offguardian--2020-06-08--Lockdown Catastrophe: The Need for Resilient Food Systems

Agroecology and encouraging small , local producers is the way forward , but will Big Ag let that happen ?
There is no doubt that , contingent on World Bank aid to be given to poorer countries in the wake of coronavirus lockdowns , agrifood conglomerates will aim to further expand their influence .
It ’ s a sector which demands the entrenchment of capitalist agriculture via deregulation and the corporate control of seeds , land , fertilisers , water , pesticides , food processing and retail – domination of the entire chain from seed to plate .
These firms @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a global food regime that has emerged in recent decades based on chemical- and proprietary-input-dependent agriculture which incurs massive social , environmental and health costs picked up by taxpayers .
As if to pour oil on the fire , the food crisis that could follow in the wake of the various lockdowns may serve to further strengthen the prevailing system .
We are already seeing food shortages in the making .
In India , for instance , supply chains have been disrupted , farm input systems for the supply of seeds and fertilisers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crops are not being harvested .
Moreover , cultivation has been adversely affected prior to the monsoon and farm incomes are drying up .
Farmers closer to major urban centres are faring a bit better due to shorter supply chains .
Veteran rural reporter P Sainath has urged India ’ s farmers to move away from planting cash crops and to start cultivating food crops , saying that you can not eat cotton .
It ’ s a good point .
According to a report that appear on the ruralindiaonline website , in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have been pushed towards a reliance on ( illegal ) expensive genetically modified herbicide tolerant cotton seeds and have replaced their traditional food crops .
Farmers used to sow mixed plots of heirloom seeds , which had been saved from family harvests the previous year and would yield a basket of food crops .
They are now dependent on seed vendors , chemical inputs and a volatile international market to make a living and are no longer food secure .
But what is happening in India is a microcosm of global trends .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , long global supply chains and dependency on external inputs for cultivation make the food system vulnerable to shocks , whether resulting from public health scares , oil price spikes ( the global food system is heavily fossil-fuel dependent ) or conflict .
An increasing number of countries are recognising the need to respond by becoming more food self-sufficient , preferably by securing control over their own food and reducing supply chains .
Various coronavirus lockdowns have disrupted many transport and production activities , exposing the weaknesses of our current food system .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the richer countries ) experiences surplus food but crop destruction due to farm labour shortages , millions of people elsewhere could face hunger due to rising food prices – or a lack of food availability altogether .
If the current situation tells us anything , it is that structural solutions are needed to reorganise food production , not further strengthen the status quo .
In 2014 , UN special rapporteur Olivier De Schutter ’ s report concluded that by applying agroecological principles to democratically controlled agricultural systems we can help to put an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He argued that agroecological approaches could tackle food needs in critical regions and could double food production in 10 years .
The 2009 IAASTD peer-reviewed report , produced by 400 scientists and supported by 60 countries , recommended agroecology to maintain and increase the productivity of global agriculture .
And the recent UN FAO High Level Panel of Experts concluded that agroecology provides greatly improved food security and nutritional , gender , environmental and yield benefits compared to industrial agriculture .
Agroecology is based on traditional knowledge and modern agricultural research , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ biology and the biological control of pests .
This system combines sound ecological management by using on-farm renewable resources and privileging endogenous solutions to manage pests and disease without the use of agrochemicals and corporate seeds .
It outperforms the prevailing industrial food system in terms of diversity of food output , nutrition per acre , soil health , water table stability and climate resilience .
Writer and academic Raj Patel outlines some of the basic practices of agroecology by saying that nitrogen-fixing beans are grown instead of inorganic fertilizer ; flowers are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pests ; weeds are crowded out with more intensive planting .
The result is a sophisticated polyculture—that is , it produces many crops simultaneously , instead of just one .
Much has been written about agroecology , its successes and the challenges it faces , not least in the 2017 Fertile Ground : Scaling agroecology from the ground up .
Agroecology can offer concrete , practical solutions to many of the world ’ s problems .
In doing so , it challenges – and offers alternatives to – the prevailing moribund doctrinaire economics @ @ @ @ @ @ @ system chemical-intensive industrial agriculture .
For instance , by creating securely paid labour-intensive agricultural work , it can also address the interrelated links between labour offshoring by rich countries and the removal of rural populations elsewhere who end up in sweat shops to carry out the outsourced jobs : the two-pronged process of neoliberal globalisation that has hollowed out the economies of the US and UK and which is displacing existing indigenous food production systems and undermining the rural infrastructure in places like India .
The Declaration of the International Forum for Agroecology @ @ @ @ @ @ @ grass-root local food systems that create new rural-urban links , based on genuine agroecological food production .
It added that agroecology requires local producers and communities to challenge and transform structures of power in society , not least by putting the control of seeds , biodiversity , land and territories , waters , knowledge , culture and the commons in the hands of those who feed the world .
It would mean that what ends up in our food and how it is grown is determined by the public good and not powerful @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the compulsion to subjugate farmers , consumers and entire regions to their global supply chains and questionable products ( whether unhealthy food or proprietary pesticides and seeds ) .
For consumers , the public good includes more diverse diets leading to better nutrition and enhanced immunity when faced with any future pandemic .
As Florence Tartanac , senior officer at Nutrition and Food Systems Division of the UN FAO , sated in April 2018 : She made these comments during the second FAO international symposium ‘ Scaling up Agroecology to Achieve the Sustainable @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s a valid point seeing that the modern diet has become less diverse and is driving a major public health crisis in many countries .
Across the world , decentralised , regional and local community-owned food systems based on short ( er ) food supply chains that can cope with future shocks are now needed more than ever .
But there are major obstacles given the power of agrifood concerns whose business models are based on global chains with all the devastating consequences it entails .
However , the report Towards a Food @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the US and Italy offers some pointers for creating sustainable support systems for small food producers and food distribution .
Moreover , the last few months have underscored the advantages of shorter supply chains , alternative food models and community supported agriculture .
As Natasha Soares of Better Food Traders says : But are governments ready to listen ?
Even if they are , many could have their hands tied .
Following the devastation caused by coronavirus-related lockdowns , World Bank Group President David Malpass has stated that poorer countries will be ‘ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ feet – on the condition that further neoliberal reforms and the undermining of public services are implemented and become further embedded .
He says that countries will need to implement structural reforms to help shorten the time to recovery and create confidence that the recovery can be strong : In the face of economic crisis and stagnation at home , this seems like an ideal opportunity for Western capital to further open up and loot economies abroad .
In effect , the coronavirus provides cover for the entrenchment of dependency and dispossession .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ out the remnants of nation state sovereignty .
In the meantime , the UK government at least seems to be content in supporting the status quo .
BASF , the world ’ s largest chemicals company , makes agricultural , industrial and automotive products at its eight UK plants .
It has received £1 billion in ‘ coronavirus support ’ funding ( ‘ emergency loans ’ ) .
This is by far the biggest payout so far agreed under the UK scheme .
And Bayer shareholders voted to pay £2.75 billion in dividends @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as part of the British government ’ s emergency loan scheme which according to the Unearthed website comes without conditions .
Given that the UK imports almost half its food , maybe such money would be better spent by funding and developing a national network of producer-consumer food hubs in every town/city .

