans who serve as presidents of the United States.
Life today seems like a dream, doesn't it? "Will wonders ever cease," said Houdini, as he closed his shows.
When I was a child I had a repetitive dream that I was trapped in a maze. Trying to escape, all I could hear as I tried desperately to find an exit was a droning sound. Droning without end. The only way I could escape the maze was to wake up – literally. But this dream would repeat for many years to the point where I realized my dreams were connected to my actual family and life in the U.S.A.
Then, when I was later in the Marines and felt imprisoned and was attempting to get out as a conscientious objector, the dream changed to being trapped in the Marines, or the prison I was expecting if they didn't let me go. Even when I got out of the Marines and was not in prison, the dreams that I was continued.
It took me years to learn how to escape.
I mention such dreams since they seem to encapsulate the feelings so many people have today. A sense of being trapped in a senseless social nightmare. Prisoners. Lost in a horror movie like Kafka's novel The Castle in which the protagonist K futilely seeks to gain access to the rulers who control the world from their castle but can never reach his goal. But these are dreams and The Castle is fiction.
On a conscious level, however, many people continue to rationalize their grasp of what is going on in the United States as if what they take to be reality is not fiction. Trump supporters – despite what are seen by them as his betrayals when he said on January 7 that
The demonstrators who infiltrated the Capitol have defiled the seat of American democracy .My focus now turns to ensuring a smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power. This moment calls for healing and reconciliation
still cling to the belief that he is the man they believe in and was going to "clean the swamp" but was sabotaged by the "deep state." Biden supporters, driven by their obsessive hatred for Trump and the ongoing delusions that the Democratic Party, like the Republican, is not thoroughly corrupt, look forward to the Biden presidency and the new normal when he can "build back better." For both groups' true faith never dies. It's very touching.
As I have written before, if the Democrats and the Republicans are at war as is often claimed, it is only over who gets the larger share of the spoils. Trump and Biden work for the same bosses, those I call the Umbrella People (those who own and run the country through their intelligence/military/media operatives), who produce and direct the movie that keeps so many Americans on the edge of their seats in the hope that their chosen good guy wins in the end.
It might seem as if I am wrong and that because the Democrats and their accomplices have spent years attempting to oust Trump through Russia-gate, impeachment, etc. that what seems true is true and Trump is simply a crazy aberration who somehow slipped through the net of establishment control to rule for four years. A Neo-Nazi billionaire who emerged from a TV screen and a golden tower high above the streets of New York.
This seems self-evident to the Democrats and the supporters of Joseph Biden, and even to many Republicans.
For Trump's supporters, he seems to be a true Godsend, a real patriot who emerged out of political nowhere to restore America to its former greatness and deliver economic justice to the forgotten middle-Americans whose livelihoods have been devastated by neo-liberal economic policies and the outsourcing of jobs.
Two diametrically opposed perspectives.
But if that is so, why, despite Trump and Biden's superficial differences – and Obama's, Hillary Clinton's and George W. Bush's for that matter – have the super-rich gotten richer and richer over the decades and the war on terror continued as the military budget has increased each year and the armament industries and the Wall Street crooks continued to rake in the money at the expense of everyone else? These are a few facts that can't be disputed. There are many more. So what's changed under Trump? We are talking about nuances, small changes. A clown with a big mouth versus traditional, "dignified" con men.
Trump's followers were betrayed the day he was sworn in, as Biden's will be shortly unless they support a crackdown on civil rights, the squelching of the First Amendment, and laws against dissent under the aegis of a war against domestic terrorism.
I'm afraid that is so. Censorship of dissent that is happening now will increase dramatically under the Biden administration.
Now we have the "insurrection," also known as an attempted "coup d'état," with barbarians breaching the gates of the sacred abode of the politicians of both parties who have supported bloody U.S. coups throughout the world for the past seventy plus years. Here is another example of history beginning as tragedy and ending as farce.
But who is laughing?
If you were writing this script as part of long-term planning, and average people were getting disgusted from decades of being screwed and were sick of politicians and their lying ways, wouldn't you stop the reruns and create a new show?
Come on, this is Hollywood where creative showmen can dazzle our minds with plots so twisted that when you leave the theater you keep wondering what it was all about and arguing with your friends about the ending. So create a throwback film where the good guy versus the bad guy was seemingly very clear, and while the system ground on, people would be at each other's throats over the obvious differences, even while they were fabricated or were minor. This being the simple and successful age-old strategy of divide and conquer.
I realize that it is very hard for many to entertain the thought that Trump and Biden are not arch-enemies but are players in a spectacle created to confound at the deepest psychological levels. I am not arguing that the Democrats didn't want Hillary Clinton to win in 2016. I am saying they knew Trump was a better opponent, not only because they could probably defeat him and garner more of the spoils, but because if he possibly won he was easily controlled because he was compromised. By whom? Not the Democrats, but the "Deep State" forces that control Hillary Clinton and all the presidents. A compromised and corrupt lot.
The Democrats and Republicans were not in charge in 2016 or in 2020. Their bosses were. The Umbrella people. Biden will carry out their orders, and while everyone will conveniently forget what actually happened during Trump's tenure, as I previously mentioned, they will only remember how the Democrats "tried" to oust this man in the black hat, while Biden will carry on Trump's legacy with minor changes and a lot of PR. He will seem like a breath of fresh air as he continues and expands the toxic policies of all presidents. So it goes.
... ... ...
Edward Curtin is an independent writer whose work has appeared widely over many years. His website is edwardcurtin.com and his new book is Seeking Truth in a Country of Lies .
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Jan 19, 2021 | www.moonofalabama.org
Petri Krohn , Jan 19 2021 22:34 utc | 44Four years ago the Anglo-American deep state concluded that liberal democracy is no longer guaranteed to keep them in power. The new threat comes from populist like Trump. Instead of democracy they decided to turn to totalitarianism. The first step was a totalitarian media regime .
Jackrabbit , Jan 19 2021 23:25 utc | 52
Petri Krohn @Jan19 22:34 #44
The new threat comes from populist like Trump.LMFAO. Trump is no threat. Listen to his farewell speech . Summary: bend over and salute the flag.!!
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Jan 19, 2021 | www.moonofalabama.org
karlof1 , Jan 19 2021 22:48 utc | 47
Lavrov at his annual recent year-in-review presser had the following to say about the behavior of the Outlaw US Empire and its Western vassals:
"Unfortunately, not everywhere and not always has this quest for solidarity and joint work manifested itself during the pandemic. Some of our Western colleagues, primarily the United States and its closest allies, tried to take advantage of the situation and to ratchet up pressure, blackmail, ultimatums and illegitimate actions while introducing unilateral restrictions and other forms of interference in the internal affairs of many countries, including our closest neighbour Belarus.
"The West unanimously ignored the calls by the UN Secretary General and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to suspend, at least for the duration of the pandemic, unilateral and illegitimate sanctions regarding the supply of medications, food and equipment needed to fight the virus while Russia was ready to back up this approach. President Putin put forward a parallel initiative during the G20 summit to create green corridors in the economy that are free from sanctions and other artificial barriers. Unfortunately, these sensible appeals - both ours and those of the UN leaders - were left hanging in the air.
"Last year we observed the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII, the birth of the United Nations and the entry into force of its Charter. Against the backdrop of these anniversaries, we are very concerned about the continuous arrogant actions of the United States and most of its Western allies, which are aimed at undermining international security, which is based on the UN, its Charter and its agencies and replacing the traditional norms and standards of international law with a "rules-based international order.'"
Lavrov then proceeds to indict the EU for promoting "multilateralism" outside the framework of the UN in a manner meant to replace the UN with EU diktats: "The EU views the establishment of specific rules as its exclusive right in the belief that all others must follow these standards. Examples are many." Thus the EU follows the Outlaw US Empire's lead. Lavrov then shares his own analysis:
"[T]hese are apprehensions of competition and the understanding that in today's world the West can no longer dictate its own orders to others as it has over the last five centuries. History is moving forward, it is developing. This has nothing to do with ideology. This is just a statement of fact. It is necessary to consider the views of the countries that now have a much greater weight in the world arena (completely incomparable with that of the colonial era) and the countries that want to preserve their civilisational identity and that do not see in the West the ideals for their societies. Tolerance of diversity is another characteristic that the West is losing very quickly."
And all that is connected to other related developments:
"There are situations where half a dozen people that have created their own technological empires do not even want to know what rights they have in their own states. They determine their rights themselves proceeding from so-called corporate standards and completely ignore the constitutions of their states. We have seen this clearly in the US and this is a source of deep concern . Much has been said about this recently in television reports and special analytical materials. We are not pleased by the attempts of the Western elites to find external enemies to resolve their internal political problems. They find these enemies in Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela. The list of these countries is well known. [Yet, Lavrov insists there's no ideology involved, a point of contention I have with him.]
"We all see the response to the news of Alexey Navalny's return to the Russian Federation. Carbon-copy comments on this event are coming in one after another. They are full of joy because they allow Western politicians to think that in this way they can divert public attention away from the deepest crisis of the liberal development model.
"I am convinced that it is necessary not to seek outside excuses to justify one's own actions or sidetrack attention from one's deepest problems and crises. On the contrary, it is essential to play an honest game and look for opportunities to resolve domestic problems via fair and equitable international cooperation. No one can expect to resolve its own problems outside multilateral formats any longer."
Unfortunately, they do exhibit just that expectation. Yet, the most insidious, factual accusation made against the West in Russia's defense is this:
" They just don't provide the facts, which is what decent people always do in order to justify their discussions ." [My Emphasis]
Thus my very heavy critique of Cynthia Chung who invented facts to fit her ideological hypothesis.
Lavrov closes his peroration by directly addressing those foreign reporters in the audience:
"We are interested in addressing problems through a dialogue. However, 'forcing a closed door' that the West keeps 'under lock and key' is beneath our dignity . Your governments are well aware of our proposals that we have made repeatedly, starting with the dialogue on strategic offensive arms, arms control and nonproliferation to interaction on cybersecurity and non-deployment of weapons in space. There are many such areas. For each of them, Russia has proposals for establishing honest cooperation on key threats that are common to all countries around the world instead of using these threats to achieve unilateral geopolitical advantages by means of unscrupulous competition. President Putin's initiative to hold a summit of the five UN Security Council permanent members is a manifestation of such a desire to start a dialogue. All other leaders of the Group of Five responded positively to this proposal." [My Emphasis]
Lavrov closes by reminding his audience that Russia is hardly alone or isolated, that it's in combination with over 1/3 of the planet's people; and that instead of an unhealthy competition, Russia has openly asked all Eurasian nations to join together with its partners who "share our common philosophy: to say no to confrontation and to address existing problems on a balance of interests ." [My Emphasis]
In his presser, Lavrov referred to Russia's Main Foreign Policy Results in 2020 , the document available at the link. There's so much to read! Lavrov's response to the question about Latvia's recent behavior IMO best encapsulates the depth of Western immorality and blatant double-standards for its behavior. When it comes to the Outlaw U Empire:
"The most important thing is that our proposals on cybersecurity and on investigations into our alleged interference in US affairs, as well as on space projects and arms control, are on the table. As recently as in September 2020, President Putin publicly invited the United States – not President Trump or anyone else, but the United States as a power which, we hope, has retained at least a degree of respect for continuity and compliance with foreign policy agreements – to reboot our relations in the sphere of cybersecurity and non-intervention into internal affairs of each other."
Russia simply would like to hear an answer, even no is better than being ignored. There's so much more, particularly on the Freedom of Speech topic where Lavrov again remined people of their nations's responsibilities under the treaties they've signed and ratified. Lavrov made the effort to highlight this:
"I have already mentioned the topic of states' obligations and now want to remind you about them. The US is a member of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Interestingly (however, this issue is often omitted) there have been two international treaties, one for civil and political rights, and the other the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Having signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (it was in the 1960s), the US flatly refused to sign the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, as well as the Convention on the Rights of the Child [just as it refused to ratify the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which was the product of Eleanor Roosevelt's doggedly determined efforts].
" This is a refusal to take any responsibilities related to providing adequate quality of life to its population and solving social and economic problems ." [my Emphasis]
My point is the same as Lavrov's: The Outlaw US Empire has on several occasions not to sign and ratify a treaty that it's Constitution says it ought to in order to form a more perfect union and to advance the general Welfare, which is quite telling when we discuss the reasons for the rise in Populism and the reasons someone like Trump is elevated well beyond his standing and abilities.
And since no English language media source published anything about Lavrov's very important presser, how should we rate its Information Hygiene while Pompeo's illegal antics get reported no matter their outrageousness? Gross failure is my verdict.
As Paco said, reporting on Lavrov's presser would be rather long, and he was quite correct! I left quite a lot on the cutting room floor.
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Jan 19, 2021 | www.rt.com
Some pointed out that the accusations leveled at Trump supporters could just as easily be lobbed back at their accusers – specifically the part of Hassan's checklist in which the cult member is discouraged from seeking " outside " sources of information and gaslighted with revised versions of the past.
Jenny @55Massey Replying to @Lesqueenb ...Read the soldiers are being vetted to see if they're Trump supporters, resulting in some uploading photos of themselves on social media with red MAGA caps on :-)
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Jan 19, 2021 | i.postimg.cc
Eva Bartlett Retweeted
Phil Greaves @PhilGreaves01
Better to be a conspiracy theorist than a bootlicking fantasist who thinks a bunch of eugenicist billionaire parasites are just 'incompetently' trying to save pensioners
We warned these people relentlessly that the despotic 'public health' policies they demanded from the regime would immiserate millions more workers, they laughed and mocked us, now they cry crocodile tears at the obvious consequences which they enabled.
from a media-inflated flu, but 'mistakenly' imprisoning & fleecing the population in the process.
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Jan 19, 2021 | www.rt.com
banallwars 1 hour ago 19 Jan, 2021 04:32 PM
What a lie. The bombs being dropped from the U.S. made jets the Saudi pilots fly over Yemen killing civilians leaves blood all over his hands not to mention shaking the hand of the Saudi that murdered a journalist before selling him weapons to kill Yemen's civilians.Waryaa Moxamad 48 minutes ago 19 Jan, 2021 05:36 PM1) False flag chemical attack on Syria. 2) killing Soleimani in a sovereign country he was invited to 3) Guaido 4) Bolivia. 5) continuing the wars predecessors started.
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Jan 19, 2021 | kononenkome.livejournal.com
Right, it banned this hashtag .
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Jan 19, 2021 | twitter.com
Have you heard of #BlueAnon ? Here, two top members speculate that Trump spoke to Putin before the MAGA riot and call for a 9/11-style commission on Trump-Putin ties (FBI & Congressional probes were presumably insufficient). As this cult's mantra goes: "All roads lead to Putin."aaronjmate Jan 18Hillary Clinton @HillaryClinton · Jan 18 .
@SpeakerPelosi and I agree: Congress needs to establish an investigative body like the 9/11 Commission to determine Trump's ties to Putin so we can repair the damage to our national security and prevent a puppet from occupying the presidency ever again.
@aaronjmate As I wrote last week, while Trump's movement is uniquely violent & dangerous, it does not hold a monopoly on xenophobic conspiracy theories in response to election failures.aaronjmate Jan 18@aaronjmate Their Russiagating BS is getting so tiresome! Thanks for your great work, Aaron! 1 4 33Meurig Davies @crustycobs Jan 18Some people have become completely delusional + share the Russiagate, which was actually Britishgate, delusion in the wake of the muted reports of it's non-existence.Tommy Knocker @Hutijin Jan 18Replying to @aaronjmate Jan 18@aaronjmate The lengths this woman will go to not look at her own faults is astounding! Russia, Russia, Russia, instead of "hey maybe I'm just a warmonger and the people don't like that"... The disconnect is strong with this one!
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Jan 19, 2021 | www.moonofalabama.org
downtownhaiku , Jan 19 2021 22:46 utc | 46
Say your prayers and the Pledge of Allegiance every night
And tomorrow you'll be feeling all rightHouse Un-American Blues Activity Dream
Mimi and Richard FarinaI knew Richard and Mimi in 1963
https://genius.com/Mimi-and-richard-farina-house-un-american-blues-activity-dream-lyrics
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Jan 19, 2021 | kononenko.me
Rabid fighter for gender nutral terms, the Speaker of the US Congress, Nancy Pelosi, is eighty years old. It's time to think about something eternal. And what could be more eternal than the great and mighty English language. Known for its vast vocabulary. Which the Democratic congressional caucus decided to slightly reduce by voting on Monday for new rules for official record-keeping.
Instead of the words "he" or "she", it is now recommended to use the gender-neutral terms. Instead of "father", "mother", "son", "daughter", "brother", "sister", "uncle", "aunt" -- generalized "parent" or " child". And instead of "brother" and "sister", it is better to use the word "sibling". And so on.
Which means Joseph Biden got very unlucky. Because every one of the forty-five presidents before him was called " Mr. President." And "mister" is no longer allowed. Because this word has a clear gender connotation.
And there's nothing he can do about it: the law is the law.
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Jan 19, 2021 | kononenkome.livejournal.com
For ten years, humanity has been preparing to meet the coronavirus pandemic prepared, if not from a medical point of view, then at least from the technological point of view. And maybe with the medical one, too -- after all, we do not encounter the achievements of genetic modeling in everyday life as often as with the achievements of digital technologies. But the minimum time frame for the development of a coronavirus vaccine seems to tell us that in this area, too, the past ten years have not been lost for all of us.
And here we are faced with a dialectical contradiction. On the one hand, technology has enabled us to withstand the pandemic and adapt to to working from home for those who can allow it. On the other hand, if it were not for technology, there would be no pandemic. It would be no air travel, no places of the big congestion of people, without a developed industry of tourism and travelling. And-who knows-maybe the virus itself would not exist without technology. Although here I am entering on a slippery slope of unsubstantiated assumptions.
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Jan 19, 2021 | off-guardian.org
Judith , Jan 18, 2021 12:47 PM Reply to Moneycircus
I think Catherine Austin Fitts had the perfect term for Q – "hope porn".
I read Q a few times based on a friends repeated exclamations that the indictments were coming. This went on for 4 years. Nothing.
I tend to think it was just part of the theatre of the absurd which is what American politics is.
It would be humorous if it was not so tragic.
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Jan 19, 2021 | www.nybooks.com
Orthodoxy of the Elites - by Jackson Lears - The New York Review of Books
By 2016 the concept of "liberal democracy," once bright with promise, had dulled into a neoliberal politics that was neither liberal nor democratic. The Democratic Party's turn toward market-driven policies, the bipartisan dismantling of the public sphere, the inflight marriage of Wall Street and Silicon Valley in the cockpit of globalization -- these interventions constituted the long con of neoliberal governance, which enriched a small minority of Americans while ravaging most of the rest.
Jackson Lears is Board of Governors Distinguished Professor of History at Rutgers, Editor in Chief of Raritan, and the author of Rebirth of a Nation: The Making of Modern America, 1877–1920, among other books. (January 2021)
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Jan 19, 2021 | www.moonofalabama.org
Passer by , Jan 19 2021 21:57 utc | 36
Posted by: teri | Jan 19 2021 21:31 utc | 33
>>Today, the Trump administration filed an appeal against the UK decision not to extradite Assange. I must imagine that means that Trump has no intention of pardoning Assange.
Trump was a desperate "Murica must have the biggest dick" imperialist massively triggered by the US decline and trying to save the US Empire. Like a rabid dog that is wounded, he attacked anything that moves, including those who helped him get into power.
Anyone who thought that he will help the likes of Russia or Assange does not understand the psychology of elite US WASPs.
These people thought that they and the US should rule the world and that they are the cream of the cream. Anything denying them that would lead to crazed reactions, hysteria, rabid animalistic behavior, and snarling and gnashing of teeth at anything that moves.
Simply put, their decline caused them to go rabid. A rabid dog attacks anything that moves, whether friendly or not. Unfortunately for the likes of Russia and Assange.
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Jan 15, 2021 | www.mintpressnews.com
Predictably, conservative publications like Fox News decried the measures as a power grab by Big Tech and protestations came as far away from Europe, where German Chancellor, Angela Merkel – whose disdain for Donald Trump has never been a secret – called the decision to deplatform a head of state " problematic ," an opinion shared by France's Finance Minister Bruno Le Marie, who warned of a "digital oligarchy" usurping the powers of the state.
Missing in the salacious back-and-forth conversation between ideological factions and absent from the argument that they are private corporations, which have the legal authority to ban or deplatform anybody they wish, is the fact that Twitter, Facebook, and all the other major social media platforms are organs of the state to begin with, and that nothing they do falls outside of the ultimate designs of the powers they serve.
Examples abound of how these platforms regularly engage in cyber reconnaissance missions for American and Atlanticist interests in violation of their own terms of service, such as when NATO commanders made use of coordinates provided by Twitter users in order to select missile strike targets in their war against Libya in 2011.
Facebook's recently created oversight board includes Emi Palmor, who was directly responsible for the removal of thousands of Palestinian posts from the social media giant during her tenure as Director of Israel's Ministry of Justice. She, along with other individuals with clear sympathies to American interests, now sit on an official body tasked with emitting the last word on any disputes regarding issues of deplatforming on the global social network.
Following you since 1972In Yasha Levine's seminal work , "Surveillance Valley," the military origins of the Internet and the close relationship of social media companies to federal and local law enforcement are made patently clear. Since their creation, Twitter, Facebook, and other Silicon Valley behemoths have worked hand in hand with law enforcement agencies to augment their capacity for mass tracking and surveillance.
From facial recognition technologies to aggregated user post history, these platforms have been a crucial component in the development of the pervasive surveillance state we now live in. In the book's prologue, Levine details the attempted creation of a citywide police surveillance hub in Oakland, California called the "Domain Awareness Center" (DAC), which drew intense opposition from the local citizenry and privacy advocates who were quick to undress city officials who were trying to hide the proposed center's insidious links to the NSA, CIA and military contractors.
Among other capabilities, the control hub would be able to "plug in" social media feeds to track individuals or groups that posed any kind of threat to the establishment. While the DAC project was successfully defeated by an engaged public, similar initiatives were quickly implemented throughout law enforcement agencies across the country and continue to be perfected in order to not only track, but infiltrate political groups deemed problematic.
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Jan 19, 2021 | www.unz.com
Casino magnate and Israeli patriot multi-billionaire Sheldon Adelson, one of the world's richest men, died in Las Vegas on January 11 th at age 87. He had been suffering from cancer and has been buried at the Mount of Olives Cemetery in Israel . When his body arrived in Israel it was met by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as Jonathan Pollard, the most damaging spy in United States history. Tributes to the fallen "hero" poured in from the political class in both the United States and Israel and it has even been reported that President Donald Trump was intending to hoist the American flag at half mast over federal buildings to honor the "great humanitarian philanthropist." Unfortunately, the flag was already at half mast honoring the death of Capitol Police Force officer Brian Sicknick, who was murdered in the Capitol building last Wednesday.
