the unbalanced evolution of homo sapiens

From the Kosovo Protection Corps in the Balkans to the White Helmets of Syria, a group of well-connected people with the fundings of governments and elite billionaires have sought to wage a war on public opinion and have recently exploited Jo Cox’s death to do so. by Vanessa Beeley and Whitney Webb Part 2 - Perfecting the blueprint for “humanitarian” regime change: from the Balkans to Syria It all began in the Balkans. The blueprint for the Syrian regime change, multi-spectrum war, and the roadmap for partitioning a sovereign nation along sectarian lines, was inaugurated in what was once known as Yugoslavia. Corporate media in the West, during the conflict and after, have diligently followed the NATO script, namely that the Bosnian Serbs were “motivated by a hatred of Muslims.” It was largely ignored that the Serbs wanted to protect the territorial integrity of Yugoslavia and that, in Bosnia, they opposed the concept of an Islamic fundamentalist government, which th

If the paeans to McCain by diverse political climbers seems detached from reality, it’s because they reflect the elite view of U.S. military interventions as a chess game, with the millions killed by unprovoked aggression mere statistics. by Max Blumenthal Part 2 - Being Lauded as a Hero On the occasion of his death, McCain is being honored in much the same way — as a patriotic hero and freedom fighter for democracy. A stream of hagiographies is pouring forth from the Beltway press corps that he described as his true political base. Among McCain’s most enthusiastic groupies is CNN’s Jake Tapper, whom he chose as his personal stenographer for a 2000 trip to Vietnam. When the former CNN host Howard Kurtz asked Tapper in February, 2000, “ When you’re on the [campaign] bus, do you make a conscious effort not to fall under the magical McCain spell? ” “ Oh, you can’t. You become like Patty Hearst when the SLA took her, ” Tapper joked in reply. But the late senator

As Chile nears its 45th anniversary since the socialist government of Salvador Allende was overthrown, former National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) and National Information Centre (CNI) agents are being released from prison on parole, despite having been handed multiple lengthy prison sentences. by Ramona Wadi Part 3 - The return to democracy has failed to support Chilean collective memory Lissette Fossa, a journalist from Londres38, spoke to MintPress about how subsequent governments after Chile’s return to democracy remained tied to the dictatorship’s legacy: “ The Concertacion governments generated a transition pact with the dictatorial regime and its allies, resulting in an inability to pursue truth and justice. In the words of former President Patricio Aylwin, ‘to do justice to what extent is possible.’ ” Fossa noted that the Valech commission has been required, by law, to keep victim testimonies as classified information for 50 years. Meanwhile, most court s

The Labour leader's opponents don't care about anti-Semitism. They'll just do anything to remove Corbyn by David Hearst Part 4 - McCarthyism at work The second victim of this campaign are the Palestinians. The aim is to terrify all politicians, be they Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat, or SNP from having any contact with Palestinian organisations, which could be used to discredit them in the future. Everyone is now put on guard for what records exist of the contacts and conferences which took place long ago. The IHRA's anti-Semitism definition, which is not legally binding, will be used as a retro-active weapon. If this sounds like the tactics US Senator Joseph McCarthy used in the early 1950s against suspected communist - "reds under the bed" - at the height of the cold war, it is because it is. From now on, any past contact, any event, any platform shared with Palestinian groups, supporters, activists, and any photograph which e

globinfo freexchange As Yanis Varoufakis said in this recent interview: Europe and the United States were never set up as democracies. Read the Federalist Papers. It was all an attempt to make sure that the riffraff do not control governments. We hark back to the Magna Carta. The Magna Carta was not a democratic instrument, it was a charter of barons. It was all about their right to have slaves and not to be taxed by the king. Aristotle defined, I think, democracy very well even though he was anti-democratic. He said it's a system of governance where the many — and therefore the poor, who are always in the majority — control government. It is impossible for our sophisticated societies to become sustainable without democracy. Democracy is not a luxury. If you go to Europe today, what unites them [people] is a sense of hopelessness. A sense that their democracies have been usurped, that their democratic rights mean absolutely nothing, that there is a decision m

