the unbalanced evolution of homo sapiens

by Patrick Cockburn People in Baghdad are fearful that the next war between the US and Iran will take place in Iraq, which is only just returning to peace after the defeat of Isis. Alarm that Iraq will be sucked into such a conflict has increased here because of recent Israeli drone attacks on the bases of the Iraqi paramilitary group known as the Hashd al-Shaabi, which is accused by the US and Israel of acting as a proxy of Iran. “ The new development is that Israel has entered the conflict in Iraq, ” says Abu Alaa al-Walai, the leader of Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, a militant Shia paramilitary movement with ties to Iran, speaking in an exclusive interview with The Independent in Baghdad. He says that three Israeli drones attacked one of his bases in the Iraqi capital, called al-Saqr, on 12 August, leading to the explosion of 50 tons of weaponry. The Israelis confirm that they carried out the raid, which was preceded by several others, claiming that they hit Iranian missiles on th

Double Down News "Jeff Bezos is the richest man in the world. He could end homelessness and cure malaria. Instead, he’s building a giant clock”

 by Kshama Sawant Part 4 - What’s at Stake Just as big business has a great deal at stake this year in Seattle, so do working people. If we are able to win our struggles for rent control and a Green New Deal, once again that momentum would have the power to spread to other cities. All of our struggles are connected. Seattle’s historic $15 minimum wage victory was instrumental to it spreading around the country, AOC’s election spurred on the Green New Deal. Sanders’ 2016 campaign decisively changed U.S. politics. Socialist ideas have always been met with powerful opposition from the ruling class, because of their power to inspire working class people into struggle. If we are going to step up to the challenges facing humanity, to fix our broken health care system, to end the crisis of affordable housing and homlesessness, and to avoid climate catastrophe, we urgently need to fightback. We need to stand up to Amazon and corporate America before they take working people and the

Following another catastrophic mass shooting or crisis event, Orwellian “solutions” are set to be foisted on a frightened American public by the very network connected, not only to Jeffrey Epstein, but to a litany of crimes and a frightening history of plans to crush internal dissent in the United States. by Whitney Webb Part 8 - Mossad gets its own In-Q-Tel This “deliberate policy” of Netanyahu’s also recently resulted in the creation of a Mossad-run venture capital fund that is specifically focused on financing Israeli tech start-ups. The venture capital fund, called Libertad, was first announced by Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office and was created with the explicit purpose of “ increasing the Israeli intelligence agency’s knowledge base and fostering collaboration with Israel’s vibrant startup scene ” It was modeled after the CIA’s venture capital fund In-Q-Tel, which invested in several Silicon Valley companies turned government and intelligence contractors — including Go

An inside look at how Venezuelan diplomats stymied a US attempt to revoke their credentials at the UN and shatter their nation’s sovereignty. by Anya Parampil Part 1 Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez passed through the doors of the United Nations Headquarters in New York City on the afternoon of September 27 and flashed a smile to reporters waiting near the entrance. Flanked by Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza and UN Ambassador Samuel Moncada, Rodríguez raised her arms into the air and waved a photo in her left hand before disappearing up the escalators which lead to the General Assembly hall. That photo showed the US-backed coup leader Juan Guaidó posing with Colombian narco-paramilitary members from the Los Rastrojos gang, which is notorious for kidnapping, drug smuggling, and murder. Guaidó had apparently relied on Los Rastrojos to enter Colombia ahead of his failed humanitarian aid stunt on February 23. For the coup leader and his backers in Washington,

RT America Whistleblower Edward Snowden took to Twitter to speak out against US politicians' hypocrisy towards whistleblowers. While they preach the anonymity of the CIA whistleblower who came forward with the complaint against President Trump, analyst turned leaker Daniel Hale is facing up to 50 years in prison for leaking a report to the Intercept in 2015 that exposed the inner workings of US military programs abroad. Unbelievable that in a moment where politicians are making daily media statements about "supporting whistleblowers," the media is not pressing them on the case of Daniel Hale, who is being prosecuted RIGHT NOW for blowing the whistle on enormously controversial drone programs. https://t.co/hOvc4zErT1 — Edward Snowden (@Snowden) October 2, 2019  

That this House condemns the on-going mistreatment and imprisonment of investigative journalist Julian Assange by the UK;  agrees with the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention that his treatment appears to contravene the principles of necessity and proportionality envisaged under human rights standards;  opposes any attempt to extradite Mr Assange to the United States, either directly from the UK or by onward extradition from Sweden;  believes that his case has broader consequences for media freedoms, freedom of speech and civil liberties in the UK;  and calls on the Government to ensure that Mr Assange is released, that his physical integrity and freedom of movement are respected and that he is afforded the right of compensation for his mistreatment by the UK.  https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/53306/ongoing-incarceration-of-julian-assange

by Maj. Danny Sjursen Sorry, liberals, but Nancy Pelosi’s newly announced impeachment inquiry will not end Donald Trump’s presidency prematurely, no matter how badly Democratic voters may want it. Even if he’s found guilty in the House, a Republican-controlled Senate is sure to deny Pelosi the requisite 67 votes needed to remove him from office. Maybe that isn’t such a bad thing, either. After all, evicting Trump would elevate a bonafide Christian fascist to commander in chief in the person of Mike Pence. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that Trump doesn’t deserve to be kicked out of office. He’s run this country like he’d run a nepotistic crime family, a corrupt Atlantic City casino, or some combination of the two. The latest Ukraine scandal is, indeed, a serious matter. In fact, early polls suggest plenty of Americans support impeachment, and there is value in creating a public record of Trump’s abuses. It’s just that: 1) it’s far more palatable and strategic to beat Trump at

 by system failure Many wonder why the Left has failed so loudly to become the primary force against the onslaught of neoliberalism. One has to look in the past to investigate the first steps of neoliberalism, in order to understand the Leftist retreat. As David Harvey points out , " when the neoliberal ethic was first being proposed, it was very much being proposed to the generation of 68 and saying to that generation, 'Look, you want individual liberty and freedom. OK, we'll give it to you in this neoliberal form, which is a very political, economic form, and you have to forget other issues, like social justice and the like.' So, it seeped its way into the discourse of much of the Left and this creates a sort of tolerance for some neoliberal practices. " It was like the generation of 68 was suddenly 'shut down' and there was nothing to resist against the capitalist class. As a consequence, in the early 70s, the capitalist forces launched an un