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Showing posts from January, 2022

Leaked files expose Syria psyops veteran astroturfing BreadTube star to counter Covid restriction critics

By covertly recruiting popular YouTube influencer Abigail Thorn to counter growing opposition to UK gov’t Covid restrictions, psy-ops pros are bringing home the tactics they honed in the Syrian dirty war   by Kit Klarenberg and Max Blumenthal   Part 6 - A broad landscape of state-backed Covid propaganda ops   It’s probable the “Countering Pseudoscience” project is just one part of a wider landscape of online astroturf initiatives designed to restore cratering public trust in authorities around Covid policy. Valent Projects has also conducted work for the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a neoconservative think tank, researching “ violent actors using the ‘dark web’ to mobilise recruits and threaten public figures in Europe. ” This initiative was likely also aimed at countering lockdown opposition. Back in April 2020, Khan appeared on a panel discussion convened by the organization, “ Countering Disinformation in a Time of COVID19. ”  At the start of December, the Institute released a

Bloody Sunday: hundreds pay respects in Derry 50 years after atrocity

Hundreds of people have attended a commemoration event to mark the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. Thirteen civil rights protesters were shot dead by British soldiers on 30 January 1972 in Derry. Another man shot by paratroopers on the day died four months later. While many consider him the 14th victim of Bloody Sunday, his death was formally attributed to an inoperable brain tumour. As part of the commemorative event, the Irish taoiseach, Micheál Martin, laid a wreath at the Bloody Sunday memorial. Earlier, relatives of those killed and injured on Bloody Sunday took part in a remembrance walk and retraced the steps of the original march. The crowd gathered at Creggan Shops before making their way to the Bloody Sunday Monument in Rossville Street, where the annual memorial service and wreath-laying ceremony took place. Martin, the Irish minister for foreign affairs, Simon Coveney, and other political leaders including the Sinn Féin president, Mary Lou McDonald, and the SDLP leader,

Don't Look Up, Just Give Up

Why the establishment really pissed off with Adam McKay's Don't Look Up   by system failure   Why a movie with some of the most famous actors would bring such an embarrassment to the establishment? Probably because it would depict establishment's multi-level ugliness using establishment's star-system "materials". That's the short answer on why Adam McKay's Don't Look Up produced, up until now, so much controversy. The presence of Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence in a movie, makes it really hard for the establishment "experts" to bury it, if they don't like the deeper message it carries. So, reviews should be mixed and covertly undermine the movie, devaluing it smoothly.    The creators of the story (Adam McKay and David Sirota), wanted to highlight the incredible unwillingness of the societies to deal seriously with the now very direct threat of climate crisis. Yet, remarkably, they did much more

Ukraine admits Russia doesn't plan to invade, while US/UK threaten war and Germany/France want peace

Multipolarista   Ukraine’s president urged calm, and its defense minister admitted “ there are no grounds to believe ” Russia is planning an invasion, while the US and Britain send weapons and troops, and Germany and France try to push for peace to save their economies.

Hands Off Russia | Unmasking Imperialism

Ramiro Sebastián Fúnez   Exposing imperialist propaganda about NATO's aggression against Russia.

From Ukraine to Yemen, US arms industry reaps the spoils of war

The Grayzone   The US is pouring more weapons into Ukraine amid bellicose threats against Russia and the US-backed Saudi war on Yemen continues to massacre civilians. But not everyone sees a downside: “ I fully expect we’re going to see some benefit from it, ” Raytheon CEO Greg Hayes said this week of these and other flashpoints. Andrew Cockburn, Washington editor of Harper’s Magazine and author of The Spoils of War: Power, Profit and the American War Machine , discusses the US arms industry’s role in promoting and profiting from today’s global conflicts, from Ukraine to Yemen to Syria. Cockburn also looks back on his groundbreaking 1988 PBS documentary, made with his wife Leslie Cockburn, Guns, Drugs, and the CIA , about the agency’s role in the global drug trade. 