Trump has not mentioned the service unto death of Sicknick and the flag lowering itself was apparently a bit of an afterthought on behalf of the White House, but he had plenty to say about his good buddy Adelson, who has been the principal funder of the Republican Party over the past five years. As he can no longer use Twitter, the president's condolences were posted on the White House site: "Melania and I mourn the passing of Sheldon Adelson, and send our heartfelt condolences to his wife Miriam, his children and grandchildren. Sheldon lived the true American dream. His ingenuity, genius, and creativity earned him immense wealth, but his character and philanthropic generosity his great name. Sheldon was also a staunch supporter of our great ally the State of Israel. He tirelessly advocated for the relocation of the United States embassy to Jerusalem, the recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, and the pursuit of peace between Israel and its neighbors. Sheldon was true to his family, his country, and all those that knew him. The world has lost a great man. He will be missed."
Missing from the Trump eulogy is any mention of what Adelson did for the United States, which is his country of birth and where he made his fortune engaging in activity that many would consider to be a vice. In fact, Adelson was all about the Jewish state, positioning himself as the principal funder of the Republican Party under Donald Trump and receiving in return as a quid pro quo the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear agreement (JCPOA), the move of the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, the recognition of Israeli annexation of the Syrian Golan Heights, and a virtual concession that the Jewish state could do whatever it wants vis-à-vis the Palestinians, to include expelling them from Palestine. Adelson once commented that Israel does not have to pretend to be a democracy but it must be Jewish, presumably to help the process of Arab genocide move along.
Adelson's mechanism, initiated under George W. Bush, is familiar to how the Israel Lobby operates more generally. It consisted of the exploitation of the incessant need of campaign money by the GOP, which Adelson provided with strings attached. He worked with the Republicans to completely derail the admittedly faux peace process begun under Bill Clinton, which depended on a two-state solution, and instead give the Jewish state a free hand to implement its own unilateral Greater Israel Project extending from "the Jordan River to the Mediterranean." As part of that expansion, Israel has been building illegal settlements while also bombing and killing Lebanese, Syrians, and Iranians and assassinating scientists and technicians throughout the region.
All of the interventions against Israel's neighbors took place even though the Jewish state was not technically at war with anyone. The U.S. meanwhile funded Israeli aggression and watched the spectacle without any complaint, providing political cover as necessary, while also maintaining a major military presence in the Middle East to "protect Israel," as Trump recently admitted.
In short, Sheldon Adelson committed as much as half a billion dollars from his vast fortune to buy control over a major element of U.S. foreign policy and subordinated American interests to those of Israel. In addition to direct donations to both major political parties, he also paid for Congressional "fact finding" trips to Israel and funded a number of pro-Israel lobbies, so-called charities and other related Jewish projects. It is indisputable that he wielded an incredible degree of power to shape Washington's actions in the Middle East. In her own tribute to her dead husband, Miriam Adelson, an Israeli, described how he "crafted the course of nations."
Adelson was actively engaged on Israel's behalf until the week before his death. He provided his casino's private 737 luxury executive jet to transport Jonathan Pollard "home" to Israel. Pollard has served 30 years in prison after being convicted of espionage and was on parole, which restricted his travel. As yet another a gift to Israel, Donald Trump lifted that restriction, allowing him to fly to Israel where he received a hero's welcome. It is generally agreed that Pollard was the most damaging spy in American history, having stolen the keys to accessing U.S. communications and information gathering systems. A month after Pollard's arrest in 1985, C.I.A director William Casey stated: "The Israelis used Pollard to obtain our war plans against the USSR – all of it: the co-ordinates, the firing locations, the sequences, and Israel sold that information to Moscow for more exit visas for Soviet Jews."
Sheldon Adelson used his wealth and political connections to shield himself from any criticism due to his openly expressed preference for Israel over the land of his birth. He famously publicly stated that he wished he had worn the Israeli Army uniform instead of that of the U.S. Army, where he served briefly as a draftee. He also expressed his desire that his son would serve as an Israeli army sniper, presumably allowing him to blow the heads off of Palestinians. In 2013 Adelson advocated ending nuclear negotiations with Iran and instead detonating a nuclear weapon in "the middle of the [Iranian] desert," followed by a threat to annihilate the capital city Tehran, home to 8.6 million, to force Iran to surrender its essentially non-existent nuclear program.
Other acknowledgements of the impact of Adelson came from officials in the Trump Administration. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo commented how his "efforts to strengthen the alliance between Israel and the United States the world, Israel and the United States are safer because of his work." Yeah, right Mike.
So, the world is definitely a better place due to the passing of Sheldon Adelson. Or is it? His Israeli wife Miriam owns more than 40% of Las Vegas Sands Corp Casinos Inc., estimated to be worth in excess of $17 billion. She has proposed that a new chapter be included in the Jewish bible, the Book of Trump, and has pledged herself to continue her husband's work. Trump had previously given her the highest award that a president can bestow, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Freedom, of course, does not apply to Palestinians. And if one is concerned that the Democrats will not be cooperative, they too have their own major donor similar to Adelson. He is an Israeli film producer named Haim Saban, who, echoing a similar statement by Adelson, said that he is a one issue guy and that issue is Israel.
Philip M. Giraldi, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest, a 501(c)3 tax deductible educational foundation (Federal ID Number #52-1739023) that seeks a more interests-based U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Website is https://councilforthenationalinterest.org address is P.O. Box 2157, Purcellville VA 20134 and its email is inform@cnionline.org
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Jan 19, 2021 | www.strategic-culture.org
It is difficult to agree that the "values" spoken of by Pompeo equate with the Washington Post report on January 14 that the National Mall in Washington will have to be closed on the day of Mr Biden's inauguration as 46 th President of his nation. The Post noted with dismay that "The extraordinary closure is the latest in a series of security measures to harden the city against the type of violence that rocked the Capitol on January 6. Local and federal officials had already established a downtown security zone and called up more than 20,000 National Guard troops to protect the presidential swearing in on January 20. The move is significant because the Mall has been the traditional site where much of the general public has gathered to view the inauguration at the Capitol in person."
It would not be surprising if a similar paragraph had appeared in the media concerning such cities as Baghdad, Tripoli or Kabul, which have suffered grievously from U.S. attacks, simply because these places are unstable to the point of collapse. But for this sort of military action to be necessary in the national capital of "the greatest country on earth" is a sad indication of the depth to which Trump has taken America. The Trump storms have caused turmoil, and it is essential for the U.S. that there now be reorganisation, regrouping and calmness.
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Jan 14, 2021 | www.zerohedge.com
Cassandra.Hermes 6 hours agoChief Joesph 4 minutes agoTrump got most bipartisan presidential impeachment in history. Only five democrats voted for Clinton's
Second Impeachment! Trump certainly didn't make America Great Again, but he certainly has established a notoriety for himself...
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Jan 19, 2021 | www.strategic-culture.org
... within just 72 hours of this ban madness starting, Russian Social Media/Messenger Platform "Telegram" gained 25 million new users . This is unlikely to be a fluke or coincidence. Furthermore, this new member surge brings the total user base to healthy 500 million. It is important to note that there are only some 250 million+ Russian speakers on the planet and not all of them like to follow intellectual feeds and memes on Telegram. This means that the majority of Telegram's audience are now not connected to Russia in any way. The platform has reached the critical mass needed to become a mainstay of daily life across the globe.
... During the Cold War, thanks to the dismal state of Soviet media, the youth of the USSR was listening to Radio Freedom and doing anything that it could to jump into the Western media sphere of influence. It was simply the better alternative that gave them breathing room to think about life without a framed Lenin picture in the background
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Jan 19, 2021 | www.moonofalabama.org
Passer by , Jan 19 2021 19:49 utc | 14
Internet and phone lines cut off in the russian consulate in New york.
Sunny Runny Burger , Jan 19 2021 20:57 utc | 23
The stuff about the NY consulate really sets me off, Sputnik said the phones are down for two days running and internet intermittent.
It's hard to guess at the reason for any of it since it could be almost anything (and pretty much entirely stupid no matter what) but what's much more noticeable is the apparent lack of interest in truly clarifying what the hell the point is/was supposed to be (instead of bs) from anyone inside anywhere in the US government structures, or intelligence services, or armed forces.
Dystopian and dysfunctional become synonyms at some point.
Other than that I'm only waiting to see if anything within the Pentagon will get a move on to clear up all the mess (rather than "worrying" about National Guards who will do whatever they're told). If anything happens I expect it to be clean and orderly and then after the fact maybe the NG troops will be told something or the other a little before everyone else, and that's about it. They don't have any need to know about anything in advance or as it happens.
That's just me, at least a little bit more realistic in my "if-so" than the FBI and Pelosi gang? :)
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Jan 19, 2021 | www.rt.com
46 Follow RT on
Outgoing US President Donald Trump has delivered his "parting gift" to the Moscow-led Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, with newly announced sanctions targeting a pipe-laying vessel and companies involved in the multinational project.
The specialist ship concerned, named, 'Fortuna,' and oil tanker 'Maksim Gorky', as well as two Russian firms, KVT-Rus and Rustanker, were blacklisted on Tuesday under CAATSA (Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act) as part of Washington's economic war on Moscow. The same legislation had been previously used by the US to target numerous Russian officials and enterprises.
Russian energy giant Gazprom warned its investors earlier on Tuesday that Nord Stream 2 could be suspended or even canceled if more US restrictions are introduced.
ALSO ON RT.COM Gazprom warns investors that Nord Stream 2 could be canceled as Trump announces more US sanctions in 'parting gift'However, Moscow has assured its partners that it intends to complete the project despite "harsh pressure on the part of Washington," according to Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov. Reacting to the new package of sanctions on Tuesday, Peskov called them "unlawful."
Meanwhile, the EU said it is in no rush to join the Washington-led sanction war on Nord Stream 2. EU foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, said that the bloc is not going to resist the construction of the project.
"Because we're talking about a private project, we can't hamper the operations of those companies if the German government agrees to it," Borrell said Tuesday.
Nord Stream 2 is an offshore gas pipeline, linking Russia and Germany with aim of providing cheaper energy to Central European customers. Under the agreement between Moscow and Berlin, it was to be launched in mid-2020, but the construction has been delayed due to strong opposition from Washington.
ALSO ON RT.COM One more European firm caves to US pressure on Nord Stream 2 project – mediaThe US, which is hoping to sell its Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) to Europe, has hit the project with several rounds of sanctions over scarcely credible claims that it could undermine European energy security. Critics say the real intent is to force EU members to buy from American companies.
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
46 Follow RT on
Fatback33 4 hours ago 19 Jan, 2021 11:20 AM
The group that owns Washington makes the foreign policy. That policy is not for the benefit of the people.DukeLeo Fatback33 1 hour ago 19 Jan, 2021 02:06 PMThat is correct. The private banks and corporations in the US are very upset about Nord Stream - 2, as they want Europe to buy US gas at double price. Washington thus introduces additional political gangsterism in the shape of new unilateral sanctions which have no merit in international law.noremedy 4 hours ago 19 Jan, 2021 11:22 AMIs the U.S. so stupid that they do not realize that they are isolating themselves? Russia has developed SPFS, China CIPS, together with Iran, China and Russia are further developing a payment transfer system. Once in place and functioning this system will replace the western SWIFT system for international payment transfers. It will be the death knell for the US dollar. 327 million Americans are no match for the rest of the billions of the world's population. The next decade will see the total debasement of the US monetary system and the fall from power of the decaying and crumbling in every way U.S.A.Hanonymouse noremedy 2 hours ago 19 Jan, 2021 01:37 PMThey don't care. They have the most advanced military in the world. Might makes right, even today.Shelbouy 3 hours ago 19 Jan, 2021 12:25 PMRussia currently supplies over 50% of the natural gas consumed by The EU. Germany and Italy are the largest importers of Russian natural gas. What is the issue of sanctions stemming from and why are the Americans doing this? A no brainer question I suppose. It's to make more money than the other supplier, and exert political pressure and demand obedience from its lackey. Germany.David R. Evans Shelbouy 2 hours ago 19 Jan, 2021 01:58 PMRussia and Iran challenge perpetual US wars for Israel's Oded Yinon Plan. Washington is Israel-controlled territory.Jewel Gyn 4 hours ago 19 Jan, 2021 11:34 AMSanctions work both ways. With the outgoing Trump administration desperately laying mines for Biden, we await how sleepy Joe is going to mend strayed ties with EU.Count_Cash 4 hours ago 19 Jan, 2021 11:20 AMThe US mafia state continues with the same practices. The dog is barking but the caravan is going. The counter productiveness of sanctions always shows through in the end! I am sure with active efforts of Germany and Russia against US mafia oppression that a blowback will be felt by the US over time!Dachaguy 4 hours ago 19 Jan, 2021 11:24 AMThis is an act of war against Germany. NATO should respond and act against the aggressor, America.xyz47 Dachaguy 42 minutes ago 19 Jan, 2021 03:20 PMNATO is run by the US...lovethy Dachaguy 2 hours ago 19 Jan, 2021 01:04 PMNATO has no separate existence. It's the USA's arm of aggression, suppression and domination. Germany after WWII is an occupied country of USA. Thousand of armed personnel stationed in Germany enforcing that occupation.Chaz Dadkhah 3 hours ago 19 Jan, 2021 12:19 PMFurther proof that Trump is no friend of Russia and is in a rush to punish them while he still has power. If it was the swamp telling him to do that, like his supporters suggest, then they would have waited till their man Biden came in to power in less than 24 hours to do it. Wake up!Mac Kio 3 hours ago 19 Jan, 2021 12:34 PMUSA hates fair competition. USA ignores all WTO rules.Russkiy09 2 hours ago 19 Jan, 2021 01:33 PMBy whining and not completing in the face of US, Russia is losing credibility. They should not have delayed to mobilize the pipe laying vessel and other equipment for one whole year. They should have mobilized in three months and finished by now. Same happens when Jewtin does not shoot down Zio air force bombing Syria everyday. But best option should have been to tell European vassals that "if you can, take our gas. But we will charge the highest amount and sell as much as we want, exclude Russophobic Baltic countries and Poland and neo-vassal Ukraine. Pay us not in your ponzi paper money but real goods and services or precious metals or other commodities or our own currency Ruble." I so wish I could be the President of Russia. Russians deserve to be as wealthy as the Swiss or SIngapore etc., not what they are getting. Their leaders should stand up for their interest. And stop empowering the greedy merchantalist Chinese and brotherhood Erdogan.BlackIntel 1 hour ago 19 Jan, 2021 02:27 PMAmerica i captured by private interest; this project threatens American private companies hence the government is forced to protect capitalism. This is illegalOhhho 3 hours ago 19 Jan, 2021 12:15 PMThat project was a mistake from the start: Russia should distance itself from the Evil empire, EU included! Stop wasting time and resources on trying to please the haters and keeping them more competitive with cheaper Russian natural gas: focus on real partners and potential allies elsewhere!butterfly123 2 hours ago 19 Jan, 2021 01:58 PMI have said it before that part of the problem is at the door of the policy-makers and politicians in Russia. Pipeline project didn't spring up in the minds of politicians in Russia one morning, presumably. There should have been foresight, detailed planning, and opportunity creation for firms in Russia to acquire the skill-set and resources to advance this project. Not doing so has come to bite Russia hard and painful. Lessons learnt I hope Mr President!jakro 4 hours ago 19 Jan, 2021 11:37 AMGood news. The swamp is getting deeper and bigger.hermaflorissen 4 hours ago 19 Jan, 2021 11:49 AMTrump finally severed my expectations for the past 4 years. He should indeed perish.ariadnatheo 1 hour ago 19 Jan, 2021 03:06 PMThat is one Trump measure that will not be overturned by the Senile One. They will need to amplify the RussiaRussiaRussia barking and scratching to divert attention from their dealings with ChinaNeville52 2 hours ago 19 Jan, 2021 02:01 PMIts time the other nations of the world turned their backs on the US. Its too risky if you are an international corporation to suddenly have large portions of your income cancelled due to some crazy politician in the US5th Eye 2 hours ago 19 Jan, 2021 02:03 PMFrom empire to the collapse of empire, US follows UK to the letters. Soon it will be irrelevant. The only thing that remains for UK is the language. Probably hotdog for the US.VonnDuff1 1 hour ago 19 Jan, 2021 02:10 PMThe USA Congress and its corrupt foreign policy dictates work to the detriment of Europe and Russia, while providing no tangible benefits to US states or citizens. So globalist demands wrapped in the stars & stripes, should be laughed at, by all freedom loving nations.
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Jan 18, 2021 | www.unz.com
Squarebeard , says: Next New Comment January 13, 2021 at 11:38 pm GMT • 4.7 days ago
...Fact is, Trump was never the savior you wanted him to be. Had president Trump respected candidate Trump's promises he'd at least be a man of his word. But he didn't do that of course. Trump is a rhetorician (or a windbag, take your pick) and if you focus intently on his words only while downplaying his actions, you might be able to convince yourself into believing he is more than a prolific bullshitter.
Fox News is the "conservative" MSNBC. It swings from the GOP's nutsack (as you have apparently just discovered) and in fact pioneered that style of outrage "journalism." The American elite need to keep people believing in the two-party duopoly. Fox plays its roll by keeping its viewers in the Republican fold. Hate the Democrats? Vote GOP! is the message. If you think MSNBC is trash, why would you cut Fox News any slack? They perform the same function.
Here's a conspiracy theory for you. What if Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders are both controlled opposition? Start with their affiliation. The supposedly "independent" Sanders is effectively a Democrat and the supposedly "insurgent" Trump is effectively a Republican. The media has been in TDS mode for four years and when it looked like Sanders might have some bipartisan appeal he was quickly slapped down by liberal pundits and commentators.
But what if all that outage is mostly theater designed to get voters believing that Trump/Sanders are antiestablishment insurgents who present a "real difference" from stale Democrat/Republican politics? The outrage and slap downs gives the impression that the establishment really really hates these guys and lets the people who support them think that they are supporting principled antiestablishmentarians.
The establishment may not like Trump or Sanders very much but as long as they are controllable they are preferable to a strong third party candidate or a mass revolt against the duopoly. After winning the 2016 election Trump caved early and caved often and governed like a neocon, while Sanders let himself get cucked by the DNC in 2016 and folded like a cheap suit during his 2020 campaign.
So both of these clowns proved they are no threat to the establishment but it's in the establishment's interest to portray them as dangerous interlopers who threaten the stability of the nation. Why? Because it keeps the "rebellion" in house. As long as the electorate believes a Democrat or Republican POTUS can address their grievances the establishment can sigh in relief knowing that they are still in control.
I don't know if Trump and Sanders are deliberately controlled opposition. But as a theory it's more plausible than The Saker's undying trust in Trump as a principled POTUS who was derailed by crafty internal and liberal opposition. If only Trump had been left alone to govern without undue interference he would be a real hero and America would be saved. Give me a break, The Saker, you can't have it both ways. Either the Empire and everything it stands for is rotten, in which case supporting anyone running on a GOP/Democrat ticket is a fool's errand, or it's not, in which case you can trust the system, roll up your blog and find a new hobby.
What The Saker and other commentators that serve up predictable and unchallenging opinions tailored for a specific audience do is provide entertainment. It's stuff for the faithful to read and collectively reaffirm their beliefs while tsk-tsking at all the fools who "just don't get it." Occasionally they provide comedic interludes like this piece where The Saker discovers that Fox News is actually a corporate outlet that supports an established political party and promotes the sanctity of the American duopoly. lol Thanks for the midweek chuckle, my dude.
The United States is also a one-party state but, with typical American extravagence, they have two of them.
– Julius Nyerere (former socialist president of Tanzania)
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Jan 18, 2021 | journal-neo.org
http://journal-neo.org/2016/09/27/joe-biden-is-washington-troublemaker-in-chief/
Biden is clearly an enforcer for a faction of what we might call the permanent establishment, the hidden real government that runs on automatic imperial pilot regardless who is nominal US President.
That "permanent establishment" is currently becoming "dis-established" everywhere in the world. It sees with horror that its grip on the entire world is crumbling.It does only what it has always tried in such cases -- war, war, war. Only of late, those wars -- war against Russia over Ukraine, war against Assad's Syria, an attempted war against Erdogan in Turkey, a war against the growing economic muscle in the world of China -- have been impotent flops.
Biden, a dutiful servant of those interests, carries the flag of war to where he is sent, much like the character in Monty Python's Ministry of Silly Walks.
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Jan 17, 2021 | www.zerohedge.com
LetThemEatRand
There is a better chance of Joe Biden remembering his own name tomorrow than the Blue Team admitting that the impeachment was bogus, no matter how strong the evidence. They knew before the impeachment.
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Jan 17, 2021 | www.zerohedge.com
Runny knows
Trump finally succeeded at getting Congress to build his wall.
Can we bill Mexico for the wall built around the Capitol?
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Jan 17, 2021 | www.zerohedge.com
MhOOMan 5 hours ago remove link
Below is a list of which House Republicans voted to impeach Trump on Wednesday.
- Rep. John Katko (N.Y.) : "To allow the President of the United States to incite this attack without consequence is a direct threat to the future of our democracy. For that reason, I cannot sit by without taking action. I will vote to impeach this President."
- Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.) : " There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution. I will vote to impeach the President. "
- Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Ill.) : "There is no doubt in my mind that the President of the United States broke his oath of office and incited this insurrection I will vote in favor of impeachment."
- Rep. Fred Upton (Mich.) : "Enough is enough. The Congress must hold President Trump to account and send a clear message that our country cannot and will not tolerate any effort by any President to impede the peaceful transfer of power from one President to the next. Thus, I will vote to impeach."
- Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (Wash.) : "I believe President Trump acted against his oath of office, so I will vote to impeach him."
- Rep. Dan Newhouse (Wash.) : "A vote against this impeachment is a vote to validate the unacceptable violence we witnessed in our nation's capital. ... I will vote yes on the articles of impeachment."
- Rep. Peter Meijer (Mich.) : "With the facts at hand, I believe the article of impeachment to be accurate. The President betrayed his oath of office by seeking to undermine our constitutional process, and he bears responsibility for inciting the violent acts of insurrection last week."
- Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (Ohio) : "When I consider the full scope of events leading up to January 6th including the President's lack of response as the United States Capitol was under attack, I am compelled to support impeachment."
- Rep. Tom Rice (S.C.) : "I have backed this President through thick and thin for four years. I campaigned for him and voted for him twice. But, this utter failure is inexcusable."
- Rep. David Valadao (Calif.) : "Based on the facts before me, I have to go with my gut and vote my conscience. I voted to impeach President Trump. His inciting rhetoric was un-American, abhorrent, and absolutely an impeachable offense. It's time to put country over politics."
