offguardian--2020-06-20--Caesar’s Palace: 5 questions on America’s latest round of Syria sanctions

While debate rages on whether the statues of colonial plunderers should be tossed into rivers or otherwise removed as blots on civilised landscapes – and as we progressives virtue-signal our damning of racism while enjoying to varying degree its fruits [ 1 ] – looting and sacking of the global south continues apace .
Only now we don ’ t call it colonialism .
Direct rule of Asia , Africa and “ Latin ” America , which for all its horrors imposed a modicum of responsibility on Europe ’ s maritime powers , has largely gone .
[ 2 ] @ @ @ @ @ @ @ length – market discipline – controls of imperialism , practised by the former colonial powers and a good few more , all in the global north .
[ 3 ] As with colonial powers , the imperialist powers are either armed to the teeth ( Britain , France , USA ) or in half competitive cahoots ( Germany , Japan ) with those that are .
Almost as important , their control of narrative and ability to manufacture consent , subject of a recent post , enables them to sell wars of profit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as altruistic intervention in the Gladstonian tradition , and/or as defensive moves to take out a Threat To Us All .
This is by way of scene setting .
Yesterday , US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the world of a new round of sanctions dubbed , for reasons I ’ ll get to in a moment , the Caesar Act .
It targets the last remaining Ba ’ athist state .
[ 4 ] Here ’ s a press release by the State Department , though Pompeo ’ s tweets give @ @ @ @ @ @ @ impact on people in the nations targeted ?
Why “ Caesar ” Act ?
Why trust a word of what Washington says about Syria ?
Why trust a word of what Mike Pompeo says about anything ?
What do America and its junior partners really want in Syria ?
The rest of this post is dedicated to addressing these questions .
For many a decade we ’ ve been nurtured in a view of sanctions ( preferable to the harsher term , ‘ blockade ’ ) as almost benign – the gentle nudging @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wayward child to mend her ways .
The most serious puncturing of so naive and rose-tinted a view came when , it having emerged that half a million Iraqi children under five had died as a result of Bill Clinton ’ s sanctions , his Secretary of State Madeleine Albright defended them as “ a price worth paying ” .
Though their creators deny this , sanctions kill indiscriminately and are intended to do just that .
But they do have this one merit .
Thanks to that naïve view of them – @ @ @ @ @ @ @ utterances of Albright and Bolton , and by UN/WHO data few read – sanctions , unlike bombs and returning body bags , never bring people out onto the streets of Western cities .
Why is this round of sanctions called the Caesar Act ?
This from a CounterPunch piece of March 2016 : The piece goes on to list no fewer than a dozen “ significant problems with the ‘ Caesar torture photos ’ story ” .
To be sure , the lies already proven of Western media and politicians in respect of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I ’ ll go into , even if everything said of Assad and the Damascus “ regime ” were true , I ’ d still oppose imperialism ’ s dirty war on Syria .
But at least we know why it ’ s called the Caesar Act .
Who knows ?
Maybe it ’ ll pop up , many years from now , in a round of Trivial Pursuits .
Why should we trust what Washington says about Syria ?
No good reason – but a few dreadful ones .
By any number @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s foremost rogue state .
What would your proverbial Martian make of its unique and militarily unnecessary [ 5 ] use of nuclear weapons … proliferation across the planet of military bases which outnumber those of all other nations combined … the chilling extent to which armaments are key to the US economy … the non stop wars on the global south … the flouting of inconvenient UN resolutions … the underwriting of Israeli apartheid and backing of coups to install far more Washington friendly dictatorships than I can keep count of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ free pass by so many of us ?
Why , in the face of overwhelming and quite damning evidence , is the good ol ’ US of A seen as a force for good ?
I ’ ve gone into this question elsewhere and more than once .
Here I ’ ll confine myself to the basics .
One , it helps that , thanks to a previous apex predator , English is the world ’ s lingua franca .
The advantage is incalculable as the hard propaganda of news delivery , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , paint a nuanced but – as the final credits roll – ultimately glowing picture of Uncle Sam .
Two , America emerged from WW2 as the stronger of two new superpowers .
Three , this reality was cemented by Bretton Woods , Marshall Plan – and , later , Nixon ’ s decoupling from gold , and arrival of the petrodollar system .
All in the context of a cold war on the other superpower .
Other imperialist nations , as they more or less reluctantly withdrew from their colonies , had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Washington .
This was a no-brainer , the occasional outburst of resentment – from France especially – notwithstanding .
In a world divided between the Good Guys of a Free West , and the Bad Guys lurking behind the Iron Curtain and itching to enslave us all , Washington was our protector and saviour from Red Tyranny .
Now things are a little more complex – not least because in the War on Terror it spearheads , America has a habit of covertly backing The Enemy in places like Syria [ 6 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in it yet .
Why should we trust what Mike Pompeo says about anything ?
What do America and its junior partners really want in Syria ?
In Israel : a Beachhead for the West – see my review – Stephen Gowans says this : The ultimate purpose of dominating another country is to secure opportunities for big business to accumulate wealth .
The dominated country may provide direct opportunities for wealth accumulation , or be a stepping stone to profit-making opportunities in a third country , without offering attractive opportunities of its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the target of an imperialist power because favorably placed .
Perhaps it bounds important shipping lanes and is prized as a naval base from which the movement of goods can be protected from rival imperialist powers that might choke off the flow .
Or perhaps the aim is to position military power at a shipping choke point .
Or maybe the territory is close to enticing targets that could be absorbed through military coercion .
Maybe the dominated country is close to another imperialism and attractive for encircling it .
There are scores @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dominate a country that offers no immediate or direct economic benefit , but all are traceable to a perceived economic advantage for the dominating country ’ s major investors .
In fact Syria ticks most boxes .
Direct opportunities for wealth accumulation ?
Not as obvious as in Venezeula or Iran but do see the piece I wrote , informed not least by The Economist , on oil in a Golan Heights illegally occupied by Israel and now test drilled by Genie Energy , its board taking in Rupert Murdoch , Dick Cheney @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the same club .
It ’ s a characteristically grubby story but is in fact eclipsed by a greater imperative .
The more you look into the workings of capitalism with the brakes off , i.e .
the capitalism of forty years of post Keynsianism , the harder it is to avoid concluding that the goal is to privatise the world .
A once free public loo monetised … casualisation of British academics in a climate of bums-on-seats marketisation … cold war to bring down the USSR … market forces unleashed with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ … crippling debts imposed on Mandela ’ s South Africa … victor ’ s spoils in post invasion Iraq [ 7 ] … All and any opposition to that drive must , one way or another , give way .
With two Ba ’ athist states already reduced to chaos and terror but – hip hip hooray !
– their evil statism vaporised , Damascus marks the final frontier .
Just kidding .
There ’ s still Iran .
And Venezuela .
And Yemen .
And China… Gas pipeline ?
Syria , for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has warm water ports on the Eastern Mediterranean .
These are ideally placed for a pipeline joining the big players with Europe , the world ’ s largest energy market .
The southern route favoured by the West , through the Gulf , was eschewed in 2014 by Assad in favour of the northern route backed by Iran and Russia .
Brazilian journalist Pepe Escobar is good on this , though we should tread carefully .
Other drivers of the dirty war on Syria are at least as important .
In fact the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by Escobar , in a piece – Battle of the Ages to stop Eurasian integration – which featured in my January reads post .
I recommend reading it in full , preferably with a world map to hand .
Meanwhile here ’ s a sample : Russia is showing China how the West respects realpolitik power in any form , and Beijing is finally starting to use theirs .
The result is that after five centuries of Western domination – which , incidentally , led to the decline of the Ancient Silk Roads @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a bang , asserting its pre-eminence … … virtually the whole Asia-Pacific – from the Eastern Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean – now takes into full consideration Russia-China as a counter-force to US naval and financial overreach … … Last summer , an Iran-Iraq-Syria trilateral established “ the goal of negotiations as to activate the Iranian-Iraqi-Syria load and transport corridor as part of a wider plan for reviving the Silk Road.
” There could not be a more strategic connectivity corridor , capable of simultaneously interlinking with the International North-South Transportation Corridor ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the Pacific ; and projecting Latakia towards the Mediterranean and the Atlantic .
What ’ s on the horizon is , in fact , a sub-sect of Belt & Road in Southwest Asia .
Iran is a key node of Belt & Road ; China will be heavily involved in the rebuilding of Syria ; and Beijing-Baghdad signed multiple deals and set up an Iraqi-Chinese Reconstruction Fund ( income from 300,000 barrels of oil a day in exchange for Chinese credit for Chinese companies rebuilding Iraqi infrastructure ) .
Is Western imperialism @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it spooked by all this ?
But , hey , let ’ s not get all fancy and complicated about things !
Let ’ s just take Mike Pompeo – a fully paid up born again bible carrier ; former deacon and Sunday School teacher to boot – at face value on his Caesar Act .
Life ’ s a whole lot simpler that way .
[ 1 ] Racism was necessary to the West ’ s affluence .
How else justify slavery , colonialism and the ethnic genocide on which the Americas @ @ @ @ @ @ @ settled ?
Oppression is always linked , though not necessarily in straightforward ways , to exploitation and class rule .
( Let me add , apropos a FB exchange today with one who read my “ virtue signalling ” remark as an attack on BLM , that this isn ’ t my bag .
Yes , I have criticisms of BLM but abhor sectarianism .
Rather than rubbish BLM I see a need to have out the kind of arguments set out here , but from a place of solidarity in opposing racism @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a few discreet colonies like Diego Garcia , prized not for their riches but their strategic location , continue , largely below the radar , to be ruled directly from afar.^ [ 3 ] ‘ Global north ’ is not a strictly geographic term .
It includes Australia , New Zealand and Israel and in my usage is synonymous with ‘ the West ’ and ‘ imperialism ’ .^ [ 4 ] Ba ’ athism is loosely defined as that mix of Pan Arab nationalism and state control of key sectors known as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , see my post , the Kurds in Syria.^ [ 5 ] See in this respect Eisenhower ’ s comments .
Was the real aim at Hiroshima and Nagasaki to show the Soviet Union , as cold war dawned , what the USA could do ?
^ [ 6 ] Political economist Michael Hudson made this point in an essay prompted by the January assassination of General Suleimani , America Escalates its “ Democratic ” Oil War in the Near East .
After Vietnam , US wars can no longer be waged by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lands .
This leaves the US ruling class with two complementary options for imposing its will by military force : aerial supremacy and , on the ground , proxy forces which absolutely include terrorism .
Hence Hudson ’ s depiction of Isis , Al Quaeda , Jabhat al-Nusra etc as “ America ’ s Foreign Legion ” .^ [ 7 ] The fates of Poland , South Africa , Iraq and other nations are comprehensively documented in Naomi Klein ’ s outstanding Shock Doctrine.^

