All western mass media outlets are now shrieking about the story The New York Times first reported, citing zero evidence and naming zero sources, claiming intelligence says Russia paid out bounties to Taliban-linked fighters in Afghanistan for attacking the occupying forces of the US and its allies in Afghanistan. As of this writing, and probably forevermore, there have still been zero intelligence sources named and zero evidence provided for this claim.
As we discussed yesterday, the only correct response to unsubstantiated claims by anonymous spooks in a post-Iraq invasion world is to assume that they are lying until you’ve been provided with a mountain of hard, independently verifiable evidence to the contrary. The fact that The New York Times instead chose to uncritically parrot these evidence-free claims made by operatives within intelligence agencies with a known track record of lying about exactly these things is nothing short of journalistic malpractice. The fact that western media outlets are now unanimously regurgitating these still 100 percent baseless assertions is nothing short of state propaganda.
The consensus-manufacturing, Overton window-shrinking western propaganda apparatus has been in full swing with mass media outlets claiming on literally no basis whatsoever that they have confirmed one another’s “great reporting” on this completely unsubstantiated story.
We have confirmed the @nytimes scoop: A Russian military spy unit offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants to attack coalition forces in Afghanistan. From @nakashimae @missy_ryan me and @shaneharris https://t.co/R9tQf89L7G
— John Hudson (@John_Hudson) June 27, 2020
“The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post have confirmed our reporting,” the NYT story’s co-author Charlie Savage tweeted hours ago.
“We have confirmed the New York Times’ scoop: A Russian military spy unit offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants to attack coalition forces in Afghanistan,” tweeted The Washington Post‘s John Hudson.
“We matched The New York Times’ great reporting on how US intel has assessed that Russians paid Taliban to target US, coalition forces in Afg which is a pretty stunning development,” tweeted Wall Street Journal’s Gordon Lubold.
All three of these men are lying.
John Hudson’s claim that the Washington Post article he co-authored “confirmed the New York Times’ scoop” twice uses the words “if confirmed” with regard to his central claim, saying “Russian involvement in operations targeting Americans, if confirmed,” and “The attempt to stoke violence against Americans, if confirmed“. This is of course an acknowledgement that these things have not, in fact, been confirmed.
The Wall Street Journal article co-authored by Gordon Lubold cites only anonymous “people”, who we have no reason to believe are different people than NYT’s sources, repeating the same unsubstantiated assertions about an intelligence report. The article cites no evidence that Lubold’s “stunning development” actually occurred beyond “people familiar with the report said” and “a person familiar with it said“.
The fact that both Hudson and Lubold were lying about having confirmed the New York Times‘ reporting means that Savage was also lying when he said they did. When they say the report has been “confirmed”, what they really mean is that it has been agreed upon. All the three of them actually did was use their profoundly influential outlets to uncritically parrot something nameless spooks want the public to believe, which is the same as just publishing a CIA press release free of charge. It is unprincipled stenography for opaque and unaccountable intelligence agencies, and it is disgusting.
"The Washington Post and the WSJ were called up by the same unnamed 'officials' as we were.
They were told the same evidence free fairytale.
Their stenographers, like ours, wrote it dutifully down.
All of us proudly published it!"#confirmation https://t.co/bEZ2OYgsxb— Moon of Alabama (@MoonofA) June 27, 2020
None of this should be happening. The New York Times has admitted itself that it was wrong for uncritically parroting the unsubstantiated spook claims which led to the Iraq invasion, as has The Washington Post. There is no reason to believe Taliban fighters would require any bounty to attack an illegitimate occupying force. The Russian government has denied these allegations. The Taliban has denied these allegations. The Trump administration has denied that the president or the vice president had any knowledge of the spook report in question, denouncing the central allegation that liberals who are promoting this story have been fixated on.
Yet this story is being magically transmuted into an established fact, despite its being based on literally zero factual evidence.
Outlets like CNN are running the story with the headline “Russia offered bounties to Afghan militants to kill US troops“, deceitfully presenting this as a verified fact. Such dishonest headlines are joined by UK outlets like The Guardian who informs headline-skimmers that “Russia offered bounty to kill UK soldiers“, and the Murdoch-owned Sky News which went with “Russia paid Taliban fighters to attack British troops in Afghanistan” after “confirming” the story with anonymous British spooks.
Western propagandists are turning this completely empty story into the mainstream consensus, not with facts, not with evidence, and certainly not with journalism, but with sheer brute force of narrative control. And now you’ve got Joe Biden once again attacking Trump for being insufficiently warlike, this time because “he failed to sanction or impose any kind of consequences on Russia for this egregious violation of international law”.
You’ve also got former George W Bush lackey Richard Haas promoting “a proportionate response” to these baseless allegations.
Russia is carrying out covert wars vs US troops in Afghanistan and our democracy here at home. A proportionate response would increase the costs to Russia of its military presence in Ukraine & Syria and, using sanctions & cyber, to challenge Putin at home. https://t.co/c0Mc7sLriO
— Richard N. Haass (@RichardHaass) June 27, 2020
“Russia is carrying out covert wars vs US troops in Afghanistan and our democracy here at home,” Haas tweeted with a link to the New York Times story. “A proportionate response would increase the costs to Russia of its military presence in Ukraine and Syria and, using sanctions and cyber, to challenge Putin at home.”
Haas is the president of the Council on Foreign Relations, a wildly influential think tank with its fingers in most major US news outlets.
And indeed, the unified campaign to shove this story down people’s throats in stark defiance of everything one learns in journalism school does appear to be geared toward advancing pre-existing foreign policy agendas which have nothing to do with any concern for the safety of US troops. Analysts have pointed out that this new development arises just in time to sabotage the last of the nuclear treaties between the US and Russia, the scaling down of US military presence in Afghanistan, and, as Haas already openly admitted, any possibility of peace in Syria.
“This story is published just in time to sabotage US-Russia arms control talks,” Antiwar‘s Dave DeCamp noted on Twitter. “As the US is preparing for a new arms race — and possibly even live nuclear tests — the New York Times provides a great excuse to let the New START lapse, making the world a much more dangerous place. Russiagate has provided the cover for Trump to pull out of arms control agreements. First the INF, then the Open Skies, and now possibly the New START. Any talks or negotiations with Russia are discouraged in this atmosphere, and this Times story will make things even worse.”
“US ‘intelligence’ agencies (ie, organized crime networks run by the state) want to sabotage the (admittedly very inadequate) peace talks in Afghanistan,” tweeted journalist Ben Norton. “So they get best of both worlds: blame the Russian bogeyman, fueling the new cold war, while prolonging the military occupation. It’s not a coincidence these dubious Western intelligence agency claims about Russia came just days after a breakthrough in peace talks. Afghanistan’s geostrategic location (and trillions worth of minerals) is too important to them.”
We're seeing in real time how Western intelligence agencies are derailing peace talks aimed at ending the nearly 20-year war in Afghanistan.
First anonymous US spies spread this rumor. Now anonymous European spies are doing the same. And the corporate media eats it up like candy https://t.co/l6Rze37MZx
— Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) June 27, 2020
All parties involved in spreading this malignant psyop are absolutely vile, but a special disdain should be reserved for the media class who have been entrusted by the public with the essential task of creating an informed populace and holding power to account. How much of an unprincipled whore do you have to be to call yourself a journalist and uncritically parrot the completely unsubstantiated assertions of spooks while protecting their anonymity? How much work did these empire fluffers put into killing off every last shred of their dignity? It boggles the mind.
It really is funny how the most influential news outlets in the western world will uncritically parrot whatever they’re told to say by the most powerful and depraved intelligence agencies on the planet, and then turn around and tell you without a hint of self-awareness that Russia and China are bad because they have state media.
Sometimes all you can do is laugh.