Day 1024: Julian Assange still in prison and under slow-motion execution by the Anglo-American imperialist criminals

failed evolution   World's number one political prisoner, Julian Assange, still in high security prison for exposing horrendous war crimes carried out by the US imperialists and their allies.   The ruthless Western imperialist regime wants to punish the No1 real journalist in the world and make him an example for any Whistleblower or real journalist who will attempt to expose its big crimes in the future.   That Assange, who is in precarious physical and psychological health and who suffered a stroke during court video proceedings, has been condemned to death should not come as a surprise. The ten years he has been detained, seven in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and nearly three in the high security Belmarsh prison, were accompanied with a lack of sunlight and exercise and unrelenting threats, pressure, anxiety and stress.    His steady physical and psychological deterioration has led to hallucinations and depression. He takes antidepressant medication and the antipsych

Journalist Rania Khalek on trips to Cuba, Ethiopia, & Eritrea, as they resist US meddling

Multipolarista   Journalist Rania Khalek discusses her trips to Cuba, Ethiopia, and Eritrea to report on their peoples' resistance against US interventionism and sanctions. 

Chile’s private bus companies tried to repress the working-class vote - It backfired

On election day in Chile, private bus companies refused to transport working-class voters to polls to help the right-wing candidate. The Left and unions rapidly organized to counteract the boycott — and socialist candidate Gabriel Boric emerged victorious. by Andrés Arce / Bruno Dobrusin On December 19, 2021, the day of the Chilean presidential election, rumors circulated of a corporate boycott intended to sway the election in favor of the right-wing candidate. As the day wore on, they were confirmed: private bus companies had cut service to working-class neighborhoods in Santiago and other cities, preventing potential left-wing voters from reaching the polls. Thousands of people were left waiting at bus stops, while photographs emerged showing of hundreds of buses idling at company garages. To vote in Santiago, people would have to trudge long distances in nearly 100 degree Fahrenheit heat. The final round of the Chilean presidential elections was not merely about who would occupy the

In the days of Tito and Allende, Yugoslavia helped define Chilean Socialism

Chile’s new president, Gabriel Boric, has stressed the importance of his Yugoslav roots. But well before Boric's rise to prominence, across much of the last century, Yugoslav socialism was a major influence on the Chilean left.   by Agustín Cosovschi   Part 2 - Yugoslav Workers in Latin America At the root of Yugoslavia’s connections with Latin America is a movement of workers, in the most literal sense. The story begins in the late nineteenth century with the massive emigration of poor peasants and unskilled workers from Southeastern Europe to Latin America, especially the lands of the Southern Cone. Several thousand Yugoslavs, mostly coming from the territories of present-day Croatia (at that time under Austro-Hungarian rule), settled in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Bolivia, and southern Brazil, in search of a better life. This influx continued in the early twentieth century, intensified by the 1924 US Immigration Act restricting the number allowed to enter the country. As a result

Leaked files expose Syria psyops veteran astroturfing BreadTube star to counter Covid restriction critics

By covertly recruiting popular YouTube influencer Abigail Thorn to counter growing opposition to UK gov’t Covid restrictions, psy-ops pros are bringing home the tactics they honed in the Syrian dirty war   by Kit Klarenberg and Max Blumenthal   Part 5 - Valent founder “embedded into terrorist organizations,” ran Syria psy-ops for armed extremists   Hamish Falconer’s hiring at Valent Projects in March 2021 highlights the firm’s deep ties to the UK’s intelligence apparatus. At the time, he was ostensibly on leave from the UK Foreign Office. Khan trumpeted Falconer’s hire on LinkedIn, declaring that “ he brings the action end to our work – experimenting and innovating with digital influence for good. ” Having met in Pakistan “ over a decade ago, ” the pair “ have not stopped talking and comparing notes since .” Falconer’s spartan online résumé sheds little light on his professional history, noting only a spell at the UK government’s Department for International Development, followed by a

Δεν είναι δύσκολο να μαντέψετε τι θα δείξει η επόμενη δημοσκόπηση των γελοίων ...