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Jan 17, 2021 | www.moonofalabama.org
Et Tu , Jan 15 2021 13:56 utc | 8
The Guardian is trash.
I have a poorly researched theory on the Guardian to share here if i may... a mix of interesting events reconstructed into a theoretical conspiracy of sorts... here it goes.. I won't take any reasoned or better informed debunking personally i assure you.
-Since the Edward Snowden scandal, it appears the Guardian has experienced a transformation of sorts. From rogue investigative journalism, to MSM / Intel Services propaganda mouthpiece... a la WaPo, NY Times etc...
-To my knowledge, the Guardian's original independence and journalistic integrity was facilitated by a Trust Fund of sorts which allowed it some form of editorial independence and objectivity based on finances not entirely reliant on ad revenue/sponsorship and various other corporate partnership/ownership deals
-I am not particularly sure about the exact timings, but in recent years this Trust Fund of sorts began to underperform and The Guardian started running into financial trouble
-The Guardian's financial misadventures roughly coincided with significant changes in its editorial content, key departures including Glen Greenwald himself and various other legal disputes and misfortunesMy amateurish thesis..
Could it be that this Trust Fund of sorts was deliberately sabotaged, through toxic Board infiltrations or deliberate bad financial advice, aimed at eroding The Guardian's financial independence and thus its editorial independence and promotion of dissenting narratives? Given the extent of integration between Intel/Weapons/Finance industries, a congruence of mutual interests is not unexpected, and if this Fund was advised or run by members of major Wall St et al. firms, it doesn't seem too far fetched to conceive of such a possibility.
Please feel free to post any relative info or comment.
Hoarsewhisperer , Jan 15 2021 15:28 utc | 16
Les , Jan 15 2021 15:55 utc | 19As an ex-fan of the Guardian, I thought it was jolly decent of the Editors to flag BS stories by omitting the Reader Comments beneath the article. It saved me a lot of time during the transition from reliable News outlet to reliable Mawkish Drivel outlet. Some of the drivel can be amusingly pointless/naif-ish.
Verdant , Jan 15 2021 16:45 utc | 24Guardian changed after 2014 when they published the Edward Snowden leaks. Cameron threatened to take over the newspapers for revealing the Five Eyes' global surveillance.
Kabobyak , Jan 15 2021 17:50 utc | 34The Guardian was once a comparatively good newspaper. The Snowden episode changed everything.
Nowadays it's just another pseudo-liberal, post-feminist, opinionated propaganda outlet. In some way a Daily Mail for "intellectuals".
Basically half of their articles are "opinion" pieces. The only thing worth reading is the football section (and even that gets more and more opinionated).It's a shame really.
Jen , Jan 15 2021 19:42 utc | 44So the evil-doers carry out a complicated mission with many moving parts, plus a huge monetary outlay. They wait seven years before finishing the dastardly deed, just to thicken the plot. The Guardian says yeah, that sounds plausible. Because they know their readers have been groomed for years to believe BS.
Reminds me of the Skripal nutty shifting narratives, or better yet Jonathon Chait's New York Magazine piece (Trump a Russian asset since 1987).
Martin Chulov should be scolded by his Minders for not linking Russia to the plot (the three were "joint Russian-Syrian citizens"). Maybe that will be written into the script in the next Guardian article.
_K_C_ , Jan 15 2021 20:34 utc | 45Et Tu @ 8:
My understanding is that for years the bulk of The Fraudian's funding was subsidised by revenues from sales of Manchester-based tabloid newspapers. I believe this continued into the 1990s and maybe the first decade of this century. A major part of The Fraudian's income also used to come from government employment advertisements in the pre-Internet age.
Once the connections with Manchester-based newspapers were cut by the Trust that runs The Fraudian, and other traditional sources of funding dried up, the newspaper started sacking editorial and other office staff. This was about the same time The Fraudian opened offices in the US and Australia in an effort to get more readers (and more subscribers), and also coincides with Julian Assange working with The Fraudian and other MSM papers on releasing Wikileaks email revelations. The sackings were disguised as voluntary redundancies or retirements and the scale was quite huge, a fair few hundred jobs were cut.
This of course led to The Fraudian having to partner with various "media agencies" in the Middle East, eastern Europe and other parts of the world. You can guess who funds these other agencies The Fraudian calls its "partners".
That Martin Chulov writes an article linking the Syrian govt to last year's bomb blast is no surprise. The news comes just before Joe Biden's inauguration. I had expected that one of his first priorities as POTUS would be resuming the US invasion of Syria, using any excuse. The Chulov article smacks of the same devious cherry-picking that Bellingcat engaged in to finger and "identify" two Russian tourists in Salisbury in 2018 as GRU agents. I would not be surprised if Chulov, like Higgins, had been told what to write and by the same people.
cirsium , Jan 15 2021 22:06 utc | 53Ahem... refreshing to see some content that isn't about the whole Trump situation in the USSA.
As with other things, including, in part, the Trump thing, we're witnessing full "1984" level shit from the media and governments. Everyone knows that the CIA and other Pentagram offices (and MI6) have full control over what Western media publishes, but it's like they aren't even trying anymore. Just full-on lie mode with zero accountability even when what they print is refuted beyond any doubt.
Of course they were going to blame Syria, Iran or Venezuela. If any external government was involved and it wasn't simply negligence by Lebanon's, then it was Israel. Period. Jesus F*cking Christ, it's so obvious.
Jason , Jan 16 2021 0:05 utc | 58For those querying the position of The Guardian
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2019-09-11-how-the-uk-security-services-neutralised-the-countrys-leading-liberal-newspaper/amp/
"The Guardian had gone in six short years from being the natural outlet to place stories exposing wrongdoing by the security state to a platform trusted by the security state to amplify its information operations. A once relatively independent media platform has been largely neutralised by UK security services fearful of being exposed further. "Tom , Jan 16 2021 4:25 utc | 65Guardian did a good job reporting on the Iraq War II...it was after that (2008), and in response to its halfway decent reporting of Iraq that the ownership mechanism was changed.
The new Guardian ownership enacted a "constitution" guaranteeing it would retain its earlier journalistic integrity, but that was pure horseshit, as it went down hill rapidly after the ownership change and became just another mouthpiece for neoliberal/neoconservative propaganda.
Piotr Berman , Jan 16 2021 5:01 utc | 69Why Martin Chulov, the Guardian's Middle East correspondent and author of the piece, did not do the basic diligence of checking the records or chose not to tell his readers that such address sharing is extremely common and does not prove anything is beyond me.
If the Guardian had a proper fact checker that would defeat the purpose of the Guardian in the first place. I'm not sure if that counts as a circular argument.
Posted by: Ghost Ship | Jan 15 2021 16:41 utc | 23
And you can get your nails and a (bikini) waxing done next door. I guess it's safer that doing it at home.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoJEetU0O64&feature=youtu.be
(Mrs. Brown's boys)
c1ue , Jan 16 2021 14:15 utc | 86... I recall a story how The Guardian was tamed. In the aftermath of Snowden revelations, The Guardian was raided and the people who run it were seriously threatened. Ever since, they diligently follow the orders which are given to them with some sophistication (this is England after all, not Zimbabwe), hence preserving some shreds of "leftists credibility". Apparently, unlikely as it may seem, some people still read it. Just before I stopped reading them, they had an actually interesting series about police shootings in USA. Criticizing local governments in USA is still allowed.
chet380 , Jan 16 2021 23:35 utc | 123@Et Tu #8
You're thinking too hard.
Matt Taibbi has nailed it on the head: Facebook and Google's ongoing strangulation of news via monopolization of the channel and demonetization of classified ads has forced newspapers (and other media) to become ever more click-bait focused. This in turn has caused them to focus ever more narrowly on "engaged" (read: made angry) groups.
The Guardian's turn is directly linked with Russiagate, not Snowden.blues , Jan 16 2021 22:53 utc | 122The Guardian? One of the russo-phobic propaganda voice in the UK. Nothing to expect from it except manipulation of information. No one is fooled.
Posted by: Virgile
As well as being one of the proponents of the concoction of the Labour anti-Semitism smear through its uber-Zionist Freedland.
... my real important point about the fascist aristocrat dictatorship of the USSA. The ruling class aristocracy is certainly not at all in the business of increasing their profits by acquiring yet more money. That's just a very stupid notion. For all relevant purposes they already possess all the money. Let's get real. Their sole real business is simply to retain power. Period. And how do they do that? Easy.
They establish and constantly maintain a churnatistic society. They just keep the commonalty spinning around in circles by constantly churning 'current events'.
They start a war, or an obviously fake election, or an economic depression, or a mass shooting, or any outlandish disaster they can churn up to keep the masses in a constant state of bewilderment.
And then they drop the cherry on top by publishing narratives in media such as the Guardian that the poor serfs always know deep down make no sense at all.
Therefor no revolt is possible because the serfs are in a perpetual state of disorientation. All fascist societies are ultimately based on churnatism.
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Jan 17, 2021 | responsiblestatecraft.org
... ... ...
The most important thing to remember in this regard is the difference between an "attack" and an act of espionage. The SolarWinds hack has been generally described in the United States as the former (including by incoming national security adviser Jake Sullivan , and Biden ), but was in fact the latter. Nobody is suggesting that the hackers in this case introduced viruses to paralyze U.S. state systems or damage domestic infrastructure and services. This was purely an information-gathering exercise.
This distinction is crucial. An attack on the citizens or infrastructure of another state has traditionally been considered an act of war. Actions by the United States, Russia, Israel and other countries in recent decades have somewhat blurred this distinction. But no one can doubt that if another country carried out a major act of sabotage on American soil, (especially one threatening the lives of citizens), then Washington's response would -- rightly -- be a ferocious one.
As a matter of fact, while Russia has engaged in limited operations against Estonia and Ukraine, the only countries that have to date carried out a truly successful and destructive act of cyber-sabotage are the U.S. and Israel, through the " Stuxnet " virus, which as introduced into the Iranian nuclear system and first uncovered in 2010.
Espionage by contrast is something that all states do all the time -- often to friends as well as adversaries. We may remember the scandal under the Obama administration when U.S. intelligence was found to have hacked into the communications of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other senior leaders of NATO countries. The hacking of a Belgian telecom company by British intelligence (" Operation Socialist ") is another example. And I would be both shocked and deeply disappointed to learn that U.S. intelligence is not trying to penetrate the state information systems of Russia and China.
And for each revealed act of espionage there is a well-established and calibrated set of responses. The aggrieved country issues a formal protest and expels a given number of "diplomats" from the country responsible. That country expels an equal number of diplomats. The media and the writers of spy thriller writers have a party. Then everything goes back to normal. For after all, everybody knows that there is no chance whatsoever that states will ever give up spying.
There are, however, three aspects of cyber-espionage that make it different from and more dangerous than traditional espionage.
Firstly, as Jake Sullivan has pointed out, unlike most forms of espionage, hacking can be used both for spying and for sabotage, and one can form the basis for the other. A key goal of responsible statecraft should be to establish a clear line between the two when it comes to cyberspace: to develop a set of calibrated and limited responses to cyber-espionage, and to make clear that cyber-sabotage will lead to a much fiercer and more damaging retaliation.
Secondly, unlike traditional espionage, the cyber variety is an area where third parties, uncontrolled by either side, can play a major role and cause serious damage to relations (and of course this also gives all sides plausible deniability -- as with U.S. moves against Iran).
For example, those behind the authors of the 2011 cyber-attack on the G20 summit in Paris have never been identified. Several major hacks have been conducted by independent cyber-anarchists, or even by clever teenagers, sometimes it seems simply for fun. In the present atmosphere, however, all such hacks against the United States are likely to be blamed on Russia and to lead to a further deterioration of relations.
Thirdly, and in part because of these blurred lines, no clear and understood international traditions are in place concerning the response to cyber-espionage, and there is a serious risk of overreaction leading to a spiraling escalation of tension and retaliation.
This is what the Biden administration must avoid. Apart from the immediate damage to relations, overreaction would mean that when -- as is bound to happen someday -- Russia or China eventually discover a cyber-espionage operation against them by U.S. intelligence, they will not only look justified in a disproportionate and escalatory response -- they will actually be justified.
One thing that Biden must definitely not do is to follow the suggestion that the United States should shut Russia out of the SWIFT international bank transfer system which -- the most damaging of all U.S. sanctions against Iran, and one that would have a disastrous effect on Russian trade.
Last year, then Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev said that Russia would regard such a move as equivalent to an act of war and would respond accordingly. Various Russian responses would be possible, including a definitive move into the Chinese geopolitical camp and massive military aid to Iran. Without doubt however, one of them would be to move from cyber-espionage to cyber-sabotage against the United States.
The most sensible response would in fact be to follow literally President-elect Biden's statement that his administration will "respond in kind" to the attack is the most sensible -- that is to say in the cyber-field. The first step (as after any counter-intelligence failure) must obviously be to strengthen U.S. cyber-defenses which. Amongst other things, this requires using presidential orders to combine, streamline, and rationalize the competing plethora of U.S. agencies currently responsible for cyber-security.
The second entirely appropriate response is for Washington to intensify its own existing cyber-intelligence operations against Russia. That, however, is another reason not to engage in overblown moral outrage over the latest hack. The American pot already has quite a global reputation for calling kettles black, and there is no need to blacken it further.
Finally, the Biden administration should do everything possible to develop agreed international restraints on state cyber-operations, including an absolute ban on cyber-sabotage. This should involve opening new negotiations with Moscow on longstanding Russian proposals for an international "arms control" treaty in the area of cyber-warfare, and for a joint U.S.-Russian working group to establish mutual ground rules and confidence building measures.
These Russian proposals cannot be accepted as they stand (above all because of Moscow's desire to limit free flows of information); however, more than a decade ago, then- National Security Agency Director Keith Alexander said that "I do think that we have to establish the rules, and I think what Russia has put forward is, perhaps, the starting point for international debate." This remains true today, and the danger of a failure to reach international agreement has grown vastly since then.
One of the worst things about hysterical statements in the United States about "cyber-attacks" is that unwary readers might mistakenly conclude from them that things can't get any worse. They can get much, much worse.
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Jan 17, 2021 | www.moonofalabama.org
Mao Cheng Ji , Jan 17 2021 19:03 utc | 23
@steven t johnson: "reactionary Republicans"
Since you like Hitler analogies so much, dear Steven, why don't you contemplate the 'reactionary' aspect of those Germans who resisted, in the 1930s, the 'progress' of the National-Socialist movement.
'Reactionary' simply means 'opposing the change', and the changes instituted by global finance, aided by their faithful servants, your liberal comrades, -- those changes should be opposed by all decent citizens.
And they are opposed by all decent citizens, and especially by the American working class, which is why your liberal comrades have to resort to fascist methods: goebbelsian propaganda, censorship, blacklisting, police repression.
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Jan 17, 2021 | www.zerohedge.com
Authored by Niall Ferguson via The Spectator,
'To see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle,' George Orwell famously observed. He was talking not about everyday life but about politics, where it is 'quite easy for the part to be greater than the whole or for two objects to be in the same place simultaneously'.
The examples he gave in his 1946 essay included the paradox that 'for years before the war, nearly all enlightened people were in favour of standing up to Germany: the majority of them were also against having enough armaments to make such a stand effective'.
Last week provided a near-perfect analogy. For years before the 2020 election, nearly all American conservatives were in favour of standing up to big tech : the majority of them were also against changing the laws and regulations enough to make such a stand effective. The difference is that, unlike the German threat, which was geographically remote, the threat from Silicon Valley was literally in front of our noses, day and night: on our mobile phones, our tablets and our laptops.
Writing in this magazine more than three years ago, I warned of a coming collision between Donald Trump and Silicon Valley. 'Social media helped Donald Trump take the White House,' I wrote. 'Silicon Valley won't let it happen again.' The conclusion of my book The Square and the Tower was that the new online network platforms represented a new kind of power that posed a fundamental challenge to the traditional hierarchical power of the state.
By the network platforms, I mean Facebook, Amazon, Twitter, Google and Apple, or FATGA for short -- companies that have established a dominance over the public sphere not seen since the heyday of the pre-Reformation Catholic Church . FATGA had humble enough origins in garages and dorm rooms. As recently as 2008, not one of them could be found among the world's largest companies by market capitalisation. Today, they occupy first, third, fourth and fifth places in the market cap league table, just above their Chinese counterparts, Tencent and Alibaba.
What happened was that the network platforms turned the originally decentralised worldwide web into an oligarchically organised and hierarchical public sphere from which they made money and to which they controlled access. That the original, superficially libertarian inclinations of these companies' founders would rapidly crumble under political pressure from the left was also perfectly obvious, if one bothered to look a little beyond one's proboscis.
Following the violent far-right rally at Charlottesville in August 2017, Matthew Prince, chief executive of the internet service provider Cloudflare, described how he had responded: 'Literally, I woke up in a bad mood and decided someone shouldn't be allowed on the internet.' On the basis that 'the people behind the [white supremacist magazine] Daily Stormer are assholes', he denied their website access to the internet. 'No one should have that power,' he admitted. 'We need to have a discussion around this with clear rules and clear frameworks. My whims and those of Jeff [Bezos] and Larry [Page] and Mark [Zuckerberg] shouldn't be what determines what should be online.'
But that discussion had barely begun in 2017. Indeed, many Republicans at that time still believed the notion that FATGA were champions of the free market that required only the lightest regulation. They know better now. After last year's election Twitter attached health warnings to Trump's tweets when he claimed that he had in fact beaten Joe Biden. Then, in the wake of the storming of the Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters, Twitter and Facebook began shutting down multiple accounts -- including that of the President himself, now 'permanently suspended' from tweeting. When Trump loyalists declared their intention to move their conversations from Twitter to rival Parler -- in effect, Twitter with minimal content moderation -- Google and Apple deleted Parler from their app stores. Then Amazon kicked Parler off its 'cloud' service, effectively deleting it from the internet altogether. It was a stunning demonstration of power.
It is only a slight overstatement to say that, while the mob's coup against Congress ignominiously failed, big tech's coup against Trump triumphantly succeeded. It is not merely that Trump has been abruptly denied access to the channels he has used throughout his presidency to communicate with voters. It is the fact that he is being excluded from a domain the courts have for some time recognised as a public forum.
Various lawsuits over the years have conferred on big tech an unusual status: a public good, held in private hands. In 2018 the Southern District of New York ruled that the right to reply to Trump's tweets is protected 'under the "public forum" doctrines set forth by the Supreme Court'. So it was wrong for the President to 'block' people -- i.e. stop them reading his tweets -- because they were critical of him. Censoring Twitter users 'because of their expressed political views' represents 'viewpoint discrimination [that] violates the First Amendment'.
In Packingham vs North Carolina (2017), Justice Anthony Kennedy likened internet platforms to 'the modern public square', arguing that it was therefore unconstitutional to prevent sex offenders from accessing, and expressing opinions on, social network platforms. 'While in the past there may have been difficulty in identifying the most important places (in a spatial sense) for the exchange of views,' Justice Kennedy wrote, 'today the answer is clear. It is cyberspace -- the "vast democratic forums of the internet" in general and social media in particular.'
In other words, as President of the United States, Trump could not block Twitter users from seeing his tweets, but Twitter is apparently within its rights to delete the President's account altogether. Sex offenders have a right of access to online social networks; but the President does not.
This is not to condone Trump's increasingly deranged attempts to overturn November's election result. Before last week's riots, he egged on the mob; he later said he 'loved' them, despite what they had done. Nor is there any denying that a number of Trump's most fervent supporters pose a threat of further violence. Considering the bombs and firearms some of them brought to Washington, the marvel is how few people lost their lives during the occupation of the Capitol.
Yet the correct response to that threat is not to delegate to Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter's Jack Dorsey and their peers the power to remove from the public square anyone they deem to be sympathetic to insurrection or otherwise suspect. The correct response is for the FBI and the relevant police departments to pursue any would-be Trumpist terrorists, just as they have quite successfully pursued would-be Islamist terrorists over the past two decades.
The key to understanding what has happened lies in an obscure piece of legislation, almost a quarter of a century old, enacted after a New York court held online service provider Prodigy liable for a user's defamatory posts. Congress then stepped in with the 1996 Telecommunications Act and in particular Section 230, which was written to encourage nascent firms to protect users and prevent illegal activity without incurring massive content management costs. It states:
1. No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.
2. No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be held liable on account of any action voluntarily taken in good faith to restrict access to or availability of material that the provider or user considers to be obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, harassing, or otherwise objectionable.
In essence, Section 230 gives websites immunity from liability for what their users post if it is in any way harmful, but also entitles websites to take down with equal impunity any content that they don't like the look of. The surely unintended result of this legislation, drafted for a fledgling internet, is that some of the biggest companies in the world enjoy a protection reminiscent of Joseph Heller's Catch-22 . Try to hold them responsible as publishers, and they will say they are platforms. Demand access to their platforms and they will insist that they are publishers.
This might have been a tolerable state of affairs if America's network platforms had been subject to something like the old Fairness Doctrine, which required the big three terrestrial TV networks to give airtime to opposing views. But that was something the Republican party killed off in the 1980s, seeing the potential of allowing more slanted coverage on cable news. What goes around comes around. The network platforms long ago abandoned any pretence of being neutral. Even before Charlottesville, their senior executives and many of their employees had made it clear that they were appalled by Trump's election victory (especially as both Facebook and Twitter had facilitated it). Increasingly, they interpreted the words 'otherwise objectionable' in Section 230 to mean 'objectionable to liberals'.
Throughout the summer of last year, numerous supporters of Black Lives Matter used social media, as well as mainstream liberal media, to express their support for protests that in many places escalated into violence and destruction considerably worse than occurred in the Capitol last week. One looked in vain for health warnings, much less account suspensions, though Facebook says it has removed accounts that promote violence.
Compare, for example, the language Trump used in his 6 January speech and the language Kamala Harris used in support of BLM on Stephen Colbert's show on 18 June. Neither explicitly condoned violence. Trump exhorted the crowd to march to the Capitol, but he told them to 'peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard'. Harris condemned 'looting and acts of violence', but said of the BLM protestors: 'They're not going to stop. They're not. This is a movement. I'm telling you. They're not going to stop, and everyone, beware. Because they're not going to stop. They're not going to stop before election day in November, and they are not going to stop after election day. And everyone should take note of that on both levels.' What exactly was the significance of that 'beware'?
Earlier, on 1 June, Harris had used Twitter to solicit donations to the Minnesota Freedom Fund, which posted bail for people charged with rioting in Minneapolis after the death of George Floyd. It would be easy to cite other examples. 'Destroying property, which can be replaced, is not violence,' Nikole Hannah-Jones of the New York Times told CBS in early June, at a time when multiple cities were being swept by arson and vandalism. Her Twitter account is still going strong.