Agroecology and encouraging small, local producers is the way forward, but will Big Ag let that happen?
Colin Todhunter
There is no doubt that, contingent on World Bank aid to be given to poorer countries in the wake of coronavirus lockdowns, agrifood conglomerates will aim to further expand their influence.
It’s a sector which demands the entrenchment of capitalist agriculture via deregulation and the corporate control of seeds, land, fertilisers, water, pesticides, food processing and retail – domination of the entire chain from seed to plate.
These firms have been integral to the consolidation of a global food regime that has emerged in recent decades based on chemical- and proprietary-input-dependent agriculture which incurs massive social, environmental and health costs picked up by taxpayers. As if to pour oil on the fire, the food crisis that could follow in the wake of the various lockdowns may serve to further strengthen the prevailing system.
We are already seeing food shortages in the making. In India, for instance, supply chains have been disrupted, farm input systems for the supply of seeds and fertilisers have almost collapsed in some places and crops are not being harvested. Moreover, cultivation has been adversely affected prior to the monsoon and farm incomes are drying up. Farmers closer to major urban centres are faring a bit better due to shorter supply chains.
Veteran rural reporter P Sainath has urged India’s farmers to move away from planting cash crops and to start cultivating food crops, saying that you cannot eat cotton. It’s a good point. According to a report that appear on the ruralindiaonline website, in a region of southern Odisha, farmers have been pushed towards a reliance on (illegal) expensive genetically modified herbicide tolerant cotton seeds and have replaced their traditional food crops. Farmers used to sow mixed plots of heirloom seeds, which had been saved from family harvests the previous year and would yield a basket of food crops. They are now dependent on seed vendors, chemical inputs and a volatile international market to make a living and are no longer food secure.
But what is happening in India is a microcosm of global trends. Reliance on commodity monocropping for international markets, long global supply chains and dependency on external inputs for cultivation make the food system vulnerable to shocks, whether resulting from public health scares, oil price spikes (the global food system is heavily fossil-fuel dependent) or conflict. An increasing number of countries are recognising the need to respond by becoming more food self-sufficient, preferably by securing control over their own food and reducing supply chains.
Various coronavirus lockdowns have disrupted many transport and production activities, exposing the weaknesses of our current food system. While one part of the world (the richer countries) experiences surplus food but crop destruction due to farm labour shortages, millions of people elsewhere could face hunger due to rising food prices – or a lack of food availability altogether.
If the current situation tells us anything, it is that structural solutions are needed to reorganise food production, not further strengthen the status quo. In 2014, UN special rapporteur Olivier De Schutter’s report concluded that by applying agroecological principles to democratically controlled agricultural systems we can help to put an end to food crises and poverty challenges. He argued that agroecological approaches could tackle food needs in critical regions and could double food production in 10 years.
The 2009 IAASTD peer-reviewed report, produced by 400 scientists and supported by 60 countries, recommended agroecology to maintain and increase the productivity of global agriculture. And the recent UN FAO High Level Panel of Experts concluded that agroecology provides greatly improved food security and nutritional, gender, environmental and yield benefits compared to industrial agriculture.
Agroecology is based on traditional knowledge and modern agricultural research, utilising elements of contemporary ecology, soil biology and the biological control of pests. This system combines sound ecological management by using on-farm renewable resources and privileging endogenous solutions to manage pests and disease without the use of agrochemicals and corporate seeds. It outperforms the prevailing industrial food system in terms of diversity of food output, nutrition per acre, soil health, water table stability and climate resilience.
Writer and academic Raj Patel outlines some of the basic practices of agroecology by saying that nitrogen-fixing beans are grown instead of inorganic fertilizer; flowers are used to attract beneficial insects to manage pests; weeds are crowded out with more intensive planting. The result is a sophisticated polyculture—that is, it produces many crops simultaneously, instead of just one.
Much has been written about agroecology, its successes and the challenges it faces, not least in the 2017 Fertile Ground: Scaling agroecology from the ground up. Agroecology can offer concrete, practical solutions to many of the world’s problems. In doing so, it challenges – and offers alternatives to – the prevailing moribund doctrinaire economics of a neoliberalism that drives a failing system chemical-intensive industrial agriculture.
For instance, by creating securely paid labour-intensive agricultural work, it can also address the interrelated links between labour offshoring by rich countries and the removal of rural populations elsewhere who end up in sweat shops to carry out the outsourced jobs: the two-pronged process of neoliberal globalisation that has hollowed out the economies of the US and UK and which is displacing existing indigenous food production systems and undermining the rural infrastructure in places like India.
The Declaration of the International Forum for Agroecology by Nyeleni in 2015 argued for building grass-root local food systems that create new rural-urban links, based on genuine agroecological food production. It added that agroecology requires local producers and communities to challenge and transform structures of power in society, not least by putting the control of seeds, biodiversity, land and territories, waters, knowledge, culture and the commons in the hands of those who feed the world.
It would mean that what ends up in our food and how it is grown is determined by the public good and not powerful private interests driven by commercial gain and the compulsion to subjugate farmers, consumers and entire regions to their global supply chains and questionable products (whether unhealthy food or proprietary pesticides and seeds). For consumers, the public good includes more diverse diets leading to better nutrition and enhanced immunity when faced with any future pandemic.
As Florence Tartanac, senior officer at Nutrition and Food Systems Division of the UN FAO, sated in April 2018:
[…]agroecological markets bring an increase in the availability of more diverse food, especially of local varieties, that are linked to traditional diets. Therefore, consumers’ awareness should be increased on the importance of diet diversification and its effects on physical and mental health as well as on the positive impacts of sustainable, local and traditional consumption on the social, economic and environmental compartments.”
She made these comments during the second FAO international symposium ‘Scaling up Agroecology to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals’. And it’s a valid point seeing that the modern diet has become less diverse and is driving a major public health crisis in many countries.
Across the world, decentralised, regional and local community-owned food systems based on short(er) food supply chains that can cope with future shocks are now needed more than ever. But there are major obstacles given the power of agrifood concerns whose business models are based on global chains with all the devastating consequences it entails.
However, the report Towards a Food Revolution: Food Hubs and Cooperatives in the US and Italy offers some pointers for creating sustainable support systems for small food producers and food distribution. Moreover, the last few months have underscored the advantages of shorter supply chains, alternative food models and community supported agriculture. As Natasha Soares of Better Food Traders says:
It’s about diversity of supply; supermarkets have a stranglehold on the food retail business, but in order to have a resilient food supply we need to source our food from local, sustainable farmers.
But are governments ready to listen? Even if they are, many could have their hands tied.
Following the devastation caused by coronavirus-related lockdowns, World Bank Group President David Malpass has stated that poorer countries will be ‘helped’ to get back on their feet – on the condition that further neoliberal reforms and the undermining of public services are implemented and become further embedded.
He says that countries will need to implement structural reforms to help shorten the time to recovery and create confidence that the recovery can be strong:
For those countries that have excessive regulations, subsidies, licensing regimes, trade protection or litigiousness as obstacles, we will work with them to foster markets, choice and faster growth prospects during the recovery.”
In the face of economic crisis and stagnation at home, this seems like an ideal opportunity for Western capital to further open up and loot economies abroad.
In effect, the coronavirus provides cover for the entrenchment of dependency and dispossession. Global conglomerates will be able to hollow out the remnants of nation state sovereignty.
In the meantime, the UK government at least seems to be content in supporting the status quo. BASF, the world’s largest chemicals company, makes agricultural, industrial and automotive products at its eight UK plants. It has received £1 billion in ‘coronavirus support’ funding (‘emergency loans’). This is by far the biggest payout so far agreed under the UK scheme. And Bayer shareholders voted to pay £2.75 billion in dividends just weeks before the firm received £600m as part of the British government’s emergency loan scheme which according to the Unearthed website comes without conditions.
Given that the UK imports almost half its food, maybe such money would be better spent by funding and developing a national network of producer-consumer food hubs in every town/city.