Philip Roddis
Many more sanctions will come until Assad and his regime stop their needless, brutal war and agree to a political solution as called for by UNSCR 2254. — Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) June 17, 2020
While debate rages on whether the statues of colonial plunderers should be tossed into rivers or otherwise removed as blots on civilised landscapes – and as we progressives virtue-signal our damning of racism while enjoying to varying degree its fruits[1] – looting and sacking of the global south continues apace.
Only now we don’t call it colonialism. Direct rule of Asia, Africa and “Latin” America, which for all its horrors imposed a modicum of responsibility on Europe’s maritime powers, has largely gone.[2] Now we have the arm’s length – market discipline – controls of imperialism, practised by the former colonial powers and a good few more, all in the global north.[3]
(Like ‘ruling class’, I ration my use of ‘imperialism’. It puts off readers who might otherwise be receptive to the things I say. And as with ‘ruling class’ – defined by its monopoly ownership of some essential of wealth creation – I offer a simple but robust core definition. Imperialism is the export of capital from north to south, and repatriation of profits in the reverse direction. These remarkably consistent flows are empirical facts, as IMF, WTO and World Bank data attest.)
As with colonial powers, the imperialist powers are either armed to the teeth (Britain, France, USA) or in half competitive cahoots (Germany, Japan) with those that are. Almost as important, their control of narrative and ability to manufacture consent, subject of a recent post, enables them to sell wars of profit, the victims overwhelmingly brown skinned, as altruistic intervention in the Gladstonian tradition, and/or as defensive moves to take out a Threat To Us All.
This is by way of scene setting. Yesterday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the world of a new round of sanctions dubbed, for reasons I’ll get to in a moment, the Caesar Act. It targets the last remaining Ba’athist state.[4] Here’s a press release by the State Department, though Pompeo’s tweets give the gist.
But how do sanctions impact on people in the nations targeted? Why “Caesar” Act? Why trust a word of what Washington says about Syria? Why trust a word of what Mike Pompeo says about anything? What do America and its junior partners really want in Syria?
The rest of this post is dedicated to addressing these questions.
What harm do sanctions inflict?
For many a decade we’ve been nurtured in a view of sanctions (preferable to the harsher term, ‘blockade’) as almost benign – the gentle nudging by a caring parent to encourage a wayward child to mend her ways. The most serious puncturing of so naive and rose-tinted a view came when, it having emerged that half a million Iraqi children under five had died as a result of Bill Clinton’s sanctions, his Secretary of State Madeleine Albright defended them as “a price worth paying”.
Though their creators deny this, sanctions kill indiscriminately and are intended to do just that.
(Former National Security Advisor John Bolton, now a thorn in the side of the boss who cut him loose, let the cat out of this bag when he declared his desire to see ordinary Iranians suffer to the point where, in desperation, they rose up to overthrow the theocrats in Tehran.)
But they do have this one merit. Thanks to that naïve view of them – damaged but not fatally so by the utterances of Albright and Bolton, and by UN/WHO data few read – sanctions, unlike bombs and returning body bags, never bring people out onto the streets of Western cities.
Why is this round of sanctions called the Caesar Act?
This from a CounterPunch piece of March 2016:
On 20 January 2014, two days before negotiations about the Syrian conflict were scheduled to begin in Switzerland, a sensational report burst onto television and front pages around the world. The story was that a former Syrian army photographer had 55,000 photographs documenting the torture and killing of 11,000 detainees by the Syrian security establishment. The Syrian photographer was given the code-name ‘Caesar’. The story became known as the “Caesar Torture Photos”. A team of lawyers plus digital and forensic experts were hired by the Carter-Ruck law firm, on contract to Qatar, to go to the Middle East and check the veracity of “Caesar” and his story. They concluded that “Caesar” was truthful and the photographs indicated “industrial scale killing”. CNN, London’s Guardian and LeMonde broke the story which was subsequently broadcast in news reports around the world. The Caesar photo accusations were announced as negotiations began in Switzerland. With the opposition demanding the resignation of the Syrian government, negotiations quickly broke down.
The piece goes on to list no fewer than a dozen “significant problems with the ‘Caesar torture photos’ story”. To be sure, the lies already proven of Western media and politicians in respect of Syria are huge. But for reasons I’ll go into, even if everything said of Assad and the Damascus “regime” were true, I’d still oppose imperialism’s dirty war on Syria.
But at least we know why it’s called the Caesar Act. Who knows? Maybe it’ll pop up, many years from now, in a round of Trivial Pursuits.
Why should we trust what Washington says about Syria?
No good reason – but a few dreadful ones. By any number of metrics, America is the world’s foremost rogue state. What would your proverbial Martian make of its unique and militarily unnecessary[5] use of nuclear weapons … proliferation across the planet of military bases which outnumber those of all other nations combined … the chilling extent to which armaments are key to the US economy … the non stop wars on the global south … the flouting of inconvenient UN resolutions … the underwriting of Israeli apartheid and backing of coups to install far more Washington friendly dictatorships than I can keep count of?
Why then is it given a free pass by so many of us? Why, in the face of overwhelming and quite damning evidence, is the good ol’ US of A seen as a force for good? I’ve gone into this question elsewhere and more than once. Here I’ll confine myself to the basics.
One, it helps that, thanks to a previous apex predator, English is the world’s lingua franca. The advantage is incalculable as the hard propaganda of news delivery, and the soft propaganda of the entertainment industries, paint a nuanced but – as the final credits roll – ultimately glowing picture of Uncle Sam.
Two, America emerged from WW2 as the stronger of two new superpowers. Three, this reality was cemented by Bretton Woods, Marshall Plan – and, later, Nixon’s decoupling from gold, and arrival of the petrodollar system. All in the context of a cold war on the other superpower.
Other imperialist nations, as they more or less reluctantly withdrew from their colonies, had to choose between looking to Moscow or to Washington. This was a no-brainer, the occasional outburst of resentment – from France especially – notwithstanding. In a world divided between the Good Guys of a Free West, and the Bad Guys lurking behind the Iron Curtain and itching to enslave us all, Washington was our protector and saviour from Red Tyranny. Now things are a little more complex – not least because in the War on Terror it spearheads, America has a habit of covertly backing The Enemy in places like Syria[6] – but the legacy has life in it yet.