_________________
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89 responses to “This Russia-Afghanistan Story Is Western Propaganda At Its Most Vile”
The New York Times has become no more than a shitty supermarket tabloid – this is only the latest in a long string of ‘scoops’ they did not research in the slightest, just uncritically printing whatever they were ‘leaked’. Several television anchors I can think of resigned over stories they reported which were later revealed to be untrue, and they were scammed. But the New York Times appears not to care, maybe even thinks this enhances its reputation as the Strong Right Arm of the Democratic Party.
But you’re right to laugh, because it just doesn’t matter. Russia and the United States are never going to have friendly relations again so long as we are alive. You can’t ruin the relationship any worse than the utter ruin it is now, and the Russians barely react any more to America’s gaga idiocy. For what it’s worth, the NSA reported the ‘Bounties’ story as uncorroborated and inconsistent with their own knowledge of the situation and principals involved. But the inbreeders of the British press not only reported a GRU unit paid bounties for dead Yanks, they claimed it was the same GRU unit that did the Skripals, going for a twofer in their delightful bucktoothed eejit way. I can’t think of any more effective way to label a story a lie than to link it to the incredible smorgasbord of bullshit the Spripal story is, although I am sure that was not their intent.
“They don’t even bother making an argument.”
https://youtu.be/CtKMUe-aQTg
Caitlin Johnstone wrote:
> All western mass media outlets are now shrieking about the story The New York Times first reported, citing zero evidence and naming zero sources . . .
> None of this should be happening. The New York Times has admitted itself that it was wrong for uncritically parroting the unsubstantiated spook claims which led to the Iraq invasion, as has The Washington Post.
.
Yes, for example mass media’s often repeated mantra “an increasingly aggressive Russia” in fact means “an increasingly aggressive US/NATO”.
.
In the same way, “Iraq possesses weapons of mass destruction” meant “the US possesses weapons of mass destruction”.
.
“Syria is a state sponsor of terrorism” means “the US is a state sponsor of terrorism”.
.
“Iran poses a threat to the US” means “the US poses a threat to Iran”.
.
“Russia meddled in the US election” means “the US meddled in the Russian and many other countries’ elections”.
.
And now, “Russia paid the Taliban to fight the US in Afghanistan” in reality means “the US armed and paid al-Qaeda to fight Russia in Afghanistan during CIA’s Operation Cyclone”.
.
And so on and on…
.
“Accuse the other side of that which you are guilty.”
— Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Minister of Propaganda (attributed)
BREAKING NEWS! I can confirm the existence of Bigfoot, if confirmed!
A new Russian spook story ahead of election season. It’s like they only have 3 balls to pull out of the hopper when they want to invent some new controversy for Trump. And 2 of the balls say ‘Russia’.
You’d think ‘an agent of Putin’ would know what he’s up to. But you’d also think that grown adults wouldn’t be this fucking stupid and gullible. And you’d be wrong.
I call this the attempt to create a “Russian 9-11”. The American public, most of whom don’t vote, was not very taken by cartoonish Facebook postings and mean tweets. The Deep State need something akin to what happened to 9-11 which engage the entire nation and which eventually lead to the support of the Iraqi invasion. Well, here it is “Russians killing Americans”. If this one does not hold, then expect false flag operations to get to a “Russian 9-11” which sticks.
This phony claim is probably enough right now to justify any counter action including the use of military force such as setting up a no-fly zone in Syria. For sure it will be used to justify such actions as kicking Russia off SWIFT.
Regardless this is a very dangerous, maybe the most dangerous step toward an outright war with Russia if Biden gets elected. I will not vote for either candidate, but the chances for a full outright war with Russia increase dramatically, I mean dramatically, if Biden wins.
Just grand! This idiocy now has Dopey Joe Biden making threats against Russia, as he follows in the footsteps of arch-Russia haters Barack Obomber and Killery Clinton. I can hardly believe that the masterminds of a presidential campaign would want their candidate to be talking up further escalations in the conflict they have ginned up with Russia. But then I am a rational person who sees the benefits of continuing to live and breathe rather than potentially dying in a world war instigated by my own country’s leaders. Why such unhinged vitriol should sell to the American people is beyond me. But there seems no question about the Democratic Party being implacably anti-Russian. Mindless Russophobia is one of the pillars of its political orthodoxy, so how can you believe its phony calls for racial harmony in other arenas?
———————
Nevertheless, these are Dopey Joe’s words on the matter:
“Not only has he failed to sanction and impose any kind of consequences on Russia for this egregious violation of international law, Donald Trump has continued his embarrassing campaign of deference and debasing himself before Vladimir Putin,” the former vice president said.
He said Americans who serve in the military put their life on the line. “But they should never, never, never ever face a threat like this with their commander in chief turning a blind eye to a foreign power putting a bounty on their heads,” he said.
“I’m quite frankly outraged by the report,” Biden said. He promised that if he is elected, “Putin will be confronted and we’ll impose serious costs on Russia.”
—————————
Notice, not a shred of doubt in Dopey Joe’s mind about the veracity of such outrageous claims in the absence of even a jot or tiddle of evidence coupled with his vehement determination to once again punish Russia for imaginary offenses. One of these days Putin is going to have enough of the insulting American insults and lay down a “come at me bro” on his latest American provocateur. That’s when every human on the planet will come to regret America’s long succession of imbeciles as head of state.
It’s just another hoax of the Deep State and its media handlers. It’s no incidence that it came up with the publication of John Bolton’s pamphlet. The US intelligence agencies are criminal organizations, which are absolutely untrustworthy.
My support goes to Russia, Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, Iraq and North Korea including others being bullied by US & their stinking criminal Allies. For which AUSTRALIA is included. The Political class in our Parliament are nothing more than low life COWARDLY scum, like the DISGUSTING BITCH known as Queen Of The Commonwealth, hiding in her corrupt and stinking Palace, that should have been burnt fully to the ground by her stupid brainwashed subjects many many years ago!
This disgusting peace of dog shit, who calls herself a lady? is nothing but a deceitful greedy Marxist pig, who has put her very own subjects into chains before, is now about to do the same again! FUCK OFF YOU MARXIST DECEITFUL BITCH!
If you wish to know who gave birth to NATO, look no further than this BITCH!
https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2020/06/28/the-age-of-chatham-house-and-the-british-roots-of-nato/
Mr. Matthew Ehret does put together some great articles. He knows history.
the queen of england isn’t a marxist. neither is nato.
The Real Left vs The Synthetic Left
Great Video. It gets a high recommendation from me.
Summary of how to tell Real Left from Synthetic Left ….. The Real Left believes in human progress through history and works for more progress. That’s what makes it different from the Right, which always tells you that things were great back when we had a fill-in-the-blank.
The Synthetic Left, by Caleb Maupin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1636&v=xgKPyIj8Q60&feature=emb_logo
I hope you watched it. Its not tooo long.
And, now think. If the CIA and Oligarchs with googles of money have invested in something like this, do you think its the only thing they’ve tried? Or have they tried lots and lots of things to get rid of their hated, eternal enemy, and organized fighting left?
You can tell the real left when you see it. They are the ones trying to bring people together and make the world a better place. Because they know that they want to make the world a better place and to do that they have to bring people together. My long-time standard for the spotting Fake Left was the leftists and publications that spend a lot of time and energy attacking other leftists.
The real left as you call them are a dying breed that have long ago been taken over by radicals. Corporations and powerful non profits with naked political agendas run America and the West in general.
What is most striking to me is not the manufactured narrative of bounties being offered on U.S. troops but the faux outrage expressed by those who mindlessly swallow and pass it on, failing to see the clear superiority of this strategy of warfare over that practiced by the American military. A parallel distinction can be found in business, between a tight performance-based contract with clear specifications and an open-ended cost-plus contract with no performance standards whatsoever.