offguardian--2020-06-08--REPORT: Over 95% of UK “Covid19” deaths had “pre-existing condition”

Latest statistics show vast majority of fatalities had at least one other disease Over 95 % of “ COVID Deaths ” recorded in England and Wales had potentially serious comorbidities , according to statistics released by NHS England .
The latest figures make for pretty stark reading .
Or , rather , they would make for stark reading…if they didn ’ t follow the exact same pattern already shown in other nations around the world .
You can read the full report here .
We ’ re going to focus on the comorbidity stats .
Here are the number of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ only cause , split by age : These are across all of England and Wales since the beginning of the “ pandemic ” .
Simply put : Of the 27045 deaths with Covid19 in English hospitals ( up to June 3rd ) , only 1318 had no pre-existing conditions .
That ’ s less than 5 % .
This mirrors , almost exactly , the statistics reported in Italy back in March .
Christopher Bowyer has made some great graphs for the figures at Hector Drummond Magazine , none more impactful than this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all the people who died “ with ” Covid19 AND some other serious disease .
The little yellow bars are the people who died with Covid19 and nothing else .
In fact , the 25,727 other cases were listed as having over 42,000 comorbidities .
That ’ s almost 2 each ( the report itself points out that many patients had multiple conditions ) .
This , again , aligns completely with the Italian figures which said over 80 % of fatalities had at least 2 comorbidities .
What are these comorbidities ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ entirely specifically .
The report lists ischemic heart disease , chronic kidney disease , asthma and dementia among others .
But it also lists nearly 19,000 “ other ” conditions , presumably including liver failure , emphysema , AIDS , ALL forms of cancers and literally potentially thousands of other diseases .
Implicit in this is the possibility that these diseases were the actual cause of death , and that Covid19 played no direct role at all .
Further , the PCR test for coronavirus can return false positives in up to 80 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s entirely possible the majority of these deaths never even had the virus .
This isn ’ t breaking news .
We have covered this numerous times .
No matter how you switch them around the Covid numbers , as they currently stand , will never add up .

Latest statistics show vast majority of fatalities had at least one other disease
Over 95% of “COVID Deaths” recorded in England and Wales had potentially serious comorbidities, according to statistics released by NHS England.
The latest figures make for pretty stark reading. Or, rather, they would make for stark reading…if they didn’t follow the exact same pattern already shown in other nations around the world.
You can read the full report here. We’re going to focus on the comorbidity stats. Here are the number of deaths where Covid19 was listed as the only cause, split by age:
Ages 0-19: 3
Ages 20-39: 32
Ages 40-59: 255
Ages 60-79: 551
Ages 80+: 477
These are across all of England and Wales since the beginning of the “pandemic”.
Simply put: Of the 27045 deaths with Covid19 in English hospitals (up to June 3rd), only 1318 had no pre-existing conditions. That’s less than 5%.
This mirrors, almost exactly, the statistics reported in Italy back in March.
Christopher Bowyer has made some great graphs for the figures at Hector Drummond Magazine, none more impactful than this this:
Those big green bars are all the people who died “with” Covid19 AND some other serious disease. The little yellow bars are the people who died with Covid19 and nothing else.
In fact, the 25,727 other cases were listed as having over 42,000 comorbidities. That’s almost 2 each (the report itself points out that many patients had multiple conditions). This, again, aligns completely with the Italian figures which said over 80% of fatalities had at least 2 comorbidities.
What are these comorbidities? We don’t know. Not entirely specifically. The report lists ischemic heart disease, chronic kidney disease, asthma and dementia among others. But it also lists nearly 19,000 “other” conditions, presumably including liver failure, emphysema, AIDS, ALL forms of cancers and literally potentially thousands of other diseases.
Implicit in this is the possibility that these diseases were the actual cause of death, and that Covid19 played no direct role at all.
Further, the PCR test for coronavirus can return false positives in up to 80% of cases, so it’s entirely possible the majority of these deaths never even had the virus.
This isn’t breaking news. We have covered this numerous times. No matter how you switch them around the Covid numbers, as they currently stand, will never add up.