Why should we trust what Mike Pompeo says about anything?
Phew! I’m tired and wanting a coffee break. I needed an easy question.
What do America and its junior partners really want in Syria?
In Israel: a Beachhead for the West – see my review – Stephen Gowans says this:
The ultimate purpose of dominating another country is to secure opportunities for big business to accumulate wealth. The dominated country may provide direct opportunities for wealth accumulation, or be a stepping stone to profit-making opportunities in a third country, without offering attractive opportunities of its own. Such a country may become the target of an imperialist power because favorably placed. Perhaps it bounds important shipping lanes and is prized as a naval base from which the movement of goods can be protected from rival imperialist powers that might choke off the flow. Or perhaps the aim is to position military power at a shipping choke point. Or maybe the territory is close to enticing targets that could be absorbed through military coercion. Maybe the dominated country is close to another imperialism and attractive for encircling it. There are scores of reasons why an imperialist power might dominate a country that offers no immediate or direct economic benefit, but all are traceable to a perceived economic advantage for the dominating country’s major investors.
In fact Syria ticks most boxes. Direct opportunities for wealth accumulation? Not as obvious as in Venezeula or Iran but do see the piece I wrote, informed not least by The Economist, on oil in a Golan Heights illegally occupied by Israel and now test drilled by Genie Energy, its board taking in Rupert Murdoch, Dick Cheney, a former CIA director and others in the same club.
It’s a characteristically grubby story but is in fact eclipsed by a greater imperative. The more you look into the workings of capitalism with the brakes off, i.e. the capitalism of forty years of post Keynsianism, the harder it is to avoid concluding that the goal is to privatise the world. A once free public loo monetised … casualisation of British academics in a climate of bums-on-seats marketisation … cold war to bring down the USSR … market forces unleashed with devastating effect in Walewski’s Poland … crippling debts imposed on Mandela’s South Africa … victor’s spoils in post invasion Iraq[7] … All and any opposition to that drive must, one way or another, give way.
With two Ba’athist states already reduced to chaos and terror but – hip hip hooray! – their evil statism vaporised, Damascus marks the final frontier.
Just kidding. There’s still Iran. And Venezuela. And Yemen. And China…
Gas pipeline? Syria, for the most part non oil producing, has warm water ports on the Eastern Mediterranean. These are ideally placed for a pipeline joining the big players with Europe, the world’s largest energy market. The southern route favoured by the West, through the Gulf, was eschewed in 2014 by Assad in favour of the northern route backed by Iran and Russia. Brazilian journalist Pepe Escobar is good on this, though we should tread carefully. Other drivers of the dirty war on Syria are at least as important.
In fact the biggest driver of all is also addressed by Escobar, in a piece – Battle of the Ages to stop Eurasian integration – which featured in my January reads post. I recommend reading it in full, preferably with a world map to hand. Meanwhile here’s a sample:
Russia is showing China how the West respects realpolitik power in any form, and Beijing is finally starting to use theirs. The result is that after five centuries of Western domination – which, incidentally, led to the decline of the Ancient Silk Roads – the Heartland is back, with a bang, asserting its pre-eminence … … virtually the whole Asia-Pacific – from the Eastern Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean – now takes into full consideration Russia-China as a counter-force to US naval and financial overreach … … Last summer, an Iran-Iraq-Syria trilateral established “the goal of negotiations as to activate the Iranian-Iraqi-Syria load and transport corridor as part of a wider plan for reviving the Silk Road.” There could not be a more strategic connectivity corridor, capable of simultaneously interlinking with the International North-South Transportation Corridor; the Iran-Central Asia-China connection all the way to the Pacific; and projecting Latakia towards the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. What’s on the horizon is, in fact, a sub-sect of Belt & Road in Southwest Asia. Iran is a key node of Belt & Road; China will be heavily involved in the rebuilding of Syria; and Beijing-Baghdad signed multiple deals and set up an Iraqi-Chinese Reconstruction Fund (income from 300,000 barrels of oil a day in exchange for Chinese credit for Chinese companies rebuilding Iraqi infrastructure).
Is Western imperialism spooked by all this? Or is it spooked by all this?
But, hey, let’s not get all fancy and complicated about things! Let’s just take Mike Pompeo – a fully paid up born again bible carrier; former deacon and Sunday School teacher to boot – at face value on his Caesar Act. Life’s a whole lot simpler that way.
NOTES:- [1] Racism was necessary to the West’s affluence. How else justify slavery, colonialism and the ethnic genocide on which the Americas and Antipodes were ‘discovered’ and settled? Oppression is always linked, though not necessarily in straightforward ways, to exploitation and class rule. (Let me add, apropos a FB exchange today with one who read my “virtue signalling” remark as an attack on BLM, that this isn’t my bag. Yes, I have criticisms of BLM but abhor sectarianism. Rather than rubbish BLM I see a need to have out the kind of arguments set out here, but from a place of solidarity in opposing racism.)^ [2] Only a few discreet colonies like Diego Garcia, prized not for their riches but their strategic location, continue, largely below the radar, to be ruled directly from afar.^ [3] ‘Global north’ is not a strictly geographic term. It includes Australia, New Zealand and Israel and in my usage is synonymous with ‘the West’ and ‘imperialism’.^ [4] Ba’athism is loosely defined as that mix of Pan Arab nationalism and state control of key sectors known as ‘Arab socialism’. For more, see my post, the Kurds in Syria.^ [5] See in this respect Eisenhower’s comments. Was the real aim at Hiroshima and Nagasaki to show the Soviet Union, as cold war dawned, what the USA could do?^ [6] Political economist Michael Hudson made this point in an essay prompted by the January assassination of General Suleimani, America Escalates its “Democratic” Oil War in the Near East. After Vietnam, US wars can no longer be waged by sending large conscript armies off to foreign lands. This leaves the US ruling class with two complementary options for imposing its will by military force: aerial supremacy and, on the ground, proxy forces which absolutely include terrorism. Hence Hudson’s depiction of Isis, Al Quaeda, Jabhat al-Nusra etc as “America’s Foreign Legion”.^ [7] The fates of Poland, South Africa, Iraq and other nations are comprehensively documented in Naomi Klein’s outstanding Shock Doctrine.^