globinfo freexchange   Ένα καθεστώς ανάλγητων και διεφθαρμένων φασιστοφιλελέδων, που δεν έχει ούτε μία επιτυχημένη διαχείριση σε όλα τα μεγάλα προβλήματα της χώρας, εξακολουθεί να προηγείται με διαφορά τουλάχιστον δέκα μονάδων από τον δεύτερο ΣΥΡΙΖΑ. Ποτέ και καμία κυβέρνηση με τέτοιες απανωτές αποτυχίες δεν κατάφερε να διατηρεί τέτοια διαφορά από τον κύριο αντίπαλό της.    Βασικά δεν γνωρίζουμε να υπάρχει παγκόσμιο προηγούμενο δημοσκοπήσεων τέτοιας εξωφρενικής πυκνότητας, που να είναι τόσο ευνοϊκές για κάποιο καθεστώς και οι οποίες μάλιστα να ξεκινούν σχεδόν αμέσως μετά την ανάληψη της εξουσίας από το καθεστώς αυτό. Ίσως να έχει υπάρξει κάτι ανάλογο σε τριτοκοσμικά αυταρχικά καθεστώτα στο παρελθόν.  Δεν χρειάζεται να έχει κανείς μαντικές ικανότητες για να προβλέψει τι θα βγάλει η επόμενη δημοσκόπηση. Όπως είχαμε γράψει λίγο πριν το τέλος της προηγούμενης χρονιάς:   Δεν είναι δύσκολο να μαντέψει κανείς τι θα δείξει η επόμενη δημοσκόπηση που βγαίνει από τον καθεστωτικό μηχανισμό. Όπως

US and UK escalate Russia war fever, but NATO splits over Ukraine emerge

The Grayzone   The US and UK are ramping up threats to Russia over Ukraine by sending more weapons, vowing more sanctions, and lodging evidence-free claims of a Russian plot to install a pro-Kremlin leader. But comments by Germany's navy chief that Russia "deserves respect" -- leading to his resignation -- underscore that not everyone is on board with Washington and London's war fever. Scholar and author Richard Sakwa discusses the latest in the Ukraine crisis.  

Julian Assange, Gianna Papadakou, Kostas Vaxevanis: Western post-democracy becomes more authoritarian than ever

globinfo freexchange   When a dominant system begins openly and mercilessly go after top investigative journalists, you can understand that we have already entered the post-democratic era beyond doubt. But it is also a sign that the system becomes increasingly authoritarian because it loses the control of the flow of information and the narratives that reach the wide public.   The Western former crypto-fascist and now openly fascist neoliberal establishment wants to preserve the power of the corporate elites and the super-rich, even if it has to suspend more and more democratic principles that have been conquered in previous decades through struggles and blood. Like freedom of press, for instance.   And it's certainly not a coincidence that the system is going through a transition phase , (from capitalism to a modern type of corporate feudalism), in which, naturally, democracy has to be defeated decisively.    As we mentioned recently, Mitsotakis regime in Greece is taking steps t

“Pfizer Intentionally Deceived And Defrauded” – US Justice Department

The Jimmy Dore Show In 2006, Pfizer paid $2.3 billion, the largest fine ever assessed to a pharmaceutical company, over allegations the company committed fraud in promoting off-label uses for the drug Bextra. Yet shockingly, none of the company executives went to prison and a few lower-level managers were given slaps on the wrist. Jimmy Dore and comedian Kurt Metzger discuss this colossal case of fraud and why the major pharmaceutical company was able to escape with only a fine, albeit a substantial one.  

Millions in Afghanistan are starving due to US sanctions

Moderate Rebels   The Biden administration claims it wants to help the Afghan people, but US sanctions are starving millions of civilians and threatening a famine, the United Nations has warned. 