offguardian--2020-06-12--Open Wounds: Sweden Drops the Olof Palme Case

It ’ s the sort of thing that ruffled the image of a composed and tranquil existence .
In some countries , doing away with political leaders is a periodic affair , deemed necessary to clean the stables .
But in Sweden , change is barely discernible , stability nigh guaranteed and institutions revered .
“ It ’ s in the tradition of Sweden to put itself forth as a moral role model , ” observes author Elisabeth Åsbrink .
Then came that thorny , troubling issue of Olof Palme .
Palme minted a reputation berating the bullying actions of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for progressive politics .
He took issue with the crushing of the 1968 Prague Spring by the Warsaw Pact forces , apartheid in South Africa and US involvement in the Vietnam War .
As education minister in the Tage Erlander government , he marched alongside Sweden ’ s North Vietnamese ambassador in protest .
As Prime Minister , he gave an excoriating speech in 1972 likening the Christmas bombings of Hanoi with the destruction of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War and the Nazi death camp at Treblinka .
In an address to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he reflected on the overthrow of Chile ’ s socialist president , Salvador Allende .
He mocked the nuclear deterrent and praised striving efforts of the Third World , the latter earning him praise from Cuba ’ s Fidel Castro .
On the domestic front , he remained a social democrat to an aggressive degree , bringing in universal day care , introducing legislation on workers ’ rights , abortion and gender equality .
Such measures encouraged the haters , though many preferred operating in the shadows .
On February 28 , 1986 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a movie theatre located in downtown Stockholm .
He had felt no need for a continued security presence .
He was subsequently gunned down in his wife ’ s company at 11.21 pm , shot in the back by a Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum .
The scene of death saw witnesses aplenty – 23 in all – who could attest to seeing a man fire the shots and flee the scene via Tunnelgata alleyway .
What followed was the interviewing , by police , of 90,000 people .
Of that improbably large @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were noted .
The list was subsequently trimmed to include , amongst others , Kurdish separatists .
At the time , the rattled Stockholm police chief Hans Holmér ordered the raid of Stampen , a jazz club that led to the arrest of several Kurds .
All were released for lack of evidence .
In the late 1990s , a captured former commander of the Kurdistan Workers Party ( PKK ) of Turkey , one Semdin Sakik , claimed ignorance about “ the details of the assassination of Swedish prime minister Olof Palme @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ this murder was committed by the PKK.
” PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan was supposedly peeved by the expulsion of eight members of the group from Sweden .
“ The operation to kill Palme was given the codename ‘ wedding ’ and the assassination command was given by Abdullah Öcalan [ with the words ] ‘ Send him to his wedding ’ .
” ( The alleged assassins seemed to have had a sense of marital humour about them . )
In 1999 , Turkish prosecutors took up this angle in the trial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he was involved .
But instead of clearing matters up , another tentative hypothesis was offered : that Palme had been slain by a hastily assembled splinter group , PKK Rejin .
Back in Stockholm , sighs were registered .
The smorgasbord of suspects proved heavy and almost ludicrously well spread .
Allegations of South African involvement were also , at stages , proffered .
( To this can be added claimed Iraqi participation ; the role of Chilean neo-fascist Roberto Thieme ; the US Central Intelligence Agency and the German Red Army @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , prepared by General Tai Minnaar , designated Palme “ enemy of the state ” , and contained a list of individuals said to be involved in the decision making , planting and execution of the operation .
In January 2003 , Agneta Blidberg , deputy director of the prosecuting service in Stockholm admitted to receiving the South Africn documents and instituting “ certain steps and interrogations ” .
She refused to put any “ value ” on them , though a general sense that they were forgeries remained .
In South Africa @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , former head of South Africa ’ s Military Intelligence ( MI ) , thought otherwise .
The Deep Search papers had a smell that refused to go away .
Former General Tienie Groenewald , head of South Africa ’ s National Intelligence Interpretation Branch when Palme was killed , was also convinced , going so far as to supply the Swedish aid worker Göran Björkdahl with names in Johannesburg during an October 1 , 2015 meeting .
The initial field of suspects , filtered of all exoticism and danger , left the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Christer Pettersson , continuously referred to in press notes as “ an alcoholic and drug addict ” .
He was jailed for the killing and sentenced to life imprisonment on July 27 , 1989 .
Crucial to the case was testimony from Lisbet Palme , who claimed she saw Pettersson gazing with glacial interest at her dying husband after the shooting .
On appeal , he was acquitted .
In the 1990s , prosecutors revisited the case that refused to go cold , keen to get back at Pettersson .
Palme ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and expansive theories , often with bewildering stretch .
As Gunnar Pettersson wrote with continuing relevance in 1989 : The more these ideas persisted , the greater the suspicion about the competence of Sweden ’ s investigative authorities , allied to the troubling idea that right-wing elements in the Norrmalm District of the Stockholm Metropolitan Police and the Swedish Security Police ( Säpo ) were at work .
( The fact that some thirty police were in the vicinity of the murder at the time is striking . )
Ministers of Justice , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Over the years , one man seemed to linger closer to home , the depressive “ Skandia Man ” , graphic designer and eventual suicide Stig Engström .
He was at the scene at the time , even claiming to have made an effort to “ resuscitate ” Palme ; he worked at Skandia Insurance , in proximity to the crime scene .
Interest was revived in 2018 with the investigative prodding of journalist Thomas Pettersson .
Engström ’ s ex-wife , was unswayed .
“ He was too much of a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a fly.
” As seems to be a tendency in high profile cases , the Swedish prosecutors do take their time .
And time does get away .
Engström had moved up the list of favourite suspects but his death in 2000 made the continuation of proceedings more than just futile .
“ Since he has died , ” concluded chief prosecutor Krister Petersson , “ I can not indict him.
” But it was Engström who had “ acted how we believe the murderer would have acted.
” He had weapons training @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a member of a shooting club , hated Palme and his views .
Such evidence remained painfully circumstantial .
While the prosecutors claimed they could muster enough to move it to trial , it was not necessarily sufficient to obtain a conviction .
Obstacles remained : the inability to link , forensically , the murder with any weapon .
The conclusion to this investigation seemed egregiously dismissive , a slander on Palme ’ s life .
Even Palme ’ s son Marten , in concluding that the prosecutors had drawn the right conclusion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some disappointment “ that they didn ’ t have more conclusive evidence , like DNA or a weapon that they could trace to the crime.
” If failure to identify Palme ’ s killer remained Swedish society ’ s great “ open wound ” , as current Prime Minister Stefan Löfven described it , it is one that has been left tantalisingly unclosed .
Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College , Cambridge .
He lectures at RMIT University , Melbourne .
Email :