In practical terms, a bounty on enemy soldiers rewards efficiency by eliminating incentives for the slaughter of non-combatant civilians, while the cost-plus model encourages exorbitant over-spending on wholesale homicide without regard to its inherent liabilities; i.e., the creation of increased waves of armed resistance, which is used to justify additional cost overruns in an escalating spiral of death and destruction.
No need to ask why the U.S. pours upwards of $700 billion annually into the coffers of the Military-Industrial Complex, only to create more enemies around the world and undermine its own security. Clearly, that question answers itself.
Terrible that the commies are paying terrorists to kill American terrorists. The Americans would never provide cash, weapons and missiles in order to kill commies, would they????
Classic CIA technique, publish something that’s a glaring lie, then get other publications to quote original publication, and voila! you have consensus.
Interestingly, Lynne Farrow pointed out that so-called modern medicine works on the same principle: we do not get evidence-based medical care, we get consensus-based medical care, and since most doctors are utter conformist morons we get garbage care.
The first question that you, especially those of you who live outside the US, have to answer is just exactly WHY are perpetual war and warmongers so attractive to US voters that they vote for them election after election after election? IMO, it has absolutely NOTHING to do with Americans being bamboozled by 24/7 MSM propaganda. It is because for these voters the selection of a warmonger is the proverbial “bread and butter issue”. Tens of millions of Americans will once again vote for a “straight ticket” of warmongers because if they don’t, they may very well have neither bread nor butter on their kitchen tables (if they still have a home with a kitchen) in their future.
In order to understand this terrible reality, Google “governmentcontractswon”; go to that site and discover that in 2018, “private” businesses in just the state of Virgina (population 8.4 million) were awarded 324,283 contracts worth $46.4 billion and that there are 17,538 “private” DoD contractors in Virginia, and that from 2000 to 2018 “private” DoD contractors in Virginia were awarded over $733.9 billion for 936,040 contracts. Again, this is only the state of Virginia.
Virginians’ economic well-being depends upon those DoD dollars continuing, year after year, decade after decade, literally forever! Therefore, no majority of voters in Virginia is EVER, and I do mean EVER, no matter how “woke”, no matter how aware of the US’s genocide on the world, going to vote for a candidate who might very well be promising to destroy Virginia’s war-based economy and destroy many well-paying jobs – the jobs that put “bread and butter” on the table. This is why Virginians are going to CONTINUE to vote for warmongers for POTUS and congress. They do not give a shit how many people are killed by the weapons that they are helping to produce.
But Virginia is not alone in the war business. Check out what “private” DoD contractors in other states such as California receive annually. It’s mind boggling.
Therefore, the US will never be politically capable of changing it’s “foreign policy” unless and until, once again with feeling, Virginians /Americans are given a detailed alternative to their present “war way” of making a living and no D or R candidate is spelling out such an alternative.
Therefore, if you truly want US foreign policy to change, DO NOT vote for an R or D in the upcoming election.
If you truly want to change US foreign policy, DO NOT vote for an R or D in the upcoming election.
If you truly want to change US foreign policy, DO NOT vote for an R or D in the upcoming election.
If you truly want to change US foreign policy, DO NOT vote for an R or D in the upcoming election.
If you truly want to change US foreign policy, DO NOT vote for an R or D in the upcoming election.
I see that Virgina’s $46 Billion for 2018 was raised by $4 billion in 2019 to over $50 billion. Good job, Virginia contractors’ lobbyists!
Good points.
The American civil war: 620,000 killed in the line of duty, and deaths in captivity almost the total number killed in the Vietnam War. Americans killing each other, only 150 years ago. If Americans are opposed to violence today, they might also still be opposed to morals that negatively affect profits/lifestyle.
Virginians’ economic well-being depends upon those DoD dollars continuing, year after year, decade after decade, literally forever! Therefore, no majority of voters in Virginia is EVER, and I do mean EVER, no matter how “woke”, no matter how aware of the US’s genocide on the world, going to vote for a candidate who might very well be promising to destroy Virginia’s war-based economy and destroy many well-paying jobs – the jobs that put “bread and butter” on the table. This is why Virginians are going to CONTINUE to vote for warmongers for POTUS and congress. They do not give a shit how many people are killed by the weapons that they are helping to produce.
But Virginia is not alone in the war business. Check out what “private” DoD contractors in other states such as California receive annually. It’s mind boggling.
Therefore, the US will never be politically capable of changing it’s “foreign policy” unless and until, once again with feeling, Virginians /Americans are given a detailed alternative to their present “war way” of making a living and no D or R candidate is spelling out such an alternative.
The American economy and beloved American Way of Life™ in general are most definitely based on WAR.
The Americans damn well know the ugly reality of their sick Way of Life–though they try to disguise it with a blitz of propaganda deceptions.
They are not gullible, misled, or dumb.
Those are just feeble alibis to excuse Americans’ selfish support for their war criminal military, political regime, and genocidal aggressions throughout the planet.
But one day, Americans will reap all the blood, destruction, and hell that they have sown around the world, as humanity’s final war will annihilate the United States of America itself.
First, I found the NY Times article amusingly wrong and virtually impossible for much of the same reasons cited by Caity. Then, I saw a copy of the Washington Post’s article reprinted in Philadephia’s largest newspaper, so posted it to Facebook, with this introduction that I created:
“The first article asserting this, by the New York Slimes, was summarily rejected by thinking people as nonsense. So now it’s being repeated by the Washington Putz, home of deep state false propaganda.”
Then, AOL today wrote about Biden taking Trump (whom I can’t stand either) to task and being braggadocious about making Putin pay. So, I wrote a reply using the same two names for the two lying newspapers represented in my Facebook comment. I also added, “enough about Russia,” further listing some of the things we need to fix about our own country and our politics, before blaming others for the problems our own governments and their representatives (both federal and local, plus state) create.
AOL kicked it back. Apparently upset with the word, ‘putz’ to use a well-deserved term that I often use to describe the one person who owns both the WaPo and Amazon. So, I changed it to ‘Pus’ and added a critical remark about AOL Today’s overreach in censorship. Then I wrote more of a generic article on the same topic, again criticizing AOL Today for its censorship, which is grade school level at best and cites community standards as itsreasoning. I’m not sure whose community AOL Today is referencing as, today, even televised sitcom communites are less benign than what I had to say.
As I posted the benign comment, I saw AOL Today print my first one, then the benign one. However, when I returned, becasue I really wanted to post the exact wording of my first one, both had been deleted. This by AOL Today, which has so many untalented people working there (who are incapable of coming up with fresh things to write about) that constantly reruns articles some of which are three or more years old.
Such is the state of mainstread media in the U.S. I suspect that, when my grandchildren have children of their own (if climate change doesn’t kill us off first), the will grow up conversing in New Speak thus, once again, reaffirming the genious of Goerge Orwell.
YT does the same thing. They give you the impression that your comment got logged, but it disappears as soon as you get off the page. When they get really smart about it, they’ll have it magically appear, but only to the user who posted it, while everyone else can’t see it. These companies are hoping for the day when the rest of the internet, the part that doesn’t show up on Google, is censored and they are the de facto ministry-of-truth.
VIP George Kennan said the following just a few years before the dissolution of the USSR.
“Were the Soviet Union to sink tomorrow under the waters of the ocean, the American military-industrial establishment would have to go on, substantially unchanged, until some other adversary could be invented. Anything else would be an unacceptable shock to the American economy.”
What Kennen said waaay back in the 1980s is even more true today — that if world peace breaks out; if Donito Assolini should actually shake hands with Putin and Mr. Xi and Mr. Kim, and sign some peace treaties, the US’s Fed-funded, war-spending-based economy would literally, and I do mean LITERALLY, collapse almost instantly. The USD would be instantly de-throned as the de facto world reservce currency. Political and social chaos would ensue in the US.