From the Kosovo Protection Corps in the Balkans to the White Helmets of Syria, a group of well-connected people with the fundings of governments and elite billionaires have sought to wage a war on public opinion and have recently exploited Jo Cox’s death to do so. by Vanessa Beeley and Whitney Webb Part 1 The Jo Cox Fund, set up in memory of the slain MP soon after her death in 2016, was established by a cadre of pro-interventionist “humanitarians” with a history of involvement in past regime-change operations and whose connections to some of the world’s most ardent imperialists, as well as the Not for Profit Industrial Complex (NPIC), are legion. For that reason, as well as the past of Cox herself, it is hardly surprising that the fund designated among its causes the U.S. coalition-financed White Helmets, whose primary purpose has been to escalate unlawful NATO state-proxy and direct military intervention in Syria. However, the fund’s efforts in promoting the W

If the paeans to McCain by diverse political climbers seems detached from reality, it’s because they reflect the elite view of U.S. military interventions as a chess game, with the millions killed by unprovoked aggression mere statistics. by Max Blumenthal Part 1 As the Cold War entered its final act in 1985, journalist Helena Cobban participated in an academic conference at an upscale resort near Tucson, Arizona, on U.S.-Soviet interactions in the Middle East. When she attended what was listed as the “Gala Dinner with keynote speech”, she quickly learned that the virtual theme of the evening was, “Adopt a Muj.” “ I remember mingling with all of these wealthy Republican women from the Phoenix suburbs and being asked, ‘Have you adopted a muj?” Cobban told me. “Each one had pledged money to sponsor a member of the Afghan mujahedin in the name of beating the communists. Some were even seated at the event next to their personal ‘muj.’” The keynote speaker of the eveni

globinfo freexchange As Dimitri Lascaris of the Real News reports, the eurozone and the Syriza-led government of Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced with much fanfare that Greece had finally exited its bailout. The bailout amounted to 289 billion euros over an eight-year period commencing in 2010. The bailout has left Greece with a crushing debt amounting to approximately 180 percent of GDP. Moreover, the bailout loans were conditional upon the Greek government imposing extraordinarily onerous conditions of austerity on the Greek people. That austerity resulted in an unprecedented 25 percent contraction in Greece’s economy, soaring unemployment and poverty, a massive brain drain, and sharply increased rates of suicide. Yet, the insanity does not end here. Costas Lapavitsas explains that Greece is formally obligated to ensure primary surpluses of 3.5% of GDP annually for the next four years, to 2022 (!) Primary surpluses are the surpluses the g

It's rare for a military contractor to go out of its way to highlight ties to elected officials, but US defense manufacturer Lockheed Martin wrote a most heartfelt eulogy to the late John McCain. Its sentiment was not appreciated. On Sunday, a day after the American politician's death, the Maryland-based company took to its Twitter to call the long-serving Arizona senator " an exceptionally courageous leader and a true patriot. " But the combination McCain's reputation as a fierce advocate of foreign intervention, and Lockheed's line of work, this was never likely to attract the say-something-nice-or-nothing-at-all crowd. https://www.rt.com/usa/436904-lockheed-martin-mccain-eulogy/ pic.twitter.com/DJ5reOAEue — Michael (@MichaelNo2War) August 26, 2018 I would like to express my condolences to the loved ones of John McCain's victims. — Trini Watchman (@triniwatchman) August 26, 2018 How surprising. War-p

“ Foreign specialists ” have arrived in Syria and may stage a chemical attack using chlorine in “ the next two days, ” the Russian Defense Ministry said. This will be filmed for international media to frame Damascus forces. Defense Ministry Spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said the operation is planned to unfold in the village of Kafr Zita in Syria’s northwestern Hama Province in “ the next two days. ” Konashenkov said that “ English-speaking specialists ” are already in place to use “ poisonous agents .” While a group of residents from the north has been transported to Kafr Zita and is currently being prepared “ to take part in the staging of the attack ” and be filmed suffering from supposed “ ‘chemical munitions’ and ‘barrel bombs’ launched by the Syrian government forces. ” The groups of residents will be used to assist “ fake rescuers from the White Helmets. ” They will be filmed apparently suffering from the effects of chemical weapons and then be shown in