Binoy Kampmark
It’s the sort of thing that ruffled the image of a composed and tranquil existence. In some countries, doing away with political leaders is a periodic affair, deemed necessary to clean the stables. But in Sweden, change is barely discernible, stability nigh guaranteed and institutions revered. “It’s in the tradition of Sweden to put itself forth as a moral role model,” observes author Elisabeth Åsbrink.
Then came that thorny, troubling issue of Olof Palme.
Palme minted a reputation berating the bullying actions of great powers and forging an internationalist platform for progressive politics. He took issue with the crushing of the 1968 Prague Spring by the Warsaw Pact forces, apartheid in South Africa and US involvement in the Vietnam War.
As education minister in the Tage Erlander government, he marched alongside Sweden’s North Vietnamese ambassador in protest.
As Prime Minister, he gave an excoriating speech in 1972 likening the Christmas bombings of Hanoi with the destruction of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War and the Nazi death camp at Treblinka.
In an address to parliament on November 7, 1973, he reflected on the overthrow of Chile’s socialist president, Salvador Allende.
“The overthrow of a government elected by the people in Chile has raised the question of whether, in general, it is possible to carry out profound changes in a poor and unfair society without having privileged groups resorting to violence.”
He mocked the nuclear deterrent and praised striving efforts of the Third World, the latter earning him praise from Cuba’s Fidel Castro. On the domestic front, he remained a social democrat to an aggressive degree, bringing in universal day care, introducing legislation on workers’ rights, abortion and gender equality.
Such measures encouraged the haters, though many preferred operating in the shadows. On February 28, 1986, Palme and his wife Lisbet left a movie theatre located in downtown Stockholm. He had felt no need for a continued security presence. He was subsequently gunned down in his wife’s company at 11.21 pm, shot in the back by a Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum.
The scene of death saw witnesses aplenty – 23 in all – who could attest to seeing a man fire the shots and flee the scene via Tunnelgata alleyway. What followed was the interviewing, by police, of 90,000 people. Of that improbably large sample, 134 confessions for the murder were noted.
The list was subsequently trimmed to include, amongst others, Kurdish separatists. At the time, the rattled Stockholm police chief Hans Holmér ordered the raid of Stampen, a jazz club that led to the arrest of several Kurds. All were released for lack of evidence.
In the late 1990s, a captured former commander of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) of Turkey, one Semdin Sakik, claimed ignorance about “the details of the assassination of Swedish prime minister Olof Palme” but insisted with unconvincing confidence that “this murder was committed by the PKK.”
PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan was supposedly peeved by the expulsion of eight members of the group from Sweden. “The operation to kill Palme was given the codename ‘wedding’ and the assassination command was given by Abdullah Öcalan [with the words] ‘Send him to his wedding’.” (The alleged assassins seemed to have had a sense of marital humour about them.)
In 1999, Turkish prosecutors took up this angle in the trial of Öcalan, who disabused notions that he was involved. But instead of clearing matters up, another tentative hypothesis was offered: that Palme had been slain by a hastily assembled splinter group, PKK Rejin. Back in Stockholm, sighs were registered.
The smorgasbord of suspects proved heavy and almost ludicrously well spread. Allegations of South African involvement were also, at stages, proffered. (To this can be added claimed Iraqi participation; the role of Chilean neo-fascist Roberto Thieme; the US Central Intelligence Agency and the German Red Army Faction.)
The Deep Search papers, prepared by General Tai Minnaar, designated Palme “enemy of the state”, and contained a list of individuals said to be involved in the decision making, planting and execution of the operation.
In January 2003, Agneta Blidberg, deputy director of the prosecuting service in Stockholm admitted to receiving the South Africn documents and instituting “certain steps and interrogations”. She refused to put any “value” on them, though a general sense that they were forgeries remained.
In South Africa, weighty figures such as Chris Thirion, former head of South Africa’s Military Intelligence (MI), thought otherwise. The Deep Search papers had a smell that refused to go away.
Former General Tienie Groenewald, head of South Africa’s National Intelligence Interpretation Branch when Palme was killed, was also convinced, going so far as to supply the Swedish aid worker Göran Björkdahl with names in Johannesburg during an October 1, 2015 meeting.
The initial field of suspects, filtered of all exoticism and danger, left the police with the petty criminal and derelict Christer Pettersson, continuously referred to in press notes as “an alcoholic and drug addict”. He was jailed for the killing and sentenced to life imprisonment on July 27, 1989. Crucial to the case was testimony from Lisbet Palme, who claimed she saw Pettersson gazing with glacial interest at her dying husband after the shooting. On appeal, he was acquitted. In the 1990s, prosecutors revisited the case that refused to go cold, keen to get back at Pettersson.
Palme’s case has continuously radiated with wild discussion and expansive theories, often with bewildering stretch. As Gunnar Pettersson wrote with continuing relevance in 1989:
Practically everything that is known is open to interpretation – particularly as regards the motive, since so many individuals and groups can be said to have had one.
The more these ideas persisted, the greater the suspicion about the competence of Sweden’s investigative authorities, allied to the troubling idea that right-wing elements in the Norrmalm District of the Stockholm Metropolitan Police and the Swedish Security Police (Säpo) were at work. (The fact that some thirty police were in the vicinity of the murder at the time is striking.) Ministers of Justice, public prosecutors and police investigators duly resigned.
Over the years, one man seemed to linger closer to home, the depressive “Skandia Man”, graphic designer and eventual suicide Stig Engström. He was at the scene at the time, even claiming to have made an effort to “resuscitate” Palme; he worked at Skandia Insurance, in proximity to the crime scene.
Interest was revived in 2018 with the investigative prodding of journalist Thomas Pettersson. Engström’s ex-wife, was unswayed. “He was too much of a coward. He wouldn’t harm a fly.”
As seems to be a tendency in high profile cases, the Swedish prosecutors do take their time. And time does get away.
Engström had moved up the list of favourite suspects but his death in 2000 made the continuation of proceedings more than just futile.
“Since he has died,” concluded chief prosecutor Krister Petersson, “I cannot indict him.” But it was Engström who had “acted how we believe the murderer would have acted.”
He had weapons training, been in the army, was a member of a shooting club, hated Palme and his views. Such evidence remained painfully circumstantial. While the prosecutors claimed they could muster enough to move it to trial, it was not necessarily sufficient to obtain a conviction. Obstacles remained: the inability to link, forensically, the murder with any weapon.
The conclusion to this investigation seemed egregiously dismissive, a slander on Palme’s life. Even Palme’s son Marten, in concluding that the prosecutors had drawn the right conclusion in closing the case, could claim some disappointment “that they didn’t have more conclusive evidence, like DNA or a weapon that they could trace to the crime.”
If failure to identify Palme’s killer remained Swedish society’s great “open wound”, as current Prime Minister Stefan Löfven described it, it is one that has been left tantalisingly unclosed.
Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne. Email: [email protected]


offguardian--2020-06-12--STUDIES: 60% of people naturally RESISTANT to SARS-COV2

New research suggests majority of people may already have resistance based on previous infections A new study has found that Sars-Cov-2 , the virus linked to Covid19 , maybe five times more widespread than previously thought , and therefore five times less deadly .
The research , conducted by a team of scientists at the University Hospital in Zurich , is titled : “ Systemic and mucosal antibody secretion specific to SARS-CoV-2 during mild versus severe COVID-19 ” , and found that Sars-Cov-2-specific antibodies only appear in the most severe cases , or about 1 out of 5 .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ inexplicably absent from the majority of mild cases of covid19 .
But , given the known inaccuracy of the diagnostic tests and the well-documented tendencies to over-diagnose by clinical observation , another potential explanation would appear to be that the absent antibodies were due to the fact the subjects had never actually been infected with SARS-COV-2 in the first place , and their ‘ mild ’ cold-like symptoms were due to some other pathogen , like…the common cold .
However , if the authors are indeed correct in their estimation , this might @ @ @ @ @ @ @ IFR ) would need to be revised downward yet again .
If 80 % of those infected really do not produce antibodies then there is a live possibility the virus is present in many more people than usually supposed .
Which would in turn potentially reduce the IFR , possibly considerably .
In the early stages , the World Health Organization ( WHO ) estimated the virus ’ IFR to be as high as 3.4 % .
The models based on those numbers have , however , been shown to be wildly inaccurate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ John Ioannidis from Stanford , predicted the WHO ’ s IFR numbers would be proven incorrect when the widespread population studies were finished .
The dissenting experts appear to have been vindicated by the serological studies , using blood tests looking for Sars-Cov-2 antibodies done across different populations all over the world , which routinely suggest that the IFR is closer to 0.3 % than the WHO ’ s initial figure of 3.4 % .
From Japan to Iceland to Los Angeles , the numbers returned were between 0.06 and 0.4 .
Within @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a result of these studies , the US CDC ’ s most recent “ estimated IFR ” is between 0.26 % and 0.4 % .
Roughly 1/10th of the initial estimates .
Another study from last month meanwhile has found evidence up to 60 % of people may be partially resistant to SARS-COV-2 without ever being exposed to it .
In other words , large numbers of people may be immune or resistant to this virus because they have already been infected by other coronaviruses .
This may not be surprising , given @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but it is a further indicator that this virus , known to be harmless in the vast majority of cases , is neither especially unique nor especially dangerous .
The evidence continues to mount that the original estimates of the danger posed by this virus were massively exaggerated .
Swiss Policy Research continue to have detailed write-ups on this and many other developments .