The double standard was equally apparent when the New York Post broke the story of Biden's son Hunter's dubious business dealings in China. Both Twitter and Facebook immediately prevented users from posting links to the article -- something they had never done with stories damaging to Trump.
You don't need to be a Trump supporter to find all this alarming. Conservatives of many different stripes -- and indeed some bemused liberals -- have experienced the new censorship for themselves, especially as the Covid-19 pandemic has emboldened tech companies to police content more overtly. In the UK, TalkRadio briefly vanished from YouTube for airing anti--lockdown views that violated the company's 'community guidelines'. A recording of Lionel Shriver reading one of her Spectator columns on the pandemic was taken down for similar reasons. Carl Heneghan and Tom Jefferson, two Oxford academics, fell foul of Facebook's censors when they wrote for this magazine about a briefly controversial paper on the efficacy of masks in Denmark.
You might think that FATGA have finally gone too far with their fatwa against a sitting president of the United States. You might think a red line really has been crossed when both Alexei Navalny and Angela Merkel express disquiet at big tech's overreach. But no. To an extent that is remarkable, American liberals have mostly welcomed (and in some cases encouraged) this surge of censorship -- with the honourable exception of the American Civil Liberties Union.
True, during last year's campaign the Biden team occasionally talked tough, especially about Facebook. However, it is increasingly clear that the most big tech has to fear from the Biden-Harris administration is protracted antitrust actions focused on their alleged undermining of competition which, if history is any guide, will likely end with whimpers rather than bangs. Either way, the issue of censorship will not be addressed by antitrust lawsuits.
It is tempting to complain that Democrats are hypocrites -- that they would be screaming blue murder if the boot were on the other foot and it was Kamala Harris whose Twitter account had been cancelled. But if that were the case, how many Republicans would now be complaining? Not many. No, the correct conclusion to be drawn is that the Republicans had their chance to address the problem of over-mighty big tech and completely flunked it.
Only too late did they realise that Section 230 was Silicon Valley's Achilles heel. Only too late did they begin drafting legislation to repeal or modify it. Only too late did Section 230 start to feature in Trump's speeches. Even now it seems to me that very few Republicans really understand that, by itself, repealing 230 would not have sufficed. Without some kind of First Amendment for the internet, repeal would probably just have restricted free speech further.
As Orwell rightly observed, 'we are all capable of believing things which we know to be untrue, and then, when we are finally proved wrong, impudently twisting the facts so as to show that we were right. Intellectually, it is possible to carry on this process for an indefinite time: the only check on it is that sooner or later a false belief bumps up against solid reality.'
Those words sum up quite a lot that has gone on inside the Republican party over the past four years. There it was, right in front of their noses: Trump would lead the party to defeat. And he would behave in the most discreditable way when beaten. Those things were predictable. But what was also foreseeable was that FATGA -- the 'new governors', as a 2018 Harvard Law Review article called them -- would be the true victors of the 2020 election.
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Jan 17, 2021 | turcopolier.typepad.com
Serge , 15 January 2021 at 08:30 PM
blue peacock , 15 January 2021 at 10:00 PM
I did so in 2012 and never looked back. I used to recycle Twitter accounts every few months but now you need a phone number to do that. The near future of the internet is the absence of the perception of anonymity, every child will be assigned an internet identifier that will be linked to his social credit score. This is the ultimate goal of the tech companies: to merge the real life with the internet as much as possible, and then own/profit from that outcome. They have a common goal with the government in this quest, control.elaine , 16 January 2021 at 12:38 AMBravo!
I've never had a Facebook account. I follow many people on Twitter. Mostly financial market participants but also political commentators across the spectrum. All the "conservatives" on my feed have been disappeared. I stopped using Google for search many years ago as I noticed that their results were getting worse and shifted to DuckDuckGo.
I used WhatsApp for international calling and text messaging - but am part of the wave that have shifted to Signal in the past few weeks.
https://www.netflix.com/title/81254224
"It's the gradual, slight, imperceptible change in your own behaviour and perception – that is the product." That is also how these corporations make their money, by "changing what you do, what you think, who you are."They make profits, big profits, from the predictions business – predicting what you will think and how you will behave so that you are more easily persuaded to buy what their advertisers want to sell you. To have great predictions, these corporations have had to amass vast quantities of data on each of us – what is sometimes called "surveillance capitalism."
https://consortiumnews.com/2021/01/14/netflixs-the-social-dilemma-tells-only-half-the-story/
Harvard professor Soshana Zuboff rang the bell some years back.
Fourth and Long , 16 January 2021 at 09:47 AMFirst they'll teach us not to use gender pronouns & perhaps reward
us with a treat as we learn to think & speak like them. It's just
an obedience school they want to run for the greater good of course.
An old phrase comes to mind, "The beatings will end when compliance
begins" Boycotts are now at best symbolic as "They" run the currency.Ed Lindgren , 16 January 2021 at 10:25 AM
Tor was developed by the US Navy to enable spies to communicate over the web without being traced. But to actually work effectively lots of other more and less normal people had to be encouraged to use it. The details are fascinating. Two links below.Spy-funded privacy tools (like Signal and Tor) are not going to protect you from the government -- see this from 2016
https://yasha.substack.com/p/spy-funded-privacy-tools-like-signal
And this today:
Signal is a government op:
I had a Facebook account for about six weeks (a decade ago). My preferred search engine is DuckDuckGo. I pay five bucks a month for the services of an Australia-based email provider ( fastmail.com ). And Amazon is my vendor of last resort.What is the path forward for those who desire a forum to present an alternative point of view?
Ron Paul touches on this in his most recent column:
"There are no easy solutions. But we must think back to the dissidents in the era of Soviet tyranny. They had no Internet. They had no social media. They had no ability to communicate with thousands and millions of like-minded, freedom lovers. Yet they used incredible creativity in the face of incredible adversity to continue pushing their ideas."
At the rate this is all going, we might have to start thinking "outside the box."
Dr. Paul's column can be accessed here:
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Jan 17, 2021 | jonsnewplace.wordpress.com
Joe Biden's "transition" team is gaining a number of former high-level Facebook executives, which makes sense considering these are the same folks that helped Biden "win" by censoring unsavory news about him on social media.
Former Facebook board member Jeff Zients, it has been announced, will be co-chairing Biden's transition team, while another former Facebook board member will act as an adviser. Two others, one a former Facebook director and the other a former Facebook company lobbyist, will also be assuming key leadership roles in Biden's installation.
Biden's personal friend Nick Clegg, a former top Facebook executive and former U.K. Deputy Prime Minister, will also be joining the transition team that is planning to install Biden into the White House come January.
According to Democrats, Facebook hasn't censored conservatives enoughSeeing as how Facebook did everything it possibly could to ensure that Biden "won" the election, including by predictively programming that the vote count would probably be stalled in order to sneak in late ballots, it is hardly a surprise that Facebook is now officially marrying the Biden campaign. On the other hand, the Democrats have hardly been shy in condemning Facebook for supposedly not engaging in enough censorship throughout the election cycle.
Democratic National Committee (DNC) chief mobilization officer Patrick Stevenson, for instance, tweeted recently that he believes "the two biggest institutional threats to our democracy are the Republican Party and Facebook."
Shortly after the mainstream media called the race for Biden, campaign spokesman Bill Russo also suggested that Facebook needs to go because it is "shredding the fabric of our democracy."
"We basically think they're an immoral company," declared an anonymous senior Democratic strategist close to the Biden campaign, at least according to Politico .
"There are thousands and thousands of people in their 20s and 30s and 40s who will be incensed to find themselves working for Secretary of Commerce Sheryl Sandberg, or taking a soft touch to Facebook because Nick Clegg and Joe Biden go way back."
Facebook and Joe Biden are officially marriedIn a way, this anonymous insider makes a good point. Who on either the right or the left would ever want any of these tech "gods" and "goddesses" to rule over their daily lives from Washington, D.C.? Have not these people already done enough damage to our republic?
On the other hand, the Biden camp should probably be grateful beyond words that Facebook and the rest of the Big Tech cabal openly catered to Biden by shielding him from the Huntergate scandal , among other things.
Facebook may as well have just come out and proclaimed when Biden was selected as the Democrat nominee that it would from that point on function as a media gatekeeper to shield Biden from all scrutiny, all the while disenfranchising President Trump at every turn.
Keep in mind that these are not low-level former Facebook employees who are now helping with Biden's transition: they are the company's top brass.
"Biden is not the president-elect," noted one commenter at The Right Scoop , correctly pointing out that all this talk about a transition team is mere fantasy. "Biden should have zero security clearance after the corruption he's been involved in. I'll never accept him. He's a domestic terrorist."
Another commenter pointed out the same, emphasizing that Biden "has not been elected" and is merely trying to steal what is not rightfully his.
"If you thought any kind of bipartisan work towards curbing Big Tech's monopoly on information was going to happen here's your answer," wrote yet another about how Biden's rhetoric about tackling internet censorship was nothing but a lie.
The latest news about the rigged 2020 election can be found at Trump.news .
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Jan 17, 2021 | www.unz.com
Anon [156] Disclaimer , says: January 16, 2021 at 12:19 pm GMT • 15.9 hours ago
Dumbo , says: January 16, 2021 at 1:25 pm GMT • 14.8 hours agoIt seems political appointees have transformed Hoover's FBI into an operation engaged in the manufacture of "boogeyman" groups to sustain budgets and political narritaves.
Meanwhile BLM and Antifa did hundreds of millions of dollars in property damage this summer, COVID-19 gets released (by whom?), and presidential elections get millions of fraudulent votes in plain sight. But dont worry, the fibs have two drunken, meth-addled hillbillys at a trailer park under surveillance and might get a collar if they can get the pair to illegally obtain a used swiss army knife or something similar.
Old and Grumpy , says: January 16, 2021 at 2:42 pm GMT • 13.5 hours agoWell, it's like they say, in the Internet, if you're sex chatting with a man, it's probably a man. If if you're sex chatting with a woman, it's probably also a man. And if you're sex chatting with a child or teen, it's probably the FBI.
Well, here it's the same thing. If you're chatting with a "Nazi" or a "terrorist", it's probably the FBI.
edward manfredonia , says: January 16, 2021 at 3:32 pm GMT • 12.7 hours agoFederal Bureau of Instigation. That's all it is. The modern KKK is their thing, and I often thought the Nazis is as well.. Adding the Satanic to the recipe is probably an inside joke since they think we are all stupid.
In my personal experience, the Federal Bureau of Investigation will protect an individual, who livestreams child pornography from a Third World Country in order to protect Wall Street millionaires.
Do you honestly believe that Jeffrey Epstein was not protected by the FBI?
Edward Manfredonia
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Jan 17, 2021 | www.rt.com
Twitter has banned the sitting president from its platform indefinitely. Facebook and Instagram have banished Trump until at least after Joe Biden's inauguration. After Twitter began cancelling Trump followers, Amazon Web Services, Apple Store, and Google Play cancelled an entire corporation, Twitter competitor Parler . Other social media platforms could face a similar fate at the hands of the leftist authoritarian Big Tech cartel.
Tens of thousands, if not millions, of Trump supporters have either been purged from mainstream social media platforms or have fled in protest. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has recently promised more censorship and purges . Even the libertarian leader of an earlier populist movement, Ron Paul, has faced a Facebook ban (although this was subsequently claimed to be "an error" ). Guilt by association seems to the rule, no matter how distant or strained the association.
The purges extend well beyond social media. Trump has been cancelled by former business associates, including by one of his former financiers, Deutsche Bank . Blacklists of Trump supporters are being compiled. Congress members have called for the resignation of senators and House members who questioned the election results. If they refuse to resign, say the totalitarian wannabes about to seize complete control, they should be removed from office. ABC News contributor Rick Klein called for the " cleansing " of Trump supporters from the political landscape in a now-deleted tweet.
Khanlenin 1 day ago 15 Jan, 2021 11:34 PM
Always been 99.99% vs 0.01%. The 0.01% determine what wars the military will start, the minimum wage, security of employment, how affordable to make health care, the tax system etc even the school curriculum. The freest country with the most controls.Ronj14848 ceshawn 1 day ago 15 Jan, 2021 07:36 PMTrue...the media support the military industrial complex. Their friends own the miltary industrial complex . See who they support politically and avoid them like the plague.
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Jan 17, 2021 | www.rt.com
Democrats are cheering for censorship as a means to root out "fascism," even as they serve corporate interests that continue to exacerbate the social and economic issues that gave rise to Donald Trump, Glenn Greenwald told RT.
The acclaimed American journalist issued a scathing critique of the American Left during a conversation with Chris Hedges, host of RT's On Contact. The interview will air in full on Sunday.
Pointing to Donald Trump's indefinite Twitter suspension, Greenwald accused Democrats of appealing to Big Tech to police speech that could undermine their hold on power, using the pretext of fighting far-right extremism to quash dissent.
They're on their knees pleading with billionaires and oligarchs and monopolists and Silicon Valley to censor in a way that they believe is politically advantageous.
He added that the crackdown on free speech was particularly egregious because it was being carried out by a "tiny number of Silicon Valley oligarchs" who operate outside of the realm of democratic accountability.
Greenwald argued that the profoundly illiberal cheerleading for corporate speech-policing should come as no surprise to anyone, noting that the Democratic Party is funded by and "believes in" corporate power, despite whatever claims it makes to the contrary.
The Democrats are very good at creating a brand that is radically different from their reality. But essentially the Democratic Party serves militarism, imperialism, and corporatism.
There should also be no illusions about whether the incoming Biden administration will be able to mend the deep political divide in the country, the American journalist warned. He agreed with Hedges' premise that Trump won the White House in 2016 by capitalizing on widespread frustration over Barack Obama, and his VP Joe Biden's, ineffectual eight years in office.
//www.youtube.com/embed/_svxTAbVU1w
Greenwald said Americans should expect more of the same under Biden, meaning more outsourcing and other devastating economic policies that will continue to destroy the middle class. He predicted that the despair created by the new administration would set the stage for a "smarter, more stable version" of Trump.
ALSO ON RT.COM 79% of Americans think the US is falling apart. That's no surprise when one half of the country wants to crush the otherLike this story? Share it with a friend!
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Jan 17, 2021 | www.rt.com
OneHorseGuy 1 day ago 15 Jan, 2021 02:17 PM
"79% of Americans think the US is falling apart" those not accounted for are possibly homeless or illiterate and don't have the opportunity of putting their view forward.RTaccount 1 day ago 15 Jan, 2021 02:22 PMThere will be no peace, no unity, and no prosperity. And there shouldn't be.TheFishh RTaccount 1 day ago 15 Jan, 2021 03:38 PMThe US regimes past and present have worn out their bag of tricks. A magician is a con-man. And the only way they can entertain and spellbind the crowd with their routines is if everyone just ignores the sleight of hand. But people are starting to call the US out for the tricks it is pulling, and that's where the magician's career ends.SJMan333 23 hours ago 16 Jan, 2021 01:02 AMAmerica as a whole is now reaping the fruits of its decades of exceptionalism complex. Through its propaganda machine, Americans as individuals and collectively as a society, have been brainwashed into believing that laws, rules and basic human decency do not apply to themselves. These are only sweetened poisons for them to shove down the throats of other lesser countries, especially those in Africa, Latin America, Middle East and Asia ((bluntly put, non-white countries)) when it suited America's global resource thievery and daylight wealth grabbing. Habitualized into bullying every other countries with no resistance, Americans are now showing their ugly faces on each other. The same exceptionalism delusion "the laws apply to you, not me'' is driving every American (except the colored Americans probably) to blame all the ills of the country on everyone else except himself. Nancy Pelosi advocated total lock-down but treated herself to a total grooming in a hair saloon is just one example. For the sins it has committed over the decades, I guess the time is right for USA to have a dose of its own medicine. Except in this case, America never thought it necessary to develop an antidote.
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Jan 17, 2021 | www.rt.com
Robert Bridge
Robert Bridge is an American writer and journalist. He is the author of 'Midnight in the American Empire,' How Corporations and Their Political Servants are Destroying the American Dream. @Robert_Bridge 15 Jan, 2021 14:33 Get short URL
'Home Alone 2: Lost in New York' (1992) Dir: Chris Columbus © Hughes Entertainment, 20th Century Fox 175 3 Follow RT on
If you blinked, you'd have missed it – a brief cameo appearance by Donald Trump speaking to child actor Macaulay Culkin in the 1992 film ' Home Alone 2: Lost in New York' .
//www.youtube.com/embed/r1WngHOFYVQ
The now notorious scene takes place inside the iconic Plaza Hotel where Trump tells Culkin, playing the role of Kevin McCallister in the popular Christmas film, " down the hall and to the left ." Not exactly R-rated material. Fast forward to these touchy times and Culkin says he is " sold " on the idea of having Trump digitally replaced from the John Hughes film.
https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?creatorScreenName=RT_com&dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1348328033984389121&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rt.com%2Fop-ed%2F512638-trump-removed-home-alone%2F&siteScreenName=RT_com&theme=light&widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&width=550px
So it's not enough to vote out Donald Trump after four tumultuous years in the White House; it's not enough to impeach him, twice; it's not enough to remove him from every major social media platform, effectively alienating him from his 75 million supporters. Now the insatiable woke wolves must work retroactively to delete from the public mind any positive associations it may still have with the real estate magnate turned American president.
But this little harangue is not really about Donald Trump, nor is it about Hollywood, where the annual Academy Award ceremonies have become blood-curdling 1984-style Trump hate-fests. Even less is this about Macaulay Culkin, who, like many other famous child actors, has struggled throughout adulthood to prove he's just as lovable as his former pintsize self. Instead, this is about the dangers of forgetting history and being " condemned to repeat it. "
READ MOREWelcome to the Big Tech Sweepstakes, where BLM looters win corporate prizes, and Capitol Hill rioters get the boot!
Whether Hollywood has forgotten or not, there have been other attempts throughout history to erase the historical record. One famous case involved that of Nikolay Yezhov, the head of the feared NKVD under Joseph Stalin, who presided over trials and executions (1936-1938) during the Great Purge, a rather joyless period when hundreds of thousands perished without a trace.
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Jan 15, 2021 | www.rt.com
Pushing the Trump-inspired populist movement underground may only cause it to resort to more drastic measures. As the leftist libertarian reporter Glenn Greenwald observes ,
"these people know they are scorned and looked down upon... and the more you humiliate and make them feel powerless, the more you take away their ability to organize and express that rage, it's gonna find an outlet in more destructive ways."
As a former professor at a top-ranking university, I favored a Trump re-election, not because I support Trump so much as abhor what the opposition represents and is proving itself to be. In response to the social media threat to expression, I have inaugurated a new group on Telegram called 'Thought Criminals'. There, fellow 'thought deviationists' like me are able to express views that are effectively proscribed on mainstream social media platforms. No one among us advocates violence or the overthrow of the government. None of us is 'racist'. We advocate only the rights enshrined in the US Constitution.
But some groups, no doubt, are intent on violence. Yet the violent extremists consist mostly of Antifa and related 'activists', who will unfortunately trick Trump supporters into another error during the inauguration, like some appeared to do when involved in the Capitol siege. It's not as if violent extremists among the Trump base were always there, ready to pounce on any opportunity to express their "racist," "white nationalist" views.
Rather, as the rising party has already demonstrated, these people stand to lose the most under a Biden-Harris regime, whose Big Tech and mainstream media allies act as governmental enforcement apparatuses.
Trump supporters have been hated and demonized simply for wanting to live without being reprimanded and punished for their whiteness, their middle-Americanness, or their values. They face an anti-white, anti-native, anti-middle-America extremism that is set to silence and crush them into submission.
These and others will form a new underground under the prevailing ideological and political hegemony. This banishment of millions, and not Trump, is why the nation will fall apart, if indeed it does.