offguardian--2020-06-20--Donetsk film’s planned interference in the US Presidential Election

The new spy thriller Alpha R , which is being shot in Donetsk for a release later this summer , features a “ warning shot ” about a possible escalation of the New Cold War on the part of the American ‘ deep state ’ , if there is a ( perhaps not only hypothetical ) Joe Biden electoral victory .
A special “ future ” issue of Slovo ( a weekly newspaper that is regularly delivered to President Putin ) was printed for the film .
The headline ‘ from the future ’ reads : Biden ’ s “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ eyes of the film ’ s authors shouldn ’ t come as a surprise as he and his son are considered in Donbass to be the perpetrators of the war unleashed by Kiev ’ s marionette “ authorities ” .
The fifth episode of the series ‘ MH17 Inquiry ’ called “ It was a MIG ” ( also published here on Off-G ) , provides insight into their role in this conflict .
Another sequence in Alpha R , which sets itself a goal to upstage the creators of the finale of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s still operational “ Perimeter ” system ( known in the West as ‘ Dead Hand ’ ) would work if someone attempted to attack Russia .
American Army Generals often look somewhat queasy when they answer journalist ’ s questions about this system .
The producers of Alpha R are planning to exhibit the film in the US during the next presidential election .
And if this is considered ‘ Russian interference ’ , then they are saying that : “ This ‘ interference ’ isn ’ t something that we have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the film ’ s producer , “ America is Russia ’ s eternal debtor , it owes us its very existence .
I mean Russia ’ s practical aid to the Northern States in the Civil War of 1861-1865.
” At the time Great Britain and France considered supporting the Confederacy but eventually remained neutral , that fact speaks for itself .
In Alpha R Russia ’ s RVSN “ Dead Hand ” control team allows themselves a shot of a fiery drink called ‘ Lavrov ’ , named after Russia ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reference ) after performing a salvo of retribution .
“ We hope that as in the finale of ‘ Terminator 3 ’ , this doomsday scenario ( which even in the film is depicted as as one of the most unlikely and most undesirable outcomes ) will never actually happen [ … ] And that ‘ Lavrov fire water ’ is , of course , a metaphor .
The goal of our film is peace , but in order for us all to value it more , we must show the true cost @ @ @ @

Rhys Jones
The new spy thriller Alpha R, which is being shot in Donetsk for a release later this summer, features a “warning shot” about a possible escalation of the New Cold War on the part of the American ‘deep state’, if there is a (perhaps not only hypothetical) Joe Biden electoral victory.
A special “future” issue of Slovo (a weekly newspaper that is regularly delivered to President Putin) was printed for the film. The headline ‘from the future’ reads:
Joe Biden: “We will tear Russia apart” – The new master of the White House is ready to push the red button”
Biden’s “reputation” in Donbas and in the eyes of the film’s authors shouldn’t come as a surprise as he and his son are considered in Donbass to be the perpetrators of the war unleashed by Kiev’s marionette “authorities”. The fifth episode of the series ‘MH17 Inquiry’ called “It was a MIG” (also published here on Off-G), provides insight into their role in this conflict.
Another sequence in Alpha R, which sets itself a goal to upstage the creators of the finale of Terminator 3, tells how Russia’s still operational “Perimeter” system (known in the West as ‘Dead Hand’) would work if someone attempted to attack Russia. American Army Generals often look somewhat queasy when they answer journalist’s questions about this system.
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The producers of Alpha R are planning to exhibit the film in the US during the next presidential election. And if this is considered ‘Russian interference’, then they are saying that:
…they would be proud that Donetsk has it’s hand in that as we would be preventing a doomsday outcome for America and for the whole world.”
“This ‘interference’ isn’t something that we have to be shy about”, says the film’s producer, “America is Russia’s eternal debtor, it owes us its very existence. I mean Russia’s practical aid to the Northern States in the Civil War of 1861-1865.”
At the time Great Britain and France considered supporting the Confederacy but eventually remained neutral, that fact speaks for itself.
In Alpha R Russia’s RVSN “Dead Hand” control team allows themselves a shot of a fiery drink called ‘Lavrov’, named after Russia’s Foreign Minister (another tongue in cheek reference) after performing a salvo of retribution.
The producer emphasises:
“We hope that as in the finale of ‘Terminator 3’, this doomsday scenario (which even in the film is depicted as as one of the most unlikely and most undesirable outcomes) will never actually happen […] And that ‘Lavrov fire water’ is, of course, a metaphor. The goal of our film is peace, but in order for us all to value it more, we must show the true cost of war.”


offguardian--2020-06-20--WATCH: The NHS pushing DNRs on the “mildly frail”

The above video was sent to us on twitter .
Dr Vernon Coleman , author and former general practitioner for the NHS , is reading the NICE care guidelines for critical care admissions during the Covid19 “ pandemic ” .
NICE – or the National Institute of Care and Excellence – is the official advisory board for the NHS .
They prepare guidelines for care in all situations , for all conditions .
They also have graded scale of “ frailty ” , ranging from 1 “ perfectly healthy ” to 9 “ terminally ill ” .
Back in March @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with Covid19 patients ( they have been regularly updated since ) .
Troublingly , these guidelines state : For your reference , on their “ frailty scale ” lists a CFS score of 5 as “ mildly frail ” .
Is the NHS really recommending DNRs for absolutely anyone who is “ mildly frail ” ?
It seems so .
This goes hand-in-hand with numerous anecdotal reports of coerced signings , or even DNRs being added to a patient ’ s file in secret .
Some GP surgeries have been sending out letters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and that they will not be admitted to hospitals if they become seriously ill .
Worse , carers are reporting that those with learning difficulties are signing “ unprecedented ” numbers of DNRs , many of them unlawful .
In early April , an autistic persons ’ group in Somerset was told they all needed to sign DNR forms .
Similar situations have been reported by the “ undercover nurse ” in the US , and nursing homes in Canada .
We believe this is a big story , and will be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ days .