Day 1019: Julian Assange still in prison and under slow-motion execution by the Anglo-American imperialist criminals

failed evolution   World's number one political prisoner, Julian Assange, still in high security prison for exposing horrendous war crimes carried out by the US imperialists and their allies.   The ruthless Western imperialist regime wants to punish the No1 real journalist in the world and make him an example for any Whistleblower or real journalist who will attempt to expose its big crimes in the future.   That Assange, who is in precarious physical and psychological health and who suffered a stroke during court video proceedings, has been condemned to death should not come as a surprise. The ten years he has been detained, seven in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and nearly three in the high security Belmarsh prison, were accompanied with a lack of sunlight and exercise and unrelenting threats, pressure, anxiety and stress.    His steady physical and psychological deterioration has led to hallucinations and depression. He takes antidepressant medication and the antipsych

CIA is training Ukrainian paramilitaries to 'kill Russians'

Moderate Rebels   The CIA is training far-right Ukrainian nationalists to "kill Russians" and wage an "insurgency" against Moscow. 

US prepares for war with China, 50 years after Nixon’s visit and Shanghai Communiqué

BreakThrough News Brian Becker and Dr. Ken Hammond discuss U.S. aggression against China, which often uses Taiwan as a pretext. But next month is the 50th anniversary of the Shanghai Communiqué – a document the U.S. and China jointly signed, after Nixon visited the country, which recognized that Taiwan is in fact part of China. Brian is joined by Dr. Ken Hammond, professor of East Asian and Global History at New Mexico State University, founding director of the Confucius Institute at New Mexico State University, and activist with Pivot to Peace.

In the days of Tito and Allende, Yugoslavia helped define Chilean Socialism

Chile’s new president, Gabriel Boric, has stressed the importance of his Yugoslav roots. But well before Boric's rise to prominence, across much of the last century, Yugoslav socialism was a major influence on the Chilean left.   by Agustín Cosovschi   Part 1 Last month, left-winger Gabriel Boric was elected Chile’s new president in a runoff against far-right candidate José Antonio Kast. In an uncertain climate following the massive popular protests in 2019, a referendum to change the constitution inherited from Augusto Pinochet’s regime, and the decline of the traditional parties, Boric won the popular vote, backed by a broad center-left coalition. In the days following his election, Boric’s life story came under the scrutiny of the global media, and his victory was especially publicized by the press in Southeastern Europe.    Boric is the descendent of Yugoslav immigrants who settled in southern Chile at the end of the nineteenth century, and, after his leading role in the 2011 s

Joe Biden’s lobbyists are helping Big Pharma profiteers

The pharmaceutical industry wants Americans to continue paying far more for medicines than people in any other country, to protect their tremendous profits. And one of Joe Biden’s top campaign consulting firms is helping them.   by Andrew Perez   Part 3 - “What’s at Stake Isn’t Corporate Profits”   Canal Partners Media also started buying ads late last month for the Coalition to Protect Access (CPA), another apparent pharma front group. Business incorporation records from Washington, DC show that CPA is being led by executives from Purple Strategies, a corporate communications firm that worked with BP after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill as well as Purdue Pharma, the notorious OxyContin manufacturer widely accused of helping fuel the opioid crisis. Purple Strategies wrote in a 2019 press release that the firm has been a “ longtime partner ” to PhRMA, a lobbying powerhouse for drugmakers that generated a staggering $573 million in revenue in 2020. “ Today, vaccines and antivirals are

Flattening the curve or flattening the global poor? How Covid lockdowns obliterate human rights and crush the most vulnerable

Marketed as life-saving public health measures, lockdowns triggered death and economic devastation on a global scale while doing little to slow the spread of Covid-19. Now, they’re back with a vengeance.   by Stavroula Pabst and Max Blumenthal   Part 7 - “Making poor people a lot poorer” and shortening life spans   While they may not be effective at limiting the spread of coronavirus, lockdowns are effective at destroying the economy, people’s livelihoods, and perhaps the social fabric itself as individuals grow used to remaining distant from friends, coworkers, family and community. And while income and education losses, extensive isolation, and other COVID-related disruptions are devastating in the short-term, they also can inflict long-term adverse impacts on the length and quality of life, even decades later. Childhood years are vital to shaping an adult’s overall well being, and adverse events that elicit extended stress responses throughout one’s youth can have significant impact