JJ_Rousseau 5 hours ago 15 Jan, 2021 02:58 PM
The best thing that could happen is for USA to "balkanize". For the rest of the world, and for Americans too. The founding fathers intentionally put restraints on the federal government's power to prevent the situation we now face. Both parties (actually the duopoly) are guilty of breaching the constitution, on so many levels we have lost countRonj14848 JJ_Rousseau 1 hour ago 15 Jan, 2021 07:23 PMThe USA have more American in uniform outside America than civilian Americans inside America. You bleed yourself dry trying to be the boss of the world.chert JJ_Rousseau 3 hours ago 15 Jan, 2021 04:52 PMRight, states should have more power than the federal government. Case in point: North Dakota is trying to pass a law to sue Facebook and Twitter for those who have been censored on those platforms. But federal law under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act will supersede because federal law wins.apothqowejh 4 hours ago 15 Jan, 2021 04:17 PMAs an American, I can't say a reckoning hasn't been overdue. The myopia in this country, and the tolerance for evil, was bound to rebound. From a refusal to honestly look at 9/11, a refusal to accept responsibility for Iraq, Libya, Syria, Afghanistan and a host of other insanely brutal blunders, to an acceptance of such horrors as the USAPatriot Act and the COVID scam, everyday Americans have obliviously sleepwalked into a totalitarian dystopia. Tyranny abroad inevitably leads to tyranny at home, and we have well-earned it by refusing to vote for peace and non-interventionism; for limited government, for responsible spending. Now our votes no longer matter, and we are caught helpless in the whirlwind of our own destruction.newagerage apothqowejh 4 hours ago 15 Jan, 2021 04:33 PMThe CIA, NSA, Pentagon... all these corporations lead to disaster as the employees have to keep causing trouble to justify their jobs and spend, spend like crazy, the Army and intelligence agencies spending the hard worked money from Silicon Valley and other sectors. The country just doesn't make sense, first outsource jobs to China and then when they see that Chinese people are smarter than them outsource those to India? are Indians idiots? I don't think so... both countries will rule the World by the end of the century. And the most important of all... where is your public education system? you can live without a proper health system, China does, but without a decent public education system? most Americans don't know where Portugal or Belgium is placed, no matter black or white...ceshawn 6 hours ago 15 Jan, 2021 02:31 PMTrump didn't do this. The irrational reaction to Trump did this. It started with the now-fully mythological Russia-gate nonsense (that started with an almost ridiculously made up FISA warrant application). Continued through constant over-the-top challenges by Democrats of Trump following Obama-era laws (separation of children and adults for illegal border crossings) and the clear obstruction used by opponents during his entire Presidency. Trump was a disaster, Biden will be a nightmare (or a complete liar), but the left shouldn't be complaining when the reaction to their candidate is equally as disturbing as their reaction to the right (and yes, the circus that was the "raid" at the Capitol is just as bad as the intel community doing shady things against a sitting President).Ronj14848 ceshawn 1 hour ago 15 Jan, 2021 07:27 PMTrump didnt start new wars......but he has created a situation that foriegn wars will spring from his actions. He has created hate for a country that during the second world war was a much loved country.billy brown ceshawn 4 hours ago 15 Jan, 2021 03:36 PMWhat could the 'rioters' do? We aren't going to let them poison us anymore. This election will not be stolen and the new patriot act isn't going to get passed quietly. They are going to have to crush us or allow a partition of the countryceshawn 5 hours ago 15 Jan, 2021 02:36 PMIf I were Russia or China, I would be watching carefully. Biden almost HAS to go after Russia over the Crimean disaster of Obama and China will be his easy-out enemy if things are complicated otherwise. North Korea will somehow become a big deal again as well. Let those missiles fly, because the incoming administration has a proven track record of blowing up innocent women and children for "funsies" (drone strikes on "suspected" terrorists...oh and their families) without any form of due process or care for the safety of collateral damage.Ronj14848 ceshawn 58 minutes ago 15 Jan, 2021 07:36 PMTrue...the media support the military industrial complex. Their friends own the miltary industrial complex . See who they support politically and avoid them like the plague.Ronnie Spelbos ceshawn 2 hours ago 15 Jan, 2021 06:04 PMif I was Russia or an Eastern European nation I would offer asylum to white heterosexual men and their families who want to leave the US. Take advantage of the brain capital and work ethic of this group. The US is no country for white men.Ohhho 6 hours ago 15 Jan, 2021 01:41 PMThe Evil empire felt vulnerable so it lashed out with vengeance! None if it helps to fix the issues behind the problem so I expect to see more of it in the near future!TheFishh Ohhho 5 hours ago 15 Jan, 2021 03:32 PMThere are literally just a few things the US can do to rebound as a decent country, but the establishment doesn't want to make those moves. They rather see everything collapse than see their wealth and power decreased by any amount.OneHorseGuy 6 hours ago 15 Jan, 2021 02:17 PM"79% of Americans think the US is falling apart" those not accounted for are possibly homeless or illiterate and don't have the opportunity of putting their view forward.Ronnie Spelbos OneHorseGuy 2 hours ago 15 Jan, 2021 06:02 PM102% think the US is falling apart - cites Dominion.newswithoutbord OneHorseGuy 6 hours ago 15 Jan, 2021 02:31 PMSpot on, mate!RTaccount 6 hours ago 15 Jan, 2021 02:22 PMThere will be no peace, no unity, and no prosperity. And there shouldn't be.TheFishh RTaccount 4 hours ago 15 Jan, 2021 03:38 PMThe US regimes past and present have worn out their bag of tricks. A magician is a con-man. And the only way they can entertain and spellbind the crowd with their routines is if everyone just ignores the sleight of hand. But people are starting to call the US out for the tricks it is pulling, and that's where the magician's career ends.omyomy RTaccount 5 hours ago 15 Jan, 2021 02:54 PMWe the sane people know who is picking a fight. No matter what the propaganda outlets decree.Tor Gjesdal 6 hours ago 15 Jan, 2021 02:18 PM79%,sure? OK. Very soon 85% of Westerners will understand their Countries are heading for failures. They have been deceived for way too long.Twenty Tor Gjesdal 5 hours ago 15 Jan, 2021 03:23 PMThe alternative to western governments is dictators, one party rule. Yes, most western governmental concepts are idealistic, but we wouldn't trade for anything else because we know better.JIMI JAMES Tor Gjesdal 6 hours ago 15 Jan, 2021 02:31 PM0 covid cases,i dont think so.soumalinna1 4 hours ago 15 Jan, 2021 03:36 PMCorrect. America will never be the same again. Democrats and CNN destroyed a once great nation.Ronnie Spelbos soumalinna1 2 hours ago 15 Jan, 2021 06:06 PMThe 1965 Immigration Act destroyed the US. A country too diverse with little in common was always bound the fall apart.Drayk soumalinna1 3 hours ago 15 Jan, 2021 04:42 PMHow did they do that?
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Jan 15, 2021 | www.moonofalabama.org
Tom , Jan 15 2021 21:12 utc | 122
So now that BLM and ANTIFA have been implicated with the events of Jan 6th in DC, can we just say it was a mostly peaceful protest and everyone can go on to the next manufactured crisis?
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Sep 17, 2020 | www.unz.com
"A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself."
Marcus Tullius Cicero
The Transition Integrity Project (TIP) is a shadowy group of government, military and media elites who have concocted a plan to spread mayhem and disinformation following the November 3 presidential elections. The strategy takes advantage of the presumed delay in determining the winner of the upcoming election. (due to the deluge of mail-in votes.) The interim period is expected to intensify partisan warfare creating the perfect environment for disseminating propaganda and inciting street violence. The leaders of TIP believe that a mass mobilization will help them to achieve what Russiagate could not, that is, the removal Donald Trump via an illicit coup conjured up by behind-the-scenes powerbrokers and their Democrat allies. Here's a little more background from an article by Chris Farrell at the Gatestone Institute:
"In one of the greatest public disinformation campaigns in American history -- the Left and their NeverTrumper allies (under the nom de guerre: "Transition Integrity Project") released a 22-page report in August 2020 "war gaming" four election crisis scenarios: .The outcome of each TIP scenario results in street violence and political impasse.
Is it possible that the leadership of the American Left, along with their NeverTrumper allies, are busy talking themselves into advocating and promoting street violence as a response to a presidential election?
The answer is: Yes . expect violence in the aftermath of the election, because now that is the new 'normal." (" How to Steal an Election", Gatestone Institute )
Farrell is right. As we can see from the many articles that have recently popped up in the media, the American people are being prepared for a contested election that will fuel public anxiety and revolt. This all fits with the overall strategy of the TIP. Selected journalists will be used to provide bits of information that serve the interests of the group while the people will be told to expect a long and drawn-out constitutional crisis. Meanwhile, the media, the Democrat leadership, trusted elites and elements in the Intelligence Community will put pressure on Trump to step down while firing up their political base to take to the streets. TIP's 22-page manifesto makes it clear that mass mobilization will be key to any electoral victory. Here's an excerpt from the text:
"A show of numbers in the streets-and actions in the streets-may be decisive factors in determining what the public perceives as a just and legitimate outcome." ( "Preventing a Disrupted Presidential Election and Transition" The Transition Integrity Project )
In other words, the authors fully support demonstrations and political upheaval to achieve their goal of removing Trump. Clearly, this scorched earth approach did not originate with Joe Biden, but with the cynical and bloodthirsty puppetmasters who operate behind the curtain and who will do anything to advance their agenda.
This is a full-blown color revolution authored and supported by the same oligarchs and deep-state honchoes that have opposed Trump from the very beginning. They're not going to back down or call off the dogs until the job is done and Trump is gone. And when the dust settles, Trump will likely be charged, tried, sentenced and imprisoned. His fortune will be seized, his family will be financially ruined, and his closest advisors and allies will be prosecuted on fabricated charges. There's not going to be a "graceful transition" of power if Trump loses. He will face the full wrath of the scheming mandarins he has frustrated for the last 4 years. These are the men who applauded when Saddam and Ghaddafi were savagely butchered. Will Trump face the same fate as them?
Trump has less than two months to rally his supporters, draw attention to the conspiracy that has is presently underway, and figure out a way to defend himself against the coup plotters. If he is unable to derail the impending junta, his goose is cooked.
It's worth noting, that the Transition Integrity Project (TIP) has no legal authority to meddle in the upcoming election. They were not appointed by any congressional committee nor did any government entity approve their intrusive activities. This is entirely a "lone wolf" operation designed to exploit loopholes in campaign laws in order to undermine public confidence in our elections and to express their unbridled hostility towards Donald Trump. That said, there analysis will probably influence those who share their views. In the first page of their "Executive Summary" they say:
"We assess with a high degree of likelihood that November's elections will be marked by a chaotic legal and political landscape. We also assess that the President Trump is likely to contest the result by both legal and extra-legal means, in an attempt to hold onto power. " (Ibid )
This short statement provides the basic justification for the group's existence. It presents the participants as impartial observers performing their civic duty by objectively analyzing exercises (war games?) that indicate that Trump will challenge the election results in a desperate attempt to hold on to power. Not surprisingly, the group provides no evidence that the president would react the way they think he would. In fact, their hypothesis seems extremely far-fetched given the fact that Trump has no militia, no private army, and very few allies among the political class, the Intelligence Community, the FBI, the military or the deep state. Who exactly does the group think would help Trump hold on to power: Bill Barr, Larry Kudlow, Melania??
There is nothing "impartial" about this analysis. It is partisan gibberish aimed at discrediting Trump while creating a pretext for launching a coup against him. Here is another sample of TIP's "objective analysis" from page 1 of the manuscript:
"The Transition Integrity Project (TIP) was launched in late 2019 out of concern that the Trump Administration may seek to manipulate, ignore, undermine or disrupt the 2020 presidential election and transition process. TIP takes no position on how Americans should cast their votes, or on the likely winner of the upcoming election; either major party candidate could prevail at the polls in November without resorting to "dirty tricks." However, the administration of President Donald Trump has steadily undermined core norms of democracy and the rule of law and embraced numerous corrupt and authoritarian practices. This presents a profound challenge for those –from either party –who are committed to ensuring free and fair elections, peaceful transitions of power, and stable administrative continuity in the United States." (Ibid )
Got that? In other words (to paraphrase) "Trump is a corrupt dictator who hates democracy and the rule of law, but that is just our unbiased opinion. Please, don't let that influence your vote. We just want to make sure the election goes smoothly."
As we noted, the hatred for Trump permeates the entire 22-page document and that, in turn, undermines the credibility of the author to portray his project as an impartial examination of potential problems in the upcoming election. There is nothing evenhanded in the approach to these issues or in the remedies that are recommended. This is a partisan project concocted by malicious elites who despise Trump and who plan to remove him from office by hook or crook.
So, do we know who the leaders of this (TIP) group are?
Well, we know who their two main spokesmen are: Rosa Brooks– Georgetown law professor and co-founder of the Transition Integrity Project, and Ret. Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Government and Public Policy at the College of William & Mary, and chief of staff to former Secretary of State Colin Powell. According to an article by Whitney Webb:
" (Rosa) Brooks was an advisor to the Pentagon and the Hillary Clinton-led State Department during the Obama administration. She was also previously the general counsel to the President of the Open Society Institute, part of the Open Society Foundations (OSF), a controversial organization funded by billionaire George Soros. Zoe Hudson, who is TIP's director, is also a former top figure at OSF, serving as senior policy analyst and liaison between the foundations and the U.S. government for 11 years .
OSF ties to the TIP are a red flag for a number of reasons, namely due to the fact that OSF and other Soros-funded organizations played a critical role in fomenting so-called "color revolutions" to overthrow non-aligned governments, particularly during the Obama administration. Examples of OSF's ties to these manufactured "revolutions" include Ukraine in 2014 and the "Arab Spring" ..
In addition to her ties to the Obama administration and OSF, Brooks is currently a scholar at West Point's Modern War Institute, where she focuses on "the relationship between the military and domestic policing" and also Georgetown's Innovative Policing Program. She is a currently a key player in the documented OSF-led push to "capitalize" off of legitimate calls for police reform to justify the creation of a federalized police force under the guise of defunding and/or eliminating local police departments. Brooks' interest in the "blurring line" between military and police is notable given her past advocacy of a military coup to remove Trump from office and the TIP's subsequent conclusion that the military "may" have to step in if Trump manages to win the 2020 election, per the group's "war games" described above.
Brooks is also a senior fellow at the think tank New America . New America's mission statement notes that the organization is focused on "honestly confronting the challenges caused by rapid technological and social change, and seizing the opportunities those changes create." It is largely funded by Silicon Valley billionaires, including Bill Gates (Microsoft), Eric Schmidt (Google), Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn), Jeffrey Skoll and Pierre Omidyar (eBay) . In addition, it has received millions directly from the U.S. State Department to research "ranking digital rights." Notably, of these funders, Reid Hoffman was caught "meddling" in the most recent Democratic primary to undercut Bernie Sanders' candidacy during the Iowa caucus and while others, such as Eric Schmidt and Pierre Omidyar, are known for their cozy ties to the Clinton family and even ties to Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign." (" "Bipartisan" Washington Insiders Reveal Their Plan for Chaos if Trump Wins the Election ", Unlimited Hangout )
Is it safe to say that Rosa Brooks is a Soros stooge overseeing a color revolution in the United States aimed at toppling Trump and replacing him with a dementia-addled, meat-puppet named Joe Biden?
Political analyst Paul Craig Roberts seems to think so. Here's what he said in a recent post at his website:
"I have provided evidence that the military/security complex, using the media and the Democrats, intends to turn the November election into a color revolution The evidence of a color revolution in the works is abundantly supplied by CNN, MSNBC, New York Times, NPR, Washington Post and numerous Internet sites funded by the CIA and the foundations and corporations through which it operates.. All of these media organizations are establishing the story in the mind of Americans that Trump will not leave office when he loses or steals the election and must be driven out.
With Antifa and Black Lives Matter now experienced in violent protests, they will be unleashed anew on American cities when there is news of a Trump election victory. The media will explain the violence as necessary to free us from a tyrant and egg on the violence, as will the Democrat Party. The CIA will be certain that the violence is well funded .
What is a reelected President Trump going to do when the Secret Service refuses to repel Antifa and Black Lives Matter when they breach White House Security?
American Democracy is on the verge of being ended for all times, and the world media will herald the event as the successful overthrowing of a tyrant." ( "America's Color Revolution" , Paul Craig Roberts )
Another of the leading spokesmen for TIP is Retired Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson who made this revealing statement in a recent interview:
"Let me just say some of the things that we're putting out there. Among those things, one that is very important is the media, particularly the mainstream media. They cannot act as they usually act with regard to elections. They have to play a coup on election night. They can't be declaring some state like Pennsylvania for one candidate or the other. When Pennsylvania probably has thousands upon thousands of votes yet to come in and count. So, the media has to get its act in order and it has to act very differently than it normally does."
(NOTE: In other words, Wilkerson does not want the media to follow the normal protocols for covering an election, but to adjust their reporting to accommodate the aims of the coup-plotters. Does that sound like someone who is committed to evenhanded coverage of events, or someone who wants reporters to shape the news to meet the specifications of his own particular agenda? Here's more from Wilkerson:)
"Second, .we also have learned that poll workers have to be younger. And we've started a movement all across the country to train young people. And we've had really good luck with the volunteers to do so , to be poll workers. Because we found out in Wisconsin, for example, poll workers are mostly over 60. And many of them didn't show up because they were afraid of COVID-19. And so Wisconsin went from about one 188 polling places, to about 15. That's disastrous." (" This 'War Game' Maps out what happens if the President contests the Election" , WBUR )
Why is Wilkerson so encouraged by the young people he's trained to act as poll workers? Doesn't that sound a bit fishy, especially from a dyed-in-the-wool partisan who's mixed up with a group whose sole aim is to beat Trump? And why are the authors of the TIP manifesto so eager to reveal their true intentions. Take a look:
"There will likely not be an "election night" this year; unprecedented numbers of voters are expected to use mail-in ballots, which will almost certainly delay the certified result for days or weeks. A delay provides a window for campaigns, the media, and others to cast doubt on the integrity of the process and for escalating tensions between competing camps. As a legal matter, a candidate unwilling to concede can contest the election into January. .."( Ibid)
So, that's the GamePlan, eh? The coup plotters want a contested election that drags on for weeks, deepens divisions among the population, undermines confidence in the electoral system, instigates ferocious street fighting in cities across the country, and gives the Biden camp time to mobilize its political resources in Congress to mount a Constitutional attack on Trump.
Can we at least call this treachery by its proper name: Treason– "the crime of betraying one's country by trying to overthrow the government?"
If the shoe fits ..
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Jan 15, 2021 | www.rt.com
In their efforts to expunge the Trump movement from memory let alone existence, these neo-Stalinists are hellbent on nullifying constitutionally guaranteed rights – freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and the right to bear arms are under assault.
In place of the Bill of Rights, they would impose a Bill of Don'ts:
Don't say what we don't want to hear.
Don't gather where we don't allow, especially if you are a 'deplorable'.
Don't bother petitioning for grievances, because we don't care. Don't own weapons and don't defend yourself when you or your property are attacked, even as the police are defunded.
Don't tell us about your right to privacy because our right to surveil you supersedes it.
Don't tell us you have the right to confront the witnesses aligned against you, or see the evidence alleged against you, or to present evidence and witnesses in your own defense. That's your white privilege speaking, and we will not tolerate hate speech.
Don't expect us to be bound by due process or the rule of law. Feelings and desired outcomes trump facts and rules, both of which are tools of oppression, relics of the fascist patriarchy.
Don't object, or we will cancel you entirely from these Disunited States of Woketopia.
And first and foremost, don't dare have the temerity to question election results that have handed us uncontested power.
Only authoritarians sanction this state of affairs. The harm they will do, as they neglect and inflict further pain on the Republic, will be immeasurable. The nation is failing, not merely because it is divided, but because a contingent has rejected its foundational principles. That contingent is now in control.
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Jan 15, 2021 | www.unz.com
Kiza , says: January 15, 2021 at 7:51 am GMT • 10.2 hours ago
dfordoom , says: Website January 15, 2021 at 8:04 am GMT • 10.0 hours agoBefore the election I polled all my friends who would win. The majority of both left and right oriented said that it would be Trump. I said, yes Trump would win a fair election, but he will lose on who is counting. Multiple methods of attack on the election outcome have been prepared, all methods well planned, tried and perfected in the string of color revolutions around the World. Because those attacking Trump are the same as those who have been doing the "regime changes" in the vulnerable countries over the past 30 years. Trump never had a grain of chance against this mighty machinery. Corrupt local governors and blackmailed and co-opted all levels of judiciary, targeted lawlessness, threats and examples of violence and future civil war if the other side wins, censorship, eviction of election observers, night-time suitcases of ballots, one-sided main sewerage media.
All pure déjà vu – this is exactly how the color revolutions work – the art of winning elections. The US bombers arrive only if the "peaceful transition of power" (aka the stealing of election and post-election) fails. In the color revolution manual, there is also a chapter on prevention of resistance to the stolen election – thus the msm and congress screeching like castrated pigs against Trump's imaginary incitement of insurrection (pure psychological projection). I was always sure that Trump is too much of a cheap demagogue and hot air filled balloon to be able to initiate a real insurrection.
The playbook/manual is fully symmetrical – it always addresses both possible outcomes – if their side does not manage to steal the election then they incite an insurrection and oust the winner (the Viktor Yanukovych outcome).
... ... ...
In political terms, in the 2016 election a quasi-populist candidate slipped through. This will never happen again because state laws will be enacted with built-in mail voting and electronic voting machines. Competent or incompetent populists will never get through again. This will ensure that the choice will always be only between the approved, controllable candidates with plenty of skeletons in wardrobes and dirty laptops in their closets. It is funny how few people appear to understand that Hunter's laptop was not just a suppressed election decider then an important reason for Biden's suitability – the insurance of ensurance, the media ready Kompromat.
Finally, it is very important to keep in mind that none of what transpired would have been possible in a healthy country : election of Trump without enough Kompromat to have to invent the dumbest Putin's puppet meme and the consequent exposure of the manipulative Deep State, the sulfuric acid for the brain MSM and the high-techs fakers. These are all the Hegels' seeds of destruction in action.
@anonymousdfordoom , says: Website January 15, 2021 at 8:07 am GMT • 10.0 hours agoOne thing to ask is why was this huge effort made to oust Trump?
Maybe it was hostility towards Trump's supporters rather than hostility towards Trump. Trump is a reliable pro-immigration ultra-Zionist rabidly pro-LGBT liberal. The views of a large proportion of Trump's supporters are diametrically opposed to Trump's own views, but his supporters aren't smart enough to figure that out.
@anonDieter Kief , says: January 15, 2021 at 8:11 am GMT • 9.9 hours agoBecause Trump inflames white nationalism
Which is hilarious because whatever else Trump may be, he's no white nationalist. But again his supporters can't figure stuff like that out.
@A123Cthulu Smith , says: January 15, 2021 at 8:11 am GMT • 9.9 hours agoIn extreme situations, it's more important to win than to play by the rules. – This is the moral reasoning **** of the fraudsters. The basic equation they applied is so simple that it hurts (and therefore: worked perfectly well – in all of the West): Trump = Hitler.
**** If I might go with Sigmund Freud here, I'd say: – Their rationalizations instead of "their moral reasoning".
@anonKiza , says: January 15, 2021 at 8:14 am GMT • 9.9 hours agoI prefer this model, and it's not being discussed: Someone was making BIG money off of those programs and policies leftover from Obama. Trade with China? Care to mention one BIG company who peddles Chinese wares? Maybe two or three of them, perhaps?
"Follow the money", is what Deep Throat told Woodward. If we do that with our darling Deep State? Just ask yourself, who stood to benefit from four years of Hillary, pray tell? There's your answer.
@A123Commentator Mike , says: January 15, 2021 at 8:32 am GMT • 9.6 hours agoThe Deep State regime stole this election in exactly the same states where Trump successfully campaigned in 2016 to win against Clinton. In the Art of Winning Elections it did not take a genius to develop this solution – the lowest number of night-suitcases (filled with ballots) for the highest number of elector votes .
SurfingUSA , says: January 15, 2021 at 8:48 am GMT • 9.3 hours agoThanks for a balanced assessment. In my mind the election was already unfair when you have the entire MSM and the Internet social media companies rooting for one candidate while attacking the other and banning/censoring the voices of his supporters under various pretexts. Both candidates and their supporters, should have been given equal exposure but I don't know how that could be achieved in practice.
Trump was severely hamstrung by the role played by the MSM and the social media. In a real democracy this state of affairs should not be allowed: where the rich and powerful who control the media have an unequal say and overwhelming influence compared to the ordinary voters.
Sirius , says: January 15, 2021 at 8:54 am GMT • 9.2 hours agoNow we have Ruby Freeman, heretofore only on video rolling out suitcases in Fulton County, now on AUDIO discussing her $100 an hour election heist gig and the "Secretary of State" is mentioned at 2:02 by her boss Ralph Jones:
https://thedonald.win/p/11S0bp78qW/georgia–ruby-caught-on-video-wi/c/
fatmanscoop , says: January 15, 2021 at 9:06 am GMT • 9.0 hours agoThere is a small element of illogic in the numbers part of the argument, namely in using 2 different metrics to make that argument. (I agree with the corruption part of the argument covered by Glenn Greenwald. It's censorship in action).
As I've done before, I'll reiterate, I'm no fan of Biden or Trump. In fact I'm worried about the war cabinet Biden already seems to be assembling just as I still worry about the crazed maniac Pompeo for the next few days left in the current administration.
