the unbalanced evolution of homo sapiens

A Washington, DC-based PR firm linked to the US government and Democratic Party, CLS Strategies, ran a fake news network on Facebook and Instagram, spreading propaganda for Bolivia’s coup regime and the right-wing opposition in Venezuela and Mexico. by Ben Norton Part 9 - CLS Strategies’ deep ties to the US government CLS Strategies boasts on its website that it has a “ team of veteran political operatives, former journalists and corporate communications experts ” who are employed as “ strategists, counselors and problem solvers. ” Among those veteran political operatives are some prominent former US government officials. A senior advisor to CLS is Mark Feierstein, a longtime Democratic Party operative who has spent decades overseeing regime-change policies in Latin America. Feierstein played a key role in the Obama administration’s foreign policy team as the president’s top advisor on Latin America, and served as senior director for Western hemisphere affairs on the National

 by Alex Harman Part 7 - Amazon Calls for Federal Price Gouging Legislation   After two months of media reports of price gouging on its platform, Amazon publicly called for a federal price gouging law “ to ensure there are no gaps in protection for consumers ” and to “ complement ” the efforts to fight price gouging in the states. The framework preferred by Amazon would include elements from many state statutes, including prohibitions on “ unconscionable ” price increases and an allowance for actual cost increases.  The Amazon framework recommended that price gouging prohibitions go into effect whenever a federal public health or national emergency is declared. Notably, Amazon would have the prohibition apply to all levels of the supply chain rather than just retailers.  However, the Amazon proposal would include language to clarify that the price gouging prohibition “ should apply to the party who actually sets the price. ” If it became law, this language would immunize Amazon from

Based on a handful of think tank reports and witness testimonies, Western governments have levied false allegations of genocide and slavery in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. A closer look makes clear that the politicization of China’s anti-terrorism policies in Xinjiang is another front of the U.S.-led hybrid war on China. This resource compilation provides a starting point for critical inquiry into the historical context and international response to China’s policies in Xinjiang, providing a counter-perspective to misinformation that abounds in mainstream coverage of the autonomous region.   by Qiao Collective   Part 2 - Formation of the World Uyghur Congress (1989-2006)   1989 June 4 – The Tiananmen June 4th Incident, born of contradictions from market reform, inflamed by Gorbachev’s perestroika, and combined with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and its fall on December 26, 1991, sparks a generational crisis in China. A wave of disillusioned students and upwardly-mobile young

Beyond the bias and politicization of the report, what perhaps damns it most is how it is being used.   by Leonardo Flores   Part 3 - Flawed methodology, biased sources and egregious omissions The first thing to note about the report is that the authors are all from countries that support Guaidó. One of them, Francisco Cox, has close ties to the Chilean Foreign Minister (Chile is one of the Latin American countries leading the charge against Venezuela). In an interview with journalist Anya Parampil, Chilean analyst Esteban Silva noted that Cox “ is part of an operation against the government of Venezuela. ” Venezuelan human rights organization Sures considers that the report “ lacks academic rigor ” as the mission did not step foot in Venezuela “ and as such never had direct access to the sources it consulted, including the victims, government officials and official records. ” Lending credence to the claim of a lack of rigor is the fact that more than 50% of the report’s sources were l

by Jonathan Cook   Part 3 - Flat Earthers and Pizzagate   The second chapter explains that, as we get herded into our echo chambers of self-reinforcing information, we lose more and more sense of the real world and of each other. With it, our ability to empathise and compromise is eroded. We live in different information universes, chosen for us by algorithms whose only criterion is how to maximise our attention for advertisers’ products to generate greater profits for the internet giants. Anyone who has spent any time on social media, especially a combative platform like Twitter, will sense that there is a truth to this claim. Social cohesion, empathy, fair play, morality are not in the algorithm. Our separate information universes mean we are increasingly prone to misunderstanding and confrontation. And there is a further problem, as one interviewee states: “ The truth is boring. ” Simple or fanciful ideas are easier to grasp and more fun. People prefer to share what’s exciting, what

globinfo freexchange    The progressive movement has lost recently one of its pioneers. David Grabber was an American anthropologist, anarchist activist, leading figure in the Occupy Wall Street movement, and is sometimes credited with having coined the slogan "We are the 99%". In the following short analysis, Grabber describes almost perfectly the nature of the neoliberal centrism and how its carriers manipulate the masses. He also unveils the role of those to the right, which in the US is played politically by the Republican Party. As he points out:                            There's a symbiotic relationship between these centrists, who are just sort of sneering elitists and these guys who are the scam artists, who pretend to be locals, who pretend to be idiots, or pretend to be fascists. They're not even real fascists, they're kind of phoney fascists. They are trying to set up a situation where those are the only two viable political choices because they both

Novara Media   While it has already led to more than one million deaths, the consequences of Covid-19 go beyond just public health with 2020 experiencing the sharpest economic downturn in history. Of course much of that was intentional, with demobilisation seen as necessary to control the virus, but what are the longer term economic impacts? Will some of the old economy never return, do higher levels of public debt really matter and will Covid-19 accelerate the ascent of the rest over the West. To discuss all of that Aaron Bastani is joined by Grace Blakeley, author of 'Stolen' and  the forthcoming 'Corona Crash' with Verso Books. 

DiEM25   In his speech at The Belmarsh Tribunal, Yanis Varoufakis makes the case that we must move beyond defending Julian Assange, to actively condemning those whose crimes he revealed.   Convened by the Progressive International, The Belmarsh Tribunal investigated and evaluated US war crimes in the 21st century — and defended Julian Assange's right to reveal them.

The Grayzone   Weeks before the U.S. election, the Trump administration has imposed crushing new sanctions that sever Iran from the global financial system and further threaten the import of humanitarian goods. The Israeli government and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a pro-regime change think tank, reportedly lobbied White House officials for the new move.    Assal Rad of the National Iranian American Council discusses how the sanctions target Iranian civilians, and threaten an outbreak of military conflict. 

The Ecuadorian diplomat who gave Julian Assange political asylum reports from the extradition hearing against the WikiLeaks journalist, and explains why it is “the most important case against the freedom of expression in an entire generation.”   by Fidel Narváez, (translated by Ben Norton)   Part 1 - Introduction At the end of the hearings that seek to extradite journalist Julian Assange to the United States, on October 1, his defense team should have felt triumphant. Because with more than 30 witnesses and testimonies, throughout the whole month of September, they gave a beating to the prosecution representing the U.S. If the case in London were decided solely on justice, as it should in a state based on law, this battle would have been won by Assange.   However, this “trial of the century” is, above all, a political trial, and there remains the feeling that the ruling was made beforehand, regardless of the law.  The court kicked off on September 7 with hundreds of protesters outside,