The State of Neighborliness
Human relations before and after COVID-19.
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There are Hungry People
Saloua Raouda Choucair (Lebanon), Chores, 1948.
The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) reports that, every minute, a child is pushed into hunger in fifteen countries most ravaged by the global food crisis. Twelve of these fifteen countries are in Africa (from Burkina Faso to Sudan), one is in the Caribbean (Haiti), and two are in Asia (Afghanistan and Yemen). Wars without end have degraded the ability of the state institutions in these countries to manage cascading crises of debt and unemployment, inflation and poverty. …
As American as Apple Pie?
In 1995, Umberto Eco assessed that ‘Ur-Fascism derives from individual or social frustration. That is why one of the most typical features of the historical fascism was the appeal to a frustrated middle class, a class suffering from an economic crisis or feelings of political humiliation, and frightened by the pressure of lower social groups. In our time, when the old ‘proletarians’ are becoming petty bourgeois (and the lumpen are largely excluded from the political scene), the fascism of tomorrow will find its audience in this new majority.’ (source)
For whom is this Fourth of …
US Marine Press Takes on Hothouse Earth
America loves its military. It should because it’s the most expensive defense force of all time. $778B was allocated for defense spending in 2022. China comes in a distant second at $229B.
All of which prompts a provocative question: What if the Marine Corps publishes a landmark study that claims recipients of the US government defense budget are collectively responsible for accelerating the danger of climate change to very dangerous levels, in fact, to unlivable levels?
As of June 2022, that’s precisely what’s happened.
The world’s militaries, intelligence agencies, foreign affairs strategies, and think tanks are unwittingly advancing the hyperthreat, which is an …
Terms of Condescension: The Language of Australia’s “Pacific Family”
When will this nonsense on familial connection between Australia and the Pacific end? In 2018, Australia’s then Pentecostal Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, drew upon a term that his predecessors had not. On November 8 that year, he announced that Australia’s engagement with the region would be taken to another level, launching a “new chapter in relations with our Pacific family.”
In an address to Asialink prior to attending the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Osaka, Morrison was again found talking about the Indo-Pacific, which “embraces our Pacific family with whom we have special relationships and duties, our close neighbours, our …
Open Letter to the BBC: Please Stop Your Disinformation Campaign on Nicaragua
The June 23 BBC article by Bernd Debusmann, “US Immigration: They’d rather die than return to Nicaragua,” confirms that the corporate media consistently make every article on Nicaragua an attack on its Sandinista Government.
Four Nicaraguans who have recently migrated to the US from the department of Esteli, who include two peasants, and two housewives confirm they are Sandinistas and left their country because they heard from others that U.S. immigration (ICE) is actually helping Nicaraguans stay in the US to work.
Once they crossed into the US, they turned themselves in and actually were flown or sent by bus to …
Turkey Once More Betrays the East
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shakes hands with NTO Secretary Jens Stoltenberg, during the NATO Conference in Madrid on 28 June 2022. A handshake of betrayal, as Turkey accepted Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO membership.
One wonders what forces have influenced Erdogan to betray Russia in particular and the East in general, when accepting NATO membership of the two Nordic countries, against the interests of Russia.
Why would Turkey want to dance on two fiestas, the western lying, deceiving and collapsing NATO / G7+ wannabe empire, and the progressive, growing and peace seeking fast developing East, or better the Greater Global South?
Erdogan is …
Palestinians “Are Not Animals in a Zoo”: On Kanafani and the Need to Redefine the Role of the “Victim Intellectual”
(Dedicated to the memory of Ghassan Kanafani, an iconic Palestinian leader and engaged intellectual who was assassinated by the Israeli Mossad on July 8, 1972)
Years before the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, US media introduced many new characters, promoting them as ‘experts’ who helped ratchet up US propaganda, ultimately allowing the US government to secure enough popular support for the war.
Though enthusiasm for war began dwindling in later years, the invasion of Iraq had begun with a relatively strong popular mandate that allowed US President George W Bush to claim the role of liberator of Iraq, the fighter of ‘terrorism’ and the champion of US global interests. According to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll conducted on March 24, 2003 – a …
Convenient Omissions: The Ukraine-EU Candidacy Show
Instances of sympathy are rarely excuses to throw out the rule book. In the case of the European Union, throwing out the rule book about admission has tended to be a feature of enlargement. Credentials of candidate states have been, when needed, boosted or cooked for the occasion. Others, whatever the progress, have been ignored. For a collective that really ought to tidy the stables before admitting more occupants, the enthusiastic glee with which Ukraine’s symbolic candidacy has greeted stayed true to form.
The Ukraine War has done away with the more troubling facts of European integration and its process. Everything …
Russia Challenges Western Accusations at UN Security Council
Caleb Maupin reports on the recent allegation of Russian missile targeting an shopping center in Ukraine, dismissed by Russia at the United Nations.