But here's the point and it is a very subtle one: to say it was a tight race and only 1 in 7,000 Americans had to change their vote is a bit misleading. In the absurd Electoral College, winner take all the state system (which is far more scandalous in my view), we take one state at a time. If we accept the vote count, Biden won over 7,000,000 more votes more than Trump, a margin of victory of 4.4%. Not very close.
Therefore, if it were a one person one vote nationwide system, 2.2% would have to change their minds, meaning 1 out of every 45 Americans.
But it's a state by state margin that we're after. Thus more to the point would be to take each individual state and its margin. So if we took Georgia as one example, the margin of Biden's lead was 11,779 votes out of 4,935,487 votes cast for Biden and Trump (we disregard all the third party votes in this argument). 5,890 voters would have to "change their minds". Out of the Biden/Trump overall vote, that's 1 out of 838 Georgian voters.
To apply a different system, overall US vote count, to one state, Georgia, is using which system you prefer to come up with an illusionary 1 out of 7000 Americans, not applying the same metric down the line. It's a separate state by state system, not a nationwide vote. You have to stay consistent to be accurate in this method of argumentation.
Very technical, yes. What about mail-in voting? What is the evidence that this is by definition rigged or manipulated? Mailed ballots have a paper trail like in-person ballots. Presumably someone could steal your ballot from your home and vote on your behalf, but this can be traced and found out. At least one state, Washington, doesn't even have in-person voting at all. Does that mean all of their votes are fraudulent?
What about voter suppression? Shouldn't that be factored in? That seems to happen a lot more often in red states than blue states. What about Trumps attempts to sabotage the US Postal System? Doesn't that bother anybody who supports him? What about his refusal to commit to the results prior to Election Day? (He did the same in 2016 by the way). This only added to his opponents concern about his dictatorial tendencies.
Finally, in all the arguments I've seen anywhere, I haven't seen anyone lay out which states use those ridiculous electronic voting machines which leave no paper trail. That should be the other real scandal and those should be immediately banned in every state. Get rid of those and the Electoral College and we might have a fair system.
Oh, and get rid of a system that is eternally dominated by 2 parties as well, whether through run off elections or even better, proportional representation. The latter that would be truly more democratic.
@anonymoussarz , says: January 15, 2021 at 9:10 am GMT • 8.9 hours agowhy was this huge effort made to oust Trump? What did they want him to do that he wouldn't do? Was he an impediment to the increase of control over the average person? Did not want to start up another action against Syria? Would not attack Iran without having a coalition of NATO countries lined up? Was against total outsourcing to China? Not confrontational enough against Russia? Perhaps he gave the deplorables dangerous ideas about them having some rights. If that question could be answered then we'd know what is coming.
He humiliated the upper echelons of society so thoroughly via his 2016 campaign and victory.
@anon Because Trump inflames white nationalism, which is anathema to the Jews.There is evidence that Trump himself is a Jew, and a fanatic Zionist at that, so his self-serving incitement of white nationalism (whose causes he did little to implement, unlike his steady support for every imaginable Israeli cause, tbe more outrageous the better, short of war with the "usable" nukes he had had developed for the purpose, that Russia warned him away from) was especially galling to the top Jews such as the Rothschilds for whom Israel is nothing sentimental, just one more piece in their chess game for world power.
Hamilcar , says: January 15, 2021 at 9:15 am GMT • 8.8 hours ago
sulu , says: January 15, 2021 at 9:21 am GMT • 8.7 hours agoThank you Ron.
And thank you for this site which is a beacon of free speech and dissent against our vile, corrupt, incompetent ruling class.
In all the post election rancor little attention has been brought to how razor thin the margin actually was. And with you being a vociferous critic of Trumps boorish antics and insane foreign policy the candor on this issue is appreciated.
At a minimum the circumstantial evidence of vote counts being stopped in swing states along with gerrymandered rules was highly suspicious. To claim a mandate on such a close election while losing house seats is absurd but the Republicans bungling the Georgia Senate run off over $2K checks and a sycophantic MSM ensures they will.
And after abetting barbaric violence and anarchy for months the Democrats will now use trespassing in their "Sacred Temple" to unleash a crackdown by the national security state and unprecedented censorship and social-credit run by woke-corporate oligarchs.
Interestingly (And as many predicted) it appears they will reopen the economy and declare "victory" over Covid shortly after Bidens inauguration. Clearly the bizarre excesses of the lockdowns and dynamiting of the economy were calculated to undermine Trump and consolidate wealth and power from the start.
The question is what exactly this "new normal" will be and how far they're willing to go in order to purge the Trumpists and populist right. It will be easy to garner support for the latter but if the daily disruptions and financial shocks continue the system will collapse.
A new, large scale war would be a useful distraction but it's hard to imagine the U.S sustaining one in its current state much less against capable adversaries like China and Russia.
Then again, arrogant, idiotic, catastrophic policy blunders are the defining feature of this ruling class for the last 30 years so I wouldn't put it past them given the madness we've seen already.
thotmonger , says: January 15, 2021 at 9:51 am GMT • 8.2 hours agoIn effect, America's media and tech giants formed a united front to steal the election and somehow drag the crippled Biden/Harris ticket across the finish line.
And what ethnic group owns America's media?
@ruralguySirius , says: January 15, 2021 at 10:30 am GMT • 7.6 hours agoadjustment via a plastic bag put over their heads. If they were lucky.
There was no real contest. Because? A. Control of the mainstream media was so one sided. And that is where we are at now here in USA. Imagine, a standing President of the USA has been banned and censored by all the "American" mainstream media giants. Actually, you do not have to imagine. It just happened: Big Tech and MSM has openly torpedoed the First Amendment and US Constitution. So we know where they are coming from. It's also kind of disappointing how most of our "representatives" are dealing with this.
@John GruskosContraviews , says: January 15, 2021 at 10:39 am GMT • 7.4 hours agoThe only cause other than himself on which Trump has been consistent is serving Israel. One of the only two major policies of Obama's that he didn't reverse was support of Israel, though he took it to yet another level. The other one was increasing military spendings. Obama never cut military spending. My money is on Biden never doing it either, and also that he will take support of Israel to yet another level. I hope I'm wrong.
Anon [254] Disclaimer , says: January 15, 2021 at 10:44 am GMT • 7.4 hours agoOn the election night I was listening to two of our New Zealand reporters who were reporting the incoming results. I remember quite clearly after results had been coming in for a while they remarked: "well that's it another four years of the same". That were their exact words. That must have been before the postal votes came in, which suddenly changed the picture completely to Biden's advantage. Postal votes I believe were introduced for the first time in 2020 because of the Corona pandemic. It's believed that postal votes can be more easily tampered with. Postal votes are expected to remain during future elections I believe.
noname27 , says: Website January 15, 2021 at 11:00 am GMT • 7.1 hours agoWe are to believe Biden won 507 counties, the least EVER, but won the most votes ever. Trump won 74 million votes, beating Obama's 69 million in 2008, the previous all-time high. Trump won over 2500 counties.
Clarice Feldman at the Americanthinker.com noted that many residences had multiple votes from the current occupants plus previous occupants (apartment complexes) in this election, because old voter rolls aren't purged in a timely manner. The same addy might have 3 previous residents voting, plus the same individual voters legitimately voting at their new addresses.
My advice for whites is this .we will probably be getting in new wars for neocons now, so you might wanna think twice before signing up for the military. You may find your twenties being used up in multiple deployments in foreign miserable places.
noname27 , says: Website January 15, 2021 at 11:05 am GMT • 7.0 hours agoA very interesting interview by Brian Ruhe with Dennis Fetcho: https://www.bitchute.com/embed/a9AtcoEyDaPh
@shylockcracyOnly if the American people don't adopt the MAGA phenomenon and run with it as their own = The People's MAGA MOVEMENT – who needs Trumpstein?
Schuetze , says: January 15, 2021 at 11:16 am GMT • 6.8 hours ago
@nsaonebornfree , says: Website January 15, 2021 at 11:32 am GMT • 6.6 hours agoStrange that all these presidential elections are always neck and neck. Just because there are two parties does not mean that election after election the vote will boil down to one or two "swing states" and a few thousand votes. Statistically, it just doesn't make sense.
Of course the media loves these nail-biter elections because it drives up their viewership. Every election we get the same old farcical "debates", scandals and continual ridiculous sound bites. This is strong evidence, if not proof, that these elections are scripted from beginning to end, even up to and including the "march to the Capitol" and the ensuing "insurrection".
@Ash Williamsannamaria , says: January 15, 2021 at 11:57 am GMT • 6.1 hours ago"Ron put a "I'm a reasonable man" spin on this"
Exactly. "Spin". He also appears to be entirely ignorant of the fact that the constitution states that each states electors, and the procedure for choosing them, must be accomplished via the state[s] legislatures, and that in all 6[?] swing states that recorded early morning, miraculous turn-around votes from Trump to Biden, that that particular constitutional procedure had been entirely , and very conveniently, ignored:
U.S constitution. Article 2 section 1:
[MORE]@RationalTom Welsh , says: January 15, 2021 at 12:08 pm GMT • 6.0 hours agoThe Lobby wants Syria by any means, up to a direct confrontation with the Russian Federation. The Jewish hatred for Iran is boundless (same for Russia – take note, Americans). Zionists care not about human lives.
Tom Welsh , says: January 15, 2021 at 12:13 pm GMT • 5.9 hours ago"I don't know or care anything about Dominion voting machines, whether they are controlled by Venezuelan Marxists, Chinese Communists, or Martians. But the most blatant election-theft was accomplished in absolutely plain sight".
Cui bono? Obviously the main group profiting from the fraudulent election was the Democratic Party and its supporters. So why drag in foreign governments? Most of them are all too well aware that it's very dangerous to attract the attention of the USA for good or bad. Like trying to save a drowning whale.
So their sensible strategy is to stand back at a safe distance and watch the monster perish in its own poisons, hoping it doesn't lash out and harm them in its dying struggles.
@ContraviewsCortes , says: January 15, 2021 at 12:17 pm GMT • 5.8 hours agoThe convenient thing about postal votes is that they make it possible to wait until the opponent's votes are all in and counted – then send in just enough postal votes to tip the balance. It's rather like an auction in which one bidder gets only the one bid, and then a rival can offer $1 more.
Ridiculous if you want a fair election. But nobody who matters wants or expects anything of that kind. A proper political machine gets everything cut and dried well in advance.
Trump was unpredictable and, to a degree, uncontrollable. He had to go.
@SchuetzeTimur The Lame , says: January 15, 2021 at 12:40 pm GMT • 5.4 hours agoWell said. I'm sure that it's no coincidence that DJT has been involved with televised wrestling over the years. Every great contest requires a memorable "heel" to engage the spectators. In televised snooker in the UK, final matches often are over best of 35 frames. It's unusual for them not to go to the last ball of the final frame. Got to have a little drama.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch the rancher counts the silver dollars.
atlantis_dweller , says: January 15, 2021 at 12:41 pm GMT • 5.4 hours ago...If ego or narcissism can explain it, so be it. I'll go with insane or suffering from dementia. Any 'drain the swamp' or 'fix the system', MAGA or "build back better" argument would appeal only to retards. Re-visit Carroll Quigly's succinct description of political parties in the USA in Tragedy and Hope, pages 1247-1248 (hardcover) or Google same.
I'm beginning to believe that a different species is holding sway and we are the proverbial Eloi.
@Commentator Mikeatlantis_dweller , says: January 15, 2021 at 12:49 pm GMT • 5.3 hours agoThe point is, it is the average intellect, moral and civic weight of the involved constituencies that allows or doesn't allow what shouldn't be allowed in a real democracy. You don't have actual democracy below a lower threshold of intellect and moral and civic worth of all the main involved parties.
We could in other words say: there will be as much real democracy as is desired by the average citizen, where to desire it is not to blandly say "I agree with democracy".
@KizaGetaclue , says: January 15, 2021 at 1:31 pm GMT • 4.6 hours agoIt is funny how few people appear to understand that Hunter's laptop was not just a suppressed election decider then an important reason for Biden's suitability
Yes, few people understand that all regime-approved candidates are people able to be blackmailed for a precise reason, and not at all by chance. What about Hegel though?
@obvious Globalist NWO creeps stole the election, they spent 4 years trying to overthrow the 2016 election by coups aided and abetted by the Globalist Mainslime Media, FBI etc. -- you missed all that of course? .Johnny Smoggins , says: January 15, 2021 at 1:46 pm GMT • 4.3 hours agoThey also PUBlICLY previewed, as they did the COVID Agenda, stealing the election a couple months before, gamed and planned it in various outcomes .Anyone who can't see what is up is either willfully ignorant, lying, or "stupid" as you say.
No decent person is in favor of the Agenda of Harris/Biden serving the NWO "Great Reset" to crush the Peons -- you must see yourself as above the coming carnage -- I have news for you -- your not.
@ruralguyGarliv , says: January 15, 2021 at 1:51 pm GMT • 4.2 hours agoWe'll know we're in an actual civil war when different branches of the military, or units within a branch are fighting each other or when the police are fighting the military. Don't hold your breath of course because every cop and soldier in America is a traitor and they're all on the same team.
@atlantis_dwellerSick of Orcs , says: January 15, 2021 at 2:09 pm GMT • 3.9 hours agoWhat I still find unfathomable is the fact that the steal was so obvious: so in your face but yet the big media, big tech, federal and state law enforcements, spooks, judges, big GOP politicians etc still behave like nothing ever happened. Trump and his supporters are now labeled domestic terrorists and lawfare is about to be unleashed on them. It's surreal.
Emslander , says: January 15, 2021 at 2:20 pm GMT • 3.8 hours agoHad the Orange heeded his MAGA base rather than his (((rat-in-law))) he'd still be President. There was certainly election fraud; enough of the betrayed base stayed home to make it effective. Trump was a p -- y all four years and got what he deserved. He was always a stop-gap time-buying non-solution...
@Reg CæsarTrinity , says: January 15, 2021 at 2:25 pm GMT • 3.7 hours ago...issues can no longer be discussed openly, the reliability of elections in the USA is the most important issue that faces us. The people will accept an honest winner in a serious election. Nothing is as cleansing to our natural divisions as the result of a well-contested election, in the knowledge that, in a reasonable interval, the same offices will be up for new contests.
Nothing is as damaging to our peace of mind as knowing that one side won fairly, but was robbed of governing. I thank Ron Unz for writing and publishing such a reasonably argued essay on the matter. It is the gold standard for 2020 election analyses.
Temporary Insanity , says: January 15, 2021 at 2:36 pm GMT • 3.5 hours agoThis is sad people. Was talking to a friend and even his 80 something year old mother commented on how decrepit Sleazy Joe looks and walks. I was watching him deliver "his speech" last night and the guy had a hard time reading a few sentences off the teleprompter without stammering and stuttering.
After an embarrassing and truly cringe worthy "speech" Biden is seen walking off. The dude can barely walk...
anon [263] Disclaimer , says: January 15, 2021 at 2:42 pm GMT • 3.4 hours agoFor eighty million who cast their ballots for the old geezer, it's mostly out of economic necessity; however, for the seventy plus million people who are Trump supporters, it's a fight for their country and more importantly, culture.
Albertde , says: January 15, 2021 at 2:44 pm GMT • 3.4 hours agoWeimerica!!!
Brought to you by the same people who gave us the Weimar Republic, only twice as vicious and vindictive this time because they know what they did wrong last time -- they weren't vicious and vindictive enough.
macilrae , says: January 15, 2021 at 2:59 pm GMT • 3.1 hours agoIn a healthy country, there would have been no need for Trump.
Old and Grumpy , says: January 15, 2021 at 3:05 pm GMT • 3.0 hours agoWhen you consider Donald Trump's grotesque antics, his entirely unpresidential behavior, evident falsehoods and blatantly corrupt actions – together with the systematic media blitz taking every opportunity to show him in the worst possible light; it is quite astounding that he received as many votes as he did. Far, far more than could be accounted for by simply ascribing them to his 'deplorables'.
And, even if Biden did, in fact, just manage to win – presenting himself as a force of reason, stability and sanity – a great mass of voters sensed something in him that they distrusted even more than in Trump. That was a stunning rejection – of almost the same magnitude as Hillary's in 2016!
@John GruskosAshley H , says: January 15, 2021 at 3:16 pm GMT • 2.8 hours agoYou're right, and Ron Unz is right. Had Trump retained his white male voters of 2016, the Democrats likely couldn't have pulled off the steal. But in the end Donald Trump was a mere salesmen selling a con.
lysias , says: January 15, 2021 at 3:19 pm GMT • 2.8 hours ago...If you had told people in France in 1785 or Russia in 1913 that within a few short years about a quarter of their population would be slaughtered in revolutionary turmoil and many more displaced, they would have dismissively laughed in your face believing – as do we – that their civilizations were far too advanced for such nonsense.
Let us hope such a horrific fate is not in store for all of us as the Great Reset is imposed on us all given how western civilization has clearly failed to the point where some sort of profound, substantive reform is inevitable.
Given that the foundation of this Reset comprises so much ill-will, deception, theft and coercion, it is unlikely that this new paradigm will benefit the millions of people it will soon dominate.
Anonymous [164] Disclaimer , says: January 15, 2021 at 3:20 pm GMT • 2.8 hours ago...Interesting book on Brit intelligence in the U.S. in 1940: Thomas Mahl's "Desperate Deception."
@John Gruskossayless , says: January 15, 2021 at 3:21 pm GMT • 2.7 hours agoAnother can of worms, there would be additional Congressional hearings over it, etc. At the time Trump was still in the middle of the Muller investigation. That special prosecutor investigation tied up Trump until March 2019.
I firmly believe that no man in human history could have taken on and fought Deep State, the Swamp, the Establishment, media, GOPe, et al., as valiantly as Trump. Even in his 70's the man has superhuman energy, fortitude, and strategizing. I think Trump's greatest legacy will be that he ripped away the curtain and the masks fell and we all got to see just how nefarious and rigged the system is, from federal judges to our intelligence community to the FBI/DOJ to Congress to the media
The King is a Fink , says: January 15, 2021 at 3:26 pm GMT • 2.7 hours ago"I don't know or care anything about Dominion voting machines"
Why not? Take a look at Patrick Byrne's summary of evidence for massive election fraud involving the Dominion machines, on his blog over at DeepCapture.
It will explain how a man who sheltered in his house, did not campaign, drew no more than six or seven or twenty-five people to his events, got seven million more votes than a man who drew up to thirty thousand people at his rallies.
...An expert witness in Georgia was able to hack into Dominion in front of the legislative committee in less than a minute. "We're in." In Dominion, and on the internet.
Dominion machines can do anything! They can assign a weight of 1.5 per single vote to one candidate, and .75 per vote to the other, and can adjust as necessary. They can assign batches of "adjudicated" ballots to the candidate of your choice. They can just switch votes from one candidate to the other in increments of several thousand, let's subtract 29,000 votes from candidate a and add them to b's column. They can allow access by a third party to the administrator's identity and password so the third party can enter and participate directly in tabulation of the votes.
And more. If your disfavored candidate is winning by a landslide and your 1.5/.75 ratio isn't working, you can put in a USB card and adjust accordingly.
If you're desperate you can upload tens of thousands of votes in a single drop which all, every one, go to your preferred candidate. And you can do it in one hour on a machine which can only handle a few thousand votes per hour, fed in manually.
If things get out of control you can call a halt to the vote count, send the observers home, and haul out the extra ballots stashed under the table skirt. But it's best to be mindful of the video cameras. Which they were not.
Really, read about it: Patrick Byrne, DeepCapture, "Evidence That The 2020 Election Was Rigged." Lays out the various ways by which it was done, then appends evidence using graphs, memos from election administrators, and statistical analysis.
He's no Trump supporter either, is a committed libertarian, and has never voted for either a Democrat or Republican presidential candidate in his life. He thinks Barack Obama graced the presidency and that Michelle Obama was a class act as First Lady.
Also: The Chinese government acquired Dominion for $400 million in the fall of 2020.
@A123Jeff Davis , says: January 15, 2021 at 3:31 pm GMT • 2.6 hours agoI found this interesting (posted by another commenter back in Nov):
https://votepatternanalysis.substack.com/p/voting-anomalies-2020
Finally, does anyone think the Dominion case against Sydney Powell potentially offers an opportunity for the evidence of electoral fraud to be aired in public?
@utuanon [954] Disclaimer , says: January 15, 2021 at 3:35 pm GMT • 2.5 hours agoThey won the election the old way: they stole it fair and square.
Jeff Albertson , says: January 15, 2021 at 3:37 pm GMT • 2.5 hours agoWhile it's an effective rhetorical tactic by our fearless leader Unz, there's no reason to be agnostic about CIA ballot-stuffing. That's as blindingly obvious as their censorship.
https://votepatternanalysis.substack.com/p/voting-anomalies-2020
The ballot-stuffing shows only the most cursory measures to conceal it, consistent with a command structure that exercises precision control over media attention. CIA can censor adverse information on their candidate's trading in influence and abuse of function. So naturally CIA dumped votes in statistically absurd proportions, trusting to their Mockingbird media to short-circuit public inquiry. When you have arbitrary Nazi-grade life-and-death power, as CIA does, it's hard not to get sloppy. They don't give a fuck that you saw what they did there, cause shut up.
@Tom Welsh ent-text">Ashley H , says: January 15, 2021 at 3:49 pm GMT • 2.3 hours agoSpot on about postal votes; it's my only slight disagreement with Ron's take on the affair. These votes were being received for days, if not weeks before the deadline and could have been (and probably were) counted as they came in. The gross imbalance between Trump and Biden votes in these after-hours counts, along with the sudden spikes obvious on many graphs, is proof, imo, of the cheat. In order to get ahead of the narrative, the 'rats said it would happen, and, lo, it did.
If the regime can't provide for trustworthy elections, it can't expect to be regarded as legitimate. Probably by design; they don't need us.@The King is a FinkAshley H , says: January 15, 2021 at 3:51 pm GMT • 2.2 hours agoNavarro's three reports do a good job of summarizing most of the possible vote fraud. He's a Harvard PhD so more than qualified to pull all the date together etc. They use many graphics and are easy and fast to read.
@The King is a Finkutu , says: January 15, 2021 at 3:57 pm GMT • 2.1 hours agoIn this post-Republic new reality, no Court will take a case in which Discovery reveals any sort of election fraud. The election is over and it's now verboten to revisit it. Don't be surprised if archive.org is forced to delete thousands of articles about it. Orwellian times
Scut Farkus , says: January 15, 2021 at 4:05 pm GMT • 2.0 hours agoIncumbent Donald Trump lost Arizona, Georgia, and Wisconsin by such extremely narrow margins that a swing of less than 22,000 votes in those crucial states would have gotten him reelected. With a record 158 million votes cast, this amounted to a victory margin of around 0.01% . So if just one American voter in 7,000 had changed his mind, Trump might have received another four years in office. One American voter in 7,000
Margins of general vote do not matter. Biden won Arizona, Georgia, and Wisconsin by much higher margins than 0.01%. In Arizona Biden won by 0.3% of all votes in Arizona and in Georgia by 0.2%. These are small margins but probably comparable to margins in swing states in 2016 where Trump won.