New research suggests majority of people may already have resistance based on previous infections
OffG
A new study has found that Sars-Cov-2, the virus linked to Covid19, maybe five times more widespread than previously thought, and therefore five times less deadly.
The research, conducted by a team of scientists at the University Hospital in Zurich, is titled: “Systemic and mucosal antibody secretion specific to SARS-CoV-2 during mild versus severe COVID-19”, and found that Sars-Cov-2-specific antibodies only appear in the most severe cases, or about 1 out of 5.
The authors infer from this that antibodies are inexplicably absent from the majority of mild cases of covid19. But, given the known inaccuracy of the diagnostic tests and the well-documented tendencies to over-diagnose by clinical observation, another potential explanation would appear to be that the absent antibodies were due to the fact the subjects had never actually been infected with SARS-COV-2 in the first place, and their ‘mild’ cold-like symptoms were due to some other pathogen, like…the common cold.
However, if the authors are indeed correct in their estimation, this might mean SARS-COV-2’s infection rate (IFR) would need to be revised downward yet again. If 80% of those infected really do not produce antibodies then there is a live possibility the virus is present in many more people than usually supposed. Which would in turn potentially reduce the IFR, possibly considerably.
In the early stages, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated the virus’ IFR to be as high as 3.4%. The models based on those numbers have, however, been shown to be wildly inaccurate.
Many experts, such as Prof John Ioannidis from Stanford, predicted the WHO’s IFR numbers would be proven incorrect when the widespread population studies were finished.
The dissenting experts appear to have been vindicated by the serological studies, using blood tests looking for Sars-Cov-2 antibodies done across different populations all over the world, which routinely suggest that the IFR is closer to 0.3% than the WHO’s initial figure of 3.4%.
From Japan to Iceland to Los Angeles, the numbers returned were between 0.06 and 0.4. Within the range of seasonal influenza.
As a result of these studies, the US CDC’s most recent “estimated IFR” is between 0.26% and 0.4%. Roughly 1/10th of the initial estimates.
Another study from last month meanwhile has found evidence up to 60% of people may be partially resistant to SARS-COV-2 without ever being exposed to it.
Importantly, we detected SARS-CoV-2-reactive CD4+ T cells in ∼40%–60% of unexposed individuals, suggesting cross-reactive T cell recognition between circulating “common cold” coronaviruses and SARS-CoV-2.
In other words, large numbers of people may be immune or resistant to this virus because they have already been infected by other coronaviruses.
This may not be surprising, given the close relationship between most coronaviruses, but it is a further indicator that this virus, known to be harmless in the vast majority of cases, is neither especially unique nor especially dangerous.
The evidence continues to mount that the original estimates of the danger posed by this virus were massively exaggerated.
Swiss Policy Research continue to have detailed write-ups on this and many other developments.


offguardian--2020-06-11--WATCH: Perspectives on the Pandemic #9

WATCH: Perspectives on the Pandemic #9

The “ Undercover nurse ” gives her first hand account of neglect , mismanagement and possible corruption in the treatment of “ Covid patients ” at Elmhurst Hospital Erin Marie Olszewski is a Nurse-turned-investigative journalist , who has spent the last few months on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic , on the inside in two radically different settings .
Two hospitals .
One private , the other public .
One in Florida , the other in New York .
And not just any New York public hospital , but the “ epicenter of the epicenter ” itself , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Queens .
As a result of these diametrically opposed experiences , she has the ultimate “ perspective on the pandemic ” .
She has been where there have been the most deaths attributed to Covid-19 and where there have been the least .
Her story perfectly aligns with that of other doctors and nurses who have come forward or posted to social media , and confirms some of the worst aspects of the research OffGuardian ( and other alt-media outlets ) have been doing .
Including the over-use of ventilators in such a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forced use of DNRs , financial incentives for Covid diagnoses and in general a top-down , non-scientific approach which spread fear and made the situation incalculably worse .
The Interviewer : John Kirby is the director of FOUR DIED TRYING , a feature documentary and series on the major assassinations of the 1960s and their calamitous impact on the country .
To join the struggle for justice for Dr. King , Malcolm X , and John and Robert Kennedy .
Follow Journeyman Pictures on youtube or visit their website for more of their @ @ @ @

The “Undercover nurse” gives her first hand account of neglect, mismanagement and possible corruption in the treatment of “Covid patients” at Elmhurst Hospital
Erin Marie Olszewski is a Nurse-turned-investigative journalist, who has spent the last few months on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic, on the inside in two radically different settings. Two hospitals. One private, the other public. One in Florida, the other in New York.
And not just any New York public hospital, but the “epicenter of the epicenter” itself, the infamous Elmhurst in Donald Trump’s Queens. As a result of these diametrically opposed experiences, she has the ultimate “perspective on the pandemic”. She has been where there have been the most deaths attributed to Covid-19 and where there have been the least.
Her story perfectly aligns with that of other doctors and nurses who have come forward or posted to social media, and confirms some of the worst aspects of the research OffGuardian (and other alt-media outlets) have been doing. Including the over-use of ventilators in such a way that causes avoidable deaths, the forced use of DNRs, financial incentives for Covid diagnoses and in general a top-down, non-scientific approach which spread fear and made the situation incalculably worse.
The Interviewer: John Kirby is the director of FOUR DIED TRYING, a feature documentary and series on the major assassinations of the 1960s and their calamitous impact on the country. To join the struggle for justice for Dr. King, Malcolm X, and John and Robert Kennedy.
Follow Journeyman Pictures on youtube or visit their website for more of their award-winning factual content.