Donito’s campaign speeches about making nice with Russia and then, after he was elected, his shaking hands with Mr. Putin and saying that he believed Putin when he said that Russia had not interfered in the US election, even though US intelligence agencies agreed that Russia had indeed done that, caused the US Elite and their MSM slaves to accuse Donito of being a traitor, Putin’s puppet, etc. You remember. Just exactly WHY did they do that when they absolutely knew that Donito was right, and the recently-revealed House Intelligence Committee transcripts now prove that he and Putin were right?
Literally today we have Pelosi and other Ds and Rs demanding that Trump get with their program and believe that Putin has put a bounty on US soldiers in Afghanistan and to do something to punish Russia. It’s just plain absurd. Just exactly WHY do they do this when they absolutely know that what they are saying is not true and that what Donito is saying is true?
There is one, and only one, explanation that “fits” absolutely everything — the US economy requires enemies that justify the annual (forever) war budget that, directly or indirectly, employs tens of millions of US voters.
How do all of these politicians like Schiff, Clapper, Comey, etc. and the MSM get away with all of their lies? They get away with it because of legislation that was passed a few years ago that allowed the US government to legally propagandize (lie to) American citizens within the US and, not only that, literally pay the MSM to do it. It was called the “Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012” Do yourself a big favor and read it.
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-112hr5736ih/pdf/BILLS-112hr5736ih.pdf
A small part of the above:
“112TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION
H. R. 5736
To amend the United States Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948 to authorize the domestic dissemination of information and material about the United States intended primarily for foreign audiences, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 10, 2012
Mr. THORNBERRY (for himself and Mr. SMITH of Washington) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
A BILL
To amend the United States Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948 to authorize the domestic dissemination of information and material about the United States intended primarily for foreign audiences, and for other purposes.”
Etc.
With the above relatively new legislation in mind, it is easy to understand why and how high-level politicians in America get away with (stay out of jail for) lying to Americans 24/7. Essentially, as long as the liars tell the truth while under oath in secret testimony, they can say whatever the fuck they want in front of TV cameras. And boy do they do just that.
Once again with even more feeling, the purpose of this VIP+MSM propaganda is to maintain in the minds of US citizens the belief that the US has existential threats to its national security in the form of Russia, China, Iran and, believe it or don’t, Venezuela and Nicaragua! (Again, this is all done to maintain the war budget and its millions of jobs.)
What the wise elderly and not-so-wise younger US Elite oligarchs apparently want is for the US to “go out” with a great big bang while it is still “on top”. They would prefer that they and everyone else in AmeriKKKa and the world be dead than for them to play second fiddle to the Elite of China or Russia or any other nation or group of nations. In the words of 1960s AmeriKKKans, “better dead than Red”.
Bob Dylan, Noble Prize winning poet from the 1960’s, managed to capture this world so perfectly. When your insane and artificial world is falling apart all around you, won’t you come and see me Queen Jane?
“Now when all the clowns that you have commissioned
Have died in battle or in vain
And you’re sick of all this repetition
Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?
Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?
Oh, when all of your advisers heave their plastic
At your feet to convince you of your pain
Trying to prove that your conclusions should be more drastic
Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?
Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?
Now when all of the bandits that you turned your other cheek to
All lay down their bandanas and complain
And you want somebody ya’ don’t have to speak to
Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?
Aw, won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?”
Now when all the clowns that you have commissioned
Have died in battle or in vain
And you’re sick of all this repetition
Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?
Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?
Oh, when all of your advisers heave their plastic
At your feet to convince you of your pain
Trying to prove that your conclusions should be more drastic
Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?
Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?
Now when all of the bandits that you turned your other cheek to
All lay down their bandanas and complain
And you want somebody ya’ don’t have to speak to
Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?
Aw, won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?
Now when all the clowns that you have commissioned
Have died in battle or in vain
And you’re sick of all this repetition
Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?
Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?
Oh, when all of your advisers heave their plastic
At your feet to convince you of your pain
Trying to prove that your conclusions should be more drastic
Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?
Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?
Now when all of the bandits that you turned your other cheek to
All lay down their bandanas and complain
And you want somebody ya’ don’t have to speak to
Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?
Aw, won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?Now when all the clowns that you have commissioned
Have died in battle or in vain
And you’re sick of all this repetition
Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?
Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?
Oh, when all of your advisers heave their plastic
At your feet to convince you of your pain
Trying to prove that your conclusions should be more drastic
Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?
Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?
Now when all of the bandits that you turned your other cheek to
All lay down their bandanas and complain
And you want somebody ya’ don’t have to speak to
Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?
Aw, won’t you come see me, Queen Jane?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xA-_51DCKM
——-
Great, now Google’s AI is pissed at me because I wouldn’t call what was obviously not a crosswalk to be a crosswalk.
is google behind recapcha? i’m not surprised at all. sometimes i have to go through 2 or 3 “tests” to satisfy it.
Click all the photos with racists in them.
Surprise, surprise, the European Commission (EC) had a “Roadmap on Vaccination” ready months before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out.
The Roadmap should lead to a “commission proposal for a common vaccination card – passport for EU citizens by 2022″.
The ” Gates Gestapo ” will be coming for everyone soon. This article can be read here:
2022: A Vaccination Passport. The EU Keeps Quiet Over Suspicious Documents by Daniele Pozzati!
https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2020/06/28/2022-vaccination-passport-eu-keeps-quiet-over-suspicious-documents/
An important piece of investigative journalism from the astute Caitlin Johnstone.
Thanks for definitive evidence that we are being grievously and maliciously (against Russia) lied to by our well paid servants and representatives in government.
Russia should troll the Americans and start openly giving anti-American resistance groups in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria some of those famous Stinger missiles to shoot down US war planes and helicopters in those nations–just as the USA armed the mujaheddin against Russia in Afghanistan during the 1980s.
America will throw a massive hissy fit as it receives a well-deserved taste of its own medicine.
The world’s leading terrorist nation, the United States of America, will reap what it has sown around the world.
This would only be a case of the “Chickens Coming Home to Roost” for America, as Malcolm X would put say.
Osama bin Laden: How the U.S. Helped Midwife a Terrorist
https://publicintegrity.org/accountability/osama-bin-laden-how-the-u-s-helped-midwife-a-terrorist/
In utter national obscurity, the Chicago Tribune in the 1990s had a few foreign correspondents who on occasion would dare to cast doubt on the prevailing story lines spooled out by the WaPo/NYT/WSJ axis. Of course, they were little valued locally and, as noted, generated not a whiff of notice on a national scale.
But they’re all gone now, victims of a succession of downsizings at the ailing Trib.
Others may pay bounties to their killers; the US pays salaries. Wealth disparity on display. Imagine having the gall to complain about the rules.
“Honest Government” series of satirical travel advertisements by > theJuiceMedia > are hilarious, but sad reality covering Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Timor Leste and this on on “Australia Day Celebration”
https://youtu.be/BaA0hZ406YY
When the truth is censored, lies become imposed and enforced, by removing truth and leaving lies in its place. That’s what propaganda is. It depends on censorship. Only propagandists and their victims (suckers — the people who are fooled by propagandists) want there to be any censorship, at all. Wherever there are censors, there should be no trust; but, unfortunately, some individuals trust censors. Some individuals are fools: they invite being deceived. They want others to filter what they see and hear; they don’t do, themselves, whatever filtering that there will be; they trust others to do it for them. They allow others to police their minds. They are willing to be mental slaves.
This fine article can be read here:
Censorship as a Way to Instill and to Impose LIes by Eric Zuesse!
https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2020/06/27/censorship-way-instill-and-impose-lies/
So it’s okay for the NYT, WSJ and WaPo to print anonymous lies, while Julian Assange prints the truth and is jailed and tortured. You couldn’t make this shit up.