Severodonetsk: Deciphering News of the War in Ukraine
Unless the Ukrainians have a decisive victory or a Russian advance is too great to hide, news of the war follows a pattern of headlines:
Russians shell dozens of Ukrainian towns in the Donbas
Casualties rise as Russia makes incremental gains in east
From the New York Times “The ruined industrial city in eastern Ukraine fell after months of Russian bombardment and weeks of urban combat. Like Mariupol, it became emblematic of the savagery of the war.”
Read similar articles and learn the content rarely follows the headline. Search Google and try to find images of a …
Liberal Racism Rears Its Ugly Head (Again)
Using phrases like “American Taliban” or invoking the term “sharia law” to attack the ruling of Christians on the court is all the rage after the recent Roe v. Wade decision. Once again, we have people—primarily liberal white people—engaging in racist, Islamophobic tropes. Muslim activists, scholars, and researchers have repeatedly pointed out this racism and Islamophobia for years, apparently to no avail. This needs to stop.
Islam isn’t the problem. It’s Christianity. The six judges who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade aren’t Muslim. They’re Christian. All are Catholic, although Neil Gorsuch …
Declare Your Independence from Tyranny, America
Imagine living in a country where armed soldiers crash through doors to arrest and imprison citizens merely for criticizing government officials.
Imagine that in this very same country, you’re watched all the time, and if you look even a little bit suspicious, the police stop and frisk you or pull you over to search you on the off chance you’re doing something illegal.
Keep in mind that if you have a firearm of any kind (or anything that resembled a firearm) while in this country, it may get you arrested and, in some …
Overruling Roe v Wade: The International Dimension
American exceptionalism can be a dreary thing, and no more so than each time a US president promotes the country’s imperial credentials and continued prowess. But in matters of literacy, shared wealth, and health care, the US has been outpaced by other states less inclined towards remorseless social Darwinism.
The overruling of Roe v Wade by the US Supreme Court in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization has created a sense that those outside the US will somehow draw inspiration from the example of the sacred foetus and the diminished autonomy of its carrier.
MSI Reproductive Choices, a group furnishing …
CO2 Removal?
Last year, worldwide energy-related CO2 topped 36B tons. That’s a new world record.
“Carbon dioxide removal is essential to achieve net zero [greenhouse-gas emissions],” Diána Ürge-Vorsatz, vice-chair of the working group that produced the nearly 3,000-page UN climate panel report.
“Removing the greenhouse gas from the air will likely be necessary, along with radical emissions cuts, to keep temperatures from rising 2°C.”
According to the above-mentioned MIT report, we are now paying the price for long delays in addressing global warming despite decades of warnings. The levels …
Nazi Germany, the Holy Grail and how the occult still shapes our world
Stop underestimating the powers that shouldn't be...
This article is an edited version of something I wrote for a 2005 anthology called Underground: The Disinformation Guide to Ancient Civilizations, Astonishing Archaeology, and Hidden History)
With rare exceptions, humans are not driven to commit atrocities. With rare exceptions, humans can be driven to commit atrocities.
“People often are conscripted into armies, but sometimes they enlist with gusto,” explains cognitive psychologist, Steven Pinker. “Jingoism,” Pinker adds, “is alarmingly easy to evoke.”
“I have come to believe that men kill in war because they do not know their real …
Is Noam Chomsky a Qualified Military Analyst?
Renowned progressive intellectual Noam Chomsky, author of over a 100 books, was recently interviewed by AcTVism. The entire interview is interesting, but the focus here is on the first 20 minutes where the situation in Ukraine is discussed.
Chomsky lays out the US directive to NATO in the proxy war: “The war must continue until Russia is severely harmed.”
The professor scoffs at Russian military might. He says that western European countries “are gloating over the fact that the Russia military has demonstrated to be a paper tiger, couldn’t even conquer a couple of cities a couple of kilometers from the border defended mostly …
Oakland Protest Against Barbara Lee’s Vote for $40 billion to fund War in Ukraine
On June 23, 2022 a protest was held outside the offices of Oakland’s rep, Barbara Lee, as a result of her voting in support of the US providing 40 billion to Ukraine for its ongoing war with Russia. For additional information see this John V. Walsh article published at DV on June 18, 2022. Here is a video of the protest:
The First Attack on the Independents: Albanese Hobbles the Crossbench
It did not take long for the new Australian Labor government to flex its muscle foolishly in response to the large crossbench of independents and small party members of Parliament. Despite promising a new age of transparency and accountability after the election of May 21, one of the first notable acts of the Albanese government was to attack the very people who gave voice to that movement. Dangerously, old party rule, however slim, is again found boneheaded and wanting.