offguardian--2020-06-10--The Worst Literal Hitler Ever

The Worst Literal Hitler Ever

So , the GloboCap-Resistance Minneapolis Putsch appears to have not gone exactly to plan .
Once again , Trump failed to go full-Hitler , despite their best efforts to goad him into doing so .
They gave it quite a good shot , however .
It was more or less a textbook regime-change op , or “ color revolution , ” or whatever you call it .
All the essential pieces were in place .
All they needed Trump to do was declare himself dictator and impose martial law , so the generals could step in and remove him from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump didn ’ t do that .
Instead , he did what he usually does , which is make a total ass of himself on international television .
Which…OK , was cringeworthy , but didn ’ t quite provide the GloboCap gang with the pretext they needed to perp-walk him out of the Oval Office .
Which , needless to say , was incredibly frustrating .
After four long years of propaganda foreplay , there we were , finally at the moment of truth , and Adolf goes and loses his erection .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ever .
Still , as far as regime-change ops go , and given that this one was a domestic operation , so trickier than the usual foreign version , I ’ d give the Resistance a B+ for effort .
Now , before my “ conspiracy theorist ” readers get too excited about where I ’ m going with this column…no , this was not a “ fake ” uprising .
There was an authentic uprising at the center of it .
There ’ s always an authentic uprising at the center of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the type that GloboCap has been carrying out and attempting recently .
Tunisia , Libya , Egypt , Syria , the Ukraine , Bolivia , Venezuela ; these things go pretty much by the numbers .
Here ’ s a quick breakdown of how that works .
First , you need your civil unrest , large-scale protests , rioting , looting , indiscriminate violence , and so on .
Any number of “ trigger events ” will be sufficient to get this going .
Once it is , you can grow it and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unrest needs to be authentic , so it ’ s best to conduct an overwhelming multi-year propaganda campaign to delegitimize and demonize your target as some sort of treasonous Hitlerian monster who ’ s responsible for every major problem in the country .
That way , no matter which trigger event gets things going , it will be his fault .
You will want your local government officials to allow this civil unrest to go on until it reaches the point where rioters and looters are rampaging through the hearts of cities , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ local mom-and-pop-type businesses , and brutally assaulting their defenseless proprietors .
This does not mean that these local officials have to restrain or stand down their cops .
On the contrary , you want them to unleash their cops , on the protesters , rioters , and TV reporters ( during their “ live ” reports , if possible ) , and just generally beat the living crap out of everyone .
The goal is to generate as much hatred as possible against the regime you are trying to change , and to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ patience and overreacting , so you want things to get extremely ugly .
Then , you unleash the power of the media to whip folks up into a mindless frenzy of rage against your designated Hitler .
You have your “ respectable ” pundits publish articles calling for his removal from office .
You get the military ( and former military ) to start making noise about how your Hitler is out of control and on the brink of fascism .
Then you wait for your Hitler to overreact and attempt to call @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of martial law , at which point you can safely depose him , and pretend that democracy has won the day .
The media is essential here , because you need to convince the majority of the public ( i.e.
, not just the people protesting and rioting ) that things have gotten so out of control , and your imaginary Hitler has gotten so dangerous , that a military coup is the best solution .
What you ’ re looking for are headlines like these : • “ ‘ Words of a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to deploy military raises spectre of fascism ” — The Guardian • “ Donald Trump is Trying to Start a Race War ” — Rolling Stone • “ Trump Must Be Removed ” — The Washington Post Also , while the media are doing their thing , you want to get any former members of the intelligence community ( or the secret police ) to issue public statements like this : Then you bring the politicians and the military in .
This kind of language will usually do it : Once the generals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the media to hype that , hard .
Headlines like these will get people ’ s attention : • “ Revolt of the Generals ” — The Washington Post • “ President Donald Trump is facing an unprecedented revolt from the elite corps of ex-military leaders and presidents… ” — CNN • “ The US president ’ s desire to act the strongman poses urgent questions that America ’ s generals , voters and allies must all answer ” — The Guardian Editorial Board If you can , it is always a really @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , let ’ s say 280 former national security officials who are really concerned about the state of democracy and “ the misuse of the military for political purposes , ” and get them to spontaneously call each other up and decide to write a letter together accusing your Hitler of “ dividing Americans , ” which the media can then disseminate , widely .
And , of course , what you need for the “ educated classes ” is an official propagandist like Franklin Foer ( who broke the big story about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 2016 and was rewarded for his service to GloboCap with a lucrative staff writer position at The Atlantic ) to come right out and explain that what ’ s happening is a textbook regime-change operation ( because you don ’ t have to dupe the “ educated classes , ” most of whom will already be on your side ) .
Something more or less like this : As I said , it went pretty much right by the book .
After four long years of official propaganda designed to convince the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hitler , GloboCap , the liberal Resistance , and the corporate media all did their best to harness the authentic protests and rioting that routinely follow the murder of an unarmed Black person by the cops , and use it to remove him from office .
It would have been a spectacular catharsis , a fitting climax to the War on Populism , but Trump refused to play his part…so , OK , maybe he ’ s not as dumb as I thought , or at least not totally suicidal .
No matter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ win for GloboCap .
Forcibly removing Trump from office is , and has always been , gravy .
The main goal of the War on Populism is to delegitimize and demonize him , and everyone who voted for him ( and Jeremy Corbyn , and even Bernie Sanders , and everyone who voted for them ) .
Trump is just a symbol , after all .
It ’ s the dissatisfaction with global capitalism ( and its smiley , happy , valueless values , and its post-ideological ideology ) that GloboCap is determined @ @ @ @ @ @ @ back to the unfinished business of restructuring the entire Middle East , and anywhere else that ’ s not playing ball , and dissolving what is left of national sovereignty , and transforming the world into one big marketplace , where there will be no fascists , no evil Russians , no religious extremists , no racist statues , no offensive movies , or books , or artworks , no more unauthorized ass-clown presidents , and everyone will be “ contact-traced ” with their digital health-certificate implants , and the children will stand @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and circles and sing the Coca-Cola theme song through their anti-virus masks at school… Sorry…I got a little off-track there .
I forgot that this was strictly about racism , and police brutality , and nothing else .
I ’ ll try to stick to the script from now on , but it might be difficult , given my “ privilege.
” Maybe , if I wrapped myself in kente cloth and got down on my knees in public , that might help me get my mind right .
Or , I don @ @ @ @ @ @ @ think ?
CJ Hopkins is an award-winning American playwright , novelist and political satirist based in Berlin .
His plays are published by Bloomsbury Publishing and Broadway Play Publishing , Inc. His dystopian novel , Zone 23 , is published by Snoggsworthy , Swaine & Cormorant .
Volume I of his Consent Factory Essays is published by Consent Factory Publishing , a wholly-owned subsidiary of Amalgamated Content , Inc .
He can be reached at cjhopkins.com or consentfactory.org .