The above video was sent to us on twitter. Dr Vernon Coleman, author and former general practitioner for the NHS, is reading the NICE care guidelines for critical care admissions during the Covid19 “pandemic”.
NICE – or the National Institute of Care and Excellence – is the official advisory board for the NHS. They prepare guidelines for care in all situations, for all conditions. They also have graded scale of “frailty”, ranging from 1 “perfectly healthy” to 9 “terminally ill”.
Back in March they prepared their initial guidelines for dealing with Covid19 patients (they have been regularly updated since). Troublingly, these guidelines state:
Sensitively discuss a possible ‘do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation’ decision with all adults with capacity and an assessment suggestive of increased frailty (for example, a CFS score of 5 or more)
For your reference, on their “frailty scale” lists a CFS score of 5 as “mildly frail”. Is the NHS really recommending DNRs for absolutely anyone who is “mildly frail”? It seems so.
This goes hand-in-hand with numerous anecdotal reports of coerced signings, or even DNRs being added to a patient’s file in secret. Some GP surgeries have been sending out letters instructing terminally ill patients to sign DNRs, and that they will not be admitted to hospitals if they become seriously ill.
Worse, carers are reporting that those with learning difficulties are signing “unprecedented” numbers of DNRs, many of them unlawful. In early April, an autistic persons’ group in Somerset was told they all needed to sign DNR forms.
Similar situations have been reported by the “undercover nurse” in the US, and nursing homes in Canada.
We believe this is a big story, and will be doing more on it in the coming days.


offguardian--2020-06-21--WATCH: James Corbett interviews Rosemary Frei on Canadian care homes scandal

Independent journalist ( and regular OffG contributor ) Rosemary Frei sits down with James Corbett to discuss her recent article @ @ @ @ @ death rates at Care Homes created on purpose ?
” .
In her research , @ @ @ @ @ the rules and guidelines pertaining to elderly care , death certification and treatment of bodies @ @ @ @ @ during the course of this “ crisis ” in order to increase the numbers reported @ @ @ @ @ They explore the reasons behind these changes and what they tell us about the real @ @ @ @ @ .
For sources and an audio-only version , click here .
To follow Rosemary on @ @ @ @ @

Independent journalist (and regular OffG contributor) Rosemary Frei sits down with James Corbett to discuss her recent article “Were conditions for high death rates at Care Homes created on purpose?”.
In her research, she discovered how all of the rules and guidelines pertaining to elderly care, death certification and treatment of bodies in Ontario have been changed during the course of this “crisis” in order to increase the numbers reported “dying of COVID.”
They explore the reasons behind these changes and what they tell us about the real nature of this pandemic panic.
For sources and an audio-only version, click here. To follow Rosemary on twitter, click here.


offguardian--2020-06-21--Could we have some silence please?

Could we have some silence please?