Was it not ever thus? “Truth forever on the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne.” (J.R. Lowell). However, I’ve found these lies useful because they are so easily exposed. Russiagate separated many from the Empire, as did Iraq 2003. Fewer and fewer people believe in the leadership, the ruling class, which is clearly deteriorating along with its propaganda.
I’m wondering about the current lie, which I suppose may be designed to forestall Trump declaring peace with the Taliban some time in September or October. But it’s poorly made; no fake supporting evidence has been created for it.
If indeed any significant number believe this unadulterated male bovine fecal matter, one can only conclude that Public Education has been perfectly successful in its original and ongoing purpose.
Just no stopping the American Ministries of Truth and Love when they get their hearts set on stirring up yet another conflict which, if all goes according to plan, may finally lead to a glorious World War III. Can somebody not Seth Rich the vomitous Rachel Maddow who does the major share of spewing this poison throughout the country and getting all the gullible liberal fools worked into a genocidal lather? I’m sure that, after the mushroom clouds lift and the atmosphere stops glowing, they and the Times will nominate the Mad Cow for a Nobel Peace Prize.
They’re easily stopped. Their purveyors can provide no evidence. Just keep asking for it.
Except that their target audience is 330 million certifiable imbeciles who believe whatever they are fed by their preferred authority figures. The 1% of that population still capable of rational thought and the ability to discern fact from fiction have little influence over the herd. Cassandra’s was not a one off tale from ancient Greece. People are lemmings who will defend mass insanity of conventional wisdom to their own death. Look at how many of the world’s “exceptional” and “indispensable” have already been led the way to dusty death by absolute nonsense willfully spouted about the novel corona virus by their trusted leaders. Those “leaders” will never stop trying to manipulate the masses no matter how transparent their lies. It usually takes the complete defeat or collapse of the entire society for that to happen.
“Ship of Fools” by Ted Kaczynski – the UNA Bomber with an IQ higher than Einstein whose now doing life in prison, is also a modern day prophet, many, many years ahead of his time…
Once upon a time, the captain and the mates of a ship grew so vain of their seamanship, so full of hubris and so impressed with themselves, that they went mad. They turned the ship north and sailed until they met with icebergs and dangerous floes, and they kept sailing north into more and more perilous waters, solely in order to give themselves opportunities to perform ever-more-brilliant feats of seamanship.
As the ship reached higher and higher latitudes, the passengers and crew became increasingly uncomfortable. They began quarreling among themselves and complaining of the conditions under which they lived.
“Shiver me timbers,” said an able seaman, “if this ain’t the worst voyage I’ve ever been on. The deck is slick with ice; when I’m on lookout the wind cuts through me jacket like a knife; every time I reef the foresail I blamed-near freeze me fingers; and all I get for it is a miserable five shillings a month!”
“You think you have it bad!” said a lady passenger. “I can’t sleep at night for the cold. Ladies on this ship don’t get as many blankets as the men. It isn’t fair!”
A Mexican sailor chimed in: “Chingado! I’m only getting half the wages of the Anglo seamen. We need plenty of food to keep us warm in this climate, and I’m not getting my share; the Anglos get more. And the worst of it is that the mates always give me orders in English instead of Spanish.”
“I have more reason to complain than anybody,” said an American Indian sailor. “If the palefaces hadn’t robbed me of my ancestral lands, I wouldn’t even be on this ship, here among the icebergs and arctic winds. I would just be paddling a canoe on a nice, placid lake. I deserve compensation. At the very least, the captain should let me run a crap game so that I can make some money.”
The bosun spoke up: “Yesterday the first mate called me a ‘fruit’ just because I suck cocks. I have a right to suck cocks without being called names for it!”
It’s not only humans who are mistreated on this ship,” interjected an animal-lover among the passengers, her voice quivering with indignation. “Why, last week I saw the second mate kick the ship’s dog twice!”
One of the passengers was a college professor. Wringing his hands he exclaimed,
“All this is just awful! It’s immoral! It’s racism, sexism, speciesism, homophobia, and exploitation of the working class! It’s discrimination! We must have social justice: Equal wages for the Mexican sailor, higher wages for all sailors, compensation for the Indian, equal blankets for the ladies, a guaranteed right to suck cocks, and no more kicking the dog!”
“Yes, yes!” shouted the passengers. “Aye-aye!” shouted the crew. “It’s discrimination! We have to demand our rights!”
The cabin boy cleared his throat.
“Ahem. You all have good reasons to complain. But it seems to me that what we really have to do is get this ship turned around and headed back south, because if we keep going north we’re sure to be wrecked sooner or later, and then your wages, your blankets, and your right to suck cocks won’t do you any good, because we’ll all drown.”
But no one paid any attention to him, because he was only the cabin boy.
The captain and the mates, from their station on the poop deck, had been watching and listening. Now they smiled and winked at one another, and at a gesture from the captain the third mate came down from the poop deck, sauntered over to where the passengers and crew were gathered, and shouldered his way in amongst them. He put a very serious expression on his face and spoke thusly:
“We officers have to admit that some really inexcusable things have been happening on this ship. We hadn’t realized how bad the situation was until we heard your complaints. We are men of good will and want to do right by you. But – well – the captain is rather conservative and set in his ways, and may have to be prodded a bit before he’ll make any substantial changes. My personal opinion is that if you protest vigorously – but always peacefully and without violating any of the ship’s rules – you would shake the captain out of his inertia and force him to address the problems of which you so justly complain.”
Having said this, the third mate headed back toward the poop deck. As he went, the passengers and crew called after him, “Moderate! Reformer! Goody-liberal! Captain’s stooge!” But they nevertheless did as he said. They gathered in a body before the poop deck, shouted insults at the officers, and demanded their rights: “I want higher wages and better working conditions,” cried the able seaman. “Equal blankets for women,” cried the lady passenger. “I want to receive my orders in Spanish,” cried the Mexican sailor. “I want the right to run a crap game,” cried the Indian sailor. “I don’t want to be called a fruit,” cried the bosun. “No more kicking the dog,” cried the animal lover. “Revolution now,” cried the professor.
The captain and the mates huddled together and conferred for several minutes, winking, nodding and smiling at one another all the while. Then the captain stepped to the front of the poop deck and, with a great show of benevolence, announced that the able seaman’s wages would be raised to six shillings a month; the Mexican sailor’s wages would be raised to two-thirds the wages of an Anglo seaman, and the order to reef the foresail would be given in Spanish; lady passengers would receive one more blanket; the Indian sailor would be allowed to run a crap game on Saturday nights; the bosun wouldn’t be called a fruit as long as he kept his cocksucking strictly private; and the dog wouldn’t be kicked unless he did something really naughty, such as stealing food from the galley.
The passengers and crew celebrated these concessions as a great victory, but the next morning, they were again feeling dissatisfied.
“Six shillings a month is a pittance, and I still freeze me fingers when I reef the foresail,” grumbled the able seaman. “I’m still not getting the same wages as the Anglos, or enough food for this climate,” said the Mexican sailor. “We women still don’t have enough blankets to keep us warm,” said the lady passenger. The other crewmen and passengers voiced similar complaints, and the professor egged them on.
When they were done, the cabin boy spoke up – louder this time so that the others could not easily ignore him:
“It’s really terrible that the dog gets kicked for stealing a bit of bread from the galley, and that women don’t have equal blankets, and that the able seaman gets his fingers frozen; and I don’t see why the bosun shouldn’t suck cocks if he wants to. But look how thick the icebergs are now, and how the wind blows harder and harder! We’ve got to turn this ship back toward the south, because if we keep going north we’ll be wrecked and drowned.”
“Oh yes,” said the bosun, “It’s just so awful that we keep heading north. But why should I have to keep cocksucking in the closet? Why should I be called a fruit? Ain’t I as good as everyone else?”