@Garliv It's for your own good, of course. I once read an article written by someone who had a chance to hang out with the rich, powerful, famous, etc. and gain some perspective on their thinking. They really do believe that it's their role to shape the future for the proles. I know someone who's just like that.edward manfredonia , says: January 15, 2021 at 4:19 pm GMT • 1.8 hours agoIf you like your bourgeois job and want to keep it, you will support the narrative.
All of the comments on here that analyze DJT's strengths and weaknesses miss the point. I personally think he made some very poor choices; but, to inappropriately paraphrase Carville, it's the fraud, stupid.
RudyM , says: January 15, 2021 at 4:30 pm GMT • 1.6 hours agoRon,
Occam's Razor should be applied- instead of the nonsense of Chavez having an interest in voting software; voting machines being manipulated; truckloads of paper ballots being moved across state lines- my favorite; etc.
The mail in ballots could be sent to a nursing home or to individuals, who are very old, and these individuals could be instructed by a relative to sign their name.
I frequently explain to individuals, whose first language is not English, the papers, which they are signing. I explain their 401K and retirement plan withdrawals.
It would be very easy to have individuals in a nursing home or even an adult day care center for mentally (dementia) incapacitated adults sign ballots. There are numerous day care centers in New York City, federally funded, where individuals could be coaxed to sign ballots. Just say Trump will close the day care center -- especially where interpreters must be provided because the individuals cannot understand English due to varying stages of mental incapacity.
The day care center is a racket. I believe the reimbursement rate under Medicaid-Medicare is $120 per day. Plus, the transportation fee - approximately $40 per person each way. These centers flourish in cities, such as New York City, Newark, Philadelphia, etc. I have yet to hear anyone mention that Nancy Pelosi's father was Mayor of Baltimore, Thomas D'Alesandro Jr. And Baltimore is one city that it totally devastated by drugs, prostitution, crime, etc.
Now for the important question. Did Nancy Pelosi have $12 pints of ice cream in her office?
Thank you.
Edward Manfredonia
@Ash Williamsanon [437] Disclaimer , says: January 15, 2021 at 4:31 pm GMT • 1.6 hours agoThe Navarro report is a useful summary.
But I wonder how many people have watched the twenty hours or so of state legislature hearings related to the election. Can people just not be bothered? These were historic hearings of huge importance, but I assume they didn't get much coverage in the MSM. I think most of them were livestreamed only by small right-wing networks.
Trinity , says: January 15, 2021 at 4:42 pm GMT • 1.4 hours agoServant of Gla'aki 39, Hapalong 101 anent Willke: Willke sold a million books in less than two months. He was more of a media phenom than Trump, much hotter at the time of the election. They were going to make a movie of One World. And his message was more populist, too – basically, fuck your US national interest, we want peace and freedom. He just came out and said what everybody thought, Oh boy, now that we won the war, we'll get the peace and freedom that we fought for! So he didn't need a Sheldon or a Gina to rig elections and install him.
Dulles was squirming around under rocks at that time (he cut his teeth at the League of Nations founding,) even before he and his ultras got their Gestapo in Foggy Bottom, and they arranged Hillary-style party machinations to push Willke aside.
Now of course there's a second line of defense, the CIA proprietaries that steal the election directly:
https://www.madcowprod.com/2020/11/15/short-history-election-fraud/
Diebold and its brass-plate acquirers. CIA set them up to ratfuck Kerry and Maduro and sheep-dipped them to ratfuck Trump.
The whole world knows the USA is a ridiculous fake democracy, a totalitarian CIA pariah state voting alone against peace, development and human rights. (Just look at the 2nd Committee vote on A/C.2/75/L.4/Rev.1) The USA is North Korea with an ugly leisure squad. It's the beltway that deserves our fire and fury. Just wipe it out with WMD and start again.
https://www.rt.com/usa/364288-us-election-international-standards-osce/
Robert Dolan , says: January 15, 2021 at 4:45 pm GMT • 1.3 hours agoWhat were the results of the 2016 election? Billary received 65 million to Trumps 62 million. Gotcha. So we have roughly 127 million who showed up to vote that time. (Wonder how many of those were legit.) So ONLY 4 years later, Joe "I Look Like I'm Drugged" Biden ALLEGEDLY received 80 million and Trump received 74 million. Okay, that is a turnout of 154 million votes. So if I believe in this fairy tale, I was supposed to believe that in ONLY 4 years the vote count increased by an alleged 27 million. Hell, a lot of our most populous states do not even have that many people.
Like I say, I concede that Biden might have had about 60-65 million LEGIT votes to Trump's MINIMUM of 74 million. Hmm, so that means that total vote count would be 134-139 million. Hmm, sounds more reasonable to me. Numbers are not adding up folks.
A123 , says: January 15, 2021 at 4:48 pm GMT • 1.3 hours ago@The King is a FinkCurmudgeon , says: January 15, 2021 at 5:02 pm GMT • 1.1 hours agoThere is a considerable amount of crowd sourced reporting on electoral fraud collected here: https://hereistheevidence.com
They also have a special section for issues related to the Capitol Protest (not riot): https://hereistheevidence.com/capitol-protest-1-6-21/
PEACE
@A123David Martin , says: Website January 15, 2021 at 5:22 pm GMT • 43 minutes ago...Laws don't say a little bit of fraud is OK, because the fraud committed on or by a business didn't cause bankruptcy. Either there was fraud, or there wasn't. If there was, then the results of the election in those areas are null and void. The certification of those results expands the fraud to the state level.
That several courts refused to hear cases for lack of standing, is patently ridiculous. If a candidate has no standing, who does? In an election, everybody has standing because they are affected by the result, and by virtue of Citizens United , corporations do as well.
Turk 152 , says: January 15, 2021 at 5:26 pm GMT • 39 minutes agohttps://dcdave.heresycentral.is/2021/01/07/the-big-guy-address/
Anon [432] Disclaimer , says: January 15, 2021 at 5:29 pm GMT • 36 minutes agoIn an ideal world, we would be discussing how we can ensure the integrity of our elections, so that both substantively and the appearance of integrity is upheld. Instead, we are trying to get citizens jailed (right & left) for protesting the sanctity of a system in which both sides know is corrupt. There is no question in Dems mind that Bush stole the election in 2000, so why is it any different now that the shoe is on the other foot.
Our oligarch rulers know very well that they rig elections, it has been documented under LBJ, not to mention the long list of coups all over the world organized by the intelligence agencies over the past 50 years, these are historical facts. But rather than citizens being able to focus on the real problem, we are beating the crap out of our fellow citizens for something we know all know is real; and pointing to the other side as the source of the corruption. This is exactly why the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor.
Schuetze , says: January 15, 2021 at 5:31 pm GMT • 34 minutes agoMr. Unz, who is always well informed, highly organized and impeccably lucid, gives a credible and succinct analysis of the dumpster fire that is American politics, indeed of this country's leadership across the board. It creates mostly chaos and suffering every time it meddles in our affairs these days, certainly over the long run but especially in its current crash program to impose tyranny over the many so the few can take whatever they want whether they require it or not.
Watch this recent interview of Chris Hedges by Jimmy Dore about the root causes of our current woes. Hedges speaks off the cuff in words that sound as polished, powerful and precise as the language in tracts considered to be classics. His Pulitzer clearly was not found in a Cracker Jack box.
He ain't buying that Trump alone was the fount of all our sorrows or that a deceiving sycophantic grifter like Joe Biden is the fix for anything. There were many bad actors, both GOPers and Dems, both office holders and offstage string-pullers, who have contributed to the coming collapse of this country, which decapitating Trump will not prevent. Joe just happens to be the useful idiot who will be left holding the bag when the end comes, which won't be long now. Factoring in Kamala's possible ascension to the throne will change nothing. Like Joe, she's just a cluck there to take the same orders.
@Carroll Price ...Trump also flew on the Lolita express. If after all the broken promises that Trump made to his Maga followers anyone still thinks that he is an outsider is, frankly, an idiot.Trump is a lifetime actor and the entire election was just one big show.
One way we will know if Trump really was a threat to the swamp and an outsider will be what happens after Jan 20. If Trump ends up dead or impoverished and in prison then we will know that he was a real threat. If he flies off into the sunset, perhaps even starting a media company, then we will know that it was all one big vaudeville act.
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Tom , Jan 15 2021 20:57 utc | 121
BLM instigator and overall shit disturber John Sullivan has been arrested by FBI for participating in the "riot" on the 6th. Shocked I am, just Shocked. All those posers saying BLM, ANTIFA are good little boys and girls, check your pants cause they are on fire.
Here is Jack laying out the big picture for the censorship role he plans for the punters.
v direction="left">
Fazila Sheriff Uddin All these neocons the elite 1 % dumbing us down.Agenda 2021 destroy human life . Like · Reply · 4 · 1dRandy Stevens This is government censorship because Twitter is doing the bidding of the U.S. government. And it's not just QANON they are deleting accounts from leftists, socialists, communists, animal activists, anti-war activists and anyone else who dares to speak ugly truths about U.S. empire and industry.
Soph Lotus Twitter is a private company. Just like the Bakery that refused to sell a cake to a gay couple. Republicans made sure that if you didn't want to do business with anyone you don't have to. So there's that.... and really he has a whole Press Room if he has something to say. He's not being censored at all. He violated TOS. PERIOD. Like · Reply · 1 · 23h · EditedChris Young Explain how he violated terms of service. Like · Reply · 23h
Fazila Sheriff Uddin All these neocons the elite 1 % dumbing us down.Agenda 2021 destroy human life . Like · Reply · 4 · 1d
Soph Lotus Twitter is a private company. Just like the Bakery that refused to sell a cake to a gay couple. Republicans made sure that if you didn't want to do business with anyone you don't have to. So there's that.... and really he has a whole Press Room if he has something to say. He's not being censored at all. He violated TOS. PERIOD. Like · Reply · 1 · 23h · EditedJoe Maga Twitter is a monopoly. The baker down the street is anything but. You fuckin Liberal snowflake /div
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fnord , Jan 15 2021 16:45 utc | 106
@ gm 104
Greenwald was making a claim with no factual basis, talking out of his ass. Posts scraped from Parler show not only that planning for the protests was occurring on Parler (as well as Facebook and Twitter), but that Parler users were posting videos to the platform of themselves at the Capitol.
But Greenwald also misses the point: Facebook and Twitter have content moderation policies. Parler, because of their fanatical devotion to their interpretation of the first amendment, didn't even have one for illegal content (one of the head honchos at the company told kirtaner as much). They were on the path to making their platform liveleak with a far right-wing bent, and any sane tech company would refuse to do business with them (for the same reason most advertisers avoid advertising on pornographic websites).
What's pathetic about the Parler situation is that they had no back up plans. They fully depended on the "establishment" they bloviate so much against, even when they didn't have to. Sometimes your passion exceeds your expertise. This was really obvious with Parler.
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William Gruff , Jan 15 2021 13:20 utc | 98
Suppression by the state is expensive and it undercuts productivity. Cyril @59 is correct that state suppression cannot be maintained long term without significant external support; say being backed up by a global hegemon with drones and nukes and control over global finance. No state, no matter how suppressive or oppressive, can exist without the economic wherewithal to support itself. The more suppression the state employs the more personnel it needs to buy off to do the suppressing. The people doing the suppressing must be more generously compensated than the people they are suppressing (usually the working class) to buy their loyalty. Practically all value in capitalist society is created by the working class, but the working class is also the labor pool that the elites have to recruit their enforcers/suppressors from. More suppression personnel means more expense while also meaning less actual productivity.
It is better for big business if you can train the population to suppress themselves. Religion has historically worked pretty good for this with its admonitions to "Give unto Caesar..." and "The meek shall inherit the dirt, probably from some boss's boot grinding their face into it" , but in modern societies religion is losing its effectiveness. That's where Identity Politics is intended to take over. The question is can the establishment force that into the heads of 80+ million people?
Well, not if those 80+ million people see themselves as members of a huge demographic. If they see themselves as isolated individuals on the fringes of society, then they can be bullied and gaslit into shouldering the modern equivalent of original sin and learn to identify with their personalized victim status and rely upon "Identity Politics" for solace.
Will this work for the elites? I am thinking probably not. To enforce the isolation necessary social media must be very tightly controlled to eliminate all disagreement with "Identity Politics" and establishment narratives. This will be more difficult than the elites imagine as it is cheap and easy to set up alternatives to Twitter and Facebook. In fact, Mexico is currently making moves towards setting up a national alternative to Facebook/Twitter . Such national infrastructure would be impossible for the business elites to take over or shut down like TikTok or Parler.
"What happens if Twitter says tomorrow that AMLO is publishing things that it doesn't like? What happens if the president of Twitter censors the democratically elected president of Mexico? As we've relinquished our technological sovereignty and left our communication tools, even our information systems, in the hands of multinationals with private interests, we've relinquished our [right to] freedom of speech," Sánchez said.If Mexico goes forward with this then there will be no technological reason why Americans couldn't also use such a social platform.
Ultimately I think the elites will lose this war they are waging, but they will likely win some battles in the near term. Spicy times ahead!
karlof1 , Jan 15 2021 17:50 utc | 110
William Gruff @98--
VK is a Russian version of FB and welcomes one and all and lacks the personal invasion FB pursues, which is one of the main reasons why I joined. I have no second thoughts of being censored there unlike with FB. It seems WeChat is also a worthy platform, but I haven't done any real investigation. Wife uses FB to connect with her family back East, which I use mainly to stay abreast with Pepe Escobar and comment at his site. IMO, it's clear the lessons from previous attempts at suppression within the Outlaw US Empire weren't learned by those seeking control, and they've already blown up in their face and have shown more of their Fascistic nature than Trump could ever do, which in turn will hamper anything Biden tries.
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Jan 15, 2021 | www.nakedcapitalism.com
Will the Senate Confirm Coup Plotter Victoria Nuland? Posted on January 15, 2021 by Yves Smith
Yves here. Biden's nominees have skewed towards the awful, particularly on the foreign policy front. But his plan to install Victoria "Fuck the EU" Nuland at State is a standout. For those of you new to this site and not familiar with Nuland's sorry history, this post gives an overview of her role in fomenting the coup in Ukraine and in putting relations with Russia on a Cold War footing. The authors encourage readers to call their Senators and urge them to vote against her nomination.
And before you get unduly excited by Biden nominating Gary Gensler to the SEC, I would much rather have seem Gensler at Treasury. Gensler demonstrated at the CFTC that he's effective and dedicated to combatting abuses by Big Finance. However, his best shot at making the SEC feared and respected again is to appoint a tough head of enforcement, so keep an eye out for that pick.
The problem that Gensler will have at the SEC is that it is the only Federal financial services industry regulator that is subject to Congressional appropriations, rather that living off its fees and fines (the SEC collects far more than Congress allows it). And Democrats, like Joe Lieberman, then the Senator from Hedgistan, have been if anything more aggressive than Republicans in threatening the SEC and in keeping it budget-starved.
I had said to Lambert that if Biden wanted to be Machiavellian, the way to pretend to reward Elizabeth Warren while actually sandbagging her would be to make her SEC chair. Let's hope that isn't his logic for appointing Gensler.
By Medea Benjamin. cofounder of CODEPINK for Peace , and author of several books, including Inside Iran: The Real History and Politics of the Islamic Republic of Iran . @medeabenjamin; Nicolas J. S. Davies, an independent journalist, a researcher with CODEPINK and the author of Blood On Our Hands: the American Invasion and Destruction of Iraq . @NicolasJSDavies; and Marcy Winograd of Progressive Democrats of America served as a 2020 Democratic delegate for Bernie Sanders,and is Coordinator of CODEPINK CONGRESS . @MarcyWinograd
Photo Credit: thetruthseeker.co.uk Nuland and Pyatt planning regime change in Kiev
Who is Victoria Nuland? Most Americans have never heard of her because the U.S. corporate media's foreign policy coverage is a wasteland. Most Americans have no idea that President-elect Biden's pick for Deputy Secretary of State for Political Affairs is stuck in the quicksand of 1950s U.S.-Russia Cold War politics and dreams of continued NATO expansion, an arms race on steroids and further encirclement of Russia.
Nor do they know that from 2003-2005, during the hostile U.S. military occupation of Iraq, Nuland was a foreign policy advisor to Dick Cheney, the Darth Vader of the Bush administration.
You can bet, however, that the people of Ukraine have heard of neocon Nuland. Many have even heard the leaked four-minute audio of her saying "Fuck the EU" during a 2014 phone call with the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt.
During the infamous call on which Nuland and Pyatt plotted to replace the elected Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovych, Nuland expressed her not-so-diplomatic disgust with the European Union for grooming former heavyweight boxer and austerity champ Vitali Klitschko instead of U.S. puppet and NATO booklicker Artseniy Yatseniuk to replace Russia-friendly Yanukovych.
The "Fuck the EU" call went viral, as an embarrassed State Department, never denying the call's authenticity, blamed the Russians for tapping the phone, much as the NSA has tapped the phones of European allies.
Despite outrage from German Chancellor Angela Markel, no one fired Nuland, but her potty mouth upstaged the more serious story: the U.S. plot to overthrow Ukraine's elected government and America's responsibility for a civil war that has killed at least 13,000 people and left Ukraine the poorest country in Europe.
In the process, Nuland, her husband Robert Kagan, the co-founder of The Project for a New American Century , and their neocon cronies succeeded in sending U.S.-Russian relations into a dangerous downward spiral from which they have yet to recover.
Nuland accomplished this from a relatively junior position as Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs. How much more trouble could she stir up as the #3 official at Biden's State Department? We'll find out soon enough, if the Senate confirms her nomination.
Joe Biden should have learned from Obama's mistakes that appointments like this matter. In his first term , Obama allowed his hawkish Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Republican Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, and military and CIA leaders held over from the Bush administration to ensure that endless war trumped his message of hope and change.
Obama, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, ended up presiding over indefinite detentions without charges or trials at Guantanamo Bay; an escalation of drone strikes that killed innocent civilians; a deepening of the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan; a self-reinforcing cycle of terrorism and counterterrorism; and disastrous new wars in Libya and Syria .
With Clinton out and new personnel in top spots in his second term, Obama began to take charge of his own foreign policy. He started working directly with Russia's President Putin to resolve crises in Syria and other hotspots. Putin helped avert an escalation of the war in Syria in September 2013 by negotiating the removal and destruction of Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles, and helped Obama negotiate an interim agreement with Iran that led to the JCPOA nuclear deal.
But the neocons were apoplectic that they failed to convince Obama to order a massive bombing campaign and escalate his covert, proxy war in Syria and at the receding prospect of a war with Iran. Fearing their control of U.S. foreign policy was slipping, the neocons launched a campaign to brand Obama as "weak" on foreign policy and remind him of their power.
With editorial help from Nuland, her husband Robert Kagan penned a 2014 New Republic article entitled "Superpowers Don't Get To Retire," proclaiming that "there is no democratic superpower waiting in the wings to save the world if this democratic superpower falters." Kagan called for an even more aggressive foreign policy to exorcise American fears of a multipolar world it can no longer dominate.
Obama invited Kagan to a private lunch at the White House, and the neocons' muscle-flexing pressured him to scale back his diplomacy with Russia, even as he quietly pushed ahead on Iran.
The neocons' coup de grace against Obama's better angels was Nuland's 2014 coup in debt-ridden Ukraine, a valuable imperial possession for its wealth of natural gas and a strategic candidate for NATO membership right on Russia's border.
When Ukraine's Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych spurned a U.S.-backed trade agreement with the European Union in favor of a $15 billion bailout from Russia, the State Department threw a tantrum.
Hell hath no fury like a superpower scorned.
The EU trade agreement was to open Ukraine's economy to imports from the EU, but without a reciprocal opening of EU markets to Ukraine, it was a lopsided deal Yanukovich could not accept. The deal was approved by the post-coup government, and has only added to Ukraine's economic woes.
The muscle for Nuland's $5 billion coup was Oleh Tyahnybok's neo-Nazi Svoboda Party and the shadowy new Right Sector militia. During her leaked phone call, Nuland referred to Tyahnybok as one of the "big three" opposition leaders on the outside who could help the U.S.-backed Prime Minister Yatsenyuk on the inside. This is the same Tyanhnybok who once delivered a speec h applauding Ukrainians for fighting Jews and "other scum" during World War II.
After protests in Kiev's Euromaidan square turned into battles with police in February 2014, Yanukovych and the Western-backed opposition signed an agreement brokered by France, Germany and Poland to form a national unity government and hold new elections by the end of the year.
But that was not good enough for the neo-Nazis and extreme right-wing forces the U.S. had helped to unleash. A violent mob led by the Right Sector militia marched on and invaded the parliament building , a scene no longer difficult for Americans to imagine. Yanukovych and his members of parliament fled for their lives.
Facing the loss of its most vital strategic naval base at Sevastopol in Crimea, Russia accepted the overwhelming result (a 97% majority, with an 83% turnout) of a referendum in which Crimea voted to leave Ukraine and rejoin Russia, which it had been a part of from 1783 to 1954.
The majority Russian-speaking provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk in Eastern Ukraine unilaterally declared independence from Ukraine, triggering a bloody civil war between U.S.- and Russian-backed forces that still rages in 2021.
U.S.-Russian relations have never recovered, even as U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals still pose the greatest single threat to our existence. Whatever Americans believe about the civil war in Ukraine and allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election, we must not allow the neocons and the military-industrial complex they serve to deter Biden from conducting vital diplomacy with Russia to steer us off our suicidal path toward nuclear war.
Nuland and the neocons, however, remain committed to an ever-more debilitating and dangerous Cold War with Russia and China to justify a militarist foreign policy and record Pentagon budgets. In a July 2020 Foreign Affairs article entitled "Pinning Down Putin," Nuland absurdly claimed that Russia presents a greater threat to "the liberal world" than the U.S.S.R. posed during the old Cold War.