At my Quaker Meeting , occasionally someone will say , “ Could we have some silence please ?
” especially during a business meeting , which we call Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business .
Someone may request silence when the discussion becomes too contentious , and we are not progressing towards resolution .
We wait and listen .
What are we listening for ?
As corny and old-fashioned as it may sound , we are waiting for guidance from god .
I have been attending the Quaker Meeting for many years now and have felt increasing awe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Quakers conduct business .
No shouting .
No interrupting .
Even the most timid , the most outlying or awkward person may be given time to gather her thoughts , to breathe and to speak , perhaps falteringly , even if she has to pause before continuing .
People wait .
It is quite amazing .
I had never seen anything like it .
Quakers do not vote on issues but discuss , sometimes a lot , and tiringly .
Members direct comments to the clerk .
At its best , there is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ speak to be heard during the meeting .
Instead of voting , we try to discern the “ sense of the Meeting ” before acting .
We are trying to discern god ’ s will .
And even one person can change the movement of the group as he or she feels led to speak .
One voice can be the one to heed even if the whole group is going another way – because we believe that all have direct access to god ’ s guidance , no one person more than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gathered a sense of unity , then the meeting may decide to postpone action .
We wait and listen more — and try again at another meeting .
As I have sat in these business meetings , I have noted what a miracle they are to have survived in this form for hundreds of years of Quaker history , women as well as men , speaking and following and leading .
In this contentious time of lockdowns , isolations , staggering losses of livelihoods and social supports , then violence , snarling faces @ @ @ @ @ @ @ buildings , crashing glass , and dizzying confusion of language and numbers and messages changing every day , I have longed to hear someone say those words : “ Could we have some silence please ?
” This signals a pause for us to collect our thoughts and feelings .
Apart from monthly business meetings , our meetings for worship are filled with mostly silence while we wait and listen for god .
As led , someone may stand to share what we call vocal ministry , which is usually brief .
After @ @ @ @ @ @ @ then settles into silence once again , so the message has time to live in the air among us .
It is also during our Meetings for Worship that we gather strength to act in the world .
At Meeting , all kinds of people gather in silence , old people , couples , single people , families .
We haven ’ t been able to meet in person for months now , and I do not participate in computer meetings because they usually make me queasy .
Flashing Internet images and slogans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also make me queasy .
Anyone can create in seconds a poster with short texts or an image with a caption , and can immediately broadcast it to thousands , even millions .
These patched-together messages blink and flash and multiply .
I don ’ t use Twitter , don ’ t really understand it , but it sounds to me like something a 13-year old boy made up .
Yet , we see public figures use haphazard phrases — tweets ( which sounds silly ) that instantly become headlines in national newspapers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our clear thinking or our culture .
We can ’ t even open our email programs without seeing the lowest forms of speech elevated to look like relevant news .
We drown in cacophony and mayhem .
Many at protests and riots hold up their devices , filming , and those films and images fill screens and minds .
It becomes very hard to think clearly about anything .
The Internet has changed our brains , as Nicholas Carr describes in his book , The Shallows .
He describes how our attention spans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ texts and flashing images as we are increasingly challenged to sustain even the concentration required to sit and read a whole book , for instance .
Carr summarizes the findings of early computer scientist Joseph Weizenbuam , who notes the danger as we become more intimately involved with our computers and : Weizenbaum says that to avoid that fate we must : Images , language , repetitions flash too quickly for adequate processing and wise decisions .
They repeat across TV stations that call themselves news but work more like advertising .
For @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , become imbued with values and feelings like care , protection , altruism , even membership in a community , regardless of conflicting information on their effectiveness to prevent the spread of a virus .
Similarly , Coke can come to represent fun and belonging through repetition , language , and images ; a cigarette brand can endow someone masculine strength ; Campbell ’ s soup can represent nurturing .
Advertising is also used to pressure us into conformity , for instance , wear this brand of athletic shoes , and you will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ advertising strategies become mixed with daily bombarding messages , and it becomes very hard to think independently .
Once advertising works , it does not matter what the facts may be .
Could we have some silence please ?
Lately , I find myself longing for a Ticonderoga number two pencil , soft lead , rustling steadily over nubby white paper .
I am reminded of one of my poetry teachers describing how long it can take to craft a good poem or to compose a whole poetry manuscript .
“ You know @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he said .
“ It ’ s like carving a chair.
” I remember how long it takes to learn to play the violin , to learn to draw .
These slower , more methodical activities strengthen our brains for concentration ; they build pathways for creativity , for problem-solving , ultimately for more careful thinking , for judgement and wisdom , which we seem to be increasingly lacking now .
Shouts and crashes , burning and shooting reverberate through Chicago , Illinois where there were 18 murders in 24 hours this past @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Times .
“ The most violent weekend in the city ’ s modern history , ” the paper reported .
Eighty-five people were shot and 24 killed in just one weekend .
“ And no police were anywhere , ” the story stated .
On May 31 , there were 65,000 911 calls , which was 50,000 more than a usual day , the paper reported , while just a couple of weeks ago , the mayor of that city , as well as other governors and mayors around the county , threatened @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out anywhere , even small groups .
Young people have been out in massive gatherings now all over the country with small and large businesses looted and destroyed , fires raging in buildings and churches , car windshields smashed and car bodies burned , belying mainstream media reports that the protests were mostly “ peaceful.
” We can ’ t lockdown whole societies for months , rip down whole social fabrics without dire consequences .
Young people had no school , no graduations to attend , no sports activities or clubs ; they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or coffee shops ; they have had no grandmothers making them go to church youth group or funerals or family picnics because there have been none of these .
Just weeks and weeks inside with video games and cell phones and what else ?
There is a deep breakdown of trust in our institutions and the means by which we get information .
Forty million people are unemployed , a quarter of the U.S. population .
A black man is killed by a policeman , almost three months into lockdown .
What tinderbox @ @ @ @ @ @ @ victim , and everyone else ?
Can we have some silence , please ?
We hear cries to defund the police , but I remember that an average police officer makes about as much as a public-school teacher .
The African American police chief in Seattle may disagree with this proposal to defund the police as her entire department has been disbanded with the building taken over by protesters and rioters .
Instead of defunding local police departments , we may consider starting by defunding a fighter jet or two .
One of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ according to Lockheed Martin ’ s web site .
Or , perhaps cutting a nuclear submarine or two .
Twelve of them will cost 128 billion dollars , according to an April 8 , 2019 Time magazine story .
How many literacy programs for children , teens , and young adults in Chicago would some of that money fund ?
How many small business loans for black business owners would it provide ?
A kid may call the police when his father is beating up his mother .
He would want the police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when someone is suicidal , wielding a knife , maybe high on meth or Fentanyl .
Police have to deal with assaultive mentally ill people shouting in their face ; they have to deal with protestors with clubs – and try to contain violence , protect themselves and others , and not get anyone hurt or killed .
It is a very hard job , my cop friends have described to me .
One of my friends teased me , saying that maybe I should join him on the right-wing side of politics @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not on anyone ’ s wing .
In fact , I believe the wings , right and left , have outlived their meanings and their usefulness and think they should lift on the wind and fly off , making room for more independent thinking and more options .
“ It ’ s the responsibility of the alternative media to hit the pause button , to take a breath and not be swept away along with the emotional current , ” writes an editor of Off-Guardian magazine , a site developed by writers and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ comments on the Open Comments section of the mainstream U.K paper , The Guardian .
We are in treacherous times when independent thinkers and writers , who question dominant narratives , may be banned from speaking or writing – or worse , lose friends or family members or jobs .
This development is deeply sad and worrisome .
Could we have some silence , please ?
Seeing computer images of riots , massive looting , a black woman crying over her destroyed business , a black man , DC city employee , in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the heat , cleaning graffiti from the Lincoln Memorial , I long for one of our elder members , Tim Hall , to stand up and say what I imagine he might after we have sat in a long silence .
He may share a message about god ’ s surrounding love for all of us , no matter who we are .
He might remind us , in his corny , old-fashioned way that I have often found comforting , that in spite of its challenges , this is a mostly good @ @ @ @ @ @ @ care for .
Christine E. Black ’ s work has been published in The American Journal of Poetry , New Millennium Writings , Nimrod International , The Virginia Journal of Education , Friends Journal , Sojourners Magazine , English Journal , Amethyst Review , and other publications .
Her poetry has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and the Pablo Neruda Prize .

