Friday, March 29, 2019

The Imperial Collapse Playbook

Some people enjoy having the Big Picture laid out in front of them—the biggest possible—on what is happening in the world at large, and I am happy to oblige. The largest development of 2014 is, very broadly, this: the Anglo-imperialists are finally being forced out of Eurasia. How can we tell? Well, here is the Big Picture—the biggest I could find. I found it thanks to Nikolai Starikov and a recent article of his.

Now, let's first define our terms. By Anglo-imperialists I mean the combination of Britain and the United States. The latter took over for the former as it failed, turning it into a protectorate. Now the latter is failing too, and there are no new up-and-coming Anglo-imperialists to take over for it. But throughout this process their common playbook had remained the same: pseudoliberal pseudocapitalism for the insiders and military domination and economic exploitation for everyone else. Much more specifically, their playbook always called for a certain strategem to be executed whenever their plans to dominate and exploit any given country finally fail. On their way out, they do what they can to compromise and weaken the entity they leave behind, by inflicting a permanently oozing and festering political wound. “Poison all the wells” is the last thing on their pre-departure checklist.

You might also notice that the Anglo-imperialists have been getting very, very angry. They have been doing everything they can to vilify Russia, comparing Putin to Hitler and so on. This is because for them it's all about the money, and they didn't get what they paid for. What the Anglo-imperialists were paying for in corrupting Ukraine's politics was a ring-side seat at a fight between Ukraine and Russia. And what they got instead is a two-legged stool at a bar-room brawl between Eastern and Western Ukraine. Eastern Ukraine accounts for a quarter of the Ukrainian economy, produces most of the coal that had formerly kept the lights on in the rest of the country, and contains most of the industry that had made Ukraine an industrialized nation. Western Ukraine is centered on the unhappy little rump of Galicia, where the political soil is so fertile for growing neo-Nazis. So, paying billions to watch a bunch of Ukrainians fight each other inconclusively while Russia gets to play peacemaker is not what the Anglo-imperialists wanted, and they are absolutely livid about it. If they don't get the war they paid for PDQ, they will simply cut their losses, pack up and leave, and then do what they always do, which is pretend that the country in question doesn't exist, which, the way things are going in the Ukraine, it barely will.

Read the entire article

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Rendition Plane, Increased Police Presence Raise Fears for Assange

In four days, it will be a full year since WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange was severed from contact with the outside world by the government of Ecuador. 

Concern for Assange was heightened as the anniversary approaches after a U.S. Department of Justice jet previously used for the rendition of an accused Russian hacker landed in London on Tuesday and remained there for days, only to return to the U.S. on Saturday. The flight reportedly departed from Manassas, Virginia. 

WikiLeaks stated via Twitter regarding the flight: “Note that the Edward Snowden DoJ grab team plane N977GA also departed from Manassas, Virginia.” 

WikiLeaks tweeted regarding the flight: “What is US Department of Justice jet ‘N996GA’ doing in London? The jet arrived on Tuesday from DC and was last noted rendering alleged Russian hacker Yevgeniy Nikulin to the US last year from the Czech Republic, causing a diplomatic incident with Russia.” 

Assange’s Twitter account, run by members of his legal team, also tweeted: “Note that the Edward Snowden DoJ grab team plane N977GA also departed from Manassas, Virginia.”

Read the entire article

Monday, March 25, 2019

It's official: Russiagate is this generation's WMD

Nobody wants to hear this, but news that Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller is headed home without issuing new charges is a death-blow for the reputation of the American news media.

As has long been rumored, the former FBI chief’s independent probe will result in multiple indictments and convictions, but no “presidency-wrecking” conspiracy charges, or anything that would meet the layman’s definition of “collusion” with Russia.

With the caveat that even this news might somehow turn out to be botched, the key detail in the many stories about the end of the Mueller investigation was best expressed by the New York Times:

A senior Justice Department official said that Mr. Mueller would not recommend new indictments.

The Times tried to soften the emotional blow for the millions of Americans trained in these years to place hopes for the overturn of the Trump presidency in Mueller. Nobody even pretended it was supposed to be a fact-finding mission, instead of an act of faith.