“Sailing north is terrible,” said the lady passenger. “But don’t you see? That’s exactly why women need more blankets to keep them warm. I demand equal blankets for women now!”
“It’s quite true,” said the professor, “that sailing to the north imposes great hardships on all of us. But changing course toward the south would be unrealistic. You can’t turn back the clock. We must find a mature way of dealing with the situation.”
“Look,” said the cabin boy, “If we let those four madmen up on the poop deck have their way, we’ll all be drowned. If we ever get the ship out of danger, then we can worry about working conditions, blankets for women, and the right to suck cocks. But first we’ve got to get this vessel turned around. If a few of us get together, make a plan, and show some courage, we can save ourselves. It wouldn’t take many of us – six or eight would do. We could charge the poop, chuck those lunatics overboard, and turn the ship to the south.”
The professor elevated his nose and said sternly, “I don’t believe in violence. It’s immoral.”
“It’s unethical ever to use violence,” said the bosun.
“I’m terrified of violence,” said the lady passenger.
The captain and the mates had been watching and listening all the while. At a signal from the captain, the third mate stepped down to the main deck. He went about among the passengers and crew, telling them that there were still many problems on the ship.
“We have made much progress,” he said, “But much remains to be done. Working conditions for the able seaman are still hard, the Mexican still isn’t getting the same wages as the Anglos, the women still don’t have quite as many blankets as the men, the Indian’s Saturday-night crap game is a paltry compensation for his lost lands, it’s unfair to the bosun that he has to keep his cocksucking in the closet, and the dog still gets kicked at times.
“I think the captain needs to be prodded again. It would help if you all would put on another protest – as long as it remains nonviolent.”
As the third mate walked back toward the stern, the passengers and the crew shouted insults after him, but they nevertheless did what he said and gathered in front of the poop deck for another protest. They ranted and raved and brandished their fists, and they even threw a rotten egg at the captain (which he skillfully dodged).
After hearing their complaints, the captain and the mates huddled for a conference, during which they winked and grinned broadly at one another. Then the captain stepped to the front of the poop deck and announced that the able seaman would be given gloves to keep his fingers warm, the Mexican sailor would receive wages equal to three-fourths the wages of an Anglo seaman, the women would receive yet another blanket, the Indian sailor could run a crap game on Saturday and Sunday nights, the bosun would be allowed to suck cocks publicly after dark, and no one could kick the dog without special permission from the captain.
The passengers and crew were ecstatic over this great revolutionary victory, but by the next morning they were again feeling dissatisfied and began grumbling about the same old hardships.
The cabin boy this time was getting angry.
“You damn fools!” he shouted. “Don’t you see what the captain and the mates are doing? They’re keeping you occupied with your trivial grievances about blankets and wages and the dog being kicked so that you won’t think about what is really wrong with this ship – that it’s getting farther and farther to the north and we’re all going to be drowned. If just a few of you would come to your senses, get together, and charge the poop deck, we could turn this ship around and save ourselves. But all you do is whine about petty little issues like working conditions and crap games and the right to suck cocks.”
The passengers and the crew were incensed.
“Petty!!” cried the Mexican, “Do you think it’s reasonable that I get only three-fourths the wages of an Anglo sailor? Is that petty?”
“How can you call my grievance trivial? shouted the bosun. “Don’t you know how humiliating it is to be called a fruit?”
“Kicking the dog is not a ‘petty little issue!’” screamed the animal-lover. “It’s heartless, cruel, and brutal!”
“Alright then,” answered the cabin boy. “These issues are not petty and trivial. Kicking the dog is cruel and brutal and it is humiliating to be called a fruit. But in comparison to our real problem – in comparison to the fact that the ship is still heading north – your grievances are petty and trivial, because if we don’t get this ship turned around soon, we’re all going to drown.”
“Fascist!” said the professor.
“Counterrevolutionary!” said the lady passenger. And all of the passengers and crew chimed in one after another, calling the cabin boy a fascist and a counterrevolutionary. They pushed him away and went back to grumbling about wages, and about blankets for women, and about the right to suck cocks, and about how the dog was treated. The ship kept sailing north, and after a while it was crushed between two icebergs and everyone drowned.
One of the best stories I’ve heard, David. Sort of says it all.
This is how it feels trying to get people to understand that using fiscal policy for public purpose is not Socialism, it’s how government was meant to operate. But since Wall St has occupied government, especially over the past 40 years, people were convinced that living in a creditocracy is somehow normal. It isn’t.
Life in a Creditocracy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0WlZAypbos
The Koch-funded radical libertarian right believes that government should have only 3 functions:
– insuring the rule of law to protect property rights
– guaranteeing social order
– providing for the national defense
Capital rights only, while dissolving human rights. We have an un-Constitutional economic policy that keeps 99% of us in chains by not “promoting the general welfare” of its citizens.Today’s economic policy is against ideas to expand the use of federal power to promote economic, intellectual, and cultural development.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ETCtce-vl0
Stephanie Kelton’s new book, The Deficit Myth – Birth of the People’s Economy, has raced to the top of the NYT bestseller list. The advantage of a sovereign nation that has the authority to issue its own currency is what the private banking industry absolutely detests.
When everyone is on board with the understanding of how the economy REALLY works, the neoliberal lies of the past 40 years will no longer be effective.
Fiscal policy for public purpose is the bedrock of a democratic system, not private bank-controlled monetary policy.
I’ve come to think that the future of the left will be largely determined by three letters and two numbers: MMT and 9/11. MMT alone can provide the left with the agency it will need to build a better, more beautiful world. Our existential problems have become too overwhelming to be effectively addressed by anything less than massive and responsible investments of fiat money. 9/11, on the other hand, provides the left with unassailable and revolution-producing evidence, were it ever to come out, that the deep state in charge of America since the JFK assassination is incorrigibly and unimaginably corrupt, perverse, vicious, and treasonous. To my knowledge, Caitlin hasn’t talked much, if at all, about MMT, and has indicated that she avoids addressing 9/11 because the propaganda surrounding that mass murder (of 3,000 U.S. citizens on U.S. soil by elements in their own government) has been so effective in establishing the absurd “official narrative.” Her blog is outstanding as it is, of course, but I wish she would consider delving more deeply into these three letters and two numbers, given their crucial importance IMHO to the future of the left and the survival of the human species itself.
MMT is not all that revolutionary. It’s been used for military spending in the US for generations. It represents a tax or claim on future production. If the Empire is growing (partly through military expenditures) then the value of the money won’t be degraded. However if it’s contracting, MMT becomes more problematical for obvious reasons.
Nothing can be done with 9/11; any evidence contrary to the official narrative will long since have been disappeared, not just by the government, but by numerous volunteers making stuff up.
Wrong on both counts. MMT contains no policy prescriptions other than a federal job guarantee to make unemployment/underemployment only a sad historical memory. MMT is merely a lens through which to understand how fiat money systems operate. Currently, in America, the fiat money system operates to increase the wealth and power of plutocrats and to finance endless war. What MMT shows is that this same fiat money could be invested otherwise, to meet pressing human and environmental needs. As for your pessimism about 9/11, the website of Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth (over 3,300 professional engineers strong), is chock full of evidence of the physical impossibility of the official narrative, including a recent and exhaustive engineering study by University of Alaska Fairbanks concerning Building 7, never hit by a plane. As we talk back and forth, 5-minute video summations of the Fairbanks study are being shown to millions of people on American public TV stations, and a formal request to re-open the 9/11 investigation, supported by voluminous evidence, is pending before NIST. This is no time to give up on an issue so explosive, physically and politically.
I agree. I also wish she would expose the crazy Technocracy Cult that is behind the whole EWF Reset agenda. James Corbett of Corbett Report is on top of it, Patrick Wood has written extensively about it, Jon Rappoport, Ice Age Farmer and a handful of others. It’s THE topic of the day, IMHO.