Christine E. Black
At my Quaker Meeting, occasionally someone will say, “Could we have some silence please?” especially during a business meeting, which we call Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business. Someone may request silence when the discussion becomes too contentious, and we are not progressing towards resolution. We wait and listen.
What are we listening for? As corny and old-fashioned as it may sound, we are waiting for guidance from god.
I have been attending the Quaker Meeting for many years now and have felt increasing awe and reverence for this process by which Quakers conduct business. No shouting. No interrupting. Even the most timid, the most outlying or awkward person may be given time to gather her thoughts, to breathe and to speak, perhaps falteringly, even if she has to pause before continuing. People wait. It is quite amazing. I had never seen anything like it.
Quakers do not vote on issues but discuss, sometimes a lot, and tiringly. Members direct comments to the clerk. At its best, there is time for each person who wants to speak to be heard during the meeting. Instead of voting, we try to discern the “sense of the Meeting” before acting. We are trying to discern god’s will. And even one person can change the movement of the group as he or she feels led to speak.
One voice can be the one to heed even if the whole group is going another way – because we believe that all have direct access to god’s guidance, no one person more than another. If the group has not gathered a sense of unity, then the meeting may decide to postpone action. We wait and listen more — and try again at another meeting.
As I have sat in these business meetings, I have noted what a miracle they are to have survived in this form for hundreds of years of Quaker history, women as well as men, speaking and following and leading.
In this contentious time of lockdowns, isolations, staggering losses of livelihoods and social supports, then violence, snarling faces, flying opinions and accusations, burning buildings, crashing glass, and dizzying confusion of language and numbers and messages changing every day, I have longed to hear someone say those words: “Could we have some silence please?”
This signals a pause for us to collect our thoughts and feelings.
Apart from monthly business meetings, our meetings for worship are filled with mostly silence while we wait and listen for god. As led, someone may stand to share what we call vocal ministry, which is usually brief.
After the message is shared, the Meeting then settles into silence once again, so the message has time to live in the air among us. It is also during our Meetings for Worship that we gather strength to act in the world.
At Meeting, all kinds of people gather in silence, old people, couples, single people, families. We haven’t been able to meet in person for months now, and I do not participate in computer meetings because they usually make me queasy.
Flashing Internet images and slogans on social media and other web sites also make me queasy. Anyone can create in seconds a poster with short texts or an image with a caption, and can immediately broadcast it to thousands, even millions. These patched-together messages blink and flash and multiply. I don’t use Twitter, don’t really understand it, but it sounds to me like something a 13-year old boy made up.
Yet, we see public figures use haphazard phrases — tweets (which sounds silly) that instantly become headlines in national newspapers. This cannot be good for our clear thinking or our culture. We can’t even open our email programs without seeing the lowest forms of speech elevated to look like relevant news. We drown in cacophony and mayhem.
Many at protests and riots hold up their devices, filming, and those films and images fill screens and minds. It becomes very hard to think clearly about anything. The Internet has changed our brains, as Nicholas Carr describes in his book, The Shallows. He describes how our attention spans have been shattered by clicking through short texts and flashing images as we are increasingly challenged to sustain even the concentration required to sit and read a whole book, for instance.
Carr summarizes the findings of early computer scientist Joseph Weizenbuam, who notes the danger as we become more intimately involved with our computers and:
experience more of our lives through the disembodied symbols flickering across our screens — is that we’ll begin to lose our humanness, to sacrifice the very qualities that separate us from machines”
The Shallows (p. 207)
Weizenbaum says that to avoid that fate we must:
have the self-awareness and courage to refuse to delegate to computers the most human of our mental activities and intellectual pursuits, particularly ‘tasks that demand wisdom’”
ibid. (p. 208)
Images, language, repetitions flash too quickly for adequate processing and wise decisions. They repeat across TV stations that call themselves news but work more like advertising.
For instance, inanimate objects like face masks, become imbued with values and feelings like care, protection, altruism, even membership in a community, regardless of conflicting information on their effectiveness to prevent the spread of a virus.
Similarly, Coke can come to represent fun and belonging through repetition, language, and images; a cigarette brand can endow someone masculine strength; Campbell’s soup can represent nurturing.
Advertising is also used to pressure us into conformity, for instance, wear this brand of athletic shoes, and you will exude status and success. Now, advertising strategies become mixed with daily bombarding messages, and it becomes very hard to think independently. Once advertising works, it does not matter what the facts may be.
Could we have some silence please?
Lately, I find myself longing for a Ticonderoga number two pencil, soft lead, rustling steadily over nubby white paper. I am reminded of one of my poetry teachers describing how long it can take to craft a good poem or to compose a whole poetry manuscript. “You know what it’s like,” he said. “It’s like carving a chair.”
I remember how long it takes to learn to play the violin, to learn to draw. These slower, more methodical activities strengthen our brains for concentration; they build pathways for creativity, for problem-solving, ultimately for more careful thinking, for judgement and wisdom, which we seem to be increasingly lacking now.
Shouts and crashes, burning and shooting reverberate through Chicago, Illinois where there were 18 murders in 24 hours this past weekend, according to The Chicago Sun Times. “The most violent weekend in the city’s modern history,” the paper reported.
Eighty-five people were shot and 24 killed in just one weekend. “And no police were anywhere,” the story stated.
On May 31, there were 65,000 911 calls, which was 50,000 more than a usual day, the paper reported, while just a couple of weeks ago, the mayor of that city, as well as other governors and mayors around the county, threatened to jail or fine people who were out anywhere, even small groups.
Young people have been out in massive gatherings now all over the country with small and large businesses looted and destroyed, fires raging in buildings and churches, car windshields smashed and car bodies burned, belying mainstream media reports that the protests were mostly “peaceful.”
We can’t lockdown whole societies for months, rip down whole social fabrics without dire consequences. Young people had no school, no graduations to attend, no sports activities or clubs; they lost part-time jobs pieced together at restaurants or coffee shops; they have had no grandmothers making them go to church youth group or funerals or family picnics because there have been none of these. Just weeks and weeks inside with video games and cell phones and what else?
There is a deep breakdown of trust in our institutions and the means by which we get information. Forty million people are unemployed, a quarter of the U.S. population. A black man is killed by a policeman, almost three months into lockdown. What tinderbox is inside – the killer, the victim, and everyone else?
Can we have some silence, please?
We hear cries to defund the police, but I remember that an average police officer makes about as much as a public-school teacher. The African American police chief in Seattle may disagree with this proposal to defund the police as her entire department has been disbanded with the building taken over by protesters and rioters.
Instead of defunding local police departments, we may consider starting by defunding a fighter jet or two. One of them costs about 89.2 million dollars, according to Lockheed Martin’s web site.
Or, perhaps cutting a nuclear submarine or two. Twelve of them will cost 128 billion dollars, according to an April 8, 2019 Time magazine story.
How many literacy programs for children, teens, and young adults in Chicago would some of that money fund? How many small business loans for black business owners would it provide?
A kid may call the police when his father is beating up his mother. He would want the police to be there. Police get called when someone is suicidal, wielding a knife, maybe high on meth or Fentanyl.
Police have to deal with assaultive mentally ill people shouting in their face; they have to deal with protestors with clubs – and try to contain violence, protect themselves and others, and not get anyone hurt or killed. It is a very hard job, my cop friends have described to me.
One of my friends teased me, saying that maybe I should join him on the right-wing side of politics. I reminded him that I am not on anyone’s wing. In fact, I believe the wings, right and left, have outlived their meanings and their usefulness and think they should lift on the wind and fly off, making room for more independent thinking and more options.
“It’s the responsibility of the alternative media to hit the pause button, to take a breath and not be swept away along with the emotional current,” writes an editor of Off-Guardian magazine, a site developed by writers and thinkers who had been banned from making comments on the Open Comments section of the mainstream U.K paper, The Guardian.
We are in treacherous times when independent thinkers and writers, who question dominant narratives, may be banned from speaking or writing – or worse, lose friends or family members or jobs. This development is deeply sad and worrisome.
Could we have some silence, please?
Seeing computer images of riots, massive looting, a black woman crying over her destroyed business, a black man, DC city employee, in required mask and gloves, outside in the heat, cleaning graffiti from the Lincoln Memorial, I long for one of our elder members, Tim Hall, to stand up and say what I imagine he might after we have sat in a long silence. He may share a message about god’s surrounding love for all of us, no matter who we are.
He might remind us, in his corny, old-fashioned way that I have often found comforting, that in spite of its challenges, this is a mostly good world that God has given us to care for.
Christine E. Black’s work has been published in The American Journal of Poetry, New Millennium Writings, Nimrod International, The Virginia Journal of Education, Friends Journal, Sojourners Magazine, English Journal, Amethyst Review, and other publications. Her poetry has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and the Pablo Neruda Prize.