Read the entire article

Thursday, March 21, 2019

European Parliamentary Bloc Suspends Fidesz As Hungary's Feud With Brussels Deepens

With  polls projecting large gains for eurosceptic parties from Italy to Central and Eastern Europe (most notably Hungary and Poland) in the upcoming European Parliamentary Election, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his Fidesz Party on Wednesday were officially suspended from the largest center-right group in the EU Parliament - setting the stage for a complete break between the center-right and the anti-establishment eurosceptics.

The suspension is the culmination of a long-running feud between Orban and Manfred Weber, the group's candidate to succeed Jean-Claude Juncker as the head of the European Commission. Participating MEPs voted almost unanimously in favor of a suspension.

Details of the suspension leaked ahead of the vote. It will involve Fidesz losing all participatory rights in the group while the EPP prepares a final report on Orban's alleged transgressions.

Fidesz aroused the anger of its fellow EPP members, Weber in particular, with anti-EU and anti-Soros billboard campaigns, which Fidesz adopted in the run-up to its most recent landslide electoral victory. Orban's comments calling Germany's Christian Democrats, fellow coalition members, "useful idiots" for their left-wing opponents also angered the bloc (though Orban apologized for that comment), as have Hungary's passage of laws to crack down on foreign NGOs, which helped push the Soros-founded Central European University, as well as Soros' Open Society Foundation, out of the country. The EPP also accused Fidesz of fear-mongering and peddling false narratives for the party's own political ends.

Read the entire article

Tuesday, March 19, 2019

John McCain’s Disastrous Militaristic Legacy

When Sen. John McCain passed away in August, he was lauded far and wide for his long career of public service. Rep. John Lewis, the famous civil-rights activist, hailed McCain as a “warrior for peace.” In reality, McCain embodied a toxic mix of moralism and militarism that worked out disastrously for America and the world.

In his funeral eulogies, McCain was portrayed as a hero and a visionary. But early in his congressional career, he barely avoided indictment as part of the Keating Five Savings and Loan bribery scandal that cost taxpayers billions of dollars. McCain repaired his image by becoming a champion of campaign-finance reform and new restrictions on political contributions. In 2002, Congress enacted the McCain-Feingold Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, which proved more effective at suppressing criticism than at reforming political life. The McCain-Feingold Act authorized harsh penalties for private citizens who accused their rulers of abusing their power. It prohibited most issue ads by private groups on television or radio in the months before a presidential or congressional election. In 2003, the Supreme Court (by a 5-4 margin) upheld the new law in response to activities with “a significant risk of actual and apparent corruption.” Justice Antonin Scalia noted in a dissent to the decision upholding the law, that the McCain-Feingold act “cuts to the heart of what the First Amendment is meant to protect: the right to criticize the government.” But that was fine with McCain, since he declared that if he had the power, he would outlaw all negative political ads. He declared, “I detest the negative advertising. I think it is one of the worst things that has ever happened in American politics.” Banning negative ads but not political lies was McCain’s notion of a level playing field.

When he was awarded the Liberty Medal in October 2017 at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Senator McCain declared,

“We live in a land made of ideals…. We are the custodians of those ideals at home, and their champion abroad. We have done great good in the world.”

He warned that it would be “unpatriotic” to “abandon the ideals we have advanced around the globe.” But idealism has fared better in political speeches than in the lives of American soldiers or supposed foreign beneficiaries.

Read the entire article

Friday, March 15, 2019

Whistleblowers Say NSA Still Spies On American Phones In Hidden Program

Meanwhile, the bulk of the NSA’s surveillance and “offensive” information warfare capabilities remain completely unknown...

On Monday 4th, the New York Times reported that the National Security Agency has “quietly” shut down a controversial phone records surveillance program revealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden in 2013.

The claim was made by a senior Republican congressional aide who told the newspaper that the Trump administration had stopped using the program, which analyses the domestic call and text logs of American citizens, due to technical problems.

On Twitter Snowden hailed the news as a “victory”, while Intercept journalist Glen Greenwald, who broke the Snowden story to international acclaim, took the story at face value. Neither of them raised the obvious question  -  is the “shut down” of this program merely a smokescreen to continue spying on American phones under new or different secretive programs?