Nuland's narrative rests on an utterly mythical, ahistorical narrative of Russian aggression and U.S. good intentions. She pretends that Russia's military budget, which is one-tenth of America's, is evidence of "Russian confrontation and militarization" and calls on the U.S. and its allies to counter Russia by "maintaining robust defense budgets, continuing to modernize U.S. and allied nuclear weapons systems, and deploying new conventional missiles and missile defenses to protect against Russia's new weapons systems "
Nuland also wants to confront Russia with an aggressive NATO. Since her days as U.S. Ambassador to NATO during President George W. Bush's second term, she has been a supporter of NATO's expansion all the way up to Russia's border. She calls for "permanent bases along NATO's eastern border." We have pored over a map of Europe, but we can't find a country called NATO with any borders at all. Nuland sees Russia's commitment to defending itself after successive 20th century Western invasions as an intolerable obstacle to NATO's expansionist ambitions.
Nuland's militaristic worldview represents exactly the folly the U.S. has been pursuing since the 1990s under the influence of the neocons and "liberal interventionists," which has resulted in a systematic underinvestment in the American people while escalating tensions with Russia, China, Iran and other countries.
As Obama learned too late, the wrong person in the wrong place at the wrong time can, with a shove in the wrong direction, unleash years of intractable violence, chaos and international discord. Victoria Nuland would be a ticking time-bomb in Biden's State Department, waiting to sabotage his better angels much as she undermined Obama's second-term diplomacy.
So let's do Biden and the world a favor. Join World Beyond War , CODEPINK and dozens of other organizations opposing neocon Nuland's confirmation as a threat to peace and diplomacy. Call 202-224-3121 and tell your Senator to oppose Nuland's installation at the State Department.
John A , January 15, 2021 at 7:44 am
Nuland has also been declared persona non grata by Russia, so she would not be able to go with Biden, were he to visit Moscow. Russian foreign minister Lavrov, actually refused to shake her hand when she attended a US-Russia meeting with Kerry. She is poison to any attempt to peaceful relationships.
Susan the other , January 15, 2021 at 11:28 am
Yes, I remember that meeting clearly. Can't cite the network, but it covered her closely – body language only. I wonder where Biden stood on that act of diplomacy given his own corruption, and also what John Kerry's thinking is about now. John Kerry's stepson was in cahoots with Hunter Biden. It looked like Kerry brought her along for some rehabilitation and Lavrov was having none of it. Instead he went directly to the delegation from Ukraine and they stood in a circle all with their backs turned to Vicky who had no choice but to wander over to the coffee table and pretend she wasn't totally uncomfortable. Totally excluded. How can she recover from that?
The Rev Kev , January 15, 2021 at 9:10 am
If there is one thing that Russia hates it is fascists and that is because of the enormous damage caused by them in WW2. We call those invaders Nazis but the Russians seem to call them fascists. I sometimes wonder if it is part of their mother's milk this hatred. For people like Nuland to help topple the government of a large, bordering country like the Ukraine and install people that were literally fascists was too much for the Russians. These were fascist of a very low order that had the old 1930s routines down pat, including the torchlight parades. And there was Nuland, handing out cookies to the rioters, many of whom had been trained in rioting tactics in Poland and were being paid about $100 a day by the US if I recall correctly. Of course Nuland was not alone as there was also a Representative from the EU also handing out cookies. The only equivalent that comes to mind is a violent revolution in Canada using professional rioters and having diplomatic representatives from the Russian Federation and China handing out donuts to the rioter. I wonder what Washington would say about a stunt like that.
lyman alpha blob , January 15, 2021 at 9:32 am
Nuland is a disgusting human being. Since she is a right winger, regardless of what party may be listed on her voter ID, I don't think Bettridge's law applies here at all.
So glad all these 'woke' people put good old Uncle Joe back in office. Wonder how many realized they were supporting people being burned alive by actual Nazis in doing so?
From an actual journalist, Robert Parry – https://consortiumnews.com/2014/05/10/burning-ukraines-protesters-alive/
clarky90 , January 15, 2021 at 3:46 pm
So the USA now has literally placed, "literal fascists" in power?
Literally ..
Mark Gisleson , January 15, 2021 at 10:26 am
More war is not the answer to any of the problems facing us.
Carolinian , January 15, 2021 at 11:35 am
Thanks for this. Our "learned nothing/forgot nothing" Bourbon restoration will be led by one of the dimmer Bourbons who couldn't even set up a good grift in Ukraine without boasting about it and then angrily denying it. Should the press finally, improbably turn on him it should make for some fun news conferences. But perhaps he'll merely be moving to the White House basement from his Delaware basement.
Encephalitis Lethargica , January 15, 2021 at 12:47 pm
CFTC's budgets are also set through congressional authorization and appropriations. Yes, the CFPB is not subject to Congressional appropriations, but for good reasons. However, all financial regulation can be overturned by the Congressional Review Act.
As for the article, citation needed. Sort of a laundry heap of questionable material. Make no mistake, the Russo-Ukrainian War is a real war. Uniformed Russian armored infantry of 331st regiment of the 98th Svirsk airborne division dropped into Ukraine territory on 24 August 2014. From 25 to 27 August, Russian troops in civilian clothing, backed up by an armored column [not in disguise] took Novoazovsk. This is about Russia not being able to station 25,000 troops in Crimea as they had under Yanukovych. US troop levels in Europe have been at their lowest for the last 20 years. The US would like to [nay, needs to] keep it that way. However, the erosion of territorial integrity is a touchy subject in Europe given the lasting peace of the post-war period in a place where the wars have a pre-fix like "Hundred Years".
President Arseniy Yatsenyuk is of Jewish origin so the claims of coordination with Nazi sympathizers is dubious. Not even going to get the boycotted unconstitutional Crimean referendum.
As for WW III, Obama's defense department made it a priority to recover all the MANPADS, such as the Chinese-made FN-6 [via Qatar], Russian-made Strela-2's and Igla-S's [via Libya] from the FSA without so much as a thank you from the Russian Air Force. [Turkey, on the other hand, armed the FSA with Stinger's.] It should be noted that the Syrian conflict's death toll, in just four years, surpassed the 19-year death toll in all the Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq war theatres combined.
Think about this way: who needs NATO and the EU more to maintain his power structure, Joe Biden or Vladimir Putin. Isn't it clear Americans don't care, and American business does not look to compete in Russian anytime soon. The geography is wrong. But Putin must find a way to engender ethnicities who do not like the Russian Empire, who had been cleansed by Stalin. One way is to sell energy below cost to the republics and buy in back from political allies in the form of electricity. Something upon which the EU frowns. [Personally, I did not care for the way Putin early on systematically and indiscriminately starved Chechen civilians for years. It was cruel on a level unseen outside of the Rwandan genocide. More importantly, it was the Russian Federation abdicating its authority by not providing for its own citizens and not letting NGO's fill the calorie gap. I'd like to think had Putin's admin not been so wobbly the first few years, he might've let the Red Cross feed the children.]
John Steinbach , January 15, 2021 at 4:35 pm
There is overwhelming documentation of Yatsenuk's collaboration with Svboda & other fascist organizations in forming the coup government. For example: https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ukraine-crisis/analysis-u-s-cozies-kiev-government-including-far-right-n66061
Russia was never going to permit a US orchestrated coup in Ukraine without resistance. The idea that Putin needs NATO more than Biden does seems unreasonable.
steelyman , January 15, 2021 at 11:02 pm
Talking about "citations", perhaps you could supply the readership of this site with some credible citations and links for a few of the far fetched claims you're making here. Most of this comment reads like pro-Ukrainian propaganda.
Matthew G. Saroff , January 15, 2021 at 1:30 pm
I heard about Gary Gensler, Samantha Power, and Victoria Nuland, and I immediately thought, "The good, the bad, and the ugly."
Gensler surprised everyone when he was at the CFTC by doing his job, and doing it well, and his running the SEC is a good thing.
Samantha Power is an aggressive war monger, and in her position at USAID, she will likely have her fingers in regime change pie, since USAID is part of the deep state regime change apparatus..
Nuland is just a pro-Nazi nut though.
Jack Parsons , January 15, 2021 at 9:39 pm
About NATO and the Ukraine war:
I've long suspected that NATO has existed since 1991 to allow the US/EU axis to control Middle-Eastern and African resources. For example, the Rammstein military hospital is where every Gulf War soldier was airlifted for major treatment and convalescence.
Also, there is a huge international trade in opium. It's grown in Afpak and shipped out in every direction. I suspect that a fair amount of that flows through Ukraine and Crimea. If you look at a topo map of Crimea, there's a lot of seashore that could be good "smuggler's coves". Following this line of argument, Russia grabbing it from Ukraine was a gimme to Russia's gangsters. This, as well as the "Pipeline Wars", gives Russia a strong reason to encircle Ukraine.
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Jan 15, 2021 | turcopolier.typepad.com
Pilgrims, students at Harvard University are petitioning to have the degrees of alumni who supported Trump revoked. Bless their little hearts!
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Jan 15, 2021 | www.unz.com
Coll Doll , says: January 15, 2021 at 2:18 pm GMT • 3.8 hours ago
When Trump used his government twitter account to send tweets, aren't all those tweets protected by the Presidential Records Act of 1978? https://www.archives.gov/presidential-libraries/laws/1978-act.html
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Jan 15, 2021 | www.youtube.com
Multiple local news stations say the same thing verbatim - YouTube
chaoticcranium , 8 months agoMom pick me up it's scary here
Heidi Melcarek , 2 years agoThis is extremely dangerous to our hypocrisy.
So ironic their own message is being used to show what puppets they are...
Meme Machine , 8 months agothegdoat1 , 7 months agoThis is what happens when five companies control almost all Media.
Rebecca A , 8 months agoI can't believe this hasn't been removed yet.
webhead2777 , 2 years agoI feel like I'm in the book "The Giver" and I'm just now seeing how brain washed we all are. We're spoon fed shit by pretty people on tv and are expected to accept it as the only truth we'll ever need.
Fake news is extremely dangerous to democracy
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Jan 15, 2021 | www.rt.com
Mira Golub 9 January, 2021 9 Jan, 2021 08:45 AM
Pelosi is an epitome of America - exceptionalism, incompetence, vindictiveness and total lack of self awareness. It's like looking at yourself in the mirror and hating what you see.
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Jan 15, 2021 | www.moonofalabama.org
Piotr Berman , Jan 15 2021 14:18 utc | 102
Cop shoots lady in the back. Lady who is no threat to him at all. She is entering a small hallway where there are three or more cops with rifles. The situation is completely under control and a lady gets shot in the back.
And still no one is nervous, no one takes cover. They all just stand there. Cop who flouts all rules has just discharged his firearm for no good reason ...
Posted by: oldhippie | Jan 15 2021 11:42 utc | 94
On the basis of other video of police shootings, fatal and found blameless by prosecutors and/or grand juries, the cop action was more justified than most. For example, it is more typical that the deceased citizen is shot in the back while trying to escape, frontally in the chest while immobilized etc. The lady was advancing at the cop, momentarily with her behind first, and looked quite a bit more fit. She was squeezing through a window in a door panel that was cleared from glass mostly by others. Perhaps she took the initiative being slimmer then the majority of the crowd -- the crowd and the cops "looked like America", i.e. mostly chubby. Yea, that meant that most of them would not repeat what she was doing.
What I am trying to say is that the shooting was FULLY within de-facto norms in U.S.A. Cops have an absolute right to be panicking beyond reason in a wide variety of situation, and I never read about cops being instructed to shoot first at body parts that do not cause death and to stop shooting once the target cannot move. For example, the target tries to open the door of his own dwelling while keeping in the other hand a dangerously looking sandwich. I bet he was shot in the back, but we are not suppose to second guess split second decisions motivated by the defense of lives of common people.
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Jan 15, 2021 | www.rt.com
"Shame, shame on the ten Republicans who joined with Speaker Pelosi & the House Democrats in impeaching President Trump yesterday," Graham tweeted on Thursday. "After all that he has done for our country, you would turn your back & betray him so quickly? What was done yesterday only further divides our nation."
In a separate Facebook post, Graham, a longtime influential supporter of the president, further elaborated on his disappointment.
House Democrats impeached him because they "hate him and want to do as much damage as they can," he wrote. "And these ten, from [Trump's] own party, joined in the feeding frenzy. It makes you wonder what the thirty pieces of silver were that [Democratic House] Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi promised for this betrayal."
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Jan 15, 2021 | www.zerohedge.com
play_arrowWilliam Dorritt 1 hour ago remove link
The Putsch Govt and Tech & Media Oligarchs are "Riding the Tiger"
The reason I'm laughing, is because Joe and the deep state are exposing themselves for who they are, a bunch of corrupt government officials who don't have the support of the citizens. Joe is going to have a really hard time unless they institutionalize the election fraud and continue it, which is my biggest fear because it means we've become a corrupt banana republic, and poverty will quickly ensue. Big government brings poverty to the public (and riches to the deep state) while freedom (i.e., small government that just protects our freedoms, rather than socialism that promises to provide for us but instead brings government forcing us to work) brings prosperity to the people.
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Jan 15, 2021 | www.zerohedge.com
Authored by Simon Black via SovereignMan.com,
"The ideal set up by the Party was something huge, terrible, and glittering... all thinking the same thoughts and shouting the same slogans, perpetually working, fighting, triumphing, persecuting - three hundred million people all with the same face."
That was a quote from George Orwell's seminal work 1984 - a masterpiece that describes life in a totalitarian state that demands blind obedience.
The 'Party' controlled everything - the economy, daily life, and even the truth. In Orwell's 1984 , "the heresy of heresies was common sense."
"Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered."
"And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right."
If you were ever caught committing a thoughtcrime -- dissenting from the Party for even an instant– then "your name was removed from the registers, every record of everything you had ever done was wiped out, your one-time existence was denied and then forgotten."
Now, our world obviously hasn't become quite as extreme as Orwell's dystopian vision. But Big Tech, Big Media, and Big Government certainly seem to be giving it their best effort.
70,000 thought criminals have already been purged from Twitter. Facebook and Reddit are feverishly removing user content. Apple, Google, and Amazon have banned entire apps and platforms.
Undoubtedly there is plenty of wacky content all over the Internet– misinformation, ignorance, rage, hate, violence, and just plain stupidity.
But these moves by the Big Tech companies aren't about violence. If they were, they would have deleted tens of thousands of accounts over the last few years– like the mostly peaceful BLM activist who Tweeted "white people may have to die".
Or the countless others who have advocated for violent uprisings against the police
Then, of course, there's the #assassinatetrump and #killtrump hashtags that has Twitter has allowed since at least 2016. Or the #killallmen hashtag that's allowed on Twitter and Instagram.
This is not about violence. It's about ideology. If you hold different beliefs than the 'Party', then you risk being canceled or 'de-platformed' by Big Tech.
Icons like Ron Paul– who spent years criticizing the current administration's monetary and national defense policies, and had nothing to do with the Capitol, have been suspended or locked out of their Facebook pages.
The hammer has dropped, and it is now obvious, beyond any doubt, that you better watch what you say– your livelihood, your social life, and your safety may just depend on it.
Or else, you will be purged, canceled, deleted from the Internet, denied payment processing by Visa, PayPal, and Stripe, and expelled from domain registrars like GoDaddy.
The message is clear: behave and think exactly as we tell you, or you will lose everything you have worked for, in the blink of an eye.
Sure, the 'Party' may give lip service to tolerance and unity. As long as you fall in line. Otherwise it's more rage and ridicule.
They act like you're a crazy person because you have completely legitimate questions and concerns– whether about Covid lockdowns, censorship, media misinformation, etc.
It's extraordinary that after so much deliberate misinformation and bias, the media still expects people to take them seriously. CNN seems to believe that think anyone who doubts their credibility is a 'conspiracy theorist.'
All of these trends are probably making a lot of people very nervous. Even scared. Despair has undoubtedly set in, much like in Winston Smith, the main character in Orwell's 1984.
So, for all the Winstons out there, the most important thing right now is to remain rational. As human beings we tend to make terrible decisions when we're scared, sad, or angry.
Have confidence in knowing that you have MUCH more control over your own life, livelihood, and future than they want to you believe.
But you absolutely will have to make some deliberate, potentially difficult decisions.
For example, if you're fed up with Big Tech, you can de-Google your life. No one is holding a gun to your head to have a Facebook account or use gmail. There are plenty of other options out there that we'll discuss in future letters.
More importantly, you might find that your hometown isn't safe anymore– especially if you live in a big city controlled by politicians intoxicated on their Covid powers.
It's really time to consider your immediate environment – if the local schools are brainwashing your kids, the dictatorial health officials shutting down your business, or nosy neighbors ready to turn you into the Gestapo for having family over for the holidays, then you might think about moving.
That might simply mean moving a few miles to a new county. Or a new state/province. Or potentially overseas. We'll help provide you with information on plenty of options.
It might also be time to reconsider some of your business infrastructure– to have backup web servers and payment processors, for example, if you have an online business.
It might be time to consider some new financial options as well, lest the banks jump on the band wagon and start 'canceling' accounts for heretics.
But that's the silver lining: we've never had more alternatives than now. Everything– technology platforms, financial institutions, and even our personal residence– it's all replaceable. All of it.
We have never had more control over our own privacy, data, livelihood, and environment as long as you have the willingness to take action.
2banana 2 hours ago remove link
Southern_Boy 1 hour ago (Edited) remove linkGAB and Brave browsers,
rumble and bitchute video,
Signal for voice and messaging,
Session for messaging,
Epoch times for news,
Fastmail and ProtonMail for email,
Duchduckgo and dogpile for search,
And use a paid VPN like private internet access
Leave the phone at home as often as you can and pay cash.
Fateful Destiny the Book 2 hours agoUse https, not http exclusively and don't use any web site that won't take it.
Fastmail is owned by Opera and its mail servers are located in the US, so it will not protect you from subpoenas.
The GAB browser is called Dissenter.
Consider TOR for infrequent forays into the "dark web".
Don't forget that BitCoin (BTC) is traceable.
Use a free version of CCLEANER after every browser session to erase as much of your tracks as you can.
Signal is a suspect because of its controlled ownership community
Using the same vendor for VPN as Anti-Virus is against IT security best practices
Paying for anything with your bank card is a red flag. Whoever you give your credit card to now has your identity, including ZeroHedge. Consider creating an LLC or other identity (preferably offshore) to fund a "burner" credit card or get a refillable debit card that you can fill up using cash. Then you can pay for VPN, email and paid content subscription services using an assumed name or LLC cover name. Assume that any payment to any tech service with your personal card will be used for identification purposes.
Pay with money orders if possible.
Change cellular phone companies every 1 to two years. Avoid data usage on cellular phone, consider using multiple WiFi hotspots for calls.
Consider 2-3 cheap used phones with cheap, pay as you go services and swap them regularly and randomly.
Do not have contact lists on your cell phone and reset to factory settings every 6 months to wipeout any data.
Reload from bare metal your laptop or desktop PC OS every 6 months.
Send random gibberish as an encrypted email every month or so and check if it's unusually slow to be received or if any vendor calls or asks you about anything. If they do, you are being tracked. There are no coincidences.
Make infrequent but regular phone calls with your multiple phones to law enforcement, federal "three letter agency" main switchboards, politicians and random people. Just tell anyone who answers it was a mistake and an improperly dialed number. If you get hold music, then stay on as long as you can because traffic analysis will not know if your actually talking to someone or not. If anyone is investigating or tracking you, your signals traffic (CDR) will automatically confound them and involve unwanted parties that will confound and scare the hounds.
If you are technically competent, consider getting any open source product you use and then compile it yourself after reviewing the source. Check for hidden open doors or reporting communications that aren't needed.
TheLastMan 1 hour ago1984 was prophetic for its time, but Fateful Destiny is the new dystopian benchmark novel for what is to come. Get yours now: https://amzn.to/3owM5Sh
OpenEyes 1 hour agoThe media filter is dominant. Control the narrative, control the world. The official narratives are perpetually meshed into daily consciousness. You must know it is literally spellbinding.
Similar dangers exist on alt media sites like zh. Beware the narrative. Look for at least three sides to every story - his side her side and maybe the truth
Misesmissesme 3 hours ago (Edited) remove linkAs much as possible, now is the time to start 'going grey' (if you haven't already started).
One example: I see a lot of people, understandably, saying to delete your facebook account, gmail account, twitter account etc. My recommendation, DO NOT do this. You don't think "they" aren't keeping track of those who are doing this, especially right now? By taking those actions you are pinning a big red flag on yourself.
No, my advice, just simply abandon your account. Stop commenting, posting, reading, etc.. simply walk away and stop using those accounts. It will take some time for 'them' to notice that your account is inactive, if they even do. And, an inactive account will likely be treated far less seriously than an actively deleted or cancelled account.
Keep your heads down and your family safe. Best wishes to all.
Cardinal Fang 2 hours ago (Edited)If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face -- forever. - George Orwell: " An Instruction Guide for 2021 "
Jim in MN 2 hours agoLike that scene in The Graduate where the guy leans in and tells Dustin Hoffman 'One word...Plastics' I am going to lean in and say 'One word...Wearables'
So Google just completes their acquisition of 'FitBit'...even though the Justice Dept has not finished their anti-trust investigation...
Anyhow, it's all coming clear. The next stage in our Orwellian nightmare is Covid will be the excuse to make you 'wear' a device to prove you are Covid free in some way. It will be your permission slip, plus they can spy on you in real time even if you leave your phone home, because you will not be able to leave your home without your 'Wearable'...
Then, in short order, you will get tired of your 'wearable' and beg for the chip implant.
You will beg to be vaccinated and chipped like sheep.
They literally can't help themselves.
Dr.Strangelove 2 hours agoAll new and improved ankle bracelets!
Only $299.99 and yes, it is required or else.
Batteries, monthly surveillance fees and random fines not included.
SullyLuther 1 hour ago remove linkI just watched 1984 and it is scary similar to the US political environment.
We are all Winston.
Workdove PREMIUM 1 hour agoHuxley will be proven correct. Z O G doesn't need a boot perpetually on our necks, when we are so passive and ignorant.
NIRP-BTFD 3 hours agoThey just need to make narcotics and psychedelics free and his vision of the future will be complete. Orwell was correct too. We got both.
seryanhoj 2 hours agoNow, our world obviously hasn't become quite as extreme as Orwell's dystopian vision. But Big Tech, Big Media, and Big Government certainly seem to be giving it their best effort.
This is just the beginning. The technocrats at the WEF are planning to control your thought with chips and brain interfaces. Now tell me what is neuralink that Musk is workign on? I'm sure DARPA has technologcy that can allready do this.
It's hard to believe USA is now headed to a society like the worst days of the USSR.
Back in the fifties , paranoid Senator McCarthy used similar extreme methods to cancel all those who he considered to by stealth communist sympathizers, or anyone who had been within 100 feet of one. Ironically his methods resembled those of Joseph Stalin.
He was finally discredited by an outstanding and brave news man who took the risk of persecution by denouncing senator McCarthy's methods as unamerican .
So this kind of thing is not without precedent in USA.
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www.moonofalabama.org
In The Transparency Project v. Department of Justice, et al.