ARCHITECTING THE BEAST SYSTEM: AI Control of Food Supply
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLMpJnTLH6I
Looking Forward to the End of Humanity
The ship purposely sailing north is climate change, isn’t it? The motives of the captain and officers need elaboration. They’re pretty sure they won’t drown.
Well, on a slightly contrarian note, while Caitlin is most probably right about this being a planted story, with the “bounty” element intended to arouse popular ire over “our boys” being put at risk in shithole countries, I think it highly plausible that Russia is helping to fund the Taliban. Why wouldn’t it? Kipling’s great game goes on. The world is full of rising empires, former empires, declining empires… all yearning to be the “great power”, to be great again, to become great… The US created the Taliban in the 1980s by funding the Mujahideen to fight the then Soviets. Why would Russia not do the same today, now that the situation is reversed? The desire to achieve/recover great power status is best served by weakening your rivals by whatever means possible, and I see no reason why Russia/Putin (nostalgic former Empire?) wouldn’t make the effort to do that, in the same way as the US (declining empire?), China (rising empire?), or even my own foolish, self-inflated, comic-opera country (UK – former top nation and now global leader in money laundering and national self-harm). In continuity with the so-called Kissinger doctrine, most of this manoeuvring happens in third nations, i.e. minor players where the deaths of a few hundred thousand foreign civilians are of little import. As is the case with many intra-species confrontations between top predators in the natural world, the protagonists mostly hold back from direct conflict with each other, which could lead to existential damage. But there are no “good actors” in this game. In a variation on the old joke – “Just because you’re paranoid, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t out to get you” – just because they’re lying to us, it doesn’t mean that what they are telling us isn’t true.
For those of you (presumably most of you) who are not in the UK, the BBC recently aired a three-part series called “The Salisbury Poisonings”, about the apparent/purported use of a nerve agent in an English market town two years ago in the attempted assassination of a former Russian spy turned British double agent, Sergei Skripal. As a result of the deployment of this nerve agent, christened Novichok, one local woman completely unconnected with the target of the attempt died, while the target (and his daughter, who was visiting), as well as one policeman, though poisoned, survived. For obvious reasons, it is always assumed that the instigator of the attack was the Russian state, which is headed by a former KGB agent.
The TV series was well made and enjoyable. It made relatively little of the geopolitical factors, and focused on the local impact and human interest aspects. It was supposed to be broadcast earlier in the spring, but was held back, presumably because of the delicacy of the subject matter, i.e. the spread of an invisible but deadly agent within an unsuspecting an innocent community.
“For those of you (presumably most of you) who are not in the UK, the BBC recently aired a three-part series called “The Salisbury Poisonings”….
Yeah, right. maybe you should inform yourself a bit more about the major inconsistencies, lies, obfuscations etc. that build the basis of this not report or documentary, but bedside story to scare children to be quiet.
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2019/03/pure-ten-points-i-just-cant-believe-about-the-official-skripal-narrative/
http://johnhelmer.net/?s=Skripal
https://www.theblogmire.com/the-salisbury-poisonings-two-years-on-a-riddle-wrapped-in-a-cover-up-inside-a-hoax/
Yes, I read Craig Murray’s take at the time, which I was going to go on to, but decided that it’s another story. In any case, my main point – that this is a game that is going on everywhere in the world – still stands. Again, “just because they’re lying to us, it doesn’t mean that what they are telling us isn’t true.” Or, as Murray puts it: “When it comes to state actors and the intelligence services, frequently there are no “good guys”.
Sorry, didn’t finish my last post. However, the Skripal affair is another story.
Of course it is – but you brought it up in a context of deliberately spreading mis/disinformation for political gains, either to support geopolitical or internal political gains.
So not at all “another story” necessarily.
And you can drop the “frequently”. There are no good guys, considering the effects and usually nefarious goals of their actions in the name of “national security” or “interests” which means the interest of the ruling oligarchy. I would call it a spectrum from outright evil to somewhat less evil….
And make no mistake: that oligarchs – however not all internationalists in their politics as most in the US are – rule is simple fact that can be observed from any Westren Nation to Russia and China which laughably calls itself a “socialism with Chinese characteristics”.
Even a precursory reading of Marx will expose those as a lie meant to keep the populace contend with the present power structure.
So, all is permitted, eh? As long as it can be described as “plausible” with a straight face. In that case, Russia’s “sins” would seem to be limited only by the bounds of one’s imagination. Tell me this though, exactly what is supposed to be the motive for provoking nuclear Armageddon?
What is so hysterical is that we can fund and supply the taliban when Russia was there but cry bloody murder when they do it to us. I agree. I assume they are funding them with weapons. Paying bounties ludicrous.
It is not to the advantage of Russia to further the aims of the Taliban. In fact, the original Soviet intervention into Afghanistan was motivated by the forerunners of the Taliban — the leadership feared the influence, if not the invasion, of its central Asian dependencies by Islamic militants. The American intervention there was partly assisted by Russia and its Afghan allies. Unless Russia has cut some invisible, mysterious deal with the Taliban, there is no reason to think they are shining on them now. As usual, the latest fables about Russia and the Middle East almost certainly originate in domestic American politics.
And there is this:
“The problems with that theory are many. First, there isn’t a need to give Trump a reason to leave. Trump has long wanted to withdraw all US troops from that country….Russian analysts and media are deeply afraid of the Taliban and of the small ISIL cells in Afghanistan.
BBC Monitoring for May 15 said that on 7 May, Aleksey Bychkov, a Russian political scientist, warned on Sputnik’s Uzbek service that ISIL, having been defeated in the Middle East, could well head to Central Asia…. Putin is desperately afraid that Afghan heroin will turn Russian youth into zombies and sap national strength. It was one of the reasons he had wanted Obama to stay in Afghanistan, to block the drug trade……So I have to say that the entire scenario is baffling. ”
Informed Comment
As to the last sentence – it is only baffling when you take bullshit seriously….
I am simply baffled by the new trend by so called “Liberals” to actually believe what so called “security” Agencies (rather agencies of fomenting insecurity) are telling them or channeling to MSM after all the experiences we had with their lies, subterfuges, false flag operations etc.
Here the Link: https://www.juancole.com/2020/06/afghanistan-russians-targeted.html
You won’t see Caitlin write about this because no whitey police was involved:
https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2020/6/20/21297470/chicago-fathers-day-weekend-shootings-homicide-gun-violence-june-19-22-104-shot
Why do you suppose Caitlin chooses not to write about black-on-black violence? Or the African tribal chiefs who captured slaves for white traders? Or the Native American tribes that tortured captives long before Europe came to the New World? Etc. Maybe she has, and the question does her a disservice, but it’s an interesting question nevertheless which pertains to voices on the left in general. Then there’s the flip question: why do voices on the right WANT to talk about these things, especially when abusive conduct of whites toward people of color creates a hot button issue? Maybe Caitlin will tackle these questions in her own inimitable style, but until then let me take a shot. First, there’s the matter of the speaker and the audience. When white people are talking to white people, isn’t it appropriate that they talk about things THEY (or those like them) have done, things THEY can change or redress? Second, isn’t it “punching down” to dwell on how, as Fanon put it, the victims of oppression often participate in their oppression? Third, to the extent that leftists seem drawn to virtue-signalling, wouldn’t such historical contextualizing create a mixed signal less emotionally satisfying than a pure mea culpa? As for the flip question, have those so quick to contextualize in these situations forgotten what their mothers taught them, that two wrongs don’t make a right? Are they seeking to feel better about themselves by pointing out that others unlike them, and like the victims, have also done evil? Or are at least some of them alluding to the famous observation of Solzhenitsyn, that the line between good and evil runs through every human heart? These speculations hardly exhaust this fascinating topic, and maybe others will want to wade in.