Read the entire article

Wednesday, March 13, 2019

More Power to You Miss Omar

Saying anything negative about Israel has long been the third rail of US politics and media. Israel is our nation’s most sacred cow. Any questioning of its behavior brings furious charges of anti-Semitism and professional oblivion.

I keep in my bookcase a cautionary book, ‘They Dared Speak Out’ written by US senators and congressmen who all lost their positions after rebuking Israel for its mistreatment of Palestinians or daring to suggest that Israel had far too much influence in the US.

Journalists learn this first commandment very early. Criticize, or even question, Israel at your own peril. Until recently, we journalists were not even allowed to write there was an ‘Israel lobby.’ It was widely considered Washington’s most powerful lobby group but, until lately, mentioning its name was seriously verboten.

Now, young Democratic stars Tulsi Gabbard, Kamala Harris, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and a feisty congresswoman from Minnesota, Ilhan Omar, have suddenly broken the taboo and said what dared not be said: there is too much rightwing Israeli influence and there must be justice for Palestine.

Read the entire article

Monday, March 11, 2019

Israel Lobby Rebuts Omar’s Claims About Its Immense Influence By Exerting Its Immense Influence

In response to criticisms made by Congresswoman Ilhan Omar that US political leaders have too much allegiance to Israel and its lobbying groups, House Democrats have put forward an entire House resolution in accordance with demands made by AIPAC and the Anti-Defamation League.

“The backlash [over Omar’s comments] continued on Monday, as the Anti-Defamation League wrote a letter to Pelosi calling for a House resolution to specifically reject what the organization calls Omar’s ‘latest slur,'” Politico reports. “‘We urge you and your colleagues to send the unambiguous message that the United States Congress is no place for hate,’ the group’s CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt, wrote in a letter.”

“The charge of dual loyalty not only raises the ominous specter of classic anti-Semitism, but it is also deeply insulting to the millions upon millions of patriotic Americans, Jewish and non-Jewish, who stand by our democratic ally, Israel,” tweeted the Israel lobbying group AIPAC on Friday in response to Omar’s comments.

“I hope @AIPAC isn’t too angry that it took Democratic House leaders almost 48 whole hours to do what they’re told to condemn their own member and will instead be understanding that it was a weekend and that’s what caused the delay,” snarked journalist Glenn Greenwald in response to the news of the House resolution.

Read the entire article

Thursday, March 7, 2019

Former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke Endorses Ilhan Omar, “Most Important Member of the US Congress!”

David Duke posted a photo of Ilhan Omar to his Twitter account on Thursday with a “heart eyes emoji,” showing his love for her after her recent comments disparaging Jews and Israel.

“By Defiance to Z.O.G. [Zionist Occupation Government] Ilhan Omar is NOW the most important Member of the US Congress!” David Duke said in a Twitter caption linking to his blog post.

David Duke praised Ilhan Omar on his podcast/blog for being the “one person in Congress willing to notice AIPAC and the “dual” loyalty of many members of Congress.”

Read the entire article

Tuesday, March 5, 2019

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Unleashes USMCA Coalition for North American Integration

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a corporate member of the world-government-promoting Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), has launched a massive new lobbying effort called the USMCA Coalition to garner congressional and public support for the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement integration scheme.

“Over the coming weeks and months, the USMCA Coalition will make the case for expeditious passage of the agreement to members of Congress, and it will work to educate the American public about the benefits of the new deal,” the Chamber of Commerce stated in its February 26 press release announcing the launch of the new coalition. “The effort will harness the advocacy strength of a broad membership of companies, trade associations, and chambers of commerce, including many that operate outside of Washington, D.C.”

The USMCA Coalition is composed over “200 companies and associations representing farmers and ranchers, manufacturers, service providers, and technology companies” led by the Chamber of Commerce. However, on the USMCA Coalition’s website only 84 “Company Members” were listed. Of those 84 company members listed, the following 14 are also corporate members of the CFR:

• Amgen, Inc.

• AT&T

• Chubb Limited

• Citigroup (Citi)

• General Electric

• Google

• IBM Corporation 

• Johnson & Johnson

• JPMorgan Chase & Co.

• Mastercard

• MetLife

• Microsoft

• Pfizer Inc.

• Toyota Motor Company

Read the entire article

Monday, March 4, 2019