The decision, delivered with an arrogant casualness before another international sojourn by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, centred on the staffing arrangements for …
Covid Deaths in the US (over 1 million) and China (about 5000)
“History Should Judge Us” – and it will
In May and June of 2022 two milestones were passed in the world’s battle with Covid and were widely noted in the press, one in the US and one in China. They invite a comparison between the two countries and their approach to combatting Covid-19.
The first milestone was passed on May 12 when the United States registered over 1 million total deaths (1,008,377 as of June 19, 2022, when this is written) due to Covid, the highest of any country in the world. Web MD expressed its sentiment in a piece headlined: “US Covid …
Paradigm for Peace Applied to Ukraine: Proposal for a Peaceful Pathway Forward (Part 3)
The Roots of Violence: Needs for Power and Freedom
Part 3A: Fears of US Political Interference and Coups (the 9/11 Coup of Allende)
Part 3B: PNAC’s American Empire. Aggressive US Drives for Power and Freedom.
Part 3C: National Endowment for “Democracy”: A Second CIA
• Read the entire essay at Countercurrents.
Troops on the Ground Prove Canada is at War with Russia
Canada is at war with Russia. But the government doesn’t want to talk about it.
On Saturday the New York Times reported that Canadian special forces are part of a NATO network providing weapons and training to Ukrainian forces. The elite troops are also in the country gathering intelligence on Russian operations.
The Department of National Defence refused Ottawa Citizen military reporter David Pugliese’s request for comment on the US paper’s revelations. But in late January Global News and CTV reported that the usually highly secretive special forces were sent to Ukraine. (Canadian special forces have been dispatched secretly …
How Many Concussions from Capitalists Can Americans Take?
America… just a nation of two hundred million used car salesmen with all the money we need to buy guns and no qualms about killing anybody else in the world who tries to make us uncomfortable.
— Hunter S. Thompson, “September,” Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ’72, p. 413.
Imagine, just how programmed are we, and this is it for an excuse?
So, the electricity will be shaky here, there, and everywhere. The excuse is, of course, supply chain. Ports …
Blind to Addiction
Sometimes looking in the mirror can cause a rude awakening.
Stalled Out on the Road to Damascus, Syria
the LAST of the 9/11-Sprung Regime Change Wars?
The pump don’t work ’cause the vandals took the handles
— Bob Dylan, “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” 1965
A lot of folks, including this writer, were surprised to learn in the Spring of 2018 that the United States had a significant troop presence on Syrian soil. Of course, America had shot some “Home of the Brave!” cruise missiles at a Syrian airfield only the Arab Spring before (April 7, 2017), marking the first time in the 6-year old conflict that the USA had officially attacked Syria. The administration of Donald Trumpistan was quite new at the time, and the Corporate Press that was …
“Booming” Economy Leaves Millions Behind: Part Ten
The top-down assault on living and working standards continues unabated worldwide. This is coupled with the growing pressure on everyone to fend-for-themselves like animals, which is engendering greater insecurity and instability with each passing month. Even worse, no meaningful and lasting relief is on the way, only more suffering. Major corporations, however, are having a field day.
To add insult to injury, the ruling elite are becoming more irrational and putting forward the destruction of the economy as the way out of the crisis, while also openly admitting that they have no idea what to do. They publicly say things like …
Youth Working in the Countryside | News on China No. 104
This week’s News on China in 2 minutes.
• US law banning Xinjiang imports
• China’s first super aircraft carrier
• Legendary composer Qiao Yu passes away
• Youth working in the countryside
The Comfort of Artificiality
What happens when imitation as the highest form of flattery is combined with complete artificiality as comfort?
The Brutality of “Bulldozer Justice” in India
It looks all too eerily similar as a method: the expulsion of individuals from their home, the demolition of said home and the punishing of entire families. All excused by a harsh reading of local regulations. But this method, used by Israeli authorities for years against vulnerable Palestinians, has become a weapon of choice for the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat.
On June 12, Muslim activist Javed Mohammed, a member of the Welfare Party of India, tasted such retributive justice in witnessing the family home demolished by the Prayagraj Development Authority (PDA). The …
The Continuing Damages from Corporate-Managed so-called Free Trade
The great progressive Harvard economist and prolific best-selling author, John Kenneth Galbraith, wrote that “Ideas may be superior to vested interest. They are also very often the children of vested interest.” I wished he had written that assertion before I took Economic 101 at Princeton. One of the vested ideas taught as dogma then was the comparative advantage theory developed by the early 19th-century British economist, David Ricardo. He gave the example of trading Portuguese wine for British textiles with both countries coming out winners due to their superior efficiencies in producing their native products.
Ricardo’s theory drove policy and political …