I think we often confuse man with mankind. Most of the subjects here are about man instead of mankind. For example with mankind the majority always oppresses the minority whereas for man we discuss terrible racism among ourselves. We ignore human nature and seek to correct injustice. Thus we never speak of mankind trends because it sounds like a cop out. But also it might help us understand why so many programs are destined for failure and chaos. Mixing cultures in history has always been disasterous. The stronger culture absorbs the weaker culture sometimes with really bad outcomes ie. American Indians or Austailian aboriganal tribes. Thus mass migration to US and Europe will now play out badly because we ignored rules of mankind.
The recent migrations were already because of something bad happening. So also the Germanic invasions of the Roman Empire in 200-500 CE. But the Romans had already laid themselves open to invasion by destroying the societies they conquered in the preceding period. Just so, The US and neoliberal capitalism have destroyed the Middle East and much of Latin America. So, here they come to visit! And maybe stay for a while.
how do you know that?
I guess the NYT et al forgot, it’s the same intelligence agency that hired, trained, armed and still controls Osama Bin Laden Terrorists, aka al Qaeda to Kill Russians in Afghanistan (so we could build and monopolize the Heroin Trade and scuttle Russia’s oil pipeline plans). Now, we hired, trained, armed, and control ISIS to Kill Russians in Syria, so the Unholy US Empire can Steal Syrian Oil conveniently… Ludicrous!
Are you suggesting that our occupation of Afghanistan and the truckloads of Afghan heroin landing in every major city ever week, might have something to do with each other? Nah. Impossible. The NYT and WaPo would have told me, right?
Lying is second nature to Americans. Besides, the US often pays people to go kill their fellow citizens. It did that in Iraq and Afghanistan, not to forget the bounty it put on Maduro’s head.
Journalism in mainstream media has been reduced to assembly line type manufacturing of official narrative supporting propaganda. The worker/journalist puts the supplied words into the required order.
I’ve had it with those pr*cks (they’re pretty identifiable now). I’m gonna alert the god-dude and do a voodoo-dance until they feel the power.
Oh Well. Just another day in the life of the perpetual infants at MSM.
Government lies
Google Korean War atrocities starting July 25, 1950
Here’s a quote from Lily Tomlin, one of my favorites- “No matter how cynical I get, I can’t keep up.”
Lily was on the money. I have this feeling that endless descriptions and analyses of dystopia take us nowhere after a while. Just further down the shit shoot. Utopian thinking was a strong counter-current until two 20th Century world wars utterly demoralized us. Then out of nowhere, in the late 1960s/early 70s, came a brief renaissance among the young, a strange blend of social justice passion with a vision of the dawning of the Age of Aquarius. The crushing of that renaissance ushered in the nightmare of what we now call neoliberalism. We’ll know this nightmare is coming to an end only when utopia reemerges as a strong intellectual and cultural current, when the human spirit regains the capacity to think big and beautiful. Until then, it will just be more and more tiresome bitching.
It is 2020 folks. The ” two-minute hate ” has evolved into the 24/7 hate. Use one arm to bash Russia and use the other arm to bash China all day and all night long. Keep those launch codes handy we are going to bomb everybody really soon.
Thank you again, Caitlin! Truth telling in a sea of lying muck. I am sharing this one as widely as I can.
A very important essay as to who is controlling the US and how they are doing it, please read it, though it is quite long.
http://canadianpatriot.org/ukrainian-beauty/
Well done, a short expose’ of a big aspect of the elites’ power.
You know this means war. America is being maliciously attacked for helping free the world of terrorism. Our good deeds of decimating countries in the pursuit of freedom for all should be returned with gratitude instead of attacks. Yes innocent women and children are being killed but it is necessary because the terrorists hide in the cities. By removing ruthless dictators and replacing them with democratically elected leaders everyone is so much happier. Just look how much safer and happier the people of Syria Iraq and Afghanistan are now that we liberated them. Any animosity is being fermented by the Russians. Just like they tried to steal our election. Once we get Commie Trump out of office we can properly take care of this malignant Russian influence on the world. This means war. (The information above is from verified truthful intelligence sources. Believe it.)
What horse did you ride in on?
Sometimes all you can do is laugh.
How much does the CIA pay you to write filth like this? Just curious.
Sometimes all you can do is laugh.
Khatika nailed it.
Actually, I thought the post was SATIRE, certainly sounds like it to me.
After all, isn’t Trump a despot ??
The satire seemed obvious. Isn’t it fascinating that so many of us have lost the capacity to understand and appreciate anything more subtle than reactionary outrage?
Really! I couldn’t get how anyone could take the comment seriously! It is horrifying that people cannot see the obvious, but confirms my belief that people believe the shit in their heads more than what they can see and hear if they take the trouble. Bloody obvious satire, idiots!
I can confirm the truth of this comment based on a source familiar with the situation.
You might want to use a sarcasm tag. Looking at the comments you received, it would seem that most of them didn’t grasp what you were trying to convey. It did get a giggle out of me, though.
In a previous article, a comment by Gregory Herr included the words “Aaron Mate is regularly featured on Tucker Carlson’s show. Enough said.” This irked me, and I composed a response to the comment, but at the last minute chose not to post it. Someone else, however, did post a response which pretty much said what I had wanted to say. Gregory Herr responded to the response. It turns Gregory Herr was not being derisive of Aaron Mate or Tucker Carlson, he was making a different point entirely.
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Some take-away points:
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Caitlin’s readership includes a diverse range of viewpoints, it’s not an echo chamber.
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It is really easy to misunderstand what a commentor is saying. (People sometimes misunderstand what I have said in comments)
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When you post a comment (or a response) it is likely some people won’t read it carefully, and some people will read into it their own projections.
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When you respond to a comment, the response should stand on it’s own merits. If it turns out you misread the comment, your response should still be valid, otherwise maybe it wasn’t worth posting the response!
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My reading of the responses to Khatika’s comment is that most of them got the joke. Even the two negative responses might have just been sarcasm! It’s a bit ironic considering the last few articles by Caitlin have been specifically about the truth and revealing the truth.
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I guess the use of a sarcasm tag might eliminate some misunderstanding, but wouldn’t that be like telling a joke and then saying “That was a joke”. Kind of spoils the joke.
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For a few years now, I have been noticing the increased of the use of sarcasm in articles on the internet (I think that’s the right word. I mean saying the exact opposite of what you mean, with the assumption that people will know that you really mean the opposite of what you’re saying). The sarcasm isn’t highlighted, it’s just assumed that anyone reading the article knows that it’s sarcasm, because “why would anyone believe it’s true?”. I have wondered what historians would make of it, and how historians could figure it out from the context. Given that there are such diverse opinions being held in our society, and that opinions are evolving so rapidly, most of this sarcasm could easily be mistaken for authentic opinion. I also wonder why people are turning to this method to make a point. Is it a more effective way to make a point (like proof by contradiction in Mathematics)? Is it some kind of in-group signalling? Is it due to a lack of effective counter-argument? Is it because people no longer respond to logical arguments, or because all the arguments have already been given? Is it just good fun?
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Given the responses to Khatika’s comment, it could count as effective trolling. I think it was just a way of making humour.
I posted the “response” Glen, apparently having misunderstood the meaning of the line about Carlson/Mate in the same way you did. When Antonio corrected me, I noticed my error and apologized.
But I’ve said enough!
I agree with you completely, except for “verified truthful intelligence sources”. No patriot with a healthy mind would use words “verified truthful”, it is a bit like writing “as in the verified truthful words of Our Lord and Savior as recorded by St. Luke”. It is axiomatic that you believe and trust “intelligence sources” — at the very least from Five Eyes, mentioning “verified truthfull” means that you contemplate the possibility that emanations from our intelligence could be wrong.
Thus I suspect some dark motivations in that sentence. Sarcasm? Sawing discord?