offguardian--2020-06-22--This Week in the Guardian #9

This Week in the Guardian #9

This week sees dogs who can smell the coronavirus , sarcasm as social protest and the reformation of a mustachioed war criminal Every week ( or , rather , most weeks , since the coronavirus torpedoed our schedule ) , we like to highlight three or four stories that go full-Guardian , but don ’ t require an entire article of refutation .
We encourage reader-participation here , so if you come across something you feel should be included in the next edition either post a link below , or send us an e-mail .
Whatever the cause of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the street-level voices are sincere , there ’ s no denying anymore they are at least being leveraged politically – if not fully coordinated .
The latest sign of that is the fast-forward reform of Joe Biden into a liberal hero .
In this piece we ’ re told Biden is “ seizing the moment ” with a “ radical reform agenda ” .
Elsewhere , Simon Tisdall suggests Biden could be the man to lead the “ post Covid revolution ” , which is alarming , because most people who ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trust Joe to lead a conga line ( although , at least if he ’ s at the front he can ’ t inappropriately fondle anyone ) .
There ’ s a real pro-Biden surge right now .
Whether that ’ s on the back of the moves to remove Trump “ by any means necessary ” , or a genuine push for the election is too early to say .
The real discussion is who ’ s going to be his Vice President nominee .
Kamala Harris is being re-shaped into a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ choice for VP , despite her dreadful record as a prosecutor and total failure of her campaign .
Other names being suggested are Elizabeth Warren…and even Michelle Obama .
It ’ s definitely going to be a woman , and likely a “ woman of colour ” .
The campaign will be incredibly tiresome .
Whoever is named VP , should Biden win ( or be installed ) , will almost certainly be President , because Creepy Uncle Joe is a barely there .
It ’ s quite rare a Presidential candidate has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them making little girls uncomfortable .
“ John Bolton confirms Trump ’ s wickedness – but still he deserves Americans ’ scorn “ Jonathan Freedland is angry at John Bolton .
Not for being a war-criminal neocon psycho , or threatening the families of UN officials or even for his terrible mustache .
No , it ’ s because he didn ’ t overthrow the elected president .
That ’ s really it .
This article is nothing but Freedland quoting anecdotes from Bolton ’ s latest book , believing them without question @ @ @ @ @ @ @ part in the impeachment .
Not one word is spent discussing whether or not Bolton is a reliable source .
Or whether he should be standing trial at the Hague .
Or whether or not he might actually be a lunatic .
Instead , the supposedly “ liberal ” paper gleefully reports his words as gospel , and wishes he ’ d “ acted sooner ” .
Apparently , the problem with Bolton is not the democracies he overturned in the Middle East or Latin America , but the one he didn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you ’ re told , but roll your eyes Special mention to Zoe Williams , who doesn ’ t necessarily believe all the government rules are strictly necessary , but darn it she ’ s going to follow them anyway .
She ’ s just going to sardonically raise her eyebrows as she does so .
She gets points for this special kind of concern trolling , seeming to sort of give space to the idea the mask rule might not be reasonable , whilst also happening to mention that “ respectable opinion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ masks work , that the WHO recommends it and that the argument individual “ virus particles ” are too small to be kept out by a mask is “ pedantic ” .
A brilliant job of pretending to offer some kind of contrary opinion , whilst actually rigidly enforcing the orthodoxy .
Classic Guardian .
BOnus II : The election will be rigged ( more obviously than usual ) They have yet another story defending mail-in ballots , predicting “ chaos ” and “ confusion ” over the new voting systems and claiming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he loses in November .
That ’ s the third story along those lines in as many weeks .
It ’ s pretty clear they ’ re setting up pre-emptive defenses of what is surely to be a highly doubtful – if not flat out falsified – election result .
All told , a busy week for The Guardian .
And we didn ’ t even cover the the Covid19 sniffer dogs , or the fact anyone who suspects the McCanns might not be totally inoccent is a lunatic troll who just wants @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tell us about it in the comments below , and keep an eye out for articles that should go in the next issue .

This week sees dogs who can smell the coronavirus, sarcasm as social protest and the reformation of a mustachioed war criminal
Every week (or, rather, most weeks, since the coronavirus torpedoed our schedule), we like to highlight three or four stories that go full-Guardian, but don’t require an entire article of refutation.
We encourage reader-participation here, so if you come across something you feel should be included in the next edition either post a link below, or send us an e-mail.
Joes Biden: Social Revolutionary
Whatever the cause of the Black Lives Matter protests, however many of the street-level voices are sincere, there’s no denying anymore they are at least being leveraged politically – if not fully coordinated.
The latest sign of that is the fast-forward reform of Joe Biden into a liberal hero. In this piece we’re told Biden is “seizing the moment” with a “radical reform agenda”.
Elsewhere, Simon Tisdall suggests Biden could be the man to lead the “post Covid revolution”, which is alarming, because most people who’ve been paying attention wouldn’t trust Joe to lead a conga line (although, at least if he’s at the front he can’t inappropriately fondle anyone).
There’s a real pro-Biden surge right now. Whether that’s on the back of the moves to remove Trump “by any means necessary”, or a genuine push for the election is too early to say. The real discussion is who’s going to be his Vice President nominee.
Kamala Harris is being re-shaped into a “progressive voice” and the right choice for VP, despite her dreadful record as a prosecutor and total failure of her campaign. Other names being suggested are Elizabeth Warren…and even Michelle Obama. It’s definitely going to be a woman, and likely a “woman of colour”. The campaign will be incredibly tiresome.
Whoever is named VP, should Biden win (or be installed), will almost certainly be President, because Creepy Uncle Joe is a barely there.
It’s quite rare a Presidential candidate has fewer functioning brain cells than photos of them making little girls uncomfortable.
Jonathan Freedland is angry at John Bolton. Not for being a war-criminal neocon psycho, or threatening the families of UN officials or even for his terrible mustache.
No, it’s because he didn’t overthrow the elected president.
That’s really it. This article is nothing but Freedland quoting anecdotes from Bolton’s latest book, believing them without question, and criticising Bolton for not taking part in the impeachment.
Not one word is spent discussing whether or not Bolton is a reliable source. Or whether he should be standing trial at the Hague. Or whether or not he might actually be a lunatic. Instead, the supposedly “liberal” paper gleefully reports his words as gospel, and wishes he’d “acted sooner”.
Apparently, the problem with Bolton is not the democracies he overturned in the Middle East or Latin America, but the one he didn’t overturn at home.
Do what you’re told, but roll your eyes
Special mention to Zoe Williams, who doesn’t necessarily believe all the government rules are strictly necessary, but darn it she’s going to follow them anyway. She’s just going to sardonically raise her eyebrows as she does so.
She gets points for this special kind of concern trolling, seeming to sort of give space to the idea the mask rule might not be reasonable, whilst also happening to mention that “respectable opinion is coalescing” around the fact that masks work, that the WHO recommends it and that the argument individual “virus particles” are too small to be kept out by a mask is “pedantic”.
A brilliant job of pretending to offer some kind of contrary opinion, whilst actually rigidly enforcing the orthodoxy. Classic Guardian.
Bonus: The election will be rigged (more obviously than usual)
They have yet another story defending mail-in ballots, predicting “chaos” and “confusion” over the new voting systems and claiming that Trump will inevitably cry foul if he loses in November.
That’s the third story along those lines in as many weeks. It’s pretty clear they’re setting up pre-emptive defenses of what is surely to be a highly doubtful – if not flat out falsified – election result.
* * *
All told, a busy week for The Guardian. And we didn’t even cover the the Covid19 sniffer dogs, or the fact anyone who suspects the McCanns might not be totally inoccent is a lunatic troll who just wants attention.
Did we miss anything? Tell us about it in the comments below, and keep an eye out for articles that should go in the next issue.