CJ Hopkins
So, the GloboCap-Resistance Minneapolis Putsch appears to have not gone exactly to plan. Once again, Trump failed to go full-Hitler, despite their best efforts to goad him into doing so. They gave it quite a good shot, however. It was more or less a textbook regime-change op, or “color revolution,” or whatever you call it. All the essential pieces were in place.
All they needed Trump to do was declare himself dictator and impose martial law, so the generals could step in and remove him from office.
Unfortunately for the Resistance, Trump didn’t do that. Instead, he did what he usually does, which is make a total ass of himself on international television. Which…OK, was cringeworthy, but didn’t quite provide the GloboCap gang with the pretext they needed to perp-walk him out of the Oval Office. Which, needless to say, was incredibly frustrating.
After four long years of propaganda foreplay, there we were, finally at the moment of truth, and Adolf goes and loses his erection.
This guy is the worst literal Hitler ever.
Still, as far as regime-change ops go, and given that this one was a domestic operation, so trickier than the usual foreign version, I’d give the Resistance a B+ for effort.
Now, before my “conspiracy theorist” readers get too excited about where I’m going with this column…no, this was not a “fake” uprising. There was an authentic uprising at the center of it. There’s always an authentic uprising at the center of every regime-change op, or at least the type that GloboCap has been carrying out and attempting recently. Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Syria, the Ukraine, Bolivia, Venezuela; these things go pretty much by the numbers.
Here’s a quick breakdown of how that works.
First, you need your civil unrest, large-scale protests, rioting, looting, indiscriminate violence, and so on. Any number of “trigger events” will be sufficient to get this going. Once it is, you can grow it and focus it.
A lot of this unrest needs to be authentic, so it’s best to conduct an overwhelming multi-year propaganda campaign to delegitimize and demonize your target as some sort of treasonous Hitlerian monster who’s responsible for every major problem in the country.
That way, no matter which trigger event gets things going, it will be his fault.
You will want your local government officials to allow this civil unrest to go on until it reaches the point where rioters and looters are rampaging through the hearts of cities, raiding both high-end corporate chain stores and local mom-and-pop-type businesses, and brutally assaulting their defenseless proprietors.
This does not mean that these local officials have to restrain or stand down their cops. On the contrary, you want them to unleash their cops, on the protesters, rioters, and TV reporters (during their “live” reports, if possible), and just generally beat the living crap out of everyone.
The goal is to generate as much hatred as possible against the regime you are trying to change, and to pressure your designated Hitler-target into losing his patience and overreacting, so you want things to get extremely ugly.
Then, you unleash the power of the media to whip folks up into a mindless frenzy of rage against your designated Hitler. You have your “respectable” pundits publish articles calling for his removal from office. You get the military (and former military) to start making noise about how your Hitler is out of control and on the brink of fascism.
Then you wait for your Hitler to overreact and attempt to call in the military and impose some form of martial law, at which point you can safely depose him, and pretend that democracy has won the day.
The media is essential here, because you need to convince the majority of the public (i.e., not just the people protesting and rioting) that things have gotten so out of control, and your imaginary Hitler has gotten so dangerous, that a military coup is the best solution.
What you’re looking for are headlines like these:
“We are teetering on a dictatorship” — CNN
“‘Words of a dictator’: Trump’s threat to deploy military raises spectre of fascism” — The Guardian
“Donald Trump is Trying to Start a Race War” — Rolling Stone
“Remove Trump Now” — Slate
“The Trump Presidency is Over.” — The Guardian
“Trump Must Be Removed” — The Washington Post
Also, while the media are doing their thing, you want to get any former members of the intelligence community (or the secret police) to issue public statements like this:
There should be no place in American society, much less in our government, for the depravity being demonstrated daily by Donald Trump. Members of his Cabinet who enable such behavior are betraying their oath of office by supporting an increasingly desperate despot.”
John Brennan, former CIA director
Then you bring the politicians and the military in. This kind of language will usually do it:
The fascist speech Donald Trump just delivered verged on a declaration of war against American citizens. I fear for our country tonight and will not stop defending America against Trump’s assault.”
Senator Ron Wyden
These are not the words of a president. They are the words of a dictator.”
Senator Kamala Harris
‘There is a thin line between the military’s tolerance for questionable partisan moves over the past three years and the point where these become intolerable,” a retired general said.”
The New York Times
We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution […] We can unite without [Trump], drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children.”
General James “Mad Dog” Mattis, former Secretary of Defense
Once the generals have started in growling, you get the media to hype that, hard. Headlines like these will get people’s attention:
“Revolt of the Generals” — The Washington Post
“The Officers’ Revolt” — Slate
“President Donald Trump is facing an unprecedented revolt from the elite corps of ex-military leaders and presidents…” — CNN
“The US president’s desire to act the strongman poses urgent questions that America’s generals, voters and allies must all answer” — The Guardian Editorial Board
If you can, it is always a really nice touch if you can drum up…oh, let’s say 280 former national security officials who are really concerned about the state of democracy and “the misuse of the military for political purposes,” and get them to spontaneously call each other up and decide to write a letter together accusing your Hitler of “dividing Americans,” which the media can then disseminate, widely.
And, of course, what you need for the “educated classes” is an official propagandist like Franklin Foer (who broke the big story about the non-existent “Trump-Russia server” back in 2016 and was rewarded for his service to GloboCap with a lucrative staff writer position at The Atlantic) to come right out and explain that what’s happening is a textbook regime-change operation (because you don’t have to dupe the “educated classes,” most of whom will already be on your side). Something more or less like this:
Twitter’s decision to label Trump’s posts as misleading was a hinge moment…once Twitter applied its rules to Trump — and received accolades for its decision — it inadvertently set a precedent…a cycle of noncooperation was set in motion. Local governments were the next layer of the elite to buck Trump’s commands. After the president insisted that governors ‘dominate’ the streets on his behalf, they roundly refused to escalate their response. Indeed, New York and Virginia rebuffed a federal request to send National Guard troops to Washington DC. Even the suburb of Arlington, Virginia, pulled its police that had been loaned to control the crowd in Lafayette Square. As each group of elites refused Trump, it became harder for the next to comply in good conscience. In Sharp’s taxonomy, the autocrat’s grasp on power depends entirely on the allegiance of the armed forces. When the armed forces withhold cooperation, the dictator is finished.
As I said, it went pretty much right by the book.
After four long years of official propaganda designed to convince the Western masses that Donald Trump is literally Hitler, GloboCap, the liberal Resistance, and the corporate media all did their best to harness the authentic protests and rioting that routinely follow the murder of an unarmed Black person by the cops, and use it to remove him from office. It would have been a spectacular catharsis, a fitting climax to the War on Populism, but Trump refused to play his part…so, OK, maybe he’s not as dumb as I thought, or at least not totally suicidal.
No matter, it’s still a big win for GloboCap. Forcibly removing Trump from office is, and has always been, gravy. The main goal of the War on Populism is to delegitimize and demonize him, and everyone who voted for him (and Jeremy Corbyn, and even Bernie Sanders, and everyone who voted for them).
Trump is just a symbol, after all. It’s the dissatisfaction with global capitalism (and its smiley, happy, valueless values, and its post-ideological ideology) that GloboCap is determined to crush, so they can get back to the unfinished business of restructuring the entire Middle East, and anywhere else that’s not playing ball, and dissolving what is left of national sovereignty, and transforming the world into one big marketplace, where there will be no fascists, no evil Russians, no religious extremists, no racist statues, no offensive movies, or books, or artworks, no more unauthorized ass-clown presidents, and everyone will be “contact-traced” with their digital health-certificate implants, and the children will stand inside their little “social-distancing” boxes and circles and sing the Coca-Cola theme song through their anti-virus masks at school…
Sorry…I got a little off-track there. I forgot that this was strictly about racism, and police brutality, and nothing else.
I’ll try to stick to the script from now on, but it might be difficult, given my “privilege.” Maybe, if I wrapped myself in kente cloth and got down on my knees in public, that might help me get my mind right. Or, I don’t know. What do you think?
CJ Hopkins is an award-winning American playwright, novelist and political satirist based in Berlin. His plays are published by Bloomsbury Publishing and Broadway Play Publishing, Inc. His dystopian novel, Zone 23, is published by Snoggsworthy, Swaine & Cormorant. Volume I of his Consent Factory Essays is published by Consent Factory Publishing, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Amalgamated Content, Inc. He can be reached at cjhopkins.com or consentfactory.org.